Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: He is with us.
Merry Christmas.
God is with us.
Merry Christmas.
[00:00:16] Speaker B: Welcome Back to the NextGen Advent podcast. We're gonna be talking about the staff of Judah and kind of digging in through that. And today I have with me two special guests, and we're gonna just pick this apart together. And so before we get started, can you just go ahead and introduce you. What's your first name and your grade?
[00:00:30] Speaker C: I'm Alex and I'm a sophomore.
[00:00:32] Speaker D: I'm Jake and I'm also a sophomore.
[00:00:34] Speaker B: All right, so we have sophomore and gentlemen in the house with us, and we're gonna be. Yeah, just digging in with us together. And so before we get into the passage, I would love to hear from both of you. What are you most looking forward to about Christmas this year? What do you think, Alex?
[00:00:47] Speaker C: Probably, like, hanging out with family.
[00:00:49] Speaker B: Does, like, family come over or just kinda like the family that usually lives in your house? Who do you hang out with?
[00:00:53] Speaker C: So my family comes over, and it's really nice seeing all my cousins and stuff.
[00:00:58] Speaker B: So, like the extended family. It's super fun. Jake, how about you? What do you look forward to most about Christmas?
[00:01:02] Speaker D: Actually, this year we get to go to Japan to visit my brother because he works there for Toyota. So I'm really excited to go to Japan.
[00:01:08] Speaker B: I didn't know that. That's amazing. Super fun. That is pretty exciting. All right, so you have big travel plans coming up, and so when you're at Christmas, as we're looking at God with us this season and Advent, what is something at Christmas that you think is way better to do with people than to do by yourself?
[00:01:26] Speaker D: I would have to say building gingerbread houses.
[00:01:28] Speaker B: Hey, that's been an answer that other people have had too. Right. It wouldn't not nearly be as funny if you just sat at the table, like, building it by yourself.
[00:01:34] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:01:35] Speaker B: What do you think, Alex?
[00:01:36] Speaker C: By, like, wrapping gifts?
[00:01:39] Speaker B: Oh, that's true. I do not like wrapping gifts by myself. I get very distracted and it's not good. So. Yep, that's definitely true. All right, and so here's another question as we kind of center on and think about God with us. When you think about the fact that God is with you, how do you imagine that, like, in your mind? Like, do you. Where. Where is. And what is he thinking about you?
[00:01:59] Speaker C: I feel like he's, like, kind of a spirit watching over me.
[00:02:03] Speaker B: Okay, so he's, like, near you?
[00:02:04] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:02:06] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:02:06] Speaker D: I kind of think of him as, like, a cloud, and that kind of follows me around. It's kind of almost Like a thought bubble.
[00:02:12] Speaker B: Yeah, I've had shadow. I've had thought bubble. I like those. Right, so you're like. It's like a presence. Right. And doesn't necessarily have, like, a form. Although we do know that in his risen form, he has a body, but he's with us. Right. And he's, like, here together. Would you say thought bubble, like, does that. Would you say because he, like, affects the way you're thinking or, like, he infiltrates in that, or what do you think about that?
[00:02:31] Speaker D: Yeah, I feel like some of my actions and thoughts are based off, like, what he would do or what he would think I should do in that moment. So it's kind of just. He helps my mind process sometimes.
[00:02:42] Speaker B: Yeah, I like that. All right, so let's dig into our passage for today. Our entire passage for today is Genesis, chapter 49, verses 8 through 14. But I'm gonna have the gentleman just go ahead and read verse 10 for us.
[00:02:53] Speaker C: The scepter will not depart from Judah or the staff from between his feet until he whose right it comes and the obedience of the peoples belongs to him.
[00:03:03] Speaker B: All right, so how do you go from one old man to an entire nation? This is probably what Abraham wondered but never doubted. Abraham had Isaac, Isaac had Jacob. Jacob had a bunch of kids, and those sons became the beginning of a civilization. The Hebrews, who were Abraham's people, eventually made their way to Egypt and flourished to the point that over the course of seven, several hundred years, they became a large nation. As Jacob. Do we have any Jacobs in the house? Oh, yeah, we do. Was near death. He gave out blessings and directions from God. One of these blessings pointed to a path from which a Messiah would arise. From the house of Judah would come a ruler. It is important to understand this history because the Bible is explaining how Abraham went from being one old man with one son to becoming a nation that shows the world the love of God. He would bless the world through the Hebrews from the lineage of Judah.
If you read Genesis 38, you'll find out that Judah wasn't always a good guy. In fact, he was a despicable man at times. However, Judah chose a path of forgiveness and making things right. When he was found out. God used Judah's poor choices for redemption.
The path from Abraham to Jesus is filled with people who made poor choices. This is the beautiful thing about God's plan. Jesus is the answer to sin and shame. We are called to obey Christ because of what he has done. All right, gentlemen, let's talk through this.
When have you seen God redeem and use a person with a checkered past like Judah.
[00:04:34] Speaker C: So Rahab, she was a prostitute and she used to do like bad things, but because of her position of where she was, she was able to help people and used God to help people. And God gave her a spot in his kingdom.
[00:04:55] Speaker B: Yep. And in the lineage of David and then therefore Jesus. And so yeah, she was like literally known. That's how we introduced her or introduced to her right. For making continually poor choices and not doing things according to the way that God designed. And yet at the same time, the Lord's like, hey, you're brave and you actually hid my spies. And that is so important for us being able to advance our nation that I'm going to give you this very special spot. Jake, how about you? Anyone with a pet checked past?
[00:05:21] Speaker D: Actually, there is this one speaker that really influenced me. It's Dr. Christopher Yuan. He had a very, very dark and tragic past as things relating to really dark and bad things that no one should ever go into. But God used those things and made his life turn around. And now he's a really renowned Christian speaker and author that really has influenced me and a lot of other people through his writing.
[00:05:47] Speaker B: Absolutely right. And you see that like the Lord took His heart, got ahold of it. Right. And was able to take that darkness and turn it into light and actually able to turn him in a completely different direction to be able to shape his story. And like you said, now he's shaping the stories of other people. And so this is something that we see continually is that the Lord is able to take people's stories and when they choose to put their faith and trust in him and to build his kingdom instead of the kingdom of their own, he's like, yes, that's what we're going to do. And I can do that through you. Why is it so important for us to be reminded that God keeps His promises?
[00:06:18] Speaker D: It's just kind of a thing to have in the back of your mind always. It's kind of like a little pop up reminder that he will fulfill a promise. It may not be today, it could be next week, tomorrow, or maybe even years from now. But it's just nice to know that someday it will come true. And through this, it kind of shows that we need to have patience with him since he had patience with us. But he will eventually keep his promise and fulfill what he says.
[00:06:47] Speaker B: Right. And like God is a God who keeps his promises. It's one like promise Keeper. Right. He's a promise maker He's a promise keeper. And there's lots of people in our lives who make us promises, and they're not always able to fulfill them. And so when we see that the Lord is able to step into our stories and he's someone who actually fulfills what he says he's going to do, that builds our trust in him and it enables us to be able to be like, yeah, I can trust you with my story and see what's going on. And so as we look far back, kind of like in your own spiritual lineage, we were talking about this a little bit before we started recording. What do you see about who led you to Christ? And how far back in your family would you say that you see that these people love Jesus? What do you think, Alex?
[00:07:25] Speaker C: So my dad is like, the highest in my lineage.
[00:07:31] Speaker B: Yep. He's the start.
[00:07:33] Speaker C: Yeah. Cause my grandparents, they did not, like, even think about Jesus. So my dad is the one who led me to Jesus.
[00:07:43] Speaker B: Yeah. And so he was like, the start. Right. Like, he's the start of a whole new chapter in your family to be able to be like, no, we are a family, and my house is going to serve like the Lord. Yeah. It's a big deal. Jay, how about you tell us about your spiritual lineage?
[00:07:54] Speaker D: I know that my grandpa raised my dad in a very Christian household. And then I guess, obviously my dad accepted Christ and put that legacy through our family. I was actually led through my parents and also the use of Awana. And I remember Sparks and Cubbies being very influential into how I accepted Christ.
[00:08:15] Speaker B: I was through Awana, too. I was an awana cubby when I accepted Jesus. And so I do. I think that's one of my favorite things I love about Awana is just that it gives us so much of God's truth and gives us these opportunities to be able to process it with other people and just watch how the Lord works His Holy Spirit right in our hearts, like, call us to Himself. And so you have your second generation, Alex. Right. And Jake, you're a third generation, basically, as you begin to see, like, that spiritual lineage of who led you to Christ and how that kind of keeps going down and down. And so we begin to see just the hand of God's grace in your life as he's following through with his promises to continue to draw people to Himself and to make a people for himself. Right. And so I would love for one of you just to close us in prayer and just thank God for what he has done, what he's doing, what he's going to do. And, yeah, close us in prayer for today. And I just pray that our listeners at home that you guys will just take time to process your own spiritual lineage and what it is and of who God led you to Christ with and maybe just even reach out and thank them and just continue to make much of Jesus as we watch him draw people to himself.
[00:09:20] Speaker D: God, thank you for how you brought me into Jesus. Thank you for giving others the boldness to share your good news. Help me to do that for other people. Amen.
[00:09:29] Speaker B: Amen. All right, gentlemen, can you close our podcast by wishing our listeners Merry Christmas together?
[00:09:34] Speaker D: Merry Christmas.
[00:09:35] Speaker B: All right. Merry Christmas. We'll be back again with you tomorrow. Thank you.
[00:09:53] Speaker A: Starry shining in angels sing our Savior born the hope he brings in a manger the king has come God with us the Holy one Through the silence light breaks through a tiny child A promise true in the stillness heaven's nearest God with us we shall not fear he is with us Merry Christmas.
God is with us.
Merry Christmas.
He is with us.
Merry Christmas.
God is with us.
Merry Christmas.
