I've got a boat.
Not just any boat, a charcoal h-106 self-righting racing boat.
Top speed, 25 kilometers per hour.
That's only like 15 miles per hour, man.
My friend David got a boat, too. 2.4 g technology with 180 degree capsized recovery and rudder
auto-correction.
Bruh, it's the same boat as yours, except yours is yellow and mine is green.
They're the same, literally the same.
Oh, well whatever.
We're here on the banks of the Ohio River.
Here the water is about 1600 feet across at 160 feet deep.
David, why are we here again?
Besides remote control boat racing?
The Ohio River was also one of the last major stops on the Underground Railroad in America,
where slaves escaping slavery would finally cross from the south to the north where they
could find freedom.
We actually might be standing at the exact spot where 200 years ago slaves were running
or even swimming to find freedom.
Because God wants to free people.
To learn more about that, we're going to go to this building right here, The Freedom Center.
Speaking of which, shouldn't we like keep up with our boats?
Oh, yeah. Uh, they're about to get out of range. Hey, like and subscribe. We'll be right
back.
It's time for Minute Make, the competition where we see who's the best maker of something
in 60 seconds.
Meet our contestants Andrew, Maddie, Ray and Vince.
Your mission, using a single piece of tin foil, make a boat that will hold as many pennies
as possible without sinking.
On your mark, get set, make.
Uh, how do we make this?
Oh, man. that's expert folding.
This is actually really thin, guys.
I know what you're trying to do. You're not gonna get in my head.
This is really thin. You know what? I'm gonna follow what you're doing. What are you doing?
Oh, you think they had blueprints the way they've got this down.
You know...what's that? I'm following what you're doing. Come on now.
Nice technique.
All right.
I have a feeling that these are going to float.
This captain is ready to sail.
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
These boats are really unique.
Hopefully they float.
And it looks like we have our first contestant finished.
This is what won me first place in third grade.
Something tells me Maddie's done this before.
Oh, what is that, a hot pocket pouch?
What's that?
This is called a boat. I know you haven't seen one before.
Time's up.
I can easily see myself making it to a tropical paradise in this phenomenal nautical machine.
This bad boy right here won me first place in third grade.
I have no doubt that she won't let me down.
I have no words. I asked for 20 more seconds, but I'ma make it work.
Sailor Rae is gonna make it work.
Well, we're going to float all day. So I'm just going to kick back with my boat, and
all these others guys are just gonna sink.
All right, contestants. Let's see if you can foil the other competition. Let's see who
gets to gloat that their tinfoil boat will float the most in the moat and win the trophy
of goat.
One, two, three
This is a navy ship of aluminum boats.
It looks like they're really piling these pennies on.
Oh, this is not good guys.
It looks like our contestants are now packing those pennies.
I got 56. I got 56.
56. Did he say 56? Oh, and it looks like our first boat has sunk.
I don't think I even got 10 in mine.
I think the purpose is to float on top of the water.
I got 56 in here.
Oh, and it looks like that boat is going down.
I'm at 59. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67.
Can she get to 70?
70. 71. Oh my gosh.
And that's it. That is game, and I think we have a winner.
I'm the winner.
We came out on top once again
Thank you. Thank you. She did me well this time.
I'm impressed.
Oh, my god.
That was impressive.
While we were sitting out there, I was looking at the bridge, you know overlooking Kentucky.
and if you remove the bridge, remove all the buildings, and it's just land, woods, farmland
and there's a moment of just a realization there was a either a man or woman a family
and their child and everything they could only carry and somehow you have to find a
way across.
Like imagine a mother with her baby trying to swim across the river. And the only thing
standing between you and freedom, it's not necessarily the rivers, it's willpower.
It just seems like the goal gets further and further away.
I haven't lost hope.
It's just one of those things like, man God, like what are you doing?
Like why is this still an ongoing issue, you know?
Even as a child having to have those conversations, they just want to be kids.
They want to play the game and go outside but, what happens when your black child goes
to a predominantly white school and they talk about her skin tone?
Or they want to touch their hair, but they ask questions.
It's an ongoing battle, man, and it seems like there are moments I I feel like it's
never ending. you know?
Tell my mother to pray for me, tell my wife don't cry, tell my girl be brave for me, tell
my son become a man for me and pass on my name, tell the historian, tell the ugly truth
of why they brought us here, tell the rulers of this land don't let it happen again.
Carl B. Westmoreland
Freedom, it's a word we hear a lot. But what does the Bible say about freedom?
Freedom usually means when a person is released from slavery, oppression or sin.
And in the Bible, God's people are constantly dealing with being slaves, being oppressed
and being sinful.
And we still deal with it today.
People still need freedom today.
The good news is that God wants to free people.
He did it over and over again in the Bible, and in a minute we'll hear one of the most
famous stories of God freeing his people when Moses led the people of Israel out of slavery
in Egypt into the promised land.
There are a lot of reasons why it can be hard to talk about slavery.
For some people, it's just awkward.
For others, sometimes people who look like me.
It can be very painful.
It's painful to realize people can be so mean and so cruel to one another.
It's painful to know that human beings who are made in God's image can be dehumanized
by one another and can be enslaved.
God didn't invent slavery, people did.
Even though people are made in God's image, we have all sinned and gone against what God
wants.
Romans 3:23 says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
Slavery is a part of humanity's sin.
It's evil.
Slavery is not the way God designed us to live with one another.
Slavery takes away a person's God-given rights, dignity and freedom.
And unfortunately, slavery has been part of our country's history.
It's hard to understand how people who would read the Bible, go to church and say they
followed Jesus thought that owning other people was okay.
They found parts of the Bible that talk about slavery, but they ignored the bigger picture
of God's story.
God wants to free people, and in the Bible, one person who got to see this happen was
Moses.
This is Moses.
Moses learned to trust God throughout his life and because he did trust God, God used
Moses to rescue his very special family, the Israelites.
Here are a few times when Moses had to trust God.
Moses had to trust God when he told him to help the Israelites escape slavery in Egypt.
Moses had to trust when God said he would be with Moses.
While he did this, Moses had to trust God.
When the Egyptians changed their minds and chased after them, Moses had to trust God
when he stepped into the Red Sea.
And moments later watched a dry path appear before him, just in time for the Israelites
to walk across and escape.
And then watch the Egyptian army be swallowed up by the water once his people were safe.
Moses had to trust that God had a plan, but he and the Israelites wandered around the
desert for 40 years.
And he had to trust that God really meant it when he said he would make food rain down
from the sky so they had bread and meat to eat.
Moses had to trust God his entire life, and God is always worthy of our trust.
And that's a little bit about the story of Moses.
We learned a couple things from the story of Moses.
One, God wants his people to join him in fighting for freedom, not with violence, but with faith.
God didn't send Moses with a conquering army and weapons to storm Pharaoh's palace.
No, he sent Moses to ask Pharaoh patiently, respectfully, peacefully to release the slaves.
Only when Pharaoh refused to obey God and set the slaves free did God step in.
God uses Moses to lead Israel out of slavery in Egypt through the Red Sea and into freedom.
The second thing we learn is that gaining freedom is not easy.
Moses had to stand up to Pharaoh over and over again, trusting God over and over again.
It's not easy to convince someone who is rich and powerful to give up their riches and power.
That's part of what made it hard for Pharaoh to set the slaves free.
Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, would have to lower himself by ending a system that made
him richer and more powerful.
And it's human nature to want to be selfish, to keep our privileges and possessions and
power to ourselves.
But here's the thing, if we follow Jesus, our king doesn't act like the kings of this
world.
We don't follow a king or pharaoh or president who grabs power and puts everyone else below
them.
No, we follow our King Jesus, who gave up the most powerful position in the universe
to become a human being like you and me to take on himself all the evil, all the slavery,
all the sin of this world.
The Bible says he even took upon himself the appearance of a slave.
And Jesus did that because he's God's son and God wants to free people.
There's another story from the Bible about setting a slave free.
This is the story of Philemon.
This is Philemon.
Philemon lived in Colossae.
He was part of the early church there and even let other people worship Jesus in his
house.
That probably meant Philemon was pretty rich and respected.
And he followed Jesus, but Philemon also owned slaves.
Today we know slavery is wrong, but back then, some people thought slavery was normal.
Well, Onesimus, who was one of the slaves in Philemon's house, escaped and ran away
to freedom.
Along the way, Onesimus left the apostle Paul, who was famous for telling people the good
news about Jesus, who came to set the captives free and to give them hope.
We're not sure how long Onesimus was with Paul, but we do know that after spending time
with Paul, Onesimus believed in Jesus, too. paul and onesimus worked together and even
became good
Friends, eventually though, Paul thought it was time for Onesimus to go back to Philemon.
And because Philemon was probably upset with Onesimus for running away to freedom, Paul
decided to write Philemon a letter.
Instead of sending Onesimus back just to become a slave again, Paul said Onesimus is better
than a slave.
He is dear to you, not only as another human being, but as a brother in the Lord.
Now this was probably really tough for Philemon to hear.
And Philemon's friends might have thought he should punish Onesimus instead of welcoming
him back.
But Paul wrote I'm sure you'll obey.
I know you will do even more than I ask.
Paul wanted Philemon to stop treating Onesimus as a slave and start treating him as a brother.
That's because Philemon and Onesimus were both human beings made in God's image and
Jesus died for both of them.
In God's eyes, we are all equally valued and loved.
As Paul said in another letter, "There is no longer slave or free for you are all one
in Christ Jesus."
So if Philemon was going to follow Jesus, he will welcome his former slave back.
Not as a slave, but as family.
And that's a little bit about Philemon.
As we follow Jesus, we do what Jesus did to seek freedom for other people because God
wants to free people.
We, who follow God, want to free people, too.
When we see racism or injustice or in slavery or oppression or poverty, anything that dehumanizes
someone and takes away their God-given freedom and dignity, we fight it.
We do not fight the way the world fights with violence and war, we fight by speaking up
for those who are not heard by trying to end systems that keep other people down.
That's what we see in the stories about Moses, Philemon and Jesus.
We also see it in someone who is famous for helping people escape slavery in America.
Someone who did it as an act of her faith in Jesus, that person was Harriet Tubman.
Harriet Tubman was called Grandma Moses because like Moses, she led people from slavery to
freedom.
We don't know how many people Harriet Tubman rescued but we do know this, she believed
in God.
She believed her work on the Underground Railroad was God's purpose for her life.
She sometimes had strange visions and dreams, and she saw them as visions and dreams from
God.
And when she led slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad, she escaped captured
time and time again.
And she said it was because of God's protection.
One time, Harriet even heard God tell her to lead people off the road and through an
icy river.
And because she obeyed, they made it to freedom.
We can be like Harriet Tubman, like Moses, like Philemon and like Jesus.
We can ask God to free us from things like sin and anxiety.
We can also help others experience God's freedom.
God wants as many people as possible to cross the river from slavery to freedom.
Speaking of rivers, let's boat race.
Ah
I think my boat is dead in the water.
Yes, thank you, thank you, thank you.
I would like to thank all the people who made this dream come true.
I'm just joking.
Hey, thank you, guys.
Make sure you like and
subscribe.