The other thing that you should have gotten, if you can... You should have gotten one of these, this paper, this front and back. Okay, the front side, there's the orientation we're going to go through real quick. I know about at least a third of you are new to this class.

We're going to go over that and then the bottom part and then the back part, I'll explain a little bit later. Those of you who are taking this for the first time. How many of you sitting in here have not been in Isaiah up till now? Okay. How many have you been in Isaiah?

Okay, so it's about a third, yeah, about two-third and one-third. So those of you who haven't, I'll explain this in a little bit, but if you don't see one of these in front of you, you should look at the other tables and grab one. There was about seven or eight per table, so if you happen to sit in a table where you don't have enough, get one.

There should be enough. There is an attendance sheet. We have signed up approximately about 140 people in this class for Wednesday. Doesn't mean 140 people are going to show up, right? But usually what happens is there's people who sign up and they can't come. I know there's some collegians who are signed up but went home for a couple weeks, right?

All right, I just assumed that that's what's going on. So I know a few of them that are signed up, they're not going to be. I think at least on paper that are committed that are going to come out is probably this number and probably another 10 to 15 more.

Okay, and then there's some people who may be here who hasn't signed up, they're going to have to sign up. So each week, we're going to ask you to do our best to take attendance, okay? So every week, whatever group you're in, I may actually divide it back up.

When you're in a small group, in your small group take attendance. Instead of doing it this way, I'm going to have an attendance sheet on each table and then to have you guys go through all of that, okay? Because we want to keep track. Again, this is not to go after you, but we want to keep track to make sure that the bulk of the church are following along in the classes that we're taking.

And so we're trying to keep track of that generally. So for today, if you can sign this up so that I'll know who was here and who was not here so that we can, we can, it can help with small groups and so forth. Okay, so please sign up and if you, if your name is not here on the back of it, there is empty space.

So please put your name and email, okay, on this, on this sheet. And each week, just kind of whatever, however we do attendance, please take attendance on this. You guys are not on your small group yet. I know some of your small groups are already, already in your, maybe it might be the group that you're already in right now.

So this is for the snack schedule for today. Some of you guys may have seen my post on Facebook. Martin actually volunteered and so he went and got snacks for us and he used a good chunk of his money to get it. So you're going to thank him personally later.

So not only did he get it, but he paid for it. So if you guys can thank him, but starting from next week, there's nine, please, 10 more meetings. So after today, there's 10 more meetings. This is going to take us all the way to the end of August.

And then that, that, the week that we have family retreat, we're going to have our last session that Wednesday and then we have family retreat and then there's going to be two, three weeks off, two weeks off. Okay, so that's what our schedule is. So, so that's actually including this week, there's 11 weeks.

So there's 10 weeks and I went through all the way up to chapter 50 through 66 and it's going to take us all the way through and we'll be done to chapter 66 and then we'll have one, one session where we're going to review everything before we end it.

Okay. All right, so this is going on. So I know you guys aren't in your group, but some of you guys who led small group last time and you guys know that your group is most likely going to be one of the groups. If you guys can sign up.

So each week there's two, two slots. So look at that, there's exactly 20 and there's exactly 20 slots. Sovereignty of God. Right? God has predestined this. So make sure each week there's two, two small groups who are signed up. Okay. So if everybody, all the, all the tables right now, if you sign up, there'll be exactly 20 groups.

So make sure you sign up for that. Do your best. We're going to have to switch some of it around obviously next week when we, when we switch things around. But again, because we need, we need to know who's going to bring some snacks next week. So even though it's not organized yet until next week, if you guys can do your best to sign up for this and we give it to this table.

Okay. All right. So that's kind of like some of you guys who, those of you guys who were with us through the Isaiah study, the first two parts, you know exactly what we're doing. The format is going to be exactly the same. Those of you who weren't here with us in Isaiah, we're actually starting in chapter 50.

So you missed the first 49 chapters. So by next week, please catch up. Okay. I'll give you all the notes. Isaiah is organized in such a way that you can jump in where we're jumping in and still be able to follow because Isaiah is not written chronologically or like any particular way where if you didn't know what's going on in chapter two, you're not going to figure out what's going on in chapter 10.

Okay. So it's kind of, it's kind of thematic. In fact, the theme in the book of Isaiah is so sporadic. A lot of people get, again, not conservative evangelical scholars, but a lot of the liberal scholars will look at that and say, Oh, I don't even think it was the same guy who wrote it because it's so sporadic.

You know, the themes will change all of a sudden. Isaiah will be speaking about what's happening presently. And then all of a sudden skip a hundred years and talk about some, something going on a hundred years. And all of a sudden he'll skip back another hundred years and talk about the current events or what happened in the past.

So those are you guys who kind of anxious, like, well, I wasn't here for the first 49 chapters. How am I going to jump in and chapter 50? You'll see once we get going that it's not going to hinder your participation in what's happening from chapter 50 and 66.

Okay. And if you do, you can just let us know and we'll try to answer the questions as much as possible. If you get confused, I guarantee you you're surrounded by other people who are just as confused, right? Even, even the ones who sat through the first 49 chapters, Isaiah is not the easiest book to follow along easily.

But again, so that's what's going on. So that's why we opened it up. The reason why we put it together mainly is because Pastor Mark is going to be gone for three weeks in August. So he won, he couldn't, he couldn't do it. And then we were debating, maybe we should do another book in the summer and catch Isaiah at another time.

But again, just the way that Isaiah is organized, we can still jump in at chapter 50 and I can, I think you can still get a lot out of it. Okay. So I'm going to pray for us and we'll start. We're going to, we're going to start with the orientation today and I just, I'm just giving you a broad stroke so you can kind of get an idea of the book of Isaiah and where you, where we are.

I'm not going to go through all the outlines of the 66 chapters that we're going to be covering because that would take too long. And then we're going to take some time to do have worship time. And after the worship time, I'm going to break you guys up into small group.

And then after that, your, your meeting is going to break up in your small group, take some time to pray, and then we'll have time for snacks at the end. So that's how it's going to be. So each day that's sort of going to be the pattern. You're going to come in, we're going to take some time to, to go over the questions that you guys had and then and then you'll have small group time.

Okay. So after we pray and we'll jump into it. Gracious father, we thank you so much for today. We thank you Lord God for just a love that you pour upon us Lord that we don't deserve. And we thank you father God that even in the midst of all distractions that you've given us brothers and sisters that we can run this race together with that, whether we are strong or we are weak, that we belong to this body together.

Help us Lord God to be compassionate, to not to shy away from loving each other, to challenging and even at times confronting. But we pray father God that most of all, that in the midst of all of this, as we wrestle together that we would truly do it together.

So we pray that as we study your word, that you would help us Lord God to jump into it and to glean from it what you've ordained in through the study in Jesus name we pray. Amen. So today you don't have any notes to fill out because what you have in front of you are not fillers.

Starting from next week, you'll have fillers so that you can take notes on the things that I'm giving out. But today there's no notes to take. You can just follow along. Okay. So the way that this Bible study, again, those of you who've been here, it's review, but the way that this Bible study is organized, it's really for the purpose of establishing daily discipline.

We're not going to study the book of Isaiah, but the reason why it's organized into small groups the way it is, we're not, we're going to ask you once you commit to the small group, but that's the small group that you stay with because part of the Bible study is to establish daily intake of the word of God through the book of Isaiah.

And that's some of you guys who are already doing quiet time in other passages. I encourage you to keep that up. Okay. I'm not asking you to replace it, but we do want you to get in the habit of looking at this every week that, or daily that you don't come and say, Hey, you know, we're doing two chapters.

I'm going to, I'm going to just cram it Tuesday or Wednesday before I come and then just kind of get a general sense of what Isaiah says. If you take time throughout the week and wrestle with what's happening, you'll be able to understand a lot more. Okay. It's not like Sunday messages where I'm dealing with a very small text and then I'm going to point out to you, this is where I'm getting, this is where I'm getting this word means this, this passage means this.

Isaiah, I can't do that because we're covering a large portion of the material. I can't go and just say, Hey, this passage is from the, this words mean that I'm just going to assume you wrestled with it. Right? If I asked you a question on Tuesday in Isaiah, what is the, what is, you know, why does God use the term hammer to describe this?

I'm just going to assume that you read it and you dealt with it. I'm not going to go back and say, this is how God says this word, you know, in this context. So if you come and you haven't done that, um, you're, yeah, you are going to be lost, right?

Because I'm not going to take time because it would take too long. I won't be able to cover the material if I have to go there and re explain what's already there where I'm expecting you to do. Okay. So, uh, the focus is to study through the book of Isaiah day to day.

A goal is also for the purpose of application, practical accountability through small group. So you'll notice that each of the days there's a practical application, uh, after each day. So every day there's a small passage that you'll, you'll find. And after that passage, so if you look at it, the first day is tomorrow on Thursday.

And by the way, on the top there's memory verse. Okay. So you're expected to memorize that. And for the next 10 weeks, there's 10 verses. It's going to be cumulative. And then there's two first day. There's four questions, three questions are study questions. And then the fourth question is an application of questions.

Okay. So that's what I'm hoping that you guys would meditate on. And then when you guys get together, you'll take some time in your small group to discuss that. Okay. Make sense. Okay. All right. So that's what's going on. So each week in your small group, you're going to be going over these questions to answer those questions and then have discussion at the end.

So my hope is that at the end of each day, you'll have some kind of application that you, when you come to your small groups, you're not just coming completely empty handed. You're coming and saying, this is what I wrestled with. And then, Hey, I have some questions here.

I was reading this and this doesn't make any sense. And then you'll have some like exegetical questions. And then based upon that, have some application of questions or application of things that you guys can discuss. Okay. So remember, if you apply without interpretation, what do we call that? Miscarriage right?

Meaning that you're applying things that you just kind of generally, right? And it has to come from interpretation. So application has to come from interpretation. So if you're not doing the interpretation and saying, you know what, I just want to be a good Christian, then you're just going to apply whatever you think is right in your own mind.

Right? So interpretation without application, what do we call that? Abortion, right? The point of interpretation is to give birth to something. Right? So if you don't apply what you're interpreting, then all it's going to do is going to cause you to be an arrogant Christian. Like I know this and I know that.

So we want application come from interpretation. Interpretation always lead to application. So every day that we're asking you to study through the word that you would have in mind, what does it mean and how do you apply it? Okay? And so small group, we're asking for accountability for that.

Again, the goal is to establish spiritual disciplines, daily devotions, prayer and purposeful fellowship. And so again, your small groups are designed for that purpose. Each person will be in small groups. It will be 10 weeks, including this week. Okay? And you will be committed to that small group. So if some of you, okay, that's another thing I'm going to ask you to put on that card.

If some of you know for sure that you're not going to be able to come consistently, can you put that on your card? You can still attend Bible study, but I have to make sure that you guys are all in one Bible study. Okay? Some of you guys have problem with commitment.

That you just need to mature. Okay? You're always saying I'm committed, but you never know until that week. That needs to change. Okay? So I'm not asking, I'm not asking like, "Eh, we'll see." You know? I'm asking if you're committed to this, to commit to this small group. But if you know for a fact that you can't come because of work or distance or whatever, can you mark it on there so that you're kind of spread out into different groups?

Okay? Again, I said it before it was up there. Okay? So if you notice, you have Monday through Friday, but Saturday and Sunday is left open. So Saturday, Sunday does not mean debauchery day. It just means that we've divided it into five days, and then Saturday and Sunday we're leaving it up to you.

Right? So if you're doing quiet time or meditation or if you maybe missed, you want to catch up, you can use those days. Okay? Each week there's memory verses. That is, again, next week's memory verse is Isaiah 50 verse 4. So you'll memorize that, and then when you come back, your small group is going to keep you accountable.

And then each week there's going to be a cumulative. So you're going to have 10 verses memorized, okay, by the end of this session. So the 10 verses that you're memorizing, I'm picking a key verse in those chapters that we're studying. So if you have those 10 verses memorized, at the end, you'll at least have a broad outline of chapter 50 to 66.

Right? And because of that one key verse, and you know what chapter it's in, you'll know generally what that chapter is talking about. Okay? So that's how the verses are picked. Each week we're going to begin with about 40 minutes of going over instruction. Basically, during the 40 minutes, I'm going to be going over the questions that you went through.

Okay? So the questions that are given to you, I'm going to go back and try to highlight certain things. Because of the amount of text that we're looking at, I'm not going to be able to get into every detail. Right? So, if you're studying and say, "You know, I'm really curious about this.

Maybe it's not one of the questions that we asked, but I really am curious about this." I encourage you to email me before. Okay? But don't email me at 659. Okay? Email me before. Like, if you have a question on Tuesday, just sit there and say, "Oh, I wonder how this should be understood." Just email me.

So I'll try to incorporate that into the study. Okay? But again, you have to email me plenty of time, because I'm not going to be able to address it if I just get the email right before I come here. One last thing. Now, this Bible study necessarily isn't designed for this.

But might as well take advantage of the fact that we're together, you know, and because of the size of our church, even in this room, right, I guarantee you at the end of 10 weeks, you're not going to all be singing kumbaya with everybody in this room. Right? You're going to know your table, and then whoever happens to be rubbing your shoulders behind you.

And then if you enjoy the same snacks, and you're always crowding the same table with the same people, those are the people you're going to get to know. So we're going to try to encourage you as much as possible to get to know other people. But specifically in your small group, this is what we've been doing.

We're asked that at least have one activity outside. Maybe you can grab dinner, you know, or some groups went hiking together, some groups, you know, when they had snack times, they got together at people's homes, and they actually made stuff together as a form of fellowship and bonding time.

And so we're asking that through in the 10 weeks that you would be deliberate, and take some time to really fellowship with that group. So again, whether it's for snacks, or going out to eat, or doing some activity, that you would take advantage of that. And you'll find, if you do it earlier, instead of let's say you have 10 weeks and you did it, oh shoot, forgot to do it, you know, in the 10th week you went out.

It kind of defeats the purpose, because if you have some bonding activity early on, and you happen to be sitting in a small group where you're not really that familiar with everybody, it'll help with your small group. People will be more open to open to one another, and pray for each other, keep each other accountable, so again, this is completely based upon your small group though.

If you happen to be in a small group where everybody's bah humbug, I don't want to get to know you, we're too busy, or whatever, but this is not a mandatory thing, but we're encouraging you to do that. Okay, so this is for each of the small groups. Any questions on any of this?

This is basically a quick orientation. All right. All right, I'm going to go over for the next maybe about 20 minutes the overview of Isaiah. Okay, so I don't have anywhere for you to take notes, but if you are studious, if you want to, this is where you want to begin to take notes.

This is the overview. Oh, and just a quick note, I'm going to be emailing you sometime this week if I'm going to ask you guys, because we have so many more tables than last time, to ask a few of you to help lead the small groups. I'm going to be emailing you.

So if you get that email, if you can respond ASAP. So if I emailed it tomorrow and I don't get a response until Monday, I'm assuming that for whatever the reason, you're not interested in doing that. But even if you're not, please help me, because it makes it much harder if I have to wait till next Tuesday to know who's going to be able to come out or not.

If you are going to be leading the small group, we're going to be having our first orientation meeting for the leaders next Wednesday. Because I didn't give you enough notice, if you absolutely cannot come, I'll understand. But I'm giving you the heads up that we're going to try to meet together next Wednesday at 6 o'clock.

For those of you who are going to be leading the small group. The author. Obviously, it's called Isaiah because Isaiah is the author. He's considered to be either the greatest or one of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament. Not simply because of the size of his letter. It's I believe it's second longest letter in the Bible.

But not necessarily because of the size of the letter, but because of the content. Because of what it covers. And I'll get to that in a little bit. His name means salvation of Jehovah, and that's sort of the name. The salvation of Jehovah is sort of the theme of the whole book.

And so again, we'll get to that in a little bit. So as you guys know, in the Old Testament in particular, their names are very significant. The prophets name or the main characters names are directly tied to what God happens to be doing during that time. So God chooses Isaiah in God's sovereign plan.

His whole theme of the book of Isaiah is about the salvation that God's going to bring. Isaiah chapter 1 says that he prophesied during the period of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. And those are the four kings. So let me ask you guys, let's see how many of you guys remember.

Is this Northern Kingdom or Southern Kingdom? Southern. Okay, Southern Kingdom. Southern Kingdom. Is he a good guy or bad guy? Bad. Good guy? Okay, Uzziah is a good guy. Jotham, good guy or bad guy? Bad guy. Bad guy. Ahaz, good guy or bad guy? Bad guy. Bad guy. Hezekiah, good guy or bad guy?

Good. Good. Good. Is he a good guy or bad guy? Good. Good guy. Okay. You think 100 years from now when people see the list of our names and say, "Is this good guy or bad guy?" Good guy or bad guy? Okay, so anyway. Israel, like the Northern Kingdom is predominantly, all of them are bad kings.

In the Southern Kingdom, there's about 8 out of 20-some who are good kings. And out of them, these two are actually good kings. They're good kings, but they were in a period where there was a lot of religious practices, but they were still rebelling against God. So in their mind, they were right with God.

Because again, out of predominantly negative kings, two of them were actually good kings. Hezekiah is probably one of the best kings of Israel, right? But there's this false security of their standing before God because one, they've had a lot of religious and a lot of temple worship and practices, but God comes in.

What is one of the main themes? Remember in Isaiah chapter 2? What does God indict Israel of? Superficial worship, right? That's the passage where Isaiah comes and says, "God, I hate your evil assemblies. What are your just noisy songs to me?" And so he's basically indicting superficial worship. And that's kind of like the period that Isaiah is prophesying in, right?

So you'll see a lot of that in Isaiah. Quick background information. Isaiah is referred to as the messianic prophet because of the amount of prophecies of Jesus in Isaiah. In fact, it has the most prophecies about Jesus than any other prophets. Isaiah is quoted in the New Testament more than any other Old Testament prophet.

There's only one book in the Old Testament that's quoted more than Isaiah in the New Testament. Anybody guess? Somebody said it, but it was whispered. Psalms. Okay. So outside of Psalms, the most quoted prophet in the New Testament of the Old Testament is Isaiah. Isaiah ministry began, we see in Isaiah chapter 6, 1 to 3.

Remember where Isaiah is taken and seen a vision of God where it says it's holy, holy, holy, that famous passage. Again, so this is probably the beginning and the calling of Isaiah. So the calling of Isaiah, the context is Uzziah just died. So if you look at Isaiah chapter 6, verse 1, it says, "During the period when Uzziah has just died," right?

And Isaiah is called. The reason why Isaiah is called is because Uzziah, the good king, and so they're kind of anxious that, "Oh, we lost a good king. You know, what's going to happen? There's a lot of enemies about to attack Israel." And so God is speaking through Isaiah to remind him that the real king is still on the throne.

Okay? So Isaiah is filled with reminders to the nation of Israel that the real king is still here. He's the real king, right? He's the one you ought to fear. He's the one that you need to have refuge. Okay? He's the one you trust in man. So that's a quick overview.

Some unique features about the book of Isaiah. It's the only Old Testament book to predict both the virgin birth and his dual nature. Okay? It is the first of two Old Testament books describing early days of Lucifer before he fell and became the devil. The other book is Ezekiel.

It is the first of two Old Testament books predicting the ministry of John the Baptist. Okay? So remember the book of Malachi predicts that. It records one of the Old Testament's most precise prophecy about an individual, the Persian king Cyrus. Okay? So those of you guys who were with us in the study before, how many years after Isaiah died does King Cyrus actually come into power?

Not exactly, but about? Hundreds of years. Huh? Yeah. So hundreds of years. So it was like 150 plus. Right? So again, but his name actually appears. This is one of the reasons why the secular scholars say, you know, Isaiah could not have been an author because, you know, he mentioned Cyrus by name and he was already gone for many, many years.

Right? But so Isaiah's prophecy actually names that king by name. Okay? Number five, it gives the most extended overview of the Messiah's mission to both Jews and Gentiles. So these are all unique features of the book of Isaiah. Okay? So those of you guys who, it's a review for you, but you kind of have to know Israel's history of briefly that when God established his nation of Israel, Saul's the first king, David his son, Solomon his son.

Then after Solomon, the kingdom splits in two. Right? And so this, the tribe where the all 10 tribes follow Jeroboam, this is called the what kingdom? This is the Northern kingdom. And often in the Bible is referred to just Israel. Okay? Sometimes you'll see, oh, Israel did this and, but Judah did that.

It's referring to the Northern kingdom. And this kingdom only has Judah and the two tribes. Okay? Oh, sorry, Judah and had to say, what are the, what are the two tribes? Judah and the Benjamites. Okay. Those are the only two. That's why Paul, remember when he says, Hey, you know, if you want to boast about the flesh, he says, I'm from a tribe of Benjamin, right?

Because he was prestigious because he stayed with the kingdom that lasted longer than this kingdom. And that's the tribe that the tribe of Judah where the Messiah comes from. So to say that you are the only other tribe that you could have said I was better than you is the tribe of Judah, right?

The second most prestigious would have been the tribe of Benjamin. That's why Paul says, you want to go at it with me? You know, I'm from the tribe of Benjamin, right? This is the reason why the split kingdom, the Northern kingdom lasted about 210 years. It had 19 Kings and all 19 did evil in the eyes of the Lord.

Okay. Completely corrupt. Right? And as a result of that, God allows the Syria to come in and completely demolishes them. The Southern kingdom, he referred to as the kingdom of Judah. Okay. It lasted until 931. So it's about 110, 120 years longer. The total number of rulers was 20 and out of them only eight out of 20 were righteous.

So think about all the Kings in the nation of Israel. And so how many do I forget? Right? 19 Kings plus 21, right? So that's 30 Kings, right? Did I miss that? 30, 40 Kings out of 40 Kings, only eight of them were good, right? Only eight of them were good.

So you know, remember when we talk about when God tells the nation of Israel that if you obey me, you'll be blessed. If you disobey me, you'll be cursed. So think about out of 40, only eight of them and all eight of them were only are part of one kingdom.

So the other kingdom was completely demolished. And they also go into captivity by the Babylonians in 605 BC. So that's Israel's history. And this is right before Israel goes into, or the Southern kingdom goes into captivity is when Isaiah is prophesying. He's prophesying that because of your sins, Babylonians are going to come and take you into captivity.

Just like the Assyrians did to our brothers up North. Okay. That's a historical background. He's prophesying during a period of political turmoil within the nation of Judah. Northern kingdom has fallen to Syria and now they're in danger of being attacked by, by the Babylonians. So just to kind of give you a quick geography, Israel, this, this area is where Israel dwells out of this, like right around Jerusalem, like Judah and Benjamites, they're like right here.

And then the Southern kingdom or Northern kingdom occupied this space. So this is, this is all of Israel is like right here like that. Okay. Look at Assyria. Assyria dominated this whole region. And then later on, the Babylonians come in and they conquer the Assyrians and they dominate this whole region.

And if you go more towards South Egypt dominates this area. So Israel is constantly flanked by their enemies. And so their concern was Israel was constantly trying to negotiate with the, either the nation of Egypt or Babylonians or the Assyrians so that they can basically ally with the big brothers and ask for protection.

So every time they felt like they were being threatened by the Assyrians, they would run to Egypt and say, we're going to pay you tribute if you protect us. Right. Or they felt, you know, threatened by another nation, they would make treaties with Babylon. And so Isaiah speaks to the nation of Israel saying that these pagan nations are not your salvation, right?

I am your salvation. So that's one of the major themes of the book of Isaiah is reminded the nation of Israel that God is your God. These people can't protect you. In fact, they're also going to be judged for their sins. Just like, just like your brothers have. It's just another map, right?

The Northern kingdom goes into captivity, destroyed by the Assyrians. And then the Southern kingdom is destroyed by the Babylonians. Okay. Okay. It's a broad outline. I'm not going to go through all of it. It's divided into two major sections, chapter one through 39, predominantly about judgment. Like why is Israel being judged?

Right. So not all of it, there's messianic prophecies in there too, but predominantly. So those of you guys who think like, you know, the missed the first 40, 49 chapters, it's predominantly, it's been about judgment. Okay. And then chapter 40 to 66 is the promise of deliverance. So it's kind of like, you know, those of you as we've been following the book of Romans, it's really split just like the gospel, right?

He's established the foundation of why God is judging and then provides the Messiah as the answer. Okay. And that's the second part. So just like Paul lays out the first four or five chapters of all I've seen and fall short of the glory of God, and then he begins to go into starting from chapter, the latter part of chapter five and six, and then begin to introduce Christ as a solution to our sins.

That's exactly how book of Isaiah is, is situated. First part is laying foundation. This is why God's judgment is coming. And then Jesus has the answer to your sins. Okay. Let's skip over that. I'm not going to go through all of this just to kind of give you an idea.

And this is not all of it. These are all the different prophecies that are in the book of Isaiah about the Messiah. And again, this is not all of it. There's more, but again, this is why this is the reason why they consider Isaiah the biggest or the greatest, most important prophet of the old Testament, because he does the biggest work preparing the way of coming out of Christ.

So he's very specific about the virgin birth, about Galilean ministry, about how he was going to be struck, right? Why Jesus gets struck. He's going to be widely rejected. He's going to be siding among the accusers, Isaiah 53, right? He's going to be buried with the rich man. So all of these things are prophecies that come straight out of the book of Isaiah.

So if you'll notice, predominantly it's from chapter 50 and on. Okay? Predominantly. So we're heading into a section starting from chapter 50 where there's going to be a lot of prophecies about the Messiah. And that's why we're taking it a little bit slower than before, especially when we come to these, like chapter 53 is not a chapter we want to just lump with other chapters.

We're going to take our time to go through that chapter because it's so rich in theology and pointing to Christ. Okay? So that's the broad outline. Okay. I think that's, okay. All right. I know like we went over it real quick. If some of you guys want this, email it to me and I'll forward it to you.

If you guys want to, you know, Hey, I got nothing to do all week and I just want to be studious and catch up. I'll email this to you so you can kind of review it during the week before you come if it's going to help out. Okay. But I don't have any printouts of this.

So you guys can just email me. Okay. If you don't know my email, it's on the website. Or if you look at the church program, my email is on the bottom of that list. Also another thing, if you guys want electronic copies of this, you know what? Forget it.

I'm going to email it to everybody. Okay. I'm just going to add whoever's on the list. I'm just going to email it to everybody. And then if you're like, stop sending me this stuff, then email me. Okay. I think that made me easier. Instead of waiting for you to email me, I'll just send it out to everybody, but I'm going to copy it anyway.

I'm going to have these things copied and then you're going to be able to take notes on it. And I know some of you guys are like me. I'd rather write with pen than on the whatever it is you have. Okay. So I'll still have the physical copies, but I'll email it to everybody.

All right. So what I wanted to do for the rest of the time is I'm going to have you guys take some time to get into your small group. But before we did that, I want to take some time to worship together. You know, we haven't done that on Wednesday, Bible study.

And again, the theme of the worship songs, I try to pick deliberately so that it'll kind of fit along with. Okay. I need somebody to do this for me. Somebody that I can trust is not going to fall asleep today. Okay. Somebody in the front then. Okay. There's only one slide where you actually have to go forward and backward.

Okay. Brian, can you turn this on? (coffee pouring) - Okay. (microphone thudding) All right. You know, sometimes when we, you know, most, this is a general observation that I've seen. That when you go to like a church that emphasizes the Bible, for whatever the reason, it kind of tends to move away from emotions.

That we think like it's not, it's not as relevant because as long as we have our theology correct, our emotional expression toward God isn't as important. Absolutely wrong. Absolutely wrong. You know, our passionate worship of God is just as important as getting the right doctrine because that's our way of expressing the point.

The reason why the glory of God is revealed to us is so that we may be affected by that glory and return in giving thanks and worship. So if the worship part doesn't take place, all it becomes is, "Wow, that was interesting." Right? That's all it becomes. It just becomes a lot of people who are intrigued by the knowledge of God and not affected.

So I wanted to, again, take some time to just, asking you guys to prepare your hearts and that you would come prepared. Now, again, I'm not gonna promise that we're gonna do this every week. I'm gonna see if I'm able to do it. And you might not want me to after today.

(audience laughing) Okay? But it really is for the purpose of trying to encourage the church that worship is important. And I'm not just talking about Wednesday, I'm talking about Sundays as well. You know, when we come together, our active expression of our love toward God and what he's done, like individually, not just like, "Oh, we're doing this as a church." But you individually come to worship God is absolutely important.

So I kind of organized the songs that would fit the theme of what we're studying. If somebody can turn your Bible to Isaiah chapter six. Okay? Somebody with a loud, was it not loud? Like, good, hefty voice. If you can read that out loud for us. Isaiah chapter six, one, two, and three.

Mitchell, can you do that for us? Yeah. (muffled speaking) (muffled speaking) Okay, you just stop there. So Isaiah six is where Isaiah encounters God and he falls down and he's in all of God. And he says, "I am ruined. I'm a man of unclean lips. I've seen from a people of unclean lips." And then God touches his mouth with coal and then refreshes him.

And he says, "Who's gonna go for me? Here am I, send me." So that was his preparation, right? It wasn't years of training. It wasn't years of make sure you do this. It was just encountering God, right? And so God was gonna show who he is because that's exactly who he needed to convey.

He needed to be a witness of the glory of God. And that's what basically what a prophet is. So again, the purpose of what we're doing is as we're starting to the book of Isaiah so that we may get a glimpse of his heart, his attribute, who he is, right?

Why would he take a bunch of sinners, like say, spend 39 chapters expositing in detail their sin, right? Their internal sin, external sin, their sin as a nation, prostitution, how they viewed money. So every way they're guilty. And yet the conclusion of that is therefore, this is the reason why the Messiah is coming, right?

But it begins, Isaiah ministry begins when he encounters God. So that's the song that we're gonna be singing, "I See the Lord." It's not exactly that passage, but again, the theme is similar. (upbeat music) ♪ I see the Lord ♪ ♪ I see it on the cross ♪ ♪ Exalted ♪ ♪ On the train of His road ♪ ♪ Fills the temple with glory ♪ ♪ And the whole earth is filled ♪ ♪ And the whole earth is filled ♪ ♪ And the whole earth is filled ♪ ♪ With His glory ♪ I see the Lord.

♪ I see the Lord seated on the throne ♪ ♪ Exalted ♪ ♪ On the train of His road ♪ ♪ Fills the temple with glory ♪ ♪ And the whole earth is filled ♪ ♪ And the whole earth is filled ♪ and the whole earth is filled with His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord. Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord. The second song that we're seeing, Salvation Belongs to the Lord. Again, this is one of the major themes in the book of Isaiah. The word salvation in the Old Testament is used 33 times and out of the 33 times, 26 times is in Isaiah alone.

So again, that's the that's the main theme is that our tendency is to run to different things, to money, people, circumstance. And so Isaiah, God is telling the nation of Israel through Isaiah that he is our salvation, he's our refuge. So that's what this song about salvation. Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne and unto the Lamb.

Praise and glory, wisdom and thanks, honor and power and strength. Be to our God forever and ever. Be to our God forever and ever. Be to our God forever and ever. Amen. And we, the redeemed, shall be strong in purpose and unity, declaring aloud praise and glory, wisdom and thanks, honor and power and strength.

Be to our God forever and ever. Be to our God forever and ever. Be to our God forever and ever. Amen. So the next one, I don't know the title of this song, but it's there in the newborn cry again, it's about the cross and how all of that affects every aspect of our lives.

So if you look at the prophecy of the Messiah, he doesn't just say, I'm coming to save you from your sins. He says, you know, when you're in trouble, you know, when you're when you're anxious, when you have enemies who have surrounded you, when you are hungry and and through all of these things, God prophesies a solution is coming right in.

The solution is always Messiah. So all throughout the book of Isaiah is like every different circumstance, whether you're young or whether you're old, whether you're rich, whether you're poor, that in the end, Christ is a solution. And so that's what this song ultimately is about in every aspect of life that we see glimpses of the cross.

I. There in the light of every sunrise. There in the shadow of the slide. Great. There on the mountain top. There in the everyday and the Monday. There in the sorrow and the dancing. Your great. Such. From the creation to the. Then from the cross into eternity, your grace finds me.

Yes, your grace. Finds me. There on a wedding day. There in the weeping by the graveside. There in the very breath we breathe. Great. Same for the rich and poor. Same for the saints and for the sinner. Not for this whole wide world. Your great. Such. From the creation to the.

Then from the cross into eternity. Your grace finds me. Yes, your grace. Finds me. It's there in the newborn. Is there in the newborn? There in the newborn. There in the light of every sunrise. There in the shadows of the slide. Your great. There on the mountain top. There in the everyday and the Monday.

There in the sorrows of the dancing. Great. Such. OK, so the last song that we're going to sing before I ask you guys to get in your smoke, make me a prayer. So, again, the whole purpose of all of this revelation is that we would be the light to the world.

So this is a prayer. Make me a prayer. Let my prayers be a cry. And then the second part, we're just going to sing. Make us a prayer and let our prayers be a cry so that this would be the main theme of what we do each week. That our glimpse of who he is would lead us to a greater worship of his name.

But ultimately to cry out for our generation. And then I'm going to ask you guys to take some time to pray with your group. Maybe a prayer. Let my prayers be a cry. Humble my heart so that you may draw. Cause me to stand and cry out for this land.

Cause me to be one who set free. To stand as a house of prayer. Let me be a prayer. Make me a prayer. Let my prayers be a cry. Humble my heart so that you may draw. Cause me to stand and cry out for this land. Cause me to be one who set free.

To stand as a house of prayer. Make us a prayer. Make us a prayer. Let our prayers be a cry. Humble our heart so that you may draw. Cause us to stand and cry out for this land. Cause us to be one who set free. To stand as a house of prayer.

Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for your love. We thank you for your patience. We thank you for opening our eyes that we may see the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That we may not simply work hard but to give a reasonable response. To allowing us to hear your voice.

And desiring Lord God to be near you. You know our struggles. You know how easily we get entangled. Even now Lord God there are sins that we wrestle with. I pray that as you brought us together that our community would not be just a social place. But a place where we are actively pursuing one another.

As we have been pursued by you. I pray for your blessing over this time. As we take some time to pray and to encourage one another. That we really would find encouragement Lord God to love you more. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. If you can put up the next slide.

Yeah. So just a quick reminder for prayer. If you can take some time to pray with your small groups. Your personal prayer requests. Again I want you guys to take time specifically about where you are spiritually. And I know that a lot of you guys are in the context of other things going on in your life.

Whether it may be health or maybe job or relational issues. But I want you guys to take time specifically on that particular topic of where you are spiritually. And I know probably those things may be affecting it. But if you guys can just kind of focus your attention on that.

So that you guys would have an idea of where you are spiritually. And don't just say you know I've been reading my Bible or I've been doing quiet time. Because that sometimes is not a good measure of where you are. It could be. But you could be doing all of that and have your heart completely away from God.

So if you guys can be open and honest with each other about that. Pray also for the study of Isaiah. The next 10 weeks that we have together. That you would really come. Just kind of like hey I'm a member so I have to come to Wednesday Bible study.

But really come digging, asking questions so that you can maximize our time together. That each week when you leave that you would really find encouragement and strength to live the rest of the week for Christ. So if you guys can take some time to pray for that. Pray for our building.

Those of you who came out on Monday we really appreciate you. Hopefully we don't have to do it again. But if we do I'll email it out. If by Monday you don't see anything. Monday night or Tuesday night you don't see anything. That means there was no appeal. That means we're going to end up closing on this property.

And that means our weekday Bible study is going to have to be moved to our new building in 2 to 3 weeks. But I'll give you a heads up on that. If you guys can take some time to pray for that so that all that stuff will go smoothly.

Then obviously our last prayer request is for Emily. I'm not going to go for the sake of time too much detail. But right now I think starting Monday she started radiation and a very intense form of chemotherapy. It's not like the regular one. And this is the only thing that she has done that has made any kind of impact on her in the past.

So they're going back to that this week. So they're doing that I think the rest of this week and then they're going to see what happens. So if you guys can take some time to pray for that for the family as well. Okay. So if you guys can take some time to do that.

I'm going to set up somewhere probably in the back. And then so this group will be over and I'm going to be walking around collecting those cards. So if you guys can have it on one side so I can come and collect it.