Participants:
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP180602A
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00:09 Dear heavenly Father,
00:10 we just wanna thank You for the Sabbath, 00:13 for this Holy Sabbath 00:14 and for bringing us here together 00:16 to worship and praise Your name, 00:18 we just ask that You'll bless us 00:20 during this time and be with us, amen. 00:24 Happy Sabbath, church. 00:26 Aren't you glad it is the Sabbath? 00:29 Amen? 00:30 Aren't you glad to be in the house of the Lord? 00:33 Amen. 00:34 So you might be sitting next to your family, your friends, 00:38 maybe even a stranger. 00:40 But today here we are all family. 00:42 So I'm just gonna say, happy Sabbath church family, 00:45 happy Sabbath. 00:48 So I just invite you to stand with us, 00:50 as we sing praises to our God, 00:52 as they sing, 00:54 "Better is one day in Your courts." 01:11 How lovely is Your dwelling place 01:17 Oh Lord Almighty 01:21 My soul longs for 01:23 And even faints for You 01:31 For here my heart is satisfied 01:37 Within Your presence 01:41 I sing beneath 01:43 The shadow of Your wings 01:51 Better is one day in Your courts 01:53 Better is one day in Your house 01:56 Better is one day in Your courts 01:58 Than thousands elsewhere 02:01 Better is one day in Your courts 02:03 Better is one day in Your house 02:06 Better is one day in Your courts 02:09 Than thousands elsewhere 02:11 Than thousands elsewhere 02:22 One thing I ask and I would seek 02:28 To see Your beauty 02:32 To find You in the place 02:36 Your glory dwells 02:42 Better is one day in Your courts 02:45 Better is one day in Your house 02:47 Better is one day in Your courts 02:50 Than thousands elsewhere 02:52 Better is one day in Your courts 02:55 Better is one day in Your house 02:58 Better is one day in Your courts 03:00 Than thousands elsewhere 03:03 Better is one day 03:05 Better is one day 03:08 Better is one day 03:10 Than thousands elsewhere 03:13 Better is one day 03:15 Better is one day 03:18 Better is one day 03:21 Than thousands elsewhere 03:23 Better is one day 03:26 Better is one day 03:28 Better is one day 03:31 Than thousands elsewhere 03:33 Better is one day 03:36 Better is one day 03:39 Better is one day 03:41 Than thousands elsewhere 03:44 Better is one day 03:46 Better is one day 03:49 Better is one day 03:52 Than thousands elsewhere 03:54 Better is one day 03:57 Better is one day 04:00 Better is one day 04:02 Than thousands elsewhere 04:05 Better is one day 04:07 Better is one day 04:10 Better is one day 04:12 Than thousands elsewhere 04:15 Than thousands elsewhere 04:42 Let the glory of the Lord 04:45 Rise among us 04:47 Let the glory of the Lord 04:50 Rise among us 04:52 Let the praises of the King 04:55 Rise among us 04:57 Let it rise 05:02 Let the songs of the Lord 05:05 Rise among us 05:07 Let the songs of the Lord 05:10 Rise among us 05:12 Let the joy of the King 05:15 Rise among us 05:17 Let it rise 05:21 Sing ohh ohh ohh 05:27 Let it rise 05:32 Let the glory of the Lord 05:35 Rise among us 05:37 Let the glory of the Lord 05:40 Rise among us 05:42 Let the praises of the King 05:45 Rise among us 05:47 Let it rise 05:52 Let the songs of the Lord 05:55 Rise among us 05:57 Let the songs of the Lord 06:00 Rise among us 06:02 Let the joy of the King 06:05 Rise among us 06:07 Let it rise 06:11 Sing ohh ohh ohh 06:17 Let it rise 06:21 Sing ohh ohh ohh 06:27 Let it rise 06:33 Let the glory of the Lord 06:35 Rise among us 06:38 Let the glory of the Lord 06:40 Rise among us 06:43 Let the praise of the King 06:46 Rise among us 06:48 Let it rise 06:53 Let the songs of the Lord 06:56 Rise among us 06:58 Let the songs of the Lord 07:01 Rise among us 07:03 Let the joy of the King 07:06 Rise among us 07:08 Let it rise 07:12 Sing ohh ohh ohh 07:18 Let it rise 07:22 Sing ohh ohh ohh 07:28 Let it rise 07:33 Sing ohh ohh ohh 07:39 Let it rise 07:46 You may be seated. 07:58 This is my desire 08:04 To honor You 08:11 Lord, with all my heart 08:15 I worship You 08:23 All I have within me 08:29 I give You praise 08:35 All that I adore 08:40 Is in You 08:49 Lord, I give You my heart 08:52 I give You my soul 08:57 I live for you alone 09:01 Every breath that I take 09:05 Every moment I'm awake 09:10 Lord, have Your way in me 09:25 This is my desire 09:31 To honor You 09:37 Lord, with all my heart 09:41 I worship You 09:49 All I have within me 09:55 I give You praise 10:01 All that I adore 10:06 Is in You 10:14 Lord, I give You my heart 10:18 I give You my soul 10:22 I live for You alone 10:26 Every breath that I take 10:29 Every moment I'm awake 10:34 Lord, have Your way in me 10:38 Lord, I give You my heart 10:42 I give You my soul 10:46 I live for You alone 10:51 Every breath that I take 10:54 Every moment I'm awake 10:59 Lord, have Your way in me 11:11 I wish that they weren't standing here now 11:13 for what I need to do. 11:17 And that is, I need to lead this congregation 11:19 in taking a moment in worship 11:23 and letting God know how grateful we are 11:25 for the lives and ministries of two women pastors 11:29 who have served faithfully in our team, 11:33 for both we're saying farewell today. 11:39 And so I'm gonna invite Pastor Sharon and Pastor Sabine 11:42 to come up with me. 11:43 And Richard come on up with Sharon and, 11:45 Karen, come on up please. 11:48 And I want all the pastors here on our team right now. 11:50 All of who are pastors, I want you to com on up. 11:55 Royce Snyman, 11:57 where is our ministry of director? 12:00 Long time pastor of the pastors in the Michigan Conference, 12:02 he's been a great partner in ministry all these years. 12:05 Royce and I worked together. 12:07 And Royce is here on behalf of the NAD. 12:09 I'm gonna ask Pastor Ester to come on up, 12:10 because NAD has something special 12:12 they like to do. 12:14 And when a person retires and so... 12:17 And then, Royce, I'm gonna ask you 12:19 to have a prayer, 12:20 we just move right into that prayer 12:21 for these two pastors 12:23 as they answer God's call. 12:26 While I stand here today as the representative 12:28 of the Michigan Conference and Elder Micheff, 12:31 our conference president and his team, 12:34 Elder Ringstaff and Elder Brook, 12:36 and we want you to know 12:38 how much we've appreciated the ministry 12:41 that both of you have invested in this congregation 12:46 and in this conference, 12:48 and we wish you all of God's blessing 12:50 in this transition. 12:52 Life is full of transitions, 12:56 some of them come right in the middle of our lives, 12:59 we don't always choose them, 13:01 but they come along the way and, 13:03 Pastor Sabine, you're gonna be making 13:05 that transition down to Florida, 13:07 and our prayers go with you 13:09 that God will bless you down there 13:11 and your service 13:13 certainly Pastor Dwight has reminded you 13:16 of how important you've been as a part of this team. 13:19 And we know that God will bless you in the service 13:22 that you do for Him down there. 13:24 And thank you for all that you've done 13:27 to represent Jesus here 13:28 to lead this congregation in prayer and small groups, 13:32 and God bless you down there. 13:35 Pastor Sharon, 13:39 you're in a different kind of a transition 13:41 than Pastor Sabine is. 13:43 You're in a transition that comes to us in our lives 13:47 and it represents a milestone, 13:50 an important milestone in your life. 13:52 And again, we just want you to know 13:55 how much we appreciate the ministry 13:57 that you've committed to this congregation here. 14:01 You and your husband have served this congregation 14:03 for a lot of years. 14:06 And we're gonna miss you both. 14:09 And we will be praying for you 14:10 that God will take you in an abundant way and use you. 14:14 Now, we continue as servants, because we're servants, 14:18 that's what we signed up for 14:20 when we did what God asked us to do. 14:24 As you make this transition, 14:26 you're not retiring from being a servant, 14:29 just from being a full time pastor 14:31 on the staff. 14:33 So God will bless you as you serve Him. 14:37 I wanna share this Bible verse with you. 14:41 And, Sabine, this applies to you as well. 14:46 I noticed that in the New King James Version 14:48 the section's title, "Paul's valedictory." 14:54 And I kinda wondered what that word meant, 14:57 so I looked it up and it means farewell. 15:00 So I thought, yeah, 15:02 that certainly does apply and he said, 15:03 "For I am already being poured out 15:06 as a drink offering, 15:07 and the time of my departure is at hand. 15:10 I fought the good fight, 15:11 I have finished the race, 15:12 I have kept the faith. 15:14 Finally, there is laid up for me 15:15 the crown of righteousness, 15:17 which the Lord, the righteous Judge, 15:19 will give to me on that day, 15:21 and not to me only but also to all 15:24 who have loved His appearing." 15:27 He was coming to the end of his life, 15:29 you're not doing that. 15:31 I just want to make sure that's clear. 15:33 But you are coming to that major transition point 15:36 in your ministry. 15:37 And these words apply to you, 15:39 you've been faithful, you've done the work 15:41 that God has given to you to do. 15:43 But you will continue to do that 15:45 in your new capacity. 15:47 There's one voice though 15:48 that you will always want to be listening for. 15:51 You've listened to it up to this point 15:53 and you will continue to, and that's the voice of Jesus. 15:56 In Matthew 25, 15:57 he said to His servants that were faithful, 16:00 "Well done good and faithful servant." 16:04 And we say that to you today. 16:05 Thank you so much of what you've done. 16:08 So on behalf of Michigan Conference, 16:10 thank you for your service and your ministry. 16:15 When Royce was saying how much he was gonna miss you, 16:17 I thought he was gonna say, 16:18 "We're gonna miss you at camp meeting." 16:20 Cause camp pitch is coming up shortly 16:22 and you won't be there to help. 16:24 You're gonna go help, 16:25 I tell you she's not retiring, 16:27 she's gonna keep helping. 16:29 But both of you, Sabine, 16:30 you're gonna be moving into a specialized area of ministry. 16:33 God bless you in that work and, 16:35 Pastor Sharon, you know, 16:38 on behalf of the North American division 16:40 and because we got to pastor together 16:42 in this congregation, 16:43 it's just really been honor 16:45 to see the fruits of you as a female pastor, 16:50 both of you. 16:51 And so on behalf of the North American division 16:53 and your brothers and sisters 16:55 who service pastors around the world, I say, 16:58 thank you so much for being faithful 17:00 to God's call in your life. 17:02 In the time when it's not always easy 17:04 to say yes when you've heard His voice 17:06 but eventually you did say yes. 17:08 And you have served Him faithfully 17:10 for so many years. 17:11 And we have something that we like to do from 17:14 the North American division and Michigan Conference. 17:17 This is a pin that says your 40 years of service 17:20 and we have a medallion to give you 17:22 to also honor the work and remembrance 17:25 of what you have done 17:26 in faithfully serving God as a pastor. 17:33 Maybe you'll do little better this time, 17:35 God bless you. 17:47 Let's have a special prayer at this time 17:49 as these two servants of the Lord 17:52 make this transition. 17:55 Father in heaven, 17:56 as we gather on this platform, 17:59 our hearts are filled with sadness and also joy, 18:03 sadness at losing team members 18:06 that have been a vital part of this work, 18:08 in this place and in this conference. 18:11 Joy in knowing that these servants of the Lord 18:13 will continue to serve You 18:15 and will be a blessing whatever You lead them to do. 18:20 We know that Jesus is coming again soon 18:23 and we just wanna be faithful servants of Yours, 18:26 leading people to Jesus so that when He comes, 18:29 He gets all the people that He deserves 18:32 because of what He did on the cross. 18:34 Bless these two servants now in Jesus' name, amen. 18:38 Amen. Amen. 18:40 Thank you to all. 18:44 Good morning, boys and girls, 18:48 on this first Sabbath of June. 18:53 We get Memorial Day so that means 18:54 that the first Sabbath of summer really, 18:57 nice to see you, I'm glad you're here. 18:59 You're looking refreshed and ready to go. 19:02 And I am so thankful for the story today 19:04 because I wrote my three story scouts. 19:07 I said, hey guys, five Sabbaths in June, 19:09 every children story about birds, 19:12 fine birds stories. 19:14 And to them just like that, 19:15 Darius and Melky found this story. 19:19 In fact the story came, emailed to me, back there, 19:21 their emails are back to back. 19:23 So that must be the right story. 19:25 It's a story about 19:27 a wildlife photographer named Ken Abby. 19:33 And it's a story about a fox. 19:36 We're gonna call her Mrs. Fox, 19:39 she could have been Mr. Fox, we don't know, 19:42 but Mrs. Fox knew at the end of the day, she said, 19:44 "Oh, I gotta take supper home to my kids. 19:47 I have to have something to eat." 19:49 And as she... Oh, she got supper. 19:51 Yay! We have supper. 19:53 She's just prancing through the tall prairie grass, 19:56 she's prancing, she's happy, 19:58 she's bringing supper home when all of a sudden... 20:01 Now, I need to tell you that this is a little video. 20:06 But I wanna let your parents show it to you 20:08 so that they get in trouble and not me, all right? 20:11 But it's very... 20:13 It's not that bad, it's PG probably. 20:16 Anyway, as she... 20:18 As mother fox is taking supper home, 20:21 obviously she notices something happening. 20:25 I don't know, maybe she saw a shadow 20:27 coming over her shoulder. 20:29 Whatever it was, she turns around, 20:30 she sees whatever it is and she starts running, 20:33 she starts running, she has supper, 20:36 she's not gonna let anybody take her supper. 20:38 But somebody's coming who says, "That is my supper tonight." 20:43 And that somebody is coming down 20:44 lower and lower and lower, 20:46 and before you know it, boom! 20:49 A huge bald eagle. 20:53 A bald eagle way up in the sky who said, 20:56 "Hmm, looks like Mrs. Fox has got supper, 20:58 won't have to work hard tonight for mine, here I come." 21:06 And when he grabbed on, 21:08 because he has his fives talons... 21:10 When he grabbed on to that supper, 21:16 you know what Mrs. Fox said? 21:18 She said, "You are not taking my supper. 21:22 You are not taking my supper, no way Jose. 21:25 I'm hanging on." 21:27 Well guess what this big strong eagle did? 21:30 He said, "You're hanging on. 21:31 Let's watch this, here we go." 21:35 And that big bird with Mrs. Fox 21:40 still holding on to her supper is holding on 21:42 to what he hopes will be his supper 21:45 and Mrs. Fox now is wiggling and squiggling, 21:47 and wiggling and squiggling, 21:49 and that bird is trying to get up, 21:50 but Mrs. Fox is such a... 21:51 She's a bother. 21:53 As she keeps wiggling and squiggling 21:55 and he gets higher and higher, 21:57 finally Mr. Eagle says, "You know what lady? 22:00 You want that supper that bad? 22:02 You can have it." 22:05 And in the video you'll see, 22:07 Mrs. Fox gets up and dusts herself off. 22:10 She says, "Still got my supper, see you." 22:14 You wanna see a picture of it? 22:15 Here is this picture. National Geographic got it. 22:21 Oh, wow! 22:23 Yeah. 22:25 You see Mrs. Fox, she says, "I'm not letting go." 22:27 And Mr. Eagle says, "Oh, yes you are." 22:29 But guess... 22:31 This really ought to be a story about a fox, 22:32 because she never let go. 22:34 Don't you ever quit. That's the message. 22:37 Oh, look at that! 22:40 Guess what? 22:41 Jesus says, "If you'll trust Me..." 22:42 Listen to this, "If you'll trust Me..." 22:45 And we can take a picture off now, please? 22:47 "If you'll trust Me, if you will trust Me, 22:53 I'm gonna make you as strong as an eagle. 22:57 I'm gonna make you soar like an eagle, 22:59 but you have to wait on Me, you have to trust Me." 23:03 Oh! 23:04 I wanna be as strong as an eagle, don't we? 23:05 How many want be as strong as an eagle? 23:07 Oh, we all put our hands up, of course. 23:08 But I want Jesus to make me strong 23:11 by trusting Him. 23:14 How many want Jesus to make us strong? 23:16 "Oh please, dear Jesus, please." 23:20 Who would like to pray? 23:22 And say, "Jesus, thank You for making us strong." 23:25 And I saw your hand first. 23:27 Young man, yep, that'd be you, come on up. 23:29 What's your name? 23:30 Hasia. 23:32 Hasia, well I like that name, Hasia. 23:34 All right, let's close our eyes, 23:36 fold our hands as Hasia thank Jesus 23:38 for making us strong. 23:40 Dear Jesus thank You for this beautiful day. 23:43 And thank You for everybody 23:44 who's coming to this church and bless in Jesus 23:47 as He made all of us, all things for us, amen. 23:51 Amen. 23:52 Thank you Hasia, a beautiful prayer. 23:53 You're gonna be singing your hearts 23:55 as you go back to your seat. 23:56 Hey, thank you Jesus. 23:58 Thank you for making us strong. 24:25 Why should I feel 24:32 Discouraged 24:37 And why should the shadows come 24:47 Why should my heart 24:53 Feel lonely 24:59 And long for heaven and home 25:10 When Jesus is 25:16 My portion 25:20 My constant friend 25:26 Is He 25:30 His eye is on 25:35 The sparrow 25:41 And I know He watches me 25:51 I sing because 25:57 I'm happy 26:00 I sing because 26:06 I'm free 26:11 His eye is 26:15 On the sparrow 26:22 And I know 26:25 He watches over me 26:33 But let not your heart 26:38 Be troubled 26:43 He sends the words 26:47 I hear 26:52 And resting on 26:56 His goodness 27:00 I lose my doubts and fears 27:08 For by His mighty hand 27:13 He leaded 27:16 He knows 27:19 What steps I made it 27:25 His eye is on 27:29 The sparrow 27:34 And I know 27:36 He watches me 27:42 His eyes are on 27:46 Every sparrow 27:51 And I know 27:54 He watches me 28:02 I sing because I'm happy 28:09 I sing because I'm free 28:19 His eyes are on 28:22 Every little sparrow 28:27 And I know 28:30 He watches me 28:37 I sing because I'm happy 28:45 I sing because I'm free 28:55 His eyes are on 28:58 Every single sparrow 29:07 And I know He watches 29:13 I know He watches 29:18 I know He watches me 29:49 Amen and amen. 29:51 Yeah. 29:53 I'm so glad when they said to me, 29:54 "Hey, let's go the house of God today." 29:57 So we did, and God is here. 30:01 Desire of Ages says, 30:03 "There's not a sparrow that ever falls to the ground 30:05 that the heavenly Father doesn't mark that bird 30:07 that tumbles to its death." 30:09 His eyes are on every sparrow. 30:12 There are times when I am having worship 30:14 and my heart is just a tad heavy. 30:19 And I pull out my tablet and YouTube up that song 30:24 and just listen to it, just listen to the words. 30:27 You'll never hear it sung finer than what we just heard. 30:30 Thank you, Margaret, Leslie. 30:34 Sorry to leave but I'm gonna miss him. 30:38 Let's pray. 30:39 Oh, God, are You really that way with birds? 30:44 Please. 30:46 If You care for that little treetop songster, 30:51 imagine how You feel about us. 30:55 In Jesus' name make it clear, we pray, amen. 31:00 Few days ago in Japan, 31:05 I had a most blessed experience. 31:07 Every single morning I got up. 31:08 And you get up early, 31:10 the sun comes up before 4 o'clock, 31:12 4:45 so it's light. 31:15 I go out running 31:16 and as soon as I walk out of that tiny little apartment 31:18 on the campus of Saniku Gakuin College, 31:21 where I spent a week. 31:24 This little guy or girl would begin to sing 31:27 at the top of his lungs. 31:30 I'm telling you, I tried to find him, 31:33 I looked everywhere, all day long, 31:36 I finally found out what the bird is. 31:41 In fact, Karen did some googling 31:42 as we're Skyping back and forth 31:44 and she found out it's the Japanese bush warbler, 31:49 they call it Uguisu. 31:52 It's the bird that announces spring to Japan. 31:55 The greatest poets have written poems 31:57 about the Uguisu. 31:59 It's a write up passage. 32:02 In fact, I wanna show you picture, 32:03 I want you to listen to this song. 32:05 We got it right here, we got it right here. 32:06 You see the picture on the screen, 32:07 there's that little Japanese, and here he is singing. 32:20 He just builds his head of steam and then phew. 32:25 And he'll get his buddies answering 32:28 or her friends answering 32:29 and it's just the hills are live. 32:32 They are live with the music of the Japanese bush warbler. 32:36 Do you know what that bush warbler 32:37 is singing right now? 32:39 I'll tell you what the bush warbler is singing. 32:41 My dad, when he would take us for walks in Japan, 32:44 we'd often ask this question, birds, flowers... 32:47 Hey, kids, what do you think the flowers are saying? 32:49 Hey, you hear those birds? 32:51 What do you think those birds are singing right now kids? 32:53 And boy, we had to answer, 32:54 memorized every single time and we'd say, "God is love." 32:58 My dad didn't invent that by the way, 32:59 they're little classic steps to Christ. 33:01 Take a look at this on the screen." 33:04 God is love, is written upon every opening bud, 33:08 upon every spire of springing grass. 33:10 The lovely birds making the air vocal 33:11 with their happy songs. 33:13 All testify to the tender fatherly care of our God, 33:17 and to His desire to make His children happy." 33:20 Ain't that beautiful? 33:22 God's message to you today 33:23 is I am love, I am love, amazing grace. 33:26 Amazing, 33:27 how amazing His grace we just say. 33:31 Wow. 33:32 That little songster. 33:36 I resolved, I said, "Okay, we got to do birds." 33:40 Came back and found out there are hundred, 33:42 I counted them a hundred different passages 33:43 in the Bible that speak about birds. 33:45 God is a huge bird lover. 33:47 So we're having a little series now, 33:48 if you got any bird watching friends, 33:50 tell them about the series. 33:51 We are having a series called, 33:53 "Gone to the Birds - 33:54 Lessons from the Divine Ornithologist." 33:55 Yup, that's it. 33:57 And lesson number one today, here we go. 33:58 Open your Bible please to Isaiah Chapter 40. 34:00 Find Isaiah 40, 34:03 we're two-thirds of the way through the chapter, 34:05 the prophet, the gospel prophet, Isaiah. 34:08 Two-thirds of the way through the chapter, 34:09 God interrupts, and you have quotation marks. 34:13 God says, "Okay prophet, you've been talking for me, 34:16 now, let me talk for myself." 34:17 I want you to pick it up right there please. 34:20 Oh, this is something else. 34:21 Isaiah Chapter 40, we'll pick it up in verse 25. 34:28 Isaiah 40:25. 34:29 I'm in the New International Version. 34:30 "To whom..." 34:32 God speaking quotation marks, 34:33 "To whom will you compare me? 34:37 Or who is my equal?' 34:38 says the Holy One." 34:40 Holy One is Isaiah's favorite name for God. 34:42 "Who's like me, come on tell me, 34:43 who's like Me." 34:45 and then God sign it. 34:46 So prophets, what prophet said, 34:48 they put words to God, words on God's lip 34:50 and immediately Isaiah starts speaking again. 34:52 Yeah, folks, listen. 34:53 Verse 26, "Lift up your eyes, look to the heavens: 34:56 Who created all these? 34:57 He who brings out. the starry host 34:59 one by one and," listen to this, 35:00 "calls forth each of them by name." 35:03 That's who did it. 35:05 "Because of His great power and His mighty strength, 35:08 not one of those stars today is missing." 35:12 So Isaiah is now talking to the people, 35:14 his readers, his listeners. 35:15 So, "Why do you complain, Jacob?" 35:17 Why do you say, 35:19 Israel 'My way is hidden from the Lord, 35:21 my cause is disregarded by my God'?" 35:24 God doesn't care for me, that's the truth. 35:26 Where is God when I need Him? 35:27 Why has He forsaken me? 35:29 Here I am all alone. 35:31 Why do you say that, the prophet asked us. 35:35 "Here I am financially broken, 35:39 here I am physically weakened, 35:42 here I am maritally defeated, 35:45 here I am emotionally spent, 35:48 here I am spiritually struggling, 35:50 where is God when I need Him?" 35:54 I know someone far away from here, 35:58 sometimes it just takes my breath away, 36:00 how quickly whenever something goes wrong 36:01 in his life, his default response, 36:04 almost without exception, 36:05 is to emotionally began wailing, 36:07 "I'll get a text from him, I'll get an email from him, 36:09 I'll get a phone call from him. 36:10 Why is God doing this to me? 36:12 What has happed to Him? 36:13 I have been so faithful to Him. 36:14 Why? Why? Why?" 36:16 I get miffed with him until I realize. 36:19 God had to say this to me one day, 36:21 He said, "Dwight, what's your problem. 36:22 That's how you sound to me." 36:26 Why? Why? Why? 36:28 Where are you God? 36:29 Why did you just sit there? 36:30 Why did I have to go through that? 36:32 You could have done something, you didn't. 36:37 The prophet speaks again, "Are you serious? 36:40 You don't think God can do something? 36:42 Come again." 36:44 Read it with me, verse 28, "Do you not know? 36:46 Have you not heard that the Lord 36:48 is the everlasting God, 36:49 the Creator of the ends of the earth. 36:51 He will not grow tired or weary, 36:52 and his understanding no one can fathom." 36:54 Guess what about our God? 36:55 Verse 29, "He gives strength to the weary 36:57 and He increases the power of the weak. 36:59 Even the youths grow tired..." 37:01 It's a campus where you got a lot of young, 37:02 they've gone for the summer, but, 37:04 "Even the youths grow tired and weary, 37:05 and young men," and I'd add and women, 37:07 "stumble and fall." 37:09 But here comes verse 31, 37:11 "But those who wait on the Lord..." 37:13 The NIV says, 37:15 "Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength." 37:18 Read it out loud with me. 37:19 "They will soar like eagles." 37:23 Oh I love that, "They will soar like eagles, 37:26 they will run and not grow weary, 37:28 they will walk and not be faint." 37:31 Do you know how an eagle flies? 37:33 Watch this. This is how an eagle flies. 37:35 This is his wing span, 37:36 between 5.9 to 7.5 feet tip to tip. 37:39 In Alaska they are huskier, they are 8 feet. 37:42 This is how an eagle flies, 37:44 straight, straight. 37:48 Turkey vultures, 37:49 and people sometimes confuse turkey vultures with eagles, 37:51 turkey vultures, 37:52 and we have a whole flock of them 37:54 that live in the trees of our neighborhood. 37:55 In the summer time they're just circling high over head. 37:58 But turkey vultures, 37:59 their wings are in a shallow V shape 38:01 called dihedral. 38:04 So their wings are up. 38:06 So if you see the wings up like this, 38:09 that's a turkey vulture, that's not an eagle. 38:10 The eagle may sometimes have the wings down just a little, 38:13 but straight across. 38:15 And by the way, do you know how high they can soar? 38:18 Get this, 10,000 feet. 38:21 An eagle, 10000 feet. 38:24 I got really excited about that. 38:25 I said, "I wonder if that's a world record." 38:27 And then one in the line said, 38:28 "Give me the highest soaring birds." 38:29 Are you kidding? 38:31 You know that, whack, whack, that little mallard duck, 38:32 the little mallard duck with iridescent 38:34 blue and green head? 38:35 The mallard duck flies at 21,000 feet. 38:39 Ha! 38:43 Let me give you another one. 38:44 Phew! You are not gonna believe this. 38:46 Rup... 38:48 I have to look this up to get his name right, 38:49 Ruppell's griffon vulture 38:52 soars at 37,000 feet. 38:56 I flew back from Japan in a Boeing 777 38:59 and it said on a little map in front of me, 37,000 feet. 39:02 Can you imagine, opening your window shade 39:04 and there is this vulture saying, 39:06 "What are you doing up here?" 39:09 37,000 feet. 39:11 They have very well adapted... 39:12 The Creator has adapted their lungs 39:14 so they can survive at 37,000 feet. 39:15 Anyway, I don't wanna be a vulture, 39:17 I don't wanna be a duck, I wanna be an eagle. 39:20 Come on, verse 31. Read it again. 39:21 "But they, who wait on the Lord, 39:23 shall renew their strength. 39:25 They shall mount up with wings as eagles, 39:26 they will run and not be weary, 39:28 they will walk and not be faint." 39:29 That's how I wanna live. 39:31 So the question to be asked right now is, 39:32 "Yo, what does it mean to wait on the Lord?" 39:36 Well, that's a good question. 39:37 Pastor Sabine, 39:39 we've been farewelling her today. 39:40 And, Pastor Sharon, don't miss that lunch 39:43 today at 1:30 downstairs. 39:44 Everybody's invited. 39:45 So Pastor Sabine, 39:47 because she has been in charge 39:48 of 7 am house of prayer on Wednesdays. 39:51 We have a 7 pm. I work on that one. 39:53 She's been working on that one. 39:54 So one morning she taught us this song. 39:57 It's from a mutual friend of ours, Derek Morris. 39:59 She used to pastor with Derek Morris, 40:00 Forest Lake Academy Church. 40:02 Derek is just a superb script... and Bodil, 40:05 his wife is just a superb scripture song composer. 40:11 He took Psalm 27, the last 2 verses 40:15 and he's written a tune to it. 40:16 The identical message... 40:18 We'll put it on screen for you right now. 40:19 Psalm 27. 40:20 The identical messages, Isaiah 40:31. 40:22 You'll see it. 40:23 Now I'm gonna sing this for you. 40:24 You're gonna sing it with me because some of you know it. 40:27 The rest of you do like I did. 40:28 I went home to Karen, 40:29 I said, "Karen, you got to listen to it." 40:31 We YouTubed it. 40:32 And there is Darryl and Bodil singing the song. 40:33 You'll get it. 40:35 You'll get it in a piece of cake. 40:36 Karen and I did it last night just to make sure that's true. 40:38 All right, this is verse 13, 40:40 "I would have lost heart, unless I had believed 40:44 that I would see the goodness of the Lord..." 40:47 And he says, repeat it, 40:49 "I would have lost heart, unless I had believed 40:53 that I would see the goodness of the Lord 40:56 in the land of the living." 40:59 Now here's what it means to wait, wait on Him. 41:02 "Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, 41:06 and He will strengthen your heart." 41:09 Repeat that again, 41:10 "Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, 41:14 and He will strengthen your heart. 41:18 Wait, I say, on the Lord! 41:22 Wait, I say, on the Lord." 41:26 In the middle of the day, that song comes back to me. 41:28 In the middle of the day, God says, 41:30 "Come on, Dwight, what are we talking about?" 41:32 That's what it means to wait on the Lord. 41:34 Yeah, but, Dwight, I know that Isaiah 30's point, 41:37 Isaiah 40:31's point. 41:39 "They that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength." 41:40 But come on, what does it mean to wait upon the Lord? 41:45 Boy, you're pretty persistent with this. 41:47 Let me just put a one word answer for you. 41:48 This is what it means to wait upon the Lord. 41:51 This is what it means. 41:53 Which part of the W, the A, the I, the T 41:55 do you not understand? 41:56 It means wait, wait, wait. 42:02 Oh, mercy! 42:03 Someone once made the quip, "Hurry is of the devil." 42:08 And then the psychoanalyst came by and said, 42:12 "No, hurry is not of the devil, hurry is the devil." 42:17 Yeah because the devil majors in hurry. 42:19 Hurry, hurry, hurry! 42:20 Third millennials like you and I 42:21 are hurry, hurry, hurry, 42:23 hurry, hurry, hurry, hubba, hubba, hubba. 42:25 Vamos, vamos, vamos. 42:26 Get going, move it, move it, move it, move it. 42:28 We're always on the move. 42:30 Hurrying, hurrying, and hurrying. 42:34 We are so strung out by the way, 42:35 as third millennials, 42:37 we are so strung out that we need drugs to wake up. 42:39 Caffeine being the major culprit. 42:41 And then we need drugs just to survive the day, 42:43 caffeine being the major culprit. 42:45 And then we need a drug to put us back to sleep again. 42:49 Roseanne Barr, you've ever heard about her? 42:51 Oh boy! 42:53 She made international news just a few days ago 42:55 when she blamed her midnight racist tweets on Ambien. 43:01 You got to blame something, 43:02 you got to blame somebody, not me. 43:05 You're not thinking right. 43:07 You're hurrying too much. 43:09 Hurry, hurry, hurry. 43:11 And by the way, when we drag in this 43:12 move it, move it, move it 43:13 spirit into God's presence, dead on arrival. 43:16 The relationship, dead on arrival. 43:18 I'm not doing anything in hurry. 43:19 I'm don't do anything in hurry. 43:21 Don't you tell me to do it fast. 43:24 Wait. 43:25 Wait. Wait on the Lord. 43:27 We treat God as if He's lucky to have an appointment with us 43:30 sometime during this day, "Aren't you lucky, God?" 43:34 Years ago, a writer named Joyce Landorf, 43:38 wrote a book titled "God's Waiting Room." 43:42 I don't know about you, 43:44 but that's the most frustrating part for me 43:46 of going to the doctor or going to the dentist, 43:48 having to sit in that waiting room, 43:51 fumbling through old people magazines or, 43:56 if you're lucky, Sports Illustrated. 43:59 I hate that. Why? 44:01 Let's go. I'm here. 44:03 Jump to. 44:07 No. Could it be... 44:09 I'm asking you a question. I'm thinking out loud. 44:11 Could it be that God has waiting rooms 44:14 stuck in the middle of living 44:17 where suddenly everything grinds down to a halt. 44:21 And you have no choice but to wait. 44:25 Could it be? 44:27 He actually specializes in waiting rooms. 44:31 "For they that wait upon the Lord 44:34 shall renew their strength 44:36 and mount up with wings as eagles." 44:39 Joyce Landorf by the way re-wrote the familiar hymn. 44:41 I wannna sing the hymn to you now, 44:43 the way she re-wrote it. 44:44 By the way, you have this in your take home study guide. 44:47 Let me have my own way, Lord 44:51 Let me have my own way 44:55 You are the prodder 44:58 But don't you forget I am the clay 45:04 Now mold me and make me 45:08 If it doesn't hurt too much or cramp my style 45:13 While I am moving 45:16 Forging ahead and motormouth still 45:23 Wait. Wait. 45:25 What part of the word wait do we not understand? 45:32 This is why I got to put the sin as waiting room 45:34 so that we won't have my own way, Lord, to him. 45:37 Forty years for Moses shepherding his bedraggled, 45:41 his father-in-law's bedraggled an incorrigible sheep. 45:47 So much for leadership dreams. 45:49 Thirteen years for Joseph, 45:52 a slave with no hope, no future, 45:54 so much for freedom dreams. 45:59 Three years for Paul, 46:00 wandering around in an Arabian desert. 46:02 So much for mission. 46:04 Thirty years for Jesus 46:07 in a backwater, no good village. 46:11 So much for Messiah. 46:13 Isn't that something? 46:15 Waiting rooms. 46:17 Apparently God majors in waiting rooms, 46:20 some of you are in a waiting room right now. 46:23 I know you. 46:24 Some of you have been waiting for days, 46:27 some of you have been waiting for months. 46:31 Some of you here I know have been waiting for years. 46:35 When do I get out of this room? 46:38 When does He call my name and it's my turn? 46:40 Not a word, it feels. 46:46 My trip to Japan ended up 46:47 being in that same waiting room with you. 46:50 Mm-hm. 46:52 Because I always had these great plans for God, 46:55 for God to come through in a great way for me, 46:57 and it's that for me business, 46:58 it's my huge blind spot, which is obvious to others. 47:02 Two realities, I need to tell you 47:04 about two realities. 47:05 Reality number one, 47:06 and I got to tell you, 47:08 knowing that you were praying for me over here, 47:10 every waking hour, 47:11 knowing that you were praying for me over here, 47:14 for me, every waking hour, 47:16 it was just like an uplift beneath my wings. 47:18 I could soar because I said, 47:20 "God, back at home, they are praying for me." 47:24 God bless you for that. 47:25 You'll never know till we got to eternity 47:27 what God has done because you were praying. 47:30 Now just for me, the whole country of Japan, 47:33 He'll tell us one day. 47:35 By the way, I wrote a 22-page journal, can I say, 47:37 man, these long entries, Dwight. 47:39 I wrote a 22-page journal over there. 47:40 Every day, up, up, uploaded it online. 47:44 And if you wanna read the journal, 47:46 it's PMChurch.org/JapanJournal, 47:51 replete with pictures, everything. 47:54 I did that so that I don't have to come home 47:55 and give a big report now. 47:59 The reality number one, you were praying. 48:01 Your intercessory praying 48:03 made all the difference in the world for me. 48:05 Never sell yourself short 48:07 when you pray little all you. 48:10 When you pray, heavens, 48:16 "What's he asking for? 48:18 What's she praying for?" 48:21 So God gets the glory, but you get the thanks. 48:23 Thank you. 48:25 But reality number two, 48:26 in my own praying in a little apartment bedroom, 48:30 over there, I kept reminding, 48:31 "God, you get a lot of people, dear people, 48:34 praying for the success of this very short evangelistic series 48:36 on their college campus. 48:37 And by the way, God, just to let you know 48:39 that time to do it would be now. 48:41 I have only a few days, I'm here. 48:45 Now is the time. 48:47 You remember me, don't you? 48:48 The kid that was born in Japan, come on, twice, supernaturally, 48:52 you saved my life. 48:54 I know what you saved my life for. 48:55 It was for me coming back to do this series. 48:58 So, God, let's go, I'm running out of time." 49:02 Yeah. 49:04 No waiting room proviso in my prayer strategy. 49:07 No, no, no, we fasted and prayed over here, God. 49:09 You knew how long we fasted. 49:11 Come on, hurry, hurry, hurry. I got to get it done. 49:14 I read in Christianity Today, 49:17 a blog written by a writer named Jim Long, 49:19 who rather recently observed. 49:21 I will put it on the screen, you can take this one home too. 49:23 "If the only way," he writes, 49:24 "If the only way to develop patience 49:26 is to go through some difficulty, 49:30 we'd probably just as soon skip it." 49:32 True or false? 49:33 Of course I don't want it. 49:35 "Every day brings some exasperation, 49:38 some need, small or great, 49:40 that forces us to exercise patience." 49:42 And I put it in here, 49:43 "Or impatience as the case may be. 49:45 We struggle with patience." 49:46 Now here comes the wisdom. 49:48 "We struggle with patience 49:50 because we don't like the circumstances we face." 49:52 Now here's the line, 49:53 "Patience is difficult 49:55 because things feel out of control." 49:58 And if you are a control freak like me, 50:01 that drives you crazy. 50:04 Patience is about admitting. 50:08 "I'm out of control. 50:10 I can't do a blooming thing about this now, not a thing." 50:15 You think about it. That's why I'm impatient. 50:18 Maybe you're impatient too. 50:22 Out of control. 50:23 But I can't do a thing about it. 50:26 Every day, every night, 50:28 every day, every night in Japan, 50:29 "God, please now this is your big hour. 50:31 Come on, let's go. 50:32 This is the day for your great breakthrough. 50:33 You promised me, 50:35 'Call me upon Me on the day of trouble 50:36 and I will deliver you and you'll glorify Me.' 50:37 God, I promise I'll glorify You. 50:39 Just do it." 50:44 Then one day, 50:45 somewhere during that week, further to the end, 50:49 and I never mentioned this in the journal, 50:52 God came to me with corrective council. 50:57 Don't you just love that? 50:59 Like, "You think I need corrective counsel now? 51:02 I need You to do something. Don't counsel me." 51:05 He came to me with corrective counsel. 51:07 He did. 51:08 He said, "Hey, boy, I know where you are, 51:12 I've been there long before you, 51:14 so don't give Me this, 'We got to act now' stuff, 51:17 all right? 51:19 I know your people are praying. 51:21 What do you think I'm doing in Japan 51:22 what I'm doing right now? 51:23 You don't know about it. But am I supposed to report? 51:25 Yes, sir. Am I supposed to report to you? 51:26 No, I'm not. 51:29 Why don't you trust Me? 51:31 Maybe I know what I'm doing. 51:33 I didn't bring you over here to write headlines, 51:35 I brought you over here to preach the truth. 51:37 Are you doing it?" Yup. 51:39 "Be quite then, don't need to talk about this. 51:43 You don't need to talk about it. 51:47 But may I remind you, Dwight, 51:48 just in case you haven't thought about this, 51:51 the next generation of spiritual leaders in Japan 51:54 are sitting right there every single day." 51:56 There are only 20 theologies majors in Japan 51:58 and that calls only 20 of them, 51:59 they are all sitting in evangelistic series, 52:01 they have never seen an evangelistic series 52:03 because Japan long ago quit doing them. 52:05 "That's the western way. We don't do it." 52:07 And now they're realizing, "We go to do it." 52:10 Dwight, you have 20 young men and women sitting there, 52:15 listening, I need them, 52:19 I need the next wave. 52:23 Now you know why you're there? 52:26 Oh, by the way, Dwight, 52:29 70% of the student body, you know this figure, 52:31 70% of the student body is not-Christian. 52:34 Pagan, nothing, 70%. 52:37 Student body of 201, 70%, do the arithmetic, 140. 52:41 Dwight, did it occur to you 52:42 that there are 140 Japanese young adults sitting 52:46 by having to attend, 52:48 require chapel as it is for week of prayer over here? 52:52 They have to sit there every single morning 52:54 while you preach my everlasting gospel. 52:56 Find Me a city in Japan 52:58 where a 140 people are showing up morning or night 53:01 sitting there listening to the everlasting gospel. 53:03 So don't give me this little blubber about 53:05 this was just a little glorifying week of prayer. 53:09 This is not a week of prayer. 53:11 This is My plan. 53:13 And it's My plan, not yours. 53:16 And it's My life and it's not yours. 53:18 And headlines belong to Me, not you. 53:19 So what are you worried about? 53:20 Wait on Me. 53:22 Wait on Me. 53:24 I'm preaching to myself now. 53:27 But a preacher has to do that. 53:29 Wait on Me. 53:34 Wait on Me. 53:36 Some of you are here in the same thing right now. 53:39 Wait on Me. 53:40 Oh, wait on Me, please, please, please, please, please. 53:43 You don't have to be in control of your life. 53:44 No, no, no, no, no. 53:46 Don't take control now, no. 53:48 Wait on Me. Don't act, wait on Me. 53:50 Hold it. 53:52 I know you're battling for your health, 53:54 I know you're battling for your life, 53:56 wait on Me, wait on Me. 53:59 I know you're struggling just to get through school, 54:02 I know that, wait on Me. 54:04 Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. 54:06 Wait on Me. 54:07 I know you're financial outlook is terribly bleak right now, 54:10 don't worry, wait on Me. 54:14 Trust Me, trust Me. 54:17 I know your heart is broken and your marriage is crumbling. 54:21 I know. 54:22 I'm sorry. 54:23 Wait on Me. 54:25 Don't. 54:26 Wait, wait. 54:29 You've lost the dearest person on earth to you? 54:32 I know. 54:34 Me too. 54:36 Wait on Me. 54:38 Wait on Me. 54:41 Jesus' seven word credo, "I will put my trust in Him." 54:47 Hebrews 2:13, 54:48 wait on Me. 54:52 Because I get the last word, Dwight. 54:55 People, I get the last word. 54:58 You wait, I win. 55:02 And then guess what? 55:03 Because I win, you win. 55:06 You will win. 55:08 You wait, 55:11 I win, 55:14 you win. 55:16 Trust Me. 55:17 Before I said, Desire of Ages, 55:18 oh, this is something, this last line here, look out, 55:22 "Christ rejoiced that He could do more 55:24 for His followers than they could ask or think..." 55:26 How true that is. 55:27 He's already working your life, friend. 55:29 It feels like a waiting room. 55:30 It's no waiting on God's part. 55:32 He's scrambling behind the scenes. 55:35 Keep reading. 55:36 "He knew the truth, 55:38 armed with the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit, 55:40 would conquer in the contest with evil." 55:43 God wins, 55:44 truth will out falsehood, God wins. 55:48 Keep reading though. 55:49 Here comes the blockbuster, 55:51 "He knew that 55:52 the bloodstained banner of the cross 55:54 would wave triumphantly over His followers." 55:56 And now here it is, 55:58 "He knew that the life of His trusting disciples 56:00 who wait on Him would be like His, 56:04 a series of uninterrupted victories, 56:09 not seen to be such here, 56:11 but recognized as such in the great hereafter." 56:15 Wow. 56:17 Ever thought of your life 56:18 as a series of uninterrupted victories? 56:20 No, you haven't. 56:21 Your family looks at your life and they say, 56:22 "There are no uninterrupted victories there." 56:24 Your friends look at your life, they say, 56:25 "There's no uninterrupted victories there." 56:27 You look at your life and you say, 56:28 "There are no uninterrupted victories here." 56:29 But if you're waiting on Him, 56:31 your life one day will be shown to be one victory after another 56:35 after another after another 56:38 while you were in a waiting room 56:39 thinking nothing was happening. 56:41 Come on. 56:42 Come on is right. 56:45 Wait, W, A, I, T. 56:49 Wait, just wait, trust Me. 56:53 You wait, you wait, you wait. 56:57 I win, you wait. 57:00 I win, then you win. 57:03 Amen. 57:04 Wait on Me. 57:05 Amen and amen. 57:11 We've been really blessed by the financial support 57:12 that comes from our viewers, 57:14 and we've made a conscious decision 57:16 not to continually appeal to you for that support. 57:19 Fact is that everyone in the industry will tell you 57:22 when you need to make constant upgrades 57:23 to our technology. 57:25 So if God has blessed you 57:27 and you'd life to further the work of this ministry, 57:29 we invite you to partner with us. 57:30 Not a single penny of your donation will go to me. 57:33 Every bit of your gift goes to the mission, 57:36 blessing your community and our world. 57:38 You can donate in our website, NewPerceptions.TV 57:41 or call the number, you know the number, 57:43 877-His-WILL. 57:45 Again that number is 877, the two words, -His-WILL. 57:50 And may the God who has blessed you, 57:51 continue to pour into your life 57:53 the gifts of His joy and His hope. 57:56 Thank you, 57:57 and I'm looking forward to seeing you 57:58 right here again next time. |
Revised 2019-08-29