Participants:
Series Code: PME
Program Code: PME230304S
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00:01 ♪♪
00:16 >> ♪ Jubilate Deo, Jubilate Deo ♪ 00:21 ♪ Jubilate Deo, Jubilate Deo ♪ ♪ Jubilate Deo, Jubilate Deo ♪ 00:30 ♪ Jubilate Deo, Deo ♪ ♪ Jubilate Deo, omnis terra ♪ 00:41 ♪ Servite Domino in laetitia ♪ ♪ Introite in conspectu ejus ♪ ♪ In exsultatione ♪ 00:54 ♪ In exsultatione ♪ ♪ In exsultatione ♪ ♪ Jubilate Deo ♪ 01:03 ♪ Jubilate Deo, Jubilate Deo ♪ ♪ Jubilate Deo, Jubilate Deo ♪ ♪ Jubilate Deo ♪ 01:12 ♪ Jubilate Deo, Jubilate Deo ♪ ♪ Jubilate Deo, Deo ♪ ♪ Quoniam suavis est Dominus ♪ 01:28 ♪ In aeternum misericordia ejus ♪ ♪ Quoniam suavis est Dominus 01:41 et usque in generationem ♪ ♪ In generationem ♪ ♪ In generationem ♪ 01:51 ♪ In generationem ♪ ♪ Veritas ejus ♪ ♪ Jubilate Deo, Jubilate Deo ♪ 02:01 ♪ Deo ♪ ♪ Jubilate Deo, Jubilate Deo ♪ ♪ Jubilate ♪ 02:06 ♪ Jubilate Deo, Jubilate Deo ♪ ♪ Deo ♪ ♪ Jubilate Deo, Deo ♪ 02:15 ♪ Jubilate Deo ♪ ♪♪ ♪ Jubilate Deo, omnis terra ♪ 02:36 [ Applause ] 02:43 >> Good morning, everyone. Thank you for coming here in person or joining us via media. 02:49 We welcome you and we especially welcome the participants 02:54 in the music festival that's going on on campus 02:58 right now. 02:59 Eight schools are represented standing before us. So glad you've come. 03:07 The call to worship is in the bulletin and also on the screens. 03:14 "God has searched us and known us. God has called us 03:20 to be a holy people. God has touched our hearts and our mouths. 03:28 God has called us to know and speak in holiness. Let us walk with God 03:37 in holiness." And as they file, we are going to pray the invocation. 03:46 Would you bow your head. Father, this day, we are here to worship 03:51 You in song and written word and its spoken word. O Lord, feed our souls today 03:59 and may we give our souls in return to You. We pray in Jesus' name. 04:06 Amen. 04:11 >> Good morning, Church. Good to be in the house of the Lord this morning. 04:17 Can I get an amen? >> Amen! >> Okay. Could you guys please 04:21 stand up as we can glorify our Lord and Savior? 04:24 [ "Friend of God" begins ] 06:01 >> All right, so, this next song, it refers to our friend, 06:05 but it refers to Him how He's so indescribable, 06:08 un-comparable, because He put the stars in the sky 06:11 and He knows all of them by name. 06:14 So please help me rejoice with this song. 06:18 [ "Indescribable" begins ] 08:46 [ "Good Good Father" begins ] 10:51 >> Amen. 10:56 [ "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus" begins ] 11:01 ♪♪ ♪♪ 12:34 >> Joining us today on the platform are students 12:38 from Andrews Academy, Battle Creek Academy, 12:44 Grand Rapids Adventist Academy, Great Lakes Adventist Academy, 12:48 Hinsdale Adventist Academy, Indiana Academy, Spring Valley Academy, 12:56 and Wisconsin Academy. Let's give them a hand. Praise God. Praise God. 13:03 [ Applause ] 13:09 These students have spent two days here representing their choir programs 13:15 at their individual academies. Incidentally, every academy mentioned is subsidized 13:21 and under the banner of the Adventist Church, Seventh-Day Adventist Church. 13:27 And we do welcome them. They've had a wonderful time. Our program this afternoon, 13:33 you must come to and be inspired by the orchestra, festival orchestra, 13:37 and the choir, as well. 4:00 Pioneer -- Howard Performing Arts Center. 13:44 Howard Performing Arts Center, 4:00 this afternoon. Please be there. 13:54 I will read to you the scripture from the New International Version. 13:59 It's found in Matthew 27:24-26. 14:12 Starting with verse 24. "When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere with the people, 14:20 but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands 14:28 in front of the crowd, saying, 'I am innocent of this man's blood. 14:36 It is your responsibility.' All the people present answered and said, 'His blood 14:43 is on us and on our children.' Then, he released Barabbas to them. 14:51 But he had Jesus flogged and handed Him over to be crucified." 15:33 ♪♪ >> ♪ Ooh ooh ooh 15:46 ♪ Ooh ooh ooh ♪ Ooh ooh ooh ooh 15:58 ♪ O day of peace that dimly shines ♪ 16:07 ♪ Through all our hopes and prayers and dreams ♪ ♪ Guide us to justice, truth, 16:18 and love ♪ ♪ Delivered from our selfish schemes ♪ 16:28 ♪ May swords of hate fall from our hands ♪ ♪ Our hearts from envy find 16:39 release ♪ ♪ Till, by God's grace, our warring world ♪ 16:47 ♪ Shall see Christ's promised reign of peace ♪ ♪ Ooh ooh ooh 17:01 ♪ Ooh ooh ooh ♪ Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ♪ Ooh ooh ooh-ooh-ooh 17:16 ♪ Ooh-ooh-ooh ♪ Ooh ooh ooh ♪ Ooh 17:31 ♪ Then shall the wolf dwell with the lamb ♪ ♪ Nor shall the fierce devour 17:41 the small ♪ ♪ As beasts and cattle calmly graze ♪ 17:50 ♪ A little child shall lead them all ♪ ♪ Then enemies shall learn 18:01 to love ♪ ♪ All creatures find their true accord ♪ 18:08 ♪ The hope of peace shall be fulfilled ♪ For all the Earth shall know 18:17 the Lord ♪ 18:24 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 18:52 ♪ Then enemies shall learn to love ♪ ♪ All creatures find their true 19:06 accord ♪ ♪ The hope of peace shall be fulfilled ♪ 19:17 For all the Earth shall know the Lord ♪ ♪ Ooh ooh ooh 19:36 ♪ Ooh ooh ooh ♪ Ooh ooh ooh ooh-ooh-ooh ♪ Ooh ooh ooh-ooh-ooh 19:52 ♪ Ooh-ooh-ooh ♪ Ooh ooh ooh ♪ Ooh 20:18 [ Applause ] 20:31 >> Oh, God, we... we rise before you. We can imagine that moment 20:40 when the King of Kings will be crowned. And we'll be there. 20:45 The children's story took us there. What the choir just sang 20:49 took us there. We want to be there. We have a few moments left. 20:55 Please engage these moments. Address our minds. Move our hearts and stir 21:04 up our spirits. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. 21:10 I have one word from the Bible for you who have just sung 21:14 for us. Wow. 21:19 That was absolutely heavenly. Thank you, academies, for coming 21:25 from all over the Great Lakes states. 21:27 We are so honored to have you. I hope you all come back 21:30 to Andrews University. That is what I'm hoping. 21:32 Come on. Come on back. You know that song? 21:36 "O Day of Peace That Dimly Shines." 21:39 Thank you, Steve Zork and... Gabriel when the keyboard. 21:46 I scribbled the words down. "Then enemies shall learn to love, for all the Earth shall 21:51 know the Lord." What a message. Bless you. Thank you for singing with us 21:57 and for us. I want to think about war for a minute. Come on. 22:02 I got a -- I got a... a weapon right here, and, so, if it's okay with you, 22:07 I'll just come and reach under this piano and pull it out. It's from a friend of mine 22:13 named Errol Prentice And we're talking about the real deal here, folks. 22:20 I don't know if you can recognize it from where you are. 22:25 And Errol told me you got to put your hand through this so that, if you drop it -- and, oh, 22:30 boy, I do not want to drop it. This is one expensive piece of equipment. 22:33 Oh, this is backwards. Do you know what this is? Yeah. I'm not even sure 22:42 right now what it is. I don't -- Oh, there it is. I got it. I got it. 22:47 Yeah. This is a bow. This is a real live bow. This is not little 22:53 cowboys and Indians bow. This is the real deal. I'm not going to tell you 22:57 how much it cost. But Errol has become just a pro. He's the champion 23:03 leader of our Pathfinders, and he's been teaching archery. The reason I have this bow 23:10 in my hand is because, for a few moments, I want to think about war, 23:13 and you'll see how it fits in in just a second. I have more to tell you 23:16 about this, but I got to reach into my pocket because people say that, 23:20 when it comes to war, there are four options. All right? Four options. 23:26 These are responses you can make in a war. Here we go. Option number one -- offense. 23:31 Come on. You know what that is. Option number two -- defense. Ooh, you know what that is. 23:38 Option number three -- détente. Ooh. What is that? We'll get to that in a moment. 23:43 And option number four -- desertion, just running away. I want to go 23:48 to that little French word that's sitting there, détente. Do you know what that old -- 23:53 It's from old French. Do you know what the word means? I'll tell you. 23:58 "De" means it negates it. It takes something away. And "tendere," "tendere" -- 24:06 Yeah, wrong word. "Tendere" means "tension." So it's old French 24:12 when they had crossbows. You remember crossbows. The word means to take away 24:18 the tension of the bowstring. No more tension. And you know what? 24:24 If I release this -- this is 80 pounds, by the way. 80 pounds of pressure 24:28 right here. So when Errol pulls his hand back, it's 80 pounds worth. 24:33 Do you know, I scribbled this down in between services because he didn't share this 24:37 with me till then. This -- This bow is able to shoot an arrow 280 yards. 24:47 That's almost three football fields. It has a super duper -- 24:51 super duper electronic... Don't point it at anybody. Said, okay. 24:55 A super duper electronic laser scope. It's -- One of these arrows 25:06 travels at 300 feet per second. That's an entire football field. Pshoo! 25:13 Unbelievable. But détente means you lower the tension. 25:19 These become floppy and flabby. And that's why, in diplomacy -- French is the language of 25:25 diplomacy -- the diplomat said, "Hey, we got two superpowers here. 25:29 They're not getting along. We've got to find out a way. It's not peace on Earth 25:32 like you're just saying yet. We've got to find a way to work it out. 25:36 And they called it détente. We're going to lower the tensions on the planet. 25:44 So how many strategies are there when it comes to life? Winston Churchill, 25:51 the great intrepid leader of the British Empire during World War II, 25:57 during those dark days, he sent a message to one of his admirals, 26:02 Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, Secretary of the Admiralty, that would be the Department 26:07 of Navy. He sent this message. He said, "All right, you want to 26:10 talk about strategy in the war? Here are my orders to you." 26:22 You're saying, "Yo, right. Well, that's great for military, but how about life strategy?" 26:26 I want to suggest to you -- and I'm going to put a line in front of your eyes 26:30 in just a moment -- I want to suggest that there's only one strategy even in life. 26:35 In fact, if you open your Bible. And I'm going to put this down because we're going to come back 26:38 to it in just a second. If you open your Bible to 1 Timothy 6. 26:43 So Paul, a greater leader than Winston Churchill, in my humble opinion, 26:48 intrepid vagabond preacher, evangelist and missionary, greatest Christian 26:52 who ever lived. Paul is writing to a young protege of his named Timothy, 26:56 and he gives him, "How many of those four options are you going to take?" 27:00 Well, this would be good for us. Let's find out. 1 Timothy 6. 27:04 We'll pick it up in verse 11. That will run into that one line. 27:08 "Offense," Churchill says, "We want offense. Forget defense." Okay, here we go. 27:15 1 Timothy 6:11 "But you men of God" -- woman of God, teen of God, 27:19 people of God -- "but you flee from all this." He's just been talking about 27:24 greed and the love of money and covetousness. 27:36 Now here it comes. "Fight the good fight of faith." Of those four options, 27:40 which do you think that is? It's only one. It's the first one. 27:44 What's the first one? Offense. You have no other option. And by the way, 27:51 that's true for you and me. No other option -- offense. But this really gets dramatic 27:55 when we take this line and we put it in the Greek. And, so, these won't be Greek 28:00 letters. I've transferred them into English, but it will sound like 28:07 the Greek. 28:13 Let's just take these two words here -- agonizou, agona. Can you think of an English 28:18 word that kind of sounds like that? Agonizou, agona. 28:22 Say it fast -- agonizou, agona. What's the word? Can you hear a word? 28:26 Yeah, you got it. Agonize and agony. Fight the good fight of faith 28:31 means agonize the good agony. Come on. No, I'm serious. 28:36 That's what it's saying here. Agonize, agony. I point all of this out to us 28:43 so that we don't think this little one-line insertion at the end of his letter 28:47 to Timothy is some sort of throwaway, you know, just a little bit 28:50 of a namby-pamby advice. You've heard the line, "when the going gets tough," 28:54 how does it end? When the going gets tough, the tough get going. 28:58 Yeah, but what does that mean? Really? The word Paul chooses has life 29:05 and death written all over it. He's talking about fight. Agony. 29:11 Agonize. Hey, wait a minute. Some of you sitting here 29:15 right now, man, you got such beautiful faces. I couldn't tell what's in your 29:20 heart right now if I tried. But behind all of that -- all of that manicured 29:25 look of yours, there's some people here right now going through agony. 29:31 They are agonizing to the depths. They are broken. 29:34 We show up at church and show up on Academy campus. "What is it? Yeah. 29:38 Hey, yo, bro. How are you? High five. How are you doing?" "Great." 29:42 Nobody ever knows. One of you here, a bunch of us here -- agony. 29:50 I got a young friend. He's younger than my son. He is going right now, 29:55 battling for his life through the agony, fighting, agonizou, 30:01 he is fighting the dreadful enemy of cancer. It is a mortal battle. 30:09 And he's in it to the hilt. Agony. Agonizing. Nah, this is not just a little 30:19 PS at the end of a very important letter. No, this is a whole letter. 30:23 This is life and death. And you know why it's life and death? 30:26 Because when you agonize, when you feel agony, the stakes are huge. 30:34 They are absolutely high. What's amazing to me is that what Paul is really writing 30:39 here is this, if you put it in the English translation. "Agonize the good agony." 30:45 You say, "How could -- How could it possibly be ever true that there 30:52 is such a thing as good agony?" The only way I can think about it, because it's obviously 30:57 what it says, "Agonize the good agony." The only way I can think it 31:02 would be good is if the cause that you're engaged in is worth dying for. 31:13 >> It's not worth dying for, I mean, please. Who cares? But if it's worth dying for, 31:18 hmm. I'm watching these soldiers in the Ukraine, 31:22 and what, we just finished, what, one year in Ukraine? Unbelievable, tragic, tragic 31:27 war, in my humble opinion. But when the war correspondent comes up to those soldiers, 31:34 young guys already battle-hardened, and an interpreter's standing there, 31:37 and I'm listening to the English, saying, "How long are you going to fight?" 31:41 "We will fight, we will agonize to the last man." Because that's the way 31:47 a soldier fights. You're all in. And by the way, I'm just thinking, if you 31:54 and I don't have a cause worth dying for, really, we're going to end up with 32:00 a life not worth living for. Come on. Do you have -- What's the cause? 32:07 I know we're teens, everybody in the front here. And good on you. 32:12 You're strategically placed, by the way. And I'm so glad you are 32:15 on the campus as you are. You are strategically placed because teens have an inner -- 32:21 an inner energy that enables you, in the face of others who are not standing as you are, 32:29 to jump up and say, "I do. I will. Count me in." So I'm asking you teens up 32:36 front, what is it that you have found worth dying for? Have you found anything yet? 32:43 Too young, huh? No, some of you already are honing in on it. 32:51 "Agonize the good agony." Which is why now I'm going to drill down a little deeper here. 32:58 I need you to hang on here. Which is why the biggest threat to freedom in the world -- 33:04 I'm going to say this. The biggest threat to the church. 33:07 All right? Here we are. We're all at church right now. The biggest threat to the church 33:11 is non-engagement. Which doesn't mean you renounce the cause 33:16 that the church stands for. Unh-unh. Not at all. You simply stop defending it. 33:22 You no longer engage it. You no longer battle it. Even as a teen, come on, 33:28 you're critical. "But, nah, I'm not in it right now. 33:32 I'll get in it later, maybe." No. 33:36 What's threatening culture and church -- non-engagement. 33:43 Spiritual non-engagement. And now 33:45 I'm really drilling down. >> Don't leave me now. 33:48 Spiritual non-engagement is the fruit 33:51 of our valueless culture, where everybody's preference 33:56 needs to be tolerated and defended. 34:00 That's the culture today. Or at least allowed a place 34:03 at the table. "Come on, You can sit here. 34:06 Come on. No, no, no, no, no." 34:09 You know what? That may feel like bold equality. 34:13 But in my book, it's feckless timidity. Say, "Hey, it doesn't matter 34:18 what you believe." It's that old jingle on social media. 34:22 Have you heard it? "Nobody's right. Nobody's wrong. We simply have to get along." 34:25 You ever heard that one? Nobody's right. Nobody's wrong. We simply have to get along. 34:30 Nobody's right. Nobody's wrong. We simply have to get along. Come on. 34:34 Not on your life. Are you kidding? When we have a mortal enemy 34:38 who has his arrow in place and all he needs is for permission, in a heartbeat, that arrow 34:46 is released -- pshoo -- right through you. This is no namby-pamby stuff. 34:53 Come on. Nobody's right. Nobody's wrong. We simply have to get along. 34:59 So here's a question for your academy, where you're from, and for my academy, where 35:03 I'm from, and for my university, where I'm from. How long shall 35:08 we lower the moral bar? All right. How long should we -- 35:13 How far shall we lower the moral bar? Hmm. How much are you willing to 35:20 compromise in your friendships? Talking with a student this last week. 35:27 And she said, "I was really embarrassed." I said, "What are you 35:31 embarrassed about?" She said, "I went on a date." "Yeah? Well, there's nothing 35:35 embarrassing about that." Yeah, and the guy said, "Hey, can we end with a, 35:39 you know, just a little?" And she said, "I looked at him and said, 'Not on your life.'" 35:45 And he says, "What's the matter with you?" You know what? That's -- 35:50 That's where this comes in. What she was facing is... Whoa. Whoa. 36:02 This is a wonderful date. This is perfect. She comes to the end. 36:08 And so far, so good. It's tight. But she's faced with a choice 36:13 now. I'm going to loosen the poundage on this bowstring. 36:19 I want to let it just get floppy and flaccid and flabby. 36:24 I just let it ehh just for a few moments, then I'll get back to chhckt, 36:30 ooh! This isn't just about campuses. This isn't just about 36:34 institutions. This is about you and me. Because we all hold the bow in 36:40 our hands, and the bowstring's tautness -- T-A-U-T -- the bowstring's tension 36:47 is up to us. We have the option, actually, to do détente. 36:52 Détente is when you say, "Hey, 80 pounds, forget it. Ooh, floppy, floppy. 36:57 That's about what I need." You got to be kidding me. Can you imagine a war with 37:03 floppy and you got the enemy coming straight at you, and he has 300 feet per second 37:09 on his -- pshoo! And you're pulling this thing and there is nothing to it. 37:13 We're dead meat. We have to keep it taut. Oh, come on, guys. 37:21 Détente? Turns out, this loosening of the bowstring is actually 37:27 achieved by compromise. That's it. It's the word compromise. 37:32 For our mortal enemy, that's the only way he wins. "Come on, Dwight, come on. 37:37 Loosen up, boy. Come on. It's just a party. This is just tonight. 37:42 It'll be over. Come with us, chicken. Loosen the bow." 37:49 I'm not loosening the bow. Yeah. In fact, you'd be surprised. 37:55 The word détente is not found in scripture. Neither is the word compromise. 37:59 Oh, there's one close to it. Oh, what was that word? Laodicean. What's Laodicean? 38:03 I'm half hot and half cold. That's compromise. Apparently the church, 38:07 the culture at the very end of the human history is Laodicean -- compromise. 38:13 One foot in, one foot out. Flabby. The enemy's bearing down on you. 38:19 You aim and there is nothing left. You let the line down. 38:26 You loosened it up. Wrong move, girl. Wrong time. Keep it taut. 38:35 Keep it taut. You have nothing to apologize, guys. 38:40 Man, oh, man, singing the way you sing, you have nothing to apologize. 38:45 You got steel in that spine of yours. And I love it. God loves it. 38:50 No compromise, no détente. Nope. We have one strategy. Fight the good fight of faith. 38:55 That's it. Fight the good fight of faith. Non-engagement, not into it. 39:03 Détente? [ Scoffs ] Not into it. Compromise, nope. 39:09 Here I stand. I'm standing and I'm not moving. It's the only way 39:15 you're going to win. Paul writes to this young Timothy. 39:18 Fight, agonize the good agony. Of course it'll cost you something. 39:24 Think it's going to be easy? You signed up for this. I didn't sign you up. 39:30 Once you sign up, you're in, girl. Boy, once you sign up, 39:34 you're in. No backing out. Oh, you can back out, 39:38 but who would? You're on a winning team already. 39:41 Can you imagine quitting a winning team, you basketball jocks? 39:46 "I want to join a losing team. I hate playing with winners." Are you crazy? 39:50 Why would you join a losing team when you're on the winning team? Come on. 39:57 Jesus is right. No woman, no man can serve two masters. 40:01 You love the one, hate the other, hate the one, love the other. 40:03 You cannot serve God and Satan. Impossible. Yeah. So, hey, listen, 40:10 there's been a lot of talk lately about revival. Have you heard about it on your 40:13 campuses? Everybody's heard about it in America, I'm sure. 40:16 A lot of talk about revival these days, ever since the news started reporting it. 40:20 In fact, we talked about revival last Sabbath. Yep. And since then, I have 40:25 received e-mails and phone conversations and the like. And what is becoming clear 40:29 to me -- listen up to this. What's becoming clear to me is that there is some 40:35 confusion over the meaning or definition of revival. What are you talking about, 40:41 Dwight? Well, some people are combing their personal recollection 40:44 or collective history recollection, and they're describing evidences 40:48 of what's happened in the past. So we ought to be thankful. We've got it in the past. 40:53 Hey, listen, listen, listen. I receive every one of those with great joy. 40:59 Thank you for telling me about that. It happened once. 41:03 But here's the deal. The kind of revival I'm referring to 41:09 and many people are longing for, the kind of revival we need here at Pioneer, 41:14 the kind of revival we need here at Andrews University, is a revival that leads to 41:20 reformation. Réformation. It's not just a flash in 41:27 the pan. "Hey, we had a revival. Good. What's next?" 41:30 No. The only revival now that's left on the agenda is 41:36 a revival that leads to reformation. It doesn't matter to me 41:40 what's happening on another campus right now. That is immaterial to me. 41:44 What we need here is a revival that sparks reformation. And by that, I mean 41:50 a revival that leads to changed hearts, transformed lives. And I'm talking about my heart 41:55 and my life and I'm talking about yours, as well. That's what we need, a change 41:59 in our thinking around here. A change in our behaving. Hey, listen, 42:03 Paul's on death row. We looked at this line last week. 42:05 Paul's on death row, and he has a bitter pain. Talking about agony. 42:08 One of his closest associates has deserted him. I'm talking about the fourth 42:12 option in war, which is to run, baby, run. That's what happened to Paul. 42:16 Let me put the line back on the screen. "Demas has deserted me." 42:20 Paul is on death row. "Demas has deserted me because he loved this world." 42:27 You can't believe it. You run because you love the world? 42:31 He did and has broken my heart. And by the way, it's that love of the world 42:36 that's killing us around here. It's killing us on your campus. Whatever campus you're from. 42:41 It's that love of the world. "What are you talking about, Dwight?" 42:44 Well, I'm talking about a reformation that means we abandon the love of the world, 42:50 we abandon this détente, this compromise with a fallen culture. 42:53 There is a change in our lifestyles. There is a change in our sexual 42:58 lifestyles. That's what I'm talking about. A change in the way 43:03 we do business around here. A change in the way we treat one another around here. 43:11 My heart breaks when I get an e-mail that's gone to 500 other people. 43:18 Some people feel that that's their solution. Just keep forwarding e-mails. 43:23 Blanking them. My heart breaks. Is that Jesus' way? 43:30 You really think we've tightened the bowstring here? Or have we loosened it 43:35 so it doesn't matter how I get my word out as long as my word gets out. 43:41 You got to be kidding me. No, a revival, a change in the way we do business, a change 43:49 in the way we treat each other. That's the revival and reformation I need. 43:52 That's the reformation and transformation we need, all of us, all seven 43:56 of your campuses plus ours. A transformation that means becoming more 44:05 and more like Jesus. Like his strong love for people. Jesus loved people. 44:11 He always was standing up, by the way, for the marginalized, the disenfranchised, 44:15 and the alienated. That's being like Jesus. Jesus stood up for holiness. 44:21 You stand up for holiness? You say, "Hey, you know, hey, come on, boy. 44:24 My string is taut." Nope. That's being like Jesus. 44:30 Jesus' devotion to his father. Getting along with him. Abba, Father. 44:35 That's what it means to be like Jesus. "Be like Jesus, this my song, 44:41 in the home and in the throng. Be like Jesus all day long. I would be like Jesus." 44:48 That's the revival that leads to reformation. To be like Jesus. 44:53 Because, you see, it always keeps coming back to Jesus. I've got to show you this 44:57 before I sit down. It always comes back to Jesus. You see, 44:59 I left off part of this. That line we've been looking at is "fight the good fight." 45:04 But there's actually more to it. "Of the faith." And that's from the NIV. 45:09 Translates the article here to make sure that we see it. "Fight the good fight of 45:13 the faith." Of the faith of what? Of the faith of whom? 45:17 Whose faith are you talking about? If you're a generation at 45:20 the end of time, I'll tell you whose faith we're talking about. The Book of Revelation 45:24 is absolutely clear. People livin', teens livin' at the end of time, 45:27 you'll identify them right here. Here we go. Revelation 14:12. 45:31 This is from the David Bentley Hart rendition, or translation, 45:35 of the New Testament. 45:45 They keep the faith of Jesus. Fight the good fight of faith. Of the faith. 45:50 Whose faith? The faith of Jesus. Come on. It's all about Jesus, 45:54 I'm telling you. You want revival and reformation around here? 45:57 Me, too. Then it comes back to all about Jesus. That's it. 46:04 It's all about Jesus. You won't get a revival without Jesus. 46:11 Oh, that little classic "Steps to Christ." I got to share this with you. 46:15 I gave this to a friend of mine. We had lunch a week and a half ago. 46:19 He's a minister, a pastor, been here for 15 years. For 10 years, he's been watching 46:25 every week right here. Another denomination. "Steps to Christ." 46:31 I gave him a copy of this. Look at this. "Steps to Christ." 46:45 Why? Because it's the faith of Jesus. That's how you win. 46:49 The faith of Jesus. That's your weapon right there. 46:59 I'm telling you, that's revival that leads to reformation. When Christ is first 47:04 and last and always, you got the seeds of a revolution. A revival that turns 47:12 into a reformation that turns into a revolution. And you're the generation. 47:16 I'm looking at you. Teens. You're what we need. Don't you let anybody sell you 47:24 short. We have to have you. And we have to have you 47:27 sold out. We can't have you with your bowstring just slackened 47:31 and when you come here. No, no, no. We need you with the bowstring 47:35 taut. 47:37 Tight, tension, steel in your spine. 47:41 That's who we need. If you're not going to be 47:43 that way, find another school. We need you sold out. 47:50 And you are it. When I heard you singing, 47:53 man, I just said, "Jesus, what a platform full of teens. 47:59 Can you believe it? Handpicked by God himself." 48:05 You're it. I'm proud of you. 48:08 I can tell just by looking into your face. I'm proud of you. 48:13 And the best is yet to come. Don't you ever back down. Keep it taut. 48:18 The best is yet to come. Yeah. Fight the good fight of the faith of Jesus. 48:24 Agonize the good agony. Of the agony and faith of Jesus. One thing I know, revival 48:31 and reformation around here will have Jesus' fingerprints and Jesus' blood drops 48:35 all over it. I end now with one other place the word agony appears. 48:40 And I want you to open your Bible, I'm not putting it on the screen. 48:43 Open your Bible to Luke chapter 23. Pull your little phone out. 48:46 You got it. And turn to Luke 22, Luke 22. I'm going to read this story, 48:51 and then I'll sit down. Luke 22. It's Thursday night late. 48:57 The upper room is behind. The Last Supper is now finis. And pick it up in verse 39. 49:03 "And Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives." He's going to the Gethsemane, 49:07 his favorite nighttime prayer spot. "He went out, as usual, 49:10 to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. And on reaching the place, 49:13 He said to them, 'Pray.'" By the way, you want revival and reformation and revolution? 49:18 Three Rs? Pray. There's no way around it. Of course it's through Jesus. 49:22 But pray, He's telling his closest companions, "'Pray that you will not 49:26 fall into temptation.'" Keep that bowstring taut. Don't loosen your bowstring. 49:32 The enemy has his sights on you. He'll kill you tonight. 49:40 "'Pray that you will not fall into temptation.' Jesus withdrew about 49:44 a stone's throw beyond them. He knelt down and He prayed." Red letters in my Bible. 49:48 "'Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me, yet not my will, 49:53 but Yours be done.'" And pshoo! Just like that, "an angel from 49:58 Heaven," verse 43, "appeared to Him and strengthened Him." What's going on here? 50:05 I will put the last verse on the screen because I need you to see where the Greek word is. 50:10 Here it is, final verse 44. "And being in anguish" -- here's the Greek word, agonia. 50:17 Agonize the good agony. Jesus does it first himself. You're not treading a pathway 50:24 that Jesus has not already walked ahead of you. "And being in anguish, [agonia], 50:28 He prayed more earnestly" -- intensely -- "and His sweat was like drops of blood 50:34 falling to the ground." There it is. You just read it. The basis, the bedrock 50:40 for revival and reformation around here and on the campus where you live. 50:47 The blood of Jesus and the sacrifice of Jesus. That's what ignites what we're 50:55 desperately praying for. And you're it. Keep that bowstring taut. 51:03 Don't you go home with it all flabby and flaccid. No. 51:10 And the best is yet to come for your campus and for mine, as well. 51:16 There's one prayer to pray. I'll put it on the screen. Just memorize this prayer. 51:21 Memorize this prayer. "Jesus" -- I pray this prayer all the time 51:25 in my dark little prayer room. 51:42 Have mercy on my campus. Have mercy on my teachers. Have mercy on my peers. 51:48 Have mercy on my administrators. "Jesus, Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, 51:53 have mercy on me." You just keep repeating it. You'll get it. 51:58 You just keep repeating it. "Jesus, Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, 52:06 have mercy on us." Let's pray. Oh, God, Lord Jesus... 52:15 we don't want -- we don't want slacked bowstrings. 52:22 No. We want it to be taut. Tense. In your hands, all that you need 52:34 to let your arrow take the enemy out. That's all we ask. 52:41 Jesus, Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, have mercy on us here 52:46 and there and everywhere. Have mercy on us. And we will praise you. 52:53 Yes, we will. As the choir just sang, we will praise you in that place. 53:00 Our enemies are no more. And peace and love in the Lord for ever and ever. 53:09 Amen. They're gonna sing a beautiful song. 53:13 Grab the hymnal in front of you. It's number 336. Just three stanzas. 53:18 One, two, and four. It's a beautiful, beautiful song. 53:21 We're going to stand. In fact, stand right now to get ready to sing it. 53:24 Stand right now. Hymn 336. 53:28 ♪♪ ♪♪ 53:43 ♪♪ 56:48 >> We've been really blessed by the financial support that comes 56:50 from our viewers, and we've made a conscious decision -- and 56:53 you know this is true -- not to continually appeal to you for 56:56 that support. But the fact is, as everyone in 56:59 the industry will tell you, we need to be making constant 57:02 upgrades to our technology. While I'll be leaving Pioneer 57:06 soon, I'm confident that God has a plan to continue growing the 57:09 media ministry here with a new leader. 57:12 The new lead pastor will need your support in prayer 57:15 and financially. If God has blessed you and 57:18 you'd like to further the work of this ministry, we invite you 57:21 to partner with us. Every bit of your gift goes to 57:24 the mission of blessing your community and our world. 57:27 You can donate on our website. Here's the website -- 57:30 pmchurch.org. Then click "giving" 57:33 up at the top. And then select "media 57:35 ministry." 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Revised 2023-03-14