Participants: John & Angie Lomacang (Host), Dee Casper, Mark Paden, Ryan St. Hillaire
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW016004A
|
00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Removing pain 00:23 Lord, let my words 00:29 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:45 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:07 Hello, friends, and welcome to family worship. 01:10 Good to have you here, Honey. 01:12 I'm glad to be here on a Friday night worship 01:15 with all of you watching as well as listening. 01:17 That's right. 01:19 She said listening because she works with 3ABN Radio 01:21 and we are reminded that the gospel is not just seen 01:25 but it is also heard. 01:28 Now as we take a wide shot, 01:30 you might think this is a male dominated program, 01:34 but there is a method to this madness. 01:36 And we will introduce our panel or our family members 01:41 in just a moment. 01:43 Honey, we could be their Mom and Dad. 01:45 Yeah, actually we can. 01:47 We're old enough to be, aren't we? Yeah. 01:49 So start contributing financially to the family. 01:53 No. 01:54 Well, let's just go ahead and kind of get off the program 01:57 with the wonderful introduction. 01:59 These gentlemen are part of a ministry 02:01 that I'm gonna introduce in a moment 02:02 but first start with your name 02:04 and when we get to the founder of this ministry. 02:06 We'll go ahead and start with your name 02:08 and tell everybody 02:10 what you do right now and where you are from? 02:13 Sure. So my name is Mark Paden. 02:15 I'm the creative director for UnScene Media Group. 02:18 I'm actually originally from Texas. 02:19 Okay. What part? 02:21 Austin area, I actually live in a little town 02:23 called Dripping Springs. 02:24 Dripping Springs. Never heard. 02:26 We had a police officer stop us 02:27 and he asked if it was near leaky faucet. 02:32 Is there a place called leaky faucet? 02:35 I got pulled in by that, 02:36 I'm a New Yorker, that's terrible. 02:38 Good to have you here, Mark. 02:39 Thank you. UnScene Media Group. 02:40 You know, before when we came in 02:42 our Director Robert Stotz says, 02:45 "The guys that are supposed to be on the program with you 02:47 are unseen which is it kind of tongue and cheek. 02:51 And to our good, Honey, right next to you, 02:54 tell us your name and what you do? 02:55 Yeah. My name is Ryan St. Hillaire. 02:58 Okay. 02:59 And I'm the executive director of UnScene Media Group. 03:02 Okay. 03:03 And I also do a little bit work with 3ABN as well 03:07 as a director. 03:08 Dare to Dream? 03:10 Well, little bit of everything. Yeah. 03:13 And tell us a little bit about UnScene Media? 03:15 Yeah. 03:17 Because people might be saying what is that? 03:18 Yeah, what is that? Yeah, for sure. 03:20 UnScene Media Group is a ministry 03:22 that we started years ago 03:23 and it was out of a desire and a passion 03:27 to use media in creative ways to reach the young generation. 03:32 And we also really believe in training and discipline 03:38 young people to use media to share the gospel. 03:42 So it's not just a matter of creating media 03:44 that will reach hearts 03:45 but also putting in place programs and opportunities 03:49 for young people to be able to share the gospel 03:52 and to be able to witness the power of God 03:55 working through them to win souls for Christ. 03:58 And what's your website? It is www.unscene.me. 04:03 And it's spelt U-N-S-C-E-N-E. 04:06 Okay. 04:08 It's kind of like a movie scene 04:09 so it's a play on words unscene.me. 04:11 Okay. Well, good to have you, Ryan. 04:12 Thank you. 04:14 And next to you is a young man 04:15 that we met a number of years ago. 04:16 Well, first tell our audience who you are, 04:18 where you are from? 04:19 Dee Casper. And what you do? 04:21 Yes, so my name is Dee Casper and I'm from Southern Illinois 04:23 about 15 miles from here 04:25 and my position with Unscene Media Group 04:28 is the evangelism director. 04:29 So that's what I do. Okay. 04:31 And he is fairly new Adventist, is it? 04:33 Yes. Baptized five years ago. 04:35 In fact, 3ABN brought me into the message. 04:36 Yes. Yeah. 04:38 I've never heard of a Seventh-day Adventist 04:39 for 21 years and founded on TV. 04:41 Yeah. 04:42 You listened on radio, didn't you? 04:44 Later, yeah. 04:45 Later on. Yeah. 04:46 And I met you in the mall in Marion. 04:48 Yeah, 2008. Yes, Sir. 04:49 And what was the store again that you work for at the time? 04:50 Finish Line. 04:52 Yeah, I thought it a apparel company. 04:53 I sold you two North Face jackets. 04:54 That's-- I still have them. 04:56 Do you? Yes, I love North Face. 04:58 No commercial. 05:00 If you are, if you are listening to this program 05:02 you like to send us North Face as a North Face representative 05:04 which surely I am not. 05:06 But yes, Finish Line was actually your starting line 05:12 that's what I like to say it. 05:13 Yes, it was. For my testimony it was. 05:14 It's absolutely right. 05:16 And when you came to church, my wife put you right upfront. 05:17 Yeah. 05:18 Well, that was at camp meeting. 05:20 At camp meeting and you met David Asscherick. 05:21 Yes. Yeah, led me going to Arise. 05:23 Yeah, you two were involved in a process 05:24 that pretty much opened a pathway for me 05:26 being an Adventist minister. 05:28 It started here locally, yeah. Wow. 05:29 Wow. Yeah. 05:31 And we are glad to have you all. 05:32 It's pleasure to be here with you guys. 05:34 And, Honey, strangely enough there might be someone 05:35 watching this program for the first time 05:37 who don't know who you are. 05:39 Oh, okay. 05:40 My name is Angela Lomacang and I work at 3ABN Radio. 05:45 And we've been here for the past 13 years. 05:49 I can't believe it's been that long. 05:51 We've been here that long. 05:52 So and we've been in ministry. 05:54 I always told them he will be my pastor 05:57 for the rest of my life. 05:59 So it's a pleasure to be your wife. 06:02 Wow. I like that. 06:05 I need a drink to that but... 06:07 And I'm Pastor John Lomacang. 06:10 I work as a pastor in the Illinois Conference. 06:12 I also work with 3ABN in so many capacities. 06:15 House Calls, every Wednesday night 06:17 A Sharper Focus at 7 pm, 06:19 a Bible study for one hour, 06:23 director of World Evangelism now a new title. 06:27 And just so many other things that 06:29 but the wonderful thing about it is, this program 06:32 and the reason I'm highlighting these little caveats 06:35 of what we do is because 06:36 this program is called salvation or saved to serve, 06:42 saved to serve. 06:44 So often we say salvation is by grace through faith. 06:47 It is a gift of God not of works 06:49 and then we kind of kick works 06:51 out of the whole picture of salvation. 06:53 When in fact, you will find out in just a moment 06:55 why that title saved to service so vitally important. 06:59 And so we have young men on our panel 07:01 that are on fire for the Lord. 07:03 Yes, they are. 07:05 Excited about what God has equipped them to do 07:06 and we are excited to see 07:08 what they are doing not only at 3ABN, 07:10 but in lives of many young people. 07:12 And so, if you are a young person 07:13 watching this program, don't forget, unscene.me. 07:19 Check it out, there are some great items there 07:21 that will bless your life. 07:23 But let's start with some music. 07:24 All right. 07:26 Because, you know, when you are involved 07:27 in service for the Lord, 07:28 it comes with an assurance and after we sing, 07:30 we will have prayer before we dive into our topic. 07:33 But "Blessed Assurance Jesus is Mine!" 07:41 The words will appear on the screen 07:43 for those who want to follow. 07:44 Blessed assurance, Jesus is Mine! 07:50 O, what a foretaste of glory divine! 07:56 Heir of salvation, purchase of God 08:02 Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood 08:08 This is my story, this is my song 08:14 Praising my Savior all the day long 08:20 This is my story, this is my song 08:26 Praising my Savior all the day long 08:31 Perfect submission. 08:33 Perfect submission, perfect delight! 08:39 Visions of rapture now burst on my sight 08:45 Angels descending, bring from above 08:51 Echoes of mercy, whispers of love 08:57 This is my story, this is my song 09:03 Praising my Savior all the day long 09:10 This is my story, this is my song 09:16 Praising my Savior all the day long 09:21 All is at rest. 09:22 Perfect submission, all is at rest 09:29 I in my Savior am happy and blest 09:35 Watching and waiting, looking above 09:41 Filled with His goodness, lost in His love 09:47 This is my story, this is my song 09:54 Praising my Savior all the day long 10:00 This is my story, this is my song 10:06 Praising my Savior all the day long 10:13 Thank you, Jill. 10:16 Jill is on the piano accompanying us 10:18 and she is in so many capacities, 10:22 administrative secretary for Danny Shelton here at 3ABN. 10:25 Musician, she is a program host. 10:28 Yeah. 10:29 The list goes on and on but more than that 10:31 she is a wonderful Christian. 10:32 So thank you, Jill, for that music. 10:33 Wonderful woman of God. 10:35 Wonderful woman of God and an author also I might add. 10:37 That's right. That's right. Wonderful book. 10:38 But now this song is kind of a prayer lieu to our topic. 10:41 Work for the night is coming. 10:43 You know, the Bible says, 10:44 "The hour cometh in which no man work." 10:46 So we have to work before that hour comes 10:48 and how wonderful it is 10:50 to work for a cause that will never fail. 10:52 And so as we sing this song, 10:53 the words will appear on your screen. 10:55 Let us work, for surely the night is coming 10:58 where all the liberties we have as Christians 11:00 won't be afforded us. 11:02 Let's sing this song as our testimony. 11:08 Work, for the night is coming 11:13 Work through the morning hours 11:18 Work while the dew is sparkling 11:23 Work 'mid springing flowers 11:27 Work while the day grows brighter 11:32 Under the glowing sun 11:37 Work, for the night is coming 11:42 When man's work is done 11:45 Let's go to the last stanza. 11:47 Work, for the night is coming 11:52 Under the sunset skies 11:56 While their bright tints are glowing 12:01 Work for daylight flies 12:06 Work till the last beam fadeth 12:11 Fadeth to shine no more 12:16 Work, for the Lord is coming 12:20 When man's work is o'er 12:27 Amen. 12:28 And, Honey, after you were about to say it a moment ago, 12:30 but after 29 years of ministry, in the pastoral ministry 12:35 and then many more years of that in music ministry, 12:38 wow, sometimes if you think about that too much, 12:40 it will make you tired. 12:42 But we know that there are faithful servants 12:44 that are watching this program. 12:45 Some that have served the Lord 40-50 years, 12:48 maybe even longer than that. 12:49 There are people watching that have been married long ago 12:51 than we've been alive. 12:53 Yeah. That's true. 12:54 And so, there are young people that we want to tell you 12:57 which one, but two of these three young men 13:00 are unclaimed. 13:04 We won't tell you who they are, 13:06 but the Lord will impress you 13:08 if any of these young men in your future. 13:11 So we won't catapult them into the category, 13:14 hey, the highest bidder but they are men 13:17 that love to serve the Lord 13:18 and that's a very wonderful thing to do. 13:20 You know, the topic is about saved to serve. 13:23 And, Mark, what I would like you to do 13:25 is before we go into the topic 13:27 to have a word of prayer for us. 13:29 So we can ask the Lord to bless as we open His word. 13:31 It's His word and unless 13:33 we have the Holy Spirit's guidance, 13:34 it's just words. 13:35 Absolutely. Pray for us, Mark. 13:37 Sure. 13:38 Father in heaven, thank You for being a good God. 13:40 Thank You that You care for us 13:42 and not just in an overall sense 13:46 but, Lord, You really care for us individually. 13:49 You know us for who we are. 13:50 And, Father, we thank You for that. 13:52 And, Lord, we just pray right now 13:54 that You will send Your spirit to guide us, to teach us. 13:56 Lord, you know, the messages that each of us 13:59 and each here needs to know, Lord, 14:02 and we pray that You will impress 14:03 that message on their hearts. 14:05 We love You, Lord. 14:06 In Jesus' name we pray, amen. 14:08 Amen. 14:09 Now for the main scripture reading, 14:13 let's go to Ephesians 2 14:16 and we are gonna look at verse 8, 9 14:20 and then we are gonna go to our springboard text, 14:23 verse 10. 14:24 And each of us has our Bibles open 14:26 so that will be good. 14:27 What I'll do is-- 14:30 Honey, why don't you start with Ephesians 2:8, 14:32 Ryan do verse 9 and Dee would do verse 10? 14:35 Okay. Okay. Ephesians 2:8. 14:37 "For by grace you have been saved through faith, 14:41 and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." 14:46 "Not of works, lest anyone should boast." 14:49 Okay. And then verse 10. 14:51 "For we are His workmanship, 14:52 created in Christ Jesus for good works, 14:55 which God prepared beforehand 14:57 that we should walk in them." 14:59 Wow. 15:00 So if you look at this text or these three verses, 15:03 it is saying, you can't work your way into heaven. 15:05 You cannot work your way into salvation. 15:07 There is nothing you can do to work. 15:10 It is God who works in us, 15:11 both to will and to do of His good pleasure. 15:14 That is the work of salvation. That is His work. 15:16 We submit to that process and the Lord works in us. 15:19 And the Bible says, 15:21 "He who has begun a good work in you will complete it." 15:25 Praise the Lord for that. 15:26 Amen. Amen. 15:28 That's the work of salvation. 15:29 But because you are saved by His work, 15:33 you are not saved from work, you are saved for work. 15:37 And Ephesians 2:10 is a beautiful passage 15:41 and when we look at UnScene Media, 15:43 when we look at 3ABN in all of its capacities, 15:47 from its music ministry to radio, to television, 15:51 to programming, to the production crew, 15:54 to those who are on the road, 15:56 to those who are shouldering the great responsibilities 15:58 of the finances of this ministry. 16:00 And by the way, thanks to all of you who pray 16:03 and support this ministry. 16:04 It's all about work. 16:06 And I know that when Sabbath comes 16:07 and so many other people that have been working hard 16:09 at 3ABN come to church 16:10 and then they remember, they got be a deacon, 16:14 they are Sabbath school teacher, 16:16 they are working behind the church cameras. 16:18 They sometimes say, 16:20 "Pastor, we have worked so hard all week, 16:22 we are tired." 16:24 And I say, "I understand, I'm in the same boat with you." 16:28 But the good news is 16:29 one day we are gonna get to the place 16:31 where the work is done. 16:32 Isn't that wonderful? Yeah. 16:34 But until then 16:35 what I would like to do is go around this circle 16:37 and just give us a synopsis 16:41 because you are young men, I'm looking to your age, 16:42 I respect you for that. 16:44 But it's not anywhere near my age. 16:47 I just leave it there. 16:49 But tell us when the spark of God 16:52 called you to work for the Lord 16:54 because we talk about family worship 16:56 and this truly is about worship 16:58 but tell us when did that spark in your heart 17:00 open up to be involved in the work of God? 17:02 Sure. 17:04 So I think really the point where it was for me 17:07 was before I graduated high school, 17:10 I went to an Adventist academy 17:12 and I was really searching and praying, asking God, 17:15 "Where do You want me to go? What do You want me to do?" 17:18 And there is a quote actually in the Great Controversy 17:22 that God led me to that point saying 17:24 that in the last days that God would train some 17:27 by the unction of His spirit 17:30 rather than by the training of literally institutions 17:33 and that would be their qualification 17:34 for the service that He want them. 17:36 And just ever since that point, 17:38 God has been leading me into ministry 17:40 and it's really, 17:43 I wouldn't really want to consider anything else 17:46 because I've learned not only is it a powerful, 17:50 not only is it a powerful thing for others, 17:52 but it's also a powerful thing for the person in ministry. 17:55 You learn so much about the faithfulness of God 17:57 and His power to work with people. 17:59 I don't want anything else. 18:01 Wow. Wow. 18:02 Isn't it nice to hear a young man say that? 18:04 I'm looking at him and I'm looking at me 18:07 as I'm looking at him but-- 18:08 As a young man on fire for the Lord, yeah. 18:11 And so, I appreciate your zeal 18:14 and your willingness to work for the Lord 18:17 and we need more young people like that. 18:19 Today, so many young people 18:20 are just out there in the world. 18:23 Satan is just taking them, but the Lord wants them too. 18:26 The military wants them young, right. 18:28 Yeah, Lord wants them young too. 18:31 Can I quickly comment on that? Sure. 18:33 When I started doing ministry 18:35 right after I graduated high school, 18:38 it was, it was hard for me 18:40 because I would be doing these things 18:43 and I felt like everyone was looking down on me 18:44 because of my age. 18:46 I felt like people were thinking, 18:47 "You are too young for that. You can't be doing that." 18:49 And so I was just so perplexed and so I would go to the Bible 18:52 and read verses like Jeremiah's experience 18:55 where he comes to God and God asks them, 18:57 this is the plan that I have for you. 18:58 I want you to be this prophet and he is like, 19:01 "I can't. I'm a youth." 19:03 And then God says to him, "Don't say you are youth." 19:07 Or David where David is literally so young 19:11 that he has ruddy cheeks. 19:12 Right, and the prophet of God and his own father 19:16 then believed that he would be an effective worker. 19:18 Well, that's right. That's true. 19:20 But God chosen. 19:21 So what I would want to say to anyone that is young 19:25 and hearing the voice of God calling them to go forward, 19:27 don't fear, 19:29 because God has a work 19:30 for the youngest as well as the oldest. 19:32 There is no one in His, 19:33 there is no worker of His that is disqualified by age. 19:36 Paul even told young-- Timothy said, 19:38 "Let no one despise you because of your youth." 19:40 That is very good point. 19:41 Yeah. Yeah. 19:42 And Uzziah became king when he was 16. 19:45 So how many people, you know-- 19:47 In our early church, Ellen White our pioneers, 19:49 they were all young. 19:51 Look at that, teenagers. 19:52 I'm glad you mentioned Jeremiah because a lot of times 19:53 people think of prophets with long beards 19:55 and "The Lord has said..." 19:58 you know, we think of this Moses. 20:01 Charlton Heston. Yeah, exactly. 20:03 God looks for the young. 20:05 If the military wants, 20:06 if the world's military wants young people, 20:09 God's military wants young people. 20:11 An army of youth rightly trained, right? 20:13 Say it again. 20:14 An army of youth rightly trained. 20:16 An army of youth rightly trained. 20:17 Yes. Yes. 20:19 There's couple of these other young men. 20:20 Ryan, the call of God on your life in the ministry. 20:23 That's an interesting one. 20:26 I think, you know, lot of people can look back 20:28 and they can see like a dramatic conversion story 20:33 or whatever and-- 20:34 Like the light coming on. Yeah. Yeah. 20:36 You know, it was, you know, drug dealer whatever and-- 20:41 You know, I grew up in church 20:44 and I was felt the call of God on me for a long time 20:50 because I realized that He was calling me 20:52 to help people to serve others and there is just a joy 20:58 that I had every time that I was able to do something 21:01 for somebody else. 21:03 And for me the experience was not one conversion experience, 21:09 but multiple conversion experiences. 21:12 And I think the issue and the challenge with me 21:15 was that, I didn't really know 21:19 what the gospel looked like practically 21:23 and so I had this idea of 21:25 "Oh, this is what a Christian should look like. 21:28 This is what I look like. 21:30 How do I get from here to there?" 21:33 Right. 21:34 And so, you know, people say, well, fake it till you make it. 21:39 And so, you know, you try 21:41 and, you know, I believe that God allowed me to be 21:45 just utterly crushed in my spirit to the point 21:49 where I realized, you know, I can't do this on my own. 21:53 You know, I went through a year that I was just totally 21:57 depressed, suicidal. 22:00 The only things that were keeping me going 22:01 was pleasure seeking. 22:02 It was music, it was other things that I've got into 22:08 and from there God started to work on my heart 22:15 and helped me to realize 22:16 that the Christian experience is not something 22:18 that we can achieve on our own. 22:22 It's something that Christ does inside of us 22:25 that He motivates us to will and to do 22:27 of His good pleasure and outside of that 22:30 everything else is either hypocrisy 22:35 or it's somebody that is about to get burned out. 22:38 That's a good one. 22:40 Without the Lord-- 22:41 the power comes from the Lord, that's a very good point. 22:44 And, Dee? Yeah. 22:45 The call of God on your life to ministry, to service. 22:48 You know, in 2008 22:50 is when that really started to hit home for me, 22:51 around the time that I met you guys 22:52 and some other instances happened in my life 22:54 that God gave me 2 Timothy 4:5 22:58 and I was reading NIV at the time and it says, 23:00 "And you, keep your head in all situations, 23:02 endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, 23:04 and discharge the duties of your ministry." 23:07 And every one of those things has happened in my life. 23:08 Went through tremendous hardship 23:10 economically and situationally and otherwise, 23:14 but all of it just prepared me for the work 23:15 that God has been doing now in ministry. 23:17 So I was excited about the message. 23:19 I remember whenever I saw you in Finish Line I was like, 23:21 all my friends become crazy. 23:22 The Sabbath is a Sabbath and the dead are really dead 23:24 and people are in hell right now 23:26 and they think I'm crazy but I don't think I'm crazy. 23:27 Do you think I'm crazy? No. 23:29 And I was jazzed for the message 23:31 at that point in time 23:32 but I really 23:34 and I found face to face encounter 23:36 with Jesus for myself. 23:37 A loving relationship with Jesus for myself, 23:39 but the message made sense and I was excited for it. 23:42 But there was a season of my experience 23:43 that I was content to have every David Asscherick sermon 23:46 that could be found on the internet on my computer 23:48 while doing nothing for Jesus. 23:50 Wow. 23:51 And the thing that changed that for me was going to Arise, 23:55 interestingly enough 23:56 studying with David that's what fixed it. 23:58 Now, but, by going out 24:00 and being actively engaged in service 24:01 and knocking on doors and giving Bible studies 24:03 and giving sermons and stuff with my classmates, 24:06 something changed to me that I wasn't content 24:08 to just sit any longer that I had to do 24:11 and it wasn't because someone was forcing me to do, 24:14 but there was a fire within me that what I know, 24:17 I cannot keep this to myself. 24:18 What was me if I not preached the gospel? 24:21 And from that point forward, 24:22 I've been in ministry for the last five years 24:25 because of that but by actively going and seeing 24:27 that God could use me. 24:28 Sometimes that's one of our fears. 24:30 I don't know what to do 24:31 and I was at a place that gave me training and two, 24:34 could God even use me. 24:36 I'm a mess, my history is an absolutely barren wasteland. 24:39 Could God use something like me? 24:41 And when I saw God's ability to use me 24:44 in spite of what I knew that I was, 24:46 I realized that this is the only option 24:48 I have for life. 24:49 And I've never turned back since then. 24:51 I think because 24:53 you just touched on something really important 24:54 and I think that one thing that we all have in common 24:57 in this in our ministry in UnScene 24:59 is the recognition that it's not possible 25:02 to have a growing living vibrant relationship with God. 25:07 a Christian experience 25:09 unless we are actively involved in service. 25:11 Wow. You know. 25:12 It was a natural result. A natural desire. 25:15 It wasn't like I have to was that, I cannot. 25:19 You know, I think that's another important point. 25:23 The Bible says, "Let your light so shine." 25:25 It doesn't say 25:26 somehow force light to emit from yourself, 25:29 it says "Let your light shine." 25:30 And that's the natural response 25:32 when I first learned the gospel, 25:34 it absolutely enthralled me. 25:36 I was literally going around. 25:38 Hey, have you heard this before? 25:39 Have you heard this before? 25:40 It lit you up. Yes. 25:42 And it does that. That's right. 25:43 When we, when we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good 25:45 and I think going back to our verse in Ephesians, 25:49 I think the power of verse 10 comes from verse 8. 25:53 That's right. We realize the gift of God. 25:55 When we realize how incredible that gift is, 25:58 we cannot help but share. 26:00 We cannot help but do what God wants 26:01 because we love Him so much 26:03 and what He has done for us is incredible. 26:06 That's a good. 26:07 That's a wonderful segue to point out that 26:09 when you realize the gift of God, 26:13 it activates a different attitude about service. 26:16 Because there are some people that do things for the church 26:21 and are maybe in positions in the church 26:24 but when you realize who you are serving 26:26 and what the gift is. 26:28 For example, 26:30 if somebody gave you something of great value 26:32 you would say, "I just want you to know, 26:34 if you need anything, just anything just let me know. 26:37 I'll be willing to help. I mean just whatever time." 26:41 I remember telling a guy that who hadn't given me a gift 26:44 but I remember telling him that he call me this 26:46 when I was in the mountains of River Eel, 26:48 Northern California 26:50 and he called me 3:30, 4 o'clock in the morning 26:52 during a very terrible rainstorm 26:54 and his land was being overrun by a flood 26:58 because he couldn't get these large pipes 26:59 out of the river. 27:01 They were too heavy for him. 27:03 And that those little Simple acts of saying 27:06 whenever you need me I'm there 27:08 led him to give his life to the Lord before he died. 27:11 And he didn't want to know anything about God. 27:13 Don't talk to me about God. Don't tell me about Jesus. 27:15 But those small acts of service 27:18 to this man who didn't, won't even talk about Jesus, 27:21 he gave his life to the Lord before he died. 27:23 And so what I like you to do, Hon, 27:25 this first text Psalms 100:2 27:27 this is, I think a catapulting text 27:30 into what it means to-- it's in our outline here, 27:33 what it means to serve the Lord when you talk about 27:35 when you realize the gift of God, 27:37 what kind of service is it. 27:38 Psalms 100, okay, give us... 27:40 "Serve the Lord with gladness, 27:42 come before his presence with singing." 27:46 Serve the Lord how? 27:47 With gladness. Gladness. 27:48 Are you glad to serve the Lord? 27:50 And this is our family worship we sang, didn't we? 27:51 That's right. 27:53 We came before Him, we sing it's Friday night 27:54 and we're bringing in the Sabbath together, 27:58 you know, so that's the right way to do it. 28:01 Start with singing. 28:02 Come before the Lord in praise and as a-- 28:04 Inhabits the praise of His people. 28:07 And as a minister of music, I would say singer 28:10 and musician but I've changed that. 28:12 As a minister of music-- 28:13 It is a ministry. It's a ministry. 28:15 You know, ministry of the word, ministry of music. 28:17 You realize when you are singing to the one 28:19 that gave everything for you, 28:22 it's not a task anymore, it's not a concert. 28:25 It's a-- I always tell people this is my testimony in Psalms. 28:30 Serve the Lord with gladness. 28:31 So let's go through some of these. 28:33 Mark, I'll have you. 28:34 Oh, your iPad died. Oh, no actually it didn't. 28:37 Bring up the outline for us 28:39 and let's just kind of walk through these together. 28:40 And then this is completely interactive, 28:43 so we could all kind of share as we go, but the first one. 28:47 Deuteronomy 28:47. Yes. 28:49 "Because you did not serve the Lord your God 28:51 with joy and gladness of heart, 28:53 for the abundance of everything." 28:55 Okay, and if you read the verses before that, 28:57 there were certain blessing that they could not receive 28:59 and the Lord says, 29:00 because you did not serve the Lord with how much? 29:03 All, everything. 29:05 And with what two things? 29:07 Joy and gladness of heart. 29:08 Joy and gladness, 29:10 let's talk about that, joy and gladness. 29:11 But, I mean, how do you see, okay, in your week, 29:14 you have so much production to do and lot of things. 29:17 Joy and gladness, let's talk about joy and gladness 29:19 at radio for example. 29:21 What gives you joy and gladness at radio? 29:23 I love what I do at radio and I added testimonies 29:28 and for instance I interviewed Dee, didn't I? 29:30 and I just enjoy listening to other folk's testimonies 29:35 of how the Lord have come into their lives. 29:38 So I-- it's not just that. 29:40 I just love my job because I'm ministering. 29:42 I feel like I'm ministering through editing. 29:46 Someone is gonna hear a message or sermon that I'm editing. 29:49 Someone is gonna hear about the Lord. 29:51 Someone is gonna hear something about Jesus. 29:54 So it just give me great joy. 29:56 You know, even if I didn't get paid for working, 29:59 I still would have great joy in what I do. 30:02 You know, it's nice about that in coming 30:04 whenever you want is like impacting the kingdom 30:07 against the kingdom of darkness 30:09 chiseling away every attempt that the devil makes 30:12 to try to take somebody from God's hands. 30:14 You know that you are making a difference. 30:15 Right. You know. 30:18 So there are sometimes 30:20 when it doesn't feel joyful, right. 30:23 So there is, it's the time 30:24 when you've worked hard on that project 30:27 and then you forgot to save it 30:29 and the whole editing goes, right. 30:31 Or the time when like you are trying to get all these 30:33 little pieces together and you're on a deadline 30:35 and then you mess ups 30:37 one little thing on the lighting 30:38 and you don't realize 30:39 until once you are in postproduction, right. 30:41 But you know-- 30:42 You did that this week, didn't you? 30:44 I did last week. 30:45 Yeah, and yesterday it was one of those days 30:46 like super discouraging but, you know, 30:48 what I found? 30:49 For me the joy comes is editing a video, 30:52 producing this and then 30:53 a nurse friend of mine showing it 30:55 to the meth addict who just got shot 30:58 three times in the stomach and was feeling worthless. 31:01 It's showing that video to another person 31:03 who is in their sickbed feeling absolutely left alone, 31:06 that's where the joy comes. 31:08 Realizing that those times of pain, 31:09 those hardships, those afflictions 31:11 that you go through is worth if for something. 31:14 And if even when you are, you are, 31:17 it's been months since you made the video, 31:19 God is still using that for someone. 31:21 That's the most beautiful thing and it gives you so much joy. 31:24 Yes. Yes. 31:25 From a non-video standpoint 31:27 at least from my background is like Bible working, 31:29 preaching and teaching and the happiest 31:32 I've ever been in my life was as the Bible worker 31:34 and as a teacher in academy settings. 31:35 Not because I don't enjoy what I'm doing now 31:37 but the-- I was able to do all hands on interactive 31:42 ministry with people all the time 31:44 and it was the happiest I've ever been in my life 31:46 because I was laboring for people 31:48 and my job was to sit at a table like this. 31:51 I was at a dinner table with the lady 31:52 who was sitting with the Adventist Reform Movement 31:54 and with me trying to figure out where to go. 31:57 And the day came 31:58 when I communicated the message 32:00 of righteousness by faith to her in a way 32:01 that she never heard before and her head went down 32:03 in that table and she sobbed because she realized 32:06 for the first time in her life 32:07 that God can accept me as I am, 32:11 not for what I'm not. 32:12 To see people accept the gospel of Jesus Christ 32:15 and to make decisions for eternity, 32:17 to baptize people who made decisions 32:19 was the most-- is the most rewarding thing 32:20 I've ever done in my life, one hundred percent. 32:22 I perform in front of thousands of people 32:24 as a professional musicians and that did nothing 32:26 in comparison to seeing people make decisions for the kingdom. 32:30 It's the most rewarding thing anyone 32:32 because that's what you were made for. 32:33 Everyone is born into the kingdom of missionary. 32:35 That's right. Yes. 32:37 It's an amazing experience 32:38 to be able to be a minister of reconciliation. 32:41 Yes. 32:43 There is interest to witness peoples' lives being changed 32:46 because of the power of God working through us 32:49 for the benefit of others 32:50 and I think that's what, you know, when it says. 32:53 What were we reading about? 32:56 Serve the Lord with joy and gladness of heart 33:01 and the neat thing is that as we are serving God 33:05 like as you are working in radio, 33:07 as we are doing our work here, 33:08 we are realizing 33:10 that we are making a difference for people. 33:11 Peoples' lives are being changed and, I mean, 33:14 there is nothing more rewarding 33:16 than that I think in this life, you know. 33:19 I think there is one other aspect of this too. 33:21 This is a quote from Christ Object Lessons 33:23 page 97, says, 33:25 "The man who attempts to keep the commandments of God 33:27 from a sense of obligation merely 33:29 because he is required to do so-will never 33:30 enter into the joy of obedience. 33:32 He does not obey." 33:35 We can do a lot of good things for God, 33:38 but is it really service if we haven't been given 33:42 the love for that service. 33:43 And that's what God wants. 33:44 He wants us, He wants us to come to Him, 33:47 give Him our heart, so that He can transform us. 33:50 Not just in a cliche way but in a very visceral way 33:52 giving our lives to God and letting Him 33:55 transform us so that we love serving Him. 33:57 Because many I think-- we have this idea, 34:00 we want to serve God, 34:01 we know that it's what we should do, 34:03 so we serve God out of a mere sense 34:05 of obligation she says. 34:07 And you never get the joy out of it. 34:08 Right. Right. Right. 34:09 Remember I'm growing up in church, 34:11 we used to have on the board 34:12 how many tracks did you give up. 34:14 Oh, man, that irritated me no end. 34:15 I don't want to say 34:16 where I heard that but just recently 34:18 we took a trip somewhere 34:19 and between Sabbath school and church, 34:21 "Okay, how many tracks that anyone passed? 34:23 Fifteen, okay twenty two, okay, six. 34:25 Okay, don't forget make sure your count is accurate." 34:27 And I'm thinking, no. 34:30 No. No. No. 34:33 Just don't count those things. 34:35 You know, if you want to do inventory, 34:36 do that at the church 34:38 and see how many tracks were taken out of the closet 34:39 but you can never count 34:41 because those tracks could be one track 34:42 can affect an entire family. 34:44 Yes. 34:45 One track can affect an entire community. 34:47 And so sometimes, and so-- go ahead. 34:50 You are just missing the entire point like that. 34:53 I think that's one of the things-- 34:54 But we are counting our labor. 34:56 Right. 34:57 And just like with the sense like, 34:58 so God has something. you know, 35:00 we need to make sure to return our pay, 35:01 you know, our little clock sheet to God 35:02 at the end of the week, 35:04 so you can make sure your pace is back right. 35:05 No but I think that one of the biggest things 35:07 that has made sense to me 35:08 when it comes to the idea of service is that 35:10 when you come face to face with the love 35:12 and the value that God places 35:13 upon you individually, you can't help 35:16 but realize that the people around you 35:18 God has a same value for and they don't know. 35:21 They don't know. How sad. 35:22 They don't know how valuable they are to God, 35:25 but you know how valuable they are to God 35:27 because you know how valuable you are to God 35:29 and it's no difference. 35:31 And that's one of those things 35:32 that when you are saved to serve, that, 35:34 that transition takes place within the hear 35:36 that there is a less of an inward look 35:38 and more of an outward look in that sense. 35:40 This is, what else can I do for you, 35:41 Lord for all your benefits towards me. 35:45 There is a quotation in Christ Object Lessons, 35:47 listen to this, it's page 299, paragraph two. 35:50 Honey, why don't you read that for us? 35:52 Oh, sure. 35:53 "The Lord desires us 35:55 to appreciate the great plan of redemption, 35:58 to realize our high privilege as the children of God, 36:02 and to walk before Him in obedience, 36:05 with grateful thanksgiving. 36:07 He desires us to serve Him in newness of life, 36:11 with gladness every day." 36:15 So and like you said in the difficulties 36:17 when you come through that 2 Corinthians 4:17, 36:20 "For our light affliction, 36:22 which is but for a moment, 36:23 worketh for us a far more exceeding 36:26 and eternal weight of glory." 36:27 So, oh, my lighting was up. 36:29 Oh, I missed it. 36:30 Oh, I just lost everything 36:32 and then all of a sudden the meth addict, 36:34 and the person who doesn't feel his own personal worth sees it 36:37 and your realize, Lord, I'm not even thinking about 36:41 lost programs or off lighting. 36:43 Look at this changed light. 36:45 Light affliction but for a moment. 36:47 Interesting you mentioned 36:48 that with the idea of family worship 36:50 because as our ministry family worship, 36:51 we read 2 Corinthians 4 today. 36:52 Brian did that this morning. 36:54 This morning? This morning? 36:55 Yeah. Praise the Lord. 36:57 Go to the second one. 36:58 The second one, right to the bottom now. 37:00 Where it says, "Serve with the whole heart. 37:04 Don't hold back. 37:05 Put all in service." 37:07 Okay, and read that one I said. 37:09 In Deuteronomy 11:13 it says, 37:11 "And it shall be that if you earnestly obey 37:15 My commandments which I command you today, 37:18 to love the Lord your God and serve Him 37:22 with all your heart and with all your soul." 37:26 Isn't that wonderful? 37:27 If you are football player do you run with the-- 37:29 do you run with the ball to the goal line like 37:31 you can't catch me or you moving 37:34 because you are surrounded by a crowd of witnesses 37:37 that are counting on you to be diligent 37:39 with all your might, with every pulse 37:42 of your heart to make it and I think that 37:45 when we are called to serve in a capacity 37:47 that will never fail. 37:48 Isn't that wonderful? 37:49 Right. The gospel won't fail. 37:51 No, it won't. It's gonna triumph. 37:53 And so when we are standing to get that gold medal, 37:56 the kingdom golden medal, 37:58 we want to know that we put all of our heart 38:00 into that cannot prevail. 38:03 Ryan, look at the third one there. 38:05 Top right. 38:07 "Serve as you with the Lord. 38:10 We are serving Jesus while we serve others." 38:13 Text. In Colossians 3:23, 24. 38:18 "And whatever you do, do it heartily, 38:20 as to the Lord and not to men, 38:22 knowing that from the Lord 38:24 you will receive the reward of the inheritance, 38:27 for you serve the Lord Christ." 38:29 Wow. 38:30 Where did you remember hearing that phrase 38:32 as much as you've done it to the-- 38:33 Least. 38:35 You've done it unto Me. 38:36 Talk about that because there are people that-- 38:39 you talked about 38:41 taking some young people once on a trip, 38:45 was it in the Upper Peninsula in Michigan? 38:47 It was a backpacking trip 38:48 to the Upper Peninsula in Michigan. 38:50 Yes, just a wilderness thing 38:52 to totally get disconnected from technology 38:55 and just spend time with God without distractions and... 39:00 And talk about some of those things 39:01 that because, 39:03 you know, the reward of taking kids 39:05 that don't have a connection with God, 39:06 to find a connection with God, 39:08 you share that moment of epiphany. 39:10 There was something you mentioned that 39:12 when you realize it's worth it. 39:13 What was that? 39:15 Just recognizing their recognition 39:20 of the power of God in their lives. 39:23 Now, I think was through prayer or something. 39:26 Well, there is a lot of them. 39:28 What about the rain, I think it was-- 39:30 Oh, okay. Yes. 39:31 So the very first day that we set out, 39:35 we were late the first night so we had to camp out 39:37 in the trailer the first night 39:39 and then we headed out on the journey, 39:41 it was about 30 miles whole together 39:44 over a period of like five days. 39:46 We are backpacking, we have everything 39:47 that we need to survive in our backs 39:50 and we just started and then all of a sudden, 39:54 you know, we are excited about the kids, 39:55 they are talking and whatever and then the sky 39:57 just roars and rain pours down. 40:00 And everybody is soaking wet and all of the sudden the kids 40:04 that are all excited are silent. 40:07 They're just trudging along in the mud 40:09 and I'm at the back of the line 40:12 and I'm just praying, 40:14 "God, please do something with the weather. 40:16 I don't want these kids to hate us." 40:19 We are taking them out of here and, you know, 40:21 just have a terrible experience on the first day, 40:23 you know, it's ridiculous. 40:25 So I felt, 40:29 you know, I was praying for a long time 40:31 and then I just felt God impressed me 40:32 that He was gonna use the weather 40:34 to show these kids something about His love. 40:38 But He wasn't gonna answer my prayers, 40:40 He was gonna answer their prayers. 40:41 Wow. 40:42 And so from that moment 40:44 I was looking for the next opportunity 40:45 that we could, you know, to pray. 40:47 Just to stop and to have everybody pray, you know, 40:49 whatever and the amazing thing was out of the 30 miles 40:52 that we hiked that week, 40:53 we never found any kind of structure, 40:55 any kind of shelter whatever. 40:57 This particular day we turn a corner 40:59 and there is a shelter. 41:01 We went under there, you know, 41:02 packed out our lunches and we, you know, 41:05 reconstituted our dehydrated food packets 41:08 and afterwards we took some time and we prayed. 41:11 And I just, you know, had the kids pray. 41:13 Some of these kids that probably, you know, 41:16 don't really have much church experience, 41:18 some of them just listening to their prayers. 41:20 Just raw, just genuine, just asking God, 41:22 you know, help the sun to come out. 41:25 Please help the rain to go away so that, 41:28 you know, we can get to wherever 41:29 we are going tonight. 41:30 And it was just amazing to see that. 41:35 So we started on our way again. 41:36 The rain hadn't stopped but we had to go because, 41:38 you know, we have to make it to our destination 41:40 otherwise night comes and we will be stuck somewhere. 41:43 And it wasn't just maybe two minutes 41:46 after we started walking, 41:48 the sky parted, the sun came out 41:51 and it dried up. 41:52 Wow. Wow. 41:54 And the kids were amazed 41:56 because they were able to see, you know, 41:58 "Hey, God answered our prayers." 42:01 That's right. 42:02 And throughout the week, we were able to see 42:04 just things like that. 42:05 Like watching the kids praying for each other 42:07 because they are like, 42:09 hey, maybe God is listening to us. 42:12 Maybe God does care. 42:14 Maybe God is interested in the little things. 42:16 You know, like helping so and so feet or whatever, 42:19 you know, different problems that we had along the way. 42:22 And by the end of that week, you know, 42:24 these kids had a totally different outlook on life. 42:27 And you actually-- they let you live. 42:29 Yes. 42:31 Yes. Yes. 42:34 Now, good. Dee? 42:35 I was thinking this idea of revealing through service 42:39 the love of God is the very first paragraph 42:41 in the book Acts of the Apostles 42:44 that kind of summarizes what we've been talking about. 42:46 It says, "The church is God's appointed agency 42:48 for the salvation of men." 42:50 Notice, God could be sending angels to people 42:52 but God is sending us. 42:54 There is not a single verse in the Book of Acts 42:57 where a soul is saved without a person. 42:59 There is always a person involved. 43:00 God sends people. 43:02 "It was organized for service, 43:03 and its mission is to carry the gospel to the world. 43:06 From the beginning it has been God's plan 43:08 that through His church 43:10 should be reflected to the world 43:11 His fullness and His sufficiency. 43:14 The members of the church, 43:15 those whom He has called out of darkness 43:17 into His marvelous light, are to show forth His glory." 43:20 Last sentence here. 43:21 "The church is the repository of the riches 43:23 of the grace of Christ, and through the church 43:26 will eventually be made manifest, 43:29 even to 'the principalities and powers in heavenly places,' 43:32 the final and full display of the love of God." 43:35 Wow. 43:37 There are angelic beings and people in un-fallen worlds 43:39 that are learning things about the love of God 43:42 through this service that we perform, 43:44 through the gospel transforming 43:45 our individual experiences, it's amazing really. 43:50 So it isn't a burden. 43:51 It's not a "yoke of bondage" 43:52 it is a privilege 43:54 to be ambassadors of reconciliation, 43:56 ministers of reconciliation. 43:58 One preacher said that the Lord calls us 44:01 to ministry not for us to save others but to save us. 44:05 Yeah. Yeah. 44:06 And I thought about that, what would we have been doing? 44:08 Yeah. Think about it. 44:10 What was I doing before I got into. 44:12 You were disc jockey. Disc jockey, partying. 44:13 You were playing records and having people dance 44:16 or you made them dance. 44:21 And each of us could look at our lives whether how long 44:23 or how short we've lived 44:25 and see that well, at some point 44:27 this text that came to me is 1 Timothy 4:16 44:31 and it shows and that very point 44:32 is illustrated in the very same example 44:35 of let no one despise your youth. 44:38 But verse 16 brings out a very important point 44:41 of why God calls us to work. 44:45 Look at verse 16. You have that one, Mark? 44:48 1 Timothy 4:16? 44:49 Yes. 44:50 "Take heed unto thyself" that one. 44:52 Take heed. 44:53 "Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine, 44:56 continue in them, for in doing this 44:58 thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee." 45:01 See. 45:02 I'm teaching you something. 45:04 Share with others but if you listen 45:07 to what you are sharing, 45:08 they will be saved and you will be saved. 45:11 So you don't want to be a castaway? 45:12 You don't want to be castaway. 45:14 I found that in Bible work too, 45:16 like the more that I would be sharing the things 45:17 I was certainly convinced of. 45:20 I would be reminded of just how awesome this message is 45:23 when talking about the beauty of the judgment 45:25 that is not something to be afraid of 45:26 or the character of God and the heart of God. 45:28 Every time I gave studies on righteousness by faith, 45:30 I was just reminded of the undying love 45:33 and reasonableness of our Savior. 45:37 Yeah, it's amazing 45:38 and we need those continue reminders, 45:40 that's one of the reasons why I think God does that 45:42 is to continually remind us 45:44 of the things He is doing for us 45:45 and wanting to teach us by sharing with others. 45:47 Matter of fact, Dee, read point number four on that line. 45:51 "We serve for eternal reasons. 45:53 Don't serve the Lord for temporal benefits." 45:57 And the text for that is Matthew 25:23, 46:00 I actually referred to this earlier. 46:01 Yeah. Okay. 46:02 "His lord said to him, 'Well done, 46:04 good and faithful servant, 46:05 you have been faithful over a few things, 46:06 I will make you ruler over many things. 46:09 Enter into the joy of your lord.'" 46:12 I don't know if you caught the word joy? 46:13 Yeah. Yeah, I did. 46:15 If you serve the Lord with joy, 46:17 you will enter into eternal joy. 46:20 And at His right hand are pleasures forevermore. 46:22 Jesus prayed for that actually for us. 46:24 In John 13 through 17 He says, and that You may have My joy 46:27 and you may have it to the full. 46:29 Like Jesus is actually longing for this for His people 46:32 that it's actually available to us. 46:35 So where does that joy come from 46:36 because this one question 46:38 that is going on in the back of my head 46:40 because I imagine, you know, people asking this question. 46:44 Is it just, you know, when it says, 46:46 serve the Lord with joy are we saying okay, 46:48 it's time to serve the Lord. 46:49 I'm gonna do it with joy. 46:52 Like... Okay. 46:54 I would think you gonna-- I'll go and give you up. 46:56 I was thinking like when people go on mission trips 46:59 so they do that kind of acts like giving the guy 47:01 who didn't have any money 20 bucks to buy a lunch 47:03 or whatever something about you resonates when you've done 47:06 because this is what you were made for. 47:08 I think that sense of joy euphoria 47:10 isn't just because I did a good deed 47:12 but because there is a rightness, 47:15 resounding chord within you that 47:17 this is what I was made to do 47:19 and you feel like you 47:21 in all your fullness in that sense. 47:23 Okay. What other way? 47:24 I think the other way 47:26 is receiving God's love for other people. 47:28 Yeah. 47:29 Because we can't conjure up joy or love for these things 47:34 that has to be implanted and when we have received 47:37 such a love for people, 47:39 there won't be a joy for us to serve. 47:41 And I think another aspect of this is God gave us talents 47:45 and abilities for a reason and sometimes He calls us 47:50 to use those talents. 47:52 And for me I love video. I love video. 47:54 Like all the nitty-gritty details of preproduction, 47:57 production and post production I enjoy it 48:00 taking it over ominous times but I enjoy it. 48:02 And even there is some joy 48:04 that God gives you joy in the labor itself. 48:06 Yeah, I could relate to that for sure. 48:09 Now these guys they all sound like preachers, don't they? 48:11 I'm telling you. 48:13 Do you all preach, don't you? Yeah. 48:15 I almost want to give a contact address of both of you. 48:18 Yeah, but not at today show. 48:19 They can email our website. 48:21 Yeah. That's right. 48:22 So all little preachers. 48:23 You guys remind me of Psalms 1, "Blessed is the man who walketh 48:26 not in the counsel of the ungodly." 48:29 And then it says "But his delight 48:31 is in the law of his God, 48:33 and in that he doth meditate day and night." 48:34 What happens? He is like a tree planted. 48:37 And "That brings forth its fruit in its season, 48:42 whose leaf will not wither, 48:43 and what ever he does will prosper." 48:45 And so you go and look at that. 48:47 You compare the things that the world does 48:49 that are so temperament, so fleeting 48:50 and every year they are competing. 48:52 Who is gonna get the next Oscar? 48:53 Who is gonna get the next best song of the year? 48:55 Just for a brief moment the next year the same thing, 48:57 everybody is competing with earthly rewards 49:00 but one day we are gonna get the heavenly rewards 49:02 and that's one of those. 49:04 But I want to get to the fifth point. 49:07 You want to get that one? 49:08 I want to, before we-- Sure. 49:10 Before we move on from, I want to say one more thing 49:11 about this verse. 49:12 Great. 49:14 This was actually one of the verses 49:15 or passages that God used to propel me into ministry. 49:19 This is specifically where I am at now. 49:20 I'm in something that he is leading us with 49:22 but I was reading it 49:25 and I was struck by the last servant 49:28 who received one talent and he came to God 49:30 and he didn't go into service for God 49:33 through fear and unbelief. 49:35 He was scared that he would lose a talent 49:36 that he wouldn't do a good enough job. 49:38 And so he was so scared of failing God 49:41 or his master in the parable 49:43 that he didn't go out in service for God. 49:45 And it struck me like, God was saying to me 49:49 because as we mentioned earlier me being younger, 49:51 it's terrifying like I'm called to do this 49:56 and like not having the background 49:57 of all these other people, it's terrifying. 49:59 But this is, this was a quote that 50:01 God showed me at that time that is so powerful. 50:04 It's from Christ Object Lessons. 50:06 Again we've had three quotes from it. 50:07 Go for it. It's okay. 50:08 Christ Object Lessons, "But when we give ourselves 50:10 wholly to God and in our work follow His directions, 50:14 He makes Himself responsible for its accomplishment. 50:18 He would not have us conjecture 50:20 as to the success of our honest endeavors." 50:23 Get this. 50:25 "Not once should we even think of failure. 50:28 We are to co-operate with One who knows no failure." 50:30 Wow. I remember that. 50:32 And that's such an encouragement 50:34 that if God calls us forward, in another place it says 50:37 even if we have almost everything to learn, 50:39 God is our teacher and He has promised success 50:42 that we don't have to fear 50:44 because we feel like our talents are limited 50:45 that we can't actually do a successful job for God. 50:48 I think that's something that we should all remember more. 50:51 I think this segue us to our last point. 50:53 I think Ryan is-- 50:55 I mean, Dee, is that your's or Ryan which one? 50:57 I guess I can. 50:59 Number five, "Focus on being a servant 51:01 not being served 51:03 so we seek to give and not to receive." 51:05 There is actually a quote that Paul says, 51:07 "For even our Lord said for it's more blessed to give 51:09 than to receive." 51:10 That's the only quote in the New Testament 51:12 that's quoting Jesus that isn't found in the gospels 51:14 but he was referring to the gospel 51:15 to give than to receive. 51:17 Mark 10:45, "For even the Son of Man 51:19 did not come to be served, but to serve, 51:22 and to give His life a ransom for many." 51:25 Do you ever feel like sometimes you are putting out so much 51:27 and it seems like you are not getting reciprocated by-- 51:31 You know, man I worked so hard this week. 51:34 I have no money-- This is the testimony. 51:37 Well, no actually sometimes-- 51:38 Because it's been a rough week. 51:40 Last couple of weeks you have been 51:42 busy, busy, busy, working for the Lord. 51:45 And then sometimes helping other people 51:46 that are not directly connected but it's a ministry to their-- 51:49 You know, like last night, 51:50 you know, helping with something that, 51:52 somebody needed help in an excel spreadsheet 51:55 and, you know, after making a 1,017 entries for them 51:58 and my hands were feeling like they were really tight, 52:00 you know, when your hands are always hanging down. 52:02 Okay, what is the benefit here? 52:04 And but surly it's service and loving other people 52:07 so that it doesn't become always about you. 52:09 That's right. 52:10 And so when we focus on being servants, 52:15 we realize it doesn't have to be about us. 52:18 And I say to people don't serve because somebody 52:20 is gonna give you a plaque 52:21 or you are gonna get your name on the side of a building 52:24 but serve because one day you're gonna hear, 52:26 "Well done." 52:27 Good and faithful servant. Go ahead. 52:29 I even remember, I don't want to be 52:31 in that situation as quoting Ellen White 52:33 when I don't know where it is 52:34 but I remember her talking about 52:36 how even the person in their lowliest job, 52:39 the tiniest little detail if done in faithfulness, 52:42 in diligence, and in loving service for God 52:45 is just as important in the books of heaven 52:47 as the greatest pastor, the greatest evangelist, 52:50 the person reaching thousands. 52:51 So even if, even if you can, you only have 52:54 enough strength to pray for someone, 52:57 that is still incredible work for God. 53:00 Because once again 53:02 "Not of works lest anyone should boast." 53:05 Right. See, that's the key. 53:07 Works is it-- 53:09 Throw a little kind of a monkey wrench in there 53:11 but, I know we are talking about being we're save to serve 53:15 and I think sometimes we serve so that we can be saved 53:21 and that's the reason 53:24 that we are doing all these things 53:26 is because the only reason is because somebody told us 53:30 well, you are either just looking for the reward 53:32 or you are gonna burn in hell. 53:34 Which one do you want, right? 53:36 And I think that again focusing on the point 53:41 that you made earlier, Mark, 53:44 you know, we can have a person 53:45 who is doing all the right things. 53:47 You know, they are serving tons of people 53:50 to giving out tons of glow tracks, 53:52 you know, they can throw down the 99 best tofu recipes 53:57 whatever and they may look perfect on that outside 54:02 but inside they don't have love for God. 54:05 And where does that leave somebody? 54:07 Yeah, the service that we render to Christ 54:10 must be activated out of a personal relationship. 54:13 You have to spend your time at the feet of Jesus. 54:16 You don't always be in the kitchen of service, 54:18 be at the feet of Jesus. 54:20 My good friend, Pastor Batchelor wrote a book 54:21 At the Feet of Jesus. 54:23 The best place to be is at the feet of Jesus. 54:25 When one sister was saying she is not helping, 54:28 the Lord said, "She is where she needs to be." 54:31 And so begin your day at the feet of Jesus 54:32 which in fact takes us to our time of prayer now. 54:35 We're gonna go through this very quickly. 54:36 We're gonna mention these prayers 54:38 in the interest of time, we're gonna have one prayer. 54:41 But, Mark, the prayer request that you like to mention. 54:45 Sure. 54:46 Wilbert who is seeking a closer walk for Jesus. 54:49 Betty who is battling bladder cancer 54:50 and is praying for strength and healing. 54:52 Okay. 54:54 And mine is, Bob needs a prayer for her marriage 54:58 and the salvation of both her and her husband. 55:03 Carol is trained in the medical field 55:05 and needs employment and also have a friend Annette. 55:10 Her husband is gonna have very serious surgery 55:14 and they are in the West Coast, so remember them in prayer. 55:17 All right. 55:19 Patty lives alone in the country 55:21 and needs assistance. 55:24 Sonia is expressing tiredness, dizziness, lung congestion 55:27 and heart issues and she is asking 55:29 that we pray for God's will to be done. 55:31 And Vernetta had knee and shoulder replacements 55:33 and is in lots of pain. 55:35 And her husband has Parkinson's 55:37 and they need divine and grace and strength. 55:39 Wow. 55:41 And finally Della's granddaughter 55:42 has dropped out of school. 55:44 Pray that she will return to school. 55:46 And we also want to pray for the Lord 55:48 to find for that young lady 55:51 to be receptive to the voice of the Lord. 55:54 You know, we'll just bow our heads. 55:55 We are gonna have a word of prayer 55:56 and ask the Lord to bless 55:58 these prayer requests and others. 55:59 If there are prayers in your heart, 56:00 you might want to bow your heads with us as we pray 56:02 and allow your prayers with a silent 56:04 or audible to be raised before God's throne of grace. 56:08 Wonderful Father in heaven, 56:10 what a blessing it is to know that we are saved to serve 56:13 and we serve because we love You. 56:16 Not because we are trying to work our way into salvation 56:19 or to find that we can boast about our accomplishments. 56:22 But surely, Lord, it is You who works in us both to will 56:26 and to do of Your good pleasure. 56:28 These precious names mentioned 56:30 and others that are 56:31 in the hearts of our viewers and listeners. 56:33 Lord, we want to unite with them right now 56:35 as we come before Your throne of grace. 56:37 We pray that as these prayers rise 56:40 that they are sweet smelling savor to You. 56:44 Each of the needs, Father, both physically, 56:46 spiritually, mentally, emotionally 56:49 and whatever other category they may be in, 56:51 we pray that You will tend to them, Lord. 56:53 Not just for these needs to be met 56:55 and the people to go along unchanged, 56:57 but more than all the needs that are mentioned, 57:00 we pray that their hearts will experience a change 57:03 in the touch from Your all mighty hand. 57:06 Amen. 57:07 We also pray for the needs of this ministry, 57:10 for the families that are connected with us right now, 57:12 for the altars that are set up in the homes of those listening 57:14 and those watching and transform 57:17 and touch our hearts and lives 57:19 that we may work because we love You. 57:21 And, Father, we won't fret or be discouraged, 57:24 but we surely will know that 57:25 we will leave the results to You. 57:27 So take these small seeds of faith, Father, 57:30 plant them in your kingdom that one day 57:32 it will be our privilege to hear the words, 57:35 "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." 57:37 In Jesus' name, amen. |
Revised 2016-03-03