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Power Point with Jack Graham

Jack Graham - The Ark Encounter

September 21, 2025 | 29:30

Jack Graham - The Ark Encounter
Dr. Jack Graham's mission is to glorify God by introducing Jesus Christ as Lord to all people.
#WordofGod #Noah'sArk #OldMan #Testimony #BibleHistory #TrustGod #EternalLife #Purpose #NewCreation #ChristianScience #JackGraham

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Power Point with Jack Graham | Jack Graham - The Ark Encounter | September 21, 2025
  • ♪♪♪
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  • There is no person that god cannot save!
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  • There is no promise that god will not keep!
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  • There is nothing that our god cannot do!
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  • Hey everybody! jack graham here and i'm standing at one of the
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  • Most marvelous, amazing places on earth, really. and of all
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  • Places, it is in northern kentucky, near cincinnati,
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  • Ohio. it is the ark encounter. and what you see behind me is a
  • 00:00:46.503 --> 00:00:52.909
  • To scriptural based description and replica of the ark that
  • 00:00:52.909 --> 00:00:58.715
  • Noah and his family sailed during the great storm. it is a
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  • Magnificent reproduction and you can learn so much here.
  • 00:01:01.851 --> 00:01:06.289
  • We're spending several days here preaching and teaching and
  • 00:01:06.289 --> 00:01:08.992
  • Growing in our faith. and i want to encourage you to go
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  • With me on this fantastic journey at the ark encounter.
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  • The ark encounter is one of those places you simply must
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  • See in your lifetime. i had the opportunity to walk through the
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  • Ark with its visionary, ken ham, and gain a glimpse into
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  • His heart. what was this aussie thinking? what was the spark
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  • That led him to take on such a god-sized project?
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  • [ken ham] you know it goes back millions of years, actually.
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  • Uh... but in 1975 i gave my first ever creation apologetics
  • 00:01:39.622 --> 00:01:43.560
  • Talk. so 2025 is the 50th anniversary of doing that. back
  • 00:01:43.560 --> 00:01:47.564
  • In the late 70s i cried out to the lord and said, "why can't a
  • 00:01:47.564 --> 00:01:51.100
  • Creation museum that teaches the truth." god answered that
  • 00:01:51.100 --> 00:01:53.770
  • Prayer in america in 2007 in the state of kentucky when we
  • 00:01:53.770 --> 00:01:59.275
  • Opened the first ever creation museum.
  • 00:01:59.275 --> 00:02:06.816
  • [jack graham] define biblical worldview for us.
  • 00:02:06.816 --> 00:02:08.551
  • [ken ham] a biblical worldview is starting
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  • From god's word in genesis 1-11 to build your way of thinking.
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  • [jack graham] this massive structure brings faith to life
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  • Before your very eyes. millions of people come each year to be
  • 00:02:19.295 --> 00:02:23.233
  • Reminded of just how great our god is, and that he has a plan
  • 00:02:23.233 --> 00:02:26.970
  • And purpose for every single one of us.
  • 00:02:26.970 --> 00:02:30.006
  • Then ken led me to one of the great highlights of the
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  • Ark—something every visitor wants to see—the door.
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  • [ken ham] as we come down here, we are going to come to the
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  • Door. it's an exhibit that teaches that jesus said, “i am
  • 00:02:40.583 --> 00:02:44.120
  • The door.” theres only one door. so, this is a picture of
  • 00:02:44.120 --> 00:02:46.823
  • Jesus, a picture of salvation. what people do is they come and
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  • Stand here. they grab hold of this. and as we teach in the
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  • Exhibit, it's a reminder that they need to go through the ark
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  • To be saved.
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  • [jack graham] it's just so powerful to see this massive
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  • Ark sitting on this mound here and the cross here on this door
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  • Is lit up to remind people that jesus is the ark of salvation.
  • 00:03:04.907 --> 00:03:10.647
  • [ken ham] in the creation museum, i'd written the script
  • 00:03:14.817 --> 00:03:17.120
  • For a walk through the bible: creation, corruption and
  • 00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:19.422
  • Catastrophe, (which is about noah's day) confusion (tower of
  • 00:03:19.422 --> 00:03:23.026
  • Babel) and those first four c's... that's genesis 1 through
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  • 11, which is the foundation for all doctrine, for our
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  • Worldview, for the rest of the bible, for everything.
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  • And then christ's cross consummation.
  • 00:03:31.701 --> 00:03:34.203
  • And so i wanted to see families being able to walk through the
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  • Bible, to have that linear view of history, to understand this
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  • Event occurred, and this event, and this event. you know,
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  • Perfect creation and man sinned, death entered,
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  • Everything changed, the promise of the savior. and then that...
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  • So that, you know, corruption happened.
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  • And, then we have the flood of noah's day as a judgment, but a
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  • Picture of jesus and salvation, and because noah's family had
  • 00:03:58.227 --> 00:04:02.398
  • To go through a door to be saved. and god told noah to put
  • 00:04:02.398 --> 00:04:05.401
  • One door in the side of the ark, and they had to go through
  • 00:04:05.401 --> 00:04:09.505
  • That one door to be saved. so it's a picture of salvation.
  • 00:04:09.505 --> 00:04:12.942
  • It's interesting how when people come in here they just
  • 00:04:12.942 --> 00:04:15.645
  • Stand here in awe looking at noah with his family, praying.
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  • You can here the storm and the flood is about to happen.
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  • [jack graham] where the scriptures say that noah found
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  • Grace in the eyes of the lord, yet he was a man who needed the
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  • Grace of god. he found it. and this ark, you could call it the
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  • “good ship grace.” because it is by the grace of god that
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  • Noah and his family are here.
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  • [ken ham] well the biggest question is being, “how could
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  • He fit the animals onboard?” the bible says god made kinds,
  • 00:04:46.175 --> 00:04:49.312
  • And it was two of each kind that went on the ark. when they
  • 00:04:49.312 --> 00:04:51.481
  • Came off the ark and started increasing in number and moving
  • 00:04:51.481 --> 00:04:53.883
  • Away from each other, you end up with the different species.
  • 00:04:53.883 --> 00:04:56.552
  • But bears stay bears. dogs stay dogs.
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  • We think in reality that probably a thousand kinds. you
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  • Know we have a zoo behind the ark where we have llamas,
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  • Camels, and alpacas because they are all the camel kind.
  • 00:05:04.660 --> 00:05:08.197
  • You only needed two of that kind on the ark.
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  • [jack graham] noah had been preaching for those 120 years.
  • 00:05:14.303 --> 00:05:16.305
  • They could have known, they should have known. god gave
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  • Them every opportunity. but in the end, judgment comes. “my
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  • Spirit” god says, “will not always strive with man.” if you
  • 00:05:22.779 --> 00:05:26.249
  • Go to hell, face the judgement and go to hell, it will be on
  • 00:05:26.249 --> 00:05:30.186
  • Your own decision to turn away from christ rather than trust
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  • In him.
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  • [ken ham] between the ark and the creation museum we get over
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  • 1.5 million visits a year. 9 percent of those who come say
  • 00:05:41.864 --> 00:05:46.569
  • They commit their lives to the lord. incredible.
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  • [jack graham] it's a tool to share the gospel.
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  • [ken ham] the gospel is presented in various ways
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  • Actually.
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  • Then we have a movie on the third deck. we actually have
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  • Ray comfort from living waters preaching the gospel.
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  • {jack graham] good!
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  • [ken ham] well, actually we've had people tell us that they,
  • 00:06:02.185 --> 00:06:03.586
  • Sitting in those seats, watching that movie, that they
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  • Have trusted christ.
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  • [jack graham] godly sorrow works repentance and a person
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  • Could come here and realize how real this is and that it
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  • Happened. and that it is going to happen again. and every one
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  • Of us must give and account to god. and so i could see how a
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  • Person could come here and realize their own sin and need
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  • Of the savior.
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  • [ken ham] this is a place where if you come and stand right
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  • Here. and you look to the left and look to the right you get a
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  • Sense of being in the middle of the ship.
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  • [jack graham] i think with that storm going on i'd like to be
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  • In the middle of the ship. it seems safe. and the ark does
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  • Speak of security in christ. and when you are in christ, you
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  • Are in the ark, regardless of the storm and the judgement
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  • That is going on the outside, you are secure in christ. the
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  • Bible teaches the security of the believer in christ because
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  • We are in him. and i heard someone say a long time ago,
  • 00:06:58.841 --> 00:07:02.612
  • “noah and his family might have fallen down many times in the
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  • Ark, but never out of the ark.” and we may stumble and fail and
  • 00:07:06.215 --> 00:07:11.354
  • Fall from time to time, even in our christian life because we
  • 00:07:11.354 --> 00:07:15.124
  • Know we sin. but we can confess our sin and get up and go again
  • 00:07:15.124 --> 00:07:19.262
  • Knowing that we are secure in christ. the eternal security of
  • 00:07:19.262 --> 00:07:22.899
  • The believer, i believe, is taught at the ark.
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  • It really does justice to the story of the bible and the
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  • Truth of scripture regarding the ark, and the creation
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  • Museum as well. it's like a walk through the bible. thank
  • 00:07:32.808 --> 00:07:36.612
  • You, dr. ham. ken.
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  • [ken ham] thank you.
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  • [jack graham] for your vision. i like the title, the ark
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  • Encounter. it's not only once you see the ark as it was, but
  • 00:07:42.218 --> 00:07:45.888
  • That you would encounter the presence of god.
  • 00:07:45.888 --> 00:07:48.090
  • [ken ham] that's exactly what we say. come and encounter the
  • 00:07:48.090 --> 00:07:50.760
  • Ark. have an encounter with god's word. and most of all,
  • 00:07:50.760 --> 00:07:53.763
  • Have an encounter with the lord jesus christ. that's what it's
  • 00:07:53.763 --> 00:07:55.932
  • All about.
  • 00:07:55.932 --> 00:07:57.033
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:07:57.033 --> 00:08:02.905
  • We are incredibly excited to share this with you. we've just
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  • Launched a brand new texting service designed to keep you
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  • Connected with everything happening at powerpoint.
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  • Imagine getting all the latest news, inspiring devotionals,
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  • And helpful reminders to the bible in a year podcast, all
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  • Delivered right to your phone. you'll be the first to know
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  • About upcoming events, special announcements,
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  • And truly enriching content.
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  • To join, simply text the word connect to 59789. you'll
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  • Receive a reply back and that will add you to the text group.
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  • See, it's incredibly simple to join! and trust us, you won't
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  • Want to miss out on this exciting new way to
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  • Stay connected and be encouraged along the way.
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  • [announcer] during the time of ancient athens, people could
  • 00:08:51.487 --> 00:08:53.856
  • Pick and choose their deity, much like selecting items from
  • 00:08:53.856 --> 00:08:57.226
  • A menu. but none of these gods could answer life's biggest
  • 00:08:57.226 --> 00:09:01.731
  • Question. what happens when we die? 2000 years ago, the
  • 00:09:01.731 --> 00:09:06.035
  • Apostle paul stood before the greatest philosophers of his
  • 00:09:06.035 --> 00:09:09.472
  • Time with a radical message. and that is the same message
  • 00:09:09.472 --> 00:09:13.009
  • That can change your life today.
  • 00:09:13.009 --> 00:09:16.312
  • [jack graham] triumph is a book that i wrote because i've seen
  • 00:09:16.379 --> 00:09:18.948
  • Too many people living without hope. fearful of death and
  • 00:09:18.948 --> 00:09:22.318
  • Searching for meaning in all the wrong places. the
  • 00:09:22.318 --> 00:09:25.488
  • Philosophers of athens were brilliant minds, and yet they
  • 00:09:25.488 --> 00:09:28.357
  • Missed the whole point of truth. and so do we. when you
  • 00:09:28.357 --> 00:09:32.628
  • Partner with us to take the gospel of jesus to our culture.
  • 00:09:32.628 --> 00:09:36.565
  • We'll send you a copy of triumph. your best gift today
  • 00:09:36.565 --> 00:09:40.536
  • Will help us reach a very chaotic and confused world,
  • 00:09:40.536 --> 00:09:44.140
  • With the hope filled, life changing message of jesus, our
  • 00:09:44.140 --> 00:09:47.777
  • Savior, lord and king.
  • 00:09:47.777 --> 00:09:50.613
  • [announcer] we want to equip you with doctor graham's book,
  • 00:09:50.680 --> 00:09:52.815
  • Triumph how you can overcome death and gain eternal life.
  • 00:09:52.815 --> 00:09:57.486
  • To give, text the word life to 59789 and you'll receive a link
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  • Where you can give directly and securely from your phone.
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  • And as a thank you. we'll send you jack graham's book,
  • 00:10:06.228 --> 00:10:09.365
  • Triumph for your support of powerpoint ministries.
  • 00:10:09.365 --> 00:10:12.735
  • [jack graham] my book, triumph is available to you today as an
  • 00:10:12.735 --> 00:10:16.138
  • Expression of appreciation for your support in helping us
  • 00:10:16.138 --> 00:10:18.874
  • Reach the world for people who are searching for the unknown
  • 00:10:18.874 --> 00:10:22.678
  • God, who is our lord jesus christ, who made himself known.
  • 00:10:22.678 --> 00:10:26.582
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:10:29.652 --> 00:10:35.558
  • The bible is such a powerful book because it tells the
  • 00:10:35.558 --> 00:10:38.928
  • World's greatest stories. and the great news about the
  • 00:10:38.928 --> 00:10:42.665
  • Stories of the bible that we find in both the old testament
  • 00:10:42.665 --> 00:10:45.267
  • And the new testament is they are true. all of these stories
  • 00:10:45.267 --> 00:10:48.904
  • Are true because god's word is infallible and inerrant. the
  • 00:10:48.904 --> 00:10:52.475
  • Bible... "all scripture, is given by inspiration of god and
  • 00:10:52.475 --> 00:10:56.145
  • Is profitable for teaching, instruction, reproof,
  • 00:10:56.145 --> 00:10:59.949
  • Correction, and training in righteousness." and so we have
  • 00:10:59.949 --> 00:11:03.786
  • The bible and this great message and story of the bible
  • 00:11:03.786 --> 00:11:07.089
  • To speak to us regarding god's salvation for us... the story
  • 00:11:07.089 --> 00:11:11.227
  • Of redemption.
  • 00:11:11.227 --> 00:11:12.862
  • And when it comes to the old testament stories, the apostle
  • 00:11:12.862 --> 00:11:15.998
  • Paul said, all these things happened as examples to us. so
  • 00:11:15.998 --> 00:11:20.736
  • Whether it is abraham or daniel or joseph, all of these great
  • 00:11:20.736 --> 00:11:24.406
  • Old testament... moses... these great old testament figures. i
  • 00:11:24.406 --> 00:11:27.843
  • Remember as a little boy when my grandfather would read the
  • 00:11:27.843 --> 00:11:30.980
  • Scriptures to me. every... veritably every night of my
  • 00:11:30.980 --> 00:11:34.150
  • Life as a small child, i spent in the lap of my grandfather,
  • 00:11:34.150 --> 00:11:37.820
  • Who read the scriptures to me and taught me the scriptures.
  • 00:11:37.820 --> 00:11:40.122
  • And i can remember just enjoying so much even as a
  • 00:11:40.122 --> 00:11:43.459
  • Little boy the stories of the bible.
  • 00:11:43.459 --> 00:11:46.629
  • I didn't really grow up learning how to read with tom
  • 00:11:46.629 --> 00:11:49.832
  • And dick and spot, and all of those people we learned to read
  • 00:11:49.832 --> 00:11:53.202
  • By in kindergarten or first grade. i actually literally
  • 00:11:53.202 --> 00:11:56.672
  • Learned to read by reading the bible with my grandfather, and
  • 00:11:56.672 --> 00:12:00.676
  • Reading these great stories of the bible. and ultimately, i
  • 00:12:00.676 --> 00:12:04.380
  • Discovered what the stories were about, that they weren't
  • 00:12:04.380 --> 00:12:06.916
  • Just adventure stories, but they were real people in real
  • 00:12:06.916 --> 00:12:10.085
  • Life, in real time, who experienced the power and
  • 00:12:10.085 --> 00:12:13.022
  • Presence and the promises of god in their lives.
  • 00:12:13.022 --> 00:12:15.558
  • And ultimately, all of these stories, whether it is the ark
  • 00:12:15.558 --> 00:12:19.094
  • Or abraham and isaac on mount moriah or the fourth man in the
  • 00:12:19.094 --> 00:12:22.298
  • Fiery furnace... all these great, truths of the
  • 00:12:22.298 --> 00:12:25.401
  • Scripture... and these are factual stories; these are not
  • 00:12:25.401 --> 00:12:28.304
  • Fables. this isn't happy ever after stories. they're very
  • 00:12:28.304 --> 00:12:32.474
  • Raw; they're very real. at times the old testament can be
  • 00:12:32.474 --> 00:12:35.578
  • Even violent and you see that throughout the pages of
  • 00:12:35.578 --> 00:12:39.281
  • Scriptures. but in the midst of all of this world that is in
  • 00:12:39.281 --> 00:12:42.151
  • Turmoil...in trouble, there is a message of hope.
  • 00:12:42.151 --> 00:12:45.921
  • And after noah and his family exited the ark and they were
  • 00:12:45.921 --> 00:12:50.526
  • Saved, just eight of them on the good ship grace, they came
  • 00:12:50.526 --> 00:12:54.296
  • Through the storm, the global flood. the entire earth was
  • 00:12:54.296 --> 00:12:58.067
  • Flooded. everyone perished in the flood who was not in that
  • 00:12:58.067 --> 00:13:01.704
  • Boat. and noah and his family came off the boat to a new
  • 00:13:01.704 --> 00:13:06.442
  • World, literally a brand-new world. because god was not
  • 00:13:06.442 --> 00:13:10.312
  • Finished with humankind. god was not finished with you and
  • 00:13:10.312 --> 00:13:14.283
  • Me because he had a plan through noah now.
  • 00:13:14.283 --> 00:13:16.852
  • And there was a covenant made with noah, and with that
  • 00:13:16.852 --> 00:13:20.089
  • Covenant came a beautiful rainbow. how many of us have
  • 00:13:20.089 --> 00:13:24.927
  • Seen a beautiful rainbow and been reminded that it is there
  • 00:13:24.927 --> 00:13:30.266
  • Because of the promises of god? every time i see a rainbow, i
  • 00:13:30.266 --> 00:13:35.738
  • Am reminded of god's love and god's grace and god's mercy and
  • 00:13:35.738 --> 00:13:40.276
  • God's promises for me.
  • 00:13:40.276 --> 00:13:42.478
  • There was a man, by the name of george matheson. he lived in
  • 00:13:42.478 --> 00:13:46.515
  • The 19th century. and as he was growing up, he became a young
  • 00:13:46.515 --> 00:13:50.686
  • Man and he became engaged... and.... but something terrible
  • 00:13:50.686 --> 00:13:54.657
  • Happened, unpredicted to george matheson, and that is he was
  • 00:13:54.657 --> 00:13:58.527
  • Losing his eyesight; he was becoming blind. and when the
  • 00:13:58.527 --> 00:14:02.898
  • Word reached his fiancé that george would be permanently
  • 00:14:02.898 --> 00:14:06.035
  • Blinded, the story is told that she broke off the engagement.
  • 00:14:06.035 --> 00:14:10.572
  • She just couldn't see her life lived with a man who was blind.
  • 00:14:10.572 --> 00:14:15.244
  • And so the relationship was broken.
  • 00:14:15.244 --> 00:14:17.780
  • And of course, george was heartbroken. and his life is
  • 00:14:17.780 --> 00:14:21.717
  • Now torn apart. he's depressed and he's discouraged. he's lost
  • 00:14:21.717 --> 00:14:25.587
  • The love of his life. and yet he knew god, and he believed
  • 00:14:25.587 --> 00:14:29.525
  • God and the promises of god. and in the end, he wrote one of
  • 00:14:29.525 --> 00:14:32.928
  • The great hymns of history. it's called “o love that will
  • 00:14:32.928 --> 00:14:37.433
  • Not let me go”. and of course, that's right out of the
  • 00:14:37.433 --> 00:14:39.601
  • Scripture from one of the promises of god in romans
  • 00:14:39.601 --> 00:14:42.972
  • Chapter 8, “that nothing shall separate us from the love of
  • 00:14:42.972 --> 00:14:45.808
  • God in jesus christ.” and so matheson believed that, and he
  • 00:14:45.808 --> 00:14:49.912
  • Wrote this great hymn. it says:
  • 00:14:49.912 --> 00:14:51.313
  • “o love that will not let me go,/ i rest my weary soul in
  • 00:14:51.313 --> 00:14:57.152
  • Thee;/ i give thee back the life i owe,/ that in thine own
  • 00:14:57.152 --> 00:15:02.424
  • Ocean depths its flow may richer, fuller be.”
  • 00:15:02.424 --> 00:15:06.795
  • He adds on... he says:
  • 00:15:06.795 --> 00:15:08.097
  • “o light that follows all my way,/ i yield my flick'ring
  • 00:15:08.097 --> 00:15:11.533
  • Torch to thee;/ my heart restores the borrowed ray/ that
  • 00:15:11.533 --> 00:15:16.839
  • In thine sunshine's blaze its day may brighten fairer be.”
  • 00:15:16.839 --> 00:15:21.710
  • But here's what i want you to hear from this great hymn by
  • 00:15:21.710 --> 00:15:24.380
  • Matheson:
  • 00:15:24.380 --> 00:15:25.647
  • "o joy... o joy that seekest me through pain,/ i cannot close
  • 00:15:25.647 --> 00:15:32.588
  • My heart to thee;/ i trace the rainbow through the rain... i
  • 00:15:32.588 --> 00:15:39.294
  • Trace the rainbow through the rain/ and feel the promise is
  • 00:15:39.294 --> 00:15:45.034
  • Not in vain that morn shall tearless be."
  • 00:15:45.034 --> 00:15:50.172
  • Those have to be some of the greatest words of literature.
  • 00:15:50.172 --> 00:15:53.842
  • "i trace the rainbow through the... through the rain." with
  • 00:15:53.842 --> 00:15:57.246
  • Blind eyes he sees the promise of god. the rainbow is a symbol
  • 00:15:57.246 --> 00:16:03.786
  • Of this promise from god that he loves you and has a plan for
  • 00:16:03.786 --> 00:16:08.357
  • Your life, and that his love will never let you go, even
  • 00:16:08.357 --> 00:16:12.528
  • Through pain, even through the rain, the storms and shadows of
  • 00:16:12.528 --> 00:16:16.265
  • Life that he is with us. and we can experience his joy because
  • 00:16:16.265 --> 00:16:21.737
  • We know hope in jesus christ.
  • 00:16:21.737 --> 00:16:24.773
  • When you see a rainbow, don't think about pride. it's not
  • 00:16:24.773 --> 00:16:28.710
  • About pride. it's the very opposite of pride. the rainbow
  • 00:16:28.710 --> 00:16:32.414
  • Is about hope, not vain hopes in ourselves, not false hopes
  • 00:16:32.414 --> 00:16:38.520
  • In other religions of, of, of and in secularism and all the
  • 00:16:38.520 --> 00:16:42.891
  • Rest... of the vain hopes that so many people have, and
  • 00:16:42.891 --> 00:16:45.394
  • Even... even false hopes that are, are vile and wicked. but
  • 00:16:45.394 --> 00:16:49.131
  • No, our hope is in jesus christ. it's the promise of god.
  • 00:16:49.131 --> 00:16:54.703
  • When you look at the bible, in james chapter one, james tells
  • 00:16:54.703 --> 00:16:59.908
  • Us, "count it all joy..." add it up as joy "when you fall
  • 00:16:59.908 --> 00:17:05.948
  • Into various kinds of trials and test." in other words, when
  • 00:17:05.948 --> 00:17:11.520
  • It rains and life can be very hard, and sometimes we just
  • 00:17:11.520 --> 00:17:16.592
  • Praise him and find joy and what this new song says in a
  • 00:17:16.592 --> 00:17:21.296
  • "hard fought hallelujah", because we struggle through
  • 00:17:21.296 --> 00:17:24.933
  • Storms and through pain in life. and yet the bible tells
  • 00:17:24.933 --> 00:17:28.303
  • Us to count this as joy. that doesn't mean that we just put
  • 00:17:28.303 --> 00:17:32.074
  • On a happy face and that we just grin and bear it. no, joy
  • 00:17:32.074 --> 00:17:36.145
  • Is something much deeper, much greater. it is the joy that
  • 00:17:36.145 --> 00:17:41.483
  • Jesus gives. he said, "my joy i give to you." and you know when
  • 00:17:41.483 --> 00:17:46.955
  • He said these words? it was as he was facing the cross, in the
  • 00:17:46.955 --> 00:17:50.959
  • Darkness of the upper room with his disciples. he is... he is
  • 00:17:50.959 --> 00:17:55.998
  • Sharing his joy. he said, "my joy i give to you".
  • 00:17:55.998 --> 00:18:00.302
  • Later on in the scriptures, the bible says that jesus “endured
  • 00:18:00.302 --> 00:18:03.939
  • The cross for the joy that was set before him.” and what was
  • 00:18:03.939 --> 00:18:08.010
  • That joy? the joy of salvation that he would bring to all
  • 00:18:08.010 --> 00:18:11.180
  • People. the hope that is in jesus christ. and so we have
  • 00:18:11.180 --> 00:18:15.250
  • This hope in christ, the rainbow, the promise of hope.
  • 00:18:15.250 --> 00:18:19.821
  • And it may be time in your life for you to trace the rainbow
  • 00:18:19.821 --> 00:18:24.960
  • Through the rain. it may be such a tough time that you
  • 00:18:24.960 --> 00:18:28.497
  • Can't even see or understand what's going on. you're blinded
  • 00:18:28.497 --> 00:18:32.834
  • By tears. you're wracked with pain. it could be a physical
  • 00:18:32.834 --> 00:18:36.972
  • Illness. it could be emotional pain or struggle in your life.
  • 00:18:36.972 --> 00:18:40.475
  • It could be something in a relationship; a relationship
  • 00:18:40.475 --> 00:18:43.345
  • That's being ripped apart in your life. it may be a child
  • 00:18:43.345 --> 00:18:47.115
  • That has gone wayward. i don't know what you may be going
  • 00:18:47.115 --> 00:18:50.552
  • Through, but you have fallen into some kind of trial as
  • 00:18:50.552 --> 00:18:53.922
  • James says. the word that he uses there that you have fallen
  • 00:18:53.922 --> 00:18:57.826
  • Into various kinds of trials. it means multifaceted or
  • 00:18:57.826 --> 00:19:01.730
  • Multicolored trials like the rainbow. the trials are
  • 00:19:01.730 --> 00:19:07.369
  • Multicolored and it just speaks to me that, as in the colors of
  • 00:19:07.369 --> 00:19:11.240
  • The rainbow, there's a multicolored grace because the
  • 00:19:11.240 --> 00:19:15.677
  • Bible speaks of the multicolored grace of god. and
  • 00:19:15.677 --> 00:19:20.148
  • For every trial and every test, there is a color of grace, and
  • 00:19:20.148 --> 00:19:24.653
  • That god will cover you with his grace and love and mercy.
  • 00:19:24.653 --> 00:19:29.191
  • This is the promise of the bible.
  • 00:19:29.191 --> 00:19:31.827
  • And that ultimate promise is seen at the cross, is seen at
  • 00:19:31.827 --> 00:19:36.231
  • The empty tomb. and that day when the sun came up on the
  • 00:19:36.231 --> 00:19:39.868
  • First day of the week, jesus came out of that grave, and
  • 00:19:39.868 --> 00:19:44.506
  • Everyone who believes in him is born again unto a living hope
  • 00:19:44.506 --> 00:19:50.279
  • In jesus christ. hope is so much more than wishful
  • 00:19:50.279 --> 00:19:53.582
  • Thinking. it's more than just maybe, i think so, i hope so.
  • 00:19:53.582 --> 00:19:57.319
  • No, hope is the sure confidence... the sure
  • 00:19:57.319 --> 00:20:00.689
  • Expectation that our future is in his hands. we know that our
  • 00:20:00.689 --> 00:20:05.827
  • Hope is real. the bible calls the second coming of jesus, the
  • 00:20:05.827 --> 00:20:10.232
  • Blessed hope. and ultimately, we're going to see jesus face
  • 00:20:10.232 --> 00:20:15.671
  • To face.
  • 00:20:15.671 --> 00:20:16.905
  • And so when we go through all of these trials and tests in
  • 00:20:16.905 --> 00:20:19.541
  • Life, and if life is like a schoolroom, if it's like a
  • 00:20:19.541 --> 00:20:22.911
  • University lab in the university of life, then you
  • 00:20:22.911 --> 00:20:26.081
  • Know, you're going to have pop quizzes and you're going to
  • 00:20:26.081 --> 00:20:27.983
  • Have tests that are there to prove your faith. someone said
  • 00:20:27.983 --> 00:20:33.488
  • That the faith that cannot be tested is a faith that cannot
  • 00:20:33.488 --> 00:20:37.025
  • Be trusted. so god uses trials and tests in our lives to do a
  • 00:20:37.025 --> 00:20:41.730
  • Lot of things: to humble us, to purify us, to draw us to
  • 00:20:41.730 --> 00:20:45.967
  • Repentance. and god uses trials and tests and stormy nights and
  • 00:20:45.967 --> 00:20:50.572
  • Days to build our character and our maturity in christ.
  • 00:20:50.572 --> 00:20:56.211
  • I can tell you this as a pastor for many, many years now, i've
  • 00:20:56.211 --> 00:21:00.182
  • Never had anybody tell me that the time they grew most in
  • 00:21:00.182 --> 00:21:05.087
  • Their christian life was a time when they were on a mountaintop
  • 00:21:05.087 --> 00:21:07.889
  • Or at their highest. but i've had scores, if not hundreds and
  • 00:21:07.889 --> 00:21:11.727
  • Hundreds of people tell me that the most precious time in their
  • 00:21:11.727 --> 00:21:15.597
  • Lives with the lord was when they walked through tough
  • 00:21:15.597 --> 00:21:18.100
  • Times, when they went through the tests of life and the
  • 00:21:18.100 --> 00:21:20.936
  • Trials of life. and i dare say, as you're listening to this
  • 00:21:20.936 --> 00:21:24.039
  • Message, you would say the same thing. i know many people who
  • 00:21:24.039 --> 00:21:28.076
  • Came to faith in jesus christ because of a great test in
  • 00:21:28.076 --> 00:21:32.381
  • Their life. maybe it was a death, maybe it was a tragedy.
  • 00:21:32.381 --> 00:21:35.584
  • And rather than hating god and turning away from god as some
  • 00:21:35.584 --> 00:21:38.987
  • Do, they turned to christ and to god and found peace in the
  • 00:21:38.987 --> 00:21:45.193
  • Middle of their lives and their tests and their tragedies.
  • 00:21:45.193 --> 00:21:49.131
  • I've known some tragedy in my life. when i was 20 years old,
  • 00:21:49.131 --> 00:21:53.802
  • A young preacher. my father was brutally murdered in fort
  • 00:21:53.802 --> 00:21:57.139
  • Worth, texas. and of course, we couldn't understand that; we're
  • 00:21:57.139 --> 00:22:01.009
  • Now victims of violent crime. my mother was left a
  • 00:22:01.009 --> 00:22:04.413
  • 40-something year old widow and my brother and i have lost our
  • 00:22:04.413 --> 00:22:08.517
  • Dad, our hero in life. and... and he's in heaven, and we know
  • 00:22:08.517 --> 00:22:12.454
  • That. but in that experience of of... of... of... of
  • 00:22:12.454 --> 00:22:16.358
  • Experiencing the grace of god and the power of god, i knew
  • 00:22:16.358 --> 00:22:20.328
  • That that was a storm, but there was a rainbow in the
  • 00:22:20.328 --> 00:22:24.132
  • Storm. and one evening i got on my face before god in that
  • 00:22:24.132 --> 00:22:28.503
  • Experience and the presence of god filled the room. and i felt
  • 00:22:28.503 --> 00:22:32.674
  • It was at that moment. and i look back on that now, 50 plus
  • 00:22:32.674 --> 00:22:35.911
  • Years ago, i believe that that moment that god set me apart
  • 00:22:35.911 --> 00:22:39.614
  • And anointed me for the ministry that he has given me.
  • 00:22:39.614 --> 00:22:42.884
  • And now you can fast forward that story a few years later to
  • 00:22:42.884 --> 00:22:46.087
  • 2009, and i'm just coming off cancer surgery.
  • 00:22:46.087 --> 00:22:50.826
  • And it was successful cancer surgery, obviously. i'm
  • 00:22:50.826 --> 00:22:53.428
  • Standing here today happy and healthy, and i'm grateful for
  • 00:22:53.428 --> 00:22:56.364
  • That, god's healing in that. but that summer, after my
  • 00:22:56.364 --> 00:22:59.367
  • Surgery in may, it was a very, very tough summer. i was
  • 00:22:59.367 --> 00:23:03.071
  • Struggling, i was struggling because i wasn't fighting just
  • 00:23:03.071 --> 00:23:06.575
  • Cancer. i was fighting the fear that the cancer brought. and i
  • 00:23:06.575 --> 00:23:10.679
  • Spent some sleepless nights and i was exhausted and i just
  • 00:23:10.679 --> 00:23:14.149
  • Couldn't seem to get going. and i remember after 2 or 3 months
  • 00:23:14.149 --> 00:23:17.752
  • Of this, a friend of mine, but we got in the car and we drove
  • 00:23:17.752 --> 00:23:21.289
  • To fort worth, texas, where i grew up during my teenage
  • 00:23:21.289 --> 00:23:23.925
  • Years, and we were near my home where my parents and i lived
  • 00:23:23.925 --> 00:23:28.730
  • Just a few blocks away.
  • 00:23:28.730 --> 00:23:30.832
  • And there was a billboard with my face on it. and of course,
  • 00:23:30.832 --> 00:23:35.237
  • That was startling. and that billboard was an advertisement
  • 00:23:35.237 --> 00:23:38.874
  • For a ministry called i am second. and i had done a
  • 00:23:38.874 --> 00:23:42.043
  • Testimony on i am second... a video testimony. in fact, you
  • 00:23:42.043 --> 00:23:46.014
  • Can go to i am second.com even now and, and, search for jack
  • 00:23:46.014 --> 00:23:49.150
  • Graham and you can watch that testimony about the death of my
  • 00:23:49.150 --> 00:23:54.022
  • Father and how i experienced god's power and god's presence
  • 00:23:54.022 --> 00:23:57.392
  • In that, and one of the great sorrows
  • 00:23:57.392 --> 00:23:59.261
  • And tragedies of... of life.
  • 00:23:59.261 --> 00:24:01.162
  • And i had just recorded that previously and now here's this
  • 00:24:01.162 --> 00:24:05.066
  • Advertisement with my face on it. and it was literally blocks
  • 00:24:05.066 --> 00:24:10.372
  • Away from my house, a little house where i grew up. and if
  • 00:24:10.372 --> 00:24:15.210
  • You turn to your left and look down the street, just a couple
  • 00:24:15.210 --> 00:24:17.846
  • Of blocks, the very parking lot where my father was murdered,
  • 00:24:17.846 --> 00:24:25.086
  • And when i saw that, i just began to weep profusely because
  • 00:24:25.086 --> 00:24:30.292
  • I saw that as a promise, as a rainbow in the rain. god has
  • 00:24:30.292 --> 00:24:34.195
  • Different ways of showing us rainbows. god has different
  • 00:24:34.195 --> 00:24:37.999
  • Ways of reminding us of his presence, that he's always
  • 00:24:37.999 --> 00:24:41.970
  • There, that he's his promises are always true, that he is
  • 00:24:41.970 --> 00:24:45.173
  • Always faithful and trustworthy.
  • 00:24:45.173 --> 00:24:47.809
  • And that day was the day i believe i began to really heal
  • 00:24:47.809 --> 00:24:51.413
  • For what i was going through at that time. because that rainbow
  • 00:24:51.413 --> 00:24:54.883
  • In the rain, that that billboard, i mean, that was
  • 00:24:54.883 --> 00:24:57.519
  • Just so random that i would be there at that time. i didn't
  • 00:24:57.519 --> 00:25:00.922
  • Even know it was there. it was a campaign to get the word out
  • 00:25:00.922 --> 00:25:04.359
  • About i am second and... and there it is, the promise of god
  • 00:25:04.359 --> 00:25:08.763
  • Just minutes away from where one of the greatest tragedies
  • 00:25:08.763 --> 00:25:12.334
  • And trials of my life took place. and yet, after all these
  • 00:25:12.334 --> 00:25:15.704
  • Years, god's promises are true. my dad is in heaven, and i look
  • 00:25:15.704 --> 00:25:19.674
  • Forward to seeing him and my mother and my older brother and
  • 00:25:19.674 --> 00:25:23.578
  • Family and friends who are already there. and it's all
  • 00:25:23.578 --> 00:25:26.181
  • Because there's a rainbow in the rain. it's all because we
  • 00:25:26.181 --> 00:25:29.384
  • Can trace our tears through the rainbow in the rain.
  • 00:25:29.384 --> 00:25:34.756
  • That's why the old song says
  • 00:25:34.756 --> 00:25:36.491
  • "it will be worth at all when we see jesus./ all sorrows, he
  • 00:25:36.491 --> 00:25:41.363
  • Will erase with one glimpse of his dear face./ it will be
  • 00:25:41.363 --> 00:25:46.801
  • Worth it all... worth it all when we see jesus."
  • 00:25:46.801 --> 00:25:51.473
  • So, dear friends, when you see the rainbow and you're reminded
  • 00:25:51.473 --> 00:25:56.911
  • What it means... what it stands for... what it signifies,
  • 00:25:56.911 --> 00:25:59.881
  • Remember, hope, hope in jesus christ. do you have this hope
  • 00:25:59.881 --> 00:26:05.120
  • In him? jesus went to the cross, and he stretched out his
  • 00:26:05.120 --> 00:26:08.523
  • Arms on the cross to take sinful humanity with one hand,
  • 00:26:08.523 --> 00:26:12.661
  • And holy god the father in the other. and he brought us
  • 00:26:12.661 --> 00:26:15.563
  • Together in his love and his grace at the cross. we have now
  • 00:26:15.563 --> 00:26:18.933
  • The possibility, the potential of knowing god through faith in
  • 00:26:18.933 --> 00:26:22.237
  • Jesus christ. and if you will believe in christ and put your
  • 00:26:22.237 --> 00:26:25.473
  • Hopes in him. not in the false hopes of religion, not in the
  • 00:26:25.473 --> 00:26:29.110
  • False hopes of self-righteousness, but your
  • 00:26:29.110 --> 00:26:31.780
  • Hope in christ and christ alone. if you will believe and
  • 00:26:31.780 --> 00:26:35.150
  • Receive christ by faith, he will come into your life. and
  • 00:26:35.150 --> 00:26:38.386
  • When he comes in, he brings his spirit with him. and the holy
  • 00:26:38.386 --> 00:26:41.756
  • Spirit gives us love and joy and peace and patience and
  • 00:26:41.756 --> 00:26:45.126
  • Kindness and goodness and gentleness and meekness and
  • 00:26:45.126 --> 00:26:48.830
  • Faithfulness. this is the fruit of the holy spirit.
  • 00:26:48.830 --> 00:26:52.767
  • God bless you, dear friend. and it's my prayer today that
  • 00:26:52.767 --> 00:26:55.870
  • Whatever you may be going through, maybe you. maybe
  • 00:26:55.870 --> 00:26:59.474
  • You're sailing high and wide and handsome right now and
  • 00:26:59.474 --> 00:27:01.743
  • Everything is good. but i assure you, it doesn't say if
  • 00:27:01.743 --> 00:27:06.948
  • You fall into various trials, but "when you fall into various
  • 00:27:06.948 --> 00:27:11.052
  • Trials...". expect them, anticipate them, and when they
  • 00:27:11.052 --> 00:27:13.421
  • Come, trace the rainbow through the rain and believe in the
  • 00:27:13.421 --> 00:27:17.625
  • Promises of god.
  • 00:27:17.625 --> 00:27:19.060
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:27:19.060 --> 00:27:19.060