The Answers to Your Deepest Longings: 40 Days Through the Bible Week 7

40 Days OBS Video Week 7 KS=Kendra Schwarz HS=Hannah Schindler JM=Joel Muddamalle KS: Welcome back to week seven Online Bible Studies and First 5. Friends, we’re so excited to see you once again. My name is Kendra, this is Hannah, co-hosts, together we’re taking you on this journey. We’re guiding you guys along. And it’s our pleasure to do so. JM: You’ve been doing such a good job. KS: Thank you Joel. JM: I just want to acknowledge that y’all have been killing it. HS: You’ve done a great job with 60 second theology with all your teachings as well. KS: Yes.

00:26 - Joel, we’re excited to have you back for another week we get to learn from you. And so, we just finished, well we went through the Old Testament, we went to the Gospels and now we find ourselves in the book of Acts going through the longing of identity. HS: That’s right, Kendra. Yeah, that sounds, there’s a lot we can put our identity in and so we can all identify by different things, whether it’s our relationship status, our ethnicity, place of work, and there’s just so so much more that we can identify with. And so, Joel, you said in the intro this week, our identity is not simply about us, it is about our relationship with God who rewrites our story into His story. So, let me ask you, in a world where we are often told what our identity should be, how do we fight for this, to remember to live in freedom in our relationship with the Lord? JM: Yeah, this is a good question.

01:21 - I think one of the things that is maybe a lost art, or a forgotten art, is what I like to call a theology of remembrance. And so ultimately, what this is, is a spiritual habit, a spiritual discipline of saying, I’m going to recollect and look back on all of God’s past faithful actions, reality situations and circumstances where He has come through, I’m going to remember them, I’m going to recollect them, I’m going to celebrate them, I’m going to praise God because of those truths. And as I’m doing this, as I am participating in this theology of remembrance, it’s actually forming my heart into being a type of person that adores and loves God. And so, it gives me an instant confirmation, to trust God in my present situations and circumstances, and to trust that He will be faithful in the future. And all of this, we may be, you may be like, wait Joel, you’re talking about situations and circumstances.

02:18 - But in this, our person, who we are, is being shaped and formed. We’re identifying that our identity is not rooted in what we do, but what God has already done. And the more that we can go back to that and do that, the more important and the more helpful it is for us. Now, I know we’re in the New Testament now, but I always say that the Old Testament is like this fertile soil, right. And there are seeds that are planted in the soil, and they grow up and they bear trees in the bear fruit.

02:47 - Well, in the New Testament, what we’re talking about is the fertile ground of Deuteronomy, chapter six. I want to read just a couple verses to you. This is Moses, this is called the Shema. And this is what Moses says, “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul with all your might”, catch this, “and these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, they shall talk of them, when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise, you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

03:24 - You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates”. And so we find, rooted all the way back in the Old Testament, this reality that the Israelites were always intended to not just remember for themselves the past faithfulness of God, but to teach it to their loved ones and to their families, and to all those that they came across. And when we do this, our identity is forming around the identity of Christ. KS: That’s good Joel, and something that I like to do to remember how God’s faithfulness has played out my own life is right journal entries, or just do something to remember when I’m in those times where I’m like, is God gonna come through, I can go back and look at how He’s come through before and be reminded and continue on. JM: So good Kendra. One of the things I do in, look at my Bible right now.

04:08 - I’ve got notes and how I actually put dates next to my notes in my highlights, and because it’s again, it’s a chronological timestamp of what God’s doing. KS: It’s practical, everyone likes to be practical. And so Joel, I have a few questions for you, because you may or may not know this, but Melissa Taylor, who is our Senior Director of First 5 and Online Bible Studies, in a video prior to this, she became our quick coach, and what that means is she kind of encouraged our people to keep going and don’t give up now. And so, I’m going to ask you to maybe take on the persona of a quick coach a little bit. And as we go through this identity, sometimes we can get criticism or pushback as we live for Christ.

04:46 - And so, what would you say to our people to continue on and fight the good fight? JM: There is a destination at the other end, you know, like we’re not moving towards something random. We’re moving towards Jesus Himself. This this future of the new heavens and the new earth and we want to be prepared. And so, the goal that is in front of us, gives us every reason to fight forward and to not quit. KS: That’s good. Wow look at that. HS: That’s so good. KS: Quick coach from Joel. HS: Well, from quick coach to 60 second theology. KS: You wear many hats. JM: Oh, we’re doing the 60 second now? HS: Oh, it’s happening now.

05:19 - Yeah, yeah, we’re not letting you do this one elsewhere. So, friends, one of Kendra and my favorite parts, Joel I hope this is your favorite part as well, because it may be a little stressful, but we start sweating for you. We have been so. Okay. Our question is, what is the difference between the Jews, the Gentiles and the Samaritans? JM: Okay, very important. So, the way that we think about ethnicity in the Old Testament, we have to kind of reimagine it, I guess, for us in the western context. So, for the Israelites, there is ethnic Jews, their ethnic, ethnically Jewish, but there’s also a possibility that you could become Jewish by religion, you know.

05:59 - And so, in the New Testament, this is referred to as the proselytes. So, you have actually been grafted into the community of the Jewish community, essentially. And then the way that the language of the Old Testament is described, anybody who is not an Israelite, anybody who’s not Jewish is essentially a Gentile or a pagan or a foreigner. So, it’s all the other nations. Now, Samaritans are actually individuals, and this is a massive context in the New Testament, that are actually half Jew and half Gentile. They’re essentially half breeds. That’s what they were, they were described.

06:33 - And it was very difficult for them to fit into the fact that Jesus goes into Samaria in John chapter four and meets the Samaritan woman and calls her to Himself is indication that there’s no more distinction. Oh! No! KS: Sorry, 1:02. This is the first time. KS: This is my favorite right here. I’ve been waiting for this. JM: No! Because this is also the one I’m most passionate about. KS: We can talk more about it, but here’s why it’s my favorite. It’s week seven. I did. Seven is the number of perfection and he just didn’t crush it. I think it’s humbling.

07:07 - I think it’s time HS: Yeah, but your identity is not in what you can do. JM: It’s the idea of what Christ has already done, and the good news is Christ has already written all this in the Bible. Just read it. KS: That’s good. So, go and read, I guess is what we get to take away from that. Yeah. JM: Am I allowed to finish? KS: Yeah, no, definitely finish for the people for sure. Yes. JM: Jesus in John chapter four, He does something, He is forced, people at that time, they wouldn’t even go through Samaria, they would go around it because if you came in contact with somebody who was not, I mean, you could become unclean. This is insane.

07:36 - Jesus intentionally goes through Samaria so he can meet the Samaritan woman. And the first, what I think we find is the very first evangelists for Christianity, ultimately, for this new family of God, is a Samaritan who is a woman who goes back into the same community that she was not loved or cared for in that community and says, You need to come meet this guy who told me all that ever done. His name is Jesus. And so there you go. KS: There it is everyone. All right, great job. That was like a minute 30 second theology with Joel. That was good. JM: You’re not gonna let me live this down? KS: No, no, no, no, no, we’re not. That was good. I was hoping I had one chance to say, so close.

08:12 - Alright, so in this week, in your study guide on page 150, you’re going to see something that we actually want to do right here, we’re gonna repeat after Joel, but it’s all about the identity in Christ and reminding ourselves who we are. And so, if you would be so kind on the other side of your screen, go ahead and when Joel reads, repeat after him with Hannah and I. JM: Alright, here we go. Who are we? We are image bearers of God. HS & KS: We are image bearers of God. JM: Whose are we? We belong wholly and fully to God the Father. HS & KS: We belong wholly and fully to God the Father.

08:45 - JM: What are we supposed to do? We’re to spread the glory of God to the ends of the earth HS & KS: We’re to spread the glory of God to the ends of the earth JM: By making disciples of Jesus HS & KS: By making the disciples of Jesus JM: Amongst all the nations. HS & KS: Amongst all the nations. HS: Amen. That’s so good. Well, friends, you had a special treat for week seven, where Joel did not get his 60 second theology, but we are still so proud of him. And we hope that you have loved that segment that we’ve done every week, just to dig a little deeper. But also, we are just praying for you this week, we pray that you recognize that your identity is first and foremost as a son and a daughter of Christ. And that is the most important identity you can ever have. And so, we love you guys.

09:30 - And what we do every single week is close it out with believing that God’s Word, which is the truth, that if you know the truth and live the truth, it changes everything. Bye y’all. .