Hope Sabbath School Lesson 2 Choices we make

[Music] [Applause] [Applause] welcome to Hope Sabbath school an in-depth interactive study of the word of God I'm excited about this new series on family seasons and today a crucial topic the choices we make I'm also excited because one of our team Jason is going to be leading us in our study today I know it's going to be really powerful and we're glad you're with us and I'm want to welcome the team this is going to be a life-changing study isn't it and you know we can all look at our lives and say there are choices I've made and here's how they've impacted me either for good or for evil and so we are glad you're with us and we're also glad that you write to us let us know how God is blessing your life through hope service school here is a note from Afghanistan now with the first name Moses I'm thinking maybe it's someone on assignment there in Afghanistan but I'm just so thankful to hear from Moses praise God may the Lord bless hope Sava school for light the light you present to the world I like the way you handle the study of the word of God amen but Moses whatever you're doing there if it's your homeland or if you're on assignment there in Afghanistan may you also be a light to the world where you are now serving here's a note another note from Jamaica we have so many hope Sabbath school members in Jamaica KJ writes and I think you'll conclude at the end of her email that she would also appreciate your prayers KJ writes and says I'm studying with you hope Sabbath school team I'm unemployed and broke that's colloquial for meaning no money yet living a life of victory what does a man mean my heart agrees right praise God for my life does not consist in the abundance of things I possess my life is tied up with God through Jesus and it is well that's a powerful testimony for all of us isn't it all my needs are supplied every day my circumstances do not change who Jesus is well the victory he has already accomplished on my behalf amen she wrote in to preached KJ you sound like a preacher yeah Ray's God I mean an anointed preacher of God I love you all she says but I love Jesus most stay faithful and let's meet in heaven if not here someday your sister KJ well KJ thanks for writing you inspired us and we'll pray because sometimes as we've studied in seasons we could go through a challenging season unemployed no money by Jesus is with us here's a note from Earl in Kansas Earl thanks for writing to us in the United States and actually I excuse me it's a phone call from Earl he called into our office he sends his greetings to the hope Sabbath School class born and raised in Kansas he just turned 98 and thanks for calling in to our hotline he's been a baptized member since 1956 that's before most of you were born that's before all of you were he truly appreciates this wonderful god-given program he's unable to go to church but he watches hope Sam school every week he says may God bless and keep you and continue to glorify the Lord he plans to watch hope Sabbath school as long as he's on this older well Earl thanks for calling on our hotline which is so happy happy 98th birthday already and continue to shine for Jesus that's a beautiful testimony isn't it here's a note from a donor in Alabama I truly enjoy hope Sabbath school may God continue to bless you for many years to come please accept this small donation to be used in the best way it can and a gift for $40 a man while working together for the mission right remember Jesus with the widow who gave the two mites mm-hmm and he said she gave all she had thanks for writing to us and thank you to each one of you for your faithful support for this donor supported ministry about one last note from saw net in South Africa so net thanks for writing to us from our small town Brayden Berg on the west coast of the Cape in South Africa how can I ever thank you for hope service Co our Sabbath school each Sabbath that our church is blessed by your study it starts being broadcast here on Sunday and it's a blessing to me to be able to watch as I prepare for my coming Sabbath school study thank you for all hope channels hard work to reach the world how can we ever thank you from our little town of Raiden Burke may God bless you and keep you in the palm of his hand and we say amen yes thanks so much so net you're obviously a witness where you are we're excited as we look at this important topic in this series and family seasons the choices we make but before we study we have our theme song taken from Psalm it's 3000 years old but it's powerful and it's a song of praise you can download it from our website hope TV org slash Hope SS sheet music mp3 file perhaps you've already learned it let's sing it together praise the Lord racism in the ice praise him all is a raising all his rage inside raises body style [Music] Oh these stars of light [Music] [Music] I praise him all his angels raised in his house races ha [Music] well that's a cheerful start to the study Jason god bless you as we study God's Word today amen and after that sheer full start let's bow our heads and let us think the Lord and ask him to be with us as we enter into this lesson our dear Heavenly Father today as we open your word as we understand more fully how the choices we make can impact our future and can impact those around us help us to learn more how we can make choices that draw us closer to you how we can use the freedom you've given us to be a blessing to someone else lord help us to take something or even many things from this very practical lesson that we can apply to our lives today and most importantly we pray all this and the holy name of Jesus the one who gives us this power amen when we're looking at family seasons and we look at the choices we make we have to understand that these choices can impact not just ourselves but also can impact other people around us and again not just our families but everyone we come in contact with but before we look at this idea of choices we need to first recognize how we even have the ability to make these choices the freedom to choose but before we go to the scriptures I want to sort of ask someone here on the team or maybe several when you hear the phrase freedom to choose or the idea of freedom to make choices what comes to your mind what thoughts what concepts enter your mind Gladys I am not restricted it's not a given script I can choose what I want not restricted you have freedom Juliana it's a true freedom really because I'm not being controlled to or forced into different things I'm being allowed to choose alright so freedom to choose we get to make our own decisions not restricted now let's take a look we have our ideas now let's test these ideas by what the Bible says and so I'd like to ask Stephanie if you could start as far as we're gonna go all the way back to the beginning back to a time of perfection and we're gonna look at the second chapter of Genesis verses 15 through 17 and there's a little story here and there's some lessons that we can take out of this that teach us about this idea of freedom to choose and see if how we understand freedom to choose is this what God intended so Stephanie and I'll be reading from the King James Version and the Lord God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it and the Lord God commanded the man saying of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die Wow surely die so some of the choices we make can have some pretty drastic consequences but before we get to that part I want to ask someone on the team here what is that passage talk about or rather what is the context we're in here this is talking about freedom and eating of some tree but where are we what's happening in the story of the Bible Julianna we're in the Garden of Eden it's likely that they Adam and Eve were just created and and God's kind of introducing the locale here's the home I've just made for you but I want to let you know that there are some boundaries and I'm doing this because I love you there's kind of this relationship that's being established and in that relationship he's letting Adam and even know that they have this choice but I would prefer that you not choose this because I love you all right so there's some boundaries of this choice Stephanie I think there's that choice but there's also consequence the Lord is not holding anything back from them this is what my expectations are and here are the results if you choose the but I want you to choose what's right yes Lisa and even going further I think it's more than just here here's a choice between what kind of life you want to live you know as we we see later on a life of sin or a life with God but it's more of do you choose me as your God so they didn't get the chance to choose to be created God created them that was a choice he made but he's saying do you choose me to guide you to walk with you and that's what those two trees represent so we have these two trees but I want to ask here in the Garden of Eden how many bad choices is God allowing Adam Eve to potentially make here are there a lot of bad options in this garden one so you could basically say that all the others maybe 99% so 99% good choices 1% possibly bad choice I'm thinking of my own life if I could leave in the 99% of the choices that I could make would be positive that I would feel I'd be in a much better place than than where I am in life Travis I was just gonna say God didn't put him in the garden and say okay here's a path and here's a path I mean he gave him a vast variety of great things in front of them and there was just a warning stay away from that just don't go near the tree it's daring and I like what Juliana said it wasn't like okay there's 10 boxes if you pick one up it will blow up you know there's no warning it's kind of like some kind of mean game that he's been very clear that that your choices have consequences and I want to tell you that this this is a sign of your trusting me you don't go near this it's not like a booby trap he's explained very clearly the meaning of that of that tree Rick yeah I think God is a God of love that's the first and primary thing that we know about God and so this tree with with love you have to have freedom of choice if you just put a gun to someone's head and say love me they might say they love you but I don't think they really do and so you have to give you know for every yes you have to have an opportunity to say no if you can't say no it's not really a yes yes and so this tree becomes an an symbol of a way to show God do I trust you do I love you do I want to be in relationship with you or do I want to take all that into my own hands as as the devil tempted them do you want to be like God and and in the end of course we know the story thank you Rick Rick entered an important idea here this idea that God created us with the freedom of choice that we had to have that bad option I want to explore that a little more heal quickly someone else on the team why did God give us that freedom because isn't that dangerous couldn't we mess up couldn't we win those problems and a lot of hardship Nicole well we do mess up and I think that's why he gave he knew that we're gonna mess up but he's given us the ability to make that choice he says if you love me you'll choose me he can't force us because even when you do with your own child there are things that you want your child to do that you prefer them not do but you still love them when they make that bad choice but you're giving them the structure to make the choice and I think God is merciful and gracious that he says choose choose me hopefully because that way you'll have eternal life but I love you enough to allow you to choose the other way and cause your own destruction so it's his love that does that yes Gladys if God will have would not have given us freedom of choice then we'll be like robots who have to worship Him because he said so and we'll have been programmed just for that so he gave us the freedom of choice so like Nicole said so we would choose on our own to be in fellowship with him now do you have to ask though because some people think it might be better that we were robots I mean if we were robots wouldn't there be a lot less pain in this world and a lot less heartache Lisa well I think that love is a risk when you fall in love you're taking a risk you don't know if that person will reciprocate and love you back and so when John is saying God is love he's saying he's willing to take a risk on us knowing that maybe we may not choose him maybe we can turn our backs from him but he's in it for the long haul and he's committed to us but we have to choose it it has to be freely given back for it to be loved Julianna I also don't think you can have a relationship with a robot there's a reason why we weren't created as robots because God wanted a relationship not he didn't want something just to maintain he wanted to interact to love really and and that's why I believe he gave us freedom of choice all right well we know this story but let's go there very quickly Lewan if you could read for us Genesis chapter 3 verse 6 and then Glenn if you could read for us Romans chapter 3 verse 23 let's see what is the result what choice did our first parents make and what is the result of this choice how does this relate to our choices today so the one so I'll be reading from the New Living Translation Genesis chapter 3 verse 6 says the woman was convinced she saw that the tree was beautiful its fruit looked delicious and she wanted the wisdom it would give her so she took some of the fruit and ate it and she gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate it too all right so our first parents they exercised their freedom of choice and because they exercised their freedom of choice in this certain direction they chose the tree of knowledge of good and evil we have some consequences that have happened we've had some some negative effects and was it just our first parents Glenn you have a verse for us there in Romans Romans 3 verse 23 reading from the New King James Version for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God hmm so with one exception they're basically all of us have exercised our freedom of choice in ways that have been shall we say harmful for our future and yet there is good news there was one person who did not exercise his freedom of choice in a harmful way so who was that person Jesus yes and there is a passage in the scriptures it's one of the most famous verses in the Bible I'd like to ask Nancy if you could read this for us John chapter 3 verse 16 and then we're also gonna read verse 17 because there was one man who exercised his freedom of choice in a positive way and then because of this we now have an opportunity to exercise our freedom of choice in a way differently in some ways we can't undo what Adam and Eve did but we can make up for that with our own personal lives with our freedom of choice and so please read that for us and even though this is a very famous verse someone may be hearing it for the first time let's hear from John this is John 3:16 and 17 from the New King James Version for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life for God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved it was the most important positive choice we can make yes Travis there the key word is through through indicates a relationship hmm when you when you read when I was reading this in and going over and studying this I was like wow you know the only way that we can be saved as through a relationship with Jesus it's just not knowing about his name randomly but he desires that relationship were saved through saving relationship with Jesus through that saving relationship with Jesus we can exercise our freedom of choice for salvation now God wants to save everyone he wants he loves all of his creation and yet not everyone is going to be saved and so I'd like to ask Billy if you could read the next two verses in John chapter 3 let's read why the Bible explains to us why is everyone not going to be saved God wants us all to be there yet we're not all going to be with him so why is this please read for us John 3:18 and 19 I'll be reading from the King James Version he that believeth on him is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned ready because he had not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God and this is the condemnation that light has come into the world and Men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil so why are we not all going to be saved Gladys because we have to choose we have to make that conscious decision to accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord Nicole but if you think about it just practically do you as a human being wanna be with someone who doesn't love you you don't wanna be in the house with someone every day that really don't can't stand you so I don't know why God wants someone with him and his kingdom forever that didn't love him I think part of this is we have to choose to love him and choose to want to be with him and then he will actually he wants to be with us also he wants us all to be saved but he doesn't want someone who is forcing to want to be with him in his kingdom and that person would want to be there either so it's freedom of choice both ways they're God's choosing who he wants and people choosing whether they want to be with him so because of our freedom of choice we can even choose to reject the gift that he's given us to save us again making up for the freedom of choice of our first parents yes Lisa and I love that Johnny is using the imagery of light and darkness so it's like black and white you either love darkness you hold on to this choice and reject God or you fully embrace God and reject the other so you can't have half and half and there's some people who kind of you know I want God Monday to Tuesday but Wednesday Thursday and Friday I want this but he's saying you have to go all-in that's what love is a hundred percent be fully in it and reject the darkness which is going back to what John is saying mister you know I was just startled I mean we've heard these verses before but the people would actually love darkness rather than light no how can that be it's actually the verb agape which is a fully devoted love of darkness how can that be and the only explanation is one choice after another that you actually come to the place that you're fully devoted to dark even though God so loved the world that He gave it's frightening actually how much our choices will even affect the way we think and so on that note we've looked we've got a reference here to dark choices wrong choices but the good news is we can make right choices and so let's look at this idea this concept of right choices but before we get to that Derek referenced dark choices what does it mean to make a right choice someone on the team here if I say make the right choice what do you think I'm saying or what does that sound like to you someone on the team Nancy if I say make the right choice the one that's logical and the one that's going to be better for you and for those around you so better for you better for those around you yes Stephanie I guess I would kind of say that we can't make the right choices unless we made the right choice to start with which is choosing Jesus and it is the best decision it's not this restriction it is the best decision that you can ever make and so the right choice humanly speaking God leads us sometimes in a path that doesn't always make sense but it's always the best so if we make the right choice first and make him Lord of our lives it is the best decision that you can make and he will guide you in the rest of your path amen that sounds super encouraging but let's let's make sure that it's not just our words there are promises in the Bible that tell us what Stephanie said that when we want to make the right choice God will guide us and you may have verses I have some here but what are some of your favorite texts what are some of your favorite promises about how God will guide you as Stephanie said when you want to make the right choice yes Gladys yeah one of my favorites is seeing James 1:5 James chapter 1 verse 5 all right yes and I use it all the time with my students and I use it all the time when I want to make a decision as well so James 1:5 I'm reading from the New King James Version and he says if any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God who gives you all liberally and without reproach and it will be given to him and why is that encouraging to you because we all have to make decisions and update on a daily basis and sometimes we don't know what to do we may be confused we will be clouded by many circumstances but if we ask of God he will either direct somebody to us oh he will give us the light that we need someone else on the team yes man see I have one Deuteronomy 30 30 verses 15 and actually 15 through 20 Deuteronomy chapter 30 and verses 15 through 20 yeah all right and you're gonna read that for us yes all right 13 15 through 20 about the choices we make yes right and this is from the New King James Version see I have set before you today life and good death and evil and that I command you today to love the Lord your God to walk in his ways and to keep his commandments his statutes and his judgments that you may live and multiply and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess but if your heart turns away so that you do not hear and are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them I announce to you today that you shall surely perish you shall not pull on your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess I call heaven and earth as witness today against you that I have set before you life and death blessing and cursing therefore choose life that both you and your descendants may live that you may love the Lord your God that you may obey his voice and that you may cling to him for he is your life and the length of your days and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your father's to Abraham Isaac and Jacob to give them men so that passage right there talks about the choices we can make there we can choose life or we can choose death God makes it very clear what he wants us to choose yet ultimately he gives us the freedom to make that decision he's not going to force us on that now we have a lot of different resources that we can use that are helpful in knowing what choices to make and one of the best resource we have is actually the Word of God itself the Scriptures are an important resource and the Bible talks about this and so I'd like to ask Laurel if you could read for us psalm 119 verse 105 let's see what does the Bible say about why it itself the Bible itself is an important resource for us as we're looking to make right choices in life I'll be reading from the new American Standard Bible psalms 119:105 your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path lamp to feet light to pass so it guides our way it gives us direction helps us to know where we're going yes Stephanie actually I was just thinking that when we read this verse thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light to my path do we believe that mm-hmm when we come up against a fork in the road do we run to the Word of God that's a question for myself as well is this is this my source do I really believe it and there's an amazing promise in answer to that if we are really in relationship with God jesus said the helper the Holy Spirit whom the father will send in my name he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance yes the things I said to you so again God is not trying to hide from us or make it difficult amen he's wanting to save us and yeah and so I I think that's one of the reasons we do hope Sabbath school we fill our minds with the word and trust the Holy Spirit can bring that to our remembrance now we have another place in the scriptures I'd like to ask Travis if you could read for a second Timothy chapter 3 verse 16 this verse gives some specific guidance or some specific actions or ways in which the Bible is a helpful resource so I want Travis to read that and then I want us to very quickly kind of list or think out about what these things are and how they can help us on the right path oh yes Travis and I'll be reading from the New King James Version all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction and righteousness all right so someone on the team what were some of the things there that scripture is helpful for Stephanie doctrine doctrine all right so doctrine is understanding the right way how to understand God's Word and relationship to our lives making it practical yeah proof reproof so reproof is when we may be going in the wrong direction we may be exercising our freedom of choice in a less than helpful way it's guiding us back to the right way guiding us to use our freedom of choice in a more positive beneficial way yes Lisa I was just thinking back to what Stephanie talked about the fork of the road and really do we believe it and in a previous lesson we were talking about transitions and see how some people they're in a tough spot they have to make a decision it's not something they can put off there in that moment where you know they need to commit to something or whatever it is in their lives and I think the Word of God shows us through the lives of other people who were in similar situations similar decision-making points that make or break moments in their life how did they handle it and so the Word of God shows us through these stories do these back experiences of okay these are people who chose the right thing this is how it worked out for them these are people who didn't choose the right thing this is how it worked out for them and so we are able to see we don't have to learn from our mistakes we don't have to make mistakes if we study the Word of God we can actually see how things play out because our vision is so limited to temporal things the Word of God is eternal so we can actually see the outcome of how things play out how one decision leads to another leads to consequences and we see that whole eternity in the decisions we make every day very practical you know I love what Travis said it's easy to say you're going the wrong path it's not only reproof but its correction so it not only shows you you're heading down the destructive path like Lisa said the story but but here's the here's the healthy path here's the good choice is the choice that will bless you and bless others yes that's I think what's so powerful about the Bible it teaches us not only what will be dangerous but it shows us how to live in a in a healthy and wholesome way and most of all a relationship with God and that's that last part instruction in righteousness and if I think of the word righteousness in the context of our listen would it be fair to say righteousness is right choices right doing is a kind of the general understanding of it but right choices exercising our freedom of choice in a positive direction that's what righteousness is and we know of course as Stephanie referenced where our righteousness comes from where we get the power to make those right choices not of our own strength it's because of what happened in John 3 and yes Travis and if you finish if when you read the verse 17 after that basically saying that the Bible is fully equipping the man of God for works you know just complete completely equipping the man of God for good works and the woman who boys and girls all of us right all of us children of God yes Stephanie and with the foundation the whole purpose is because He loves us and he wants the best for us that's really that that's it you know it's not it's not about okay what's that but I want the best for you so I'm gonna guide you Oh Gladys yeah I think that I was referring back to a least I would say about Oz not making having the necessity to make a mistake because we have the example but unfortunately as humans sometimes we don't learn but somebody experience but we have to learn through our own experience I'm not saying necessarily bad but for example I was I grew up in church I was born in raised in church and I will always read that God will provide but it was not till I was going hungry and didn't know what the food was coming but I actually understood that God will provide you know so sometimes we have to go learn through experience all right we've talked about the Bible as a resource but I want to ask real quickly are there any other resources that have been useful for you personally in your own life whether it's another person or other things that have been helpful what are some resources that have been helpful for you when making right choices Stephanie godly mentors godly mentors and generally those who have gone the pathway for you they've been through this path and they know certain things that we don't know so to listen to that not only mentors anyone else on the team a resource that's been helpful for you personally yes Gladys prayer meetings prayer meeting I went to a prayer meeting that actually brain is just people talking and have you ever been prayer pitted is when everybody surrounds you and they put their hands on you and I didn't know anybody in that prayer meeting and they put their hands on me and exactly what I have been struggling with the person that pray for me prayed and I was just like whoa how did that happen but God can use even you know your desire to be in a prayer meeting to answer you know the concerns and the questions in your heart yes Julianna Bible study groups I love being able to come together with a group of people that are all earnestly seeking to know God better and maybe you know we might have some that have been in church longer than others or some that maybe have just joined and yet we get insights from everybody because we're all looking for the same purpose we're all looking to Christ and looking for a better understanding and I think that sometimes sometimes I get more blessed by the insights of the new person because they're seeing it with fresh eyes and it reminds me to see Jesus again with fresh eyes so the benefit of our church community our community believers different experiences that yes Billy and I'm reminded of Andrew Andrew is known for the the disciple keeps on bringing people to Jesus and it doesn't have to be like a person who's who's like a pastor or something somebody who's very theologically knowledgeable but somebody who knows where the answer is and I'm also reminded that some people don't have they're clinically cannot make the right choices they are mentally ill and we need people who can bring these people to church bring people to somebody who can pray over them and these people would not necessarily have to be church members but they need to know that there is a church that's gonna pray for them there are some people that are they're all gonna pray for them so these are we just need to be around people who knows where the answer is and you can pray or deed us and in that direction Thank You Billy for bringing out some of those important points there are things we don't always think about when utilizing resources to make choices in life now there are some very important choices we can make in life we'll discuss them later some that come to mind personally are choosing a life partner may be making financial decisions one of the most important decisions we can make is to follow Christ but we also have to look at some of the poor choices that people have made in life and I want us to look here in the book of Ecclesiastes and I like if Nicole if you could read for us the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 2 verses 3 through 11 there's a story of the wisest man who ever lived and yet even though he's the wisest man who ever lived he made some choices in life he exercised his freedom of choice in a certain direction I want us to look at this very quickly some of the choices he made why he made them and what conclusion he came to the New International Version of Ecclesiastes 2 3 through 11 says I tried cheering myself with wine and embracing folly my mind's still guiding me with wisdom I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives I undertook great projects I built houses for myself and planted vineyards I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them I made reservoirs - water groves of flourishing trees I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me I am a sovereign goal for myself and the treasure and the treasure of kings and provinces I acquired male and female singers and a harem as well the delights of a man's heart I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me in all this my wisdom stayed with me I denied myself nothing my eyes desired I refused my heart and no pleasure my heart took delight in all my labor and this was the reward for my toil yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve everything was meaningless a chasing after the wind nothing was gained Under the Sun oh wow so let's unpack that for a moment what were some of the activities that this wise man Solomon undertook some of the things that he did to to build himself up were some of the choices that he made Julianna gathered a lot of material wealth a lot of material wealth yes anyone else many wives many wives all right so material wealth social wealth you could say so he gathered all these things and what was the reason why he was doing this he says quite clearly what was his rationale what's he doing this to bring glory to God - yes Gladys the knight himself nothing that he wanted nothing that he wanted to sell his self so this is all about self pleasure so he's exercising his freedom of choice for self yes juliana and in verse 3 it says that i might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives he's experimenting he's trying to see what is it that i can get away with basically and he's kind of follow your heart we've heard this idea sometimes in popular culture follow your heart do what feels good experiment try it out and yet what is the conclusion he comes to here what does he call it meaningless meaningless vanity and weightless grasping after the one grasping after the wind so he's exercising his freedom of choice he's going in all these different directions trying these things and yet it's meaningless it's purposeless and why is it meaningless why is it purposeless because that's not money we were created for hmm just gratify our flesh pleasures we were created to love God with all our hearts and to love each other yes which is giving and that was all taking and he took everything and it was it was vanity vanity a waste of time because that's not what we were created for mm-hmm yes the interesting thing is he didn't start out that way he started out asking well God asked him in a dream what he could give him and he what he wanted was wisdom he felt that he was as a small child not knowing what to do when his father came David gave him the kingdom and he started out with a heart seeking after God and somewhere along the line I guess maybe choice by choice by choice he ended up in this place where he just wasted all of these resources now one of the most important decisions we can make in life and the Bible tells us in the book of Proverbs is how we choose our friends who we choose to associate with to spend our time socializing we've talked about a reference how good friends can be helpful whether in Bible study or prayer meeting and so I'd like to ask Rick if you could read for us one of the places and proverbs references the importance of choosing friends wisely but let's look at why this is beneficial or how this is help for some practical principles so Rick could you'd read for us proverbs chapter 17 verse 17 we're gonna look at some principles when choosing friends so that hopefully we might not make some of the same choices that Solomon made sure I'm reading from the New International Version this is proverbs 17:17 a friend loves at all times and a brother is born for a time of adversity all right so loving at all times being there for support another principle is 18-24 Lisa if you could read that for us what it what does this say about choosing friends wisely proverbs chapter 18 verse 24 I'll be reading from the New King James Version a man who has friends must himself be friendly but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother all right so friendliness there's this idea of sticking closer than your brother we have these positive ideas but then there's also some things to avoid Julianna if you could read for us proverbs chapter 22 verses 24 and 25 we have some caution when choosing friends and which friends we should be careful around I'll be reading from the New King James Version do not rob the poor because he is poor nor oppress the afflicted at the gate for the Lord will plead their cause and plunder the soul of those who plunder them make no friendship with an angry man and with a furious man do not go lest you learn his ways and set a snare for your soul Thank You Giuliana and one last portion we have from Paul in 1st Corinthians chapter 15 verse 33 and I'd like to ask Laurel if you could read for us here because someone could say well it's okay if I associate people as long as I've got good habits to start with so good habits that will be enough for me but what caution does Paul give here in relationship to friendship 1st Corinthians chapter 15 verse 33 alright I'll be reading from the new American Standard Bible do not be deceived bad company corrupts good morals all right so it's important who we associate with what our friends are for us and so I'd like to ask on the team here we've referenced it a little bit but even more let's try to get a little personal have you had any experiences in your life where friends have impacted you either positively or if we're being honest possibly negatively someone here on the team do you have an experience you're willing to share about how friends have helped you exercise your freedom of choice in a way that brought you to closer to God or possibly the other direction GLaDOS I see you smiling here like I said a very good group of female friends that encouraged me to to dig deeper into the Word of God and that's one of the things that I appreciate their friendship for because whenever they I asked for their counsel or for their help in certain situations there do not give me their opinion they don't say oh I think that you should do this or I think you should do that they just lead me back to the Word of God and say let's see what God says that you should do in this situation and I think that choosing France that will lead you to God is the best kind of friends you can have friends lead you closer to God anyone else on the team experience with friendship either positive or possibly yes Travis I'll share one from the negative side I guess you know at about 15 years old my parents had divorced and I was kind of just left to just do what I wanted and pretty soon found myself hanging out with people I shouldn't have the next thing you know I'm drinking and smoking and doing the things that they were doing and then you just get you surround yourself with more with more of those friends in it and it led to some I guess he seasons of not such it's not such a good life you know for a while and and as I was coming back out of that I noticed that when I would spend time with them I would go back to those things but the further I removed myself from them not not that I don't like them but the further I removed myself from them the here was to sustain you know abstinence from from alcohol or that kind of thing so to exercise your freedom of choice in a positive direction sometimes you had to use your freedom of choice and not associate as much or in certain context with certain people yes Juliana not as drastic of a story as Travis but in a negative sense certain groups of people that I had hung out with okay it sometimes will lead your mind to think in certain ways and you have to catch yourself sometimes it's like oh my goodness I'm speaking more resentfully of other people or I'm looking at a more negative term and you know where where my other group of friends that support me and you know is a group of ladies that also will lead me to Christ you know we speak more positively we we look with hope as opposed to some of my friends that I have had in the past that are kind of always looking for the bad or always looking for something to complain about and when I recognized that I was able to one distance myself a little bit but not so much that we're no longer friends it's just now I've made a choice of I need to switch gears and be a little bit more on guard when I'm with them so maybe I can be that positive influence in their lives instead of allowing them to to bring me down and be the complaining or the negative in mine so we have to be careful watch that what we are doing we're exercising our freedom of choice in ways that shows Christ's love to those we come in contact with I guess would be a fair way to say it we have to move to one last important choice that we can make in life and that's choosing a life partner now we go back to the beginning to the book of Genesis and I'm gonna ask Gladys if you could read for us all the way back to Genesis chapter 2 we have verse 18 and then 21 through 25 we have this beautiful story of what God gives in this context of choosing a life partner and as Gladys reads let's look at some of the principles we can pull out here from this beautiful story now I'm reading from the New King James Version Genesis chapter 2 verse 18 and then 21 to 25 and the Lord God said it is not good that man should be alone I will make him a helper comparable to him verse 21 to 25 and the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam and his left and he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in its place then the rib which the Lord God has taken from the man he made into a woman and he brought her to the man and Adam said this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh she shall be called woman because she was taken out of men therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and they shall become one flesh and they were both naked the man his wife and were not ashamed wow that's a wonderful story but what are some of the principles from this story that we can take when say searching for our own life partner looking for God's path in this direction Gladys I think that I like the part where he says that this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh so this should be something that connects you to that person there should be some path that you are walking that you can be walking along together so I think that there has to be some type of unity there some unity some path some connection yes Julianna I've heard a phrase where you know woman was not made from man's head to rule over him nor from his feet so that he would walk all over her but from his side so that they could be walking together and I didn't say that properly but it doesn't just and and you know it's there's that comparison that the the unification really as she said that we're equal we're equal and we're coming as whole people we're not coming to control someone else we're not seeking to be controlled and and I guess for me what this says for me is I need to come as a whole person when I'm seeking a relationship with someone else so you know seeking God first before I now we need to look quickly at two different stories of one who made the right choice and one who maybe didn't follow some of these principles and Lisa if you could go for us to the book of Judges chapter 14 verses one through three and then Stephanie if you could look a couple of chapters later judges chapter 16 verse 1 through 4 we have a quick story of some fatal mistakes that one person made in choosing a life partner and so let's look at some of these mistakes just very quickly Lisa judges chapter 14 okay judges chapter 14 verses 1 to 4 I'll be reading from the New King James Version now Samson went down to Timna and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines so he went up and told his father and mother saying I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines now therefore get her for me as a wife then his father and his mother said to him is there no woman among the daughters of your brethren or among all my people the you must go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines and Samson said to his father get her for me for she pleases me well thank you Lisa and now Stephanie and I'll be reading judges 16 1 & 4 in the King James Version went Samson to Gaza and saw there an harlot and went in unto her and it came to pass afterward that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah all right so he didn't follow maybe what his family guided he didn't choose one that was from the same faith as him the same guidance that God had been directing him but we do have a good story and Laurel I'd like if you could read quickly Matthew chapter 1 verses 18 through 25 we have the counter example 2 this alright I'll be reading from the new American Standard Bible now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows when his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit and Joseph her husband being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her plan to send her away secretly but when he had considered this behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying Joseph son of David do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife for the child who you have been conceived in who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit she will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the Prophet behold the Virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel which translates meet God is with us and Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the lord commanded him and he took Mary as his wife but he kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a son and he and he called his name Jesus so he followed the Holy Spirit's direction he was a just man and that allowed him to make better choices and life partner and I like to ask you maybe you've exercised your freedom of choice in a way that wasn't so helpful if you have asked the Holy Spirit to guide you and by His grace you can make right choices exercising your freedom of choice to be a blessing to other people around you thank you Jason there's been a great study hasn't it yes you know I I just want to come back to to what was said earlier that the most important choice is to choose Jesus amen because he'll guide you in every other choice you have to make and he is not trying to catch you out and trouble you he's wanting to save you and use you as transforming blessing to others but as Jason just said if we've made some poor choices God can forgive us and correct us and instruct us in righteousness and I want to pray that we can listen to that counsel as we continue through the seasons of life let's pray father in heaven we're impressed with the importance of the choices we make and we're praying that by your grace and through your guidance that we can make good choices healthy choices not only for our best good but to honor your name and to be the blessing to others so guide us each day and the choices we make most of all the choice to accept your salvation and fall away you lead in the name of Jesus amen well it's a life changing journey going through family seasons and God wants to go through with us to bless our lives go out now and be a blessing to those around you [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: HopeSabbathSchool

Views: 22,596

Rating: 4.6805553 out of 5

Keywords: Hope Sabbath School, choices we make, Seventh-Day Adventist, religion, bible study, derek morris, hopesabbathschool

Id: SsBMbiUJxOw

Length: 58min 15sec (3495 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 07 2019