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For more infomation >> What is Femininity? Interview with Emily Chadbourne #3 - Duration: 28:32. 
[PASTOR MICHAEL NOVOTNY]
Do angels actually exist?
Are they actually
spiritual beings who watch
over the people of God?
Or are they just myths and
legends made up by people
looking for comfort and
hope?
Pastor Mark Jeske's going
to dive deep into that
topic coming up next on
Time of Grace.
[MUSIC]
[PASTOR MARK JESKE]
Does the tooth
fairy visit your house?
Yeah?
Raise your hand if the
tooth fairy has made an
appearance, say, in the
last 10 years or so?
I'm expecting to see the
kindergarten kids pretty
much dialed into this.
Yep, that's a yes; the
tooth fairy has appeared.
When I was a kid, the
tooth fairy paid a dime
[Audience: Laughter].
I found out to my shock
that because of inflation,
the tooth fairy now
required a buck [Audience:
Laughter] and so, my
children were instructed
if they believed in the
tooth fairy, they had to
put their tooth in an
envelope and tuck it under
the pillow.
And sure enough, the next
morning there would be a
dollar and the tooth would
be gone.
So in their - when their
first teeth started coming
out, they believed pretty
vigorously in the tooth
fairy.
Their faith began to
wobble a little bit when
once or twice the tooth
fairy forgot to show up
[Audience: Laughter] and
suddenly doubts began to
creep in.
And the oldest, and most
skeptical of our children,
as he was about ready to
lose the last of his baby
teeth, just said, "I don't
believe in the tooth
fairy," and I said, "Okay.
That's okay with me; don't
put your tooth there.
Guess you don't need a
buck." And then you could
see the wheels turning in
his head and I said, "Do
you believe in the tooth
fairy?"
and he said, "Yes."
[Audience: Laughter]
Not because he
believed in the
tooth fairy but because he
wanted a dollar.
[Pastor and Audience:
Laughter] Do you believe
in the tooth fairy?
Are there tooth fairies?
Are there leprechauns?
Are there goblins?
Are there zombies?
Hmm.
Is Superman real?
Is there really a Batman
somewhere?
Are there mermaids?
There's all kinds of
fictional, mystical,
literary invented
creatures partly are human
or, you know, wondrous,
mystical spirit critters
that fill the pages of
stories and movies but you
know, we don't really
believe in all that stuff.
Is there really an Easter
bunny?
You may tell that to the
three year olds on Easter
morning when they're
looking for some chocolate
and sure enough, there's a
basket with a little bunny
inside and it's fun to
play games with that, you
know, but there comes a
point when you say, "Well,
this is a gift from us to
you." You may have Santa
Clause adventures at your
house and that's all a lot
of fun, isn't it, but then
there comes the time when
you have the talk.
Are there really angels?
Are angels just mythical
creatures like griffins
and centaurs?
Sort of the stuff of
literature but they're
really inventions, they're
imaginary, just like
leprechauns are imaginary
and gremlins are
imaginary?
Are there really ghosts?
Or are angels sort of like
ghost stories; just kind
of a fun thing to talk
about but when you really
shine the light of truth
on it, it just kind of
evaporates like a mist?
The only way you're ever
going to know for sure is
to go to the one source of
information about heavenly
things that will never let
you down, that will never
lie to you, and that is
God's holy word.
And I'd like to invite you
to ponder an extraordinary
story with me today; a
story that talks about the
angels not as a literary
device or not as a symbol
for something else, but
creatures with their own
existence - in some ways
like you; in some ways
totally not like you at
all.
And I'd like to invite you
to take your Bible or you
could also check out your
- the program for today
has the Scripture text
printed for you.
I'd like to read a few
words with you from Isaiah
6, the way that the
chapter begins.
Isaiah's message is a long
one and it's been compiled
over a number of years.
He didn't just deliver
this whole thing all in a
blast.
This is sort of various
episodes that were
collected and all put
together.
The first part of Isaiah's
book is mostly some pretty
hard news.
It's called the book of
judgment and it basically
is a hurting love story
from God to the people of
Israel wondering why they
blow him off so easily and
ignore him and suffer
through all of the
hardships and punishments
that come when you
disrespect and ignore and
disobey God and they don't
change though.
God basically says, "Do
you like being beaten in
the head?
Do you like blows?
Do you like your wounds?
What is it with you and
pain?
I'm not - do I need a
bigger and bigger two by
four?
What are you not getting?
I just cannot understand
you." In fact, this is one
of - Isaiah is one of the
stories in Scripture that
kind of makes me thing
that in some ways, you
know, God doesn't get
everything he wants.
If I would ask most of
you, "Does God get
everything he wants?
Does his word make
everything happen
instantly?"
and you would have all
said, "Yes, of course."
And I'd say, "Well, but
think about it.
There's something that God
doesn't get that he wants
and that's the hearts of
every man, woman, and
child on the face of the
earth." I'm delighted that
he has yours but there are
an awful lot of people
whose hearts he does not
have.
He longs for it but he
will not take it or seize
it or compel you.
He tries to win you over
so that you give him your
love because love that is
not given isn't love at
all, is it?
And so, he waits.
Sometimes with discipline
the way a loving father
will discipline a child
that he's really trying to
communicate with.
Sometimes by spoiling them
rotten and pampering them
and giving them stuff.
He works it both ways but
the goal is always to win
your heart to love him
back for all the love that
he has first given to you.
Now in the middle of this
kind of hard message from
Isaiah, we have an
interlude with a scene of
what the throne of God
looks like and it's -
Isaiah begins by saying,
"It was the year that King
Uzziah died." Okay, you
all know that year, right?
What was the year King
Uzziah died?
Everybody knows that,
right?
[Audience: Laughter] You
were going to say 739
B.C., and I would say,
"Absolutely right!
How did you know that?"
[Audience: Laughter] It's
common knowledge, right?
739 B.C.
The nation of Judah was
still holding together
pretty well but its twin
sister to the north was
nearing the edge of
collapse; they were on
their second last king and
enjoying their last little
decade of independence
before collapse set in in
the 720s and they would
cease to exist as a
nation.
Isaiah had a lot of hard
things that he had to say
so this was not an easy
time.
There was trouble between
the northern nation of
Israel and God and yet, in
heaven, all is serene.
"I saw the Lord seated on
a throne high and exalted
and the train of his robe
filled the temple." Now
this is picture language;
this is vision language.
So these things have
significance that comes
from the symbols; we don't
necessarily have to take
everything literally.
"Above him were seraphs,"
seraphim.
You know what those are?
The seraphim are one of
the ranks of angels.
Angels are like the
military.
In fact, the Bible often
calls angels the host of
God or the army of God and
just like our army here in
our country, there is a
command structure and
there are midlevel
officers and then there
are the enlisted men and
women.
The seraphim and their
cousins, the cherubim, are
the top ranks.
This is the general staff.
The cherubim is a Hebrew
word that generally works
best if you just take it
right out of Hebrew
because nobody's exactly
sure how that word is
derived.
But the cherubim are at
the top of the command
structure.
The New Testament calls
them the archangels.
Michael, the supreme
leader, the commander of
the angel armies, is one
of the archangels.
The seraphim are - that
word comes from the Hebrew
word "to burn." They're
the burning ones; the fire
angels.
And I wonder if it's
because of their weaponry.
See, they use light sabers
[Audience: Laughter].
There's a picture of one -
yeah, you can see it right
above the screen over
there if you squint.
It doesn't have lights on
it bright enough perhaps
for you to see but there
is a light saber that that
angel's holding, guarding
and keeping people out of
the Garden of Eden;
keeping them out of
paradise.
It's a sign of judgment
and it might just be that
that's a little allusion.
These are the weapon
carrying angels; these are
the tough ones.
They're the burning, the
angels of fire, the
seraphim.
And yet, at this moment,
we are seeing them not in
military mode, they're in
worship mode.
And let's look at what
they're doing.
"They had six wings." This
is symbolic, of course;
angels don't need wings to
get around but imagine
that they did.
Two of them, "they covered
their faces" because they
wanted to show respect and
humility in the brightness
of the throne room of God.
It's as though we would
come before God and we
would like kneel down and
put our face down.
In the ancient near east,
the way you showed respect
to a ruler is to make your
face low and so the
angels, even though
they're hovering, wanted
to show respect and so
they used their wings to
shield their faces.
"With two they covered
their feet," same reason,
and "with two they were
flying.
And they were calling to
one another: 'Holy, holy,
holy is the Lord Almighty;
the whole earth is full of
his glory.'" And they made
such a racket at the sound
of their voices that the
doorposts and thresholds
shook and the temple was
filled with smoke.
Isaiah was terrified.
I'm going to stop here,
but you really need to
read the rest of this
story maybe later today.
Isaiah was terrified of
what he was seeing.
He thought he was so
unworthy he'd be sizzled;
that these burning angels
were maybe going to sizzle
him or maybe use their
fiery swords, their light
sabers, and just dice him
up like he was being
chopped up for a salad.
He was terrified he would
be killed being that close
to the holy throne room of
God.
And the angels though,
ceremonially, used the
altar of worship, which is
not an altar like the one
behind me, which is a
great, big, beautiful
wooden thing.
The altars in those days
were animals that were
consumed and this
represents the burning
pit, the gigantic like
barbeque pit in front of
the temple in Jerusalem
where the sacrifices of
animals were brought and
the smoke would rise.
That is where sins were
paid for so it's as though
he took some of that fire
and it was a cleansing
fire; it was a purging
fire and touched the coal
on his mouth.
And it didn't burn the
skin off his lips; it, in
fact, ceremonially showed
him that through what
happens on the altar of
the Lamb of God, people's
sins are forgiven.
But I'd like to just
ponder with you what we
just heard about what the
angels are really like.
Do you believe in angels?
I think you should.
I think it would be a
really good idea.
First of all, they're
really powerful.
When they set up their
worship, it wasn't just
humming a little tune.
Such veracity shook the
foundations, the very
foundations, of heaven
itself.
They poured out their
praises of glory and
holiness to the Lord.
Secondly, they're holy.
They are the ones who have
survived their own
testing.
They are the ones who said
no to Satan.
Unlike the human race,
which was all sunk with
Adam and Eve's defection,
these are the angels who
said no to Satan's
deception.
These are the angels who
stayed angels and did not
become the demons of hell.
And heaven is now their
permanent home.
These are angels who are
servants.
The book of Hebrews, at
the end of chapter one,
says that the angels are
ministers of God; they're
servants of God looking
after us.
They're working for God
but they're also working
for us.
And although it seems like
they outrank us, they're
holier than we are,
they're more powerful than
we are, they move at the
speed of heaven, they move
at the speed of spirit,
whatever that speed may
be, if you can measure it
with physics.
They have no problem
getting back and forth
between the dimensions of
heaven and earth.
They go back and forth,
Scripture tells us.
They are our protectors.
If it were not for the
angels, Satan, who would
just love to destroy and
trash not only our souls
but our bodies too, and so
the angels are like God's
hands of protection around
us; setting limits to the
harm that is allowed to
come into our lives.
And only what God allows
is able to happen to us.
If we saw even one-tenth
of the trouble that could
come upon us without that
angelic protection, our
jaws would hit the floor.
Someday, perhaps, we'll
get to meet them.
Jesus told his disciples
especially children have
angels; their angels who
are assigned personal
duty.
What Christian parent has
not just beamed reading
that passage; knowing that
their children whom every
mother - especially the
moms - worry about and
fret about, "Are my kids
safe?
Are my kids safe?"
can exhale now because
your children have an
angel, a personal angel,
who watches over them.
Jesus said so; don't take
my word for it.
You can trust what Jesus
said.
So angels exist, you
better believe it.
They are holy, they are
powerful, they are fast,
they are humble, and they
are worshipful.
And in fact, the book of
Revelations says that
we'll be joining them soon
because we get to join in
their praises when we get
to heaven.
In the meantime, we join
our praises to them kind
of at a distance.
You know, there's all
kinds of challenges to you
to know how really, where do I
get my faith from?
What do I really believe
in?
Where does my faith come
from?
And it's one of the great
gifts that God has given
to you to give you a
source of information, to
give you certainty, so
that you don't have to
guess.
You've ever seen Peter
Pan?
Yes?
Movie or the play?
You know, if you - J.M.
Barrie wrote this
wonderful book.
Some of you perhaps read
the book; it's really a
sweet children's story and
grownups like it too,
actually.
Movies have come out and
cartoons are great fun.
There even was - you know,
you might have seen Hook,
which is a takeoff from
the Peter Pan story.
But in the theater, they
always do kind of a cute
little thing to engage the
audience.
Now if you've seen the
play, you know what I'm
going to tell you right
now because there is a
moment about near towards
the end of the play when
Tinkerbell, the little
fairy, gets really sick
because the Lost Boys were
growing up and they didn't
believe in her anymore and
she starts faltering and
her little wings stop
beating and she kind of
lies down on the stage and
Peter Pan goes to the
audience and says, "Help!
Don't let Tink die!
Please, help me!"
And then everybody thinks,
"And do what?
What are we supposed to
do?"
He says, "Do you believe
in fairies?
Every time somebody stops
believing in fairies, a
fairy dies somewhere." And
all the little kids go,
"No!"
and they go, "Tink!
Tinkerbell!"
and Peter Pan says, "Do
you believe in fairies?
If you believe in fairies,
clap!"
and then first
tentatively, and then a
little more intensely,
people start clapping and
then there's a huge roar
that goes up from the
audience when it works and
Tinkerbell kind of gets
back up and gets going
again.
I'd like to encourage you
to claim everything God
has said in his word about
the incredible value that
his angels bring to you.
They are working it every
day to make your life
better and the fact that
you have not been allowed
to see them doesn't mean
they don't exist.
You can't see electricity
either but you don't doubt
its existence because you
see its effect.
You don't doubt gravity.
You don't ever even worry
about it but you don't
doubt it because your feet
stay stuck to the ground
every day.
It's an invisible force
that has a great effect on
your life.
The angels, in the same
way, God assures you
though you may not be able
to see them yet, you soon
will when your eyeballs
get upgraded to be able to
perceive the spirit world.
For now, we accept them by
faith.
The angels are God's
ministers and servants,
providing protection and
guidance for you.
They are God's executives
carrying out his will.
They are God's deputies,
deputy sheriffs, who are
going to round up all
unbelievers on the Day of
Judgment and the seraphims
then are going to whip out
their light sabers and
they are going to visibly
to be seen with their
burning power and they
will truly be the burning
angels.
The angels who come for
you are not going to hurt
you.
Scripture says they will
lift you up.
The angels on Judgment Day
are going to be your Uber
ride to get you up off the
ground because God is
going to remake the planet
and once again join heaven
to earth and even better
than the Garden of Eden,
place you down - when he
sets you, when the angels
set you back down on the
ground - you will truly be
in a paradise where heaven
and earth are now together
forever.
Those are God's promises
to you.
So do you believe in
angels?
[Audience: Yes] If you
believe in angels, clap
with me.
[Audience: Clapping]
Amen.
[MUSIC]
[PASTOR MICHAEL NOVOTNY]
Your grandma's
cross-stitch sweater
probably lied to you.
If your grandma had a
sweater like my grandma
had, about 16 of them,
there were those little
cute baby angels, a little
bit overweight with the
wings growing out of their
back.
Yeah, but Pastor Jeske
told us angels aren't
anything like that.
They're like a military
force; they're powerful.
And they protect us from
things that would
otherwise hurt us.
And so, we don't think
angels are cute; we think
they are incredibly
fearful, wonderful, and a
gift to the church of God.
Let's remember that and
sleep with peace, with
comfort, and with hope.
I'll be back with you in a
moment to pray.
[PROMOTION] Starting this
January, longtime viewers
of Time of Grace will have
a chance to meet a whole
new place - the church
that I love and serve, The
Core, in Appleton,
Wisconsin.
Now things might look a
little bit different here
at our church but we know
that so many things are
not going to change.
The timeless truths that
we love and appreciate
will continue to be our
message and that's where
you come in.
We need generous
supporters like you to
help us reach our $125,000
goal.
By your continual gifts,
your prayers and your
support, you can help
God's grace reach brand
new people in my community
and, we pray, throughout
our nation.
People like Valerie, from
Texas.
Valerie says, "Time of
Grace has helped me become
more spiritually mature
than I could ever have
thought.
Although I still struggle
a lot, I use Time of Grace
to replenish my faith,
strength, and get my back
on track." To thank you
for your gift, we would
love to send you our
insightful and encouraging
book, "Angels," because
everyone loves a mystery,
by Pastor Jon Enter and
Pastor Mark Jeske.
So call the number on your
screen and start making an
impact today and may God
bless you.
[MUSIC]
Just this past
week, I got to meet an
incredible couple who has
been blessed by the
messages of Time of Grace
for many years.
It turns out years ago,
they just stumbled across
the program on the
television set.
The wife was captivated;
she called her husband
into the room and now for
years, Pastor Jeske has
been bringing more Jesus
and more grace and more
hope into their lives.
And I thought about that
story and realized that it
couldn't have happened
without people like you;
people who pray for God's
word to spread throughout
our nation.
People who give generously
so we can spread God's
word throughout our
nation.
So on behalf of Time of
Grace, thank you.
On behalf of this man and
his wife, thank you.
On behalf of all the
people who learn a little
bit more about Jesus week
after week and especially
about his unconditional
love, his grace, thank
you.
Let's join our hearts and
pray.
Dear God, We thank you
today for angels.
I can't wrap my mind
around exactly how you
direct them and how they
serve us but you have made
us a promise that angels
are ministering spirits
sent to serve Christians;
those who will inherit
salvation.
For all the danger they
keep us from, God, we
thank you.
For all the evil spiritual
forces that they keep away
so that we're not led into
temptation, we thank you.
We thank you, God, for
every bit of your grand
plan - both the things
that we see and the ones
that we don't.
We believe that you are
the creator of the visible
and the invisible so thank
you for being God.
Thank you for being in
control.
And most importantly,
thank you for loving us as
much as you do.
We pray all these things
in our Savior Jesus' name,
Amen.
With Time of Grace, I'm
Pastor Mike Novotny and it
all starts now.
[PROMOTION] "The truth of
God's word is truth and
yet the way in which you
can share it can be done
in a wide variety of
ways." "We've taken a
modern style but we have
tried to embrace every
page of the Bible and
every topic that people
are dealing with." "Our
church, we use screens and
we use technology but The
Core's use of technology
is far more advanced with
triple-wide graphics and
some of the different
elements that they
incorporate with videos
and the things that are
produced behind the
scenes.
It just blows my mind." "I
even look back at Martin
Luther, was using
technology, used the
printing press.
I mean, I think if he had
the tools we have today,
he would have been
utilizing all them, too.
"You know, technology is a
double-edged sword; we
think about that a lot.
We don't want people to be
so dependent on a screen,
a new image, that they
can't actually read their
Bible, which is a real
danger.
But we've also - you know,
that old adage a picture
is worth a thousand words?
Like, I could try to tell
you about what Israel's
like but if I can show you
a picture that I took like
that, that sticks with
people." "Some people are
visual learners, some
people are auditory
learners, ah, some people
need both to connect the
dots.
And ah, so the visual
piece is really huge,
especially, I think, with
the younger generation in
our world today.
Whether we like it or not,
what engages them are
visual things and so if
you can utilize visual to
engage a 12 year old, to
engage an 18 year old, the
Y gen audience of today's
world isn't going away.
That's who they are,
that's what they've grown
up with, and there's a
part of their brain that
connects the dots maybe
better when visuals are a
part of it." "I think the
retention of the message
stays a lot longer by
using the graphics cause
we have members of the
church that still talk
about sermons from three
years ago just because the
graphics part of the
message has stuck with
them." "The things we've
seen on the screen have
been incredible.
Good Friday, when we went
into the temple, it was
across the three screens
and it felt like you were
in the temple.
You know, you read those
parts in the Bible all the
time but to be in it was
unbelievable.
So yeah, absolutely; we
learn a ton from the
technology here.
"In general, studies will
tell you, you know, you
can see something but if
you speak it or you hear
it, the more senses that
you can combine, the
better our brains remember
that.
And so, that's a lot of
what we do is we - I want
people to hear the word as
I read it, but I want them
to see it, I want them to
write it in their programs
as they're going.
And my hope is that if I
can engage the brain that
much when it's Tuesday,
you're not going to forget
about God's powerful word
that you heard on Sunday.
"We hope we're not just
jumping on some like
cultural thing because we
think it's cool but this
is actually a great way
for the way that God
designed our brains to
learn and retain
information.
And what better
information than what
we're putting on the
screen?"
"It isn't a show.
It's not - it's not just
music and lights and that
atmosphere.
It's people, real people
that are struggling,
people that maybe don't
have anywhere else to go,
that are growing in their
faith, that are, you know,
recommitting themselves to
Jesus.
This is a - this is a,
this is a real church and
I don't know how to better
say it than that." "That's
the amazing thing about
our Core family is that it
is important for us to do
what we can to reach
people with the news of
Jesus.
And if Time of Grace is a
way that we can do that
and our facility and our,
you know, technology -
everything that we have
here - if that can be used
to impact the kingdom on a
greater scale, people are
overwhelmingly for it."
[MUSIC]
[ANNOUNCER] The
preceding program was
sponsored by the friends
and partners of Time of
Grace.
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