HSS2504003

♪ theme music ♪

(Derek) Welcome to Hope Sabbath School,

an in-depth, interactive study

of the Word of God.

We're in a series, Lessons

of Faith from Joshua.

If you missed any in the series,

go to our website, hopetv.org/hopess,

or go to our YouTube channel.

You can watch the earlier broadcasts.

Today we're talking

about Memorials of Grace.

You say, "Derek, what's that?"

How we can build some kind of memory

of how God has led us in the past.

We'll see it in the story of Joshua,

and we'll share testimonies

from our own lives.

So, welcome to Hope Sabbath School

and welcome to the team.

Good to see you again.

Say hi to each other.

Good to you have you.

You look like the world,

which is a good thing.

And we've got some remote team members

with us; let's see who's with us today.

Alex, great to have you back with us;

we're glad you're here.

Leeah, always good to have you with us.

And, Scott, good to have you

with us remotely.

We're glad you're here.

We're glad you're part our our team, too,

wherever you are around the world.

Sometimes people say, "Derek,

when the teacher asks a question,

I raise my hand"; that's good,

because we're interacting together.

We're always happy to hear from you

wherever you are around the world.

So, Philip, thanks for writing.

Philip says, "Hello,

Hope Sabbath School team."

You know, they do that so you'll

[give] the wave, right?

"I'm Philip, from Ghana.

Thank you for Hope Sabbath School.

My understanding of the Bible

has never been the same since I started

listening to the team.

The timing of these studies

is excellent for our generation.

Be blessed, all of you,

for the good work. Amen."

(Team) Amen.

(Derek) Well, Philip, thanks for writing

to us from Ghana.

Here's a note from Bulgaria,

actually from a person,

who grew up in the UK

but now lives in Bulgaria.

You say, "Derek, how do you now that?"

Well, I actually went to college

with this person, so I was happy

to see his email.

He writes, "Hello, Hope Sabbath School."

(Team) Hello.

(Derek) "This is a special Bible study
experience

with gifted teachers

and a responsive team.

I suffered a stroke

on January 17 of 2024."

You say, "What does that

have to do with Hope Sabbath School?"

"It is thanks to active Christians

like yourselves that I managed

to keep my hope alive."

Somebody say, "Praise God."

(Team) Praise God.

(Derek) That's why we do what we do,
right?

"Blessings from Bulgaria, thank you all."

Well, Chris, thanks for writing to us,

and we're glad that Hope Sabbath School

can be an encouragement to you

and your loved ones on your journey.

Here is a note from a donor in Maryland

in the United States.

"After watching Hope Sabbath School
consistently

for the past 11 years,

and after experiencing the power of prayer

and hearing the testimonies

of the Hope Sabbath School team,

especially Gladys' testimony,"

Gladys, give a wave,

"I am now a happily baptized member

of the church."

(Team) Amen. Praise the Lord!

(Derek) "I'm so happy

that I can contribute

in helping bring others to Jesus,"

and a gift of 50 dollars."

(Team) Amen.

(Derek) But that's not the biggest gift.

The biggest gift is the heart, right?

So, Donor, you know who you are.

We don't read names of donors,

but thank you for that generous gift

of 50 dollars; you're part

of a great miracle.

In fact, you are a great miracle.

And, thanks to each one of you

who supports this donor-supported ministry

with your support and prayers.

You say, "Derek, I'd like to help."

Go to hopetv.org, you can

get the address if you go to /hopess

or just Google us, and you can click

on the Donate button if you'd like

to give there online.

Thanks so much for your support.

One last note, from Sophy in Kenya,

and Sophy says, "I came to love

and study the Bible

because of Hope Sabbath School."

(Team) Amen.

(Derek) Isn't that awesome?!

"Now, I have become

a small-group Bible leader

because of you!"

(Team) Amen.

(Derek) "Be blessed a lot

and keep serving God

through this ministry."

(Team) Amen.

(Derek) Sophy, thanks for taking the time

to write to us from Kenya,

and thanks to each one of you.

We love to hear from you.

You know, we get 100-plus comments

on our YouTube channel every week,

and we'd love you to leave a note, too.

And if you'd like us to read it,

tell us the country where you're from

because it's an encouragement

to Hope Sabbath School members

around the world

to see how God is touching hearts.

Right now, we want to sing our theme song,

but we also have that as a gift for you.

It's only available

on our Hope Sabbath School website.

So, you can't go anywhere else and get it

because it's one

of my wife's Scripture songs,

but one of our team members,

Adison, is the singer.

He will be with us live

later in the series.

But he sang it for us, and you'll enjoy

downloading a free copy.

Just go to our website, hopetv.org/hopess

and click on the Gift for You tab,

Gift for You, and you will be able

to download a copy of that song.

You say, "Derek, I've already done that;

I've learned the song."

Well, let's sing it together.

♪ music ♪

(Derek) I hope you're learning that song,

and someday when you face a challenge,

it will just come out,

"Be strong and of good courage."

I'm just excited to hear you all singing,

but it's a powerful word from God,

isn't it, spoken first by Moses

to all of the children of Israel,

and then Moses to Joshua,

and then God to Joshua, to be strong

and of good courage.

And what we'll discover in this series

on Lessons of Faith from Joshua

is it's also for us,

because God will call us,

and He will equip us.

And He wants us to be strong

and of good courage as we do

what He asks us to do for His honor.

Today, we're talking

about Memorials of Grace,

and we should pray together.

Did we welcome our remotes yet?

Did we welcome you?

We're always happy to have them with us.
They waved, didn't they?

(Team) They did.

(Derek) I guess we're just going

to wave to you; we're glad you're here,

and we'll pray now

that God will guide our study.

Father in Heaven, thank You so much

that we can study about Your grace,

Your mercy, Your goodness,

Your kindness to us.

And as we understand what it means

to build a memorial of grace, may we

always remember Your goodness

and Your mercy to us.

Guide us in our study today.

I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

(Team) Amen.

(Derek) We're in the book of Joshua.
Where's Joshua?

You say, "It's in the Bible."

That's right, it's after the five books

of Moses - Joshua.

It's named after a person.

Some people say, "I've never heard

of Joshua except the song about "Joshua

fit the battle of Jericho."

Well, that is the Joshua, but there is

so much more about him as a man

of faith called by God.

Today, we want to continue our study

in Joshua, chapter 3,

and I'm going to ask

Mighty if you'd begin our study

in Joshua, chapter 3,

the first five verses.

And what important preparation

does Joshua ask the children of Israel

to make as they are about to cross

the River Jordan.

(Mighty) Yes, I'll be reading Joshua,

chapter 3, verses 1 to 5,

in the New American Standard Bible,
and it says:

(Derek) So, what preparation was necessary

before crossing the Jordan? Consecration.

What does that mean?

Jenner, "Consecrate yourselves."

(Jenner) It has this idea

of setting themselves apart

for something special.

(Derek) Alright, so what is that

going to look like?

Scott, what do you think?

(Scott) Well, part

of setting yourself apart is

taking some time with God.

Maybe taking some time alone with God,

spending some time in prayer

and reflection and saying,

"Is there something that I need

to get right with God?"

Or, "Are there things that I need

to cut out of my life?"

Basically kind of doing

a spiritual checkup and saying,

"This is going to be

a very important time.

Am I ready for this?"

(Derek) Alright. Anybody want

to add to that? Yes, Puia?

(Puia) I also believe, in addition

to what Scott said,

to leave behind any sin in particular.

Think about all the sins

that you may have committed,

so when God calls you to sanctify yourself

or consecrate yourself, it is

to purify yourself,

your heart, towards God.

(Derek) I've been thinking also...

and, Gleny, I see your hand.

I was thinking of the time when Jacob

says, "All of those idols that you've been

bringing with you in your saddle bags,

time to leave those all behind."

That may be part of consecrating. Gleny?

(Gleny) I don't know about you,

but usually when I'm stuck in a rut

of getting school, work,

a lot of things done, it's difficult

to set intentional time apart

to spend time with family,

to reevaluate the decisions

I've been making,

to reevaluate the decisions

I've been making with God, too.

So, I think this is just a time

of intentionally taking some time apart,

letting the noise of the world silence

for a little bit to hear distinctly

the voice of God and how it's connected

to my relationships outside

but also to Him.

(Derek) So, yes, Jenner, and I want

to ask why that was particularly important

as they were about to cross
over the Jordan.

(Jenner) I see that in the text,

what Gleny is saying, as Joshua
rose early.

So, there was this eagerness

to take charge of what was

in front of him.

And, of course, it involves

all these things, but there is

this level of intentionality

that we have to keep in mind here.

(Derek) So, what would that

look like for us?

If we're talking that this is

not just about Joshua back then,

but it's about us now, when might be

some times that we would really need

to say, "I need to consecrate myself

and spend that quiet time

before this important move

in my life"? Mighty?

(Mighty) I guess what I'm reading,

actually the first five verses here,

it says to consecrate yourself because you

do not know what is before you,

what is going to happen, the journey

that you're going to go through.

So, in order for you to be ready

for this journey, you've got

to consecrate yourself.

For me, I say dedicate yourself

or put God first in your life

because a lot of us don't

completely abandon God,

but is God number one?

Are we dedicating ourselves to Him?

That's what the word consecrate

means to me, "Put Me first so you can

now be ready for the journey

that is ahead of you."

(Derek) Alright. Gladys?

(Gladys) Yes, but remember that the text

says that Joshua was telling them

that the Ark of God

was going to go with them.

That means the presence of God Himself

was going to be with them,

so they're going to emissaries of God

on the other side.

So, before getting there, you have

to make sure that you are prepared

to be walking constantly

in the presence of God.

That means taking time, like Puia said,

to reflect and think about the things

that we have done that may prevent us
from fully cooperating.

(Derek) Let's talk about now, though.

What kind of place, what kind of crossing

might we be facing that we might say,

"I need to spend some serious time

consecrating myself to God,

tuning in." Zandile?

(Zandile) I'm thinking, when it comes

to the biggest life decisions,

we need to consecrate ourselves

so that when God moves, then we

will know for sure that this is

what I've been praying for,

and this is God's moving.

(Derek) Now, Nicole, in a previous study,

talked about, "I think I want to do

this medical specialty,"

and God closes the door,

and she's thinking, "I don't think

I asked God what He wanted me

to do there," and finally consecrating.

And I'm not judging you, but you were

just kind of saying, "Okay, Lord,

what do You want me to do?"

And God opened a medical specialty,

Nicole, right, that you weren't
thinking of at all!

(Nicole) Not at all.

(Derek) In fact, as we were talking

about that before the broadcast,

a pretty challenging specialty,

I would say, and yet God had

a ministry for you in that setting. Puia?

(Puia) So, I have been invited to speak

at, like, camp meetings or gatherings

where people come together

to listen to a speaker.

And, although I pray every day,

[before] those, let's say, big events,

where it's a spiritual battle

that you can experience,

I often take some time away

and just go camping alone.

I would just go and pray alone

at a campsite with my tent, just sleep

in my tent for a couple of nights,

and just silence my cell phone

and just spend my time in the Word

just wrestling with God.

And I see that as like sanctifying myself

or consecrating myself in preparation

for this event where I'm asked

to speak to people about God.

(Derek) Don, I'll take your point,

but there may be times...

What about choosing a life partner

or a job, profession,

a major in your studies,

a new job opportunity?

Should I leave this?

I got an email yesterday

from a Hope Sabbath School person,

"Should I go to this other country

where my family lives,

or should I stay here?"

And the answer is, I think a good step

would be to consecrate yourself

to God, right, listen

to what God has to share with you. Don?

(Don) In addition to that, we know

Israel had been called names before.

They are a stiff-necked people,

they are unpredictable people,

and God says, "Consecrate

yourselves now because you are

about to witness a divine intervention."

(Derek) Okay, well, let's

continue our study.

Gleny, if you could read in Joshua 3,

beginning with verse 6

and read down through verse 17,

and let's listen to this event

of crossing the Jordan.

(Gleny) And I'll be reading

from the New King James Version,
and it says:

(Derek) I have a question for you.

Leeah, maybe you could help us

with the discussion here.

Why didn't God just say, "Build

some rafts," maybe build

a makeshift bridge or get some boats?

Why such a dramatic crossing

of the Jordan? What do you think?

(Leeah) God has this wonderful way

about Him, that we can't
really understand,

of testing our faith in ways

of making things possible

that don't make sense to be possible

if we were to try to do them as humans.

(Derek) Okay, so one of the things

that would be clear to the children

of Israel is that God

worked miraculously, right?

Some say, "Well, maybe there was

a landslide up river somewhere,

and so it stopped the water coming.

But when they walked out,

the water came back, right?

So, this was a miraculous intervention.

What was the purpose,

besides just being a great God

who performs miracles?

Scott, what do you think?

(Scott) I find it very interesting,

the sequence of events there,

because when the priests put

their feet in the water, the water

piled up far away.

In other words, it must have taken

quite some time for the children of Israel

to see the results of their step

forward in faith.

And they had to act first

before they saw results,

and so I think God was teaching them

an important lesson of acting in faith.

We've seen that we

should be strong and courageous.

We see that we should obey God.

If there was a bridge,

it wouldn't have required any faith.

But instead, for them to stand

in the water and wait for that water

to pile up in a heap, very far away,

there was some faith required.

(Derek) So, I just had the thought.

I don't know if where you live

in your part of the world

you have bathtubs, so maybe you

have a little pool, but it took

a while for the bathtub to drain, right?

If it heaped up a distance away,

it said, Adam, I think you mentioned,

up there it heaped up,

it would have taken a while for the water

that was already in the Jordan

to drain away, is that right?

It seems that, anyway.

So, you watch, and you go,

"Oh, it's going down."

It keeps going down

until it's completely down,

and they're standing there

in the midst of the Jordan.

For whose benefit was it?

What was part of the purpose

besides showing that God

was a mighty God, though?

What did you hear?

I think it was in verse 7.

It's repeated in chapter 4.

Do you remember?

Anybody remember what part

of the purpose was? Mighty?

(Mighty) The purpose

of this miraculous event was really

for the sake of the Israelites

because this group of people

was actually a fresh batch

of a new generation of Israelites

than the group that initially left Egypt,

and they saw those signs,

and they saw the mighty works of God,

and they have a powerful God that is

able to do the impossible for them.

Now, when this group, a fresh batch
of Israelites, saw this sign, they

were like, "Surely, this is the same God

that did the great wonders back in Egypt."

(Derek) "And if He did that wonder,

He could deliver us..."

(thank you for reading, Gleny,)

"from the Hivites and the Hittites"

and all the other "-ites," right,
"He could

deliver us from all of them." Puia?

(Puia) And verse 7 specifically mentioned

that God did that so that the Israelites

would see that God was with Joshua.

(Derek) So, confirming

his leadership. Alex?

(Alex) Along with that, it just shows

what people can do with God

as opposed to what people

cannot do without God.

Because you see in the past,

they tried to go against the Amalekites
and the Canaanites,

and they didn't go with God's presence.

We can see the results of that,
which was failure.

With this, because they had the Ark
of the Covenant, God's presence

with them, they were able to do
the impossible,

and that was their lesson.

(Derek) Thank you, Alex.

By the way, later in this series...

Have you ever heard of Elijah and Elisha?

Right before Elijah is

caught up into heaven,

they come to the Jordan.

He takes his cloak, hits the Jordan,

and it divides, and he and Elisha,

his servant, go across.

And when he's caught up,

Elisha goes back, and he says,

"Let me try that."

He takes the cloak of Elijah,

strikes the river, and what happens?

(Team) It opens.

(Derek) And then the people say,

"We can see the Spirit of God

rests upon you also."

So, this confirmation, as you said,

that God is going to be with them,

sometimes He breaks through

in miraculous ways.

Testimony time, people write in

from around the world and say,

"I appreciate the testimonies,"

because the God who worked miracles

back then can work miracles

today, too, am I right?

So, who would like to testify

of a time when God worked in your life

in a miraculous way?

Not just to accomplish something,

but to show you that He is

the God of Heaven, right?

That's more important

than just accomplishing something. Don?

(Don) I would love to share my testimony

of when I lost my mom

when I was 17 years old.

I lost my mom [when she was]

44 years old due to cancer,

and I was in college then.

And I was ready to quit studying,

because I was studying to work for God.

And then I bargained with God,

"Lord, just save my mom.

Show us a miracle."

I didn't experience the miracle

that I wanted, but it became

my inspiration later on

to become more effective in my ministry,

sharing my testimony, that this is

where my strength and my inspiration

are coming from.

That, "What you are experiencing,"

from the people that I talked to,

"I've been there, and I have experienced

those hardships in life,"

and it became my inspiration

to share the Word of God.

That's the miracle that I experienced,

not because she was healed,

but because God gave me strength

to overcome those struggles.

(Derek) That's an interesting reframing

of that story, isn't it?

He could easily have said,

"I didn't get a miracle."

But what was the miracle

that Don experienced?

(Team) Strength.

(Derek) Strength and courage

to press on even without his dear mother

who died of cancer.

So, God may answer in different ways.

Well, when those events...

And I'm going to give you

a chance to testify some more

a little later in our study.

When those supernatural interventions

occur, it's good for us to build

an altar of remembrance of some kind,

so we don't forget.

Let's see what happened there

with the crossing of the Jordan.

Puia, could you read for us

in Joshua, chapter 4,

beginning with verse 1,

Joshua, chapter 4, and read

the first nine verses for us.

(Puia) Sure, and I'll be reading

from the New King James Version:

(Derek) So, I was a little confused.

I had to read this story several times,

because where did they get the rocks?

(Derek, Team) In the middle of the Jordan.

(Derek) And where did they

put the rocks down?

(Team) On the other side.

(Derek) It says "where they lodged."

But then verse 9 says, he set them up

in the midst of the Jordan,

the place where the...

So, did he take the rocks from the place

where they lodged and moved them back

into the middle of the Jordan?

I need some help.

Write to us at [e-mail].

We'd like to know.

It seemed that they took them

to where they lodged, right,

and put them together there. Gladys?

(Gladys) In my version, it says

that, "Joshua set up the twelve stones

that had been in the middle of the Jordan,

at the spot where the priests who carried

the Ark of the Covenant had stood.
And they are there to this day."

(Derek) What translation is that?

(Gladys) New International Version.

(Derek) So my New King James

isn't that clear; it sounds like

Joshua went back with them.

But that doesn't make sense,

because then they would be covered

with water, and nobody would see them

and say, "What are these stones?"

Now, tell me some things you noticed

about these stones, because we're going

to talk about altars of remembrance.

What do you notice about these stones?
Anybody?

(Puia) Huge...carried them
on their shoulders.

(Derek) They weren't like, "Put them

in your pocket."

It said, "Each take one

and put it on your shoulder," right?

(Puia) Can we look at verse 20, Derek?

(Derek) Certainly, give us a moment

to go back to chapter 4, verse 20.

(Puia) Because, to your question

of where did they actually put it,

it seemed that maybe in two locations

because in verse 20 it reads

from the New King James Version:

(Derek) Puia has answered my question.

So, they took them, and they

set them where they lodged,

but then they took them on.

Now, there is no reference to them

shaping the stones, building them

into a...you know, get

the stone cutters...

I mean, they did that when they built

the tabernacle; they had stone cutters

and weavers, all kinds of people.

Is there any significance to the fact

that, "Just take them out as they are"?

"Just take 12 boulders and pile them

into an altar of remembrance"?

Anybody? Leeah, I see your hand raised.
What do you think?

(Leeah) If you spend any time

near large bodies of water, you know

that it has a great effect

on the geology around it.

So, you can imagine, at a time like this,

if you see rocks, it wasn't uncommon

for them to build altars,

things of that nature, out of the rocks

that were on the land.

But if you were to see rocks

that were shaped by running water

from the river, they

would look extremely different.

So, you would look at them and say,

"What are those?

Why are they so different?"

(Derek) Okay, and the answer would be,

"Let us tell you where we

got these rocks," right?

I was thinking of the prophecy in Daniel

about the rock.

Jenner, tell me about that

because that rock also was not...

(Jenner) It was made without hands.

(Derek) Without human work.

(Jenner) Exactly, and that's

the whole idea, that it is a God thing.

It is through God's faithfulness,

but not necessarily us shaping it

and chiseling down in our way,

but it's actually something God made,

and God is going to make it happen for us.

(Derek) Let's look at Joshua's testimony

once they've crossed, and they've got

this altar, which eventually (thank you,

Puia) ends up in Gilgal, right,

not in the middle of the river,

but taken from the river.

Joshua 4, Gleny, could you read,

beginning with verse 21 through 24 for us?

(Gleny) And I'll be reading

from the New King James Version,
and it says:

(Derek) Now, in a previous study,

we talked about a fear of reverence

and a fear of terror.

Which one is this?

(Derek, Team) Reverence.

(Derek) "That you might reverence,

and actually, not just those of you

who crossed over, but..."?

What did it say?

Everybody, everybody in the world,

not just the next generation,

but that, "You would be able to testify

of the miraculous working

of God on your behalf

in building this altar."

Now, I want to just hyperspace forward

to Jesus and then to your life,

because Jesus also built

at least one altar of remembrance

that I can think of, something He

didn't want us ever to forget.

Can anybody think what that was?

Anyone? I'm looking for a hand

to be raised. Yes, Gladys.

(Gladys) The institution of Communion?

(Derek) Yes, take us to the upper room,

if you would, Matthew 26,

verses 26 to 30.

Now, it's not Communion

that He wants us to remember

with the Lord's Supper.

That's not what He wants us to remember.

He wants us to remember the cross.

He wants us to remember the grace of God

in providing salvation.

What does it say in John, chapter 3
and verse 16, "For God so..."?

(Team) Loved.

(Derek) "...loved the world,
that He," did what?

(Derek) "He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever..."?

(Derek) "...believes in Him should not
perish but...?"

(Team) "...have everlasting life."

(Derek) So, what was this service?

It was an altar of remembrance.

Gladys, read for us Matthew 26,

verses 26 to 30.

(Gladys) Yes, and I'm reading

from the New International Version,
and it says:

(Derek) Now, Paul was a follower

of Jesus, right?

Was he there in the upper room?

No, he wasn't; he wasn't one of the 12.

He became a follower of Jesus later,

Saul of Tarsus converted

and became Paul the Apostle.

But do you know that he was given

a special revelation

about this altar of remembrance?

And he wrote about it in a letter,

and I'm going to ask Alex

if he'd read the letter.

It's a letter to Christians in Corinth

in 1 Corinthians 11, verses 23 to 26,

and it actually uses that [phrase]

"in remembrance of Me."

It's an altar of remembrance,

and as you listen, you'll notice

as Alex reads, in the first verse,

verse 23, that he says, "This came

to me as a revelation from God,"

because he wasn't there, was he?

Alex, read for us, would you,

1 Corinthians 11:23-26.

(Alex) Of course, and I'll be reading

from the New King James Version,

starting in verse 23, and the Word
of God says:

(Team) Amen.

(Derek) So, whenever I have

the opportunity with fellow Christians...

it's not something you do by yourself,

because you share as a body together.

Whenever I take this bread

and this unfermented wine,

symbols of the perfect sacrifice of Jesus,

it doesn't tell you what to say,

but when I eat that, I say,

"Thank You, Jesus."

I remember, as, Jenner, you pointed out,

pointing to the scarred hands of Jesus.

I remember, as I drink

that unfermented wine, I say,

"Thank You, Jesus, thank You.

I want to always remember

what You did for me."

Jesus built that altar

of remembrance for us, right?

And, I suppose He would also say,

"Tell your children about that, too."

Alex, I'll take your point

before we move on, but I'd like you

to be thinking about what are

some altars of remembrance we

might be able to build in our lives,

or in our families, so that we remember

or don't forget God's miraculous leading

on our journey?

But, Alex, let me take your point first.

(Alex) Yes, and it's a very quick one,

very simple, but very profound.

One of the reasons why we are

to remember the past,

according to this one in Communion,

is to give hope for the future,

so we remember what Jesus has done.

He broke His body, His blood was shed,

but also to give us hope

that He's coming again.

(Derek) Amen. Thank you so much

for pointing that out.

And, of course, it gave

the children of Israel hope

in the provision of the crossing

that He would be with them

with all those Jebusites and Hittites

and the other "'-ites" that you

read about, Gleny, that He would

be faithful to His promise

to care for them.

So, let's be practical now.

And I'd like to hear from you, too.

You say, "Derek, I've thought

of an altar of remembrance I can build."

You can write to us; you know

the address, right, [e-mail].

What's something I could do, Nicole,
just so I don't forget.

(Nicole) Practically, I like to journal.

I like to write down stories

and things that happened

because we tend to forget
things that happen.

When we're in the midst of a trial
or tribulation,

we forget the good things that God
might have done for us.

When you journal it, you can actually keep
that story close to heart

and share it with your children
and people around you.

(Derek) For people that have

never done that, I'm assuming

you're not just doing that

on a scrap of paper that you found.

You've got a book, a journal book,

and you're kind of building an altar

of remembrance, aren't you.

"Thank You, God, for the way

You provided in this situation."

Alright, has anybody ever tried that?

Anybody ever tried journaling?

Oh, a few of you have, okay.

Another altar we might build, Jenner?

(Jenner) Something we started

with my wife this year is we

got a big jar, a glass jar, and every week

anytime that we see something

that God has done, whatever it is,

we just write it down on a piece of paper

and put it in there.

And at the end of the year,

we're going to look at all the blessings.

(Derek) A jar of remembrance.

(Jenner) Yes.

(Derek) Wow, that's a simple thought,

and yet a beautiful one, isn't it,

that we write a little note and put it in.

Don, I saw your hand.

(Don) For me, I'd say pictures,

but we don't have enough space

on our computers, so I bought

a two-terabyte hard drive for me to store

all my photos and pictures on that drive.

So, I think pictures are the best thought

for me to remember

those good times together with family.

(Derek) You won't see God in the picture,

but maybe when you tell the story. Gleny?

(Gleny) I think of the time

where my family and I started having

morning and evening devotions together

and eventually started keeping

the Sabbath together, which I think

is a memorial set in time where we are

able to think about our Creator

and our re-Creator.

(Derek) What an amazing thought.

You're saying that actually the Sabbath

that God set apart and blessed

and made holy is an altar

of remembrance, isn't it?

And that comes every week.

So, maybe that's

why the fourth commandment

begins with the word...

(Derek, Team) "Remember."

(Derek) "Remember the Sabbath day,

to keep it holy."

Thank you for pointing that out. Zandile.

(Zandile) I was thinking of something

that Gleny said, along those lines,

that when we celebrate

our spiritual anniversaries, marking

your calendar, marking your day

when God delivered you

or when God did something

that you've been praying for,

and just remember that always

and share it and tell it to other people.

When the year comes again,

you just always have that remembrance

to say, "On this day,

God did this for me."

(Derek) Does anybody have a day like that

you'd like to testify about?

Oh, Zandile put her hand right back up.

I was just thinking, I remember

that two days after my birthday,

I made a public confession

as a follower of Jesus.

So, I was born on March 28,

and on March 30, I know

because it was two days after my birthday,

I built an altar that day because that was

the day that I said, "I commit my life."

But, Zandile, we all want to hear

because the hand went right back up,

a special day that represented

God's work in your life.

(Zandile) That will be one of the days -

I have a lot - but I'll share December 23

of 2023, God blessed me

with my first vehicle.

I got my first vehicle, and I did not

pay much for it.

God had bought it for me,

and since that time, every little thing

that He does, I journal everything,

and I mark the days that stand out

where I can physically say, "This is

what God gave me

with no shadow of a doubt."

(Derek) December 23, 2023,

that's a lot of 23's, "God bought

the car for me."

That's an interesting thought, isn't it?

So, you built an altar on that day,

and you won't get past December 23

without remembering, right,

the goodness of God.

By the way, it's not just the car, is it?

It's the faithfulness of God

who cares for us. Gladys?

(Gladys) Yes, for me, my date

is March 7, 2018, when I had

my brain surgery.

And as a remembrance,

the Hope Sabbath School audience

sent me a prayer quilt

with little squares of verses that they

stitched on it by hand.

And every time I see it, I remember

God's miracle in my life.

(Derek) You know, we get comments

from around the world

that you're still alive, Gladys.

(Gladys) Yes.

(Derek) They're praising God.

That was March?

(Gladys) March 7, 2018.

(Derek) 2018, so I know we

broadcast/record ahead of time,

but that's more than seven years ago.

Somebody say, "Praise God."

(Team) Praise God!

(Derek) Okay, but you kind of built

an altar for that day, March 7, that God

delivered you, and He blessed you.

(Gladys) Yes, He did.

(Derek) Wow. Anybody else remember?

But then I want to ask this question.

I want to go, if you would, to John,

chapter 14, and verse 26.

What's the role of the Holy Spirit?

Could we pray...Puia, what do you think,

could we pray, "God, help me to remember

the way that You've led me in the past,"

so that I won't be afraid of the future?

What's the role of the Holy Spirit

in helping us to remember?

Would you read for us that verse

in John 14:26, which isn't

specifically about events, but maybe we

could learn from it.

(Puia) Absolutely, and I'll be reading

from the New King James Version,

John 14, verse 26:

(Derek) Now, we could think

that's just Bible texts, but I think

God said something to you on March 7,

when the prayer quilt came through.

God said something to you on December 23

(hey, I'm remembering the dates, right),

when He bought your car.

The Holy Spirit can help us remember.

Let's look at one other verse,

because I think this is really important,

and it was important back then,

and it's important now.

Colossians, chapter 4 and verse 2,

Jenner, if you could find that letter

of Paul to Christians in Colossae,

in Colossians, chapter 4 and verse 2.

What is the counsel of the Apostle Paul?

(Jenner) Colossians 4, verse 2,

from the New King James Version, it says:

(Derek) Now, here is

where different translations are helpful,

okay, because I don't know where you are

living around the world, English

first language, second, third language,

but "vigilant" is not a word

we use very frequently, okay?

But "continue in prayer,"

I got it so far.

Does anyone else have another translation?

Gladys, how does your translation...

Which translation do you have?

(Gladys) New International.

(Derek) How does it translate
Paul's words there?

(Gladys) It says:

(Derek) "Watchful," watchful.

So, if the Holy Spirit can bring

to our remembrance, I could also ask

the Holy Spirit to make me watchful.

In other words, "Help me to see

the way that You're leading," right?

Well, then what?

It says, "Be thankful," right?

An appropriate response.

My wife, you know, likes to write

Scripture songs, right?

Compose them, I should say.

The words are directly from the Bible.

But one of them, Psalm 9, says,

"I will praise You, O Lord,

with my whole heart;

I will tell of all Your marvelous works,"
I will tell.

Well, in order to tell,

I need to remember.

And when I remember,

then I want to praise You.

Does that make sense?

So, we're going to take

the last section of our study.

You say, "What does this

have to do with Joshua?"

Well, I know, when they came

through the River Jordan,

that they were praising God.

I know that when they built

their altar of remembrance,

which apparently ended up jn Gilgal,

thanks to Puia's instruction,

that when they saw that,

even if they weren't part of that group,

when they asked their mother

or their father, they praise God.

Those smooth rocks, thank you -

Who mentioned the smooth rocks?

(Gladys) Leeah.

(Derek) That was Leeah, wasn't it?

Thank you, Leeah.

"Those rocks don't look like our rocks.

Where did they come from?"

And the answer is, "They came

out of the Jordan,

in the midst of the Jordan."

And they can respond with praise.

So, I'm going to give you an opportunity

to give a praise to God for the way

He's led in your life.

We've heard Gladys saying, "I was

diagnosed with a brain tumor."

March 7, is that when you

had your surgery?

March 7, 2018, and you're praising God.

(Gladys) Yes.

(Derek) And you've been a huge blessing

as part of the team and in many ways.

Who else has a word of testimony

and praise to God?

Puia, you have one first,

and then there are others,

so let's share together. Puia?

(Puia) I remember the year,

I think it was 2015,

right before I finished

my undergraduate degree,

I decided to take a year off

as a volunteer student missionary.

And I was accepted to serve in Hawaii,

but I did not have any money

to buy my flight tickets to fly

from Maryland to Hawaii.

So, I prayed to God, and I said,

"God, I don't have any money.

If You can provide for me,

I would appreciate this."

And I looked up the tickets,

and they were going to cost

about 600 dollars one way,

and then 600 dollars for coming back.

And I wasn't going to earn much

while serving there, so I'm like,

"God, I would need about 1200 dollars."

(Derek) You'd like to come back, too,
eventually right?

(Puia) Although Hawaii is beautiful,

my home is here in Maryland.

So, around that time, I got

an invitation to speak at a church

in North Carolina.

This church did not know

that I was praying for this.

And at the end of our weekend together

after I finished my last sermon,

the elder came up and called me up

to the stage and wanted to say thank you,

and he handed me an envelope.

(Derek) Would anybody like to guess

what was in the envelope?

I don't know the answer, but I'm hoping

it wasn't just a granola bar.

(Puia) It was a thank-you note,

and when I arrived back home,

I opened the envelope,

and there inside the envelope

was exactly 1200 dollars.

(Derek) What?!

(Puia) Yes! So whenever I look back

on the way God has led me, that is

the moment that I will always remember

God coming through for me.

(Derek) That is an amazing story,
isn't it?

And not just a little help

but the specific amount for help. Don?

(Don) Well, to still continue

my story earlier, so I lost my mom,

and I said, "I will quit studying,"

but you know what?

God works in a miraculous way.

I was a working student already.

I was on my second year, and when I

came back, I was

already two months behind.

And all of a sudden, one

of the random sponsors sent tuition

to pay for my tuition that semester,

and not only that semester,

but until I graduated.

(Team) Wow.

(Don) And it was a miracle for me...

(Derek) I know everyone is saying,

"Please send me the name of the donor,

and the church where I need to go speak,

and the person that bought Zandile's car."

That's not the point, is it?

(Team) No.

(Derek) The point is that there is

a God in Heaven who cares about us!

The God of Joshua, who was

also the God of Abraham, Isaac,

Jacob and Moses, is the living God.

Mighty, share, and then I see Nicole,

and seven other hands raised,

and we're almost out of time,

but someone's going to be inspired

by your testimony.

(Mighty) I'm very inspired

by everything that has been said.

I had an experience that was similar

to an experience in the Bible

when the Israelites were

in the wilderness, and fiery serpents

came and attacked them, right?

And now, every time I read that story,

I always think back to something

that happened to me

while I was over in Asia.

There are these bamboo vipers

that are very common in the area,

and they have smaller ones,

and they have larger ones.

And the smaller ones are considered
more dangerous because when they

bite you, they don't control the venom;
they just give you everything...

(Derek) Sounds terrible.

(Mighty) So, I literally had

a similar experience

that the Israelites had.

I was just walking; I liked to walk

the area where I lived.

I just liked to walk around.

There were a lot of shrubs and bushes

and stuff, and as I was walking,

a friend that I was walking with said,

"What's that next to your feet."

And I looked down, and sure enough,

it was a baby bamboo viper.

And it was just hanging around

right next to me, and I didn't realize.

I was standing there for quite some time,

so I jumped away, of course,

and it moved away from the area.

But I was wondering, how long

had that even been there?

Because I didn't realize

that it was there.

And so I realized, wow, that God

literally protected me,

because if I had been bitten,

and got sick, who knows

what could have happened...

So, I realized that God

is always protecting us,

and we're just not aware of it

a lot of the time.

Every time we get up and go to work,

and we're driving and going

to different locations, a lot of things

could happen, and we just don't realize

the things that the angels

around us have done to protect us,
and we won't know...

(Derek) I think we ought to get together

every once in a while and remember

and build some altars of remembrance.

What do you think?

That's what they did

in the time of Joshua.

That's what we've been doing here

on Hope Sabbath School today,

and we have to stop,

even though there were more hands raised

because we're out of time.

But I want you to take some time

to think about the way

that God has been active in your life,

the way that He has blessed you

and watched over you.

Build an altar of remembrance.

Write it down; get a memory jar

and put some notes in it, some way,

set the date on your calendar

so you can praise God that He is

the miracle-working God today

that He was back in the time of Joshua.

Let's pray; Father in Heaven,

thank You for reminding us

You're the same miracle-working God today.

And thank You for the way You've worked

in each our lives and will work

even in the days ahead.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

(Team) Amen.

(Derek) Thanks for joining us
for Hope Sabbath School.

You say, "Derek, miracles

are all around us."

"God, open my eyes to see and praise You,"

and then go out, my friend,

and be a blessing to those around you.

♪ theme music ♪