Participants: Zippora Ansen
Series Code: 12GYC
Program Code: 12GYC000007
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00:13 Hello and welcome back to GYC family.
00:17 I know that you've been blessed 00:18 by the sessions this morning, weren't you? 00:21 The revolution truly continues. 00:23 It's a privilege for us to gather again 00:26 as we'll be empowered by the speaker 00:29 we're listening to this morning. 00:32 Her name is Zippora Ansen. 00:34 It's my privilege to introduce her because 00:35 I'm from Germany 00:37 and that's a neighbor country of the Netherlands. 00:39 She has served in several ministries before. 00:42 And she will tell us more about that as she will be speaking. 00:45 But before we do so, let's have a word of prayer 00:48 to invite God's spirit to be with us. 00:53 Dear Father, which art in heaven. 00:56 We're thankful that You're not ashamed 00:59 to call us Your children. 01:01 You're not ashamed that we can call 01:04 You our Father and our God. 01:08 You're the most excellent God we can serve. 01:11 You're the only God we would like to serve. 01:14 Father, we thank You that You've gathered us here 01:17 for a purpose to accomplish the mission. 01:22 You gave us the message. 01:23 Father we want to have revolution 01:25 that You started will be continued. 01:28 So that You can come. 01:30 We pray that You'll empower us. 01:32 So that we are able to share 01:33 what You've done in our lives this afternoon for outreach. 01:36 We're blessed that You'll anoint the lips of the speaker, 01:40 so that we'll hear Your voice 01:43 and we'll make a decision for eternity. 01:46 This we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. 01:49 Now we'll have the opportunity to listen 01:53 to heavenly music by the Stateline Youth Choir. 02:24 As the snow falls from heaven 02:28 As it comes in swirling showers 02:32 From the sky 02:35 So is my Word 02:41 As the rains bring the water 02:45 To the earth that is thirsty and dry 02:52 So is my Word 02:58 And the Word of my mouth 03:02 It shall not return empty 03:06 It will bless the earth wherever it is heard 03:14 This is my Word 03:24 As the rain brings renewal 03:28 And the tender buds begin to come alive 03:33 Begin to come alive so is my Word 03:40 Giving seed to the sower 03:44 And the bread to the hungry 'til 03:49 They thrive, So is my Word 03:56 So is my Word 04:01 And the Word of my mouth 04:06 It shall not return empty 04:10 It will bless the earth wherever it is heard 04:18 This is my Word 04:22 This is my Word 04:42 O Lord, when I am weary 04:51 When I fell the days 04:54 I'm living are in vain 05:01 My God, help me be faithful 05:06 To the Word You have given to proclaim 05:12 Proclaim the Word 05:18 And you will go out in joy 05:24 And be led forth in peace 05:28 And the hills will break before you into song 05:36 So be faithful, brave and true 05:41 For I will go before you 05:45 And when your earthly journey here is done 05:53 I'll say well done 05:57 I'll say well done 06:02 I'll say well done 06:07 Well done! 06:36 As the snow falls from heaven 06:41 And the rain comes in showers 06:46 from the sky 06:51 This is my Word, 06:58 my Word 07:08 I'm happy to be here, little bit nervous. 07:12 When GYC asked me to share my testimony, 07:16 I thought two things. 07:18 The first was, have they heard me speak. 07:21 I mean I speak so fast sometimes that my own mother and father 07:24 need translation to understand me. 07:26 I'm not kidding. 07:28 The other thing is, I thought 07:29 to myself-- my life isn't that interesting. 07:32 I mean really can I-have I? 07:34 Do I have something to share to have you listen 07:38 to me for the next 40 minutes? 07:42 And but I said yes, I'll think about it. 07:45 There is always something that I can share 07:47 if you're walking with Christ. 07:48 And the closer GYC came-- actually especially, 07:52 when I was already in the hotel. 07:54 I thought to myself this was such a bad idea. 07:59 There is--I'm okay in, you know, one to one that's fine. 08:03 But there's, there's a lot of you. 08:05 But Luke 22:32 says, "I have prayed for thee, 08:09 that thy faith fail not, and when thou art converted, 08:12 strengthen thy brethren." 08:14 That's Jesus saying you have no excuses, 08:16 when you have an opportunity to share, go right ahead. 08:20 So before I get into my testimony, 08:22 I'd like to pray with you real quick. 08:27 Dear Father in heaven, I thank You 08:30 for the opportunity to be here. 08:34 It's our prayer that in this time 08:37 I'll spend together it wouldn't be me. 08:41 It wouldn't be about my glory but about Your's alone. 08:44 That You're name might be lifted up 08:45 and that we would leave here being 08:49 more comforted of the power of God. 08:52 Thank You for hearing us is our prayer 08:53 in the name of Jesus. Amen. 08:58 Okay, I was born into the Adventist home 09:01 of Jack and Cynthia Anson. 09:03 They're two beautiful people each in their very own way. 09:07 My introduction to Christianity was through them 09:11 telling me and reading me Bible stories. 09:13 And seeing them very active in our church. 09:16 The church I grew up in and still go 09:18 to was one that would have activities together regularly, 09:21 have picnics in the park, he is doing things together. 09:24 My parents and their friends would visit each other 09:28 after Sabbath, sorry after the church service, 09:33 so we would have our Sabbath afternoons together. 09:35 So my idea of Christianity was based on community 09:39 and knowing I was part of the bigger family. 09:44 My parents divorced when I was 6. 09:47 My dad left the home while my two younger sis 09:50 and I stayed with my mom. 09:54 I slowly started noticing that my mom was an Adventist 09:58 in her ways as she had been before. 10:00 It took another 14 years for her to leave the church. 10:03 But it's safe to say that I didn't learned 10:05 ins and outs of Adventism from her. 10:09 She would always make sure as kids would get to church though. 10:11 And the members in our local church always loved that. 10:15 So that church has always been my home. 10:19 My mom encouraged us to read. 10:23 I read all the ten volumes 10:24 of Maxwell children's Bible by the time I was 10, 10:27 you've the blue ten series set. 10:30 And with the knowledge I've gained from the children's Bible 10:32 and later through by adult Bible, normal Bible. 10:35 I concluded that I was a pretty good kid. 10:39 I was working out what Adventism was by looking at the church 10:42 and the way we did things there combined with 10:44 what I've learned by reading. 10:50 It has been my story and may be you can recognize this. 10:53 That when we hear of the power of God's redeeming love. 10:57 It's often from those who come from the outside. 11:00 I mean a nonbeliever turns Christians and God delivers them 11:03 from their sinful habits and we rejoice. 11:06 And that's good. 11:08 However what we don't often hear or such testimonies 11:11 by those who are already inside the church 11:13 and this I think makes it easier 11:16 for us or at least it did for me, 11:18 to believe that if you're already inside, 11:20 you don't have mistakes. 11:23 You're already safe. 11:24 You don't have to be delivered anymore. 11:26 If you guess people in the inside they don't seems 11:28 to have things they need to be delivered from. 11:31 And so it seems to me that if I was obedient 11:34 to my teachers and my parents, if my gracing score are okay. 11:39 If I made sure that I wasn't mean to anyone, 11:41 then I was doing all right. 11:44 I never really got out far into the world, 11:47 at least my body did not. 11:49 My mind is a different story altogether. 11:54 At this time I knew there was a God, 11:56 a Creator of all things who established the rules 11:59 that govern nature and us. 12:00 I knew He wanted me to live right but at the same time 12:03 I stole candy from the store with my cousin 12:06 when I was around 8 years old. 12:08 I joined my friends as they went shoplifting 12:10 when I was probably around 11. 12:12 And I would lie about the reason I was late for school 12:15 often times just so that I could get out of being punished. 12:20 I share that with you to show that I knew what right and wrong 12:23 was but I was little hypocrite believing 12:27 that it was sort of okay to bend the rules 12:29 as long as I did not get caught 12:31 and as long as I wasn't hurting anyone. 12:35 Though I didn't know it back then. 12:38 I had brought into the Greek philosophy version of God. 12:41 You know, where God exists 12:43 but doesn't really have feelings with humanity. 12:46 When you have this kind of mindset, 12:48 when you believe that God is somewhere on the cloud 12:50 and He doesn't really do anything to reach out to you. 12:56 Then you can't depend on Him to do anything for you. 13:02 And when you can't depend on God to do anything for you, 13:04 you're going to have to do it yourself. 13:07 So I lived a life in a way that I could get what I wanted. 13:12 My concept of God was that of a legislator. 13:15 Somewhere on the cloud and not a God who is after my heart. 13:20 God to me was a distant entity. 13:24 I read about Him a lot. 13:25 I could even talk about Him with enthusiasm 13:28 but besides asking Him to bless my food and my sleep, 13:32 I had little to say to Him. 13:36 This started to change when Pastor Steve Farmer from England 13:39 took a group of his young people to the Netherlands 13:42 and held a prayer weekend with us. 13:45 I have no idea what a prayer weekend was and what we do there 13:48 but I knew some of the people who were going, 13:49 so I was excited to go. 13:52 So they came over and we continued out 13:54 to be quite amazing. 13:56 The sessions were led out by the young people 13:58 and they were probably between age 17 and 25. 14:01 And for the first time in my life besides 14:04 just reading the Bible, they were teaching me 14:08 to ask questions, so that I would understand 14:10 what I was reading much more. 14:13 I was studying the Bible and it was so amazing to see 14:19 the deeper meaning of what God was trying to tell me all along. 14:24 What was very astounding to me that the young people 14:27 were teaching me? 14:31 Yeah, it's just-- it was very inspiring 14:33 and it still inspires me today. 14:35 They were my age. 14:37 They were normal young people, I could relate to them. 14:39 For the first time I realized 14:41 you don't have to be an old person or a stuffy person 14:45 to teach someone about Jesus. 14:46 If they could do them, then certainly 14:48 I would be able to do it too. 14:51 We have many prayer sessions that weekend. 14:53 But I remember the one we had the last night most vividly. 14:56 We all got together in a circle. 14:58 We all contributed to the prayer. 15:00 Thank God for all He had done for us. 15:04 We asked Him to heal us, to come near to us. 15:06 And for the first time God's love 15:10 weren't just His rules or His wisdom, 15:12 but His personal love for me was so real to me 15:15 that I felt that I could touch it. 15:18 It was that year that I decided to take my devotional life 15:21 more personally, more seriously. 15:26 The year after about two months before my 17th birthday, 15:29 I officially gave my life to Jesus and was baptized. 15:33 I will tell you here by the way, 15:35 it has nothing to do with my testimony per se. 15:37 I'm about 7 to 10 years older than you think I'm. 15:40 I'm 27. So when you hear me talk about my law degree. 15:46 I'm not a whizz-kid, I took 15:48 a long enough to finish university. 15:51 All right, so I said yes to God 15:53 based on what I understood of Him back then. 15:55 I knew I wanted to live with Him. 15:56 But I wasn't clear what to leave behind. 15:59 I stopped lying and I determined to keep 16:02 the rest of the commandments also. 16:04 But after, after you know not lying anymore 16:08 and trying to be better person. 16:10 I wasn't sure what they still ask forgiveness for. 16:13 I was doing well with keeping the letter of the law, 16:16 but I was really missing the spirit there of. 16:20 I didn't think about being a good student of my time, 16:22 of my energy or my money. 16:24 And being a Christian was more than refraining 16:27 from being mean to others but actively caring about them. 16:31 More than I care about my own interest. 16:34 And I didn't realize that selfishness is shown 16:36 by not loving my neighbor as myself. 16:39 It made me still very much guilty 16:41 of the same set of commandments. 16:45 It shows in the next story I did one year 16:47 of nursing before I went into law. 16:49 And during that year I met a boy. 16:53 We were just friends the first two weeks. 16:57 Then I started liking him. 16:59 And he liked me too. 17:01 But he wasn't Adventist. 17:03 I knew we didn't live according to the same principles. 17:05 So we decided we just stay friends. 17:09 He told me he was agnostic and opened to religion 17:11 and I thought may be with time, he will get to know Jesus 17:14 and then we will get together 17:15 and live happily after ever after. 17:17 He didn't. I still got close to him though 17:20 and it became hard to be just his friend. 17:23 Just friends was still the label we used. 17:26 But then I would find myself holding hands in the library 17:29 while studying with my "just friends." 17:31 It doesn't make sense. 17:34 Let's pause this story for little bit and I'm going to see 17:36 if you're all here and listening. 17:39 If you ask a Christian with or without the life partner. 17:42 Who is your number one? 17:44 Who has your priority? 17:46 What would they say? 17:48 Jesus. Jesus, God, yes, okay. 17:50 Good, you're here. 17:51 All right, if you don't have a God but you do have a partner. 17:54 Whether you're most likely to answer the same question. 17:59 Your partner. Yeah, yeah, 18:02 I think that's true for most people, okay. 18:05 So what do you call something that takes the place of God? 18:10 Right. So if we believe that the first commandment 18:14 is that we love God. 18:15 We will not have other gods before Him. 18:18 And the second is that we will not make idols either. 18:20 Then I was well on my way to break the second commandment 18:23 by making myself his idol. 18:26 And I was helping him break the first by becoming his idol. 18:30 And I knew this but I didn't really take the time to think 18:33 about it much and because I didn't think about it, 18:35 I didn't-- it didn't have to change me. 18:38 It was easy to discard it. 18:41 God was gracious besides my, sorry despite my rebellion 18:45 and His spirit was still pulling on my spirit. 18:47 So one day I'm walking towards my friend's house 18:49 and they seem to listen on my mini disc player. 18:51 And I'm praying like I have been doing all this time 18:55 and I'm asking God, please help me to, 18:58 you know, decide what to do with this. 19:00 It's so hard. And I like him. 19:01 And please Lord, you know, change his heart. 19:05 And the song I'm listening to is saying words like. 19:07 "I try and sometimes I fail." 19:09 And I need you Lord. 19:10 Help me to make better decisions. 19:12 And I'm still walking and praying 19:15 and then all of a sudden it was like I heard Jesus says. 19:19 "Zippora, you can continue to ask me about this. 19:22 But you already know my answer." 19:25 And so we're at home that time. 19:27 I continued to walk. 19:30 We met, we had a short but good conversation 19:34 and we ended our kind of relationship. 19:39 And here comes the sad part. 19:41 When I spoke to him a few months after, 19:42 He told me he was an atheist. 19:44 That was sad to hear because before he had been open 19:47 to religion and now he was not. 19:50 I don't know how much of that was my doing. 19:53 If what I showed him of Christianity 19:55 was just that unappealing. 19:57 But I do know that if I had not been so busy 20:00 trying to please myself and my feelings, 20:02 that I would have more time to show him 20:05 the wonderful love of Christ. 20:08 I know now that my actions and dealings with people, 20:11 not just my words, show what I believe 20:15 about the values I claim to adhere to. 20:17 If my life doesn't show that I believe 20:19 God's principles are true. 20:21 Why would anyone who doesn't know God 20:23 would even want to try them. 20:26 So young people or may be not the just young. 20:29 Be careful in forming attachments. 20:32 Even if you come out okay, 20:34 you don't know what you're doing to the other person. 20:38 Another major event that happened 20:40 that dear concerns my sister Karen. 20:43 She had been sick for a couple of days 20:45 and missed school because of it. 20:48 She'd already been to the doctor. 20:49 They took her blood. 20:51 They established that she had some kind of anemia 20:53 and we were waiting for the rest of results. 20:57 My classes were scheduled to start late that day. 21:00 So I was home with her. 21:03 And I think in that semester I just recently learned 21:06 that if your blood is bad, you need water, 21:10 you need to eat healthy food and you need to move around, 21:14 so that your body can make new fresh healthy blood. 21:18 And my sister was complaining she had a headache. 21:20 And so I knew why because she didn't have enough blood 21:22 and she didn't have enough blood because 21:24 she wasn't drinking enough water, 21:25 she wasn't eating the good food. 21:26 And she wasn't moving, 21:27 she was just sitting on the couch. 21:29 And she kept complaining, she said, Zippora, 21:31 I have such a headache, I have such a headache. 21:32 And I told her drink something, 21:34 do something which she wouldn't do it. 21:36 But she kept complaining and finally I said, 21:38 okay, you know what? 21:39 If you're so sick get some Ibuprofen or something, 21:43 drink it and then get on with your day. 21:46 So she finally reluctantly gets up to do as I told her. 21:52 And not long after she dropped to the floor. 21:55 She was conscious but she said her 21:59 feet could no longer carry her. 22:02 So I'm panicking because this is the part 22:03 they didn't teach me about in my nursing school. 22:08 So I did the only thing I knew to do how and I called my mom, 22:10 because she--her voice just, you know, calms all my fears. 22:14 And she is also a doctor. 22:16 So she-- I called her and she came home. 22:18 And then it was time for me to go to class, 22:21 so I went to class thinking mom is here now, 22:24 everything will be fine. 22:26 But then when I got back home. 22:29 One of my aunties was calling me on the houseline saying, 22:32 "Zippora get your sister Hadassah from school. 22:38 Rush to the hospital. 22:41 Go now as fast as you can." 22:47 And I knew that by the way that she was saying 22:50 that that there was good chance 22:52 that I would not find my sister there alive. 22:56 So I called my sister to come home from school. 23:01 And as I waited for her to come back. 23:03 I switched on my computer checking to my emails. 23:09 I just emailed every church friend 23:11 I knew inside Netherlands, outside Netherlands. 23:14 If I'd spoken them last week or three years ago, 23:18 I emailed them all. 23:20 Everyone who was at the prayer conference 23:21 that three years ago, I emailed them. 23:23 And I begged them please, please beg God 23:27 to save my sister's life. 23:30 So my sister comes home. 23:31 And my aunty, Margaret she meets us 23:35 at the bus stop and when we go to the hospital 23:38 and as we get into the room of my sister. 23:40 Sister is laying, she looks really pale, 23:46 which is very freaky when you consider 23:48 that when she is healthy her complexion 23:51 is much darker than mine. 23:53 She was on to her second bag of blood. 23:55 She needed the blood transfusion to gain strength again. 24:00 And my mom was explaining to us that when she got into 24:04 the hospital that day her hemoglobin score was 2.7. 24:09 In a healthy person it's between 7 and 10. 24:13 It's funny I can hear that there is lot 24:15 of medical people in the room. 24:18 In a healthy person it's between 7 and 10. 24:20 And when it drops under 5 it's quite serious. 24:23 But 2.7 is more than dangerous. 24:25 And that she was alive was a miracle in itself. 24:32 We prayed, God saw it fit to save my sister. 24:37 My sister is still here today and God is good. 24:43 This experience what they showed me is that there is nothing 24:48 that I can trust God with. 24:50 I was growing in my relationship with Him 24:52 and that was a good thing. 24:55 But my Christian experience only really started 24:57 to get more interesting when I started 25:00 to actively share Christ. 25:03 Probably since my baptism my urge to share Jesus 25:06 had been intensifying. 25:08 My friends knew I was an Adventist. 25:12 I was trying to walk the Christian walk. 25:14 But I wasn't trained or even used to explain 25:16 the reasons for my faith. 25:19 Yeah, I was reading my Bible, so I'm encouraging people 25:21 who already knew that Bible was true, was fairly easy. 25:24 But otherwise the best I could do was debate Sunday worship 25:29 on the Sunday worshippers on the Sabbath. 25:31 And truthfully they never got me anywhere. 25:36 I remember talking to one of my good friends Andrius on Skype. 25:41 And he was telling me that he was 25:42 doing little bit experiments. 25:44 It's the simple one. 25:45 He would not watch TV for a week. 25:49 And then he would see what effects would be on him. 25:53 He is like a brother it to me. 25:54 And at the time he was one of my few spiritual friends. 25:57 So anything he did or thought was worth considering. 26:03 So I thought about it and I thought, 26:04 well, may be I should try TV this week myself. 26:08 So I did. I should tell you. 26:11 I have been TV junky. 26:14 Honestly, I don't know how I got it through high school, 26:16 because I would come home from school around 4 PM. 26:19 So watching my soap series 26:22 which we came kind of difficult when they changed 26:24 that schedule up, because my reference 26:28 would be on the one channel, 26:29 then the other would be on the other channel, 26:31 but when they are at the same time, 26:32 I would actually go between the two, 26:33 so I could keep over both. 26:35 It was very complicated. 26:37 So then after the series I would have may be hour and half 26:41 where I wouldn't anything to do because you know 26:43 you can only watch so much interesting 26:47 things or interesting to me. 26:49 So I would have a break of hour and half. 26:53 And then I would come right back watching other soap series 26:56 and two drama series and go to bed around 10 PM. 27:01 And then on top of that my sisters 27:03 and I would usually-- yeah quite often 27:08 we would rent movies, then we would have movie marathons. 27:11 We watched the movies over and over and over again. 27:14 So not watching TV that week was an eye-opener. 27:17 I had so much time on my hands, 27:18 I didn't know what to do with myself. 27:20 I noticed that I actually quite enjoyed not having to deal 27:23 with all of the information. 27:25 So I cut it all out for a good while. 27:29 I came to the conclusion that I could no longer 27:32 enjoy the type of entertainment that celebrates or promotes 27:38 or endorses just about everything that Jesus 27:40 likes to save us from. 27:44 When I stopped allowing the TV and Hollywood 27:45 to dictate the majority of my thoughts, 27:48 I started going closer to my Savior. 27:51 I changed the sources that could have input 27:53 on my thinking process and it was very liberating. 27:57 Focusing in my prayer became easier. 28:00 I mean I just remember trying to pray and scenes of movies 28:04 just coming into my head and it's just hard to focus. 28:09 I was learning more during my devotional times. 28:12 I was less needy for relationship. 28:14 You know, when you watch Hollywood love stories 28:16 all the time and you're the living on yourself, 28:18 you kind to start wondering what's wrong with you. 28:20 Oh, really, may be just me. 28:24 But I learned to be content with my singleness. 28:26 I was becoming more interested in spiritual things 28:29 and I was hungry for learning more. 28:34 Discovering audio verse at work was a blessing. 28:39 I would listen to sermons while cleaning my room, 28:41 cooking, going to university and coming back from university, 28:44 going shopping all the time. 28:47 I was then hungry for practical Bible based messages. 28:51 Through audio verse I became more aware 28:54 of the need for evangelism. 28:57 Then a powerful spirit filled sermon 29:00 was preached at a camp meeting 29:02 I attended in 2007, and it took me over. 29:07 I knew God was moving me to go and get mission training. 29:10 At that time I was is in the middle 29:12 of my bachelor's degree in law. 29:15 And I wanted to reach more people in my university classes. 29:18 I wanted to have an answer when they ask me things. 29:20 I wanted to have a bigger impact. 29:23 However, taking out a year back then 29:27 would have been bit messy. 29:28 So I decided to go the year after which would allow me, 29:32 you know, time to save up. 29:36 God totally paved the way for me. 29:38 Because one of the challenges I had, 29:40 I said I needed about 5,000 euros but I only had 2, 29:44 which means I was missing 3. 29:47 That translates to $6,500 29:53 the 5,000 euros did. 29:56 You know, that's a lot of money 29:58 but I was determined in my heart, 29:59 I wouldn't stress about it. 30:02 If God wanted me to go, then He would 30:04 have to make it happen. 30:08 So I send him my application February times. 30:12 May came so that's about a month before ARISE 30:15 will start asking you, you know, 30:18 it's time for you to pay your fees. 30:21 And I still didn't have the 3,000 euros I was missing. 30:25 But then in May we were at this--it was like 30:31 a planning meeting for the conference 30:32 we would have may be 2 to 3 weeks later. 30:36 And this young woman who was engaged to one of the guys 30:41 in the team and she is driving us home. 30:43 She is driving and she is looking 30:46 at me in a rearview mirror. 30:48 And she goes, "Hey Zippora, do you, 30:49 I hear you want to go ARISE." 30:51 And I said, "Yes, that's correct." 30:52 So do you have the money for that"? 30:55 Like why would you ask that, I was like no. 30:59 Said, okay, well I think I know 31:02 some people who can help you out. 31:03 And I'm like ah. 31:06 Well, she wasn't kidding. 31:08 Two weeks later those people found me. 31:11 I didn't go look for them. 31:13 I was at the conference. 31:14 They came to look for me. 31:17 They introduced themselves. 31:18 And they ended up sponsoring me the remaining 3,000 euros. 31:23 Amen. God showed me that money is not an issue for Him. 31:27 He has plenty of it. 31:31 And I praise God for people who give 31:32 their money to further the gospel. 31:35 So I flew over to Michigan in September 2008. 31:41 When I got to this school, I was almost immediately 31:44 set straight on what I was coming to learn. 31:47 I had kind of had this idea that they would 31:49 put some buttons on me and I would turn into 31:51 super evangelizer you know. 31:55 Yeah, they didn't do that. 31:58 Instead they showed me the importance 32:01 of my personal relationship with God that there is no need 32:05 for me to turn to a female black David Asscherick or whatever. 32:11 God wants me for me. Amen. 32:13 And that I can be most useful to Him when I'm me. 32:19 Seeing those guys, my teachers, 32:21 my parents got more David Asscherick, 32:23 in real life was good for me. 32:25 It showed me that there were normal people too. 32:28 And we'll make some grades and will bring some success, 32:31 is their relationship with Christ. 32:32 And the choices they make because of it. 32:35 My time at ARISE was splendid. 32:38 Having been brought up in the church, 32:41 I knew we have 28 fundamentals. 32:45 But it was only when it teaches they put it out 32:47 to me that all our doctrines are centered around Christ. 32:49 It's that I realized and indeed our fundamentals 32:52 are more than a creed. 32:53 You know sometimes we just hear about 32:54 28 fundamentals people refer to them, 32:57 but they are not often explained. 33:01 I started to understand there is much more that separates 33:04 us from Sunday worshipping Christian 33:06 than just a Sabbath or a State of the Dead. 33:08 That as a church we have more unique views on the world 33:11 that will become more evident towards the end of time, 33:13 but are important to have a correct understanding of now. 33:18 ARISE helped me to one to become more inquisitive, 33:21 to do more research more thinking and as a result of it, 33:25 I became more balanced, more genuinely 33:28 excited Seventh-day Adventist. 33:31 And doing evangelism really makes 33:33 more sense when you yourself have 33:34 an intimate relationship with Christ. 33:37 Understanding that to Christ all souls are of infinite value. 33:43 And then things like door knocking, 33:45 something I absolutely dreaded are less of a challenge 33:49 when you know that you can explain why you're at that door. 33:55 At ARISE we had outreach probably 3 or 4 times a week. 33:59 And so when I came home in the Netherlands, 34:02 I kind of missed it. 34:03 So I went door knocking with my cousin 34:04 a few times but then exam time came. 34:07 And I decided you know what, 34:08 I don't really have time to go out. 34:09 Lord, I don't like--it's just going to take too much time so. 34:13 Everyone who comes to my door I will witness of you. 34:18 I never had a busier 2 weeks. 34:23 My phone died twice, had to be picked up twice, 34:26 I brought it back twice. 34:27 Then our central heating needed service, 34:30 so someone came to do that. 34:31 And there is a guy that would sell windows, 34:33 some kid that sold me cards, some charity 34:35 that came to collect money. 34:36 Really, people just kept coming. 34:39 And even though sometimes I struggle to bring up 34:41 the subject of God with them. 34:43 When I had finally find the courage to do so. 34:46 I had meaningful conversations with each and every one of them. 34:50 I'm such a complete with sometimes. 34:52 I will be afraid to bring up Christ 34:54 when I know it's a perfect time to do so. 34:57 Sometimes I win the battle with myself and sometimes I lose. 35:01 But whenever I have won, 35:03 I mostly have positive experiences. 35:07 Like I was trying shoes when I was in Australia 35:09 last year--because I want a new church shoes. 35:12 And the store clerk, she comes to me and says, 35:14 okay, so what you use them for. 35:15 And I think if I tell her church, she is going to ask me. 35:19 Oh, you go to church and you know, 35:20 so we're going to have this long conversation. 35:21 People are listening, it's going to be awkward. 35:24 And this is--oh, I'm thinking this in two seconds, right. 35:26 And she's still looking to me, so what they are for. 35:28 And I like "Oh, for church." 35:32 As soon as we started talking all my inhibitions disappeared. 35:35 We had a really good conversation. 35:37 Turns out that she is interested in knowing more about God. 35:41 And she was really happy with the Steps to Christ 35:44 I later delivered to her. 35:50 Another experience I had recently was on Sabbath morning. 35:53 There was a lady standing outside of church doors. 35:56 I was standing at churchyard actually. 35:58 And she was staring at the church doors. 36:00 And I'm usually not on that side of the church 36:03 but at this particular day I was and I saw her staring. 36:07 And I thought to myself, well, why would she be doing that. 36:10 So I went outside and asked her if she wanted to come in. 36:14 She said she did. 36:15 And I later found that she walked pass the church 36:18 often times but she had been afraid of coming in. 36:22 She needed someone to pull her in. 36:29 Today she comes to Sabbath school and divine hour. 36:32 She helps out at church events and she is one of our more 36:35 faithful members at the prayer meeting. 36:40 At first she just sat in church, 36:42 you know, just listening, but now 36:43 she is asking questions reading her Bibles. 36:45 It's really, really encouraging to see her. 36:50 Evangelism is not just something you do at conferences 36:53 or once in a while at church. 36:56 It's part of who we are as followers of Christ. 37:00 Within Youth For All which is the youth ministry 37:02 I represent in the Netherlands. 37:03 We call it evangeliving. 37:05 You know evangelism and living because it's a lifestyle. 37:09 And God will use us as we make ourselves available to Him. 37:13 Don't wait for all your fears to disappear, 37:16 because for the record I hate rejection 37:18 just as much as a next person. 37:20 And talking to someone and risking 37:22 that they might think I'm a mad person, 37:24 it's not something I enjoy either. 37:27 But the more I walk with Christ, 37:30 I see the need for evangelism. 37:35 And once in a while He allows me to see 37:38 the fruit of my labor that I get through Him 37:43 and it brings joy to my hearts. 37:46 When the life is changed, the person freed from 37:48 the snares of life, my world gets a bit privative. 37:52 On top of that evangelism has made me a more pleasant person. 37:56 Remember the verse I read to you in beginning. 38:00 "I prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not, 38:02 and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." 38:06 Well, that's a direct command 38:10 from our commander-in-chief. 38:15 You have to be live like Christian. 38:17 To do something, to strengthen the church is your task. 38:22 Because when I start doing evangelism I'm doing something. 38:26 When I start doing something, I stop doing nothing. 38:29 And it's when I started to step out 38:30 in faith trusting that God would be with me as I tried 38:33 my best to do as He asked, that I could see 38:35 His power at work, 38:37 which increased my faith in Him. 38:45 Listen to this quote. 38:46 If you had the week of prayer with your church, 38:49 then you've probably already heard this. 38:51 But I tell you again. 38:53 "Nothing to do" is the reason of trial among the brethren, 38:57 for Satan will fill the minds of idlers with his own plans, 39:00 and set them to work. 39:01 Your unemployed heart and mind afford him a plat 39:04 to sow the seeds of doubt and skepticism. 39:07 Those who have nothing to do, find time for gossiping, 39:10 tale-bearing, backbiting, and mischief-making. 39:15 "Nothing to do" brings evil testimony against the brethren, 39:17 and dissension into the church of Christ. 39:19 Jesus says, "He that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad." 39:23 So doing evangelism prevents you from falling 39:27 into the devil's traps. 39:29 Doing evangelism will make you 39:31 not have time to engage in nonsense. 39:33 It will prevent you from becoming the devil slave again. 39:36 And we just heard Jesus say, 39:37 "By the way if you're helping me gather. 39:39 You're effectively working against me." 39:44 I need to come to close. 39:47 I'd like to show something that illustrates 39:49 my experience and may be you'll recognize it too. 39:52 Come with me to Exodus 1. 40:03 Are you there? 40:12 In Exodus 1 we see in New King. 40:15 "One that not known Joseph and this king fears 40:19 that the Hebrews will become a serious threat to him. 40:22 So he decided to oppress and enslave them." 40:26 In verse nine it says, "And he said unto his people--" 40:30 so this is pharaoh speaking. 40:31 "Behold, the people of the children of Israel 40:33 are more and mightier than we, come on, 40:36 let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, 40:39 and it come to pass, that, when there falls out any war, 40:42 they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us." 40:47 So the question that comes to my mind is. 40:52 How do you enslave a people that is mightier and more 40:57 in numbers than you are? 41:00 Anyone ever thought about that? 41:03 Like they're more, they're mightier 41:07 and not only that, these are the people of the Most High God. 41:11 How do you make them bow down to your commands? 41:16 Could it be that may be the new king wasn't the only one 41:18 who didn't know Joseph or God? 41:22 That is Israelites born into the faith 41:23 were may be aware of their history, 41:26 aware of God's promises for the future 41:27 and aware of the doctrines or at least some of them 41:30 but failed to connect them 41:31 to the living God of heaven and earth. 41:34 So that the idea of a personal God who was interested 41:37 in their well being was just too far from their mind. 41:41 Could it be that they were merely going through 41:44 emotions and had empty religion. 41:48 So that when the will told them 41:49 they would have to be slaves to it, they believed it. 41:53 Instead of putting up the fight they would have won. 41:58 Could it be? 42:01 I was born in this church 42:02 that means that I grew up in the so much safe environment, 42:07 where was a wealth of knowledge. 42:10 But just having that doesn't secure my salvation. 42:14 For long time God was impressing on to me. 42:17 And tough intellectually I knew that He loved me, 42:19 I didn't experience that. 42:21 And so His love wasn't moving me to live 42:23 a life according to His plans. 42:26 But when I finally had my all experience with Him 42:28 which was greatly enhanced because a group of young people 42:31 decided to invest time in me. 42:34 I understood that He is real and He cares. 42:37 And if He has much to say to me if only I will listen. 42:42 When I entered into that relationship with Him, 42:44 I finally started to allow Him to burn away the ropes 42:47 that bind me to this earth. 42:50 And its freedom moves me to want to shares 42:52 it with others so they can be free also. 42:55 Like the Israelites in Egypt, 42:57 I allow myself to be enslaved by worldly ideas like 43:01 the Greek philosophy version of god that won't intervene. 43:05 And I didn't even realize that until God freed me from it. 43:09 And I know that God doesn't just care about me. 43:12 It's not that He is just on the cloud somewhere. 43:16 He cares for me so much that He--from where He was, 43:19 He came down to this earth and became like me to save me. 43:25 God send people on my way to reckon to His word. 43:27 And they could not make me believe in His word 43:30 but as soon as I started studying it, I found him. 43:36 Because once you start looking for God, you'll find Him. 43:41 He says, I'm not far from each and every one of you in Acts 17. 43:46 And he says, "If you abide in my word, 43:48 you are truly my disciples, 43:49 and the truth will set you free." 43:52 So concluding now. 43:55 If you're born into this church whether by birth or baptism 43:58 or both and recognize that you've allowed 44:03 His will to enslave you again. 44:05 And you're left with the world view of God, 44:09 so that you're giving in where you 44:10 should be putting up a fight. 44:13 But you're tried of that and you want a life with Him, 44:16 a life lived in His service. 44:19 Then determining your heart to make 44:21 your relationship with Christ your priority. 44:24 It will not enclose conflict with him. 44:27 We can't really be sure who we're taken orders from. 44:31 Please don't allow the world to tell you 44:32 who you are, what they think. 44:36 When the people of God know who they are and consequently 44:39 live out their purpose, they are indeed aligned into the world. 44:43 But when they don't know who they are, 44:45 they'll slowly but surely be enslaved by the world, 44:49 by its ideas and its pleasures and their light is dimmed. 44:52 And that would be account to revolution. 44:56 We want to let our light shine, right. 45:01 If it's your desire to make Christ your priority, 45:03 then decide to have a living relationship with Him 45:06 when you'll look for Him daily. 45:09 And when you're making honest efforts to figure out 45:11 what Seventh-day Adventist believes and why. 45:14 Is that our collective desire? No. Is it? 45:18 Amen. Okay, I guess because 45:21 you're all stuffing, this is a very general appeal. 45:23 I'm pretty sure we can pretty much all say yes to that. 45:27 A bit more specific now. 45:31 We need to be helping each other out. 45:34 You look at Acts 2 and we see a church 45:38 that's sharing everything together. 45:39 They put their personal time money energy into each other. 45:43 They're investing in each other. 45:45 And if you want to have an Acts like revolution, 45:48 we need to start investing in each other, 45:50 strengthening each other as we go out into the world 45:54 and change it for ever. 45:56 Too often when we go to church, 45:58 we talk about the whole lot of things but we forget to ask 46:01 or to inquire or to find out how people are doing spiritually. 46:06 So I guess my next appeal is this. 46:09 If you understand the importance of strengthening the brethren. 46:12 If you're ever going to have an Acts like revolution, 46:16 get your pen, paper or your phone, 46:18 your tablet whatever you want to write this down on. 46:22 And write down a name or two of people you'll be sharing 46:25 your devotional experiences with. 46:28 Think of ways that you can strengthen your fellow 46:31 brothers and sisters with. 46:33 If you're in a small group here at GYC that make your part 46:38 that you'll do your best to stay in contact even after GYC. 46:41 So you can continue to strengthen each other. 46:47 Those of you who are not in a small group, 46:48 you think of someone that you can assist 46:50 as we strengthen by sharing your faith with. 46:55 I have been reading the in prayer revival 47:00 and reformation devotion everyday. 47:02 And I enjoy them. 47:04 I send them to my cousin and my friend everyday, 47:10 well not now because my phone won't connect to the internet. 47:12 But usually I send them everyday and then 47:14 and when they learn something they turn it back to me 47:16 and then we can talk about and we're strengthened by it. 47:19 Those are easy ways 47:20 to share and strengthen. 47:28 With the power of God you can choose 47:31 to be who he is calling you to be. 47:34 There is no reason for you to fail. 47:37 There is no reason for us to settle for a small God, 47:40 when He wants to reveal so much more of Himself. 47:46 I have learned in my life that when I'm serious about God. 47:51 Then I see how serious He is about me. 47:58 Following Christ is a serious thing. 48:03 And once we start doing it seriously. 48:11 We see much opportunities to go and share 48:14 and do things that matter for eternity. 48:18 That's what motivates me now. 48:20 And I pray that that's what will motivate you too. 48:24 Did you write down your names yet? 48:27 That you've already write down 48:28 who you're going to be strengthening and calling. 48:31 If you did you can stand up and we'll have our prayer. 48:52 Dear Father in heaven. 48:55 We thank You for who You are to us. 48:58 A God who cares about who we are. 49:01 A God who is interested to see how we are doing. 49:06 Who is willing and able to strengthen us to care for us. 49:12 Father, we recognize that You're the only one's God. 49:16 And that we need You to survive. 49:20 We need You to have this revolution 49:22 that we have been talking about. 49:24 We need you to remind us that every morning 49:27 needs time with You. 49:29 And we need to get to know you in a more intimate level. 49:33 That we need you to go out to our friends 49:35 and share and encourage them. 49:38 That we need You for anything 49:40 that we wish to accomplish in this life. 49:43 So Father as we're going to the next part of the program. 49:47 We pray that You would help us remember those names 49:49 that we wrote down just now. 49:51 Help us to indeed 49:56 try Your best to encourage them 50:00 like You've been encouraging us, 50:01 like You've been sending people to encourage us. 50:05 We thank You for Your patience, for Your love, 50:08 for Your never ending mercy. 50:13 All of this we pray now because 50:14 You deserve it but in Jesus' name, amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17