¤
00:00:02.50\00:00:10.01
¤
00:00:10.11\00:00:17.28
>> ¤ I will sing of the mercies
00:00:21.52\00:00:24.32
of the Lord forever ¤
00:00:24.42\00:00:26.89
>> ¤ I will sing
00:00:26.99\00:00:28.29
>> ¤ I will sing
00:00:28.39\00:00:29.56
>> ¤ I will sing
00:00:29.66\00:00:30.99
>> ¤ I will sing
00:00:31.09\00:00:32.39
¤ I will sing of the mercies
00:00:32.49\00:00:34.96
of the Lord forever ¤
00:00:35.06\00:00:37.70
¤ I will sing of the mercies
00:00:37.80\00:00:40.14
of the Lord ¤
00:00:40.24\00:00:42.44
¤ With my mouth
00:00:42.54\00:00:45.21
will I make known ¤
00:00:45.31\00:00:48.28
¤ Your faithfulness
00:00:48.38\00:00:50.88
¤ Your faithfulness
00:00:50.98\00:00:53.38
¤ With my mouth
00:00:53.48\00:00:56.12
will I make known ¤
00:00:56.22\00:00:58.82
¤ Your faithfulness
00:00:58.92\00:01:00.92
to all generations ¤
00:01:01.02\00:01:05.59
¤ I will sing of the mercies
00:01:05.69\00:01:08.70
of the Lord forever ¤
00:01:08.80\00:01:11.23
>> ¤ I will sing
00:01:11.33\00:01:12.53
>> ¤ I will sing
00:01:12.63\00:01:13.84
>> ¤ I will sing
00:01:13.94\00:01:15.27
>> ¤ I will sing
00:01:15.37\00:01:16.74
>> ¤ I will sing of the mercies
00:01:16.84\00:01:19.17
of the Lord forever ¤
00:01:19.27\00:01:22.11
¤ I will sing of the mercies
00:01:22.21\00:01:24.41
of the Lord ¤
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>> ¤ All the hosts of the angels
00:01:27.55\00:01:30.12
sing God's praise forever ¤
00:01:30.22\00:01:32.85
¤ For the things he has done
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>> ¤ All the hosts of the angels
00:01:38.36\00:01:40.73
sing God's praise forever ¤
00:01:40.83\00:01:43.47
¤ All the hosts of the angels
00:01:43.57\00:01:45.90
sing God's praise ¤
00:01:46.00\00:01:48.54
¤ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
00:01:48.64\00:01:54.34
¤ Your faithfulness
00:01:54.44\00:01:57.05
¤ Your faithfulness
00:01:57.15\00:01:59.71
¤ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
00:01:59.81\00:02:05.49
¤ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
00:02:05.59\00:02:12.83
¤ I will sing of the mercies
00:02:12.93\00:02:15.63
of the Lord forever ¤
00:02:15.73\00:02:18.20
>> ¤ I will sing
00:02:18.30\00:02:19.57
>> ¤ I will sing
00:02:19.67\00:02:20.84
>> ¤ I will sing
00:02:20.94\00:02:22.27
>> ¤ I will sing
00:02:22.37\00:02:23.84
>> ¤ I will sing of the mercies
00:02:23.94\00:02:26.31
of the Lord forever ¤
00:02:26.41\00:02:28.98
¤ I will sing of the mercies
00:02:29.08\00:02:31.78
of the Lord ¤
00:02:31.88\00:02:35.32
>> Let's stand and pray
00:02:44.53\00:02:45.46
together.
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Dear Father...
00:02:51.30\00:02:55.34
thank you for inviting a call
00:02:55.44\00:02:58.94
to each one individually.
00:02:59.04\00:03:01.88
We're here.
00:03:01.98\00:03:04.15
Thank you for being a God
00:03:04.38\00:03:08.25
who's not afraid to come low.
00:03:08.35\00:03:11.29
And, Lord, I pray
00:03:11.39\00:03:12.32
that our hearts would open
00:03:12.42\00:03:15.52
our garage doors
00:03:15.62\00:03:18.19
and invite all of you inside.
00:03:18.29\00:03:21.06
Lord, be with those
00:03:21.16\00:03:22.13
who are struggling.
00:03:22.23\00:03:23.90
Be with those who are hurting.
00:03:24.00\00:03:25.20
Be with those
00:03:25.30\00:03:26.00
who cried this week.
00:03:26.10\00:03:27.80
Be with those who are confused.
00:03:27.90\00:03:29.47
Be with those who are hurting.
00:03:29.57\00:03:31.07
Lord, and we want to thank you
00:03:31.17\00:03:32.71
for the joys that you give us.
00:03:32.81\00:03:35.98
Mingle the human with the divine
00:03:36.08\00:03:39.48
in this worship service.
00:03:39.58\00:03:40.98
We pray this in Jesus' name.
00:03:41.08\00:03:42.55
Amen.
00:03:42.65\00:03:43.42
>> Amen.
00:03:43.52\00:03:44.95
[ "Great is Thy Faithfulness"
00:03:45.05\00:03:46.99
begins ]
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¤
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¤
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¤
00:04:07.84\00:04:13.52
[ "Hosanna" begins ]
00:06:43.83\00:06:45.93
¤
00:06:46.03\00:06:50.01
[ "Above All" begins ]
00:10:22.42\00:10:24.75
¤
00:10:24.85\00:10:34.56
¤
00:10:34.63\00:10:44.54
¤
00:10:44.64\00:10:45.94
[ "I Hear the Savior Say"
00:13:45.72\00:13:47.29
begins ]
00:13:47.39\00:13:49.26
¤
00:13:49.36\00:13:54.10
¤
00:16:36.12\00:16:42.10
>> In the blink of an eye,
00:16:46.47\00:16:48.54
this sermon series
00:16:48.64\00:16:49.54
has been completed.
00:16:49.64\00:16:54.38
It's not quite true.
00:16:54.48\00:16:56.44
This is part seven of our series
00:16:56.54\00:16:58.58
entitled ChurchWorks.
00:16:58.68\00:17:00.15
And, indeed, this is the final
00:17:00.25\00:17:01.45
installment here today.
00:17:01.55\00:17:03.12
It has not gone by
00:17:03.22\00:17:04.22
in the blink of an eye.
00:17:04.32\00:17:05.22
In fact, if you weren't here in
00:17:05.32\00:17:06.09
January, you might not
00:17:06.19\00:17:07.46
have made the beginning,
00:17:07.56\00:17:09.12
the part one installation.
00:17:09.22\00:17:10.86
So let me tell you
00:17:10.96\00:17:12.39
where we have been.
00:17:12.49\00:17:13.73
Let's take a brief tour
00:17:13.83\00:17:15.10
of this series.
00:17:15.20\00:17:17.63
In part one, we took a look at
00:17:17.73\00:17:20.34
how the gates of Hell
00:17:20.44\00:17:21.40
shall fall, and we looked at
00:17:21.50\00:17:23.27
a foundational fact
00:17:23.37\00:17:24.61
of the Christian's life,
00:17:24.71\00:17:25.91
and that is this -- that God's
00:17:26.01\00:17:27.84
church is to be organized.
00:17:27.94\00:17:30.75
Now, for some people,
00:17:30.85\00:17:31.55
that's not an earth-shattering
00:17:31.65\00:17:32.88
announcement.
00:17:32.98\00:17:33.78
For others, it is because,
00:17:33.88\00:17:34.78
too often, when we do something
00:17:34.88\00:17:36.18
for God, we think,
00:17:36.28\00:17:37.49
"Well, it's just for God.
00:17:37.59\00:17:38.49
He'll forgive me,
00:17:38.59\00:17:39.19
so it can be sloppy."
00:17:39.29\00:17:41.39
The truth is,
00:17:41.49\00:17:42.19
Jesus gave his all for us.
00:17:42.29\00:17:43.49
And as we just finished
00:17:43.59\00:17:44.36
singing there,
00:17:44.46\00:17:45.19
we need to give our all for him,
00:17:45.29\00:17:46.16
give him our best
00:17:46.26\00:17:47.03
because it is for God.
00:17:47.13\00:17:49.03
And part of that means
00:17:49.13\00:17:50.07
that His church is
00:17:50.17\00:17:50.93
to be organized.
00:17:51.03\00:17:53.10
Not hyper organized,
00:17:53.20\00:17:54.64
not organized
00:17:54.74\00:17:55.97
like a bureaucratic structure
00:17:56.07\00:17:57.57
overflowing with red tape, no,
00:17:57.67\00:17:59.14
but instead organized as simply
00:17:59.24\00:18:01.58
and effectively as possible
00:18:01.68\00:18:03.21
to achieve our mission.
00:18:03.31\00:18:05.45
You know, such gospel order
00:18:05.55\00:18:06.65
leads to a number of benefits.
00:18:06.75\00:18:08.25
It keeps the main thing
00:18:08.35\00:18:09.75
the main thing.
00:18:09.85\00:18:11.49
Our mission is to share
00:18:11.59\00:18:12.42
Jesus Christ in the context
00:18:12.52\00:18:13.62
of the three angels'
00:18:13.72\00:18:14.36
messages with the world,
00:18:14.46\00:18:15.82
and good organization keeps
00:18:15.92\00:18:17.43
that front and center for us.
00:18:17.53\00:18:20.03
It makes mission fulfillment --
00:18:20.13\00:18:21.26
good organization makes
00:18:21.36\00:18:22.26
mission fulfillment
00:18:22.36\00:18:23.26
the responsibility of the many
00:18:23.37\00:18:25.30
and not just the few.
00:18:25.40\00:18:26.74
And it does that
00:18:26.84\00:18:28.24
by distributing real power
00:18:28.34\00:18:29.80
throughout the church.
00:18:29.90\00:18:31.81
Good organization,
00:18:31.91\00:18:32.67
furthermore, reduces
00:18:32.77\00:18:33.81
or eliminates a church's
00:18:33.91\00:18:35.08
weaknesses,
00:18:35.18\00:18:36.41
and it recognizes the giftedness
00:18:36.51\00:18:38.48
of individual members
00:18:38.58\00:18:39.75
and deploys them
00:18:39.85\00:18:40.82
into ministry accordingly.
00:18:40.92\00:18:42.72
Spectatorship can thus
00:18:42.82\00:18:43.99
be dramatically reduced,
00:18:44.09\00:18:45.55
and member fulfillment and
00:18:45.65\00:18:46.99
fruitfulness can skyrocket.
00:18:47.09\00:18:48.79
That, in large part,
00:18:48.89\00:18:51.56
is how the gates of hell
00:18:51.66\00:18:52.86
will finally fall.
00:18:52.96\00:18:54.46
God's people, in God's church,
00:18:54.56\00:18:56.53
organized, working together
00:18:56.63\00:18:57.70
as one person,
00:18:57.80\00:18:59.27
taking the battering ram
00:18:59.37\00:19:00.77
of the gospel to the fortresses
00:19:00.87\00:19:02.24
of evil and overcoming them.
00:19:02.34\00:19:06.78
In part two, we looked carefully
00:19:06.88\00:19:08.98
at the Great Omission.
00:19:09.08\00:19:11.41
There we started by recognizing
00:19:11.51\00:19:12.85
that too many churches are
00:19:12.95\00:19:13.82
content to simply baptize
00:19:13.92\00:19:15.12
someone, and then they omit
00:19:15.22\00:19:16.79
to help that person
00:19:16.89\00:19:17.72
become what actually
00:19:17.82\00:19:18.85
Jesus intends them to be,
00:19:18.95\00:19:20.22
and that is a genuine,
00:19:20.32\00:19:21.62
mature disciple of Jesus.
00:19:21.72\00:19:24.26
Now, what is that?
00:19:24.36\00:19:25.56
What is a genuine,
00:19:25.66\00:19:26.46
mature disciple of Jesus?
00:19:26.56\00:19:27.60
Well, we went through
00:19:27.73\00:19:28.50
the New Testament, and we looked
00:19:28.60\00:19:29.43
at a number of texts there.
00:19:29.53\00:19:30.77
We discovered there are
00:19:30.87\00:19:31.93
at least eight characteristics
00:19:32.03\00:19:33.27
of a genuine,
00:19:33.37\00:19:34.27
mature disciple of Jesus,
00:19:34.37\00:19:35.67
and we summed it up
00:19:35.77\00:19:36.50
with this statement.
00:19:36.60\00:19:37.41
I'd like to be that kind of
00:20:04.17\00:20:05.03
disciple, wouldn't you?
00:20:05.13\00:20:06.50
I mean, this is the journey
00:20:06.60\00:20:07.54
that Jesus calls
00:20:07.64\00:20:08.74
every single Christian to be on.
00:20:08.84\00:20:10.97
And no wonder -- no wonder --
00:20:11.07\00:20:13.78
simple, effective organization
00:20:13.88\00:20:16.01
is required in God's church
00:20:16.11\00:20:17.71
because these kinds of disciples
00:20:17.81\00:20:19.85
don't just happen by accident.
00:20:19.95\00:20:22.25
In part three,
00:20:22.35\00:20:23.99
we opened up a thoroughly
00:20:24.09\00:20:25.25
provocative topic.
00:20:25.35\00:20:26.96
We talked about the need
00:20:27.06\00:20:27.96
for ministers to rule,
00:20:28.06\00:20:29.56
and we talked
00:20:29.66\00:20:30.53
about settled pastors.
00:20:30.63\00:20:33.19
Settled pastors are what
00:20:33.29\00:20:34.30
most Christian churches
00:20:34.40\00:20:35.40
in the global West, including
00:20:35.50\00:20:36.20
Adventist churches, have today,
00:20:36.30\00:20:37.60
and in case you weren't here,
00:20:37.70\00:20:38.40
let me just remind you
00:20:38.50\00:20:39.17
the definition.
00:20:39.27\00:20:40.30
A settled pastor is one
00:20:40.40\00:20:41.84
who usually stays 3 to 7 years
00:20:41.94\00:20:43.41
over a given church.
00:20:43.51\00:20:44.41
They do most of the preaching
00:20:44.51\00:20:45.21
and the teaching,
00:20:45.31\00:20:46.24
the marrying and the burying.
00:20:46.34\00:20:47.24
They chair committees,
00:20:47.34\00:20:48.04
they put out fires,
00:20:48.14\00:20:49.04
and 3 to 7 years later, they
00:20:49.14\00:20:50.38
move to another church,
00:20:50.48\00:20:51.61
and they do it all over again.
00:20:51.71\00:20:53.75
Almost every church
00:20:53.85\00:20:54.95
in the West, Adventist or
00:20:55.05\00:20:56.32
otherwise, has settled pastors.
00:20:56.42\00:20:57.95
And yet, shockingly,
00:20:58.05\00:21:00.06
the settled pastor role is
00:21:00.16\00:21:01.46
not found anywhere
00:21:01.56\00:21:02.99
in the New Testament.
00:21:03.09\00:21:04.16
It is completely absent from it.
00:21:04.26\00:21:07.73
And because of that absence,
00:21:07.83\00:21:09.43
early Adventism,
00:21:09.53\00:21:10.60
we learned for the first 60
00:21:10.70\00:21:11.60
to 70 years of its existence
00:21:11.70\00:21:12.80
also did
00:21:12.90\00:21:13.97
not have settled pastors.
00:21:14.07\00:21:16.74
Indeed, as the title
00:21:16.84\00:21:17.87
of part three said,
00:21:17.97\00:21:18.94
"Ministers are to rule
00:21:19.04\00:21:20.51
in God's church."
00:21:20.61\00:21:22.94
But we discover those ministers
00:21:23.04\00:21:24.35
are not settled pastors.
00:21:24.45\00:21:26.95
Instead, the New Testament
00:21:27.05\00:21:27.95
ideal is a plurality
00:21:28.05\00:21:29.62
of every member ministry led
00:21:29.72\00:21:31.25
by elders within
00:21:31.35\00:21:32.62
the local church and overseen
00:21:32.72\00:21:34.19
by the apostolic ministry
00:21:34.29\00:21:35.66
outside of the local church
00:21:35.76\00:21:37.29
an apostolic ministry
00:21:37.39\00:21:38.59
that has real authority
00:21:38.69\00:21:39.86
over the local church.
00:21:39.96\00:21:42.00
And when this arrangement is
00:21:42.10\00:21:43.40
followed, spectatorship tends
00:21:43.50\00:21:45.20
to drop dramatically, member
00:21:45.30\00:21:46.80
ministry tends to explode,
00:21:46.90\00:21:48.80
and new churches are planted
00:21:48.90\00:21:50.27
with marvelous regularity.
00:21:50.37\00:21:52.64
It's almost as if God knew
00:21:52.74\00:21:54.18
what he was doing
00:21:54.28\00:21:55.18
when he organized his church.
00:21:55.28\00:21:58.48
In part four,
00:21:58.58\00:22:00.65
we looked carefully
00:22:00.75\00:22:03.15
at Adventist history,
00:22:03.25\00:22:04.95
specifically at
00:22:05.05\00:22:06.05
how and, most importantly,
00:22:06.15\00:22:07.29
why our pioneers did not settle
00:22:07.39\00:22:08.99
pastors over churches.
00:22:09.09\00:22:10.43
Now, this was quite a journey.
00:22:10.53\00:22:11.49
If you were here that Sabbath,
00:22:11.59\00:22:12.49
you may recall, for those of you
00:22:12.59\00:22:14.00
that were unaware of our history
00:22:14.10\00:22:15.40
in regard to settled pastors
00:22:15.50\00:22:16.63
and not having them, I mean,
00:22:16.73\00:22:18.00
afterwards some of you
00:22:18.10\00:22:19.20
had to take a number of Tylenol,
00:22:19.30\00:22:20.47
a cool sip of lemonade,
00:22:20.57\00:22:21.40
fanning yourself
00:22:21.50\00:22:22.37
to come back down to earth.
00:22:22.47\00:22:23.27
I mean, it was it was
00:22:23.37\00:22:23.94
quite a moment there.
00:22:24.04\00:22:26.14
We also discovered, though,
00:22:26.24\00:22:28.21
that even in early Adventism,
00:22:28.31\00:22:30.01
for all of its success
00:22:30.11\00:22:31.61
without settled pastors,
00:22:31.71\00:22:33.08
there eventually came a call
00:22:33.18\00:22:34.75
to move towards
00:22:34.85\00:22:35.85
settled pastorates,
00:22:35.95\00:22:37.75
and it was in that context
00:22:37.85\00:22:38.79
that I shared with you
00:22:38.89\00:22:39.65
a pivotal quote
00:22:39.75\00:22:40.79
from A.G. Daniels.
00:22:40.89\00:22:42.42
A.G. Daniels was
00:22:42.52\00:22:43.49
General Conference president.
00:22:43.59\00:22:44.29
In 1922, A.G. Daniels
00:22:44.39\00:22:46.33
was voted out of office,
00:22:46.43\00:22:47.23
but not anything
00:22:47.30\00:22:48.06
to do relating to
00:22:48.16\00:22:48.86
settled pastors,
00:22:48.96\00:22:49.70
but he and Ellen White
00:22:49.80\00:22:51.50
were the strongest opponents
00:22:51.60\00:22:53.74
of settling pastors
00:22:53.84\00:22:54.80
over our churches.
00:22:54.90\00:22:56.50
And in 1912, he said this
00:22:56.60\00:22:58.34
at a ministerial
00:22:58.44\00:22:59.27
institute in Los Angeles.
00:22:59.37\00:23:01.01
He said...
00:23:01.11\00:23:02.24
And then I summarized it
00:23:45.99\00:23:46.82
with words of my own.
00:23:46.92\00:23:48.02
This was and remains a big deal.
00:24:32.83\00:24:35.70
The Adventist West has gotten
00:24:35.80\00:24:36.94
itself into a pickle.
00:24:37.04\00:24:38.77
Settled pastors rarely lead
00:24:38.87\00:24:40.54
to widespread, sustained growth,
00:24:40.64\00:24:42.41
and they remain very expensive.
00:24:42.51\00:24:45.11
The role of the settled pastor
00:24:45.21\00:24:46.45
tends to stifle church planting
00:24:46.55\00:24:47.38
and create
00:24:47.48\00:24:48.28
spectators in the pews,
00:24:48.38\00:24:50.02
and that is why part four
00:24:50.12\00:24:51.29
ended with an appeal
00:24:51.39\00:24:53.32
of what God is looking for.
00:24:53.42\00:24:54.69
God is looking for
00:24:54.79\00:24:55.89
one final revolution
00:24:55.99\00:24:57.79
in His church,
00:24:57.89\00:24:59.86
a revolution that sees a return
00:24:59.96\00:25:01.73
to lay ministry as the rule
00:25:01.83\00:25:03.20
rather than the exception.
00:25:03.30\00:25:04.83
A revolution that sees a return
00:25:04.93\00:25:06.27
to ministers as
00:25:06.37\00:25:07.40
primarily being church planters.
00:25:07.50\00:25:09.50
A revolution
00:25:09.60\00:25:11.04
that the Holy Spirit can use to
00:25:11.14\00:25:12.64
actually achieve what now,
00:25:12.74\00:25:13.94
in the West, at least,
00:25:14.04\00:25:15.01
seems impossible.
00:25:15.11\00:25:16.51
The finishing of the work
00:25:16.61\00:25:18.28
of reaching the world
00:25:18.38\00:25:19.25
with the good news of
00:25:19.35\00:25:19.88
Jesus Christ
00:25:19.98\00:25:20.88
as found in his three angels.
00:25:20.98\00:25:24.02
And even as we accept
00:25:24.12\00:25:25.52
that early Adventism
00:25:25.62\00:25:26.86
appropriately made exceptions
00:25:26.96\00:25:28.06
at large institutions
00:25:28.16\00:25:29.19
like this one right here
00:25:29.29\00:25:30.49
and settled pastors there
00:25:30.59\00:25:31.69
out of necessity,
00:25:31.79\00:25:33.23
we must nonetheless do our best
00:25:33.33\00:25:35.00
to approximate
00:25:35.10\00:25:36.70
the New Testament ideals
00:25:36.80\00:25:38.33
of lay leadership, lay ministry,
00:25:38.43\00:25:39.97
and church planting
00:25:40.07\00:25:40.94
to the absolute
00:25:41.04\00:25:41.84
best of our ability.
00:25:41.94\00:25:44.07
Nothing less.
00:25:44.17\00:25:45.01
Nothing else will do.
00:25:45.11\00:25:49.18
Which brought us to part five.
00:25:49.28\00:25:52.05
One of the reasons
00:25:52.15\00:25:53.45
that the New Testament church
00:25:53.55\00:25:54.32
in early Adventism
00:25:54.42\00:25:55.42
could do so well without
00:25:55.52\00:25:56.58
settled pastors is
00:25:56.69\00:25:58.22
because they experienced
00:25:58.32\00:25:59.35
a much higher level
00:25:59.45\00:26:00.52
of genuine Christian community
00:26:00.62\00:26:01.89
within their local churches.
00:26:01.99\00:26:03.53
You'll recall, we pointed out
00:26:03.63\00:26:05.26
that the success of
00:26:05.36\00:26:06.46
both the New Testament Church
00:26:06.56\00:26:08.06
and of early Adventism
00:26:08.16\00:26:09.46
for those first 60 to 70 years,
00:26:09.56\00:26:10.73
I mean, it defies explanation,
00:26:10.83\00:26:12.37
according to current norms.
00:26:12.47\00:26:13.84
By modern standards,
00:26:13.94\00:26:15.04
you have to have
00:26:15.14\00:26:15.87
a settled pastor.
00:26:15.97\00:26:16.77
Otherwise, you're not even a
00:26:16.87\00:26:17.97
church, almost, in some places.
00:26:18.07\00:26:20.31
And yet those churches thrived.
00:26:20.41\00:26:22.74
How did they do it?
00:26:22.84\00:26:25.38
Part of the answer --
00:26:25.48\00:26:26.25
definitely a big part
00:26:26.35\00:26:27.28
of the answer --
00:26:27.38\00:26:28.42
is that they had excellent,
00:26:28.52\00:26:29.55
genuine Christian community
00:26:29.65\00:26:30.92
in their local churches.
00:26:31.02\00:26:32.92
Now, we took a long look
00:26:33.02\00:26:34.39
in the New Testament
00:26:34.49\00:26:35.49
to see what this kind of
00:26:35.59\00:26:36.42
community looked like,
00:26:36.52\00:26:37.26
and we found it had
00:26:37.36\00:26:38.29
at least four characteristics.
00:26:38.39\00:26:40.56
Genuine Christian community has
00:26:40.66\00:26:42.50
Christ at its center,
00:26:42.60\00:26:43.80
not a charismatic preacher,
00:26:43.90\00:26:45.30
not another idea or a goal
00:26:45.40\00:26:47.30
or a cause, nothing like that.
00:26:47.40\00:26:48.20
Jesus and Jesus alone
00:26:48.30\00:26:49.40
is at its center.
00:26:49.50\00:26:50.84
Genuine Christian community is
00:26:50.94\00:26:51.84
where members
00:26:51.94\00:26:52.84
sacrificially care for one
00:26:52.94\00:26:54.18
another as Jesus would
00:26:54.28\00:26:55.48
if he were in their place.
00:26:55.58\00:26:56.95
Genuine Christian community is
00:26:57.05\00:26:58.05
where members thrive
00:26:58.15\00:26:59.15
through appropriate
00:26:59.25\00:27:00.18
accountability to one another.
00:27:00.28\00:27:02.45
And done correctly, it's home.
00:27:02.55\00:27:04.25
It's a taste of heaven to come.
00:27:04.35\00:27:06.96
You know, this kind of
00:27:07.06\00:27:07.96
community is so good.
00:27:08.06\00:27:10.09
Not only were we human beings,
00:27:10.19\00:27:12.13
as we discovered in
00:27:12.23\00:27:13.03
the first part of Genesis,
00:27:13.13\00:27:14.10
created specifically
00:27:14.20\00:27:15.56
for this kind of community.
00:27:15.66\00:27:17.33
But such community enables us
00:27:17.43\00:27:19.07
to find a deeper relationship
00:27:19.17\00:27:20.54
with Jesus and more fuel
00:27:20.64\00:27:23.10
to help us help others
00:27:23.20\00:27:25.37
to have a relationship
00:27:25.47\00:27:26.47
with Jesus, as well.
00:27:26.57\00:27:28.91
Which led to a question.
00:27:29.01\00:27:30.98
In the absence
00:27:31.08\00:27:31.85
of settled pastors,
00:27:31.95\00:27:33.21
how specifically did
00:27:33.31\00:27:34.48
early Adventism achieve
00:27:34.58\00:27:35.82
this kind of community?
00:27:35.92\00:27:37.45
And in part six,
00:27:37.55\00:27:38.89
we found the answer.
00:27:38.99\00:27:41.16
They did it by thinking small.
00:27:41.26\00:27:44.59
Oh, they thought big, too,
00:27:44.69\00:27:45.49
there's no doubt about it,
00:27:45.59\00:27:46.43
but they also thought small.
00:27:46.53\00:27:48.16
Small group ministry was
00:27:48.26\00:27:49.46
integral to the New Testament
00:27:49.56\00:27:50.57
church, and it was
00:27:50.67\00:27:51.50
to the early Adventist church,
00:27:51.60\00:27:52.37
as well,
00:27:52.47\00:27:53.20
primarily through something
00:27:53.30\00:27:54.30
called the social meeting.
00:27:54.40\00:27:56.34
We looked extensively
00:27:56.44\00:27:57.31
at the New Testament roots
00:27:57.41\00:27:58.31
of small group ministry,
00:27:58.41\00:27:59.47
as well as the rationale for
00:27:59.57\00:28:00.88
and the practice of
00:28:00.98\00:28:01.71
the social meeting.
00:28:01.81\00:28:03.11
That social meeting,
00:28:03.21\00:28:04.31
it simply was
00:28:04.41\00:28:05.31
the most important meeting
00:28:05.41\00:28:06.72
that any local
00:28:06.82\00:28:07.88
Adventist church ever had,
00:28:07.98\00:28:09.15
period, full stop.
00:28:09.25\00:28:11.45
The social meeting had nearly
00:28:11.55\00:28:12.52
all of the core functions
00:28:12.62\00:28:13.49
of discipleship
00:28:13.59\00:28:14.36
that took place in it.
00:28:14.46\00:28:15.46
Evangelism took place there.
00:28:15.56\00:28:17.29
New believers
00:28:17.39\00:28:18.29
that came into the church
00:28:18.39\00:28:19.39
through the social meeting
00:28:19.49\00:28:20.40
learned how to pray
00:28:20.50\00:28:21.43
and how to testify, the basic
00:28:21.53\00:28:22.80
skills of discipleship.
00:28:22.90\00:28:24.43
More experienced believers grew
00:28:24.53\00:28:25.97
to maturity
00:28:26.07\00:28:27.10
as they heard the testimonies
00:28:27.20\00:28:28.24
of wizened saints
00:28:28.34\00:28:29.24
around the circle
00:28:29.34\00:28:30.41
and as they mentored those
00:28:30.51\00:28:31.31
new to the faith.
00:28:31.41\00:28:32.94
I shared with you that I've been
00:28:33.04\00:28:33.94
to well over 100 social meetings
00:28:34.04\00:28:35.61
myself, and nearly all of those
00:28:35.71\00:28:37.31
have been powerful discipleship
00:28:37.41\00:28:38.65
experiences with Christ,
00:28:38.75\00:28:40.02
with fellow believers,
00:28:40.12\00:28:41.02
and with new believers
00:28:41.12\00:28:41.98
coming into the faith.
00:28:42.08\00:28:44.32
I have been greatly encouraged,
00:28:44.42\00:28:45.42
as I've heard how many of you
00:28:45.52\00:28:46.72
are wanting to start
00:28:46.82\00:28:47.52
social meetings,
00:28:47.62\00:28:48.46
either here, right here at PMC,
00:28:48.56\00:28:50.16
or at other places in the world.
00:28:50.26\00:28:52.23
If you are intrigued
00:28:52.33\00:28:53.63
by this idea and you missed it
00:28:53.73\00:28:54.73
the first time,
00:28:54.83\00:28:55.80
there's a QR code
00:28:55.90\00:28:56.67
here on the screen.
00:28:56.77\00:28:58.00
You can hold your phone up,
00:28:58.10\00:28:58.87
you can get -- you can
00:28:58.97\00:28:59.60
click on that QR code.
00:28:59.70\00:29:01.00
It will take you to that
00:29:01.10\00:29:02.34
four-page starter kit
00:29:02.44\00:29:03.54
that I put together.
00:29:03.64\00:29:04.51
A very simple way
00:29:04.61\00:29:05.71
that you can start
00:29:05.81\00:29:06.61
social meetings of your own
00:29:06.71\00:29:07.91
in your sphere of influence.
00:29:08.01\00:29:12.85
Which brings us to today.
00:29:12.95\00:29:18.25
With all that we have covered
00:29:18.35\00:29:19.92
in this series so far in mind,
00:29:20.02\00:29:23.09
what can be said now
00:29:23.19\00:29:25.23
that will aptly position us
00:29:25.33\00:29:26.76
to take next steps?
00:29:26.86\00:29:29.70
You know, these next steps --
00:29:29.80\00:29:30.67
I've been talking to you
00:29:30.77\00:29:31.50
about them
00:29:31.60\00:29:32.17
throughout this series.
00:29:32.27\00:29:33.47
The elders have been meeting
00:29:33.57\00:29:34.70
for months, prayerfully putting
00:29:34.80\00:29:36.04
together a new draft
00:29:36.14\00:29:38.04
of a mission statement,
00:29:38.14\00:29:38.91
a new draft for a strategy
00:29:39.01\00:29:40.48
for ministry for Pioneer.
00:29:40.58\00:29:42.21
That has been -- the draft stage
00:29:42.31\00:29:43.24
has been completed.
00:29:43.35\00:29:44.35
It was submitted to three
00:29:44.45\00:29:45.38
town hall meetings.
00:29:45.48\00:29:46.25
Those are now completed,
00:29:46.35\00:29:46.92
as well.
00:29:47.02\00:29:48.08
Lots of good feedback came back.
00:29:48.18\00:29:49.68
That will now go back to
00:29:49.78\00:29:50.72
the elders.
00:29:50.82\00:29:51.45
They will digest this.
00:29:51.55\00:29:52.62
They'll send a recommendation
00:29:52.72\00:29:53.52
to the church board,
00:29:53.62\00:29:54.39
and once the church board
00:29:54.49\00:29:55.22
has voted on this,
00:29:55.32\00:29:56.56
we will begin implementation
00:29:56.66\00:29:58.53
in earnest in the fall.
00:29:58.63\00:30:00.46
Lots of prep work
00:30:00.56\00:30:01.13
over the summer.
00:30:01.23\00:30:02.96
And with this in mind,
00:30:03.06\00:30:04.50
what will help us
00:30:04.60\00:30:05.60
as we prepare for this
00:30:05.70\00:30:07.07
coming new season of ministry?
00:30:07.17\00:30:09.00
Well, I believe there are
00:30:09.10\00:30:10.61
at least three things,
00:30:10.71\00:30:13.27
and the first is a caution.
00:30:13.38\00:30:15.71
Number one, without Jesus and
00:30:20.12\00:30:22.28
the filling of His Holy Spirit,
00:30:22.38\00:30:24.12
all the organization and
00:30:24.22\00:30:25.79
community and social meetings
00:30:25.89\00:30:27.26
and non-settled pastors and
00:30:27.36\00:30:28.56
church planting in the world
00:30:28.66\00:30:29.79
mean absolutely nothing.
00:30:29.89\00:30:33.23
Zero. Nothing.
00:30:33.33\00:30:35.93
These are not magic.
00:30:36.03\00:30:37.43
The methods that we have been
00:30:37.53\00:30:38.27
talking about in this series,
00:30:38.37\00:30:39.90
this is not something
00:30:40.00\00:30:41.00
you can just kind of plug it
00:30:41.10\00:30:41.80
in without Jesus
00:30:41.90\00:30:43.14
and expect there to be success.
00:30:43.24\00:30:45.04
In fact, Jesus himself,
00:30:45.14\00:30:46.17
John 15:5,
00:30:46.27\00:30:47.41
he made it quite clear.
00:30:47.51\00:30:48.61
He said, "Apart from me
00:30:48.71\00:30:49.78
you can do --" how much?
00:30:49.88\00:30:50.91
Nothing.
00:30:51.01\00:30:51.88
"Apart from me,
00:30:51.98\00:30:52.61
you can do nothing."
00:30:52.71\00:30:53.28
Nothing of spiritual
00:30:53.38\00:30:54.22
significance that's going to
00:30:54.32\00:30:55.25
last for the kingdom can be done
00:30:55.35\00:30:56.69
apart from Jesus Christ.
00:30:56.79\00:30:58.12
These things are
00:30:58.22\00:30:58.92
not plug and play.
00:30:59.02\00:31:00.62
We must be filled with Christ,
00:31:00.72\00:31:02.42
with His Holy Spirit.
00:31:02.52\00:31:05.26
That is the non-negotiable.
00:31:05.36\00:31:07.76
And pity the poor church or
00:31:07.86\00:31:08.83
individual
00:31:08.93\00:31:10.20
who tries to take these methods
00:31:10.30\00:31:11.87
and implement them apart from
00:31:11.97\00:31:13.17
the filling of the Holy Spirit.
00:31:13.27\00:31:14.77
You see, if that is the case,
00:31:14.87\00:31:16.17
if someone seeks
00:31:16.27\00:31:17.21
to do these methods apart
00:31:17.31\00:31:18.21
from the filling
00:31:18.31\00:31:19.01
of the Holy Spirit of Jesus,
00:31:19.11\00:31:20.41
the worst thing that
00:31:20.51\00:31:21.38
could happen is "success."
00:31:21.48\00:31:24.25
The worst thing
00:31:24.35\00:31:24.88
that could happen
00:31:24.98\00:31:25.51
is that people would
00:31:25.61\00:31:26.41
be attracted because of that.
00:31:26.51\00:31:28.88
Because if Jesus isn't in it,
00:31:28.98\00:31:30.49
you're not attracting them
00:31:30.59\00:31:31.25
to Jesus.
00:31:31.35\00:31:34.32
Without Jesus in the filling
00:31:34.42\00:31:35.39
of His Holy Spirit,
00:31:35.49\00:31:36.26
all the organization and
00:31:36.36\00:31:37.43
community and social meetings
00:31:37.53\00:31:38.59
and non-settled pastors
00:31:38.69\00:31:39.93
and church planting in the world
00:31:40.03\00:31:40.86
mean absolutely nothing.
00:31:40.96\00:31:42.73
But, number two, with Jesus
00:31:42.83\00:31:47.44
and the filling of
00:31:47.54\00:31:48.17
His Holy Spirit,
00:31:48.27\00:31:49.67
wide adoption of such methods
00:31:49.77\00:31:51.77
can make them powerful engines
00:31:51.87\00:31:53.44
that will turn the world upside
00:31:53.54\00:31:54.51
down and usher
00:31:54.61\00:31:55.71
in the second coming of Christ.
00:31:55.81\00:31:58.41
Again, Jesus himself
00:31:58.51\00:31:59.71
speaks about this very dynamic.
00:31:59.81\00:32:01.15
Let me put it on the screen
00:32:01.25\00:32:02.08
here, the full verse now,
00:32:02.18\00:32:02.65
John 15:5.
00:32:02.75\00:32:03.99
Jesus says, "I am the vine,
00:32:04.09\00:32:05.85
you are the branches.
00:32:05.95\00:32:07.16
If you remain in me
00:32:07.26\00:32:08.62
and I in you, you will bear --"
00:32:08.72\00:32:10.26
how much fruit?
00:32:10.36\00:32:12.06
That's a great word.
00:32:12.16\00:32:13.03
You will bear much fruit.
00:32:13.13\00:32:13.96
This is not going to be
00:32:14.03\00:32:14.63
a skimpy harvest here.
00:32:14.73\00:32:15.73
Much fruit, Jesus said.
00:32:15.83\00:32:16.87
This is a promise.
00:32:16.97\00:32:19.77
It's a promise from God Himself.
00:32:19.87\00:32:22.80
So let us pray daily,
00:32:22.90\00:32:24.34
each of us, for the filling
00:32:24.44\00:32:25.07
of God's Spirit.
00:32:25.17\00:32:26.21
Don't let a day go by
00:32:26.31\00:32:27.31
without asking for it.
00:32:27.41\00:32:28.61
Let us pray by name
00:32:28.71\00:32:29.68
for the former
00:32:29.78\00:32:30.38
and the latter rains
00:32:30.48\00:32:31.21
of the Holy Spirit,
00:32:31.31\00:32:32.31
and make whatever changes are
00:32:32.41\00:32:33.48
necessary for them to fall
00:32:33.58\00:32:34.72
on us and fill us.
00:32:34.82\00:32:36.45
And then -- and then -- changes
00:32:36.55\00:32:39.05
like the ones we've discussed
00:32:39.15\00:32:40.16
in this series will make
00:32:40.26\00:32:41.16
a marvelous difference,
00:32:41.26\00:32:42.56
the likes of which many
00:32:42.66\00:32:43.46
of us have never seen.
00:32:43.56\00:32:48.86
Which brings us to number three.
00:32:48.96\00:32:52.43
The definition of insanity
00:32:52.53\00:32:54.00
stubbornly remains the same --
00:32:54.10\00:32:55.90
doing the same thing over
00:32:56.00\00:32:56.77
and over,
00:32:56.87\00:32:58.07
yet expecting different results.
00:32:58.17\00:33:00.11
If we in the West
00:33:00.21\00:33:01.61
want to see Jesus come in
00:33:01.71\00:33:02.68
our lifetime,
00:33:02.78\00:33:03.68
we must correctly change
00:33:03.78\00:33:06.01
how we do discipleship,
00:33:06.11\00:33:07.78
both personally and corporately.
00:33:07.88\00:33:11.62
And this is not just my opinion.
00:33:11.72\00:33:14.12
If you turn in your Bibles,
00:33:14.22\00:33:14.96
please, John 5:1.
00:33:15.06\00:33:18.26
John, the fifth chapter,
00:33:18.36\00:33:19.16
beginning with verse 1,
00:33:19.26\00:33:20.26
page 717, in the red pew Bible,
00:33:20.36\00:33:22.56
which is somewhere nearby
00:33:22.66\00:33:23.26
where you're at.
00:33:23.37\00:33:23.90
7-1-7.
00:33:24.00\00:33:25.30
Page 717, John 5:1.
00:33:25.40\00:33:30.41
Famous story here found only in
00:33:30.51\00:33:31.94
the Gospel of John.
00:33:32.04\00:33:33.44
Jesus is about to perform
00:33:33.54\00:33:35.31
a miracle at a place called
00:33:35.41\00:33:37.91
the Pool of Bethesda.
00:33:38.01\00:33:39.81
Now, some of you, as like me,
00:33:39.91\00:33:41.52
have been to what they think
00:33:41.62\00:33:43.08
is one of the most likely
00:33:43.18\00:33:44.02
locations there in Jerusalem
00:33:44.12\00:33:45.29
for the Pool of Bethesda.
00:33:45.39\00:33:46.62
And it's just -- it's
00:33:46.72\00:33:47.52
just fascinating to think,
00:33:47.62\00:33:48.76
you know, the thing that
00:33:48.86\00:33:49.86
happened there, the story
00:33:49.96\00:33:50.93
that is still being told today,
00:33:51.03\00:33:52.53
and so impactful,
00:33:52.63\00:33:53.90
including for what
00:33:54.00\00:33:55.86
we are talking about right now
00:33:55.96\00:33:56.90
with this third point.
00:33:57.00\00:33:58.20
John 5:1.
00:33:58.30\00:34:00.20
"Sometime later,"
00:34:00.30\00:34:01.20
my Bible says, "Jesus went up
00:34:01.30\00:34:03.00
to Jerusalem
00:34:03.10\00:34:03.91
for a feast of the Jews.
00:34:04.01\00:34:05.97
Now there is in Jerusalem
00:34:06.07\00:34:07.21
near the Sheep Gate a pool,
00:34:07.31\00:34:08.54
which in Aramaic
00:34:08.64\00:34:09.51
is called Bethesda
00:34:09.61\00:34:11.01
and which is surrounded
00:34:11.11\00:34:12.11
by five covered colonnades.
00:34:12.21\00:34:14.28
Here a great number of
00:34:14.38\00:34:15.38
disabled people used to lie --
00:34:15.48\00:34:17.25
the blind, the lame,
00:34:17.35\00:34:18.75
the paralyzed.
00:34:18.85\00:34:20.19
One who was there
00:34:20.29\00:34:21.56
had been sick for 38 years.
00:34:21.66\00:34:24.39
When Jesus saw him lying there
00:34:24.49\00:34:25.96
and learned that he had been
00:34:26.06\00:34:26.66
in this condition
00:34:26.76\00:34:27.30
for a long time,
00:34:27.40\00:34:28.30
he asked him,
00:34:28.40\00:34:30.17
'Do you want to get well?'
00:34:30.27\00:34:33.30
'Sir,' the man replied,
00:34:33.40\00:34:34.84
I have no one
00:34:34.94\00:34:35.70
to help me into the pool
00:34:35.80\00:34:36.84
when the water is stirred.
00:34:36.94\00:34:38.64
While I am trying to get in,
00:34:38.74\00:34:39.81
someone else
00:34:39.91\00:34:40.94
goes down ahead of me.'"
00:34:41.04\00:34:43.71
Pause there please.
00:34:43.81\00:34:48.15
Some ancient manuscripts
00:34:48.25\00:34:50.59
of the Old Testament offer
00:34:50.69\00:34:52.25
a couple of verses there --
00:34:52.35\00:34:53.52
your Bible might footnote it --
00:34:53.62\00:34:54.56
where it notes
00:34:54.66\00:34:55.72
the local mythology of what
00:34:55.82\00:34:57.46
this man is referring to.
00:34:57.56\00:34:59.23
There was a legend
00:34:59.33\00:35:00.73
that an angel would come down
00:35:00.83\00:35:02.86
and stir the waters of the Pool
00:35:02.96\00:35:04.47
of Bethesda,
00:35:04.57\00:35:05.90
and that the first person
00:35:06.00\00:35:07.07
into the pool would be healed.
00:35:07.17\00:35:10.41
Now, I cannot
00:35:10.51\00:35:11.41
imagine a more abusive picture
00:35:11.51\00:35:14.41
of God than this.
00:35:14.51\00:35:16.48
In this scenario,
00:35:16.58\00:35:17.55
for a healing to take place,
00:35:17.65\00:35:19.61
people that, by definition,
00:35:19.71\00:35:21.55
are there because
00:35:21.65\00:35:22.62
they cannot move well
00:35:22.72\00:35:24.85
are put in a situation
00:35:24.95\00:35:26.05
where they must move well if
00:35:26.15\00:35:27.39
they wish to be healed by God.
00:35:27.49\00:35:29.22
I mean, I don't know what kind
00:35:29.32\00:35:30.26
of picture of God that leaves
00:35:30.36\00:35:31.03
you with, but it can't be a
00:35:31.13\00:35:31.89
positive one, right?
00:35:31.99\00:35:33.19
And so, you know,
00:35:33.29\00:35:34.50
a puff of wind comes by, right?
00:35:34.60\00:35:36.87
And the waters are "stirred,"
00:35:36.97\00:35:38.70
and everybody tries
00:35:38.80\00:35:39.97
to make a dash for this,
00:35:40.07\00:35:41.44
and those maybe whose legs
00:35:41.54\00:35:42.47
are still working and other
00:35:42.57\00:35:43.47
parts of their body need
00:35:43.57\00:35:44.47
healing, you know, they rush in.
00:35:44.57\00:35:45.77
I'm going to guess there were
00:35:45.87\00:35:46.54
people that drowned in this
00:35:46.64\00:35:47.18
pool.
00:35:47.28\00:35:48.54
I mean, it was a pathetic scene.
00:35:48.64\00:35:50.68
And this poor man,
00:35:55.05\00:35:57.49
most likely paralyzed,
00:35:57.59\00:35:59.85
we don't know
00:35:59.95\00:36:00.86
how many years he's been there.
00:36:00.96\00:36:01.66
It's been a long time.
00:36:01.76\00:36:03.66
Over and over again,
00:36:03.76\00:36:05.26
when that water
00:36:05.36\00:36:06.29
has been stirred from something,
00:36:06.39\00:36:08.00
he has done his best,
00:36:08.10\00:36:09.40
trying to claw his way
00:36:09.50\00:36:10.83
to get to that pool.
00:36:10.93\00:36:13.10
And he did it over and over
00:36:13.20\00:36:15.67
and over and over again,
00:36:15.77\00:36:18.64
hoping for different results.
00:36:18.74\00:36:24.25
Now, I'm not saying
00:36:24.35\00:36:25.01
that this man was insane,
00:36:25.11\00:36:26.82
but I'll bet he sure felt
00:36:26.92\00:36:27.92
like it on more than one
00:36:28.02\00:36:28.48
occasion.
00:36:28.58\00:36:30.69
I mean, this is pathetic.
00:36:30.79\00:36:35.06
And then Jesus.
00:36:35.16\00:36:38.83
Jesus, the one who,
00:36:38.93\00:36:41.13
years and years and years
00:36:41.23\00:36:42.30
earlier, had formed mankind out
00:36:42.40\00:36:44.57
of the dirt of the ground,
00:36:44.67\00:36:46.07
the perfect artist,
00:36:46.17\00:36:47.70
had put together the limbs
00:36:47.80\00:36:49.04
of humanity
00:36:49.14\00:36:50.01
and knew exactly what it took
00:36:50.11\00:36:51.17
to make them work perfectly,
00:36:51.27\00:36:53.01
Jesus shows up,
00:36:53.11\00:36:55.24
and he knows that the only thing
00:36:55.34\00:36:57.81
that will save this man
00:36:57.91\00:36:59.48
was doing something different.
00:36:59.58\00:37:03.49
And who better equipped
00:37:03.59\00:37:05.19
to point out the direction
00:37:05.29\00:37:07.02
of this change, the direction
00:37:07.12\00:37:08.22
of this difference,
00:37:08.32\00:37:09.22
than Jesus Himself,
00:37:09.32\00:37:10.76
and he does.
00:37:10.86\00:37:12.43
Verse 8, John 5.
00:37:12.53\00:37:14.86
"Then Jesus said to him,
00:37:14.96\00:37:16.50
'Get up!
00:37:16.60\00:37:18.27
Pick up your mat and walk.'
00:37:18.37\00:37:21.97
At once the man was cured.
00:37:22.07\00:37:26.04
He picked up his mat and
00:37:26.14\00:37:27.91
walked."
00:37:28.01\00:37:29.84
Ladies and gentlemen,
00:37:33.01\00:37:33.92
the best way to get different,
00:37:34.02\00:37:36.35
better results in life
00:37:36.45\00:37:39.05
is to follow Christ's commands.
00:37:39.15\00:37:43.29
That man looked up to Jesus,
00:37:43.39\00:37:45.63
heard the command,
00:37:45.73\00:37:47.40
took him at his word,
00:37:47.50\00:37:48.66
and he was healed.
00:37:48.76\00:37:50.50
And did you notice there is
00:37:50.60\00:37:51.70
no record that
00:37:51.80\00:37:52.63
this man consulted his feelings
00:37:52.73\00:37:53.97
in regard to doing what
00:37:54.07\00:37:55.00
Christ had asked him to do.
00:37:55.10\00:37:57.74
There's no record of,
00:37:57.84\00:37:58.74
"You know what? Hmm.
00:37:58.84\00:37:59.74
This feels awfully strange.
00:37:59.84\00:38:01.54
The command is clear from Jesus,
00:38:01.64\00:38:02.81
but I've never done
00:38:02.91\00:38:04.05
it this way before.
00:38:04.15\00:38:05.05
We don't do things here
00:38:05.15\00:38:06.01
at the pool like this.
00:38:06.11\00:38:07.82
I'm not sure I feel
00:38:07.92\00:38:09.35
this is the right move."
00:38:09.45\00:38:10.35
We have none of that.
00:38:10.45\00:38:11.25
There's no record
00:38:11.35\00:38:12.59
of this man consulting
00:38:12.69\00:38:14.86
his feelings in this regard.
00:38:14.96\00:38:16.42
Instead, the sick man took Jesus
00:38:16.52\00:38:18.99
at his word,
00:38:19.09\00:38:20.13
embraced this change,
00:38:20.23\00:38:21.63
and willed to walk,
00:38:21.73\00:38:24.07
and Jesus provided the strength.
00:38:24.17\00:38:26.43
The result was a fully
00:38:26.53\00:38:27.50
functional man,
00:38:27.60\00:38:28.37
where, a millisecond
00:38:28.47\00:38:29.54
before, there had been 38 years
00:38:29.64\00:38:30.84
of paralysis and fear.
00:38:30.94\00:38:33.31
And again, I say,
00:38:33.41\00:38:34.48
my friends here at Pioneer,
00:38:34.58\00:38:35.98
wherever you may be listening to
00:38:36.08\00:38:37.41
this, the same gift of healing
00:38:37.51\00:38:39.05
can belong to the church
00:38:39.15\00:38:40.62
if we are willing to embrace
00:38:40.72\00:38:43.22
and believe
00:38:43.32\00:38:44.22
and act on Christ's command.
00:38:44.32\00:38:47.46
Do you see
00:38:47.56\00:38:48.26
how this dynamic works,
00:38:48.36\00:38:49.42
this paralyzed man
00:38:49.52\00:38:50.69
who's now healed?
00:38:50.79\00:38:51.39
Do you see what he
00:38:51.49\00:38:52.23
is teaching us here?
00:38:52.33\00:38:53.80
Let me give you a couple
00:38:53.90\00:38:54.50
examples.
00:38:54.60\00:38:56.23
Don't wait to feel
00:38:56.33\00:38:58.63
like starting a devotional life.
00:38:58.73\00:39:01.47
Okay? If you don't currently
00:39:01.57\00:39:02.57
have one, don't wait until you
00:39:02.67\00:39:03.44
feel like starting a devotional
00:39:03.54\00:39:04.51
life.
00:39:04.61\00:39:05.61
God has already given us
00:39:05.71\00:39:06.81
the command that we're to walk
00:39:06.91\00:39:07.78
with Him day in and day out.
00:39:07.88\00:39:09.18
We're to be with Him,
00:39:09.28\00:39:09.98
to spend time in His word
00:39:10.08\00:39:10.78
and in prayer.
00:39:10.88\00:39:11.51
That's already been done.
00:39:11.61\00:39:12.55
Don't wait to feel
00:39:12.65\00:39:14.02
like starting a devotional life.
00:39:14.12\00:39:15.22
Instead, choose
00:39:15.32\00:39:16.62
to make the change,
00:39:16.72\00:39:17.99
ask for God's strength,
00:39:18.09\00:39:19.42
and then take the actions
00:39:19.52\00:39:20.66
necessary to start one,
00:39:20.76\00:39:21.89
whether you feel
00:39:21.99\00:39:22.92
like it's going to work or not,
00:39:23.02\00:39:26.16
and when you take the action,
00:39:26.26\00:39:28.20
God will supply
00:39:28.30\00:39:29.26
the strength that is needed.
00:39:29.36\00:39:31.27
This is faith in action.
00:39:31.37\00:39:32.23
This is part
00:39:32.33\00:39:33.10
of righteousness by faith.
00:39:33.20\00:39:34.60
Another example -- don't wait
00:39:34.70\00:39:35.87
to feel like you can start
00:39:35.97\00:39:37.54
or join a small group
00:39:37.64\00:39:38.74
or a social meeting.
00:39:38.84\00:39:40.21
Ask God for --
00:39:40.31\00:39:41.44
Ask Him for His strength,
00:39:41.54\00:39:42.64
believe that He has given it
00:39:42.74\00:39:43.81
to you, and take the actions
00:39:43.91\00:39:45.08
necessary to do it,
00:39:45.18\00:39:46.21
whether you feel
00:39:46.31\00:39:47.12
like it's gonna work or not,
00:39:47.22\00:39:48.42
and as you take the action,
00:39:48.52\00:39:49.68
God will supply
00:39:49.78\00:39:50.92
the strength that is needed.
00:39:51.02\00:39:52.99
This is this divine transaction
00:39:53.09\00:39:54.86
that takes place between earth
00:39:54.96\00:39:56.09
and heaven, between us and God.
00:39:56.19\00:39:58.03
We are to live by faith
00:39:58.13\00:39:59.46
in God and His Word,
00:39:59.56\00:40:00.60
not by sight,
00:40:00.70\00:40:01.36
not by how we feel.
00:40:01.46\00:40:03.23
We are to trust in Christ's
00:40:03.33\00:40:04.70
commands and then take the steps
00:40:04.80\00:40:06.30
in the right direction,
00:40:06.40\00:40:07.60
whether we feel like it or not,
00:40:07.70\00:40:08.87
and then
00:40:08.97\00:40:09.90
God supplies the strength.
00:40:10.01\00:40:13.04
And what is true
00:40:13.14\00:40:13.64
for the individual
00:40:13.74\00:40:15.18
is also true for
00:40:15.28\00:40:15.98
the corporate church.
00:40:16.08\00:40:17.85
If the church will look up to
00:40:17.95\00:40:19.61
Jesus, take Him at His word,
00:40:19.71\00:40:22.68
not consulting their tepid
00:40:22.78\00:40:24.15
and variable feelings.
00:40:24.25\00:40:25.45
It too can be healed.
00:40:25.55\00:40:27.56
The church's mobility
00:40:27.66\00:40:28.69
can be restored,
00:40:28.79\00:40:30.03
its withered discipleship
00:40:30.13\00:40:31.36
muscles, weakened
00:40:31.46\00:40:32.49
with disease and lack
00:40:32.59\00:40:33.40
of use, will swell
00:40:33.50\00:40:34.36
with new strength.
00:40:34.46\00:40:35.73
And though some churches
00:40:35.83\00:40:36.53
on the planet
00:40:36.63\00:40:37.57
may have lain dormant for decade
00:40:37.67\00:40:38.77
after decade,
00:40:38.87\00:40:39.87
by taking Christ at His Word
00:40:39.97\00:40:41.90
and by his strength
00:40:42.00\00:40:43.41
and making the changes necessary
00:40:43.51\00:40:45.21
for revival and reformation
00:40:45.31\00:40:47.48
and effectiveness,
00:40:47.58\00:40:49.11
a wholesale transformation
00:40:49.21\00:40:51.45
really can happen.
00:40:51.55\00:40:53.78
We really can become all
00:40:53.88\00:40:55.55
that Jesus has always dreamed
00:40:55.65\00:40:57.15
we could be if we take Christ
00:40:57.25\00:41:01.36
at His word
00:41:01.46\00:41:02.32
and make the correct change.
00:41:02.42\00:41:04.03
You know, there's been some
00:41:08.93\00:41:09.46
pretty heavy slogging
00:41:09.56\00:41:10.37
going through this series.
00:41:10.47\00:41:11.10
We have dove deep on
00:41:11.20\00:41:12.80
a variety of occasions.
00:41:12.90\00:41:14.37
So I thought I would finish
00:41:14.47\00:41:15.64
this series with a story
00:41:15.74\00:41:17.37
that will put a smile
00:41:17.47\00:41:18.34
on your face, I suspect,
00:41:18.44\00:41:19.54
and I hope
00:41:19.64\00:41:20.51
a lesson deep in your heart.
00:41:20.61\00:41:24.28
Many years ago, yea, verily,
00:41:24.38\00:41:25.85
in the last millennium,
00:41:25.95\00:41:26.65
when I was in college,
00:41:26.75\00:41:28.58
I took a year off
00:41:28.68\00:41:29.88
to be a student missionary
00:41:29.98\00:41:30.92
on the island of Pohnpei.
00:41:31.02\00:41:32.99
Now, Pohnpei, if you don't know
00:41:33.09\00:41:33.86
where Pohnpei is,
00:41:33.96\00:41:35.06
you start at Los Angeles,
00:41:35.16\00:41:36.02
you go to Hawaii,
00:41:36.12\00:41:37.39
you keep going generally
00:41:37.49\00:41:38.49
westerly for
00:41:38.59\00:41:39.43
about 900 more miles,
00:41:39.53\00:41:40.60
and if you aim the right
00:41:40.70\00:41:41.46
direction, you'll see Pohnpei.
00:41:41.56\00:41:43.26
Pohnpei is a garden paradise.
00:41:43.37\00:41:44.53
Beautiful island there.
00:41:44.63\00:41:45.60
When I was there,
00:41:45.70\00:41:46.94
there were still portions of it
00:41:47.04\00:41:47.94
that were largely primitive.
00:41:48.04\00:41:49.44
It was hard work.
00:41:49.54\00:41:50.81
Student missionaries there
00:41:50.91\00:41:51.67
at Pohnpei worked very hard.
00:41:51.77\00:41:53.27
We didn't get much time off,
00:41:53.38\00:41:54.48
maybe a few hours on Sunday,
00:41:54.58\00:41:56.08
but once -- as far as I know,
00:41:56.18\00:41:58.11
it was just once -- we got
00:41:58.21\00:42:00.95
the entire weekend off,
00:42:01.05\00:42:03.95
and it was because the church
00:42:04.05\00:42:04.92
was taking a camp-out.
00:42:05.02\00:42:06.72
The local church there
00:42:06.82\00:42:08.06
with mostly Pohnpeians,
00:42:08.16\00:42:09.79
some from other countries
00:42:09.89\00:42:10.83
and other islands
00:42:10.93\00:42:11.36
that were there,
00:42:11.46\00:42:12.46
they decided to take a camp-out.
00:42:12.56\00:42:14.13
Now, when you already live
00:42:14.23\00:42:16.00
in a tropical paradise,
00:42:16.10\00:42:17.47
the places you get to go for
00:42:17.57\00:42:18.60
a camp-out exceed
00:42:18.70\00:42:19.60
almost anything
00:42:19.70\00:42:20.44
you can find here
00:42:20.54\00:42:21.37
in the lower 48 United States.
00:42:21.47\00:42:22.87
I mean, there's some beautiful
00:42:22.97\00:42:23.77
places in the States,
00:42:23.87\00:42:25.54
but we got to go to Ant Atoll.
00:42:25.64\00:42:28.61
Now, Ant -- A-N-T, like the
00:42:28.71\00:42:29.88
critter on the ground,
00:42:29.98\00:42:31.65
Ant was a privately owned atoll.
00:42:31.75\00:42:33.35
Most of the property in those
00:42:33.45\00:42:34.35
days, at least in Pohnpei,
00:42:34.45\00:42:35.42
was all privately owned.
00:42:35.52\00:42:37.09
And we asked permission to go.
00:42:37.19\00:42:38.92
It was granted,
00:42:39.02\00:42:39.85
and so the whole church got in
00:42:39.95\00:42:40.79
fishing boats,
00:42:40.89\00:42:41.69
and we went out aways
00:42:41.79\00:42:43.09
from Pohnpei itself
00:42:43.19\00:42:44.89
and landed on this atoll there.
00:42:44.99\00:42:46.80
And it was beautiful.
00:42:46.90\00:42:49.66
Beautiful white-sand beaches.
00:42:49.76\00:42:51.57
I mean, picture the best
00:42:51.67\00:42:52.67
postcard you can imagine
00:42:52.77\00:42:54.14
and then tear it up
00:42:54.24\00:42:54.97
because it's nothing
00:42:55.07\00:42:56.20
like what it actually was there
00:42:56.30\00:42:57.24
on Ant Atoll.
00:42:57.34\00:42:57.91
It was gorgeous.
00:42:58.01\00:42:59.44
So we get there
00:42:59.54\00:43:00.71
and go up on the beach there.
00:43:00.81\00:43:02.68
There's really no structures.
00:43:02.78\00:43:03.81
Nobody lives there,
00:43:03.91\00:43:04.58
at least not year round.
00:43:04.68\00:43:06.18
What structures there were
00:43:06.28\00:43:07.28
had been blown away by a typhoon
00:43:07.38\00:43:08.62
a few months earlier.
00:43:08.72\00:43:10.05
And so we put our bags up
00:43:10.15\00:43:11.12
in the middle of the atoll
00:43:11.22\00:43:12.45
there, came back down,
00:43:12.55\00:43:14.36
and I sit down to relax.
00:43:14.46\00:43:16.99
I mean, this is -- this is --
00:43:17.09\00:43:18.03
this is -- this is beautiful.
00:43:18.13\00:43:20.20
White sand, blue sky,
00:43:20.30\00:43:21.76
the sun is overhead,
00:43:21.86\00:43:22.73
the palm branches
00:43:22.83\00:43:23.67
are gently swaying in
00:43:23.77\00:43:24.97
the breezes there.
00:43:25.07\00:43:26.63
And the water -- of course,
00:43:26.74\00:43:27.47
the water is beautiful.
00:43:27.57\00:43:28.70
Don't picture ocean breakers.
00:43:28.80\00:43:30.01
This is a --
00:43:30.11\00:43:30.91
There's a channel here,
00:43:31.01\00:43:31.87
and across from Ant,
00:43:31.97\00:43:33.21
there was another smaller atoll,
00:43:33.31\00:43:34.88
so just, you know, lapping
00:43:34.98\00:43:35.81
against the shore.
00:43:35.91\00:43:37.28
Beautiful, beautiful,
00:43:37.38\00:43:38.35
beautiful setting.
00:43:38.45\00:43:40.95
And as I am basking in this --
00:43:41.05\00:43:42.55
this natural glory,
00:43:42.65\00:43:45.09
I look off to my right,
00:43:45.19\00:43:46.25
up the channel,
00:43:46.35\00:43:48.42
and the water begins to boil.
00:43:48.52\00:43:51.06
Geothermal?
00:43:54.03\00:43:55.03
I mean, what --
00:43:55.13\00:43:55.83
I'm trying to think how it
00:43:55.93\00:43:56.67
could possibly be that --
00:43:56.77\00:43:58.07
I mean, this was a big patch
00:43:58.17\00:43:59.67
of water, too -- pr-pr-pr-pr!
00:43:59.77\00:44:03.04
So I got up and I asked,
00:44:03.14\00:44:05.07
I said -- I asked one of the
00:44:05.17\00:44:06.21
church members, said, "What --
00:44:06.31\00:44:07.08
What is that?"
00:44:07.18\00:44:09.44
He said, "Mr. Anderson, fish."
00:44:09.54\00:44:12.68
Said, "Fish?"
00:44:12.78\00:44:14.52
"Tuna."
00:44:14.62\00:44:15.98
"Tuna."
00:44:16.08\00:44:18.29
And they explained to me
00:44:18.39\00:44:19.15
that about this time
00:44:19.25\00:44:20.86
every year there would be
00:44:20.96\00:44:22.32
tuna runs up and down,
00:44:22.42\00:44:24.26
including in places
00:44:24.36\00:44:25.29
right here next to Ant Atoll.
00:44:25.39\00:44:27.13
In other words,
00:44:27.23\00:44:28.00
that boiling was not geothermal
00:44:28.10\00:44:30.10
vent coming up from somewhere.
00:44:30.20\00:44:31.07
This were hundreds,
00:44:31.17\00:44:32.00
in some cases,
00:44:32.10\00:44:32.90
even thousands of tuna fish
00:44:33.00\00:44:34.60
that were just having a --
00:44:34.70\00:44:35.64
I don't know if it was a
00:44:35.74\00:44:36.54
convention, maybe they were
00:44:36.64\00:44:37.11
having elections.
00:44:37.21\00:44:37.77
I have no idea.
00:44:37.87\00:44:38.71
But the tuna were here and
00:44:38.81\00:44:41.01
just swimming up and down here.
00:44:41.11\00:44:43.55
I mean, this was fascinating.
00:44:43.65\00:44:44.95
So I went down by
00:44:45.05\00:44:45.81
the water to kind of get
00:44:45.91\00:44:47.05
a better look at all these fish
00:44:47.15\00:44:48.08
going by.
00:44:48.18\00:44:49.78
And about then, I look around,
00:44:49.88\00:44:51.19
and I see some of the locals
00:44:51.29\00:44:53.32
there, the church members,
00:44:53.42\00:44:54.52
they were slicing
00:44:54.62\00:44:55.96
fresh palm branches lengthwise
00:44:56.06\00:44:57.49
in half
00:44:57.59\00:44:58.76
and then tying them together.
00:44:58.86\00:45:00.23
And they'd already
00:45:00.33\00:45:01.36
it was quite long by this point.
00:45:01.46\00:45:03.10
I said, "What are you doing?"
00:45:03.20\00:45:05.37
And he said, "Well,
00:45:05.47\00:45:06.40
Mr. Anderson,
00:45:06.50\00:45:08.24
we are going to catch fish,
00:45:08.34\00:45:10.44
and you are going to help us."
00:45:10.54\00:45:13.48
"Oh. All right."
00:45:13.58\00:45:15.74
So they explained to me
00:45:15.84\00:45:16.34
the plan.
00:45:16.44\00:45:17.01
The plan went like this.
00:45:17.11\00:45:18.71
You get all these palm branches.
00:45:18.81\00:45:20.05
They should be fresh because
00:45:20.15\00:45:21.05
old ones tend not to float.
00:45:21.15\00:45:22.35
Fresh ones tend to float.
00:45:22.45\00:45:23.82
And you tie them all together,
00:45:23.92\00:45:25.09
and it can be very, very long.
00:45:25.19\00:45:26.86
And the idea is,
00:45:26.96\00:45:28.02
is that a lead person will take
00:45:28.12\00:45:29.89
one of the ends of this line
00:45:29.99\00:45:32.33
of palm branches tied together,
00:45:32.43\00:45:33.80
and will swim out
00:45:33.90\00:45:35.26
into the channel
00:45:35.36\00:45:36.83
as the tuna are headed this way.
00:45:36.93\00:45:39.50
And the idea is to kind of
00:45:39.60\00:45:40.54
circle around them there,
00:45:40.64\00:45:42.17
because the person who was
00:45:42.27\00:45:43.20
explaining it, they told me,
00:45:43.30\00:45:44.24
they said the lead tuna fish
00:45:44.34\00:45:47.04
will see the floating
00:45:47.14\00:45:48.94
palm branch and not realize
00:45:49.04\00:45:51.55
that they can just swim
00:45:51.65\00:45:52.51
under this.
00:45:52.61\00:45:53.48
They will turn, and the whole
00:45:53.58\00:45:54.62
school will follow after them,
00:45:54.72\00:45:56.62
and then the swimmers
00:45:56.72\00:45:57.82
will come around behind
00:45:57.92\00:45:59.42
with these palm branches,
00:45:59.52\00:46:01.36
and they'll slowly move
00:46:01.46\00:46:03.36
the pod closer to the beach
00:46:03.46\00:46:05.53
until there's so many fish
00:46:05.63\00:46:07.10
so close to the shore
00:46:07.20\00:46:08.06
that you can just step
00:46:08.16\00:46:08.86
into the water and scoop
00:46:08.96\00:46:09.93
the fish out onto the beach.
00:46:10.03\00:46:11.27
And it was right then
00:46:14.77\00:46:15.74
that I knew exactly what was up.
00:46:15.84\00:46:18.57
Do you know what
00:46:18.67\00:46:19.57
a snipe hunt is?
00:46:19.67\00:46:20.98
[ Laughter ]
00:46:21.08\00:46:22.71
Yeah, that's all I'm gonna
00:46:22.81\00:46:23.51
say about that.
00:46:23.61\00:46:24.35
But I was pretty clear,
00:46:24.45\00:46:26.55
pretty clear
00:46:26.65\00:46:27.55
that there was a joke
00:46:27.65\00:46:28.78
about to be played and that
00:46:28.88\00:46:29.95
I was gonna be the one
00:46:30.05\00:46:30.95
suffering on the end of it.
00:46:31.05\00:46:31.69
Right?
00:46:31.79\00:46:32.69
There's no way
00:46:32.79\00:46:33.72
you can catch fi--
00:46:33.82\00:46:34.79
These are good-sized tuna
00:46:34.89\00:46:35.82
that are out there,
00:46:35.92\00:46:36.73
and they're very fast, you know,
00:46:36.83\00:46:38.09
just all over the place.
00:46:38.19\00:46:39.83
Come on. I said,
00:46:39.93\00:46:41.40
"Okay, I'll watch."
00:46:41.50\00:46:43.53
He said, "No, no, no,
00:46:43.63\00:46:44.53
Mr. Anderson, we need you."
00:46:44.63\00:46:46.33
I said, "No, no,
00:46:46.43\00:46:47.27
I'll just be right here.
00:46:47.37\00:46:47.94
You go ahead."
00:46:48.04\00:46:48.64
"No, no, no, no,
00:46:48.74\00:46:49.70
you must go first."
00:46:49.80\00:46:53.38
I said, "Why?"
00:46:53.48\00:46:54.61
He said, "Because you are so
00:46:54.71\00:46:55.28
tall."
00:46:55.38\00:46:56.64
[ Laughter ]
00:46:56.75\00:46:58.61
I guess the idea is,
00:46:58.71\00:46:59.58
is that I could go out deeper.
00:46:59.68\00:47:00.82
I mean, I have no idea.
00:47:00.92\00:47:01.88
Because you're supposed
00:47:01.98\00:47:02.68
to swim out into the channel.
00:47:02.78\00:47:03.42
I said, "No, no."
00:47:03.52\00:47:04.42
"No, Mr. Anderson, you must go."
00:47:04.52\00:47:06.39
They kept begging. I said, "Oh.
00:47:06.49\00:47:08.12
All right. Okay. I'll go,"
00:47:08.22\00:47:09.79
knowing that, you know,
00:47:09.89\00:47:10.83
there's no way
00:47:10.93\00:47:11.59
this is going to work.
00:47:11.69\00:47:13.50
So I get out there,
00:47:13.60\00:47:14.13
and I take my end
00:47:14.23\00:47:15.16
of the palm branch line,
00:47:15.26\00:47:16.13
and I go out, and I stand up
00:47:16.23\00:47:17.40
about my water at waist.
00:47:17.50\00:47:18.47
"Mr. Anderson, keep going.
00:47:18.57\00:47:20.10
Go further, go further."
00:47:20.20\00:47:22.74
Go out, and I get up to about my
00:47:22.84\00:47:23.71
chest, said, "Oh, Mr. Anderson,
00:47:23.81\00:47:25.14
keep going, go further!"
00:47:25.24\00:47:26.34
So I go out,
00:47:26.44\00:47:27.34
and I'm up to my neck, right?
00:47:27.44\00:47:28.44
I think, "This is as far
00:47:28.54\00:47:29.28
as I'm gonna go, right?
00:47:29.38\00:47:30.45
I'm not gonna go tread water
00:47:30.55\00:47:31.41
for half an hour,
00:47:31.51\00:47:32.28
waiting for tuna fish to come by
00:47:32.38\00:47:33.45
and get caught in
00:47:33.55\00:47:34.45
an impossible trap, right?"
00:47:34.55\00:47:36.05
So as I'm out there, they say,
00:47:36.15\00:47:37.49
"Oh, Mr. Anderson,
00:47:37.59\00:47:38.52
you must go further,
00:47:38.62\00:47:39.29
you must go further!"
00:47:39.39\00:47:41.12
"Okay."
00:47:41.22\00:47:42.36
So I go out,
00:47:42.46\00:47:43.26
and I'm treading water there,
00:47:43.36\00:47:44.39
and I'm trying to head out,
00:47:44.49\00:47:45.29
you know, to...
00:47:45.39\00:47:46.46
And then someone
00:47:46.56\00:47:47.40
on the shore says, "Look!
00:47:47.50\00:47:49.06
They're coming!"
00:47:49.16\00:47:52.43
And I looked,
00:47:52.53\00:47:53.97
and I got to tell you something.
00:47:54.07\00:47:54.80
What was a beautiful
00:47:54.90\00:47:55.64
"Wild Kingdom" moment
00:47:55.74\00:47:57.11
on the sand up there
00:47:57.21\00:47:58.54
is something very different
00:47:58.64\00:47:59.47
when you are eye level
00:47:59.57\00:48:00.74
with hundreds of tuna fish
00:48:00.84\00:48:01.88
that are coming at you at
00:48:01.98\00:48:02.81
about 30 miles an hour, right?
00:48:02.91\00:48:04.75
I'm like, "Oh, I can't
00:48:04.85\00:48:05.55
believe -- what did I --
00:48:05.65\00:48:06.51
what am I doing?" Right?
00:48:06.61\00:48:07.58
And they're yelling on the
00:48:07.68\00:48:08.48
shore, "Go further, go further!"
00:48:08.58\00:48:09.72
Because, remember, you're
00:48:09.82\00:48:10.59
supposed to get out long enough
00:48:10.69\00:48:11.75
that you're in front, you're
00:48:11.85\00:48:13.09
well on the other side of the
00:48:13.19\00:48:14.16
school of tuna that's coming.
00:48:14.26\00:48:15.59
And I'm like, "They're headed
00:48:15.69\00:48:16.36
straight for me."
00:48:16.46\00:48:17.59
Oh! And then it was too late.
00:48:17.69\00:48:21.00
Yeah, I'm not even gonna ask for
00:48:21.10\00:48:22.10
a show of hands,
00:48:22.20\00:48:22.93
because I'm pretty sure none
00:48:23.03\00:48:23.73
of you have ever experienced
00:48:23.83\00:48:24.70
hundreds of tuna
00:48:24.80\00:48:26.03
invading your personal life.
00:48:26.13\00:48:27.34
I mean, this is --
00:48:27.44\00:48:28.50
They're just -- just going by
00:48:28.60\00:48:30.87
my ears, and I mean, this is --
00:48:30.97\00:48:32.84
I felt very clean afterwards.
00:48:32.94\00:48:34.18
This was like taking a bath,
00:48:34.28\00:48:35.38
a shower, scrub down, okay?
00:48:35.48\00:48:37.58
And they're all going past.
00:48:37.68\00:48:38.45
I could've sworn
00:48:38.55\00:48:39.45
that I heard the lead tuna say
00:48:39.55\00:48:41.15
something along the lines of,
00:48:41.25\00:48:42.38
"There's a sucker missionary
00:48:42.48\00:48:43.59
born every year right about this
00:48:43.69\00:48:44.69
time, right?" Okay.
00:48:44.79\00:48:45.65
[ Laughter ]
00:48:45.75\00:48:47.42
And it felt like eternity,
00:48:47.52\00:48:48.96
probably was only about
00:48:49.06\00:48:49.62
30 seconds.
00:48:49.72\00:48:50.83
I mean, they're cruising.
00:48:50.93\00:48:52.06
They are moving, going by.
00:48:52.16\00:48:55.90
The last one goes by,
00:48:56.00\00:48:58.10
I still have my palm branch.
00:48:58.20\00:48:59.37
[ Laughter ]
00:48:59.47\00:49:02.27
I swim back into the shore.
00:49:02.37\00:49:04.21
Without saying a word,
00:49:04.31\00:49:05.17
I hand my palm branch back,
00:49:05.27\00:49:06.68
and I walk up
00:49:06.78\00:49:07.64
to dry off in the sand, okay?
00:49:07.74\00:49:10.61
Ha ha. Joke's on me, right?
00:49:10.71\00:49:14.98
So I'm sitting up there,
00:49:15.08\00:49:15.75
drying off,
00:49:15.85\00:49:17.99
wondering how I was so lucky
00:49:18.09\00:49:19.22
to be selected as the subject
00:49:19.32\00:49:20.99
of this experiment
00:49:21.09\00:49:23.26
when there came another shout.
00:49:23.36\00:49:25.56
"Look! They're coming!"
00:49:25.66\00:49:28.96
And I looked up the beach,
00:49:29.06\00:49:30.43
and sure enough,
00:49:30.53\00:49:31.60
here was another school
00:49:31.70\00:49:33.20
of tuna headed this way.
00:49:33.30\00:49:37.47
And immediately,
00:49:37.57\00:49:38.94
locals who knew what
00:49:39.04\00:49:40.78
to do much better than I did,
00:49:40.88\00:49:43.78
swam quickly out
00:49:43.88\00:49:45.25
into the channel,
00:49:45.35\00:49:46.55
almost to the other side.
00:49:46.65\00:49:48.85
The school of tuna
00:49:48.95\00:49:49.82
came rushing down there,
00:49:49.92\00:49:51.69
and the lead
00:49:51.79\00:49:52.52
tuna fish apparently saw
00:49:52.62\00:49:54.72
a brick wall in front of him.
00:49:54.82\00:49:56.89
He turned towards the beach.
00:49:56.99\00:49:59.23
The swimmers on the outside
00:49:59.33\00:50:00.66
with the rest of the palm
00:50:00.76\00:50:01.63
branches came in behind
00:50:01.73\00:50:02.96
the school, and gradually
00:50:03.06\00:50:04.30
they brought that school in
00:50:04.40\00:50:05.67
until -- I kid you not --
00:50:05.77\00:50:06.87
they brought them right up
00:50:06.97\00:50:07.60
into the shallows,
00:50:07.70\00:50:08.64
and children and adults
00:50:08.74\00:50:09.84
stepped into the surf,
00:50:09.94\00:50:11.01
and they threw the fish
00:50:11.11\00:50:12.81
up onto the beach.
00:50:12.91\00:50:14.88
Just like it was supposed
00:50:18.65\00:50:21.68
to be done.
00:50:21.78\00:50:23.05
Any guesses what was on the menu
00:50:28.29\00:50:29.42
for supper that night?
00:50:29.52\00:50:30.23
[ Laughter ]
00:50:30.33\00:50:32.79
Tuna, yes. Tuna.
00:50:32.89\00:50:34.96
Now, this was in my
00:50:35.06\00:50:35.66
carnivorous days,
00:50:35.76\00:50:37.07
and there was lots
00:50:37.17\00:50:38.37
of eating going on.
00:50:38.47\00:50:39.33
You know, in the islands,
00:50:39.43\00:50:40.30
you know, there's
00:50:40.40\00:50:41.27
various ways to prepare fish.
00:50:41.37\00:50:42.34
Sometimes they don't
00:50:42.44\00:50:43.34
prepare fish at all.
00:50:43.44\00:50:44.21
They just take it out
00:50:44.31\00:50:45.11
of the water and start eating.
00:50:45.21\00:50:47.24
But they were also cooking
00:50:47.34\00:50:48.58
some over the fire,
00:50:48.68\00:50:49.54
and there's not a lot of gutting
00:50:49.64\00:50:50.28
that goes on
00:50:50.38\00:50:50.95
or anything like that,
00:50:51.05\00:50:51.81
so the whole fish is plopped
00:50:51.91\00:50:53.11
down there.
00:50:53.21\00:50:54.12
And one of the -- one
00:50:54.22\00:50:54.88
of the members there,
00:50:54.98\00:50:55.52
his name was Keska,
00:50:55.62\00:50:56.45
a very nice man.
00:50:56.55\00:50:58.35
He came to me and he said,
00:50:58.45\00:50:59.65
"Mr. Anderson,
00:50:59.75\00:51:01.49
you must try some of the tuna."
00:51:01.59\00:51:06.03
And I looked at the fish,
00:51:06.13\00:51:07.83
all there, seared, looking
00:51:07.93\00:51:09.60
straight at me with its eyes.
00:51:09.70\00:51:12.37
And he said, "The best part is
00:51:12.47\00:51:14.17
between the eyes."
00:51:14.27\00:51:15.34
[ Laughter ]
00:51:15.44\00:51:17.91
Now, it's funny, because those
00:51:18.01\00:51:18.77
of you that like fish,
00:51:18.87\00:51:19.71
you are not doing that.
00:51:19.81\00:51:20.61
You're not doing that, right?
00:51:20.71\00:51:21.44
You're not, "Oh!"
00:51:21.54\00:51:22.01
No, no, no.
00:51:22.11\00:51:23.48
And he said, "It's the best
00:51:23.58\00:51:24.05
part."
00:51:24.15\00:51:24.88
I said, "Okay."
00:51:24.98\00:51:26.41
So I took my fingers, and the
00:51:26.51\00:51:27.92
fish was still a little bit hot.
00:51:28.02\00:51:28.98
I can still remember the
00:51:29.08\00:51:29.68
sensation.
00:51:29.78\00:51:30.95
I took it from between
00:51:31.05\00:51:32.12
its eyes there,
00:51:32.22\00:51:34.06
and I popped it into my mouth.
00:51:34.16\00:51:37.09
It was, far and away,
00:51:37.19\00:51:39.23
the sweetest,
00:51:39.33\00:51:40.33
best fish I had ever had.
00:51:40.43\00:51:44.47
In fact, it ruined me, 'cause
00:51:44.57\00:51:45.60
you came back to the States,
00:51:45.70\00:51:46.33
you'd open up a can of tuna,
00:51:46.43\00:51:47.37
you're like, "Oh, this is
00:51:47.47\00:51:47.80
garbage.
00:51:47.90\00:51:48.60
This is like cat food."
00:51:48.70\00:51:49.67
I mean, why am I --
00:51:49.77\00:51:50.84
why am I eating this, right?"
00:51:50.94\00:51:52.64
I mean, it was phenomenal.
00:51:52.74\00:51:53.78
Just explodes with flavor
00:51:53.88\00:51:55.18
in your mouth like that, right?
00:51:55.28\00:51:58.71
Even though the method seemed
00:51:58.81\00:52:01.38
awkward and strange to me,
00:52:01.48\00:52:04.19
it turns out that it led
00:52:04.29\00:52:06.25
to a very plentiful harvest.
00:52:06.35\00:52:09.76
You know, too often,
00:52:16.00\00:52:19.03
when Matthew 24:14 is read --
00:52:19.13\00:52:22.00
"And this gospel
00:52:22.10\00:52:23.00
shall be preached as a witness
00:52:23.10\00:52:23.74
to all nations,
00:52:23.84\00:52:24.54
and then the end will come."
00:52:24.64\00:52:27.88
Too often, "the end" is
00:52:27.98\00:52:30.68
interpreted in purely
00:52:30.78\00:52:31.91
negative terms.
00:52:32.01\00:52:34.05
Cities being destroyed,
00:52:34.15\00:52:35.18
earthquakes, famines,
00:52:35.28\00:52:36.18
pestilence, persecution.
00:52:36.28\00:52:39.95
You know, those things will be
00:52:40.06\00:52:40.89
part of the package.
00:52:40.99\00:52:41.62
But the real end
00:52:41.72\00:52:44.83
for Christians is Jesus.
00:52:44.93\00:52:48.86
That's the end for us.
00:52:48.96\00:52:51.87
There will be those other
00:52:51.97\00:52:52.73
things, yes,
00:52:52.83\00:52:53.40
but the end is Jesus.
00:52:53.50\00:52:55.64
What an incentive
00:52:55.74\00:52:57.27
to get into gospel gear
00:52:57.37\00:52:59.51
and do the things
00:52:59.61\00:53:00.64
that Jesus has asked us to do.
00:53:00.74\00:53:02.28
Because once the gospel
00:53:02.38\00:53:03.51
is preached to the whole world,
00:53:03.61\00:53:04.55
"and then the end will come,"
00:53:04.65\00:53:06.05
Jesus will return.
00:53:06.15\00:53:08.18
This is a powerful thing,
00:53:08.28\00:53:09.25
the idea that
00:53:09.35\00:53:11.62
we can have a hand in speeding
00:53:11.72\00:53:13.56
the return of Jesus Christ.
00:53:13.66\00:53:15.36
So Jesus says,
00:53:15.46\00:53:16.56
essentially, "You only
00:53:16.66\00:53:17.93
have to finish the work once."
00:53:18.03\00:53:20.23
Just one time. Just finish it.
00:53:20.33\00:53:21.86
So give it all you have.
00:53:21.96\00:53:23.57
Get out in the water.
00:53:23.67\00:53:25.00
Even if the method seems
00:53:25.10\00:53:26.33
to be a little strange
00:53:26.43\00:53:27.37
and a little odd,
00:53:27.47\00:53:28.47
get out there, do your part.
00:53:28.57\00:53:30.57
And in the doing,
00:53:30.67\00:53:32.01
God will provide the strength,
00:53:32.11\00:53:33.44
and the harvest
00:53:33.54\00:53:34.24
will be abundant.
00:53:34.34\00:53:35.78
Because, you see,
00:53:35.88\00:53:37.25
when we do church filled
00:53:37.35\00:53:40.02
with Jesus' spirit in the way,
00:53:40.12\00:53:41.92
using the methods
00:53:42.02\00:53:43.02
that Jesus asked us to use,
00:53:43.12\00:53:44.85
it turns out
00:53:44.95\00:53:46.22
that the church works.
00:53:46.32\00:53:51.19
And the work of sharing
00:53:51.29\00:53:52.33
Jesus Christ with the planet
00:53:52.43\00:53:53.46
will be finished,
00:53:53.56\00:53:55.23
and the end will come,
00:53:55.33\00:53:57.43
and Jesus will come,
00:53:57.53\00:53:59.70
and we will at last go home.
00:53:59.80\00:54:03.57
May the Lord bless us mightily
00:54:03.67\00:54:05.44
beyond all that we can dream
00:54:05.54\00:54:06.54
or imagine,
00:54:06.64\00:54:07.91
as we seek to fulfill
00:54:08.01\00:54:09.58
His vision in our lives.
00:54:09.68\00:54:11.01
¤
00:54:13.72\00:54:23.63
¤
00:54:23.73\00:54:33.60
¤
00:54:33.70\00:54:43.61
¤
00:54:43.71\00:54:47.55
>> I'm Shane Anderson,
00:56:52.04\00:56:53.01
the lead pastor here
00:56:53.11\00:56:54.28
at Pioneer Memorial Church.
00:56:54.38\00:56:56.41
At Pioneer Media,
00:56:56.51\00:56:57.58
we have been blessed
00:56:57.68\00:56:58.51
by the financial support
00:56:58.61\00:57:00.25
that comes from our viewers like
00:57:00.35\00:57:01.62
you that enable us
00:57:01.72\00:57:03.15
to continue this ministry.
00:57:03.25\00:57:05.62
We've made a conscious decision
00:57:05.72\00:57:07.06
not to continually appeal to you
00:57:07.16\00:57:08.49
for that support.
00:57:08.59\00:57:10.13
However, keeping this ministry
00:57:10.23\00:57:11.33
going takes money
00:57:11.43\00:57:12.56
to support our staff and
00:57:12.66\00:57:14.00
technology needs.
00:57:14.10\00:57:15.76
If God has blessed you
00:57:15.86\00:57:17.37
and you would like to further
00:57:17.47\00:57:18.37
the work of this ministry,
00:57:18.47\00:57:19.80
we invite you
00:57:19.90\00:57:20.70
to partner with us.
00:57:20.80\00:57:22.57
You can donate on our website,
00:57:22.67\00:57:24.04
pmchurch.org.
00:57:24.14\00:57:26.41
Then click "giving" at the top.
00:57:26.51\00:57:28.71
Then select "media ministry."
00:57:28.81\00:57:31.51
Or call the number
00:57:31.61\00:57:32.81
877-HIS-WILL.
00:57:32.91\00:57:35.52
Again, that number is
00:57:35.62\00:57:36.52
877 the two words HIS-WILL.
00:57:36.62\00:57:40.52
My prayer is that the God
00:57:40.62\00:57:42.16
who has blessed
00:57:42.26\00:57:43.02
you will continue to pour
00:57:43.12\00:57:44.73
into your life the gifts
00:57:44.83\00:57:45.79
of His joy and His hope.
00:57:45.89\00:57:48.10
Thank you, and
00:57:48.20\00:57:49.63
I'm looking forward to seeing
00:57:49.73\00:57:50.73
you right here again next time.
00:57:50.83\00:57:52.67
¤
00:57:59.34\00:58:09.32
¤
00:58:09.42\00:58:19.33
¤
00:58:19.43\00:58:27.67