April 22, 2026 • 27 mins
Do you ever have to learn things "the hard way"? Unfortunately, we all sometimes do. But that is not God's best for us. In Pastor Clark's sermon, he shows how God's people in the wilderness were meant to be examples for us so that we wouldn't have to learn the hard way! #StJohnsBuffalo #CovertoCoverBible #BookofNumbers #StayOrGo #GodProvides
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(00:02):
Hello, this is Pastor Ryan Clark.
You are listening to a message from St.
John's Lutheran Church in Buffalo, Minnesota. 4 00:00:15,254.897959184 --> 00:00:21,104.897959184 Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen. 5 00:00:22,214.897959184 --> 00:00:24,224.897959184 I hope you've learned your lesson. 6 00:00:24,824.897959184 --> 00:00:31,274.897959184 Has anyone ever heard that before? Yeah, I think all of us probably have at some time in our life. 7 00:00:31,304.897959184 --> 00:00:48,34.897959184 Usually when we've heard that we've done something pretty wrong, but in our lifetimes, there are plenty of lessons that we really need to learn and bonus if we learn those lessons without having to learn the hard way. 8 00:00:48,934.897959184 --> 00:00:51,814.897959184 I looked online this week to find lessons learned. 9 00:00:51,814.897959184 --> 00:00:56,264.897959184 Unfortunately, the hard way, and a few of them made me chuckle a little bit. 10 00:00:56,264.897959184 --> 00:00:57,404.897959184 Here's a few of them. 11 00:00:59,474.897959184 --> 00:01:02,564.897959184 There are some clothes that shouldn't be put into the dryer. 12 00:01:05,24.897959184 --> 00:01:12,434.897959184 Hopefully lesson learned, right? There are some chairs that you can't recline all the way back. 13 00:01:13,424.897959184 --> 00:01:15,974.897959184 Hopefully, lesson learned. 14 00:01:16,514.897959184 --> 00:01:17,594.897959184 And one more. 15 00:01:17,834.897959184 --> 00:01:24,794.897959184 For those of you that may need to replace a door at your house, not all doors are the same size. 16 00:01:27,224.897959184 --> 00:01:29,534.897959184 Hopefully, lesson learned. 17 00:01:31,624.897959184 --> 00:01:43,564.89795918 As we're continuing our sermon series Cover to Cover, as we're making our way through the Bible, we're now in that we're right smack dab in the middle of the Book of Numbers. 18 00:01:43,684.89795918 --> 00:01:52,839.89795918 And as I was reading through the lessons for this past week, I said to the Lord there are so many things in here in these lessons. 19 00:01:52,839.89795918 --> 00:01:59,949.89795918 I don't know which one to focus on, and I felt like the Lord said hit on each one very quickly. 20 00:02:00,999.89795918 --> 00:02:07,524.89795918 Lessons that we can learn from the people out there in the wilderness. 21 00:02:07,704.89795918 --> 00:02:16,614.89795918 And you know what? It's actually a good thing that we would spend some time learning the lessons so that we wouldn't have to learn them the hard way. 22 00:02:17,154.89795918 --> 00:02:26,64.89795918 In fact, it says in 1 Corinthians 10, these things happen to them, and it's talking about those people out there in the wilderness. 23 00:02:26,754.89795918 --> 00:02:34,644.89795918 As examples and were written down as warnings for us on whom the culmination of the ages has come. 24 00:02:35,454.89795918 --> 00:02:37,134.89795918 That's an amazing verse. 25 00:02:37,254.89795918 --> 00:02:52,284.89795918 It's saying that one of the reasons all of these things that we're gonna talk about happened to these people out in the middle of the desert was as an example to you and me, so we wouldn't have to learn the hard way. 26 00:02:54,789.89795918 --> 00:02:55,719.89795918 So here we go. 27 00:02:55,929.89795918 --> 00:03:07,99.89795918 And by the way for those of you that like to fill in the blanks in your bulletins for today, there's a number of blanks that you can fill in if you would like to follow along in that way. 28 00:03:08,29.89795918 --> 00:03:12,469.89795918 Lesson number one is from Numbers 9. 29 00:03:12,949.89795918 --> 00:03:19,429.89795918 It says, on the day of the day, the tabernacle, the 10th of the covenant law, was set up, the cloud covered it. 30 00:03:19,984.89795918 --> 00:03:24,274.89795918 From evening till morning, the cloud above the tabernacle looked like fire. 31 00:03:24,634.89795918 --> 00:03:26,464.89795918 This is how it continued to be. 32 00:03:26,464.89795918 --> 00:03:30,64.89795918 The cloud covered it, and at night it looked like fire. 33 00:03:30,544.89795918 --> 00:03:39,4.89795918 Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out and whenever the clouds settled, the Israelites encamp. 34 00:03:40,489.89795918 --> 00:03:49,729.89795918 Pastor Ryan told us last week on how out in the desert, God had his people camp in the shape of a cross. 35 00:03:50,269.89795918 --> 00:03:59,359.89795918 And right there in the middle of that cross was the tabernacle of God's presence where God would dwell. 36 00:04:00,409.89795918 --> 00:04:08,899.89795918 And during the day, there was a cloud that covered over the tabernacle, and then at night. 37 00:04:09,214.89795918 --> 00:04:12,154.89795918 It looked like a pillar of fire. 38 00:04:12,964.89795918 --> 00:04:19,744.89795918 Now, from time to time that pillar would ascend and would move. 39 00:04:20,44.89795918 --> 00:04:26,734.89795918 And that was the God's way of saying to the people, pick up your stuff, we're moving to a different place. 40 00:04:26,854.89795918 --> 00:04:31,264.89795918 And so all of the people would pick up their things and they would carry them along. 41 00:04:31,264.89795918 --> 00:04:41,764.89795918 The Levites would pick up the things of God and they would carry them along and they would move from place to place through the desert on the way to the Promised Land. 42 00:04:42,814.89795918 --> 00:04:53,689.89795918 This is our lesson number one: Let the Lord LEAD you: GO when he says, GO and STAY when he says STAY. 43 00:04:54,629.89795918 --> 00:05:05,549.89795918 Reminds me of a song, right? Should I stay or should I go now? And the answer is, God wants to answer that question for you. 44 00:05:05,879.89795918 --> 00:05:11,159.89795918 He wants to be the one that says either stay or go. 45 00:05:12,569.89795918 --> 00:05:20,99.89795918 In Mark 5, it says, as Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon possessed, begged to go with him. 46 00:05:20,729.89795918 --> 00:05:29,999.89795918 Jesus did not let him, but said, go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you. 47 00:05:30,479.89795918 --> 00:05:50,879.89795918 So Jesus has this opportunity to deliver this man of many demons and out of thankfulness, he said to Jesus, can I go with you? And Jesus says, no, I want you to stay put, but as you stay, tell your family, your friends, your neighbors, about what God did for you. 48 00:05:51,839.89795918 --> 00:06:00,989.89795918 And then a few chapters later in Mark 16, Jesus says to his disciples, go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 49 00:06:01,319.89795918 --> 00:06:06,839.89795918 So sometimes Jesus says, stay, and sometimes Jesus says, go. 50 00:06:09,59.89795918 --> 00:06:39,499.89795918 But did you notice that in both of these situations, the reason that Jesus said either stay or go had to do with the people that God wanted them to share the gospel with? In the same way, how do we know when we should stay or when we should go? We should be asking the Lord, Lord, where would I be a better witness for you? In my current job, or do you want me to look for another job. 51 00:06:40,489.89795918 --> 00:06:54,19.89795918 In my neighborhood? Lord, have I reached out to everyone in my neighborhood yet or do you have a new neighborhood that you want me to reach out to? 10 years ago this summer I was asking that question. 52 00:06:54,229.89795918 --> 00:07:13,294.89795918 Lord, do you want me to stay in New York or do you want me to go to that crazy place of Buffalo, Minnesota? Where can you use me best? And as you ask the Lord that question, he's going to say either stay or go. 53 00:07:14,314.89795918 --> 00:07:22,789.89795918 Lesson number two: Numbers 11, he's talking about the manna that came down from heaven to feed his people. 54 00:07:23,149.89795918 --> 00:07:26,629.89795918 The manna was like coriander seed and it looked like resin. 55 00:07:26,629.89795918 --> 00:07:32,389.89795918 The people went around gathering it and then grounded into a hand mill or crushed it on a mortar. 56 00:07:32,779.89795918 --> 00:07:39,679.89795918 They cooked it in a pot or made it into loaves, and it tasted like something made from olive oil. 57 00:07:40,174.89795918 --> 00:07:45,94.89795918 When the dew settled on the camp at night, the manna also came down. 58 00:07:45,994.89795918 --> 00:07:49,174.89795918 This is one of the most amazing stories in the Bible. 59 00:07:49,354.89795918 --> 00:07:51,964.89795918 God's people had been delivered from slavery. 60 00:07:51,964.89795918 --> 00:07:53,404.89795918 They're out in the middle of the desert. 61 00:07:53,404.89795918 --> 00:07:54,484.89795918 There's nothing to eat. 62 00:07:55,879.89795918 --> 00:08:02,899.89795918 But God loves his people and has all kinds of power, and so he said, I'm gonna feed you. 63 00:08:03,109.89795918 --> 00:08:15,709.89795918 Even out in the middle of the desert when you wake up each morning on the ground is going to be what he refers to in another place in scripture as the Food of Angels. 64 00:08:17,269.89795918 --> 00:08:19,489.89795918 It was going to be this bread. 65 00:08:19,939.89795918 --> 00:08:23,659.89795918 And as they ate it, they realized, wow, that's pretty good. 66 00:08:24,814.89795918 --> 00:08:27,424.89795918 It tasted like it had olive oil in it. 67 00:08:27,424.89795918 --> 00:08:40,294.89795918 In another place it says it was sweet, like it had honey in it, maybe even like a pastry of some sort, and that was pretty amazing for a couple of weeks. 68 00:08:41,14.89795918 --> 00:08:46,649.89795918 But then all of a sudden the people started changing their tune and complaining about it. 69 00:08:47,614.89795918 --> 00:08:51,784.89795918 In Numbers 11, it says, the rabble with them began to crave other food. 70 00:08:51,904.89795918 --> 00:08:56,854.89795918 And again, the Israelites started wailing and said, if only we had meat to eat. 71 00:08:57,214.89795918 --> 00:09:00,634.89795918 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost. 72 00:09:00,784.89795918 --> 00:09:04,504.89795918 Also, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, the garlic. 73 00:09:04,834.89795918 --> 00:09:06,934.89795918 But now we've lost our appetite. 74 00:09:06,994.89795918 --> 00:09:09,514.89795918 We never see anything but this manna. 75 00:09:11,779.89795918 --> 00:09:17,419.89795918 Lesson number two: Don't look back with fondness on your days of SLAVERY. 76 00:09:17,899.89795918 --> 00:09:21,979.89795918 THANK God for where you are today. 77 00:09:24,199.89795918 --> 00:09:36,349.89795918 Isn't it interesting that these people, just a few chapters before this, were calling out to God and saying, God, please deliver us from this horrible slave labor. 78 00:09:37,879.89795918 --> 00:09:48,349.89795918 God did, and now they get out into the middle of the desert and all of a sudden they're saying, we wanna go back to Egypt. 79 00:09:48,709.89795918 --> 00:09:50,929.89795918 Think of all the good food there was to eat. 80 00:09:51,709.89795918 --> 00:09:57,949.89795918 But what were they conveniently forgetting That when they were in Egypt, they were in slavery. 81 00:09:59,449.89795918 --> 00:10:02,359.89795918 Don't look back with fondness on your days of slavery. 82 00:10:02,359.89795918 --> 00:10:05,449.89795918 Thank God for where you are today. 83 00:10:06,769.89795918 --> 00:10:08,629.89795918 Look at what Jesus said in John 8. 84 00:10:08,989.89795918 --> 00:10:15,859.89795918 He said, very truly, I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 85 00:10:18,49.89795918 --> 00:10:20,799.89795918 You say, I've never been in physical slavery. 86 00:10:20,979.89795918 --> 00:10:21,639.89795918 Good. 87 00:10:23,619.89795918 --> 00:10:28,704.89795918 But I'm sure that each and every one of us have skeletons in our closet. 88 00:10:28,764.89795918 --> 00:10:38,634.89795918 Maybe from our youth times that we were testing God times, that we were doing things that God told us not to do. 89 00:10:39,84.89795918 --> 00:10:46,944.89795918 And just like those Israelites, it's so easy to look back on those days with fondness and say, man, that was fun. 90 00:10:47,874.89795918 --> 00:10:55,244.89795918 That was a good time when I was crazy with my friends and doing all this stuff that I said I would never do. 91 00:10:57,554.89795918 --> 00:11:05,24.89795918 But what do we conveniently forget? That alongside that we were in slavery to sin. 92 00:11:05,564.89795918 --> 00:11:12,404.89795918 And remember, God doesn't tell us to do anything or not do anything that isn't for our good. 93 00:11:14,264.89795918 --> 00:11:19,34.89795918 And so chances are there were a lot of difficult days during that as well. 94 00:11:19,94.89795918 --> 00:11:26,954.89795918 Don't forget that, and don't look with fondness on that, instead be thankful for where the Lord has brought you today. 95 00:11:28,814.89795918 --> 00:11:32,264.89795918 Lesson number three: Also from Numbers 11. 96 00:11:33,74.89795918 --> 00:11:34,334.89795918 Moses was troubled. 97 00:11:34,334.89795918 --> 00:11:42,914.89795918 He asked the Lord, why have you brought so much trouble on your servant? Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me. 98 00:11:42,914.89795918 --> 00:11:44,324.89795918 Give us meat to eat. 99 00:11:44,624.89795918 --> 00:11:47,294.89795918 I cannot carry all these people by myself. 100 00:11:47,324.89795918 --> 00:11:49,364.89795918 The burden is too heavy for me. 101 00:11:50,594.89795918 --> 00:11:51,824.89795918 This was quite a burden. 102 00:11:52,724.89795918 --> 00:12:06,704.89795918 Over a million people complaining to one guy, Moses the Lord, said to Moses, bring me 70 of Israel's elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. 103 00:12:07,34.89795918 --> 00:12:17,314.89795918 Have them come to the tent of meeting that they may stand there with you and I will take some of the power that the of the spirit that is on you and put it on them. 104 00:12:17,944.89795918 --> 00:12:24,464.89795918 They will share the burden of the people with you so that you will not have to carry it alone. 105 00:12:25,574.89795918 --> 00:12:43,934.89795918 So Moses is completely overwhelmed, and God says, bring 70 of the best men that you know and I'm gonna take from the Holy Spirit that is on you and put it on others so that you don't have to carry all the burden yourself. 106 00:12:45,284.89795918 --> 00:12:50,99.89795918 Lesson number three: Don't try to do life all by YOURSELF. 107 00:12:50,609.89795918 --> 00:12:55,739.89795918 Let others who have the SPIRIT of God help you through life. 108 00:12:56,819.89795918 --> 00:13:08,219.89795918 This is the reason that God created the church, and this is why I say every week in my weekly One-Call, I say, hello, St. 109 00:13:08,219.89795918 --> 00:13:09,889.89795918 John's family. 110 00:13:11,109.89795918 --> 00:13:12,259.89795918 This is your weekly One-Call. 111 00:13:13,394.89795918 --> 00:13:26,414.89795918 Why do I say that? Because God has created a family here and be, and in that family, God is saying, just like with Moses, you don't have to do life on your own. 112 00:13:27,134.89795918 --> 00:13:32,864.89795918 Maybe you've got projects in your home or things that you're, you just can't do. 113 00:13:32,864.89795918 --> 00:13:33,734.89795918 Maybe you're. 114 00:13:34,79.89795918 --> 00:13:38,129.89795918 You should not get up on a ladder and or maybe get up on your roof. 115 00:13:38,129.89795918 --> 00:13:42,969.89795918 I know of some 80-year-old that's here today that was up on his roof. 116 00:13:43,149.89795918 --> 00:13:47,79.89795918 You shouldn't be up on your roof if you're in your eighties or nineties. 117 00:13:47,439.89795918 --> 00:14:02,919.89795918 We have a ministry that we started here about nine years ago called the Moses Ministry, and that Moses ministry is to help one another out with projects that you might need help with if you need a ride to give you a ride. 118 00:14:03,939.89795918 --> 00:14:05,439.89795918 You're not on your own. 119 00:14:05,589.89795918 --> 00:14:09,819.89795918 Depend on other people that have the spirit of God to help you. 120 00:14:12,39.89795918 --> 00:14:27,489.89795918 And I say this all the time, but we all take our turns going through rough times in our life and when we do, when we have a loss in our family and we're sad, you don't have to go through that all alone either. 121 00:14:28,59.89795918 --> 00:14:32,769.89795918 God has provided a family to go through that with you. 122 00:14:35,214.89795918 --> 00:14:44,964.89795918 Lesson number four: From Numbers 12, Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of the his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. 123 00:14:45,444.89795918 --> 00:14:48,324.89795918 Has the Lord spoken only through Moses, they asked. 124 00:14:48,474.89795918 --> 00:14:52,419.89795918 Hasn't he also spoken through us? And the Lord heard this. 125 00:14:53,789.89795918 --> 00:15:09,504.89795918 And so Moses' sister and brother, Miriam and Aaron, they started looking at Moses and saying why is he the big shot here? God speaks to us too, and they started undermining his authority. 126 00:15:09,694.89795918 --> 00:15:15,694.89795918 God didn't like this so much, and it says the anger of the Lord burned against them and he left them. 127 00:15:16,294.89795918 --> 00:15:21,324.89795918 When the cloud lifted from above the tent, Miriam's skin was leperus. 128 00:15:21,544.89795918 --> 00:15:23,554.89795918 It became as white as snow. 129 00:15:24,649.89795918 --> 00:15:31,969.89795918 The Lord's wrath and his anger poured forth, and Miriam looks down and she's got leprosy. 130 00:15:34,159.89795918 --> 00:15:37,759.89795918 Well, Moses cries out to the Lord. 131 00:15:37,999.89795918 --> 00:15:48,379.89795918 Please God heal her and based upon Moses' prayer, seven days later, God heals Miriam. 132 00:15:49,819.89795918 --> 00:15:58,339.89795918 And then two chapters later, all of the people are complaining once again, and God says, Moses, get away from those people. 133 00:15:58,429.89795918 --> 00:16:02,509.89795918 I'm gonna destroy all the people and I'm gonna make you into a great nation. 134 00:16:03,889.89795918 --> 00:16:09,889.89795918 And Moses calls out to the Lord on behalf of not just his sister, but all the people of Israel. 135 00:16:10,579.89795918 --> 00:16:12,709.89795918 And he says, Lord, don't do this. 136 00:16:13,579.89795918 --> 00:16:17,179.89795918 And once again, based upon the prayer of Moses. 137 00:16:17,809.89795918 --> 00:16:22,429.89795918 God relents from doing this to the people. 138 00:16:25,159.89795918 --> 00:16:31,339.89795918 He says in Numbers 14, I have forgiven them just as you asked. 139 00:16:32,929.89795918 --> 00:16:37,969.89795918 Here's our next lesson: Don't underestimate the power of PRAYER. 140 00:16:38,449.89795918 --> 00:16:44,329.8979592 Jesus died so that you could approach God's throne CONFIDENTLY at any time. 141 00:16:45,844.8979592 --> 00:16:57,634.8979592 In Hebrews 4, it says, let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need, as we say so often. 142 00:16:58,159.8979592 --> 00:17:03,19.8979592 It says in Isaiah 59 that our sins separated us from God. 143 00:17:03,289.8979592 --> 00:17:13,369.8979592 But when Jesus died on that cross, it brought us back to him so that just like Moses, we could communicate with God on a regular basis. 144 00:17:13,819.8979592 --> 00:17:21,439.8979592 And those prayers have power because God loves you and he's hearing each and every one of your prayers. 145 00:17:22,429.8979592 --> 00:17:25,309.8979592 You may go be going through desperate situations. 146 00:17:25,924.8979592 --> 00:17:32,44.8979592 In your life, situations that you know on your own are not gonna be fixed. 147 00:17:32,794.8979592 --> 00:17:37,714.8979592 Maybe you've got a bad diagnosis from the doctor, a bad report. 148 00:17:38,764.8979592 --> 00:17:46,744.8979592 Maybe you've got kids or grandkids that are rebelling against the Lord and you think, I don't know how this could ever get fixed. 149 00:17:47,134.8979592 --> 00:17:50,944.8979592 Don't underestimate the power of prayer. 150 00:17:51,64.8979592 --> 00:17:59,269.8979592 Your prayers make a difference because God has made it through Jesus that all of those prayers are getting through. 151 00:17:59,359.8979592 --> 00:18:04,669.8979592 And just like with Moses, they can change things. 152 00:18:07,39.8979592 --> 00:18:18,499.8979592 List number five: From Numbers 13, the Lord said to Moses, send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites from each ancestral tribe. 153 00:18:18,649.8979592 --> 00:18:19,834.8979592 Send one of its leaders. 154 00:18:20,704.8979592 --> 00:18:25,304.8979592 So at the Lord's command, Moses sent them out from the desert of Paran. 155 00:18:26,644.8979592 --> 00:18:30,844.8979592 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community. 156 00:18:31,114.8979592 --> 00:18:32,794.8979592 They gave Moses this account. 157 00:18:33,64.8979592 --> 00:18:37,204.8979592 We went into the land to which you send us, and it does flow with milk and honey. 158 00:18:37,264.8979592 --> 00:18:44,524.8979592 Here is its fruit, but the people who live there are powerful and the cities are fortified and very large. 159 00:18:44,734.8979592 --> 00:18:48,934.8979592 We even saw descendants of Anak there, giants. 160 00:18:48,994.8979592 --> 00:18:51,604.8979592 Oh, we can't attack those people. 161 00:18:51,604.8979592 --> 00:18:55,384.8979592 They're stronger than we are and they spread among the Israelites. 162 00:18:55,384.8979592 --> 00:18:58,294.8979592 A bad report about the land they had explored. 163 00:18:58,294.8979592 --> 00:19:02,104.8979592 They said the land we explored, devours, those living in it. 164 00:19:02,374.8979592 --> 00:19:05,464.8979592 All the people we saw there are of great size. 165 00:19:05,704.8979592 --> 00:19:10,834.8979592 We seem like grasshoppers in our own eyes and we look the same to them. 166 00:19:12,484.8979592 --> 00:19:17,824.8979592 So Moses sends out these 10 spies to, to go and spy out the land. 167 00:19:18,574.8979592 --> 00:19:21,784.8979592 The Promised Land that God was going to be sending them into. 168 00:19:22,474.8979592 --> 00:19:36,364.8979592 And sure enough, it had some amazing resources there, but 10 of the 12 spies couldn't get past the size and the strength of the people that were there. 169 00:19:36,994.8979592 --> 00:19:41,794.8979592 Some of them were giants with fortified walls on these cities. 170 00:19:43,429.8979592 --> 00:19:47,389.8979592 And so they came back and said, we are scared to death. 171 00:19:47,389.8979592 --> 00:19:48,799.8979592 We can't go in there. 172 00:19:49,939.8979592 --> 00:19:51,739.8979592 They would devour us. 173 00:19:53,749.8979592 --> 00:19:58,369.8979592 Here's our next lesson: Don't focus on the TRIAL in front of you. 174 00:19:58,609.8979592 --> 00:20:02,929.8979592 Instead, focus on God's POWER and his LOVE. 175 00:20:05,689.8979592 --> 00:20:10,399.8979592 Once again, you're gonna be going through difficult situations in your life. 176 00:20:10,399.8979592 --> 00:20:12,259.8979592 Maybe you're going through one right now. 177 00:20:13,519.8979592 --> 00:20:18,769.8979592 Maybe you're checking the numbers and you're realizing the numbers aren't adding up. 178 00:20:19,669.8979592 --> 00:20:21,859.8979592 I don't know how I'm gonna be able to pay my bills. 179 00:20:21,859.8979592 --> 00:20:24,829.8979592 I don't know how I'm gonna be able to pay rent. 180 00:20:27,139.8979592 --> 00:20:30,259.8979592 I don't know how this can ever resolve itself. 181 00:20:32,104.8979592 --> 00:20:33,634.8979592 Don't look at the trial. 182 00:20:33,994.8979592 --> 00:20:37,54.8979592 That's what 10 of those 12 spies were doing. 183 00:20:37,234.8979592 --> 00:20:42,364.8979592 They were looking at the trial instead of looking at their powerful God. 184 00:20:43,624.8979592 --> 00:20:45,224.8979592 Look at what it says in Romans 8. 185 00:20:45,604.8979592 --> 00:21:03,349.8979592 What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, then who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also along with him graciously give us all things? If God is for us, who can be against us. 186 00:21:03,829.8979592 --> 00:21:12,469.8979592 He's saying God is so powerful that if you've got one God on your side, even if the whole world is against you, you've got the majority. 187 00:21:13,309.8979592 --> 00:21:16,609.8979592 That's what those 10 spies should have been thinking about. 188 00:21:16,849.8979592 --> 00:21:24,619.8979592 It doesn't matter how many bad guys there are and how big they are, if we've got God on our side, we're gonna win. 189 00:21:26,854.8979592 --> 00:21:30,904.8979592 Focus on the power of God and also the love of God. 190 00:21:30,904.8979592 --> 00:21:32,554.8979592 That's that second statement there. 191 00:21:32,584.8979592 --> 00:21:40,204.8979592 He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not Also along with him graciously give us all things. 192 00:21:40,474.8979592 --> 00:22:05,569.8979592 If God loved you so much that he were to send his own son to die for you, then why would you ever think that he wouldn't take care of all your other needs as well? Lesson number six: From Numbers 15, the Lord said to Moses, speak to the Israelites and say to them throughout the generations to come, you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments. 193 00:22:05,779.8979592 --> 00:22:21,44.8979592 With a blue cord on each tassel, you will have these tassels to look at, and so you will remember all the commands of the Lord, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by chasing after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes. 194 00:22:22,279.8979592 --> 00:22:27,979.8979592 So God told his people in the 15 chapter of Numbers, this is what I want you to do. 195 00:22:27,979.8979592 --> 00:22:48,169.8979592 I want you to put tassels on the corners of your garments, and whenever you feel that tassel bumping against your leg or you see it either on yourself or on your friends and neighbors, it will be a reminder to you of all that I've said to you. 196 00:22:50,39.8979592 --> 00:22:55,489.8979592 Have you noticed, maybe you've come into contact with Orthodox or Hasidic Jews today. 197 00:22:55,729.8979592 --> 00:23:05,809.8979592 Many of them still wear those tassels all these thousands of years later as a reminder of what God has said to them. 198 00:23:07,279.8979592 --> 00:23:13,669.8979592 And this is lesson Number 6: Remind your soul regularly of the COMMANDS and the PROMISES of God. 199 00:23:15,229.8979592 --> 00:23:19,99.8979592 There are so many ways that people attempt to do this here today. 200 00:23:19,519.8979592 --> 00:23:27,49.8979592 I was noticing last night that a lot of men were wearing cross necklaces, and I thought that is a great way. 201 00:23:27,619.8979592 --> 00:23:31,639.8979592 Sometimes, and I don't know how good this is, I will write things on my hand. 202 00:23:31,879.8979592 --> 00:23:39,969.8979592 Usually I'll write them in Hebrew or Greek, so no one else can tell, can know what what I'm putting on my hand, but it's a reminder to me. 203 00:23:40,89.8979592 --> 00:23:41,409.8979592 A few days ago I wrote. 204 00:23:41,949.8979592 --> 00:23:49,569.8979592 I am my beloveds and he is mine, as a reminder to me who I am and whose I am. 205 00:23:50,199.8979592 --> 00:23:57,879.8979592 And there are lots of different ways that you can remind yourself of the commands and the promises of God. 206 00:24:00,699.8979592 --> 00:24:23,619.8979592 But you know what? Even if you do regularly remind yourself of the commands and promises of God, you know what you're never going to be able to get past as long as you're here on this earth? Sin, and there's still gonna be times that you're gonna fail, even if you're trying with all your might to remember the things of God. 207 00:24:24,504.8979592 --> 00:24:43,644.8979592 And when that happens, when you fail in your thoughts and your words and your actions, and you remember from the Book of Numbers that God has a ferocious wrath, it's gonna make you wanna get down on your face and say, God have mercy upon me. 208 00:24:45,414.8979592 --> 00:24:49,374.8979592 And when you're down there on your face before the Lord. 209 00:24:50,844.8979592 --> 00:25:04,524.8979592 Remember another lady that was down there on her face before the Lord from Luke 8, it says, and a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years, but no one could heal her. 210 00:25:05,4.8979592 --> 00:25:11,694.8979592 She came up behind him and touched the edge of Jesus' cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. 211 00:25:12,684.8979592 --> 00:25:28,14.8979592 By the way, Jesus was a good Jewish man, so what would he have on the edges of his cloak? Tassels, what did she reach out and grab? She reach out and grab the tassels. 212 00:25:28,134.8979592 --> 00:25:33,44.8979556 Why would she do that? It's actually pretty cool. 213 00:25:33,684.8979115 --> 00:25:42,654.8979592 From Malachi 4, it says, but to you who fear my name, the son of righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings. 214 00:25:43,614.8979592 --> 00:25:53,574.8979592 Great passage, but I looked this up this week, and it's even greater because that word for wings, yes, it can mean wings like a bird. 215 00:25:53,584.8979592 --> 00:26:00,514.8979592 The word in Hebrew is Kanaph, but look down at the very bottom what it also can mean. 216 00:26:01,84.8979592 --> 00:26:04,594.8979592 It can mean the corner of a garment. 217 00:26:06,469.8979592 --> 00:26:18,349.8979592 What was he saying? But to you who fear my name, the son of righteousness shall arise with healing in the corners of his garment where the tassels are. 218 00:26:21,49.8979592 --> 00:26:24,229.8979592 He was saying there's healing to be found there. 219 00:26:24,439.8979592 --> 00:26:34,789.8979592 And somehow this lady, with all these years of bleeding, knew of that reached out and grabbed it and was healed at that very moment. 220 00:26:35,629.8979592 --> 00:26:39,49.8979592 Here's a bonus lesson that you and I can learn here today. 221 00:26:39,349.8979592 --> 00:26:44,419.8979592 It's this: Reach out to Jesus for all your needs. 222 00:26:45,799.8979592 --> 00:26:47,959.8979592 Maybe your need is forgiveness. 223 00:26:48,874.8979592 --> 00:26:50,494.8979592 Reach out to Jesus. 224 00:26:50,614.8979592 --> 00:26:53,794.8979592 Grab the tassels of his robe, so to speak. 225 00:26:54,514.8979592 --> 00:26:56,524.8979592 Maybe your need is health. 226 00:26:57,154.8979592 --> 00:26:59,194.8979592 Maybe your need is financial. 227 00:26:59,194.8979592 --> 00:27:01,204.8979592 Maybe your need is relational. 228 00:27:01,294.8979592 --> 00:27:04,304.8979592 Whatever it is, reach out and grab him. 229 00:27:06,919.8979592 --> 00:27:09,229.8979592 And let him bring healing into your life. 230 00:27:09,439.8979592 --> 00:27:24,529.8979592 In just a few minutes, we're gonna have the opportunity to do that in the Lord's Supper, where you're gonna be able to come forward and receive whatever you need, forgiveness, health, strength, relationship help, whatever it may be. 231 00:27:25,39.8979592 --> 00:27:28,579.8979592 The Lord is to be found wherever his body and blood are. 232 00:27:29,59.8979592 --> 00:27:33,769.8979592 You can find him there may God grant it to each of us for Jesus' sake Amen. 233 00:27:36,300.8979592 --> 00:27:37,950.8979592 You've been listening to a sermon from St. 234 00:27:37,950.8979592 --> 00:27:40,30.8979592 John's Lutheran Church in Buffalo, Minnesota. 235 00:27:40,350.8979592 --> 00:27:42,150.8979592 If you would like more information about St. 236 00:27:42,150.8979592 --> 00:27:47,810.8979592 John's and any of our ministries to our community and beyond, you can go to our website, www. 237 00:27:47,900.8979592 --> 00:27:48,140.8979592 stjohnsbuffalo. 238 00:27:49,380.8969592 --> 00:27:49,710.8969592 org. 239 00:27:50,90.8969592 --> 00:27:51,380.8979592 Thank you and God bless you.
Hello, this is Pastor Ryan Clark.
You are listening to a message from St.
John's Lutheran Church in Buffalo, Minnesota. 4 00:00:15,254.897959184 --> 00:00:21,104.897959184 Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen. 5 00:00:22,214.897959184 --> 00:00:24,224.897959184 I hope you've learned your lesson. 6 00:00:24,824.897959184 --> 00:00:31,274.897959184 Has anyone ever heard that before? Yeah, I think all of us probably have at some time in our life. 7 00:00:31,304.897959184 --> 00:00:48,34.897959184 Usually when we've heard that we've done something pretty wrong, but in our lifetimes, there are plenty of lessons that we really need to learn and bonus if we learn those lessons without having to learn the hard way. 8 00:00:48,934.897959184 --> 00:00:51,814.897959184 I looked online this week to find lessons learned. 9 00:00:51,814.897959184 --> 00:00:56,264.897959184 Unfortunately, the hard way, and a few of them made me chuckle a little bit. 10 00:00:56,264.897959184 --> 00:00:57,404.897959184 Here's a few of them. 11 00:00:59,474.897959184 --> 00:01:02,564.897959184 There are some clothes that shouldn't be put into the dryer. 12 00:01:05,24.897959184 --> 00:01:12,434.897959184 Hopefully lesson learned, right? There are some chairs that you can't recline all the way back. 13 00:01:13,424.897959184 --> 00:01:15,974.897959184 Hopefully, lesson learned. 14 00:01:16,514.897959184 --> 00:01:17,594.897959184 And one more. 15 00:01:17,834.897959184 --> 00:01:24,794.897959184 For those of you that may need to replace a door at your house, not all doors are the same size. 16 00:01:27,224.897959184 --> 00:01:29,534.897959184 Hopefully, lesson learned. 17 00:01:31,624.897959184 --> 00:01:43,564.89795918 As we're continuing our sermon series Cover to Cover, as we're making our way through the Bible, we're now in that we're right smack dab in the middle of the Book of Numbers. 18 00:01:43,684.89795918 --> 00:01:52,839.89795918 And as I was reading through the lessons for this past week, I said to the Lord there are so many things in here in these lessons. 19 00:01:52,839.89795918 --> 00:01:59,949.89795918 I don't know which one to focus on, and I felt like the Lord said hit on each one very quickly. 20 00:02:00,999.89795918 --> 00:02:07,524.89795918 Lessons that we can learn from the people out there in the wilderness. 21 00:02:07,704.89795918 --> 00:02:16,614.89795918 And you know what? It's actually a good thing that we would spend some time learning the lessons so that we wouldn't have to learn them the hard way. 22 00:02:17,154.89795918 --> 00:02:26,64.89795918 In fact, it says in 1 Corinthians 10, these things happen to them, and it's talking about those people out there in the wilderness. 23 00:02:26,754.89795918 --> 00:02:34,644.89795918 As examples and were written down as warnings for us on whom the culmination of the ages has come. 24 00:02:35,454.89795918 --> 00:02:37,134.89795918 That's an amazing verse. 25 00:02:37,254.89795918 --> 00:02:52,284.89795918 It's saying that one of the reasons all of these things that we're gonna talk about happened to these people out in the middle of the desert was as an example to you and me, so we wouldn't have to learn the hard way. 26 00:02:54,789.89795918 --> 00:02:55,719.89795918 So here we go. 27 00:02:55,929.89795918 --> 00:03:07,99.89795918 And by the way for those of you that like to fill in the blanks in your bulletins for today, there's a number of blanks that you can fill in if you would like to follow along in that way. 28 00:03:08,29.89795918 --> 00:03:12,469.89795918 Lesson number one is from Numbers 9. 29 00:03:12,949.89795918 --> 00:03:19,429.89795918 It says, on the day of the day, the tabernacle, the 10th of the covenant law, was set up, the cloud covered it. 30 00:03:19,984.89795918 --> 00:03:24,274.89795918 From evening till morning, the cloud above the tabernacle looked like fire. 31 00:03:24,634.89795918 --> 00:03:26,464.89795918 This is how it continued to be. 32 00:03:26,464.89795918 --> 00:03:30,64.89795918 The cloud covered it, and at night it looked like fire. 33 00:03:30,544.89795918 --> 00:03:39,4.89795918 Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out and whenever the clouds settled, the Israelites encamp. 34 00:03:40,489.89795918 --> 00:03:49,729.89795918 Pastor Ryan told us last week on how out in the desert, God had his people camp in the shape of a cross. 35 00:03:50,269.89795918 --> 00:03:59,359.89795918 And right there in the middle of that cross was the tabernacle of God's presence where God would dwell. 36 00:04:00,409.89795918 --> 00:04:08,899.89795918 And during the day, there was a cloud that covered over the tabernacle, and then at night. 37 00:04:09,214.89795918 --> 00:04:12,154.89795918 It looked like a pillar of fire. 38 00:04:12,964.89795918 --> 00:04:19,744.89795918 Now, from time to time that pillar would ascend and would move. 39 00:04:20,44.89795918 --> 00:04:26,734.89795918 And that was the God's way of saying to the people, pick up your stuff, we're moving to a different place. 40 00:04:26,854.89795918 --> 00:04:31,264.89795918 And so all of the people would pick up their things and they would carry them along. 41 00:04:31,264.89795918 --> 00:04:41,764.89795918 The Levites would pick up the things of God and they would carry them along and they would move from place to place through the desert on the way to the Promised Land. 42 00:04:42,814.89795918 --> 00:04:53,689.89795918 This is our lesson number one: Let the Lord LEAD you: GO when he says, GO and STAY when he says STAY. 43 00:04:54,629.89795918 --> 00:05:05,549.89795918 Reminds me of a song, right? Should I stay or should I go now? And the answer is, God wants to answer that question for you. 44 00:05:05,879.89795918 --> 00:05:11,159.89795918 He wants to be the one that says either stay or go. 45 00:05:12,569.89795918 --> 00:05:20,99.89795918 In Mark 5, it says, as Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon possessed, begged to go with him. 46 00:05:20,729.89795918 --> 00:05:29,999.89795918 Jesus did not let him, but said, go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you. 47 00:05:30,479.89795918 --> 00:05:50,879.89795918 So Jesus has this opportunity to deliver this man of many demons and out of thankfulness, he said to Jesus, can I go with you? And Jesus says, no, I want you to stay put, but as you stay, tell your family, your friends, your neighbors, about what God did for you. 48 00:05:51,839.89795918 --> 00:06:00,989.89795918 And then a few chapters later in Mark 16, Jesus says to his disciples, go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 49 00:06:01,319.89795918 --> 00:06:06,839.89795918 So sometimes Jesus says, stay, and sometimes Jesus says, go. 50 00:06:09,59.89795918 --> 00:06:39,499.89795918 But did you notice that in both of these situations, the reason that Jesus said either stay or go had to do with the people that God wanted them to share the gospel with? In the same way, how do we know when we should stay or when we should go? We should be asking the Lord, Lord, where would I be a better witness for you? In my current job, or do you want me to look for another job. 51 00:06:40,489.89795918 --> 00:06:54,19.89795918 In my neighborhood? Lord, have I reached out to everyone in my neighborhood yet or do you have a new neighborhood that you want me to reach out to? 10 years ago this summer I was asking that question. 52 00:06:54,229.89795918 --> 00:07:13,294.89795918 Lord, do you want me to stay in New York or do you want me to go to that crazy place of Buffalo, Minnesota? Where can you use me best? And as you ask the Lord that question, he's going to say either stay or go. 53 00:07:14,314.89795918 --> 00:07:22,789.89795918 Lesson number two: Numbers 11, he's talking about the manna that came down from heaven to feed his people. 54 00:07:23,149.89795918 --> 00:07:26,629.89795918 The manna was like coriander seed and it looked like resin. 55 00:07:26,629.89795918 --> 00:07:32,389.89795918 The people went around gathering it and then grounded into a hand mill or crushed it on a mortar. 56 00:07:32,779.89795918 --> 00:07:39,679.89795918 They cooked it in a pot or made it into loaves, and it tasted like something made from olive oil. 57 00:07:40,174.89795918 --> 00:07:45,94.89795918 When the dew settled on the camp at night, the manna also came down. 58 00:07:45,994.89795918 --> 00:07:49,174.89795918 This is one of the most amazing stories in the Bible. 59 00:07:49,354.89795918 --> 00:07:51,964.89795918 God's people had been delivered from slavery. 60 00:07:51,964.89795918 --> 00:07:53,404.89795918 They're out in the middle of the desert. 61 00:07:53,404.89795918 --> 00:07:54,484.89795918 There's nothing to eat. 62 00:07:55,879.89795918 --> 00:08:02,899.89795918 But God loves his people and has all kinds of power, and so he said, I'm gonna feed you. 63 00:08:03,109.89795918 --> 00:08:15,709.89795918 Even out in the middle of the desert when you wake up each morning on the ground is going to be what he refers to in another place in scripture as the Food of Angels. 64 00:08:17,269.89795918 --> 00:08:19,489.89795918 It was going to be this bread. 65 00:08:19,939.89795918 --> 00:08:23,659.89795918 And as they ate it, they realized, wow, that's pretty good. 66 00:08:24,814.89795918 --> 00:08:27,424.89795918 It tasted like it had olive oil in it. 67 00:08:27,424.89795918 --> 00:08:40,294.89795918 In another place it says it was sweet, like it had honey in it, maybe even like a pastry of some sort, and that was pretty amazing for a couple of weeks. 68 00:08:41,14.89795918 --> 00:08:46,649.89795918 But then all of a sudden the people started changing their tune and complaining about it. 69 00:08:47,614.89795918 --> 00:08:51,784.89795918 In Numbers 11, it says, the rabble with them began to crave other food. 70 00:08:51,904.89795918 --> 00:08:56,854.89795918 And again, the Israelites started wailing and said, if only we had meat to eat. 71 00:08:57,214.89795918 --> 00:09:00,634.89795918 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost. 72 00:09:00,784.89795918 --> 00:09:04,504.89795918 Also, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, the garlic. 73 00:09:04,834.89795918 --> 00:09:06,934.89795918 But now we've lost our appetite. 74 00:09:06,994.89795918 --> 00:09:09,514.89795918 We never see anything but this manna. 75 00:09:11,779.89795918 --> 00:09:17,419.89795918 Lesson number two: Don't look back with fondness on your days of SLAVERY. 76 00:09:17,899.89795918 --> 00:09:21,979.89795918 THANK God for where you are today. 77 00:09:24,199.89795918 --> 00:09:36,349.89795918 Isn't it interesting that these people, just a few chapters before this, were calling out to God and saying, God, please deliver us from this horrible slave labor. 78 00:09:37,879.89795918 --> 00:09:48,349.89795918 God did, and now they get out into the middle of the desert and all of a sudden they're saying, we wanna go back to Egypt. 79 00:09:48,709.89795918 --> 00:09:50,929.89795918 Think of all the good food there was to eat. 80 00:09:51,709.89795918 --> 00:09:57,949.89795918 But what were they conveniently forgetting That when they were in Egypt, they were in slavery. 81 00:09:59,449.89795918 --> 00:10:02,359.89795918 Don't look back with fondness on your days of slavery. 82 00:10:02,359.89795918 --> 00:10:05,449.89795918 Thank God for where you are today. 83 00:10:06,769.89795918 --> 00:10:08,629.89795918 Look at what Jesus said in John 8. 84 00:10:08,989.89795918 --> 00:10:15,859.89795918 He said, very truly, I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 85 00:10:18,49.89795918 --> 00:10:20,799.89795918 You say, I've never been in physical slavery. 86 00:10:20,979.89795918 --> 00:10:21,639.89795918 Good. 87 00:10:23,619.89795918 --> 00:10:28,704.89795918 But I'm sure that each and every one of us have skeletons in our closet. 88 00:10:28,764.89795918 --> 00:10:38,634.89795918 Maybe from our youth times that we were testing God times, that we were doing things that God told us not to do. 89 00:10:39,84.89795918 --> 00:10:46,944.89795918 And just like those Israelites, it's so easy to look back on those days with fondness and say, man, that was fun. 90 00:10:47,874.89795918 --> 00:10:55,244.89795918 That was a good time when I was crazy with my friends and doing all this stuff that I said I would never do. 91 00:10:57,554.89795918 --> 00:11:05,24.89795918 But what do we conveniently forget? That alongside that we were in slavery to sin. 92 00:11:05,564.89795918 --> 00:11:12,404.89795918 And remember, God doesn't tell us to do anything or not do anything that isn't for our good. 93 00:11:14,264.89795918 --> 00:11:19,34.89795918 And so chances are there were a lot of difficult days during that as well. 94 00:11:19,94.89795918 --> 00:11:26,954.89795918 Don't forget that, and don't look with fondness on that, instead be thankful for where the Lord has brought you today. 95 00:11:28,814.89795918 --> 00:11:32,264.89795918 Lesson number three: Also from Numbers 11. 96 00:11:33,74.89795918 --> 00:11:34,334.89795918 Moses was troubled. 97 00:11:34,334.89795918 --> 00:11:42,914.89795918 He asked the Lord, why have you brought so much trouble on your servant? Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me. 98 00:11:42,914.89795918 --> 00:11:44,324.89795918 Give us meat to eat. 99 00:11:44,624.89795918 --> 00:11:47,294.89795918 I cannot carry all these people by myself. 100 00:11:47,324.89795918 --> 00:11:49,364.89795918 The burden is too heavy for me. 101 00:11:50,594.89795918 --> 00:11:51,824.89795918 This was quite a burden. 102 00:11:52,724.89795918 --> 00:12:06,704.89795918 Over a million people complaining to one guy, Moses the Lord, said to Moses, bring me 70 of Israel's elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. 103 00:12:07,34.89795918 --> 00:12:17,314.89795918 Have them come to the tent of meeting that they may stand there with you and I will take some of the power that the of the spirit that is on you and put it on them. 104 00:12:17,944.89795918 --> 00:12:24,464.89795918 They will share the burden of the people with you so that you will not have to carry it alone. 105 00:12:25,574.89795918 --> 00:12:43,934.89795918 So Moses is completely overwhelmed, and God says, bring 70 of the best men that you know and I'm gonna take from the Holy Spirit that is on you and put it on others so that you don't have to carry all the burden yourself. 106 00:12:45,284.89795918 --> 00:12:50,99.89795918 Lesson number three: Don't try to do life all by YOURSELF. 107 00:12:50,609.89795918 --> 00:12:55,739.89795918 Let others who have the SPIRIT of God help you through life. 108 00:12:56,819.89795918 --> 00:13:08,219.89795918 This is the reason that God created the church, and this is why I say every week in my weekly One-Call, I say, hello, St. 109 00:13:08,219.89795918 --> 00:13:09,889.89795918 John's family. 110 00:13:11,109.89795918 --> 00:13:12,259.89795918 This is your weekly One-Call. 111 00:13:13,394.89795918 --> 00:13:26,414.89795918 Why do I say that? Because God has created a family here and be, and in that family, God is saying, just like with Moses, you don't have to do life on your own. 112 00:13:27,134.89795918 --> 00:13:32,864.89795918 Maybe you've got projects in your home or things that you're, you just can't do. 113 00:13:32,864.89795918 --> 00:13:33,734.89795918 Maybe you're. 114 00:13:34,79.89795918 --> 00:13:38,129.89795918 You should not get up on a ladder and or maybe get up on your roof. 115 00:13:38,129.89795918 --> 00:13:42,969.89795918 I know of some 80-year-old that's here today that was up on his roof. 116 00:13:43,149.89795918 --> 00:13:47,79.89795918 You shouldn't be up on your roof if you're in your eighties or nineties. 117 00:13:47,439.89795918 --> 00:14:02,919.89795918 We have a ministry that we started here about nine years ago called the Moses Ministry, and that Moses ministry is to help one another out with projects that you might need help with if you need a ride to give you a ride. 118 00:14:03,939.89795918 --> 00:14:05,439.89795918 You're not on your own. 119 00:14:05,589.89795918 --> 00:14:09,819.89795918 Depend on other people that have the spirit of God to help you. 120 00:14:12,39.89795918 --> 00:14:27,489.89795918 And I say this all the time, but we all take our turns going through rough times in our life and when we do, when we have a loss in our family and we're sad, you don't have to go through that all alone either. 121 00:14:28,59.89795918 --> 00:14:32,769.89795918 God has provided a family to go through that with you. 122 00:14:35,214.89795918 --> 00:14:44,964.89795918 Lesson number four: From Numbers 12, Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of the his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. 123 00:14:45,444.89795918 --> 00:14:48,324.89795918 Has the Lord spoken only through Moses, they asked. 124 00:14:48,474.89795918 --> 00:14:52,419.89795918 Hasn't he also spoken through us? And the Lord heard this. 125 00:14:53,789.89795918 --> 00:15:09,504.89795918 And so Moses' sister and brother, Miriam and Aaron, they started looking at Moses and saying why is he the big shot here? God speaks to us too, and they started undermining his authority. 126 00:15:09,694.89795918 --> 00:15:15,694.89795918 God didn't like this so much, and it says the anger of the Lord burned against them and he left them. 127 00:15:16,294.89795918 --> 00:15:21,324.89795918 When the cloud lifted from above the tent, Miriam's skin was leperus. 128 00:15:21,544.89795918 --> 00:15:23,554.89795918 It became as white as snow. 129 00:15:24,649.89795918 --> 00:15:31,969.89795918 The Lord's wrath and his anger poured forth, and Miriam looks down and she's got leprosy. 130 00:15:34,159.89795918 --> 00:15:37,759.89795918 Well, Moses cries out to the Lord. 131 00:15:37,999.89795918 --> 00:15:48,379.89795918 Please God heal her and based upon Moses' prayer, seven days later, God heals Miriam. 132 00:15:49,819.89795918 --> 00:15:58,339.89795918 And then two chapters later, all of the people are complaining once again, and God says, Moses, get away from those people. 133 00:15:58,429.89795918 --> 00:16:02,509.89795918 I'm gonna destroy all the people and I'm gonna make you into a great nation. 134 00:16:03,889.89795918 --> 00:16:09,889.89795918 And Moses calls out to the Lord on behalf of not just his sister, but all the people of Israel. 135 00:16:10,579.89795918 --> 00:16:12,709.89795918 And he says, Lord, don't do this. 136 00:16:13,579.89795918 --> 00:16:17,179.89795918 And once again, based upon the prayer of Moses. 137 00:16:17,809.89795918 --> 00:16:22,429.89795918 God relents from doing this to the people. 138 00:16:25,159.89795918 --> 00:16:31,339.89795918 He says in Numbers 14, I have forgiven them just as you asked. 139 00:16:32,929.89795918 --> 00:16:37,969.89795918 Here's our next lesson: Don't underestimate the power of PRAYER. 140 00:16:38,449.89795918 --> 00:16:44,329.8979592 Jesus died so that you could approach God's throne CONFIDENTLY at any time. 141 00:16:45,844.8979592 --> 00:16:57,634.8979592 In Hebrews 4, it says, let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need, as we say so often. 142 00:16:58,159.8979592 --> 00:17:03,19.8979592 It says in Isaiah 59 that our sins separated us from God. 143 00:17:03,289.8979592 --> 00:17:13,369.8979592 But when Jesus died on that cross, it brought us back to him so that just like Moses, we could communicate with God on a regular basis. 144 00:17:13,819.8979592 --> 00:17:21,439.8979592 And those prayers have power because God loves you and he's hearing each and every one of your prayers. 145 00:17:22,429.8979592 --> 00:17:25,309.8979592 You may go be going through desperate situations. 146 00:17:25,924.8979592 --> 00:17:32,44.8979592 In your life, situations that you know on your own are not gonna be fixed. 147 00:17:32,794.8979592 --> 00:17:37,714.8979592 Maybe you've got a bad diagnosis from the doctor, a bad report. 148 00:17:38,764.8979592 --> 00:17:46,744.8979592 Maybe you've got kids or grandkids that are rebelling against the Lord and you think, I don't know how this could ever get fixed. 149 00:17:47,134.8979592 --> 00:17:50,944.8979592 Don't underestimate the power of prayer. 150 00:17:51,64.8979592 --> 00:17:59,269.8979592 Your prayers make a difference because God has made it through Jesus that all of those prayers are getting through. 151 00:17:59,359.8979592 --> 00:18:04,669.8979592 And just like with Moses, they can change things. 152 00:18:07,39.8979592 --> 00:18:18,499.8979592 List number five: From Numbers 13, the Lord said to Moses, send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites from each ancestral tribe. 153 00:18:18,649.8979592 --> 00:18:19,834.8979592 Send one of its leaders. 154 00:18:20,704.8979592 --> 00:18:25,304.8979592 So at the Lord's command, Moses sent them out from the desert of Paran. 155 00:18:26,644.8979592 --> 00:18:30,844.8979592 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community. 156 00:18:31,114.8979592 --> 00:18:32,794.8979592 They gave Moses this account. 157 00:18:33,64.8979592 --> 00:18:37,204.8979592 We went into the land to which you send us, and it does flow with milk and honey. 158 00:18:37,264.8979592 --> 00:18:44,524.8979592 Here is its fruit, but the people who live there are powerful and the cities are fortified and very large. 159 00:18:44,734.8979592 --> 00:18:48,934.8979592 We even saw descendants of Anak there, giants. 160 00:18:48,994.8979592 --> 00:18:51,604.8979592 Oh, we can't attack those people. 161 00:18:51,604.8979592 --> 00:18:55,384.8979592 They're stronger than we are and they spread among the Israelites. 162 00:18:55,384.8979592 --> 00:18:58,294.8979592 A bad report about the land they had explored. 163 00:18:58,294.8979592 --> 00:19:02,104.8979592 They said the land we explored, devours, those living in it. 164 00:19:02,374.8979592 --> 00:19:05,464.8979592 All the people we saw there are of great size. 165 00:19:05,704.8979592 --> 00:19:10,834.8979592 We seem like grasshoppers in our own eyes and we look the same to them. 166 00:19:12,484.8979592 --> 00:19:17,824.8979592 So Moses sends out these 10 spies to, to go and spy out the land. 167 00:19:18,574.8979592 --> 00:19:21,784.8979592 The Promised Land that God was going to be sending them into. 168 00:19:22,474.8979592 --> 00:19:36,364.8979592 And sure enough, it had some amazing resources there, but 10 of the 12 spies couldn't get past the size and the strength of the people that were there. 169 00:19:36,994.8979592 --> 00:19:41,794.8979592 Some of them were giants with fortified walls on these cities. 170 00:19:43,429.8979592 --> 00:19:47,389.8979592 And so they came back and said, we are scared to death. 171 00:19:47,389.8979592 --> 00:19:48,799.8979592 We can't go in there. 172 00:19:49,939.8979592 --> 00:19:51,739.8979592 They would devour us. 173 00:19:53,749.8979592 --> 00:19:58,369.8979592 Here's our next lesson: Don't focus on the TRIAL in front of you. 174 00:19:58,609.8979592 --> 00:20:02,929.8979592 Instead, focus on God's POWER and his LOVE. 175 00:20:05,689.8979592 --> 00:20:10,399.8979592 Once again, you're gonna be going through difficult situations in your life. 176 00:20:10,399.8979592 --> 00:20:12,259.8979592 Maybe you're going through one right now. 177 00:20:13,519.8979592 --> 00:20:18,769.8979592 Maybe you're checking the numbers and you're realizing the numbers aren't adding up. 178 00:20:19,669.8979592 --> 00:20:21,859.8979592 I don't know how I'm gonna be able to pay my bills. 179 00:20:21,859.8979592 --> 00:20:24,829.8979592 I don't know how I'm gonna be able to pay rent. 180 00:20:27,139.8979592 --> 00:20:30,259.8979592 I don't know how this can ever resolve itself. 181 00:20:32,104.8979592 --> 00:20:33,634.8979592 Don't look at the trial. 182 00:20:33,994.8979592 --> 00:20:37,54.8979592 That's what 10 of those 12 spies were doing. 183 00:20:37,234.8979592 --> 00:20:42,364.8979592 They were looking at the trial instead of looking at their powerful God. 184 00:20:43,624.8979592 --> 00:20:45,224.8979592 Look at what it says in Romans 8. 185 00:20:45,604.8979592 --> 00:21:03,349.8979592 What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, then who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also along with him graciously give us all things? If God is for us, who can be against us. 186 00:21:03,829.8979592 --> 00:21:12,469.8979592 He's saying God is so powerful that if you've got one God on your side, even if the whole world is against you, you've got the majority. 187 00:21:13,309.8979592 --> 00:21:16,609.8979592 That's what those 10 spies should have been thinking about. 188 00:21:16,849.8979592 --> 00:21:24,619.8979592 It doesn't matter how many bad guys there are and how big they are, if we've got God on our side, we're gonna win. 189 00:21:26,854.8979592 --> 00:21:30,904.8979592 Focus on the power of God and also the love of God. 190 00:21:30,904.8979592 --> 00:21:32,554.8979592 That's that second statement there. 191 00:21:32,584.8979592 --> 00:21:40,204.8979592 He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not Also along with him graciously give us all things. 192 00:21:40,474.8979592 --> 00:22:05,569.8979592 If God loved you so much that he were to send his own son to die for you, then why would you ever think that he wouldn't take care of all your other needs as well? Lesson number six: From Numbers 15, the Lord said to Moses, speak to the Israelites and say to them throughout the generations to come, you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments. 193 00:22:05,779.8979592 --> 00:22:21,44.8979592 With a blue cord on each tassel, you will have these tassels to look at, and so you will remember all the commands of the Lord, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by chasing after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes. 194 00:22:22,279.8979592 --> 00:22:27,979.8979592 So God told his people in the 15 chapter of Numbers, this is what I want you to do. 195 00:22:27,979.8979592 --> 00:22:48,169.8979592 I want you to put tassels on the corners of your garments, and whenever you feel that tassel bumping against your leg or you see it either on yourself or on your friends and neighbors, it will be a reminder to you of all that I've said to you. 196 00:22:50,39.8979592 --> 00:22:55,489.8979592 Have you noticed, maybe you've come into contact with Orthodox or Hasidic Jews today. 197 00:22:55,729.8979592 --> 00:23:05,809.8979592 Many of them still wear those tassels all these thousands of years later as a reminder of what God has said to them. 198 00:23:07,279.8979592 --> 00:23:13,669.8979592 And this is lesson Number 6: Remind your soul regularly of the COMMANDS and the PROMISES of God. 199 00:23:15,229.8979592 --> 00:23:19,99.8979592 There are so many ways that people attempt to do this here today. 200 00:23:19,519.8979592 --> 00:23:27,49.8979592 I was noticing last night that a lot of men were wearing cross necklaces, and I thought that is a great way. 201 00:23:27,619.8979592 --> 00:23:31,639.8979592 Sometimes, and I don't know how good this is, I will write things on my hand. 202 00:23:31,879.8979592 --> 00:23:39,969.8979592 Usually I'll write them in Hebrew or Greek, so no one else can tell, can know what what I'm putting on my hand, but it's a reminder to me. 203 00:23:40,89.8979592 --> 00:23:41,409.8979592 A few days ago I wrote. 204 00:23:41,949.8979592 --> 00:23:49,569.8979592 I am my beloveds and he is mine, as a reminder to me who I am and whose I am. 205 00:23:50,199.8979592 --> 00:23:57,879.8979592 And there are lots of different ways that you can remind yourself of the commands and the promises of God. 206 00:24:00,699.8979592 --> 00:24:23,619.8979592 But you know what? Even if you do regularly remind yourself of the commands and promises of God, you know what you're never going to be able to get past as long as you're here on this earth? Sin, and there's still gonna be times that you're gonna fail, even if you're trying with all your might to remember the things of God. 207 00:24:24,504.8979592 --> 00:24:43,644.8979592 And when that happens, when you fail in your thoughts and your words and your actions, and you remember from the Book of Numbers that God has a ferocious wrath, it's gonna make you wanna get down on your face and say, God have mercy upon me. 208 00:24:45,414.8979592 --> 00:24:49,374.8979592 And when you're down there on your face before the Lord. 209 00:24:50,844.8979592 --> 00:25:04,524.8979592 Remember another lady that was down there on her face before the Lord from Luke 8, it says, and a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years, but no one could heal her. 210 00:25:05,4.8979592 --> 00:25:11,694.8979592 She came up behind him and touched the edge of Jesus' cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. 211 00:25:12,684.8979592 --> 00:25:28,14.8979592 By the way, Jesus was a good Jewish man, so what would he have on the edges of his cloak? Tassels, what did she reach out and grab? She reach out and grab the tassels. 212 00:25:28,134.8979592 --> 00:25:33,44.8979556 Why would she do that? It's actually pretty cool. 213 00:25:33,684.8979115 --> 00:25:42,654.8979592 From Malachi 4, it says, but to you who fear my name, the son of righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings. 214 00:25:43,614.8979592 --> 00:25:53,574.8979592 Great passage, but I looked this up this week, and it's even greater because that word for wings, yes, it can mean wings like a bird. 215 00:25:53,584.8979592 --> 00:26:00,514.8979592 The word in Hebrew is Kanaph, but look down at the very bottom what it also can mean. 216 00:26:01,84.8979592 --> 00:26:04,594.8979592 It can mean the corner of a garment. 217 00:26:06,469.8979592 --> 00:26:18,349.8979592 What was he saying? But to you who fear my name, the son of righteousness shall arise with healing in the corners of his garment where the tassels are. 218 00:26:21,49.8979592 --> 00:26:24,229.8979592 He was saying there's healing to be found there. 219 00:26:24,439.8979592 --> 00:26:34,789.8979592 And somehow this lady, with all these years of bleeding, knew of that reached out and grabbed it and was healed at that very moment. 220 00:26:35,629.8979592 --> 00:26:39,49.8979592 Here's a bonus lesson that you and I can learn here today. 221 00:26:39,349.8979592 --> 00:26:44,419.8979592 It's this: Reach out to Jesus for all your needs. 222 00:26:45,799.8979592 --> 00:26:47,959.8979592 Maybe your need is forgiveness. 223 00:26:48,874.8979592 --> 00:26:50,494.8979592 Reach out to Jesus. 224 00:26:50,614.8979592 --> 00:26:53,794.8979592 Grab the tassels of his robe, so to speak. 225 00:26:54,514.8979592 --> 00:26:56,524.8979592 Maybe your need is health. 226 00:26:57,154.8979592 --> 00:26:59,194.8979592 Maybe your need is financial. 227 00:26:59,194.8979592 --> 00:27:01,204.8979592 Maybe your need is relational. 228 00:27:01,294.8979592 --> 00:27:04,304.8979592 Whatever it is, reach out and grab him. 229 00:27:06,919.8979592 --> 00:27:09,229.8979592 And let him bring healing into your life. 230 00:27:09,439.8979592 --> 00:27:24,529.8979592 In just a few minutes, we're gonna have the opportunity to do that in the Lord's Supper, where you're gonna be able to come forward and receive whatever you need, forgiveness, health, strength, relationship help, whatever it may be. 231 00:27:25,39.8979592 --> 00:27:28,579.8979592 The Lord is to be found wherever his body and blood are. 232 00:27:29,59.8979592 --> 00:27:33,769.8979592 You can find him there may God grant it to each of us for Jesus' sake Amen. 233 00:27:36,300.8979592 --> 00:27:37,950.8979592 You've been listening to a sermon from St. 234 00:27:37,950.8979592 --> 00:27:40,30.8979592 John's Lutheran Church in Buffalo, Minnesota. 235 00:27:40,350.8979592 --> 00:27:42,150.8979592 If you would like more information about St. 236 00:27:42,150.8979592 --> 00:27:47,810.8979592 John's and any of our ministries to our community and beyond, you can go to our website, www. 237 00:27:47,900.8979592 --> 00:27:48,140.8979592 stjohnsbuffalo. 238 00:27:49,380.8969592 --> 00:27:49,710.8969592 org. 239 00:27:50,90.8969592 --> 00:27:51,380.8979592 Thank you and God bless you.
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