Participants: Mark Finley
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR000618
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01:00 How great Thou art
01:11 How great Thou art 01:23 O Lord, my God, 01:30 When I in awesome wonder 01:36 Consider all the worlds 01:42 Thy Hands have made 01:47 I see the stars, 01:54 I hear the rolling thunder 02:01 Thy power throughout 02:05 The universe displayed 02:13 Then sings my soul 02:19 My Savior God, to Thee 02:25 How great Thou art 02:31 How great Thou art 02:37 Then sings my soul 02:43 My Savior God, to Thee 02:49 How great Thou art 02:55 How great Thou art 03:07 And when I think 03:14 That God His Son not sparing 03:21 Sent Him to die, 03:25 I scarce can take it in 03:33 That on the Cross 03:39 My burden gladly bearing 03:46 He bled and died 03:51 To take away my sin 04:07 When Christ shall come 04:12 With shout of acclamation 04:16 And take us home 04:18 What joy shall fill my heart 04:24 Then I shall bow 04:30 With humble adoration 04:39 And then proclaim, my God 04:45 How great Thou art 04:51 Then sings my soul 04:56 My Savior God, to Thee 05:03 How great Thou art 05:10 How great Thou art 05:16 Then sings my soul 05:21 My Savior God, to Thee 05:28 How great Thou art 05:35 How great Thou art 05:41 How great Thou art 05:46 How great Thou art 05:58 How great Thou art 06:17 Good morning and happy Sabbath. 06:19 Do you have your Bible this morning? 06:21 There's a prophecy tucked away in the last chapter 06:25 of the last book of the Old Testament 06:28 that I'd like to draw your attention to, 06:30 it's found in Malachi 4:5. 06:35 Malachi 4:5. 06:40 The Bible says, in an amazing prophecy 06:43 that is often overlooked that specifically speaks 06:46 of the last days of earth's history. 06:49 Malachi 4:5 says, 06:51 "Behold, I will send you Elijah, the prophet, 06:55 before the great and dreadful day of the Lord." 06:59 Behold, I will send you, Elijah, the prophet. 07:05 What does that mean? 07:07 Will there be a reincarnation of Elijah, 07:10 before the return of Jesus in our world? 07:13 Evidently not. 07:15 Because when Jesus commented on this prophecy 07:17 in Matthew Chapter 11, 07:19 He talked about John the Baptist. 07:21 And John the Baptist called to men and women 07:24 to get ready for the first coming of Jesus 07:26 as a reenactment of the Elijah message. 07:30 Jesus send John as a messenger to prepare the way 07:34 for the first coming of Christ 07:35 is a fulfillment of that prophecy. 07:38 But evidently, the prophecy is much more than John, 07:41 because it speaks more about the second coming of Christ 07:44 than the first coming of Christ. 07:46 So this is not a literal Elijah returning. 07:50 This prophecy speaks of men and women and youth 07:53 who proclaim God's last day message of obedience, 07:57 leading men and women back to loyalty to Christ, 07:59 and keeping God's commandments, 08:01 just before the coming of Jesus. 08:03 Just as Elijah challenged King Ahab, 08:06 and called men and women 08:08 from worshiping the prophets of Baal. 08:09 God will have today, 08:12 young people who stand firm for Him, 08:15 who are loyally committed to Him, 08:18 who give their all to Him 08:20 and make a commitment 08:21 to share His love with the world. 08:23 The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 08:25 along with ASI, has launched what has now come to be known 08:30 as the Elijah Project. 08:32 The desire is to mobilize tens of thousands 08:35 of young people around the world. 08:37 African young people to preach in Africa. 08:39 South American young people to preach in South America, 08:42 Indian young people to preach in India. 08:45 Young people from North America to preach here. 08:48 When we launched the Elijah Project 08:50 at ASI last year, 08:52 you'll recall that a good portion of the offering, 08:55 some $500,000 was given from ASI 08:59 to that Elijah Project. 09:01 Youth preaching, youth between 15 and 30 09:04 preaching around the world. 09:05 Young people younger have now gotten involved. 09:08 Young people 11 and 12 are preaching, 09:10 some as young as eight, I've heard a preaching. 09:13 They're using the DVD materials, 09:15 New Beginnings. 09:17 They're using the materials 09:18 produced by Carolina Conference, 09:21 ShareHim Global Evangelism with Elder Falkenberg. 09:24 Whatever materials they're using, 09:25 some are using picture rolls. 09:27 Some are using materials, simple sermon materials, 09:32 but these young people are preaching. 09:35 We at the General Conference went back 09:37 to the world divisions. 09:39 We went to the division presidents. 09:41 We encouraged them to involve their young people 09:44 in evangelism. 09:46 They set a goal to involve 600,000 young people 09:52 in evangelism, 600,000. 09:55 We set a goal for young people 09:57 to have 10,000 evangelistic meetings. 09:59 Currently, there are 20,000 evangelistic meetings 10:04 that either have been done or scheduled by young people. 10:07 These figures are staggering. 10:09 I used to think this was ASI, but at Sabbath morning 10:12 they must have went to bed late 10:13 because they were a little dead on that one. 10:15 Did you grasp it? 10:16 The figures go by us, 600,000 young people 10:21 between 15 and 30 10:23 committed to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 10:27 Twenty thousand evangelistic meetings, 10:29 we're just getting reports in. 10:30 When I left the General Conference, 10:32 I received a report from East Africa Division. 10:35 In East Africa, 10:36 we've already had 7,000 young people 10:39 involved in evangelistic meetings. 10:41 They've baptized 12,000 in East Africa. 10:45 Got another report, 600 meetings 10:47 held in South America by young people. 10:50 They've scheduled 7,000, but they just started 10:54 at 600 evangelistic meetings by young people, 10:56 these 600 meetings, they've baptized over 5,000. 11:00 Preliminary reports with just 20% of the meetings held 11:05 are 22,000 baptized so far. 11:09 These are young people, 11, 12, 13 years old, 11:12 15 years old preaching the gospel. 11:14 Let me introduce you 11:16 to some of these young people today. 11:18 Michael Catarama. 11:19 Michael, come and join me. 11:21 Michael, you had an amazing experience. 11:25 Your family was scheduled to go to Africa 11:27 with a Global Evangelism ShareHim program 11:30 with Pastor Falkenberg, 11:31 and I understand, Michael, that as your family was going, 11:36 you weren't planning to preach, is that correct? 11:38 No, I wasn't. 11:40 But one of the speakers we had a death in the family 11:42 and wasn't able to go. 11:44 So my parents were looking very frantically 11:46 for somebody to speak. 11:47 During Saturday evening worship, 11:49 my parents were praying. 11:50 And my mom was impressed that I would have to speak. 11:54 So she told me right after prayer 11:55 that I'm going to have to speak. 11:57 Your mom was impressed that you have to speak 11:59 after family worship? 12:01 Yeah. 12:02 I wish a lot of other moms would be impressed 12:04 that some of these folk would have to preach, 12:06 but that's another topic. 12:07 Now, Michael, when your mom said, 12:10 "Michael, I'm impressed that you should preach." 12:12 What did you say? "Mom, I'm not quite impressed. 12:15 I don't feel I should." How did you feel? 12:17 I said, "Sure." 12:18 You said sure? Yeah. 12:20 That you were going to preach? 12:21 Yeah. 12:23 Now, how much experience had you had in preaching before? 12:29 None. Zero. 12:30 You had never preached one sermon before? 12:32 Never. 12:34 When you went to Africa, and you arrived, 12:39 and the ASI team, 12:41 because this was a group of ASI leaders going to Africa, 12:44 to Kenya to preach. 12:46 When the ASI team announced that you would preach, 12:48 how did the pastors and conference president feel? 12:50 Were they pretty happy? 12:52 They said, "Praise the Lord, 12:53 God has anointed a young person." 12:54 No, they weren't too happy about it 12:56 and they also told me not to tell my age to anybody. 12:59 And that children weren't supposed to be seen 13:02 but not heard. 13:03 How can you be seen but not heard if you preach? 13:05 Exactly. That's kind of difficult. 13:07 Now, so you came to your site to preach? 13:10 Did you feel nervous? No. 13:12 You did not feel nervous? 13:13 Not at all. 13:15 Did you practice your sermons? 13:16 Yes, I did. 13:17 About three or four times a day. 13:19 And you had a manuscript with the sermons on it 13:21 that you could go over? 13:22 And did you have some graphics? 13:24 Yeah, I had graphics provided by Global Evangelism. 13:26 Okay, so you had the graphics, you had the sermon, 13:28 and you came to preach. 13:31 How many people are at your site 13:33 the first night? 13:34 The first night there are 450 people, 13:36 but they were cancelled. 13:38 The church pastors had cancelled the meetings 13:40 because they thought nobody was going to speak. 13:43 So they cancelled the meetings, but they, 13:46 kind of the villagers heard the word 13:48 and they began to gather and they're like 450 people. 13:52 Did you preach inside a church or outside 13:55 or where did you preach? 13:56 No, I was in a covered pulpit. 13:58 A covered pulpit, but I mean, what about the people, 14:00 where were they sitting? 14:01 They were sitting outside on the grass. 14:02 Outside on the grass. 14:04 So the first night, 450 people, how many the second night? 14:07 The second night there are about, 14:08 I'd say about a thousand. 14:10 A thousand. 14:11 Then how many people came eventually to the meetings? 14:13 My highest was about 5,000 people. 14:16 You went from 450 to 5,000 people. 14:19 Yeah. 14:21 Did you have any scary experiences 14:22 during the meetings? 14:23 Yes, there was one drunk guy. 14:25 He was the son of an elder, a deacon. 14:27 He came up and he was trying to tell me his theory. 14:29 Luckily, my dad kind of pulled him away. 14:31 Okay. Your dad escorted him off the platform. 14:33 Any other experiences? 14:35 There was another one 14:36 where there's another drunk guy, 14:37 he beat a lady into a coma right behind my pulpit 14:40 while I was preaching. 14:41 You're preaching 14:42 and he's beating a lady behind your pulpit? 14:44 Yes. 14:45 So you had to have that sense that the Holy Spirit 14:47 was being poured out upon you as you were preaching. 14:49 How did you feel when you were preaching? 14:52 Did you sense that God was doing something special 14:56 through your meetings? 14:57 Yes, I did. 14:59 I could tell that many people were coming to Jesus Christ 15:00 during the appeals. 15:02 When you made appeals 15:03 did you actually make some calls? 15:05 What kind of calls did you make? 15:06 I made some altar calls for them to come up, 15:08 and I also made some hand raising calls 15:10 and stand up calls. 15:12 And when you made your calls, 15:13 did anybody respond to those calls? 15:15 Yes, a lot of people responded for the baptism call 15:18 on every Saturday. 15:20 About 490 people came up. 15:22 Four hundred and ninety people came up to the call 15:26 that you were making, to come to Jesus. 15:29 You know, Isaiah 8:16 says, 15:33 "That the children in Israel will be signs and wonders 15:38 to this generation, 15:39 that the Holy Spirit will anoint them." 15:42 We have a short video clip of Michael 15:44 that I'd like you to see Michael preaching in Africa. 15:47 I'd like you to see the crowds. 15:49 And we have a video clip of his baptism. 15:51 This is a modern day wonder of fulfillment of Malachi 4:6 15:58 and a fulfillment of Isaiah 8:16, 16:01 that God will take common young men 16:04 and young women, boys and girls. 16:06 There'll be signs and wonders in this generation. 16:09 Let's look at the video clip at the screens right now. 16:12 So first accept you are a sinner. 16:18 Secondly, believe that Jesus had died for you. 16:26 Three, confess our sins to Jesus. 16:36 John 1:9 says, 16:40 "If we confess our sins... 16:49 Just to forgive us of our sins... 16:56 And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 17:12 There are many lines it says. 18:24 Did you notice Michael? 18:26 Nobody told him to do it. 18:27 But after he preached at the baptism, 18:31 when four, when, how many people were baptized? 18:34 About 491. 18:35 I mean, 291. 18:36 Two hundred ninety one were baptized. 18:39 Nobody told him, 18:40 but the Holy Spirit prompted him. 18:42 He went up to the baptismal pool. 18:44 And as each person was baptized, 18:46 he was there shaking their hand as the preacher 18:48 greeting them as they came up out of the water. 18:51 True preacher for Christ, 18:53 young man that God has raised up. 18:56 Now, Michael, what difference did this meeting make 19:02 in your own personal life? 19:03 This brought me a lot closer to God 19:05 and I learned a lot of truths about God 19:07 that I didn't know before. 19:08 And it brought me a lot closer to my family too. 19:10 When you get involved in evangelism, 19:13 it does something in your life. 19:15 You know, when you see Michael here, 19:18 he as a common ordinary 12 year old, 19:23 13 year old now, right? 19:25 When you preach how old were you though? 19:26 I was 12. You were 12 years old. 19:29 When you see Michael here, but when you hear him preach, 19:32 and he gets behind the pulpit, there is an unusual power. 19:36 The Holy Spirit anointed him. 19:38 Thank you so much, Michael. 19:40 I know the Lord is going to continue to bless you 19:42 as you reach out for Jesus and as you give your life 19:44 to Him continually. 19:46 He has something special for you. 19:47 Thank you so much. 19:54 Doreen Schmidt, one of our ASI officers. 19:56 Doreen, what is ASI doing to make it possible 20:01 for more young people in North America 20:02 to get involved right here in North America? 20:05 Well, Mark, we were so excited about our youth in ASI, 20:10 that what ASI decided to do was provide funding 20:13 for youth evangelism. 20:16 And what that means exactly is that 20:18 we have funding set aside 20:20 for any school or church that has youth 20:24 that wants to hold an evangelistic series. 20:27 The three criteria for this, 20:28 it must be held in North America. 20:31 They need to use the DVD New Beginnings as the program 20:35 and the speakers must be youth. 20:39 This is funding that's available to any church 20:42 or school. 20:43 And the idea behind it is that you get your conference 20:47 to pitch in a third, your local church a third, 20:50 and ASI will fund up to a third of the expenses 20:53 for the evangelistic series. 20:54 Why make the investment? 20:57 You know, our youth are our future. 20:58 We've heard that all our life and what we're finding 21:02 is not only are we able to reach the communities 21:05 in which the youth are going to, 21:07 but it's changing them. 21:09 You know, I've spoken to Michael, 21:11 he actually took my place in Africa 21:13 because I had a death in the family. 21:15 And one thing he told me is he said, 21:17 "Doreen, it changed my life. 21:19 It changed my heart. 21:21 It rooted me deeper in the Bible 21:23 and in the truth in the Bible, 21:25 and that's why we're doing this. 21:27 Doreen, how do you see this impacting the lives 21:30 of these youth in their future? 21:32 Obviously, Michael at 12 years old 21:34 preaches the gospel, 21:36 and it makes an impact on his life today, 21:38 but if time tarries and lasts, 21:41 how do you see these experiences in his youth 21:46 affecting him at 25, or 21, or 30? 21:51 Ultimately, the goal is, Mark, that we implant in these youth. 21:56 Not all will be preachers, probably some will 21:59 as a result of their experience in evangelism as a youth. 22:03 But what we want to do is implant in their hearts 22:06 and in their minds that regardless of what they do, 22:09 what profession and what line of work 22:11 that they do, 22:12 they can always be an evangelist. 22:15 They can always pick up the Word of God 22:17 and share it with someone else. 22:18 And we want that to permeate through the rest of their life. 22:22 Thank you so much. 22:23 When you see young people getting actively involved 22:26 in evangelism for Jesus, 22:28 these young people are preaching 22:30 in the Elijah Project, 22:31 we have set aside enormous resources. 22:35 ASI set aside $500,000 for the Elijah Project 22:38 around the world. 22:39 The General Conference match that with 500,000, 22:41 about 300,000 of donations came in. 22:44 So 1.3 million was set aside 22:46 by the General Conference and ASI. 22:48 Divisions began to match that. 22:50 We have now sent out over 10,000 DVDs 22:54 for youth evangelists. 22:55 We've sent out 5,000 picture rolls. 22:58 Many divisions have their own programs 23:00 and that is in addition 23:02 to what Doreen has just mentioned, 23:04 where ASI has a matching fund 23:06 for the North American Division. 23:08 Any young people that get involved in evangelism 23:11 or that use the DVDs, ASI sets aside one third. 23:15 So the church today is doing everything it knows how 23:20 to actively involve young people. 23:22 Many of these young people are being involved here 23:24 in the United States. 23:26 Some of them are being involved overseas. 23:29 Justin and Christina McNeilus. 23:31 Justin, Christina, you know, some have called me Justin 23:35 the father of satellite evangelism, 23:37 probably because I held the first satellite 23:39 meet back in 1995. 23:40 You may be the grandfather of youth evangelism, 23:43 you know, I've been interviewing you now 23:45 for about four or five years on youth evangelism. 23:47 Every year you holding a new series, and so, 23:49 you've held, how many series have you held now? 23:51 I've actually held four different series. 23:53 Four? 23:54 How old were you when you held your first series? 23:56 My first series I think, I was just about to turn 18. 23:58 I was a senior in academy. 24:00 You did it one better than Justin though. 24:02 How old were you, Christina, when you had your first series? 24:04 I was 15, about to be 16. 24:06 Fifteen, so one little younger than your brother. 24:09 Where have you held series now, Christina? 24:11 I've held a series in Michigan at Central Michigan University, 24:15 Albuquerque, New Mexico and Cambodia. 24:17 And, Justin, where were your series? 24:19 The first one was in Asheville, North Carolina. 24:21 And then I went to Columbus, Ohio, 24:24 and then I was with her in Cincinnati. 24:26 And then since then we went to Cambodia 24:28 and we preached a series overseas. 24:30 When did you hold your Cambodia series? 24:32 Just over Christmas, 24:33 our family decided we wanted something 24:36 a little more fulfilling for Christmas. 24:37 Instead of giving gifts to each other, 24:39 we decided we'd go on a family mission trip. 24:42 And we went into Cambodia 24:43 and we just preached a series there. 24:45 Christina, when many of us think of Cambodia, 24:48 we think of the killing fields. 24:50 Describe Cambodia a little bit for us? 24:52 What was it like during that killing field time? 24:55 Give us a little background to that, 24:57 and what's it like today? 24:59 Well, Cambodia is actually in Southeast Asia, 25:02 it's between Thailand and Vietnam. 25:03 A lot of people don't know where it is. 25:05 And like you said before there, 25:07 they think of the killing fields. 25:09 Now Cambodia had a lot of devastation to it. 25:11 Pol Pot was a leader there. 25:13 And basically he wanted to kill anybody 25:15 who was educated. 25:16 So if you wore glasses 25:18 or you had a pen in your pocket, 25:19 you were killed. 25:21 In fact, my translator, both our translator, 25:22 Pastor Lynn, his father, 25:24 he was telling me was killed because he had a chair 25:27 in his house. 25:28 So that's just the devastation that they went through. 25:30 And, but right now, Cambodians are happy 25:33 and they're smiling 25:35 and they're definitely ready for the Lord. 25:36 What is the Seventh-day Adventist Church like 25:38 in Cambodia today, Justin? 25:40 Well, it's interesting because just three years ago, 25:43 I think there was only 200 members in Phnom Penh 25:46 where we went to preach, 200 members 25:47 in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 25:49 and today through what ASI has done 25:51 in different supporting ministries inside Cambodia. 25:54 There's actually 3,000 25:56 or probably more than that by now 25:58 members inside of Cambodia. 26:00 Amen. 26:02 Christina, Global Mission pioneers 26:05 play quite a major role 26:07 in the growth of the church in Cambodia. 26:11 Tell us a little bit about these Global Mission pioneers 26:13 what are... 26:14 Who are they and tell us a little bit about 26:16 the preparation for your evangelistic series? 26:18 Well, earlier before 26:20 this evangelistic series happened, 26:21 my father went over and he did the DVD way program 26:25 and he did the training for them. 26:27 And so each of these Global Mission pioneers, 26:29 they received a DVD and a computer 26:32 so that way they could go into, 26:34 you know, individual homes 26:35 and give one on one Bible studies 26:37 or give group Bible studies. 26:38 So it was really exciting 26:40 because these Global Mission pioneers, 26:41 they are on fire for the Lord. 26:43 And they were giving three sets of Bible studies a day, 26:46 and it was just amazing. 26:47 It was so exciting. 26:49 Also, we met a man there 26:51 who he was a Global Mission pioneer 26:53 and he was giving Bible studies. 26:54 And one day he left to go out into the village 26:58 and when he came back, his house was burned down. 27:01 And he was just devastated. 27:03 And he was praying to the Lord, you know why, why me? 27:04 Why does this have to happen? 27:06 And there he was walking through the rubble 27:08 and just ashes. 27:09 And he kind of picked up this kind of board 27:12 that had been burned away. 27:13 And he saw the computer there and it was not touched. 27:16 It was completely in contact, 27:17 and the DVD desk was inside of it. 27:20 And it was amazing to see that 27:21 the Lord will work through situations 27:23 so that way His will be done. 27:26 These Global Mission pioneers are residents 27:30 or inhabitants of that country. 27:32 So they're Cambodians who the church employs 27:36 to do evangelism. 27:37 Many of them do great sacrifice. 27:39 I remember a story 27:40 where one of our Global Mission pioneers 27:43 was asked by one of our church leaders, 27:46 is there anything we can do to help you? 27:49 And he was little embarrassed, didn't want to say much 27:51 and kind of hung his head and then he lifted up his eyes 27:53 and he said, "Well, you know, my partner and I 27:56 only have one pair of shoes between us. 28:00 So we make a decision that day who's going to wear the shoes, 28:03 and the decision is based on who has to walk the furthest. 28:06 We have to work in a village about 8 or 10 miles from here. 28:09 If my partner is going to that village 28:11 to give Bible studies today, 28:12 because the road is rough and rocky, 28:14 he wears the shoes. 28:15 If I am going to that village, I wear the shoes." 28:18 Great, great sacrifice among these Global Mission pioneers. 28:22 But back to Cambodia, Justin, 28:24 tell us about your evangelistic meetings, 28:26 where were they held? 28:27 Well, we actually held them 28:29 in the capital city of Phnom Penh. 28:30 And it's interesting 28:32 because you can drive through the streets 28:33 and you can see all these temples 28:35 and it's very much a Buddhism country. 28:38 And so we went right into Phnom Penh, 28:41 we got buses, we bus these people in 28:44 from different places. 28:45 And we held it in a stadium that filled up to... 28:48 One night I remember there was 4,000 people 28:51 in the stadium that came out to hear the message of God. 28:54 What is the religious background, 28:56 Christina, of many of the people 28:58 in Phnom Penh? 29:00 They're Buddhists and there is some Hindus. 29:02 Buddhists and Hindus. 29:03 Now as these folk came to your meetings, 29:06 did you feel any disconnect? 29:09 Because here you come from North America, 29:12 you come from a Christian background, 29:14 but you have an audience that is significantly Buddhist, 29:17 does the message of Christ transcend culture? 29:20 Does it reach out and touch these people? 29:23 How did you feel? 29:24 Were they connecting with your preaching? 29:26 I think they really did, because that's one thing 29:28 I think God taught me the most when I was over there. 29:31 We have such a powerful message of Seventh-day Adventist 29:34 because I can remember preaching about the Sabbath 29:37 and I've preached only in United States 29:39 before this and so, prior to preaching this 29:41 I was thinking to myself, you know what? 29:43 This is going to be a hard message, 29:44 so I was praying before 29:46 and, you know, when you preach about this in the States, 29:48 people they see it as a hassle. 29:49 What I had to give up a whole day just for God. 29:52 And so, I remember, I got to the stadium 29:54 and I was nervous and I got to preach 29:56 about the Sabbath 29:58 and, you know, what are they going to think about this? 30:00 And I remember, I got through the sermon 30:02 and the Lord blessed me, and I went out to the back 30:05 and I tried to greet some of the people 30:07 and say goodbye to them. 30:08 And I would watch these people who have only known Buddhism, 30:11 who have never known a true God that loves them. 30:14 And I watched them after preaching about the Sabbath, 30:16 they would walk out and there was tears 30:19 streaming down their eyes. 30:20 And I just could not believe it, 30:21 I was confused. 30:23 I thought, maybe it was something I said, 30:25 or I had offended them in some way. 30:27 So I got my translator and I asked him, 30:29 I said, "You know what? 30:30 What is wrong with these people? 30:32 Why are they coming out with tears in their eyes?" 30:33 And he said, "It's just so simple, 30:35 you don't understand. 30:36 They've never had someone that loved them so much, 30:39 that they want to take one day out 30:40 to just spend with them." 30:42 And I could not believe how powerful 30:45 and sometimes in the States we just get caught up 30:47 with our day to day lives, 30:49 and we just need to remember that 30:50 we have a powerful message, 30:51 and anyone can preach it 30:53 and we can be witnesses for God. 30:56 God works not through our ability, 31:00 but through our availability. 31:01 He certainly uses our ability, 31:03 but if we make ourselves available to God. 31:06 Christina, what kind of challenges 31:07 did you face in that series? 31:09 Well, there is a little challenge 31:12 that both Justin and I face, we got sick. 31:14 You got sick? 31:15 And what took place? 31:18 I mean, you had to preach, you were sick. 31:20 Yes. 31:21 Well, it was amazing how even though we got sick, 31:23 you know, God worked out. 31:25 Obviously, the devil does not want, 31:26 you know, God's work going out. 31:28 But the nights that I got sick, 31:29 it was Justin's nights to preach, 31:31 and the nights that Justin got sick, 31:33 it was his night to preach. 31:35 And so it just was really amazing 31:36 to see how God worked it out. 31:38 And also I can remember Justin, 31:40 he hadn't eaten anything for two days. 31:42 And that night, it was just, 31:43 you could just see God's power in him 31:45 because he got up and he preached, 31:47 and he was walking all over the stage, 31:49 and he had this energy and enthusiasm 31:50 that was spilling into the congregation. 31:52 And he had nothing in his stomach. 31:54 It was just amazing to see God's power. 31:56 So that you were team preaching, 31:59 and most of the time when you were sick, 32:02 it was Justin's turn to preach. 32:04 When he was sick, it was your turn to preach. 32:06 The moral of that story is preach, 32:07 you don't get sick. 32:09 That's the moral of that story. 32:12 Justin, you know, you and Christina though 32:15 are kind of unusual young people, 32:17 you're pretty outgoing and pretty, 32:20 you know, you like being up front 32:22 and you enjoy it. 32:23 And Christina, she likes talking here and there, 32:25 you know and so forth. 32:29 Describe for me, do you ever get nervous before you speak? 32:33 I don't think I've ever been able to get up front 32:36 and not be nervous in the... 32:38 I despise getting up front to be honest. 32:41 But I know that God has led me to speak 32:43 and I know that how is God... 32:46 Sometimes you set up to do these evangelistic series, 32:48 you know, and we went as a family 32:50 because we were going to help Cambodia, 32:51 and we went there and many people were baptized 32:54 and many people found God, but I'm telling you what? 32:56 The one thing that sticks out that that does the most 33:00 is what it does to Christina and I 33:01 when we stand up front, 33:03 because we can go in and I can be throwing up 33:05 before I get up front, 33:07 and I can throw up as soon as I get up front. 33:09 But I'm telling you what? 33:10 When God speaks through me up, up front, it is not natural. 33:13 It's not something that's in me. 33:15 I'm an extremely shy person, my sister is the outgoing one. 33:18 All through life, I just let her do the talking, 33:20 and I listen. 33:21 But somehow when I get up front, 33:22 God is able to speak through me. 33:24 And I'm telling you, I'm no different 33:25 than any person sitting out here 33:27 or any person listening on TV 33:29 because God wants to speak through 33:31 each and every one of us here. 33:34 Christina, you and Justin respond differently to anxiety. 33:38 And I think it's helpful for people to know 33:40 that when you walk on the platform, 33:43 you too feel somewhat, Justin feels anxious at times, 33:47 and sometimes you've actually thrown up 33:48 before you went out to preach. 33:50 Many times. 33:51 How do you respond when you get nervous? 33:52 I get really scared and I actually cry sometimes 33:55 before I go out 33:57 'cause I don't want to do the same thing. 33:58 God, why do you have me out here? 34:00 And then I'm so nervous, 34:01 and I don't want to come out here. 34:03 But then once like Justin said, once you get out there, 34:05 it's just so amazing and so inspiring just to see 34:08 how he can speak through me. 34:10 I know that it's something that I can say, 34:12 I know, it's nothing that I can do, 34:13 but it's how God speaks to me. 34:15 It's just such an awesome experience that we can, 34:17 all can have and do. 34:19 What do you think some people don't get involved? 34:21 I mean, they want to, 34:22 here we have a whole group of ASI, folk. 34:24 And if I asked for raising of hands, 34:26 which I won't, and I said, 34:28 "Have you ever been involved in a Bible study ministry, 34:31 small group ministry," but if I went beyond that, 34:33 and said, "Have you ever held a lay evangelistic meeting?" 34:36 Probably there would be a few hands held up, 34:39 maybe in an ASI group like this. 34:41 Maybe 95% of these folk have already held 34:43 an evangelistic meeting before 34:45 but maybe there would be 3 or 4% that have not. 34:49 What do you think people don't get actually involved? 34:52 And what can they do about that? 34:55 I think it's just taking the initial step. 34:57 Sometimes you... 34:59 It's not human to want to get up 35:01 in front of people 35:02 because we're worried about 35:03 what people will think about us. 35:05 We're worried, especially as young people 35:06 about our image and what it can do to us 35:08 being up front. 35:10 But God calls us to be more than just Christians 35:12 who come to church each Sabbath. 35:14 Amen? 35:15 God calls us to tell others about our religion. 35:18 And it is true, I can assume that, 35:20 that maybe not everyone out there is born 35:24 and God has designed you to speak up front. 35:26 Maybe it is that you're a leader of small groups, 35:28 or maybe it is, but God has called us 35:31 and God wants us to take that step 35:33 and do more for Christianity and do more for God 35:36 because, friends, I'm telling you what? 35:38 It's time to go home. Amen? 35:39 And it's time that we tell everyone 35:42 on this earth about Jesus, 35:43 so we can have the next ASI Convention 35:46 in heaven. 35:47 And then, Christina, when you were preaching, 35:49 there were some flying creatures 35:51 and they were not angels 35:53 that tried to interrupt the meeting occasionally. 35:55 What were they? They were bats. 35:57 We had a little bat nest, I guess you could say 36:00 right above the podium, 36:01 so it's directly above here if this was in Cambodia. 36:04 And it's quite interesting, because they would, 36:05 you know, swoop down and then go up 36:07 and then, you know, fly all around. 36:09 And it was interesting definitely. 36:11 There's always some little interesting point 36:13 in evangelism. 36:14 Christina, what difference, 36:15 you know, you've preached to North American audiences, 36:18 what difference was the audience in Cambodia? 36:21 Well, I guess the culture there is a carry on a conversation 36:24 while you're speaking while the speaker speaking. 36:26 You know, here everyone should be quiet. 36:29 And now I got to say you being a good audience. 36:31 But while over there, it was quite noisy. 36:34 And so it was, it kind of difficult for me 36:37 to keep my thoughts 36:38 there and, you know, we have bats flying above 36:41 and it was, it was very distracting for me. 36:44 But it was so amazing because when we made the altar call, 36:48 and we invited the people to come forward, 36:50 they, we had, you know, 36:52 over hundreds and hundreds of people that came forward. 36:54 And that Sabbath, it was so exciting 36:56 because the first Sabbath that we were there, 36:57 I mean, the second Sabbath, says 36:59 the second Sabbath that we were there, 37:00 we got to see 850 people that were baptized. 37:03 Eight hundred and fifty baptized. 37:06 I mean, that is a miracle because, Justin, 37:08 you were saying just a few years before 37:10 how many Adventists were then? 37:12 Only 200 in Phnom Penh. 37:13 Only 200 and 850 baptized? 37:17 How do you feel that day of the baptism? 37:20 What kind of impressions do you have 37:22 when 850 people are baptized? 37:25 There's just nothing that that you could ever say 37:27 that describes that to know that, 37:29 that God has chose me as a young person 37:33 and has taken me from a shy person. 37:35 I was thinking about this last night 37:36 as I was listening to the ASI Youth for Jesus, 37:39 they got up and they gave their testimony 37:41 and I thought about my first time in Florida 37:43 where I was just a shy young person. 37:45 And those young people last night have no idea 37:48 what God is going to do through them. 37:49 And I just like to thank ASI for giving me that opportunity 37:52 and so many young people there that opportunity, 37:55 because you get to there 37:56 and you preach in this Buddhism place, 37:58 and you go to the stadium and you think why God? 38:01 Why have you chosen me? 38:03 You know, I have nothing to offer, 38:04 but God speaks through you. 38:06 And then you see what God has done. 38:08 And you see these people who you're going to one day 38:10 see again in heaven, 38:12 and we just have no idea what these meetings will do, 38:15 what ASI Youth for Jesus are going to do, 38:17 because there's gonna be so many more people in heaven 38:20 because of what the young people 38:21 have done in the church. 38:23 Christina, what difference has being involved 38:26 in evangelism made in your life personally? 38:29 I can honestly say 38:30 it's been a life changing experience for me, 38:33 I know that I will never be the same person again. 38:36 And it's just, it's such an exciting factor to see 38:39 how God can work through me and use me as a tool for Him. 38:42 And He's willing to work 38:43 through each and every one of you today. 38:45 Justin, Christina, thank you so much. 38:47 What a testimony. 38:49 What a testimony. 38:54 Christina's words echo in my own heart 38:56 when she said this for me 39:00 has been a life changing experience. 39:03 You know in the Bible, 39:05 in 1 Corinthians, the 12th Chapter, 39:08 and if you have your Bible, I invite you to take it. 39:12 And turn to 1 Corinthians Chapter 12. 39:15 In 1 Corinthians Chapter 12, 39:17 the Apostle Paul uses the illustration of the church 39:23 as being the body of Christ. 39:26 And in 1 Corinthians 12:11, 39:31 after describing the varied spiritual gifts 39:36 that God gives to members in the church. 39:40 In 1 Corinthians 12:11, it says, 39:44 "But one and the same spirit works all these things, 39:49 distributing to each one, that is each church member, 39:54 individually, as He wills. 39:57 Every Christian receives gifts 40:01 from God to witness." 40:04 God may not lead every one of us 40:06 onto the public platform to preach. 40:10 But I think God wants to lead a lot more of us 40:13 onto the public platform that are currently preaching. 40:16 Would you say amen to that? 40:18 God has something to do with every person. 40:21 But look, the Bible says, "God gives the spirit 40:24 to everyone individually as He wills." 40:27 That means God leads some people 40:29 to organize small groups and give Bible studies. 40:32 He leads some people to give out literature. 40:34 He leads some people to be involved 40:37 in public preaching. 40:40 He leads some people to share a loaf of bread, 40:45 a bowl of soup with their neighbor 40:46 and to pray with them. 40:48 He leads some into prayer ministries. 40:49 The question for you and for me today 40:54 is what gift has God given you 40:59 and what will you do different when you go home 41:02 from ASI Convention 41:04 that you were not doing before you came? 41:07 How will you use the gifts? 41:09 How will you use the abilities? 41:11 How will you use the imparted 41:15 gifts of the spirit in your own life 41:17 in the marketplace? 41:19 Do you sense that God is leading you 41:21 to do something more than you've yet done? 41:23 Not merely by giving your money. 41:27 If ASI becomes nearly a funding organization, 41:32 it has missed its soul. 41:35 It's missed its vision. 41:37 It's lost the sense of its identity. 41:40 The main role of ASI is to inspire members 41:46 to be actively involved in their marketplace 41:50 for Jesus Christ. 41:51 Let's seize the torch of ASI. 41:56 Let's listen to the voices of Michael, of Christina, 42:01 of Justin, 42:02 of 600,000 other young people around the world, 42:07 thousands of lay people that are preaching. 42:10 And let's say Jesus, I too want to be more involved 42:15 in sharing Your love than I have been. 42:18 So that Jesus will come very, very soon. 42:24 Amen. 42:27 Would you stand and sing with me tonight, 42:30 Spirit of the Living God, 42:33 fall a-fresh on me. 42:45 Spirit of the Living God 42:52 Fall a-fresh on me! 42:59 Spirit of the Living God 43:07 Fall a-fresh on me! 43:14 Break me, melt me 43:21 Mold me, fill me! 43:28 Spirit of the Living God 43:37 Fall a-fresh on me! 43:41 Once again. 43:44 Spirit of the Living God 43:52 Fall a-fresh on me! 43:59 Spirit of the Living God 44:07 Fall a-fresh on me! 44:14 Break me, melt me 44:22 Mold me, and fill me! 44:29 Spirit of the Living God 44:38 Fall a-fresh on me! 44:46 Let's pray together. 44:48 Father in heaven, we pray for Your spirits. 44:52 Send us Your spirit tonight. 44:55 Lord, do break us, melt us, 44:59 mold us into Your image 45:01 and fill us with Your loving character, 45:04 we pray in Jesus' name. 45:07 Amen. |
Revised 2020-04-14