Welcome to the final,
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the eighth week
of prayer service
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that we've been
having this week,
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it started last Sabbath morning
with our Pastor John Lomacang.
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And then it
proceeded through the week,
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we had Shelley
Quinn on Sunday night,
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I spoke on Monday night.
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John Dinzey on Tuesday night,
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and then our pastor
again on Wednesday evening,
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Thursday evening
was Pastor CA Murray
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and last night our
founder Danny Shelton.
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And today the
speaker is going to be
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none other than the
editor of the Adventist Review
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Dr. Bill Knott,
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and so this has been a
really exciting weekend.
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Danny, when we
started talking about reviving
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the week of prayer,
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do you remember
the week of prayer
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when you were younger and...?
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Oh, absolutely
and I also remembered
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in gathering too.
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You don't hear
much about that anymore.
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No.
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But we started
way before Christmas
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and I was out there,
you know, in gathering,
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but the week of
prayer is a great thing
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and the beauty of 3ABN
with television and radio,
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if you happen to miss,
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I traveled a
couple nights I was gone.
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But I got to come back
and I got to hear Shelley,
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and then I was
traveling down to Nashville
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the other night
when CA was preaching,
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and I heard him
on the radio, Jay...
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All right. Heard him on...
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You're doing all right
now, I heard you, okay.
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Jay is doing all right,
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he's here in
church today, great.
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Praise the Lord
for that good report.
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And I heard CA
preaching on the radio,
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so as I was heading down,
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so thank the Lord
for 3ABN television
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and 3ABN radio.
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Amen.
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Well, it is a remarkable
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how the Lord has enabled
us to reach around the world.
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Radio now is on how
about, how many stations, Jay?
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About 225.
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225 stations...
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That's a two-hander.
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That's right, it
surely is. That's amazing.
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Not only here but
around the world...
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Around the world.
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We heard when we were
in Australia for instance.
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Well, we really did
and I had someone tell me
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the other day
that they watch 3ABN
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on a local channel
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but they said we also
listen in our car on 3ABN radio.
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So you, if you
have a downlink station
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in your area,
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even if you don't
have a radio station,
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you should be able
to reach 3ABN radio
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through that downlink station.
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I have a couple
guys that come out
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and we'd play
basketball Tuesday nights
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and they'll come out invariably,
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and want to talk about sermons
they've heard on 3ABN radio.
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They say, we don't
watch, we don't have time
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but when I travel
back and forth to work,
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I'm always
keeping up with you guys,
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and what's
happening there at 3ABN.
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We've even had
some of the coal miners
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who say that they record it
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on their little
digital recorders,
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and then listen to it
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when they're down
900 feet below the ground
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working in the coal mines.
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And they're
listening to 3ABN radio
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while they're
going about their work.
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So God is
blessing, He really is.
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Now, Danny, we've been having
prayer request all week long
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and today was no exception,
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what are we praying about today?
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Well, you know,
today we have emphasis,
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of course, on
revival and reformation.
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That's something, folks,
as I mentioned last night,
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you see the times
in which we're living,
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we need revival
like we've never had it.
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But we need to
start personally, right?
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Individually rededicating
our lives to the Lord
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and then as
we're working together
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as a family,
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as Seventh-day
Adventist Christians,
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we know what our mission is
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to take an undiluted
three angels' messages
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to all the world,
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so we want to pray for that
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and outpouring
of the Holy Spirit
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and revival on
God's people today.
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Amen.
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And, you know, we have
seen some remarkable answers
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to prayer this week
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and we believe
with all of our heart
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that God still answers prayer.
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So if you have a
special prayer request
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and you're watching us today
or you're listening by radio,
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you can call our
number which is...
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618-627-4651. That's right.
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618-627-4651.
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And we have JD and
some other folk I guess
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that's answering
the phones today, right?
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And, well, we have
some pastoral staff there,
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if you just hit one,
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when the phone answers
just hit the number one,
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it will take you to
one of the pastoral staff
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and you'll be able to
record and receive actual prayer
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for your request at that time.
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And we just praise the Lord
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that so many of you
have been calling in
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and have been responding.
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And we also appreciate
your, not only your prayers
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but your financial support
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because, Danny,
without that we wouldn't exist.
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Absolutely, what we're doing
is it has to be a team effort,
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and it has to be all of
us who have the same goals
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and then same mission of
taking this gospel message
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into all the world
so Jesus can come back.
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So we really, you
pray and ask the Lord
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what He would have you to do
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for the ministry
reaching hands together
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for the ministry
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of Three Angels
Broadcasting Network.
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And 'cause we
really do not designate
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the amount, do we?
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I think you heard somebody
on the television just recently
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that had a specific amount,
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was it $423 or
something like that?
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I had a guy who had
something like that,
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I just heard him, just
recently he said, give $423
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and he said,
you need to give it.
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He said, it's blessed
me so much by your giving,
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I had to go buy
240 acres of property
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and I don't even
have any reason for it,
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I just didn't want to
give it to the government.
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So I'm being blessed so much
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that if you give me the
money, you'll be blessed
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and you can, things like that
will happen to you, he said.
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And he also said, the guy said,
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what do you tell people to pray?
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And he said, get this, he
said, I tell them one thing,
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just pray Lord, make
me the biggest giver.
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So I said, well, okay,
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we don't do that here at 3ABN...
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No we don't, we
don't. We don't do that.
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We let you pray and say, Lord,
what would you have me to do?
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And that's the reason sometimes
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we could ask for
a specific amount,
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we might ask people to send 50,
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but the Lord may
want them to send 100.
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That's right.
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So we don't interfere with
what the Lord is impressing
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you to do in your giving,
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not only to us but
to your local church.
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That's right.
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And also your
tithes and your offerings,
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we encourage people
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God will bless you for giving
your tithes and offerings,
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and believe it or not,
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3ABN is not the only place
that we think it should come,
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we know God has a
great work around the world.
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And the Holy
Spirit will impress you
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not only how much to
give but who to give to.
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Well, He will and...
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Did I go too far at that time?
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No, you did
exactly. Okay, all right.
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We were discussing this
just before we came out,
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and we honestly
could not believe
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some of the
appeals that you will hear
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if you're watching some
religious television today.
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But we just want to be as honest
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and as
straightforward as we can be,
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you know, the great
needs of this ministry
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and no manipulation,
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just allow the Holy
Spirit to speak to your heart.
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Our speaker today,
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Dr. Bill Knott is a
New Englander really.
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Okay.
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He went to
Atlantic Union College,
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he began his
ministry in New England
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in Taunton, Massachusetts,
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went on to Syracuse, New
York where he was a pastor.
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And then to
Berrien Springs, Michigan,
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you remember Berrien Springs,
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and then to
Walla Walla, Washington
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where he was a
college church pastor.
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Along the way, he
also received his MDiv,
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Master of Divinity
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from Andrews
University seminary.
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And then later went to
George Washington University
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in Washington DC
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and received his
doctorate of history,
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American Religious History.
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So he is, he is well equipped,
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he loves the Lord,
he's been a pastor,
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you're not
talking about somebody
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that spent all
their life just studying,
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this has been a
man that for 18 years
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pastored churches
working with people.
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Wow.
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And he's an editor, a writer,
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he was for nine
years the associate editor
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of the Review and Herald,
before he became the editor.
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He has two sons, Evan and Brady.
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In fact, I think we
were talking a minute ago
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and Evan is right now
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preaching at a
little church in Michigan,
00:08:37.48\00:08:39.51
he is a ministerial
student at Andrews University,
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a senior ministerial student
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and he's
preaching in a little church
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out in southwestern Michigan
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right at this very time
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that his father will be
speaking to us here today.
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And his son Brady is also there,
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Evan and Brady,
his wife Debby works
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at the General Conference
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and these are
people that love the Lord.
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What we appreciate about him
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is that he has, he's very
open to supporting ministries,
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he's very close to
many of the ASI ministries
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including 3ABN and we
appreciate his support.
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Amen.
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I'm glad you came out to
tell about all the degrees
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and education he has
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'cause I not only
couldn't remember that,
00:09:24.73\00:09:26.06
I can't even say
some of his degrees,
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I can't even call him by
name, there's so up there.
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But no, he's a great guy,
00:09:31.87\00:09:33.23
besides all of that
he loves the Lord...
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Amen.
00:09:34.80\00:09:36.14
He's gonna bring
us a great message,
00:09:36.17\00:09:37.51
why don't we just
have a little prayer
00:09:37.54\00:09:38.87
and then we're gonna
have Pastor John Lomacang,
00:09:38.91\00:09:40.58
he's gonna come out
00:09:40.61\00:09:41.94
and this week we've
been actually showing
00:09:41.98\00:09:44.35
some of the Pillars
songs, music on video
00:09:44.38\00:09:47.75
but he's going to
sing to us live today.
00:09:47.78\00:09:49.92
So we're happy for Pastor John
00:09:49.95\00:09:51.49
and thankful for
what God is doing in him
00:09:51.52\00:09:53.49
and through him.
00:09:53.52\00:09:54.86
You know, he's gonna sing
00:09:54.89\00:09:56.22
one of my
favorite historical songs,
00:09:56.26\00:09:58.59
"Don't You See My Jesus Coming".
00:09:58.63\00:10:01.96
And this is a wonderful
00:10:02.00\00:10:04.33
inspiring song of
the second coming.
00:10:04.37\00:10:07.04
Amen.
00:10:07.07\00:10:08.40
Jim, would you
lead us in prayer?
00:10:08.44\00:10:09.77
Our Father and our
God, we thank You today
00:10:09.80\00:10:11.77
that we can come
to You in prayer.
00:10:11.81\00:10:14.28
Father, we thank You
that we have the assurance
00:10:14.31\00:10:17.08
that Jesus loves us,
00:10:17.11\00:10:19.45
that He came to die for us,
00:10:19.48\00:10:23.55
that He rose again
and that He's coming back.
00:10:23.59\00:10:27.09
Father, help us to continue
00:10:27.12\00:10:29.16
to proclaim that
message around the world,
00:10:29.19\00:10:32.59
through the power
of Your Holy Spirit,
00:10:32.63\00:10:35.30
I pray that You
will bring revival
00:10:35.33\00:10:37.03
not only to our church,
00:10:37.07\00:10:38.87
not only to our
ministry but to us individually.
00:10:38.90\00:10:43.51
Bring us that spiritual revival,
00:10:43.54\00:10:46.74
we pray, thank You, Father.
00:10:46.78\00:10:48.81
Pray that You will anoint.
00:10:48.84\00:10:50.25
The music we're going to hear
in a moment from Pastor John
00:10:50.28\00:10:53.68
and anoint the lips
of Pastor Bill Knott,
00:10:53.72\00:10:56.72
in Jesus' name we ask it, amen.
00:10:56.75\00:10:59.65
Don't you see my Jesus coming?
00:11:21.54\00:11:27.48
Don't you see, in yonder cloud?
00:11:27.52\00:11:34.36
With ten
thousand angels round Him
00:11:34.39\00:11:40.26
See how they my Jesus crowd?
00:11:40.30\00:11:46.87
I am bound for the kingdom
00:11:46.90\00:11:52.51
Will you go to glory with me?
00:11:52.54\00:11:58.88
Hallelujah! O
praise ye the Lord!
00:11:58.91\00:12:04.35
Don't you see
the saints ascending
00:12:08.69\00:12:13.80
Hear them shouting thro' the air
00:12:13.83\00:12:20.17
Jesus smiling, trumpets sounding
00:12:20.20\00:12:25.47
Now His glory they will share
00:12:25.51\00:12:30.91
I am bound for the kingdom
00:12:30.95\00:12:36.32
Will you go to glory with me?
00:12:36.35\00:12:42.26
Hallelujah! O
praise ye the Lord!
00:12:42.29\00:12:48.90
Hallelujah!
00:12:48.93\00:12:51.33
Hallelujah!
00:12:51.37\00:12:53.64
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
00:12:53.67\00:12:56.17
Hallelujah!
00:12:56.20\00:13:02.14
Don't you see the heavens open?
00:13:02.18\00:13:07.82
And the saints in glory there
00:13:07.85\00:13:14.72
Shouts of triumph
bursting round them
00:13:14.76\00:13:20.30
Glory, glory, glory here
00:13:20.33\00:13:25.80
Where
00:13:25.83\00:13:30.57
I am bound for the kingdom
00:13:30.61\00:13:35.41
Will you go to glory with me?
00:13:35.44\00:13:41.05
Hallelujah! O
praise ye the Lord!
00:13:41.08\00:13:47.46
Hallelujah!
00:13:47.49\00:13:49.72
O praise ye the Lord!
00:13:49.76\00:13:56.93
Amen.
00:14:05.77\00:14:07.11
Good morning and happy Sabbath.
00:14:14.22\00:14:15.78
Happy Sabbath.
00:14:15.82\00:14:17.65
This morning the
Word of God for us
00:14:17.69\00:14:19.35
is found in the
Gospel of Luke 7:11,
00:14:19.39\00:14:25.79
Luke 7:11.
00:14:25.83\00:14:32.23
"Soon afterward, Jesus
went to a town called Nain,
00:14:32.27\00:14:37.24
and his
disciples and a large crowd
00:14:37.27\00:14:39.41
went with him.
00:14:39.44\00:14:40.78
As he approached
the gate of the town,
00:14:40.81\00:14:42.21
a man who was died
was being carried out,
00:14:42.24\00:14:45.35
he was his mother's only
son, and she was a widow.
00:14:45.38\00:14:49.38
And with her was a
large crowd from the town."
00:14:49.42\00:14:53.52
After school
00:14:57.66\00:15:00.40
and certainly on
every school holiday,
00:15:00.43\00:15:05.17
the four of us kids
used to play at healing
00:15:05.20\00:15:10.11
out under a
clear blue Texas sky.
00:15:10.14\00:15:14.34
I'm not quite sure which
of us first invented the game
00:15:14.38\00:15:18.35
or if any of us would care
to claim credit for it today.
00:15:18.38\00:15:23.89
Maybe it came about
because of all those stories
00:15:23.92\00:15:26.05
we heard at Sabbath
school about missionary doctors
00:15:26.09\00:15:29.26
and nurses
toiling over broken bodies
00:15:29.29\00:15:32.53
in far off jungle places.
00:15:32.56\00:15:36.43
Maybe it came from the
fevered imaginations of children
00:15:36.46\00:15:41.94
who had been watching
too many medical dramas
00:15:41.97\00:15:44.01
on television.
00:15:44.04\00:15:45.37
In any event, by halfway through
00:15:45.41\00:15:47.54
the first grade the
game was firmly established.
00:15:47.58\00:15:52.75
Keith would bring
with him an old stethoscope
00:15:52.78\00:15:55.35
that he somehow managed
to smuggle out of the house
00:15:55.38\00:15:57.82
every afternoon.
00:15:57.85\00:15:59.59
Kathy would bring an
array of cooking utensils
00:15:59.62\00:16:03.76
that had been
magically transformed
00:16:03.79\00:16:05.56
into surgical instruments.
00:16:05.59\00:16:08.73
I would bring
along my trusty red
00:16:08.76\00:16:10.77
and silver
etch-a-sketch machine.
00:16:10.80\00:16:14.14
And Tina, well,
as I remember it,
00:16:14.17\00:16:18.17
Tina didn't have to
bring anything along.
00:16:18.21\00:16:21.01
Tina had the sweetest smile
00:16:21.04\00:16:22.94
a first grade boy
ever fell in love with.
00:16:22.98\00:16:26.85
Children's games
as we all remember
00:16:26.88\00:16:29.78
have very definite
roles and rules to them,
00:16:29.82\00:16:34.09
things have to be
done decently and in order
00:16:34.12\00:16:38.16
or else the game dissolves.
00:16:38.19\00:16:40.56
And in our particular version
00:16:40.60\00:16:41.96
of the age old game of medicine,
00:16:42.00\00:16:44.30
the patient for the
day would have to lie down
00:16:44.33\00:16:47.00
on an open bench out
there in the stone garden,
00:16:47.04\00:16:50.11
a bench that had
been magically transformed
00:16:50.14\00:16:52.77
into a surgical operating table.
00:16:52.81\00:16:55.91
With knowing looks,
the doctor of the hour
00:16:55.94\00:16:59.98
would lean over
murmur wise observations
00:17:00.02\00:17:05.45
to the attending
nurse, who of course was Tina.
00:17:05.49\00:17:10.66
The cardiogram machine,
the electrocardiogram machine
00:17:10.69\00:17:13.23
would be called for
00:17:13.26\00:17:15.30
better known as the
etch-a-sketch machine.
00:17:15.33\00:17:18.07
And it would be laid
down on the patient's heart,
00:17:18.10\00:17:21.64
and by turning the white dials
00:17:21.67\00:17:23.54
of that red and
silver etch-a-sketch machine,
00:17:23.57\00:17:25.71
you could create
the wildest arrhythmias
00:17:25.74\00:17:27.74
you ever did see.
00:17:27.78\00:17:29.11
Truth is, the
supposed heart beats
00:17:32.21\00:17:34.88
on that etch-a-sketch machine
00:17:34.92\00:17:37.35
look more like the gyrations
of my 401(k) fund recently.
00:17:37.39\00:17:42.56
If you wanted to show
00:17:42.59\00:17:43.93
that the patient
was desperately ill,
00:17:43.96\00:17:46.09
you just crank the dials down
until he appeared to flat line.
00:17:46.13\00:17:51.60
It was the patient's role
00:17:51.63\00:17:52.97
of course to
patiently endure all of this
00:17:53.00\00:17:56.10
and to moan and groan
00:17:56.14\00:17:57.97
at all the
appropriate intervals.
00:17:58.01\00:18:01.48
Sometimes if you
felt particularly daring,
00:18:01.51\00:18:05.91
you would even
feign unconsciousness,
00:18:05.95\00:18:09.55
where only the administrations
00:18:09.58\00:18:11.15
of Nurse Tina could wake you up.
00:18:11.19\00:18:14.49
You would awake from
your comatose condition
00:18:14.52\00:18:16.99
to discover Dr.
Keith leaning over you
00:18:17.03\00:18:19.33
with that curious
half smile on his face,
00:18:19.36\00:18:22.43
while Tina looked on adoringly.
00:18:22.46\00:18:25.33
Well, children are
incurable optimists,
00:18:25.37\00:18:28.24
we know that.
00:18:28.27\00:18:29.87
No one ever died
00:18:29.90\00:18:31.24
during our
little game of medicine,
00:18:31.27\00:18:33.94
that very worst the patient
would only appear to be dead.
00:18:33.98\00:18:39.55
The whole point of the game,
00:18:39.58\00:18:42.12
the whole point of the game
00:18:42.15\00:18:43.52
was the exercise
of superior skill
00:18:43.55\00:18:46.35
by the medical staff
00:18:46.39\00:18:47.92
that had saved yet
another difficult case.
00:18:47.96\00:18:52.89
Oh, the games the children play.
00:18:52.93\00:18:57.50
What a strange
prophetic forecast they give
00:18:57.53\00:19:02.44
of what we may end
up doing with our lives.
00:19:02.47\00:19:06.51
Today, Keith is a
successful psychiatrist
00:19:06.54\00:19:11.61
practicing in Denver.
00:19:11.65\00:19:14.08
Kathy went on to earn
a doctorate in nursing.
00:19:14.12\00:19:17.89
Tina well, Tina broke them all
00:19:17.92\00:19:21.32
but then again Tina
always broke them all.
00:19:21.36\00:19:24.36
And I make so boldest
to stand behind pulpits
00:19:24.39\00:19:28.73
week after week in
places around the world
00:19:28.76\00:19:31.07
and talk about healing.
00:19:31.10\00:19:35.64
That game that we
played in the stone garden
00:19:35.67\00:19:38.01
on weekday afternoons
00:19:38.04\00:19:39.37
has become the real
stuff of our grown up lives.
00:19:39.41\00:19:44.98
We never allowed for death
00:19:45.01\00:19:46.48
in those backyard
games as children,
00:19:46.51\00:19:49.22
every sick patient was
eventually gonna recover,
00:19:49.25\00:19:54.12
every wounded cowboy or Indian
00:19:54.16\00:19:57.39
was gonna get up and
play the game the next day.
00:19:57.43\00:20:01.20
Our little world was built
on that unsubstantiated belief
00:20:01.23\00:20:04.73
that life always goes on,
00:20:04.77\00:20:07.70
recovery always happens,
00:20:07.74\00:20:10.21
as long as there
is life there is hope.
00:20:10.24\00:20:13.74
Hope and life in play
were all inextricably connected
00:20:13.78\00:20:18.48
for us as children.
00:20:18.51\00:20:21.55
But the story that Luke
tells us about in his gospel
00:20:21.58\00:20:23.99
this morning shows us a time
00:20:24.02\00:20:26.19
when no one felt
at all like playing,
00:20:26.22\00:20:30.99
because no one
had any hope left.
00:20:31.03\00:20:34.66
Hope had disappeared.
00:20:34.70\00:20:38.30
Hope had disappeared as
quickly as had the last breaths
00:20:38.33\00:20:42.40
of that sturdy young man
00:20:42.44\00:20:44.14
who lay there on
the funeral stretcher.
00:20:44.17\00:20:48.34
His curly black
hair was still damp
00:20:48.38\00:20:51.71
from the fever
of his last moments,
00:20:51.75\00:20:55.72
his teeth were clenched
in a last spasm of pain.
00:20:55.75\00:21:02.69
There is something,
00:21:02.72\00:21:04.76
there is something
about the death of children
00:21:04.79\00:21:08.63
to which we humans
will never be reconciled.
00:21:08.66\00:21:14.60
We can sometimes in
the course of things
00:21:14.64\00:21:18.54
accept and understand the
death of an elderly person
00:21:18.57\00:21:23.04
who has lived a
long fruitful life
00:21:23.08\00:21:25.61
in our own quiet way,
00:21:25.65\00:21:28.98
we have been getting
ready for that moment.
00:21:29.02\00:21:32.35
We can sometimes even accept
00:21:32.39\00:21:34.62
the loss of a middle-aged person
00:21:34.66\00:21:36.42
who by accident or illness
00:21:36.46\00:21:39.69
leaves a family
alone, leaderless.
00:21:39.73\00:21:45.70
But nothing,
00:21:45.73\00:21:47.57
nothing in our bones disposes us
00:21:47.60\00:21:50.47
to understand the
death of children,
00:21:50.51\00:21:54.41
our children or
anybody's children.
00:21:54.44\00:21:58.95
There's something profoundly
unnatural about children
00:21:58.98\00:22:02.38
preceding their
parents to the grave,
00:22:02.42\00:22:04.65
it scares us and it scars us
00:22:04.69\00:22:07.26
more than any
other fear we have.
00:22:07.29\00:22:10.63
With the death of children,
comes the death of hope.
00:22:10.66\00:22:16.26
The future instead of
looking bright and rosy,
00:22:16.30\00:22:18.97
it just becomes a
long gray corridor of time.
00:22:19.00\00:22:24.67
And on that day in
the village of Nain,
00:22:24.71\00:22:26.37
I suspect that people
00:22:26.41\00:22:27.74
who otherwise
never went to funerals
00:22:27.78\00:22:29.44
came out to
that funeral that day
00:22:29.48\00:22:31.31
to walk behind
that unnamed widow
00:22:31.35\00:22:34.08
as she walked behind
00:22:34.12\00:22:35.98
the funeral
stretcher of her son.
00:22:36.02\00:22:40.86
Her loss,
00:22:40.89\00:22:42.29
oh, it was a lot
more than her loss,
00:22:42.32\00:22:44.63
the entire town felt it keenly.
00:22:44.66\00:22:48.40
Not only had death dealt
them a blow by taking the life
00:22:48.43\00:22:51.93
of a young man they loved,
00:22:51.97\00:22:53.30
but death had, had
blasted their hopes as well,
00:22:53.34\00:22:56.71
how could they go on
00:22:56.74\00:22:59.37
when this kind of
thing could happen?
00:22:59.41\00:23:01.61
If young men like this could be
cut down in the prime of life,
00:23:01.64\00:23:07.68
how would life ever
again be sweet or fun?
00:23:07.72\00:23:14.46
How could the
children ever play again
00:23:14.49\00:23:17.89
in the dusty streets
00:23:17.93\00:23:19.69
late afternoon their
funny little games of doctor,
00:23:19.73\00:23:25.23
rabbi, carpenter?
00:23:25.27\00:23:30.54
It's very likely
that the entire town
00:23:30.57\00:23:32.77
had turned out for this funeral
00:23:32.81\00:23:34.88
in that hilltop
village called Nain.
00:23:34.91\00:23:37.21
And just now as
Luke shows us the scene,
00:23:37.25\00:23:39.21
the funeral procession
00:23:39.25\00:23:40.58
is making its way out
of the gate of the village
00:23:40.62\00:23:43.18
and down the steep
road to the cemeteries,
00:23:43.22\00:23:46.45
which even to this day
lined the road to Nain.
00:23:46.49\00:23:52.19
It really was the worst
00:23:52.23\00:23:53.56
of all possible
days for a funeral.
00:23:53.60\00:23:57.67
Bright cheerful sun
hanging in mid-heaven,
00:23:57.70\00:24:02.10
song birds twittering
00:24:02.14\00:24:03.51
in the olive
trees along the route,
00:24:03.54\00:24:07.01
fields of ripe grain
blowing in a gentle breeze
00:24:07.04\00:24:11.05
down in the valley,
00:24:11.08\00:24:13.58
the snow capped
heights of Mount Hermon
00:24:13.62\00:24:15.72
outlined against a blue sky,
00:24:15.75\00:24:18.45
oh, it was the worst of all
possible days for a funeral.
00:24:18.49\00:24:22.46
Everything in the natural world
00:24:22.49\00:24:24.29
had conspired on that
day to sing a song of hope
00:24:24.33\00:24:27.70
and on that day the
human world had no hope.
00:24:27.73\00:24:33.27
They were going to a funeral.
00:24:33.30\00:24:36.81
An entire
village was going down,
00:24:36.84\00:24:40.74
it was going down
the steep rocky road
00:24:40.78\00:24:43.45
that led to the cemeteries,
00:24:43.48\00:24:45.71
down from the
companionship of the houses
00:24:45.75\00:24:48.45
that clustered up
there on the hill,
00:24:48.48\00:24:50.19
down to the lonely graves
where they buried their dead.
00:24:50.22\00:24:56.12
Mourners were
weeping that morning,
00:24:56.16\00:24:58.63
some of them
professional hired to mourn,
00:24:58.66\00:25:01.16
others weeping
00:25:01.20\00:25:02.76
because their heart
really was ready to break into.
00:25:02.80\00:25:08.07
The stretcher was
undoubtedly carried
00:25:08.10\00:25:10.71
by the young men of the village,
00:25:10.74\00:25:13.98
each one of them
feeling the solemn weight
00:25:14.01\00:25:19.68
of carrying
someone they had loved
00:25:19.71\00:25:22.62
on their shoulders.
00:25:22.65\00:25:26.19
Do you know that weight?
00:25:26.22\00:25:29.56
I do, I do.
00:25:29.59\00:25:35.16
And just at that moment
as providence would have it,
00:25:35.20\00:25:38.00
just at that moment,
00:25:38.03\00:25:39.37
Jesus and His
followers were going up,
00:25:39.40\00:25:41.44
up that same steep rocky path
00:25:41.47\00:25:44.07
that led to the village of Nain.
00:25:44.11\00:25:46.78
It was a place that Jesus
undoubtedly knew very well,
00:25:46.81\00:25:49.54
Nain was a mere six miles,
00:25:49.58\00:25:52.01
a 90 minute walk from
his hometown of Nazareth.
00:25:52.05\00:25:54.88
He had undoubtedly been
there many times in the 28 years
00:25:54.92\00:25:58.82
he lived in Nazareth.
00:25:58.85\00:26:00.72
And chances are
Jesus had many friends
00:26:00.76\00:26:02.89
up there in that hilltop town.
00:26:02.92\00:26:04.99
He knew every turn
in that twisting road
00:26:05.03\00:26:07.90
that led up from
the plain of Esdraelon
00:26:07.93\00:26:10.37
where Deborah and Barak
had defeated crafty Cicero.
00:26:10.40\00:26:14.10
Up past the town of
Endora, where discouraged Saul
00:26:14.14\00:26:17.57
had gone to seek the
spirit of dead Samuel,
00:26:17.61\00:26:20.44
up past the olive
trees and the vineyards,
00:26:20.48\00:26:23.01
up past the cemeteries, up
to the gate of the village,
00:26:23.04\00:26:26.82
two great crowds of people
were on the move that morning.
00:26:26.85\00:26:31.19
One of them sat discouraged,
00:26:31.22\00:26:34.86
almost frantic with grief.
00:26:34.89\00:26:38.06
And the other one buoyant
and cheerful and hopeful,
00:26:38.09\00:26:41.56
because they had among
them, the one who called himself
00:26:41.60\00:26:44.17
the resurrection and the life.
00:26:44.20\00:26:47.44
It was as if a wedding party
00:26:47.47\00:26:51.04
had confronted a
funeral procession
00:26:51.07\00:26:52.91
at an intersection.
00:26:52.94\00:26:55.34
And no one knew what to do.
00:26:55.38\00:26:57.98
What did
etiquette call for anyway?
00:26:58.01\00:27:00.98
Should you blow the horns
and let the tin cans rattle?
00:27:01.02\00:27:05.52
Or should you
turn on the headlights
00:27:05.55\00:27:08.12
and be somber, dress in black?
00:27:08.16\00:27:14.16
Jesus' eyes quickly
sized up the situation,
00:27:14.20\00:27:17.40
He realized that
He and His disciples
00:27:17.43\00:27:19.50
were on a collision course
00:27:19.53\00:27:20.97
with a grieving
widow and her dead son,
00:27:21.00\00:27:23.20
unless He told His
followers to step aside,
00:27:23.24\00:27:25.74
those two groups of people
would soon be so intermixed
00:27:25.77\00:27:29.81
that no one would
know who was going up
00:27:29.84\00:27:31.68
and who was going down.
00:27:31.71\00:27:35.18
Disciples with
Thanksgiving on their lips
00:27:35.22\00:27:37.85
would soon find themselves
00:27:37.89\00:27:39.25
surrounded by a
sea of wailing people.
00:27:39.29\00:27:43.86
And mourners
clinging to their grief
00:27:43.89\00:27:46.76
would soon be
surrounded by disciples
00:27:46.80\00:27:48.93
still bubbling with the
news of Jesus' latest miracle.
00:27:48.96\00:27:53.84
But you know,
Jesus didn't care a lot
00:27:53.87\00:27:55.80
about etiquette that morning.
00:27:55.84\00:27:58.67
Jesus didn't care a lot
about etiquette that morning,
00:27:58.71\00:28:01.61
because He had both
the will and the power
00:28:01.64\00:28:04.01
to bring that
mourning to an end.
00:28:04.05\00:28:07.58
The scripture tells us
that when Jesus saw this widow,
00:28:07.62\00:28:11.02
His heart went out to
her, His heart went out to her.
00:28:11.05\00:28:15.19
What a beautiful expression
00:28:15.22\00:28:16.99
that sums up how Jesus
response to any hurting person,
00:28:17.03\00:28:21.36
His heart goes out to them.
00:28:21.40\00:28:25.33
He saw her
grief for what it was.
00:28:25.37\00:28:28.74
Her grief was the broken
hearted lament of a woman,
00:28:28.77\00:28:35.21
who was now without hope
00:28:35.24\00:28:37.91
just as surely as she
was without resources.
00:28:37.95\00:28:41.78
With no husband to support her,
00:28:41.82\00:28:44.25
with no son to care
for her in her old age,
00:28:44.29\00:28:46.72
she would now
very likely be reduced
00:28:46.76\00:28:49.86
to living off the
generosity of friends,
00:28:49.89\00:28:53.70
worse yet, she might
end up begging for bread.
00:28:53.73\00:28:59.77
There would never
be any little grandsons
00:28:59.80\00:29:02.80
to bounce on her knee.
00:29:02.84\00:29:06.27
There never be any
playful little granddaughters
00:29:06.31\00:29:08.68
to tug at her skirts
and say, grandma, tell us
00:29:08.71\00:29:12.38
what it was like
in the olden days?
00:29:12.41\00:29:16.48
No, there would be
no one else to talk to
00:29:16.52\00:29:20.09
on those long evenings,
00:29:20.12\00:29:21.62
when the other village women
retreated into their houses
00:29:21.66\00:29:24.53
with their
husbands and their children.
00:29:24.56\00:29:27.56
All her hopes lay dead
and pulled on that stretcher
00:29:27.60\00:29:30.93
that she walked behind,
00:29:30.97\00:29:32.53
she was burying a lot
more than her son that day
00:29:32.57\00:29:35.17
and she knew it disheartened,
00:29:35.20\00:29:37.77
discouraged people
don't last very long.
00:29:37.81\00:29:44.25
Chances were
that failing health,
00:29:44.28\00:29:48.08
advancing age, few resources
00:29:48.12\00:29:53.56
would take her to an
early grave of her own.
00:29:53.59\00:29:57.83
And at just the moment
00:29:57.86\00:29:59.19
when we would
have expected Jesus
00:29:59.23\00:30:00.80
to put an arm
around her shoulder
00:30:00.83\00:30:02.80
and stand there beside the body
00:30:02.83\00:30:05.07
as He had once stood
at the tomb of Lazarus,
00:30:05.10\00:30:08.80
Jesus says a
very surprising thing,
00:30:08.84\00:30:12.11
don't cry, He tells the widow.
00:30:12.14\00:30:15.08
Or as some of the
better translations have it,
00:30:15.11\00:30:17.15
you can stop crying now.
00:30:17.18\00:30:20.35
Friends, that is a curious thing
00:30:20.38\00:30:22.25
to be saying at a funeral.
00:30:22.28\00:30:24.75
In 32 years
00:30:24.79\00:30:26.12
of conducting Adventist
and Christian funerals,
00:30:26.15\00:30:28.16
I have never even once
00:30:28.19\00:30:29.69
thought of saying
something like that.
00:30:29.72\00:30:33.36
Right at the moment
when we would have expected
00:30:33.40\00:30:35.20
Jesus to be
validating her feelings
00:30:35.23\00:30:38.27
and telling her that
her tears would do her good,
00:30:38.30\00:30:41.30
and giving her His
shoulder to cry on.
00:30:41.34\00:30:45.34
Jesus tells her to stop crying,
00:30:45.37\00:30:49.38
He seems to suggest
00:30:49.41\00:30:50.75
that there's no reason
to go on shedding tears.
00:30:50.78\00:30:54.45
Well, my friends,
00:30:54.48\00:30:55.82
in case you have
not picked this up,
00:30:55.85\00:30:57.59
Jesus is always
doing surprising things.
00:30:57.62\00:31:02.82
At just the moment when we think
00:31:02.86\00:31:04.19
He will act in
some predictable manner
00:31:04.23\00:31:06.29
and do the thing
we've always expected,
00:31:06.33\00:31:08.30
He does something we
never have thought of.
00:31:08.33\00:31:11.97
At some moment when we have
just accomplished something,
00:31:12.00\00:31:16.30
that brings us the
praise of our peers
00:31:16.34\00:31:18.84
and our hearts are
swelling with pride,
00:31:18.87\00:31:21.24
Jesus says to us,
00:31:21.28\00:31:22.64
humble yourself in
the sight of the Lord.
00:31:22.68\00:31:25.85
It is not what we expected.
00:31:25.88\00:31:29.48
And when we're feeling
00:31:29.52\00:31:31.12
so wretched and
low about ourselves
00:31:31.15\00:31:34.42
that we think
that no one so holy
00:31:34.46\00:31:37.06
and pure as Jesus,
00:31:37.09\00:31:38.93
whatever want to have anything
to do with slime like us,
00:31:38.96\00:31:42.20
Jesus says, whoever comes
to me I will never cast out.
00:31:42.23\00:31:45.90
Do you believe it?
00:31:45.93\00:31:47.27
Whoever comes to me,
I will never cast out.
00:31:47.30\00:31:51.87
When we're
planning some revenge,
00:31:51.91\00:31:55.21
yes, I know you, I know me.
00:31:55.24\00:31:58.18
When we're planning
some revenge on someone
00:31:58.21\00:32:00.42
who has injured us,
00:32:00.45\00:32:02.88
Jesus says,
turn the other cheek.
00:32:02.92\00:32:07.06
Love those who persecute you
00:32:07.09\00:32:11.16
and when we're sure,
00:32:11.19\00:32:12.53
when we're certain
that we've blown it big,
00:32:12.56\00:32:16.56
we've ruined all our
chances for eternal life,
00:32:16.60\00:32:19.63
Jesus says,
00:32:19.67\00:32:21.00
the Son of Man
came not into the world
00:32:21.04\00:32:23.30
to condemn the world
00:32:23.34\00:32:24.67
but that the world
through Him might be saved.
00:32:24.71\00:32:28.81
If you want to
worship a predictable Lord,
00:32:28.84\00:32:31.61
my friends, it
will not be Jesus.
00:32:31.65\00:32:34.92
If you want a safe,
00:32:34.95\00:32:36.92
stable
discipleship with no surprises,
00:32:36.95\00:32:40.52
you will not be following Jesus.
00:32:40.56\00:32:42.49
It is Jesus who delights
in what we call dilemmas.
00:32:42.52\00:32:46.90
It's Jesus who
thrives on surprise.
00:32:46.93\00:32:50.10
It's Jesus who
revels in resurrections.
00:32:50.13\00:32:53.03
It's Jesus who gets
righteous about revival.
00:32:53.07\00:32:57.74
And on that morning,
00:32:57.77\00:32:59.21
Jesus took grief and
He turned it on its head,
00:32:59.24\00:33:04.65
and He brought it up dancing,
00:33:04.68\00:33:08.28
because He had declared
00:33:08.32\00:33:09.92
that it was the
essence of His mission
00:33:09.95\00:33:11.99
to reverse the
pain in human life,
00:33:12.02\00:33:15.42
to preach good news to the poor,
00:33:15.46\00:33:17.76
to proclaim
freedom for the prisoners,
00:33:17.79\00:33:20.46
cause the blind to see,
00:33:20.50\00:33:22.13
set at liberty all
who were oppressed,
00:33:22.16\00:33:24.30
you know, He could afford
to do some surprising things,
00:33:24.33\00:33:29.04
even on days like that,
00:33:29.07\00:33:32.04
even at a funeral.
00:33:32.07\00:33:34.94
Scripture doesn't tell us
00:33:34.98\00:33:36.31
how this widow
reacted to His strange command
00:33:36.34\00:33:39.28
that she should stop crying.
00:33:39.31\00:33:41.35
It doesn't tell us
00:33:41.38\00:33:42.72
if the tears somehow
freeze dried on her cheeks
00:33:42.75\00:33:45.79
when she realized it
was Jesus speaking to her.
00:33:45.82\00:33:49.66
We don't know
00:33:49.69\00:33:51.03
if she might have been
a lifelong friend of Jesus
00:33:51.06\00:33:53.06
whose heart sprang up with joy
00:33:53.09\00:33:54.93
when she saw Him
standing in the path.
00:33:54.96\00:33:57.77
On the other hand
00:33:57.80\00:33:59.13
she might have
looked at Him as a stranger
00:33:59.17\00:34:01.07
and wondered how a stranger
could say something so uncaring
00:34:01.10\00:34:07.11
in her moment of bitterness.
00:34:07.14\00:34:09.64
But whatever feelings
00:34:09.68\00:34:11.01
His words may
have provoked in her,
00:34:11.05\00:34:12.51
He didn't leave her
guessing very long, did He?
00:34:12.55\00:34:16.58
Luke tells us
that He immediately
00:34:16.62\00:34:18.25
stepped over to
the funeral stretcher
00:34:18.29\00:34:21.52
and He did something
that no rabbi and no priest
00:34:21.56\00:34:24.19
and no Pharisee in all the land
00:34:24.23\00:34:25.66
would have done in
a similar situation,
00:34:25.69\00:34:27.73
He reached out and He
touched the funeral stretcher.
00:34:27.76\00:34:32.73
Now that seems unusual to us,
00:34:32.77\00:34:35.34
we are used to
attending funerals
00:34:35.37\00:34:37.71
and seeing
mourners touch the casket
00:34:37.74\00:34:41.31
in a gesture of
affection or saying goodbye.
00:34:41.34\00:34:46.75
It's hard for us to understand
00:34:46.78\00:34:48.18
how the people of Jesus' time
00:34:48.22\00:34:50.22
thought about the
presence of death.
00:34:50.25\00:34:52.35
But according to
the Law of Moses,
00:34:52.39\00:34:54.19
anyone who even
touched a dead body
00:34:54.22\00:34:56.79
or the bed on
which a dead body lay
00:34:56.83\00:34:59.89
was for a
period of time excluded
00:34:59.93\00:35:03.40
from the presence of the Lord,
00:35:03.43\00:35:04.77
in the ominous
language of that day,
00:35:04.80\00:35:06.84
they were ceremonially unclean.
00:35:06.87\00:35:11.94
Jesus risked defilement
00:35:11.97\00:35:14.94
because He
unnecessarily came in contact
00:35:14.98\00:35:18.85
with a dead body.
00:35:18.88\00:35:20.42
Jesus risk the probability
that He would be excluded
00:35:20.45\00:35:23.49
from the synagogue
service the next Sabbath
00:35:23.52\00:35:26.05
by some unctuous
elder who told Him,
00:35:26.09\00:35:28.86
you are ceremonially unclean.
00:35:28.89\00:35:33.70
But you know, as He did
on so many other occasions,
00:35:33.73\00:35:36.73
Jesus showed no fear of
the censure of His enemies.
00:35:36.77\00:35:41.54
He knew what He was about,
00:35:41.57\00:35:42.90
and He was about doing
good and making people whole,
00:35:42.94\00:35:45.31
He risked defilement
with virtually every person
00:35:45.34\00:35:48.34
that He healed with
every diseased person,
00:35:48.38\00:35:51.81
with every blind person,
with every paralyzed person,
00:35:51.85\00:35:56.22
with every demoniac.
00:35:56.25\00:35:57.69
And you know, I like to think
that He did it all with the,
00:35:57.72\00:36:00.46
a look in His eye and a laugh
00:36:00.49\00:36:02.49
that said, oh,
come now, be serious.
00:36:02.52\00:36:05.86
How can making
someone else whole
00:36:05.89\00:36:08.20
make me unclean?
00:36:08.23\00:36:11.50
Then Jesus said
something to that lifeless form
00:36:11.53\00:36:14.30
on the funeral stretcher,
00:36:14.34\00:36:15.67
which no rabbi and no priest
00:36:15.70\00:36:17.44
and no Pharisee in all the land
would have ever dared to say,
00:36:17.47\00:36:20.44
because it would have
been blasphemously impossible
00:36:20.48\00:36:23.28
for them to carry it out.
00:36:23.31\00:36:25.88
Jesus said, young
man, I say to you get up.
00:36:25.91\00:36:30.42
A little advice this morning,
00:36:30.45\00:36:33.66
if you're going to make
it a habit to go to funerals
00:36:33.69\00:36:38.76
and tell the dead to get up,
00:36:38.79\00:36:42.86
you'd better have the
power to make it happen.
00:36:42.90\00:36:45.57
Amen.
00:36:45.60\00:36:48.27
Or else there are gonna
be a lot of angry mourners
00:36:48.30\00:36:50.51
wanting to tear
you limb from limb,
00:36:50.54\00:36:52.84
but you know, my friends,
00:36:52.87\00:36:54.21
Jesus wasn't in
any danger that day.
00:36:54.24\00:36:56.85
He wasn't in any danger
from disappointed people.
00:36:56.88\00:37:00.55
Now Jesus, Jesus held then
and Jesus holds now uncreated,
00:37:00.58\00:37:07.72
unimaginable power in His hands,
00:37:07.76\00:37:10.16
He wakes the dead to life
00:37:10.19\00:37:11.93
more easily
then I wake up my son
00:37:11.96\00:37:13.90
from an afternoon nap.
00:37:13.93\00:37:16.67
And on that strange
morning so long ago,
00:37:16.70\00:37:19.53
His creative word
reached into the ears
00:37:19.57\00:37:22.40
of that dead young
man and recreated in him
00:37:22.44\00:37:25.37
the ability to both
hear and understand.
00:37:25.41\00:37:28.81
And Luke,
00:37:28.84\00:37:30.45
the doctor ever interested
in the medical details
00:37:30.48\00:37:33.85
of the case he says
that the dead man sat up
00:37:33.88\00:37:37.72
and began to
speak, I bet he did.
00:37:37.75\00:37:42.62
Can you imagine, friends,
what it would be a like,
00:37:42.66\00:37:44.79
what it would be
like to lose consciousness
00:37:44.83\00:37:48.53
and go under in your own house
00:37:48.56\00:37:51.27
surrounded by
dozens of grieving friends
00:37:51.30\00:37:53.40
and families,
00:37:53.44\00:37:54.77
knowing that this was probably
your last moment of life,
00:37:54.80\00:37:58.87
and then wake up in the
middle of a funeral procession
00:37:58.91\00:38:01.94
half a mile away
five feet off the ground.
00:38:01.98\00:38:06.08
I'd love to know what he said.
00:38:06.11\00:38:09.28
Did he pick up in mid-sentence
where he had left off,
00:38:09.32\00:38:14.59
telling his
mother not to grieve?
00:38:14.62\00:38:18.19
Did He continue with
a long list of things
00:38:18.23\00:38:20.56
he was confessing?
00:38:20.60\00:38:22.86
Because he thought
this was his last moment.
00:38:22.90\00:38:26.43
Was he in the
middle of distributing
00:38:26.47\00:38:28.04
all of his prized
possessions to his friends,
00:38:28.07\00:38:31.84
who would now
have to give them back?
00:38:31.87\00:38:35.04
How bewildering to be
the last person in the scene
00:38:35.08\00:38:38.65
to know what was truly going on,
00:38:38.68\00:38:40.72
but you know, my friends,
00:38:40.75\00:38:42.08
I'm sure that if
that young man experienced
00:38:42.12\00:38:44.92
any embarrassment that
morning it quickly went away
00:38:44.95\00:38:48.39
when he opened his eyes
00:38:48.42\00:38:49.76
and looked straight
into the face of Jesus.
00:38:49.79\00:38:52.63
At the height he
was being carried
00:38:52.66\00:38:54.26
about five feet off the ground,
00:38:54.30\00:38:56.60
it is literally true, friends,
00:38:56.63\00:38:58.53
that the first
thing that young man saw,
00:38:58.57\00:39:00.90
when he opened his
eyes from the sleep of death
00:39:00.94\00:39:03.44
was nothing else
than the face of Jesus.
00:39:03.47\00:39:07.28
That young man
resurrected outside
00:39:07.31\00:39:09.91
the gate of his hometown,
00:39:09.94\00:39:11.75
he was the first one
to know the consolation
00:39:11.78\00:39:14.82
with which so many Christians
00:39:14.85\00:39:16.55
have laid down in
the sleep of death,
00:39:16.58\00:39:18.69
they have known
with utter certainty
00:39:18.72\00:39:21.09
that the next thing they see
00:39:21.12\00:39:22.52
on that great getting up morning
00:39:22.56\00:39:24.09
is gonna be nothing
other than the face of Jesus.
00:39:24.13\00:39:28.03
Like Him, the righteous dead
00:39:28.06\00:39:31.97
are gonna sit up
and begin to talk.
00:39:32.00\00:39:36.57
But rather than
continuing their confessions
00:39:36.60\00:39:38.84
or handing out their estates,
00:39:38.87\00:39:40.48
I have this idea
00:39:40.51\00:39:41.88
that what every
resurrected tongue
00:39:41.91\00:39:43.48
is gonna be saying that morning
00:39:43.51\00:39:45.15
is something like
worthy, worthy is the lamb
00:39:45.18\00:39:48.65
that was slain to receive power,
00:39:48.68\00:39:51.02
and wealth, and
wisdom, and strength,
00:39:51.05\00:39:53.09
and honor, and
glory, and blessing,
00:39:53.12\00:39:55.26
oh, praise to the Lord Jesus.
00:39:55.29\00:40:00.40
Friends, I want you to
follow me this morning,
00:40:00.43\00:40:03.30
I want you to use those
rusty sacred imaginations
00:40:03.33\00:40:08.40
of yours for a moment.
00:40:08.44\00:40:10.57
I want you to think of
what it must have been like
00:40:10.61\00:40:13.44
to be outside the
village gate of Nain
00:40:13.48\00:40:16.28
on that morning.
00:40:16.31\00:40:18.18
On that morning,
when Jesus simply spoke
00:40:18.21\00:40:20.22
the word that
brought a widow's dead son
00:40:20.25\00:40:23.62
back to life and
gave a town back its hope,
00:40:23.65\00:40:26.29
when He proved conclusively
00:40:26.32\00:40:28.09
that He is the
Lord over sin and death.
00:40:28.12\00:40:30.03
Think for me, think with me,
00:40:30.06\00:40:33.76
what it was like to be there.
00:40:33.80\00:40:36.77
Do you think, friends,
that the people in the crowd
00:40:36.80\00:40:40.90
just quietly turned around
00:40:40.94\00:40:43.41
and went back to
their individual homes?
00:40:43.44\00:40:48.41
Do you think my, friends,
00:40:48.44\00:40:49.78
that all those
who had just witnessed
00:40:49.81\00:40:51.28
the foretaste of the
final defeat of Satan
00:40:51.31\00:40:54.48
just looked at
each other and said,
00:40:54.52\00:40:55.95
well, that was nice, wonder,
what we're having for lunch.
00:40:55.98\00:41:01.29
Do you think that these people,
00:41:01.32\00:41:02.82
all of these
ecstatic ex-mourners,
00:41:02.86\00:41:06.46
all of these
deliriously delighted people
00:41:06.49\00:41:08.60
just turned around, and
picked up their dust claws
00:41:08.63\00:41:11.87
and their shovels
and went back to work?
00:41:11.90\00:41:15.10
Friends, I don't know
about your sacred imaginations
00:41:15.14\00:41:17.51
but let me tell
you what I see in mine.
00:41:17.54\00:41:20.14
I see a crowd of people
almost leaping into the air
00:41:20.18\00:41:24.68
in delight for
what Jesus has done.
00:41:24.71\00:41:26.48
I hear a thunder of
voices outside the walls of Nain
00:41:26.51\00:41:30.09
lifting up the
cry of the psalmist
00:41:30.12\00:41:32.09
and throwing it to the heavens,
00:41:32.12\00:41:33.69
Lord, you have turned
our mourning into dancing,
00:41:33.72\00:41:37.36
our feet are
filled with Your praise.
00:41:37.39\00:41:41.40
I hear others with
their arms around me
00:41:41.43\00:41:46.13
lifting up their voices as
we give our praise to Jesus.
00:41:46.17\00:41:51.87
You see, friends, this
morning and every morning,
00:41:51.91\00:41:57.85
this morning and every
morning I can draw faith
00:41:57.88\00:42:02.78
from reading the
lessons of scripture,
00:42:02.82\00:42:05.12
about what Jesus is
able to do in reviving
00:42:05.15\00:42:08.02
not only
individuals but whole movements.
00:42:08.06\00:42:12.89
I draw strength this
morning from the knowledge
00:42:12.93\00:42:17.20
that 2,000 years ago, a
gentle healer named Jesus
00:42:17.23\00:42:23.37
simply spoke the word
00:42:23.41\00:42:26.07
that brought a
young man back to life,
00:42:26.11\00:42:28.74
gave a town its hope again.
00:42:28.78\00:42:31.15
Because, I
believe that one day soon
00:42:31.18\00:42:33.08
that same gentle
healer is gonna call me
00:42:33.11\00:42:36.48
and all those I
love on to life eternal.
00:42:36.52\00:42:42.62
But I have to admit,
00:42:42.66\00:42:45.49
I've been having an
argument with the Lord recently,
00:42:45.53\00:42:50.13
I've been having an
argument with the Lord
00:42:50.17\00:42:53.27
about where I'm gonna
be on resurrection morning.
00:42:53.30\00:42:59.61
I want to be
00:42:59.64\00:43:02.18
in a little hilltop cemetery
in western Massachusetts,
00:43:02.21\00:43:08.28
where three weeks ago tomorrow,
00:43:08.32\00:43:12.05
we laid my father to rest.
00:43:12.09\00:43:16.19
Then where a
year ago come Tuesday,
00:43:16.22\00:43:19.83
we laid my mother to rest.
00:43:19.86\00:43:21.96
I want to be there
00:43:22.00\00:43:23.67
on resurrection morning to
see all that precious dust,
00:43:23.70\00:43:27.77
mother, father,
grandparents, aunts, uncles
00:43:27.80\00:43:31.84
rise to walk in newness of life.
00:43:31.87\00:43:35.84
But I also want to
be in Syracuse, New York
00:43:35.88\00:43:38.08
out on a windswept hill
on the east side of town,
00:43:38.11\00:43:41.02
I want to be there to
watch my Italian grandparents,
00:43:41.05\00:43:44.09
who embraced the truth
of God's remnant church,
00:43:44.12\00:43:46.59
I want to see
them come back to life
00:43:46.62\00:43:48.56
that morning too.
00:43:48.59\00:43:51.13
But I also want to
be in a little cemetery
00:43:51.16\00:43:55.00
behind a church
in Bedford, Michigan,
00:43:55.03\00:43:59.23
where my best friend sleeps.
00:43:59.27\00:44:02.47
We had gone all the way
00:44:02.50\00:44:03.84
through high school
and college together,
00:44:03.87\00:44:06.71
friends, prayer partners,
00:44:06.74\00:44:09.28
had started seminary
together one morning,
00:44:09.31\00:44:11.78
Jeff, went one way to
class and I went there,
00:44:11.81\00:44:17.19
and he never got there.
00:44:17.22\00:44:19.99
And every time I
drive near Battle Creek,
00:44:20.02\00:44:23.53
I stop and go out
00:44:23.56\00:44:24.89
to that little
cemetery in Bedford
00:44:24.93\00:44:27.13
and I say, Lord,
00:44:27.16\00:44:28.50
I want to be here on
resurrection morning.
00:44:28.53\00:44:31.47
I don't know how the Lord
is gonna sort all this out,
00:44:31.50\00:44:34.64
I know He's gonna sort me out.
00:44:34.67\00:44:37.24
I know that He will make me
deliriously happy on that day
00:44:37.27\00:44:41.54
when He calls those I
love back to life eternal.
00:44:41.58\00:44:46.25
Friends, not only do
I believe this morning
00:44:46.28\00:44:48.42
that Jesus can bring a
dead disciple back to life,
00:44:48.45\00:44:54.39
but I've come to
believe in recent months
00:44:54.42\00:44:56.42
that Jesus can bring
comatose congregations
00:44:56.46\00:45:00.26
and quiescent conferences
back to life as well.
00:45:00.30\00:45:05.03
Thank God that in His goodness
this movement has never died.
00:45:05.07\00:45:08.40
Thank God that in His
goodness for 150 years
00:45:08.44\00:45:11.97
there have been believers
00:45:12.01\00:45:13.34
in this advent
message on this continent,
00:45:13.38\00:45:15.51
but, friends, let's be
candid, let's be candid.
00:45:15.54\00:45:19.05
The body has been going through
some rough times recently.
00:45:19.08\00:45:24.25
Parts of the body have
become entirely inactive.
00:45:24.29\00:45:31.93
Hands and fingers
that should have been doing
00:45:31.96\00:45:34.16
the work of caring and sharing,
00:45:34.20\00:45:38.03
they've gotten
paralyzed with disuse.
00:45:38.07\00:45:42.47
Legs and feet that
should have been like
00:45:42.50\00:45:44.24
Jesus going on errands of mercy,
00:45:44.27\00:45:46.64
they've spent way too much time
00:45:46.68\00:45:48.88
propped up in
front of television sets
00:45:48.91\00:45:50.61
and video games.
00:45:50.65\00:45:53.01
Throughout the
body of this church
00:45:53.05\00:45:54.62
there has often
been a pervasive sense
00:45:54.65\00:45:56.95
of illness and disease
00:45:56.99\00:45:59.52
and the
woundedness of individuals
00:45:59.55\00:46:01.46
has now often become
00:46:01.49\00:46:02.89
the woundedness of
whole congregations,
00:46:02.92\00:46:06.19
whole regions.
00:46:06.23\00:46:08.63
Now as ever before
00:46:08.66\00:46:11.20
we stand in need of the
touch of a gentle leader.
00:46:11.23\00:46:16.74
I want you to hear the words
00:46:16.77\00:46:19.31
that Ellen White wrote,
00:46:19.34\00:46:20.68
the words that come
from today's reading
00:46:20.71\00:46:23.75
in the week of prayer,
00:46:23.78\00:46:25.11
words that fit this moment
00:46:25.15\00:46:28.38
in our church's history so well.
00:46:28.42\00:46:32.02
Listen to what the
servant of inspiration wrote.
00:46:32.05\00:46:35.72
"Idleness and religion
do not go hand in hand,
00:46:35.76\00:46:40.53
and the cause of
our great deficiency
00:46:40.56\00:46:42.46
in the Christian
life and experience
00:46:42.50\00:46:44.27
is inactivity
in the work of God.
00:46:44.30\00:46:47.70
The muscles of your body
will become weak and useless
00:46:47.74\00:46:51.17
if they are not
kept in exercise,
00:46:51.21\00:46:53.38
and it is so with
the spiritual nature.
00:46:53.41\00:46:55.91
If you would be strong,
you must exercise your powers.
00:46:55.94\00:46:59.05
Exercise faith in God
by proving his promises
00:46:59.08\00:47:02.28
as you take up your
cross and lift your burden.
00:47:02.32\00:47:05.59
Put on the yoke of Christ,
00:47:05.62\00:47:07.36
and prove his words to the test,
00:47:07.39\00:47:08.96
you will find
rest for your souls.
00:47:08.99\00:47:11.06
Open the Scriptures
00:47:11.09\00:47:13.23
to some one that is in darkness,
00:47:13.26\00:47:14.93
and you will not
complain of your weariness
00:47:14.96\00:47:17.43
or lack of
interest in the truth."
00:47:17.47\00:47:20.10
The cause and the
cure are equally matched,
00:47:20.14\00:47:24.51
the church that has
grown tired and weak
00:47:24.54\00:47:27.28
and apathetic can be revived
00:47:27.31\00:47:29.51
by focusing on the creative
and re-creative power of God
00:47:29.54\00:47:33.42
and by watching
Him do miracles again
00:47:33.45\00:47:35.98
in our midst.
00:47:36.02\00:47:39.35
I told you a few moments ago
00:47:39.39\00:47:42.82
that I do have a
sacred imagination.
00:47:42.86\00:47:46.90
And I'm here this
morning to tell you
00:47:46.93\00:47:49.26
it still works real well.
00:47:49.30\00:47:51.10
Amen.
00:47:51.13\00:47:53.44
I'm here because Jesus is here
00:47:53.47\00:47:58.91
to tell you about a
future for this movement
00:47:58.94\00:48:03.18
in which healing
and revival abound.
00:48:03.21\00:48:09.25
I'm here today to talk
about a time in this movement
00:48:09.28\00:48:14.16
when shattered broken
lives are made whole again.
00:48:14.19\00:48:18.46
I'm here to talk about a moment,
00:48:18.49\00:48:20.96
when discouraged sinful people
00:48:21.00\00:48:24.27
discover a
community of God's people
00:48:24.30\00:48:27.17
ready to wrap
their arms around them.
00:48:27.20\00:48:30.84
I see this movement as a place
00:48:30.87\00:48:34.08
that gathers in
and doesn't exclude,
00:48:34.11\00:48:38.11
I see this movement
as a place where those
00:48:38.15\00:48:40.15
who are already
feeling self condemned
00:48:40.18\00:48:42.68
by their behaviors
and their addictions
00:48:42.72\00:48:45.05
have God's people
love them into the truth.
00:48:45.09\00:48:49.26
I see this movement as a place
00:48:49.29\00:48:52.23
where those who've
had the self esteem
00:48:52.26\00:48:54.30
are almost crushed out of them,
00:48:54.33\00:48:56.46
have your arms
00:48:56.50\00:48:57.83
and my arms wrapped around them.
00:48:57.87\00:49:01.00
I want to be
part of that movement,
00:49:01.04\00:49:03.44
I want to be
part of that revival,
00:49:03.47\00:49:05.94
it's a revival of
primitive godliness,
00:49:05.97\00:49:08.51
it sounds a whole lot
00:49:08.54\00:49:09.88
like the church
of the Book of Acts,
00:49:09.91\00:49:11.75
because it is again
00:49:11.78\00:49:13.28
a revival of the same
spirit of activity and faith.
00:49:13.31\00:49:17.49
I want to be part of a community
00:49:17.52\00:49:19.99
that has its arms open wide
00:49:20.02\00:49:21.59
as Jesus has His arms open wide.
00:49:21.62\00:49:24.96
If that's the church
you want to be part of,
00:49:24.99\00:49:27.96
raise your hand today.
00:49:28.00\00:49:30.73
If that's the church
you want to belong to,
00:49:30.77\00:49:34.24
make a commitment
today to giving this day,
00:49:34.27\00:49:38.81
to being part of
that revival moment
00:49:38.84\00:49:42.31
that He has for us.
00:49:42.34\00:49:45.01
Ellen White says
in that same reading,
00:49:45.05\00:49:48.78
"If you would go to
work as Christ designed
00:49:48.82\00:49:52.72
that his disciples should,
00:49:52.75\00:49:54.89
and win souls to the truth,
00:49:54.92\00:49:56.86
you would feel the
need of a deeper experience
00:49:56.89\00:49:59.93
and greater
knowledge in divine things,
00:49:59.96\00:50:02.63
you would hunger and
thirst after righteousness.
00:50:02.66\00:50:06.33
You would plead with God,
00:50:06.37\00:50:07.70
and your faith
would be strengthened,
00:50:07.74\00:50:09.20
and your soul would
drink deeper draughts
00:50:09.24\00:50:11.57
at the well of salvation.
00:50:11.61\00:50:13.01
Encountering opposition
and trials would drive you
00:50:13.04\00:50:16.04
to the Bible and prayer,
00:50:16.08\00:50:17.41
and then you would go forth
as laborers together with God,
00:50:17.45\00:50:20.22
to open the
Scriptures to the people.
00:50:20.25\00:50:22.02
You would grow in grace,
and in knowledge of the truth,
00:50:22.05\00:50:25.19
and your experience
would be rich and fragrant."
00:50:25.22\00:50:28.29
That sounds like a
revived people, doesn't it?
00:50:28.32\00:50:32.66
That sounds like a people
who got the order straight,
00:50:32.69\00:50:35.70
revival begins with
the activity of God,
00:50:35.73\00:50:39.13
He can raise the dead.
00:50:39.17\00:50:42.57
Revival continues
as we are individually
00:50:42.60\00:50:45.77
and corporately
renewed by a focus on His word
00:50:45.81\00:50:49.11
and a prayer life
that's rich and deep.
00:50:49.14\00:50:51.35
Revival continues as we take
00:50:51.38\00:50:53.78
that experience of
new joy and new hope
00:50:53.82\00:50:57.42
and begin moving
out into the community
00:50:57.45\00:50:59.69
and we discover that
00:50:59.72\00:51:01.06
for every Bible
study we give, we gain.
00:51:01.09\00:51:04.86
For every lesson
that we teach, we learn.
00:51:04.89\00:51:08.66
For every sermon that we preach,
00:51:08.70\00:51:10.63
we are preached to ourselves
by the Holy Spirit of God.
00:51:10.67\00:51:15.30
That, my friends,
00:51:15.34\00:51:16.71
is the
reciprocity of the gospel,
00:51:16.74\00:51:19.01
it brings back to us
that which we give away.
00:51:19.04\00:51:22.24
Revival continues
not just by wishing it so
00:51:22.28\00:51:25.91
and hoping it so,
00:51:25.95\00:51:27.28
but by moving out in faith
and letting God make it so.
00:51:27.32\00:51:31.15
Revival and mission, oh,
they're inextricably connected.
00:51:31.19\00:51:34.82
When you've seen
the dead raised to life,
00:51:34.86\00:51:38.49
you've got something to say.
00:51:38.53\00:51:40.46
When you've seen
the spiritually dead
00:51:40.50\00:51:43.16
raised to life,
you've got something to say.
00:51:43.20\00:51:46.40
If you're one of
those who's been raised
00:51:46.43\00:51:48.74
from a death of sin
00:51:48.77\00:51:50.11
to everlasting
life in Jesus Christ,
00:51:50.14\00:51:52.37
you've got something to say,
00:51:52.41\00:51:54.74
no one can keep you silent.
00:51:54.78\00:51:57.15
Trust me as long as I breathe
00:51:57.18\00:51:59.65
the rocks are not gonna cry out.
00:51:59.68\00:52:02.92
As long as I breathe
00:52:02.95\00:52:04.95
no singing, no
shouting from rocks,
00:52:04.99\00:52:09.09
I will give Him praise
as long as I have my being.
00:52:09.12\00:52:14.86
That's what the Psalmist says,
00:52:14.90\00:52:17.30
that's what I say
this morning as well.
00:52:17.33\00:52:20.00
Friends, time has come
in our life as a movement,
00:52:20.04\00:52:24.67
the time has come
for us to move off
00:52:24.71\00:52:27.68
just spectator existence
00:52:27.71\00:52:30.75
watching other
people do mission.
00:52:30.78\00:52:34.48
Friends, if you
don't get involved in it,
00:52:34.52\00:52:37.59
you will get bored
with watching others do it.
00:52:37.62\00:52:41.12
If you don't ever find
the opportunity to pick up
00:52:41.16\00:52:44.59
the tools of the gospel
and go out into your community,
00:52:44.63\00:52:47.50
you're gonna have no reason
to stay with this movement.
00:52:47.53\00:52:52.07
And the vast number
of those who leave, leave
00:52:52.10\00:52:56.00
because they have never found
that renewing revival mission
00:52:56.04\00:53:01.38
that comes forward
00:53:01.41\00:53:02.74
from a born again
experience with Jesus.
00:53:02.78\00:53:06.68
How many of you know
that born again experience?
00:53:06.72\00:53:09.72
How many of you know
that Jesus is in fact
00:53:09.75\00:53:12.29
renewing and
reviving you this day
00:53:12.32\00:53:15.06
as you invite
Him into your life?
00:53:15.09\00:53:17.79
Friends, Jesus calls us
today to look at His word,
00:53:17.83\00:53:23.40
to remember His power, to
find His renewing, reviving,
00:53:23.43\00:53:27.44
resurrecting
strength in our own lives
00:53:27.47\00:53:29.47
and then to go out
00:53:29.50\00:53:30.84
and keep that cycle of renewal
and revival going forward.
00:53:30.87\00:53:36.04
If today that's what you want,
00:53:36.08\00:53:39.08
would you get on
your feet with me?
00:53:39.11\00:53:41.68
We want to offer
ourselves in dedication
00:53:41.72\00:53:43.89
to the Lord today,
00:53:43.92\00:53:46.19
making ourselves
available for a great plan
00:53:46.22\00:53:50.56
that only He knows
in all of its detail,
00:53:50.59\00:53:54.33
and only we can
live as His disciples.
00:53:54.36\00:53:58.70
Pray with me now.
00:53:58.73\00:54:01.57
Lord Jesus,
00:54:01.60\00:54:03.87
this day our hearts
have been reminded again
00:54:03.91\00:54:09.01
of Your great power.
00:54:09.04\00:54:11.71
We've seen again, Lord Jesus,
00:54:11.75\00:54:13.52
that You can do what
we call the impossible,
00:54:13.55\00:54:17.85
You can create life
again, and spiritual life again.
00:54:17.89\00:54:21.59
There are many of
us here today, Lord,
00:54:21.62\00:54:23.32
who are testimonies,
living witnesses to that fact,
00:54:23.36\00:54:26.70
now let us be more than living,
00:54:26.73\00:54:28.46
let us be speaking, and
preaching, and testifying,
00:54:28.50\00:54:31.70
and sharing
witnesses of that fact,
00:54:31.73\00:54:34.24
so that the
renewal and the revival
00:54:34.27\00:54:36.00
You plan for Your people
will keep moving forward.
00:54:36.04\00:54:39.64
May it ever be grounded
in Your word, Lord Jesus.
00:54:39.67\00:54:43.14
May it ever be grounded
00:54:43.18\00:54:45.11
in a knowledge
of what You do first
00:54:45.15\00:54:47.88
and then we do.
00:54:47.92\00:54:49.42
May the sequence of
the gospel be clear to us.
00:54:49.45\00:54:51.89
It is not us
running on ahead of You
00:54:51.92\00:54:53.86
and asking You to follow,
00:54:53.89\00:54:55.42
it is You doing great things
and us giving You our praise.
00:54:55.46\00:55:00.03
Lord Jesus, this
day take our hearts,
00:55:00.06\00:55:04.87
we can't give them to You
unless Your Spirit prompts us.
00:55:04.90\00:55:09.84
Take our minds often distant
00:55:09.87\00:55:12.74
and traveling in far directions,
00:55:12.77\00:55:14.68
center them, focus them
on the goodness of Jesus.
00:55:14.71\00:55:19.08
Take our lives, Lord,
00:55:19.11\00:55:20.98
we bring them in
obedience to You,
00:55:21.02\00:55:23.49
knowing that in
You, and through You,
00:55:23.52\00:55:25.59
and for You, and
to You, are all things
00:55:25.62\00:55:28.16
may we be part of
that movement, Lord Jesus.
00:55:28.19\00:55:31.39
Lord, this morning
there is someone here
00:55:31.43\00:55:33.83
who wants to respond,
00:55:33.86\00:55:35.20
someone watching on television
00:55:35.23\00:55:36.56
who wants to reach out
and give You their heart.
00:55:36.60\00:55:39.63
Lord Jesus, I invite You to work
00:55:39.67\00:55:41.84
with that person this day,
00:55:41.87\00:55:43.41
show them that new
life and resurrection
00:55:43.44\00:55:45.67
and revival are
possible for them.
00:55:45.71\00:55:48.84
May they have confidence, Lord,
00:55:48.88\00:55:50.81
the confidence that comes
00:55:50.85\00:55:52.18
from a certainty
only You can give,
00:55:52.21\00:55:54.48
that they too can
claim this new life.
00:55:54.52\00:55:57.29
And, Lord Jesus,
00:55:57.32\00:55:58.75
even now as we
conclude this time of worship,
00:55:58.79\00:56:02.56
we raise our
hearts in thanks giving
00:56:02.59\00:56:04.46
as those people in Nain
must have once graced them.
00:56:04.49\00:56:07.66
We thank You, and
praise You worthy,
00:56:07.70\00:56:10.23
worthy is the lamb
00:56:10.27\00:56:11.90
for giving us all that we need
00:56:11.93\00:56:15.37
that will carry
us to Your kingdom.
00:56:15.40\00:56:16.81
Until that day, Lord
Jesus, hold us in Your grasp,
00:56:16.84\00:56:20.78
inspire us with Your love,
00:56:20.81\00:56:23.48
give us the
spirit to speak clearly,
00:56:23.51\00:56:26.88
confidently, and
winningly of your good news.
00:56:26.92\00:56:31.22
I ask this and I
pray this in the name
00:56:31.25\00:56:33.39
that is above all names,
00:56:33.42\00:56:34.89
even that of Jesus
Christ the resurrected one,
00:56:34.92\00:56:40.46
amen.
00:56:40.50\00:56:41.83
As we slip into
putting into practice
00:56:53.01\00:56:55.94
what we've heard this
week in this week of revival.
00:56:55.98\00:56:58.01
Our prayer for
you on behalf of 3ABN
00:56:58.05\00:57:00.38
and the Thompsonville
Seventh-day Adventist Church
00:57:00.42\00:57:02.68
is that, you not
just become content
00:57:02.72\00:57:06.35
with hearing about revival,
but that you begin to pray
00:57:06.39\00:57:08.69
for the Lord to
revive your life.
00:57:08.72\00:57:11.49
As we've discovered this morning
00:57:11.53\00:57:12.86
our Lord delights in dilemmas,
revels in the resurrection,
00:57:12.89\00:57:17.43
and rejoices in revival.
00:57:17.47\00:57:20.24
We pray that the Lord
will activate your prayer life
00:57:20.27\00:57:23.24
and your life of service,
so that when Jesus comes,
00:57:23.27\00:57:26.37
He will come for
a revived people.
00:57:26.41\00:57:29.28
May God bless you.
00:57:29.31\00:57:30.65