Podcasts about this passage

John 11:45–54I. What Do We See in This Passage?II. What Do We Learn from This Passage?

Temple Visit  Luke 2:21-38 Luke 2:21-24 21 When the eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus—the name given by the angel before he was conceived. 22 And when the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were finished, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (just as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every firstborn male will be dedicated to the Lord) 24 and to offer a sacrifice (according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons). Luke 2:25-32 25 There was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, looking forward to Israel's consolation, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he saw the Lord's Messiah. 27 Guided by the Spirit, he entered the temple. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform for him what was customary under the law, 28 Simeon took him up in his arms, praised God, and said, 29 Now, Master,you can dismiss your servant in peace,as you promised. 30 For my eyes have seen your salvation. 31 You have prepared itin the presence of all peoples— 32 a light for revelation to the Gentilesand glory to your people Israel. • Jesus will bring about salvation for all people. • There are words of hope for all people, giving new hope and vocation to the people of Israel. • What is this vocation? To be a light! Luke 2:33-35 33 His father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and told his mother Mary, “Indeed, this child is destined to cause the fall and rise of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be opposed— 35 and a sword will pierce your own soul—that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” Luke 2:36-38 36 There was also a prophetess, Anna, a daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was well along in years, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and was a widow for eighty-four years. She did not leave the temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayers. 38 At that very moment, she came up and began to thank God and to speak about him to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. What Can We Hear in This Passage as We Enter a New Year? • God's Work Is for Everyone The testimony of God's power and love extends to all people, no exceptions. • Even a Small Glimpse of Jesus Inspires Worship No matter how small or fleeting, every encounter with Jesus gives us a reason to sing and celebrate. • We Are Blessed and Hopeful As we step into the new year, we do so with confidence, knowing that God is present and actively working in our lives. Questions to Carry into the New Year: • How Will I Share My Story? • What is the unique testimony I can give about the Jesus I have seen? • How Will I Wait Well? • What can I do today, right now, to live faithfully as I wait for God's promises to unfold?

This Passage teaches us the keys that Joseph applied to Letting Up and moving On. Humility that acknowledges God's role in Judgment and punishment not us and Faith that God will transform the evil things that happen to us into good. These two keys will enable us to Forgive those who hurt us and to Let up the pains and hurt aches to move forward. Eventually, Forgiveness through humility and faith in God's grand plan will result to Freedom, Peace and Healing.Series: Called by GodSpeaker: Byron Binga-AnScripture: Genesis 50:15-21 ESV#Jesus #God #Lord #CalledbyGod #Called #Joesph Mountainview Church carries the necessary Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI) license to play and perform the contained Christian worship songs. And all track recordings have been purchased with the coinciding public performance permissions. Background music was acquired royalty-free and available for public use at FreeMusicArchive.org, listed below. Alternate video content not filmed by Mountainview Church is open-source, and listed below for reference.Support the show

If you want to listen to the whole series on Mark it starts at Ep 488 and. then it is every third podcast.This Passage from Mark 8 is when Jesus first confronts his disciples with his death and resurrection. Peter rebukes him and I don't think they really believe him. If they had, then on Sunday after his death on the cross they would have been waiting at his tomb to celebrate. When Jesus announces that He would die he challenges his disciples and everyone at the time that was listening to deny themselves, pick up their cross and follow Him. What was He talking about??

A close look at our years-long recovery from the 2013 flood. We're digging into flood mitigation and preparedness, and lessons learned that have made our response and recovery stronger.    Special guests in this episode (City of Boulder staff): Joe Taddeucci, Director of Utilities Chris Meschuk, Deputy City Manager  Jennelle Freeston, Deputy Director of Community Connections and Partnerships for Open Space and Mountain Parks Brandon Coleman, Engineering Project Manager Chad Brotherton, Visitor Infrastructure Senior Manager for Open Space and Mountain Parks Mike Chard, Director of the Office of Disaster Management for the City of Boulder and Boulder County. This episode was hosted by Cate Stanek and Leah Kelleher. It was produced by Leah Kelleher. Theme music is Wide Eyes by Chad Crouch/Podington Bear, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.   Related Resources: Flood Mitigation Project Roundup Boulder's Web Guide to Flooding How to Be Flood Ready City of Boulder Comprehensive Flood and Stormwater Plan 2013 Flood Interactive Website September 2013 Flood Information and Storytelling Upcoming Engagement Opportunities: Feb. 22 – Joint City Council and Open Space Board of Trustees public hearing on open space disposal for South Boulder Creek. A decision on disposal will be made in March. Find more opportunities and office hours with city staff on our website. Music in this episode (adapted):  The Silver Hatch, Grand Fell, This Passage, Uncertainty and Leadin by Blue Dot Sessions. Brother Richard by Dave Nelson. Confidence Trick by Chad Crouch/Podington Bear. All are licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License, Attribution-NonCommercial License or Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

In this episode, Giulia Dedej speaks with Dr. Aphrodite Papachristodolou (Postdoctoral Researcher at the ICHR) on her important research on maritime migration and human rights. To keep up to date with developments from the Central Mediterranean, you can follow: Sea-Watch International SOS Mediterranee Open Arms Alarm Phone MSF Sea InfoMigrants Lighthouse Reports IOM Libya Dr. Aphrodite Papachristodolou's articles: Aphrodite Papachistodoulou “The recognition of a right to be rescued at sea in international law” (2022) 35 Leiden Journal of International Law 337 Aphrodite Papachristodoulou, “Mediterranean Maritime Migration: The Legal Framework of Saving Lives at Sea” (2020) 20 University College Dublin Law Review 87 Aphrodite Papachistodoulou and Richard Collins, “Pulling Back Navies and Pushing Back Migrants: Questioning the EU's International Legal Responsibility in the Mediterranean Sea” (2020) UCD Working Papers in Law, Criminology & Socio-Legal Studies Research Paper No. 1 / 2020 Further information on the numbers of migration in the Mediterranean: IOM Missing Migrants Project UNHCR Refugees Data Portal | Mediterranean Reports on Italy's influence over the Libyan Coast Guard: Forensic Oceanography: MARE CLAUSUM, Italy and the EU's declared strategy to stem migration in the Mediterranean Forensic Oceanography: reconstruction of S.S. and Others v Italy incident Cases: Hirsi Jamaa and Others v Italy (2012) App no 27765/09 (ECtHR 23 February 2012) S.S. and Others v Italy, Application No. 21660/18; communicated in June 2019 UNHRC, A.S., O.I., D.I. and G.D. v Italy “Views adopted by the Committee under article 5 (4) of the Optional Protocol, concerning Communication No. 3042/2017*'**'***” (27 January 2021) UN Doc CCPR/C/130/D/3042/2017 This episode was produced by Giulia Dedej and Grainne McGrath. Intro music: "Smarties Intro - FMA Podcast Suggestion" by Birds for Scale (Attribution-ShareALike 4.0 International Licence) Outro music: "Smarties Outro - FMA Podcast Suggestion" by Birds for Scale (Attribution-ShareALike 4.0 International Licence) Other: "Uneasy" by Blue Dot Sessions (Attribution-ShareALike 4.0 International Licence), "This Passage" by Blue Dot Sessions (Attribution-ShareALike 4.0 International Licence), "Uncertainty" by Blue Dot Sessions (Attribution-ShareALike 4.0 International Licence)

Producer Ashvin Kapilan explores the use of police power in the UK, focussing on the controversial technique of 'kettling'. Featuring the work of Prof Mark Neocleous, the podcast exposes how the concept of security is often used to increase and entrench police power power at worrying levels. Special thank you to Professor Mark Neocleous for agreeing to be interviewed for the purposes of the production of this podcast Music and Sounds Astrisx by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue). Dial 999 – Police car, pass from left to right with yelp siren by BBC Sound Effects (https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/search?q=07045267) Household – Kettle filled with water by BBC Sound Effects (https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/search?q=07042254) Household: Electric Kettle Boiling by BBC Sounds Effects (https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/search?q=07027207) Inamorata by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue). Kitchens – Large domestic kitchen by BBC Sound Effects (https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/search?q=07056101) London – London, West End, Portland Place – 1972 (1T1, reprocessed) by BBC Sound Effects (https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/search?q=07060038) Public Demonstration In A London Square by BBC Sound Effects (https://sound effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/search?q=07032271). This Passage by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue). True Blue Sky by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue). Union Hall Melody by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)

This Passage to Profit - The Inventors' Show episode features Katie Chonacas, actress and artist, James Jensen from Limitless Flight JUMP, Emily Grey from The Flourish Market and Lynne Eichenbaum from GardenSleeves by NOMPI. KYRIAKI aka Katie Elizabeth Chonacas is a a multi-disciplinary Greek American artist working in the entertainment industry for two decades. From producing films starring A-list actors like Forrest Whitaker, to touring Spain and South Africa with megastar 50 Cent, and appearing in top television series such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Katie Chonacas is multi-talented in nearly every facet of the industry – her omnipresence is undisputed; her talent is hexagonal. As a cartoon animation voice-over artist, she has been branded “Cartoon Katie”and brought to life characters such as Soup from Minecraft: Story Mode – Season 2, Georgia as Nancy Drew’s best friend, to name a few. Katie is also the FIRST NFT artist to release a poem on love on the blockchain. Katie is a published author of a new poetry book titled, A Lover’s Fairytale. She is also the host of the She’s All Over the Place podcast, focused on business in entertainment, the arts, culture, education. As a musician, under the name of “Saint Kyriaki”, Chonacas’ she released her debut album, “Dreamland 1111”. Read more at: https://www.chonacas.com/Visit the Entrepreneur Presenters for December 26, 2021 at their Websites:James Jensen is an entrepreneur committed to working with leading-edge technology and eager to solve problems surrounding how we interact and engage with each other in physical and virtual worlds. He isthe previous creator and co-founder of the world-renowned virtual reality company The VOID. Within the last 25 years, James founded and managed several technology companies in video streaming, social networks, mobile games, and creative services. He has partnered with Disney, Sony Entertainment, FOX, MGM, Intel, Microsoft, SyFy, Dreamworks, and MTV through those ventures. He is now launching a new form of virtual reality, called hyper reality, in the form of the multi-sensory entertainment company JUMP. JUMP will allow people to come as close to jumping and flying as the real thing, but without all of the risk. Read more at: https://www.limitlessflight.com/Emily Grey is the founder of The Flourish Market, a keynote speaker, small business coach, and impact entrepreneur with a special focus on helping makers and brand owners land + grow wholesale accounts. Five years ago, Emily founded her brick + mortar and online boutique, The Flourish Market, building it to a million dollar business in less than 3 years with zero paid advertising. She is also the Founder of The Locality, a co-working space + incubator program for 60 female entrepreneurs in Downtown Raleigh, NC. Pre COVID, you would find her speaking on national stages for Brendon Burchard, at Alt Summit, and leading maker retreats, but she now enjoys speaking and training via Zoom alongside her new pandemic puppy Henry. Read more at: https://emilygreyco.com/Lynne Eichenbaum is the inventor of GardenSleeves by NOMPI, gardening and work gloves are patented and proudly handmade in New Jersey, USA with love! The GardenSleeves protect your arms while working outdoors. Cover up and Ditch the Itch! The idea for GardenSleeves gardening gloves came about when Lynne contracted poison ivy after tending to my vegetable garden. She wanted a sleeved garde

This Passage to Profit - The Inventors' Show episode features Katie Chonacas, actress and artist, James Jensen from Limitless Flight JUMP, Emily Grey from The Flourish Market and Lynne Eichenbaum from GardenSleeves by NOMPI. KYRIAKI aka Katie Elizabeth Chonacas is a a multi-disciplinary Greek American artist working in the entertainment industry for two decades. From producing films starring A-list actors like Forrest Whitaker, to touring Spain and South Africa with megastar 50 Cent, and appearing in top television series such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Katie Chonacas is multi-talented in nearly every facet of the industry – her omnipresence is undisputed; her talent is hexagonal. As a cartoon animation voice-over artist, she has been branded “Cartoon Katie”and brought to life characters such as Soup from Minecraft: Story Mode – Season 2, Georgia as Nancy Drew’s best friend, to name a few. Katie is also the FIRST NFT artist to release a poem on love on the blockchain. Katie is a published author of a new poetry book titled, A Lover’s Fairytale. She is also the host of the She’s All Over the Place podcast, focused on business in entertainment, the arts, culture, education. As a musician, under the name of “Saint Kyriaki”, Chonacas’ she released her debut album, “Dreamland 1111”. Read more at: https://www.chonacas.com/Visit the Entrepreneur Presenters for December 26, 2021 at their Websites:James Jensen is an entrepreneur committed to working with leading-edge technology and eager to solve problems surrounding how we interact and engage with each other in physical and virtual worlds. He isthe previous creator and co-founder of the world-renowned virtual reality company The VOID. Within the last 25 years, James founded and managed several technology companies in video streaming, social networks, mobile games, and creative services. He has partnered with Disney, Sony Entertainment, FOX, MGM, Intel, Microsoft, SyFy, Dreamworks, and MTV through those ventures. He is now launching a new form of virtual reality, called hyper reality, in the form of the multi-sensory entertainment company JUMP. JUMP will allow people to come as close to jumping and flying as the real thing, but without all of the risk. Read more at: https://www.limitlessflight.com/Emily Grey is the founder of The Flourish Market, a keynote speaker, small business coach, and impact entrepreneur with a special focus on helping makers and brand owners land + grow wholesale accounts. Five years ago, Emily founded her brick + mortar and online boutique, The Flourish Market, building it to a million dollar business in less than 3 years with zero paid advertising. She is also the Founder of The Locality, a co-working space + incubator program for 60 female entrepreneurs in Downtown Raleigh, NC. Pre COVID, you would find her speaking on national stages for Brendon Burchard, at Alt Summit, and leading maker retreats, but she now enjoys speaking and training via Zoom alongside her new pandemic puppy Henry. Read more at: https://emilygreyco.com/Lynne Eichenbaum is the inventor of GardenSleeves by NOMPI, gardening and work gloves are patented and proudly handmade in New Jersey, USA with love! The GardenSleeves protect your arms while working outdoors. Cover up and Ditch the Itch! The idea for GardenSleeves gardening gloves came about when Lynne contracted poison ivy after tending to my vegetable garden. She wanted a sleeved garde

This Passage to Profit - The Inventors' Show episode features Marci Hopkins, host of "Wake Up with Marci", Nikol Rogers with The ZenRed Method, Anna Skaya from Basepaws and Dr. Ramses Alcaide from Neurable. Marci Hopkins is an award-winning TV Personality; host, show creator and executive producer of “Wake Up with Marci” – which airs on CBS owned WLNY-TV, channel 10/55 at 10am on Saturdays. Wake Up is a talk show all about empowerment. Marci shares stories of triumph and transformation to spread hope. She touches on wellness, health, female issues, divorce, family, self help, mental health, beauty, along with performances from musical guests and cooking demos. She has specialists on to educate the audience, provide tools and resources. Wake Up is about living our happiest lives! Marci has been voted Media Mompreneur of the Year, by New Jersey Family Magazine, and featured on CBS New York; PEOPLE en Espanol; Latina Magazine; 201 Magazine; News 12 NJ; 201 Magazine, New Jersey Family Magazine, The Bergen Record, BOLD Global and other leading outlets. Read more at: https://wakeupwithmarci.com/Nikol Rogers PCC, WPCC, is an empowerment coach, writer, and speaker who founded The ZenRed Method in 2015 to teach professional artists, speakers, entrepreneurs, and presenters how to be Fearless and embody a Powerful Presence, connect deeply with their audience, and stand out from the crowd. Using her signature ZenRed Method, her clients learn to re-frame how they think, feel, and act from a place of power, rather than from fear or limiting beliefs. Prior to becoming a coach, Nikol had a successful career as a musical theater performer and choreographer, performing in National Tours, commercials, and kicking eye high as a New York City Rockette. Read more at: https://nikolrogers.com/Visit the Entrepreneur Presenters for December 19, 2021 at their Websites:Anna Skaya is the founder of Basepaws, offering the most advanced cat DNA test, as seen on Shark Tank! Tests reveal breeds, traits, health, dental disease and Whole Genome Sequencing using quick, saliva-based tests from the comforts of home. All lab results come from an accredited, LA-based Basepaws laboratory, and are handled by their scientists. Avoid emergency vet visits by identifying disease early, before it becomes visible and harmful. All reports sent straight to your inbox in 4-6 weeks. Read more at: https://basepaws.com/Dr. Ramses Alcaide is a Neuroscientist and is the CEO and Co-Founder of Neurable, a company that makes technology that both can understand neural activity as a translational layer (Stress, Fatigue, and others) as well as be used for direct control of devices. Their revolutionary brain-computer interface allows people to control software and devices using only their brain activity. The technology has enabled people to play games, control toys and drive a full-sized car using only their thoughts. Neurable is currently taking pre-orders of their smart headphones. Read more at: https://www.neurable.com/ Visit https://passagetoprofitshow.com/

This Passage to Profit - The Inventors' Show episode features Marci Hopkins, host of "Wake Up with Marci", Nikol Rogers with The ZenRed Method, Anna Skaya from Basepaws and Dr. Ramses Alcaide from Neurable. Marci Hopkins is an award-winning TV Personality; host, show creator and executive producer of “Wake Up with Marci” – which airs on CBS owned WLNY-TV, channel 10/55 at 10am on Saturdays. Wake Up is a talk show all about empowerment. Marci shares stories of triumph and transformation to spread hope. She touches on wellness, health, female issues, divorce, family, self help, mental health, beauty, along with performances from musical guests and cooking demos. She has specialists on to educate the audience, provide tools and resources. Wake Up is about living our happiest lives! Marci has been voted Media Mompreneur of the Year, by New Jersey Family Magazine, and featured on CBS New York; PEOPLE en Espanol; Latina Magazine; 201 Magazine; News 12 NJ; 201 Magazine, New Jersey Family Magazine, The Bergen Record, BOLD Global and other leading outlets. Read more at: https://wakeupwithmarci.com/Nikol Rogers PCC, WPCC, is an empowerment coach, writer, and speaker who founded The ZenRed Method in 2015 to teach professional artists, speakers, entrepreneurs, and presenters how to be Fearless and embody a Powerful Presence, connect deeply with their audience, and stand out from the crowd. Using her signature ZenRed Method, her clients learn to re-frame how they think, feel, and act from a place of power, rather than from fear or limiting beliefs. Prior to becoming a coach, Nikol had a successful career as a musical theater performer and choreographer, performing in National Tours, commercials, and kicking eye high as a New York City Rockette. Read more at: https://nikolrogers.com/Visit the Entrepreneur Presenters for December 19, 2021 at their Websites:Anna Skaya is the founder of Basepaws, offering the most advanced cat DNA test, as seen on Shark Tank! Tests reveal breeds, traits, health, dental disease and Whole Genome Sequencing using quick, saliva-based tests from the comforts of home. All lab results come from an accredited, LA-based Basepaws laboratory, and are handled by their scientists. Avoid emergency vet visits by identifying disease early, before it becomes visible and harmful. All reports sent straight to your inbox in 4-6 weeks. Read more at: https://basepaws.com/Dr. Ramses Alcaide is a Neuroscientist and is the CEO and Co-Founder of Neurable, a company that makes technology that both can understand neural activity as a translational layer (Stress, Fatigue, and others) as well as be used for direct control of devices. Their revolutionary brain-computer interface allows people to control software and devices using only their brain activity. The technology has enabled people to play games, control toys and drive a full-sized car using only their thoughts. Neurable is currently taking pre-orders of their smart headphones. Read more at: https://www.neurable.com/ Visit https://passagetoprofitshow.com/

This Passage to Profit - The Inventors' Show episode features Warren Eckstein, host of "The Pet Show, Colleen Ferrary from Small Business USA, Robert Harbauer from Bondic and Jen Du from BiBi Beverages. Warren Eckstein is a radio show host of “The Pet Show” and an internationally renowned pet and animal expert with a unique ability to understand and communicate with animals. He is also the author of 11 animal behavior books, and he has personally trained over 40,000 pets. Four decades ago, Warren single-handedly created an industry that didn’t yet exist, and within a short time, he was training supermodel Cheryl Tiegs’ dogs, which was soon followed by training David Letterman’s dogs, Bob and Stan. For 15 years he was the Pet and Animal Expert on Live! With Regis & Kathie Lee, followed by his regular appearances on NBC’s The Today Show as Contributing Pet & Animal Editor. Private celebrity clients throughout the years have included Al Pacino, Lily Tomlin, Liberace, Kathie Lee Gifford, Cheryl Tiegs, David Letterman, Rodney Dangerfield, and he became known as the official trainer to the NY Mob, among many other interesting clients. In his 40 years hosting The Pet Show on radio, Warren has helped over 100,000 pet owners with their pet's psychological, training, and behavioral questions.Read more at: http://thepetshow.com/Colleen Ferrary is the founder of Small Business USA - committed to improving the lives of business owners and their teams by creating a community that affordably supports the full scope of their business growth. It is the answer to the needs of business owners with less than 150 employees. Small Business USA is proud to support private equity firms, fast-changing businesses, and clients with regular HR or hiring needs not satisfied by typical coaching relationships and private leadership and team training is available upon request. Advisory boards are hand-crafted with businesses in mind: Non-competing and fiercely intelligent CEOs, virtual meetings, hand-picked consultants who don't ride the bench, NDA protected. Small Business USA supports businesses’ leadership team and staff, allowing them to be inspired by other members of our community. The team is equipped to help unclog pipelines, create safe zones, and help strategize implementation. Read more at https://smallbusinessus.com/Visit the Entrepreneur Presenters for December 12, 2021 at their Websites:Robert Harbauer is the inventor of Bondic®, the only product that works where glue fails. Bondic is the World’s First Liquid Plastic Welder, making glue look like the antiquated, third-rate, old-fashioned, laughable stepchild of paste that it’s always been. Bondic is liquid plastic that only hardens when you need it to. YES it stays liquid and won’t dry out like those crazy glues on the market today. Bondic® is a very simple 4-step process (clean, fill, cure and shape) to fix almost anything, saving countless precious items from ending up in the trash before their time, at https://notaglue.com/Jen Du is the inventor of BiBi Beverages, natural alcohol detox drinks, composed of vitamins, natural extracts, and amino acids that helps you metabolize alcohol so you don't turn red or have other negative side effects when you drink. “Lighten Up” is the world’s first and only flush prevention drink. This grew into the current line of Bibi Alcohol Detox Shots which includes Morning After, the first next-day recovery drink and Nightcap, classic night time prevention. The detox shots are now available in 9 states with plans to expand to 26 states by the end of this year, at

This Passage to Profit - The Inventors' Show episode features Warren Eckstein, host of "The Pet Show, Colleen Ferrary from Small Business USA, Robert Harbauer from Bondic and Jen Du from BiBi Beverages. Warren Eckstein is a radio show host of “The Pet Show” and an internationally renowned pet and animal expert with a unique ability to understand and communicate with animals. He is also the author of 11 animal behavior books, and he has personally trained over 40,000 pets. Four decades ago, Warren single-handedly created an industry that didn’t yet exist, and within a short time, he was training supermodel Cheryl Tiegs’ dogs, which was soon followed by training David Letterman’s dogs, Bob and Stan. For 15 years he was the Pet and Animal Expert on Live! With Regis & Kathie Lee, followed by his regular appearances on NBC’s The Today Show as Contributing Pet & Animal Editor. Private celebrity clients throughout the years have included Al Pacino, Lily Tomlin, Liberace, Kathie Lee Gifford, Cheryl Tiegs, David Letterman, Rodney Dangerfield, and he became known as the official trainer to the NY Mob, among many other interesting clients. In his 40 years hosting The Pet Show on radio, Warren has helped over 100,000 pet owners with their pet's psychological, training, and behavioral questions.Read more at: http://thepetshow.com/Colleen Ferrary is the founder of Small Business USA - committed to improving the lives of business owners and their teams by creating a community that affordably supports the full scope of their business growth. It is the answer to the needs of business owners with less than 150 employees. Small Business USA is proud to support private equity firms, fast-changing businesses, and clients with regular HR or hiring needs not satisfied by typical coaching relationships and private leadership and team training is available upon request. Advisory boards are hand-crafted with businesses in mind: Non-competing and fiercely intelligent CEOs, virtual meetings, hand-picked consultants who don't ride the bench, NDA protected. Small Business USA supports businesses’ leadership team and staff, allowing them to be inspired by other members of our community. The team is equipped to help unclog pipelines, create safe zones, and help strategize implementation. Read more at https://smallbusinessus.com/Visit the Entrepreneur Presenters for December 12, 2021 at their Websites:Robert Harbauer is the inventor of Bondic®, the only product that works where glue fails. Bondic is the World’s First Liquid Plastic Welder, making glue look like the antiquated, third-rate, old-fashioned, laughable stepchild of paste that it’s always been. Bondic is liquid plastic that only hardens when you need it to. YES it stays liquid and won’t dry out like those crazy glues on the market today. Bondic® is a very simple 4-step process (clean, fill, cure and shape) to fix almost anything, saving countless precious items from ending up in the trash before their time, at https://notaglue.com/Jen Du is the inventor of BiBi Beverages, natural alcohol detox drinks, composed of vitamins, natural extracts, and amino acids that helps you metabolize alcohol so you don't turn red or have other negative side effects when you drink. “Lighten Up” is the world’s first and only flush prevention drink. This grew into the current line of Bibi Alcohol Detox Shots which includes Morning After, the first next-day recovery drink and Nightcap, classic night time prevention. The detox shots are now available in 9 states with plans to expand to 26 states by the end of this year, at

This Passage to Profit - The Inventors' Show episode features Jeremy Miner from 7th Level Communications, Kevin & Laurie Lane from Create A Castle, Roy Carrillo and Darren Lancaster from Go Sleeves and Jessica Walker from J. Walker Salon Group. Jeremy Miner is the Founder and Chairman of 7th Level Communications, (headquartered in Sydney, Australia), a sales training mastery company that helps businesses and entrepreneurs and sales professionals learn and master the “New Model” of Selling to achieve record-breaking performance. Jeremy’s particular brand of sales training pioneers the unique use of behavioral science and human psychology within the sales process. This scientific method of selling, created by Jeremy, has helped over 141,000 and counting salespeople in 37 countries over the last three years to 3x, 5x and even 10x their sales results. The New Model of Training - Neuro Emotional Persuasion Questions (N.E.P.Q) is a scientific sales methodology that works with human behavior (not against it) – eliminating all traces of sales pressure from your sales conversations. Read more at: https://7thlevelhq.com/Kevin & Laurie Lane are the inventors of Create A Castle. They return to Passage to Profit to give updates about their growing company. Create A Castle creates molds that give families a fun, successful and frustration-free way of building elaborate castles, towers and whatever else you can dream up, in the sand or snow. All without struggling to use the traditional 1 dimensional sand molds and builds can be done quickly. No-longer will you be limited to 1 dimensional sculptures that all other beachgoers have. No longer will you tip your bucket and the sand sticks inside! Create A Castle allows you to be the envy of the beach or snow wherever you are and create impressive sand and snow sculptures in a matter of minutes, not hours! Read more at: https://createacastle.com/Visit the Entrepreneur Presenters for December 5, 2021 at their Websites:Roy Carrillo and Darren Lancaster are the inventors of GO Sleeves, compression sleeves, with embedded kinesiology strips to achieve peak performance, pain management, injury prevention and accelerated recovery for athletes and active people. GO Sleeves increase recuperating blood and lymphatic flow to specifically targeted muscles, ligaments and tendons and provides targeted support for key muscles, ligaments and tendons that feels like being taped up by your physical therapist. GO Sleeves are more flexible and lighter than a brace, but far more supportive and corrective than a standard compression sleeve. You’ll be able to naturally and effectively recuperate from injuries using the same kinesiology technology prescribed by doctors, chiropractors and PT’s. Read more at https://gosleeves.com/Jessica Walker is a beauty and wellness expert and owner of J. Walker Salon Group in New Jersey with 4 locations offering upscale beauty and wellness services, along with a bridal and event business. Jessica opened her business at age 19, and has built a multi-million dollar business over nearly 25 years employing doctors, aestheticians, cosmetologists, business and support staff. Most recently, Jessica launched her own skincare brand which is available in-store and online. Jessica has been a featured speaker and ambassador for national beauty brands and for women’s business leadership organizations and has won industry awards. Read more at https://jwalkersalon.com/

This Passage to Profit - The Inventors' Show episode features Jeremy Miner from 7th Level Communications, Kevin & Laurie Lane from Create A Castle, Roy Carrillo and Darren Lancaster from Go Sleeves and Jessica Walker from J. Walker Salon Group. Jeremy Miner is the Founder and Chairman of 7th Level Communications, (headquartered in Sydney, Australia), a sales training mastery company that helps businesses and entrepreneurs and sales professionals learn and master the “New Model” of Selling to achieve record-breaking performance. Jeremy’s particular brand of sales training pioneers the unique use of behavioral science and human psychology within the sales process. This scientific method of selling, created by Jeremy, has helped over 141,000 and counting salespeople in 37 countries over the last three years to 3x, 5x and even 10x their sales results. The New Model of Training - Neuro Emotional Persuasion Questions (N.E.P.Q) is a scientific sales methodology that works with human behavior (not against it) – eliminating all traces of sales pressure from your sales conversations. Read more at: https://7thlevelhq.com/Kevin & Laurie Lane are the inventors of Create A Castle. They return to Passage to Profit to give updates about their growing company. Create A Castle creates molds that give families a fun, successful and frustration-free way of building elaborate castles, towers and whatever else you can dream up, in the sand or snow. All without struggling to use the traditional 1 dimensional sand molds and builds can be done quickly. No-longer will you be limited to 1 dimensional sculptures that all other beachgoers have. No longer will you tip your bucket and the sand sticks inside! Create A Castle allows you to be the envy of the beach or snow wherever you are and create impressive sand and snow sculptures in a matter of minutes, not hours! Read more at: https://createacastle.com/Visit the Entrepreneur Presenters for December 5, 2021 at their Websites:Roy Carrillo and Darren Lancaster are the inventors of GO Sleeves, compression sleeves, with embedded kinesiology strips to achieve peak performance, pain management, injury prevention and accelerated recovery for athletes and active people. GO Sleeves increase recuperating blood and lymphatic flow to specifically targeted muscles, ligaments and tendons and provides targeted support for key muscles, ligaments and tendons that feels like being taped up by your physical therapist. GO Sleeves are more flexible and lighter than a brace, but far more supportive and corrective than a standard compression sleeve. You’ll be able to naturally and effectively recuperate from injuries using the same kinesiology technology prescribed by doctors, chiropractors and PT’s. Read more at https://gosleeves.com/Jessica Walker is a beauty and wellness expert and owner of J. Walker Salon Group in New Jersey with 4 locations offering upscale beauty and wellness services, along with a bridal and event business. Jessica opened her business at age 19, and has built a multi-million dollar business over nearly 25 years employing doctors, aestheticians, cosmetologists, business and support staff. Most recently, Jessica launched her own skincare brand which is available in-store and online. Jessica has been a featured speaker and ambassador for national beauty brands and for women’s business leadership organizations and has won industry awards. Read more at https://jwalkersalon.com/

This Passage to Profit - The Inventors' Show episode features Tom Pullen from Innovico, Johnny LeHane from Hudson Valley Startup Fund, Sahil Patel from BettorFantasy and Antonia Tamao from Antonia's Promise. Tom Pullen Tom Pullen is the founder of Innovinco, a start-up that helps large companies to accelerate innovation. Innovinco designs & delivers people-centric solutions based on the biggest pain points large established companies can have regarding innovation. Clients include McCain, Toyota, Unilever, Estee Lauder & Quiksilver among others. Trained in Design Thinking by Stanford University, Tom started his Executive MBA at HEC Paris in 2017, majoring on Innovation & Entrepreneurship. Before founding Innovinco, he worked for 18 years in large corporations, including 5 years as Global Innovation Director at Danone. Read more at: https://www.innovinco.com/ Johnny LeHane is the Managing Partner at Hudson Valley Startup Fund (HVSF), a member-managed seed capital fund that invests in companies with proprietary technology, market-defining products, and rapid growth potential that have a presence in or around New York State’s Hudson Valley. HVSF serves as a catalyst, collaborating with academic institutions, regional economic development groups, and other organizations to provide access to additional capital and resources for growing companies. Read more at: https://www.street-smartentrepreneurs.com/ Visit the Entrepreneur Presenters for November 28, 2021 at their Websites: Sahil Patel is the founder of the app, BettorFantasy, a gamified experience enabling users to sync their fantasy sports league, predict and bet the outcome of their fantasy sports matchups and cash in for prizes as well as raise money for charity. Read more at https://www.bettorfantasy.com/ Antonia Tamao returns to Passage to Profit to give an update about her latest Indiegogo campaign for her company, Antonia's Promise, LLC. “God has granted me miracles, and I vowed to thank Him by creating these crosses to help others keep the faith during tough times. The figure featured on these crosses, broken and bent in prayer, represents all of us and the challenges we face.” Read more at https://www.antoniaspromise.com/ and https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/antonia-s-promise#/ Visit https://passagetoprofitshow.com/ for the latest updates and episodes.

This Passage to Profit - The Inventors' Show episode features Tom Pullen from Innovico, Johnny LeHane from Hudson Valley Startup Fund, Sahil Patel from BettorFantasy and Antonia Tamao from Antonia's Promise. Tom Pullen Tom Pullen is the founder of Innovinco, a start-up that helps large companies to accelerate innovation. Innovinco designs & delivers people-centric solutions based on the biggest pain points large established companies can have regarding innovation. Clients include McCain, Toyota, Unilever, Estee Lauder & Quiksilver among others. Trained in Design Thinking by Stanford University, Tom started his Executive MBA at HEC Paris in 2017, majoring on Innovation & Entrepreneurship. Before founding Innovinco, he worked for 18 years in large corporations, including 5 years as Global Innovation Director at Danone. Read more at: https://www.innovinco.com/ Johnny LeHane is the Managing Partner at Hudson Valley Startup Fund (HVSF), a member-managed seed capital fund that invests in companies with proprietary technology, market-defining products, and rapid growth potential that have a presence in or around New York State’s Hudson Valley. HVSF serves as a catalyst, collaborating with academic institutions, regional economic development groups, and other organizations to provide access to additional capital and resources for growing companies. Read more at: https://www.street-smartentrepreneurs.com/ Visit the Entrepreneur Presenters for November 28, 2021 at their Websites: Sahil Patel is the founder of the app, BettorFantasy, a gamified experience enabling users to sync their fantasy sports league, predict and bet the outcome of their fantasy sports matchups and cash in for prizes as well as raise money for charity. Read more at https://www.bettorfantasy.com/ Antonia Tamao returns to Passage to Profit to give an update about her latest Indiegogo campaign for her company, Antonia's Promise, LLC. “God has granted me miracles, and I vowed to thank Him by creating these crosses to help others keep the faith during tough times. The figure featured on these crosses, broken and bent in prayer, represents all of us and the challenges we face.” Read more at https://www.antoniaspromise.com/ and https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/antonia-s-promise#/ Visit https://passagetoprofitshow.com/ for the latest updates and episodes.

 Certain hope for uncertain times. Where is it written?Read Revelation 5What did John hear - then what did John see?How was what he saw different from what he might have expected?Why is the Lamb uniquely worthy to open the scroll?What did the Lamb's death accomplish? (See verses 9 & 10)How do the living creatures, the angels, then all creatures do in response to the Lamb?How goes your walk?How does Jesus' sacrifice cause you to think differently about "greatness?" How do you worship Jesus in this COVID time?What holds you back from worshipping more?Biblical Symbols in This Passage:7 = Completion/ Perfection (7 days in a week)12 + Multiples of 12 = Authority / Perfection (12 Tribes, 12 Apostles, 12 loaves etc.)See Isaiah 6 and Ezekial 1 for similar throneroom visions.----------Values Throughout Our Study of Revelation:Expect literal future fulfillment. But be careful about predictions!Look for past fulfillment.Look for timeless biblical symbols, truths, and principles.Be teachable.Series Challenges:Read Revelation  (Bonus - Read Daniel 7-12)Develop and Deepen a Christian WorldviewFocus on the Finish Line (Memorize Revelation 21:1-4, 22:1-5)

Insights from This Passage   "Strength comes when God's majesty informs our metrics." "Blessing has less to do with where God has placed his people and more to do with where God is taking his people." Helpful Passages for Further Reflection and Study Romans 8:28-29 1 Corinthians 4:17-18 Revelation 21:22-27

HATE YOUR FAMILYFrom the Series, "Things I Wish Jesus Had Never Said"""If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters--yes, even their own life--such a person cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:26When studying scripture ... Always stay in C______________________. Beware of H_________________ a passage.This Passage is About Following Jesus:1. Following Jesus is C_________________________2. Following Jesus will come with A____________________."An idol is anything you put before God or takes your focus off God." Acceptable Idols In America ... 1 - W______________________2 - M______________, R_______________, W________________3 - F_______________________ and C____________________4 - S_______________________

[Please Note: This sermon was recorded with a backup system, which explains why the quality is not consistent].   Insights from This Passage   "What we are trying to do for ourselves has already been done for us in Christ." Verse 3: The Trinity and Our Salvation: The Father appoints His people to be blessed in Christ. The Son accomplishes everything necessary to win these blessings for His people. The Spirit applies these blessings to the lives of Christ-followers. Verses 4-6: "We try to cover-up our pasts; Christ changes our pasts." Verses 7-8: "We try to fight our desires; Christ transforms our desires." Verses 9-10: "We try to cope with our broken world; Christ heals our broken world."

This Passage highlights God’s character as a righteous judge.  In comparison to previous parts of Joel, we see God as: “gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster." (Joel 2:13) Today, we’ll see that those who unrepentantly abuse God’s people, then and now, are those who incur God’s perfect justice.  We also see that to sin against God’s people is to sin against God Himself.  This is wonderful news for God’s people, and a sobering truth for those who refuse God and abuse His people.    Joel 3:1-8  "GOD IS A GOD OF GRACE & JUSTICE"     VS. 1–3 - FORTUNES & JUDGEMENT   VS. 4 - INJUSTICE TOWARD GOD’S PEOPLE   VS. 5–6 - WRONG MY PEOPLE WRONG GOD   VS. 7–8 - VINDICATION       BENEDICTION     Psalm 37:27-31   “Turn away from evil and do good; so shall you dwell forever. For the LORD loves justice; he will not forsake his saints.They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever. The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice. The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip.”

This Passage shows Christ beginning his millennial reign and we are  reminded of how we should prepare for that time.Calvary Chapel Iwakuni calvaryiwakuni.com

Pastor Jeff Williams: May 8, 2011 Going Beyond, Part II, "Beyond Compassion." Our church went on a missions trip to the Dominican Republic about four years ago. It was our first trip to the Dominican. One of the days on the calendar, I really wasn't looking forward to. It was the day we were going to go to the Leprosarium. The Leprosarium is just like what it sounds like: it's a place where lepers go. They are basically removed from their family. Their disease isn't understood. People think it's contagious when it is not. It's something called Hansen's disease. I knew I was going to see deformity; I knew I was going to see sorrow, sadness, loneliness, and despair. You really don't look forward to that. I was thinking, "This is going to be kind of depressing. It's going to be hard to see." That day turned out to be one of the most impactful days for me. One of the reasons it was so was because of the doctor we met. We met a very intelligent, very dedicated doctor who had dedicated his life to the lepers in the Leprosarium. He was a trader. He could have been making big bucks working in a hospital or in a private practice, but he chose a life of obscurity where he showed up every day to work and minister among people who could never pay him back. He said to us, "When I see these people, I see the face of Jesus," and I'm sure the same is true for them when they look at his face. "I see the face of Jesus. I am going to be here serving these people until the day I die. Until the day I die, I am here using what God has given me to minister to them." When you looked in their faces, you couldn't help but to see it: you saw the pain. You saw how this one man felt enough compassion to dedicate his life to alleviating their pain and suffering and being their friend. Whatever you do, it could be an obscurity, like this physician, or it could be something that is seen; but living a life that goes beyond compassion is what Christ has called all of us to do. What I want to look at a paradigm for this is to turn to the Book of Mark 6 and look at the miracle that is recorded in all four Gospels. This is the only miracle-aside from the Resurrection-that is recorded in all four Gospels. That, to me, means it is very significant, that its message is very prominent in the Scripture. At this point in time in Christ's life, He is grieving. He has lost a colleague in ministry, but more than that, He has lost a friend and a family member-John the Baptist, His cousin, has been beheaded. This was an act of selfishness and hatred, bitterness and revenge, by the queen of that area, and it cost John his life. When the word was brought to Christ by the Disciples, Jesus decided it was time to have alone time; so they went to the Sea of Galilee. They got in a boat and paddled away, and they were spending some time by themselves. Jesus and the Disciples were grieving this traumatic loss. Jesus is from this area, and He was intensely popular. Eleven of the 12 Disciples grew up in this region; only Judas did not, so they are known. What's more, they have been in this area for about a year now, so they have kind of done a blitz of this area. His power has been seen; He has delegated the Disciples and sent them out in His name, and they've done amazing things. Thus, He has a great degree of notoriety and popularity in this area. When the people begin catching wind that He is coming, they begin leaving their villages and towns by the droves. There are probably around 250 small villages scattered throughout this area. It's a densely-populated area in Galilee. I don't know how they did this, but I think somebody tweeted or texted-maybe Facebooked, but before too long, somebody said, "Jesus is going to be here." Maybe they just did it by talking to people-however strange that is. They were so old-fashioned. By word of mouth, they spread this news that Jesus was coming. Let's pick up the story in Verse 33 together (page 997 of pew Bibles), "But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, He…" became irritated and said, "Go away. Leave Me alone. I'm grieving the loss of My cousin. What's the matter with you people? Give Me some space," and they went home in sadness. No, that's not what it says. It says, Jesus saw the large crowd and had "compassion on them..." Why? "…because they were like sheep without a shepherd." You know what happens to sheep without a shepherd. They're vulnerable. They're vulnerable to predators; they're vulnerable to the elements; they're vulnerable to starvation. They need guidance; they're lost. "So He began teaching them many things." In the Greek it tells us that He continued to teach. This was no short sermon. This was a long time of teaching, longer than even one of my sermons seems to be if that gives you any idea (congregation laughing). "By this time it was late in the day, so His Disciples came to Him. 'This is a remote place,' they said, 'and it's already very late. Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.'" There isn't a 24/7 McDonalds open; there is no Taco Bell open late at night. If they are going to get something to eat, they have to do it now. In other words, "Let's let them fend for themselves, but let's dismiss this thing. You've really preached a long time today, Pastor Jesus, and it's time to wrap this service up." However, Jesus does this intentionally. He does this twofold. Number one, there is a lot they need to hear; and number two, He has a plan. He is going to teach something; He is going to display something. "But He answered, 'You give them something to eat.'" Jesus knows full well the complexity of the question. First of all, the Bible tells us there are 5,000 men. There are some words that are generic for man in the Greek, and it means mankind. There are other words that are gender-specific. This is a gender-specific word. This is speaking exclusively and only of men, and He is telling us there are 5,000 men. It isn't telling us how many women; it's not telling us how many children. Scholars estimate between 15-25,000 [people were in attendance]. There were 15,000 on the low end; 25,000 on the high end. Let's take the median and say there were probably about 20,000 people-about 5,000 women, about 10,000 children. Families would come, so logistically, there were 20,000 people. They had no food; they weren't exactly rolling in the dough, so how in the world were they going to supply food for all of these people? "They said to Him, 'That would take eight months of a man's wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?'" This is not good budgeting. This is not a good decision on your part, [Jesus]. I don't know how much money they had, but that's a lot of money. "'How many loaves do you have?' He asked. 'Go and see.'" Another Gospel account tells us they found a little boy whose mom had packed him a lunch. It says, "'Five-and two fish.' "Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass.'" It's green grass; this is early spring. This is like April of the year 29, so approximately this time of year. "So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to Heaven, He gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then He gave them to the Disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied…" You recognize what's happening here. You recognize this is a creative act. You recognize they understand this is no magic trick. There is no way to stash food for 20,000 people in your tunic. There isn't a freezer to keep the fish in; there is no oven to bake the bread in. I do not bake, but I do know where bread comes, if that helps. They know this is a creative miracle. This is the work of God; this is the hand of God. It's a miracle that none can deny. "…and the Disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand. "Immediately Jesus made His Disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of Him to Bethsaida, while He dismissed the crowd. After leaving them, He went up on the mountainside to pray." So that is the story, and I want to use that as a paradigm to talk about how we can go beyond compassion. What are the steps Jesus took to go beyond compassion, and what can you and I do if we are to move beyond compassion? I'm going to be intensely practical today with you. This Passage is miraculous, supernatural, but it's also very practical; so I want to talk to the few. Statistics tell us it's not going to be many, but I want to talk to the few who are going to take this message to heart and seek to go beyond compassion and make a difference. [There are five steps we will follow to do so.] 1.) Jesus sees the need. Jesus doesn't just look at the crowd; He studies the crowd. He observes their behavior. He looks in their faces, and He sees desperation; He sees their lost condition; He sees their helplessness, their confusion, and He studies them before He even says a word, teaches a word, or gives one command. He truly looks at them, and He sees they have no direction. He sees they are lost. When we were at that Leprosarium, you had to look at the need. You had to see the need-you were forced to-so here Jesus sees the need. Do you see the needs that are around you? Have you ever encountered a situation of need that was in front of you all the time, and you didn't see it: Someone's loneliness, someone's pain, someone's lack? Maybe it was a group need, and it was in front of you the whole time, and you didn't see it. We're going to learn about a story like that about this process of discovery in our own community; but that's been you. Jesus looked and saw there was physical need and spiritual need, so He ministered to both physical and spiritual needs of the people. Friends, the mission of the church to proclaim the Gospel is spiritual and physical. In fact, the physical is spiritual. When we minister to physical needs in the name of Christ, that is a spiritual act; and the church is finally getting that. It's been in our Bibles the whole time, but we thought all we had to do was say the magic words. Apparently we missed in James where it says, "What good does it do to say, 'Go and be blessed. God loves you,' if they're hungry?" You send them away with empty stomachs. Jesus ministers to physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. The church is called to do the same. They're not just called to proclaim the Gospel in words, but to reach out in action and minister to physical needs in the name of Christ to our community and our world. Jesus does that; He sees the need. Another important part of seeing the need is to use discernment to see the real and fake. [We need to be able to see the difference between] the people who really have needs and concerns and the people who are using the system, taking advantage of kindness. If I see somebody who is genuine and sincere, who has fallen on some hard times and just needs some help, I'm willing to help them. You bet I'm willing to help them, but there are people who when they see somebody who is doing an act of kindness will take advantage of that. Do you know that to be true? They will tell you anything to get what they want. It is like the guy I heard about who at three in the morning the doorbell rang and woke him up. It was one of those stormy dark nights. It was windy, raining, lightning was flashing, and thunder was crashing. It was one of those nights where you really nestled in and were sleeping good, where you're just glad you have a home. The doorbell rang, and he thought, "Who in the world?" He opened the door, and there was a guy standing out there who was drunk. He asked the man, "What do you want?" (In Pastor Jeff's imitation of an intoxicated man), "I want a push. Can you give me a push?" "Can I give you a push? It's three in the morning. I have to get up in the morning. You're drunk, and I don't have time for this." He slammed the door and went upstairs. He was trying to stay in his sleep mode, and he got back under the covers. His wife said, "Honey, who was that? "It was some guy at the door. He was drunk!" "What did he want?" "He wanted a push," the man said. "Did you help him?" his wife asked. "No! It's 3 a.m. I have to get up in the morning. I'm tired!" "Well, how about when your car broke down last week, and that stranger stopped and helped you? Aren't you grateful for him? Are you going to just let this poor man sit out there? What's the matter with you?" "Fine!" He put on his shoes and put on his coat. Now he was wide awake. He went downstairs and opened the door. It was still dark and stormy, and he said, "Hello. Are you out there?" "I'm out here." "Where are you?" He said, "I'm here." "Do you still need help?" "Yeah. I need a push." "You need a push. Okay, where are you? I can't even see you." He said, "I'm right over here on your swing," (congregation laughing). She was going to get an earful, I guarantee you, when he got back upstairs. Friends, there are people who want you to push their swing. It's not destitute. When I talk to you about this, this is not about you becoming Santa Claus. We help a need, and one of the things we try to do is help equip them so they can provide for themselves. Jesus is equipping these people through teaching, so they're not lost anymore, so they have guidance and direction. When you minister, you want to minister in a way that you equip somebody so they can provide for themselves, their needs, and their family's needs. Because if I'm Santa Claus and that person becomes dependant on me, all I've done is entered into a dysfunctional co-dependent relationship. That's not healthy. You might call us at the church and ask for help with your utilities because your utilities are about to be shut off. We'll help you this one time, but if you call us again next month and the month after for help with your utilities, we're going to say no. We don't have that kind of money. Our job is to get the Gospel out. If we start paying everybody's utilities and everybody's rent, we're not going to exist in a couple weeks here. We can't do that. So it is important to be discerning. Does this person want me to push their swing, or is there a legitimate need? It's important to set boundaries. You should say, "Okay, I'm helping you. Here is what I'm going to do. Here is how I want to minister to you, but here is what I'm not going to do," so that the person doesn't become dependent upon you but realizes you are there to help them with that burden, help solve that problem, or alleviate that problem so it doesn't continue. Did you notice at Verse 45-46 what Jesus said? It says He dismissed them. He said, "Now go home." He didn't say, "Come back tomorrow. I'm going to feed you again. I'll be here all week cooking. Come back when you need a meal." In fact, John tells us they want to make Him king. "I mean this would be an awesome king. Anybody who can do that can defeat the Romans. You can heal all of our diseases. You can make all of our problems go away. You're going to feed us every day. We want You to be king." Jesus said, "It's not My job to feed you every day." In fact the next day, hundreds of them showed up again, and Jesus dismissed them. He said, "You didn't come to hear from God. You came because your bellies were fed." Can you imagine having fish prepared by God? I bet even if you didn't like fish, that was good fish; and that bread must have been so good. "We want some more of that," and Jesus said, "You just came for your tummies. Go home. I'm not going to do that for you today." It's important that if you're going to be a trader, not only do you see the need, but you set boundaries as well because there are people that will take advantage. You can burn out really fast if you don't set those boundaries. 2.) The second thing Jesus did was He assessed His inventory, His resources. "What is available? What do we have? Let's not waste anything." They say, "Well, we have a couple fish, some loaves of bread here. Let's use it." Did Jesus need that? No, but we're going to use what we have. We're going to be resourceful. If I see a need and I've determined I'm going to do something about that need, I want to say, "What are my resources? What is available to me? What are my talents? What are my resources? What is available in society?" 3.) Then on the heels of this, we start to enlist others because they are resources as well. Jesus enlisted others to help. He called the Disciples and He began using them. He said, "I'm going to use you to serve. You're going to divide up the groups, and you can distribute the food." 4.) Then He began to vision-cast. I'm giving you three steps at once here because they are all kind of intertwined. You assess your resources, and part of assessing your resources is people, "Who is around me that is like-minded? Who around me can help? What are my resources?" Enlist those people. Enlisting those people involves vision-casting. This is where you let the cat out of the bag and say, "Here is what I want to do. Here is the need I want to meet. Work with me. Let's figure out together how we can meet this need." This is where Jesus starts telling the Disciples, "We're going to feed these people." "What do you mean we're going to feed these people? How are we going to feed these people?" "You watch. We are going to feed these people. God is going to provide, and we are going to feed these people." Then the people themselves begin to understand the vision. "Why are we being seated in groups of 50 and 100? Why are we getting table settings and napkins here?" No, [just kidding]. They understand that they see Jesus with the bread and the fish. They do a headcount. They look at the small amount of food, and they see the sea of people. They think, "We are either going to see something absolutely miraculous here, or we are going to see a fraud. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. We are either going to see the hand of God provide miraculously, or Jesus is going to be proven to be not from God." Those were the only two alternatives. You don't just sort of turn a couple fish and loaves of bread into food for 20,000 people; you either do or you don't. God either shows up or He doesn't. That's this step of faith because sooner or later you have to break the bread. Sooner or later you have to break the fish. You vision-cast. You say, "Here is what we're going to do. Here is the mountain we're going to take on." Sooner or later, it's time to act; it's time to move on that vision; it's time to meet that need; it's time to buy that ticket and leave home. One of our people who I'm looking at right now is doing that-going off on the mission field. She was challenged in the message last week. As soon as I heard she was leaving, I said, "No, we weren't talking about you. You stay home. You stay with us." I'm just teasing of course. 5.) But you buy that ticket, you make your plans known, you step out in faith, and you trust God. You make that phone call; you send that letter; you take that risk. You begin to break the fish; you begin to break the bread. If it's for God and in the Will of God, God is the One that is on the line. Jesus is the one who is on the line-not the Disciples. They're simply doing what they were told. If we do the Will of God, God provides-not us. It's only when we come to this point and we take the step of faith that we see the hand of God providing. I can remember in the early days when our church met in the Rock County Christian School, the grade school campus by the airport. We were a small group of people, and we weren't very old; but we took a big step of faith to buy this five acre parcel that we now sit on. I'd never bought land like that before, so I didn't know about green fees, lateral fees, sewer fees, and curb and gutter [fees]. I just knew it took us a lot of money to get our down payment together. When we got ready to close, the realtor called me and said, "Okay, are you all set for the closing this week?" I said, "Yeah, we've been giving and saving, and we're ready." He gave me the total, and I'm no genius at math, but it wasn't hard to calculate that we were $8,000 short. He said, "Okay, so we'll see you at the closing on Friday." "Sounds good, Carl, see you at the closing." I hung up the phone, and I went, "What are we going to do? We're $8,000 short." One thing I knew I couldn't do was go to the church and ask for more money because that little group had already given their best. I got up on a Sunday; we had our music time, and I preached the sermon. I said, "Now, before you go home, join me in prayer. I received a call from the real estate agent. We have this fee, this fee, this fee, and this fee." I said, "The bottom line is we're closing this week, and we're $8,000 short. I'm not asking you for your money. You've already given your best. I'm going to ask you to pray with me that God will provide and that we'll own this land," so we did. There was no hype, no big offering, and no big pleas. We just prayed a quiet prayer. The real estate agent didn't know about this because I thought, "If I tell him, it's going to scare everybody. It's going to make everybody have cold feet. Maybe they'll back out of the deal. I don't know," so I didn't tell them what was going on. I knew I'd eventually tell him if God didn't provide, but I was trusting God. Monday morning, I received a call from Carl Luedtke. He was our realtor with Keefe Real Estate here in Janesville. He said, "Hey, I have some good unexpected news for you, Pastor Jeff." I said, "What's that? I could use some." He said, "Well, I don't think I have ever seen the city do this before, and I didn't ask them to do this, but they've decided to wave your green fee. These lateral fees you have, they're going to take this and spread it out for you over five years. They're going to defer the first payment for a year. You won't owe that first payment for the first year. Bottom line is closing is going to be about $8,000 less than we thought. Isn't that good news?" "Yeah, Carl, that's great news." I went back and told our church, some members who are still here with us, "O Happy Day-God has provided." That's what God does. You take that step of faith. You're next on the chopping block [and God pulls you down off that block]. What would have happened if Jesus starting breaking that fish, tore that fish in half, and He gave it away and "oops! No more fish. Uh-oh. Thanks for coming, everybody!" He was on the line, and that's where God provides. I want to share a story with you. I talked about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. We just started this series last week. I said, "Okay, if I tell you here is a person from the Bible," you would have said, "That doesn't count. That's an extraordinary person because they're in the Bible, so don't tell me they're ordinary if they're in the Bible. If they're in the Bible, they're extraordinary; so they don't count." Then I used Tyndale. We talked him being about an ordinary person doing an extraordinary thing. He gave his life to bring the Bible to us in English. Now, I'm going to get even more contemporary than that. I'm going to talk about a couple of people who are still very much alive and live in our community. In fact, one of them is sitting among you right now, and only I know who she is. We appreciate our teachers so very much, what they do, and how they contribute to our children. There are a couple of teachers in our system who are working with special needs and working with children who really became concerned about the plight of homelessness among our teens. As they began putting the pieces together of the puzzle, they began to realize the volume of the problem; it was an eye-opening experience for them. They really began to see the problem in the fullness that they had not seen before. Even though they were working with the children, working in the system, their eyes became open to see the need in a greater capacity than they ever had before. Do you realize that there are thousands of homeless children in Rock County? Did you realize that 47 percent of the homeless in our area are children? That takes away the stereotype of what a homeless person is, doesn't it? Do you realize that there are many teens who stay in school long after school is done because there is no home for them to go for, or they go from place to place until they're kicked out of here and kicked out of there? When they leave school, they don't know where they're going to get a meal; they don't know where they're going to sleep, so those become long, hard hours for them. Two teachers said, "We can do something about this. We have to reach these kids before they leave schools, before they turn to crime or drugs. We can make our community a better place if we provide transitional housing for these kids," so they began talking. They said, "Okay, we see the need. We know these children. We know their stories. We see their faces. Let's move beyond compassion. Let's do something." They began looking at their resources. "What grants are available? What people can we enlist to help? Who is like-minded?" They contacted the YWCA. "They're like-minded. They'll care." They began to partner with them. The vision of having transitional housing for teens [began to become clearer]. They began looking at what their resources were. "Let's work together. Let's vision-cast. Let's decide together what the best way to do that is." That's the phase they're in right now. We're going to show you a video that's about five minutes long. I'm not showing you this video to take an offering. We are not taking an offering for this cause today, although you can certainly give if you'd like to. We're not taking an offering today. We're not asking for anything from you today but to be aware, to pray, and to consider how you might go beyond compassion to action to help some of these kids. Let's go ahead and watch this video: (Here is a link to the clip: http://www.wix.com/reburgos/164900). Our staff watched that this week, and it was a lot longer than that; but we wanted you to see that story, see the need. What they're going to do is buy or build transitional housing for these teens in Rock County, so they have a place to live. When they get to the point where they know what they're going to do, their plans are specific, "We're going to buy this house or we're going to build this house. We're getting ready to launch," then Faith Community Church is going to be behind them. We're going to be with them; we're going to help them. I want you to meet Ann Forbeck. Say hi to Ann. I think I see Jeff Bealles too from the YWCA, director of development there. Jeff, great to see you. We appreciate the YWCA so much, and we are friends with them. We believe in the work that they're doing. We've helped with the CARE House, and we're going to help with this as well. I wanted you to see that. Yes, there will come a day when we give. I just wanted you to see that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. I don't know if they do it or not, but they're following the steps that Jesus did. They're seeing the need. They're moving beyond compassion and into action. They're gathering their resources. They're enlisting people. They're casting the vision, and one day, they're going to take that step of faith and open those doors; and the kids are going to come in. That's when the boundaries part comes in, and that's when it gets really fun. I pray that God will birth big things in this congregation because I think we're capable. I think we're able to do so much more than we're doing now. It might be something big like this that impacts a lot of lives, or you might be investing in one or two lives where you can go beyond compassion to action. I'll let the Holy Spirit deal with you on that one, but let's pray: Father, we thank You today for the challenge of Your Word. Lord, we see how You minister to the physical and spiritual needs of those who are following You. We see the boundaries that You set. We see the action steps of using the resources that were available, of using the people, or casting the vision, and then finally breaking the bread and meeting the need. Lord, You've called us to be the same. You've called us to see with eyes of compassion, to see beyond ourselves and our own needs. Lord, when we do that, we find that we enlarge our own hearts. We find that by giving of ourselves, we are not diminished. In fact, by giving of ourselves, we find that we have increased. We have increased in our capacity to love. We have increased in our capacity to have faith. We have increased in our joy; we have enriched our lives because we have entered into the plan and will of Almighty God. So, Lord, I pray that You'd help us as a church and as individuals to move beyond compassion to action, but it begins with seeing. Father, entrust them that You will meet needs through us. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.