She left her baby at home with a babysitter and got a text that made her heart race. If you're a working parent, then you'll surely know how important it is to have a babysitter at your disposal.  This was the situation Claudia Sorhindo, a working mom from Florida, found herself in. She had to leave her two-month-old daughter Ava under the care of her teenage niece. Claudia was fairly confident that her precious baby girl was in good hands. Her niece, after all, was a trusted member of the family who had looked after other kids in the past. When Claudia received a photo of her daughter from her niece however, she realized that the teen was not your typical babysitter. In fact, her childcare methods were unorthodox, to say the least. What was it about this photo that left Claudia so stunned? Read on to find out. Claudia Sorhindo, like most working moms, had to juggle her responsibilities at work and at home. She had a newborn daughter, Ava, to take care of, and a demanding job that she needed in order to pay the bills. Claudia was overwhelmed, but she was determined to make things work for the sake of her child. Claudia was incredibly protective of Ava, and she tried her best to be with the little girl as often as possible. Having a full-time job, however, meant that this was not always achievable. There were instances where hiring a babysitter was necessary. Claudia lived in Lakeland, Florida. Several of her close friends and relatives lived in the same neighborhood, and they were all witnesses to how much she loved Ava. They knew how overprotective she was as a mother, and they were aware of the fact that she didn't like the idea of being away from her daughter for too long. When Claudia received a call from work one day asking her to attend an important meeting, her heart sank. She couldn't possibly leave Ava alone, and bringing her along was not possible. She needed a solution, and she had to think fast. Once the call had ended, Claudia began thinking about what she could do next. Though she had the option of skipping that meeting to stay with Ava, she knew this would hurt her career. Claudia had worked so hard to get where she was, and she wasn't prepared to jeopardize her career as that would only hurt Ava in the long run. Claudia had already taken time off from work after giving birth, and there were other instances where she needed to take additional days off to care for Ava when she was sick. This meeting was too important for her to miss a sippy Claudia knew instinctively that staying home would not bode well for her future prospects in the company. Having decided that she had to make it to the meeting, no matter what, Claudia's next task was to find someone to look after Ava while she was away. Even though she wasn't going to be gone long, Claudia couldn't settle on anything less than a babysitter she knew without a doubt she could trust. The nervous mom contacted several of her friends and relatives to ask them if they could watch over Ava for a while. Since this was a last-minute request, getting someone to say yes was almost impossible. With each rejection, Claudia became increasingly frustrated. Luckily, her sister said she knew someone who could take on the job. Claudia's sister suggested that Jann, her 15-year-old daughter, could babysit little Ava. Claudia knew that Jann was a responsible young lady, but she still had reservations about leaving her newborn child with a teenager. Taking care of such a young child was a huge responsibility. Claudia's sister assured her that Jann was perfectly capable of babysitting since she had looked after plenty of other children before. Claudia trusted her sister, but she couldn't shake a strange feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach. Because of this, Claudia didn't say yes to her sister right away. Instead, she kept this option open while checking in with other potential babysitters. Claudia made a few more calls in search of a sitter, but to no avail. She didn't have much time left, and she had to decide fast. At that point, she knew her only options were to risk her job by skipping the meeting, or to let her teenage niece look after Ava. In the end, Claudia cast her doubts aside and decided to give Jann a call. Jann assured her aunt that she would be able to handle the babysitting duties on top of her other responsibilities at school. At the time, Claudia had no idea calling her niece was going to be a life-changing decision. Claudia was a nervous wreck as she waited for Jann to arrive. Though she repeatedly reassured herself that she was leading her daughter under the care of someone she knew very well, this did nothing to calm her anxiety. To keep her mind off things, Claudia tried to focus on preparing for the meeting. When Jann finally arrived, Claudia showed her around the house, explaining where she could find everything she might possibly need, including a list of numbers to call in case of an emergency. Not long after, Claudia kissed Ava goodbye and drove off to her meeting. Claudia's commute seemed to take longer than usual, and she was anxious to see whether any messages from Jann had come through. When Claudia finally reached the office, the first thing she did was check her phone. She wanted to know how Jann and Ava were doing back home. Claudia held her breath as she checked for a message from Jann. She was getting worried and just wanted assurance that everything was okay. Then, as if on cue, Claudia received a message from her niece along with a picture of Ava. Claudia glanced at the thumbnail image and immediately noticed that something was off. She couldn't properly see what was happening in the photo, but she could tell that it was unusual. At that moment, negative thoughts poured into Claudia's mind and she felt a sinking sensation in her stomach. Fearing the worst, Claudia tapped on the thumbnail image to see the full-size photo. It took forever to load and she was becoming increasingly agitated. Claudia wondered whether she had made the right choice by entrusting her child to her niece. What if she had just stayed home instead? Claudia was desperate for answers, but the photo just wouldn't load fast enough. She needed all the information she could possibly get, so she decided to take a look at the caption Jann had sent along with the photo. Jann definitely had a lot of explaining to do. In the caption, Jann explained that she was feeling hungry, so she decided to go to the kitchen to make herself a sandwich. Claudia paused for a moment as her motherly instincts kicked in. Though she hadn't even seen the photo yet, she suspected something must have happened to Ava while Jann left her alone to go to the kitchen. From the thumbnail image, Claudia noticed that Ava's legs looked like they were swollen and somewhat contorted. Claudia ran through different possible scenarios as she attempted to piece it all together did Ava fall from her high chair or crib, or was this caused by an allergic reaction that no one knew about. Claudia had always been paranoid about Ava, but being away from her daughter made her fears so much worse. Then, just as Claudia was making plans to head home, the photo Jann sent finally loaded. Claudia's worries immediately shifted gears when she realized what was actually going on. Up until that moment, Claudia had been worried that something happened to Ava, and that she needed to head home immediately. When she finally saw the photo however, she came to the realization that all her fears were unfounded. Though the picture looked scary, she had absolutely nothing to worry about. Jann knew how protective her and Claudia was of Ava, and she didn't like the idea of Ava being left unsupervised. When Jann started to get hungry, she knew that leading her little cousin alone while she made herself a sandwich was not an option. So, she had to get creative. Jann was hungry and wanted to go to the kitchen, but she didn't want to let Ava out of her sight. So, the clever teenager placed her baby cousin inside her loose pair of shorts to form a makeshift kangaroo pouch. That way, Ava could still be close to her while she made a sandwich. It was a strange solution, but it worked. Jann shared in an interview that she couldn't find the baby holster, but she had to keep an eye on Ava somehow. She then asked her younger sister to take a photo to show her and that she was doing a good job. Claudia admired her niece's ingenuity. She knew this was something she couldn't keep to herself, so she took to social media to share it with friends and family. Claudia logged on to her Facebook account and uploaded the photo that Jann sent, along with a caption explaining what was happening, describing the clever maneuver as creativity at its finest. Though she was relieved to see that Jann was being responsible while caring for her child, Claudia wasn't sure whether her friends and other family members would react positively to the clever solution. Though she herself found the photo hilarious, she knew other people might not necessarily react the same way. Ava was still a delicate infant, after all, and people would naturally be concerned about her safety. Claudia knew the photo would garner a reaction from her Facebook friends, especially her family members. Her family was quite tight-knit, and they all liked reacting to each other's posts. Claudia was curious to find out what they thought of Jann's idea. Once the photo had been posted, Claudia put her phone back in her pocket and went about her business at work. When she finally had time to check her phone again a few hours later, she went on Facebook to see if anyone had reacted to the photo. What she saw produced her second massive shock of the day. Not long after Claudia posted the photo, the reactions from her Facebook friends started trickling in. Claudia was relieved to see that everyone's comments were overwhelmingly positive, praising Jann for her cute idea and her dedication to the job. Several of her friends also shared the photo with their own Facebook friends, and it quickly gained more attention. Within a few hours, Claudia's photo had received thousands of likes and hundreds of comments. Claudia couldn't believe what she was seeing. She couldn't help but be mesmerized as the comments and likes came flooding in. Her photo had gone viral. A new idea. Claudia read through the comments on her post. Some people were tagging their friends, while others were simply laughing or pointing out how adorable baby Ava looked. There were quite a number of comments, however, that got Claudia's attention and sparked an idea. Several people commented on how brilliant this idea was, and how they wish they had thought of this sooner. Some moms were even asking where they could get the pants Jann was wearing as they seemed like perfect baby carriers. Seeing how much people loved Jann's idea, Claudia figured it might be time to start a business of her own. Claudia found all the comments on her Facebook post inspiring, and she couldn't wait to start working on this business venture. Regular baby carriers were usually expensive, and Claudia felt that there were mothers who would prefer a cheaper alternative. Claudia shared her idea with Jann as soon as she arrived home later that day. It didn't take long before the two had some workable designs in mind for kangaroo pants for mothers. In honor of the inventor of the idea, Claudia decided to call the product Jay Pants. With the photo Claudia posted continuing to garner more and more attention, Claudia and Jann knew they couldn't let this brilliant idea go to waste. Claudia and Jann were both very excited about this venture and were eager to start as soon as possible. However, they were also aware of the fact that starting even a small business would require a lot of money. They had to think of ways to get funding if they really wanted to make this work. Claudia started a GoFundMe page to raise money, so they could get their adorable business idea off the ground. On the page, Claudia wrote that Jann was designing a working model to go with the basic model. She praised her young niece's drive and creativity, and asked for everyone's help in encouraging her to design something that would be helpful to caregivers everywhere. So far, Claudia and Jann have raised $220 through the GoFundMe page. While they still have a long way to go before their crowd funding initiative reaches its goal, people from all over the world have started donating in hopes that Jay Pants will one day become a reality. Whatever comes of this experience, Claudia is happy because she realized how truly lucky she is to have such a loving and supportive family by her side. She shared her appreciation for Jann and how she actually went above and beyond to make sure that she never let Ava out of her sight. We think it's safe to assume that she'll never doubt her niece's babysitting skills again.


So, last week, Pastor Mark led us into the lesson with an introduction, and it is Union with Christ, and now that we've kind of broken the ice and had the introduction, now we're moving into the first of the series, which will be kind of like we did with the glory of Christ. We're going to start in the Old Testament and work our way towards the New Testament and then look at the theology of Union with Christ as a whole, and then from there, applying it in our lives. So it'll be an extensive series, and I hope that your understanding of this will grow. It is a very encompassing and deep subject. And the book that we are using as a primary reference for the study or the lessons is this book here. If anybody wants to look at getting it for themselves, it's Salvation Applied by the Spirit, Union with Christ by Robert A. Peterson. This morning, there is a handout, it's coming, and that'll be handed out to you, but I would like to, at least knowing you're about to hold it, explain some things in here. The introduction is Leviticus 2612, I will walk among you and be your guide, and you shall be my people. So that's a good introductory text to Union with Christ in the Old Testament because God says I will walk among you and be your guide. And then that very text gets picked up by Paul in 2nd Corinthians 6 when he's talking about how the people of God, the church is the temple of God. So you can see how Paul's using it to describe Union with Christ in the New Testament, but in the Old Testament is where he got it from, and it had its use there too. And the main question we want to look at over the next two weeks today and next Sunday is how does the Old Testament reveal Union with Christ? On this handout this morning I've got four bullets total, and I'm only hoping to go through the first two this morning. Next week will be the next two. Also there's nothing in the confession section, I did not put anything in there under our confession or in our catechism corner. You can read that, but I'll just read what I wrote. The 69 London Baptist and Westminster Confessions do address Union with Christ in multiple ways such as God's covenant, Christ's mediation, and the Ordo Salutus. However, I found no substantial treatment of the doctrine of Union with Christ in the Old Testament in these confessions. I believe this is because their focus is not on the covenants and history of the Old Testament and the Old Testament's foundational and prophetic relation to the New, therefore I have left this empty. However, please feel free to write in here what you find relevant and helpful from your own study. I could have put a lot of confession references in here that would be more appropriately referenced by later teachers on later lessons. And instead of just repeating the same confession, I made that comment because I think it helps saying when something doesn't address what we're teaching on, I couldn't find anything we didn't address what we're teaching on, even though I could have referenced what's future teachings coming, and that wouldn't have been bad either. But at least this gives you an idea, and it helped me, you know, like the confessions as helpful as they are, they don't cover everything. And then there's some scripture memorization, and I'll leave that to your own time. So with this first lesson, this is not in the book, even though I'm kind of using the I'm going to use that book as a guide for myself. But this first point of this first lesson, two points today, here's point one. It's the lesson introduction, covenant theology and typology. When you hear union with Christ, I think to whatever degree we studied that, we each have references that we can go to that inform our understanding of that phrase, union with Christ. And most of those references will come from the New Testament. Like Pastor Mark was saying Ephesians chapter one, how much there is there in verses three to 14 about being in him. Well, why does many texts in the Old Testament, why does that Old Testament text not come to our mind? Any thoughts on that? I'll leave that open-ended real quick. Pastor Michael. Well, when you started by saying point one, covenant theology and typology, because maybe that union language is not as explicitly stated in the Old Testament as it is in the New Testament, but the pictures of union are. So I'm sure like you're probably going to get into, there's lots of union terminology in the Old Testament. But instead of expressly using union language like united to and in union with, you'll see things like the union of a husband with a bride and the union that God had with Israel and saving her, making her his wife, being faithful in communion with her. That is a picture. It's a type of that type of union. So instead of it being explicitly stated, it's more like picture form and maybe that doesn't come to our mind right at the outset of us thinking about union. Amen. Yeah. Thank you. Right on spot on this author here, Robert A. Peterson on his book on union with Christ actually titles the Old Testament as foundation to the old to union with Christ. So like the doctrine of union with Christ finds its foundation in the Old Testament and then brings out or tries to highlight the fact that the exact what Pastor Michael was saying is the Old Testament is not explicitly teaching union with Christ in the Old Testament. It's there in seed form, but you don't really get doctrine and good, clear teaching on it until you get to the New Testament. It's not that it's not there in the Old Testament. It's that it's not as explicit or clear and Paul is one of the most abundant writers on union with Christ and we know that this doctrine really gained an understanding after Christ ascended and sent the spirit and by giving gifts to men, namely apostles. They interpret the Old Testament in light of the work of Christ and the coming of the spirit and begin to explicitly teach union with Christ. Whereas in the Old Testament, it was there more in types and pictures. That's why he describes it as foundational. So that's why I've decided to go through a very quick introduction because I know as a church we've gone over Covenant theology from multiple angles under different studies, but it is good to remind us of the connection between the New Testament and the Old Testament. Because if we're going to go to the Old Testament to see a New Testament explicit doctrine, we need to know how they relate to one another so that we can know how to be careful in the way we do look in the Old Testament. So I'm also assuming some of you haven't even ever thought of some of this, even though I know most of you have and we've been taught, that's why I want to at least broach the topic and then move on. It's interesting we call our Bible the Old Testament and the New Testament, but not many of us know what is meant when that word Testament is used. It actually is an obsolete English definition, meaning Covenant. We could say the Bible is comprised of the Old Covenant and the New Covenant and be referencing this book. So let's look at Matthew 26. Verse 28 is just to show you in your Bibles that this thing called New Covenant is biblical verse 28, for this is Jesus speaking when he institutes the Lord's Supper before his crucifixion. Verse 27, I'll go one earlier. He took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying, drink from it all of you, for this is my blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins, the New Covenant. So look at Hebrews 6, I'm sorry Hebrews 8 verse 6, but now he, that's Jesus, has obtained a more excellent ministry in as much as he is also mediator of a better Covenant which was established on better promises, and I'm going to keep reading. For if that first Covenant had been faultless then no place would have been sought for a second. So you can see here, there's two major Covenants in mind, a better Covenant and that first Covenant which was not faultless. And look at verse 13, in that he says a new Covenant, he has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. So you can see a reference there to not only the new Covenant but in that text the first Covenant and it becoming obsolete even with the coming of the new. And now to show you some more references now of the old Covenant in the Bible, go to Genesis 17. I know that we could go to many places when talking about the old Covenant. Verse 17 or chapter 17 verse one, when Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I am Almighty God walk before me and be blameless and I will make my Covenant between me and you and will multiply you exceedingly.  And this is a formalizing of that Covenant. You could say it was ratified earlier in 15 with Abraham or Abram. But in 17 it gets really clear with its stipulations here. He says in verse four, ask for me. And in verse nine, and God said to Abraham, ask for you. And then in verse 15, then God said to Abraham, ask for Sarah, your wife. And he also gives some in here about look at verse 14 and the uncircumcised male child who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. That person shall be cut off from his people. He has broken my Covenant. This Covenant that God is making with Abraham can be broken, which is distinctly different from the new Covenant. In that chapter that we read in Hebrews, if you read in the middle there between verses six and 13, it was the whole point of the promise of the new Covenant is that it would be unbreakable. And look at it begins with Abraham, but it continues, develops it in Ephesians 2.12. These are called the Covenant's plural of promise. So the Old Covenant is comprised of multiple Covenants, one made with Abraham, one where it was given to Moses and to David. And this comprising of the Old Covenant is called the Covenants of Promise because within those Covenants, even though they were able to be broken, within those Covenants was the promise of the new Covenant, the Messiah to come. So let's look at Exodus 24. The reason why I said that last statement is somebody might be asking, why is he jumping from Abraham to Exodus with Moses and Israel? Well, that's because the Covenant God made with Israel is founded on the Covenant He made with Abraham and they're related chapter 24 verses 3 through 8. So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments and all the people answered with one voice and said, all the words which the Lord has said we will do. And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord and he rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, 12 pillars according to the 12 tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the children of Israel who offered burnt offerings and sacrifice peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people and said, all the Lord has said we will do and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, this is the blood of the Covenant, which the Lord has made with you according to all these words. And if you'll think about the history of Israel at this point, they've already been delivered from Egypt redeemed and God has brought his own special people to him. And now he is stipulating the terms of this Covenant that he's making with them and they're restipulating back their commitment to keeping it. And this is often called the Mosaic Covenant because Moses was the mediator of that time. And let's look at Deuteronomy 4, 13.  And he wrote them on two tablets of stone. I just want you to see here the relationship between covenant and commandments. The Ten Commandments were part of the covenant God made with Israel. So back in Exodus 20, that's God giving the terms of the covenant, stipulations of that covenant he made with Israel. And here it says he declared to you his covenant. And the Ten Commandments being the moral law and preeminent, they even get described in such a way here that it sounds like that's all that the Mosaic Covenant law is comprised of. It's not. It's comprised of all the law, all the positive law associated with that same covenant as well. And let's look at Galatians now. Let's go to the New Testament and see what it says about the Old Covenant. Galatians 4, 21. If you will remember Galatians, in Galatia there was an influence towards justification by works, which was Jewish in nature. Paul even says later, circumcision avails nothing. And he's saying early on, you know, who has bewitched you, believers? And did you begin by the Spirit? Now you're being perfected by the law.  He didn't say that, but I'm trying to describe it in a way that you understand clearly with his point. And here he says he gives a contrast between the two covenants. In verse 21, tell me, you who desire to be under the law. And what he means there is not, do we desire to subject ourselves to the moral law of God as believers? Yes, that's not what Paul is talking about there. Remember, this thing is a rebuke and correction to believers who are being led astray. So their desire to be under the law has to do with the Old Covenant and law keeping as a condition for grace or condition for reward. Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? So you desire to be under that system, but let's go back and read what that system even said about itself. It was never intended to do what you're seeking to use it for. For it is written that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bond woman, the other by a free woman. But he who was of a bond woman was born according to the flesh. And he of a free woman through promise, which things are symbolic. And that's very interesting. You have Hagar, which she's like a symbol pointing forward or pointing to Mount Sinai and that covenant that God made with Israel and Moses. And it says here, the one from Mount Sinai, for these are the two covenants. The one from Mount Sinai, which gives birth to bondons, which is Hagar. For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to Jerusalem, which now is and is now in bondage with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. And he's just pointing out the contrast between the way in which the seed came forth from Hagar, where Abraham took it, they took it in their own human strength to bring forth what God said he would bring forth and not trusting God with Sarah. But God promised it would be through Sarah and it was according to the promise. And that's Paul's point is those two things that happen in history, they were historical, but they also were symbolic pointing forward and teaching something about the two covenants. So I just want you to see these two covenants in scripture. They're not, these are not even like terms like Trinity where we see a theology in the Bible and we, we grow in our understanding of that theology by a thorough study of the scriptures. And we call that a new term like Trinity, which doesn't exist in the Bible. When we say new covenant and old covenant, that's not just terms sought to describe a network of theology, those are biblical, straight biblical terms. Okay. So with covenant theology, here's my point, union with Christ, how is union with Christ in the New Testament, in the New Covenant? How is it related to the New Covenant? Can anybody answer that briefly? It doesn't have to be like thorough going. That's where you're going with that, but union with Christ is the way that God communicates all the blessings of the New Covenant to us. Amen. Amen. Without the New Covenant, you don't have union with Christ. Without union with Christ, you don't have the New Covenant. They're inseparable. So that also helps explain why Old Testament's not so explicit on it, because the Old Covenant, Old Testament, Old Covenant, I'm using those words interchangeably for purpose, for on purpose, is focused on the Old Covenant, but also focused on the New Covenant. Because it's foretelling and laying a groundwork historically, prophetically, symbolically of the New to come. But it doesn't surprise me that in the Old Covenant, that's the Old Testament, knowing that union with Christ is inseparable from the New Covenant, that union with Christ doctrine is most explicitly taught in the New Testament, in the books of the Bible of the time of the New Covenant. However, there is a relationship between the Covenants, and that's where we get into typology. And here's why I asked that question. When I was thinking about it, I'm asking myself the question, how does the Old Testament reveal union with Christ? And some other ways to ask that is how does the Old Testament reveal the New Covenant? How does the Old Testament picture union with Christ? It pictures and typologically points to the New Covenant, but how does it do that with union with Christ? And the reason why I'm asking it that way is because I know that there's an inseparable relationship between union with Christ and the New Covenant. And I know that Old Testament, the Old Covenant points forward to the New Covenant, so therefore it also must point forward to union with Christ, because they're part and parcel of the same reality. And the more I understand the relationship between the two Covenants, the better I'm able to see from the Old Testament what is taught there or what foundational work is laid there for union with Christ in the New Covenant and the New Testament. So that was just to remind you of those two Covenants and also make a statement as to why we're looking at it, because they're related and that helps us study it. Now, typology. If you remember in Romans 5.14 Paul said that Adam was a type of Christ, Tupas. That word can get translated type, example, pattern. It means like when you strike or you make a pattern of something. So if I were to put my hand in clay, I would leave a pattern of my hand in that clay. The pattern there is not my hand, but it looks like my hand. It's because it's a type of this, the reality, the anti-type. So these wax figures that sculptors make, I don't even know how they do it, or will use like stonework, they have the anti-type either pictured or somehow modeled, and then they reflect the pattern of that anti-type in a type and some kind of a pattern. So when we put Alexander the Great in person next to his statue, you see the resemblance and you're like, wow, that looks just like him, but they're not the same. They're entirely different things, but yet related. So I'm just teaching you about types in general. Now typology, the study of types in the Bible is very important for your hermeneutics. It's very, very important. You will not understand why authors in the New Testament use the Old Testament the way that they do if you don't understand typology. And Greg Beall has a long definition, but I believe it's a good one. And then Robert Paul Martin has another one that's shorter, and both of those are good. So I'm going to read both of those and try to follow along. What is typology? It's the study of analogical correspondence. Analogical means analogy, analogical correspondence between things. And it's among revealed truths about persons, events, institutions, and other things within the historical framework of God's special revelation, which from a retrospective view are of a prophetic nature and are escalated in their meaning. It's a lot there. Typology is not symbolism. Symbol is symbols. Does the Bible have symbols? Yes, it has tons of symbols pointing forward to truths. But how are symbols different from types? Symbols are not constrained to the historical narrative. They're timeless in a sense. They're always symbols. A horn is always going to be a symbol of strength. But a serpent raised up on a standard gets its more than a symbol because it's related to redemptive history and it's bound by time, God working in time, to where he's pointing forward to his son. And then Jesus picks it up in John 3, just as Moses raised a serpent up in the wilderness, even so the son of man must be lifted up. Also symbols don't escalate. So anti-typology, the type is never the culmination or the fulfillment of the thing. It's never the reality. It's always pointing forward to the reality. And I suppose more could be said, symbols aren't prophetic and I know that kind of goes back to time, but symbols again aren't bound by time, so they're not necessarily prophetic. They're not prophesying of something coming, but types do that. Any questions? Linda? Could you give more examples of the differences like between a symbol and a type? Yeah, I'll just try to do that. I don't have a lot of symbol examples, but let's think about them. And if anybody has any symbols that they want to share, please do. Pastor Mark? That types are fulfilled. So like you said, symbols are forever symbols, one thing sort of related to another, but types are fulfilled by their anti-type. So there's a fulfillment that comes for that. Yeah, amen. Let's go to 2 Peter, I guess real quick. 2 Peter chapter 3, I don't know what am I thinking about, maybe 1 Peter, yeah, 1 Peter chapter 3. It's just Peter, and I know that the other translations outside of the NKJV don't use the word anti-type, but the NKJV does. I think the KJV does too, but the others don't. They just say corresponding to, and they're basically trying to put it in other words what that text is saying by expanding it because anti-type's unfamiliar. There's also an anti-type which now saves us baptism, not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand. And if you go back though, what Peter was just talking about before he said there's also an anti-type, baptism, that's the anti-type. He says, look at Noah, Christ in verse 18, for Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit by whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who formerly were disobedience, when once the divine lung suffering waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared in which a few, that is eight souls were saved through water. There's also an anti-type which now saves us baptism. So Peter's just bringing out this fulfillment of one of the types that Noah and the ark represented. Another one is for type is the Passover, and I don't have that reference either in my memory or written down. I'm looking it up right now, but if I'm going to assume, you know, the Old Testament Passover and in the New Testament, if you'll go to 1 Corinthians five, verse seven, therefore purge out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, since you are truly unleavened for indeed Christ, our Passover was sacrificed for us. So Paul being as good of a study of the Old Testament as maybe any other man besides Christ is saying that Passover with Israel where they shed the Passover lamb and spread its blood on the lentil in the doorpost and the angel of death passed over them as it saw that blood of that lamb that was sacrificed in symbol and type for them. In reality, Christ is our Passover. So why do we not spiritually and eternally die? Because the blood of Christ was put on our doorposts and our lentil. So Paul is just bringing that out, that there's this fulfillment like Pastor Mark said. The bread and the cup from Lord Supper, you know, the bread is to symbolize another reality, right, the bread is to symbolize the body broken, Jesus Christ's body broken, and the cup of the New Covenant or the cup that we partake of, the cup of blessing that we bless. In the Lord Supper, it's also a symbol, a sign of the blood of Christ that was shed for the remission of our sins. So that's another example of a symbol. Yeah. And one thing that can make it a little more challenging to distinguish between the two is that types are founded on symbols. So within prophecy, there's verbal prophecy where words are given that foretell what's going to come in the future. And then pictorial prophecy is typology. With the use of symbols, God foretells what's coming. So that's how it's different in prophecy. It's not verbal prophecy. It's symbolic prophecy. And symbols are not prophetic. And I'm sorry, I have to think about some more of those. I feel like if I just start reading to the Psalms, I'm going to run across a bunch of different symbols he uses. But symbols are just timeless truths, like we often use figure of speech to describe things today that we're not actually using the definition of the reality. When I say give me a hand, I'm not saying literally give me your hand. The hand is a symbol for help. That give me a hand is not prophetic. It's just a way to communicate so you know what I'm, a concept I'm saying. Give me help. So Robert Paul Martin's definition is a type is a divinely ordained prefiguration. Divinely meaning it's from God, he ordained it, and it prefigures. It's not incidental or accidental. That's something you need to purge out of your mind if you think that way. In the New Testament, when these authors are writing about how the Old Testament is fulfilled in what Christ has done, they're not like discovering accidental correspondence. They know that the Bible is a whole and a unit, and that the one true and living God has given it for a distinct purpose, and that it is entirely related and organic unity, and that what Guy was doing in the Old Testament did not just fulfill some events and history, but they were prefiguring things that would come. They're pointing forward to realities. You know, when John the Baptist looks at Christ and he says, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. See, the lambs, the goats of the ceremonial system were all types of Christ. And because God arranged it that way, John understands from his own ceremonial system what Christ is coming to do or what Christ is fulfilling. That doesn't have much meaning if you don't have your Old Testament and you're not a Jew practicing the ceremonial system. And if you're going to translate the Bible for foreign speakers, are you going to translate lamb something else if they don't have any lambs around and don't understand what lambs are? No, you're going to say, this is a lamb, let me teach you what a lamb is because it's related to the Old Testament, all right. And he says, in which persons, events, institutions, or things in the Old Testament point forward to such in the New Testament. Now I want to look at the relationship between types and anti-types because what we're about to do is we're about to go look at a bunch of types and you're going to say, man, how is he getting that and saying that's pointing forward to that? Well, that's because I know that God has more of an intent here and with even though Old Testament saints probably cannot understand and I'm certain they couldn't, what we're able to looking backwards with New Testament revelation, it doesn't mean that it wasn't there or that God didn't prefigure it. Can not God speak prophetically through a prophet and that prophet? No, not no, exactly everything that God intends with that prophecy? Of course you can. He does it and yes, they do know some of it and sometimes they don't know all of it. And if they do know the essence of it, they don't know the scope of it or the depth of it or the details of it. So just because I'm not going to come to the Old Testament, I'm definitely not going to try to anachronistically interpret the Old Testament as if that's what should have been interpreted by them at that time. I'm not going to do that, but I'm not going to be afraid to say, I know that this was prefiguring what was coming in the new. Therefore, this pattern, like this statue where we had Alexander the Great was telling us something about the man. Another one is a shadow, Albert Martin gave this example. Here's another example, illustration of type, type anti-type. A son is waiting on his father to come home from work and he sees his father pulled into the driveway, but the car goes off to the side of the house.  And before his father turns the corner, he sees his father's shadow. He knows that outline of that shadow is his father, but it's of his father, it's not actually his father. And he's grateful for the shadow because the shadow means his father's near or his father's there, but he knows the shadow itself is not his father. And when the reality gets there, he doesn't concern himself with the shadow anymore. I think more will become clear when we look at this relationship, but are there any questions at this point? Okay, well, let's look at the relationship and I'm trying, I know this has taken up a lot of time, but I feel like laying some of this groundwork will remove some obstacles for a number of people when we start interpreting the Old Testament for union with Christ. Because if you don't have a good hermeneutics yourself, you're kind of left with just picking up what people say. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, but it has an effect upon your own convictions. If you're not being a Berean and knowing it for yourself. Relationship between types and antitypes. And I got this from Samuel Renahan in a book called The Mystery of Christ. And I thought that he did a really good job with typology in there. There's some ditches with typology and I think that he navigates that well. So first of all, types reveal something greater and other than themselves. And I know I've already said that, but let me show you. So go to John 6. And please don't disdain the word type. The Bible uses the word type. Romans 514, Adam is a type. He was a type of him who was to come. John 632. Then Jesus said to them, most assuredly I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but my father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is, who is it Lord? Who is the bread? Who is the true bread? It is he. It's a person who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Jesus is talking about himself. And what the Jews are thinking about, they say, what sign will you perform then that we may see it and believe you? What work will you do? Our fathers ate the manna in the desert. So the Jews are thinking, show us a sign if you want us to believe you. And of course he just showed them a sign that they were revealing their own adulterous hypocritical hearts. But they're thinking and they use the argument that there's this great sign in the Old Testament where God gave manna, bread, like coriander seed that tastes like honey, where they had to go collect it and make bread out of it. That manna that God sustained Israel with in the desert was reality. That happened. God did, they came out of their tents and there's all this bread on the ground or this manna and it's historical. However, it's also symbolizing prophetically as a picture of who Christ is and what he would do. And that's when Jesus, he knows that. He says here, I'm the true bread. That all that event there was pointing to me. You know how that came and see he doesn't want them to ascribe it to Moses because they're gonna miss the point. The type was supposed to be seen as coming from God so that you will see that I am from heaven. I'm from God to save you. You need to see that this is not some man-made thing in history, that's his point with them. And I am the true bread. And the point there is types reveal something greater and other than themselves. The bread that came down from heaven is not Jesus. It's not like parts of his body that would soon become incarnated. They're totally different in substance. This is bread that God's creating out of, I don't know. I don't know if he's taking creation and changing it or he's just creating it out of nothing. I don't know, but he's creating it. That bread is totally in substance different than the person of Jesus Christ. And yet that bread being coming from heaven, sustaining God's people in a desert, was pointing forward symbolically to the work of Jesus Christ. Types function on two levels. Let's go to, I think this one's important. Go to, we've got a little bedtime. Go to Leviticus four. This one's gonna, I think, strip some gears, so to speak. For 13 through 20, it's dealing with the sin offering. This was part of the ceremonial system for the children of Israel in the Mosaic Covenant. And this is particularly the sin offering. There's individuality in verse one. If a person sins and then in verse 13, there is corporate. Now, if the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally, and if you look there, verse 14, when the sin which they have committed becomes known, this is the congregation, the whole congregation of Israel, and bring it before the tabernacle of, I'm sorry, becomes known, then the assembly shall offer a young bull for the sin, and bring it before the tabernacle of meeting. What was the bull for? For sin. We understand the concept of shed blood for the forgiveness of sins, substitutionary atonement. We'll go on and look at, I think it's verse 20. And he shall do with the bull as he did with the bull as a sin offering, and thus he shall do it. So the priest shall make atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them. What's forgiven? Anytime you use the word forgive, we're talking about sins on the basis of this bull, right? He forgave their unintentional sins at the whole congregation of Israel on the basis of this young bull being shed for them. You see that? It shall be forgiven them. Now go to Hebrews 10, I'm gonna read verse four, and then I'll go back up and read before that. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. I thought that it was forgave them. But he's saying it's not possible to forgive them. What's going on? That's because types function on two levels. The type is addressing a reality. So there was forgiveness of a kind. And it is not the forgiveness that the author of Hebrews is referencing. The forgiveness the author of Hebrews is referencing is talking about salvation, forgiveness of sins where we might have reconciliation with God eternally. The forgiveness there that they had was an external kind of a forgiveness related to that type in that system. So you could say there was forgiveness and there was not forgiveness. They function on two levels. That's important to know. That's very clear. I don't know how anybody else is gonna dispute what I'm saying from these two texts. And they're positive and negative. I'll just stop there. So a type can be positive. It can be like David. David was a type of Christ. And he was a man after God's own heart. And his faith illustrated in the Psalms is pointing forward to Christ. Many of the Psalms reference Christ. And they're also negative. Israel was a bad example as a type of the people of God. They're actually teaching us about the people of God by what the people of God will not be. But they're still a type. So types and then types always are unequipped and unable to describe fully the reality. They're always limited. Okay, we'll go into God's covenantal presence with his people next week and try to get through the last three points using some of this hermeneutics. Let's close. Father in heaven, we thank you for the understanding that you give us of your name, your will, your redemptive history and particularly your son and what you have done through him. Thank you for the Holy Spirit, Lord and the illumination that we are given to understand these things and rightly handle your word. Please keep us from error and help us to continue to handle it well. In Christ's name I pray, amen.


Nitropics are currently one of the biggest emerging trends in gaming and e-sports industry. But what exactly are nitropics? Do they really work? Are they better than energy drinks? And which are the best nitropics you can currently find in the market? Well, let's find out. Hey what's up Greg here from your inception, welcome to my channel. If you want to learn top secrets about nitropics and supplements then subscribe below to start your journey. Today we are going to look at the best nitropics for gamers. If you are a gamer then nitropics should be super interesting for you. In this video we are going to look at the benefits of nitropics. I am going to quickly explain what nitropics really are. I am going to share with you the best individual nitropic compounds that you can find in the market and at the end of the video I am going to share with you my favorite nitropics and nitropic supplements that you can currently buy. So if you are ready let's just begin. So what exactly are nitropics? Nitropics are mainly natural compounds that can enhance your cognitive abilities. They can improve your focus, attention, improve your memory, make you more productive, they can increase the speed of thinking, make you more relaxed, they can even improve your sleep and can have a positive benefit on your general health. So compared to classical energy drinks that most people and most gamers drink, nitropics are so much healthier in general of course and they can provide so many more benefits compared to energy drinks that it is really hard to compare them. The biggest benefit of energy drinks is that they can provide a short energy boost. Which nitropics can do as well because one of the most popular nitropics is actually caffeine which I am going to mention soon in the later part of the video. But still there are so many more benefits you can get from taking nitropics and the most important thing is that they can provide long term benefits compared to energy drinks that just provide a short term kick and that's it. So if you are serious about gaming and if you are really trying to improve your gaming skills then you should definitely look at nitropics. Now which are the best nitropics on the market? Let me mention a few of them. The first one I want to talk about is citicoline. Citicoline is actually not a natural it is a synthetic compound that can provide the building blocks of acetylcholine which is an important neurotransmitter for learning. So obviously the more acetylcholine you have in your body the easier for you is going to be to learn and remember new things. So if you are serious about gaming then adding citicoline is definitely important for you. Now the standard ideal dose is somewhere between 200 to 300 milligrams per day. By the way you are going to find some links to some of my favorite nitropics up there and you can find them in the description below as well. Then I want to talk about bacopa monary. Bacopa monary is an adatogenic herb which means that it can improve your memory and at the same time it can make you more relaxed in stressful situations. So this is kind of a perfect compound for gamers because as a gamer you probably need to be super focused. You need to have a good memory but when something happens you really need to stay calm and that's what Bacopa can do. Now the standard ideal dose to Bacopa is around 300 milligrams per day. Then we have caffeine which we talked about before which is often combined with LTNin. Now caffeine is obviously a stimulant but if you combine it with LTNin which is an amino acid that is found in drink tea what you get is a super powerful combo. You get a short energy boost without any jittery or any kind of side effects that usually come with an overdose of caffeine.  Well actually I was a gamer not a long ago. I was playing different games not on a super high level but it still was pretty good and I can tell you when you played super late in the night and I drank too much caffeine. I had so many issues with sleep I didn't wake up refreshed and energized so yeah that's not gonna happen if you combine caffeine with LTNin. By the way guys if you like this video please press the like button below. I want to mention two more natropics for you. One is rodeola rosea which is another adaptogen herb which is great for reducing stress and anxiety. So if you're prone to high anxiety if you're often under stress as a gamer which probably happens to you then I would recommend adding a rodeola rosea to your daily intro big stack and kind of a standardized dosage is around 50 to 100 milligrams per day. And last but not least there's L-tyrosine. The good thing about L-tyrosine which is an amino acid is that it can enhance the production of different neurotransmitters in your body and brain especially dopamine and noradrenaline. So basically what L-tyrosine can do is if you take it prior to a stressful event or activity which is prior playing a game a very important one for you that it can improve your cognitive abilities and performance during the game so that's the biggest benefit of it. And the standardized dosage is around 500 to 1 up to 2 grams per day. Now one of the questions we often get is are metropics legal? Well yeah in most countries metropics are totally legal and you can easily take them. Of course it's always good to double check this for your country but the major countries develop or consider metropics totally legal so there's nothing to worry about. And what's also important is I found that there's a thing called electronic sports leak which you probably know about and they're banning illegal compounds but luckily entropics are not on this list so yeah again nothing to worry about here. So before I share with you my favorite entropic for gamers the question is should you just buy individual compounds individual entropics and then combine them into supplement at home or should you just go on the market and buy a ready supplement that was designed for gamers? Well if you really like experimenting you know feel free to buy individual compounds you can find some links below where you can get them and you can order them test them see which work well which don't work well on you but you know for most people for most gamers especially like the advanced ones among you the ones that really want to get the best results I simply recommend buying the best supplements the best brain supplements you can find for gamers right now on the market because there's you know those brands invest so much money and research into developing the best supplements that really makes a huge difference and it's really hard to come up with the same ingredient the same dosages at home and kind of smartly combine them to get the same effect also you don't want to suffer from any kind of side effects so that's why I want to go this safe way in this case. The question is which is the best entropic supplement or the best brain supplement for gamers? Well I personally tested many of them and my team did a detailed review of the best gaming supplements in the market and basically you can find our list of the best gaming supplements below and probably there's gonna be a video out there as well just check it out and we're constantly updating this list so if you click up there or up or down there in the description you're gonna find the currently at this very moment the best supplement for gamers there are many out there but only a few really work so you know to be on the safe side really check out the links and you'll find what we currently recommend of course our recommendation can change if new supplements come out so that's why we'll constantly update those two links. Alright guys that's it for this video thank you for watching if you have any questions don't hesitate to contact me or my team don't forget to follow your inception on facebook instagram don't forget to subscribe to this channel please press the like button and I hope to see you soon again take care


We now have the Big Five. Mimi G has just launched a whole new brand of sewing patterns underneath the umbrella that also includes simplicity, Macaul's, Vogue, New Look, Butterick, all of them. This is Nomi Patterns, and the idea behind this is that each of these patterns are designed by one of these people here, and these people are not necessarily like Mimi G, where they are a licensee and they are going to be fully developing full collections for what is now the Big Five. They are at home makers and creators, just like you and me, and have been invited to design a pattern for Nomi. I have questions. I don't know a ton about how this is going to work going forward, so I thought we would take a look at what they are showing us here and kind of see what we think of this concept. As you may or may not know, Mimi G, gosh, I feel like it's been forever, but the timeline with the pandemic and everything, I have no concept of time, but she got a job as the vice president of something or another. Patterns and something, I don't know the full title. It feels very long, but in that role, she has been spearheading and championing the home garment sewist, kind of being our voice at a company that is very big, like the umbrella, the big, big company that owns the Big Four or Big Five now is a big company and this sewing pattern grouping or sub-sect of that is fairly small for them. So I feel like a lot of what we say and our wish list and all of that kind of gets drowned out because they're just like the small little small, but maybe noisy little group in the corner that's like, please give us attention. So they hired Mimi to come on and help with diversity and then also size inclusion. And then one of the, which as you probably have noticed in all of the Big Four collections prior to even this launch, there has been a lot more attention placed on that. There's still a long way to go and I think even she would admit that, but we've certainly made huge headway in the short amount of time that she has been in that role. Some of the other things that she has done is the backs of the envelope. Now you know how they have the finished garment sizing that's actually relevant now. That was something that she really fought for.  So it's taking a while, but we're starting to see things happen. Those three that I just mentioned and now this brand new pattern collection. So like I said, all of these people here are faces and names that you might recognize from social media, from YouTube, from blogs, from other places on the internet. And what I think is sort of so unique, I mean, look, four guys, four guy designers. How cool is that? She has a video, okay, hold on. Let me play the video for you. It's only a minute. It was hidden here in this get to know section. Okay, so here's her little introducing Nomi patterns video. Hi guys, Mimi G here. For those of you who don't know me, I am the founder of Mimi G Style Inc. So at academy.com and patternmaking.com. And as of last year, I became the vice president of design patterns and brand management for what we affectionately called the big four. I had to pause. I told you that job title is very long. She just said it and I've already forgotten what she said. But that's the role that she took. I've always wanted to give makers in our community the same opportunities that I have had as a licensee for simplicity. And now I can. I am turning the big four into the big five. I've created an entirely new brand called Nomi patterns that will be designed solely by makers in our community because who better to design for us than us? Over the next several weeks, I'm gonna be talking a lot more about Nomi, what my plans are, what my vision is and introducing the amazing first set of licensees that I have signed on to the brand. I am so thrilled and excited to share this with all of you. And I hope that you are just as excited as we are. Okay, cute, right? So a couple of things to note there is she references our community. And I don't know if by that she is generically speaking about the home sewing garment sewing community or if she's specifically speaking about people of color because everybody here is a person of color. And so I don't know for sure if they are only going to be highlighting makers in the POC community. I don't know that yet. But she also said that this first group of designers. So it makes me think that in future collections, like these are the makers of the fall 2022 collection, how long are they gonna stick around for? Are they gonna be apart like a year, like fall, winter, spring, summer? They literally only gonna do one pattern and then that's it, they get swapped out. I got a feeling that's not the case, right? I mean, they gotta keep them around for a little while longer. But also on this page, they also have little bios from everybody along with their Instagram handles. Yeah, I think it's Instagram for everybody. So you can follow them all on Instagram. Yeah. And then, okay. And so each of their patterns are listed here as well. So it looks like Norris has two, Nikki has one, Julian has one, you know, so on and so forth. What I think is really cool about this, each of these designers, I'm assuming, has designed a pattern that speaks to their personal style and their lifestyle and something that they would probably normally wear in their regular lives, right? So I've talked a lot about the branding in the past of, you know, the big four, McCall's being sort of youthful and young and Vogue being the more mature, like maybe ritzy glitzy lady and you know, how each brand has its own like intended customer. I feel like with No Me, it's gonna be a little bit all over the place. Like you may think to yourself, oh my gosh, I absolutely love butteric patterns. Every time they release a collection, I love so many of them. I'm a butteric girl.  I am definitely not the Vogue person. But when you come to No Me, you're gonna see a lot of differences in these designs. They're not gonna all be speaking to the same type of person other than we all like to sew at home and that's it. I mean, you can even tell just when looking at these first eight, we've got a very youthful look here from Alyssa. Mimi has definitely, not Mimi, but Brittany J. Jones has definitely got the sort of like, I'm the cool mom. We've also got the corny rainbow here in something very bright and colorful and a print. You know, that's what I mean. So I just feel like each one of these for better or worse is probably gonna be something you love or hate. But the collection as a whole, I think somebody, everybody will find something that they like. You just may not like all of it. Like you would if you are the butteric girl, for example. Does that all make sense? So I think that that is really cool and that is really interesting approach. I mean, nobody's thinking like this. Every designer designs with one customer in mind. So the fact that there is a, even the Indies, you know what I mean? So the fact that there is a brand now that it's representative of so many different ages, lifestyles, places in life, jobs, you know what I mean? Like it's just gonna be very, very representative of all kinds of different walks of life, which I think is really cool. So that is all I have on No Me Patterns right now. I'm going to do a first impression Friday and put that up ASAP so that we can take a look at all of these patterns together. But I just wanted to kind of separate these two things, kind of give this the attention that I really feel like it deserves. I mean, a whole new brand from Simplicity. I don't know when the last time they did that was. And this company has been around for a hundred years or more. So it's a big deal.  You know what I mean? That's the kind of sentiment that I'm getting from this and I think it's really cool. But let me know what you guys think just of the idea of a big five now. The idea of the home so is being the designer. The idea of possibly swapping out these people. I don't know, however often they decide to do it. Let me know your thoughts about all of it in the comments and we can commiserate and celebrate together. But that's gonna do it for me today, y'all. Thank you so much for watching. I will see you all very soon. Bye.


The National Emergency Management Organization NEMO is urging members of the public to remain in a state of constant preparedness. NEMO, while still conducting damage assessments in the aftermath of the passage of Hurricane Elsa, highlighted the unpredictable threat of natural disasters, especially during the hurricane season. We get details in this report. The National Emergency Management Organization NEMO continues to assess the impact of the passage of Hurricane Elsa to roads, infrastructure, lives, and livelihoods with a view of returning St. Lucia to a sense of normalcy. Director of NEMO, Doreen Gustav, sees the opportunity to offer condolences to the family and loved ones of Peter Victor Forsyjak, who lost his life during the passage of the hurricane. The director, noting the devastation caused by Hurricane Elsa, urged members of the public to ensure that they remain in a constant state of preparedness. NEMO received reports of partial and total damage to homes throughout the island. On Saturday, July 3rd, the Prime Minister, an official from Infrastructure and myself, did an aerial reconnaissance to have a view of the damage and as was mentioned previously, the damage to the banana fields was quite visible. Indeed, the agriculture sector suffered extensive damages. Please be reminded that we are still in the midst of an active Atlantic hurricane season and based on the destructive nature of these tropical activities, you are advised to continue with the hurricane preparedness if you have not done so. Your preparedness plan should include, for example, a family plan, a business plan, assessment around your home and property to identify the hazards. The director reminded the public of the very real and present threat and danger of such disasters which have only worsened due to the impact of climate change. These disasters continue to threaten societies both economically and socially, as well as lives and livelihoods. We have about 15 more storms remaining and it takes only one to cause catastrophic effect on any one country. With the rise in climate change, we have seen the rapid intensification of hurricanes, for example, tropical storm Elsa, changing rapidly into a hurricane within a short space of time. This behavior could have only been made possible due to climate change and the effects of climate change on our small island development states and this could only be mitigated through preparedness. Preparedness also builds on the resilience of people and as a nation it is our desire to become resilient. Hurricane Elsa passed over the island on Friday the 2nd of July 2021.