Finish Strong

Appreciate it. Brethren, in a couple of weeks, students from all around the state are going to be closing one chapter and starting the next. Am I referring to the Grapes of Wrath or the Catcher in the Rye? No, they don't read the classics anymore. Am I talking about graduation? No, that's still several months away. We're not talking about chapters of the Honor Society or the future business leaders of America either. No, in two weeks, beginning February 3rd this year, first semester closes and second semester begins.

Schools in Oregon and around the country, many of you may or may not be aware of this, are organized into two 18-week semesters. Inside of that 18-week period, there are like three six-week periods for progress check-ins. Every six weeks, you check back in on the child's progress to get at least a checkpoint as to where that kid is at and where that kid is trending before the grade reports out as final at the close of the 18 weeks.

So in two weeks, those grades are going to be final! Whoo! Which usually means, at least when I was in the classroom, a flurry of makeup work, requests for extra credit, is there anything I can do to fix my grade, wondering how to undo 16 weeks of not doing the work in two weeks, and other wailing and gnashing of teeth, which was pretty common. Admittedly, it's not a piece that I particularly miss about education.

That couple of weeks right before the end of semester and that couple of weeks right before the end of the year were just never fun, you know, as kids are scrambling to try to fix things. But at the semester swap, what typically happens is classes, you have a number of classes that change.

Those that are electives, some semester-long classes, those remain the same, but most of those core classes kind of continue on as the rest of the year goes on. But you may have some electives that change out at the semester swap, but most of the time your core classes continue for the entire year. When I taught for the majority of my career, I taught year-long core classes. So I taught biology, I taught physics, I taught integrated science, but I taught a handful of electives, botany, zoology, ecology, and some college prep courses as well.

So for my classes, some of them I got a full swap. So occasionally, I would get a brand new batch of kids and 36 brand new kids in that next semester that I'd never had before. But for most of my classes, the vast majority actually, I had the same group of kids, minus a few that would need to be shifted around or into different class periods to accommodate their schedule. But what that meant was the majority of your kids remain the same, and you had 18 weeks' worth of relationship built, you had 18 weeks' worth of rapport built, but every now and again, the way that the mix would end up happening as a result of kids' schedules changing, you may have disciplinary issues that come up as a result.

There are some kids that just cannot be near each other. You're familiar with the concepts of matter and antimatter. Some kids are matter, and some kids are antimatter. And when they get close to each other, destruction ensues. Rarely is it their own destruction. Usually, it's the destruction of my last nerve. But every now and again, those challenges do take place as kids get moved from one class to the next. But because that 18-week grade reports out a final grade for first semester, each student begins the second semester with a blank slate.

They all start with A's. They all start with 100%. And then the choices that they make, the work that they undergo, what they choose to turn in or not choose to turn in determines where they will sort out 18 weeks later. As a result, it provided an excellent spot for me as a teacher to stop and to assess how things were going. I need to check in with those kids, determine next steps for them to be able to plan to be even more successful in the coming 18 weeks.

One of the things that I used to do with my students at the beginning of second semester was before we even started doing anything content-related, before we even started touching anything science-related, was to stop, to pause, and to reflect on the prior 18 weeks. To start thinking about what went well, what needed to be changed. To consider their level of success in the prior 18 weeks, and to be honest and open and transparent about what may have gotten in the way of their success.

We took the time to celebrate the things that went well, and to make plans for the things that didn't. The goal of the course being that they identify those obstacles and come up with tangible plans to be successful going forward, so that they would learn that content, so that they would be able to understand those things.

What do you think was the primary thing that students, not me, students concluded, got in the way of their success? I'll give you a second just to think about it. What do you think was the number one thing that students responded got in the way of their success when given the opportunity to consider it for themselves? The number one response. The number one response.

Well over half of the responses each year that I got back from students year after year 15 years of education doing this year after year was I slacked off too much. Or some iteration of I slacked off too much. That may have sounded like I talked too much with my friends and didn't do my work.

I procrastinated too much, etc, etc, etc. What was amazing to me, what was really amazing to me, I didn't have to tell them. I didn't have to tell them that that was exactly what happened. Given the opportunity, they realized and connected and understood exactly what got in the way of their success. And they admitted that letting the foot off the gas pedal somewhere in that prior 18 weeks impacted their success.

Some even admitted that I never really got the car in the gear in the first place. Some said I'm not even 100% sure this car ever went into first in the past 18 weeks. But of course the goal was to get them to say it with their own mouths, for them to realize and to come up with tangible strategies, to come up with ways to prevent it from recurring again in the coming 18 weeks.

Now I wish I could tell you that all of the students that I worked with turned it around and got it done. They didn't. I wish I could tell you they did. They didn't. But the goals that they set, what we would do every six weeks, I hung on to them and I passed them back out six weeks later and I said this is what you said you were going to do this six weeks.

Right here. These things. And I'd collect them again. Six weeks later they'd come right back out. This is what you said. You told yourself you were going to do in order to achieve success this year and they would evaluate whether or not they were doing it or not. And some made the improvements, others didn't. You know many of you are many years out of school. Some of you are still in the thick of it. Regardless of your enrollment in a public institution of education, private institution, homeschooled, whether you're primary, secondary, post-secondary, whether you're long graduated, well into your career, or even retired, all of us are students.

Every last one of us are students. We are students. We are disciples of Jesus Christ. We are students of His. We're students of the teachings that He has given us. And so you might say that we're enrolled in His class, so to speak.

We're learning to live His way of life. We're learning to and working to become more like Him, to put on His character. And His classes consist of formal classroom education. We're sitting in formal classroom education right now. We have the Sabbath. We have the Holy Days.

We have times when we come together. We have Bible studies. We have things that are formalized classroom, so to speak, education. We have personal study opportunities, right? We have times when we sit down and we crack open our textbook on our own, and we read and we learn. We have times where we're out in the world around us in a practicum, and we're living this way of life.

We're going through what it looks like to be a part of this process. The course that we're enrolled in is a course that lasts a lifetime. This is a lifelong course. It's not 18 weeks. It's not 36 weeks.

It's a lifetime course. And as God works with us, as we grow in our understanding and as we reach a point where we desire to commit to Him in baptism, we willingly put our hands to the plow and we begin the process of allowing ourselves to be shaped by the potter. We, as the clay, submit ourselves to God to shape us in the way that He would shape us. And all of us are in different places. Some of us are new to the relationship with God. Others have reached that point of entering into the covenant, working on growing that relationship further, while others have been living this way of life and been baptized for many, many years. And regardless of what stage you find yourself in, regardless of the length of time that you've been in that covenant relationship, I have a question that I want to ask all of you today to set the stage for where we're going. There's a passage found in the book of Ecclesiastes. Admittedly, it was not one of my favorites when I was younger. It was often used to remind me that I wasn't doing everything that I should be doing in whatever context it was. And usually they were right. If I'm being honest, usually they were right. Ecclesiastes 9, verse 10. Ecclesiastes 9 and verse 10. Some of your parents may have used this as well. Some of your parents may have come across this particular passage and utilized it in their training up of you. Ecclesiastes 9 and verse 10 reads as follows. It says, Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might. Do it with your might. He says, For there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going. And so Solomon writes, verse 10, he connects it with a very temporary nature of life. He orders the reader to ensure that whatever they find to do, whatever it is, whether it's your vocation, whether it's your hobby, whether it's, you know, your family, whatever that thing might be, that you do it with all of your might. And why? Why is that? Why did Solomon write it in this way?

He said, Because there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where we are headed. In other words, your time is limited. Your time is limited. There's only so long, there's only so much opportunity for you to do what your hand has found to do.

And so Solomon concludes, you might as well do it right. Do it well. He goes on in verse 11, and it's a connected thought. Ecclesiastes 9 verse 11, he says, I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill.

But he concludes, time and chance happen to them all. For man also does not know his time, like fish taken in a cruel net, like birds caught in a snare. So the sons of men are snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly upon them. So he includes, as he connects here to verse 10, this idea that time and chance happen to all of us. We're not guaranteed a long life.

Would be wonderful if we were. We're not guaranteed a long life, which makes the point that he makes in verse 10 even more imperative. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might.

Brethren, the question I have for you today is, are we living our spiritual life with all of our might? Are we living it with all of our might? Or have we perhaps let off the gas a little bit?

Allowed distraction to prevent us from being able to focus on what it is that we need to focus on. And again, all of us are in different places. All of us are in different stages of life, in different places in that baptismal covenant, in different places in that relationship with God. But if you were to look back over the past, let's say year, let's say year, and really objectively answer the question, where would you say you are? And is it where you want to be? Is it where you want to be?

You know, every year as teachers, we try to encourage our students in our classrooms to work hard, to set goals, and to finish strong. If they found mid-semester at that semester break that they weren't where they were at, that for whatever reason they weren't where they were at, we encourage them to make a plan to get where they wanted to be by the end of those 18 weeks.

So I'd like to encourage you today as we go through this sermon to do the same.

No matter where you are in your journey, we can all finish strong.

I'm hoping this will push forward into a coming year that is filled with spiritual growth and learning. I hope it'll push into increased friendships in the faith, a deeper commitment, resolve to our God. The title of the message today is, Finish Strong.

With the time that we have left, I'd like to take a look at five brief points that hopefully will help to make this point make sense, help to increase our spiritual kinetic energy a bit as we go into the coming spring part of our year. The points that we'll explore today are going to be things that come right out of the advice that most teachers give their students the first week of second semester. And that is as follows. Point number one, come to class and actively learn. Come to class and actively learn. Number two, complete your homework. Complete your homework. Number three, ask questions.

Number four, explore and try new things. And then lastly, number five, commit to reaching out to others. Commit to reaching out and building relationships with others. So these five things, coming to class, actively listening, completing your homework, asking questions, exploring and trying new things, and committing and reaching out to others are the five points that we'll take a look at today. The first of that is come to class and actively learn. Many of you may remember, I believe it was the 90s, may have even been the 80s. This is going back a long time. There was a series of commercials on television and the tagline for that series of commercials was, if you miss school, you what? Do you remember? You miss out. Said if you miss school, you miss... that maybe was not as good of an ad campaign as it could have been. There weren't a lot of people that picked that one up. I get old Pepsi commercial and we'd be like, oh yeah, that was... that's what the old commercials used to say at least. And the principle on at least face value is accurate. One of the biggest issues we battled at the middle school that I taught at as I finished out my career was attendance. It was one of the biggest issues that we fought and all the instructional deficiencies that came from those absences. I had some students in my class that had attendance rates that orbited in the 40 percent range. 40 percent. Which means they were only present four out of every 10 days.

Four out of every 10 days. They missed at least three days of school a week. Okay, just to give you perspective. When you're only there every couple of days, there's no way that you can get caught up with what the class is working on because you're just gone so regularly. So much of what we taught built on what came before. So much of it built on different things that were taught the day before. Those students were at a severe disadvantage. And while our formal education is not exactly the same, it's similar. It is similar. We assemble before God. We assemble before God to learn. We come before Him to learn. We come before Him to be instructed. We come before Him to understand more about His Word, more about His way. We come before Him to partake of spiritual food that was prepared for us. We come before Him to learn together, to discuss together, to allow one another to sharpen each other after services. Hopefully we discuss the messages. Hopefully we're not complaining about them. Hopefully we're discussing the messages and what we've been, or possibly even what we've been studying this week. I walked by a conversation today that was talking about some of what that individual had been studying that week. So in that regard, if we miss school, so to speak, we miss out. We miss out on an opportunity to be able to grow spiritually. We miss out on an opportunity to sharpen one another. Sabbath and the Holy Days, we recognize, are commanded assemblies. They are commanded assemblies. It isn't about what we get out of the Sabbath, per se. It isn't about what we get out of the Holy Days based on our perceptions.

It is about what God requires of us. It is about what God has told us to do as His children.

In Leviticus 23, these days, the weekly Sabbath, the annual Sabbath, are listed as sacred assemblies. You can turn over there if you would like. You know, we're not going to necessarily head over there, but in Leviticus 23, that's how we see these particular days described. We see them described as sacred assemblies. Convocations that are holy, that are set apart. Days that were set apart and declared to be an assembly for the entirety of the host of Israel. And so brethren, in that sense, similar to the state of Oregon, our attendance is mandatory. This is compulsory education in that sense, the way that God has set this up for His people. And in Leviticus 23, we see those days outlined. We see those formal class days outlined. We see the weekly Sabbath. We see the annual Sabbaths. We see these times that God has put together. In the book of Zechariah, if you want to turn over there, we'll actually see as an example of how seriously God takes our attendance. How seriously does God take our attendance? Book of Zechariah.

Zechariah 14 will pick up the account in verse 16. We see an example here of the millennium. We see a prophetic statement that regards the millennium and the nations that remain at this time.

Zechariah 14, and we'll pick up the account in verse 16. Zechariah 14 and verse 16.

Zechariah 14 and verse 16 says, it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the king. Boy, we look forward to that time when these days are universal. When these days are understood by all. It says they come up from year to year to worship the king, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, verse 17, of all the families of the earth that do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the king, the Lord of hosts. On them there will be no rain. If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain. It says they shall receive the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the feast of tabernacles. God places a mandate on our attendance. God places a mandate on our attendance. He places a mandate on our participation in that sense. Not just showing up, so to speak, but participating in the process of fellowship and growth.

With all of that said, I want to be very clear, with all of that said, God knows our ailments.

God understands our health issues. He knows when we're ill. He understands when we're dealing and struggling with chronic health challenges and we're unable to attend. But brethren, the inverse of that is also true. He also understands when we're phoning it in.

Sometimes it just becomes easier to stay home. Sometimes it becomes easier than getting up and going physically to make it to services because it's tough to overcome spiritual inertia.

Spiritual inertia is hard to overcome sometimes. But it's times like that that we need to remember God's mandate for us. We need to remember that God desires His children to gather before Him on these Sabbath days, whether weekly or annual. It's also equally important while we're here that we're actively listening. So statistics have shown that people generally only remember about one-sixth to one-fourth of what they hear, which means in this 50-minute message you're going to remember about 12 minutes of it. Probably the story that I started with, you may not remember the point. It's usually the way it seems to go. So active listening. Active listening. Active listening involves more than just hearing what is said. We've been talking actually quite a bit about active listening with regards to our communication studies we've been going through, which we'll have the final of that today after services. But it involves a lot more than just hearing what is said. It involves verbal and nonverbal cues to process what is being said. It provides feedback to the speaker. It shows eye contact, perhaps, nodding that you're avoiding distractions.

It searches for connections between new knowledge and past knowledge. It draws inferences. It asks follow-up questions if it's needed. Sometimes it discusses those things with others, what they've heard and what they've thought. It's been shown time and time again in studies. People who actively listen retain more, and they are more invested in what they hear than those who do not.

And so if we're distracted in the process, which I know for families that is so hard. I know that's so tough. It's a season of life that is just an incredible difficulty to be able to get. I know sometimes you're so excited when you can get through a message. Right? I mean, that's just the big goal, right? But for us to be able to connect, for us to be able to grow in the way that God has called us to grow, we need to be able to actively listen, to be able to do what we can to be in class and to actively learn. We mentioned earlier only part of our education is formal. Sabbath and the holy days are times that we come together as a congregation. We come together before God to learn His way, but much of the rest of our education is on our own. We go through practicum at times in life, and so much of this way of life, much of the instruction that we receive is homework. Much of what we learn and what we receive is homework. When I was teaching, I remember homework was one of the things that I assigned but was rarely completed. In fact, if I had to estimate a percentage, I would say that less than 20 percent of the students that had assigned homework to them actually completed them. Let's say that was probably 20 percent, roughly, that actually completed them and turned them in. As you might imagine, students that took the time to do their homework excelled.

Those that actually took the time to be familiar with the material, that took the time to consider questions that would come with questions, would excel. Those that didn't complete homework didn't do as well. They struggled, and there were always exceptions to that. There was always one kid who would do no work whatsoever but would just knew the answers all the time. There's always one, at least one, in every class it seems like. But as a general rule for most students, completing their homework resulted in a better understanding and a better prepared student.

Now, our homework in this formal education, in this analogy that we're building here, are things like regular prayer, Bible study, meditation, fasting, these spiritual power tools that we sometimes talk about, these things that God instructs us to be in, building that relationship with God, strengthening with Him and with other believers. If you turn over to 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy, we'll pick it up in 2 Timothy 2 and verse 15.

2 Timothy 2 and verse 15.

2 Timothy 2 and verse 15 says, Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. King James' version of this passage, you may have a King James in your lap, the King James version of this passage uses the word study instead of the word diligent. Study to show yourself approved is what it says in the King James. The Greek word is spelaso. The Greek word is spelaso. It's translated eagerly or with speed, and that word is translated throughout Scripture as endeavor, to study, to be diligent, and to labor.

What the imperative here is, what God is saying through these words He inspired Paul to write to Timothy, is that we are to labor, we're to study, we're to endeavor, to be diligent, to provide ourselves or present ourselves proven to God. That word proven is dokimasu, which is the idea of being tested, being tried, and being shown to be rightly dividing, rightly dissecting, or expounding on that word of truth. And brethren, we can't do these things if we don't know them well.

Colossians 3 and verse 16 admonishes us to let the word of Christ dwell richly in each of us, to let the word of Christ dwell richly in us, that we might teach, we might admonish one another with all wisdom. Where does that wisdom come from? It comes from God through His Word, it comes through His Spirit, it comes through our laboring in the word that God has given us, it comes from cracking open the textbook and ensuring that we're reading it, ensuring that we're living it, ensuring that we're talking over it with others, ensuring that we're doing all of those things so that we are prepared ultimately when we do come before God in a formal classroom setting. One of the other things that teachers often will encourage their students to do is ask questions often and regularly. Often in a school setting, students don't want to ask questions because they're generally afraid that the other students might not think that they don't know what everybody else knows. I don't know if any of you ever felt that. Sometimes they'll say, anybody have any questions? You're like, I have a question, but I'm not gonna ask everybody.

I'm just gonna figure it out on my own. Sometimes that does happen. The reality is, how else do you learn? How else do you learn? Unless you ask questions. You know, there's times that we labor in the Word of God. We come across things maybe we don't understand, and we need to talk it over with others. Maybe we come across things we've read over dozens of times and we've never noticed. I'll give an example. You know, we went through and have been doing this chronological Bible read-through for a number of years now. And you know, I don't know about you guys, but December 31st turns the corner in January 1st starts and flip back to Genesis 1, you know, and start the process over again. But I remember going through that a number of years ago and getting to the section in 2nd Kings 8 where Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria, fell ill and sent Hazael to Elisha to go and find out whether he would recover. And Elisha tells Hazael, yes, yes, he will, but that Hazael is ultimately going to become king. At that time, it was probably my fourth time through that chronological read-through. And I've read that passage in different times and in different settings before that as well. But I hadn't noticed in all of those times reading through it that Elisha wept in that sequence. I never noticed it. It jumped out at me for whatever reason in that section that time. It's clearly stated. It's clearly present. I don't know why it jumped out at me when it did, but it did. I'd never noticed that before. Elisha is given envision that Hazael would become king, and when he became king he would do horrible things to Israel. And Elisha wept because he knew what Hazael was going to do. And instead of, you know, saying, no, God, I refuse, he honored the burden that God gave him despite, you know, ultimately Hazael becoming king.

There's things we don't notice sometimes. There's things we read through at times we don't understand.

We have to be willing to admit when we don't know the answer to something.

I don't know is a perfectly acceptable answer when it comes to Scripture. And hopefully we can find those answers. We can find those questions that we need to be able to seek and ask. You know, there is scriptural precedent for asking these kinds of questions. The congregations wrote to Paul and asked Paul questions. You know, they would write to Paul and say, Paul, what do you think about this? You know, they see examples of that. Paul and Barnabas brought questions to the council in Jerusalem. Paul and Barnabas came and they said, look, we got a question about this. Here's what's taking place. What do you guys think? Sometimes things aren't perfectly clear. Sometimes things require discussion. And sometimes even after being perfectly clear and requiring a discussion, sometimes it requires a judgment to be made. And sometimes it requires a judgment to be determined.

Turn to 1 Corinthians 13. Part of that is because of the way that we see Scripture. 1 Corinthians 13.

1 Corinthians 13 and verse 12. Paul wrote about this, wrote about the challenges that come with this.

1 Corinthians 13 and verse 12. Paul writes, he says, for now we see in a mirror dimly.

Says, but then face to face, now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

He recognized, Paul understood, that there are some things in Scripture that we see through a glass dimly. We don't have the perfect picture. We don't have the crisp, you know, zyse optics that are out there today that provide like, you know, the perfect clear image of something 1500 million miles away. Right? Sometimes we see through a glass dimly. The mirrors of the ancient world that this would have been referencing were polished metal. They would take in polished metal. You've, I don't know if you've seen people that have done this to their cyber trucks. They take these new cyber trucks and they polish them so they look like a mirror. But the trick is, it's not a perfect mirror in the sense of the reflection. The reflection is always a little bit distorted.

It's always a little bit distorted. And so you look at these things and you see the distorted image sometimes. You look at it, you do the best you can to make it out, but it's not as clear as it can be, but it will be when the time is fulfilled and when the answers are provided. And so we know in part now, and we know that we will know later in full at a later time.

Asking questions is not a bad thing. It's the spirit of how the question is asked that makes a difference. Are you asking in a spirit of malleability and teachability? Or is it with a slightly different attitude? Questions are not an illustration of a lack of faith.

They're not a lack of faith. In fact, questioning is a demonstration of a level of spiritual maturity and humility to admit that you're not certain about something. Ask questions.

If you're not certain about something, ask questions. We can go at that mindset to be able to finish strong. The other thing teachers encourage students to do is to try new things.

You might have noticed humans are creatures of habit. We park in the same place. We sit in the same place. We talk to the same people. We spend time in the same groups. We prefer to remain in our comfort zone. What we prefer to do is stay in that nice little warm nest that we've created, that we have control. There's nothing that happens in our little comfort zone that can jolt us out of it. But brethren, as we've said numerous times before, God does His most critical work outside of our comfort zone. God works outside of our comfort zone. We have to step out in faith and trust that He has our back. Let's turn over to Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11. We'll pick it up in verse 8. Hebrews 11 and verse 8. We see the example of God calling Abraham. Hebrews 11 and verse 8. And this is the recounting of this particular event. Hebrews 11 and verse 8. It says, by faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place where he would receive as an inheritance. I want you to notice this next set of words. And he went out not knowing where he was going. He went out not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise, as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise.

He traded buildings for tents. He traded certainty for uncertainty. Known for unknown.

Genesis 12 records God's words to Abraham. Genesis 12 records God's words to Abraham. God says, Get out of your country. Leave your family. Walk away from your father's house.

In other words, to Abraham, God said, Leave everything you've ever known. No more nest.

You don't have a nest anymore except for me. God became Abraham's nest.

God became where Abraham would need to find his comfort, where he would need to place his trust.

And through his faith and his obedience, Abraham grew spiritually. But that growth had to happen outside of Abraham's comfort zone. If he could rely on his father's house, if he could rely on his family or on his countrymen, he didn't need to rely on God. And so Abraham grew incredibly outside of his comfort zone. Now, for us, it does not need to be this drastic. Okay? It does not need to be this drastic. Sometimes all we need to do to be a little bit more successful spiritually is to break out of our rut. Talk to someone new. Volunteer to help out with a different activity or a different responsibility. Sit somewhere else. That's not an order. I'm just saying that's an option. Go visit with someone who's shut in and can't attend services. Make and send a card to somebody that you haven't talked to in some time. Write a letter to your pen pal. Go help out at a work party. Go help out at someone's home. Make dinners for somebody who needs it. There's a lot of options. A lot of options available. Sometimes we just need the nudge to break out of our rut. We just need the nudge to break out of what is comfortable, to do something different, something maybe we haven't done before or possibly we haven't done in a while. Think back over the past year. Let's just use a year because the last 18 weeks is hard to remember where that even started. September-ish. Think over the last year. Has that been spent with the same people?

Consistently, has it been the same people? Has your routine essentially been the same every Sabbath?

Talk to the same folks? Sit in the same places? Show up at the same time? Leave at the same time?

Have you endeavored to attend the events that the congregation puts on?

Mix it up. Try something new. Might be just what you need to regain some needed spiritual energy to be able to finish strong. Lastly, final point today, and honestly it kind of goes together with the previous point. But basically this last point of reaching out to others is really the idea that you're looking out less for yourself and what you can gain from the interaction and considering more of what the other person can gain from your interaction.

You know, we have been blessed over the past couple of years with new members. People who have heard about this church in some way or another and they've desired to come and to check it out, they craved a connection with others who believe the same way that they do. And that's awesome. It's so wonderful. It's really made me have to kind of change the way that I think about when I present material because I can't just assume that everybody knows what I'm talking about all the time.

You know, it's a beautiful thing and I absolutely love it. But even for those of us that are been on this journey for some time, you know, those that are just starting out on their journey, even those that have been on this journey for some time, that connection with others of the faith is important. And I think sometimes if we're not careful, we can take it for granted.

I think sometimes we can even reach a point where we may be resented a little bit. The importance of connecting with other believers can't be overstated. It can't be something that we ignore. 2 Timothy 4, I want you to see the Apostle Paul's word just a little bit over from where we are here in Hebrews. 2 Timothy 4, the Apostle Paul describes his feelings in his confinement. Okay, we reached the point the Apostle Paul at this point, he has been imprisoned for a time.

You know, he's kind of a somewhat cushy imprisonment in a way. It was more like house arrest. But at the same time, he was imprisoned. He was not allowed to, you know, perfectly come and go as he would have wished. But in 2 Timothy 4, we see kind of his feelings in this confinement. He's nearing the end of his life. The Apostle Paul realizes that he's nearing the end of his life. He's imprisoned in Rome, where ultimately we believe he wrote this epistle. Not long after writing this, he would be put to death by Nero. And so he knows that his time is up. He writes a final letter to Timothy, and he writes that final letter to Timothy in hopes of seeing him again before he is killed.

He writes in verse 6, 2 Timothy 4 and verse 6. He says, for I am already being poured out as a drink offering. The time of my departure is at hand. I fought the good fight. I finished the race. I've kept the faith. Finally there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day, and not to me only, but also to all who have loved his appearing.

And he says to Timothy, he says, be diligent to come to me quickly. Notice what he says in verse 10. For Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world and has departed for Thessalonica, crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry.

Paul tells Timothy, be diligent to come to me quickly. He says, get here soon. Get here soon. He says, Demas has forsaken me. He's turned to the world. Crescens has gone to Galatia. Titus is to Dalmatia. Only Luke remains here with me. Luke was the one who chronicled their journey in the book of Acts. But Paul desired that connection with like minds.

He desired that opportunity to connect with like minds. You know, when you live in such dichotomy to the world and its ways, you know, imagine Paul in Rome, right? That dichotomy between the way of God and Rome, it can feel very isolating when you don't have others.

It can be very isolating when you don't have others. You know, one of the things the brethren in Ghana have shared with Mr. Moody and I over the years is how isolated and how lonely they feel in their country. There are only a few hundred Ghanaian brethren nationwide.

They're spread out among nine congregations. There isn't reliable or affordable transportation. And so young people, those that are, you know, looking for spouses, looking to begin families, looking to connect in that sense, they only get to see each other two times a year. They see each other at the feast or they see each other during camp. That's it.

Two times a year. Even though some of them only live an hour from each other, the funds aren't there to be able to transport, to go and see other people. And this condition, as I've traveled, is replicated in Nigeria. It's replicated in South Africa. They have consistently expressed over and over and over and over again how appreciative they are that anyone would come and see them.

They're so appreciative that anyone would come and see them, that someone would travel 7,500 miles to come and visit, to be with them, to acknowledge their existence. They've expressed repeatedly how much that means to them.

Loneliness and isolation can be that much of an issue, just the same as it is there here.

Except that we have the ability of mitigating it. We have the ability of mitigating it sometimes.

This way of life is relational. This way of life that God has called us to is relational. It requires connection. It requires us to spend time with other believers. It requires us to share our faith, to get to know one another so that we can encourage one another as time gets short. Brethren, take the opportunity to reach out. Take the opportunity to reach out and to connect. Don't make somebody else do it. Don't make somebody else do it. You be the one to reach out. You be the one to connect. All of these things that we've looked at today have a synergistic effect.

Rather than focus on just one of them, all of them, when worked together in combination, have a significant effect. Regular attendance on the Sabbath and the Holy Days helps us to learn more about God's way. It helps us to connect and build relationships with brethren because we have opportunities to interact with one another more frequently. Not only that, it can help us identify those who are in need of reaching out. Help us to identify those who might need us to reach out.

Diligent in our own prayer, in our own study, in our own meditation and fasting helps us in a better mindset of what God has provided us. It helps us to focus outward as opposed to inward.

It enables us to reach out to others. It enables us to build stronger friendships, relationships.

You know, asking questions can lead to increased Bible study, prayer, further connection with our brethren. The whole thing, the entire thing is a package. It's a whole package, all of them working synergistically with one another, strengthening one another as these things are combined. So brethren, how are we doing? How are we doing as this second semester begins and we have the opportunity for a blank slate? We have an opportunity to look back over where we are and where we want to go. Are we living this way of life with all of our might? Are we doing everything in our power to build in these ways? Or is there room for improvement? Now, frequently there's always room for improvement, but is there room for improvement? Good news is it's not too late. It's not too late. Blank slate! What can we commit to in the coming year? What can we commit to in the next little bit to be able to increase that spiritual growth as this second semester begins? Let's work. Let's do what we can and do our level best to finish strong.