Learning from Hippos.  What do hippos teach us about God? -how to rest, family, community. Looking out for each other. Protecting our young.   "Creation cries out the beauty of the Lord" In Job: ask the animals In the N.T.: look at the birds look at the horse - goes to battle look at the ostrich - silly, yet scare off a lion, outrun a lion What does God think as he created the creatures - joy, design, fun, laughter, expression, enjoyment Very cool how the Lord tells us to ask the animals to teach us.  Weeping turned to joy. There is a time to mourn, but it becomes joy, only with Jesus.  Learning from ostriches.  What do the animals teach us about God's character?   How can our mourning turn into joy?  Learning from the Dawn Chorus - the dawn praise.  Excited to see the sun rise. Light defeats the darkness.  Gives light and life to the whole creation.  robin red-breast - a powerful bird, a sign of love. the first to sing.   Learning from budgies. automatically sing. Happy, joyful. a new day has come. A new hope. A new opportunity.  Learning from parrots - their humour, their pranks. Just a laugh.   Learning from the Lord how to care for animals God knows when each sparrow falls. Nothing is meaningless. The tiniest bird is known, how much more he knows us. He hears young ravens - the ugly sound - God hears that. He delights in it. That bird crying (Psalm104) is crying to the Lord. Animals know the reality of the living God, how much more us. He knows how many hairs are on our head,   Laws of Moses - how to treat animals. -don't muzzle their ox.  -Don't put a babies goat in her milk, disrespecctive to use that mile that gave it life.   Jesus I the wilderness with the wild animals All creation makes sense around him. When he lives here, all the animals behave the way they were meant to.  wild animals came to Jesus in the wilderness. Not wild around Jesus. They are around us, because they know we are wild.  The angel of the Lord - Jesus closed the mouth of the lions.   God uses animals used to described himself how he looks after us hen covers his chicks.   learning from Ants hard workers. think about the future. work to gather. work in formation. United. single minded. Like a good church. Serve a monarch, a queen.  Medieveal beasteries sees ants as knights. moving forward towards the monarch.   Created by the one from who we originate from.  Shout out to the hippos - inspiration.