Okay, let me begin reading in Chapter 2 here in Romans. I'll read verses 1 through 5 Share a few things give you a little bit of a reminder a couple of other things I I would have liked to have shared with you last time and I will at this point and then we'll go through our study So beginning at verse 1 reading to verse 5 Romans chapter 2 Paul writes therefore you are Unexcuseable, oh man, whoever you are who judge for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself For you who judge practice the same things But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things and Do you think this oh man you who judge those practicing such things and doing the same That you'll escape the judgment of God or do you despise the riches of his goodness? Forbearance and long-suffering not knowing that the goodness of God Leads you to repentance but in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart You are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God I'll read verse 6 who will render to each one according to his deeds Now in chapter 1 Paul made it clear that God is dealing and will deal severely with those who practice sin We saw in chapter 1 verse 18 How that he had said the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness So he said that God is going to bring judgment He also has shared with us in the chapter that God had given us a witness a witness to his existence And he had done so by conscience as well as creation and even though man has these witnesses He still rejects them his conscience can be seared Creation he said can be worshiped Professing to be wise he says they became fools and as a result they worship creation He pointed out how they had worshiped idols of humans and birds of four-footed animals creeping things Not only this but they also began to engage in improper sexual relationships we looked at chapter 1 verses 26 and 27 and The list of sins that he begins to share Begins with same-sex relationships now. I mentioned that homosexuality is mentioned first women and men Began to engage in improper Relationships they they exchange the natural use for what is unnatural and he said this is condemned Now notice that he had said they receive in themselves the penalty of their error, which was due I Mentioned last time that there are quite a number of sexually transmitted diseases chlamydia syphilis and a variety of others including AIDS now When he said they receive in themselves the penalty of their error, which is due the solution That which will keep them from receiving final judgment is Going to be the gospel of Jesus Christ and as I was looking at this last time and I was looking at the various sins And all I began to remember some things after the study was over That I I should probably share with you and and do so as an introduction to our study in the 80s when When AIDS was unknown it was just a new disease And it was beginning to plague. It was a virus that was beginning to plague Nobody knew what it was Nobody knew how it It wasn't well known how it entered into Into our society and things like that were really unknown. It was relatively unknown We had a guy in our fellowship An older man he had he was a World War II veterans He used to he was he actually was in these big bombers and he had done military missions over Europe. He was a door gunner and He and I had gotten to know each other not very very well, but I had gotten to know him He was close to my father's age and all in and He got very ill and when he got ill I Found out about it again It was very early in our ministry and so it was easier for me to hear of things like that and I heard that he was he was ill and and I On occasion drove by the where he lived and and I noticed that his yard had become Overgrown how weeds were just growing and things I noticed that and and you know it concerned me He was an older fellow not that old really. I mean he was probably in his 60s maybe 50s late 50s, but I was only like 34 35 at the time So he was old to me But he needed help and so I got some of the guys and I said let's go to his house and and clean it up for him Which we did and while we were there He was very tearful and his is is I still remember his skin was blotched and He and I spoke and as we spoke he told me That he was very ill and they'd had a terrible disease and and then he began to confess that and this is what I didn't know about him at all that he had been a an active homosexual pedophile and And As he shared with me I was sharing with the grace and the love of God and he kept saying God can't forgive somebody like me God can't forgive somebody like me and I said there's no sin so great that Jesus's blood can't can't cleanse You need to get right with the Lord and I remember sharing with him and and he just kept fighting and and finally I had to leave and before I left I Said give me a hug and he says no no you don't want to touch me don't touch me but I grabbed him anyway, and and I gave him a hug and and and Then shortly thereafter word came to me that He was driving and he pulled over on the side of the road in a desert and he died He died of AIDS That was what he was saying don't touch me. What I have is so evil AIDS Receiving in themselves the penalty of their error Which was to on another occasion just shortly thereafter I Received a call from somebody in there our fellowship who told me that her husband was in Pomona Valley, and he was very ill and asked if I would Come and see him which I did and So my then assistant Randy walls, and I went to Pomona Valley and looked through the glass in this This unit that was That had em isolated and the nurse was wearing something like one of those space suits I mean she was covered from head to toe, and I was looking and I became pretty aware This man has AIDS But I saw his wife She wasn't wearing any Any protective covering and the nurse came up to me she opened the door came out She said if you want to go in and see him you need you should put on protective clothing But I was looking at his wife, and she didn't have any So I said no We'll just go in I'll just go in and I turned to Randy and I said to Randy you stay out We don't know how this is transmitted. I don't want you to go in and he said where you go. I'm gonna go So I said well you go in and I'll wait out here myself Tell me how it goes so he and I both went in and He saw me this man saw me as I walked in and he motioned to his wife he wanted a pen and a pad of paper and So he was he had all of these tubes and he he wrote something to me and she handed it to me and He said I am eternally grateful to you Because he had come to faith in Christ in our ministry before he died and he died He died, but the words eternally grateful. I'll never forget because the words those words mean something eternally grateful Right here in this room Years ago now when we had moved in I Had finished a Sunday morning service And when I finished the Sunday morning service there was a young man waiting and I walked down and I began to speak to him his name was Sam and He said to me I want to talk to you for a minute. I said, of course. I'm right here and he goes Well, I want to tell you something. He said a little over a year ago. He said I came To church when you were meeting at Ontario high school. I said, yeah, we were there for a while And he says yeah, I went there he goes and I walked in I sat down I listened to the worship team. He said the band was great I enjoyed the music and then you came out and and you spoke and I said to myself I never want to hear this guy again. He said I couldn't stand you. I said, well, thank you I'm blessed to hear that He goes and he says so I left He said and last Easter. I was driving looking for a church to go to He said and and I came driving down this street and he said there was a line of cars that were going into the parking lot And I got in the line. He said it was just too long It was too much of a hassle, but I made a mental note come back the next week and I did he said so I showed up He said once again a band that was playing. I really liked and then you came out And I said to myself, that's the guy. I don't like And I'm looking at him thinking how kind of you and then he says to me, but you know what happened I said, what is that? He said I gave my heart to Christ and I said Well, that's wonderful. He said I'm not through and I said, okay. He goes. I want I need prayer. I said well course He said I was with a woman That I'm known in a casual way, but we became intimate and I received received a phone call recently and She said that she had tested positive for AIDS And she told me that I should go and get tested and any contacts I'd had After her should also be tested. So he said I called him a woman I'd been with let her know to get tested. I went and got tested. He said and it Came out positive He said but I got a call from the first Girl and she said I was retested. It's negative and then I got I called the other one and she said I Came out negative. He said oh good. It must have been a mistake So I went and was retested and it came out positive. He said I've got AIDS He had contacted AIDS between the first time he had shown up at our fellowship And rejected the gospel and the second time he had come and received Christ. I Couldn't help but think I Wish he wouldn't have rejected Christ the first time Because we buried him I Buried him He died of AIDS and I watched him as his body slowly withered away Sexual sin has repercussions. It's not recreational. It's not casual It has repercussions Paul was speaking about that Paul was making it clear that these sins are judged by God But he also makes it clear and he does in other places That there isn't a sin that's so great that Christ can't forgive it and my sister Rebecca practiced lesbianism For well over 20 years Well over 20 years And I sat down with her and I still remember sharing with her when she first came out And I told her I love you. I Love you. I Love you enough to tell you the truth and the truth is Becky you need to get right with God Because this is a sin. God will judge you for it's not the only sin But it's a sin very explicit in scripture and She listened to me and we had a long conversation But she progressed and continued in that lifestyle in 19. I believe it was 98 We had an outdoor service for Easter And I gave an invitation and then I gave a second invitation and as I Looked out into the center aisle. I saw my father Becky and my mother and Becky had her arm through my father's as he walked her up to receive Christ and later on Becky told me this She said David. She said One of the things that I knew was going to be the repercussion of the lifestyle I chose that that my father would never walk me up the aisle She said but somebody took a picture of when I got saved and I saw myself standing there with my arm through my father's arm as my dad Walked me up to marry Jesus. She says I married the greatest man that I could have possibly ever been connected to Jesus Christ But the story doesn't stop there because and I've told this story before There was a guy I met who had his mother had died when he was 12 and It was Thanksgiving just shortly after his mama had died. He's 12 years old When his father came into the into his room. He was getting dressed. It was Thanksgiving The father said, where are you going? He says, so I'm going with you To my auntie's house for Thanksgiving. The father said who invited you and His father said here's a buck go out to McDonald's get yourself a burger and taking the kids and we're gonna go You're staying here So that little boy at 12 ran away from home He lived on the streets in East, Los Angeles. He was part of a gang called the harpies in East L.A And he basically was raised by the gang he used to Going to a bakery in the morning and he would sweep it up and clean it up and for breakfast He would eat a donut and he'd had a glass of milk That was his breakfast. He eventually met a young lady Got married. He moved out of California When he moved out he and his wife had a little girl So he began to work and he had to go to Texas in order to Provide for the family, but one day he got a phone call. You see his his wife was pregnant He's expecting a second, but he gets a phone call From a friend of his who says you ought to come home a little early your wife's going out on you So he came home a day early Came to the house.  She was like six years old.  He obviously knew who he was. He was ordered to appear before the court He was a day late and the judge said to him if he to come on time if you had a major date I could have been lenient I can't now and he was put into prison for well over 20 plus years for the killing of this man This man got right with God when he was in prison And one day he was walking knocking on doors asking if People needed his services because he started his own little construction business when he got out of prison And you knocked on the door of this young woman He asked her where are you? What do you do? You know in this place because This is kind of a don't be placed. What do you do for excitement right now? She says I go to church So he says where do you go to church and she tells him and so he says I I'll go and check it out. So he goes well, obviously He had other intentions. He had seen this young woman before and got interested in her and so He went to the church. They began to date and eventually I performed their marriage I performed the marriage for my sister Becky who had been a lesbian and a man who was shot and killed Somebody else. That's why I preached the gospel of Jesus Christ. It changes lives It changes lives That's the only message and see when people go in a direction against that When people don't Receive that Then judgment is waiting them The solution to these sins that Paul is speaking about is the gospel. It's the power of God For salvation to anyone who believes and so we saw in verses 29 through 31 a list of various sins That typify a person who doesn't know God and at first reading Many non-christians would agree that this kind of behavior is wrong There are there are many people who disapprove of these things and some people do have high moral standards And they may be and often are very religious But how does God deal with those who are considered good people? And so here he's gonna make it clear Paul will make it clear that even those considered good Still do evil and that's why he begins in verse 1 here in chapter 2 by saying therefore you are Inexcusable. Oh man, whoever you are who judge for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself for you who judge practice the same thing So he speaks he's excuse me He's he's made it clear that in chapter 1 when he was speaking to the Gentiles He was speaking and saying that the Gentile nations are those who are without God That's what it says in Ephesians 2 12 when he speaks concerning Gentiles And he said that they were without hope and without God in the world But chapter 2 verse 17 in this chapter here makes it clear that he's not speaking to Gentiles He's speaking to the Jews because he says in verse 17 indeed You are called a Jew who rests on the law and make your boast in God So chapter 1 he was speaking to the Gentiles chapter 2. He's speaking to Jews And he's revealing that unbelieving Jews who consider Gentiles unworthy of God are still inexcusable Because they're guilty of the same sins and will not escape judgment He says in verse 2 We know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things So God judges according to the facts and not out of appearance the judgment of God He's saying is according to truth Jesus and John 7 24 said do not judge according to appearance judge with righteous judgment So he's saying God's judgment is impartial. It's in and it's untainted In Psalm 9 7 and 8 it says the Lord reigns forever. He has established his throne for judgment He will judge the world in righteousness So he says in verse 2 as a righteous judge God's judgment is against those who practice such things You see Christians do sin, but it is not our way of life Remember in 1st John 3 6 how it says no one who lives in him keeps on sinning No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. We do fail obviously, but it's not our lifestyle So he is going to judge those who practice such things and it goes on in verse 3 to say and do you think oh Man you who judge those practicing such things and doing the same that you'll escape the judgment of God Well the fact is they won't God hates hypocrisy and The Pharisees were guilty of it and That's why when you see Jesus in in his references to the Pharisees felt very free to To refer to them as hypocrites in Matthew for example 23 27 and 28 He said what do you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites?  You see in order to be saved from judgment you need to receive your Savior Jesus Christ because He's making the case is Jesus who paid our sins and it's Jesus who saves from judgment And that's why in verse 4 he says do you despise the riches of his goodness for barrens and long suffering? Not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance Do you despise the riches of his goodness that gives us insight into the heart of God? God is provided for us for those of us who have broken his law Notice he uses the word despise do you despise that word despise means to undervalue or underestimate To disregard Do you underestimate the riches of God that riches the word riches speaks of the super abundance of God the Abounding things of God do you do you despise the riches of his goodness of his forbearance that word forbearance? It talks about him putting up with us every one of us who's married understand that word Putting up with us. It's a restraint from revealing Displeasure and then he speaks of long suffering He has not acted immediately when we deserve judgment. Do you despise that? Do you undervalue that do you not understand that? So why why is God holding back his judgment? This is that the mystery of God he does so because he desires to save us who are rebels from his judgment in Second Peter chapter 3 verse 9 the Lord is not slow in keeping his promise as some understand slowness He's patient with you not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance He's patient with you. How long did it take you to get saved? Some of you got saved in an early age. Some of you got saved at a later age God shows his patience in that Ezekiel 3311 says say to them as surely as I live declares the Lord.  Oh house of Israel? He says not knowing in verse 4 that the goodness of God leads repentance God's goodness is revealed Especially in that he had sent Jesus Christ One of my favorite parables is found in Matthew 1345 and 46 The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls Who when he had found one pearl of great price went and sold all that he had and bought it there was a an Indian diver Who had made a friendship with an American missionary the American missionary was there in India and had spent many years in India Preaching the gospel and in on many occasions had spoken to this Indian pearl diver And said to him The grace of God is something free God has already paid the price What you need to do is receive it as a free gift just open your heart by faith and receive his gift of salvation and this Indian this old Indian pearl diver Said I'm sorry The riches of heaven are just much too great for me to think can be given to me for free. I Really believe I must do something to deserve it So no, I cannot accept this this gift you call in at this act of grace I need to do something to deserve it and This man this missionary administered many times to this This Indian man who was his friend and he loved him deeply now It's time for the missionary to go home and and here comes this this man And he has in his hand this Indian man has in his hand and a handkerchief And it's balled up in his hand and and he walks up and he he says I have a gift for you my friend before you leave And so the missionary opens his hand and this Indian man drops the Handkerchief and as the missionary opens it up. There's a beautifully formed black pearl beautiful and he looks at this and He looks at the Indian man and he says I Can't receive this from you This is this pearl is of incredible value. I I can't take it from you He says but let me pay for it. I'll give you something for it and the Indians man says no He says no, I I can't receive this. This is too expensive Let me give you some money for it and the man says no, you don't understand He says before you met me this Indian man said I Had a son my son was the best pearl diver in the village and One day he went down and When he went to the bottom to collect pearls He went too deep stayed too long And he drowned when when he was pulled out his hand was closed tightly and and we opened his hand and In his hand was this beautifully formed a black pearl You cannot buy for me that which cost my son his life And the missionary said that's exactly what God has done for you He sent his son to dying across for you something you cannot buy Because it's too valuable. That's why you receive it as a gift And so I love the story of the pearl of great price because the Lord Jesus is speaking now God gave his son so that he might buy us He goes on in verse 5 and he says But in accordance with your hardness and your Impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God Who will render to each one according to his deeds? So he says in accordance with your hardness that word hardness speaks of something that is stubborn It is hardened because of a life of sin. It's become callous by the world When he speaks of impenitent, it simply means unwilling to change unrepentant So in accordance with your hardness and impenitence you are verse 5 treasuring up for yourselves Wrath in the day of wrath instead of laying up treasures in heaven.  It's what it says in Ecclesiastes 12 14 God will bring every work into judgment Including every secret thing whether good or evil you are treasuring it up It is collecting and growing in the day of wrath you will receive extreme judgment Notice he says in verse 6 Who will render to each one according to his deeds now that speaks of God's judgment on sinful humanity He says he's going to render up or render to each one according to his deeds Now, obviously We are saved by grace apart from works, but our works are in evidence of true saving faith Our salvation produces works that demonstrate We've been saved as it says in James 2 17 faith by itself. It's if it's not accompanied by action is dead With this in mind Paul begins to draw a contrast between believers and non-believers You see truly born again people evidence regeneration by the way they they live by certain works They seek up they seek glory honor and immortality. They work what is good. That's what he's saying Paul says genuine believers seek for glory Genuine believers seek to bring God glory it fuels and directs our lives It's like what Jesus said in Matthew 5 16 in the same way let your light shine before others So that they may see your good works and give glory to your father who's in heaven We also desire to go to heaven to be with the Lord and to from him receive glory In 2nd Timothy 2 10 for this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen So that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory We also desire honor from God and not from people We don't look for the worldly accolades I've learned a long time ago that the same people will say how great you are will later on say things about you When Jesus went into Jerusalem on that beautiful That beautiful Palm Sunday day We're in all those people lining up the streets people were coming from Jerusalem the city others were coming from the Mount of Olives the two crowds met and they were throwing palm branches and they were crying out Hosanna Hosanna Glory to the to the son of David and all he was great But I would believe that some of the same voices were the ones that when he was on the cross began to mock him so you never Never seek the glory of man because it's transient. It's You can be looked at as being a hero today and a chump tomorrow. That's just a fact You can be somebody's Favorite person today and then tomorrow they think that you're the worst thing that ever happens and so seek seek honor from God and not from people in Matthew 25 21 this is what we want to hear well done good and faithful servant You've been faithful with a few things. I'll put you in charge of many things come and share your master's happiness We also desire eternal life or immortality fellowship with God in length of days You see one day this dying body will put on life And if you're young, you don't realize your body's dying. I know mine is When you used to jump out of bed Now you kind of roll out Kind of land on the ground and crawl to the bathroom our Perishable bar perishable body must put on the imperishable and this mortal must put on immortality In first Corinthians 1553 when he speaks of our perishable perishable body and speaks of us putting on imperishable The word imperishable speaks of unending existence When he speaks of the mortal putting on immortality the word immortality speaks of freedom from death It literally is what is called deathlessness We also receive what is called eternal life and sometimes people think that eternal life means just age abiding life days existing Again, it's not a length of time. It's a quality Eternal life is fellowship with God and Jesus Christ who may have sent Eternal life doesn't speak just about an unending duration where there's there's just Continuing continuing continuing, but it speaks of a of a quality of life It would be horrible for us to exist forever without God.  That's why this is eternal life that they may know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent Because eternal life is not just length of days eternal life is a quality of life and that quality of life is what we have in Jesus Christ and we desire that He goes on in verse 8 and he says But those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness Indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish on Every soul of man who does evil of the Jew first and also of the Greek But glory honor and peace to everyone who works what is good to the Jew first and also to the Greek for there is no partiality with God and So in contrast to this kind of life. He speaks of the lifestyle of Unbelievers he speaks of the one who was self-seeking now that is something we see today It's now I think that people are using this word a lot. All of us are familiar with it. It's called narcissism The whole world revolves around me everything Revolves around me what I like what I want What pleases me? We have gotten to the point and I have to be careful not to wax eloquent on this one But we have gotten to the point Well, we actually think that the world owes us a happy day It owes me that and if somebody says something I don't agree with I cancel them And I want to create a whole cadre of people who agree with me So we all agree on the same thing and if you do not agree with me Well, you owe me a good day. You've made my day bad. Therefore you are worthless. We're seeing that today It's called self-seeking. It's talking about being self-absorbed and when that particular sin is in the body of Christ It brings strife and divides it You see the one who is self-seeking only thinks of themselves and because of this they tend to ignore or even not see other people who have need and One of the sad things about being self-seeking is the sin is often unrecognized It's very often the trait of the person who wants to get ahead to the degree that he uses you To get to his place like you're a rung on a ladder He has this is his goal and I'm gonna meet you get to know you like you pretend I care about you Yes, and then all your contacts become mine and then I meet somebody else Then I'll use that person until I get to the goal of being above and having what I want I see a lot of that I see a lot of that Sadly, they don't see the sin in themselves These are people who are unable to have friendships if the friendship doesn't promote them They desire relationships with those who are influential But as I said, they use them as stepping stones He speaks of the disobedient in verse 8. That's the one who is rebellious towards God And again, that's the nature of the unsaved. They refuse to obey God He speaks of the unrighteous The unrighteous is unwilling to follow the Lord and righteousness speaks of wickedness injustice. It speaks of that which is wrong They've yielded themselves to sin. In other words, they're servants of sin So what is their future? Indignation wrath tribulation anguish They're gonna receive judgment for their works and they will perish for eternity. He says in Jeremiah 1710 the Lord I the Lord search the heart. I try the reigns Even to give every man according to his ways And according to the fruit of his doings Well, what is it going to be verse 9 tribulation and anguish on every soul? The word tribulation speaks of being pressed down or burdened It speaks of the pressing down of the reality of the result of sin He speaks of anguish The word anguish speaks of a narrowness of a place. It's a lack of room Anguish speaks of anxiety distress of mind That will be experienced It speaks of the anxiety of being closed in with no escape from punishment Some people are claustrophobic They just don't like it when someone Is too close to them.  She said, I don't like being closed in I said, really? So for 48 years I've been closing her in We'll get on elevators and I'll kind of slide very slowly. She doesn't even notice it till my back's on her face She doesn't like it And not very many people do but that's what anxiety is. It's a closing in with no escape Imagine that for eternity Imagine that for eternity He said this is going to fall upon every person It's not just a body But a spiritual punishment It is anguished in the deepest part of man and he says in verse nine to the jew first and also to the greek In other words, this applies to all humanity jew and greek alike Now the jewish people were and are a very privileged people in god's economy. They had the law the prophets the temple promises messiah Those are all great blessings great privileges But they also made them more guilty The Gentiles will also be held accountable for what they know and what they do Paul already had spoken of the conscience and creation So how they respond to these witnesses will be part of their judgment In verse 10 he says by glory honor and peace to everyone who works what is good Well, the one working what is good is the one who is trusted jesus is not just speaking of good works So when you're saved god is going to bless you with glory honor and peace And then he finally says For there's no partiality With god He he judges Equally but he blesses equally We have waiting for us and i'll close with a couple of thoughts. We have waiting for us the joy The joy of being in the presence of god Like i mentioned earlier This man in our fellowship so long ago now And wrote those words i'm eternally grateful for you He wasn't eternally grateful for me.  He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. He is quick to forgive And as you open your heart The lord will bless you in eternity And this joy that you have in salvation You know one day we're gonna see him face to face I promise you We will not tell him of the troubles we had here on the face of the earth We're not going to tell him I don't understand why you didn't give me that girl when I prayed so hard for her You know, I wanted that puppy. You didn't give me that puppy We're not going to Our sorrow was swallowed up in joy Our sorrow was swallowed up in joy. Can you imagine? The reunion that's going to take place one day the reunion Somebody who loved very much who loved jesus who went on to be with the lord And you'll see him again You'll see him face to face You'll be able to worship the lord together Everyone in this room more than likely has somebody you've loved very much who've gone on to be with the lord Whether it's a grandmother grandfather mom dad brother sister friend Co-worker whatever you loved him much And the separation and the grief and the pain especially at the moment of loss is incredible Sometimes it leaves a painful scar in some ways within you You can even go so far as to say I don't think I'll ever smile again.  Well the more you love the deeper you grieve That's what happens I believe that christians can grieve much more than the world. Why because we love much deeper than the world We love more deeply We have a deeper sense of love. We know what love is see the world doesn't the world looks at love in different ways It's it's it's a feeling. It's an emotion It's a drive. It's everything, but what it really is and for us You know love is demonstrated it's demonstrated by god to me He gave his son so the heart of love is sacrificed and and then I learned how to do that I get married and I learned to love love my wife as christ loved the church And I wash her with the with the water of the word and and I serve her sacrifice for her lay my life down for her Why because I love her because love is sacrifice And then one day she's gone And your heart is torn But there'll be a glad reunion one day When you see what another face to face and together Your worship Jesus christ And see I live that way and I hope you do too with this knowledge that one day We shall see him as he is And we will worship him face to face And that is the day we prepare ourselves for To see him We'll stop here and pick up next time


Nestled with Black History Month, check out our standalone video for that. National Freedom Day is celebrated annually on February 1st to commemorate the signing of the 13th Amendment which abolished the institution and practice of slavery in the United States. Major Richard Robert Wright Sr. was born into slavery and emancipated in 1865 through this amendment. Major Wright became an American military officer, educator and college president, politician, civil rights advocate, and bank entrepreneur and advocated for the establishment of National Freedom Day in honor of all freed, formerly enslaved people. Today we observe National Freedom Day as a reminder of our fundamental principles of freedom, liberty and human rights. This day offers an opportunity to reflect on the progress this country has made since 1865 and reaffirm our collective commitment to continuing to examine and disrupt all going barriers to true freedom for generations of African Americans. On this National Freedom Day, we encourage you to learn something new about the history of slavery and abolition to consider this importance and meaning of freedom in the ongoing struggle for civil rights and equity. To engage in discussion about social and legal justice or to support civil rights organizations. Happy National Freedom Day. Happy Lunar New Year Arlington Community. The Lunar New Year is widely celebrated in Chinese, South Korean, Vietnamese and other East Asian communities with festivities that extend for many days. Since the lunar calendar is based on the cycles of the moon, the dates of this holiday shift slightly from year to year. According to Western calendars, they tend to fall between January 21st and February 20th. This year Lunar New Year falls on February 10th. In the 10 days leading up to the New Year, families engage in a custom called sweeping the grounds, where they deep clean their houses to remove any bad luck that might be lingering inside. New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are then home to family traditions that span generations, such as religious ceremonies that honor ancestors and the giving of coveted red envelopes called Lai Si that contains small amounts of money to symbolize good luck and prosperity. Throughout these festivals, communities celebrate with traditional dances and fireworks that culminate in the lantern festival on the final day of celebrations. On this night, colorful lanterns light up indoor and outdoor spaces, while families share meaningful foods such as sticky rice balls, yun xiao, that symbolize family unity, fagal, a caked symbolized prosperity, and yuxiang, a raw fish and vegetable salad that symbolizes the abundance of wealth and a long life ahead. We wish a happy Lunar New Year and joyous festivities to all who celebrate. International Day of Women and Girls in Science was born fairly recently in 2015 out of a recognition by the United Nations of the persistent underrepresentation of women in all levels of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines all over the world. This day serves to recognize the critical role that women and girls play in STEM fields, and to acknowledge the barriers we must continue to overcome as we pave new pathways for women's full and equal access to success and leadership in scientific communities. As the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Gutierrez reminds us, we can all do our part to unleash our world's enormous untapped talent, starting with filling classrooms, laboratories, and boardrooms with women scientists. As we continue to build this vision, we celebrate trailblazers in their fields, such as astronaut Mae Jemison, GPS mathematician Gladys West, chemist and educator Tu Yu Yu, biopharmacist Maria DePena, and many more. We also pause in gratitude for our dedicated science and mathematics educators in Arlington Public Schools, who, under the leadership of our Science Curriculum Director Dr. Sam Hoyo and our Math and Computer Science Curriculum Director Octavia Bronner, encourage inclusive engagement and participation practices every day. Please join us in their celebration and encouragement of all young learners in science and happy International Day of Women and Girls in Science, Arlington. Ash Wednesday begins the season of length, a time when Catholics and other Christians prepare for Easter by observing a period of moderation and spiritual discipline. Ash Wednesday takes place 46 days before Easter Sunday and occurs this year on February 14th. Ash Wednesday comes from the ancient Jewish tradition of penance and fasting. Ashes also retain ancient symbolism. The Bible expresses that human beings are born out of dust and the Hebrew word for dust is often used interchangeably with that for ashes. In many churches, the ashes used during Ash Wednesday ceremonies are made by burning palms from the previous year's Palm Sunday. On Ash Wednesday, Christians engage in fasting and travel to their local churches for prayer and worship.  The priest may speak the words, remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return. Many people choose to keep the ashes on their foreheads for the remainder of the day as a reminder into the evening. While the ashes symbolize sacrifice and penance, many Christians also take solace in their reminder of God's mercy. We wish a reflective Ash Wednesday to all who observe. Vasant Panchami is an annual festival that celebrates the beginning of spring and the birthday of Goddess Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge and wisdom. Hindus and Sikhs across the world observe Vasant Panchami on the fifth day of the lunar month of Magha, which typically falls between January and February on the Western calendar. This year, it occurs on February 14th. In India, spring is often referred to as the king of all seasons, not only because it welcomes in warmth after long cold winters, but also because mustard crops begin to bloom. The yellow of mustard crops symbolize knowledge, light, energy, prosperity and peace, and the vast bright fields of yellow offer a reminder of a time to begin new adventures. Vasant Panchami is celebrated in Indian religions in different ways depending on the region. During the festivals, though, yellow is central to the celebrations that occur throughout each culture. Many people wear yellow clothing, wills to dancing to joyful music, and enjoy yellow foods and sweets. Goddess Saraswati, alongside the Sun God Surya and the God of Love, Karma Deva, are worshipped and honored with offerings of mango, mustard and marigold flowers. As we all begin to welcome in the spring season, we wish a happy Vasant Panchami to all who celebrate. Parinirvana Day, also known as Nirvana Day, is observed annually on February 15th to commemorate the death of the Buddha and his entry into final or complete Nirvana. Though many mistakenly believe he was a god, the Buddha was an ordinary human named Siddhartha Gautama. As legend has it, he meditated beneath a ficus tree until he realized enlightenment. From that time on, he became known as the Buddha, which means a person who is awake. The Buddha spent the rest of his life until he passed at age 80, teaching others how to realize enlightenment for themselves through the four noble truths. The Buddha taught that when enlightenment is realized, people experience partial Nirvana. The word Nirvana means to extinguish, as one might extinguish the flame of a candle. Complete or final Nirvana is achieved only in death when all want and suffering is gone. Parinirvana Day is traditionally a solemn time for reflection on the Buddha's teachings. Many Mahayana Buddhists participate in meditation retreats at their local temples or monasteries. Others offer gifts of money and goods to support the nuns and monks who keep those sacred spaces running. Others still read the sutra or honor the Buddha with lowered lighting, chanting, or lantern festivals to celebrate his enduring light. To all who observe, we wish a reflective Nirvana Day. Each year on February 19th, we pause the remembrance of how racism, prejudice, and discrimination impacted the Japanese American community during World War II. The date for the Day of Remembrance holds significance because on February 19th, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Executive Order of 9066 an action that gave permission to the United States Army to displace civilians from newly designated military areas. These areas were strategically zoned in communities where many Japanese Americans lived, worked, and raised families. Thus, Roosevelt's order led to the physical removal of 120,000 Japanese Americans from their homes who were then forced under military supervision into concentrated relocation centers or internment camps in the United States of Oregon, California, and Washington. After the war, this decision and the acts that followed were ultimately recognized as being based in racial discrimination and war hysteria and had a lasting impact on Japanese and Asian American communities. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act with a bipartisan approval offering reparation payments to all those who were affected in a grant program to increase education efforts of this history. In 2022, Congresswoman Doris Masui shared that on the Day of Remembrance, the Japanese American community comes together to not only reflect, but to tell our story, teach others, and lift up the voices of our community. She noted that all Americans share the charge to ensure that our country not only learns from, but never forgets its past. On this Day of Remembrance, we encourage you to learn something new about the history of Japanese Americans and in the context of Black History Month to consider our collective responsibility to protecting freedom, dignity, and respect for all marginalized groups of people in the ongoing fight for social and legal justice. Thanks for watching this month's observance video. We hope it inspired a piece of learning, connection, action, or wondering for you. As we continue to curate, don't forget to reach out if we missed a detail you'd like to see included next year. See you next month, Arlington.


Happy Sunday, everyone. Thank you all for coming. So we'll talk about engineering intuitive experiences My name is Teresa Novotna. I'm the interaction designer at Red Hat working on the management portfolio satellite insides and cloud forms I've been with Red Hat for it's going to be a year And I'm Colleen Hart and I'm an interaction designer with Red Hat as well Working on OpenShift and it will be about three years. I'm out of the Boston office and I'm based here in Bernou USA team has about hundred people and entire Red Hat and we cover We make our products more user-friendly and we keep the user experience consistent across the products So we will cover today. We'll talk about empathy and how it is a first step in user-centered design We'll talk about some Failed designs and how not to do it, but we'll provide you with five tools how you can make your products more user-friendly I have a question. How many designers do we have in the room? How many engineers? Okay, good to know Well We'll start All right, so empathy is seeing through the lens of others and as we saw there's a number of engineers in the room so thinking about empathy and being empathetic with you all as word designers we Think about from a business sense why empathy is important because of course the customer is central in this idea and from a Presentation standpoint. It's important to know your audience So we have to be empathetic and understand where you're coming from and from a design standpoint It's very central to understanding your users and what they're looking for first and foremost so we asked a number of our colleagues other Red Hatters who are engineers developers to fill out empathy maps and These are just a subset of some of them So we asked another number of them to fill out an empathy map Which basically asks what they're seeing what they're saying what they're doing hearing thinking feeling So let's take a look They were seeing these are real quotes. We didn't didn't make these up messy desks alternative technologies bugs and broken codes sometimes They're saying we need compatibility this migration might be a headache Nobody understands They're hearing I don't get it maybe from us there's their hearing we need to meet the deadline different groups advocating for different tools of course and They're thinking or feeling Bugs are annoying. We change process too much and people maybe sometimes deadlines and broken code are painful So this is kind of an idea to help us Empathize where engineers are coming from and get us kind of in the right frame of mind to present So we try to empathize with you the engineers because empathy is the first step in the user-centered design Ux design is the act of planning evaluating system and evaluating system to maximize good user interaction But rather than jumping into the solution. It's important to understand our users needs goals Validated in assumptions, but also ask for the right feedback You can see how the designer attempted This journey to be but what the user experience actually was Even in our designer job we design things, but if we don't test it on actual users We don't necessarily get it right so we need to validate assumptions I Wonder how hard what there was to get some money from this ATM in This case, I think I would rather take the stairs safety first If I'm charging my mouse, how am I going to be charging it at the same time and using it very helpful These are a few pictures from Boston where you can see that it's really easy to figure out when I should park Or so how to get to specific locations So if you solve the wrong problem, it doesn't matter how well you solve it And we want to solve the right problems and validate our assumptions Has anyone here participate in a usability test Nice So you have gotten to the feedback loop So we show user experience at the center of this diagram kind of as a balancing act so balancing business goals, of course maybe from a PM level trying to figure out what we're what we're solving but there's going to be technical constraints involved and We're focused on the user needs so balancing these three components is Hopefully gonna lead to a great user experience, but it's not easy and not always simple so The how do we get there and the process? looks something like this similar to Andreas showed something very similar yesterday, which really is Dumbed down to an idea, so we'll call it design But it doesn't necessarily mean it comes from a designer. It just means there's some idea. It's it's some design then there's Some validation of that idea or design and we'll call it the research or feedback and Then there's some implementation and we'll say that's the build so these three components work together to Hopefully be an iterative process and a cycle not just let's design something and throw it over the fence And hope it works when we implement it so starting with some design Maybe it's just jotting down an idea on a piece of paper to kind of help explain your idea or Create a wireframe. Maybe a more advanced sketch Maybe it's then moving on to validating that idea with if you're working with a UX team you could work with researchers and run a Usability test or if you're not that's okay, too you can still get some form of informal feedback on a paper prototype or early early design early sketch or at the point where you're implementing something and going back to validate your assumptions and Get some feedback on that implementation. So anywhere in that process is a great time to get feedback. There's no Time that's not a good time for feedback. You can always implement it Hopefully somewhere in that process of your your past the idea phase and you have something maybe on paper or your you're all the way Hopefully before production and testing something there. So there's always a good time to get feedback So of course, yeah, when you're when you're building one of the main things here Why we show the arrows both ways is It's not just design and then research then we're building We we'd also like to go back and test you might find something different in that case So maybe when you're testing on a real implementation, you're finding more bugs Whereas early on in the process you're kind of validating The flow and kind of earlier concepts So hopefully this this loop continues and it's an iterative process where we we learn So that first diagram that Teresa showed where the design was meant to be this nice gate And the experience was really just another path that users made we can learn from that and say, okay We need to pivot make a change Then revalidate our our assumption everyone plays a role in Improving the user experience. I believe we all want to use user-friendly intuitive products and That is why we want to provide you five tools how to make your process Easier and include these tools into your process So we will talk we'll talk about paper prototypes community boards user drawings cart sorts and design systems Each of these tools could help to you make products more intuitive So the first one is wireframing or paper prototyping It's a really simple one where you can choose just piece of paper or a whiteboard and Draw out your flow just ask the questions Where would I click if I'm trying to accomplish this and that and then show it to someone And then get that feedback Use boxes squares arrows and just draw out and visualize what you think how the screen could look like Because when you put it on actual visual you can that's the way how you translate it so people understand what you mean This is a wireframe That is hand-drawn, but we will show you an easy way how you can just get a quick feedback So Colleen, where would you click if you were trying to add a provider add provider button? I think it's a button well done So you're adding a provider you are in a step three right now. You're adding some configuration data But I think you forgot something on this step to how would you get there? I guess I'd click number two and change my information. Oh So I thought you were going to click the back button. I haven't thought you can click on the top That would work too. That looks good. Okay And here you are all almost at the end reviewing and submitting your information What would you expect to see when you submit? Maybe my results my new provider. I hope it works. Let's see so you get a notification great job your provider was added, but I think you had a great point that The actual provider should be shown this screen as well So this was a short example how you can quickly validate your sketches wireframes It's always better to get more people involved. So at least Let's say not one person but get more points of view but it can be that easy as Just asking a simple questions about the flow So the second tool we'll talk about is user concept drawings and it's kind of similar to I guess the first but the first being You're drawing and wireframing sketching your own ideas and trying to convey them to somebody else whereas user concept drawings or mind mapping is You're kind of asking users or other folks to describe their ideas to you. So maybe it's just still simple Squares circles boxes and lines arrows. It can be really simple, but they're at least explaining Some idea to you how different objects relate to each other and you can get a better sense for How they might want to use an interface that that you're building and I'll give you an example of how We did something similar at redhat summit last year because we were working on an application topology view and We thought okay. This is could be a complex view. We better understand how users Think about and visualize their Application topology because it was a visual interface and an interactive one So we wanted to be able to ask users at summit to draw on a white board or an easel there How they visualize their application topology and we we asked follow-up questions about oh, okay What action might you want to apply here? What would you need to see in order to accomplish your task? so just a couple of examples of What we got from those users and it was it was really helpful and people got pretty into it So if you can sit back and kind of let folks Explain their ideas and give them some time to draw it out. You couldn't really learn learn a lot on the other side, too So the next example is card sorting, which is probably more more familiar and often used for things Like navigation but finding a better navigation on a website or some interface Maybe it's to help prioritize different items in a list or group or categorize things And so let's it could be done with simple sticky notes like this example Let's say we work for Netflix and are trying to figure out how users want to interact with that interface Do they care about genres and they want to search by genre? Do they care about Going from TVs to movies to documentaries or they just want to know I want to look for something funny so better understanding how users search for something or how they group Items can can help you early on in the process So this would be kind of a way you get feedback on an early side or you Revalidate maybe an implementation you already created with some navigation So I'll give you an example of this We also tried at redhead summit last year to in this case not sticky notes We use blocks because they were more fun But same idea and same thing with online tools you can use there's plenty of them to do such a thing But we got some great feedback not only how people group these different groupings, but they named them too So in some cases we got people to further identify what how they consider these different groupings and It helped us understand. Okay. They want to work with these items together Or maybe if they're a developer they care about a certain group of items, but an administrator Prioritizes another group more highly. So how it helps us understand their their personas a bit too Another tool could be community discussions Redhead culture is based about community collaboration and open source So there are a lot of chatting tools That we can use to get feedback such as RC slag blog post and or Community forums so this is an example from foreman Community website that for minutes very active has a very active community So we were trying to figure out what should be the new login page. So we Chatted about and show the designs how that could look like give some options and the community had a chance to vote on the Designs and figure out which one is the best so using our community is a great way how to get more feedback and Become even more active in the community. So definitely take advantage of these active communities and the last one Number five is design systems. So taking advantage of design systems that are out there So whether it's bootstrap material design, there's there's plenty that you've probably heard of and the design systems really just Collection of components. So there's you can use the design of the components and you can use the implementation of the components But there's often Explanation of when to use different buttons items So there's there's information out there where you don't need to reinvent the wheel for how to use a drop-down or a button You could focus on the bigger problems like Creating a topology view, but the these design systems all help you create Usable consistent experience that your user it's familiar to your users and We have one at Red Hat So similar idea to the ones I mentioned ours is called pattern fly and many of you have probably used it I know there's some contributors in the room too And we help we use it to help us remain consistent across our products So we try to contribute to pattern fly from our products and we also use components from pattern line pattern fly into our products To do the same. So it's a good resource If you don't want to create everything from scratch So I know you all enjoy using intuitive progress products to the word intuitive sounds great So does sound the word cloud? So we wanted to connect these two buzzwords So you can remember better our tools. So Create paper prototypes learn from user drawings organize card storing activities use community platforms and design with already Existing design systems if you use any of these you're making your products more user friendly I hope you remember to empathize with users gather feedback and also validate assumptions So even you can start now creating more intuitive experiences Thank you all for coming and if you have any questions we have probably two minutes to answer them Yeah, definitely at least card sorting there's a lot of online tools So you can have you can create them online and that free software tools that you can create and actually just have people kind of They're they look like sticky notes, but they do the same thing just virtually so you could do this on the screen sharing You know blue jeans just watching what they're doing Maybe maybe record the screen if they're okay with it to see the end result For yeah for concept drawings. It's a little trickier because often you kind of get the best Concepts from just handwritten, so it's I think it's hard sometimes that early on in the process but yeah, these were done in The card sorting both but the user concept drawings were done in person I've done some car serving online, so it can be done I Couldn't share that later with you Any other questions That was mostly Yeah, I think I think it's a good question It's I think it's always helpful to get the feedback It may depend on the particular use case So, you know, of course, I guess you're gonna you're gonna have the final say if you're implementing it But I think maybe it's it's worth providing some context or getting feedback Maybe just even if it's the you whoever's providing feedback, maybe just understanding their role could help because maybe they're their answers will differ if they're Highly technical not as technical or they're an administrator and they have a completely different view versus maybe a developer who is only seeing Like one project versus 500 projects So I don't know it it might depend gathering some of that information up front could help But yeah, it can be tricky for sure if the if the answers are all over the place It's definitely great to get feedback but You are if you are asking that question you are in charge of making the decision then so feedback is just like collecting different opinions You try to ask like ease of use ratings or intuitive ratings on things But I'm sure things like logos are really tough because a lot of that's just opinion like what looks the best so we try to stay away from that type of thing and focus on what's Specifically usable or like under his example something really specific if possible like which icon is more intuitive to you To demonstrate favorites, you know something really specific Thanks. Thank you all