Restoration 2014: Rest for the Restless

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Restoration Ministry

God's Love Stories (Noon Meetings)

Anil Kanda

1. Adam’s Love Life

Now, some of you guys may not have your Bible, probably the majority of you, so you can do is you can take out your iPhone, your iPad, or whatever kind of instrument that you have.

We're going to be doing something very interesting.

We're going to be taking a good look at the book of Genesis.

And during the noon meetings, we're gonna make it very interactive.

So I'm gonna be asking you a lot of questions, okay?

As I said before, we're gonna be covering 10 love stories in the Bible, starting with Adam and Eve, and ending with Jesus and the church.

I'm also gonna be sharing my background as an Indian.

I come from a very traditional Indian background, where arranged marriages take place.

So I'm going to share some of the adventures as my mom has attempted to get me arranged.

I'll be also sharing my experience where I was actually involved in an arranged marriage for somebody else.

So if you have friends, I'm sure you do, please bring them out during these noon meetings, all right?

As I said before, we're going to be covering the book of Genesis.

Now what I really like about the book of Genesis, it's a book about origins.

Origins about life, origins about creation, origins about how this planet came to be in the condition that it now is.

Origins about love, origins about marriage.

And when you look at the book of Genesis, you're really blown away by all the wonderful things that you learn.

In fact, when Jesus was oftentimes teaching, he would always refer to in the beginning, in the beginning, in the beginning, in the beginning.

He'd always go back to that, you can say that primary part of scripture, the very first part of scripture, which is creationism.

And so when we're looking for a standard of righteousness, or we are looking for the way that God wants us to do things, we need to go back to the book of Genesis and there we will see what God's original plan was for humanity.

You may have a King James Bible, a new King James Bible, or some other version, and you will see a unique literary structure that takes place in Genesis chapter 1.

Okay, somebody tell me, really quickly, by the raising of your hand, what is Genesis chapter 1 all about?

Okay, really quickly, why don't you tell me what Genesis 1 is?

By the way, if you give the wrong answer, I'm going to make you feel very embarrassed.

Genesis 1 is about God creating the heavens.

So think about this, ladies and gentlemen.

What Genesis chapter 1 is, it's about creation.

And you see an ordinary narrative that takes place in Genesis chapter 1, but something is going to startle you in Genesis chapter 1.

When you're going through sort of that repetitious narrative in Genesis chapter 1, it said God said let there be light and there was light God said let there be land and There was land God so that there be animals and there was animals and over and over again You see this repetitious phrase that appears over and over again.

However, when it comes to the creation of mankind That's you and me all of a sudden the Bible does this really strange literary maneuver.

Take a good look at Genesis chapter 1 starting with verse 26, okay?

It talks about how God created the sea, the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

God, he created him, male and female he what?

Then God blessed them and said to them, be fruitful and what?

Fill the earth and subdue it, have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the what?

Do normal people talk like that, yes or no?

Most people are not redundant in that sense.

When you're reading Genesis chapter 1, it seems to be this very ordinary narrative until it gets to verse 27, and then it becomes very repetitious and very redundant.

It says, So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created them, Male and female He was.

In 3 different ways, it states the exact same thing.

In fact, when you take a good look at the margins of Scripture, all of a sudden this verse actually becomes indented.

Now, there's something that Moses knew, that Hebrew translators knew, that English translators probably had somewhat of an idea, but most people when they're reading the Bible do not get.

Verse 27, when it deals with the creation of everything, then it gets to the creation of math, was written in a very literary structure, interesting literary structure, that's known as paradigmatic parallelism.

What that is, get this, is Hebrew poetry.

Now I'm going to ask a question to all the studs here.

What is the purpose of writing poetry to somebody?

Raise your hand if you think you know the answer.

2. Ten Camels

Alright, just letting you know for tonight's meetings, tonight we're going to be covering the book that changed Asia.

Wednesday night we're doing Dining with Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad and Krishna.

Thursday night we're doing Eternity Past and the Risk of God.

Friday night we're doing from tragedy to triumph, the problem of evil, and there's also going to be a Q&A session afterwards.

Saturday morning I'm going to be sharing my testimony from Sikhism, Hinduism, to seeking Him.

And also Monday there's going to be a special topic as well.

It's going to be called The End of Social Injustice, a Hell of a Sermon.

So make sure that you are there Monday night.

The End of Social Justice, Injustice, a Hell of a Sermon.

Well, you know restoration is about answering life's biggest questions.

When I was actually in college is when I became a Christian.

And I had all sorts of questions about life, about education.

You see, when you come from the Indian culture, Indians are very, how shall I put this, academically inclined.

Just to let you know, my oldest sister, she is a lawyer.

My younger sister is an accountant for a major aerospace firm.

My brother just finished up his master's in business at USC.

So I grew up in a family that was very educated.

My sisters were doing my dad's taxes in their preteens.

Oftentimes for fun, my family, if they wanted to do something fun, they would take the kids to the library and drop them off at the library.

So this is how I grew up down in Southern California, between the Indian culture and between the secular Western culture.

And it was when I was in college that I really began to examine my life.

You know, Socrates said something very interesting.

He said, the unexamined life is not worth living.

If you don't know what you are living for, what's the purpose of life?

And so when I was going to college, I was really examining my life, my purpose, my future, my destiny, wanting to understand where my place was in this great world.

Because to me, all I saw was simply getting educated, getting married, having kids, and then eventually die.

Now there are purposes in each 1 of those things, but there was no grand overarching purpose to all these things.

And I wanted to understand what my purpose was in life.

And it was these things that really began to motivate and propel me into studying out various kinds of topics and subjects and different kinds of religions.

I'm going to share more about my testimony Saturday morning.

But there was a man in the Bible, and this was an individual who was considered the example of faith for all believers who follow God.

And the Bible talks about Abraham being the father of faith.

He was somebody who was living in Ur of Chaldees and he heard the voice of God 1 day and God's voice called him to a place that he himself did not quite understand.

And people around him did not understand where he was going.

And so Abraham was following the voice of God.

The Bible talks about those who are of Abraham's seed are of Christ.

In fact, when you read Revelation 18, it talks about this people coming out of Babylon.

It's a representation of the people who are like Abraham, who are coming out of confusion and following the voice of God.

Now, when you think of somebody who has, who's probably 1 of the greatest example of all scripture, Abraham.

1 must ask the question, what kind of words did Abraham leave for us?

So you read throughout all of Abraham's life starting with Genesis chapter 12, going all the way to Genesis chapter 24 and 25.

And you find all about the life of Abraham and the words that he said, his example, his counsel.

But did you know, this is very interesting, I just discovered this as I was studying this out, the very last words of Abraham are of primary importance.

These are the very last words God left for us as an example of our father of faith and here they are.

Genesis 24 verse 3, this is Abraham talking to his oldest servant and this is what he told him.

I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, but you shall go to my country, my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.

Ladies and gentlemen, what were Abraham's last recorded words?

The kind of woman his son Isaac should marry.

Here he is, the father of faith, right here.

The very last recorded words are the kind of woman Isaac his son should marry.

Now I like a lot of dialogue, so I'm gonna ask this question.

Why did God impress Moses to leave these last words of Abraham more than any other words that Abraham could have said as an example for all the believers.

Preferably the person right in front of me.

Come on, there's gotta be somebody else out here besides this guy right here, right?

He wants to build a nation and it was imperative that he married the right person that had the kind of moral upbringing in order to sustain the nation.

Maybe because he thinks family, he realizes how important family is, and family's sort of our earthly type of relationship that we have with God.

Why would that be important to us, though?

Why would this story or these words would be super important for us today?

Like he had to leave wherever they were to go hundreds of miles by walking to another place to find another woman.

So it's just like the great expense that you should go through is not a light choice.

It's something that requires a lot of thought, a lot of fairness.

It's a big decision, so don't take it lightly.

Okay, now I want you to think about this.

Here, God leaves us with the father of faith's example.

3. Ruth and Boaz

I know God has something very special in store for us.

Before we go any further, let's bow our heads for a word of prayer.

Like David said, God, evening, morning, and noon, we will praise your name.

And Lord, it's just a little bit past noon, but right now, we just want to take this time to thank you for being our Redeemer, our lover, the 1 who watches over our lives, and the 1 who brings providences into our very existence to reveal who you are.

Again, if this is your first time in restoration, glad that you guys are here.

I know that God has some special things in store for us, as I said earlier.

Today we're going to be covering the story of Ruth and Boaz.

How many people have ever read that story before?

Now, whenever I read that book, or at least when I first heard of that book, I should say, I always thought it was 1 of the female books of the Bible.

You guys know what those are all about, right?

Where they have a woman's Bible study and they're gonna be studying the strong women of the Bible, right?

And so I'd always kind of stay away from that book and Song of Solomon as well for obvious reasons.

But then I began to study out the story of Ruth and I was blown away by the pictures of God that are in there as well as very practical advice.

In fact, part of these afternoon meetings are going to be covering 10 love stories in the Bible and how they're applicable to us and how they reveal God's character.

All right, now we're gonna jump into the story of Ruth.

It starts off with tragedy, almost like a very serious heartbreak happens in the life of 1 of the characters.

There was a lot of trouble that was happening in Israel at that time, a lot of oppression that was coming from pagan nations.

So there was this particular Israelite family, it was Naomi, her husband, and her 2 sons.

They decided to get up and leave town and they moved to the area known as Moab.

And there they were rooted in that Moab culture and her 2 sons got married to 2 Moabite women.

People who did not have a Jewish background or an understanding of the Jewish religion at first.

And so chapter 1 begins with a lot of bitterness.

It begins with a lot of tragedy, a lot of sorrow, a lot of heartbreak.

And so here Naomi is in the beginning of this story.

She doesn't even want anybody to call her Naomi.

She wants everybody to call her Mara, which means bitterness.

She's having a hard time trying to understand what's going on in life.

And it's very interesting, it is during this time that she decides that she's gonna go back to Israel and die in Israel.

However, 1 of the daughters by the name of Ruth decides something.

She decides that she's gonna stick it out with Naomi.

She's been so blessed by Naomi that she wants to follow her.

In fact, take a good look at what the scripture says right here about Ruth when she's trying to convince her mother-in-law, Naomi, to go with her.

But Ruth said, entreat me not to leave you or to turn back from following after you.

For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you lodge, I will lodge.

Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried.

The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.

Take a good look how she ends with this entreaty.

It almost sounds like some kind of marriage covenant.

You see, Ruth had not only fallen in love with that family that she had been integrated into, she fell in love with Naomi's Godly example.

And she says, the God you worship, I am going to worship.

This foreigner then became a proselytite to Judaism.

She decided that she was going to worship this monotheistic being and she was going to give him worship and praise, and she was gonna go follow Naomi back to her town.

Just think about this commitment, what that would have included.

She's just full of depression and darkness.

And here Ruth makes a decision, and that decision is a very sacrificial decision.

She's going to go with Naomi regardless of everything.

She is so attached to Naomi's godly example that she says, you know what, being around you is like being around God.

You know, when I first became a Seventh-day Adventist Christian, there was a young man who brought me into the church, but his mom impressed me the most.

Every time I'm around this woman, it's like I sense the presence of angels.

You go into her house, she has a very simple apartment, she's got a few pictures of Jesus, she's got a few Bibles, and she's a very balanced, prayerful woman.

And when I'm around her, I just feel this peace.

You know, when the Holy Spirit is dwelling in you, ladies and gentlemen, people around you are going to be affected.

Dwight Elmoody 1 day was just in a train and there was this man who was staring at him right across from the other side of the train and was just watching him the whole time during this train ride.

In the middle of the train ride, this man gets up, walks up to Dwight O.

Moody and says, I don't know who you are and you don't know who I am, but your very presence convicts me of sin.

When the Holy Spirit dwells in you, you begin to have sign of this convicting influence about the around the people around you.

And so here Naomi, she's about to go back and Ruth makes the decision she is going to go back to Israel with Naomi.

And it's Very interesting how chapter 1 ends.

It describes Naomi and Ruth going back into Israel and then it says this, and it was the beginning of the barley harvest.

The Bible here is pointing out some kind of providence is about to take place.

They're showing up at a time where they were supposed to be this great rejoicing because the harvest was taking place, yet emotionally they were distraught.

And so they get to Israel and everyone begins to whisper and gossip, oh, there's Naomi and there's her daughter-in-law.

And as they begin to go into town and attempt to make their way into town, people are whispering.

Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh.

4. Seven Years

I just want to welcome everybody to the Restoration Series.

I want to start with a word of prayer and let's ask God's blessings upon this time.

Father in Heaven, we thank you so much that this is the day that you have made.

Thank you God for a day of opportunities, a day to praise you, a day just to follow your Spirit's guidance.

We pray that Providence would continue to lead us and guide us to all the things you would have us to take advantage of for today and especially we pray for the Holy Spirit right now in Jesus name amen just a reminder there's a little bit of food left how many people are enjoying this Indian dish by the way this came under no recommendation from me, but I think it's really nice that you guys are able to experience some of my culture's food.

There is an Indian restaurant by my church where I pastor at, And I always tell people, I say, hey, if you ever come by through that town and you look me up, we're going to go to this Indian restaurant.

And whenever you eat Indian food, there's 1 big problem, and that is this.

You will feel like cement afterwards for about 2 hours.

So if you get a little bit sleepy in your class, all I can say to you is probably the Indian food So make sure you get a little bit of exercise and walking after this message.

All right today's message is going to be about Jacob and Rachel Jacob and Rachel consider 1 of the best love stories of all the Bible.

Now here's the thing about sort of this restoration series at noon, just sort of the plan.

If you come once, it's very difficult to try to explain all that you need to know about biblical kinds of romance.

So you may show up and you may hear 1 thing, you're thinking to yourself, what in the world did I just walk into?

Here's the thing, make an effort that you're gonna be there consistently so you're able to see what we're going to be covering.

In fact, next week, I'm going to be taking a slight turn, and I'm actually going to be talking about, get ready for this, actual biblical forms of courtship.

I heard a little bit of praise there too.

Because in talking to many of you, I've come to discover that I am dealing with a spectrum of people here.

People who have had education in these kinds of things, people who have not had education in these kinds of things, people who come from a background of being very churched and educated, you know, with the whole biblical deity or courtship principles, and people who've been exposed just a little bit.

Series

God's Love Stories (Noon Meetings)

5. The Bible’s Most Powerful Evangelistic Couple

Transcript

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Parent Conference

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