The Visiting Table

(00:00:00) How to find joy when life hurts — preview

(00:00:26) Welcome to The Visiting Table

(00:03:43) How God works for our salvation

(00:07:37) Living hope in 1 Peter 1

(00:10:33) What does God's protection mean?

(00:16:27) Can joy and grief exist together?

(00:19:11) Faith tested by fire

(00:20:11) Count it all joy? James 1 and real-life trials

(00:22:28) What does biblical patience mean?

(00:25:22) Patience and faith in Revelation

(00:26:26) What is joy inexpressible?

(00:28:18) Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit

(00:33:00) How do you love Someone you cannot see?

(00:38:38) What do angels want to understand?

(00:41:54) Four takeaways for living by faith

How can joy and grief exist at the same time? Ken and Julie open 1 Peter 1:1–12 and reflect on living hope, faith tested by trials, and learning to love Jesus without seeing Him. With honesty about their own growth, they explore how steadfast faith can take root even through tears. Pull up a chair and join The Visiting Table.
SCRIPTURE
1 Peter 1:1–12; James 1:2–4; Revelation 14:12; John 16:7–11.
FREE BIBLE STUDIES
https://vop.com/study
CREDITS
Ken Norton, Julie Norton, Fiona Lin, Joel Baker, Kenneth Mayr, and Ruben Gomez.
A production of Voice of Prophecy.

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Pull up a chair!

*The Visiting Table* is a place for honest conversations about faith, relationships, and discovering the God who meets us right where we are. *The Visiting Table* is a production of the Voice of Prophecy, a Seventh-day Adventist media ministry.

🌐 Watch Full Episodes of The Visiting Table:  
https://www.vop.com/thevisitingtable

📖 Receive free Bible studies and resources from Voice of Prophecy:  
https://www.vop.com/biblestudies

💛 Support the Voice of Prophecy and help share Christ-centered media worldwide:  
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Do the Ten Commandments sound like restrictions—or the guidance of a God who loves us?

Ken and Julie begin with Jesus’ call to love God and love our neighbor, then walk through all ten commandments and turn each into a positive, personal choice grounded in Scripture.

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Pull up a chair!

*The Visiting Table* is a place for honest conversations about faith, relationships, and discovering the God who meets us right where we are. *The Visiting Table* is a production of the Voice of Prophecy, a Seventh-day Adventist media ministry.

🌐 Watch Full Episodes of The Visiting Table:  
https://www.vop.com/thevisitingtable

📖 Receive free Bible studies and resources from Voice of Prophecy:  
https://www.vop.com/biblestudies

💛 Support the Voice of Prophecy and help share Christ-centered media worldwide:  
https://www.vop.com/give

What does it take to stand when faith costs everything? Ken and Julie study Daniel 3, the fiery furnace, and the parallels with Revelation 13, ask what they would really have done, and find a promise that God is with His people in the fire.

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Pull up a chair!

*The Visiting Table* is a place for honest conversations about faith, relationships, and discovering the God who meets us right where we are. *The Visiting Table* is a production of the Voice of Prophecy, a Seventh-day Adventist media ministry.

🌐 Watch Full Episodes of The Visiting Table:  
https://www.vop.com/thevisitingtable

📖 Receive free Bible studies and resources from Voice of Prophecy:  
https://www.vop.com/biblestudies

💛 Support the Voice of Prophecy and help share Christ-centered media worldwide:  
https://www.vop.com/give

Why can sharing your faith feel difficult—even when you genuinely love Jesus and want others to know Him?
In this episode of The Visiting Table, Ken and Julie explore three barriers that can quietly silence our witness: distraction, discouragement, and disconnection. Ken shares a New York City subway encounter that left him asking why he had hesitated to speak about Jesus—and what God showed him afterward.
Together, they unpack three biblical choices that help us begin again: focus on Jesus, wait for God, and abide in Him.

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Pull up a chair!

*The Visiting Table* is a place for honest conversations about faith, relationships, and discovering the God who meets us right where we are. *The Visiting Table* is a production of the Voice of Prophecy, a Seventh-day Adventist media ministry.

🌐 Watch Full Episodes of The Visiting Table:  
https://www.vop.com/thevisitingtable

📖 Receive free Bible studies and resources from Voice of Prophecy:  
https://www.vop.com/biblestudies

💛 Support the Voice of Prophecy and help share Christ-centered media worldwide:  
https://www.vop.com/give

(00:00:00) Jesus Wasn’t a Doormat — Preview

(00:00:41) Welcome to The Visiting Table

(00:03:30) Are Christians supposed to be doormats?

(00:05:30) Help when it is in your power

(00:09:01) Jesus’ challenging call to generosity

(00:13:56) When helping is not your responsibility

(00:15:38) A practical Helping People Fund

(00:19:45) Biblical conditions for helping

(00:24:41) When helping becomes enabling

(00:32:06) Motives matter

(00:37:21) Is the request right?

(00:40:02) Are you being manipulated?

(00:42:30) Jesus served without being controlled

(00:46:10) Five questions to ask before helping

(00:48:14) True love may say yes, no, or not right now

(00:49:34) Closing prayer

How do you help generously without enabling harm or letting other people’s expectations control your life? Ken and Julie explore Jesus’ example, the Bible’s challenging calls to generosity, and five practical questions for deciding when love should say yes, no, or not right now.

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Pull up a chair!

*The Visiting Table* is a place for honest conversations about faith, relationships, and discovering the God who meets us right where we are. *The Visiting Table* is a production of the Voice of Prophecy, a Seventh-day Adventist media ministry.

🌐 Watch Full Episodes of The Visiting Table:  
https://www.vop.com/thevisitingtable

📖 Receive free Bible studies and resources from Voice of Prophecy:  
https://www.vop.com/biblestudies

💛 Support the Voice of Prophecy and help share Christ-centered media worldwide:  
https://www.vop.com/give

(00:00:00) Fear, Prophecy, and Hope

(00:03:54) When Hearts Fail from Fear

(00:05:25) Why Zephaniah Matters Now

(00:08:18) Three Spiritual Dangers

(00:14:00) Money Cannot Save Us

(00:23:52) Where Is the Hope?

(00:30:35) Seek the Lord Now

Afraid of Bible prophecy? Ken and Julie explore Zephaniah, today’s unsettling headlines, and God’s call to seek Him. Discover how to face the future with faith, humility, and hope instead of fear.
From conflict around the Strait of Hormuz to fears about economic collapse, today’s headlines can make Bible prophecy feel frightening. This conversation explores divided hearts, spiritual complacency, and the Day of the Lord, then points to God’s invitation to seek Him, pursue righteousness and humility, and trust His love.
Scripture referenced: Luke 21:26; Zephaniah 1–2; Matthew 22:1–14; Luke 14:15–24; Revelation 3; Revelation 18:11–20; Daniel 7–12; Isaiah 55; Malachi 3:16–18; Isaiah 54:17.

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Pull up a chair!

*The Visiting Table* is a place for honest conversations about faith, relationships, and discovering the God who meets us right where we are. *The Visiting Table* is a production of the Voice of Prophecy, a Seventh-day Adventist media ministry.

🌐 Watch Full Episodes of The Visiting Table:  
https://www.vop.com/thevisitingtable

📖 Receive free Bible studies and resources from Voice of Prophecy:  
https://www.vop.com/biblestudies

💛 Support the Voice of Prophecy and help share Christ-centered media worldwide:  
https://www.vop.com/give

(00:00:00) What Is Your Life Teaching Other People?

(00:00:41) Welcome and Opening Prayer

(00:01:12) What Our Children Copy

(00:04:39) What Sewing Has to Do with Faith

(00:06:26) How Julie Learned to Sew

(00:08:39) The Mistake That Taught Her to Trust the Pattern

(00:10:27) God’s Word as Our Pattern

(00:14:49) Learning the Principles Behind the Pattern

(00:18:32) From Rules to Understanding

(00:20:37) The Dress That Inspired a Class

(00:22:58) Why Paul Said to Follow His Example

(00:24:49) You Don’t Have to Be Perfect

(00:26:53) A Prayer for a Life That Reflects God

(00:28:25) How Do You Unwind?

(00:29:27) Think You Have No Talents?

(00:30:51) Talents, Gifts, and Trying New Things

(00:34:57) Discovering Your Spiritual Gifts

(00:37:11) Your Gifts Can Bless Someone Else

(00:39:13) The Purses Julie Prayed Over

(00:40:50) What Will We Do with What God Gave Us?

(00:41:22) Becoming an Example That Points to Jesus

(00:43:59) Closing Prayer

(00:44:48) Always Remember: He Is Able

What is your life teaching the people around you?
Julie's first sewing project went wrong when she decided the pattern needed fixing. Years later, a patient teacher helped her understand the principles behind those patterns—and create a dress that inspired other students to learn.
Ken and Julie Norton use those memories to explore a deeper question: how do we shape our lives after Jesus and become examples others can follow? Through Psalm 119 and Philippians 3, they discuss trusting God's Word, growing beyond simply following rules, and pointing people toward Christ even while we are still growing.
The conversation also turns to talents and spiritual gifts. What if you don't recognize yours? Ken and Julie share practical starting points: try new things, ask God, and pay attention to the ways others are encouraged by you. Julie's handmade purses offer a personal picture of what happens when a familiar skill becomes a gift for someone else.
Follow the show and share this episode with someone who needs encouragement to use what God has given them.

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Pull up a chair!

*The Visiting Table* is a place for honest conversations about faith, relationships, and discovering the God who meets us right where we are. *The Visiting Table* is a production of the Voice of Prophecy, a Seventh-day Adventist media ministry.

🌐 Watch Full Episodes of The Visiting Table:  
https://www.vop.com/thevisitingtable

📖 Receive free Bible studies and resources from Voice of Prophecy:  
https://www.vop.com/biblestudies

💛 Support the Voice of Prophecy and help share Christ-centered media worldwide:  
https://www.vop.com/give

What do you want God to do for you? You probably have an answer. But what happens when you turn that question around? Ken and Julie open Mark 10, where Jesus asks that question right back — to ambition, to human need, to us. It's a challenge to how we use influence, what we expect from others, and how we approach God. Along the way, a story from Thailand puts the cost — and the joy — of serving others into sharp focus.

Chapters:
00:00 The Question Above All Questions
00:36 Welcome to the Table
01:33 The Childhood Story That Stuck
03:21 James and John Want the Best Seats
04:44 The Question Jesus Asked
09:39 Jesus Redefines Greatness
11:32 Helping Other People Grow
14:03 Jesus Asks Bartimaeus the Same Question
16:28 Did the Disciples Learn the Lesson?
19:04 What This Reveals About Prayer
23:19 Serving in Everyday Life
25:00 Willing to Spend and Be Spent
27:43 Tears, Sacrifice, and Joy in Thailand
30:20 The Leaders We Remember
33:02 Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet
36:24 Ask, Seek, Knock—and What Comes Next
39:20 What Can I Do for You, God?
40:51 When Our Children Started Giving Back
43:18 Asking God to Change Our Hearts
44:03 Always Remember: He Is Able

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Pull up a chair!

*The Visiting Table* is a place for honest conversations about faith, relationships, and discovering the God who meets us right where we are. *The Visiting Table* is a production of the Voice of Prophecy, a Seventh-day Adventist media ministry.

🌐 Watch Full Episodes of The Visiting Table:  
https://www.vop.com/thevisitingtable

📖 Receive free Bible studies and resources from Voice of Prophecy:  
https://www.vop.com/biblestudies

💛 Support the Voice of Prophecy and help share Christ-centered media worldwide:  
https://www.vop.com/give

What do you see when you look at yourself—a masterpiece or a mess still waiting to be fixed? God does not wait until His work is finished to call you valuable.

Ken and Julie explore what Scripture says about your identity, your worth, and the patient work God is doing in you. Through the picture of an unfinished painting and a field growing through different stages, they show why being unfinished does not make you a failure.

They also share the moving story of a scarred young woman who asked, “Does God love me?” Hear how the answer in 1 John transformed her understanding of who she was.

The conversation then turns outward. If we believe God sees every person as valuable, how should that change our words, our mercy, our patience, and the way we treat unfinished people?

Chapters:
00:00 What Does God Think of You?
01:59 Trust the Process: The Unfinished Painting
06:41 You Are God’s Masterpiece
10:35 Wonderfully Made at Every Stage
12:31 Growth Happens in Stages
17:37 Seeing Yourself Through God’s Eyes
19:57 Written on the Palms of His Hands
21:50 Finding Who You Are in Christ
24:54 Replacing Other Voices with God’s Truth
29:09 The Woman Who Asked, “Does God Love Me?”
31:13 Hearing God’s Answer
34:16 A Face Transformed by Love
36:31 See Others the Way God Sees You
38:05 No One Is Finished Yet
41:02 How God Calls Us to Treat One Another
44:00 Are Your Words Like Honey?
46:24 Love Mercy and Walk Humbly
48:42 A Prayer to See Through God’s Eyes
50:20 Be the Change

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Pull up a chair!

*The Visiting Table* is a place for honest conversations about faith, relationships, and discovering the God who meets us right where we are. *The Visiting Table* is a production of the Voice of Prophecy, a Seventh-day Adventist media ministry.

🌐 Watch Full Episodes of The Visiting Table:  
https://www.vop.com/thevisitingtable

📖 Receive free Bible studies and resources from Voice of Prophecy:  
https://www.vop.com/biblestudies

💛 Support the Voice of Prophecy and help share Christ-centered media worldwide:  
https://www.vop.com/give

God may be speaking—but how do you know it’s really Him?

Ken and Julie use an unexpected comparison from metal detecting to explore how we learn to recognize God’s voice. Every detector has a language. Some signals lead to treasure. Others lead to trash that sounds almost exactly the same. Our spiritual lives can feel just as uncertain.

Ken shares the childhood discovery that brought Singapore’s bomb squad to his neighborhood and the Guam beach search that recovered a stranger’s lost wedding ring. Then Ken and Julie turn to the healing of the man born blind in John 9. He had never seen Jesus. At first, all he knew was the sound of His voice—and he chose to follow it.

How do we tell God’s voice from our own desires, fear, skepticism, or deception? This conversation offers four practical safeguards: be willing to listen, spend time in God’s Word, expect Him to speak, and respond when He does.

Chapters:


00:40 Hearing God’s Voice
01:43 A Bucket-List Conversation
03:13 Metal Detecting at the Beach
04:16 Learning a Detector’s Language
08:11 Trash or Treasure?
09:40 Why the Search Is Worth It
13:47 The Find That Called the Bomb Squad
22:41 Can Hearing God Feel This Real?
25:58 The Blind Man Who Heard Jesus
30:12 “Do You Want to Be His Disciple Too?”
32:06 Recognizing Jesus by His Voice
33:46 Who Is Really Blind?
35:22 My Sheep Know My Voice
37:23 Jesus at the Door
39:10 When Other Voices Drown Him Out
42:20 How Sheep Know Their Shepherd
46:02 Four Ways to Hear God
46:13 Be Willing to Listen
50:12 Spend Time in His Word
52:46 Expect God to Speak
54:35 Respond When He Speaks
58:18 The Search for a Lost Wedding Ring
64:19 A Prayer to Hear God Clearly

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Pull up a chair!

*The Visiting Table* is a place for honest conversations about faith, relationships, and discovering the God who meets us right where we are. *The Visiting Table* is a production of the Voice of Prophecy, a Seventh-day Adventist media ministry.

🌐 Watch Full Episodes of The Visiting Table:  
https://www.vop.com/thevisitingtable

📖 Receive free Bible studies and resources from Voice of Prophecy:  
https://www.vop.com/biblestudies

💛 Support the Voice of Prophecy and help share Christ-centered media worldwide:  
https://www.vop.com/give