11/01/2025 - קָוָה (qavah) - Serge Papin - Sermon

Sous-titrage Société Radio-Canada

It

was published in 1858

in

one of the hymnals,

and

people started

reading

about it, singing about it, and there have been so many artists who actually covered that song.

But

the intent

of

that song, it talks about his travels, it talks about his hard times,

but

what he's really waiting

is

to be with his God, with his Savior,

so

that he can see his loved ones, his mother, his father. That's what he talks about.

And

that waiting is so...

If

you have a look at the Old Testament, just at the Old Testament, in the New Testament, the fact that

in

the Old Testament they were waiting for the Messiah,

and

in the New Testament

they're

waiting for the second return

of

Jesus.

There

is a word

that

is used

in

the Old Testament, mainly in the Old Testament,

which

is translated

waiting. And

not just waiting, but hoping for it.

And

that word

is

kavar in Hebrew.

And

kavar is a very, very interesting word.

Because

it can be used, not just waiting, but a very special type of waiting.

See, there's

a complete set of slides that's not there. But that's okay, I think it's my mistake.

I

must have... No, it's not this one, but that's okay. What we'll do is that we'll read... The word kavar has been translated

in

a number of words.

And

I can... If you have a look at some of the words that are on your screen, and you look at Isaiah...

For

those, but those who wait on the Lord, for those who kavar on the Lord,

well,

he will renew your strength.

They

will soar on wings like eagles.

In

the book of Psalms, like no one who hopes, no one who kavar will ever be put to shame. So it says that word is being used not only for waiting, but also hoping. Wait for the Lord. Actually, it's a verb.

Wait

for the Lord. Be strong and take heart and wait for the... And kavar

for

the Lord.

We

wait in hope.

That's

wait in hope is just one word in Hebrew. And it's we kavar for the Lord. He's our help and our shield.

I

remember very well when I just retired.

And

I just retired and the very first day, automatically at 6.30, you know, your brain ticks in and you feel like waking up.

I

wake up with one eyes closed and one eye open. Look at the time.

And

I know that it's a time that I should have waken up. And I just realized, oh, I'm retired.

I

don't have to go to work.

I

said, man, let's close both eyes. And so I did.

And

at around quarter to nine, I woke up again. That's a good time, isn't it? Quarter to nine, I woke up. And my wife was just on her way to work.

And

I said, darling, don't worry. I'll wait for you when you come back.

And

for a whole week, my waiting was just about sitting down very comfortably, putting my foot up, doing some reading, doing some self-meditating, doing some...

I'm

just trying to think what I did. Not much really. And it's all about putting your foot up and waiting.

Then

a week after this happened, after a week,

oh,

we've got the text here, Kavar. So a week after, my wife came

with

a list to do.

Now

that looked very different. And I look at the list again with one eye closed and one eye open. I had to look at it. And

I

said, darling, don't you worry. I'll

look

after the list.

Once

you are in a mode, in a mood to have your foot up, it's very hard to put that foot down and start doing. And my waiting was just like, and I know she would come back around five o'clock.

I

waited till 4.30

and

I hurried to the last half an hour to look at the list and do whatever I could.

And

waiting for me and Kavar for me

has

been really just to

look

up, relax, put my foot up

and

wait.

You

know, we are called seven-day Adventists, Advent. We are waiting for Jesus to come. It appears that our, and we focus on that and with good reason. Because we are waiting for our Savior. And we wait. And we Kavar.

And

we Kavar.

And

I don't know what our waiting looks like for you.

What

our waiting looks for me. But at the start of a new year, we started by saying it's the 11th day of the new year.

And

usually, you know, when we start the year, it's like a blank sheet. And then I say, what would this year look for me? Are we waiting? And what does our waiting, our seven-day Advent,

what

does our waiting

look

like?

Let

me take you to the New Testament.

Because

there was a church

in

the New Testament who were also Kavar-ing, if I can say that. They were waiting too. Because in Acts chapter 1, verse 9 to 11, after Jesus ascended to heaven, two angels appeared to the disciples and said, This same Jesus

who

has been taken from you into heaven will come back

in

the same way you have seen him go into heaven. This same Jesus will come back. It's an Advent.

It's

coming back. So,

as

a church, they were called upon to wait for that second coming.

That

same Jesus will come back.

And

so, this church waits.

So,

this church cavals.

And

so, this morning,

I

want you to reflect how this church

cavals. If

you look at the very first church, Acts 2, verse 42 to 47,

let

me read that with you. We won't have time to go through all of it, but I just want to highlight a few very important things in that day. Because they were just like us, just like seven-day Adventists waiting for the second coming. They, too, they, too,

were

waiting. They, too, were cavaring, just like we are.

But

their waiting

looks

very interesting.

The

very first thing, they devoted themselves

to

the apostles' teaching

and

to fellowship,

to

the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.

All

the believers were together

and

had everything in common. Man, this waiting is very different, very interesting.

They

sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day, look at that, every day, they continued to meet together. You can start to feel a bit what this church that was waiting looked like. Every day, they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and rejoicing

the

favor of all the people. And the Lord, now listen to this one. After all of that, it says, and the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

You

know, this is not just history.

This

is a model.

This

is a blueprint

for

what a church who cavals looks like.

And

the interesting thing is not that

they

devoted themselves to the apostle's teaching and to fellowship,

to

the breaking of bread. Or,

they

didn't say they devoted themselves to the apostle's teaching or to fellowship, to the breakfast. It's not either or. Or,

it's

an end.

We

can't discount

one

to the favor of the other.

When

we talk about a church who waits,

it's

a church who is heavily involved in teaching, in fellowship, in the breaking of bread, in prayer.

And

not only just that, they were doing it together.

Let

me just start

with

the very first word.

They

devoted.

They

devoted themselves. And the Greek word for that is very strong.

Devotion

is not

like, it's

like

being

committed. Devotion

is

like whatever happens, I'll stay. I'll keep on going.

And

every time I see a very old couple who's, you know, who's had like 50 or 60 years of wedding, still holding hands and being, I mean, I see that's devotion.

That's

commitment. It doesn't matter how long.

It

doesn't matter how long it takes. Time doesn't matter. You are committed.

You're

sick. You're well. You know, things are going well. Things are not going that good. It doesn't matter. You are committed to it. That is the type of church that we're talking about. That is a church that waits. That is a church that cavals.

It's

a church that is devoted. Devoted to what, we say? Well, first of all, to the apostles' teaching.

You

can just imagine,

in

that church, in that early church, those who were there were those, the witnesses who had been with Jesus.

They

had walked with Jesus.

What

they were hearing is testimonies from people who have shared time, space, shared incredible time with the Savior.

They

were committed

to

the Bible.

They

were committed to the teachings. And that was the foundation of everything. The foundation is in Jesus' teaching. And our Lord

teaches

that He's coming back

for

us. He's going to prepare. He's the God of grace and mercy. He's given you the opportunity of being called a child of God.

God, that

is

the

apostle teaching, the gospel, the good news.

And

that is the foundation, the very start of everything.

And

not only it was about God's teaching, we're talking about fellowship.

You

know, when we talk about fellowship, we had a good time this morning. We fellowship among ourselves. And then we shake hands

when

we finish. And that's it for a week.

When

I think of fellowship,

I

think of family.

You

know, in a family, what we try

is

for no one

to

be lonely.

No

one to have to carry their burdens on their own.

When

someone is in need, that's what family is all about. That is fellowship. Singing together is great. I love it. This is fellowship. This is important. But if that is what we're doing now, is the only time that we do fellowship, then we are missing completely the point.

Fellowship is

about being there at any time when someone is in need. Fellowship

is

about being able to sing together and praise together for what God has done to us for all this week. We've been there. We've been the partner. We've been the friend. We've been the support of the other.

During

any time the need is there. I love our pray line, and this week Christine wrote something about a need that she had, and everyone sort of praying for that.

There

is need,

just

not in our church, but in the community around. We'll get to the community just a bit later. But just here, just in our own little community, there is need.

But

are we there?

Are

we waiting? Are we kavar-ing?

It's

a new word that I've just put on,

but

it's a good word. Kavar, wait. Waiting, devoting ourselves to the gospel, to the good news, to our teaching, but also to our fellowship. Getting to know. Are we comfortable enough when we're not that good? We say, man,

should

I say or not? This is about trust to the other,

and

it doesn't happen overnight.

It

needs to happen, though, and it takes time, but we need to make ourselves available

to

the other.

And

that's the only chance that we've got of fellowship growing.

Let's

keep going, because otherwise we'll be here all day. And they were here to the breaking of bread

and

to prayer. Let me start with prayer first,

before

we go to the breaking of bread. Oh, man. Prayer.

Prayer

life. Prayer is not just waking up in the morning, having water, prayer, and we forgot. I remember very clearly. Marie, my wife and I, we used to have, that was before COVID,

and

we gave ourselves a particular time during the day that we would pray.

So

we said to ourselves,

when

we get to work, we'll stop at 10.30,

and

we'll have prayer. And whatever we are doing,

I

had my computer in front of me, and I was sitting there. I would just stop

and

spend time in prayer. But the thing is that

you

know that someone else is praying

with

you.

It

doesn't, you don't have to,

what

I'm talking about is just to pray. I'm talking about prayer life.

I'm

talking about,

you

could be driving the car and be in connection with God.

And

you know what? It's so comforting

when

someone is praying, knowing that the church is praying for the same thing.

And

prayer

is

not just

praying

for someone else.

And

I remember,

especially

Pastor Leland, talking very often about that. Be

the

answer in the prayer you're preaching for, you're praying for. If you're praying for someone, be the answer to that prayer.

If

someone is in need, you're praying for that person,

why

not be the answer

to

that prayer?

And

this has stayed with me.

If

I'm praying for a given

who

needs bread,

why

don't I bake a bread for you, my brother?

I'm

praying for you, but I can offer you a bread that I've baked. And this is what I'm talking about.

So

that prayer life

becomes

alive.

It's

not just words.

But

it's every part of your body

supporting

and helping

and

making prayer a reality.

Something

you can touch.

And

the breaking of bread. You know, in the Old Testament, eating together

is

something very, very, very important.

That's

hospitality of all.

And

breaking bread,

I

mean, we talk sometimes about potluck, you know, how careful we have to be. But in the olden days, you had just one big bowl with all the food in there. And everyone just had to take a little bit in that bowl and you eat.

I'm

not saying that we have to do that.

But

the spirit of it is important.

It's

not just about eating together. Because when you eat together,

you

get to know that you get time to reflect on the other. You get to know people. But what I'm saying is that as we go forward, I mean, I'm thankful for the plans of this church, of the elders that we put together a whole plan. And this will become more alive as we go through. This is just the 11th day.

We

plan now starts the implementation of those plans. Plans are good

when

it's on paper.

It

looks good when it's on paper.

It

tastes good

when

you start doing it. Breaking of bread

is

so important.

Not

only where we do it,

but

how we do it.

Let

me explain myself.

One

of the plans that we have is to start having

potluck

at home.

How

will it work? We probably will get through it at some stage. But it's such an important

thing

that we open our house to others. That we open our door to others so that we can have lunch together. And lunch is not just eating, but sharing, comforting, praying.

I

want to take you on that journey. As the leaders of this church, we want to take you on that journey.

We

want for each one of us to really express

our

love for each other. Our understanding for each other. The risk that we take. When I open my door to anyone, I'm taking a risk. The risk that my food may not be good enough for people that have been invited. But I say, let's take that risk. Let's come and share. Just like the very first church who was waiting for the second coming. Again, I say, it's not either or. But it's an, an, an,

prayer,

an, the breaking of bread.

Oh

man, we've got so much to cover. But I will go to the next part.

All

the believers were

together. And

this is so important. He says that on verse 44, all the believers are together.

And

then on 46, every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes. That's what I'm talking about. Breaking bread in their homes and ate. And they used the word again, together.

It's

not something that

you

want to be doing on your own.

We're

talking about it togetherness.

How

do we build that togetherness? There's a good reason why earlier, which we sang that song, God, in three different languages.

We

love

the

difference

in

us.

We

love the uniqueness of each other.

But

more than that,

we

love

being

different,

but

together. Different, but accepting of each other. Different,

but

learning

how

to accept

and

share with each other. We're talking about the new year. For me, a new year, it's a new page.

The

new year is the beginning of something.

A

new year,

then,

should be the start, really,

of

what Kavar

is. Because

this is waiting.

We're

waiting on our Lord. But we're waiting

together. We're

comforting each other. We're supporting each other. We're helping each other. Wherever there is a need,

we

are here. And this is

Kavar.

Praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. Oh, man.

For

me, that is passion.

Knowing

that we've got a God that saves, a God that is real.

Not

to respond

to

a God who's so passionate about us

and

not be passionate about Him.

Passion

calls for passion.

A

God, a church that waits.

They

devote themselves to teaching,

fellowship,

breaking of bread, prayer.

And

they do it together, everything in common.

They

broke bread in their homes and ate together. They praise God and enjoy the favor of all the people and wait.

And

listen to this one.

This

waiting, that church that waits,

by

doing all of that,

the

Lord added to their number. We want to be a missionary church. And that's what we've called upon.

There

are things that we do well and things that we don't do so well.

What

I'm saying is that

it's

time to reimagine

what

our church can look like.

Let's

reimagine.

If

we wait, if we Kavar like the very first church,

do

not be surprised if the Lord

adds

to our number daily. It's not about every Sabbath, every Saturday. We're talking about daily. What does it look for? And I know, and listen,

yes,

it's true that I don't work anymore. And I used to work before. And I think time is precious.

But

can we make time?

Can

we make time

for

each other?

Can

we make time to grow together?

Can

we make time to pray,

to

follow the teaching, to fellowship,

to

eat together, together?

The

Lord added

to

their number daily. Because not of either we do this or we do this. But because we do this and we do this.

I

would like to conclude

my

sermon this morning. And I will go back.

Go

back to the word that I used before.

Which

is the word

Kavar

again.

To

wait.

To

look for.

To

hope.

To

expect.

There's

a nuance

in

that word. Because this word is also used for rope making. And that's what I love with the Hebrew language. It's translated based on the context of this one. But it can also be translated differently. It's about rope making.

And

what's interesting with rope making.

Is

that a rope

is

made up of strings.

And

when you twist

those

strings. And we bind them together.

It's

only then that that rope becomes a strong rope.

You

see we want to be a church that cavals. We want to be a church that waits. And we want to be a strong church.

We

cannot leave it to just a few. Each strain matters. Each strain matters. God has gifted you with something. What is it? And how can you put it to the service of the Lord? We cannot count on four, five, six, ten people. We're talking about a strain. We're talking about the caval. We're talking about the rope

making. You

and I are strains

in

that rope.

Let's

bind it. Let's twist it together.

And

let me our church for 2025 be a rope that is strong. And we support each other. May God bless you as we start the year. Please come back to me. And let me know how you want to serve. How you can be strained in that church.

And

let the Lord

bring

new people

to

our church. Be blessed this morning. And so I will invite you to sing our last song.

And

we're right on time. Sing. Bind us together, Lord. Let's sing

this

last song.

Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Sous-titrage ST' 501