Midweek Meeting for this Week JUNE 3-9 2024 (United States)

Hello friends, in this video, i’m presenting a quick review about the sections and assigments for this week,
with some practical advice and reminders, in a respectfull and lovely way, for you our dear brothers and sisters,
we love you so much, and truly appreciate your visit to our channel. May Jehovah bless you for your hard work,
for this time we have some of this:
APPLY YOURSELF TO THE FIELD MINISTRY for this week, 3. Bible Reading
(4 min.) Ps 45:1-17 (th study 5)
APPLY YOURSELF TO THE FIELD MINISTRY
4. Starting a Conversation
(3 min.) INFORMAL WITNESSING. (lmd lesson 1 point 3)
5. Talk
(5 min.) ijwbv 26​—Theme: What Is the Meaning of Psalm 46:10? (th study 18)

warm welcome to our midweek meeting our life and Ministry meeting we have an excellent program prepared for us uh this evening uh starting with treasures from God’s word we’ll be discussing a very special event that of our Heavenly Royal Wedding uh Christ and his bride the 144,000 will learn this evening when it will take place and what blessings will all be benefiting from under apply yourself to the field ministry will continue to refine our skills our conversational skills for the ministry we’ll see this evening how we can start a conversation in a informal setting additionally we’re going to see how we can explain the Bible’s view of homosexuality under living as Christians we’ll continue with the topic of weddings but this time we’re going to be focusing on a key ingredient that makes a happy marriage and we’ll find out what that key ingredient is we’ll have a local needs talk with the theme are you prepared for times of distress and then we’ll conclude our meeting with our congregation uh Bible study finishing our discussion of Peter’s uh fine example so to begin our meeting we invite brother Andrew Rodriguez who has prepared the first talk on the treasures from God’s word notice a them a theme a song about the marriage of a king brother Rodriguez you have our attention [Music] what type of music do you enjoy listening to is it classical is it Rock maybe a little bit of jazz maybe something with the beat but why do we listen to music or whatever it is you know we all listen to music but we listen to different types why it’s because music makes us happy it it makes our life enjoyable but because we all have different taste in music it makes it hard to agree what type of music is the best and even harder to decide if there’s one particular song that is the best song ever but what if I told you that there was one song that makes everybody happy what if there was one song what would you say is the message of that song and why can we say that this song makes people happy turn in your Bibles to Psalm 45 and we’re going to look at a song that has this tone Psalm 45 and what do you think the song is about well in the superscription of the 45th Psalm it tells us it says a song of love in fact that’s what most music is about it’s about love and it’s no different here but just like in every love song there’s a couple different parties involved so who is it well look at verse one there it says my song is about a king so here we have the first party in this love song who is this King we’ll look down at verse two he’s described in some detail you are the most handsome of the sons of men gracious speech flows from your lips how is he described this King he’s described as being handsome in appearance and being gracious with his speech so who is this King depicted depicting was depicting none other than Jesus Christ why can we say that well do you recall when Jesus was on the earth after someone may have had a conversation with him how did they feel some people’s hearts were moved in fact it might be described best there was an officer that replied never has any man spoken like this yes this King in this verse is none other than Jesus himself but that moves us to our next party who’s the one that’s involved in this love song look down to verse 13 and 14 of the 45th Psalm who’s the bride it says inside the palace the King’s Daughter is absolutely magnificent her clothing is adorned with gold she will be brought to the king in richly woven garments so now we have our second party to this love song It’s a daughter who is she well did you notice there in verse 13 who she’s described as being related to it says that that she is the King’s Daughter so who is this King well it’s not the same King that we just read about in verse one he wouldn’t be marrying his own daughter but you see this King is a different one the Bible describes Jehovah as being the king of Eternity so that’s the king that we’re speaking about in verse 13 so then if Jehovah is the king in this verse who’s the daughter well in the Bible in chap Romans chapter 8 The 100 144,000 or the anointed are described as being children of God they’re described as being adopted by him so knowing that who is this King’s Daughter it’s the 144,000 so what’s happening in this scenario in verse 13 and 14 well as shown in the picture she’s being brought into a marriage with the king with Jesus Christ in heaven and it’s appropriate that they’re describing her as absolutely magnificent adorned with gold richly woven garments because this Arrangement is taking place in heaven and the Bible often describes Heaven as one of the most beautiful things we can imagine you see just like um this or I’m sorry so when is this wedding happening so we found out who is getting married it’s Jesus and it’s the anointed as we should see in the picture but when is this wedding actually happening well let’s look back up at verse 3 and 4 verse 3 and 4 of the 45th Psalm Jesus here is described in a s certain event that has to take place it says strap your sword on your side oh mighty one in your dignity and your Splendor and in your Splendor go on to Victory ride in the cause of Truth and humility and righteousness and your right hand will accomplish all inspiring things so can you think of what this two verses is describing it sounds like it’s describing war did you see there in verse three Jesus is strapping on his sword and what is he doing in verse four riding in the cause of Truth and righteousness and that’s just what this verse is talking about Jesus is going off to wage war he’s getting rid of everybody who opposes truth or who opposes Jehovah this started in 1914 when he ousted Satan from the heavens and in the future he’s going to get rid of false religion and then what else at the battle of Armageddon he’s going to rid this world of Satan’s system how is he going to do that well did you notice in verse four at the end how these things are described it says and your right hand will accomplish all inspiring things can you think of how Armageddon in the Great Tribulation are described it says that those who don’t serve Jehovah will be in fear yes this time we will see all inspiring things happening just like when we have to get a wedding venue ready for a wedding we go there we clean it up it’s the same thing that Jesus is doing he’s going through he’s cleaning house so that the wedding that we looked at will be a success so now we’ve talked about who’s getting married we’ve talked about when this wedding is happening what is the result of the wedding turn over to Psalm 46 and we’re going to be looking at verse 8 and n I’m sorry 8-1 Psalm 46 8-11 notice the results of this wedding it says come and witness the activities of Jehovah how he has done astonishing things on the earth he is bringing an end to Wars throughout the Earth so what’s going to be the result of this wedding that we see it’s going to be the best wedding ever it’s going to mean peace on the earth until illustrate have you ever gone to a wedding what do you do after the ceremony where you go you celebrate you dance you have food you enjoy each other’s company the wedding that’s described here not just people who were invited but everybody in the heavens and on the earth will be able to enjoy the results of this wedding in fact it says that Jehovah is bringing an end to Wars throughout the Earth so what’s the lesson for us today well do you recall in verse 40 or in psalm 45 and verse one if we look back there the psalm described how he felt about this verse he said my heart is stirred by something good what did he mean when he used that word stirred is stirred well the Hebrew verb translated is stirred originally meant to Bubble Up or boil in other words the psalmist was excited to tell people about this marriage about this wedding and about the good news of the Kingdom to illustrate have we ever heard a song that we really enjoy maybe the melody and the lyrics just hit us right in the heart what do we do well maybe we tell somebody that we know hey I heard the best song we sent it to them you got to listen to it I’ve been listening to it all day why do we get so excited about the music it’s because we enjoy it and we want others to benefit from it as well well in a similar sense when we learned about the kingdom message were we not moved we wouldn’t you say we felt like the psalmist where our heart was stirred so today when we look at this picture that’s in our workbook is our heart stirred to proclaim the good news about Jesus what stirs us or helps or makes us boil when we look at depictions of the new world is it the fact that there’s going to be peace perfect health being reunited with ones that we’ve lost in death is it the fact that there’s going to be plenty of food and we’re not going to to have to work so hard to provide for our family or maybe it’s the fact that everybody in this picture is dwelling together in unity no borders no disagreements among nationalities but everyone will serve Jehovah in peace how can we imitate the psalmist well we can make every effort we can to preach to ones about the kingdom telling them at work at school in the door to-door work or what about making a concentrated effort to offer Bible studies why would this be effective well it’s because in these Bible studies we can get in depth with the householder about the kingdom show them videos of what it’ll be like in this way we can imitate the psalmist and boil over with excitement so what did we learn today well we learned that there’s going to be a marriage in heaven between Jesus and the 144,000 after the battle of Armageddon and it’s going to mean blessings for everybody in heaven and on the earth and we can be zealous like the psalmist by proclaiming the kingdom message at every opportunity have you ever wondered what this Psalm sounded like maybe when played well perhaps one day in the new world we’ll get to meet the person that wrote this Psalm and he’ll even play it for us wouldn’t that be exciting but in the meantime may we take every opportunity to tell others about the good news of the kingdom and to describe to them a song about the marriage of a king [Music] thank you brother Rodriguez for describing that beautiful event and what it will result of this Union I was actually going to was waiting for a song to play right from your iPad too but thank you very very nicely done we’ll moving right along to our spiritual Gem and we have brother laugh Danel who will take care of this part you’ve been you’ve been mining this your chance to show us what you found in consideration of our Bible reading material Psalm 45-47 we have this first question based on Psalm 4516 and what we’re going to do is we’re going to ask the question you can read the verse and then give us your comment what does this verse teach us about life in Paradise [Music] sister right here please and thank you for visiting we’re glad to be here uh 2 Peter 3:13 but I’ll read the scripture Psalms 45:16 what does this verse teach us about life in Paradise well 1 Peter 3 uh 3:13 it tells us that there’s going to be a new heavens and a new Earth that we that that’s awaiting according to Jehovah’s promise to us and in these righteous righteous his uh servants will dwell so we won’t see any corrupt organizations uh we won’t see them like we see them today uh they’ll be gone and then 2 Corinthians 14:33 also reminds us and this is the last one I’ll comment on it reminds us that Jehovah is not a god of disorder uh he’s a god of peace and we can see all this uh today in the congregations we see the peace and unity of our brothers worldwide excellent comment thank you uh brother will guess so over the years I’ve visited with some and even felt this way myself at times had a little punch list of stuff I wanted to do in the new world I’m going to head right off after Armageddon and I’m going to go do this list of things well maybe we want to back those expectations off just a little bit because this verse helps us understand that the new world is going to be very organized we’re going to proceed with Jehovah’s plans as he’s drawn them up and of course we’ll have opportunity to enjoy ourselves uh experience new things but it will all be done in an orderly fashion and who knows brother Dan you may end up with a prince assignment you’ll be very busy one more brother cek and this is going to be a very organized Earth as was mentioned and a company is only good as its owner and its managers and we’re going to have the best owner Jesus working with in Jehovah working with some of the best managers or the 144,000 Immortal Angels so we can only imagine how good and wonderful the the new world is going to be thank you by the way in the research guide I found a very interesting comment from the June 1st 2006 Watchtower you may want to look at that later let’s go on and see what spiritual gems from this week’s Bible reading you’d like to share sister Roma I appreciated the verse in Psalm 461 where it says God is our refuge and strength a help that is readily found in times of distress and I appreciated um in the research guide the Watchtower March 15 2008 um it correlated that with the scripture found in 1 Corinthians 10:13 where it says God is faithful and he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear but along with the Temptation he will also make the way out in order for you to be able to endure it and then it says Jehovah May maneuver matters to remove our adversity or he may give us the strength we need to endure it either way we are helped so it’s so comforting to know that no matter what Jehovah will help us in any situation lovely comment Katie thank you let’s go to zoom in the maresi home uh Psalm 45 uh speaks of Jesus as being God’s King going on to Victory accomplishing our inspiring things with sharp arrows piercing the hearts of the King’s enemy now prophetically this piercing will be earthwide throughout the entire Earth Jeremiah’s prophecy y foretells that those slain by Jehovah in that day will be from one end of the Earth clear to the other end of the Earth however God’s King is so careful so specific that somehow he was able to destroy all enemies worldwide without harming even one tiny little hair on the heads of all those who serve Jehovah thank you Bob that’s fascinating certainly uh sister sa Hill Psalm 45:16 reads your sons will take the place of your forefathers you will appoint them as princes in all the Earth the inside book said in addition to Christ in the 144,000 ruling from Heaven Jesus will appoint princely representa this on Earth carrying out his Direction and Christ will resurrect his Earthly forefathers who were key men Abraham Isaac Jacob and others who will become his sons and Lead all of us in the new um system of things under Christ’s Direction so the way this way Christ’s rulership will extend to all the Earth because in in addition to his uh follow Christ forefathers he will appoint many many of you Elders on the earth to be princes on the earth I I especially like that point about how Jesus forefathers would become his sons too that’s a fascinating fascinating thought sister guson Psalms 463 and 4 contrast two very different types of water the waters in verse three Roar foam over and they cause distress and this can refer to tragic conditions that can come upon us like a tidal wave sometimes but verse four speaks of a river the streams of which make the city of God Rejoice so Jehovah is offering us living water which are his Provisions for our everlasting life and a complete release from any pain and suffering that we’re feeling now thank you sister [Music] reads um my gem isn’t about a particular verse but more about a chapter um a fun fact Psalm 46 it says in the beginning that it’s according to the alamoth style and so in the glossery it explains that that’s a musical term that means maidens or young women so it’s most likely that it’s talking about young women singing this song with a soprano voice and just something that was supposed to be sung or executed at a higher register so fun to think about when we’re reading it nice nice research your name starts with a B you’re from Delaware you’re here on no back up Caleb on the aisle the brother name starts with a B you’re from Delaware you’re on a six- we assignment at walkill brother B um I just thought it was interesting to note in the in the news today that there’s an increase in geopolitical tensions around the world driving a fundamental uh rearmament Up Cycle uh which is expected to last for the next de decade billions of dollars being spent on rearming all of these nations so more armaments are being used now and being bought now and that’s why nice and reassuring to focus on Psalm 468 and9 because it talks about how Jehovah will dismantle the entire Mur Machinery of war first he’s going to take away the causes the reasons the divisions and then he’s going to take all the weapons out of commission yeah very very encouraging our brother please hear up against the wall from Indonesia I don’t know my names but I know geography okay is Jesus Christ handsome what we answer Psalm 452 mention regarding Jesus uh regarding someone is the most handsome but uh the Bible actually doesn’t describe the physical look of Jesus Christ how handsome he is but of course as because he is a perfect man he must be handsome but what makes the most important thing which is actually he is handsome from inner side uh what the most important thing is integrity and loyalty to Jehovah especially when he preached to the people the way he preached he used elegant words captivating words to refresh people even the officers who want to uh catch him cannot catch him because he said the officer never has a man spoken like this man so what we learned yeah we try to uh heartly strive to imitate Jesus to refresh our brother and sister to comfort him and also when we preach we try to use elegant words thank you lovely comment friends we enjoyed your comments very much and we look forward to your research next week thank you brother Lany and friends for your beautiful gems and your expressions of Faith very encouraging to hear we’ll move now to our Bible reading and brother Caleb Ramirez has prepared to read for us if you want to open your Bibles or follow his reading in Psalms 45 he’ll be reading verses 1-1 17 for the r to the director set to the Lilies of the sons of Kora masil a song of love my heart is stirred by something good I say my song is about a king my tongue be may my tongue be the stylist of a skilled copyist you are the most handsome of the sons of men gracious speech flows from your lips that is why God has blessed you forever strap your sword on your side oh mighty one in your dignity and your Splendor and in your Splendor go on to Victory ride in the cause of Truth and humility and righteousness and your right hand will accomplish a inspiring things your arrows are sharp making peoples fall before you they pierce the hearts of the king’s enemies God is your throne forever and ever the scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of UPR righteousness you loved righteousness and you hated wickedness that is why God your God has anointed you with the oil of exaltation more than your companions all your garments are scented with myrrh and Alwood in Casa from Grand Ivory Palace stringed instruments make you rejoice the daughters of the king are among your ladies of honor the Royal consort has taken her stand at your right hand adorned in Gold of ofur listen oh daughter pay attention and incline your ear forget your people and your father’s house and the King will long for your beauty for he is your lord so bow down to him the daughter of Ty will come with a gift the wealthiest of men will seek your favor inside the palace the King’s Daughter is absolutely magnificent her clothing is adorned with gold she will be brought to the king in richly W woven garments the Virgin companions following her are brought be in before you they will be brought with rejoicing and Joy they will enter into the king’s Palace your sons will take place of your forefathers you will appoint them as princes over all the earth I will make your name known throughout all generations to come that is why people will praise you forever and ever excellent reading we appreciate your good preparation with that it was very evident that uh you prepared well and that’s very important when we’re reading from the Bible especially when we’re reading from the stage or we’re in a Ministry want to bring the uh reading to life right we wanted to give give it meeting and we need to understand it and that’s what you did you were actually working on study number um five sorry I was on four which is accurate reading and you did an excellent job with that uh I noticed that um you were doing two things one you had very good modulation your pronunciation was clear you were looking at all the punctuation marks you did very well with that and not only that but you were using good gestures um using body language and your hands uh to give life to your reading so thank you for your good preparation and your fine example with that we’re going to move uh now to our next section of our meeting apply yourself to the field Ministry and to help us with uh starting a conversation notice the setting and form witnessing we’re going to invite sister Megan Vickers and Susan Ward who will give us a demonstration of how to do that wow I cannot believe that he spent $20 on just those few items that’s just what I was thinking about I’m afraid of what mine’s going to cost Cy prices are just skyrocketing do you think they’re ever going to inflation’s ever going to stop I really haven’t thought about it but what I’m concerned about is China oh really in what way well I heard that they can take over the global economy and they have a massive Army wow yeah that is really concerning but do you think that’s really going to happen Well after going through the pandemic I Feel Like Anything Can Happen yeah man I agree I mean I wasn’t expecting a world pandemic to happen I was actually planning on traveling to Ireland in March 2020 but everything changed um thinking about change do you think a change in government could be good well do you mean like China or like with the election I actually was thinking about a different option I believe in a promise found in the Bible that God’s going to establish a kingdom here on Earth it’s actually in Daniel 244 I have it here it says in those days in the days of those kings the god of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed and this Kingdom will not not be passed on to any other people it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms and it alone will stand forever I’ve never heard that before yeah it’s a new thought for a lot of people but did you notice that the scripture said that God’s kingdom will put an end to all other kingdoms and did you notice how long it says that Kingdom would last it’s said forever yeah so what do you think a world governed by a kingdom established by God would be like well I mean I believe in God but I never really thought of him as a king well imagine how life would be under a ruler who not only cares about each individual citizen but also has the power to take care of their needs and then imagine you never have to worry about that ruler being overthrown or replaced by somebody else um that’s the future that God’s promised us doesn’t that sound like a good change that would be pretty amazing I agree well it looks like you’re up next I won’t keep you but I wanted to give you this QR code it’s to a free website um it’s to jw.org and maybe you can check it out when you’re looking for some good news in instead of the bad news okay great thank you excellent demonstration sister Vickers and thank you sister Ward for helping with that uh we really appreciate this fun example that you gave us here um of this taking advantage of informal witnessing in any setting and one of the things that we always have with us is our cell phone right and in our cell phone we have all the tools that we KN need to do informal witnessing but the important thing that sister vicer has actually demonstrated to us here is that we need to be flexible right we might have a theme in mind but we need to be observant and this is what she did she know she was online ready to pay started talking about prices and picked a theme that was common and that allowed her to share something with her um and she directed her to our website she talked about the kingdom she really painted a nice scene of what that would mean to us being under Jehovah’s rulership so thank you for that fine example uh one of the things that she was working on was um lesson number one point number three and there it says be flexible do not insist on starting conversations on a topic you had in mind rather start with something that others are thinking about and what what can we do um so that we know what those topics are or those themes it says there it gives us two things it says what what is in the news and what are my neighbors co-workers or classmates talking about so we want to think about our territory we have territory that’s specific to us whether we’re at work and our youths at school uh so we got to look for opportunities that we have to be show keep showing that flexible attitude and take advantage of our contact cards to direct friends to our website so thank you sister Vickers we’ll move along to our talk notice the theme of our talk what is the meaning of Psalm 4610 we’re going to have brother goodwine explain that to us you can time with me to Psalms 46:10 um uh Psalms 46:10 reads given and know that I am God I will be exalted among the Nations I will be exalted in the earth what does this verse mean well it means God wants and urges everyone to worship him and to recognize his right to rule over Earth some Bible translations render the first part of the statement to as be still however the Hebrew phrase translated give in and know that I am God why is the that so important because it’s an exhortation from Jehovah God himself to people of all Nations urging them to stop opposing him and recognize he is only worthy of worship as you may already know God urges everyone to worship him and to recognize his right to rule over the Earth he wants his people to come to know him but does that mean he wants us to worship him in a forceful and unwilling manner no for God gave us the gift of Free Will and we have that decision to make that choice but why does God want us to worship him a teacher may have a class A teacher may have a class full of students in the room the teacher has many years of experiences of Life wants to help their students to be successful in life now some students either listen or refuse to listen to what the teacher has to say but what is the teacher’s purpose the teacher wants the students to learn and to grow and to be successful in life and to benefit themselves in their own lives similarly Jehovah like that teacher knows about knows better than ourselves by acknowledging his authority and by worshiping him he wants us to live a happy life next we’ll consider the context of Psalms 46:10 what was the context behind this verse one reference called Psalms 4610 a hym celebr ating the power of God the mighty defender of his people when singing Psalm 46 God’s people expressed their trust in Jehovah’s ability to protect and help them it directed attention to his abil ability to put an end to war in a sense Jehovah brought an end to war in Bible times and by protecting his people from enemy Nations and will do so soon in the big bigger scale of the Great Tribulation with the details describing back in Bible times does Jehovah still help his worshippers today yes even in this area we not experiencing War we can face challenges that can be warlike we can whether that’s taking our stand for a faith emotional challenges uh physical challenges as well as health Jehovah can help us to give us the strength friends or encouragement that we need during those challenges in conclusion conclusion by giving Jehovah the opport opportunity to know him he will receive the pure worship he deserves as a result we will have a satisfying life because we give Jehovah the opportunity to know him thank you Kareem uh for explaining that to us in a very simple manner we appreciate how you broke it down it was very informative and very practical uh for us you were working on study uh number 18 informative to your audience and you did a fine job um under the section of uh how we can do this um it says to examine examine your material and ask yourself questions what why when where who and how and you were able to do that in a very simple way and uh you you gave a very practical applications how we can benefit with our our relationship with Jehovah so thank you for doing that job very well done how do you feel now calm relaxed good cuz I’m not I’m not too calm and relaxed right now we’re going to move on to our next um part explaining your beliefs and for this we’ll ask sister coel and Sister Sister Roga to help us with the theme what is your view of homosexuality let’s see how she explains our beliefs of this hey Melissa how’s your morning going so far oh you know it’s going pretty good just finished up that report we were working on last week how’s your morning oh okay you know it’s going good I’m working with the new employee uh training her she’s a fast learner in fact she was actually just telling me about this awesome vacation that she just went on with her partner oh wait I’m sorry I not sure if that bothers you I know you’re a Jehovah yeah yes I am I mean thank you so much for being aware of my feelings I appreciate that but you know just to clarify I I don’t dislike or hate homosexual people but I just can’t approve of their conduct H so exactly what about their conduct can’t you approve of I mean aren’t people entitled to love who they want to love well the Bible makes it clear that God designed sex to be only between a man and a woman who are married to each other when he created Adam and Eve the first man and woman he created the differences between the two Sexes man and woman and in Genesis it said that God created them in His image male and female he created them yeah I mean I know the Genesis account from church um I guess it’s just my church is more uh it promotes more tolerance and freeness of choice so as a Christian shouldn’t we treat all people with respect regardless of their sexual orientation well I mean absolutely the Bible does say honor all men which basically means respect everyone so Jehovah’s Witnesses as Christians also we’re not homophobic we show kindness to all sorts of people including those who choose to live a lifestyle different than what is outlined in the scriptures I mean Jesus said treat others the way you want to be treated okay you make some good points and you know I have noticed that you are pretty kind to everybody in the office but again doesn’t don’t you think your view of homosexuality could encourage prejudice against those who do choose to live an alternate lifestyle um not at all like I said earlier I reject homosexual conduct not the person for example I also choose not to smoke in fact I kind of find the idea gross but suppose you were a smoker and you felt differently I wouldn’t be prejudiced against you for your choice just like you wouldn’t be prejudiced against me for my choice the same principle applies to our view on homosexuality and Jesus didn’t encourage his followers to accept any and all Lifestyles rather he taught that the only way to Salvation is um through him everyone EXC exing faith in him and exercising faith in Jesus means that you’re leaving living your life according to God’s moral code which forbids types of conduct including homosexuality okay I guess that makes sense you make some good points you know I’m just glad that this isn’t going to affect or make any issues in the office um in fact maybe this afternoon if you have a chance maybe you can bring our new employee up to speed on that new report you made oh I’d love to I’ll run by your cubicle around three okay sounds good good perfect excellent job sisters thank you sister coal and sister Roga with to helping us with that demonstration it’s not an easy subject to approach sometimes you did that very tactfully and you were working on lesson number six point number five which has uh balance boldness with tact and caution it says avoid arguing politely end the conversation of the person is unreceptive to the good news or if you feel unsafe that was in the setting here but what I did like from your demonstration was is that when she described her weekend and uh she meant said oh I’m sorry I forgot you’re a Jehovah you didn’t correct her you didn’t say I’m a Jehovah Witness not a Jehovah uh so you kept a good you kept a door open there so that you can witness to her um and you did it very tactfully and you gave very good points on defending and explaining our belief and our view of homosexual uality so that’s very thank you for that example now we’re all prepared for that when we U are faced with to to respond to something similar well how do you guys feel how everybody did tonight with their parts we’re going to move along to our next section of our meeting live living as Christians and to begin this section we’re going to ask all that can to stand so that we can sing together song number 131 titled sing out joyfully while God has yolked Together song 131 [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] la [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] h [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] excellent every time I hear that song I feel like I’m at a wedding and that’s exactly the theme that we have um we invite brother Ryan leaw with the next our next part continue to show affection in your marriage brother leaw you have our attention so just what role does affection play in a happy marriage tonight let’s peer into two Bible accounts in the life of one couple that was married for many years the first Genesis 24 and: 67 it says there after that Isaac brought her that is Rebecca into the tent of Sarah his mother thus he took Rebecca as his wife and he fell in love with her and Isaac found Comfort after the loss of his mother so for just like so many today for Isaac and Rebecca their wedding day was one of the happiest most joyful days of their life but let’s check back in on them more than 30 years later and see if things were still going the same way look now at Genesis 26 and: 8 a scripture referenced in our article here in the workbook we know that uh where Isaac and Rebecca lived things got a little dicey for a while there was a famine a food shortage it was hard for them to survive there so they chose to move to another area and things weren’t safe there e for them so they decided it’d be best if they just pretended to be brother and sister now siblings love each other but notice what happened in Genesis CH 26 verse 8 and verse 9 it says after some time had passed aimc King of the Phil aimc King of the Philistines was looking out of the window and he saw Isaac displaying affection for Rebecca his wife and you’ll notice the footnote it says they were embracing and the nature of this Embrace was such that you notice in verse 9 aimc said you’re not siblings so Isaac and Rebecca they were not afraid to show affection and this was just a demonstration of the fact that they enjoyed a happy marriage this is at a time when they were trying to even hide their status as a married couple they were only willing to go so long uh pretending to be in a platonic relationship with each other so what’s the point well for Isaac and Rebecca their wedding day was one of the happiest days of their life but it wasn’t the only happy day in their life they enjoyed many good days for years after that and a contributing factor was that they continued to show affection for each other so to help us see the important role of showing affection in a happy marriage now we have a nice video that we can watch and some questions that we’ll ask so we can get your comments and feedback on the important role of showing affection in a good marriage [Music] [Applause] [Music] as married couples most of us have been there the day-to-day pace of Life work [Music] distractions can cause us to draw away from our mate emotionally [Music] we begin to talk less distance [Music] ourselves we may feel unappreciated [Music] and even become cold or unkind even our desire for intimacy and affection May cool we may go from loving and [Music] passionate to platonic [Music] roommates what can we do to avoid this an excellent principle we can apply is found at acts 20:35 there is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving but how can we know what to give what actions to take so our mate feels our love and affection the best way to know is simply to ask what what does our mate need some feel loved when they are actively listened to or hear warm expressions of appreciation for others it’s expressions of Love shown through touch or simply quality time others find that helping them with chores and sharing the workload at home makes them feel cherished but whatever the discussion reveals and regardless of our mes [Music] imperfections we want to do what we can to make them feel loved and cared for through the actions they appreciate [Music] yes if we each do all we can to show unselfish love genuine affection will [Music] follow and this is just one of many secrets to a happy [Music] marriage so now why not just take a moment pause the video and ask each other these three questions remember share your honest feelings and when listening don’t be defensive this is simply a chance to openly Express how each of you feels so pause your video now and really [Music] [Applause] talk okay we’re not going to ask those three questions right now we have two other questions instead very nice video too wasn’t it uh a lot of I I could hear you making observations so what may cause marriage mates to become emotion Al distant from each other very interesting question uh sister fiser well sadly as we saw in the video it can just be our busy and stressful schedules that can consume us and make it difficult to be emotionally present yeah there wasn’t a lot of hostility in that video wasn’t a lot of closeness either sister St Hill communication is the best bridge to a happy marriage so if you stop talking to each other really EXP expressing your feelings then you’re in trouble if you keep talking then you are building a strong marriage wow good advice good advice and um uh sister laugh Dany in the back um spending too much time apart um and having other distractions that um you’re enjoying but your mate doesn’t or other interests very nice yeah we saw that demonstrated uh brother Billingsley in the center there yeah Logan’s gotcha they can get quiet when one mate doesn’t know how to express something that’s negative some bad news or a bill that came through uh and also they might be afraid of how the other mate will react uh to that bad news so we can both Maes can also be sure that they don’t overreact uh and also that when they express something negative it’s not with too much negative emotion um but in in the correct balanced way and then the response is also balanced then the communication will flow and something negative can can come out and it doesn’t stay bottled up and they all of a sudden you know don’t talk yeah so there’s a lot of things that can slowly or unintentionally uh put pressure in a marriage but what can marriage mates do to make each other feel loved and cared for sister beam I like the simple statement to just ask them that will show you’re interested and then you’ll have that specific thing that you can do very nice and a sister velia and that scripture there in Acts talks about giving and we know there is a lot more happiness when we give than when we receive so just asking our mate um what do you need from me that I can give to you thank you and uh sister lucis and based on the video I saw a lot of husbands doing dishes and cooking so maybe that’s one area but also that um when we ask um sincerely ask what um areas we can both do to make each other feel that um we love and care for each other we can learn um a lot about the person do they want uh do they appreciate having um active listening do they appreciate expressions of Love do they appreciate those um assistance with daily tasks as being a form of of showing Love Bob will get together and work on our yogurt covered Peppers sorry sister basil looking in that video um they take the time to look at the Bible you might not know which scripture they looking at but they might be the one do not to be irritating your wives so the more they were thinking about that and um the more they gr to a happier couple so they share the things together and then have a happier marriage that way thank you sister basil well we’ve exhausted our time for this part but like Isaac and Rebecca as we saw in the video Don’t let life circumstances Rob your marriage of Joy instead give of your affection generously so that your marriage mate feels special and cared for thank you thank you uh brother leaw for covering that information and for everybody’s comments very much appreciated we’ll move on to our local needs notice the title are you prepared for times of distress we’ll be watching a video um and it was interesting I I just did a quick search on times of distress it basically describes it as a situation in which you are suffering or in great danger and therefore in urgent need of help um and I thought that it was it’s very nice of the organization to provide us these videos and some information so that we can be prepared as a family or as individuals one a disaster dust strike so let’s watch the video and then we’ll read some information from the branch for all of us Jehovah warned that in the last days there would be critical times hard to deal with and there would be food shortages pestilences earthquakes in one place after another and other fearful sights we also contend with wildfire volcanic eruptions destructive storms and man-made disasters as well as an increase of lawlessness civil unrest and War no matter where we live we will likely be affected by some form of disaster whether natural or man-made how can we be prepared first we can prepare spiritually Isaiah 30:15 says your strength will be in keeping calm and showing trust so we need to build and maintain a close relationship with Jehovah and learn to trust in him now we do not expect divine intervention but when we pray during times of distress his powerful Holy Spirit can bring Bible passages back to mind to keep us calm and give us wisdom to make good decisions second we can prepare physically by maintaining a go bag our go bag could include items such as first aid supplies bottled water non perishable food a Bible and other necessary items if possible each household should also have a reasonable reserve of basic supplies at Home in case it is necessary to shelter in place for an extended period of time check what government authorities recommend commend for your [Music] community also we shouldn’t forget to update the elders with our latest contact information if we don’t do so valuable time could be lost in a disaster additionally during Family Worship our family could review the types of disasters that could happen remember emergencies like terrorist attacks and unrest can occur anywhere and without warning so consider what could be done in each situation such as where to meet and how to contact the elders and third we can prepare to help others when they’re experiencing a disaster so what can we expect if a disaster occurs locally if advanced warning of a disaster is given field service group overseers will make sure that everyone in their group is in a safe location IM immediately after a disaster occurs each Field Service Group overseer will contact everyone in his group to learn of their needs it could take time to organize relief assistance especially if supplies are limited so it’s vital that each of us takes steps to prepare follows government warnings and keeps the elders informed of our circumstances Philippians 2:4 States look out for the interests of others when we are prepared more attention can be given to those with the most critical needs and we may be able to help others in our own congregation and nearby even if we’re affected for example in some circumstances Brothers may need a place to stay temporarily perhaps we could open our home and help them or they might need food or basic supplies we could share what we have in other situations our brothers may need help cleaning or repairing their home when it’s safe to do [Music] so but what if a disaster occurs in another area should we travel there to help if help is needed the branch office will assign Brothers to coordinate and assist with relief efforts so the best time to make yourself available is now be before a disaster occurs ask your local Elders for an application then when there’s a need the branch office will know you’re willing to assist and do not forget the power of Prayer by offering prayers in their behalf by volunteering to assist with disaster relief efforts and by contributing donations to the worldwide work we can assist our brothers no we can’t avoid all disasters whether natural or man-made but when we follow the direction from Jehovah’s word and organization our obedience glorifies Jehovah if we prepare spiritually physically and prepare to help others we can take comfort in knowing that Jehovah will bless our efforts to be prepared for a disaster [Laughter] [Music] [Applause] excellent video preparing us notice the information that the branch asked us to read it says as your family considers its disaster preparedness plan please ensure that the secretary has upto-date contact information for you and your and your emergency contact also we have repeatedly seen good results when brothers and sisters are prepared with a GO bags and are ready to obey Direction when they face various kinds of disasters please be sure you have a go bag and review its contents at least once a year when a disaster strikes our brothers and sisters may be displaced from their homes thank you for generously helping those in need such as by providing temporary accommodations or other practical assistance we are very grateful for the hard work of disaster relief committees and others who assist with relief work we share Jehovah view of safety thus those who are called on to help others with cleaning or repairing homes should be guided by the principles in working together safely standards for Theocratic construction and maintenance dc82 if you would like a copy of this helpful document please speak to one of the elders local volunteers who regularly work with a local design construction Department receive valuable training and safety this helps equip them to safely assist others following a disaster therefore we encourage all who can remain actively involved with Kingdom Hall maintenance work well there you have it Brothers um excellent information for us to be prepared when a disaster strikes we learned the three the three things that we can do prepare ourselves spiritually right by maintaining or having a close relationship with Jehovah second to prepare physically right it suggested that we have a go bag ready it also suggested that we had some a reasonable reserve of basic supplies in our home in case we have to shelter in place and then the last to prepare to help others right and we want to follow the organization Direction when we do this and if we do this and we are obedient we’re going to count on Jehovah’s blessing and one of the things that I wanted to highlight was that um in the video we saw that we want to take the opportunity during Family Worship to review our disaster preparedness plan have we done that there’s a good resource that we could use and that is found in our 2017 awake uh titled when a disaster strikes steps that can save lives and if we truly take the time in our family worship or our individual studies to review this information have our go bag ready and our disaster preparedness plan and make sure we update that contact information so the elders can keep in touch with us so please see brother um Aaron if you haven’t updated that contact information both yours and your emergency contact very good now we’ll move on to our last part of our meeting tonight our congregation Bible study and for this we invite Bob lucis well we started the chapter that we’re studying uh finishing this evening a few weeks back and it began with Peter being imprisoned and we knew that uh the Apostle um James was um executed by the same ruler there King Herod Agrippa so we saw the persecution happening and then there was a period of intense praying by the brothers and sisters and then last week the excitement of our uh of the Angel Rel releasing Peter from prison walking him right through the gate well this week we’re going to pick up where we left off so uh we’re going to begin with our lesson this evening in paragraphs 13- 15 and our subheading they saw him and were astonished and we’re going to have brother Hutchings read for us but we’ll first start out with the verses there in acts 122-117 so let’s pay attention in our Bibles 12 through uh verses 12- 17 and then he’ll read uh paragraphs 13- 15 after he realized this he he went to the house of Mary the mother of John who was called Mark where quite a few were gathered together and were praying when he knocked at the door of the Gateway a servant girl named Roa came to answer the call on recognizing the voice of Peter she was so Overjoyed that she did not open the gate but ran inside and reported that Peter was standing at the Gateway they said to her you are out of your mind but she kept insisting that it was so they began to say it is his Angel but Peter remained there knocking when they opened the door they saw him and were astonished but he motioned to them with his hand to be silent and told them in detail how Jehovah had brought him out of the prison and he said report these things to James and the brothers with that he went out and traveled to another place paragraph Peter stood in the dark Street deciding where to go next then he knew living nearby was a Christian woman named Mary evidently a widow of some means Mary owned a house that was large enough to accommodate a congregation she was the mother of John Mark whom the accounts whom the acts account mentions for the first time here and who eventually became like a son to Peter on this night many in that congregation were at Mary’s house despite the late hour praying earnestly no no doubt they were praying for Peter’s release but they were not prepared for Jehovah’s answer Peter knocked at the door of the Gateway which opened into a courtyard in front of the house a servant girl named Roa a common Greek name meaning Rose came to the gate she could not believe her ears it was Peter’s voice instead of opening the gate the excited girl left Peter standing in the street ran back into the house and tried to convince the congregation that Peter was there they said she was mad but she was not the type to be dissuaded she kept asserting that what she knew to be true giving in a bit some suggested that it might be an angel who was representing Peter all the while Peter kept knocking until finally they went to the gate and opened it at that they saw him and were astonished Peter had to quiet their happy hubbub so that he could tell his story direct that it be directed that it be passed along to the disciple James and the brothers and then take his leave before hered soldiers could find him Peter went off to continue his faithful service somewhere safer except for his contribution toward resolving the circumcision issue as mentioned in Acts chapter 15 he exits the account the book of Acts next turns its focus to the work and the travels of the Apostle Paul however we can be sure that Peter strengthened the faith of his brothers and sisters wherever he went when he left that group at Mary’s house they were certainly in a joyful frame of mind thank you very much Kyle for that so as we uh go through our questions here let’s keep in mind our subheading the word of Jehovah went on growing and our a question for paragraphs uh 13- 15 how did the congregation members meeting at Mary’s house react to Peter’s arrival how did they react let’s see sister basil looking at the Widow of the S me Mary owned the house that was large enough to accommodate a congregation but um the the girl her name is is Roa also known as Rose and she was so happy that she heard Peter so she came running out the gate and greet them yeah very good thank you hope sister [Music] Hawkins Daniel D had been supplicating Jehovah about Peter hoping that Jehovah would some kind of way give him some relief but they were not expecting to see him at the door so they were surprised Roa ran back didn’t open the door the other friends in the house thought that she was um crazy or mad because there was no way that Peter could be there at the door yeah we would have a hard time with that let’s see sister um Morales the congregation was so shocked to see Peter that they didn’t believe it finally when they saw they were amazed thank you very much that’s it very good okay our B question to what does the book of Acts shift its focus but what effect did Peter continue to have on his spiritual brothers and sisters what brother augustson so acts switchs over to talking about a lot about what Paul was doing uh Peter probably considering that discretion is the better part of valor decided to not hang around in the city and be seen with Herod hanging about he chose to out and get to some other place where he could continue to engage in spiritual activities and encourage the congregation wherever went to very good thank you brother bogz we know that Peter continued his faithful Service uh he comes up again briefly uh resolving the circumcision issue later on so just because the book of Acts shifts its focus to someone else doesn’t mean that Peter stopped he continued Faithfully uh fulfilling the commission that Jesus had given him uh and continued supporting and strengthening the friends very good thank you for that those comments let’s now go to paragraph 16 sometimes Jehovah gives his servants more than they could possibly expect leaving them almost incredulous with joy that was how Peter’s spiritual brothers and sisters felt that night it is how we may at times feel when we experience Jehovah’s Rich blessings today in the future we will see all of Jehovah’s promises being fulfilled on a global scale the Glorious realities will surely far exceed anything we can imagine today so as long as we remain faithful we can count on many Happy Times ahead so the question for paragraph 16 why is the future sure to bring us many occasion for rejoicing uh let’s see sister [Music] Billingsley uh Jehovah will give us more uh than we would possibly expect because we will see all of Jehovah’s promises being fulfilled on a global scale and those beautiful blessings will surely far exceed anything we can imagine today so as long as we remain faithful to Jehovah and his organization we can count of Many Happy Times ahead very good thank you for that brother LOL going along with sister Billingsley I hate to oversimplify but Jehovah has promised us a beautiful future with only good in the new world and we can even today enjoy some of the provisions that Jehovah has set for us which is just a taste of what we’ll receive in the new world to come and Jehovah’s word is truth so we are sure of these blessings excellent thought um let’s have uh sister a hill sorry the scripture there in Proverbs 10:22 the blessing of Jehovah is what makes rich and he adds no pain with it the study Bible brings out that that blessing means Jehovah’s protection prospering us guiding us giving us success and supplying us with the needs we need for a beneficial outcome so yes the blessing is is huge that Jehovah encompasses everything so if we’re on Jehovah’s side then we have a sure successful future ahead of us yeah thank you very much for that um brother or sister Rish on the uh [Music] Zoom it mentions that sometimes Jehovah answers our prayers in such a way that it seems almost incredulous in fact when we relate the accounts when Jehovah has done this for us it’s enough to bring up Goosebumps or make you cry and that is an incre that’s chears and joy of course uh it’s increas incredibly um amazing when Jehovah does this for us and so we can look forward to that even more we can count on many times like the brother said ah head as we see Jehovah’s hand thank you very much excellent thoughts let’s move on now to paragraphs 17 and 18 but before we read those the angel of Jehovah struck him uh let’s read acts 12:1 [Music] 18-2 now when it became day there was quite a disturbance among the soldiers over what had become of Peter Herod made a diligent search for him and not finding him he interrogated the guards and commanded them to be led off to punishment and he went down from Judea to cesaria and spent some time there now he was in an angry mood against the people of Ty and sidon so they came to him with one purpose and after persuading blastus the man in charge of the king’s household Affairs they sued for peace because their country was supplied with food from the land of the King on a set day Herod clothed himself with royal rment and sat down on the Judgment seat and began giving them a public address then the people who were assembled began shouting a God’s voice and not a man’s instantly the angel of Jehovah struck him because he did not give glory to God and he was eaten up with worms and died but the word of Jehovah went on growing and spreading as for Barnabas and Saul after fully and carrying fully carrying out the relief work in Jerusalem they returned and took along with them John the one also called Mark paragraph Peter’s Escape also astonished Herod but his was no pleasant surprise Herod quickly ordered a thorough search then had Peter’s guards interrogated they were LED off to punishment likely execution Herod a grippa will not be remembered for Compassion or Mercy was this cruel man ever punished agria may have felt humiliated over his failure to execute Peter but he soon found solace for his wounded Pride a diplomatic function arose wherein some of his enemies had to sue for peace and he was no doubt eager to make a speech before a large audience Luke reported that in preparation Herod clothed himself with royal rment the Jewish historians Joseph wrote that herod’s garment was made of silver so that when the light fell upon the king he seemed to be lit up with Glory the pompous politician then gave a speech the fawning crowd cried out a God’s voice and not a man’s so the question for paragraphs 17 and 18 what led up to the flattering of Herod sister brisen well after Peter’s Escape Herod um had the guards interrogated and instead of seeing Jehovah’s intervention in this he instead had the guards punished and then he went to um a diplomatic function where he was praised as a god rather than a man and instead of uh having humility he um accepted that praise very good thank you for that good sum up paragraph there and sister Gus in [Music] it’s interesting too in the box that we studied earlier um talking about the upbringing of Herod how he observed so closely Jewish law and traditions and familiarized himself with God’s law so he should have known in the back of his head this is not praise that belongs to me especially how God feels about this but he made no effort to counteract what the crowd was saying but he was obviously drinking it and um certainly he was given an opportunity to he did not take that opportunity and he got punished for it thank you very much yeah we’re going to see about that a little bit later uh let’s now have paragraphs 19 and 20 [Music] read such Glory belonged to God and God was watching Herod had a chance to avoid disaster he could have rebuked the crowd or could at least have disagreed with them instead he became a vivid illustration of the proverb pride is before a crash instantly the angel of Jehovah struck him causing that puffed up egomaniac to suffer a gruesome death Herod was eaten up with worms and died Josephus too noted that Agrippa was stricken suddenly and added that the king concluded that he was dying because of accepting the flattery of the crowd Josephus wrote that agria lingered for 5 days before he expired sometimes it may seem that ungodly people get away with all manner of WI wickedness that should not surprise us since the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one still Faithful Servants of God are sometimes troubled when evil people seem to escape Justice that is one reason why accounts such as this one are comforting in effect we see Jehovah stepping in reminding all his servants that he is a lover of Justice sooner or later his justice will prevail thank you the a question now for paragraphs 19 and 20 why was Herod punished by Jehovah uh brother [Music] lard because he was a puffed up egomaniac I love the way it said that he was so into himself he could have rebuked the crowd such Glory that they were giving to him belongs only to Jehovah and um he was looking for it here he is is all dressed up as it said in the last paragraph probably with clothes made of silver so the sun hit him and he was there with all his Pomp and glory and Jehovah took care of him yep he sure did uh brother C just looking just looking at the timing of when Herod was living he remembered when Jesus would have walked around he remembered the story that may have followed after the Earth shook when Jesus passed away he knew the power of God but yet he was still blinded by his own Pride um so understanding that this is it can really blind a person and we see it so much in political events today and how Jehovah sees it so even though there’s a lot going on even though a person can be evil and being a a tool of Satan that it doesn’t completely get by and that it’s just a short time until it’s all taken care of by Jehovah yeah very good uh brother fiser I was thinking a lot of times today pride is seen as something that’s maybe doesn’t have consequences but in this case Jehovah really showed us I like the point there that Josephus made the historian that uh Agrippa was clear it was even clear to him he had to admit that this came from Jehovah just because of the way it happened obviously he was feeling fine right then and then all of a sudden he wasn’t so what a vivid account excellent that was the thought I was thinking of earlier very good um sister gipson Josephus mentioned that herro was eaten up with round worms and just a fun fact about them they can grow to be as thick as a pencil in 15 Ines long and female round worms may lay up to 200,000 eggs every day so when Luke said that Herod was eating up with worms it was very literal yeah that that paints a picture uh brother laugh Danny I don’t think I can outdo that but the end note the end note at the end of uh paragraph 19 talks about vomiting up words wor worms I mean and and and sister gusterson’s comment about the size and dimension it tells us don’t try and steal the glory of Jehovah yeah that’s true very good all right so let’s go to our our B question now and we’re going to have um sister Mahan first read Psalm [Music] 33:5 he loves righteousness and Justice the Earth is filled with Jehovah’s loyal love thank you very much what Comfort may we find in the account of Herod a grip’s sudden demise uh let’s see sister [Music] fle accounts such as this one are comforting because we see Jehovah stepping in reminding all his servants that he is a lover of Justice yeah very good um sister uh [Music] Austin throughout modern times there have been ones like Herod who have stood up in opposition to Jehovah’s people and you know um taking the lead in persecuting us but um we know when Jehovah acts he does so with style and sometimes even does so with [Music] worms yeah I don’t know if you can put the two in one sentence which you just did uh sister def Francis we have to remember too um as first John 519 brings out that the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one so sometimes um the faithful servants May sometimes think that these evil ones are getting away with it but we know Jehovah will have that justce soon and he doesn’t let anything Escape him very good excellent thought um sister cace I love this first sentence that such Glory belong to God and God was watching this may be hard for us when there’s so much Injustice and wrong in the world it’s hard for us to sit still to stay quiet but remembering just a simple point that someone so much more powerful than us is seeing this Jehovah is watching he can do so much more than we can his Justice his destruction will be more than we will ever amount to so this is a comforting thought when we feel like we need some justice in the world how does he feel after watching this time after time yeah very good excellent uh brother of wein righ and so it’s as we notice the whole world’s lighing in the power of the wicked one well Satan wanted the glory that belonged to Jehovah and as we can see Satan still has some time left however Herod he accepted or agria accepted the glory that belonged to Jehovah and Jehovah allowed some time to pass so he could come to see who really the glory belonged to so we know it’s only a matter of time as the paragraph closes sooner or later his justice will prevail so we know it’s just a matter matter of time before Satan will meet the same demise as heard excellent comment thank you for that let’s have our last paragraph read There Brother Hutchings 21 this account concludes with an even more encouraging lesson the word of Jehovah went on growing and spreading this progress report on the expansion of the preaching work May remind us of the way that Jehovah has blessed the same work in modern times clearly the record contained in Acts 12 is not primarily about the death of one Apostle and The Escape of another it is about Jehovah and his thwarting of Satan’s attempts to crush the Christian congregation and to quell its zealous preaching work those attacks failed just as all such schemes must fail on the other hand those who side with Jehovah and Jesus Christ are part of a work that will never fail is that not an encouraging thought what a privilege we have to help spread the word of Jehovah today thank you Kyle excellent reading what is the primary lesson contained in Acts CH 12 and why may it Comfort us today um Sister Walker well in in this chapter we see that even though uh the apostle Peter was I mean the Apostle James James was put to death and um the Apostle Peter was put into prison these were attempts by Satan to um crush the preaching work and to um destroy the Christian congregation but yet that all failed and so it helps us to see that even today we still have that same work to do and um that work will never fail either with Jehovah’s backing excellent excellent thought [Music] uh let’s see let’s have um I can’t really see your face I think oh there you are um sister right in the middle there in the back sorry I forgot your name slips me right now and um as was said we have that U wonderful promise um at Isaiah 54 that no weapon formed against you uh will have any success so just say um Jehovah thwarted uh Satan’s attempts we know that anybody who’s on Jehovah’s side we don’t have to worry because um any attempts against us will never fail so we have that wonderful uh hope and a promise excellent thank you sister Harris um uh sister oh go ahead I’m sorry I for I don’t know how I forgot your name just right up here Logan just a little bit further there you go and this is comforting because it’s taking place today we can see and in Russia when they banned us and we came out of the ban with more witnesses than there were before and then they banned us again that’s us like them trying to put Peter in prison again and he escaped again so we can see what’s going to happen when especially when Jehovah comes to bring his rule over all the Earth thank you so much excellent excellent comment um brother Bess my takea away from this lesson was sometimes it can seem like it’s Satan versus the Christian congregation and we might feel discouraged by reports that we hear around the world of the persecution our brothers are suffering but we have to remember that it’s actually Satan versus Jehovah and we know that the outcome of that is fixed in stone there there is no other outcome Jehovah will win so it may be a period of time we have to wait but Jehovah will prevail excellent that was my sum up thought um so yeah that’s what we see as our the theme of our lesson is the word of Jehovah went on growing nothing can stop Jehovah’s purpose thank you all for your very fine comments this evening and we’ll give our attention now back to our chairman [Music] thank you brother luiis and all those who participated with the your comments and those that were tied in by Zoom as well we appreciate it we had a a beautiful meeting this evening we’re able to get a glimpse a description of the Heavenly royal wedding and more importantly we’ll see what the benefits that we’ll have from that Union uh we were also able to see some fine demonstrations of how we can take uh opport take advantage of every opportunity we have of informal Witness wiing using the tools that we have and we also see how we can we can uh defend our beliefs or explain our beliefs in a very tactful way we also benefited from the video to prepare us when disaster strikes uh we were encouraged so that we can take the necessary steps to keep our family safe and to make sure that our elders have the updated contact information uh we also want to make sure that we review that go bag right once a year we want to make sure that the contents there are going to be useful when we grab that go bag back when an emergency strikes uh so something that we want to take home with us and make sure we include in our family worship so that our youth our children are prepared and they know what our plan is uh we also were able to see what the key ingredient to a happy marriage was right and is that and that is that of shown affection um so we had a wonderful program what can we expect next week well next week we’re going to see how parents can strengthen their family and their confidence in Jehovah’s organization ation uh as parents we’ll see how we can help our children to draw close to Jehovah and draw close to the organization we’re going to get some of excellent suggestions on how we can do that additionally we’re going to consider the quality of boldness uh for our ministry and how we can imitate Jesus with this fine quality and we’re going to have another local needs talk and notice the theme for our local needs talk next week is honor your father and your mother so that you may live a long time well that should wet ouris type for next week we do have some announcements that we have to read from the [Music] branch and we have two announcements for the branch it says 2025 Kingdom Ministry School and we are very happy to inform you that arrangements are being made for classes of Kingdom Ministry School to be held worldwide in the early part of 2025 the school will be approximately 8 hours for elders and 8 hours for ministerial servants as a special feature the wives if baptized of Elders and ministerial servants will be invited to attend the final two talks of the school along with their husbands the circuit overseer will inform elders and ministerial Servants of the specific dates and location of class that they will be assigned to attend announcement number two posting material on websites and social media while we may share information from the organization website by sending a link to individuals we should not post on the Internet or on social media any artwork electronic Publications trademarks music photos videos or articles from our website this would include Theocratic programs on jw.org or JW stream such as monthly broadcasts congregation meetings circuit assemblies and conventions if you have posted such material on any website or social media without permission please remove it more information on this topic can be found in the April 20 2018 issue of the Watchtower Pages 30 to 31 and on jw.org under terms of use and that concludes our Branch announcements Hello everybody welcome back to our channel in today’s video we’re going to be considering some of the student assignments for this week June 3 to9 2024 so friends we welcome you and now let’s dive in so this one of the student assignments this is the first one is number three is the Bible reading and for this week we have Psalm 45 verse 1-1 17 and the study to work on is number five accurate reading also each one of these lessons in includes a video and it’s very important if we take a look of this video in these videos on agilia the instructor or governing body helpers are teaching us some tips to [Music] improve about the our skills teaching skills and accurate reading is the study number five and it says read aloud exactly what is on the page and how to do it it says prepare well determine why the passage was written practice reading word groupings not just individual words beware of inserting skipping over of substituting words and very important observing all punctuation marks that makes the difference small details makes the difference another tip or idea to improve is asking a friend his help to monitor our reading and to point out any observation if we read inaccurately pronounce each word correctly if you don’t know how to pronounce a word look it up in a dictionary listen to an audio recording of the publication or ask a good reader for help another tip is speaking clearly holding our head high and opening our mouth wide that makes the difference make an effort to pronounce each syllable and don’t enunciate so precisely that your reading becomes a natural so this is very important and many people are surprised it blew their mind when they see in the service young brothers and sisters reading aloud properly and that’s thanks to Jehovah and the Divine education that we receive through our meetings every [Music] week so it’s very helpful to take a look of this points and we notice that this reading is the psalm 45 1-17 and if we take a look of this verses we notice what is this reading [Music] like and actually there is a short phrase at the beginning of chapter actually up to chapter 45 it says to the director said the lies of the sons of Kora Mill a song of love then verse one says my heart is stirred by something good I say my song is about a king may my tongue be the stylus of a skilled goist you are the most handsome of the sons of men gracious speech flows from your lips and that is why God has bless you forever drop your sword on your side oh mighty one in your dignity and your [Music] Splendor and in your Splendor go on to victory wri in the cause of Truth and humility and righteousness and your right hand will accomplish how how inspiring things your arrows are sharp and making peoples fall before you they fearce the hearts of the king’s enemies God is your throne forever and ever the scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness you loved righteousness and you hated wickedness that is why God your God has anointed you with the oil of exaltation more than your [Music] companions so someone might read more than your companies that doesn’t make sense but is companions all your garments are scented with mirror and allo good and casha from the grand Ivory palas strin instruments make you rejoice the daughters of kings are among your ladies of Honor the Royal coner has taken her stand at your right hand adorned in Gold of ofer listen oh daughter pay attention and incline your ear forget your people and your father’s house and the King will long for your beauty for he’s your lord so bow down to him the daughter of Ty with will come with a gift the wealthiest of men will seek your favor inside the palace the King’s Daughter is absolutely magnificent your clothing is adorned with gold she’ll be brought to the king in richly woven garment the Virgin companions following her are brought in before you they’ll be brought with rejoicing and joy they’ll enter into the king’s Palace your sons will take the place of your forefathers you’ll appoint them as princes in all the Earth I’ll make your name known throughout all generations to come that is why peoples will praise you forever and ever so that’s about the student assignment number three Bible reading then we have the next one and this is number four starting a conversation in formal witnessing be flexible the LA people brochure interest in others and lesson 1.3 says don’t insist on starting a conversation on a topic that on a topic you had in mind instead of that start with something that others are thinking about today ask yourself what is in the news a political matter of um you know that’s uh train them and it’s trending this week or this week weeks or these months and of course there are different things what are my neighbors co-workers or classmates talking about about the inflation about how difficult is to get money enough to get another things and then we have number five and this is about a talk with the theme what is the meaning of Psalm 46 and finally number six is about explaining your beliefs is a demonstration [Music] about what is your view of those who like the their same gender or same sex attraction how would we explain this theme so we’ll be learning about this in this demonst ation so friends that’s up for today’s video thanks for coming thanks for visiting we hope you have a wonderful day and hope to see you in the next broadcast so see you next time