Generation. Youth. Christ.

“Witness”

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

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Series Code: GYC

Program Code: GYC180006A


00:34 I'll be reading from Micah 6:1-8,
00:40 Micah 6:1-8.
00:44 And it reads, "Hear what the Lord says,
00:48 'Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
00:53 and let the hills hear your voice.'
00:56 Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the Lord,
01:00 and you enduring foundations of the earth.
01:03 For the Lord has an indictment against His people,
01:06 and He will contend with Israel.
01:09 'O My people, what have I done to you?
01:13 How have I wearied you?
01:15 Answer me!
01:17 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
01:20 and redeemed you from the house of slavery,
01:24 and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
01:29 O My people, remember what Balak, King of Moab devised,
01:35 and what Balaam the Son of Beor answered him.
01:38 And what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,
01:42 that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.'
01:46 " Verse 6,
01:47 "With what shall I come before the Lord,
01:51 and bow myself before God on high?
01:54 Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
01:57 with calves of a year old?
02:01 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
02:04 with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
02:07 Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
02:11 the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
02:17 He has told you, O man, what is good.
02:21 And what does the Lord require of you
02:25 but to do justice, and to love kindness,
02:30 and to walk humbly with your God?"
02:35 I have the privilege of introducing
02:38 our evening speaker tonight.
02:41 He has a heart for GYC.
02:43 In fact, he was a speaker at the very first GYC.
02:50 His firstborn Israel was six months old.
02:56 Today, he's 16
02:58 and he's attending the 17th GYC.
03:04 He's a thinker, he's a lover of bow ties,
03:07 that's why I'm wearing one tonight.
03:10 He's a relationship and family specialist.
03:14 You kind of earn that
03:15 when you have four very active children.
03:20 Steve Conway is also pastor of the Cherry Hill at Detroit,
03:25 Northwest Churches,
03:27 and married to the beautiful
03:30 and perennial, sanguine Tambi.
03:35 He brings to the table a very unique experience
03:38 that adds weighty depth to his preaching.
03:43 First lasting memory of him was when I heard that
03:49 an African-American brother was going to pastor
03:52 a Korean Church.
03:54 And I remember thinking that's going to be
03:57 very interesting.
03:59 The Lord blessed.
04:00 In fact, he pastored two Korean churches.
04:06 He also served as the chaplain
04:08 on the campus of the University of Michigan with campus,
04:13 the center for Adventist ministry
04:15 to public university students,
04:18 and has also served as boys' dean
04:22 at one of our academies.
04:24 You can expect from Brother Conway,
04:27 the preaching of the word that both activates the mind
04:32 and resonates with your soul.
04:35 Here at GYC, we've all accustomed
04:38 to hearing profound, straightforward
04:41 biblical preaching numerous preachers that torch,
04:46 that baton will be held very high tonight
04:50 and each evening to the end.
04:55 Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer.
05:00 Heavenly Father, we thank You so much
05:02 for the Word of God.
05:05 I pray that You'll be with Pastor Steve Conway,
05:11 that You'll anoint his lips that the words
05:14 that are preached are not his own,
05:17 but from on high.
05:19 In the name of Jesus, amen.
05:41 Wonderful, merciful Savior
05:47 Precious Redeemer and Friend
05:54 Who could have thought that a Lamb
05:58 Could rescue the souls of men
06:04 Oh, You rescue the souls of men
06:15 Counselor, Comforter, Keeper
06:21 Spirit we long to embrace
06:27 You offer hope when our hearts have
06:33 Hopelessly lost the way
06:38 Oh, we've hopelessly lost the way
06:45 You are the One that we praise
06:51 You are the One we adore
06:57 You give the healing and grace
07:02 Our hearts always hunger for Oh,
07:08 our hearts always hunger for
07:49 Almighty, infinite Father
07:55 Faithfully loving Your own
08:01 Here in our weakness You find us
08:07 Falling before Your throne
08:11 Oh, we're bowing before Your throne
08:19 You are the One that we praise
08:25 You are the One we adore
08:31 You give the healing and grace
08:35 Our hearts always hunger for
08:41 Oh, our hearts always hunger for
08:49 You are the One that we praise
08:55 You are the One we adore
09:01 You give the healing and grace
09:05 Our hearts always hunger for
09:11 Oh, our hearts always hunger for
09:47 Let's hear another hearty amen.
09:49 Amen.
09:51 Bow your heads together with me.
09:53 "Father, we are grateful
09:55 for the privilege of Your presence
09:56 and for the power of Your Word.
09:59 Now we ask that You would be with us
10:02 as we spend time together considering eternal things.
10:08 It is our prayer that we would leave different
10:10 than we entered in Jesus' name.
10:12 Amen.
10:16 Bring you greetings from
10:17 the Cherry Hill Seventh-day Adventist Church
10:19 and Garden City, Michigan,
10:21 and the Detroit Northwest
10:23 Seventh-day Adventist Church in Detroit, Michigan.
10:28 I'm grateful that
10:30 our congregations have allowed us to come here
10:32 and to spend time together with you and share.
10:38 In the Book of Acts Chapter 1,
10:43 beginning with verse 6.
10:48 The Bible says, "When they therefore were come together,
10:51 they asked of him, saying, 'Lord,
10:55 wilt thou at this time restore again
10:59 the kingdom to Israel?'
11:05 " Wilt thou at this time restore again
11:09 the kingdom to Israel?
11:11 Verse 7, "And he said unto them,
11:12 'It is not for you to know the times
11:16 or the seasons,
11:17 which the Father hath put in His own power.
11:21 But ye shall receive power,
11:24 after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you,
11:26 and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem,
11:31 and in all Judaea, and in Samaria,
11:34 and unto the uttermost part of the earth'"
11:37 or as the theme is to the ends of the earth.
11:43 The first thing that jumps into my mind is
11:47 found in verse 6.
11:48 The Bible tells us that when they were come together,
11:52 they asked him, and in the original language,
11:55 they did not merely ask one time,
11:58 but they persistently pressed Jesus.
12:02 So they asked over and over and over again.
12:07 It's like one of my children, when I've told them
12:10 that I'm going to do something for them,
12:12 they will never let me forget.
12:15 They press over and over and over again.
12:21 But it is not this pressing
12:23 so much as it is what the disciples ask
12:27 that is at the very least puzzling to me.
12:31 Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again
12:36 the kingdom to Israel?
12:39 If you're familiar with Jesus' teachings on the kingdom,
12:42 which all of us should be to some degree,
12:46 Jesus had much to say about the kingdom,
12:50 but actually He said very little
12:52 about the restoration of the kingdom to Israel.
12:57 In His parables, you will read about the kingdom being removed
13:01 or taken away from Israel and given to another nation
13:04 bringing forth fruits.
13:07 And so my question is,
13:09 where does the disciples question come from?
13:14 Beloved, I believe that it came from
13:18 the theological interpretations of the Pharisees.
13:24 Now the reason why this is troubling to me
13:27 is because the crucified, and resurrected,
13:32 and glorified savior was standing right there
13:35 in front of the disciples.
13:37 They had spent the last 40 days with their master.
13:44 And, beloved, Jesus was not enough.
13:48 What did I say?
13:51 I heard three people here on the front row.
13:55 Jesus was not enough.
13:56 What did I say?
13:58 Jesus was not enough.
14:01 Please imagine with me that
14:03 the man that you have seen raise the dead
14:04 and feed 5,000 on one occasion
14:07 and 4,000 on another occasion,
14:09 and that's not even counting the women and children,
14:13 a man that you have seen calm stormy seas,
14:17 a man that you have seen cast demons
14:20 out of countless individuals,
14:22 and then imagine with me that you see this same man
14:25 hanging on a cross.
14:27 Your hopes in Him as the Messiah are dashed,
14:32 destroyed.
14:36 And then, you see Him after He has risen.
14:41 Imagine that you're inside of a house for fear
14:44 of what the Jews are going to do to you,
14:46 and the same Jesus walks through the wall,
14:50 comes into the midst,
14:52 approaches Thomas,
14:54 and says, "Touch me, touch me."
15:00 And then imagine that you and Jesus
15:02 spent 40 days together.
15:05 And at the end of this, the only thing on your lips
15:09 is a twisted theological interpretation.
15:12 When will you restore the kingdom to Israel?
15:18 Not Jesus.
15:20 How many more people are going to be resurrected?
15:22 Not Jesus.
15:24 What grand things do you have in store for us,
15:27 but when will you restore the kingdom to Israel?
15:30 It makes me wonder tonight
15:32 for how many of us is Jesus not enough?
15:37 How many of us need a new car?
15:39 How many of us need another degree?
15:41 How many of us need a better relationship?
15:44 How many of us need to make more money?
15:46 How many of us need something else
15:50 other than Jesus?
15:53 The disciples asked this ridiculous question,
15:56 but Jesus in His manifold wisdom
15:59 does not directly address the question.
16:04 "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons
16:08 which the Father has put in His own power.
16:11 But ye shall receive power,
16:13 after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.
16:16 And ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem,
16:21 and in all Judaea, and in Samaria,
16:23 and unto the uttermost part of the earth."
16:27 This is a wonderful promise,
16:30 and we've heard a little bit about it today.
16:34 Your theme takes the end of verse 8
16:37 and seeks the focus our minds on that.
16:40 But I want to take your minds away
16:42 from the ends of the earth.
16:44 And I want to take your minds to the beginning.
16:50 Jesus tells them to go to Jerusalem.
16:53 He tells them to go where?
16:55 Jerusalem.
16:56 Now I don't know if you're awake this evening,
17:01 but if you are like me and I'm one of the disciples,
17:03 I'm like, "What, Jesus?
17:07 You want us to go where?"
17:10 After all, it was in Jerusalem that Jesus had been...
17:16 Yeah.
17:17 In the 11th chapter of John's gospel,
17:19 the Bible tells us how Jesus' apostles felt about Jerusalem,
17:24 when Jesus said, "Let us go into Judaea,"
17:28 because He wanted to resurrect Lazarus.
17:30 They say, "Well, yeah.
17:31 Come on, let's go so we can die like Him."
17:36 This was not a place that any one of Jesus' followers
17:40 would covet going,
17:42 and yet it is the very first place
17:44 that Jesus commanded that His disciples must go.
17:51 I would submit to you this evening
17:54 that Jesus was borrowing from a principle
17:57 or an idea that is in scripture.
18:00 Again, if I'm one of the disciples,
18:02 I don't want to go to Jerusalem
18:04 because they've crucified Jesus.
18:06 Not only have they crucified Jesus
18:09 but they've already heard Jesus preaching.
18:13 They've seen Jesus perform miracles.
18:17 Humanly speaking, one would conclude
18:19 it would be a waste of time to go
18:22 and take the gospel message to those
18:24 who have apparently already heard.
18:29 If there were classes of people who were deserving
18:33 to receive the gospel,
18:35 I believe that those in Jerusalem
18:37 would probably be considered amongst the most undeserving.
18:43 And yet, Jesus said,
18:44 before you reach the ends of the earth,
18:49 you must first go to Jerusalem.
18:53 What is this principle that we suggested?
18:57 Turn with me to Micah 6.
19:00 It was our scripture reading this evening.
19:05 Micah 6.
19:09 People have composed beautiful music,
19:11 beautiful songs about these verses.
19:14 But tonight, we will try to extract
19:17 something that helps us understand Jesus' command
19:22 in the first chapter of Acts.
19:26 "Hear you now what the Lord says,
19:29 Arise, contend thou before the mountains,
19:33 and let the hills hear your voice."
19:36 Whenever God has a problem with His people,
19:38 and they're not listening,
19:40 God calls nature to witness against His people.
19:44 Verse 2, "Hear, ye, O mountains,
19:47 the Lord's controversy,
19:49 and ye strong foundations of the earth.
19:52 For the Lord has a controversy with His people
19:55 and He will plead with Israel.
20:00 O My people, what have I done unto you?
20:03 And wherein have I wearied you?
20:05 Testify against me.
20:08 For I brought you up out of the land of Egypt,
20:10 and redeemed you out of the house of servants.
20:13 And I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
20:16 O My people, remember now
20:19 what Balak, King of Moab, consulted,
20:21 and what Balaam, the son of Beor answered him
20:24 from Shittim onto Gilgal,
20:26 that ye may know the righteousness of the Lord."
20:31 Now here's where it gets interesting.
20:35 Verse 6.
20:36 Israel personify is responding to God's accusations.
20:42 And I want you to notice the tinner of their response.
20:47 "Wherewith shall I come before the Lord,
20:50 and bow myself before the high God?
20:53 Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,
20:57 with calves of a year old?
20:59 Will the Lord be pleased with ten thousands of rams
21:02 or with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
21:05 Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
21:09 the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?"
21:13 So God says,
21:15 "I've got a controversy with My people."
21:19 And Israel's response is,
21:21 "Well, what do you want from us?
21:24 What do you want?
21:28 Do you want thousands of burnt offerings?
21:31 Do you want thousands of rams,
21:33 ten thousands of rivers of oil?"
21:36 Those things are all in reference
21:38 to the sacrificial
21:40 or the ceremonial services.
21:43 "Do you want us to just keep going
21:44 through a round of religious practices?
21:48 Is that what you want, God?
21:50 More churches,
21:52 more grand events like this one,
21:55 more seminars,
21:57 more explanations on how we are to do this,
21:59 and how we are to do that.
22:01 Is that what you desire?"
22:04 And then, Israel goes a step further
22:06 and suggests that God is unfair in what He desires
22:12 beyond the religious rituals.
22:16 "Do you want Me to give the fruit of My body
22:21 for the sin of My soul?
22:24 Are You asking me for that
22:26 which it is uncharacteristic of You to request,
22:31 illogical of You to request.
22:34 God, what is it that You want from me?"
22:38 I imagined that there are some of you
22:40 who are listening to this right now,
22:43 who have asked yourself the very same question.
22:47 God, I go to church every week.
22:49 God, I try to study my Bible.
22:51 I try to spend time with You,
22:53 but it seems like things are just not clicking.
22:56 "What else do You want from me?
22:59 I've sacrificed, and I've given up music,
23:01 and I've given up the partying scene,
23:03 and I've tried to get away from the old life,
23:06 but what else is it that You desire?"
23:11 Listen to God's response.
23:16 Verse 8.
23:19 What does it say? You probably can quote it.
23:22 "He hath shewed thee,
23:26 O man, what is..."
23:28 "Good."
23:29 "And what doth the..."
23:30 "Lord."
23:33 Now the interesting thing is, if you're like me,
23:36 I'm looking at that and I'm saying to myself,
23:38 "Okay, God has shown them what it is that is good,
23:42 and what He requires of them,
23:44 so they already know."
23:45 They already what?
23:48 They already know.
23:50 But if you're like me, I didn't know.
23:54 Here's the punch-line if you will.
23:59 Israel had been shown what God required of them
24:05 based on his treatment of Israel.
24:09 Let me say that again.
24:11 Israel had been showed
24:14 or shown what God required of them
24:17 based on his treatment of Israel.
24:21 Listen to this.
24:23 Verse 4,
24:26 "For I brought you up out of the land of Egypt,
24:29 and I redeemed you out of the house of slavery.
24:33 And I send before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam."
24:37 God is saying, "I have liberated you."
24:40 I have what? Liberated.
24:42 "I have liberated you.
24:45 And I also gave you guidance and leadership."
24:48 I gave you what?
24:49 Guidance and leadership.
24:51 "I liberated you,
24:52 I provided guidance and leadership for you."
24:56 Verse 5, "Remember now
24:59 what Balak king of Moab consulted,
25:01 and what Balaam the son of Boer answered him..."
25:05 Now listen, you guys remember this.
25:06 This is from the Book of Numbers, right?
25:09 Did Israel know
25:11 what Balaam and Balak were doing
25:13 on the mountain?
25:15 Did Israel know
25:17 that an attempt was being made to curse the entire nation?
25:22 Come on, yes or no?
25:25 Listen to me, friends,
25:27 God was saying, "I protected you from dangers
25:32 that you did not even know existed.
25:37 I protected, and I preserved you."
25:40 Amen.
25:43 "I caused blessings to come from your enemies
25:46 and you didn't even know it."
25:51 And so this, beloved,
25:52 is the foundation for what God says,
25:56 "I have shown you what is good,
26:00 and I have shown you what I require of you."
26:06 Listen to what He says
26:09 in the end portion of verse 8,
26:12 "To do justly,
26:14 to love mercy,
26:16 and to walk humbly with thy God?"
26:20 To do justly.
26:21 That is to do what is right,
26:25 to do what is right.
26:28 And to love mercy,
26:31 and then to walk in humility.
26:35 We should love mercy.
26:37 Israel was being encouraged to love mercy
26:42 because God had been merciful to them.
26:46 Israel was being encouraged to do what was right
26:49 because God had done right by Israel.
26:54 Israel was being encouraged to walk in humility
26:58 because the blessings that they enjoy were not
27:00 because they had been faithful to God
27:02 but because God had been faithful to them.
27:07 And so God says this, beloved,
27:11 "I want you to treat others
27:14 the way that I have treated you."
27:17 Did you get that or did you miss it?
27:21 "I want you to treat others
27:23 the way I have treated you."
27:29 But what if they're undeserving?
27:33 Well, guess what?
27:35 You're undeserving too.
27:38 This principal difference
27:40 I believe is what Jesus...
27:45 What Jesus concentrates in the Acts 1.
27:50 It's the reason why Jesus told
27:52 the disciples that they must first go to Jerusalem.
27:57 It was the most hazardous mission
27:59 that they could undertake
28:01 to the most undeserving of people
28:03 on the face of planet earth,
28:05 and yet Jesus says, "You must start there."
28:11 Now let me ask you.
28:14 Did the disciples stick close to Jesus' side
28:21 when He was going through His passion?
28:26 You know, I had a friend
28:28 when I was young about 15 or 16,
28:32 and I remember my brother and I,
28:33 we got into a fight, we got junked.
28:36 And it was three of us walking down the street.
28:42 And this brother was ruptured away instantly
28:46 when the fight broke out.
28:51 And two hours later, he reappeared.
28:57 I'm like, "Man, what happened?"
28:58 "Oh, man, I ran, I thought Saul was running too."
29:04 Bible says that one of Jesus' followers ran so fast
29:08 that the brother ran up out of his clothes.
29:11 Now I know some of you are fast in here tonight,
29:13 but you ain't that fast.
29:15 His brother ran up out of his clothes.
29:18 The disciples... My point is this,
29:20 the disciples were undeserving of the mercies of God
29:24 because they had forsaken Jesus
29:27 at the time when He needed them most,
29:29 and yet, He had extended mercy to them.
29:35 And now Jesus says, "I want you to go
29:38 and extend mercy to the undeserving
29:43 just as I've extended mercy to you."
29:48 Let me ask you a question tonight.
29:51 Who do you think is undeserving of the gospel?
29:55 Let me ask it another way.
29:59 Who are you least inclined to share the gospel with?
30:05 I want you to think about that.
30:07 Somebody alluded to it earlier today
30:10 in one of the presentations,
30:11 I like the fact that Jerusalem was a city.
30:13 Jerusalem was a what?
30:15 City.
30:16 Now I know as all good Seventh-day Adventists,
30:18 we're trying to make our way to the hills
30:20 and get away from the cities.
30:22 So we can prepare
30:25 to be translated to heaven without seeing death.
30:31 But I just want to put this in your ear tonight.
30:34 There was work to be done in the cities.
30:38 And I know some of us
30:40 talk about being afraid of going to the cities.
30:44 I hear no amens on that.
30:47 I know some of us talk about being afraid of going
30:50 into the cities because,
30:51 "Oh, all the crime and all the violence,
30:54 I heard that about Detroit,
30:56 but they pack out for field
30:58 with 80,000 people all the time.
31:01 They pack out tigers, not Tiger Stadium,
31:03 but Comerica Park.
31:05 All the folks going down to see the baseball game,
31:09 and they pack out the hockey arenas.
31:12 And people tend to go to the cities
31:15 for what they want to go to the cities for.
31:19 And I'm not just talking about worldly folks,
31:22 I'm talking about us too.
31:25 Welcome to the city for GYC.
31:29 But we won't go to labor amongst those
31:32 who are needy in the cities.
31:35 And yet, what we're reading tonight from God's Word is,
31:38 God says, "Have I extended mercy to you?"
31:43 "Yes."
31:44 "Then I expect you to extend mercy
31:47 even to those that you may deem to be undeserving."
31:53 "Well, Lord, I'm afraid of what's going to happen
31:55 if I go into the cities."
31:57 Let me tell you. I used to...
32:01 For many years, like many of you
32:04 or some of you, anyway,
32:06 go door to door, canvassing,
32:08 and I lay up programs, big booked,
32:10 and all of that stuff.
32:11 And you know what they would tell us
32:13 when we would go door to door, and, you know,
32:15 you don't know the people that were telling me this,
32:17 so don't think anything.
32:20 They would tell us there are certain communities
32:22 that you want to look for.
32:25 Don't say amen too loud.
32:28 Young families with...
32:33 Young families with kids.
32:36 These are the communities that we want to target.
32:42 And when we conduct our evangelistic crusades,
32:45 listen to me beloved,
32:47 who are we expecting to get?
32:52 If you're honest with yourselves,
32:54 you want nicely-dressed professionals
33:00 who have well-mannered families,
33:04 who have good jobs to join your church.
33:10 I heard one amen.
33:15 We want people who are as close to us
33:18 as they possibly can be to come and join our churches,
33:23 and we are uncomfortable when people don't look like us.
33:28 We're uncomfortable when we smell them.
33:33 We're uncomfortable when their coming means
33:36 that our church is going to have to expend
33:39 more of its budget in order to bless
33:41 and care for them.
33:44 You mean we spent all this money on evangelism
33:47 and now we're going to have to keep spending?
33:50 I thought we were trying to get good.
33:58 And yet Jesus says,
34:01 "You didn't deserve my mercy or my grace."
34:05 And so I'm imploring you to extend
34:09 My mercy and My grace to others
34:12 just as I've extended it to you."
34:13 In fact, beloved, let me say this.
34:17 The love and mercy of God ought to change us.
34:21 Amen.
34:23 It ought to change us at our very core
34:26 so that we are willing to go first to the people
34:29 and the places that are most undeserving
34:33 or that redeem as most undeserving,
34:35 the people and places that we are most uncomfortable
34:38 going to.
34:42 If you only want people who look like you
34:46 and who are in the same social, economic bracket as you are,
34:50 what gospel are you talking about?
34:53 Mercy.
34:55 What message are you taking?
34:59 If I read my Bible correctly,
35:01 Jesus went to the sick, diseased,
35:04 and the outcast of society, first,
35:09 the most undeserving.
35:10 Why?
35:12 Because they were the most likely to accept His message
35:16 and be transformed by it.
35:20 But you and I want folks who are readymade Christians.
35:26 Let me tell you, we had a precious sister.
35:29 We had outside service at the Cherry Hill Church.
35:33 Precious sister,
35:34 she would drove up and down the street five times.
35:37 She ended up coming in,
35:40 and she says she wanted to bring her whole family.
35:42 We say, "Sure, come on in."
35:44 And so she came with her family,
35:47 precious family, beautiful family.
35:50 Five children,
35:52 two of her children were autistic.
35:56 And this made our church uncomfortable.
36:01 Now here we're praying that the Lord brings souls,
36:04 then He brings some, and we're like, "Oh!"
36:11 But here's what He forced us to do.
36:12 And I praise God for my saints at Cherry Hill.
36:16 We decided to get together and pray,
36:18 and say God has sent us these precious souls,
36:21 and we need to be equipped,
36:23 so that we can minister to them.
36:25 Amen.
36:27 And so we had a whole big thing and had folks
36:31 from the Autism Alliance come in and tell us
36:33 how we could better equip our church.
36:36 Here is the thing we learned.
36:37 Our Sabbath School was set up for our children
36:40 and our grandchildren,
36:42 but it wasn't set up for autistic children.
36:46 Now as I'm listening to this presentation
36:48 that these folks from Autism Alliance are sharing,
36:51 it begins to settle in on my mind,
36:54 "Hey, it's not just our Sabbath School Program,
36:57 our entire church service is set up for our own comfort."
37:06 And just like an autistic child could come
37:09 into a Sabbath School room
37:10 and be completely out of place,
37:12 and we don't even understand why,
37:15 and it means that we must invest
37:17 and take the time to get to know that child
37:19 so that we can minister to them in a relevant way.
37:22 Likewise, it's not just with autistic children,
37:25 but it's with everybody, beloved.
37:34 Before you go to the ends of the earth,
37:39 first, start in the most undesirable place.
37:42 1997, I was supposed to go to Korea to teach English.
37:46 The plans fell through.
37:48 I was reading somewhere in the Spirit of Prophecy,
37:50 and this powerful quotation came,
37:53 and it said,
37:55 it said that,
37:56 "Those who seek to be missionaries in a foreign land
37:59 must first learn to become missionaries
38:01 in their own homes."
38:03 Amen.
38:04 In their own homes.
38:07 Lord, have mercy.
38:10 It ain't easy at home, is it?
38:13 'Cause folks know you.
38:20 No matter how high you were walking at GYC,
38:23 they're like, "I'm going to give it a week."
38:26 See if you aim back to doing the same old foolishness
38:29 you were doing before you went.
38:32 And it's uncomfortable when people want to test
38:34 the validity of our experience, isn't it?
38:37 No, we just want people to accept
38:39 that we've changed and we're new.
38:41 But the people in our homes are like,
38:43 "Let's see how long this is going to last this time."
38:48 'Cause they've been on that rodeo before.
38:52 Oh, my heart was touched.
38:54 Let's see if you're going to continue to be patient.
38:57 Let's see if you're going to continue to walk with humility.
39:00 And beloved, here it is, Jesus wants us to begin.
39:04 He wants us to what?
39:05 He wants us to begin in the most difficult places.
39:13 I was in Tennessee
39:15 and...
39:19 pastor by the name of George Shaw
39:20 came and visited me.
39:23 I was a boys' dean at Lowbrook Academy, and...
39:27 he came and sat me down, he says, "Steve, listen,
39:29 I think that God has placed His hand on you
39:31 for pastoral ministry.
39:33 Have you ever considered that?"
39:34 I'm like, "No, not really."
39:37 And this silver haired wise man laid the burden on me
39:41 for over an hour.
39:46 And, beloved, I came face to face with this reality
39:50 that I had surrendered to the Lord Jesus,
39:52 but I had told them two things.
39:57 I said, "Lord, I don't want to be a pastor.
39:59 I'll do anything,
40:02 but I'm about to be no pastor.
40:05 Lord, I'll go anywhere, jungles,
40:10 desert,
40:13 but don't send me back to Cleveland.
40:17 That's where I was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio.
40:20 And I'm like, "No, no, no, no, no, Lord.
40:21 Literally, Lord, you can send me anywhere
40:25 except for home.
40:28 And, Lord, I'll do anything
40:30 except for pastor."
40:33 And at the end of that conversation,
40:34 and I've been walking with the Lord
40:36 for about five or six years at this point.
40:38 At the end of that conversation,
40:40 I realized that I had never truly surrendered to God.
40:47 Now let me rephrase that.
40:50 I realized that my surrender was not thorough.
40:55 I had indeed surrendered,
40:57 but it was not thorough
40:59 because I was with holding things.
41:03 There were places I did not or a place,
41:06 excuse me, singular, a place I did not want to go.
41:09 And there was a task
41:11 that I had no interest in fulfilling.
41:16 Beloved, we read Acts 1:8 and we think,
41:20 "Ye shall receive power," and that's where we focus.
41:23 But you got to understand, folks.
41:25 The disciples were not thinking about the power,
41:28 they were thinking about where Jesus was telling them to go.
41:33 Jerusalem.
41:36 They would have preferred to go to the ends of the earth
41:41 but not Jerusalem.
41:46 But that's precisely where Jesus sent them.
41:51 Why?
41:53 Because there would be no greater evidence
41:55 that their hearts had been transformed
41:57 by the love of God.
41:59 Then for those men to go to Jerusalem,
42:03 and labor intensely
42:05 and passionately for the same people,
42:08 who had not only crucified Jesus,
42:11 listen to me, beloved,
42:14 but who had seen their cowardice.
42:18 The same people who had witnessed
42:20 as they abandoned their master.
42:25 Jesus said, "I want you to start right there."
42:32 I want to ask you something this evening.
42:36 Have you been changed by the mercy
42:41 and grace that God has extended to you?
42:46 Have you truly been transformed?
42:51 I'm going to suggest tonight that perhaps,
42:53 you have been,
42:54 but like me, in Tennessee,
42:57 you need a more thorough transformation.
43:00 Last year, I was reading a book
43:02 'cause I wanted to become a better father,
43:05 specifically for my daughters.
43:07 Wonderful book called
43:08 "Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters."
43:10 And as I was reading this book,
43:11 I came across a story
43:14 about a father and his daughter.
43:19 Christian family raising their children
43:24 all to love and serve God.
43:28 And then,
43:31 their oldest daughter
43:33 decides to go into the parents room
43:35 and steal some precious things
43:38 and money from the parents and takes off.
43:44 Not a word to the parents about where she's going,
43:46 why she's taken off.
43:48 In fact, the mother and father hired a private investigator
43:53 to find out where their daughter was.
43:56 They lived in Michigan,
43:57 and their daughter was tracked down
44:00 all the way out in California.
44:04 The father jumped on an airplane,
44:06 and he caught a flight out to California.
44:10 His daughter was working in a convenient store.
44:14 And so for about an hour and a half,
44:16 the father comes and he just looks
44:19 at his daughter.
44:22 Doesn't say anything, just looks at her.
44:24 He hasn't seen her in months.
44:27 The daughter turns around.
44:30 You know how you can tell
44:31 when somebody's been staring at you for a long time.
44:33 She turns around and sees her father,
44:35 and when her break comes,
44:38 she comes out to speak with her dad.
44:41 Instead of receiving a warm embrace,
44:45 she curses her father out.
44:50 Tells him that it's your fault that I'm here,
44:55 it's your fault that I left home.
44:59 "Now I don't know what home you grew up in,
45:01 but the home I grew up in, you don't do that."
45:05 You might lose some teeth
45:07 or need some dental work or something like that.
45:13 Lambasted him,
45:16 refused to talk to him anymore.
45:18 The father cocked on a plane and went back home by himself
45:23 heartbroken.
45:27 Six months later, the father comes back.
45:32 Maybe she's had a change of heart.
45:34 He goes to the convenient store,
45:35 he doesn't see his daughter, he asks around.
45:38 She doesn't work here anymore.
45:40 The father begins to search
45:42 around the homeless shelters of the city
45:44 seeking to find his girl.
45:49 He finds her up under a bridge.
45:54 Her clothes are dirty, she is emaciated.
46:01 He suspects that she's on drugs,
46:03 maybe even prostituting herself to get the drugs.
46:09 He burst into tears, and he runs to his girl,
46:12 but there's still this coldness.
46:14 He takes her to a store, buys her some clothes,
46:16 ask her what's going on.
46:18 She refuses to share anything.
46:22 He discovers that she has being staying
46:24 with a man who is twice her age.
46:28 He pleads with his daughter, "Please, come home."
46:32 "No."
46:35 The father returns, goes home.
46:41 All this time, the father has a ritual.
46:45 He is writing letters to his daughter
46:48 on a weekly basis.
46:51 And he's putting the letters away.
46:53 Listen to me, beloved, he's putting the letters away
46:57 hoping that when she comes home,
47:00 if she comes home, he'll give the letters to her.
47:05 Not only is he writing letters,
47:07 but unbeknownst even to his wife,
47:09 he's taking a small sum of money
47:12 and setting it aside in a special account
47:15 for his daughter.
47:18 One day, the father is at work
47:22 and his phone is just ringing, and ringing, and ringing.
47:24 He's in a meeting and he steps out and, "Hello."
47:29 There was no sound on the other end of the line.
47:33 "Hello, sweetheart, is that you?
47:37 Is that you?"
47:39 He hears his daughter sobs on the other end of the line.
47:43 "Where are you?
47:44 Tell me where you are,
47:45 and I will come and get you right now."
47:47 She said, "I'm in a bus station in Grand Rapids."
47:50 The father hung up the phone, he jumped in his vehicle,
47:53 told everybody he will be back tomorrow.
47:56 He drove to that bus station,
47:58 picked up his little girl and brought her home.
48:02 I've got to confess to you tonight.
48:05 When I read that story,
48:08 I put myself in that father's place.
48:13 And I said, "I don't know
48:14 if I could love my daughter like that
48:18 after she has treated me like that."
48:23 One reality settled in on my mind,
48:26 actually two.
48:27 The first reality was this.
48:30 Steven, you don't really know
48:32 what love is yet
48:35 because your love even for your precious children
48:38 has not been tested like that yet.
48:42 The second reality that settled in on my mind is this.
48:46 Steven, why would you be unwilling
48:48 to love your own children that way,
48:52 when at all time I've loved you?
48:56 That's how I've loved you.
48:59 That's what you've done to me.
49:02 That's how you've exasperated my love.
49:04 That's how you resisted and refused my love.
49:08 But, Steven, I've been writing love letters to you.
49:14 I've been storing away the blessings for you
49:17 when you come back.
49:22 And, Steven, I don't just want you to come back,
49:26 but I want you to go and get others too.
49:30 Go get someone else
49:32 who is exasperated your patience and your love
49:35 like you've exasperated mine.
49:39 Go, get them.
49:42 As this special music is shared with you,
49:47 I want you to think about the love of God,
49:52 and whether you need a more thorough experience
49:55 with that love.
49:57 I'm going to ask you to do something
50:00 after this special music is shared.
50:08 Life was formed in Your hands
50:12 You alone tell my story
50:16 All my hours like sand
50:20 I surrender all
50:24 Through the battle I'll sing
50:28 Lord, I know You are for me
50:32 My whole heart I will bring
50:36 I surrender all
50:39 In You I find rest
50:44 I find rest
50:48 In You I find rest
50:55 In You I find rest
50:59 I find rest
51:03 In You I find rest
51:10 In my deepest of fears
51:14 In my hours of weakness
51:18 From an ocean of tears
51:22 I surrender all
51:25 For Your word is my sword
51:29 And Your arms are my fortress
51:33 I know victory is Yours
51:37 I surrender all
51:40 In You I find rest
51:45 I find rest
51:49 In You I find rest
51:55 In You I find rest
51:59 I find rest
52:03 In You I find rest
52:11 Here's what I want to ask you.
52:15 I want to ask you to do these two things.
52:19 First thing I want to ask you is this,
52:23 if you like me can acknowledge
52:25 that you need a deeper revelation
52:28 of God's love
52:29 because there are places
52:31 that you don't want to go
52:33 and people that you are uncomfortable
52:36 ministering to,
52:38 but you understand that if God has loved me,
52:41 then it means that I've got to love others,
52:43 and I've got to extend
52:44 the same mercy and grace
52:46 that's been extended to me.
52:47 That's appeal number one.
52:49 If you feel that you need
52:50 a deeper revelation of God's love.
52:54 My second appeal is this.
52:59 If there are people in your life
53:03 that you have not found the grace
53:07 to be able to forgive,
53:11 and it is stunting your spiritual growth,
53:15 it is keeping you from experiencing
53:18 fullness of joy.
53:21 It's keeping you from experiencing
53:23 rest and peace.
53:27 And you want to say, "Lord,
53:29 transform me by Your grace and Your love
53:33 so that I'm able to extend that grace and love
53:37 to these particular people in my life."
53:40 Two simple things,
53:42 bow your heads with me and close your eyes.
53:44 I'm not going to ask you to come forward tonight.
53:47 I want you to simply talk with God.
53:52 "Lord, help me, help me.
53:58 There are people I don't love like you do.
54:02 There are places that I'm unwilling to go,
54:05 the ends of the earth sounds better to me
54:08 than going to these places.
54:11 And yet, just like Jesus has commanded the disciples
54:15 before I can reach the end of the earth,
54:18 I must first reach the end of myself.
54:20 So, Lord, help me.
54:23 Lord, help me."
54:25 I'll give you a minute. Just talk to the Lord.
54:46 Loving Father, tonight,
54:47 we just want to say thank You.
54:49 Thank You for liberating us,
54:52 thank You for giving us guidance,
54:56 thank You for protecting us
54:57 when we didn't know we needed to be protected.
55:02 Just like You said to ancient Israel,
55:05 tonight, You have also shown us
55:08 already what is good and what You require of us.
55:14 It is the righteousness
55:15 that reflects Your righteousness,
55:18 a righteousness that extends love and grace and mercy
55:22 even to the undeserving.
55:27 Father, if we don't have this resonating in our hearts,
55:30 what we say with our lips does not matter.
55:36 The soundness of our message is compromised
55:40 if this is not residing in our hearts.
55:45 Lord, tonight, we want to be transformed by You.
55:51 I know what You have done and are doing for us.
55:56 Grab Your loving arms around each and every one
55:58 of Your precious children tonight.
56:01 May Your grace richly and freely bestowed upon us,
56:05 the uppermost in our thoughts
56:07 on this night we pray
56:10 in Jesus name.
56:11 Amen.


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Revised 2019-05-30