[SPEAKER_00]: Christian parenting.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Hello and welcome to the True Seekers podcast, a True Seeker is someone who wants to know the truth.
[SPEAKER_00]: They search for what's true and they won't rest until they find it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I am a True Seeker and if you are to the new come to the right place where we will search for Truth each week in the stories of the Bible.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hello two seekers, we are continuing to work our way to the final days of Jesus' life before his death.
[SPEAKER_00]: In our last episode, we learned how at the very end when things were most difficult, Jesus closest disciples and friends abandoned him.
[SPEAKER_00]: but this did not stop Jesus in his mission.
[SPEAKER_00]: He would obey his father, even to death.
[SPEAKER_00]: A crowd of people had come to arrest Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then Jesus said to the chief priest, the officers of the temple guard and the elders who had come for him.
[SPEAKER_00]: Am I leading a rebellion that you have come with sword and clubs?
[SPEAKER_00]: Every day I was with you in the temple courts and you did not lay a hand on me.
[SPEAKER_00]: But this is your hour when darkness reigns.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then seizing him they let him away and took him into the house of the high priest.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, you might be wondering who is the high priest?
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, the high priest was the most important religious leader for God's people.
[SPEAKER_00]: He was like the head pastor, chief judge, and teacher, all in one.
[SPEAKER_00]: He helped people understand God's laws and led special worship, especially on the most important holy days.
[SPEAKER_00]: He worked at the temple, which was the main place people went to worship God.
[SPEAKER_00]: He was the only person allowed to go into the most holy place once a year to pray for the whole nation.
[SPEAKER_00]: People looked to him to help them know what God wanted them to do.
[SPEAKER_00]: The high priest was the leader who helped everyone talk to God and follow God's rules.
[SPEAKER_00]: When Jesus was taken to the high priest, he was taken to the person who was supposed to know God best.
[SPEAKER_00]: And yet the high priest, the one who was supposed to know God best, did not even recognize that Jesus was God Himself standing right there in front of Him.
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus was the Messiah He had been waiting for.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, I know what you are thinking.
[SPEAKER_00]: You are probably thinking where are Jesus' disciples while this is happening?
[SPEAKER_00]: How could they have just let Jesus be arrested like that?
[SPEAKER_00]: Where's Peter and John and James?
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I will tell you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus was taken to the High Priest House where leaders questioned him at night.
[SPEAKER_00]: On their way to the High Priest House, Peter followed at a distance.
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus had been taken into the high priest house, so Peter stayed close by in the courtyard outside.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, Peter was not the only one waiting outside in the courtyard.
[SPEAKER_00]: There were others gathered around who had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, so Peter sat down with them.
[SPEAKER_00]: one of the servant girls sitting at the fire began looking closely at Peter.
[SPEAKER_00]: She saw him in the glow of the fire.
[SPEAKER_00]: She looked closely at him and recognized him and said, this man was with that Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: But Peter denied it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Woman, I don't know him.
[SPEAKER_00]: He said afraid.
[SPEAKER_00]: A little later someone else saw him and said, yes, you are also one of them.
[SPEAKER_00]: Man, I am not Peter replied angrily.
[SPEAKER_00]: About an hour later, another asserted.
[SPEAKER_00]: Certainly, this fellow was with him for he is a Galilean.
[SPEAKER_00]: Peter replied once more in anger and fear.
[SPEAKER_00]: Man, I do not know what you're talking about.
[SPEAKER_00]: And just at that moment, just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed.
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus heard the rooster turned and looked straight up Peter.
[SPEAKER_00]: in that moment Peter's heart sank, for he remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was earlier, not that long ago the Jesus had looked at Peter and said, Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat, but I have prayed for you Simon that your faith may not fail, and when you have turned back strengthen your brothers.
[SPEAKER_00]: Wow, Jesus was letting Peter know that the enemy himself was going to try to get Peter to follow away from the Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: To turn his back on him and walk away.
[SPEAKER_00]: Peter had replied, Jesus, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.
[SPEAKER_00]: I would never deny you, never.
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus told Peter, I tell you the truth, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, Peter had denied that fiercely, he said to Jesus, never Jesus will I deny you, even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.
[SPEAKER_00]: And now, all of this sudden, in this moment, Peter realized what Jesus had prophesied came true.
[SPEAKER_00]: He had denied him.
[SPEAKER_00]: He had disowned him.
[SPEAKER_00]: He had gotten angry and yelled and told them that he didn't even know Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: Peter went outside and wept bitterly.
[SPEAKER_00]: His heart was broken.
[SPEAKER_00]: How could he have done it?
[SPEAKER_00]: How could he have been so scared?
[SPEAKER_00]: How could he have denied knowing his best friend?
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus was right.
[SPEAKER_00]: He had denied him.
[SPEAKER_00]: He had denied ever knowing Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: How could he have been such a coward?
[SPEAKER_00]: Peter was heartbroken.
[SPEAKER_00]: The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him.
[SPEAKER_00]: They blindfolded him and made fun of him and demanded, prophesied, who hit you?
[SPEAKER_00]: And they said many other insulting things to him.
[SPEAKER_00]: At daybreak when the morning sun had risen, the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priest and the teachers of the law met together, and Jesus was led before them.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you are the Messiah, they said, tell us, Jesus answered, if I tell you, you will not believe me, and if I asked you, you would not answer, but from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.
[SPEAKER_00]: They all asked, are you then saying, you are the Son of God?
[SPEAKER_00]: He replied, you say that I am, then they said, why do we need any more testimony?
[SPEAKER_00]: We have heard it from his own
[SPEAKER_00]: dare to seekers.
[SPEAKER_00]: The high priest and the chief priest and the elders of the people, the teachers, the ones who were the leaders of the Israelites who were supposed to know the Torah, the Word of God, the Lord, what the prophets had prophesied.
[SPEAKER_00]: Mist, right in front of their noses, the Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God, was standing in front of them.
[SPEAKER_00]: They did not believe it.
[SPEAKER_00]: If I tell you, you will not believe me.
[SPEAKER_00]: They had hardened their hearts to believe that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah.
[SPEAKER_00]: They were angry because Jesus was popular with the people.
[SPEAKER_00]: They were angry because the people began looking to Jesus for answers and not them.
[SPEAKER_00]: They were jealous and their hatred and jealousy of Jesus caused them to want to kill him.
[SPEAKER_00]: They did not believe he was God.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know this part of the story can seem very sad and heavy.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is not easy to listen to how much suffering Jesus endured.
[SPEAKER_00]: His very closest friend even denied ever knowing him.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right when Jesus needed a friend the most he was rejected.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not only that he was made fun of, laughed at, spit at and beaten.
[SPEAKER_00]: They laughed and ridiculed him when he said he was the son of God.
[SPEAKER_00]: No matter what he did, they had chosen to close their eyes and their hearts to the truth.
[SPEAKER_00]: But we don't need to worry or fret, because this was all part of God's plan.
[SPEAKER_00]: God had a plan from the very beginning, and Jesus would be faithful no matter the cost to follow His Father's directions.
[SPEAKER_00]: He knew this was part of the plan, and he knew this was not the end.
[SPEAKER_00]: Better things were coming.
[SPEAKER_00]: Have you ever felt betrayed or alone?
[SPEAKER_00]: Have you ever felt like you had no one to support you or stand up for you?
[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes we may walk through seasons in life where it feels like no matter how much we do the right thing and follow Jesus that others just simply don't understand.
[SPEAKER_00]: Many in this world do not understand what it means to follow Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: They may laugh at us, mock us, make fun of us, and yes even hurt us, but we never have to fear, because Jesus knows what it's like to suffer and to be made fun of.
[SPEAKER_00]: He knows what it's like to be misunderstood.
[SPEAKER_00]: We are never alone when we have Jesus living inside of us.
[SPEAKER_00]: And maybe you feel like Peter, maybe you have been the one to walk away from Jesus and abandon him.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you have been embarrassed to tell others that you know Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: But you know what?
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus is so kind and so loving and so forgiving that he will give you another chance to stand up for him.
[SPEAKER_00]: We will see in the coming stories how Peter is given a second chance to make things right with Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: I am so glad that Jesus gives us second chances.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you'd like to read today's story in your Bible, you can find it in Matthew chapter 26, verses 57 through 75, Luke chapter 22, verses 52 through 71, and John chapter 18, verses 12 through 27.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let me pray with you before we go.
[SPEAKER_00]: Dear Jesus, I thank you that you know what it's like when we are made fun of, laugh that or reject it because of you.
[SPEAKER_00]: I pray that you would give us the strength and the courage to live for you every day.
[SPEAKER_00]: Help us never to be afraid to say that we know you and to share your truth with others.
[SPEAKER_00]: I also thank you that you give us second chances when we mess up.
[SPEAKER_00]: You are the God of second chances.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for loving us enough to suffer for us so that
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, before we go, it is time for some reviews and some shoutouts.
[SPEAKER_00]: So this says, this review says, dear Sherlin, I listen to this podcast almost every night.
[SPEAKER_00]: I love the way you talk about the details and the stories of Jesus and how we can apply the lesson to our lives.
[SPEAKER_00]: Please make more episodes.
[SPEAKER_00]: We love it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for sharing about the love of Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's from grace Who is age seven in Hawaii.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you grace.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm so glad you listen every night and I am gonna keep making episodes So as long as you keep listening I'll keep making episodes
[SPEAKER_00]: Alright, this next review says hello my name is Noah, who is six and my younger sister's name is Adeline, who is five, we live in Canton, Georgia, and we listen to your podcasts every time we're in the car picking up our little sisters from preschool.
[SPEAKER_00]: our favorite story is Esther and we love this podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well thank you Noah and Adeline for that review and mom says you have the beautiful gift of storytelling through this podcast our whole family has grown richly in both biblical literacy and in the deeper tooth of God's nature and character.
[SPEAKER_00]: My daughters think and talk about the episodes long after they are done listening and I know God is at work in their hearts through the conversations we have.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for blessing us through two seeking.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well thank you so much mom for writing that in and just encouraging me like that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Alright, this next review says we enjoy the stories the most, thank you for making this Bible podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: We are Jerry Glenn, who is two, Oliver, who is five, Lydia, who is eight, Andrew, who is ten, and Mama, who is, I proud 41.
[SPEAKER_00]: The kids insisted that she included her age, so thank you, I love it.
[SPEAKER_00]: We are on episode 126 and have been listening for over a year.
[SPEAKER_00]: Miss Cherlin, I want to personally thank you for filling a spot in quite literally raising my children that I am unable to do to voice problems.
[SPEAKER_00]: As a homeschool mama who wanted to do it all offline, I am truly appreciative that I can use your voice to teach my children.
[SPEAKER_00]: Biblical truths.
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll gosh, that means we tear up and cry so thank you so much for sharing that.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, let me get myself together.
[SPEAKER_00]: Here we go to the next one.
[SPEAKER_00]: This one says, I go to a school that teaches kids about Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I learned about Jesus, finding his disciples.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I love that what you're learning about in school is also corresponding to what you're learning in the podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: I love how God's Word does that in our lives.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, this email was sent in right after Christmas when I did the Christmas series and it says Dear Sherylon, our family, I've been nine, Bowdoin seven, and Elina to have been listeners to your two secret podcasts for at least three years from St. Thomas, which is in the United States Virgin Islands.
[SPEAKER_00]: We subscribe to Patreon as well.
[SPEAKER_00]: We are so thankful for your consistent faithful to the word episodes.
[SPEAKER_00]: They have helped us stay consistent in our homeschool Bible study when life gets crazy.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much for your dedication to this project.
[SPEAKER_00]: She went on to say how Bowden looks forward to the candy cane story in the Advent series every year.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I love that you guys look forward to that.
[SPEAKER_00]: That is one of my favorite episodes in stories as well.
[SPEAKER_00]: She says, thank you so much.
[SPEAKER_00]: We pray for your ministry and share your podcast often.
[SPEAKER_00]: Love, in Christ, Annie, and the Namawaks family.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you all so much for listening.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much for sharing the podcast with others.
[SPEAKER_00]: And thank you for being faithful Patreon supporters.
[SPEAKER_00]: I love that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, this is another email that came in during December while we were doing the Christmas Advent series.
[SPEAKER_00]: It says, Hi, Marie, David and Joy wanted to let you know we started listening to two secrets this summer every night before bed.
[SPEAKER_00]: Marie's favorite episode is one has a kind of gets to live 15 more years.
[SPEAKER_00]: David's favorite episode is David and Goliath.
[SPEAKER_00]: And Joy's favorite is to learn about Noah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you, the wallers.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, hi, Marie, David and Joy.
[SPEAKER_00]: I love that you're listening, that you just found at this past summer and that you already have favorite episodes.
[SPEAKER_00]: So thank you so much for writing in and for sharing that.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, everyone.
[SPEAKER_00]: As always, please keep the reviews coming.
[SPEAKER_00]: I love receiving your feedback and all of the encouragement that keeps me going.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if you'd like to support the podcast, you can over on Patreon.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's patreon.com forward slash share-in or grant.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, two seekers.
[SPEAKER_00]: I look forward to our time together next week.
[UNKNOWN]: You