Three A's to a Meaningful and Enjoyable Feast

Isn't that beautiful? Thank you so much. What a great way to begin the Feast of Tabernacles 2018 here in Steamboat Springs. It's my wife and my privilege and all of our families here. We're all here, my daughters, my sons-in-law, four grandchildren. So there are ten of us here. We've added to the crowd. And I am told there about 500, be about between 500 and 600, maybe even more than 600. And I applaud all of you for coming here tonight. I really do. It's so easy to come to the Feast and say, well, we just blow in opening nights so much. That's why they gave me this assignment. No, I'm just teasing you. Say, who comes to hear from an old guy like him? Anyway, it's really nice to be here and I'm really glad to see you all. You sing very beautifully. You sing very well. And so I'm glad to be here with you. I was conning up. Let's see, the first feast we ever went to was 1959 in Big Sandy, Texas. So I'm thinking that makes this number 60 for me. Number 60. So I was baptized in December 1959 and I'm still moving and I'm still at the same church, the same beliefs. It may not be the same organization. It's the same church and same beliefs. I teach the same way and taught the same way at Ambassador Bible Center as I taught at Ambassador College. I didn't say, oh, wow, we're different now. No, we have not. What we have become, we have grown through the years as a church. We've grown to become kinder, less judgmental, and more understanding. But see, to be understanding of people does not mean you always agree with what they do.

We've become tolerant without being agreeable. So if somebody says, well, I'm going to go do it, we don't jump down their throats. I remember in my early years, my assistant and I went out, this one person was to leave the church. And I mean, he read him a riot act and I was embarrassed that he read the riot act. You're going to hell. You're not going to be here. You leave the church. The great tribulation is going to be there. And we don't be that way. We're not that way anymore. We let God take care of people and let Him look after them. And so it's not up to us to be that strict and that mean. And that doesn't mean at all that we don't stand for the same Bible teachings. The Word of God is the final arbiter in anything. That is the Word of Truth. So that's what I believe in. One man even said to me, he said, so you believe in truth, don't you? I said, yes. He calls me the truth man. If it's not here, I don't believe it. Bottom line, you tell me to do contrary to this? I'm not with you. That's the bottom line for all of us. That's been my theme since I was ordained in 1964. And that's what I've tried to convey to the congregations that I have pastored. So it's an awesome privilege to be here for it with you. And to be able to serve with you. We'll be doing a seminar on Tuesday. We'll be also doing an ABC meeting on Wednesday. So I've got a little bit of work ahead of me here, but it's not that much. So welcome here to the feast in 2018 in Steamboat Spring in a beautiful area of Colorado. My wife and I were marveling at how beautiful it was between the drive from Silverthorn up here. So it's great to be here. Opening night should be an opportunity for us to just remind you about things and give you some encouragement to enjoy the feast site. And here's what I'd like to do. I want to debunk the idea that feasts should not be fun. Look at all the scriptures about the Feast of Tabernacles, and it tells you, rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, rejoice. It doesn't say, come there and be glum. So it is a time to rejoice. It's a time to have fun. I have three A's for you. One A could be a good grade in high school. Two A's could be American Airlines, or it could be Alcoholics Anonymous. Three A's could be the American Automobile Association, or some other great mark for someone. Three A rating, three star rating, or whatever. But I have three A's for you. Three A's, or three ways, to a meaningful Feast of Tabernacles. That'll be my theme tonight. Three A's. Each of the letters stands for a word I'm going to give you. So let's look at these with scriptural support and see what these three A's are and how if we use them, we can have the most meaningful, enjoyable Feast, not only for us, but for others too. So A number one, or the first A, is Anticipation.

We come here because we anticipate. What do we anticipate? We anticipate a lot of things. We anticipate a joyous Feast. We anticipate seeing old friends and making new friends. We anticipate what our activities are going to have. It sounds like we have some pretty great activities lined up for all of us to have and to be able to enjoy. We come here wondering what will the messages be like?

Will we be spiritually uplifted? Will we come here and hear God's Word spoken to us? And will we be motivated and uplifted? Well, we used to go to the Feast in Big Sandy, Texas. 1959 was the first time everybody was together. They had enlarged that one building. I think there were like 5,000 or 15,000. Maybe it was next year, 15,000, but it was large. They had outgrown the first year they had it, so they had to enlarge it by one-third. There were still so many people there. But you know what? Everybody went to services two times every day. And Friday night they'd have service and two on Sabbath. So on a Sabbath day you got three services. You had a Friday day service, you had a Friday night service, you got two other services that day on Sabbath. But you know what? In those days, God's people were so hungry, and a lot of them didn't have regular church services. Now we have regular church services, so we want to mark these holy days as special by having sermons on them, by having, you know, speaking to God's people and teaching them. But they also get regular feeding by ministers all over. One of the themes of United, one of the plans and promises was, we will take care of God's people. We will not push them off somewhere and say, well, see in three months, or see in two months, or see in a month and a half. We wanted our ministers to be available for them and with them. So we came here. We come here. What would this feast experience be like? We wondered. We had never been to Steamboat Springs. What would it be like? Who will I meet this time? We met some people that we haven't met for years. That makes such a highlight for us, an enjoyment. Others that we've known for a while but haven't seen in this location. Others that we met at the same feast in Jamaica last year at sea level. And now we're almost 8,000 feet high. That's quite a difference. And I had a little bit of sickness, a little bit of elevation sickness a few days ago. So I'm feeling better from that drinking water and resting, lot of rest. So I'm glad that I'm through that. We came to a lower altitude where we were staying before. So that's good for me, too, and my wife. But it's good for our tummies, too, because we haven't been eating very much. What friends will I see? Old or new ones? How will we treat our friends? What will we do to help make their feast enjoyable? I'd ask you to turn with me to the Scripture in John where Jesus Christ talked about old friends, how we should treat them. And we are here at God's Feast, and this first one on anticipation. Will I meet new ones? How will the old ones be? Will they still be nice to me? Will they still remember me? Will they be kind to me? John 13 verses 34 and 35, Jesus Christ said, A new commandment I give to you that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. There's a deep, abiding concern for each other. That's a wonderful theme to have at the Feast. Individual personal theme, will I spread love around? Will I be kind and loving to others? But again, this is anticipation. Old and new ones, verse 35, by this all will know that you are my disciples. Some people actually thought brethren were relatives. Some at the desk, front desk, not this one, but others at the check-in counter. They saw people running up and hugging each other. Oh, it's so nice to see. They thought they were literal relatives because they had so much love and respect and honor for each other. But he says, by this we'll all know that you are my disciples if you have love one for another.

When you see your old friends and you make new ones, show them that love and concern, that godly love and concern, which isn't about, well, will they remember me? Or will they? No, that's incoming without going love and concern. But about fun, I hope you have a lot of fun. I really do. I hope fun is not your emphasis, but I hope you have a lot of fun. I hope you rejoice. I hope you'll be happy at this feast because, after all, Isaiah 35, let's turn there, Isaiah chapter 35. We'll skim this chapter just a few verses where we can see what that future is going to be like. Isaiah 35, and notice verses 1 and 2, and we'll skim through 3, 5, 6, and 10.

Isaiah 35 verse 1, the wilderness and the wasteland will be glad for them. It's going to be a time of happiness for the earth, too. The desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. The desert's going to be happy, not just dry and arid. It's going to be happy. It's going to be blossoming. It's going to be lively and fruitful. It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, even with joy and singing as if the plants are going to sing out. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the excellency of our God. Verse 3, strengthen the weak hands. Make firm the feeble knees. People who have infirmities and diseases, when they feel good, you bet they're going to be smiling. You bet they're going to be happy. And how many people do you know who have ailments? Ailments that they can't get through. Ailments that impact their lives. What will they be like?

Some people would be so radically different if they felt good. And people are going to feel good again. We will see them. They will be lively. They will be able to jump and run and move. They'll be over some of the pain and aches that they've had in life. Strengthen the weak hands. Make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are fearful-hearted, be strong. Do not fear. Behold, your God will come with vengeance and He'll take over and take care. Notice verses 5 and 6. Then the eyes of the blind will be opened. My daughter Jan, Janice Cook, she does sign language. And you should see the joy in the people's faces when she, you know, who are deaf. They can't speak. She actually translates for them. We had one student come to Ambassador Bible Center a few years ago about Bible College, Josue Lopez, from Southern California. And we met Josue when we were at the feast in Oceanside. Because the announcement was made, does anybody know how to do sign language? We have one person coming who's new. He hasn't been to church. So he came. The first sermon that he heard given was by me. And then my daughter did the translations for him. So he had a connection with us. Then we had an ABC meeting. He came to the ABC meetings. Can I go? Well, I don't know. I mean, we have people back in Cincinnati who can do sign language. Well, they did sign language for him. He came. He applied. He came. And he made it through. He actually stood up and gave a speech. And some others translated for him as he gave it in sign language, his speech class. It was pretty good, pretty good thoughts. But he's such a lively man. He found a young lady there. And they're married now. And they're so happy together. She knows sign language really well, but she didn't know much of it at all. So they're awesome. We just saw them before the feast. I think they're going to Alaska.

But how happy would he be to be able to speak? And I think he practiced and practiced and practiced to try to say, I do. Because he at one time had been able to speak when he was a little kid. But sickness and health took it away. But I guess when he was at the wedding in St. Louis, when they asked him and they had to sign her up there for him. And when they asked him, he said, I do. In whatever vocal range he could use, he said it. Think of the joy of people who can hear. Think of the joy of people who can see all the things we take for granted, the beautiful things that we take for granted, the music that we just heard. You wouldn't hear that. You might know what the words were being said, but you wouldn't hear it. And so joy and happiness is going to be. So you come here. We anticipate this. We can anticipate that for the whole world. Verse 6 says, The lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing. For water shall burst forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. What a great time. And verse 10 is the key. This is a picture of the Millennium. So we come here anticipating a beautiful, fun time. And that doesn't mean that's our main focus. You'll see that in a moment. Our focus should be, we're here to picture the Kingdom of God. That's our focus. I'll give you scriptures on that too. Isaiah 35, this is all under that one point on anticipation. We anticipate a time of joy for the whole world, not just joy for me. That's one person that gets it. What about joy for others? And what can you do to help bring joy to others? Verse 10, And the ransom of the Lord shall return, and shall come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. And they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. They're going to be joyful in the Kingdom of God. We've come to the Feast of Tabernacles. There's nothing wrong with having some fun. In fact, Deuteronomy talks about rejoicing. Look at the scriptures about the Feast of Tabernacles in particular. It was that great harvest at the end of the year, just like there's going to be a great harvest with God open salvation to all peoples. Those who remain, those who remain from all the troubles that they had gone through, the great tribulation, the heavenly signs, and Christ's return. Christ's return is not going to be an easy great time for them because remember the trumpet plagues and the seven last plagues. This world's going to be reeling. They're going to be looking for a Kingdom that you and I can have a part in too. We can anticipate the Kingdom of God, Matthew 6 and verse 33. Will we see that depicted here among our brethren? Will we get that feeling of what that Kingdom is going to be like? Matthew 6 and verse 33. This is what we should anticipate. This is what we should hope for and desire. Matthew 6, 33. Jesus Christ said, seek you first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. We can anticipate that beautiful time. Paul wrote in Hebrews 2 verse 3, he says, don't neglect so great salvation. What God has to offer us and the world is great, is awesome, is wonderful. We can anticipate that. The future is for us and the future is for the rest of the world. Bible word scripture over to give to you Romans 8 verse 18. On this point, Romans 8 and verse 18. Romans 8, 18. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Not even worthy to be compared. For the earnest expectations of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. Do you realize the world is waiting for what you believe?

They don't even know it. You tell them Feast of Tabernacles? What?

What is that? What is a tabernacle anyway? Are you talking about Mormonism? You know, the Tabernacles in Mormon, Tabernacle, Quar and the Bible? What is this? But what you're here to picture is what the world is waiting for. And you know, it's waiting for you and me. The future of the world is for you and me.

And for the world itself. That's why you're here. You're here to picture a beautiful time. You're here to anticipate a time when the world is going to be happy and joyful. When it's going to be cooperating and working together. What a gorgeous, wonderful time that will be. Look down to verse 22. He says, we know that the whole world, the whole creation, groans and labors with birth pangs until now. And not only they, but we also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves, groan within ourselves, eagerly awaiting the adoption, the redemption of our bodies. So the time when we're changed, we're no longer subject to any of the ails, the ailments and afflictions that there are out there, and there are plenty of them and they're coming. You get older, you have aches and pains. We have a lot of older people here. I'm one of them. You do have aches and pains. I never thought I'd have aches and pains. I was always lively and gay. I'm not as lively as I used to be. I wish I were. But I'll wait for my change and God will make it. We all have to realize, and young people think they're so... Nothing can happen to you. You're young. Nothing can happen to you. Yes, it can. Yes, it can.

But think about the day when the whole world is going to be well. The whole world is going to be healthy. The whole world is going to be joyful. That's what Jesus Christ is coming to bring to this world. That's what we anticipate.

In verse 24, he says, we are saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. See, if you already see it, now we're not going to see it. We're going to be a type of it and picture it. It's not here yet. What is seen is not hope.

For why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope, verse 25, for what we do not see, then we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. Anticipate that beautiful, wonderful world tomorrow. When the angels of heaven are going to say it, that seventh trump, we're glad that you've taken your power, Jesus Christ. We're glad that you've taken your power and reigned to rule the world, to bring them peace. We're so glad about that. In Hebrews 11, he talks about Abraham who looked for a city that had foundations whose builder and maker is God. That's Hebrews 11 verses 9 to 13.

A city that has foundations. What part of this world has foundations? Not being torn apart by terrorism, not being torn apart by greedy, power-hungry men and women. What part of the world? We live in a world that's very tenuous right now, and God needs to intervene, and he will in his day. So that's the first A. Anticipate. Anticipate the find. Anticipate the messages. Anticipate what God has for you. Anticipate the kingdom of God. Second A is attitude. I remember Mr. Herbert Armstrong when I was a freshman at Ambassador College. You know what he said to us? He said, one of the most important qualities, characteristics that any person can have is a good attitude.

A good attitude. We come to the Feast of Tabernacles. And by the way, the word attitude is nowhere found in the Old King James. You can search A through all the Old King James, all the Old Scriptures. Not once will you find the word attitude. Now some of the more modern translations will translate.

Philippians 2.5, let this attitude be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus. But attitude is not found in Old King James. But it's one of the most important things we can all have. Philippians 2 verse 5. I'll define attitude for us in a minute. Philippians 2 verse 5. Come to the Feast. Use a good attitude. Plenty of reasons not to have a good attitude. We all have to remind ourselves we start to work.

Where did I put that? What suitcases that in? How did I leave that behind? You get yourself all flustered. Why? Have a good attitude. We can always buy a new one of those little things or whatever. We don't have to get offset. We can even do without it for eight days. We certainly don't need to have it all the time. Philippians 2 verse 5. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. It didn't mean as intellect.

And you can look up the Greek word for neo. It has to do with more of a disposition, your mood, your attitude, your approach, your direction. What is your direction in life? Is your direction to try to help people? Is that to love the Lord your God with all your heart and love your fellow man?

Is that your direction? I hope it is. And what is the greatest attribute of God Himself? Love. What is your attitude? Is it loving toward others? Is it caring toward others? Is it thoughtful toward others? Or is it all about you? I remember being taught to be thoughtful and caring and serving when we had a service station, a motel, and a restaurant. And I was one of the little kids, 10, 12, 13 years old, running around filling gasoline tanks and also helping lead people to their hotel room or wherever.

And I remember doing that. I remember doing it all because I wanted those people to come back and spend more money at our hotel. I didn't do it because I loved those people.

Now that I can see the difference, I try to do it for them, never expecting anything in return, not even expecting gratitude. If gratitude comes good, but doing good just because I knew it was the right thing to do. Attitude. What is your attitude? Have you said it? Can you have disappointments? Can you be impatient? Get impatient with people. Don't think more highly of ourselves than we ought to, scriptures tell us. But let's look at Colossians 3 and verse 2. I'll tell you how we can have a good attitude at the feast. When you get up every day and you come to services, put on humility.

Don't forget, don't put on a vest, put on humility. Don't put on your blouse or your shirt, put on humility, maybe underneath it or maybe on top of it. That doesn't mean you're a put on. It means it's part of your clothing, part of what you are that day. Put it on every day. Colossians 3 and verse 2. Set your mind on things above and not on things on the earth. Set in your direction. What am I thinking about? This is a godly feast. This is God's feast. These are God's days. These aren't my days. These are God's days and God gives them to me to rejoice. God gives them to me to picture something beautiful for the future, not just for me but for everyone. Notice verses 12 to 16. Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind. Humbleness of mind is not just one. Is that humble? Round my shoulders and walk like this. That's why I did it all. I lost a basketball game every pretty often in my senior, junior, senior years. My dad didn't even ask me who won. He always knew by my posture whether we won or lost. That's putting on humility.

Humbleness of mind is what you choose to support and be subordinate to someone else, someone else's ideas, someone else's manner, someone else's way. Put on humility. You're not demanding your way. Oh, you have enough of your own way, believe me. You'll get plenty of opportunity to have your own way. But rather than be at logger jams with somebody or getting all flustered with them, put on humility. Walk with humility. Notice what he says. Tender mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, neatness, long suffering, bearing with one another, forgiving one another. If anyone has a complaint against one another, even as Christ forgave you, you must do also. Can anyone ever do to you worse than you've already done to Jesus Christ before you were baptized? Nobody can do that to me worse to me than I've already done to Christ. And what did Christ do for me? He forgave me. So always keep that in mind when you think about those things in that area. Look at verse 15. Verse 14, he says, But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection, and let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which you were also called in one body, and be thankful. A good attitude has to do with gratitude. Tell people you're thankful for them. Tip them when it's appropriate. Don't think, well, they deserve. I deserve this. A lot of those people don't get paid very much. And you're here at the feast with your second tithe to be able to share with others and let them know. And I don't mean overly do so, but do it kindly and do it appropriately. To them, whether it's a meal or somebody's helping you with your baggage or whatever else. First Corinthians 16, 15, you talk about the family of Stephanus that they were addicted to serving. Part of a good attitude is saying, what can I do to help? What may I do? How may I help you? It's looking for ways to be a be a part of something bigger than yourself. Psalm, sorry, Philippians 4 verse 13. A good attitude involves, I can do it. I can do it.

We had an office in Toronto. I told all the ladies who answered the phone, and by the way, when we were in Canada, the name was United Church of God, Canada. But guess what was just on the street from us? Same street. United Church of Canada, which is big, mega big. And when it listed in the yellow pages, it had United Church of God, Canada, and United Church of Canada. Oftentimes, we've got calls for United Church of Canada. And we're going to say, this is not United Church of Canada. Look it up in your phone book, Clack. We didn't do that. I said, look, if they call, have that number handy. Just say, this is United Church of God, Canada, not United Church of Canada. But if you'd like that number, I have it right here for you.

Instead of that, I can't do that. I can't do this. I can't say, develop a can-do attitude. I can do that. Oh, I may not be able to do this that way, but I can do it the best way. I can do it to the best of my ability. A can-do attitude will carry you a great distance in life. A can-do attitude. I want to read you something about humility. I like this one so much. I've used it before. If you've heard it before, I apologize for reusing it. It's from 15,000 illustrations by Lee Tan. And it's number 5220. It's advice to Ben Franklin.

He says, I like to remember the story of Ben Franklin, the way this person remembers it.

He used to tell people about his return visit that he made to Boston when he was 21 years old. He went for advice to Cotton Mather, who was an influential, so he was influential socially and politically, but he also was a Puritan minister. He was born in 1863. Now before that, 1663. And so when Ben Franklin went to visit him, he just forget advice and get some wisdom. He said, this is Franklin's own words. He received me in his library and on my taking leave, Cotton Mather, showed me a shorter way out of the house through a narrow passage, which was crossed by a bee in the house. We were still talking as I withdrew, and he accompanied me behind when he said hastily, stoop, stoop. Well, I did not understand him till I felt my head hit against the beam. He was a man that never missed an occasion to give instruction. Upon this he said to me, you are young, have the world before you, stoop as you go through it, and you will miss many hard bumps. Stoop, humility, stoop. Really good lesson for me and for all of us. And also, along the part of an attitude, let me share with you 1 Thessalonians 5. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. I'll finish this point. Go to the last one. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 15. See that no one renders evil for evil, but always pursue what is good, both for you and for all. Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything, give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Having a grateful heart and a grateful attitude will lead us to have a wonderful feast. So a good attitude is point number 2. A, number 2.

Number 3. A, action. Action. Just take the N out of my name, Antion. Put a C in there. Action. Action. Number 3. We're supposed to be doers of the word, not hearers only. What good does it do if you have a lot of knowledge and it's no good? You can't use it anywhere. I used to know calculus. I used to know solid geometry. I used to know how to write all kinds of chemical equations. I can't do any of that now. I never used it. I knew it at one time, but I never used it. Knowledge of no use unless we use it. And you're learning about how to be Christians, how to be godly folk, how to be people representing the kingdom of God. We have to be doers. Not just hearers, not just thinkers, not just believers, but doers. Doers of the word. James 1 tells us that. Look at Philippians 4 verses 4 through 7. One thing I will ask of all of us to please pray. Pray for all the speakers.

Pray for the weather to be good. Pray for God to tie Satan's hands. Do you think Satan loves you being here? Do you think he loves you keeping the Feast of Tapper Knackles picturing a time when God's world is going to replace his world? Oh, he doesn't like it. He'll do all he can to disrupt. Pray that God will tie his hands and won't let him. That God will block him every step of the way. Not only for here, but for all over the world. Think about your brethren all over the world as they keep it. Philippians 4 verses 4 through 7. Rejoice in the Lord always. Now that's rejoicing, saying with gusto, again I say rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand, God sees. Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer. Pray, pray for the success of the Feast. Pray for brethren. Pray for people that are sick. Pray for those who can't come here, couldn't come here this year. Pray for those that are going through trials. Pray for those who are going through trials. Pray. Not just think about it. Pray about it. That in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, there's that gratitude again, let your requests be made known to God. Verse 7, and the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus our Lord. Practice. Put into practice. Be a person of action. Ecclesiastes 5 and verse 1 tells us when we come to church, let's come more ready to hear. Ecclesiastes 5 and verse 1, that's the old King James, the way he puts it, and the way it's written in old King James. Ecclesiastes 5, 1, Ecclesiastes 5, 1, walk prudently when you go to the house of God. Now, this isn't a temple of God, but this is where we believe God has placed his name in this area of the country. Walk prudently when you go to the house of God and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil. Come more ready to hear. I wonder what we're going to get today. I wonder what this message is going to be like. Be on the edge of your seats. Be listening. Be leaning forward. And, you know, when I teach an audience that people are interested and they're looking at me and they're in it with me, I try to give them more. I always try to give 100 percent, but if I can, I'll try to give them 100 percent plus because I see they want that. Help the minister do a great job. Pray for him. Put your prayers into action. Pray for safety. Pray for people that are sick. Pray to keep us free from trouble and difficulty, accidents and otherwise. Over in Deuteronomy chapter 16, Deuteronomy, it's so easy to come to the feast to be so excited to do serving, and that's great. I'm glad we do have people who are servants, who reach in and reach out to help others. Don't forget your families. Don't forget your children and your wife. Help them to have a good feast, too. Deuteronomy chapter 16. Deuteronomy 16 verse 13 says, You shall observe the feast of tabernacles 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, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widows which are within your gates. You know what I would ask of each of us?

Just find somebody. It could be an old friend. It could be somebody totally new. I'd just do something nice for them. Just one person for the whole feast. Seven days, eight days from here. Just one person. Take them a box of candy. Take them a nice card. Maybe a picturesque card in the mountains here. Do something nice for them. I know a couple times I've been out to dinner at different feast sites, and I went to pay and they said, your bill's already been paid. And I looked around and they didn't want me to tell you. Do something nice just for one person. And you know what that will do for this whole feast? It'll cause such an excitement among the brethren. Do something nice, even if it's just a nice comment. Even if it's just a nice card. Even something nice for a special music person to go up to them and just tell them how much you appreciate. Now we don't clap for them, right? We don't want to do that because some don't like it and some think it could go too much and all this. Go up to them if you liked it. Go up to them personally and say thank you. I really appreciated your presentation. You will do wonders for this feast site if you do that. And after all, isn't that the golden rule? Matthew 7, 12? Whatever you want to be done to you, do it to others. That's called the golden rule. Reaching out to them something meaningful. Be cheerful, comments, a kindness. Well, you look really nice today. Or that's really a pretty dress you're wearing. Or that's really a nice suit you have. Or I like your tie. Something nice just for one person, for the whole feast. Wouldn't that be nice? I think it would be. I think it would set an attitude. In Matthew 5, verses 13 to 16, let's remember that we are in this area. There's 600 of us. It used to be like 6,000 of us in different areas. We made a big dent. We're a small dent, but we can still be a dent. And we can go out and we can let the people in this world know by our action, our attitude, our hearts, and the way we are, that we are the people of God. That we have a purpose. That we have a hope. Matthew 5, verses 13 to 16. You see, we're not just here to have fun. Not just here to have fun. We're not just here so we can be spiritually lifted up. We're here also to have action, to show God's way of life by the way we live. To treat people like we hope they will be treating each other in the beautiful world tomorrow. That's what God would want of us. Matthew 5, and verse 13. You're the salt of the earth. The salt loses its flavor. How do you keep your flavor? Pray to God, study, be close to God so that what you do is godly and not self.

Selfie, I could say. How shall it be seasoned? He said, if it loses its flavor, it's not good for anything but to be thrown into trampled underfoot. No good. It's not useful. You are the light of the world. The world's looking for what you are believing by being near the Feast of Tabernacles. Please live that godly way. Yet you may show them that there is a difference. It's possible to live a godly life in a world that's not too godly. Show them, please. You are the light of the world. A city that's set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do men light a lamp, put it under a bushel, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. I used to do that. When I was early in the ministry, we didn't want people to think we were like worldly ministers, so we'd go get a haircut or something. What do you do? I'm in adult education. Well, it was true, but it was a real dodge. Teach people sermons. I'm in an adult education. Throw that away, Gar, and get busy. I'm a minister. And if you're home, you are home. But I'm not one of these sanctimonious people that have to try to show off my religiosity.

But I'm not ashamed of it either.

Don't be ashamed of who you are. Don't be ashamed of what you believe. What you believe is based on the Bible. You can't be on any more solid ground than that. So Matthew 5 and verse 14, he says, then you're the light of the world. You know, verse 15 says, you don't put it under a bushel, or you put it on a hill. It gives light to all. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father, which is in heaven. You know what Jesus Christ said? Bless it. When he comes back, what is he going to find his servants doing? Taking advantage of them, putting them down, beating on them? Or when he comes back, is he going to find them caring for one another? Matthew 25 verses 45 to 47. So let's remember to put our attitude and our interests are what we look ahead, look forward to it, anticipation. Let's remember to put them into action. Don't just think it. Don't just have a good attitude, but use that good attitude to translate into good actions. So as we keep this feast, let's remember to enjoy a meaningful feast 2018 here in Steamboat Springs. Let's remember and use the three A's of anticipation, attitude, and action. And then we will have a wonderful feast of tabernacles.