The Season of Our Joy

So it is good to be here with you all. It is good to have this opportunity to speak with you, and certainly do appreciate the chance to gather together here at the Feast of Tabernacles. Several years ago, there was an interesting study that was done. It was relatively unorthodox. I say relatively unorthodox. When people found out about it, they got incredibly upset. But it was performed over the social media website Facebook. Now, some of you are aware of Facebook. Some of you may have Facebook accounts. But a research firm gained access to the news feeds of several hundred thousand Facebook users, and unbeknownst to them, secretly manipulated what those users were able to see on their news feeds.

During the time frame of this study, the researchers reduced the number of positive posts and highlighted negative posts for some users. And vice versa, they reduced negative posts and highlighted positive posts for others in order to determine whether or not positive and negative emotions could be transmitted via users of social media networks and what individuals share.

Anecdotally, we might consider some of the things we've been through in the past couple of years as data and draw the conclusion that the researchers found because the results were pretty similar to what you probably expected. Users that were exposed to a steady diet of negativity in turn exhibited increased negativity in their own posts. Those that received increased exposure to positivity exhibited increased positivity.

Now, while the study did little more than infuriate members of the social network, ultimately, the results do bring up a very interesting concept. Exposure to certain attitudes, even digitally, can result in the same attitude, same emotions being expressed by the individual who was exposed to it. The only study has some pretty obvious ramifications, if we think about it, in that in the digital information age and a kind of continued exposure to digital information of certain varieties that we see out there in the world today, that those things can influence our mood, they can influence our attitude, they can influence our emotions and ultimately through those things, our actions, and our words.

So what does that mean for the majority of the world today, and us, who consumes a very steady diet of digital media today? What does that mean for us? I think if we face reality, we consider kind of what we're exposed to on a regular basis. You take a look at the headlines in the newspaper, you take a look at the stories that are highlighted on the evening news, to all of the increasing geopolitical tensions that are occurring worldwide.

We're surrounded by an awful lot of bad news. In fact, for example, I pulled three headlines from CNN.com last night. Three headlines. First headline, one dead, 14 injured after Memphis Kroger shooting.

Number two, man punches nurse in the face multiple times after his wife received COVID vaccine.

Tech billionaire, Facebook is what is wrong with America. Now, that one, he might be onto something.

If we're not careful, that was really truly a headline on CNN last night. I was really thanking God for that one being there.

But, brethren, if we're not careful, we allow the bad news that we see, the things that we experience, the challenges that we face. We run the risk of allowing those things to permeate our lives.

We allow them to affect our attitudes, ultimately our emotions, and our overall outlook.

Now, we all know people who are like this. You know, we may jokingly refer to them as negative Nancy's or negative Ned's, you know, being gender inclusive here. But that's the person that you have conversations with who are constantly finding the negatives in everything. Every possible thing is a negative. This is the person who could win $50 million in the lottery and then turn around and complain about the taxes.

You know, this is the person that could be handed the keys to a brand new car and go, yeah, it's not red.

You know, the spouse cooks a beautiful home-cooked meal and he says it needs salt.

It doesn't seem to matter what happens in their lives. They're focused on the negative.

And brethren, these sort of people can be very difficult to be around. And I think if we're honest with ourselves, we've likely been this person before.

In fact, there's a gentleman named Mason Cooley. He's an American aphorist. He said, once, complainers change their complaints, but they never reduce the amount of time spent in complaining.

And I think, again, if we're honest with ourselves, we've all probably been there. We've all probably been there. You know, excessive complaint can be a symptom of something that's a little more nefarious. You know, we're all familiar with depression. Merriam-Webster's dictionary defines depression as a serious medical condition in which a person feels very sad, very hopeless, unimportant, and is often unable to live in a normal way.

Depression, as I jumped in and looked at some statistics, affects one in ten Americans. The incidence in some states is higher, so while that may be the average, there are some areas that actually are much higher. In fact, the south of the United States, one of the highest instances of depression in the country, in the southern states of the United States.

What's interesting is, is you take a look at what we've experienced over the last 18 months. The COVID-19 pandemic has taken this year-over-year baseline of depression, which they say is increasing by about 20% yearly, and it jumped it up to a new baseline. And some researchers are actually theorizing that it may not come back down. And they're citing information from places like 9-11, where New York's baseline of depression symptoms went up and stayed up after 9-11. They're saying this may be something that occurs around the world. Some who suffer from depression, they describe it as being trapped in an empty space, or like being under a dark cloud or heavy weight. It can cause a number of physical and emotional ailments. It can cause headaches, appetite, weight changes, joint muscle pain, loss of sleep, persistent nausea. Often, individuals that suffer from depression also complain of anxiety and tearfulness, just a feeling of sadness that will not cease.

Unfortunately, many of these symptoms create this continuing cycle of depression, causing more pronounced symptoms and a continuing cycle of negativity. Now, why in the world am I talking about depression today at the Feast of Tabernacles? Because when we talk about what these days represent, when we talk about what God has commanded us to come before Him and to do in these days in which we are here, you take a look at sorrow and depression. They're similar, but they're different. Sorrow is temporary. Depression is more prolonged. So if we look at depression and we say depression is a prolonged condition in which someone feels sad and hopeless, well, then the opposite of depression is a prolonged sense of happiness, contentment, peace, gladness. Brethren, the opposite of depression is the exact emotion that God our Father commanded us to come before Him with at these days. He has commanded us to come before Him with joy. And joy is the opposite of depression. It's the antonym of depression. And again, if you look at the world around us today, you take a look at the headlines, you take a look at the news. Given the challenges that we all face societally, joy is something that is in short supply. Very short supply. Something that is very elusive for many. People confuse joy with happiness. People confuse joy with happiness. Happiness, again, like sorrow, is a temporary emotion. It comes from external stimuli. It comes from things that are happening to you and your response to those things. And happiness is fleeting.

Joy, on the other hand, is a prolonged sense of happiness, contentment, peace, and gladness, which comes from within. Let's begin today by turning over to Galatians 5 and verse 22. Galatians 5 and verse 22.

Galatians 5 verse 22, we see a list of the description of the fruits of the Spirit. We see the Apostle Paul here writing the sorts of things that are, you know, shown, so to speak, externally in individuals in which God's Spirit dwells. Galatians 5 and verse 22. We'll go ahead and pick it up there. The Apostle Paul writes, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. And again, to finish up verse 23 there, the Apostle Paul says, against such there is no law. Now, I don't know if the Apostle Paul intended to put these in order of importance. You know, I don't know. He seemed to indicate love was pretty important. You know, I don't know if that means the rest of these are in order of importance or if they're all equally important in many ways. But you'll notice either way that joy is one of the fruits of God's Spirit that is listed. So the Apostle Paul is telling us explicitly in this passage that if we are yielding ourselves to God's Spirit within us, that these things that are listed here are the fruits, that these are the things that will be evident in our life, that these are the effects of God's Spirit working in us. And we might say that joy is one of the hallmarks of a Christian as a result of the Spirit of God dwelling in us.

Now, I want to be very clear. That is not to say that God's people cannot experience depression. That is not to say that at all. Depression is not a black and white issue. It's not an either-or, you have the Spirit or you don't. That's not what we're saying here. It's a very multifaceted issue that people struggle sometimes mightily to overcome. And what I am saying, and what I think the Apostle Paul is saying here, is that joy, the ability for us to have happiness and contentment and gladness and peace, in spite of challenging circumstances, is not a naturally human proclivity. In other words, when you consider our human nature, it is against our human nature.

That it is God's Spirit and the nature of God to be able to have joy in the most challenging of circumstances. The word joy here in Galatians 5 comes from the Greek word kairo, which is more frequently translated in the New Testament, actually, as rejoice.

More frequently, we see that word as rejoice. If you look at Vine's expository dictionary, kairo is defined as to joy, to rejoice, to be glad, and it's used in the imperative mood in salutations. In fact, most of the time when you see this word used, it's used at the beginning of what the Apostles wrote to their congregations.

They would use it as a greeting or as a parting to, you know, offer up a convey a sense of continued joy. But rejoicing and joy go hand in hand. Rejoicing and joy go hand in hand. Let's go to 1 Thessalonians 5. 1 Thessalonians 5. 1 Thessalonians 5, we'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 16. Again, breaking into another of the epistles that the Apostle Paul wrote, this time to the church in Thessalonica.

But you know, I think it's fascinating sometimes when you look at the Apostle Paul, because even though it's a letter to a different church that was experiencing, in some ways, differing circumstances, depending on their region and their locale, it's a very similar exhortation that the Apostle Paul provides. It's a very similar exhortation. 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 16 says, Rejoice always. Rejoice always. It says, Pray without ceasing.

In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. He says, Rejoice always. He says, Have joy always. Joy is one of those character traits, so to speak, of a Christian. It's this positive outlook on life. But where does this positive outlook come from? Where does it come from? What do we have that allows us to view all of the trouble, all of the bad news in this world, all of the difficulties, all of the challenges that we face, and still be joyful?

To still rejoice in spite of those things. Well, Romans 12, verse 12. Romans 12 and verse 12. Turn over to another of the Apostle Paul's writings here to the church in Rome. Romans 12. And we'll pick it up in verse 12. We'll actually start in verse 10. Verse 10. 12 is the point, but we'll get there in verse 10. Romans 12 and verse 10 says, And then verse 12. Rejoicing in hope. Rejoicing in hope. Patient in tribulation. Continuing steadfastly in prayer. Distributing to the needs of the saints. Given to hospitality. And he goes on.

We'll stop there, but he goes on. The New Living Translation puts that same passage we just read as, Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble and keep on praying. Brethren, our hope, the faith that we have in God and in his plan of salvation, is what gives us joy.

It is that hope that we can anchor ourselves to in times of difficulty, as it talks about in Hebrews 6. It is that hope that we can derive our joy from. You know, Mr. Crow mentioned yesterday, or not yesterday, I'm sorry, day before yesterday, and I loved the point. He made the point that Germany and Japan lost the war well before they lost the war. Right? There were certain actions that were taking place, there were certain things that happened, and the war was over as of that point. They just didn't know it yet.

There were some battles that still had to kind of work their way out for that to occur. Brethren, the very plan of God that we are here to commemorate in these days, knowing that Satan does not win, in fact, the war is over. But the battles still have to be played out to the end. We can rejoice in that hope. We can rejoice in that plan of God as we understand that it will be implemented. That it will put an end to the way of this world once and for all. And that coming kingdom and all of its joys, that is the hope that lies within us. That is what we anchor ourselves to in times of difficulty.

Let's turn over to Deuteronomy 16. We'll head back to the Old Testament here. Deuteronomy 16. We'll read some passages that were earlier than where we started the other day. I don't know that we've yet been here. I'm trying to remember back as I was looking through and going through this, and I don't know that we've been in 14 and 15. But Deuteronomy 16, we'll turn to verse 14. I need to start writing them all down in a list so I know I can reference back to them, whether we've covered them or not.

Deuteronomy 16, and we'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 14. It's a very well-known and often read passage of Scripture that deals with these holy days. Deals with these holy days. Deals with the plan, the holy days as part of the plan of God. Deuteronomy 16, we'll pick the account up in verse 14 again as they talk specifically here about the Feast of Tabernacles.

Deuteronomy 16 and verse 14 says, And you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite, the stranger and the fatherless and widow who are within your gates.

Seven days you shall keep a sacred feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands so that you surely rejoice. Then again in verse 16, which we've read already, three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God in the place where he chooses, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Tabernacles, and they shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed.

We won't turn there for sake of time, but I would invite you to jot it down in your notes. Leviticus 23 and verse 40 is another location that talks about the Feast of Tabernacles. This location talks about the making of the Lulav, you know, weaving together those branches and bows to rejoice before God with. And it specifically states once again that we are to rejoice before the Lord at the Feast of Tabernacles. We are to rejoice before him at the Feast. But it's interesting to consider in just those two passages, just Deuteronomy 16, 14, and Leviticus 23, verse 40, there are three references to being joyful and rejoicing at the Feast of Tabernacles.

Three references. In fact, you take a look at the rest of the pilgrimage festivals that are listed there in Deuteronomy 16. You know, you look at the Passover Days of Unleavened Bread, you look at the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles. There is no mention whatsoever in those passages of rejoicing at the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread. There's one command to rejoice that's associated with the Feast of Weeks, but there are three mentions in two passages to rejoice at the Feast of Tabernacles. That is more than any other festival in God's Holy Day plan, and it's not the only two places where it's mentioned. Again, verse 14. Look back. Verse 14 of Deuteronomy 16. Look what it says. Deuteronomy 16, or I'm sorry, 16 and verse 14. It says, "...you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, the widow who are within your gates." Is there anyone left out of that? No! This was to be a time of rejoicing for all. It was to be a time of rejoicing for all. And I think it begs the question of why. Why this festival? Why not the others? What is so special about the Feast of Tabernacles? What is so special? The Jewish people talked about this time of year, Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot as it's called, and they refer to it as the season of our joy. The season of our joy. And for good reason. If you think about their lives at that time, there was a lot to be joyful for. There was a lot to be joyful for. The Feast of Tabernacles represented the end of the agricultural year in Israel, and the timing of Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread, it was still early in the agricultural year. You know, the blessings of the crops were not yet fully realized. There's a lot that could happen between Passover and Final Harvest. During Pentecost, you've got the first fruit harvest, you've got the initial harvest there of the wheat harvest, and then the remainder as it progresses on, and they could begin to rejoice over the abundance of the crops that were being brought in at that time. But before the Feast of Tabernacles, at the end of the agricultural year, the Israelites harvest the final grain harvest, which was the small stuff, it was the spelt and the flax and the millet. You know, you imagine threshing those little itty-bitty seeds, you know, trying to collect them so you could take them with you to the Feast. They also harvested the fruit harvest, which gave them the oil and the wine that they were commanded to bring before their Lord and utilize. So because of this, another name for the Feast that we are here to commemorate is the Feast of Engathering. It is the bringing in of the crops. It is the end of that agricultural year, and all of those crops were brought into the storehouse. They were processed prior to the Feast, and that way they had the supplies necessary to go and pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

But by this point in time, in the agricultural year, they could have great rejoicing because the crops were brought in. God's blessings had been fully realized at that point in time over that past year. You know, they were swimming, so to speak, in oil and grapes and, you know, wine and fruits, and they could thank their God for the blessings that He had provided them.

They could quite literally enjoy the fruits of their labor while they were gathered at the Feast, and they could rejoice.

Now, we in the churches of God today, we do take that command to rejoice very seriously. We absolutely do. We take that command to rejoice seriously. The Feast of Tabernacles is a highlight of our year. You know, sometimes I think when we think of rejoicing and we consider what that looks like, I think sometimes we view that concept through a worldly lens.

We're flush with cash. We're staying in a nice hotel in a beautiful locale. And if we're not careful, the Feast of Tabernacles can start to look a lot more like the lifestyles of the rich and famous, as opposed to a festival of God.

So how can we rejoice? How can we keep this season of our joy while still maintaining our focus on the reason why we're here? And be able to rejoice in spite of the conditions that we face. That's the question I'd like to address as we go through the rest of this sermon today. The title of the message is The Season of Our Joy. And I'd like to take a look at three things. I'd like to look at us rejoicing in our opportunities for growth while we're at the Feast. I used to tell my students in school, tests look like opportunities for growth. And we get to rejoice in our opportunities for growth. We get to rejoice in our family, and we get to rejoice in our blessings. We rejoice in our opportunities for growth, we rejoice in our family, we rejoice in our blessings. So when we talk about rejoicing in our opportunities for growth, we're talking about a mindset and a way of considering things that operates off of an established set of values. That means we're looking at the world around us in a certain and a very specific way. So when it comes to the Feast of Tabernacles, what is our mindset? How do we consider these days? How do we look at these days? Do we see them as a vacation?

A time to get away from work, a chance to leave our jobs, enjoy some time away with our families, maybe jet-set around the world to various exotic locales, take in sights, enjoy fine meals, strong drink and shop, live like a king for a time? Or do we recognize and do we see these coming days for what they really are? A chance for us to grow spiritually, a chance to learn into fellowship with others of like minds, to grow closer to God together.

To be able to rejoice together in the place which God has chosen.

And we need to think about why we attend the Feast. In fact, that question used to be asked pretty regularly. You know, big thundering voice up here on opening night, why are you here? Right? Used to ask that question a lot.

Looking around this room, you know, take a second, look around, we're a small group. You know, you won't see noted world leaders in this room. You know, business magnets, industrialists, the rich, the famous, people of great influence.

What you will see is you'll see a group of regular folk who have assembled together as commanded by their God.

Elphisa Tabernacles is the same. You know, you think about kind of the way that we operate. We are a group of regular folks who are all here together, gathered as God has commanded, you know, in the place where he has placed his name. And the world as a whole, you know, the people that we've listed, leaders and businessmen and industrialists, they don't keep God's holy days.

They're either ignorant of the command that God has given them or they've rejected it outright.

But whether you gather, you know, and take a look around, you're not going to see, you know, President Biden show up and sit in the back. You wouldn't see President Trump either. You're not going to see Mark Zuckerberg. You're not going to see Bill Gates.

Romans 3 will tell us why. Romans 3, once again, looking at the Apostle Paul's writing here to those in Rome, Paul expounds on this idea that David records in the Psalms that God looks down on the sons of men. And he's looking for those that seek God.

But he says what he sees is instead they've turned aside. Romans 3 and verse 10, Romans 3 and verse 10.

Why don't we see individuals like that in our membership? Why do we not see individuals like that gathered with us here at these commanded festivals? Romans 3, once again, and verse 10, says, as it's written, referencing again David's writings, there is none righteous, no, not one. There is none who understands. There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside. They have together become unprofitable.

There is none who does good, no, not one. Their throat is an open tomb. With their tongues they've practiced to seat. The poison of asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are their ways, and the way of peace they have not known.

Notice verse 18. There is no fear of God before their eyes. There's no fear of God before their eyes.

Now, Deuteronomy 14. While you're turning over there, while you're headed over to Deuteronomy 14, God in Deuteronomy here is re-outlining some basic commands to ancient Israel which serve to distance them from the world around them. He talks in this section in Deuteronomy, in the book of Deuteronomy, about not cutting themselves, disfiguring themselves like the cultures around them. He talks about not shaving the forehead as the people around them do in honor of the dead. He reiterates, again, the laws of clean and unclean meats. And in this passage that we're going to look at, and ultimately through these things in Deuteronomy, God is letting the people of Israel know that they're to be different from the world around them.

They're to be set apart. They're to be holy, because God Himself is holy. He says they're not to be like the other nations.

Deuteronomy 14, and again we'll pick it up in verse 22, as He once again gives them another command that will distance them and separate them from the people in the world around them. Verse 22 of Deuteronomy 14. Deuteronomy 14, verse 22, says, Verse 23, you shall eat before the Lord your God in the place where He chooses to make His name abide. The tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil. I read that already, didn't I? Sorry. Oh, I'll just read it again. It's solid.

The first board of your herds and flocks that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. God commands that we take our tithe and that we eat it before Him in the place He chooses. But why? So that we might learn to fear the Lord. Brethren, that's our purpose while we are here at the Feast of Tabernacles. We're here to learn to fear the Lord our God always. Each and every day of the feasts we're given opportunities and chances for growth. We're here in training to become kings and priests, to become servants of the Most High.

And as we've talked about at this feast already, much of our training does occur in the classroom, so to speak. In formal instruction, as Mr. Crow talked about. Formal instruction, as Mr. Crow discussed. But we're expected to take that learning outside of the classroom and put it into practice. To go out and apply the things that we've been taught. And that's true in our spiritual lives.

Particularly here at the Feast, we have opportunities to resent, or represent, rather. To represent our great God each and every day. Every interaction that we have with the people and the place that we attend. In its stores and in its restaurants, we represent our God. We are ambassadors of His. And God places His hand of protection around us at the Feast. But not everything always goes according to plan. Not everything always goes according to plan. Things come up. Frustrations occur. But it is important in these scenarios that we maintain a joyful attitude and remember why we are here. You know, not only is it important to have that attitude when we're at the Feast, it's important that we develop it and carry it with us when we return home.

I want to tell you a story real quick. Some of you have heard this before. But in 2010, my wife and I attended the Feast in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Our kids were young. My son Desmond was 18 months old. My oldest was 3. And it was a rough Feast. Those of you with little babies, you know that the Feast can be seriously challenging. When the babies don't want to sleep, you know, when they are just dealing with difficulty, and we were in that place.

Nobody slept. You know, the babies screamed for much of the eight days that we were in Colorado. Going out to sit in a restaurant was impossible. We went to go sit down to eat, and they would just go off. And she's got one kid, and I've got the other, and they're both freaking out. And, you know, the poor people sitting next to us were just apologizing all feasts long to the people around us. Spent a lot of feasts with immediate family, and that was about it. And I will admit freely, I was not a shining example of joy during that Feast of Tabernacles. I will admit it.

The night before we left, just following sundown on the last, which, by the way, I almost did again, you'll notice my wife looking at me now, we began packing up our things and cleaning up the hotel room. We had a dishwasher in the room. Those of you that have been at the steamboat grand, there's a dishwasher there in the room.

And one of the last things that we did before we went to bed that night was to turn it on and then hit the sack ready to get up the next day with clean dishes and fly out in the morning. Well, sometime during the night, there was an urgent knock on our door, about probably 1 a.m. I got up to answer it, and I noticed that the carpet I was walking across felt wet.

Well, that's weird. The carpet shouldn't be wet. Of course, I'm asleep, so I'm not making any kind of connection at all at this point. And I opened the door, and the person at the door, very nice church member who I don't think I've seen again. If you're here, I'm sorry.

Inform me that they were the people in the room directly below ours, and it was in fact raining in their hotel room.

As you might have already guessed, the dishwasher overflowed.

I used dish soap, because that made sense to me that you would put the only thing in the bottom of the sink that said, dish is into the dishwasher, and when we flipped the light on, there were bubbles everywhere. The floor was soaked. I mean, it was an absolute disaster. I'm really concerned, because those rooms are like $1,000 a night off-season, or in the regular season, and I'm thinking, I don't have that kind of money. So I'm convincing the desk clerk, we did you a favor, we cleaned the carpets, we shampooed the carpets, we helped, we did you a favor, they were fine, they gave us tons of towels, and everything was great. And as I've often joked, there is always a silver lining, because my wife still only will not let me do the dishes. So, it works. It works out sometimes, right?

So the next morning, we wake up completely sleep-deprived. I mean, we've been up all night messing with this. We head to the airport to board our flight. We find out that there's a mechanical issue on the plane. So our flight is delayed. So here we are, sitting on the plane. They'd already boarded us. We're sitting on the plane. Both of our kids are upset, trying to keep everybody happy and people from not killing us for screaming babies on the plane. They decide they're going to let us all disembark, so we sit and wait another hour or so at the airport before we re-board the plane, and we're on our way.

The rest of the flight was uneventful, thankfully, but the rest of the trials started when we hit the ground. We got to long-term parking. Battery on our truck was dead.

We got jumped, thankfully, got the car started, got on the road, but because of the delay, we were too late to pick the dog up at the kennel, and it was the weekend. So we're paying for three more days.

And I remember my wife and I at this process just not being able to do anything but laugh. I mean, just not being able to do anything but laugh. We just were like, what next? I mean, really, what next? Well, I'll tell you.

I'll tell you what next.

We stopped at a restaurant outside Portland because neither of us had eaten in what had to have been 12 to 14 hours.

And for whatever reason, my three-year-old son, Aiden, decided that he was going to reach out and grab the exhaust pipe on our truck.

And he just absolutely burned the entirety of the inside of his hand in the process. So now, we're at the restaurant. We have a very upset three-year-old. And interestingly enough, you know how God sends people at times when you need them? We go outside to eat because we cannot subject the people inside to the auditory assault. And there's a woman sitting at the table, and we were apologizing profusely. We said, oh, he burned his hand, and she reached in her purse and said, I have burn cream. We didn't have burn cream. She had a whole vial of it. She said, here you go. And let him scream. It's fine.

And it's like, you know, these kind of things... I was familiar with pre-feast trials. Post-feast trials were new to me. But we could have gotten incredibly upset about it. It was difficult. It was challenging. It was very tough. But we literally laughed out loud. Not at my son's pain, obviously, but just that all of these things were stacking up against us all of a sudden. But we recognized it for what it was. We recognized it for what it was. We recognized that Satan was working hard to wreck our attitude and welcome us home. We were back in his world now, and he was welcoming us home. James 1 and verse 2. James 1 and verse 2. You'll recognize this passage. It's very well known. James 1 and verse 2 simply says, Brethren, we will all be given opportunities to grow at the Feast of Tabernacles. We all will. Rejoice in those opportunities. Rejoice in them. Keep your focus. Learn to fear the Lord. The other thing we have opportunity to do is to rejoice in our family. Wherever we are attending, however we are attending. We have had regularly 280 to 300-some connections with our brethren who are at their homes now, meeting with us, keeping these days, assembled together with us online. And we are very thankful that they are here with us. The rest of us for the next two days will be in the same place. We are very thankful that we are able to have the things that we have and be able to worship God in that fashion. You know, you take a look around this room today. In this room, there's a combination of people that will never occur in quite the same way ever again. Ever again. This combination of individuals here is unique to this year. Never again will all of these people be in the exact same room at the exact same time. You know, we'll run into each other at various church events. We'll run into each other at the future, at the feast. But, you know, we're never ever going to be again just like this, just these eight days together. And again, it's an opportunity that we have to endeavor to not let pass us by. Romans 8, verse 14. Again, as we shift into the next couple of days, that'll become more complicated. It becomes a little messier. It becomes a little more challenging. But brethren, it is not impossible. It just requires us to think outside the box a little bit. Romans 8, verse 14. Romans 8, verse 14 says, Sorry.

We are family. We are the children of God. We are brothers and sisters in the faith. And all around the world during these coming days. In fact, I saved this to take a look at during the sermon today. I got festival greetings here from our brethren in Canada, from our brothers and sisters in Ghana. I've got stuff from people or gatherings from people that are in Cincinnati, people that are in Branson. All of our brothers and sisters keeping the feast around the world at this time, in varying places, varying fashions, varying ways.

I've been blessed in many ways to be able to serve alongside Mr. Moody in West Africa. I help him out with Nigeria and Ghana. I've taken several trips over to West Africa. On one of our trips to Nigeria for camp, Mr. Kimbo, Mr. Olodari Kimbo, said something in one of his messages that I have never, ever forgotten. He said, water is thicker than blood. He said, water is thicker than blood. And he made the point that the Spirit of God, which unites us all as brethren, often referred to in Scripture like water, often it's also described as oil, it's described as a number of things. But he made the point that the Spirit of God that unites all of us as brethren is greater than even blood and familial relations.

The presence of God the Father in Christ dwelling in us, as it talks about in John 14, that unites us as a family in a way that blood cannot.

In fact, you have more in common, familial-ly, to the people sitting next to you than you do your own blood. Because you have been adopted.

You are being brought into the family of God as children of God.

So the question I have for you, brethren, is how well do we know our spiritual family?

Again, for several days here at the feast, we've been gathered together, we've sat in the same halls, you know, we've sat, most of the time, if it's anything like normal, we sat in the exact same seats.

Rarely do we move around too much, right? Some people do. We call those people the troublemakers. They're the ones that move around and they sit down in a spot and somebody comes in and goes, What do I do now? My spot is taken.

But we've sat together in services, we've frequented some of the same dining spots, we've attended the same activities.

Have we made establishing relationships with our brethren a priority? Or have we looked for experiences? Have we looked for other things?

You know, why is it so important for us to get to know one another? Let's go to 2 Corinthians 13. 2 Corinthians 13, verse 11.

In the farewell message here to the church in Corinth, the Apostle Paul says the following.

Finally, brethren, he says, farewell.

Become complete. Be of good comfort. Be of one mind. Live in peace and the God of love and peace will be with you.

Why is it important to get to know our brethren more closely? So that we can endeavor and work to be of one mind.

So that we can work with one another to become closer to one another.

And there's a purpose for that. I'm going to have you flip to Jesus. I know I just had you go one direction, and I have you go the other way. Back to James here real quick, which is where you were before. I'm sorry.

James 5. There's a reason why we try to get close to each other. There's a reason why we work towards getting to know one another enough to be able to be of one mind.

Because when it comes down to it, brethren, we are in this walk, in this journey, in this journey, in this journey. We are in this together. Yes, there's an individual component to this.

But Christianity, what we've been called to, it's a team sport. It's like track and field. There's an individual component, but there it's a team sport, too.

James 5 and verse 16. James 5, verse 16. It's like track and field. There's an individual component, but there it's a team sport, too.

James 5 and verse 16. James 5 and verse 16 says, Confess your trespasses to one another. Pray for one another. How can you do that if you don't know?

You can't share those things if you're not close enough to feel comfortable sharing those things.

This requires us to be able to build these relationships.

He goes on and he says, pray for one another that you may be healed. The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

James tells us as brethren, as brothers and sisters in Christ, members of God's family, that we should know each other so well that we can share our struggles with one another.

We can share our difficulties and our trials and the things that we're dealing with. That we can pray for one another and encourage one another to be able to strengthen each other as we all head towards this ultimate goal that God has called us to. Are you comfortable doing that with a stranger? Are you comfortable doing that with someone you don't know hardly at all?

Some people are. Most people are not.

So what does that mean? Does that mean we should immediately run up to somebody new and just do a complete data dump of everything we've ever experienced in our life and all the challenges that we're facing and just really just like all the stack? No, that's not what that means. In fact, most of the time, if that's somebody new, the relationship's not ready for that yet.

But I want you to think about the kind of friends that you have where you can do that.

I will almost guarantee you that every single one of those interactions and those friends began with a hi. My name is so-and-so, and I'm from wherever. That's how that relationship started.

Now, granted, it built from there, but it all began with a simple introduction.

Brother, take the time, take the opportunity to rejoice in your spiritual family and in those brothers and sisters that you haven't met yet.

Lastly, we have a chance to rejoice in our blessings. We have a chance to rejoice in our blessings.

Like we said at the end of the agricultural year, just before the feast, the people of ancient Israel could gather in the crops, gather in the blessings that God had given them, the rain-induced season that he had provided, and the crop yields and the produce.

And they could ultimately see the blessings that God had poured out on them in that year.

And they could come before him at the feast, and they could thank him for the blessings that he had provided.

You know, we know God pours out abundant blessings on his people, but despite all of the blessings that God provides his people, there are still so many ways that we can help and to serve others who are in need.

You know, there are so many ways that we can help and serve other people as they're in need. Let's go back to the book of Galatians. Galatians 5. Galatians 5, and we'll pick it up in verse 13.

Galatians 5, and verse 13.

It says, For you, brethren, have been called to liberty, to freedom, as it says in some translations.

It says, Only do not use freedom or liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

But verse 15 says, But if you bite and devour one another, beware, lest you be consumed by one another.

You know, we're called in many ways, as the Gentiles were called in Paul's day, to freedom, and they were admonished to use that freedom and liberty to be servants to one another. He goes on to mention, The whole law is fulfilled in one command, to love your neighbor as yourself. And what he means by that is that by loving your neighbor properly, you can satisfy the requirements of the law, if you are doing so in a proper fashion, showing your love for man and showing your love for God.

We have an opportunity to love our neighbors while we're here at the feast, and I can't tell you I walked in the other day, and I am so unbelievably just overjoyed to see the amount of food that's been brought in for the food drive already. Those three barrels are three-quarters full already, in two days.

That's a great, wonderful way to show love for the neighbors here in Central Oregon.

But we have an opportunity to love others while we're here. We can share knowledge, we can share love, we can serve one another, fellowship together, share our joy with one another.

There's a lot of different things that we can do to show our love for our brethren and those who are in the community around us.

But those things require us to look past ourselves.

They require us to be actively looking for ways to serve, actively looking for ways to integrate.

I haven't always done a great job of this.

In fact, Deuteronomy 16.24 contains a passage that I've used in the past to justify some incredibly ridiculous purchases while at the Feast of Tabernacles.

Deuteronomy 16. I'm sorry, 14. And we'll go to verse 26. I transpose the numbers bad.

Deuteronomy 14 and verse 26.

And here it talks about if the journey is too long for you to take the tithe.

Obviously, we didn't come across the mountains with vats of oil and wine in our car packed in amongst the kids or sheep in the back.

We brought money to utilize while we're here at the Feast.

But Deuteronomy 14, and we'll pick it up in verse 26, says, You shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires, for oxen, for sheep, for wine, for similar drink, whatever your heart desires you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.

Now for me, I said, hey-o! Whatever my heart desires! Woo!

And I bought some incredibly ridiculous things. I actually started to compile a list of them, and I went, nah, we don't need a list. We really don't. We'll just leave that. We don't need a list.

But you know, over the past several years, I've kind of become aware that God absolutely does allow you to buy whatever your heart desires. I mean, that is what the Scripture says right there.

But I think his question to each of us through that principle is, what exactly does your heart desire?

What does your heart desire? Because it is what you desire in your heart in which you will spend your funds.

Is it material things? Is it electronics? Is it jewelry? And there's nothing wrong with these things. I want to make that clear. I'm not saying, you know, you should be not buying any of these things.

But it's a spiritual principle I think is worthy of consideration.

Matthew 6 talks about how moth and rust destroys material things. It talks about how thieves, they break in and they steal.

Are we utilizing and are we putting our treasure in heaven, so to speak, and using the blessings that God has provided us to grow in godly character?

To love and to serve our brethren as we're able.

I think our dinners at the feast are a lot less about the food and a lot more about the conversation.

I think our golf games are a lot less about the score, Mr. Kiesel, and more about the fellowship that we have with our brethren as we play them.

I'm kidding. He was very gracious. Very gracious. As I shot six on the last three.

Two, last two. I guess I got a hole in one somewhere in there.

But our games and activities are a lot less about who wins and a whole lot more about the people that we spend them with.

Brethren, we can't forget that. We can't forget that.

James 1, verse 27, I'll just reference it.

Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this, to visit the Fatherless and the widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

Pure and undefiled religion.

To take care of the Fatherless, the widows, as we have opportunity.

To be considering those who are at home and unable to be with us this year. You know, we have the shut-in cards in the back for encouragement.

Our congregation, we do a festival basket thing, and I got a couple of calls from people that were just unbelievably encouraged as a result of those arriving.

But brethren, keep your eyes open for individuals who might need a little help.

Maybe they're someone who has a non-believing spouse that didn't come along, and they're here alone.

Could be the first year that they're spending a feast with a spouse that has recently deceased.

Could be a person that they're the only member of their family that's called.

It's just them. And they don't know anybody.

And they're in the process of trying to get to know people. But the feast can be tough on your own.

Keep your eyes open for these things. Keep your eyes open and think about opportunities to rejoice in your blessings with others.

God is clear on his instructions regarding the feast. We are to rejoice.

We are to rejoice. It's mentioned in various locations throughout Scripture.

I think it's important that we focus on rejoicing in an appropriate way.

We don't use the feast to be solely a vacation and a time away from work.

We're here to learn to fear our God. We're here to learn about His ways.

We're here to put those things that we learn into practice. We're here to do everything that we can to ensure that we have opportunities to grow spiritually this feast, to really look for the lessons in our interactions, to rejoice in our family and get to know one another in a way that we can forge lasting relationships and rejoice in our blessings.

Have opportunity to come together and to serve others as the feast progresses.

I hope and I pray that you will have a wonderful last half of your Feast of Tabernacles. I know that there's some challenges that we will all overcome together over the next couple of days, but I look forward to being back with you in person on Monday, healthy, focused forward into the last part of the Feast of Tabernacles and the eighth day.