Participants: Sebastien Braxton
Series Code: 09GYC
Program Code: 09GYC000006
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00:12 Dear Heavenly Father, we want to thank you for giving each
00:14 of us this new year of life. 00:17 A new year in which to serve You. 00:19 We pray that we will serve You faithfully. 00:22 Please give us the strength, the humility, the courage, 00:27 to live for You this year. 00:29 So if You were here walking and talking, among us in the flesh, 00:33 You would not be ashamed to call us Your children, 00:36 Your followers. 00:38 Open our hearts this morning to hear the message that You 00:41 have to give us. 00:43 I pray You will touch the lips of Sebastian your servant, 00:45 that he will give us the message that You have on Your 00:49 heart for us to hear today. 00:51 Help us not only to listen to it, but to make it a part 00:56 of our experience. 00:58 Help us to reach out to others in this new year and 01:02 to bring many to You. 01:04 May our connection with You may remain strong, may we look 01:07 to Your face and follow You continually, honoring You, 01:12 living lives unashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 01:16 We pray all these things in Jesus' name, Amen! 01:26 Tell me do you love Jesus? 01:28 Audience: yes we love Jesus. 01:31 Are you sure you love Jesus? 01:33 Audience: I'm sure I love Jesus. 01:35 And why do you love Jesus? 01:37 Audience: here's why I love Jesus, because He first loved 01:43 me, that's the reason we all ought to love Him. 01:47 Oh I how I love Jesus, I can't hear you GYC! 01:52 Oh how I love Jesus, 01:57 oh, how I love Jesus 02:02 because He first loved me. 02:06 Now why else would young people get up on New Year's Day 02:11 at six in the morning except for one reason. Amen! 02:16 I'm delighted to see you here and I know that some of your 02:20 Christian brethren will be strolling in late. 02:22 There was an ungodly party going on above my room. 02:26 I had to call upon the name of the Lord, but this morning 02:33 you guys did so well yesterday in the favors that I asked 02:36 of you, I thought I might push the envelope a little bit 02:39 and ask you a couple other favors. 02:41 Is that okay? Yes, okay here we go. 02:45 Number one: one thing that I want to challenge us here at GYC 02:53 as I had mentioned yesterday that GYC is not an event 02:56 but it is a movement. 02:59 The success of any movement, is movement. 03:03 That means when we talk about the spirit of GYC, 03:08 the spirit of GYC is not just when the meetings start, 03:12 or when we're in the seminars, but there is something very 03:15 special about that little break time between 03:18 one seminar and another. 03:20 When you are traveling on to your next seminar, 03:22 and you are leaving here to go to breakfast, I want to 03:26 challenge you all to take your spirituality higher in that 03:30 little space of time. 03:32 The reason why say this, I got invited to go to China 03:35 several years ago to preach. 03:37 In that invitation I asked how long, etc. Etc. Etc. 03:41 all the details and they said we want you to come for a 03:44 weekend, oh okay, you are talking about four or five 03:46 sermons, they said no you need to preach 23 sermons. 03:51 In one weekend? 03:53 They said yes you know how things are in China, etc. 03:57 So the young people when they come they want to get as 04:00 much as possible. 04:02 I say well how will they take a break? 04:04 This is how we take a break, after you finish one sermon 04:09 people do not get up and socialize and get a glass of 04:12 water, everyone gets on their knees and have a prayer 04:16 session of their own volition. 04:18 Lord help me to apply this message to my life. 04:21 Then waiting for the next sermon. 04:23 So I want to challenge us to start having more spontaneous 04:27 prayer sessions in the hallway. 04:29 I want to challenge us to start singing while waiting to 04:33 get our breakfast in line. Amen! 04:36 Sometime you don't have to make the door people so afraid, 04:39 this huge mob is rushing and salivating at the doors for 04:43 their breakfast and it could encourage them if we would 04:48 just sing some old songs of Zion. Amen! 04:50 The old songs of Zion are so powerful that there is an 04:53 entire song about the captivity. 04:56 And say hey as we are sitting by the waters of Babylon 04:59 can you sing us one of the old songs of Zion? 05:02 Now granted they were mocking the people of God, but they 05:06 knew something distinct about the music that is designed 05:10 to invite the presence of Jesus. 05:12 So I want to challenge you to spontaneously break out in 05:16 Bible studies, prayer sessions, singing together 05:20 in the hallway. 05:21 One thing I love when I get to go to Africa, you preach 05:24 for an hour, and they are angry you only went one hour. 05:27 Number one, so you can go 2 hours and they won't 05:31 get angry at you. 05:32 Then after you are done preaching, they go out in the 05:35 hall and get together and sing for another hour. 05:37 I'm like Lord, and sometimes all the way back to America I 05:42 am thinking to myself, is the Holy Spirit different here 05:44 then it is over there? 05:47 What is the answer to that? There is no difference. 05:50 The difference is the willingness of the heart. Amen! 05:55 So I want to challenge you to do this. 05:58 Second favor: which is sobering, we have this habit, some 06:05 of us at GYC, we like to start exiting before the meeting 06:09 is over, Amen! 06:12 So I'm taking the license to ask you a favor. 06:16 Before you decide to get up out of your seat, wait for 06:25 the meeting to finish. 06:27 Now why am I saying this? 06:29 I was reading a book "Education" the chapter on faith and 06:32 prayer and she was talking about how we live in a very 06:37 busy world, and as we are living in this busy world, she 06:42 says we have no time to linger at the feet of Jesus. 06:47 We come to hear a message, we are like Lord, I want You to 06:50 speak to me like Mary. 06:51 We have chosen that one good thing, and when we come to 06:55 the feet of Jesus, we are like old breakfast and we rush out. 06:58 Can you imagine if Jesus was here, how many people do you 07:02 think would rush out to breakfast? Zero! 07:08 I believe Jesus is here, as a result of that I want to 07:12 challenge you, don't rush so quickly out of the Master's 07:15 presence, take some time to digest what God's convictions 07:21 have brought to your heart. 07:23 Let it sink into your bones, make a resolution in your 07:26 mind that because of this message I'm going to change how 07:30 I walked to breakfast. 07:31 It's going to change your conversations at your breakfast 07:35 table, Amen! Is this possible GYC? 07:39 It is more than possible, right! 07:41 Because yesterday we have but now experience, did we not? 07:44 Amen! This is a weak Amen! 07:47 Is it because you stayed up late for New Year's Eve? 07:49 No, it shouldn't change your power Amen's! 07:53 Is this possible GYC? Audience: Amen! 07:58 That's a little better, we're getting there. 08:00 The title of our message this morning is 08:03 "the Brave Hearted Gospel, the Brave Hearted Gospel". 08:09 Let's pray: mighty God, everlasting Father, 08:17 we thank You for the gift of life and we know Lord 08:21 that You did not give us life because we were so 08:25 righteous yesterday. 08:27 But because Your mercies are new every morning. 08:31 There has never been an age where it took anything less 08:38 than encourage to further the work of God. 08:42 It took brave-hearted souls and Lord we pray this morning 08:50 that You would give us that Spirit that dwelt in the 08:54 breast of Paul. 08:56 That Spirit that sat in the bosom of Job. 09:00 That Spirit that was in the Lord Jesus Christ that 09:05 challenged Him to not just be loving, 09:07 but to speak the truth. 09:10 Teach us Lord as we study Your word is our prayer 09:14 in Jesus name, Amen! 09:17 Turn in your Bibles to Daniel chapter 3, what chapter? 09:23 Are you there? Okay there is mercy. 09:30 When you get there say Amen! 09:32 If you're not there say, have mercy. 09:35 Daniel chapter 3, Amen! Okay, Daniel chapter 3. 09:45 One of my favorite stories in all the Bible and I will 09:51 tell you why throughout the entire sermon. 09:55 Daniel 3:1, "Nebuchadnezzar, the King, made an image of" 10:01 Gold, whose height was threescore cubits by six cubic. 10:07 "He set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of," 10:11 "Babylon. Then Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather together the" 10:15 "princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges" 10:18 "the treasures, the counselor's, the sheriffs, and all the" 10:22 "rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the" 10:25 "image which Nebuchadnezzar, the King, has set up. " 10:28 "Then the princes and the governors and the captains and" 10:31 "the judges, treasures, counselors, sheriffs, and all" 10:34 "the provinces were gathered together at the dedication of" 10:38 "the image that Nebuchadnezzar, King, had set up. " 10:42 "They stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set" 10:46 "up. Then a Herald called out, to you it is commanded oh" 10:51 " nations and people and languages that what time you" 10:54 "hear the sound of a cornet, flute, harp," 11:00 "sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music," 11:03 "you fall down and worship the golden image that" 11:07 "Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up. And who so falleth" 11:11 "not down and worship it shall the same hour be cast into" 11:16 "the midst of a burning fiery furnace. Therefore at that" 11:23 "time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet," 11:27 "flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of music," 11:30 "all the people, the nations, and the languages," 11:36 "fell down and worshiped the golden image that" 11:41 "Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. " 11:43 Now when you are studying the word of God, there is one 11:46 device that we would like to use to extract the message 11:49 from the Bible and that device is repetition. 11:52 What is it? Repetition! 11:54 So the Bible writers back then, they didn't have Microsoft 11:57 office, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, 12:00 none of these programs so you can bold, italicize, and 12:05 underlined something, right? 12:07 That's what we can do say that this is very important. 12:10 But in order for Bible writer to do that, they didn't have 12:13 those devices, what they used is something called repetition. 12:16 So when you are reading the first seven verses, I want you 12:19 to see how many times this phrase appears in the passage. 12:23 You see in verse 1, and it says he set it up, 12:28 this golden image. 12:30 You go to verse 2, it says right at the end of the verse, 12:33 which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. 12:35 Chapter 3, Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 12:38 Verse 4, Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up. 12:42 Verse 5, I'm sorry, then you come down to verse 7, 12:45 that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. 12:50 Now that's some repetition, yes? 12:52 So you wonder to yourself, why is this phrase constantly 12:55 being repeated, well guess what? 12:57 Did Nebuchadnezzar come up with the concept of an image 13:00 on his own? Yes or no! 13:02 Where did he get that image from? 13:05 From what? Audience: The dream! The dream! 13:09 So follow this, God had given Nebuchadnezzar a dream. 13:13 While He had given Nebuchadnezzar a dream, God said 13:17 through Daniel, interpreting this dream, that there will 13:20 be an image Nebuchadnezzar. 13:23 This is what you saw, and in this image there was a head 13:29 of gold, chest and arms of what? Audience: Silver 13:33 Belly and thighs of? Audience: Bronze 13:36 Legs? Iron! Feet part iron and what? Audience: Clay! 13:40 I'm actually speaking to Adventist, we should all know 13:43 this prophecy by now. Amen! 13:45 So he says okay here is the image, now Nebuchadnezzar 13:49 turns over in chapter 3 and says, oh no, no, no God has 13:53 got it all wrong. 13:54 It's not a head of gold it's an image of gold. 13:58 So here God has revealed something to Nebuchadnezzar. 14:02 Constantly in chapter 2 it says the secret was revealed. 14:07 So here we have through the revelation of God, 14:09 Nebuchadnezzar can see into the future of nations, and God 14:14 says after you shall arise another kingdom. 14:17 Your kingdom will not last for ever Nebuchadnezzar. 14:20 But the God of heaven He will set up His kingdom. 14:24 His kingdom is one that shall not be overcome. 14:27 We find here is Nebuchadnezzar is taking something 14:30 that God revealed clearly to him and he is now perverting 14:34 the revelation of God. 14:36 He is bending what the revelation of God was in order 14:39 to fit it to what he wants to see. 14:41 Now you have to ask yourself the question. 14:44 How do you and I pervert the revelation of God? 14:49 When it is not according to our own desires, when it does 14:54 not fit nice and neatly within our plans for our future. 14:59 All of a sudden we learn about new truth from God. 15:02 We sit down to look at the spirit of prophecy, we are 15:05 studying the Bible, someone preaches a sermon, and God by 15:09 Revelation has opened our eyes to some new truth, to some 15:13 secret that we did not, without His divine aid, 15:16 have access to. 15:18 As a result of that when it is not pleasing to self, when 15:23 it is not conforming to exactly what I want it to say then we 15:27 like to set up an image of gold. 15:30 Because Nebuchadnezzar says I'm going to pervert the 15:32 revelation of God to say what I want it to say. 15:36 It is not a head of gold, it is an image of gold. 15:40 You ask yourself what statement is he making? 15:44 He is defying the revelation of God, and he doesn't take 15:47 it so far that he wants to make this golden image and 15:51 set it up in his office on his trophy table, right? 15:55 Where does he set it up? On the plains of Dura! 15:58 He calls everyone in the realm and says, you know what, 16:02 not only will you and I pervert the revelation of God, 16:05 we are getting our knees and we're like Lord I want to 16:07 know God's will for my life, please tell me what you want 16:10 me to do. We pray and all of a sudden the Holy Spirit says 16:13 I want you to stop studying medicine. 16:16 I'm calling you into the mission field. 16:19 A revelation from God. 16:22 Oh I know what God meant, He wanted me to be a missionary 16:25 Doctor, somebody say amen. 16:29 That's what we do, do we not? Yes or no? 16:33 Oh Lord I'm going to GYC, is it Your will to go to GYC and 16:39 You will provide the funds? 16:41 Then you always save the money never came in so it must 16:43 not have been God's will. 16:45 Even though that God laid on my heart to go. 16:47 We use circumstances to determine, so you have all these 16:51 things to pray for the revelation of God, we perverted 16:55 it but guess what friends, it doesn't just affect you and I. 16:58 When you and I pervert something that God has revealed to 17:02 us clearly we become an agent of temptation for others. 17:06 It is not enough for me to have my own golden image, but to have 17:10 others to bow down to this image. 17:12 You see it is not enough for people to look at the 17:16 revelation of God, about creation but to pervert the 17:19 revelation of God to fit what they want it to say. 17:21 They are not content with just writing it in their own 17:24 personal journals, they want to publish it in articles, 17:27 and books, and propagated into universities. 17:30 I want everyone else to bow down to my golden image, to my 17:34 perversion of the revelation of God. 17:36 The flood was not worldwide. 17:39 Creation did not have to be in six literal, 17:42 continuous 24-hour days. 17:47 As we pervert the revelation of God, then they want all of 17:51 us to come to the feet of their golden image. 17:56 Everyone wants to bow down to this image. 17:58 Friends this is not a new concept. 18:01 Do you remember when Eve ate the fruit? 18:05 Yes! Did she just keep the fruit to herself? 18:08 You know Adam was in perfection, he was very happy serving 18:12 God, he was in the garden, keeping the garden as he ought 18:15 to be keeping the garden, but no Eve she takes the fruit. 18:19 Oh Wow, I've experienced a new sphere of spirituality. 18:22 Tish, Tish, Tish, Tish, and starts running to Adam with 18:26 her arms full of fruit. 18:28 Adam, Adam I ate the fruit. 18:29 Now all of a sudden as she's been confused and deceived by 18:33 the devil, she becomes an agent of temptation for Adam. 18:36 The serpent never came to Adam, he just had to get Eve. 18:40 So you see friends for each and every one of us this 18:44 idea, this aspect of you and I perverting the revelation 18:48 of God does not just affect your life and mine, 18:51 it affects every life around us. 18:53 Everyone under our influence, and we must make sure that 18:57 when God reveals something clearly to you and I, we submit 19:00 everything in our lives that is contrary to the will of 19:07 God, everything otherwise were pulling a Nebuchadnezzar. 19:13 Setting up a golden image and we want other people to bow 19:18 down to our image. 19:21 In fact there was even a punishment attached for not 19:25 conforming, we will cast you into the fiery furnace. 19:30 Well notice what happens in verse 8, the story goes on. 19:36 In verse 8 it says, "wherefore at that time certain" 19:41 "Chaldeans came near and accused the Jews, and" 19:45 "they said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O King live" 19:49 "forever, thou O King has made a decree that every man shall" 19:54 "hear the sound of the cornet, flute, Harp, sackbut," 19:57 "sultry, dulcimer, and all kinds of music shall fall" 20:00 "down and worship the golden image. " 20:02 "And whosoever not fall down and worship it," 20:05 "that he should be cast into the midst" 20:08 "of a burning fiery furnace. " 20:10 "There're certain Jews whom thou hast sent over the" 20:15 "affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach" 20:20 "and Abednego, these men O King have not regarded thee" 20:25 "they served not thy God's, nor worship the golden image" 20:29 "who set up. " Who set it up? Nebuchadnezzar. 20:34 So now follow this, here come these tattletale 20:39 Chaldeans, have you had a younger brother 20:42 or sibling that was a tattletale? 20:43 A lot of times, I'm the oldest of seven, actually one of 20:47 my younger brothers is here at GYC. 20:49 I believe he's going to be crossing the line some time 20:53 during this conference, pray for him. 20:55 probably asleep right now. 21:00 But I remember being the oldest of seven children. 21:02 I did not grow up in the church so I remember we use to 21:06 have all these fights over video games, because back in 21:09 my day video games only had two controllers. 21:12 Seven kids, you know the problem. 21:15 Now Sebastian is the biggest so we come and I picked him 21:20 up by his collar, excuse me and get on the videogame, 21:24 and my little brother would start crying and screaming 21:27 Sebastian is not where it's my turn, it's my turn. 21:30 While he is fighting me over this thing, the fundamental 21:33 issue that began to come down is that all of a sudden my 21:35 younger brother would run over to the side and start 21:38 walking up the stairs saying I'm telling daddy, I'm 21:40 telling daddy, this is what he is doing. 21:42 I'm telling daddy, I'm telling daddy waiting for me to 21:46 drop the controller and say no please don't tell daddy. 21:50 So all of a sudden when he notices that I'm not getting 21:53 scared, do you know what he does? 21:55 He turns around and comes back down and says Saab, please 21:57 let me play the game. 21:59 But a lot of the issue is that tattletaling is coming 22:03 from the jealousy that is there. 22:05 It is because I want something from them. 22:07 These are the men and notice what they said, "whom thou" 22:10 "hast set up over the affairs of Babylon". 22:12 And the Chaldeans being jealous of these men, they make 22:16 sure, oh, oh, oh, Nebuchadnezzar was sitting too far back 22:19 there were too many people they are at the Plains of Dura. 22:23 He could not see three Hebrew boys who were standing while 22:28 everyone else was bowing. 22:30 So the Chaldeans felt it was their duty to their country 22:34 to go to the king and let him know there were certain 22:38 people who don't regard you. 22:40 They don't respect you, they are not conforming to your 22:44 laws, so Nebuchadnezzar obviously could not see them. 22:48 He hears the report and so he says bring them men to me. 22:52 Verse 13, look at that with me. 22:58 "Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to" 23:02 "bring Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Then they brought" 23:05 "these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar spake and" 23:10 "said unto them, is it true, oh Shadrach, Meshach, and" 23:15 "Abednego do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden" 23:19 "image which I have set up? Now if ye be ready. " 23:24 Now if you be ye ready what? If you be ready, "that at" 23:28 "what time you hear the sound he of the cornet, flute," 23:32 "harp, sackbut, sultry, and dulcimer, and all kinds of" 23:36 "music, you fall down and worship the image which I have" 23:41 "made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the" 23:47 "same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and" 23:52 "who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?" 23:58 Now I want you to notice something here. 24:00 As I pause, Nebuchadnezzar brings the men to him and goes 24:04 okay guys I think you might of missed something. 24:07 I hope you guys don't think because I sent you over the 24:11 affairs of the province of Babylon that your exempt. 24:14 Maybe there was a mis-communication, 24:16 you didn't get the memo, so as a result of that, 24:19 guys is this really true? 24:21 Is it really true that you guys don't worship or serve 24:24 my God? You are not bowing down to my image? 24:26 I don't believe it, I trust you too much, you are my best 24:29 in my class at the University of Babylon. 24:31 So while you are the best I brought you in and you are 24:34 overseeing the realm and who better to enforce the 24:37 policies of Babylon then the individuals I set over 24:40 the province of Babylon. 24:41 I can't be having coup d'états in my cabinet. 24:46 So he says, listen guys, maybe you didn't hear, but you 24:49 are going to be cast into a burning, fiery, furnace 24:52 if you do not bow down. 24:57 This is where it gets good, verse 16, "Shadrach, Meshach" 25:03 "and Abednego answered and said to the king. " 25:05 "O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer you in" 25:10 "this matter. " I just want to pause here. 25:13 They said in this response, we are not careful to answer 25:17 thee, now there are 2 principles that immediately emerge. 25:21 He said now if you guys be ready, I'll give you some time 25:24 to deliberate, I'll give you guys sometimes to think about 25:27 this for a second, fiery furnace, bowing to the image. 25:31 Okay guys, I just want to let you know that and I'm going 25:34 back to my throne and let you make your decision. 25:36 Whenever you are ready. 25:38 He goes back to his throne and as Nebuchadnezzar is 25:41 turning, oh King, we are not careful to answer 25:45 you in this matter. 25:46 You see friends before a crises comes there must be certain 25:49 decisions you and I have made in our minds ahead of time. 25:53 We are not waiting for the crises, so when you come down 25:56 and your boss says hey, sister I need you to come in on 25:59 Sabbath, blah, blah, blah, we don't need to walk away 26:02 shaking, like man what do I do. 26:04 I'll call my pastor, my boss wants me to come in on 26:06 Sabbath, I'm going to put something on Facebook 26:08 pray for me. 26:10 No, no, no, we don't need to be careful in answering you. 26:13 Amen! I already know what the answer is. 26:17 Why am I saying that? 26:18 Because some of us are trying to be careful and we have 26:23 this mindset today that we must speak the truth in love. 26:29 I don't disagree with that, but this is where I disagree. 26:34 There is some mindset in our hearts that believes if we 26:39 can speak the truth lovingly enough it will 26:42 become acceptable. 26:44 So we are sitting down trying to deliberate saying how do 26:46 I palliate this thing? 26:48 How do I soften the blow, you know Nebuchadnezzar I'm 26:52 going to get the violinist to play some nice background 26:56 music, oh King Nebuchadnezzar we will not be bowing down 27:02 to your image, thanks, sorry for the, and we dance around 27:06 we say these words in canvassing we call, curse words. 27:10 In canvassing we call them curse words because they are 27:14 not assuming the sale. 27:16 They are like I understand you don't want these books, 27:19 you don't want to buy so we say if perhaps, maybe you 27:22 desire on some other planet and some of the universe, 27:25 somewhere down deep in the depths of your heart you would 27:28 consider buying this book from us. 27:30 It's $10. 27:33 So we say no, no, no there must be some curse words for 27:38 Christians, and as we come back to the point of speaking 27:43 the truth in love, you must speak the truth in love 27:46 friends and there is no one that spoke the truth more 27:49 lovingly then the Lord Jesus Christ. 27:51 Can you say Amen!? Audience Amen! 27:53 As a result of that I want you to sit down and think for 27:55 a minute what Jesus said to people. 27:57 So one of my favorites, John chapter 8, Jesus coming 28:00 to these individuals and they say, hey look you guys are 28:03 trying to kill me, and they say you have a devil you are 28:05 a Samaritan, what do you mean we are trying to kill you? 28:07 He said, you seek to kill Me, a man who has told 28:13 you the truth. 28:15 They say, this brother does not know what He is talking 28:18 about your born of fortification. 28:19 So Jesus turns to them and says, you are of 28:23 your father the devil. 28:26 How do you say that lovingly? You are of your father the 28:31 devil, is that going to soften the blow? 28:38 Yes or no? No, if someone walks up to you at the lunch 28:42 line in GYC and said you are of your father the devil 28:47 or they come up to you like Nicodemus and they say you 28:52 must be born again. 28:55 First words out of our hey Sebastian, what about that 28:57 breakfast, you must be born again. 29:02 So here we have friends, a situation where Jesus gives us 29:05 this example, so do the Hebrew boys that we are not 29:10 careful to answer you in this manner. 29:12 So when we are walking through the hotel, when we're 29:14 walking through the convention center, we're meeting 29:16 people at the front desk, we're meeting people at the 29:18 restaurant we go out to. 29:20 Wherever we find ourselves at this conference and for the 29:23 rest of 2010 and the rest of our lives there are certain 29:27 decisions we have to make ahead of time. 29:29 And that decision is I will always speak the truth. 29:33 I will speak it in love, but love does not mean it is 29:36 going to make the truth more acceptable to people. 29:39 Is this clear? Audience: Amen! 29:41 Is this making sense? Audience: Yep! 29:43 We don't have to be careful, now let's keep going with 29:45 what they are saying. 29:46 So they say this, "we are not careful to answer the in" 29:49 "matter," verse 16. 29:50 Verse 17, "if it be so, our God whom we serve is able to" 29:55 "deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will" 29:59 "deliver us out of thine hand, O King. " 30:05 After we have made up our minds about what we will do, 30:11 and what we will not do. 30:13 In order for you and I to maintain an unashamed attitude, 30:18 an unashamed lifestyle, to truly abide in this theme 30:22 we have to decide ahead of time, I will not be ashamed. 30:27 You have to make it up in your mind ahead of time. 30:29 Okay, I'm down here walking to this restaurant across the 30:32 street from the Louisville convention center and someone 30:36 says what are you guys doing here? 30:37 Many of us wait until the crises, well you know Adventists 30:42 are not popular. 30:43 We are down south in the Bible belt. 30:45 Seventh day Adventist you know they are not the best people to 30:50 just throw the name out there. 30:52 Say you are with the generation for youth with Christ, 30:55 that is a little better, then they don't know 30:57 if you're Adventist or not. 30:58 Oh you guys are a Christian group? 31:00 Yeah were with a Christian group. 31:02 When you go out and say I've decided it my heart ahead of 31:06 time, you see when I first found out they wanted me to 31:10 speak for this theme, I got on my knees and said Lord 31:13 I don't want to just speak intellectual messages. 31:16 I want to actually have a life of unashameness before I 31:20 come to this conference. 31:22 So in all my travels and all my here and there, to and 31:26 fro, I made up my mind, opportunities come 31:28 I will be unashamed. 31:30 So I remember the first thing that happened. 31:32 I went to Canada to speak over there. 31:34 When I got to Canada I'm in customs now, it doesn't make 31:37 any sense, you guys are right across the border. 31:39 But they make you wait two hours for no reason. 31:42 Because we are Canadians, I have nothing against Canadians 31:45 by the way, except for the fact that they make us go 31:48 through border control. 31:50 I walked into the customs line and I hand her my slip. 31:54 She said what are you doing here? 31:55 I said I am preaching. 31:57 She said oh you are preaching, do you have any alcohol? 32:04 I said I'm a preacher. 32:06 I know some preachers that drink? 32:08 No sir, if you know that preacher, he is not 32:10 really a minister. 32:12 This is as a customs line, she starts engaging me at the 32:15 customs line about alcohol and Christianity. 32:18 I'm like, am I in another world or something? 32:23 So I leave from that and get back on the plane and sit 32:26 next to a gentleman who is a chief financial officer for 32:29 a big financial accounting firm. 32:32 A Fortune 300 company, what ever they call it. 32:34 As we are sitting down talking, I bring out one of my 32:37 little books, obviously Christian. 32:39 He said hey, where you going? 32:41 I said I'm heading to Guam. 32:44 What are you going to be doing in Guam? 32:47 Don, Don, Don, I'm going to be preaching. 32:50 Really? What are you going to be talking about? 32:54 We are trying to do something at the University of Guam, 32:57 etc. and etc. and I started going on and on into the 33:00 conversation, by the end of it the guy was talking about 33:03 how he lives in Boston and his single and very lonely. 33:06 He said he was looking for a friend and we start 33:08 talking about cooking. 33:09 I thought hey man I can teach you how to cook? 33:10 Audience: Amen! Sebastian: yeah right! 33:13 That gave me extra motivation. 33:16 So I sit down this guy and start talking and giving him 33:20 the importance as men we need to learn more of the 33:23 practical things of life. 33:25 Amen! ladies? Audience: yeah! 33:26 Some of us even need to learn how to iron our shirts, 33:29 but let me stop. 33:31 I don't want to make the men feel bad. 33:33 Some guys going to shrink down in his seat, I didn't 33:36 iron my shirt this morning. 33:37 Audience: laughing. 33:39 So I left on another plane ride, I'm coming back sitting 33:43 next to a man who is a lawyer. 33:45 A big lawyer and he actually knows the McNeilus's. 33:48 So we were talking and he was like I know the McNeilus's. 33:52 I did a case with X,Y and Z... and Dah, Dah, Dah. 33:55 Their up in Minnesota. I said yeah exactly. 33:58 Their son is actually the president of the organization 34:00 I work with. 34:01 He said oh yeah, I know about them, I had to do some 34:03 research for a case. 34:04 He says so what is this organization? 34:07 Generation of Youth for Christ. 34:09 He says what's going on? 34:11 I said this is what's happening, we are trying to end 34:13 the world, finish the gospel. 34:15 Audience laughing 34:19 The rest of the flight we talked about spiritual things. 34:23 This guy was studying to be a Catholic priest, then he 34:27 left the priesthood to became a lawyer. 34:29 You would never know. 34:34 Last story, my brother just recently came to Boston where 34:38 I live, so I was taking my brother to get his hair cut at 34:41 the barbershop I usually go to. 34:43 While my brothers getting his hair cut I am sitting there, 34:45 they say, Sebastian, they found I travel and speak 34:48 sometimes, they knew I was a Christian. 34:50 So the guy who owns the barbershop looks and says hey, 34:53 Sebastian you are a man of God. 34:55 He says to you know anything about the Illuminati? 34:57 I'm like the Illuminati, oh no not this conspiracy stuff. 35:01 So I say I know a little bit. 35:04 The next thing I know as I'm engaging him on this thing 35:07 he said hey Sebastian it's time for your haircut. 35:09 So I'm sitting in the barber chair and they put on the 35:12 little drape and he starts asking me questions. 35:14 He says, what do you think about this, let me ask you 35:16 this question, we have been having a lot of discussions 35:19 in the barbershop about religion this week. 35:22 It has been getting heated up in here, but I want to ask 35:24 you a question. 35:25 He said is it possible for God and the devil 35:27 to be the same person? 35:29 I'm like what! So I am sitting in the barber chair, 35:33 and while I'm sitting in the barber chair he said is 35:36 that possible? I say it is not possible because God is 35:39 righteous and the devil is wicked, 35:41 they can't be the same person. 35:42 He said well what about the devil's evil and he starts 35:46 harping on the evil side. 35:47 He said than what is evil? 35:49 I said evil is that which ought not to be. 35:52 It goes dead silent in the barbershop. 35:54 He said man you're getting deep on me too fast. 35:57 Audience Laughing 36:00 After that another guy in chimes in and the barber next to 36:02 us start talking about the love of God. 36:05 The fact that God can forgive and the barber said I robbed 36:07 a church one time. 36:09 He was at a local church and they left offering out and he 36:12 stole $950 from the church. 36:15 Everyone in the barbershop started moving away from him. 36:17 Audience laughing 36:22 he said hey man I know about God's forgiveness. 36:25 The guy was cutting my brothers hair and he started 36:28 bringing up the fact that it's all about the love of God. 36:31 This is what God is, the Bible says that God is love. 36:34 Then the guy at the end... the entire barber shop is like 36:37 preaching from the seat while I'm getting my hair cut. 36:40 It's like I'm paying $20 for you to preach to 10 people. 36:44 It works for me and I'm going to come out looking clean. 36:50 We are not careful to answer you in this matter. 36:54 We know that our God is able to deliver us. 36:57 You see friends one of the things that should embolden us 37:02 as young people is to be 100% confident that our God is 37:06 able to deliver us. 37:08 You see one of the problems is we come into the situation 37:10 and like man, I'm in a dilemma. 37:12 You are not in a dilemma. 37:14 If God be for you, who can be against you? 37:17 That is not a dilemma friends, that is an opportunity for 37:20 the miracle of God. Can I get a Amen! 37:24 audience: loud Amen! 37:25 So you're in a situation, man I'm in a bind, praise God. 37:28 Now watch the Lord deliver me from this. 37:31 I'm not careful, I don't need to figure out whether I'm 37:33 coming in on Sabbath or not, it is not an issue. 37:36 It is not an issue, I'm going to give God an opportunity 37:41 to work a miracle for me. 37:43 He is able to deliver us. 37:46 I want to tell you one of my favorite stories about this. 37:51 I heard it at a conference one time. 37:56 This guy was telling me the story of how he told his 37:59 little son, he had taken him to a zoo. 38:01 When he took him to this zoo, he was walking through the 38:05 zoo and saw all the animals. 38:07 The Lions are caged in a big box. 38:09 Then you go to another animal and they are caged in. 38:13 The monkeys are caged in, and apes are caged in and he 38:16 walked up to this elephant in the cage was beneath the 38:20 elephant, it was like coming up here on the elephant. 38:23 And all he had was a pink string on his leg. 38:25 The son was confused, he was like I don't get it. 38:30 He said Daddy how come the elephant doesn't just break 38:34 out of the cage? 38:36 All he has is a pink string on his leg. 38:39 So the dad turns to his son and says son this is what 38:45 happened, when he was a baby elephant they put a chain 38:49 on his leg and he would kick and kick, and he would kick 38:54 to try and break the chain but he couldn't. 38:56 Then he got a little bigger, when he got bigger they put 38:59 a bigger chain on his leg, and he would kick, and he would 39:03 kick and he would kick and try to break the chain, but he 39:06 couldn't, then he got full grown. 39:08 When he got full grown they put a bigger chain on his leg, 39:12 and he would kick, and he would kick and try to break 39:15 the chain but he couldn't. 39:18 So now all the time the elephant doesn't try to kick 39:21 anymore, so all they do is put a pink string on his leg. 39:24 As long as he feels something around his leg he will never 39:28 try to kick because he said to his son, the string is not 39:31 on his leg is on his mind. 39:35 For many of us we are like elephants in pink strings. 39:38 That is why we are ashamed, we have been kicking 39:41 against the grain. 39:43 We have been trying to share the gospel. 39:44 We have been trying to be bold and it seems we cannot 39:48 break free, but because of this we have kicked and kicked 39:51 and kicked like nothing is happening. 39:53 I go knock on doors, I give Bible studies, I get on my 39:56 knees to have my devotions. 39:58 It seems like nothing is happening, I'm not having any 40:01 breakthroughs, but the point is friends that we cannot 40:04 just let this string beyond our legs or on our minds. 40:08 Little pink strings make us timid now. 40:12 Little pink strings keep us from being bold for the Lord. 40:17 I believe friends, that is the Seventh-day Adventist 40:20 church, we have been talking since the 1800s about 40:22 finishing the work. 40:23 We've been talking since 1800s about seeing Jesus come 40:27 in our generation and as a church we have kicked, and 40:30 we've kicked, and we've kicked and couldn't finish the 40:33 work and now we have become a generation of elephants 40:36 and pink strings. 40:38 We don't believe God is able to take the gospel to all 40:40 the world anymore. 40:42 We don't believe that Jesus is able to use us to bring 40:45 a soul to the feet of Jesus. 40:48 Because we been kicking against chains and now the devil 40:51 has is bound with little pink strings. 40:53 They don't allow proselytizing on my campus. 40:59 We don't talk about religion in the workplace. 41:04 Pink strings, when you have as Pastor Asscherick was 41:08 telling us ever so eloquently, you are talking to the 41:12 Roman empire you will be killed on the spot 41:14 if you are Christian. 41:15 Those were chains, and we are in a generation 41:19 of pink strings. 41:21 My challenge is that some of us need to break the pink 41:25 strings on our legs. 41:27 In order to be unashamed we have to forget about the past 41:31 and have a "but now" experience, can you say Amen? 41:34 Audience: Amen! 41:36 Yeah, that was then, there was a chain then "but now". 41:38 You understand that God is able to break the pink strings 41:41 on your mind and mine. 41:43 He is able to break the chains, you just keep kicking. 41:46 He is the One who will bring the freedom. 41:48 You just keep pushing against the generation, you keep 41:51 pushing against the culture, I'm not going to submit to 41:54 post-modernism, I'm not going to submit to modernism, I will 41:58 not submit to evolution, I will not, I will keep kicking. 42:02 You will be afraid to put a pink string on me and then she 42:05 says when the law of God is exalted to its rightful place, 42:09 then we will see a revival of primitive godliness which 42:13 has not been witnessed since Apostolic times. 42:16 Let us become bold again about Jesus. 42:18 Let us become unashamed, do we know what we're asking for? 42:23 She says let us experience that revival, that rekindling 42:26 in the great controversy and you will see flagellation will 42:30 come back, you will see that torture come back. 42:32 You think it's hard to get hired because you don't want to 42:34 work on Sabbath? That is nothing. 42:37 And if you can't keep up with the foot man what are you 42:40 going to do when the Horsemen are running? 42:44 Friends it is time for us to start embracing a brave 42:47 hearted gospel, it's time for us to understand the gospel 42:51 message has never gone forward by the cowardly. 42:55 It was talked about Martin Luther and Desiderius Erasmus. 43:00 Erasmus, he was an intelligent man. 43:04 He was the man who was smart and make you feel good about 43:08 yourself, you know those people that have that kind of 43:12 winning smile, How are you doing today sister? 43:15 Make you feel just beautiful. 43:17 That was Erasmus and Erasmus understood through his 43:21 studies of the Bible, you know what the church is off. 43:25 In a matter of fact they are not just off, but church is 43:29 way off, so he started teaching these things. 43:32 While he teaches these things he meets a young man and 43:35 converts him and his name happens to be Martin Luther. 43:38 So Martin Luther comes into this guy is 43:41 like a thunderbolt. 43:43 I mean you just can't stop this brother, 43:45 you can't get more unashamed. 43:46 So Martin Luther embraces it and starts preaching. 43:49 Okay Martin were going to bring you before the Council. 43:52 They bring Martin Luther before the counsel and while he is 43:55 sitting there before the Counsel they said Martin Luther 43:57 what are you thinking, are you trying to 44:00 defend the church? Are you trying to tear down everything 44:02 that Jesus Christ tried o build. 44:03 I will build my church on this rock, etc. etc. etc. 44:07 After Martin Luther finished he says I will not recant, as a 44:10 matter of fact I have people that will support me. 44:12 They said really, like who? 44:15 Its like Desiderius Erasmus. 44:18 Erasmus says hey, he's extreme, he's extreme and he is 44:23 pushing things a little too far, this is never anything 44:28 I was teaching. 44:30 Luther points at him and says, you're a coward. 44:34 You're a coward and Luther went on to further the 44:38 Reformation, when did you hear about Erasmus? 44:44 It's always been the brave hearted that move the 44:48 work of a God forward. 44:50 Now Martin Luther said, some times I'm too harsh, sometimes 44:53 I'm a little too hard, but friends if we are going to risk 44:56 something in this generation, let's risk being too hard, 44:59 rather than too soft. 45:01 Let's put our neck on the line, not for something that is 45:04 cowardly but for something that is bold. 45:07 Then like the disciples, after you get persecuted you come 45:10 down to your knees, in Acts chapter 4, and say Lord give 45:14 us more boldness. 45:16 After I just got out of jail preaching the gospel, that is 45:19 what the disciples do. 45:21 The brave hearted gospel. 45:23 We are almost done. 45:26 The next verse in verse 18, "then they said to the king" 45:33 "but if not be it known unto thee, O king, that we will" 45:39 "not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which" 45:44 "thou have set up. " 45:45 Now I want to think about this one for a second. 45:55 The Hebrews boys said, our God whom we serve is able to 46:00 deliver us, and when they said that this is what I like 46:05 to call this first level of faith. 46:07 This is when you get to that place where I'm confident in 46:10 the power of God. 46:12 When you can actually sit down from your heart of hearts 46:14 and say I know in whom I have believed. 46:17 So that is the verse 17 kind of Christian, but then you go 46:21 to verse 18 and then they say you know what? 46:23 But "even if" God does not deliver us we will not bow down 46:26 to your image, so therefore what we have are two 46:29 kinds of Christians this morning. 46:30 We got a "what if" Christians and we have "even if" 46:33 Christians, and a lot of us live our lives around 46:36 the "what if's". 46:38 What if they don't understand? 46:41 What if they don't accept the message? 46:43 What if something bad happens? 46:45 What if I go into town to my university and I get banned? 46:48 You know friends when we do campus ministry at Eastern 46:51 Michigan University. 46:53 There was only 5 or 6 of us in the Ministry. 46:55 While we were there in the Ministry, the little work 46:58 that we were doing, they had United Christian Fellowship, 47:02 and they said do not invite Campus Hope, which was our 47:05 Adventist organization, they said they are not going to 47:08 be a part of anything we do. 47:10 Because of this we were banned on campus. 47:14 All the other Christian groups were like yeah you are a 47:16 Campus Hope, there is them and there's us. 47:22 The question is become from that and we were like man 47:25 maybe we should have spoken the truth more lovingly. 47:28 Maybe we were too aggressive about the health message 47:31 and had a veggie taste fest on campus. 47:33 This is what we start saying to ourselves, but is that 47:37 really the issue? 47:39 No friends, sometimes bad things happen to faithful men. 47:43 Sometimes you have to understand that people don't always 47:47 accept the truth no matter how lovingly you tell them. 47:51 But the point is you have to tell them. 47:53 You have to stand for something. 47:56 You have to have some time were some point in your life 47:59 decide I will die for this thing. 48:01 If it means I will loose all these things, but then for the 48:05 grace of God let it come. 48:07 And Jesus fared no better. Jesus fared no better. 48:14 You see friends we are now at a place where many of us 48:17 have become "what if" Christians. 48:19 That is why we are ashamed. 48:21 But God is saying when you look at this time, when this 48:24 situation parallels with what we are going to face in 48:27 setting up of the Mark of the beast. 48:29 Because the situation parallels this, you understand that 48:33 when we are facing the last days and the crises that 48:36 lays before you and lays before me, we do not need a "what 48:39 if" Christian to stand, we need an "even if" Christian. 48:42 I will not bow down, so you go down and say Sebastian 48:45 do you understand you can't work here if you don't come 48:48 in on Sabbath, "even if". 48:50 My question is what happens to that bold Christianity? 48:55 What happened to this kind of faith in God? 48:59 Like the Hebrew boys where they sat down and said "even 49:03 if" God won't do this, "even if" the people misunderstand, 49:06 "even if" the message isn't accepted, "even if" we are not 49:10 going to be popular, "even if" I'm going to go home and my 49:13 mom is not going to follow or understand all the 49:15 convictions that Jesus laid on my heart at GYC. 49:18 "Even if", that is true faith, complete surrender to God. 49:23 Doing what is right because it is right and leaving the 49:28 consequences with God. 49:29 That is what we are trying to say with unashamed. 49:34 "Even if", so you make up in your mind I will not 49:38 transgress the Commandments of God. 49:40 I will not go around trying to bash Christianity or act as 49:43 if it's embarrassing to know Jesus. 49:45 It is not embarrassing to know Jesus. 49:47 It is embarrassing to be a sinner, to be naked and not 49:50 covered with His righteousness, that's embarrassing. 49:54 Because when you stand before the awful eye of God then 49:58 you will understand true embarrassment. 50:02 It is then we will understand. 50:06 You see friends, the concept of an "even if" Christian, 50:10 this is exactly what we need. 50:13 We need GYC, as a movement, to embrace a spirit 50:19 of "even if". 50:21 That when everyone goes home, wherever you are on the 50:24 globe, wherever you are in your neighborhood, small towns 50:28 big towns, big cities or small little Podunk passing through 50:32 streetlight, what ever the case may be. 50:34 Where ever you are you and I must make up our minds when 50:37 we leave this conference. 50:39 First sermon of 2010 I have made up my mind Lord, 50:42 I'm going to be an "even if" Christian. 50:44 I've already decided to follow Jesus, no turning 50:48 back, and once we come to that place friends this is 50:52 exactly what Christianity needs. 50:54 This is what we have been lacking is that kind of courage, 50:57 that Brave hearted gospel. 50:59 I'm going to take a hit for Jesus. 51:01 I'm going to risk being misunderstood because He risked 51:03 being misunderstood for me. 51:06 I'm going to risk being shamed, because He took the shame 51:10 for me and sometimes it has to, it boggles my mind, that 51:14 it doesn't break our hearts and we shrink back from the 51:17 responsibility He gave us as a church. 51:19 There is no backup plan to the three Angels messages. 51:24 There is no backup church to Seventh-day Adventist church. 51:29 This is it, and because this is it I looked down and think 51:34 to myself, Jesus did how much for you and me? 51:37 He gave everything for you. 51:42 Yet we come down the streets of Louisville, on the 51:46 streets wherever we live and start acting like Peter in 51:48 Matthew 26, "I don't know Him". 51:53 When He is the judgment hall being persecuted, I don't 51:57 know Him and every time I read the story it breaks my 52:00 heart because there were many false witnesses right then 52:03 and there in the judgment hall testifying against Jesus, 52:05 but there was one that broke His heart, it was Peter. 52:10 That was the only person that turned the head of Jesus 52:12 when He looked at Peter. 52:14 You don't know Me Peter? 52:17 Depart from me Lord, I'm a sinful man. 52:22 Fear not from henceforth you shall be fishers of men. 52:27 You don't know Me Peter? 52:32 Lord save me, I perish. 52:35 You don't know Me Peter? 52:36 Who do you tell men that I am? 52:39 You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. 52:43 You don't know Me Peter? 52:49 Lord you're not going to go to the cross, I will suffer it 52:55 not to be so. 52:56 You don't know Me Peter? 52:58 Friends think back of all the moments in your life where 53:03 Jesus came through for you. 53:05 Think deep down, when He did and "even if" blessing. 53:09 You know you didn't deserve the goodness of God. 53:13 You know you didn't deserve the grace of God and because 53:16 we didn't deserve it, do we sit down and think in our 53:18 hearts because I didn't deserve it, you know what friends, 53:21 I'm going to come to this God bless me "even if". 53:24 Jesus died on the cross for all humanity, not just the 53:28 ones that would accept Him. 53:30 "Even if" they don't accept I'm still going to die for 53:34 them, even though they will suffer the pains of 53:37 hell for themselves. 53:39 Imagine what is going through their minds and now you 53:44 understand that throughout Christian history this is what 53:49 moved the Gospel forward, it was a brave hearted gospel. 53:55 No more cowards, no more individuals with no backbone, 53:59 no more young people being afraid of being misunderstood. 54:03 I remember reading about Athanasius, one of the early 54:06 church fathers in the 4th century. 54:08 When these heiresses were coming up in the church Athanasius 54:12 was fighting these heresies. 54:14 They came and said Athanasius don't you understand the 54:18 world is against you? 54:20 Athanasius coined this term called, contra mundum, 54:24 and he said if the world is against Athanasius then 54:28 Athanasius is contra mundum, I'm against the world. 54:31 Because I am standing for truth, there is no other 54:35 ground to go to. 54:37 That was a true Christian. 54:39 You read about these individuals I don't know if you guys 54:42 have read the book, A Thousand Shall Fall, have you ever 54:46 read that book before? 54:47 A powerful book I read it in like two days. 54:49 I want to share something with you before you go 54:52 into that story. 54:59 By Eric Ludy, where I get the title of my sermon, 55:02 The Brave Hearted Gospel. 55:04 This is what he says, "like many of you I've grown up" 55:07 "amidst a sterile and weak North American church. " 55:11 "We talk a good talk but when it comes down to living" 55:14 "it out in the real world we are nearly impotent. " 55:18 "We talk about love, joy, peace, victory and blessed" 55:21 "happiness, but few in our ranks actually exhibit these" 55:24 "basic evidences of the Christian faith. " 55:27 "As a group we Christians are soft, mushy and lax. " 55:31 "There seems to be a serious shortage of the majestic," 55:36 "intrepid, daring, just, endurable qualities the church" 55:40 " once possessed. The steel of a man is strangely lacking. " 55:44 "For instance, whatever happened to the idea of sacred" 55:48 "honor? Unvarnished nobility?" 55:51 "And unwavering allegiance to the King?" 55:54 "What happened to the quake in my boots fear of God?" 55:56 "The lay it all on the line commitment to the" 55:58 "cause of Christ?" 55:59 "the if I die if I must attitude toward defending truth" 56:03 "and Scripture?" 56:05 "Where did the radical abandon to seek and save the lost" 56:08 "disappear to?" 56:09 "Where is the once glorious idea of martyrdom or how" 56:12 "about the burning need to stand against evil?" 56:15 "To break the jaws of the wicked, 56:16 "in order to ransom the oppressed, the orphaned," 56:19 "the widowed, and the enslaved?" 56:21 "Where is the holy boldness, the courage, the daring" 56:26 "needed to bear the truth of Christ in this" 56:29 "godforsaken culture. " 56:30 "The brave hearted gospel is gritty living. " 56:34 "The stuff of Martyrs and saints, it's bravado meets" 56:37 "brains, it's hand-like fist meets poet-like heart," 56:41 "it's fore-head of flint meets tender love-inspired soul. " 56:45 "Rather it is historical living ripped straight from" 56:48 "the pages of Scripture and made incarnate in the lives" 56:52 "of the disciples of Jesus in the 21st century. " 56:55 "The brave hearted gospel isn't soft with sin. " 56:57 "It is not hard on sinners, but rather it is the giving" 57:01 up of everything to sin trumped and the sinner rescued. 57:05 "The brave hearted gospel is pure adventure, a life of" 57:08 "nuclear joy and hollowed ecstasy. " 57:10 "It is a hard way to live and yet the most satisfying. " 57:16 Friends today it's time for us to re-embrace the 57:26 Brave-hearted gospel. |
Revised 2014-12-17