God, People, and Food at the Feast of Tabernacles

If you're trying to enjoy summer for every minute that you have, you better get on it, because it's coming to an end. But I'm always conflicted, again, because I do enjoy summer, but I also love God's plan and His holy days, which come every fall. And that's the season that we're in, and it's a time to be uplifted, it's a time to rejoice, and a time to reflect back onto God's wonderful promises that He asks for not only us, His children, His saints, but also for all of humanity. Every year we highlight Leviticus 23 in verse 2, where God says, Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, The Feast of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are my feasts. They don't belong to us. They don't belong to any church. They don't belong to any group of people. They belong to God. These are His individual holy days and His feasts that He invites us to and wants us to be at because of what they hold. But these are His feasts, and they are holy, and they are special.

And this past week, a week ago, we celebrated the first of these fall feast days with the Feast of Trumpets, picturing the glorious return of our Savior and soon-coming King, and along with the resurrection of the saints. And this coming week, in just two days, we'll celebrate the Day of Atonement, which pictures the banishment and captivity of Satan and having him put away and also allowing the world to be reconciled with God, to be at one, to begin to build this relationship that He's always wanted with humanity. And just a week from today, we'll begin the Feast of Tabernacles, which still, I can't believe I'm saying that, a week from today, but it's here.

I hope you've got your plans and everything ready. But again, that feast picturing the millennial reign of our Savior, teaching the world and all of society and everyone who is alive at that time, the way to go to live life, a better time, better government, better healthcare systems, better food sources, all these things that'll be better. None of it will be lesser. None of it will let us down. It's not like a politician who runs on making the world or the state or the county or the city better, right? They never say we're going to run on something and make it worse, right? They're always talking about how much greater it's going to be, and then we're let down time and time again because mankind, we can't rule ourselves and we're consistently let down by ourselves. But Jesus Christ will not let down anyone. He won't let down the world. He will not let down societies and populations of people. He will establish a better way, and He's inviting us, the firstfruits, to serve alongside of Him, to teach the world this new way of life. And then at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles comes another Holy Day, the eighth day, or historically what we've referred to as the last great day, picturing the resurrection of all who have ever lived, to have an opportunity to know God and to learn His ways. And what an amazing plan that God has. It's a beautiful plan.

It's a perfect plan. It's ones that we're in the midst of right now celebrating, and it's a time where we should reflect and move our mindset continually back onto this plan. That's why God inspires us pastors to share meat and do season, food and do season, to share messaging appropriate for the season. And I want to dive into an aspect to help us keep in mind as we go into these Holy Days, again, as we're in the midst, but as we get specifically to the Feast of Tabernacles and the meaning of that day, and to focus in on some aspects that I hope we can take with us to the Feast and reflect on. So I'm going to first, in the first half of this message, share three components that we can reflect on during the season. And then about midway through, I'll pivot to some personal, personal reflections maybe we can have as we approach these days. But right now, I want to focus on God, people, and this one's going to sound strange, and food. God, people, and food. I've heard it said before that regardless of where we observe the Feast of Tabernacles, these three components are part of what God has baked into his Holy Day season and the Feast of Tabernacles. We will gather to celebrate and to worship our God at the place where he chooses.

We will bring our focus in on his word and on his hope and his truth of what he plans to do and what his Son is going to come to establish on this earth. We'll also spend a lot of time together, I hope, whether it's in person or whether it's from sending notes or emails or making phone calls.

I hope that there'll be a connection between us, a connection among us online, and maybe some who will not be able to travel to the Feast, that we will have touchpoints with one another at the different locations or online or through phone calls or cards. There's because God has called his people together to celebrate these days. And thirdly, as I mentioned, food is prominently mentioned in the Scriptures, which is kind of a different aspect that we don't always reflect on.

We talk about the spiritual food, of course, right? The messages that will receive the Word of God that will be expounded during the Feast. But there's a physical aspect of food that I want to cover in a little bit and to reflect on, because wherever we're at this year, these three components, I hope, will be part of our Feast of Tabernacles. Again, I recognize, as I do every year, not everybody's going to be able to travel away from home. Some will have to physically keep these days at home doing the best they can to tie into a message or to listen to something online.

But also, I encourage everybody, regardless of where you'll be this year, to not to take this message to heart, because I believe all of these components and what I'll share towards the end of the message can apply regardless of where we're at. Now, will some of us have to be a little bit more creative or put out maybe a different effort to do that? Of course. But these elements can be part of our Feast site, regardless of where we're at, if we make a concerted effort to focus on the season that we're in. So, let's consider these three aspects of God, people, and food, beginning with God. We've already read and referred to in Leviticus 23, the Feast of Tabernacles as God's Feast. God is the one who created his Holy Days. He's the one who owns it. He's the one that puts commands and instructions around it. He's the one that puts meaning behind it, and obviously, this is his feast. And so, if we recognize this, then what does God expect of us? Let's turn to Deuteronomy 10 and verse 12. The passage I'm about to read is not one that we would traditionally historically connect to the Feast, but the meaning of what's captured here and the focus of what God is instructing his people to have are definitely aspects that we can draw from and apply toward our observance of his Holy Days. So, this is his message to the Israelites prior to coming into the Promised Land and receiving everything that God wanted them to receive. And notice what he says here in Deuteronomy 10 and verse 12. He says, and now Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all of his ways, and to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord in his statutes which I command you today for your good. So, baked into what we just read are the observance of God's Holy Days. This is part of his instruction, part of his expectation, and so we will observe these days. He goes on to say in verse 14, Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, also the earth, and all that is in it. The Lord delighted only in your fathers to love them, and he chose their descendants after them, you above all people as it is this day.

Verse 17, it says, For the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. God is supreme. There's no question in that. We know that, and so that's why above everything else our focus, this Feast of Tabernacles, has to be on him, has to be on his word, has to be on his promises, and what he expects of us to do as we glorify his name and lift him on high. He goes on to say in verse 18, He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow. We'll talk about that at the Feast. He loves a stranger.

We'll talk about that at the Feast. Giving him food and clothing. We'll talk about the fixes that Jesus Christ will bring to this earth at the Feast. Therefore, he says to Israel, Love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the Lord your God, you shall serve him, and to him you shall hold fast, and take oath in his name. He is your praise, and he is your God who has done for you these great and awesome things which your eyes have seen.

So again, not a passage we traditionally connect to the Holy Days, but one I think you can see reflects directly on the heart that we're to have and the focus that we are to have as we enter these days. We are tremendously blessed. There's no question about it. To be alive at this point in time, to have God's Word, to have the Gospel accounts and the Paul's writings and John and Peter's writings. We are so blessed as a nation to have abundance in a lot of ways. We're not, it's not perfect, right? There's problems. This nation will never be perfect, no, unlike any other nation will never be perfect. But God has blessed his nation here, and we have food, we have clothing, we have jobs, we have a lot of things going for us, and God has looked after us in this nation as his people, and we have been given so much both physically and spiritually. On the spiritual side, we have had our mind open to his Word and to understand his truth, and we have had that miracle performed to be able to read through Scripture and understand things that previously we were blinded to at one point in our lives. And then we see this plan that he has that gives us hope and gives us a focus on how we lead our lives, the direction we go, and knowing that God has our back. He is our provider, he is our supporter, he's our encourager, and he goes before us to blaze a path in a world that is going different directions. It's, as we see referred to many times, there's darkness over the earth, there's confusion. People are stumbling about not having a clear path to walk, and so if we look at a lot of people's lives, they're going all over the place in chaos, and yet God serves his Son being that light to the world and our vision being on him, we have a straight path that we can walk, and we have a straight way that we can go. And so we are so blessed to have a God that we can worship at this time of the year, continually around the year, but even with a different focus as he helps us to remember his plan and the purpose that he has for mankind at this time of the year. When we recognize all of these things, we can't help but see how small we really are. We realize this, and we realize our need and our dependence on God. We will feel that personally in two days when we stop drinking and stop eating food for 24 hours. We will feel how weak we get, how quickly we become weak, how quickly our bodies start needing sustenance in order to continue to thrive and to live. We'll talk about that on our dependence on God when we gather here in just a couple days. Obviously, all of these things I shared, it should change our focus, it should change our mindset and our attitudes towards God, and draw us nearer to Him as we seek out His will for our lives more fully. So we will come before God's presence to observe His feast days as He commands. We will honor Him with our presence and with our obedience. We will honor Him with our hearts as we consider the significance of these days and what He wants us to take from the messaging and apply spiritually to our lives.

We will remember to pray and ask Him to continually lead us and stay connected with Him. We will ask Him to lead our days and help us on our journey with Him in the direction He wants us to go, and that He will take our journey with Him and that He will encourage us in the ways that He does, and He will be involved in our lives in the way that He is so that we can remember Him and we can reflect on Him. These are all the ways that we can put God first and remember the importance that He plays in our Feast of Tabernacles in these Holy Days. If you use the analogy of a wheel with spokes and a hub in the middle, He is that center hub. Everything else we do are the spokes that go out from that, and when we have that focus, everything remains good and balanced in our lives.

So this Feast of Tabernacles is obviously first and foremost about God. Let's consider that second element, which is God's Feast of Tabernacles and His people. From a spiritual and physical perspective, we are each part of the body that makes up God's Church. I like to turn to Ephesians 4 often, and I've turned there so many times I'll save you from turning, but Ephesians 4 and verse 4 talks about how we're one body, one spirit. We have one hope. There's one word, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father above all. This oneness is what pulls us all together. I know we're individuals. I know we may have individual family names and individual family members, but God has collectively drawn each of us to His truth and to Him, and through accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, you and I are one in Christ. We are His children. We are God's future inheritors of everything, the inheritors of everything that God wants to give us.

And so this is a time, of course, to reflect on all that we have together and collectively.

This oneness is important to God, and this oneness is something He wants us to keep on the forefront of our mind. Because our body, the spiritual body, is made up of all types of members. We have children of all ages. We have preteens and teens. We have young adults. We have single adults. We have married adults. We have families. We have those who are no longer children, who are no longer living at home, and life is expanding. We have a retired and our mature members. We have all of us together that makes up this family. And Jesus Christ gave of Himself willingly and freely for you and I that we might be delivered from this present evil age. That's from Galatians 1 and verse 4. And so as we see each other in this mindset that Christ has for us, this should move us to consider each other's needs ahead of our own.

We should seek conversations that promote unity and peace. We should reflect on things that are spiritual in nature, and edifying or strengthening for our family. This is why we have to work on our relationships and our time together. This is why we should pray that God will be with each other and with our family, regardless of where we're at and the directions we may be going at this time of the year. With this in mind, we do also have a responsibility to remember those who are unable to attend the Feast of Tabernacles in the ways that we can. We have a responsibility to seek out those around us in different locations who may be facing hardships or lacking something that is making their time at that location more difficult. I'm a firm believer and I've seen it in my own life and many of yours. If we spend enough years keeping God's Feast of Tabernacles, there's going to come some years that we have a hard year. I can reflect on my own life. I remember times where our daughter was sick during the Feast and it majorly changed our Feast, and we weren't able to attend services.

Sometimes we had to tune in online. I remember my mom lost her brother-in-law during the Feast one year and she had to go to be a support to her sister. She had to leave the Feast early. The reality is, if we keep enough of God's Holy Days and His Feast of Tabernacles, there's going to come a time that we probably have a really hard and challenging Feast of Tabernacles. It does, and everybody else will be going about their week probably like they're having the greatest feast ever, right? Like we have at different times. But the reality is not everybody is having their best Feast because of physical limitations, problems, losses, health issues. And so for us to recognize that as a collective group and remember that, that's part of our calling.

This could also maybe be someone's first Feast of Tabernacles where they are lost in everything that's going on. It could be their very first time going and keeping the Feast. God is working with them. He's called them. They have understanding. They're like, I want to try this. And then they show up with no idea what to expect. And all of us who've done it many times, we hit the ground running, right? I remind myself as a camp director, I've done pine crust so many times, and I've got so many staff members who come back year after year and they know how everything runs, that often I can hit the ground running and leave our new staff members behind. They don't even know where the dining hall is at. They don't know where they're lodging. They're like, when are you saying we're supposed to be here at this time? I don't even know where that building's at. And I'm just running away planning this and doing that because I see enough other people that know it, right? And I can lose track. And I forget that there's eight new staff members that's never been to that camp before.

And that's not very kind of me, right? Because I'm too wrapped up in getting things done and people knowing. But then I lose track that there's some that are new and maybe they don't know everything that I have up in my head. And so we can go to the feast and potentially do the same thing. We know how services work. We know how special music is going to be. We know that there's going to be a choir practice at the beginning. We know there's just so many different things of how we work together and how we have kept these days, that we could lose somebody brand new that's just standing there spinning and everything going on. When we throw out terms like family day, and they're like, what does that mean? They literally may have no clue what the family day is during the feast.

And as we talk to someone and we learn that this is their first feast, what a great opportunity to kind of walk alongside and make sure they're comfortable, make sure they understand the terminology we use, make sure they understand the different things we have going on. And if they're wanting to serve, see if there's opportunity that we can find a way that they can maybe help out and serve. So let's not lose sight of someone who maybe this is their first feast, and there's a lot going on. On kind of the flip side, maybe this is not their first feast, but maybe this is their first feast by themselves. We know that loss happens in our lives in all types of different ways. We know that we lose loved ones and we lose spouses. Some people have lost spouses. And I can only imagine how difficult that very first feast of going when you've kept it with your spouse for years and maybe even decades, and that first time of going by yourself, if you see someone like that or if you know someone in that situation, and maybe if they're not even there with you, maybe they're at another site. Sending a note or a card can be incredibly helpful just to let them know that you're thinking of them and praying with them. Look for people who could use a hand, both our seniors and maybe some of our young families. Look for someone who can't stand up or can't see maybe, and they need us to approach them because they're just not aware of who's around and who would be willing to come over and say hello. There's all these ways that we can look out and care for our family and to show love and concern for others. That is not missed on God.

We know we don't do this for the accolades. We don't do this so that other people see us doing these things, but what's most important is God sees them. It's not lost on God. Quickly turn with me to Matthew 25 and verse 34. This is a wonderful passage to reflect on at this time of the year, Matthew 25 and verse 34. This is a parable of the sheep and the goats. It's a sobering parable because we recognize that Jesus Christ is talking about you and me in this passage here. And there's the sheep, which God blesses and sets apart for good things. And there's the goats, which none of us want to be on the goat side. But what's interesting is God doesn't separate them out by saying, you kept the holy days the longest, or you kept the Sabbath in a righteous way, or you didn't eat pork the whole time that you grew up in the church or anything like that. He doesn't separate them out by those designations. He separates them out by how they care for one another, how they care for the stranger, how they care for and treat kindness to those in the community. And the part I want to focus in on is verse 34. Notice the inheritance that he offers in this very intimate way, those who serve in this intimate way. He says, Then the king will say to those on his right hand, Come you, blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food.

I was thirsty, you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me. We read previously in Deuteronomy, God expects us to keep his commandments, his holy days, and to do the things that he's instructed for us to do, the things that I mentioned earlier.

But he's also saying, we can't do those and leave these other things undone. We can't get together at the feast and just be all about what we're enjoying and what we're able to do and the activities that we're able to enjoy, and then not reflect on those who may have less, those who maybe are at home, those who might need some encouragement, or those who may need a little bit of food, right, to be on the lookout for these people. Because Christ says, when we do it unto the least, you've done it to me. I guarantee you, if we knew that our elder brother was at services with us, and he was sitting there, and he was needing a shirt, we would beat each other up trying to get over to him and give him a shirt, right? If he was hungry, we would beat each other up trying to make sure we share some food or a gift card so he could eat someplace. That's what we would do, because we love our Lord and Savior, and we care deeply about Him. And he's saying, you do that to the least, you've done it to me. And so, the Feast of Tabernacles and these Holy Days are also about people and relationships. And so, I hope that we can collectively reflect on this as well at this time. Let's, before we transition to the second half, let's consider the third element of God's Feast of Tabernacles, and that is food. Again, we are very blessed in this nation to have the abundance and variety of food available to us. The flavors, the joy, the colors of the food. God has given us so much joy from food in our lives. He could have made it all one flavor. He could have made it perfect in that it gave us all the nutrients we needed, all the sustenance we needed, but it was one flavor, one color gray, one texture. He could have done it this way, and it would have been perfect, right? It would have been everything that we needed it to be. But He says, I'm going to create variety. I'm going to create pleasure from eating food. I'm going to create joy. Some of you are going to like certain things, and some of you won't like it, and that's okay, because there's other foods that they'll like, and you won't like those. He's given us this as a gift, and as such a blessing to, again, point back to His creation, to point back to the ways that He cares about us, and the joy He has in providing for us. And so, this is a time of the year where we do, first and foremost, focus in on the spiritual food that we're going to take in.

But let's not minimize the importance of the physical food, and this is something we may not always reflect on at this time. Notice in Deuteronomy what Moses is restating about the Holy Days that we're about to observe when we go to when we keep the Feast of Tabernacles. Deuteronomy 14 and verse 22. This is a passage directly relating to the Feast of Tabernacles and the instructions that God gave to Israel to remind them of that focus that they're to have at this time of the year. Deuteronomy 14 verse 22, He says, "...you shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year, 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 of your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herds, and your flocks. Why? That you may learn to fear the Lord God always." And so there's a connection here between eating, being in a location, enjoying the food and the blessings that God has provided, and also learning to fear Him with a better focus and a larger heart.

He goes on to verse 24, "...but if the journey is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, or if the place where the Lord your God chooses to put his name is too far from you, when the Lord your God has blessed you, then you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hand and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses, and you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires, for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires, you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice you and your household." So there is a focus on these blessings that God's given us, on eating, on enjoying that, and on rejoicing, so also that we can learn to fear him and to love him more fully. Notice two chapters later, Deuteronomy 16 and verse 13. It's a continuance of the thought and instruction.

Deuteronomy 16 verse 13, "...you shall observe the feast of Tabernacle seven days." So we have this command to observe it for the full length of seven days, "...when you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress, and you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your mail servant..." And he goes through the whole list of pretty much everybody in your household, saying nobody should be excluded, everyone should be incorporated in this and part of it. And then verse 15, "...seven days you shall keep a sacred feast to the Lord in the place which the Lord God... the Lord chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all your works of your hands, so that you surely rejoice." And so we see in both of these passages that the Feast of Tabernacles is a time of rejoicing, a time of reflecting on the blessings that God has poured out on us and continually gives us, a time that He's going to bless the world and all nations in it as they seek Him and as they follow Him, and their produce, their trees, their abundance will be produced. And so in a way, God says, I want you to live that today through the abundance that I've given you and the ability that you can have to enjoy that food and to rejoice.

A special aspect, as we know, of food and dining is how it brings people together. I think if we reflect back on some of our greatest times together with other friends, family, people here, many of those memories are around a dinner table, around a restaurant table, where we are spending time. We're slowing down. We're sitting across from someone. We're not just watching our phones or busy with work. We're enjoying what we have together, and it's over a meal. God has gifted us this to enjoy, and this is widely discussed throughout Scripture, as we have already discussed and will continue to look at. We have many examples of Jesus sharing meals with a wide range of people. He wasn't off by himself in solitude eating his lunch. He often was with others, sharing in what he had, blessing and spending their time together. And these meals often became a place of relationship, of acceptance, of teaching, of reconciliation, and of spiritual growth with Jesus. There are many examples we could look at, but I want to turn to one in Acts 2 and verse 42.

Acts 2 and verse 42. We're going to break into the context of the Scripture, but this is at the start of the early church. This is after the day of Pentecost, when God's people have received the Holy Spirit, the church has been established, and God's people are following him and rejoicing in all that they have. And the passage is going to obviously focus in on some very important spiritual aspects that the early church was doing, but it's also going to mention something that I think we can quickly read over and maybe miss the significance of, and that is food. Notice Acts 2 and verse 42, talking about the early church and how they were established and what they were doing. It says, "...and they continued steadfastly..." and so this was their mission. This was their goal, their approach, their mindset, "...in what? the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayer." Now, to me, breaking of bread would be pretty... if I had to say, okay, what's the most important things that the early church should be doing? Eating, sharing a meal, would probably be on the lower end of my list, right? That's how we often think. And obviously, focusing on the apostles' doctrine, that's up top. In prayer, as a family, and as a new church, that's up on top. But what's beautiful is sandwiched right in the middle of those weighty and important matters is also this important matter of sharing food together, because at that time, some didn't have enough. At that time, some had very large abundances, and they were able to then share together. In that time, they were joint-compouring together, in a time when God's Word wasn't appreciated as much. This guy, Jesus, the followers of him, were creating problems. And the Romans didn't like the Christians. The Jewish faith didn't like the Christians. Other people didn't like the Christians. And so, they were rallying together to worship God, to follow His doctrine, to sing His praises, to offer prayer, and also to share meals, which is an important aspect. Verse 43, it says, "'And fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.'" So, this is a time of energy and of spiritual growth. Skip on to verse 46. It says, "'So continuing daily,' so they did this repeatedly, "'and with one accord,' so there was unity, in the temple, and a breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people, and looked what God did, and says, and the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved." There's something biblically profound about saying, come eat with us.

Come share a meal with us. Come into my home. Come sit down at my table and to share this time together. Obviously, again, God says there's spiritual matters we have to focus on. We praise Him. We worship Him. We pray to Him, but He's also saying, make sure that you guys spend time together. Make sure you share in your abundance. Make sure you enjoy the blessings that I poured out to you and the blessings I've given you with the abundance of food and flavors and textures, and have fun with it, because that gives us the energy we have we need to continue on. It gives us the joy and aspect of our joy that we can reflect on during this time. This is why, whether we're together at one location, keeping the feast, find other people to share a meal with, if you're going to have to stay at home, take a day or two and maybe find some others who are also staying at home and maybe meet up at a restaurant. Find ways that you can pull together to reflect on the messages that you've heard, the joy that you have in your heart for what God has given us, and maybe sharing some of this food with one another. A shared meal slows us down.

A shared meal creates conversation. It gives opportunity to be known rather than just merely seen. We can go through and bump into people at services or send a quick text, but when you slow down to have a meal, you actually see the person across from you. I hope that wherever we share our Feast of Tabernacles this year, that we can share some meal times with others, both with old friends and also find some new ones, and that we can then expand our family and expand this opportunity God's given us. So the Feast of Tabernacles is also obviously about food. As we pivot towards the end of the message, I want to focus in on another aspect that I hope we can take with us, and I want to leave you with something that was really insightful and helpful for me last year at the Feast. As you know, our Lord and Savior set the wonderful example of how we should live and serve one another. You could say this is our foundational scriptures and principles as a Christian to love God and to love our man as ourselves, love mankind as ourselves. But when we do and we practice this, we actually follow in the model of service and sacrifice that Jesus Christ Himself demonstrated.

Turn with me to Philippians 2 and verse 1.

I hope this can be our mindset, and I'm going to leave you with five aspects that I hope you'll write down and pray about and to consider. But they're all encapsulated here in Philippians 2 and verse 1 in the heart that we are to have as we approach this time together. This is the heart that Jesus Christ had, and it's a passage where we've read through many times, but one that I always want to make sure we go back to with our eyes and read as if it's the first time we're reading it. Take these words to heart, because Paul writes here in Philippians 2 verse 1, Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, he's saying if we call ourselves a Christian and we profess to follow God and to put him number one in our life, he says then do this. Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, this unity that we're to have, having the same love, the love that he had for us and that he gave his life for us, having that type of love, being of one accord, being of one mind, this oneness that we read in Ephesians. And then he says, Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself.

Let each of you look out not for his own interests, but also the interests of others, and let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. So again, if you take notes, I encourage you to write these aspects down and to reflect on them in this week leading up to the feast. If you're not a note taker, but you send yourself notes on your phone, or you send yourself emails, I do that all the time. If you see me pull out my phone while I'm talking to you, it's probably because I'm sending myself an email about something we're talking about. If that's how you operate, walk with me on this and journey with me on this, and get out your phone and send yourself these things I'm about to share. Because last year, and I struggled to go and figure out where I found these at, I don't remember what it is, but for whatever reason, God placed these on my heart, and I took them with me to the feast last year. Because as you know, I was coordinating the feast for the first time, and as you guys know, I can get into the details, which is good and which is bad.

The good part is things seem to be organized and go well. The bad thing is I can get too focused on those details, and I can lose sight of the big picture of what was going on. So God put this into my heart last year, and I took these items with me, and I prayed about them every day during the feast, and I even encouraged our different department leads, if they would pick one or two of these and pray about them too in their service.

But as we are called to be servants of the Most High, as we are called to give and to share in everything we have, I hope this will touch you the way it did me last year, and I'm working to take these with me again this year because it had a profound impact on my feast. And so the five items, the first one being, I need to stay out of the way of what God is doing. This is why we're at the feast, and while this week is going on, I need to stay out of the way of what God is doing.

We already considered how these are God's feast days, and before the foundations of the earth were laid, He had already begun the work of bringing spiritual children into this family. And all of this, and for all of humanity, is captured and reflected on these holy days, and it pictures a part of His plan still to come. But I'll speak for myself. I know sometimes when I celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, the focus for me can quickly shift over to my service things that I'm doing in service. It can shift over to the sermon that I'm going to be sharing. It can shift over to the area that maybe I've been asked to serve. It can even shift over to other aspects that make it more about me and less about what God is doing in the moment. We know that God is the host of His holy days. We've already talked about that. He is the one who's aware of everything that is going on in each person's life that He's called together. He's the author. He's the one organizing everything.

He's the one corralling us all together. He's the one at Great Shepherd with His Son looking after our lives. And so He knows exactly what's going on and what His plans are. That's where you and I fall short in a lot of ways, right? We understand some of the aspects, but we don't see everything the way that God sees. But yet we can walk into a situation and say, oh, I know what's going on here, or I know how this should be handled.

And that's why I need to stay out of the way of what God is doing. I was trying to think of an analogy that would work for us today, and it would kind of be like you're invited over to someone's house for dinner. And as soon as you walk in the door, and after you kind of smell the aromas, and after you realize the way out of their house, you just insert yourself into the kitchen, and you start telling the people that you've been invited over how they need to make the food, and how they should set up the table.

And, oh, you got that centerpiece there? Nah, we got to switch that one out. We got to put this center. That's insane, right? Like none of us, I hope, would do that, right? Because we recognize I'm coming into someone else's home. I've been invited to their home. They've made preparations and plans for me to be in their home, and they did a good job. But yet now I know better, or I think this should be done differently.

I've done that at the feast before. I've gone into situations where with my eyes and my ears perceived how something is going or how it should be done, and I missed that God was doing something else. And I've derailed some of his plans to some degree because I got in the way of what God is doing. Now, this doesn't mean we just go in and do nothing, right? Because out of fear that I might not do what God wants me to do.

No, that's obviously not what we're talking about here. But it means that I don't make his holy days or his feast about me, about what I think should happen, about what I think everything, how everything should be going on. But instead, I should change my mindset to allow myself to see God's hand and his involvement in directing how his feast at Tabernacles goes. So it means I need to pray about things. If I do feel moved that I could do this or that this could maybe be done differently, pray about it.

See if God is behind it, and then give him time to maneuver me into a position if that is something that could be better or help. So I need to stay out of the way of what God is doing. And second item, I need to pray that God will bring people into my path that I can help.

This is a big one. I need to pray that God will bring people in my path that I can help. And then I need to look for ways that God answers that prayer. Now, I've always tried to be very transparent as your pastor, and when I pray this prayer, I pray it in a way that I recognize what I may be opening myself up to. Because there's all sorts of people in our family, right?

All sorts of situations that we encounter. And sometimes these situations are not in our comfort zone, and they may not be exactly what we would pick as number one. Oh, I want to go help somebody today. That might not be the person that God brings into your path. And all of a sudden you're like, oh, this? That could be hard, right? And so when we pray this prayer, which I encourage you to pray—we don't get a dodge to this one—pray, I recognize that the significance of what I'm encouraging you to do, because this can go in all number of directions, any number of directions.

And so pray for that as well. Pray that God will give you the strength and the ability and the compassion or the mindset to be able to help someone who you may not completely understand or to be able to be able to serve them best, right? Because if God brings somebody into your path, then He's going to make sure that you can help them and do things that would be beneficial for them. So pray that God will give you that mindset and ability to help others in the ways that they need. And then if we pray this prayer, it means we also then need to do our part of being on the lookout for these people that we can help.

This means coming to services each day and being present with God's people as we keep the feast. It means walking through the door with a focus and attention on who God is bringing across my path. And it means being in the right state of mind, ready and eager to help others. I'll share a personal example.

Again, there's been times I haven't been in this mindset. There's been times I've walked in the door at services with what can I get from today? Who am I going to go talk to? Where are my friends at? And that approach isn't necessarily wrong, right? But it's not a mindset that's ready to embrace and to care for someone that God brings along my path. It means I need to be spiritually in the right mindset. I need to be at peace with my family and with others around me. There's a lot that goes into being ready to receive those that God brings across my path that then I can help.

Notice Galatians 2 and verse 20.

Galatians 2 and verse 20. The reality is, when we accepted Jesus Christ's sacrifice and the forgiveness of sins from our Father, we signed up to do this very thing that I'm describing here, to serve others that God brings along our path. Notice what Paul writes here in Galatians 2, verse 20. He says, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. And then one chapter later, Galatians 3 and verse 27, he says, For as many of you as were baptized in the Christ have put on Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you all are all one in Christ Jesus. This mindset is the mindset that Christ always carried himself with.

This is his mission. This is his goal. Others critiqued him for the company he kept. Other people critiqued him for talking with sinners or doing this or doing that. He wasn't worried about what other people thought. He was worried about serving those that came across in front of him. He was worried about the multitudes and helping them and serving them in the ways that they individually needed his help. It exhausted him at times. But I know it recharged him as well, because he was about doing the Father's business continually. And so pray with me that God will bring others into your path that you can help and then be on the lookout for these people.

The third item you can consider and pray about. Here in listen, I wrote down, here in listen before I speak. Here in listen before I speak. This is a challenge for me, because when I'm in charge of an area or I'm running a feast site or a camp, often my mind is three things ahead of what I'm doing right now. And as I'm thinking through the day, and I'm thinking through the events, and I'm thinking through other things, and then somebody comes to me, I'm already sometimes looking past them because I'm like, Yeah, I've got to worry about this. What can I help you with right now? And I can go into problem solving mode, like, like a snap of my fingers, right?

And I can start to hear the first five words and then be like, Okay, yeah, I understand what this problem is and start coming up with a solution before they've even finished the full sentence, first full sentence, right? This is a tendency that some of us have when we are busy and when we're serving or when we're doing other things, or we're about to walk out the door. And so I had to bring a new focus to the way that I operated as much as I could, to truly hear and listen to the person coming before me now. Now that could mean, like, are other things happening that maybe I'm not controlling right now? It could. But I have to then trust God on those things.

Going back to that first part, I got to God, this is his feast. He's the one authoring it. He's the one that's invited everybody if I he knows that I'm in a conversation with someone that needs my time, that needs some compassion, some empathy, that maybe just needs a listening ear, then I'm going to have to trust that he's going to take care of these other things because he knows where I'm at and he knows my limitations. When we feel listened to and understood, there's not too many other feelings in life that feel much better than that, right? You could be in a conversation with someone where they've heard you and they've listened to you and you walk away feeling really good inside because somebody cared and they may not have even offered any advice or direction. They may have just listened and said, that's hard or even on the flip side, I'm happy for you. That's exciting.

So happy that this is a blessing for you. We walk away feeling loved and so this is something that I'm going to pray about again this year because I'll be busy, I'll be running here and there, I'll be trying to organize and serve, but if somebody, God brings somebody across my path, I want to make sure I hear and listen before I then give advice or to speak. A fourth item I encourage all of us to pray about. Spiritual service is the greatest service that I can give to others. Spiritual service is the greatest service I can give to others. This is another kind of tricky aspect that we can find ourselves in because many of us have served at the feast or serve here locally time and time again and that service is important. God talks about that service and he talks about the ways that we look after and we provide and we care. It's never lost on God, but we can never let that physical service be elevated above the spiritual service that we're called to give and to be involved with because truly I could go and I can coordinate a site or you can go and you can be in charge of ushers or you can give a message at the feast or you can open the doors and help the the seniors in the door. But all of that pales to the spiritual service that God has called each of us to do. That involves praying for one another, that involves listening, that involves putting ourselves second behind often their needs as appropriate and as we can. That we recognize that sitting down with someone and having a conversation as they're sitting by themselves is a beautiful spiritual service. It's serving twofold. There is a physical aspect, but the spiritual is much greater to offer encouragement to be there and to listen to their struggles, maybe from this past year, and to recognize they're here. God has brought them here and they're observing these feast days and they did everything they could to get here and they made it.

And that's something to be cherished and to be listened about. And so recognizing that spiritual service is the greatest service that we can give to others is something else we can pray about.

And then the fifth item we can pray about this year, don't grow weary of doing good during the feast. Don't grow weary of doing good. This is one of those hard aspects as well, and it can be hard because sometimes we're pouring ourselves out time and time and time and over again and over again, and we're happy to do that. We're not viewing it in a negative light, but all of a sudden maybe somebody doesn't appreciate what we've done. Or maybe somebody has a sharp word to say about the service that we've done, or how we've helped someone. Or maybe we just completely get overlooked and nobody comes up the whole time and says, thank you for what you've done. Do good anyway. Continue to serve anyway. Don't grow weary of doing good. Paul writes this in Galatians 6 verse 9, and says, and let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. If we don't give up, if we don't quit, if we don't stop, Paul says, we'll reap in due season. And so this is an aspect that can be hard because sometimes when you're been tasked with a job to do, or you're helping out, maybe you're even aligning the chairs, right? Hey, that's a good way to help. The chairs got out of line, and then somebody comes and smacks your hand and says, what are you doing? That's happened to me before. Not with the chairs, but with other things. And I'm like, my whole intent was just to help. And I thought I was helping, but to the other person, for whatever reason, did not view it that way. Now, what's the tendency? You just throw your hands up and walk away and say, not my problem, right? I'm out. I tried to do something good, and I'm out now. Paul says, don't grow weary.

Keep doing good. Find something else. Continue to maintain the right attitude. Continue to look to Christ and look for other things that we can do good. Even if one door shuts down, look for another. Now, I recognize this is an exhaustive list to pray about.

Maybe pick one of these items, maybe two, and take it with you to the feast this year.

Maybe it's, I need to stay out of the way of what God is doing. And you just make that your daily prayer and say, okay, this is the mindset that I want to have going into every day.

Maybe it's pray that God will bring people in my path that I can help.

Maybe it's, I want to hear and listen better before I speak. Or maybe it's, spiritual service is the greatest service I can give to others. Or maybe it's, I don't want to grow weary of doing good. Again, I appreciate having these in my mind last year because as I prayed each day before going to services over these items, it framed my week in a way that it's never been framed before.

And it helped. It didn't, I'm not perfect. I didn't handle everything exactly the way I should.

I didn't apply every one of these in a perfect way and never did I ever come up with a solution when I was half listening to somebody. I probably did. But this is a mindset that if we take with us, God can work beautifully with. And He wants us to, and He wants to help us in these ways. So maybe take one of these items with you this year, or if you're going to be at home, maybe think of how can I apply one of these items while I'm at home in serving others and reaching out to others?

Because I believe we can all apply these, at least one of them, maybe all of them, during this Feast of Tabernacles. The big takeaway with all of this is that God is creating a family.

As our wonderful Father, He has given us these days as a blessing to strengthen our relationship with Him and with each other. He wants us to inherit the universe and everything He is preparing for us. So He's teaching us His plan for humanity and our part in that plan. As with any family, God must be the center of it all. The Feast of Tabernacles pictures Christ's growing for a thousand years in a world free from Satan and his influence. It will be a time of peace and prosperity that has not been achieved since Adam and Eve were with God in His presence in the Garden of Eden. God is bringing restoration to this world. He's bringing restoration to families and to our lives. This 6,000 years since the Garden and Satan's influence and destruction will then be fixed. It's been a bad 6,000 years, but we have a Lord and Savior who's returning to fix the broken.

And to fix the brokenness of this world that we are part of. And so we get to observe the Feast of Tabernacles with the same joy and the same peace that is still yet to come. He invites us for one week to pause our lives. One week to step back and then step into His plan. And for most of us, it's the highlight of our year, right? It's been the highlight of our lives, getting to celebrate His holy days, and especially the way that He has created and crafted the Feast of Tabernacles for us. And so in just one week, we get to live. We have the opportunity to live it for one week right now.

Let's close with a Millennial Scripture in Micah 4 and verse 1. Most likely, this is going to be read wherever you observe the Feast or if you listen to a series of messages, Feast-related messages at home, you're going to hear this passage read.

It's one that we've read a gazillion times and many of us have pictured. Artists have drawn pictures and illustrated artwork. Songs have been created about what is pictured here.

It's a time that we hold close to our heart and we look forward to, but this is the environment that God is going to bring to this earth. And this coming up Feast of Tabernacles, He invites us to step into this world. And so I invite you to step into the world with me and I look forward as we come out of these days to hear about the adventures and maybe the fun people that you got to meet and the different foods that you got to share as we worshiped our God together. Notice Micah 4 and verse 1. It says, "... now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills, and people shall flow to it." I mean, could you imagine if our whole society, if everybody in our neighborhoods were preparing right now to observe the Feast of Tabernacles? I often think about that.

It's so different than what we have right now. It's hard to wrap my mind around, but what an amazing time if everybody in our neighborhood, our community, was busy about getting like, well, the schools would just shut down, right? There's no need in having schools because everybody's going. Work would not be giving you a hard time about using your vacation hours, right? Because everybody shuts down. Factors would shut down. Everything would be changing. It would be beautiful because all people would be flowing to these days. The joy and the excitement that we have, everyone will be able to enjoy. He goes on to say, many nations shall come and say, come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.

He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His past. The governments will be saying, this is what we're doing. The government authorities, the laws, the congresspeople, everybody, the governors, everybody will be saying, make sure you're planning, make sure you're preparing, because this is what we are all going to do. He says, for out of Zion, the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

He shall judge between many peoples, and rebuke strong nations afar off. They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up swords against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. It's another time that it's difficult to wrap our mind around. What will that time be like? I think I read, I didn't put it in my notes, I read this week that somebody did the math that of all the recent wars, and I don't, I think since World War II, the conflicts that we've been in and as a nation, if you add up how much money has been spent on each of those conflicts, and then divide it among how many Americans are above the age of 18, I think it said that everybody would receive a check for $40,000.

Everybody, 18 and above, would receive a check for $40,000 if we didn't spend that money on war.

I understand that there's conflict, I understand this is not God's world, but it just shows the difference that's going to happen when we're not learning war anymore.

There isn't a way that this is not what nations go against each other with. This isn't their focus, and there's no need for a military. But then the story shifts from just global to individual here in verse 4, and the blessings that people will have in their own lives.

But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree. No one shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. For all people walk, each in the name of his God, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.

And so from Laura, Kelsey, and I, we wish you a wonderful upcoming day of atonement here in two days. We will be in Flint, but you'll be in our hearts. And of course, we hope everyone will have a wonderful Feast of Tabernacles in eighth day, and look forward to being able to hear about your stories, your adventures, the sermons you've listened to, and the joy that you are able to have as we rejoice in these wonderful days.