Participants: C. A. Murray
Series Code: 13SCM
Program Code: 13SCM000011
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00:31 Good morning.
00:32 You know, you are... When you say good morning 00:34 and I see a group of well-heeled good looking Adventists 00:38 you automatically want to say: 00:39 "Good morning and happy Sabbath. " 00:41 It is not Sabbath yet but we're on the way, praise the Lord. 00:44 Sabbath is coming; it is Friday morning when last I checked. 00:48 And it's good to see you here. 00:50 I trust everyone had a good night's rest 00:52 and that you slept well and that you're ready for today. 00:55 We're going to rap your knuckles just a little bit this morning 00:57 but it will be soft. 00:59 I have a number of things to talk about 01:01 that are close to my heart. 01:04 And before we go into prayer and a song 01:07 a couple things I do want to mention. 01:08 This particular message is called The Word and The World 01:12 and it comes from a burden that I've had throughout my ministry 01:15 for our church to get out of the pews 01:21 and into the streets where the people are. 01:24 If there is one challenge that we have - I will not say 01:27 problem but challenge - it is that we are very comfortable 01:31 dealing with, talking to, socializing with, 01:34 spending time with fellow Adventists. 01:36 And of course, that is... it's safe. 01:39 It feels good. 01:41 And yet Christ has given us a command to go. 01:46 And as Danny often says: "The blessing is on the go. " 01:50 So we do need to go. 01:53 It is frightening for us but it is a call of God. 01:59 And what we're going to show today among other things 02:01 that when God calls 02:02 He gives you the equipment to go and execute that call. 02:07 Something I want you to pray for 02:09 because I have done a hybrid of this sermon before 02:13 on roller skates... I eschew the roller skates today. 02:18 Getting a little older and we don't get up on skates 02:20 quite as often as we used to. 02:22 So we're not doing it in on roller skates. 02:24 Also have done it at the North American Division 02:27 for their Communication Seminar, but I found out just 02:31 this week that about 2 years ago 02:35 I preached a sermon and there was a lady listening 02:38 to that message. And she was intrigued 02:42 by - among all things - my laugh. 02:45 She said: "I heard... I was flipping the dial on the radio 02:48 and I heard this hearty laugh and so it just stopped me 02:51 when I heard this laugh. And so I listened to the preacher 02:55 and I just liked your laugh. " 02:58 And she said: "I turned on the sermon... the radio station 03:02 again and I heard this same preacher and he was on 03:05 roller skates at that time. " 03:07 Now I met her this week. She is a double amputee. 03:11 She does not have legs. She was born with spina bifida 03:14 so she has never walked. But she got an infection, 03:18 cancer in her legs, and they had to remove them. 03:20 But she is happy. She is joyous in the Lord 03:23 and she said to me: "Boy, when I heard that you were on 03:26 roller skates as a person that has never walked 03:29 boy that appealed to me. A pastor on roller skates... 03:32 that has to be my kind of guy! " 03:34 And so that started off her journey. 03:37 And she was a Catholic... Catholic background... 03:41 Catholic faith, but she began listening because of the laugh 03:46 and the roller skates. 03:47 And so my wife Irma and I went and met her this week. 03:51 She is in a nursing home not too far from here. 03:53 And she wants to become Seventh-day Adventist. 03:56 She wants me to do the baptism 03:59 and she wants to be in church on tomorrow. 04:02 So it is a praise report but also a prayer request 04:04 because as a double amputee she has her wheelchair, 04:08 her power chair. She also has a van that has a lift 04:12 that will take her up, you know, in and out of the van. 04:15 But the van is broken, and I've been calling for the last 04:18 couple of days to try to get transportation to get her here 04:21 because tomorrow would be her first Sabbath in church. 04:23 And of course, whenever you try to do something good 04:25 the devil tries to oppose you. Lemuel, you know that's true. 04:28 So the transportation company who told me 04:31 "Oh yes, we can do it" 04:33 informed me yesterday "We forgot... we don't 04:35 transport on the weekends. " 04:37 So I called the nursing home back and I'm supposed to call 04:40 them this afternoon to try to find out how we can 04:42 get her here because I really want her in church tomorrow 04:45 and I don't want the devil to get the victory here 04:48 because she has stepped out in faith 04:50 and just a wonderful person. Her name is Brenda. 04:54 So would you please keep Brenda in prayer 04:56 that we can have this wonderful child of God 05:01 who has come to the Adventist faith and wants to be baptized 05:04 in an Adventist church for the first time on tomorrow. 05:08 We don't want the devil to succeed. 05:12 Let's pray. Gracious Father, we just thank you 05:17 for the privilege of service. 05:22 We're thankful, Lord, that You have called us 05:25 and given each one of us a task to do. 05:30 And we know that we are more than able through Christ Jesus. 05:33 In our own strength we can do nothing 05:36 but we CAN do all things through Christ 05:40 if we will but abide in You. 05:42 And so help us, Lord, to see the mission 05:46 and then execute that mission 05:49 in the strength of Jesus, secure in the knowledge 05:53 that we serve a God who can do anything but fail. 05:59 We love You, Lord, and we want to serve You. 06:01 And we thank you for the privilege of service 06:04 in Jesus' name, Amen. 06:07 The song I'm going to sing sort of goes along 06:10 with our theme which is telling the world. 06:14 Telling God. As we were doing our sound check this morning 06:16 this is a song I haven't sung in about 20 years. 06:19 And I told the sound guys: "I don't know this song. " 06:23 So we're going to try to sing a song that I don't really know. 06:28 But God's going to bless and we'll - as Danny says - 06:32 "We'll fake it until we make it. " 06:34 And God is going to bless. It's called Do You Love God? 06:36 Simply asks the question Do You Love God? 06:48 Do you love God more 06:52 than anything? 06:54 Do you love God? 07:01 Do you love God more than anything? 07:07 Do you love God? 07:14 Love is all that He asks 07:20 in return 07:22 for all that He has given. 07:28 Love will be 07:31 the endless theme 07:35 through all the courts of heaven. 07:41 Do you love God more 07:45 than your car or home? 07:48 Do you love God? 07:54 Do you love God more 07:58 than all you own? 08:01 Do you love God? 08:07 Do you love God more 08:11 than your family? 08:14 Really, really love Him? 08:18 If you do, just let the whole world know... 08:25 that's all He asks 08:28 of you. 08:35 Do you love God more 08:38 than that car or home? 08:41 Do you love God? 08:47 And do you love God more 08:51 than all you own? 08:54 Do... do you love God? 09:00 Tell me: do you love God more 09:05 than your family? 09:07 Really, really, really love Him? 09:11 If you do, 09:14 just let the whole world know 09:18 that you love the Lord. 09:20 Come on, let the whole world know... 09:24 let them know that you love the Lord. 09:28 Let the whole world know... 09:34 let the whole world know... 09:40 let the whole world know... 09:47 that's all 09:51 He asks 09:55 of you. 10:11 Amen. 10:15 There is a young man in the audience that you're going to 10:18 meet tomorrow. His name is Eric. 10:21 Saw him the other night. Haven't had a chance to 10:22 talk to you, man. 10:23 Eric is my first baptism since I left New York. 10:29 When I came out here as 3ABN Production Manager 10:33 it didn't include baptizing people. 10:36 And baptizing folk is an addictive kind of thing. 10:40 And when you've been baptizing people for 30 years 10:43 and sort of get cut off from baptizing people, John, 10:45 it's a little rough. You know, it's like 10:48 you get a habit and then you can't do it any more. 10:50 And Eric just drove down here one day 10:55 and said: "I want to be baptized. " 10:59 And we baptized him. 11:01 And we're going to tell you that story tomorrow 11:04 during Sabbath School. Stand up. Just let them see you 11:06 right there. Nice guy! 11:10 Nice guy. Stand up, let them see you. 11:12 Good looking guy. He's single, too, by the way. 11:24 What is success? 11:29 There are many definitions for success, 11:34 and I ran across something the other day. 11:36 It's a little funny. I want to start out with this 11:38 before we get into the meat of our subject. 11:40 What is success? Let's go to the graphic. 11:44 Success is a number of things. At age 4... 11:47 And they got the wrong one up. At age 4... 11:50 At age 4... bring it back. At age 4... 11:57 At age 4 they say success is not wetting your pants. 12:04 At age 12... there we go... 13:15 So it's a full circle. 13:17 It comes all the way around. 13:19 That's what to some people is success. 13:22 Now let's take a look at the dictionary definition 13:25 of success. 13:27 Success in the dictionary. 13:29 You know, you used to have to open up all these books. 13:30 You can go to dictionary. com now. 13:33 Just open up your iPad, your iPhone: dictionary. com 13:36 And when you open up dictionary. com 13:38 you will find the following. It says: 13:49 Isn't that a particularly worldly definition? 13:53 Wealth, position, honors, or the like. 14:01 I guess I'm not successful then 14:03 'cause I am not wealthy. 14:06 Every month we have to sort of play Russian roulette 14:08 with the bills. Anybody know what I'm talking about? 14:11 This month you get. This month you may not get. 14:14 That kind of thing. 14:17 The secondary definition I like a little bit better. 14:19 It says: 14:26 It's trying to do something 14:28 and having what you're trying to do work out correctly. 14:33 So these are definitions of success as the world sees them. 14:39 Now let's look at the Word of God 14:41 and get a little better definition of success. 14:45 And the reason we're dealing with success 14:47 today is because in a little bit I'm going to challenge you 14:51 to do something for the Lord. 14:53 But I will challenge you given the understanding 14:57 that when you step out for God 15:01 and you do it in God's way 15:04 success is guaranteed. 15:07 Amen. Amen. 15:08 So that if you're doing God's will in God's way 15:12 you need not fear or worry or concern yourself 15:16 too much with the outcome 15:17 because the outcome is in God's hands. 15:20 If God says: "Do this... do this this way, " 15:24 then God will take care of the outcome. 15:26 I want you to hold onto that thought because 15:27 we're going to come back to that in just a little bit. 15:29 All right. I'm in Joshua chapter 1 verse 9. 15:35 Turn to that in your Bibles. We're going to pop it up 15:37 on the screen in just a little bit. But Joshua chapter 1 15:39 and verse 9. I'm reading from the New King James. 15:42 It is one of my favorite... In fact, 15:47 I can... I'll turn to this but Joshua 1:9 15:52 is one of the first texts that I committed to memory 15:54 "Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage. " 15:57 But I did all of my memorization in the King James Bible. 16:01 And the New King James book I actually read from 16:03 because I really like the King James. 16:07 So... "Have not I commanded you? " I'm in Joshua 1:9... 16:27 Isn't that a powerful promise? 16:30 Wherever you go God is with you. 16:34 It corresponds with a favorite text of mine 16:38 in Hebrews chapter 13 verses 5 and 6 16:42 where the Lord says: 16:44 "I will never leave you nor forsake you 16:47 so then you can boldly say 'God is my helper. 16:51 I will not fear. What can man do to me? ' " 16:54 Powerful text: 16:57 the understanding that God is your helper all of the time. 17:02 Now, I want you to back up one text to Joshua 1 verse 8 17:08 because that brings into focus what we want to talk about 17:12 just a little bit more. Joshua 1- same book, 17:15 same chapter - verse 8. 17:18 The Bible says: "Don't forget to read 17:25 and meditate on the book of the law that Moses wrote. 17:31 Keep reading it morning and night 17:34 so that you don't forget what I want you to do. 17:37 If you keep your eyes on Me 17:41 and desire Me with all your heart, 17:44 I will be right beside you and will bless you 17:50 with... " And what's that last word? 17:52 "success. " 17:53 So this is Joshua 17:58 taking over after Moses 18:01 having watched the trials and tribulations 18:05 that God's people put Moses through 18:08 for all of those years. 18:11 And so Joshua now is given the reins, the mantle, 18:15 and God is telling him: "I'll be with you 18:19 just like I was with Moses. 18:20 If you read the word day and night, 18:23 meditate on it so you don't forget, 18:26 I will be with you and I guarantee your success. " 18:32 Amen? That's powerful. I see John and Rosemary here, 18:36 heading up 3ABN in Australia. 18:39 Ten years ago, 12 years ago? Doing other things. 18:42 Working for the Lord. 18:43 The Lord called them into this ministry. 18:45 The Lord directed them to build that wonderful 3ABN studio 18:50 down in Australia. Did they have any fear? 18:52 I'm sure they had a little. 18:54 But today there stands a beautiful production facility. 18:58 Why? Because when you stand up for God 19:02 God stands up for you. 19:05 Amen. That's His promise. 19:08 Success is guaranteed when you do God's bidding 19:13 in God's way. And I'm sort of laying on this point 19:17 because we're going to come around full circle again 19:19 in just a little bit. 19:20 So, God said to Joshua 19:23 "I'll give you the same success that you got with Moses. " 19:28 Now, don't feel too bad that Moses didn't get into 19:31 the Promised Land 19:33 because Moses has spent the last 4,500 years in heaven. 19:38 Good trade for me! 19:40 I'd take that any day. 19:41 Don't feel too bad that he didn't make it into Canaan... 19:44 he's in glory. 19:46 Amen. And I know he wouldn't trade places with any of us 19:48 but we'd gladly trade places with him. 19:51 So success is doing God's will in God's way. 19:56 It's very, very important. 19:58 Very, very important. Ellen White wrote something in 20:00 the book Christ Object Lessons page 333. 20:05 Page 333 Christ Object Lessons. 20:10 Here's what it says: 20:42 So when you go forward to do the work of God 20:45 it - you will forgive my pejorative English - 20:47 "ain't about you" 20:50 because it's not your strength that you will succeed. 20:53 In fact, the truth is this, ladies and gentlemen: 20:55 many times - oft times - God will put you in a situation 20:58 and allow you to stew in that situation 21:00 so that when you get on the other side of that situation 21:03 you realize that the only thing that got you through that 21:06 situation was God and not you. 21:09 Amen? Amen. 21:11 Grace Hiss is right there. When I was pastoring the Ephesus 21:12 church a lady came to me and said: "Here is my check stub. 21:19 Here are my bills. 21:23 If you do the math, 21:25 you can see that my bills 21:29 exceed by $100 21:33 the amount of money that I'm making every month. 21:38 Therefore, I cannot pay tithe. " 21:45 And I said: "You're right... 21:50 you can't pay tithe, 21:52 not with that balance sheet. 21:54 Not with $100 more going out than coming in. 21:58 You can't do it. 22:01 YOU can't do it... 22:07 but God can. " 22:10 And here's what I did: I did it one time in my life. 22:13 I won't ever do it again and don't ask me. 22:16 I said: "I'm going to give you 22:19 $100 for this month 22:24 and I want you to try God. " 22:30 Um-hmm. 22:34 Sixty days later she got fired. 22:39 Fifteen days after that 22:42 she got a new job making 1-1/2 times 22:51 what she made before. 22:55 Now God chose to work it out that way for her. 22:59 But what if He hadn't? 23:03 Would God still be God? 23:07 I say so. 23:09 So it's not about your ability to see your way through. 23:14 If you could see it, you wouldn't need faith! 23:18 Amen? 23:20 It's about God. 23:23 And if God asks you to do it 23:26 then you will accomplish it in His strength, not yours. 23:31 Amen? 23:35 Ellen White ends that quote in Christ Object Lessons 23:38 by saying: "All His biddings 23:44 are enablings. " 23:46 Amen? If He asks you to do it, 23:49 He will give you the ability to get it done... 23:54 and success is guaranteed in Jesus. 23:58 He doesn't promise that it's going to be easy. 24:00 He doesn't promise that you're going to have 24:02 a cheering section. 24:04 He doesn't promise that you're going to have people 24:05 cheering you on and encouraging you. 24:08 He simply promises to be with you throughout every trial 24:12 in your life. 24:15 Now these words about us cooperating with God 24:20 and our will becoming omnipotent were given in reference to 24:23 perfecting of heavenly character. 24:26 But Ellen White herself said this: 24:29 "They also deal with activities done in Christ's behalf. 24:35 So that when you connect your will and your mindset 24:39 with His in an attempt to do something for the Lord 24:44 His strength is your strength, 24:47 and you can rely on Him. " Amen? And Amen. 24:53 Now, I want you to take a look at this. 24:56 It's called Don't Depend on Miracles. 24:58 I stumbled across this the other day 24:59 because someone was asking me about something 25:03 and I just put this in to sort of talk for them. 25:05 It says: "Don't depend on miracles. " 25:08 Here's something very important. 25:10 Ellen White says: "God does not generally... " 25:56 So, you can't necessarily ask God to do it for you. 26:01 You must ask God to do it through you. 26:06 Amen? You can sit home 26:09 and say: "OK, Lord, I'm out of work. 26:12 Get me a job. " 26:18 And it MAY happen. 26:21 I heard just this morning about someone who wanted to 26:25 sell their house. And they never put an ad in the paper. 26:29 They never did anything. They sat in their house 26:32 and someone came by and knocked on the door and said: 26:33 "You want to sell this house? " 26:36 Now, how often have you heard that happen? 26:39 It does happen. 26:41 Odds are it won't happen to you! 26:45 Amen. 26:47 So God oft times can work for you 26:52 but it's better if you allow Him to work through you. 26:56 Amen? So if you want results, 27:00 you've got to put something in. 27:02 And God says if you mature your plans, 27:06 if you pray over your plans, 27:07 if you work your plan, 27:09 if you include Him in your plans, 27:11 if you make Him the center and circumference of your plans, 27:14 things are going to turn out well 27:18 because the onus is on God and not on you. 27:21 I took all that time to estab- lish that to move into this. 27:25 Matthew 28 verses 18-20. 27:28 You know that very well. 27:29 Matthew 28 beginning with verse 18. 27:44 Matthew 28... let's put it up on the screen. 27:47 Matthew 28:18. 28:07 Amen? "of all nations... " 28:21 Powerful! 28:27 Now that is The Great Commission. 28:30 That is Christ's dictum to us - 28:33 ALL of us - to go and make disciples. 28:35 Not just pastors; not just preachers; not just elders; 28:39 not just people who are employed by the church 28:40 but EVERY child of God, EVERY baptized member of the church 28:44 has a call, a commission upon their life 28:47 to go and make disciples for Jesus Christ. Amen? Amen. 28:51 All of us have that call. 28:52 Now it is interesting that before the call 28:56 Christ ratified, verified, certified 29:00 that "all power is given to Me. " 29:05 So He's telling you: "I've got all power 29:09 and I'm sending you out in that power. " 29:12 So again, He's saying: "Success is guaranteed. " 29:16 You need not fear. It doesn't matter whether 29:19 you're a preacher, a teacher, just a talker, 29:23 a testifier... a testimony giver. 29:25 Whatever you do in the name of Jesus, 29:28 if you do it honestly and sincerely in the power of Jesus 29:31 Christ, you're gonna have success. Amen. 29:36 Here's a guy sitting down front. 29:38 What am I? Lemuel Vega: 29:41 hustler... ex-hustler... let me clean that up. 29:45 Spent time in prison. 29:47 Has got one of the most powerful ministries that I've ever been 29:51 connected with: Christmas Behind Bars. 29:54 Prison guy... not a college graduate. 29:57 Not a Ph. D. Not a Bible theologian. 30:00 Not a Ph. D. - not a D.Min. - not a Masters of Divinity. 30:05 Not even a Masters in pastoral ministry. 30:06 Not even a B.A. in theology. 30:09 Not an Associate's degree in theology. 30:12 He just loves the Lord 30:14 and he let the Lord use him. 30:16 So he came out of prison, gave his heart to Jesus, 30:20 and now thousands of people have come to the Lord. 30:23 Amen! 30:25 Simple guy. 30:27 I'm embarrassing him... he took his glasses off. 30:29 But he's a nice guy 30:32 who had no better sense than to give his heart to Jesus 30:36 and so success is guaranteed when you do it for the Lord. 30:41 I'm begging this point... I'm banging on this point 30:44 because I want to come to something. I'm going to 30:45 challenge you in just a little bit. 30:49 In New York City this year there's going to be some 400+ 30:54 evangelistic meetings. 30:56 3ABN will be there in a few weeks, and we're going to... 30:58 we're going to broadcast the feed coming from the 31:03 denomination. Nassau Coliseum. I think it is June 28. 31:07 They're expecting thousands of baptisms 31:11 because hundreds of preachers are holding meetings. 31:15 But how much would that number have been multiplied 31:20 if the 60,000 Seventh-day Adventists in New York City 31:26 had all gone out and done evangelism? 31:30 It's not... We're going to get thousands of baptisms 31:33 but I think we could have gotten tens of thousands 31:38 had everybody woken up and joined hands together. 31:42 See ladies and gentlemen: the truth is 31:45 the work will not be finished by preachers in pulpits. 31:49 Amen. Amen? 31:52 It's not. Now God is directing the 3ABN's of the world 31:55 to extend the gospel to places that it cannot go 31:57 but even 3ABN by itself won't finish the work. 32:02 Wasn't designed to. 32:04 Can't go where you can go. 32:06 Can't say what you can say. 32:08 Cannot do what you can do. Amen? 32:12 Now if you can't say "amen" say "ouch. " 32:13 I know I'm stepping on toes. 32:20 Go with me quickly to II Kings chapter 7. 32:24 I'm trying to get through this fast and I see my time is 32:25 getting away from me. II Kings chapter 7. 32:30 Gonna try to get through this really, really fast. 32:33 II Kings chap... I preached for two years 32:35 just from the books of I and II Kings. 32:38 Two solid years. Great material here. 32:40 I'm in II Kings chapter 7. Gonna read verses 3 through 9. 32:43 I think they're going to put it up on the screen. 32:45 II Kings chapter 7 32:47 and we're going to begin at verse 3. 32:54 This was on the back end of a series of events 32:57 so we're going to try to read through this very, very quickly. 33:44 Now these Assyrians had surrounded the city 33:47 and besieged the city for a long time 33:49 but when they went out there they were gone. 33:51 Why were they gone? 34:16 Which is very interesting because to me if you wanted 34:18 to get away fast seems like you would jump on your horse. 34:22 But they left their horses and ran on foot... 34:26 such was the fear that was placed upon them. 34:53 Now does this sound eerily familiar to you? 34:57 See, when I saw that 34:59 that sounds like certain sectors 35:02 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church there. 35:03 Amen... or "ouch! " 35:23 Don't we have good news? 35:26 Do we not have good news? 35:28 We've got the best news in the world. 35:30 We have the news that will tell people how to get from 35:32 this world to the next alive! 35:39 So: "This is a day of good news and we remain silent... " 35:54 Amen! 35:56 When I read that, it was a standing rebuke to me 36:00 because there is a world out there that is dying. 36:04 Amen. 36:05 They don't think they are... but they are. 36:09 And we have the words of life. 36:15 We have to go and tell! 36:20 Amen? And if we wait, mischief is going to come. 36:25 And we've got mischief in the church. 36:29 And the reason we have mischief 36:38 is because the Adventist church 36:42 is suffering from among other things a toxic case 36:48 of cabin fever. 36:53 You know what cabin fever is? 36:55 When you've been cooped up in the house with the same people 36:59 for too long and you get sick of looking at them 37:07 so little things that didn't bother you 37:10 begin to get on your nerves. 37:13 That's because you're spending too much time 37:16 among the same people. You need to get out! 37:19 Tell you a quick story. I had a roommate - 37:23 bless his heart - Francis Jorkey from Liberia, West Africa. 37:26 I was in college. 37:27 Francis had this habit, I don't know where he got it from: 37:30 he used to chew with his mouth open. 37:34 And Francis Jorkey enjoyed his food. 37:39 And you know, when you're in a dorm room in college 37:41 there's not a lot of room in dorms. You know, you just... 37:43 You're here and he's there. 37:45 And so when he ate basically I ate... 37:49 whether I was eating or not. 37:51 And Francis would take... He used to like granola. 37:54 Anybody granola? Or back then it was grapenuts: 37:56 the cereal you've got to chew and chew and chew and chew 38:01 and chew. And Francis would just his cereal. 38:11 And I determined in my mind: 38:14 "He's doing that on purpose. " 38:17 Nobody eats like that. 38:20 And I actually developed some- thing in my heart against him. 38:24 You know, just... how in the world can anybody 38:27 make all that noise? 38:29 And really, he didn't know. He had developed that habit. 38:33 That's the way his family... And having met his family 38:35 they all ate like that. You go to dinner and 38:38 just... it's like you have to turn a radio on. 38:42 Everybody's doing that kind of thing. 38:43 So he didn't know! But I'm thinking: "This guy's 38:46 doing this on purpose. He's getting on my nerves. " 38:48 You know, and one day - bless his heart - he had 38:50 a little yellow Volkswagen and he was taking his then 38:52 girlfriend over the mountain. They flew off the side of 38:54 the road and had a real bad accident. 38:56 And I came back that evening and he had come back from the 38:59 hospital and he was all bandaged up and you know 39:02 just... And I said: "Francis, man, what happened? " 39:04 He told me. I said: "Can I do anything for you? 39:06 Can I help you? Do you want some cereal? " 39:08 You know, "Can I do anything to help you? " 39:11 But he didn't know... he didn't understand. 39:15 And I developed hatred in my heart. 39:17 And we as a church have developed cabin fever 39:20 so little things that ought to mean nothing 39:23 are becoming big issues in the church 39:25 because we focus our guns on each other and not on the enemy 39:30 and not on doing the will of God. 39:32 So we're in our churches and we're getting on each other's 39:34 nerves and we're bumping up against each other. 39:36 And a little thing like what color should we paint 39:39 the sanctuary is becoming a BIG issue. 39:42 And it shouldn't be. It should be nothing 39:44 if we're out there doing the will of God. 39:46 You see, when you're working for the Lord, 39:48 when you're spending your energy for the Lord, 39:50 you don't have time to fight your brother and sister. 39:52 Amen. 39:55 So we need to focus on the Lord. 39:58 We need to go and tell. 40:02 So when they went, they found that God had already worked. 40:06 And sometimes we are so afraid to go 40:08 and if we would go we would find that God is already working. 40:12 The Assyrians had gone because God had worked in their behalf. 40:16 But these leprous men would have never known that 40:20 unless they had summoned the faith to "go and tell. " 40:23 To go and do the work of the Lord. 40:27 Real quick. 40:31 "We need workers... " Ellen White said: 41:08 We've got to sit down and think of new ways 41:10 to do new "stuff. " Amen? 41:14 Before 1984 no one had ever heard of an international 41:18 Seventh-day Adventist satellite network. 41:22 And in 1984 when Danny was running to and fro there 41:26 people were saying: "We can't do it. 41:28 It's never been done before. " 41:31 But here... almost 30 years later... here it is! 41:35 Amen? Amen. 41:37 So don't block by criticism. 41:40 Give you two examples. 41:42 When I was at Ephesus Church 41:45 I wanted to start what I called The Mother's Day Initiative. 41:51 And I talked to some people and they said: "You know what? 41:53 On Mother's Day we like to be in bed and have our husbands 41:57 serve us breakfast in bed 41:59 and that's how we like to spend Mother's Day. " 42:01 And I said: "You know, that's nice but I think we can use this 42:05 to a better use. " 42:08 So I called down to City Hall and spoke with Mayor Giuliani - 42:13 he was the Mayor of New York City at the time - to his aide. 42:15 I said: "Here's what we want to do: 42:17 we want to bless the neighborhood 42:22 that the church sits in 42:27 and here's my idea: 42:30 "We would like to clean the block 42:34 that the Ephesus Church sits on. " 42:35 Now the Ephesus Church is a big building. 42:38 Sits on a big block. 42:39 So we got Pathfinders and young people 42:42 and the City of New York gave us rakes and mops 42:47 and little sticks with points on them for picking up paper 42:49 in the gutter and a big bin... for free... 42:53 because they were so excited about what we were trying to do. 42:56 So the Pathfinders and some of the young people 43:00 in the youth church that Sunday morning 43:03 we cleaned the block that the church sat on. 43:08 And then that Sunday afternoon 43:11 we made little flyers and we said: 43:14 "This is the Ephesus Church's Mother's Day gift 43:19 to the community. " 43:24 The next Sabbath we had... 43:30 I don't remember the exact number because it's been a few 43:32 years, close to 20 new people in the church 43:38 who had never been there before 43:40 but wanted to know "Who are these people? " 43:46 Amen? Amen. 43:49 New people... because we tried something different. 43:53 We could have laid in bed and had Mother's Day breakfast... 43:56 but we didn't. 43:59 We went out into the community 44:02 following the command of God 44:04 and God gave us immediate fruit for our labor. 44:09 New method. Amen? Amen! 44:13 And let me say this to you: 44:15 deeds of kindness tear down walls of separation 44:20 build bridges to salvation. 44:23 Amen? Amen. 44:26 Deeds of kindness tear down walls of separation 44:30 build bridges to salvation. 44:32 Very, very important. It's... 44:35 We tend to want to lead with the Bible, 44:37 Spirit of Prophecy, 44:40 144,000. 44:43 You know, every time you get a group of Adventists together 44:45 sooner or later somebody's going to ask about the 144,000. 44:47 It happened last night. 44:50 But as a rule, a discussion of the 144,000 44:54 doesn't save people. 44:57 Nice to talk about. 44:59 Nice theological discussion but it doesn't lead 45:02 a whole lot of people to the foot of the cross. 45:04 A deed of kindness will. 45:07 Now I've got to jump... got a lot to say in a little bit of 45:10 time. When I got to the Ebenezer Seventh-day Adventist 45:13 Church in Freeport, New York, 45:14 my head deaconess was Roberta Carter. 45:18 Which was interesting because Roberta Carter 45:20 was a famous Adventist hater. 45:24 Hated Adventists! 45:26 So how is she the head deaconess of the church? 45:28 Well, her husband was a deacon 45:32 and he got sick. He got very sick. 45:37 And the church poured their love on their deacon. 45:44 And he died of cancer. 45:46 And one little lady from Panama named Josephina Ashers 45:50 decided to practice... And some people may not know 45:55 what this is, some of you will... 45:56 "escabeche fish evangelism. " 46:01 Um-hmm. Escabeche fish is when you take fish 46:05 and you cook it in this kind of sauce. 46:09 Escabeche... yeah. 46:13 She practiced fish evangelism. 46:16 She took money out of her pocket 46:18 and every Friday she would cook rice and peas 46:23 or peas and rice, 46:29 escabeche fish, salad, 46:34 cake, lemonade. 46:39 She would buy paper plates, paper cups, 46:46 knives and forks 46:48 and take them to Roberta Carter's house. 46:52 Now Roberta Carter had two sons. 46:55 One was Charlie. I think the other one was David. 46:57 6'3" Ate like locusts. 47:00 You know, just big guys. Just eat, eat, eat, eat. 47:04 No Bible. 47:08 No 2,300 days. Um-hmm. 47:12 No 144,000. 47:16 Fish. 47:18 Six weeks. She'd come; set the table; 47:24 pray; and leave. 47:27 After six weeks, on Friday when she came 47:32 Roberta Carter said to Josephina Ashers 47:35 "Tomorrow when you're going to church 47:40 why don't you come by and pick me up? " 47:45 So by the time I get there she's head deaconess of the church. 47:50 Deeds of kindness 47:53 tear down walls of separation 47:57 and build bridges to salvation. 48:00 It's hard to hate somebody 48:01 that's doing something nice for you. 48:04 Amen? Amen! 48:07 Try it... you'll like it, I guarantee. 48:10 Now... boy, the clock is an enemy. 48:15 See, when I was pastoring in New York I could get... 48:17 get up and preach for two or three hours... 48:21 Not really. 48:25 Want to take a little test, 48:27 and this will probably be the last thing we'll be able to do. 48:29 Take a little test. 48:31 How many live within 5 blocks of the church they attend? 48:34 Raise your hand. You live within five blocks. 48:37 Five blocks. 48:39 Hands up real high... just need to see. 48:41 Not going to ask you anything just want to see your hands. 48:42 OK. So that's about 5%. 48:46 Very, very small. 48:47 So most of us live fairly far from the church we attend, 48:51 correct? You don't live in the neighborhood. 48:55 Neighborhood is considered a 5-block radius around 48:57 any particular building. 48:59 So most of us go to churches 49:00 that we don't live in that neighborhood. 49:03 All right. Now, if that is true, 49:06 here's the next question: 49:20 Actually, none. 49:22 Really don't. 49:24 They allow you to, but you don't have any right... 49:26 any moral right... to come to that community. 49:30 Next question: Why is your church there? 49:38 Now there are any number of reasons for that. 49:40 In New York, since there's no room to build any churches, 49:42 usually somebody moves out and the Adventists move in. 49:46 That's how we get to a lot of places. 49:48 Sometimes it's a nice spot. It's out in the country. 49:50 The land is cheap. You know, all kinds of reasons 49:53 why a church gets to a place. 49:56 My next question is: Why does it remain there? 50:02 Why does it stay there? 50:04 Why are you STILL there? 50:05 AND... 50:15 Have you ever asked yourself that? 50:17 We've got a church sitting in a community 50:20 where we don't live so we are alien to the community. 50:24 What benefit does this community derive 50:29 because a bunch of Adventists are there? 50:34 And... if you are not a benefit to the community 50:41 in which your church resides, 50:44 do you have a moral right to remain there? 50:48 And I think boards ought to ask that question. 50:53 Is this community any better because we are here? 50:58 And if not, why not? 51:02 And if the community is not made better 51:06 because we're here, what makes you any different 51:09 from the local inn, tavern, or liquor store? 51:14 They use community resources and give nothing back. 51:22 Do you use community resources? And what do you give back? 51:29 It's a question we have to ask ourselves. 51:32 Are we a blessing to that community or not? 51:35 Does God want to bless that community? Yes. Does He? Yes. 51:39 Well if not through you then through who? 51:44 We come in every Sabbath. Preach, pray, 51:48 sing, and go home. 51:52 That's not the will of God for your church. Is it? 51:56 Ellen White says: "If you all you do is sing 51:59 Oh, How I Love Jesus, praise the Lord, 52:01 pray, and go home you are doing the Lord and yourself 52:04 a terrible disservice. " 52:09 We use community resources. 52:12 We're in the community. 52:14 They see us come in on Sabbath. 52:16 And a lot of times they don't know who we are 52:19 or what... Who are? You know, when I was growing 52:22 up, we had a group of people who used to live next door to us: 52:25 they had the strangest behavior. 52:26 They'd all pile into a car on Saturday morning 52:28 dressed nice and just disappear 52:33 and then come back at night and re-appear. 52:36 And we knew that during the week we could play with them 52:38 but on Saturday they had this strange activity. 52:41 We didn't know what. They'd get in the car and just 52:42 disappear. 52:46 And then as the Lord would have it we moved to another 52:49 part of the city. And don't you know, we moved right across 52:51 the street from another group of people with that same strange 52:54 activity. Sabbath morning they'd just pile in the car 52:57 and just disappear. 53:02 And so one day I asked them 53:06 "Where do you all go when you disappear? " 53:11 And they said: "We go to Sabbath School. " 53:15 And I went to Sabbath School with them 53:19 and liked it immediately. 53:21 First of all, they had this beautiful young Sabbath School 53:23 teacher that when you got the answer right she would say: 53:26 "God bless you" and just brush your cheek. 53:28 And I liked that! 53:30 "I'm going to Sabbath School again! " 53:36 But they never witnessed to us. 53:39 We saw this activity and it intrigued me 53:41 and I wanted to know. 53:43 And when I went I got hooked, and so I got baptized 53:45 at age 10. Baptized my mother, 53:50 baptized my sister, 53:51 baptized my dad one month before he had a stroke and died. 53:59 We've got to go and tell. 54:00 Deeds of kindness tear down walls of separation. 54:04 Now, all right... 54:08 Suppose the town board came to your church and said: 54:11 "Listen, we want to do something for this community. 54:14 We think we want to put up a Wal-Mart. 54:17 Now Wal-Mart is a... it's a boom to any community. 54:21 You've got jobs; you've got Wal-Mart stuff. 54:24 You know... it's Wal-Mart. 54:25 I think within 10 miles of here there are three Wal-Marts. 54:28 The largest Wal-Mart in America is right down there in Marion. 54:31 There's Wal-Mart in Benton. 54:33 There's Wal-Marts all around us. 54:35 So Wal-Marts are economic booms to a community. 54:38 Now we can't tear down houses to put up a Wal-Mart. 54:40 We need to find a place to put this Wal-Mart 54:42 that meets the following qualifications: 54:44 One: nobody from the community has anything to do with that 54:48 place. 54:52 Two: it doesn't give back anything to the community. 54:57 Three: it's closed most of the time... " 55:04 You know the average SDA church is closed about 80% of the time? 55:09 Oh, the average church in America is closed 82% 55:12 of the time so we're below average. 55:15 Now let's look at that. Doesn't do anything for the community? 55:19 Closed most of the time. 55:21 Nobody from the community goes there. 55:23 What institution? What institution? Help me out. 55:28 What do you think? Who fits that criteria? 55:33 Anybody? 55:35 Now somebody said "Any church. " That's true. 55:37 But I don't belong to any church... 55:43 I belong to this one. 55:46 So if you had to justify your presence in the community, 55:49 my question is: "Could you do that? 55:51 And if not, why not? " 55:54 Why isn't the community any better because the Adventists 55:57 are there? What are we doing for the people around us? 56:00 How can you be a lighthouse if the light is out 56:03 80% of the time? 56:10 So I'm asking you to do. 56:14 But I'm asking you to do in the knowledge that when you do 56:19 what God asks you to do 56:21 success is guaranteed 56:25 because we serve a God who can do anything 56:30 but fail. 56:34 Last question: If your church burnt down, 56:39 would anybody notice? 56:41 Would anybody care? 56:45 Oh, they would notice... 56:47 because people always notice fires. 56:49 Any time there's a fire people notice. 56:52 But when the fire goes out they go back to their lives. 56:57 They would notice but I don't know if they would care, 57:02 if they would miss you 57:04 because we haven't made that a priority. 57:08 Amen? God calls each of us 57:13 to go and do. Now you must determine what you do. 57:19 Some can preach; some can teach. 57:22 Some can offer a cup of water. 57:24 Some can give their own testimony. 57:26 Some will be called to great ministry. 57:30 But you will be called 57:32 and you must do when you are called. Amen? |
Revised 2014-12-17