Participants:
Series Code: 17GYC
Program Code: 17GYC000006A
|
00:52 Sweet Jesus, my Savior
00:58 You are my faithful friend 01:03 You made me, You know me 01:08 You've seen my every sin 01:13 And my soul is amazed 01:16 By this gift of Your grace 01:19 And these arms that take me in 01:23 Sweet Jesus, my Savior 01:29 You are my faithful friend 01:41 Sweet Jesus, my shelter 01:46 You are my faithful friend 01:51 The refuge that I run to 01:56 When my world comes closing in 02:02 Why should I be afraid 02:04 When I know I am saved 02:07 By the arms that take me in 02:12 Sweet Jesus, my shelter 02:17 You are my faithful friend 02:45 Sweet Jesus, my shepherd 02:51 You are my faithful friend 02:56 You hold me 02:58 You lead me 03:01 I'll follow till the end 03:06 And once more I will say 03:08 On that beautiful day 03:11 When Your arms take me in 03:16 Sweet Jesus, my shepherd 03:21 You are my faithful friend 03:26 Sweet Jesus, my Savior 03:31 You are my faithful friend 03:41 Amen. 03:45 I invite you to bow your heads with me. 03:48 Our creator God, we are so grateful 03:53 for the gift of Your Sabbath. 03:56 We're grateful for the opportunity 03:58 to be here together as Your church, 04:01 as Your children celebrating this special day. 04:08 Lord we pray that as You created the earth 04:15 and everything that is in it, that You would create 04:20 the character of Your Son in our lives. 04:25 May it be real, 04:29 may we accept it fully, 04:34 and may we experience true Sabbath rest 04:38 together as your children. 04:41 Thank you so much for the gifts 04:45 and may we live to share that gift of rest, 04:47 the gift of Your creation 04:49 and Your recreation in us with others, 04:52 in Jesus' name, amen. 04:57 Tonight we have the privilege of hearing firsthand 05:01 what God is doing through six different ministries. 05:05 Our first ministry is the Adventist Christian Fellowship, 05:08 which is the North American's divisions outreach 05:12 to non-Adventist universities and the colleges. 05:15 I have here Alex Delaola and Michel Lee, 05:18 and they are here to tell us 05:20 what is going on, on campuses across the US. 05:23 Thank you, Glesni. 05:25 Raise your hand if you attend 05:28 a non-Adventist university or college. 05:33 Now keep those hands raised, but raise your hand 05:36 if you have attended a public university 05:38 or non-Adventist university or college. 05:41 Now keeping your hands raised, raise your hand 05:44 if you are planning to attend 05:46 a non-Adventist university or college. 05:50 And once more raise your hand if you know someone who has, 05:55 is, or will be attending a public university or college. 06:02 I want you to look around you, see the amount of hands raised, 06:05 and realize that all of us have been influenced, 06:08 and touched by the non-Adventist institutions 06:13 of education in this world. 06:17 So we're two students at public universities in the NAD. 06:21 My name is Michel and I'm a PhD Student 06:23 at the University of Texas at Austin. 06:27 And I'm Alex, a business and economic student 06:29 at a non-Adventist college in Michigan. 06:32 We're both leaders with Adventist Christian Fellowship 06:34 which is the North American division student led 06:37 public campus ministries outreach. 06:39 And we believe that our own colleges, 06:41 our public universities, our non-Adventist institutions 06:45 are a gigantic mission field. 06:49 In North America alone we have 2,703 06:54 non-Adventist universities or colleges. 06:57 And of those only 200, less than 10% 07:01 actually have an active 07:02 Adventist campus ministry presence. 07:04 But we believe that things are changing 07:06 and we know that things are happening. 07:08 We know this because at the local church 07:11 in Michigan State University in four months alone 07:14 we've had eight student influence baptisms 07:17 working with the local church 07:19 and the local Adventist student group. 07:22 And when I was a freshman at Stanford University, 07:24 I got involved in public campus ministries. 07:26 There was no active Adventist ministry 07:28 on my campus. 07:30 And I got involved 07:31 and we started a group on campus. 07:32 And I was converted and re-baptized 07:34 at the end of that year as a result. 07:36 And so we know that God is calling you 07:38 to be involved in public campus ministries. 07:40 And we literally believe that we can reach the world 07:43 by reaching our professors, our fellow students, 07:45 and the faculty, 07:47 and other staff on our campuses. 07:49 Did you know that Ellen White herself 07:51 mentions public campus ministry. 07:54 In Manuscript 22b, 1895, she says that 07:57 "Public campus ministry is a work that must be done 08:00 and will be done 08:02 by those who are led and taught of God." 08:04 We know that in these last days we are called 08:08 to be reaching out to every individual 08:09 wherever we are, 08:11 even on our public universities. 08:13 And did you know that actually 70% of Adventist young people 08:16 just like us go to non-Adventist schools. 08:19 So we can be a huge force on our campuses. 08:23 And if you'd like to know more, we don't have much time now, 08:25 but we'd love to share stories, 08:26 we'd love to plug into resources. 08:28 And if you'd like to get connected with the ACF Network, 08:30 please stop by our booth in the 800 row 08:32 in the exhibit hall. 08:34 Thank you so much. 08:35 Thank you so much, Alex and Michel. 08:37 Isn't it exciting to hear what's going on 08:39 on the campuses across the US? 08:42 And like many of us we have been there 08:44 or we will be going there. 08:45 So let's remember to reach out. 08:47 Our next ministry 08:49 is the Middle East North Africa Union. 08:51 And tonight, I am privileged to have 08:53 their president Rick McEdward with me. 08:56 So tell us what's happening in MENA, Elder Rick McEdward. 08:59 Well, there's probably to much to tell you about 09:01 in two or three minutes, 09:02 but I want to just highlight a couple areas. 09:04 Wonderful. 09:06 First of all, God is moving 09:08 and establishing new congregations 09:11 around the Middle East in unreached areas. 09:14 Three years ago, there was a large 09:17 unreached city of 4.5 million people 09:20 that did not have one Seventh-day Adventist. 09:22 And a few months ago, 09:23 we were able to go to that place, 09:25 city unnamed, and organize a Seventh-day Adventist church 09:30 with about 60 people in it. 09:33 And we praise God for His leading. 09:39 We also have very special stories 09:43 that are going on in the lives of people. 09:45 And I have one story, I'll share real quickly. 09:48 There was a young man 09:50 from one of our countries living in London 09:53 and one day he felt a very strong impression by God 09:56 that he needed to go back to his home country, 09:59 he said, "Why God, I don't really want to go. 10:02 It's raining, it's wintertime." 10:04 It's about a year ago now. 10:06 And God gave him an impression again, "Go back." 10:10 And so as he was back in his home city 10:12 of about 15 million people 10:15 walking from a ferry terminal to university, 10:18 he happened to pass by a special literature rack 10:23 of Seventh-day Adventist literature. 10:26 And at that rack, he felt magnetically drawn, 10:29 and he came and he picked up a book off of that rack, 10:33 and as he opened it up, 10:35 he couldn't keep his eyes off of it. 10:37 And he started reading and he sat down, 10:39 and in two days he read from cover to cover, 10:44 The Great Controversy in his own language. 10:46 Amen. 10:47 And when he read that book, his life was changed. 10:53 And he came back and he said, "I want another book." 10:56 And he went back to look at the number 10:58 and he asked the office, 10:59 "Give me whatever you have in English 11:01 or in his own language." 11:02 And he kept reading, 11:03 he consumed everything he could. 11:05 And finally he said, 11:07 "I've fallen in love with the author, 11:09 but even more with the Jesus that she presents." 11:13 Amen. 11:14 Today that young man has moved back to his home city 11:18 and is manning the literature rack 11:21 in his home city at that church 11:24 and he is sharing the panorama of salvation 11:28 with every person who comes by. 11:29 And we're handing out 200 Bibles a week 11:33 and 70 books from the Spirit of Prophecy 11:36 every single week in that location. 11:38 Amen. Amen. 11:39 One other thing that we are being blessed by 11:42 is we are receiving volunteers 11:45 and frontline workers from around the world. 11:47 And I just have to say thank you to all of you 11:49 for your support 11:51 of Middle East North Africa Union, 11:52 pray for us. 11:54 May God provide more laborers for the harvest. 11:57 Amen. Wasn't that story inspiring? 12:01 There is so much happening in the Middle East 12:03 and we need to give them our prayers, 12:05 and our support, and our time, and our resources. 12:09 Our next ministry tonight that we'd like to highlight 12:11 is Little Light Studios. 12:13 How many of you are familiar with Little Light Studios? 12:17 Wonderful. 12:18 Well, their director Scotty Mayer is here with us 12:21 this evening to share what is happening. 12:23 I have to tell you, it's been an absolute honor 12:26 to have worked in the media ministry 12:28 in our church for nearly 10 years now. 12:30 I'm reminded by that 12:32 when some young people come up and go, 12:34 "I used to watch you when I was like five." 12:39 Yes, but thank you for all your support 12:41 that you guys have done, it's been an absolute honor. 12:43 We have a passion for young people 12:45 and it breaks my heart 12:47 when our young people are leaving our churches. 12:50 But, brothers and sisters, Little Light Studios 12:52 is going to go after our young people. 12:55 And I'll tell you how we're choosing to go after them, 12:58 most young people are on this little website 13:01 called YouTube, anybody heard of this. 13:04 No. No one's heard of it? 13:05 Have you seen YouTube? I'll tell you what. 13:07 We've been creating some resources 13:09 for YouTube video Bible studies. 13:11 We've got a new talk show called Small Talk 13:14 where we get a chance to discuss some topics 13:17 that young people are dealing with. 13:19 We need to talk about some of these things 13:21 and grounded on the Word of God. 13:24 And I know I got one more thing that I want to share with you, 13:27 we have a very exciting project that we also have 13:30 just launched here at the GYC. 13:33 We have a passion for creativity. 13:36 There are so many young people 13:37 that are so creative in our church 13:39 and we have such a beautiful message, 13:41 we have such a mission to go and tell the world, 13:44 but maybe preaching is not your mission, 13:47 maybe photography is your mission, 13:49 maybe video is your mission, maybe editing is your mission. 13:52 We need to blend those people with the preachers 13:55 and have the creators create content, 13:58 so that the preachers 13:59 can effectively preach our messages. 14:02 This thing is called video mission, 14:04 you guys should check it out. 14:05 We are excited to go out 14:07 and let's take this world by storm. 14:09 Amen. Wonderful. 14:11 Thank you, Scotty. Welcome. 14:13 It is always exciting to hear what God's doing 14:16 in so many different ministries. 14:18 And now tonight we have another privileged guest from the GYC. 14:25 There is a new Sabbath School program 14:29 called My Bible Guides that GYC is working on. 14:31 And tonight I have Sean Nebblett with me, 14:34 who is the My Bible Guide scripture song coordinator. 14:37 And he's here to tell you about an exciting opportunity 14:40 for creative young people that you can participate in 14:43 from wherever you're located. 14:45 Amen. Thank you, Glesni. 14:47 I have a question for you tonight young people, 14:49 "Are you excited to be a Seventh-day Adventist?" 14:52 Amen. 14:53 I am excited to be a Seventh-day Adventist 14:55 and there are many reasons why, 14:57 but one of the reasons in particular is that 14:59 I am convinced there has never been a time 15:04 when there were more opportunities 15:06 and more... 15:07 When we as young people had more ability 15:09 to get involved in the exciting undertakings 15:14 that our church is involved in across the globe. 15:17 One of the very exciting things that is happening 15:19 at the General Conference right now 15:20 is that the General Conference department of Sabbath School 15:23 and Personal Ministries 15:24 is developing new Sabbath School curriculum 15:27 just from the ground up. 15:29 And the... 15:30 My Bible Guides as Glesni mentioned 15:32 is the name of the project, the curriculum, 15:36 particularly for the younger divisions 15:37 kind of primary age and down. 15:40 And this is where the exciting opportunity comes in. 15:42 I'm privileged to work with a team 15:44 that's producing this new curriculum. 15:48 And one of the things that we really want to emphasize 15:51 and prioritize is the power of scripture in the experience. 15:57 So you know any, 15:58 if you've ever been to Sabbath school before, 16:01 you know, you have a memory verse 16:02 and you also know that if you've ever been 16:04 to Sabbath school before 90% of people show up 16:07 and they don't know their memory verse. 16:08 Well, we want to try to fix that problem. 16:10 And so one of the ways we're going to do that 16:11 is by sending every single memory verse to music. 16:16 That's a lot of scripture songs. 16:18 Here's where you come in, 16:19 if you are a creative young person 16:21 and you have a guitar, or you have a piano, 16:24 and you have tunes rattling around in your mouth, 16:27 you could actually participate in the work 16:30 of your global church 16:32 by submitting your scripture song compositions 16:35 to be included in the collection 16:37 that helps the next generation of little children 16:42 store scripture in their hearts. 16:43 Is that or is that not exciting? 16:45 Amen. So how can you... 16:47 How can you get involved? 16:49 Well, we have a booth here at GYC, number 102. 16:54 Keep your eyes out for a little card, flyer, 16:57 you can go get one at the booth. 16:59 There's also a website I'll just give you the website, 17:02 but my suggestion is go by the booth 102 17:05 and pick yourself up one of these flyers. 17:08 So that you can get involved mybibleguides.me, 17:12 www.mybibleguides.me. 17:16 There's also a number there that you can call 17:18 that has the whole list of the actual verses 17:22 that we're seeking to set to music. 17:24 And why is this important? 17:25 People think, "Oh man, well, I can't, 17:26 you know, I can't change the world 17:28 by writing a scripture song." 17:29 Actually, take a step back, 17:31 if you look at the way society 17:33 has just changed at an accelerated rate 17:35 and ask yourself the question who did this. 17:39 The answer is media. 17:44 Culture follows media... 17:45 I mean media is an expression of culture, 17:47 but culture follows media, you know. 17:49 So you might have an impact on not just this generation, 17:52 but generations forever by the simple act 17:56 of picking one of these up, contacting us, 17:58 writing a song that is sung by little children 18:01 across the division in world. 18:03 My suggestion is, 18:05 if you're a creative young person 18:06 and you're excited about scripture and music, 18:08 get involved in your local church. 18:09 Wonderful. Thank you, Sean. 18:11 It's so exciting that we can be involved 18:13 as young people in something as exciting as this. 18:18 Our next ministry I like to highlight 18:20 is Child Impact International. 18:22 And some of you might still remember them 18:24 as Asian Aid. 18:26 And I have with me here Jim Rennie, the CEO, 18:29 who is going to share with you 18:31 what's happening with Child Impact International. 18:33 Thank you. 18:34 Child Impact is a fully supportive ministry 18:37 of the church. 18:38 Our main activity is child sponsorship. 18:41 And we have over 3,500 children in Adventist mission schools 18:45 in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, 18:50 and now Papua New Guinea. 18:52 We also support a blind school, a deaf school 18:56 and four real orphanages run by the church in India. 18:59 At GYC we're excited to share with you a project 19:02 that we are doing called Operation Child Rescue 19:06 where we're involved in the rescue 19:08 of girls and trafficking, 19:10 orphans who are homeless 19:12 and helping find slum children real hope. 19:17 The problem with trafficking is 19:19 that it's simply beyond our comprehension. 19:22 And we are just doing our small part 19:25 to rescue girls trapped in trafficking in India. 19:30 Mani lived in a rural village, 19:32 most girls struggle to get an education. 19:35 Her father had a little work and her mother was very sick, 19:39 they struggled to give their daughter 19:42 the basic needs. 19:44 One day a well-dressed man 19:46 with the local police superintendent 19:48 walking beside him, walked in the village 19:50 with some great news. 19:52 A retired businessman who was running a girl's home 19:56 in the nearby city of Hyderabad 19:58 wanted to give all the young girls 20:00 in that village a scholarship 20:02 to go to a special boarding school. 20:04 Everyone was so excited. 20:06 Two days later, she received in a box her school uniform, 20:11 she put it on, she felt so proud, 20:13 her parents was so excited. 20:17 Three days later a bus pulled up 20:19 with the school name on. 20:21 There was a ceremony and they boarded the bus 20:24 with great excitement, 20:26 and the bus went to another village 20:27 and picked up another nine girls. 20:30 They hopped on the bus, 20:32 and the bus headed off for two hours, 20:34 but Mani just seen something wasn't right. 20:38 They stopped at a house 20:41 and three men with sticks told them 20:42 to go into the house, and take the uniform off, 20:45 and then they were thrown in the back of a small van, 20:48 and suddenly in a flash their lives had changed. 20:53 What was to be a dream in a flash 20:56 just totally changed. 20:58 They were taken to a large city to a brothel. 21:03 They were chained into small rooms. 21:06 And what happened next is very difficult to tell you. 21:10 But they were trained for the industry by men. 21:14 Their lives were lost, they were despairing, 21:17 they were trapped. 21:18 If they walked out they were beaten, 21:21 they had no hope. 21:24 After nine months... 21:25 Sorry, Mani who was 16, 21:28 was seeing at least 11 clients a day 21:31 within three weeks. 21:35 Nine months later 21:37 in the early hours of the morning, 21:39 a group of woman accompanied by a police special squad 21:43 raided the establishment 21:45 and took them to a government rescue centre. 21:48 And then Mani was taken 21:50 to a rescue building in Bangalore, 21:52 India an unmarked three story building 21:55 that sponsored by Child Impact and Voice of Prophecy 21:59 and there she was given hope. 22:01 She didn't speak for three weeks, 22:03 she couldn't speak. 22:05 How do you explain to someone what has happened to you, 22:08 it's beyond comprehension. 22:11 It's believed that 44,000 girls and women 22:14 that's what happens in every year in India. 22:18 Can you imagine it? Can you comprehend it? 22:22 She was shown love and care 22:24 and these people prayed to a strange God. 22:28 Slowly she tells her story 22:30 and right now is still at the home, 22:32 too scared to return home. 22:34 She has hope. 22:36 She has been introduced to Jesus, 22:38 but she still trusts no one. 22:41 Please pray for the girls that are in our home, 22:45 please pray for Child Impact International 22:48 and its project Operation Child Rescue, 22:51 rescuing girls from brothel, 22:53 we rescue orphans from the streets, 22:56 and we educate slum children. 22:58 And the 3,500 children we have in Adventist mission schools 23:03 need your support and prayers. 23:05 Please come and visit us at booth 107. 23:09 And if you'd like to watch a little video 23:12 by Jean Boonstra on the rescue, 23:15 just takes the word impact to 71777, 23:19 just make a note of that 23:20 and look at it after the meeting, 23:22 the word impact to 71777. 23:25 Please come and visit us and understand what we do. 23:28 And please pray for these girls and the children 23:31 whose lives we try to impact on. 23:33 Thank you. Wonderful. Thank you, Jim. 23:35 We appreciate you sharing those touching stories 23:38 from India and other areas that Child Impact is reaching. 23:42 Our final ministry tonight that we are highlighting 23:44 is the Adventist Review. 23:46 And I have Jared Thurmon with me 23:48 who is going to tell us what's happening 23:49 with Adventist Review. 23:51 Thank you, Glesni. 23:52 There is nothing so powerful as an idea whose time has come. 23:58 And I'm sure on many minds and hearts here tonight, 24:02 you've got an idea, a passion, or a talent 24:06 that you feel you want to exercise. 24:10 A hundred and sixty eight years ago, 24:12 a young man in his 20s by the name of James White 24:15 had a burden to share a message with the world. 24:20 I'd like to think of him as one of the original innovators 24:23 of the movement. 24:24 And he said we need a printing press 24:26 to get this message out to the world. 24:30 And as the years have passed we've seen the printing press, 24:33 we've seen the telegraph, we've seen vinyl 8-track, 24:37 radio, we've seen dial up internet. 24:43 And now we're in an age of Artificial Intelligence, 24:46 the Blockchain, Virtual Reality. 24:50 And we need people like you 24:54 to help make these things a reality 24:57 with a mission mind. 24:59 At the Adventist Review, 25:01 we are looking to do some exciting things 25:03 that we feel are impossible without you. 25:07 And I just want to share a testimony 25:09 that we are seeing young people come out of the woodwork 25:13 with talents and skills to create content. 25:17 And we'd like to say that, you know, 25:19 we overcome by the blood of the Lamb 25:21 and by the word of our testimony. 25:24 And I think the plural of testimony is data. 25:28 And now we live in a data driven world. 25:31 And so we're creating content based on data. 25:36 If we see a video that only gets five minutes, 25:39 and after five minutes, and after five minutes, 25:41 then we realize people have a five-minute attention span. 25:45 We need your help. 25:47 We've got so many ideas, 25:50 but good ideas are the enemy of great ideas. 25:55 And so we want to meet with you, 25:57 we want to find out 25:58 what the Lord has put on your heart. 26:00 And I want to invite you, come by our booth 325, 26:04 and share your talents with this movement 26:07 and with the world. 26:08 Thank you. Wonderful. Thank you, Jared. 26:10 Praise the Lord for all the exciting things 26:12 that are happening with these ministries. 26:13 Amen. 26:15 I just want to encourage each one of you 26:16 to surrender your lives to the Lord 26:18 and seek to get involved in the ministries 26:20 that He calls you to. 26:22 Have a good evening. Amen. 26:24 Thank you so much, Glesni. 26:26 Isn't it amazing, GYC, the types of ministries 26:29 that are happening all over the world. 26:31 God is moving in this generation, Dr. Lela. 26:34 And something incredible happened right here 26:37 in the Phoenix Convention Center 26:39 just a couple of days ago, right, a couple of floors below 26:41 where we are right now. Just downstairs. 26:43 It was unbelievable, Kyle, 6,770 people received... 26:47 Wait, how many? 26:48 Six thousand seven hundred and seventy people. 26:50 What do you say? 26:52 Unbelievable. Praise God. 26:53 But we haven't even told them what they've got yet, Kyle. 26:55 Okay. Okay. They got 12,000... 26:57 just under 12,000 services including medical, 27:00 dental, eye care, surgical services. 27:03 They even got haircuts and legal services. 27:06 You can see some of the pictures on the screen, 27:07 it was unbelievable, 27:09 $40.6 million in free health care. 27:14 Unbelievable. Praise God. 27:16 And not only that, but we had 3,300 volunteers 27:21 that gave up their Christmas break to come here 27:23 and serve the people of Phoenix. 27:26 And we want to say a huge thank you to GYC. 27:28 Absolutely, we could never have done this without GYC. 27:31 What a wonderful partnership, young people, 27:34 all of us working together for one common goal, 27:36 and that's to share Jesus with those in need. 27:39 That's right, now we could tell 27:40 so many miracle stories Dr. Lela. 27:42 But God provided in a particularly 27:44 miraculous way with our surgical department. 27:46 You know, it was only one day 27:49 before we were supposed to start, Kyle. 27:50 Unbelievable. 27:52 We had no truck to do the cataracts 27:53 and we wanted to do cataract surgery, 27:55 never done before. 27:57 We had the anesthesia machine, we had the anesthesiologists, 28:00 we had the surgeons, we didn't have a truck. 28:02 God didn't just give us one truck, 28:04 but one day before we got two trucks. 28:06 Amen, amen. It was unbelievable. 28:08 We were able to do cataracts, hernias, 28:11 all kinds of other surgical procedures. 28:13 It's really incredible what God did. 28:15 And, Dr. Lela, we actually have right next to me, 28:18 Tristen who was a patient for one of those procedures. 28:21 That's right. 28:22 And, Tristen, I want to thank you 28:23 for coming out tonight to GYC 28:25 and for being a patient at Pathway to Health. 28:27 Can you tell us just briefly 28:28 what happened in your experience at Pathway? 28:31 Yes, thank you. 28:32 I'm grateful for the opportunity. 28:35 I'm on Facebook one day, and I see this post 28:38 promoting Pathway to Health, 28:40 and I'm wondering is this for real, 28:43 it's like it's too good to be true. 28:45 So I click on it and yeah, it's for real. 28:47 So I imagine it's a great opportunity. 28:50 I've got some health issues to resolve 28:53 so I go for it, and I get there 28:56 and the organization run so smoothly, 28:59 and the experience is one of my 29:04 greatest health care experiences of all time. 29:07 And it's great to be on a Pathway to Health. 29:10 And Pathway to Health is a great organization 29:14 run by some special people 29:16 and volunteers providing a great service 29:19 to the community, service with a smile, 29:23 service with compassion, service with the care, 29:27 and even service with the prayer 29:29 as after I got through my treatment, 29:31 my doctor asked me, 29:34 if it's all right if we take a moment to pray. 29:37 And I'm like, of course. 29:39 So it was really great, it was like, it, 29:43 of course, it was a professional service. 29:45 But it's like it transcended the professional to the moral. 29:50 Amen. Praise God, Tristen. 29:53 Thank you for being here and thank you for coming 29:54 to Pathway to Health. 29:56 Dr. Lela, to God be the glory. Absolutely. 29:59 And not only patients were impacted, 30:00 but the whole community, in fact, 30:02 we had partners that came, we didn't even expect. 30:04 Absolutely. 30:06 I mean partners came from all over. 30:07 Partners not of our faith necessarily, 30:09 but, you know, we've read in the Spirit of Prophecy 30:12 that when people see, 30:13 those with mean see us giving to those who are in need, 30:17 they themselves want to give and they give, 30:20 and that is what we saw happen. 30:21 And just as we were coming in the auditorium tonight, 30:23 you got a text message. 30:24 I got a text message that one of the individuals 30:26 who arranged for two of our leading departments 30:29 happened to be a former bishop of the Mormon Church. 30:33 And he indicated that because of the love 30:35 he saw in the volunteers 30:37 and the organization of the structure of Pathway, 30:40 he has decided he wants to study to learn 30:42 more about the Seventh-day Adventist church. 30:43 Praise God. Amen. Amen. 30:45 God is good. 30:47 So not only do we see impact in the patients, 30:49 impact in the community, we also see volunteers 30:53 whose lives are impacted. Absolutely. 30:55 Every time we've seen a Pathway event, 30:57 volunteers give up their time to come and serve others. 31:00 Well, how does it impact our volunteers? 31:02 Every volunteer that comes, I can't tell you, I mean, 31:05 tears streaming down their faces 31:06 over and over again this happens, Kyle. 31:09 "This has changed my life," they say that. 31:11 They say that over and over. 31:13 We had a lady just yesterday I talked to her 31:14 and she almost died two years ago. 31:17 And she said to me, 31:18 "Kyle, this is the most meaningful thing 31:20 I've ever done in my life was to volunteer 31:22 for Pathway to Health." 31:23 And it's just incredible the impact that Pathway has. 31:26 Now, Jonathan, you've volunteered 31:28 for Pathway a few times, 31:29 but you have something remarkable 31:31 that happened to you. Can you share that with us? 31:33 You know some people think that Pathway is a three-day event 31:36 and then the impact just disappears. 31:38 I want to tell you that's absolutely not true. 31:41 I was on an airplane flight 31:42 from LAX to Frankfort about a month ago, 31:44 and I can't sit in the seat forever 31:46 so I'm standing up, and I'm talking to this guy, 31:48 and we're talking and chatting, 31:50 and we just start to chat about different things, 31:52 and he's on his way to Frankfort as well. 31:54 I find out that the guy's a Persian. 31:56 And I'm talking to him 31:59 and we bring up Pathways to Health. 32:01 And he says, "I know all about it. 32:02 I saw the LAX event." 32:05 And he went on, and on, and on, and he told me everything about 32:08 Pathways to Health, 18 months later. 32:11 So don't think that this is some small thing. 32:13 This is an entering wedge that will continue to go forth 32:17 and we can use this to reach the community for a long term. 32:21 And this was even for a Persian that was going to be 32:24 with his other Persian friends, 32:25 we can reach into all kinds of different communities. 32:27 Praise God. Praise God. 32:29 All right, Dr. Lela, we're out of time. 32:30 But we have some special things that are coming up. 32:33 What's next for Pathway? 32:34 You know, there are three or four major cities 32:36 right here within North America that we are working on. 32:39 So you're going to want to stay tuned, 32:41 go to pathwaytohealthvolunteer.org 32:43 and find out where the next event is going to be. 32:45 So finally, we know that Jesus is coming soon. 32:47 Amen? 32:49 Jesus is coming soon and He wants us 32:50 to take His gospel to the world. 32:52 How does something like Pathway to Health 32:54 help us take the gospel 32:56 to the world in this generation? 32:58 You know, it's so beautiful 32:59 to be able to be Jesus' hands and feet. 33:01 And just like Jonathan mentioned, 33:03 when the community sees this, when the patients see this, 33:06 when the volunteers feel it, it changes our life, 33:10 it changes, it's not just from the inside, 33:12 but we have a special smile on our face 33:14 and others can recognize that. 33:16 I think it's just an awesome blessing 33:18 to be able to work together to share Jesus 33:20 with those who're in need. 33:21 Amen. To God be the glory. 33:23 We'll see you at the next Pathway to Health. 33:47 You've written what You want from me in stone 33:55 A refection of Your character alone 34:03 So I try to keep Your laws without regret 34:11 But I'm easily distracted and forget 34:16 So write them on my heart 34:20 Seal them in my mind 34:25 The beauty of Your law and grace combined 34:33 Remind me just how lovely 34:36 Your commandments are 34:40 And write them on the tablet of my heart 34:59 There's only one desire inside of me 35:06 To be all that You created me to be 35:13 And I know the only way that I can grow 35:20 It's for You to come inside and take control 35:25 Write them on my heart 35:29 Seal them in my mind 35:34 The beauty of Your law and grace combined 35:41 Remind me just how lovely 35:44 Your commandments are 35:48 And write them on the tablets of my heart 35:55 Your law reflects Your goodness 35:58 And the cross reveals Your grace 36:02 Love is the motivation 36:05 Behind your perfect ways 36:12 So write them on my heart 36:16 Seal them in my mind 36:21 The beauty of Your law and grace combined 36:28 Remind me just how lovely 36:31 Your commandments are 36:35 And write them on the tablets of my heart 36:40 So write them on my heart 36:44 Seal them in my mind 36:48 The beauty of Your law and grace combined 36:55 Remind me just how lovely 36:59 Your commandments are 37:02 And write them on the tablets of my heart 37:10 Remind me just how lovely 37:14 Your commandments are 37:18 And write them on the tablets 37:25 Of my heart 37:50 Amen! 37:53 Amen. Good evening, GYC. 37:57 This evening for our This I Believe section, 38:00 Pastor Taylor Hinkel who is a dear friend of mine 38:02 will be presenting 38:04 on the prophetic mission of the church, excuse me. 38:09 As he presents tonight, 38:11 I hope that it will touch your heart. 38:12 Have a good evening. 38:16 Why are you a Seventh-day Adventist? 38:20 And what difference does it really make? 38:23 These are the questions that were going through my mind 38:25 in a high school as a young person 38:27 trying to understand why am I in this church 38:30 and not one of the other thousands 38:32 of other Christian denominations around the world. 38:36 I believe there's other young people 38:37 looking for answers to these questions, 38:39 potentially some of them are here tonight. 38:41 And I want you, if you have your Bibles 38:43 to turn to the Book of Daniel 38:46 to see what the Lord has to share with us. 38:49 Now many of you're familiar with the Book of Daniel, 38:51 God gave many precious visions to the Prophet Daniel 38:55 to help him to understand 38:56 what would be coming in the latter days 38:58 in God's mission and purpose for His people. 39:03 You can look at the end of Daniel 8 39:05 and you understand that 39:06 after these visions Daniel was given, 39:08 oftentimes he never understood the message. 39:11 Daniel 8, "Daniel fall sick 39:13 and distressed at the end of a vision." 39:16 But I want you to turn with me to Daniel 12 tonight 39:19 and we see something very similar, 39:21 God's closing words to Daniel. 39:24 Daniel 12:4, it says, "But you Daniel, 39:29 shut up the words, 39:30 and seal the book, until," what? 39:34 "The time of the end. 39:35 Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase. 39:38 Then I, Daniel looked, and there stood two others 39:41 on the riverbank, and others on that river bank. 39:43 And one said to the man clothed in linen, 39:45 who was above the waters of the river, 39:47 'How long shall the fulfillments 39:49 of these wonders be?' 39:51 Then I heard the man clothed in linen, 39:53 who was above the river, 39:54 when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, 39:57 and swore by him who lives forever and ever, 40:01 that it shall be for time, times and half a times, 40:05 and when the power of the holy people 40:06 has been completely shattered, 40:08 all these things shall be finish. 40:11 Although, I heard I did not," what? 40:14 "Understand. Then I said, 'My Lord, 40:17 what shall be the end of these things?'" 40:21 God had entrusted many precious truths to Daniel, 40:24 but even the prophet himself didn't understand that. 40:27 But God told Daniel that these prophetic messages 40:30 would be sealed up until when? 40:33 Until the time of the end. 40:36 Then he goes on to explain that that time would be after times, 40:38 times, and half a time, and we understand 40:40 as good Bible students 40:42 that that time period would end in 1798. 40:47 And then the Book of Daniel would be what? 40:51 Opened. 40:54 God had a prophetic message to give to His people. 40:57 But it wasn't for the time of Daniel, 41:00 even though given to that prophet. 41:02 But Revelation 4 tells who these messages were for 41:07 and who the movement would be, 41:09 who would understand these precious truths 41:11 and bring them to us today. 41:13 Revelation 10 is the parallel of Daniel 12. 41:17 And turn with me there and notice the similar language 41:20 used here by the Prophet John. 41:24 Daniel 10:1, "I saw still another 41:30 mighty angel coming down from heaven 41:32 clothed with a cloud, 41:34 and a rainbow was on his head, and his face was like the sun, 41:37 and his feet were like pillars of fire. 41:40 He had in his hand open" what? 41:44 "He had in his hand a little book open. 41:49 And he set his right foot on the sea 41:51 and his left foot on the land, 41:52 and he cried with a loud voice as when a lion roars." 41:55 And skipping down to verse 5. 41:57 It says, "The angel who I saw standing on the sea 41:59 and the land raised up his" what? 42:02 "His hand to heaven and did" what? 42:04 "Swore by him who lives forever and ever." 42:06 Is this sounding familiar? 42:07 Is this sounding like Daniel 12? 42:10 "He swears by him who lives forever and ever 42:12 who created in heaven and earth 42:14 and the things that are in it. 42:17 And the sea and the things that are in it 42:18 that there should be" what? 42:22 "Time or delay no longer." 42:26 My friends, God told Daniel, 42:27 Daniel your book is not understood now, 42:30 there's a delay for its understanding, 42:32 but there is a time coming when there will be what? 42:36 Delay or time no longer. 42:37 There is a time with this book instead of being sealed up 42:40 will be open in the hand of God servants. 42:46 It's interesting that as we look through history, 42:48 once again prophecy was 100% correct. 42:52 Just as God said at the time of the end, 42:54 the books of Daniel and Revelation 42:56 would be understood. 42:57 That people would run to and fro 42:59 and that knowledge would be increased. 43:01 And as you search the history of the Christian church, 43:04 it's amazing to find that religious leaders 43:06 all around the world independent of one another, 43:09 began to have a renewed study of the prophecies of Daniel. 43:14 Among them were such people as Edward Irving in England, 43:17 Joseph Wolfe in India, 43:19 Manuel Lacunza in South America, 43:21 Johann Bengel in Germany, and one of our familiar ones, 43:24 William Miller in the United States. 43:26 And as these people began studying 43:29 the prophecies of Daniel, it renewed their hearts 43:33 with the hope of the Word of God. 43:35 And it was one of the sweetest experiences they ever had. 43:39 Notice how Revelation 12 goes on to describe this. 43:42 Revelation 12:8, "Then the voice 43:46 which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, 43:50 'Go take the little book 43:53 which is open in the angel's hand 43:55 who stands on the sea and on the earth.'" 43:57 So I went to the angel and said to him, 44:00 "Give me the little book." 44:02 And he said to me, "Take and eat it 44:04 and it will make your stomach bitter, 44:06 but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth." 44:10 Then I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it 44:13 and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth, 44:15 but when I had eaten it, my stomach became" what? 44:18 "God tells him that when they take, 44:21 there's a movement that starts to understand 44:23 the prophecies of Daniel. 44:25 And as they are unfolded to their understanding, 44:27 they begin to see the beauty of this message. 44:30 And it's such a sweet experience 44:32 as you read about the early Advent movement 44:35 in the beginning of the 1800s. 44:37 You see the hope that flooded their soul 44:39 as they realize that Jesus was coming soon. 44:43 My friends, as these people began to see this message, 44:46 they were inspired with the truths of God 44:48 and they began to sacrifice 44:50 and lay off anything that encumbered them. 44:54 Many people sacrificed all that they had 44:56 to give to the cause of God. 45:00 I can think of a man by the name of Charles Fitch 45:03 who was so inspired that Jesus was coming soon 45:05 when he met a group of believers 45:06 who wanted to be baptized in the fall of 1844, 45:10 he led them to Lake Erie and baptized them 45:12 in very cold water. 45:14 When he was done baptizing them he went back, 45:16 and as he was going back, 45:18 he found another group of these people, 45:19 believers who want to be baptized 45:21 before Jesus came. 45:22 So still wet and cold to the bone, 45:25 he goes back to Lake Erie to baptize this next group. 45:28 After finishing that, he was shivering 45:30 and his clothes are stuck to them, 45:32 he starts his wet walk home, and he meets yet a third group. 45:36 He goes back to the river and baptizes these people 45:39 because he believed that Jesus was coming soon, 45:42 that there was nothing more important 45:44 than finishing His work. 45:46 Charles Fitch soon caught pneumonia 45:48 and within a few days passed away. 45:51 Just a few short days 45:52 before Jesus was supposed to come. 45:55 But his wife wasn't worried, 45:57 she consoled her children by saying, 45:59 "We will see your father soon when Jesus comes." 46:03 They believed the sweet message of this book. 46:10 But it tells us that they would have a bitter disappointment. 46:13 October 22, 1844, the great disappointment 46:16 when they expected Jesus 46:18 to come the day came and it went. 46:25 And as a young Adventist, this used to embarrass me. 46:30 How did we get it wrong? Was that the end of our work? 46:34 If we were wrong in 1844, was that it? 46:38 Then I remember how the disciples 46:40 didn't get it all right either, 46:42 but yet the Lord still used them 46:44 to start His early New Testament church. 46:48 After going through this disappointment, 46:50 God was not done with the Advent movement. 46:53 Notice what He says in Revelation 10 46:57 in the closing verse, in verse 11. 47:01 "And he said to me after this great disappointment 47:06 'You must prophesy again 47:13 before many peoples, nations and tongues." 47:18 My friends, what is the mission 47:20 of the Seventh-day Adventist church? 47:22 It's the exact same mission that has always been 47:25 since the beginning of the movement. 47:28 Our job is not to just satisfy people 47:31 with smooth speeches. 47:35 But our job is to prepare a people 47:39 who will meet their loving Lord and Savior 47:41 when He comes again shortly. 47:44 My friends, I believe that God is calling us 47:46 as a prophetic movement to prophesy again. 47:50 We're told in Manuscript Release, 47:52 volume 19, page 41. 47:54 It says, "The usual subjects upon 47:56 which the ministers of nearly 47:58 all other denominations dwell will not move them. 48:02 We must proclaim our God given message to the world. 48:07 The world is to be warned 48:08 by the proclamation of this message. 48:10 If we blanket it, 48:12 if we hide our light under a bushel, 48:14 if we so circumscribe ourselves 48:17 that we cannot reach the people, 48:19 we are answerable to God for our failure 48:23 to warn the world. 48:26 What does this mean for you and I today? 48:30 My friends, you are not here by accident. 48:34 You didn't happen to end up 48:36 as a Seventh-day Adventist as a mistake. 48:39 But God foreknew, and He is calling you to a life 48:45 of joyful service to Him. 48:47 God is calling you to take this gospel of the kingdom 48:50 to all the world as a witness to all nations 48:53 so that the end can come. 48:55 Jesus is longing to come to redeem His people, 48:58 and He wants to use you and He wants to use me 49:02 to be able to accomplish it. 49:04 Gospel Workers, page 351. 49:08 "The work of God in this earth can never be finished 49:12 until the men and women 49:14 comprising our church membership, 49:17 rally to the work, and unite their efforts 49:20 with those of ministers and church officers." 49:24 My friends, if we want to see Jesus, 49:27 it's time for you and I to prophesy again. 49:32 This I believe. 49:39 I know that there are a lot of things 49:41 that really warms our hearts 49:43 and I'd like to tell you about GYC. 49:46 The way we give our appreciation here 49:49 is by saying amen. 49:51 Can you say amen? Amen. 49:53 Amen. 49:54 Because the moment you clap, there is a tendency for us 49:58 here on stage to bow down to take the glory. 50:01 Here in GYC, God takes the full glory. 50:04 Amen? Amen. 50:05 So let's practice that, whenever your heart 50:07 is overwhelmed say the word amen. 50:09 Amen! Amen. 50:11 And especially tonight I have three people here 50:14 who loves to brag about what God has done for them. 50:18 Oh, my dear friends, who among you here 50:20 has been to the prayer room, please raise your hand. 50:24 Oh, wow, there's a lot of people in the prayer room. 50:27 In this morning, we have experienced a foretaste 50:30 of what persecution would look like. 50:33 And it's so awesome. 50:36 It's so awesome to hear the prayers of this people, 50:41 I could not even put it into words, 50:42 I could not describe it, you just have to be there. 50:45 So this, my friend, here is Grant. 50:48 Grant, tell us about your experience 50:50 in a prayer room? 50:51 Okay, so last year, GYC, there were a group 50:55 of maybe like 10 or 12 people 50:56 from my home church in Fort Collins, Colorado 50:59 that we're going to GYC. 51:01 And I had planned to go home 51:02 for just to visit my family for a vacation. 51:05 And they're like, "No, you got to go to GYC." 51:07 And so I'm like, "All right, I'll give it a shot. 51:09 I'm unsure about all this." 51:10 And so I show up at GYC, we're going to the seminars 51:13 and then we see the prayer room at 6 a.m. 51:17 And so my friends were like, "We got to go, 51:19 we got to go to the prayer room." 51:20 And I'm sitting here like, "What? 51:22 6 a.m., no way." 51:24 So anyway the next day we just thought like, 51:29 we're at GYC, like I'm going to give this a shot, 51:31 let's get the full GYC experience. 51:34 And so the next morning we woke up at 6 a.m., 51:36 and we went to the united prayer. 51:38 And let me tell you, it was life changing to show up 51:42 and you hear like I have never prayed 51:44 for longer than like 5-10 minutes. 51:46 And I go and we're praying for longer than an hour, 51:48 several hours at a time, and to go and see people 51:51 that are just so on fire for God, 51:54 and so filled with the Holy Spirit 51:55 that we as a young adult group are like, 51:57 "Man, we need to experience this. 52:01 We need to experience the Holy Spirit like this." 52:03 And so, the next day we actually found a room 52:06 that was empty and we went together 52:08 as a group of young adults to pray together. 52:10 Just you? Yeah. Just us. 52:12 And so we prayed for, I don't know maybe like 52:16 over an hour and several hours, 52:19 and we asked for the Holy Spirit 52:21 to be there, and the Holy Spirit showed us, 52:22 you got to take this back to your home church, 52:25 you need this fire. 52:26 And it's real and it's an experience 52:28 that you can have. 52:29 And so, that's, I think that's the part 52:32 that we'll tell you about next, just the power, 52:33 the life changing power of going to the prayer room. 52:36 From somebody who does not want to get up. 52:38 Did not really want to get, 52:41 but did not regret the decision of getting up. 52:43 Now, Christine, tell me what happened after? 52:46 So we took this prayer back to Fort Collins. 52:50 We first thought like, oh, it's going to be the youth 52:51 that went to GYC liken a few of us. 52:53 And it'll probably gonna last maybe a couple months, 52:56 you know, because we can't possibly hold this on forever. 53:00 And so on our first week, 53:02 pretty much all of our young adults showed up. 53:03 And these are like graduate students, 53:05 young professionals. 53:06 And this is Sunday morning at 7 a.m. 53:08 We definitely had to be sleeping at that point. 53:10 And so apparently all of them showed up. 53:13 And they enjoyed the experience 53:15 and we kept on doing this for weeks, 53:17 pretty much until even now we've been meeting 53:20 Sunday morning at 7 a.m. 53:23 For the whole year? Pretty much the whole year. 53:25 Maybe a couple weeks we missed, but basically the whole year. 53:28 And prayers were getting answered left and right, 53:30 people were getting healed, people were getting jobs, 53:32 people getting blessed financially, 53:34 baptisms in our church, and it's amazing. 53:38 And not only this, but the transformation 53:41 in all of our lives have been so evident that the church 53:44 really wanted to be a part of it 53:45 'cause it was just a young adults 53:46 at the first part. 53:48 And so now we have three prayer sessions 53:49 going on at the church they're happening weekly. 53:51 Three prayer groups? 53:53 Three because not everybody can be at the first time, 53:56 at the times, at 7 a.m. on Sunday. 53:59 And so, now there are three and not only that 54:03 but a church down in Denver, 54:05 they're starting a prayer session as well 54:06 this coming New Year to have every week, 54:10 every Sabbath at their church to continue this. 54:13 And, man, it's amazing what God can do through prayer. 54:17 Amen. Praise God. 54:18 Amen? Amen. 54:20 That's why I'm so excited today. 54:22 Okay, Kevin, tell me what happened next? 54:24 Yeah, so prayer is cool because it changes you 54:26 and it changes your church 54:28 and it changes people outside your church. 54:30 And so our church is going to do 54:32 two evangelistic meetings this year. 54:34 And because of prayer we made that 54:36 a big part of our evangelistic efforts. 54:38 And we had many baptisms for a small church. 54:40 We had 11 people we baptized. 54:42 And not only that, they inspired us 54:44 to start small groups. 54:46 So we did Bible marking after each one, 54:48 and guess how many people have stopped attending 54:51 that were baptized. 54:53 Zero. 54:54 Yeah, so they all kept attending 54:57 and the cool thing is, one of them got baptized 54:59 there's this young lady, I think she's here, 55:01 she went to AFCOE actually. 55:03 And so, not only did she get on fire 55:05 but now our church we prayed about it 55:06 and our church is inspired to send her to AFCOE 55:08 to be a missionary and reach out. 55:11 So that's just something that's super, super cool, 55:13 it's like prayer changes us and our church 55:15 and those around as well. 55:16 And I heard, Kevin, 55:18 that you did not just stayed in Denver. 55:21 What did you do? 55:22 Yes, so the three of us and another young lady, 55:24 we went to a mission trip in Guyana with Maranatha. 55:28 And the cool thing about that was, 55:30 well, I guess not the cool thing, 55:32 but we're poor college students 55:34 that need a little bit of help 55:35 to get to our final destination, 55:38 and so we went 55:39 and took that to the Lord and we're like, 55:41 "God, please do You really want us to go on this?" 55:43 And we felt that God wanted us to go and serve, 55:45 you know, in another country and so we were praying 55:47 and we were praying about it. 55:49 And two weeks before we left, we still needed some money. 55:53 And so we prayed more. 55:56 And actually what happened, it was super cool 55:58 right before we left, we got enough money 56:00 that we could actually take Bibles 56:01 and donate it to the church there. 56:04 So that was something that was super cool 56:06 that God provided. 56:07 But then He provided more than we needed. 56:09 And that's the God that we serve. 56:11 Amen? 56:13 Amen! Amen. 56:15 My dear friends, isn't that exciting? 56:17 And who says that prayer is not exciting. 56:21 Oh, their church, their pastor could not believe like, 56:25 this is Grant, this is Christine. 56:27 And even their pastor now is waking up at 4 a.m. 56:31 to join the prayer 56:32 and to have a prayer life himself. 56:35 My dear friends, those of you 56:37 who have not visited the prayer room, 56:39 you still have two more mornings. 56:42 But don't miss tomorrow morning 56:43 because there's a special blessing 56:45 that is poured on Sabbath day. 56:48 Amen? Amen! 56:50 If you want to experience the experiences that they have, 56:53 that they have had, don't hold back. 56:56 The Lord is about to pour out His blessings. 56:58 When the Lord is about to pour out His blessings, 57:00 don't open your umbrellas, don't stay in your rooms, 57:06 get out of your rooms and partake of the blessing, 57:08 don't let the blessing pass you by, 57:10 my dear friends. 57:12 I'd like to leave you with this beautiful quote. 57:15 It says here from Manuscript Releases, 57:16 volume 4, "If you will give yourselves fully to Jesus, 57:21 He will create in you an intense desire," 57:24 what type of desire? 57:27 "For the friendship of God 57:28 intensify for the friendship of God. 57:30 And you will have deep longings to reflect the goodness 57:33 and the love of Jesus in your life 57:35 and character to your family 57:37 and to those who know not the love of God." 57:41 Friends, let's not hold back any longer. 57:45 Let's kneel down for a word of prayer. |
Revised 2018-05-30