Feast of Tabernacles

Alright, so here's what we're going to do today. This is the first time I've done this, and so I kind of apologize. But I'm going to use you guys as guinea pigs a little bit today. I have a message for the feast in Hawaii, and I'm going to give that message today. And what I would really like you guys to do, if you don't mind, is provide feedback and suggestions. If you don't mind, I would really appreciate it. That way I can kind of further develop it as I go and get it. I got it to where I think it's kind of where I want it, but it's always good to get that out before you end up taking it down there. So, go ahead and do that. You can record if you'd like. You don't have to record if you don't want to. That's entirely up to you. But I'll let you go for the update. How's it going? Good. Any updates on this sermon? Um, so far, it's absolutely good. Okay. The heart checks are a little bit heavy. And we have all of them in there. Absolutely. Excellent. Excellent. Well, good.

All right. Well, brethren, you know, during the summer of this past year, there was a relatively interesting, yet somewhat unorthodox study that was performed over the social media website, Facebook. And some of you are familiar with Facebook. Some of you have it. Some of you use it. Others of you may be like, Facebook, I don't use that. But it was a really interesting study. And what ended up happening was a research firm got ahold of the user data for a whole bunch of the members on the Facebook website. And what they did was, with Facebook's permission, they secretly manipulated the news feeds of the people that were on that thing. We're talking like 700,000 people on this experiment. And what they did was, they secretly manipulated what those users were able to see on their news feeds. Now, during the time frame of the study, what the researchers did was they reduced the number of positive posts and highlighted negative posts for some users. And then for other users, they reduced negative posts and highlighted positive posts. And so one group of people saw nothing but negatives during the time frame of the study period. Other groups of people saw mostly nothing but positives. And what they were trying to find out, what they were trying to determine, whether or not positive and negative emotion can be transmitted to other users via social media. Like I said, interesting experiment. I mean, nice if they would have told people they were participating in it, but I suppose there's some need for secrecy in those situations. But the results were, as you might have expected, users that were exposed to increased negativity intern exhibited increased negativity in their posts that they were trying to explore. While increased exposure to positive posts exhibited increased positivity. Now, while the study did little more than just infuriate members of the social network, ultimately, the results do bring up a very interesting concept. The idea that exposure to certain attitudes, even digitally, can result in the same attitude and the same emotions being expressed by the individual who was exposed to it. Now, this study has obvious ramifications in that if digital information, or if continued exposure to digital information of a certain variety, can influence mood, and it can influence attitude, and it can influence, ultimately, emotion, then what does that mean for someone who consumes a steady diet of media today? In other words, the majority of the world. They're tuned into CNN, they're tuned into Fox News, they're tuned into all these other news networks. I mean, let's face reality. If you look at the world around us today, from just the headlines in the paper to the headlines on the bottom of the little ticker strip on the bottom of the CNN news, to the type of stories that are highlighted consistently, increasing geopolitical tensions, we're surrounded by an awful lot of bad news.

And if we're not careful, we run the risk of allowing that bad news to permeate our own life, letting it affect our attitude and our overall outlook. Now, we all know people like this. We all know people like this. We kind of jokingly call them negative Nancy's. We kind of jokingly call them a negative Nancy. And this is the kind of person that you have conversations with who are always finding the negative in everything. Always. You know, they could win $15 million in the lottery, and would complain about the taxes they've taken out.

You know, they could be handed the keys to a brand new car and go, plan, like this, or, you know, their spouse cooks a beautifully home-cooked meal, prepares for this work, and of course, needs salt. You know, that's the kind of thing that we're talking about. It doesn't matter what happens in their life. They're always looking at the negative. And brethren, these sorts of people can really work to be around. We all know people like this. In all actuality, we've likely been this person in the world.

Mason Cooley noted, American aphorists once said, Complainers change their complaints, but they never reduce the amount of time they spend in complaining. They change what they complain about, but they never spend a different amount of time in it. You know, excessive complaints can be a symptom of something more nefarious. What we know in the medical field is depression. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines depression as A serious medical condition in which a person feels very sad, hopeless, and unimportant, and is often unable to live in a normal way. Depression affects one in ten Americans today, and the incidence in some states is higher than others. So while the one in ten is kind of the average, there are places in the United States, like the South, where depression rates are significantly higher. It's actually estimated that 121 million people worldwide suffer from clinical depression, and the number of diagnoses are increasing by 20% each year. Some who suffer from depression describe it as like being trapped in an empty space, like being under a dark cloud or heavy weight. It can cause a number of physical and emotional ailments from headaches, to appetite and weight changes, joint muscle pain, loss of sleep, or persistent nausea. Often individuals who suffer from depression also complain of anxiety and tearfulness, the feeling of sadness that refuses to subside. Many of these symptoms create a vicious cycle of continued depression, causing a more pronounced symptoms and a continuing cycle of negativity. Now, sorrow and depression are two very similar things, but different. Sorrow is a temporary emotion, where depression by its definition is a more prolonged outlook. So if depression is a prolonged condition in which someone feels sad and hopeless, the opposite of depression would be a prolonged sense of happiness, contentment, peace, and gladness. Rather than the opposite of depression is joy. The opposite of depression is joy. And as you look at the world around us today, joy is something that is in short supply, something that seems to be elusive for the majority of people in the world today. And sometimes people confuse joy with happiness. But happiness, like sorrow, is a temporary emotion. It comes from external stimuli. It's fleeting. Joy, on the other hand, is a prolonged happiness which comes from within. Let's begin today by turning over to Galatians 5. Galatians 5, verse 22. You can probably guess where we're heading. Galatians 5, verse 22. We'll take a look at the Apostle Paul's description of the fruits of the Spirit. Galatians 5. And we'll go ahead and pick up the account in verse 22.

Galatians 5, verse 22.

Galatians 5, verse 22 says, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such, there is no law. I don't know if the Apostle Paul intended to put these in order of importance. I don't know if it's kind of his list of the most important things or if this just happens to be just a description of the various fruits in whatever order you put them in. But either way, you'll notice joy is one of the fruits of the Spirit listed. The Apostle Paul is telling us very explicitly in his passage that if the Holy Spirit is working in you, the Holy Spirit is working in you. These are the fruits. These are the things that will be evident in your life. These are the effects of God's Spirit working in us. Joy is a hallmark of the Christian. It doesn't mean we're not going to get down now and again. It's not that I'm not saying that. We absolutely get down now and again. But joy is a condition where we can kind of allow some of those things that the world hints us with to be able to roll off of our back and be able to remain joyful. The word joy in Galatians 5 comes from the Greek word chyro, which is more frequently translated in the New Testament as rejoice. According to Vines Expository, chyro is defined as to joy, rejoice, be glad, and it's used in the imperative movement of salutation. In fact, you see in a number of the epistles that the writers would often use it as a greeting either at the beginning or a salutation at the end in order to kind of convey a meaning or a sense of continued joy. So rejoicing and joy go hand in hand. Let's turn over to 1 Thessalonians 5. 1 Thessalonians 5.

1 Thessalonians 5, and we'll pick it up in verse 16. We'll break into another epistle of the Apostle Paul, this time to the church in Thessalonica. And notice, even though it's a different letter, or it's a different letter to a different church, it's a very similar exhortation.

1 Corinthians 5 and verse 16. 1 Corinthians 5 verse 16 says, Rejoice always. Rejoice always. Be joyful always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks. For this is the will of God and the Christ Jesus for you. Rejoice always. Have joy always. Joy is one of those character traits of a Christian. It's a positive outlook on life.

But where does this positive outlook come from? What do we have that allows us to view all of the trouble and all of the bad news in the world around us, and still be joyful? Still rejoice in spite of it? Let's go to Romans 12. Romans 12.

And we'll see what allows us to be joyful despite all of the bad news that we hear today. Romans 12. And we're looking specifically at verse 12, but we'll read 10 through 13. Romans 12. And verse 10. I'm sorry, verse 10. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another, not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer, distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

The New Living puts it this way in verse 12. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient and troubled, and keep on praying. Our hope, the faith that we have in God and His plan of salvation, is what gives us joy. Our joy is derived from the plan of God, the very plan of God that the upcoming Feast of Tabernacles days entail. If you turn over to Deuteronomy 16, we'll read a very well-known section of Scripture that discusses these particular holidays. But Deuteronomy 16, we'll stay out of the most common ones. We always read 16 and 16, we're not going to read them.

We'll do the two before. So we'll be in 14 and 15. So Deuteronomy 16, verse 14. And we'll see in this particular section, they discuss the Feast of Tabernacles very specifically in this section of Deuteronomy 16. This again is 14 and 15. So Deuteronomy 16, verses 14 and 15. Verse 13 just tells you, You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days when you gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress.

Verse 14, And you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, and the Levite, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates. Seven days you shall keep the sacred feast of the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all of your produce and in all of the work of your hands, so that you will surely rejoice.

Leviticus 23.40, we won't turn there, but it describes the making of the lulav that went along with the ancient celebration of Sukkot. And the lulav specifically was said to rejoice before the Lord for seven days with the lulav. So in just these two passages, in just two passages, just Deuteronomy 16 and Leviticus 23, three references to being joyful and rejoicing at the Feast of Tabernacles. Now if we contrast that with the rest of the pilgrimage festivals located in Deuteronomy 16, Passover, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles, there is no mention of rejoicing whatsoever associated with Passover. There is one mention of rejoicing for the Feast of Trumpets, but three mentions in just two passages.

And there's more. There are more for us to rejoice at the Feast of Tabernacles. That's more than any other festival in God's Holy Day plan. And again, this is not the only two places that it's mentioned. But if you notice also in verse 14 of Deuteronomy 16, okay, verse 14 of Deuteronomy 16, the command to rejoice was not just for the individual. God wasn't just telling the head of the household, Hey, this is what you're doing. This was for the entire nation. Their sons, their daughters, their servants, the Levites, the sojourners, the orphans, and the widows.

All that were within by gates. Everyone in the nation of Israel was to rejoice during the Feast of Tabernacles, which begs the question of why? What is it about this festival? Why this festival? Why the Feast of Tabernacles? Why not the others? Why was this festival out of all of God's seven holy days in parts of His Holy Day plan? What was so special about the Feast of Tabernacles? The Jewish people referenced this time of year.

They called the Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot, they call it the season of our joy. And for good reason. There was definitely a lot to be joyful for during this particular time. Feast of Tabernacles represented the end of the agricultural year in Israel. The timing of Passover was so early in the year that the plantings had just gone in or would be going in, and the blessings of the crops weren't fully realized at that point.

Now, there's a lot that could have happened between Passover and the final harvest. During Pentecost, you have the wheat harvest being taken up, and so they could rejoice over the abundance of the wheat. God would bless them with. But at the end of the agricultural year, though, right around the Feast of Tabernacles, the Israelites harvested the rest of the grain, they harvested the fruit, which allowed them to make oil, and allowed them to make wine.

Because of this, we have another name for this particular festival, the Feast of Ingad, bringing in all of the crops, gathering the whole crops. They brought all the crops into the storehouses, they processed them just prior to the Feast of Tabernacles. That way, they had the supplies that they could take with them to Jerusalem. At the time of the Feast of Tabernacles, there could be great rejoicing.

They could actually step back, and they could take a look at the big picture. They could look back over the entirety of the previous year, and they could see how God had blessed them. The crops were in the storehouses. They were processed. The workers could relax. The work was done. They could enjoy themselves. They could rejoice with no distractions.

They could enjoy the fruits of the labor.

Now, we in the churches of God today take the command to rejoice at the Feast of Tabernacles very seriously. The Feast of Tabernacles is a highlight of our year. I mean, it really is. It's a highlight of our year. But often, when we think of rejoicing, it seems like sometimes we view that concept through kind of a worldly lens. We're flush with cash. We're staying in a nice hotel in a beautiful locale. And if we're not careful, if we're not careful, the Feast of Tabernacles can start to look a lot more like the lifestyles of the rich and famous, and a lot less than like the festival will come. So how can we rejoice? How can we keep this season of joy while still maintaining our focus on the reason why, the reason why we're here? That's the question we'll look at today to answer as we go through the rest of the sermon today. The title of today's message is the Feast of Tabernacles, the Season of Our Joy. And so, with the time that we have remaining today, I'd like to explore three points that will help to focus us on rejoicing in a manner that will be pleasing to God in the time that we are at the Feast of Tabernacles. First, we rejoice in our opportunities for growth. We rejoice in our opportunities for growth. Secondly, we rejoice in our family. We rejoice in our family.

And then thirdly, we rejoice in our blessings. So we rejoice in our opportunities for growth. We rejoice in our family. And we rejoice in our blessings. So to begin with, we rejoice in our opportunities for growth.

And when we talk about a mindset, what we're getting at is an established set of values. So we're talking about an established set of values. And so it's kind of a way of looking at the world around us and a way of looking at various things in particular. When it comes to the Feast of Tabernacles, what is our mindset? How do we view these days? Do we see them as a vacation?

Do we see these days as a vacation? Is it a chance for us to leave our jobs for a short period of time and enjoy some time away with our families? Is it a chance to jet around the world and take in the sights?

Enjoy fine meals, strong drinks, and shop? To live like a king? After all, training the kings of priests makes the time to live like a king? Or do we recognize and do we see these days for what they really are? A chance for us to grow spiritually? A chance for us to learn and to fellowship with others of light mind? To grow closer to God, together as a group at the Feast of Tabernacles? To rejoice together in a place where God has chosen? You know, they always ask the question during the Feast at some point in time, usually opening night.

They always ask, why are you here? What is the purpose? What is the reason? And if you look around that room, you'll notice we're a small group. We're not renting out huge, huge stadiums. You see Billy Graham do his big thing and it's stadiums full of people, right?

We're a small group. You won't notice world leaders in the room, you won't notice business magnates, industrialists, the rich and the famous, people of great influence. You'll see a group of regular folk who were commanded to come together in the place where God placed His name. The world as a whole, the people that we listed above, leaders, businessmen, the industrialists, they don't keep these days. You know, that argument that I'm having with my district right now, they don't get it.

They do not get it. I've explained it two or three times. But they don't get it. They simply, their eyes are not opened. They don't keep these days. They're either ignorant of the commands that God has given to them, or they've rejected it outright in favor of other holidays. But as you look around, those people aren't in the room. Those people of influence, all those basketball players, all those, you know, congressional people, they're not there.

Let's go to Romans 3 and we'll see why. Let's go to Romans 3. Romans 3, as we work on answering the question of why exactly are we here in Romans 3. Romans 3. We see the Apostle Paul expound a little bit on the ideas of David as they were recorded in the Psalms. And David recorded a psalm that discussed how God looked down on the sons of man, and when he looks for those who seek him, there are none.

Instead, they've turned aside. Romans 3.10 picks up a little bit where David left off and uses some of his same words. So Romans 3, verse 10, it says, as it's written, meaning, you know, in the Psalms, There is none righteous, no, not one. There is none who understands, there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside, they have all together become unprofitable. There is none who does good, no, not one. Their throat is an open tomb, or sepulchre, depending on your translation.

With their tongues they have practiced deceit. The poison of asps is under their lisp. Lips. Lips. Might lisp, too. I'm not 100% sure. Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace they have not known. Notice Romans 3, verse 18. There is no fear of God before their eyes. Let's turn over to Deuteronomy 14.

While you're turning over there, Deuteronomy 14 is a section where God is re-outlining some basic commands that were given to ancient Israel. You know, there's a lot of places, just like any good teacher, God recognizes that repetition is needed to remember things.

You can't just say it once and expect him to figure it out. It doesn't quite work that way. The human mind is in cable. We've got a memory like a goldfish sometimes. You know, you hear something and you forget about it. So, God, numerous times throughout Scripture, reiterated things to make sure that the Israelites understood. And this is one of those places. And in this, he's talking about some of the basic commands to ancient Israel, and again, Deuteronomy 14, which served to distance them from the world around them.

He discusses not cutting themselves or shaving the forehead, as people do in honor of the dead. He reiterates, again, the law of clean and unclean means. Now, in this passage and through these things, God is letting the people of Israel know yet again that they are to be different. That they're to be different from the people around them. That they're to be set apart. That they are to be holy, because God himself is holy. They're not to be like the other nations.

We'll pick up the account in verse 22 of Deuteronomy 14, as he gives them yet another command that distances them from the people around them. Verse 22 of Deuteronomy 14, again reiterating what has already been given to them, says, "'You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year.'" Verse 23, "'And you shall eat before the Lord your God in the place where he chooses to make his name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and all of your flocks, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always.'" God specifically commands that we should take our tithe, that we should eat it before God in the place that he should choose.

Eat of the fine things of our flocks and of the fine things of our fields, but for what purpose? That we might learn to fear the Lord. Again, that thing that the other people that are not there are not doing, there is no fear of the Lord before their eyes.

Brethren, that is our purpose at the Feast of Tabernacles. We are here to learn to fear God, always. And each and every day that we are there, each and every day that we are there, we're given opportunities. We're given chances to grow. Some of you may think back to previous Feast of Tabernacles and think about some of the different things that have happened to you throughout the time of the Feast and think about those opportunities that God gave you to grow. You know, we are training to be kings and priests. We're training to be servants of the Most High. And while much of our training does occur in the classroom, we're expected to take that learning outside of the classroom to apply it in the world around us as we interact with different people.

And that's true every day of our spiritual lives, but more so at the Feast of Tabernacles. We have opportunities to represent our great God in whatever peace site we go to, wherever we happen to be, every interaction that we have with the people of whatever city we're meeting in.

It's stores, it's restaurants. We represent God in every one of those interactions. We are ambassadors, as 1 Corinthians 5, 20, tells us. We are ambassadors to the Lord. You know, God places His hand of protection around us at the Feast, but every year at the Feast, not everything goes according to plan. Not everything goes according to plan. Things come up. Frustrations occur. It's very important that we have a joyful attitude. And not only is it important for us to have an attitude of rejoicing while we're at the Feast, we need to ensure that we develop and carry that attitude of rejoicing while this week comes home.

In 2010, my wife and I attended the Feast in Steveot Springs, Colorado. And my son Desmond was 18 months old, and Aiden was going on three. So it was kind of a... there were many days of screaming in that stretch of time frame as the kids were growing up at that point in time. It was a rough feast. It was really a rough feast. Nobody slept. You know, the babies screamed much of the eight days that we were in Colorado. And Shannon and I were trying to take shifts and whatever else, but none of us slept.

We didn't dare try to... I mean, trying to go and sit in a restaurant to try to enjoy a meal was impossible. I mean, if you sit down and the kids start going crazy and you're just like, I don't want to subject anybody to this auditorium.

We didn't invite anybody to go anywhere with us because we knew the kids were just going to scream the whole entire time. So we spent a lot of the feast that year with our immediate family, and that was about it. We didn't really get to know anybody. And it was frustrating. And I will freely admit, I was not a shining example of joy during that feast in town. I did not do a great job of that during that feast.

You know, the night before we left, almost as a punctuation to the feast itself, just following sundown on the last great day, we started packing up our things, started kind of cleaning up the hotel room and getting everything done. And we had a dishwasher in our room. And one of the last things that we did before we went to bed that night was, we flipped it on. I got it all set up, and I was like, oh, I helped. I got the dishwasher loaded, and it was good. We closed the door, flipped it on, and we went to bed. So not too long after we went to bed, probably a couple hours later, there was a somewhat urgent knock at our door.

I got up, and I noticed as I walked across to the door, the carpet felt damp. I thought, oh, that's weird. But I opened the door. The person at the door, one of the church members there, informed us they were the people in the room under ours, and it was raining in their hotel room. At that point in time, I realized what had happened, and as you probably guessed, the dishwasher overflowed. When I loaded it, I wasn't thinking, and the only soap I could find at the time was regular dish soap.

So I put a nice big drop of regular dish soap in there and closed the door. There were bubbles everywhere, and after several hours of no sleep at that point in time, a bunch of towels later, and working really hard to convince the front desk that I'd done them a favor by shampooing the carpets, we were finally able to go back to sleep. We got the dripping stopped, and everything was there.

You know, with every trial, though, there's a silver lining. My wife doesn't ask me to do the dishes anymore, so that's kind of nice, you know? So I guess now all I gotta do is figure out some way to mess some others... No, I'm kidding. But, you know, the interesting part of this is that was just the beginning of that day. The next morning, we woke up more deficient on sleep because we hardly slept the night before from the dripping. We headed to the airport. We boarded our flight only to find out that there was a mechanical issue, and the flight was delayed.

So here we are, sitting on the airplane, a little over an hour, trying to keep the screaming babies happy. They weren't happy. They finally let everybody off the plane. We sat for about another hour in the airport terminal before we re-boarded and the plane got on its way. The rest of the flight, thankfully, was uneventful, and they did give us free cookies, which was kind of nice of them. But the rest of the trial started once we hit the ground.

We got off the plane, we got our stuff set up, we got to the long-term parking, went to start the car... Click. Battery's dead. Battery's completely dead. Truck is non-starting. So we managed to get a jump, but because of the flight, because of the battery, now we're too late to pick up the dogs. We have to pay for an extra day to the dog at the counter. And I remember Shannon and I just kind of looking at each other, just laughing.

Just laughing ourselves. Just crazy. Because what else can you do? What was coming next? Seriously, what next? You know? No one had eaten, so we were all hungry. So we were starving. We drove to this restaurant just outside of Portland. And when we get out, Aiden, for whatever reason, I still don't know why, decided, huh, I should grab a whole of the exhaust pipe.

And so he reaches down and he grabs a whole of the exhaust pipe and just shrieks, and we didn't see him do it. We couldn't figure out what was going on. He pulled back and there were posters on the inside of his hand, like he would not believe. So we spent the meal nursing his wounded hand in a very upset three-year-old's. He was very, very, very upset. But we couldn't eat in the restaurant, because of how loud Aiden was screaming.

So we ate outside of the restaurant. You know, I was familiar with the concept of pre-feast drives. This was one of the first years that we really experienced post-feast drives. That was kind of a new one for us. And you know, we could have gotten all upset about it. We could have. And my attitude throughout the entirety of the feast, by all odds, I should have, the way I had acted before.

We couldn't let it get to us, but instead we just laughed out loud. I mean, what else can you do? We recognized it at that point, and knew what it was. We knew it was Satan working very hard to wreck our attitudes, and welcome his home. James 1, verse 2. James 1, verse 2.

James 1 and verse 2.

I know exactly where we're going.

James 1, verse 2. My brethren, count it all joy. Count it all joy. That same word. That same word, Cairo. Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. And as you heard from the announcements today, there have been plenty of trials to go around. Brethren, we have to count from joy, because we will be given opportunities to grow at the Feast of Deafenedness. They may not look like growth opportunities at first, but we will be given opportunities to grow, rejoicing those opportunities. Take on the challenge and rejoice. Second thing that we can rejoice in is we can rejoice in our family. Wherever we are at the Feast, we have a very unique opportunity. A very unique opportunity. In that room, we'll set a combination of people that will never occur in quite the same way again. I remember I never thought about that before. But the next year, you're never going to have all of those same people, just those people, in one room, probably ever again. Even at the point of resurrection and whatever else, I mean, to guarantee that there will be every one of those people and no one else in that spot. It's just not there. So, we will run into each other at previous feasts, or future feasts, or other church events, but all the people in this room, we will be not like this together again. Just us. Except for these eight days of the Feast. And that's an opportunity that we can't let us pass by. We can't let that opportunity pass us by. Let's go to Romans 8. Romans 8. Romans 8 and verse 14. Romans 8 and verse 14.

Romans 8 and verse 14, we see a conditional adoption. It says, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, there's the condition, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, These are sons of God. For you did not receive the Spirit of bondage again to fear, But you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children then heirs, heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, That we may also be glorified together. Brethren, we are family. We are the children of God, brothers and sisters in the faith. All around the world, during these eight days of the Feast of Tabernacles, God has called His children to the family reunion. Brethren begs the question, how well do we know our spiritual family? You know, for the time that we'll be there at the feast, human nature is so funny the way that it is. If you find a spot and you'll be in that spot for the entire Feast of Tabernacles, most likely. It's usually the way it goes. There's no assigned seating, but we just pick a spot, and that's kind of what we say. But we will have sat in the same hall with our brethren. We will have attended many of the same dining spots, the same activities. And what have we done with the time? What were our priorities? You know, we mentioned earlier the opportunities that we have. How many times at the Feast of Tabernacles will we let the opportunity pass to introduce ourselves and get to know one of our brethren? You know, we are here to celebrate the feast, but they serve a dual purpose. It's also a time to gather together as God's children. We better get to know our family. But why is it so important that we get to know each other? Hebrews 10, verse 24. Hebrews 10 and verse 24. And we'll read verse 24.

The author of Hebrews here is instructing his audiences that really assembling together is absolutely essential. And that really only through assembling together and getting to know one another can we move into a more deep spiritual relationship with one another as brethren. Hebrews 10, verse 24. Hebrews 10, 24. It says, And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.

Verse 25, Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much more as you see the day approaching. The word consider in Greek is katamu eu. And it translates to observe fully. And it's used in other locations in Scripture to describe a more deep and introspective observance. Like really looking deeply at something. Not a casual surface level observation.

This is an observation that looks beyond the surface. Looks beyond the little things. And brethren, the only way to make this happen is for us to assemble together regularly, to fellowship with one another regularly. Because you know it's really easy to judge a book by its cover. It's really easy to judge a book by its cover. And sometimes when we deal with others, you know, we do a surface level observation and we draw a conclusion about someone based on their kind of idiosyncrasies. It's really easy to say, oh, that person's generally unfriendly. But they also have a scouting curve. They're unfriendly. That person's maybe a little different, you know.

That person's self-righteous. The list goes on. We know we're not to judge, but we do it all the time. We're not to, but we do it all the time. We have to endeavor to get to know our brethren more closely. James 5 verse 16, we won't turn there for sake of time, but James 5 verse 16 encourages us to get to know each other well enough that we can confess to each other our sins and to pray fervently for each other. James tells us in James 5, 16, that as brethren, as brothers and sisters in Christ, as members of God's family, we should know each other so well that we can share with each other our struggles, our difficulties, our trials, so that we can pray for one another, encourage one another, and help one another.

And really, that's the ultimate goal in which we should be striving in our relationships. And that's really, really hard to do if we only know their name in the church area. Sometimes you don't even know their name. You just know, ah, it's from a name from, I think, from, maybe, somewhere in California. So should we immediately run up to somebody at church and just do a complete data dump of our entire life story?

You know, tell them all of our shortcomings, confess all of our sins, and just dump on them every trial that's stacked up on us over the last year? You know, the relationship isn't ready for their life yet. Not yet. Not if it's somebody new. But, you know, if you think about all of the friends that you have that you do have that kind of relationship with, that close relationship is the end result of the progression that begins with cry and then might be from say, you know, it starts with a simple introduction. Brethren, we have to get to know our family.

We have to get to know our brothers and sisters. No way we can rejoice for a family. Take the time this year, because take the time. Meet as many people as you can. Get to know people. Get to know them. Get their contact information. Talk to them in between this feast and next feast. Shoot emails back and forth, whatever. But, brethren, rejoice in your family. Rejoice in your family.

The last thing that we need to do is we need to rejoice in the blessings. We need to rejoice in the blessings. At the end of the agricultural year, just before the feast, at that point, the people of ancient Israel could look back over the year that it just passed and they could very clearly see the blessings they call it for an hour. Likewise, today, for us, if you look at the feast of tabernacles itself, we can look back on the blessings that God has given us as well through our second tithe.

We can thank God for all of these downfalls. We can thank for all of the blessings that he provided, not just monetarily, but everything. God does pour out abundant blessings on his people. And yet, as we all know, despite all of the blessings that God does provide, there are still many ways that we can follow him in his ceremonies.

Particularly in the eternal regulations 5, verse 13. Galatians 5, verse 13. I want a bit of a palm kick lately. Galatians 5, verse 13. Galatians 5, verse 13. We're going to explore passage. It deals a little bit with our responsibilities to one another, and the context is a little bit different in the passage of Galatians. But we'll draw out what we're getting at here with this one. Galatians 5, verse 13.

It says, For you, brethren, have been called to liberty. Talking about the Gentiles here, have been called to liberty. Only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, that you shall love your neighbor as yourself. We're called just in the Gentiles of the Pauls' day, we're called to freedom. They were admonished to then use that freedom in love to be serviced to the Lord. He goes on to mention that the whole law can be fulfilled in that one command, if you love your neighbor as yourself.

That by loving your neighbor properly, by doing it right, you can satisfy the requirements of the law by showing love for God and man. Now we have an opportunity to love our neighbors while we're at the feast. We can share our knowledge, we can have discussions with people, we can help to discuss different biblical things, we can show love, we can serve one another, we can fellowship together, we can share our joy.

There are many different ways and different things that we can do to show love for our brethren. But we have an opportunity to serve our brethren while we're at the feast. And as we see need in particular, as we see opportunities where we can step in, and we can help. But it requires us to look past ourselves. It requires us to look past ourselves, and I'll freely admit, I've not always done a great job of this.

In fact, Deuteronomy 16.24 contains a passage that I've used in the past to justify some pretty ridiculous purchases while I've been at the Feast of Darmax. Deuteronomy 16.24. I actually had thought about going through and trying to compile a list of the different things that I bought, and then I decided, nah, let's not do that. We don't need to get into examples of all the different random things that I purchased at the feast, using this passage as a justification.

Deuteronomy 14.26. Deuteronomy 14.26. It says, And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires, for oxen, sheep, wine, or similar drink, or whatever your heart desires, you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household. Hey! Whatever your heart desires. Let's see, like I said, I actually started to compile a list of things, and I decided against it. But, you know, we don't need examples. It was really pretty ridiculous. In the past several years, I've come to recognize God absolutely does allow you to buy whatever your heart desires. The Scripture says exactly that, doesn't it? But his question to us through this principle is, What exactly does your heart desire?

What exactly does your heart desire? Is it material things? Is it electronics? Is it jewelry? Things with which Matthew 6 mentions that moth or rust destroy or thieves break it in steel? Or are we buying up treasure in heaven and using the blessings that God had provided us to grow and go in character to love and to serve?

You know, when it comes to Kauai, my wife and I shouldn't even be going to Kauai this year. We had fully planned on being in Bend at the feast this year. We truly couldn't afford to kwai with all three of our kids. We couldn't do it. We didn't have enough second-tides to make an effort. As I mentioned before, an absolutely loving family in our church area shared their blessings with us and offered to cover the kids' airfarer where people would come. You know, that incredible blessing came out of left field. Where does their treasure lie? I can answer that question without a shadow of a doubt.

They could have spent that $1,800 on an incredible amount of material things. They could have increased the place where they stayed by, I don't know how many extra square feet, you know? Instead of driving whatever Corolla they were going to get, they could have had a charger! But they chose instead to love their brethren with their blessings and to provide an incredible gift of love to some others. You know, brethren, our dinners at the feast are less about the food and more about the conversation.

Our golf games are less about the score and more about the fellowship with our brothers and their sisters. The games and activities less about the wins and more about the people who we spend at the golf. Brethren, we can't forget that. Go to James 1, verse 27. James 1, verse 27.

James 1, verse 27. Again, one of those memory scriptures that we often hear in many different situations and settings.

James 1, verse 27 says, Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in the trouble, and to keep oneself inspired in the world. Pure and undefiled religion. To take care of the Father, listen to the widows as we have opportunity. We need to keep our eyes open while we're at the feast. We need to keep our eyes open. Not get ourselves so busy that we're rushing from this thing to that thing to this thing, but really looking for opportunities where we can serve our brethren. You know, maybe there's someone there who has, is there by themselves. Maybe their spouse is a non-believing spouse. And maybe they're there by themselves. Maybe their spouse, unfortunately, is deceased. Maybe they're one of the only people in their family who has been called, and they're on their own. And the feast can be tough for the world. Brethren, keep your eyes open and look for those opportunities to rejoice in your blessings with a mercy. If God is absolutely clear in its instructions regarding the Feast of Tabernacles, we are to rejoice. It's mentioned in various locations throughout Scripture, and it's extremely important, though, that we focus on rejoicing in an appropriate manner. That we don't consider the Feast of Tabernacles to be just this big party. But instead, we recognize the opportunity that it is. A chance to learn and grow spiritually, to serve others, and to learn to care about them. In order to do this, it's very important that we rejoice in our opportunities for growth, that we look for the lessons in every interaction, every person we meet on the street. What is the lesson it is? What can I get from this? What can I give to this person? What can I do for this person? What can I serve them? Rejoice in the family that we have, our brethren, our spiritual brothers and sisters, and get to know each other in such a way that we forge lasting friendships. And lastly, that we rejoice in our blessings, that we look for opportunities to serve others as our feast progresses. I pray you all have a rewarding and spiritually enriching feast.