Participants: A compilation of different sessions
Series Code: 13GYC
Program Code: 13GYC000007
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00:50 O sacred Head, now wounded,
01:01 With grief and shame weighed down 01:11 Now scornfully surrounded 01:21 With thorns, Thine only crown 01:31 O sacred Head, what glory, 01:38 What bliss till now was Thine! 01:44 Yet, though despised and glory, 01:51 I joy to call Thee mine 02:08 What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered, 02:14 Was all for sinners' gain Mine, 02:22 Mine was the transgression, 02:27 But Thine the deadly pain 02:33 Lo, here I fall, my Savior! 02:39 'Tis I deserve Thy place 02:45 Look on me with Thy favor, 02:53 Vouchsafe to me Thy grace 03:09 What language shall I borrow 03:16 To thank Thee, dearest friend 03:22 For this Thy dying sorrow, 03:29 Thy pity without end? 03:35 O make me Thine forever, 03:42 And should I fainting be 03:48 Lord, let me never, never 03:58 Outlive my love to Thee 04:06 Outlive my love to Thee 04:25 Jesus loves 7 billion people so much 04:28 that He will not come back until this Gospel, 04:30 the kingdom, is preached in all the world 04:32 as a witness to all the nations. 04:34 There are 7,276 unreached people groups. 04:39 That means Jesus is not coming back anytime soon. 04:44 Unless, He has a strategy for quickly, 04:46 rapidly finishing the work. 04:48 In Evangelism, page 570 it says, 04:51 God does have a strategy just like that. 04:54 "We should be able to see 04:55 in the multiplying opportunities 04:57 to reach foreigners in America, 04:59 a divinely appointed means for rapidly extending 05:02 the kingdom-- the third angel's message 05:04 into all the nations of earth. 05:06 God in His providence has brought men 05:09 to our very doors and thrust them, as it were, 05:12 into our arms, that they might learn the truth, 05:14 and be qualified to do a work we could not do 05:17 in getting the light before men of other tongues." 05:20 Look with me at God's plan. 05:23 Twenty of the most unreached people groups 05:25 in the whole world are here 05:27 in America and Canada by the thousands. 05:30 People from-- who speak Guajarati 05:33 and people from Morocco and Iraq 05:35 and Burmese and Thais and many other 05:38 small little groups of people 05:39 have just poured into our country. 05:41 They are coming quickly, they are coming fast 05:43 and Jesus wants you to be a missionary 05:46 right here and right now. 05:48 At our website ReachtheWorldNextDoor.com, 05:51 you can find out who they are and where they are. 05:54 It may be as simple for reaching them as you going 05:57 and having lunch at a new park or finding an ethnic restaurant 06:01 where you can make and meet a friend. 06:03 It could be as challenging and as exciting 06:06 as relocating your job in a part of the country 06:09 where through prayer and fasting saying, 06:11 Lord, I want to be part 06:13 of finishing your work in this world, 06:14 you've discovered a group of Bhutanese people 06:17 or whatever He puts on your heart. 06:20 You can be the one who moves and does that. 06:23 I have a friend right now, Greg who's getting ready 06:26 to move to Detroit because he knows 06:28 there are tens of thousands of Muslims, 06:31 who do not have the assurance of salvation 06:33 through Jesus Christ. 06:34 God's plan has moved 850,000 international students 06:40 from around the world into our universities 06:42 across Canada and America. 06:44 They are the next leaders of the world in politics 06:47 and education and so many ways. 06:50 They will be the people and you can go and care for them. 06:53 The terrible thing is that 75% of them 06:56 will never be in an American's home, 06:58 80% will never go into a church. 07:01 But you can change that by simply volunteering 07:03 at their school, by caring for them, 07:05 reaching out to them. 07:06 You could even tonight, tomorrow night, 07:08 get a group of friends together and say, 07:11 we're gonna move our schools. 07:12 We're not gonna stay here, we're gonna go to 07:15 Purdue University in Indiana and start a ministry 07:19 to the 8,000 international students 07:21 that will change the world 07:22 because you've gone and because you care. 07:25 This is the love of Jesus, this is His plan, 07:27 this is what He is wanting to do. 07:30 But are they open? Do they really care? 07:32 Will they be interested? 07:33 Way more than the typical American. 07:36 You see, of the 70,000 refugees 07:38 that pour into this country every year, 07:40 they come from having seen 07:41 their houses burned to the ground, 07:43 they have watched their family massacred 07:45 before their very eyes 07:47 and now suddenly, they're in a new strange country, 07:50 surrounded by snow, huge shopping malls. 07:53 They need an American friend, somebody who will just say, 07:56 can I help you, can I be beside you? 07:59 You can get involved just by going down 08:01 and volunteering at a refugee processing center 08:04 by maybe teaching them how to drive, 08:08 get in car with them, take them around 08:10 or maybe just buy them some warm clothes 08:12 and a bag of rice to get by. 08:14 These are the special things that God is wanting to do 08:17 to let you be a missionary to reach the world next door. 08:21 What about this problem? 08:23 One in ten Americans says, 08:25 "I don't know how to speak English very well." 08:28 And just couple of years ago, as we were going out with GYC 08:31 for outreach, I had somebody turn and say to me 08:34 as they got back in the bus, "I felt so bad. 08:37 I had nothing to give this person 08:39 who couldn't speak English out the door. 08:40 They were Vietnamese but I didn't know what to do." 08:44 You don't have to worry about that anymore, 08:46 we've created a website called mylanguagemylife.com, 08:50 in which you can go to and you can find 08:52 in many languages Bible studies, pamphlets, 08:55 videos, radio programs and so if you meet somebody, 08:59 you can just point to it and say, 09:00 "Tieng Viet, Vietnamese language, look here." 09:03 And maybe when their son comes home, 09:05 they can help them find and hear 09:07 the gospel in their own language. 09:10 What's so amazing about what God is doing 09:13 in bringing the world to our cities, 09:16 to our neighborhoods is that they're coming from places 09:19 where they would get killed to become a Christian. 09:23 These are the fiery countries, the hottest countries 09:25 where persecution is so strong and yet they're here 09:28 from Eritrea, Mali, the Maldives, 09:31 many of the places we've already talked about. 09:33 For the first time in their lives, 09:35 they have the freedom to choose to follow Jesus Christ 09:39 without getting killed and you can be there 09:41 sharing with them. 09:43 But do you feel confident to do this? 09:45 What would you say to a Buddhist or a Muslim? 09:47 Fine to go be friends and to make relationships, 09:50 but what do you say when it comes right down to it? 09:54 I want to share with you, and slow down 09:57 for just for a moment so that these simple, 09:59 four simple points that come out of the love, 10:01 out of the respect, the kindness of Jesus 10:04 can tuck away in your mind. 10:06 'Cause I found them so effective 10:08 wherever I've traveled and talked with people. 10:11 They're simply: number one, Listen. 10:14 Number two, Affirm Our Similarities. 10:16 Number three, Share about Differences through Stories. 10:19 And four, Invite to a New Experience. 10:22 Number one, Listen. What does it mean to listen? 10:26 You don't need to be a Hindu expert 10:28 to talk to some body from India. 10:30 You can just simply ask good questions like 10:32 "Hey, what do you and your family do as Hindus 10:35 for celebrations in ceremonies? 10:37 And then listen and care. 10:39 As we talk to them, anybody of any world religion 10:42 who can tell that you're generally interested in them, 10:45 will share and you'll be able to connect 10:46 and be able to understand what really matters to that person, 10:50 what their problems are, and then you will be able 10:52 to connect your God, His power, 10:54 His love to what their needs are. 10:57 So listen, learn, care. 11:00 Number two, Affirm Our Similarities. 11:03 Seventh-Day Adventists are uniquely, 11:05 through our Biblical beliefs, we just, 11:08 we have so many close connections 11:10 with the different world religions, 11:12 so that you can share and lead them to know more about God. 11:15 Jews in Israel say to us, "Are you serious? 11:18 This is-- Sabbath keeping thing 11:19 is not an evangelistic trick in Jerusalem? 11:22 You have members who around the world 11:24 are keeping the Sabbath from Friday night 11:27 to Saturday night sunset?" 11:29 I've had Muslims say to me on a plane, "You don't eat pork? 11:33 You don't drink alcohol? 11:35 You're better Muslim than I am." 11:37 And it's not just things like that but in the Quran, 11:39 we have connections about the virgin birth of Jesus 11:43 and the soon coming of Christ, so many connections. 11:46 What about Hindus and Buddhists? 11:48 Do we have anything in common with them? 11:51 Yes, as they focus so often on judgment. 11:54 Do good, receive good, do bad, receive bad, 11:57 this is the law of Karma and though we don't believe 12:00 in that same reincarnation, we also, 12:03 as we share and talk with them, have connection points 12:06 as they are seeking to cleanse their minds, 12:08 their speech, their words, their actions, 12:10 everything to make purity, 12:12 have been able to share with them 12:14 similar concepts that we also teach. 12:16 In fact, I remember talking to a Buddhist monk 12:19 as we were on a train coming down 12:21 from Chiengmai in Thailand. 12:22 We were talking back and forth and finally he looked at me 12:26 and I don't think he thought he had anything in common 12:28 with those western Christians 12:30 that he saw from across the ocean. 12:32 And he said, "I don't get it. 12:34 How is it that Christians just sin, 12:38 sin and keep on sinning and then they believe 12:41 that they will be forgiven and they can escape hell?" 12:44 It seemed immoral to him. 12:46 Well, I was able to share that there is a God 12:48 who searches the mind and the heart, 12:50 who seeks absolute purity. 12:53 But more than that, that there is a gospel that, 12:56 that not only forgives sins but transforms the heart, 12:59 the life and gives incredible power over sin 13:02 and the light went on in his eyes. 13:05 So affirm the similarities, come close to people 13:08 through what we hold in common. 13:10 And yet, there are incredibly important, 13:12 crucial differences that we must share about. 13:15 And in those, things we shouldn't try to debate. 13:17 Everybody gets defensive and we ourselves get scared 13:20 that they'll ask us a tough question 13:22 and so we call on them and we say, 13:24 let me share with you the true, true story. 13:26 Just tell them your story, what God has done for you. 13:29 Tell them the stories of the Bible, 13:31 weave in the different truths 13:32 and those things will answer the questions. 13:34 And then finally, number four, invite them to an experience. 13:38 God is waiting to touch these people through you. 13:40 He's gonna do mighty things 13:42 but simply call them to try something out. 13:45 "Can I pray for you with the problem 13:47 that you just shared with me?" 13:49 People are open to that. 13:50 "Will you meditate on this scripture 13:51 before you go to bed to help you go to sleep, 13:53 since you've been struggling with that?" 13:55 And they will respond. 13:56 Yes, God is wanting to use us 13:58 to reach the world that He has sent here. 14:01 Jesus is eager to come back but He is not wanting 14:03 to go to heaven without any of these special people. 14:06 So what I've shared with you is just a tiny piece of the kit 14:10 we've put together called Reach the World Next Door. 14:13 You can find it online, it's there, 14:15 also at our booth at ASIP Ministries 14:18 and we can talk more about the very simple, 14:20 practical things that God wants to do through you 14:23 to reach the world next door together 14:26 He is going to finish His work and no, it's not gonna be long. 14:30 God be with you. Amen. 14:33 Happy Sabbath, GYC. 14:36 I think I can say that the sun is almost down. 14:39 I want to introduce you to two of my friends 14:40 that are currently working 14:42 in the Literature Ministries Department 14:43 at the Central California Conference. 14:45 This is Ranela, which rhymes with Vanilla 14:48 and A.J., and why don't you tell us, 14:51 Ranela, a little bit about what you do. 14:53 In the Literature Ministries Department 14:55 in Central California, we hire young people 14:59 to go into specific churches to be Bible workers. 15:02 Now over the last few years we started realizing 15:05 that the church members were a little too reliant 15:08 on the church-- on the Bible worker... 15:10 Mercy, mercy. 15:11 ...and the Pastor to do the Evangelism. 15:14 So what we started doing, is instead of hiring 15:16 a typical Bible worker, 15:18 we started hiring what we call Cross Trainers. 15:21 And we hire them to come into the churches 15:23 to basically train the church members 15:27 how to be Bible workers. 15:28 That's their main purpose. 15:30 It's amazing, you know, Ellen White says 15:31 in Ministry of Healing, 149, she says that, 15:34 "Many would be willing to work, 15:36 if they were taught how to begin." 15:38 And so we train them in a super simple way 15:41 how to get Bible studies and it's been amazing to see 15:43 how many of those church members 15:45 are actually starting to get excited 15:47 that they can do something, too. 15:48 We actually have A.J. here that's gonna share 15:50 a short testimony about what happened last year. 15:54 I worked as a Bible worker for two years 15:56 in Central California and my church 15:59 began implementing the principles of cross training 16:02 in the beginning of 2013 16:04 and one of the first church members 16:05 that we trained was Miss Dorothy 16:07 and she is, maybe in her mid 70s, 16:09 a really healthy and active Adventist 16:11 but she had never given a Bible study ever, 16:14 not even once. 16:15 We took her through a series of training courses 16:17 and when the time came, 16:19 I took her to follow up a Bible study lead. 16:21 We met a really interesting Christian woman, 16:23 had a great discussion, but on the way, 16:25 after we were leaving from the visit, 16:27 Bonny, she told me, she said, 16:28 "A.J., this woman knows way more about the Bible than me, 16:30 she is gonna eat me for lunch." 16:32 I said, "Hey, Bonny, you got this. 16:34 You've been going to Sabbath School for over 70 years, 16:36 you know more than her, trust me." 16:38 Bonny continued to follow up with the Bible study 16:40 and now after many months, 16:41 Bonny is giving three or four or more 16:43 Bible studies on a weekly basis, consistently. 16:46 She later told me that she is so ashamed 16:51 that she has lived as a Seventh day Adventist 16:53 for over 70 years and never given a Bible study 16:55 but now she is so thankful 16:56 that her spiritual life has changed 16:58 and she's able to be an evangelist. 16:59 That experience taught me 17:01 that our church members are sleeping evangelists. 17:04 Anybody can be a Bible worker, anybody can give a Bible study, 17:07 they just need to be shown how to begin, it's so simple. 17:10 Amen. Praise God. 17:11 So what you're telling me, A.J. and Renela, 17:13 is that the young people that are here at GYC 17:15 who had never given a Bible study in their entire life 17:18 can give a Bible study. 17:20 Yes, yes. Awesome. 17:21 So what are some ways that the young people here 17:23 can get involved in their own local churches, 17:25 can get training to give Bible studies themselves? 17:29 You know, the first thing I will say, 17:30 and this might sound kind of weird 17:32 being in this group of people, 17:34 but sometimes we hear this phrase which I love 17:36 and it's the phrase of, 17:38 "You know, the work is gonna be finished by an army of youth." 17:41 Which is true. 17:42 We're gonna help finish the work 17:44 but I'd like to submit to you this evening 17:46 that the work isn't just gonna be finished by us. 17:48 It needs to be finished by army of lay people just like us, 17:53 old and young that are being trained. 17:55 So what can you do to actually get trained yourself 17:58 or to start training others? 17:59 First of all I will say, if you have the opportunity, 18:03 go to a Bible college. 18:05 As a young person, while you're young, 18:07 please go to a Bible college and get trained. 18:10 Give a little bit of your time to God in full time training. 18:13 So that wherever you go after that, 18:15 you can be an effective witness. 18:17 I would really encourage you to pray about doing that. 18:20 There's so many opportunities and if you really just can't go 18:24 to a Bible college, I would go, 18:25 this is something you can do next week, 18:27 go find your pastor, find your Bible worker 18:30 and go nag them and say, 18:31 teach me how to give a Bible study, train me. 18:34 There are simple tools that, you know, 18:37 with the cross trainers we don't teach 18:40 to the church members how to come up 18:42 with their own three points and an internal close. 18:44 We take a Bible study guide and we teach them 18:47 how to bring that guide to life. 18:49 Amen. So anyone can do it. 18:50 We have resources, if you want to stop 18:52 by the Globe Booth to find those too. 18:54 But anyone can give a Bible study. 18:56 And I encourage you guys to go find someone 18:59 that knows what to do, 19:00 ask to be trained and then start putting it into practice. 19:03 After a while, you'll find that you can actually go 19:06 to your church members and your friends 19:08 and start training them. 19:09 We need to start working in the business of multiplying 19:11 instead of addition and God can use anyone. 19:14 He can even use you. Amen. 19:15 So how many want to be trained to give a Bible study? 19:18 Yes? Amen. Praise God. 19:19 Let's continue to work together to hasten 19:22 the second coming of Jesus. 19:30 Good evening again. 19:33 You get a little fatigued of saying good evening? 19:35 Good evening. Good evening. 19:37 We have up here Pastor Finley 19:40 and I have just a few questions I'd like to ask him. 19:43 And, Pastor Finley, we'll just start with this, 19:46 I understand you are launching a new blog 19:49 and maybe you can just tell us a little bit about that. 19:51 Well, Justin, the title of our blog is "Into All The World" 19:55 and you can find at intoalltheworld.com. 19:58 Our Into All the World blog 20:01 focuses on all aspects of evangelism 20:04 and Biblical preaching, spirituality. 20:08 So there is a section, for example, 20:09 on Sermon of the Month. 20:11 Each month I will write a sermon 20:13 and pastors, young people 20:15 that want to get ideas from that sermon 20:16 can look at that Sermon of the month. 20:19 There'll be my favorite stories and illustrations. 20:21 You may need a story 20:23 or an illustration for a sermon, it will be there. 20:25 We share evangelistic methods, 20:28 how to conduct varying evangelistic 20:31 different seminars. 20:33 There is a place on different evangelistic advertising 20:37 that we have used, 20:38 why it's worked, why it hasn't worked. 20:40 We have another section on resources for evangelism. 20:45 So everything about evangelism, 20:48 how to do evangelism in an individual city, 20:50 and each week I write another aspect of that blog. 20:55 If I'm traveling in India and have an experience, 20:57 share that. 20:58 So it gives me a personal way to connect 21:01 with thousands of people and gives them an opportunity 21:04 to have cutting edge 21:07 21st century evangelistic resources, 21:09 materials, ideas, concepts at their fingertips. 21:13 So every week, new content that you're coming up with. 21:17 And If I wanted to get that content, how do I sign up? 21:20 You simply go to intoalltheworld.com, 21:25 there will be a sign up page that asks you for your name, 21:28 your address, your email address 21:31 and once you do that, 21:33 you will be able to get into the webpage 21:35 and you also will get these blogs each week. 21:38 All right. 21:39 So we're gonna go and sign up, yes? 21:41 Fresh content weekly. 21:44 Now aside, obviously, from coming to GYC, 21:48 what would be the most exciting thing 21:50 happening in your life? 21:51 Justin, there are so many exciting things 21:55 that I don't have enough time to do them all. 21:57 The Seventh-day Adventist Church General Conference 21:59 has launched something called "Mission to the Cities." 22:02 We have 650 cities targeted around the world, 650. 22:07 What God is doing is amazing, 22:10 we just finished a year long process 22:12 in New York City with Elder Wilson. 22:14 We had over 300 evangelistic meetings, 22:18 4,900 were baptized in New York City. 22:22 Oh, wow. So that's just one thing. 22:24 We are on our way to India 22:26 where we will have a satellite downlink 22:28 for the first time in the history of India, 22:31 50,000 downlinks in India. 22:34 50,000 sites. 22:36 50,000 sites. 22:38 One of the things that to me is really exciting is, 22:41 my wife and I have been praying for the last three years 22:45 about a possibility and we are just negotiating. 22:49 Now we just, in fact, I was talking to the attorneys 22:51 just before walking on stage here. 22:53 We are just settling on a piece of property 22:56 about an hour from Washington D.C. 22:59 that we will use for an evangelistic training school 23:02 that we'll build this year. 23:04 Now, it's different than any other kind of 23:06 evangelistic training school. 23:07 It will have a church but in addition to that, 23:10 each quarter 23:11 we'll run only four days of training a quarter. 23:14 So you might get trained in evangelistic preaching, 23:17 four days on just studying the Bible, 23:19 scripture memorization. 23:20 So only four days a quarter, people can choose 23:23 any one of the classes to come to, 23:25 there is no charge for the class at all. 23:28 We're targeting specifically young pastors 23:32 and young Adventist leaders. 23:34 I want to spend the rest of my life 23:36 pouring my life into young people and young leaders, 23:40 young pastors particularly, 23:42 teach them how to develop a spiritual church. 23:44 They continue their pastoring, they can come 23:47 one quarter a year for four days, 23:50 they can come two quarters for four days, 23:52 they can come three quarters 23:53 or they can come every other year. 23:55 So we are in the process, we have the funds for the land. 23:58 We don't have the funds for the facility 24:00 but as George Muller believed, 24:02 we believe that this is a vision in God's mind. 24:05 There are young pastors that graduate from seminary, 24:08 young Adventist leaders, 24:10 business people that can come for four days, 24:12 so we're really excited about that project. 24:13 Praise the Lord. 24:14 So in case you missed it, four days of training 24:17 from Pastor Finley. 24:18 He didn't say this up here but he said it backstage. 24:20 He is gonna commit to online mentorship 24:24 if you come to the training. 24:25 So you get training for four days 24:26 and then he trains you online for months to come after that. 24:30 Sounds pretty exciting to me. 24:31 I'm really excited about it, we believe it's God's idea. 24:34 Now, I want to ask one more question. 24:35 Possibly a little personal but that's what we do at GYC. 24:39 We have heard your health 24:41 maybe is not always as topnotch as it could be, 24:44 can you just share a little bit about that? 24:46 Well, first, Justin, I want to thank 24:48 each of the young people that have been praying for me, 24:50 some of you know that I did go through 24:52 a health challenge this past year. 24:54 The diagnosis is a lot better that it was 24:56 four-five months ago. 24:58 We thought that I had multiple myeloma, 25:01 that was the first diagnosis 25:03 which is a very serious diagnosis. 25:05 My physicians at the University of Maryland 25:08 backed that off to something called MGUS, 25:10 which is a pre-myeloma. 25:13 I may have that for the rest of my life 25:15 but, you know, I am a vegan vegetarian, 25:17 try to exercise every day, 25:18 I got a wonderful wife that feeds me well. 25:21 So my energy levels are better, 25:24 I just came back from one of our lifestyle institutes 25:27 where any germs you have after those hot and cold treatments, 25:31 it kills them immediately, scares them away. 25:33 I mean, they are gone. 25:34 So, Justin, I'm really feeling well. 25:36 But I do live with a certain uncertainty, 25:39 there are some numbers in my body 25:40 that are not the greatest. 25:41 But I move ahead in faith 25:44 as if I were gonna live 100 years 25:46 because, you know, the Bible says, 25:48 "This day Jesus has given us, the present is the present 25:52 because it's a present from Jesus." 25:54 Yeah, yeah. 25:56 Well, I think, young people, 25:57 it would be appropriate for us to pray for him. 26:00 Now we're gonna ask Israel to come out in just a moment. 26:04 There are times where we as young people 26:07 have the opportunity to recognize 26:10 and thank different church leaders. 26:13 And throughout the course of GYC's leadership, 26:15 we have done that with a few individuals 26:18 and we'd like to do that tonight for Pastor Finley. 26:20 And the reason we'd like to do that for you, Pastor Finley, 26:22 is because we look out at the leadership of our church 26:28 and we look to individuals who subscribe and preach 26:32 and appreciate the culture and mission of GYC. 26:36 And we feel like for the last ten years, 26:38 I think, it was 2004 when you first came to GYC, 26:41 you have been passionate about our mission 26:44 which is essentially an extension of the mission 26:47 of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. 26:49 But more than just subscribing and preaching 26:52 and teaching the ideals of GYC, you are an example of those. 26:57 And that's why we want to recognize you tonight. 26:59 We have a little plaque here, we're gonna give that to you 27:03 and we are absolutely gonna pray for you. 27:05 Because it would be unfair of us 27:07 to let you go out of here 27:08 without a special prayer for your health 27:11 and as more important, your ministry 27:14 that God is gonna be using you. 27:16 So on behalf of myself, 27:18 on behalf of the many, many, many, 27:19 many young people out here, 27:21 we just want to thank you for your service 27:23 and thank you for let God lead you 27:25 in such a powerful, powerful way. 27:27 Thank you so much. Thank you. 27:28 Appreciate this so much, Justin. 27:31 Appreciate you guys so much. 27:34 Well, thank you, GYC. 27:36 For me, the last ten years 27:38 working closely with the young people at GYC 27:40 has been just so spiritually invigorating. 27:44 When I teach my classes here at GYC, 27:48 I am inspired with the depth of spirituality, 27:52 the commitment of young people in the Adventist Church 27:55 and I know that the Adventist Church 27:57 is in great hands with young people 27:59 that have this kind of spiritual vision. 28:01 So thank you very much. 28:03 I want to read-- Before I read this, 28:06 Elder Finley's plaque, I want to ask 28:08 if there's anyone here today that would like to stand up, 28:11 you've been impacted by the ministry of 28:13 Elder Finley in your life, his ministry, his preaching, 28:17 you've given your life to Christ because of it 28:19 or he has inspired you, 28:21 Elder Finley, I want you to get a picture for 28:24 the impact that by the grace of God 28:25 you've had in the Church. 28:29 The plaque says this, it says, "Elder Mark Finley, 28:32 a passionate evangelist, champion of youth, 28:36 and kind friend. 28:38 For your years of service and friendship, 28:40 the young people of GYC thank you. 28:42 January, 2014. 28:44 Orlando, Florida." 28:46 Thank you. 29:00 We before we pray, Elder Finley, 29:02 we want to read a passage for you 29:04 that has been dear to our hearts 29:07 and with that we want to conclude 29:09 our dedication tonight 29:11 and it's taken from Hebrews 6:10, 29:14 we heard you say that 29:16 you want to spend the rest of your life 29:18 impacting lives of young people 29:20 and you can see from the people that stood up 29:22 that you've already done that 29:24 and by the grace of God 29:26 we want that to be a continuation. 29:27 It's a verse that you already know 29:29 and you've probably had it memorized 29:31 but we want to share it with you today in this context. 29:35 Hebrews 6:10 and it says, "For God is not unrighteous 29:40 to forget your work and labor of love, 29:43 which you have shown toward His name, 29:45 in that you have ministered to the saints, 29:48 and even in your retirement do minister." 29:51 We're gonna have a word of prayer for you 29:53 and ask that the Lord will continue to give you health 29:55 and strength in accordance with His will 29:57 and would make these final years of your ministry 30:00 even more powerful than 30:01 they have been up to this point. 30:02 Thank you so much. 30:12 Our Father in heaven, we bow before you today 30:14 as we welcome in the Sabbath. 30:16 We thank You, Lord, for the years of service 30:19 that Pastor Finley has dedicated not just by himself 30:23 but also with his wife to the church. 30:26 Father, we are thankful that in this church 30:28 You have placed people who serve not just as preachers 30:31 but also as examples. 30:33 And we thank You, Lord, 30:34 for the example of Pastor Finley 30:37 being a champion of Your Word during difficult times, 30:41 being a preacher of Your Word during difficult times 30:44 and also through Your Word 30:45 giving hope to thousands of people. 30:48 Father, we thank You that 30:49 there are people in this world today 30:53 who will stretch their hand out 30:55 and touch the lives of young people 30:58 and invest in them. 31:00 We thank You, Lord, for all of our church leaders 31:02 and specifically today for the impact that Pastor Finley 31:06 has had on thousands of young people in Your church. 31:10 Father, we ask that you would place in a very special way 31:13 Your hand upon him 31:15 that as he has given his life now to retirement 31:18 that You would continue to bless him. 31:20 Give him health, Lord. 31:21 Give him the ability to continue his ministry 31:24 in accordance to Your will. 31:26 We ask, Lord, that as he 31:28 continues on a new phase of ministry 31:30 that You would empower him, that You would give him wisdom, 31:33 that You would give him strength and power 31:35 and even greater success than he's already experienced 31:38 as he continues to lead young people 31:40 and train them to be leaders in Your church. 31:44 Father, we ask a special blessing 31:46 also upon his wife and his family that, 31:49 Lord, through their ministry to your church, 31:51 they would also find strength and encouragement. 31:54 Most importantly, Father, 31:56 we ask that You would come soon, 31:57 that You would fulfill Your promise in scripture 31:59 to put an end to sorrow and sin. 32:02 And that by Your grace we would be found faithful 32:04 to enter into those gates. 32:06 We ask for these blessings in Jesus' name 32:08 and for His sake, amen. 32:32 Our Father, 32:35 Which art in heaven 32:42 Hallowed be Hallowed be 32:46 Thy name 32:49 Thy kingdom come 32:51 Thy kingdom come Thy will be done 32:56 Thy will be done 33:00 On earth 33:05 As it is 33:07 In heaven 33:13 Give us this day 33:18 Our daily bread 33:23 And forgive us our debts, 33:30 As we forgive 33:36 Our debtors 33:40 As we forgive 33:47 Our debtors 33:51 And lead us not into temptation 33:56 But deliver us 33:59 From evil 34:05 For Thine is the kingdom 34:11 And the power, 34:14 And the glory 34:18 For ever 34:23 Amen 34:30 Amen 34:35 Amen 34:40 Amen 34:44 Amen 34:47 Amen 34:52 For Thine is the kingdom 34:59 And the power, and the glory 35:06 The kingdom, the power 35:11 The glory Forever 35:16 And ever 35:23 Amen 35:31 Amen 35:39 Amen 35:46 Amen 36:01 Someone is praying 36:06 For you 36:10 Someone is praying 36:15 For you 36:19 And when it seems you're all alone, 36:24 And your heart would break in two 36:28 Remember someone 36:31 Is praying for you, 36:36 For you 36:38 When it seems that you prayed 36:42 'Til your strength is all gone 36:47 And your tears fall like raindrops 36:52 All the day long 36:55 Jesus cares and He knows just 37:00 How much you can bear 37:03 He'll speak your name 37:06 To someone in prayer 37:11 I know, someone is praying 37:17 For you 37:21 Remember someone is 37:26 praying for you 37:30 And when it seems you're all alone 37:34 And your heart would break in two 37:38 Remember someone is praying 37:43 For you, for you 37:48 Have the clouds 'round you 37:50 Gathered in the midst of a storm 37:56 Is your ship tossed and battered 38:00 Are you weary and worn 38:04 Don't lose hope 38:06 Someone's praying for you 38:10 This very day 38:12 And peace be still 38:15 Is already on the way 38:21 You know, someone is praying 38:26 For you 38:30 Remember someone is praying 38:34 For you 38:38 And when it seems you're all alone 38:43 And your heart would break in two 38:47 Remember someone is praying 38:51 For you 38:55 We know that Jesus is praying 39:00 For you 39:04 We know that Jesus is praying 39:08 For you 39:12 And when it seems you're all alone 39:16 And your heart would break in two 39:20 Remember Jesus is praying 39:25 For you, for you 39:34 Remember Jesus is praying 39:41 For you 44:29 I have fixed my mind 44:32 On another time 44:37 On another time 44:43 And here I mean to stand until 44:50 God gives me more light 44:56 And that is today, today 45:03 Today until He comes 45:09 I have fixed my mind 45:13 On anther time 45:17 On another time 45:27 I have set my course 45:30 On the narrow way 45:34 On the narrow way 45:40 For I know the time is close at hand 45:47 For which I watch and pray 45:53 And that is today, today 45:59 Today until He comes 46:05 I have set my course 46:09 On the narrow way 46:12 On the narrow way 46:22 Even so Lord come quickly 46:27 This is my fervent prayer 46:34 For I've seen a glimpse of glory 46:40 And I'm longing to be there 46:50 When shall the Son of Man appear 46:56 The trumpet sound its blast 47:02 And Christ descend in glorious fire 47:08 With all the saints amassed 47:14 We'll rise to walk with those no more 47:20 To meet Him in the air 47:26 When shall the Son of Man appear 47:33 The Son of Man appear 47:39 Even so Lord come quickly 47:46 This is my fervent prayer 47:52 For I've caught a glimpse of glory 47:58 And I'm longing to be there 48:05 For I've caught a glimpse of glory 48:11 And I'm longing 48:15 to be there 48:26 I've fixed my mind 48:30 On another time |
Revised 2014-12-17