Sunday School Live & Online - Stand Up

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📖 Sunday School Live & Online: "Stand Up" (Matthew 11) 📖

Life has a way of making us question our purpose, our faith, and even our confidence in God’s plan. In Matthew 11, we see John the Baptist—once bold in his mission—wrestling with doubt while in prison. But Jesus' response wasn’t just for John; it’s for all of us who need to stand firm in our faith even when things don’t go as expected.

Join us as we explore:
✅ How to hold on to faith in uncertain times
✅ The power of standing up for truth even when it’s uncomfortable
✅ Jesus' reminder that God's plan is still moving—no matter what it looks like 💬

Bring your Bible, your thoughts, and your willingness to grow! See you Sunday at 8:00 AM for a powerful discussion!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yo, what's going on everybody? How y'all doing out there?
This is Jared Lewis aka King j Lewis coming at
you with another episode of the king Lee Discussions podcast,
and what an honor and a privilege it is to
be with you on this morning as we have another

(00:21):
fives we have another addition to our wonderful Lives Sunday
School Live and Online. Oh my god, I am so excited.
I am too excited, geeked up, whatever you want to
call it. I'm just related to be here with you
on this morning. It is such a blessing. Y'all think

(00:41):
I'll be playing around when I be saying these things,
but it really be a privilege to have you here.
I don't take it for I don't take it for granted,
and I don't take it lightly. It's an honor to
have you here. I like to feel that we have
here on Sunday School Lives and online. It is our
main bread and butter here at the kingly discussed the podcast,
and it's a blessed to be here. I'm glad to

(01:03):
have you you, you and especially youth that have found
it out of robbery to come here and to be
with us on this uh this morning, as we have
another uh wonderful Sunday School message, and just so as
you know, just for a couple of quick announcements, you know,
on last week, I failed to let you know exactly

(01:27):
where our Sunday School Lives will be coming from as
far as the literature is concerned. Now our literature, uh
you know, as I said that before last year, whenever
we first started out our Sunday School Lives and online,
we started out with the the A. M. E. Zion Church,
the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Churches Sunday School Church literature,

(01:50):
and we thank God for them. They helped us out
a lot, provided really really really good information and more
than likely we will probably end up going back. But
right here, the King of Discussion, this podcast and specifically
for us Sunday School Lives and online, we want to
make sure that we're spreading the wealth for everyone. We
want to make sure that we're having fresh takes on everything.

(02:10):
So you know, right now we're on the r H
Boy Sunday School Church literature, and just so you can
see it for yourself, I'm also gonna put it in
the comments, but I do want you to be able
to follow along with me if you can. If you can,

(02:31):
I you know, I perfectly understand. But I want you
to be able to see, you know, and follow along
with us and our lessons because it's one thing for
me to talk up here. It's one for one thing
for me to keep discussing certain things, but it's another
thing for you to follow along with me as we

(02:52):
try our best to you know, do the best that
we can and become better Kingdom citizens. So if you
just take your attention to the screen right here, this
is what the Sunday School Lesson looks like. It is
available for purchase on Amazon. All you got to do
is look it up our h boy b CEO and
you'll be able to find that Sunday School lesson there.
Or if you if you are a different kind of

(03:17):
person that wants your books elsewhere, you can find them
there too as well. Our ex boy dco has a
lot of good things on there. Good morning, good morning everyone,
good morning. It has a lot of good things up there,
so you be able to keep all your stuff in together.
And how I'm looking at the lesson is through the
Kindle app So Kendall actually does a Kendall actually does

(03:40):
have an app for you to go to so that
you can keep all your content together with it. So
I do, like I said, I definitely want to highlight
you know exactly where we're coming from, so it won't
be no surprises, you know, when it's time for us
to come together like this and you don't know where
I'm coming. So we are coming from our ex boy

(04:02):
d c O and specifically we're coming out of the
book of the Adult Christian Life, Adult Christian Life. So
like I said, I'll be sure to put that in
the description of the podcast whenever it dolls come out
and other places as well, so you can just stay
aware as of what we got going on and stuff.

(04:24):
So yeah, that's a good thing. I just wanted to
point that out there too. And again I think each
and every one of you are coming out on this morning.
Good morning to everyone who I haven't spoken to just yet.
Now let us govern ourselves a quarterly for our prayer
and y'all know whether you may be watching this be
a Facebook or watching this be a YouTube, or maybe

(04:46):
you may be listening were the podcast, whether it comes
out on YouTube, whether it comes out on Facebook, whether
it comes out on Spreager, the Spreaker app, whether it
comes out on Apple Podcast, whether it comes out from Spotify,
where it comes out on any distribution site that we have.

(05:08):
I want you to know that during the time of prayer,
I just don't what it is you're driving. I just
don't want you to stop. Now, all right, we ain't
here to test Jesus out just yet on that. Okay,
all right, we're gonna We're gonna use the good city
that the Lord gave it. I don't want you to
test Jesus out and give him the wheels just yet.
I want you to. I don't want you to say,
oh Lord take it. No, I don't want you to.

(05:30):
I don't want you to. I don't want you to
do all that that's not necessary. All you got to
do is as far is just you know, give yourself accordance,
give yourself a governing as we go forth right now
with our morning prayer, let us by our heads, let
us covern ourselves accordingly for the prayer dead heaven and
bother me, thank you and praise you because you are God,

(05:51):
and besides you there is none other heavenly Father. We're
so grateful and we're thankful that you have allowed this
opportunity to come, This opportunity, Dear God, to come that
we get to gather around through the use of technology,
whether it may be by life or whether it may

(06:11):
be by podcast. We thank you, Dear God, for the
technological advances that you have blessed us with so that
we can become better kingdom citizens. So right now, Father,
in Jesus' name, we call upon your very presence, We
call upon your very power, and most of our God,

(06:32):
we call for your sense of understanding as we grow
in wisdom and knowledge. Heavenly Father released all distractions and
all distracted thoughts that may come to hinder what we
will now partake to learn and understand. And help us,

(06:53):
Dear Father, as we understand, to take what is presented
and equip it for equip it to our lives for
every day. Lifting these things, we pray in Jesus' name, Amen, Amen,
and a man a man Amen. Y'all know, at the

(07:16):
beginning of our Sunday school lising online, I used to
I used to drink coffee, which I guess now I
done got too boogie. I guess now I haven't got
too boogie. I feel like I don't have to drink
no coffee, which y'all, but guess what I'm gonna show
drink it today, So y'all gonna have uh, you know,

(07:41):
come have a drink of coffee with me, and we'll
go forward with this uh this here Sunday School lesson,
as we go forth to hear what God has to
say for today, uh today, or for our Sunday School
Lisson's the Barber study for week of February ninth, twenty

(08:04):
twenty five. February ninth, twenty twenty five. This is that
week as we are in Black History Month, and the
subject for the day's lesson. I don't know if you've
been able to pay attention to it, but the subject
for today's lesson is stand up, Stand Up. That's the

(08:26):
subject for today's lesson. And the background passage is Matthew
the eleventh chapter, and the printed passage is Matthew the
eleventh chapter, the seventh through the fifteenth verse, and the
twentieth through the twenty fourth verse. So that's Matthew chapter eleven,

(08:47):
versus seventh through fifteen, and twenty through twenty four, and
the key verse reads then he began to reproach the
city's in which most of his deeds and of power
had been done, because they did not repent. Then he

(09:09):
began to reproach the cities in which most of his
deeds of power had been done because they did not repeat,
they did not repent. Then he began to reproach the
cities in which most of his deeds of power had
been done because they did not repent. That is Matthew,

(09:33):
chapter eleven, starting at That is Matthew chapter eleven, verse
number twenty. All right, let us go forth with our
introduction on this morning for the Sunday School live and online.
John the Baptist's conception, birth, and ministry are marked with significance.

(10:00):
Ken's parents were Elizabeth and Zachariah of the priestly tribe
of Levi. John was a promised child to parents who
were of age and barren. We might say John testified
of Jesus while in the womb, as well as the

(10:22):
wilderness when Mary went to visit her cousin Elizabeth and
was filled with the Holy Spirit. Now this is in
Luke chapter one, verses thirty nine through forty five. John
was named by the angel Gabriel instead of his instead
of his family heritage. Not naming according to family heritage

(10:47):
was highly unusual during John's time. This is Luke, chapter one,
verses thirteen. John's ministry included him not only separating himself
from society and living in the wilderness, but wearing clothing
made of camel hair and having a diet of locusts

(11:10):
and wild honey. He was eventually named the Baptist because
he had baptized the people in the Jordan River as
a sign of repentance, because because the same place he baptized,

(11:30):
because this was the same place he baptized Jesus. Ultimately,
John was executed because he courageously stood against the status quo.
In our Passage, Jesus has an impactful encounter with one
of John's followers. The encounter and subsequent discussion highlight the

(11:55):
relationship between John's mission and Jesus's objective to establish a kingdom.
There's the K word again, y'all. I keep trying to
tell y'all, like people think I'm crazy because I keep
talking about the kingdom. You know, I'm not trying to

(12:19):
get away from the list, but I'm telling you this
word kingdom is everywhere in the Bible. I don't. I
don't know, Like I be trying. I be trying, like
people think I'm crazy, but I'm not crazy. I'm just
telling you what's in there. This kingdom stuff is everywhere, y'all.

(12:41):
Like I understand that, I understand the prosperity message. I
understand uh weeping may and do it fortnight, bo. John. Look,
I don't understand all of that. I didn't get it

(13:03):
different for different folks, right, But I'm telling y'all, the
bread and butter is the kingdom. The bread and butter is,
in fact the kingdom. Oh man, this is this is
this is this is this is something, this is something.
Let me read this again so y'all y'all can catch it.

(13:24):
The encountered and subsequent discussion highlight the relationship between John's
mission and Jesus's objective to establish a kingdom. So whereas
John baptized, Jesus was establishing a kingdom. So it was
not the same necessarily that John wasn't doing the work

(13:48):
of God. It wasn't saying that. It was just saying
that Jesus had a mission. Jesus had an objective and
John had a mission. And it's not saying that that's
you know, it's a conflict of interest, but they both
work together, you know they This is good stuff, man,

(14:10):
this is good stuff. This kingdom will suffer resistance from
various sources. Yet the kingdom responds to these challenges in
righteous ways. Our passage invites us to expect and respond
to resistance and christ honoring ways. All right, I told

(14:37):
you this is really, really really good stuff because I
need y'all to know that the Kingdom, the Kingdom of God,
is something that is so special, right, It's something that
is so beautiful where Jesus sits on this throne. And

(15:00):
it's not an imaginary throne, y'all. It's not an imaginary throne.
By all means, this throne that Jesus sits on, it's
in its own glory, it's in its own majesty. And
do I even say that even with all of that,

(15:21):
it still holds weight and prominence throughout all the years
in the Old Testament, it still holds prominence. And the
amazing part is in this kingdom that God has established.
Right in this kingdom that God has established, he hasn't

(15:42):
forgotten about you. He hasn't forgotten about you. He hasn't
forgotten about me. He hasn't forgotten about those who cannot comprehend,
those who do not understand, those who do not grasp
the majesty of God's Kingdom. He hasn't forgot. All he

(16:06):
wants you to do is to acknowledge the fact that
you are a citizen of His Kingdom. That's it. That's it.
He wants you to acknowledge that you are a kingdom
citizen of His Kingdom, and in this citizenship gives you

(16:31):
certain rights. Now Here in America, right, it's hard for
us to understand rights. Okay, here in America, it's hard
for us to understand the difference in majesty kingdom and
those type of things. It's hard for us to understand

(16:52):
the differences between democracy and dictatorship. But the most important
thing out of it all is in God's Kingdom, it's
not a democracy. There's not a senate. Y'all, y'all better

(17:17):
hear me? Yeah, Yah, y'all better, y'all, y'all better hear
what I'm saying. Y'all, y'all better hear what I'm saying.
In God's Kingdom, there's not a senate in God's Kingdom.
There's not a house of representatives. In God's kingdom. There's
not a congress in God's kingdom. There's not a Supreme

(17:41):
Court Justice. In God's kingdom. There is no president with
the Secretary of Education, a secretary of human Resources, a
secretary of the chief of staff, joint chiefs of staff.
There's none of that in God's kingdom. In God's kingdom,

(18:01):
the only one who holds authority is Jesus. To Christ. Now,
in that kingdom God, where God has Jesus sitting on
a throne. Jesus then gives us the authority to use
his name. Y'all, y'all follow me, y'all follow me. Jesus

(18:26):
gives the us the authority you, He gives us, you
and I the authority to use his name and bind
up the spiritual so that it can align in the physical.
That's that's all you need. That's all you need in

(18:47):
the citizenship. That's it. That's all you need to know.
Jesus sits on this throne and he gives us the
authority in the youth and by his name, because if
you if you use the name of any other name,
it's not gonna work. But if you use his name,

(19:07):
bind it up and loosen it in His name that
holds weight, then that holds authority. I tell you, this
Kingdom stuff is something serious. I can't I can't wait
to get get ahold of these power sessions, like I
really want to, because it's gonna be something special. These

(19:29):
power sessions are gonna break it down even more for
us to understand what this, what this Kingdom of God is.
I'm I'm working on that right now. We're just not
gonna in the King of Discussions podcast. What I have noticed,
especially just by looking at our episode list. You know,
all we have is a Sunday school lives and online

(19:49):
and that's good, but that's not the origination for the
king Discussions podcast. We're here to equip ah God's people,
you know, with the there's the knowledge and understanding of
His word. So that's the purpose of the Kingdoms the podcast,
and I just don't want to limit it, limit it

(20:10):
to just Sunday School. So we're gonna start doing some
more power sessions, you know as we as we go
forth and do what do what the Lord wants us
to do with this podcast. So think about it. We're
still in the introduction. Think about it. Have you ever

(20:32):
been ridiculed or ostracized because of your faith? Can you
share that experience and how this and how that experience
made you feel? So you know, I you know, I'm
very collaborative. I love to hear opinion and things like

(20:57):
that because it really means a lot. So but for
the most part, I do want everyone to have an,
you know, an understanding. So the following question that think
about it. I'm going to put in a comment section
so you whether you're watching live or whether you maybe

(21:18):
you know, watch it via Facebook. You'll see it on
the on the comments right there, and it says, have
you ever been ridiculed and ostracize because of your faith?
Can you share how that experience made you feel? I
want you to write this question down on a piece
of paper or or you can use your phone. Just
use your phone, go to the note section and look

(21:41):
this and write this question down and answer it honestly.
Have you have you ever been ridiculed or ostracized because
of your faith? And if you want to share, you
can share. You could put that in the comments. Even
if I'm not on this live, I'm more than willing to,
you know, share with you my experiences and you know,
and and have a you know, a productive and positive,

(22:04):
a positive and productive dialogue and discussion, because that's why
we hear it makes no sense just for me to
just sit here and you know, and and haul all
of this awesomeness without you know, uh, picking the minds
of those who are picking the minds and growing off
of the people who I'm talking to. So yeah, definitely,

(22:25):
for sure I want you to, you know, definitely do that.
So let us so, like I said, I want you
to write that question that's that's in the comment section
and answer it, you know, honestly putting it, putting in
your notes or your phone, keeping something like a like
a diary or something like that eternal so to speak.

(22:48):
I think that you will definitely definitely like that there.
So let us let us move forward, uh and uh
within our school lessen on today. So as as the
introduction talks about, it talks about you know, our key verse,

(23:11):
but where it doesn't talk about the key verse, Yes,
but it alludes to the key verse. So the first
thing that we're going to talk about within the introduction
is more than a prophet, Okay, more than a prophet
Matthew Chapter eleven seven through ten Matthew chapter eleven, seven
through ten, and it says as they went away, Jesus

(23:32):
began to speak to the crowds about John. What did
you go out into the wilderness to look at a
read shaken by the wind? What then did you see
go out? What then did you go out to see
someone dressed in soft rolls? Look, those who wear soft

(23:54):
rolls are in royal royal houses palaces. What then did
you go out to see a prophet? Yes, I tell you,
and more than a prophet, this is the one about
whom it is written. See, I am sending my messenger

(24:17):
ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.
All right, So in this John is is exclaimed as
the prophet that came before Jesus. So John is the voice,

(24:42):
and this is what the old folks used to say
all the time. John is the voice that's crying out
into the wilderness. Right, good morning, good morning, good morning.
So John is the voice that is crying out into
the wilderness. Right. So in this John is it is
not just you know, uh, crying out and just making

(25:06):
a just making an explanation or exclamation. John is literally
out here just like you know what, y'all need to
get prepared. The Son of God is coming, and y'all
need to get ready. Make ye wig for the Lord.

(25:26):
He just wanted to put everybody on notice, all right,
Jesus is coming, y'all need to get ready. It's literally
that simple. So in essence, John is exclaimed more than
a prophet, more than a prophet, Okay, And now we're
gonna talk more about that in the upcoming and the

(25:49):
upcoming listen, Jesus speaks highly towards John the Baptist and
begins to adjust the crowd about him. John the Baptist
was imprisoned for telling the truth to power regarding King
Herod's marriage to his brother's wife. John was a controversial

(26:11):
but popular figure. The people were curious about his faith.
Jesus responds to their inquiry, as he often does in
the Gospels, with his own question. Jesus uses rhetorical questions
to redirect their attention to John's true nature and purpose.

(26:34):
He emphasizes that John is not a mere read shaken
by the wind, suggesting that he is not someone who
is easily swayed or lacking in conviction. But John is
in fact a prophet, a messenger sent by God. To
prepare the way for the coming Messiah. This framing establishes

(26:55):
John's role as a pivotable as pivotable to the unfolding
narrative of salvation history. Jesus further elevates John's status by
declaring that John fulfills the pathetic words of Isaiah, who
spoke of a voice crying out in the wilderness, preparing

(27:17):
the way for the Lord. The transformative nature of John's
ministry caused people to repentance and readiness for the coming
of Jesus. So, in an essence, John is not just
a prophet. John is more than a prophet. John is

(27:40):
this John is this wonderful established man who has come out,
come out from amongst everyone else, in the midst of

(28:05):
the doubt, in the midst of the trial, in the
midst of the tribulation, to say, hey, you know what,
Jesus is on the way. He's more than a prophet,
and he's more than a messenger. He's actually the person

(28:29):
that set the tone for the establishment of that kingdom
that I was just talking to you about earlier. I
don't know if you all watch the Olympics or anything,
but the person that's carrying the torch is an important

(28:51):
person in the Olympics in the beginning because it's lighting
the fire, you know, to get ready for what's coming.
That torch speaks a lot, especially in the story of John.

(29:12):
I wonder if the passion that we have as individuals,
the passion that we have for God, the passion that
we are caring. I wanted that fire's still burning. I

(29:33):
asked that question because it's not to say that our
churches are struggling, but I would want to offer that
our people are struggling. Not just the church, not the
pastor or not the deacons, not the trustees or the leaders,

(29:53):
but our people. We got a church just about on
every corner. There he is. And in my culture, for
Black churches, there's an a design church, there's a missionary
Baptist church. There's a hole in his church on every corner.

(30:15):
But our people are still hurting. Why is that? I
don't know. I don't know. Maybe our torch of our
prayer of preparing, making sure that people know that Jesus

(30:38):
is on the way. Maybe that torch has doing them
down a little bit. That's why I said John is
more than a prophet. You. I realized that there was
nothing before Jesus, and here's John out the woodwork. And

(31:01):
just like in just like in Isaiah, that's like Isaiah
was prophesying. There was no one. Just like Isaiah, I said,
the voice crying out in the wilderness, there was nobody,
at least in this time. And in this day and age,

(31:22):
there's a church on every single corner. There's a ministry
established on every single corner, at least here in this
present time. I could get on this podcast, and I
could use this mic, and I can use my MacBook,
everything that I need to do to do this podcast,
to get this thing, to get the message out to

(31:44):
the non believer or the unbeliever that there's a God
somewhere in that there's a Jesus that they can save you.
John was only one. That's what I said. The value
of John and understanding who John is, that's a prominent thing.

(32:06):
It's bigger than just being a prophet. It's bigger than
just being a messenger. It's bigger than just being a pastor.
It's bigger than just being an elder or a prophet
is or or whatever. It's bigger than that. If nobody,
here's the message of John. If nobody else is gonna

(32:29):
do what God said, I'm gonna do it. Gotta remember
he was the only one. He was the only one,
all right, So let's go to number two. Let's talk
about let's go into further with our Sunday School lesson

(32:51):
Kingdom impact Matthew eleven Matthew Chapter eleven, eleven through fifteen. Truly,
I tell you, among those born of women, no one
has arisen greater than John the Baptist. Yet the least
in the Kingdom of God of Heaven is greater than he.

(33:13):
From the days of John the Baptist until now, the
Kingdom of Heaven has suffered violence, and violent people take
it by force. Well, all of the prophets and the
law prophesied until John came. And if you are willing
to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.

(33:36):
Let anyone with ears listen, all right? And that was
John chapter eleven, verses eleven through fifteen. And we're talking
about the kingdom. The kingdom's impact. Jesus describes John as significant,
but in Jesus' kingdom, greatness is not measured in the

(34:00):
same way as in contemporary society. Jesus argues that the
least in his kingdom, Those who considered insignificant by wordless
standards hold a position of greater spiritual significance than John.
This teaching challenged the conventional notions of status and honor,

(34:20):
urging the audience to rethink their understanding of what it
means to be great in God's eyes. It also invites
all those who here to embrace the values of the
Kingdom of Heaven, which often subvert societal expectations. In a
world often driven by societal expectations and material pursuits, it

(34:44):
is crucial to redirect our focus toward the values of
the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus teaches that care for one's
soul is much more important than processing what the world
deems valuable. This spiritual realm embody's values like love, compassion,

(35:04):
and humility, which conflict with the competition and materialities pursuit.
While societal norms may pressure us to conform and prioritize success,
the teachings of the Kingdom remind us that true fulfillment
comes from serving others and nurturing our spiritual growth. Jesus
Kingdom does not have the physical and geographical concerns of

(35:27):
an earthly kingdom, yet Jesus informs the gathered crowd that
the kingdom will suffer resistance. Jesus is not suggesting that
there is an aggressive war that needs to be won.
Jesus highlights that deciding to be in God's kingdom will
invite persecution, suffering, and attack, calvary and cross carrying a

(35:53):
weight those who choose to follow Jesus. Jesus' kingdom is
not easily obtained. It will require struggle and perseverance. Consequently,
this is not a call to aggression or armed defense.
This is a call to resilience and prepare for suffering.
John the Baptist's imprisonment and subsequent execution for speaking truth

(36:17):
to power was the type of suffering kingdom citizens could expect.
His prophetic ministry was rooted in proclaiming God's standards and expectations.
The Holy Spirit Endow's New Testament believers with various gifts,
one of which may be the gift of prophecy. That
gift should cause its recipients to be bold and courageous

(36:42):
enough to challenge the status quo, even considering the significant
risks involved. Arguably, the biggest threat to the kingdom is
not an external threat, but the silence of believers. The
silence awfulness of believers do not show the world the

(37:03):
love of Christ. Jesus teaches in John thirteen and thirty
five that the distinguishing mark of his followers would be
the way they love. Christ's love should compel us to love, support,
and help those who live along the margins of society.
When Christians are indifferent to the suffering of those around us,

(37:25):
we weaken and dilute the message of Jesus' kingdom. Wow,
that's a lot to take in, isn't it. I tell
you when I tell you, when I tell you that
this kingdom stuff is prominent, When I tell you that
this kingdom stuff is good, it really is. I'm telling

(37:49):
y'all now, our churches are getting ready to see a
great arm. The numbers it's getting it's it's getting ready
to have a great jumping numbers. There's gonna there's gonna

(38:09):
be a lot of people that are going to be
assigned by God to handle certain tasks, and their hands
are gonna be the hands that are going to to
do it. What I fear is the most is kind

(38:32):
of like what this what the Sunday School lesson is
saying is arguably the biggest threat to the kingdom is
not an external threat, but the silence of believers. So
I think the biggest I think that is the biggest
threat to the Kingdom of God as well, is the silence.

(38:55):
That's why I use the example of the Olympic, the
Olympian who, like who is carrying the torch to light
the fire for the start of the Olympics. And I
use that comparison as to our in our passion, how

(39:15):
easy it used to be to have testimonial service in
our churches. Testimonial service used to be testimonials used to
be just as important as prayer, as a sermon was,
you know, in in the morning worship experience. I don't

(39:39):
know what happened. I do think that it's very important
for us to highlight what God has done, what Jesus
has done. And if anybody has any questions or any
comments that would like to put, please feel free to
do so. But it's amazing to me because ah, silence

(40:04):
means contentment. That's why I don't understand why people don't vote. Well,
you using politics, Yeah, I'm using politics because it's a
it's a really good example. That's I don't understand why
people don't vote. My vote don't mean nothing. Yeah, do
it meant that you It meant that you shut up.

(40:25):
That's what it meant. It meant that you don't have
a voice. It meant that you refrained from speaking up.
Whenever you vote it it literally speaks to your opinion,
your value, and your view on things. Regardless that there's
an action taken upon what you vote for or not,

(40:49):
it's still your vote. And that's the same thing whenever
it comes to God in the Kingdom of Heaven where
Jesus reigned supreme, it's the same thing. Refraining silencing ourselves

(41:11):
about how good God has been to us is a
scary thing. And over the past years, past couple of years,
I want to say, maybe twenty thirty, forty fifty years,
this is the stance that the church has taken. We've

(41:32):
become quiet, We've become silent, We've become you know, complacent
in our stances, in what we believe. And that's, honestly,
that's weird to me. The church has a voice. The

(41:53):
world may say what they want to say, the world
may do what they want to do, but the Church
still has a voice in all things. So I do
want us to understand that God is not wanted us
to suppress our feelings or suppress our emotions and how

(42:16):
we believe just centered on being a monk about stuff. No,
God wants you to be who you are. That's why
he wants to save you as an individual. That's why
he wants you to be saved. That's why he wants
you to become a kingdom citizen. Just don't become all saved.

(42:38):
Sanctify field with the Holy Ghost and five baptized, and
I'm going to evan anyhow, and you still don't do
nobody work? What good is that? Nothing? What does it
mean for you to gather the whole world and not
be able to live in peace because you decide to

(43:00):
take a seat back, Tell somebody, Tell somebody about how
good God has been in your life. Tell somebody how
God brought you out and brought you into the marvelous way.
Tell somebody that He was good to you when nobody
else was. You know, I think it's I think we

(43:23):
need to get back to the basics of certain things,
you know, and making sure that we're lifting up God's
kingdom and the voice inside of us. Yeah, yeah, the
voice that's inside of us. That's how we become saved.
Jesus talks to the voice that's inside of us. Yeah. Yeah,

(43:44):
So let's let's let's move a little forward. Uh this
this lett I'll tell you this. These lessons get real
good man, and it's it's hard because I feel like
I'm Russian. But we we we got to make sure
that our voice doesn't go silent, especially when God be
blessing us. All right. Number three resistance stubborn resistance to

(44:13):
change Matthew, chapter eleven, verses twenty through twenty four. Stubborn
resistance to change Matthew, chapter eleven, verses twenty through twenty four.

(44:33):
It says, then he began to reproach the cities in
which most of his deeds of power had been done
because they did not repent. Woe to you, old Chorasen.
Woe to you ol be beath Sata, For if the

(44:54):
deeds of power done in you had been done in
tire and and Sidon, they would have repented long ago
in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, on the
day of judgment, it will be more tolerable for tire
and siden than for you. And you Kapernaum will be

(45:17):
Will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be
brought down to Hades. For if the deeds of power
done in you had been done in soldom, it would
have remained until this day. But I tell you that
on the day of judgment, it will be more tolerable
for the land of Sodom than for you. And that

(45:42):
was Matthew Chapter eleven, verses twenty through twenty four. Stubborn
resistance to change. Jesus goes on to discuss those who
have rejected the message of repentance and the entry into
Jesus's kingdom. Jesus shifts his shifted his focus to the
cities where he performed many miracles and taught extensively. He

(46:06):
begins to denounce these cities to Rosen, but Beth Sat
and Capernon. He highlighted their failure to respond to his
message and the signs of company in it. Despite witnessing
jesus miracles works miraculous words, the residents of these cities
remained unrepentant. Jesus' landment over these cities reveals a deep

(46:29):
and disappointment. They had been given a unique opportunity to
encounter the Messiah, Yet they chose to ignore their call
to repentance despite their proximity. Proximity to Jesus and his teachings,
the residents of capernonm needed to recognize the urgency of
repentance and transformation. Capernaum served as Jesus. Capernaum served as

(46:55):
Jesus's headquarters. Many notable miracles happened there, including the healing
of the woman who suffered from a bleeding condition of
twelve years, Gyrus's daughter raised from the dead, and Peter's
mother in law healed. This informs us. This informs us

(47:15):
that proximity is not integrity. Just because we are close
to those who know Jesus does not mean we are
near him. We should never allow our proximity and our
knowledge to dull Us in our taking our relationship with
Christ for granted. It is a privilege to grow and
deepen our faith in Christ. Before becoming too critical of

(47:39):
these cities, we must reflect on our society, where there
are those of us who claim Christ in word and
not in need. The idea of wealth, political dominance, and
self righteousness that American churches often espouse do not reflects

(48:00):
vi kingdom goal and therefore run the risk of being
just like the cities Jesus that, just like the cities
Jesus that did not accept the message of the Kingdom.
In Matthew chapter seven, Jesus warns that everybody who calls
him Lord will not be granted citizenship in the Kingdom.

(48:21):
Jesus's words are a stark warning to those who have
received knowledge of the truth but choose to remain indifferent.
Even though all the cities mentioned experienced mentioned experience the
miracle working power of Jesus, the miracles alone did not
capture their hearts. While powerful signs of divine authority and

(48:43):
compassion can inspire all, they do not necessarily inspire the
lasting faith or commitment. People may be gone to the
spectacle of miraculous acts, but can remain indifferent to the
more profound call for transformation in our lives. Disconnect reveals
that belief is not solely rooted in extraordinary experiences. It

(49:07):
also requires the ability to embrace change and confront uncomfortable
with truths. In Luke seventeen, Jesus heals ten lepers, but
only one return to say thank you, But only one
return to say thank you. Thus the challenge remains true.
Discipleship involves recognizing miracles and responding to their implications with

(49:28):
humility and a genuine desire to follow Jesus wholeheartedly. The
passage concludes with a sober reminder of the eternal implications
of one's response to Jesus. The cities that are rejected
his messages and miracles face severe consequences, highlighting the seriousness
of the indifference to God's call. This serves as the

(49:48):
critical reflection point of for the audience, urging them to
consider their responses to Jesus's teachings and the signs of
his presence and their lives. The passage challenges us to
reflect our spiritual reflect on our spiritual state, the importance

(50:09):
of repentance, and the urgency of responding to God's invitation.
And that is the end of the lessons of the
points of the Sunday School live and online today. That
was stubborn resistance to change. So I've highlighted before that

(50:32):
knowledge is based upon facts, and before I close, I
definitely want to highlight this knowledge is in fact based
upon facts. I think we talked about that last week.
So as knowledge is based upon fact, we then have
to understand too that just because you say are are,

(50:59):
just because you believe a certain way, or just because
you think a certain way, or because you feel a
certain way, and just because you know it to be
a fact, Okay, it does not mean that you get
a past to sit on your blessed assurance. It doesn't.

(51:25):
A couple of weeks ago, I let someone bother me.
And I say I let because I know what God
has told me to do, regardless of the numbers, regardless
of the likes, regardless of the regardless of the shares,
regardless of whatever. I know what God has told me

(51:50):
to do. But I allowed someone to hurt my feelings,
so to speak. And this was just a couple of
weeks ago to make me feel that what I'm doing

(52:11):
isn't lining up to what God wants me to do. Now,
I'm gonna take my time with this because I want
you to understand where I'm coming from. Just because someone
doesn't agree with what you're doing doesn't give them the
right to dictate what God has purposed in your life,

(52:36):
the knowledge and the wisdom that God has imprinted upon
your life. Somebody say I don't know what God has imprinted.
I don't know what God has put upon my life, well,
I challenge you to search the scriptures fast. And that's

(53:01):
because when you know what God has put upon your life,
I'm not just talking about something timporary. I'm talking about
what God has told you do. When you know that
God has told you to do something, it's a different
type of feel. That's why I say I allowed this
person to make me feel some kind of way because

(53:22):
I trusted that the same God I served with the
same God that he served, and in the fact, it
was the same God and that we both served. However,
the miscommunication between the person and I was that what

(53:43):
he knew to be true by fact, which he had
a point, and what I knew to be true, which
was a fact which is a good point, didn't line up.
Whereas your knowledge and what you gained by experience and
pre fact may be one thing, what God tells you

(54:07):
is a whole, totally different thing, and I don't want
to tell you. Whenever God gives you something, grab it
by the horns and don't let go. I was supposed
to bend podcasting by now. I was supposed to bean
podcasting by now. Ten twelve years ago, God gave me

(54:30):
the vision for podcasting. I was supposed to Ben did this,
so right now I'm just playing catch up. But I
was supposed to Bend did this because God already gave
me the vision for it, and he's not sorry by
the fact that he gave me this gift. You know how,
somebody you know how some people say if you don't

(54:52):
if you don't use it, you'll lose it. I'm not
gonna call you a lie, but I want you to
show me the Verse. Show me the verse and about
but where it says that that if you don't use
it you'll lose it. Because if that's the case, I
wouldn't be podcasting right now. We a Kingly Discussions podcast. Invite,

(55:18):
I invite everything, everything. If you find a scripture that
says that, I'll come back and apologize. But I want
to encourage you to find what it is that God
has put upon your life and do it. Grab it
by the horns. And I also want to encourage you
as well. Don't be like the people who have all

(55:42):
this knowledge and don't use it, or don't be like
the people who have all the knowledge and don't give
it pay and don't pay it forward. They just die.
Would die off with the knowledge. It's no good when
you're in the box six feet under. Sorry, not sorry,

(56:05):
not sorry. That's just not right. That's not the way God,
That's not the way Jesus established his kingdom. I'm gonna
put it that way, all right. So let us move forward.
Let's go to the remember it, share it, live it,
and hear it, and will be done. Here's to remember it.
Our passage is not merely a historical account, but it
is relevant to us. It invites reflection on the nature

(56:28):
of faith, importance and responding to Christ's message, and the
necessity to embrace all aspects of Christ's kingdom, including suffering.
We do not often consider the reality of suffering as
one of Jesus's promises, but scripture clearly tells us that
it is. By examining these things, we gain a deeper

(56:50):
understanding of what it means to follow Christ and live
in alignment with kingdom values. Ultimately, the passage serves as
a call to action, urging us to receive the fullness
from a relationship with God marked by repentance and commitment. Live,
share it. Seeing I am on the battlefield for the

(57:12):
Lord Him. Number four thirty three, The New Baptist him. No,
consider the work, the lyrics and courage of the Siner,
live it. The Holy Spirit has en doubt us with
gifts that we may recognize at different stages of our
spiritual journey. If you feel you are unaware of your
spiritual gifts, discuss this concern with your pastor. They may

(57:34):
recommend a partial gift assessment to help you discover what
your gift may be. Hello, I think we already did
givet assessments, but I'm willing to work with you. I'm
not your pastor, but I do not mind doing the
gets assessment with you. Hear it. Evangelism is still essential.

(57:57):
All Christians should be willing to share their faith to
introduce someone to Christ. Consider your story, share it with
someone not in relationship with Jesus so they could repent,
enjoy the kingdom. Notice it did not say make them repent.
It said so it so, It said so they can repent.

(58:18):
You don't make people repent. Okay, So I want to
put this in the comments because I'm gonna do this
too as well. We know who say, and we know
who not saved. We ain't got to judge nobody to know. So.
But I'm gonna put this in the comments for us
to see. All Right, there, consider your story, Share it
with someone not in the relationship with Jesus so that

(58:40):
they could repent and join the kingdom. That's it. All
you got to do is just write your story, all right,
and it said. Share an online conversation about resistance. Share
your views and tag us at our h boyd Dco
and use hashtag URH boy Dco and use KDP three
KDP three POT seven or hashtag king Discussions podcasts. All right,

(59:02):
let's buy our his for the moment, for a moment
of prayer as we close the Sunday School Live and
Online for today, Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you yet
again for another productive and progressive Sunday School Live and Online.
We thank you for the ability to stand up and
stand out in the midst of our trials, stand out

(59:24):
in the midst of our tribulations, and stand out in
the midst of our shortcomings. God, we thank you for
repentance and we ask for forgiveness of anything that we
may have committed, whether it may be by thought, word, deed,
or against our Divine majesty. Heavenly Father, we ask you
that you will wipe our sins white of snow, so

(59:45):
that we may be be found presentable into thy sight.
So Heavenly Father, we ask right now, we asked you
you will keep us safe from all hurt, harm and danger,
and whatever they enemy is taken away with us, taken
away from us, that you will replenish it back to
us sixtyfold twenty four, whatever kind of fold that you
wanted to be, let it be done into pleasable into

(01:00:07):
thy sight and dear having the Father, we also thank
you for the opportunity to be here. We thank you
for the technological advances that you have afforded to us
that we could come together to grow more and wisdom,
knowledge and understanding of your word. Thank you for releasing
the distracted thoughts. Thank you for releasing the distractions so
that we could continue to build ourselves to be better

(01:00:29):
kingdom citizens. In Jesus name, we pray, Amen, Amen, and
a man. Once again, I want to thank each and
every one of you for coming out to the Sunday
School Lives and Onlve where our subject today was stand up.
It has been an alho some time with you. I
hate to end this, but it's just been so awesome.

(01:00:52):
I appreciate Gods, you just don't know. I appreciate you
so much. This has been an honor, it has been
a privilege and to to to be on this live
with you. But I do want to share something with you.
I do want to make it known that I want
everyone to uh uh sign up if you can with

(01:01:17):
your email and with your emails or a phone number.
I'm going I realized that it was it's more easier
for me to do the Remind app. So I'm going
to start a Remind and I'm going to have that
where we can all come together on the one banner

(01:01:38):
and and do our announcements that way. I do have
a link tree, uh and that link tree I want
you to use it because the link tree is like
a hug to everything. It's a hug to all the

(01:01:59):
the links that I have, whether it's on Instagram, Facebook, Apple, podcasts, Spotify,
whatever that it may be. That the link tree is
really good. It goes a long way. So I'm gonna
share it. Yeah, That's what I'll do. I'll share it
here and just uh and I'll also put an ending

(01:02:24):
description of the of a podcast whenever it's time for
it to be distributed. Click that link right there, right there,
you will see all our content. Everything that we post
is gonna be on there. Also, I want you to
keep in mind of our Power sessions that will be

(01:02:47):
coming up. So far with it's schedule is I have
at least I think too that's coming out next week.
Two Power sessions coming out next week, So be gonna
look out for that stuff. But fifteen twenty minutes. And
also please be reminded of every day on our Instagram

(01:03:09):
and Facebook, there's a daily word that comes out. It
used the youth, it uses the youth version of Baba
app and there's a nice inspiration out there for you
you to as well. And I also wanted to highlight
another portion of our Sunday School Live that I want
to add is called out it is it is called

(01:03:31):
a victory shout out. So the way the victory shout
out works is I want to take the h this
part a part of this time here, and I want
to highlight the good things that have happened to you
throughout the week. Or if you've got a birthday you
want to celebrate, you know, you get to fill out

(01:03:52):
this form here and you get to fill out this
form here and I shout it out, you know, because
I want to highlight the good things that happened in
our lives. I'm hearing too many, Uh. I don't want
to say bad things, but I don't I don't want
to hear too I don't want to necessarily say that

(01:04:13):
it's uh, it's a it's a bad thing. But I'm
hearing too many bad things. I want to hear some
good things, and I want to highlight the good things.
So starting next week, I will be announcing you know,
uh the victory shout outs and things so far already

(01:04:35):
got one, so I'll be shouting that out on next week. So,
like I said, it could be anything anything good and anniversary,
a birthday, of graduation, good grades, whatever, just uh, you know,
just put that in to fill this form out. I'll

(01:04:56):
see it and it'll come straight to me without on
any issues your And just so you know, your data
is protected. I use Microsoft and Google, so your data
is protected. You don't have to worry about or breaching
of confidentiality or anything. And also put that form the

(01:05:19):
victory shoutout form in the comments as well, so you
will see it only YouTube live in the Facebook live.
But that's all the announcements that I have for today.
I love itching every one of you, and I want
you to know I always remember this thing, no matter
what happens, no matter what you go through, always remember
to be the best Kingdom citizen that you can be. Okay,

(01:05:42):
and exercise your right as a kingdom citizen. Never forget
that you have power, you have authority, you have an option.
You don't have to choose to do wrong. You can
choose to You don't even have to choose to do right.
You could just buyin up the enemy in the name
of Jesus and be done right and continue to move forward.

(01:06:05):
I could tell you a thing or two about that.
I've been through hell, this last couple of mons sad,
but I'm telling you don't give up. Always remember to
be the best Kingdom citizen that you can be. It's
right there on the ticker, right there, right there, you
can see it. Always remember to be the best Kingdom
citizen that you to you and exercise your right as

(01:06:28):
a kingdom citizen. All right, I love y'all, I appreciate y'all.
Thank you for coming. Catch in the next one right pace.