Participants:
Series Code: GYC
Program Code: GYC190006S
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00:32 Please stand and join us as we sing our GYC theme song,
00:36 "Our Princess Call." 00:48 There's a lost, lonely soul 00:51 Waiting silent at war 00:53 For a rescue To come to the door 00:59 Many could go but I only know 01:04 The name of that One lonely soul 01:08 Oh can you hear 01:10 Our Prince calling on before 01:14 "Let us go and restore 01:18 The broken hearted 01:20 The wounded The captives of war 01:25 Will you bear 01:27 My shield of faith once more?" 01:31 Many more are the souls 01:33 Who are bound up in fear 01:36 As they run through 01:37 The dark far and near 01:41 Though I will fight 01:43 Just one ends the night 01:46 Our Prince Who carries the light 01:51 Oh can you hear 01:53 Our Prince calling on before 01:56 "Let us go and restore 02:01 The broken hearted 02:03 The wounded The captives of war 02:08 Will you bear 02:09 My shield of faith once more?" 02:13 To that lost lonely soul 02:16 I will go and will share 02:18 All their cries, All their fears 02:21 All their prayers 02:24 For it's been told 02:26 My Prince he does hold 02:29 The tears of that One lonely soul 02:33 Oh can you hear 02:35 Our Prince calling on before 02:39 "Let us go and restore 02:44 The broken hearted 02:46 The wounded The captives of war 02:50 Will you bear 02:52 My shield of faith once more?" 02:55 Oh can you hear 02:57 Our Prince calling on before 03:01 "Let us go and restore 03:05 The broken hearted 03:07 The wounded The captives of war 03:12 Will you bear 03:14 My shield of faith once more?" 03:18 Amen. 04:29 Lord, give me Iceland. 04:59 Prayer and faith will do 05:02 what no power on earth can accomplish. 05:06 This is the inspired council that we've been given. 05:09 And as GYC we have made a decision 05:12 to follow that council this last year. 05:14 In August 2019, 05:17 almost 50 young and old missionaries 05:19 from around the world, from every continent 05:22 came together in Iceland for a prayer mission. 05:26 The goal was to reach the country of Iceland 05:29 within 10 days, 05:30 just through the power of prayer. 05:33 No public evangelistic meetings, 05:35 no health seminars, no programs, just prayer. 05:41 A prayer that echoed the prayer of John Knox, 05:44 "Give me Iceland's or I die." 05:49 The video you just saw was the introduction 05:51 of a documentary that we'll be releasing soon. 05:54 And I want to encourage you to make sure that 05:56 you get a glimpse of what happened there. 05:58 But this morning, we want to share with you 06:00 about this mission 06:02 and what made this mission special 06:03 and what the power of prayer 06:05 can do for you in your sphere of influence. 06:08 When we were in Iceland, 06:10 we chose to prayer walk the country. 06:13 Most of the population of Iceland lives 06:15 in the capital region of Reykjavik, 06:17 where 75% of the people live. 06:20 And we focused our attention on that region 06:22 where we would prayer walk around the city, 06:25 prayer walk the streets, pray for every home, 06:28 and every person that we see, 06:30 knock on doors, and pray with people. 06:33 You're going to be hearing testimonies this morning 06:35 about what prayer can do when we let God take control. 06:40 When we pray, we would collect prayer requests of people. 06:43 We would share them live with all the missionaries 06:45 and with thousands around the world 06:46 who were interceding at the same time. 06:48 This was truly a collective effort of prayer. 06:52 This and more we want to share with you this morning 06:54 and I have my three friends here, 06:56 Eric, Alex, and Gem 06:58 who are part of the GYC missions team 07:01 and who were with us in Iceland. 07:03 So, Eric, why can't you share with us a little bit about 07:06 how this mission came about, and what were 07:09 some of the challenges that we faced? 07:11 Yes. 07:12 You know, as we came to this mission trip, 07:14 we asked ourselves the question, 07:17 what could we do that would be bigger than 07:20 we thought we could accomplish? 07:22 Because as we all know, 07:23 you know, Jesus told the disciples, 07:25 He said, "If you have faith the size of a," what? 07:29 "A mustard seed, you could move mountains." 07:31 And so we said, "God, if we wanted to do 07:34 something bigger than we could ever imagine, 07:36 what would that look like?" 07:38 And so, in our discussion today, 07:40 the theme of last year was to the end. 07:42 And so we said, "Well, 07:43 what if we went to the end of the world 07:45 and we decided to reach not a town, not a city, 07:48 but an entire country for God, 07:50 to reach the majority of all of the population 07:52 of an entire country, 07:54 to go beyond where we have ever gone before, 07:57 to take the sacrificial initiative 08:00 that we were inspired 08:01 to take care at GYC and to be propelled 08:04 into Iceland to make a difference?" 08:06 And so that's what we set out to do. 08:07 We set out to go, 08:08 not to run evangelistic campaigns, 08:10 not to go witnessing in traditional ways, 08:13 but to just go and pray, 08:15 to have that faith and to see what God would do, 08:18 to see Him move the mountains 08:19 that we couldn't even begin to shift. 08:22 And indeed He did. We got there. 08:24 Yes, there were challenges throughout. 08:25 One of the challenges, we arrived the first day 08:28 and we realized that the campus that 08:31 we were staying on did not have enough housing. 08:33 There were not enough rooms 08:34 for everyone that had signed up. 08:36 Somehow, there's been 08:37 a miscommunication of some kind. 08:38 And so here we are and we're short on rooms. 08:41 What are we going to do, right? 08:43 And so we're there and we ended up chatting 08:45 with some of the people there. 08:47 And as it turned out, two, three days before 08:50 there was supposed to be a men's group 08:52 that was staying there in the second dormitory. 08:54 And for some reason or another, 08:56 they had just neglected to show up. 08:58 They hadn't communicated why. It's just a total mystery. 09:01 And so they opened up the second dorm for us 09:03 to be able to stay in. 09:05 And as far as we're concerned, 09:06 like God caused another group to vanish 09:08 just so that He could open, 09:10 kind of, this ocean for us to be able to walk through 09:12 and do what He had called us to do in Iceland. 09:16 So, Eric, tell me a little bit about... 09:17 You remember, we had phone calls 09:19 and discussions about this mission? 09:21 We weren't sure how would we do this, 09:22 what would be we doing with the challenges 09:25 we went through in the preparation time. 09:27 Tell me about that? Yeah. 09:28 So I mean, honestly, 09:30 to pull off reaching an entire country is no joke. 09:32 I mean, it takes a lot of logistics. 09:34 It takes just an incredible amount of planning 09:37 to be able to map out 09:38 every streets in the entire city. 09:40 Some of these things don't get done ahead of time. 09:42 And so we found ourselves falling to our knees 09:44 when we were there, saying, "God, help us," 09:46 because we don't have everything together 09:48 that we had hoped we'd have together. 09:50 And praise the Lord, He provided the help we needed 09:53 with the participants that came, 09:54 He provided the help that we needed, 09:57 our hosts that were there 09:58 working with the Icelandic Conference. 10:00 And things worked out, so one way or another. 10:03 I mean, we had vehicles breaking down, 10:06 and even when that happened, 10:07 another vehicle would be found that we could use. 10:09 And so whatever came up, God works things out. 10:12 There was definitely a struggle between the tangible 10:15 and the intangible. 10:16 We wanted to do something for God 10:18 and usually we have the different ways that we do, 10:20 the sharing literature and so on. 10:22 But we decided we wanted to focus on prayer. 10:25 And that can put a lot of stress on you 10:26 when you're saying, 10:28 "Okay, we're just going to show up and pray 10:30 and we're going to leave the results with God." 10:32 You know, there are things 10:34 you can do in evangelistic efforts 10:35 where there will be results. 10:38 You have the results guaranteed. 10:39 But we decided, 10:41 let's just make a step of faith here 10:42 and see what God will do. 10:44 So why did we choose prayer? 10:45 Gem, share with us what prayer can do 10:47 and why prayer was so important on this mission? 10:50 Zechariah 4:6, says, "Not by might nor by power, 10:53 but only by His Spirit." 10:55 And why prayer? 10:56 Because we have seen that prayer works for the past GYCs, 11:00 we have seen that 11:01 it's only when we plead before God, 11:03 that He could do great and mighty things. 11:05 So evidences after evidences of the Lord's faithfulness, 11:08 of the Lord's power, 11:10 the question is, why not prayer? 11:12 And that was the question, 11:13 why have we not tapped into prayer 11:15 from the very beginning? 11:16 And you see from the very start, 11:18 God was faithful. 11:19 And this might sound funny, 11:21 but I've seen the Lord's faithfulness in this 11:23 while we were shopping. 11:25 And you were making fun, 11:26 "Oh, Gem, there will be no rice here in Iceland." 11:29 And there Brother Alex picked up a bag of rice, 11:32 and then he said, "Yes, the Lord answers prayer." 11:35 And then that is an indication alone that 11:37 the Lord sees the little things that we desire. 11:40 And I'm thinking, Lord, 11:41 even if He provided with this rice, 11:43 how much more are the things 11:44 that we asked for greater things in Iceland. 11:47 So when it comes to prayer, 11:49 in the context of secular Europe, 11:51 it is quiet something. 11:53 We have two Europeans here on stage, Alex and myself. 11:56 And for those of you 11:57 who are based here in North America, 11:59 you have to understand, in Europe, 12:00 you cannot just come up to people and say, 12:02 "You know, believe in God," or "God exists." 12:05 In Europe, secularism is very, very strong. 12:08 Science is the God of Europe. 12:10 Facts and things that you can see 12:12 and touch and measure, that's what people look at. 12:15 And if you are religious beyond tradition, 12:18 if you believe in the Bible, 12:20 you are an absolutely crazy person. 12:22 But this is exactly what people in Iceland need. 12:24 They need God. 12:26 People in Europe need to know that there is a God. 12:29 We cannot come and present them 12:31 just with the logic of our beliefs. 12:33 While those are wonderful, 12:34 and we need to present them, the first thing that people 12:36 there need to know is that there is a God. 12:39 So how can people know that 12:40 there's a God through prayer, Gem? 12:44 Only the Holy Spirit could move hearts. 12:46 And this is one thing most of the time 12:47 we bring God in our own way, in our own manner, 12:53 and we forget that the only one that 12:55 could move hearts is the Holy Spirit. 12:58 So I believe that 13:00 when we bend our knees, God works. 13:03 And as the saying goes, when we work, 13:05 we work, but when we pray, God works. 13:07 Amen. 13:08 You know, when you are praying with people, 13:10 we would go to the doors, knock on the door and say, 13:13 "Hello, I'm from GLOW Iceland." 13:15 And there was the name of the mission trip. 13:17 "And we are here to pray with people, 13:19 is there something we can pray for? 13:21 We believe that God does hear our prayers." 13:23 And it was amazing to see the reaction of people. 13:26 You have to understand, 13:28 we are now dealing with generations 13:29 who have never heard the gospel, 13:30 who have never been to a church. 13:32 In fact, there was one young man, 13:34 a teenager I met on the streets. 13:36 And I asked him, you know, 13:38 "Is there something I can pray for?" 13:39 And he asked me, "What is prayer?" 13:42 He had never heard of the thing. 13:44 And so I shared with him and he said, "Yes, 13:46 I'm a very depressed person. 13:47 I am depressed and I struggle. 13:49 And, you know, you can pray for that, 13:51 whatever that means." 13:52 And so we pray together. 13:53 And another time I was knocking at a door 13:55 and a 20-year-old young man opened and I thought, 13:58 "Oh, no, he's gonna just throw the door in my face." 14:00 And I shared with him and he said, 14:02 "Well, you know, I guess my teeth are hurting 14:04 'cause I had my wisdom teeth removed." 14:07 And I said, "Well, let's pray about it." 14:09 You know, the point was not 14:11 so much to just pray for these prayer requests. 14:13 Definitely, that was important. 14:15 But we have to understand that when we pray, 14:16 there is a spiritual warfare going on, 14:19 and when we pray, God has the opportunity, 14:21 when these people agreed to pray, 14:23 to speak to their hearts in that very moment, 14:26 maybe for the very first time. 14:28 I prayed with this young man for his wisdom teeth. 14:30 When we were done, I opened my eyes, 14:32 and he looked at me, he was so moved, 14:34 because the Holy Spirit have touched his heart. 14:36 He had never experienced anything like this before. 14:40 And in that moment, 14:41 he probably, maybe for the first time, 14:43 was realizing that there might be a God, 14:46 and that God hears our prayers. 14:48 So prayer is a wonderful way to present people 14:52 with the idea that there is a God 14:54 and that He can answer our greatest needs. 14:57 But when it comes to prayer, 14:59 we are engaging in the spiritual warfare. 15:01 So, Alex, why don't you share with us 15:03 a little bit about what that means 15:05 and what that looks like? 15:07 So for the sake of brevity, spiritual warfare, 15:09 one of the verses that we use is 2 Corinthians 10:4, 15:14 "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal," right, 15:17 "but they're mighty through God 15:18 for the pulling down of strongholds." 15:20 And what that basically says, 15:22 is that what we're talking about, 15:23 and unfortunately, what we're neglecting 15:25 is the fact that number one, it's war. 15:29 We're not engaged in war. 15:31 We don't live as if we are engaged in war, 15:33 and we don't conduct ourselves in a manner 15:36 that is representative of what you would do 15:38 in an actual war, physically. 15:41 The other thing is that it's spiritual, right? 15:43 It's not carnal. So what does that mean? 15:45 Is that the war is over the mind, 15:47 it's over the heart. 15:48 It's over the thoughts, over truth, 15:50 and over the affections of the heart, 15:51 where are our affections, right? 15:53 And the last thing is that it's over strongholds. 15:57 If we want to conquer strongholds, 15:59 there has to be another way. 16:01 And so this is the way that I basically break it down. 16:04 If you're in a war and I'm going to give you 16:05 a kind of a mediaeval kind of scene. 16:07 If you're in a war and you're fighting 16:09 against a stronghold, and you have soldiers 16:11 who are swordsman close range fighters, 16:15 do you send your swordsman against the stronghold? 16:20 Hopefully not. 16:22 Would you send your swordsman against enemy swordsman? 16:25 I also hope hopefully not, initially. 16:28 What do you do first? You bring in the archers. 16:32 Archers, they begin to spray fire, 16:35 right, they begin to shoot arrows, 16:36 they thin the lines of the enemy, 16:38 and then you take in your close range warfare, 16:41 your spearmen, your swordsman, and whatnot. 16:43 Would you take archers against the stronghold? 16:45 No. So what do you need? 16:47 You need siege weapons. 16:49 But before a single siege weapon 16:51 can reach that gate, 16:52 you need long distance siege weapons. 16:54 So what do you bring? A trebuchet. 16:56 What is the trebuchet? 16:57 It's the granddaddy of all catapults. 16:59 Search it. It's awesome. 17:01 But here's the spiritual implication of that. 17:04 Swordsman, are what we generally use, 17:08 evangelism, close quarters combat, right? 17:11 We do personal evangelism. We do health evangelism. 17:13 We do Bible studies. We do all of these talks. 17:16 And that is swordsmen. 17:18 The problem is we're training only swordsman. 17:21 If you want to win a fight, you need to have all units. 17:26 Your archers are your prayer warriors, 17:29 the people that begin to pray to thin out the lines, 17:32 to create the opportunities for the swordsman 17:34 to actually have a way in. 17:37 And what are your trebuchets? 17:39 Before you send anything else 17:40 your trebuchet are not highly mobile, 17:42 they're built with a team of people 17:44 that constantly hammer 17:46 at one single point in the wall. 17:48 They don't pepper. 17:50 Lord, help us with that, help us with this, 17:51 help us with whatever, they choose one thing to focus 17:54 because if you don't focus the stones on that 17:57 one section of wall, that one section of wall 17:59 will never crumble. 18:00 And so there are people that are committed 18:02 to pray continuously till the breach is made, 18:06 and then the other units can invade. 18:09 Now the reason that I bring this up 18:11 is because we don't have trebuchets. 18:15 We have a few archers. 18:18 We're trying to fight a war and I'll be honest with you, 18:21 if we're not fighting with archers, 18:22 if we're not fighting with trebuchets, 18:25 if we're bringing only swordsman, 18:26 and we're doing the best that we can to, 18:29 let's train the best swordsman we can. 18:32 At the end of the day, 18:33 what we're doing is we're fighting carnally. 18:34 Why? 18:36 Because we're not asking God to send the fire before us. 18:39 Do you understand? We need all units present. 18:44 And one of the last things is, I know to many of us 18:48 the spiritual warfare is not real. 18:50 We don't see it. Where's the conflict? 18:53 And so this is a kind of a quote from, 18:55 I believe it was from a samurai, 18:56 I'm no Samurai but I really liked it. 19:00 And basically, 19:01 one of his students basically said, 19:03 "Master, it's a time of peace. 19:07 There's no war going on and you like peace, 19:10 why do you continuously train your hand for war?" 19:13 And he responded with, "Well, I would rather be 19:17 a warrior in the middle of a garden 19:19 than a gardener in the middle of a war." 19:22 We need people 19:23 who are training their hands for war. 19:26 And we need people who are learning to not 19:29 just be swordsman, but to be archers, 19:31 and to be siege warfare trained people. 19:35 What we are looking for, 19:37 is to become an army of prayer, warrior missionaries. 19:42 We need to understand the power of prayer 19:44 when it comes to evangelism and missions in general 19:48 and in our own sphere of influence 19:49 and when we do large things. 19:51 And what God taught us in Iceland was that 19:53 He wants to bring us to the point 19:56 where we don't know what we're doing, 19:58 so that we fully surrender to Him. 20:01 God wants to do wonderful things, 20:02 and He has done and He will do more. 20:05 And so God has led GYC over the past couple of years 20:07 into an understanding of the importance of prayer. 20:10 How many of you have been 20:11 part of the prayer room this morning? 20:15 You know, what it feels like to be in the presence of God, 20:18 the power that you feel in united prayer. 20:21 This kind of thing is what God has led us 20:23 over the last five years, 20:24 especially to focus on with GYC. 20:27 And I believe God is propelling us 20:28 into a direction where everything is done 20:30 under constant and specific prayer. 20:34 But what we need also to understand 20:35 is the importance of surrender. 20:37 Eric, can you share with us 20:38 what made surrender so important in Iceland, 20:40 and what is in general is important about surrender? 20:43 Yeah, you know, really, 20:45 the important thing about surrender 20:47 is that is going all in with God, 20:49 and saying, "God, there is nothing left 20:51 that I'm not giving to you, 100%." 20:54 And when you go out with that mindset, 20:56 it makes a big difference. 20:57 I'll share just three statements 20:58 from inspiration. 21:00 The first one is from Youth Instructor, 21:02 May 27, 1897, very short. 21:04 It says, "Self-surrender is the substance 21:07 of the teachings of Christ." 21:09 Now I don't know about you, 21:11 but do you think that sounds important, yes or no? 21:13 The substance of the teaching of Christ is self-surrender. 21:17 Later on in 1889, we come across a statement 21:22 that says in ST July 26, 1889, "Christianity means 21:27 entire surrender to the will of God. 21:29 Then it can be said of us, 'Ye are complete in Him.'" 21:34 Christianity is surrender. 21:35 So not only is it the substance of Christ teaching, 21:37 but it is surrender. 21:39 Is this important, yes or no? 21:41 And, finally, in Review and Harold, July 25, 1889, 21:46 "Sanctification is the measure of our completeness. 21:49 The moment we surrender ourselves to God, 21:52 believing in Him, we have His righteousness." 21:56 And so really more than anything else, 21:57 surrender, is saying, "God, I'm 100% sold out to You. 22:01 Nothing am I hanging on to, I'll give everything to You, 22:06 I'll leave everything behind." 22:07 It's that radical all in for God, 22:09 abiding in Him, saying, 22:11 "God, I'm going to do whatever it takes, 22:13 go wherever You want me to go." 22:15 And, you know, sometimes God's pretty cool about this. 22:18 He often sends us 22:19 where we would have wanted to go anyway. 22:21 And He does things that 22:22 we didn't know that we ourselves wants it. 22:24 Case example, we're out in Iceland 22:26 where it's the first Sabbath afternoon 22:29 where we're walking around praying 22:31 around one of the major cities. 22:34 And as we're walking around them and a team with, 22:36 I think it was Alex, 22:37 maybe Gem was there as well, I forget. 22:39 But we're walking around and we're praying for schools 22:41 and we're saying, "God, 22:42 what could You do in the school? 22:44 Ten years from now if You worked 22:46 on the teacher's hearts and they began 22:47 to bring principles of scripture 22:50 and of knowledge of You, 22:51 this could change an entire generation." 22:53 And we're praying for the churches 22:55 and finally we prayed and we said, "God, 22:57 don't just transform 22:59 the Adventist Church in Iceland. 23:00 We pray that You would transform every church, 23:01 bring people into the church 23:03 who haven't been back in years." 23:06 And the next day is Sunday, 23:07 the day after that Elisa comes up to us. 23:10 She was helping out there one of the locals... 23:13 She's a local Icelandic Adventist? 23:16 Yes, she works with GYC Europe as well. 23:18 And she plays piano at a Lutheran church on Sunday. 23:21 And she comes to and she says, 23:23 "Eric, Jonathan, you'll never believe it. 23:25 I usually play piano at this church 23:27 and on Sundays, 23:28 there are 20 people in the choir 23:30 and about five in the pew." 23:31 Don't ask me how that works. 23:32 It sounds a little bit backwards, 23:34 but praise the Lord, they're in the choir, right? 23:35 And she says, usually that's the case. 23:37 This Sunday, there were 20 people in the choir, 23:41 and five times that in the pew, 25 people." 23:44 Just all of a sudden, this tiny little church, 23:46 just blowing up all of a sudden. 23:48 One day after we've prayed, "God, revive this country." 23:52 I don't know about you, 23:53 but that tells me that God is listening to our prayers. 23:56 It's powerful to see what happens 23:58 when we let the Holy Spirit guide us. 24:00 And when we let go of trying 24:02 to control every step of the way, 24:04 when we let Him step by step lead us, 24:07 even when we don't know where it's going to go. 24:09 When it comes to surrender, when it comes to spiritual war, 24:12 when it comes to prayer, 24:13 it is so important that we learn to trust. 24:15 In the beginning, 24:17 I read a quote to you that said, 24:18 "Prayer and faith will do 24:19 what no power on earth can accomplish." 24:21 The faith part, trusting in the Holy Spirit's guidance. 24:24 We need to take God's Word seriously, 24:26 when He says in Romans 8, 24:27 that "All things work together for good 24:28 for those who love Him." 24:30 Do you love Him? Amen. 24:32 He tells us in Proverbs 3, 24:34 that we need to trust Him with all of our heart 24:36 and He will direct our paths. 24:37 When we do that, He can use us in special ways 24:41 create divine appointments 24:42 that we could have never made possible. 24:45 When we walked through Iceland 24:46 we were learning, God was teaching us that 24:49 it is important that we need to accept 24:51 when He interrupts our agenda. 24:54 One thing that happened was that 24:56 we didn't plan for this that the local church asked us, 24:59 the Adventist Church, "Can you help us 25:01 with some renovations with the local school?" 25:04 This was definitely not in our plans. 25:06 And I was very resistant at first. 25:08 But God said, "No, do this." 25:09 And so we did it. 25:11 And it was a huge blessing to the local Adventists. 25:13 They felt so supported. 25:14 And so they felt, 25:16 they also supported us in return. 25:17 And also God was able to bless the school 25:19 because we started interceding at that school. 25:22 And later on, because they were 25:24 struggling with enrollment, 25:25 we've heard some of the people that we have actually prayed 25:27 with that we met on the streets came to that school 25:30 and enrolled their children there. 25:31 Amen. 25:32 And so God interrupted our agenda, 25:34 another time, Ed Sheeran. 25:36 Hopefully, none of you know him. 25:37 But if some of you might, 25:39 one of the most successful popular Christian, 25:41 not Christian, pop artists in the world 25:43 came to Iceland and did a concert. 25:46 One fifth of the country showed up 25:48 exactly at the same time when we were there. 25:50 And we didn't notice, so we said, 25:51 "Hey, we should go and pray around the stadium." 25:53 And we walked, like the people of Israel, 25:56 some of us seven times around the stadium praying that 25:58 God will reach the heart of the people. 26:01 You might think that's crazy. 26:03 But we felt the Holy Spirit's guidance in this. 26:05 There's many other stories. 26:06 We walked up to the President's home 26:08 and we prayed 26:09 for the President of the country. 26:12 And there's many other things 26:13 that I would like to share more, 26:14 but we are running out of time. 26:16 But what I want to do now is to invite 26:18 some of the missionaries that came on this mission 26:20 to come here on the platform 26:22 and share some of their testimonies. 26:23 So I'm going to ask them to come out right now. 26:25 And we will hear some powerful testimonies 26:27 of what happens when we pray. 26:34 As I told in the beginning, 26:35 there are 46 missionaries from 6 continents, 26:37 you see about 14 to 15 of them here right now. 26:41 They have made it here. 26:43 Some of them were, you know, from Africa, from Australia, 26:45 so they, not all of them could be here, 26:46 but they're here in spirit 26:47 and they're praying for us right now. 26:49 But I want some of the missionaries 26:50 here to share with us 26:52 what happened before the mission, 26:54 during the mission, and how this mission 26:56 of prayer impacted them personally. 26:58 And I pray that this will be inspiration for you as well, 27:00 to engage in prayer in a different way. 27:03 I want to start with Victoria. 27:04 Victoria, you're from West Virginia, 27:06 is that right? 27:08 Virginia. Virginia. 27:09 All right, close enough. 27:10 And share with me a little bit about 27:12 what happened during the mission for you, 27:15 you know, what led you to this mission, 27:17 and what is one powerful experience 27:19 that you had? 27:20 Well, what led me to this mission 27:22 was last year's announcement about going to Iceland, 27:25 and first it was like, "Oh, cool, Iceland." 27:28 And then it just seemed like a great opportunity. 27:31 While I was there, the thing that stood out 27:35 most in my mind is that prayer is a full time ministry. 27:39 It is something that you can go out 27:42 into the world and pray, 27:45 and that's what God needs or God wants for us to do. 27:50 You can be a missionary 27:54 just by having the presence of prayer in a place 27:58 and so that was very important to me. 28:00 So tell me about one of the experiences you had 28:02 when you were prayer walking. 28:04 As you were prayer walking, you were looking 28:06 for different satanic strongholds, 28:08 places of darkness that need that trebuchet 28:11 that Alex was talking about, 28:12 that needs special intercession for God to break down 28:15 these spiritual barriers. 28:17 So share about 28:18 one of those experiences with us? 28:19 So we were walking the City of Reykjavik 28:23 and we passed by a garden 28:25 just outside of the Reykjavik Cathedral, 28:27 and I'm not even going to try to pronounce how to say that. 28:31 And we walked into this garden, and immediately I could see, 28:35 especially, on Gem's face, he felt this darkness. 28:41 And we continue to walk, we continue to look around, 28:44 and there were many satanic symbols 28:49 just around the garden. 28:52 And so we were there, we studied them. 28:54 Alex shared some information 28:56 and then we prayed over the place. 28:59 And we prayed while we were inside, 29:00 we prayed while we were outside, 29:01 and we continued to pray for it after we left. 29:04 So spiritual warfare became very real 29:06 in that moment to you in your experience? 29:09 Esther, you came also on this mission. 29:11 You were from Singapore, is that right? 29:14 Yes, I grew up in Singapore. You grew up in Singapore. 29:16 You're studying right now in the United States? 29:17 Yes, I am. 29:19 Now, Esther, share with me about 29:21 why you came on this mission and how this impacted you? 29:24 So I came on this mission 29:26 because someone recommended me to come on it. 29:28 And I was thinking, 29:29 "Oh, it might be a cool opportunity." 29:31 But actually, 29:33 even on the taxi ride to the airport, 29:35 I was thinking, "This is ridiculous. 29:36 I don't want to go." 29:38 I don't know what I'm gonna do. 29:39 And then I went and really just wanted... 29:42 I prayed for a spiritual revival 29:44 because, you know, 29:46 sometimes when people work in ministry 29:48 or for so long and you get kind of tired 29:51 or you get burned out, 29:52 so I was asking for the spiritual revival. 29:54 And actually, God gave that to me during this trip, 29:57 and I learned about the privilege of prayer. 30:00 Yeah. Praise God. 30:02 Now we have to understand 30:03 we spent every morning together, 30:04 like here in the prayer room in united prayer. 30:07 Every morning and evening, 30:08 we came together to seek the Lord, 30:10 to ask Him to show us how to interact 30:12 with these people that speak a different language, 30:14 these people who don't even realize 30:15 that there is a God. 30:17 And so God brought revival to our own lives, 30:19 He healed broken hearts, and He bonded us together. 30:23 I believe we saw a glimpse 30:24 of what the Book of Acts talked about. 30:26 And all of us, we could feel that 30:28 this unity was so beautiful, 30:30 and it gave us confidence that God was with us. 30:32 Now, Sarah, you were also on this mission. 30:35 And I remember, you were part of my car, 30:37 going around the city and sharing the GLOW tracts 30:40 and praying with people. 30:41 And share with me an experience that you had on this mission? 30:44 So one evening, well, 30:46 most evenings we always try to finish the territory. 30:50 So we didn't want to leave 30:51 without every house in that territory being done. 30:54 So I remember one time it was time to go back, 30:56 but we only had like two apartments left 30:58 and we're like, "We can't go back. 30:59 We're not done." 31:01 And so we were finishing one area 31:04 and I were finishing it. 31:05 And we came across a gentleman. 31:07 He's probably in his 80s. 31:09 And we started talking to him 31:11 and what caught his eye was the prayer GLOW tract. 31:15 And he was like, "Oh, what's this?" 31:18 And so we started explaining it to him, 31:19 and he didn't know that it's okay to pray. 31:22 You know, he thought, you had to go to church 31:24 or something for that. 31:26 And another time, we knocked on a lady's door, 31:29 and we asked her 31:30 what she wanted us to pray about. 31:32 And she's like, "I just lost my uncle, 31:34 and I have no hope of ever seeing him again." 31:37 She's probably in her 40s. 31:39 She'd never heard the word heaven before. 31:41 You know, and that made 31:42 a big impact on my life, you know, 31:44 not everybody, you know, in the world, 31:46 maybe not everybody in your community, 31:48 or maybe even your next door neighbor has 31:49 ever heard the word Jesus before or heaven. 31:52 We think because we have Bibles everywhere, 31:54 everybody knows, but they don't. 31:56 So we need to make sure that wherever we are 31:59 that we're always sharing God's love with them. 32:01 Amen. 32:02 God has given us divine appointments 32:04 on this mission leading us to people 32:06 who needed in that very moment to hear about hope, 32:10 and that there is a God and that there is a way 32:12 out of this darkness in this world. 32:14 We don't usually go to first world countries, 32:17 but there are people hungering 32:18 and thirsting for something more. 32:21 And when we pray, and we tell them that 32:23 we're praying for them, 32:25 when they see those prayers answered, 32:27 isn't that the most convincing argument for a God? 32:30 So let's have faith as we go around the world 32:33 as we share with people around us about prayer. 32:36 Now, Marselinny, you came also on this mission. 32:39 And why did you come on this mission? 32:40 Share about that. 32:42 Yeah, so at first my experience 32:44 was different than Esther and Victoria is 32:46 'cause I wasn't planning on going to Iceland, 32:48 I saw the trailer and I was like, 32:51 "I don't even know where Iceland is. 32:53 I wouldn't be going alone," you know? 32:55 And so I just had no intention of going 32:58 and my church and some sponsors supported me 33:01 and encouraged me to go. 33:03 And I was definitely inspired to go, 33:06 even though it was definitely out of my comfort zone. 33:09 But I felt God using me 33:10 in that situation to get me out. 33:12 Praise God. 33:13 When we ask God to get us out of our comfort zone, 33:15 He will do that. 33:16 And He will give us amazing experiences 33:18 when we let go of our personal agendas, 33:20 and say, "Lord, just lead me to a person 33:22 to witness to," 33:24 and you have that chance today to do that in our outreach 33:26 just after this. 33:28 Now as we went on this mission, these divine appointments, 33:30 it was wonderful to see that 33:31 we had the chance to meet people 33:33 who were saying, you know, 33:35 "You came just at the right moment." 33:37 One lady, I knocked on the door and she said, 33:39 "God must have sent it to me 33:40 because I needed this right now." 33:43 The people were crying, people hug this, 33:44 and this is in secular Europe, 33:46 the place we think, where you can't do 33:47 anything like this, and God proved us wrong. 33:50 It was nothing we did, 33:51 but it was what the Holy Spirit could do when we intercede 33:53 for people in darkness. 33:56 This prayer mission changed our lives forever. 33:59 And I believe it can do the same for you as well. 34:01 What are some things... This was just in August. 34:03 So this is just a few months old, 34:05 fresh out of the oven. 34:06 What are some things that have happened in your life? 34:08 How have you changed the way 34:10 you do life in ministry here in this world? 34:13 I think, Esther, you wanted to share 34:15 a little bit about your college experience? 34:18 Yes. So my college is very secular. 34:22 It's very extremely liberal. 34:25 So it's very hard to reach out to the students. 34:27 And we have an Adventist group there. 34:29 And so here's a little story. I won't make it too long. 34:32 But so before to Iceland tour, 34:34 we were planning to have a gospel 34:37 concert at the school 34:38 and we were trying to collaborate 34:40 with the other Christian groups there. 34:42 And we actually didn't plan out anything 34:44 and it was only two weeks, 34:46 I think about two weeks after the mission trip. 34:49 So we came back 34:50 and then I was talking to our members, 34:53 and we were saying, "Well, we don't know what to do." 34:54 And I was talking to the Christian, 34:57 the non-Adventist Christians and we were like, 34:59 I told them, maybe we should pray together 35:01 because during this mission tour 35:03 we learned how to do united prayer. 35:05 So we were saying, 35:07 we should do united prayer together. 35:09 And then we did that every Sunday. 35:11 And the gospel concert was really great. 35:15 And I could talk about that sometime later. 35:17 But after our last prayer session, 35:20 after the gospel concert ended, 35:22 the non-Adventist Christians were telling us, 35:25 "Well, this united prayer thing is so great. 35:28 We should continue doing it afterwards." 35:30 So we did not end up praying 35:32 just for the concert, but we also prayed 35:34 for the entire campus, all the world leaders, 35:38 politics, and we gather every Sunday at a room 35:41 and we pray together. 35:43 Praise God. Praise God. 35:44 You know, we at GYC, 35:46 we believe in public campus ministry, amen? 35:48 Amen. 35:49 The world comes into the universities 35:51 and we can reach these people with the power of prayer. 35:53 And so we are excited to see what God will do. 35:55 We have another testimony in that regard from Marselinny. 35:58 Share with us what happened 35:59 when you went back to your campus? 36:00 Yes. 36:02 So there was a lot of 36:03 different testimonies that I had. 36:04 I did want to share one from 36:06 when I went into the mission trip, 36:08 which kind of inspired what happened after. 36:11 So we went with groups from the Iceland, 36:16 our Iceland team, but the first time we went out, 36:18 we went with the church, the local church. 36:20 And one of the ladies I went with, 36:22 I was kind of nervous 36:23 because I didn't know Icelandic, 36:26 you know, and then I was praying like, 36:28 I know two words in Icelandic and it's like, 36:30 thank you and how to use the restroom 36:31 or find the restroom. 36:33 And I'm like, "I can't really get by with that." 36:35 So luckily, she was able to speak mostly English. 36:39 And then she was very energetic. 36:42 She would go running to all the doors, 36:44 and I'm kind of an introvert. 36:46 And my roommate knows that, I'm very, very quiet. 36:49 And so she went to all the doors 36:51 and then she started praying with everybody. 36:54 And we prayed with I think every door 36:56 we had a prayer which was such a blessing. 36:59 And some people were painting the house 37:02 and then they asked prayer for money, family career, 37:05 and then another lady just lost her job 37:10 and she's trying to find a job 37:11 so it's definitely something that we wanted to pray for. 37:15 And then afterwards, 37:17 what was the most meaningful for me was that 37:19 when we were walking back, we were ending our time there. 37:24 This woman who was my partner from Iceland, 37:27 she opened up to me about her childhood 37:30 and what she went through, 37:31 and she opened up about how her husband loved her. 37:34 He's in a different country. 37:35 She has to take care of her children here. 37:39 And what I learned from that is oftentimes, 37:43 the people we think we should be reaching 37:45 are actually right in front of us. 37:47 And I was like, that was the most. 37:49 So we prayed together. 37:51 And after the prayer, we were just all emotional. 37:53 And it was just a huge blessing. 37:55 Yeah. 37:56 When we pray together, when we unite, 37:58 the Holy Spirit bonds us into this true fellowship experience 38:02 that we read about in the Book of Acts. 38:03 Now you went back to your college as well, 38:05 and you were part of a campus ministry there? 38:07 Yes. 38:08 So the campus ministries group that I helped out 38:11 with it's called Adventist Students 38:12 for Christ or ASC 38:14 and it's similar to what Esther mentioned. 38:16 And before the school year starts, 38:18 there's organizational booths 38:20 and we were able to actually kind of 38:22 do the same thing, have GLOW tracts, 38:24 just have a booth of GLOW tracts. 38:26 And when the students came, 38:27 we would pray with the students. 38:31 And it was a blessing 38:33 because compared to last semester 38:35 to this semester, the Lord really multiplied. 38:37 And there was a lot more people who came in, 38:39 and that was just a huge blessing. 38:41 So we're just the beginning of what God is trying to show us. 38:44 I believe God has led GYC, as I mentioned earlier, 38:47 into more focus on prayer 38:49 and seeing what God can do when we trust Him fully. 38:52 And so this prayer mission has inspired us, 38:55 it has changed us, 38:56 it has changed the way we think about prayer, 38:58 more than just something we do in the beginning, 39:01 in the end of a program or before the meals, 39:03 it really has radically revolutionized the way 39:06 we look at the world, understanding that 39:08 we are in a great controversy, understanding that 39:10 we can with the power of faith and prayer, 39:14 break down strongholds of Satan in this world. 39:16 Amen. 39:17 Now one other testimony, that's very powerful. 39:20 Eric, you want to share with us as well. 39:23 You got a phone call when we were in Iceland, 39:25 and just share with us about this? 39:26 Yeah. 39:28 So, you know, sometimes you go into things 39:29 and we plan for this mission trip, 39:31 and things go well, and things don't go well. 39:33 Well, one of the real challenges for me 39:35 in my personal life is I got married two years ago, 39:39 and I got married to someone else you've seen 39:41 on stage once in a while, Esther. 39:43 Esther Louw is my wife's name. 39:45 And for some time leading up to this, 39:50 she had been going into worse and worse health. 39:53 Right after we got married she got really sick 39:55 and she had her gallbladder out and we were just, 39:57 like, "Why's her body just like not doing so well?" 40:00 And it got to the point where it's worse and worse 40:02 where she was, some days having to go in on crutches 40:05 'cause different muscle groups are locking up 40:06 and she had like heart issues. 40:08 And we were just, like, 40:09 "What in the world is going on?" 40:10 We went to doctor after doctor after doctor. 40:13 And finally once we had basically 40:15 exhausted every single option around Andrews University 40:18 where I've been studying, we said, "Well, you know what, 40:20 the only option we have left is to go to Mayo Clinic." 40:23 And so last Thanksgiving, 2018, 40:26 we went to Mayo Clinic 40:28 and we saw half a dozen specialists, 40:31 and nothing. 40:33 And so now we're planning for this Iceland mission trip 40:36 and I've got this going on in my life 40:38 and I'm worrying and we're praying 40:39 and we don't know 40:41 what's going on with her Sunday. 40:42 She's totally fine and other days, 40:43 like everything's going insane. 40:45 And she can hardly get out of bed and move. 40:47 And finally it gets to the point 40:48 where we're on the mission trip, 40:50 and I'm praying that she's going to be okay, 40:52 you know, sometimes she has some good weeks 40:53 and sometimes she doesn't. 40:55 So I'm just praying that things go well. 40:57 And one morning we come to the prayer group 41:00 and I get a text. 41:02 And she texts and she said to me, 41:04 "I think we're going to need to get a wheelchair." 41:07 Because it had just gotten to the point 41:09 where just some days 41:10 she could not move certain limbs 41:12 and it would last sometimes up to a week 41:14 and we just didn't know what was going on. 41:17 And so, here we all were praying like, "God," like, 41:19 "what do we do?" 41:21 You know, like, once you go to a wheelchair, 41:22 how do you go back from that, right? 41:24 It just gets worse and worse sometimes, it seems. 41:26 And so we pray there and I just, 41:27 I didn't know what to do. 41:28 I was just floored. 41:30 I focused on the mission trip, I tried to be supportive. 41:32 But here I am stuck in Iceland, right? 41:35 And so we're going through 41:36 and I've got these two things in my mind. 41:38 Well, finally we get back to the United States. 41:41 And we have one or two more specialists to see, 41:43 we have a neurologist, 41:45 we've already seen one at Mayo Clinic 41:46 but we have one more to see. 41:48 And we're just saying, you know, 41:49 like, "What do we do, 41:50 they couldn't find anything there. 41:52 What's the chances 41:53 they are going to find anything here?" 41:55 And so finally, some family member said, "Eric, 41:57 have you considered an anointing?" 42:00 And so we're thinking, well, 42:01 you know, this exhaust all our opportunities 42:03 and then do an anointing. 42:04 Sometimes we treat anointing 42:05 as some kind of last resort, right? 42:08 And after being in Iceland and seeing God work 42:10 so powerfully to answer prayers 42:12 just like that, I said to myself, 42:14 you know what? 42:16 "Let's just do it, 42:18 because we're just about at the end of the line anyway." 42:20 I mean, we've already seen these types of specialists 42:22 before, what's the chance that number 57 42:24 is gonna figure it out, right? 42:26 And so we decided to have an anointing 42:28 and I was blessed to have Alex be a part of that. 42:32 And we prayed. 42:34 And as we were praying, my wife shared with me that 42:37 she just felt God's presence, like suddenly He was there. 42:40 And she's praying, we're praying, 42:42 and we get up from that. 42:44 And she just sends us 42:46 this great piece that God loves her 42:48 and that everything will be okay. 42:51 And I'll tell you what, from that point on, 42:53 she hasn't had a single problem. 42:54 God completely healed her as far as we can tell. 42:56 Praise God. 42:59 In fact, she'd been having heart rhythms going up 43:02 and down a little bit crazy. 43:04 We looked on her watch which tracks that. 43:06 And you see it just going crazy, crazy, crazy 43:08 for months leading up to that, and then stable ever since. 43:12 Praise the Lord. Amen? 43:14 Amen. Hallelujah. 43:15 The power of prayer is real, friends. 43:18 We've seen it in Iceland. I think we just saw a glimpse. 43:21 We didn't know what we were doing. 43:23 We just said, "Lord, we're here and whether we fail or not, 43:26 we trust You. 43:27 And we leave success up to you, whatever success looks like." 43:31 Some of these things that we did there, 43:33 some of the prayers we prayed 43:34 will probably not be answered for years. 43:36 But we committed ourselves as missionaries. 43:38 We collected all these prayer requests 43:40 and wrote them down. 43:41 We committed ourselves to continue to pray 43:43 for these people 43:45 because it's not just a onetime thing. 43:46 You got to intercede. 43:47 There's a spiritual war going on. 43:49 Do not give up on prayer. Do not give up on people. 43:54 And God can reach entire countries for Him. 43:57 In fact, I told you we knocked on the President's door. 43:59 We're able to pray for the leader of the country. 44:03 Just the other day Gavin Anthony, 44:04 their Conference President of the Icelandic Church 44:07 was invited to the President of Iceland in his home. 44:10 Yes, last two days ago. 44:12 And he had a one on one 44:13 sit down with the President and his wife. 44:15 And he was able to tell them that, you know, 44:17 he's praying for them and had a connection there 44:19 and had an opportunity to share. 44:21 God opens doors when we pray. 44:24 The church in Iceland is very small, 44:26 and is struggling. 44:27 There is about 100, and maybe 150 active members, 44:30 but they have seen that 44:32 God wants to do something with them. 44:35 They have found new courage and hope. 44:37 In fact, there was a constituency 44:39 meeting going on, 44:40 speaking about it, God interrupting your agenda, 44:42 constituency meeting going on during our mission. 44:45 And we decided we will go and pray for that as well, 44:48 because this is important. 44:49 And the decisions that were made there, 44:51 the Lord led, they told us that 44:52 they felt the spirit move in a special way. 44:56 And the wonderful thing was that 44:57 the three executive officers of the conference, 45:00 they chose to become, all three of them 45:03 are now in charge of prayer ministries for Iceland. 45:07 Prayer has become the most important thing now 45:10 in that little country and for us here. 45:13 And I pray that for you as well, 45:14 this will impact you. 45:16 I want to thank our missionaries here, 45:18 those who are here and those who couldn't make it 45:21 for being part of this journey. 45:22 I believe this is just the beginning. 45:24 I believe God is going to take us 45:25 into another experience. 45:27 And so, I want to invite you all to be part of this. 45:30 So thank you so much for being up here with me. 45:33 As we close tonight, this morning. 45:36 I want to wrap up 45:38 and I want to share with you a scripture. 45:41 If you have your Bibles, open to Jeremiah 29:7. 45:51 Jeremiah 29:7. 45:58 Here the Bible says, the Lord says to you and me, 46:02 to God's people, 46:05 "But seek the welfare of the city 46:09 where I have sent you into exile." 46:11 Are we in exile, yes or no? 46:14 We are waiting to go home, right, to heaven. 46:16 But right now we are in exile. 46:18 "Seek the welfare of the city 46:21 where I've sent you into exile," and what? 46:24 Pray. 46:26 "Pray to the Lord on its behalf," 46:30 become an intercessor, 46:32 "for in its welfare, you will find your welfare." 46:37 We're waiting for the Lord's return. 46:39 I believe we're closer than ever before. 46:42 We're not called to wait in idle 46:46 and just to sit around. 46:49 We're called to intercede, 46:51 to become that light in our city. 46:55 We implore to seek the welfare 46:57 of the people in our sphere of influence. 46:59 And that welfare is Jesus. 47:02 But we cannot break through darkness 47:04 with our logic arguments. 47:06 Yes, Adventism has the most beautiful message, 47:08 the most logical system of truth. 47:13 And we have to present it. 47:15 Our message is powerful. It will change lives. 47:18 But we need to do it in a prayerful mindset, 47:21 making prayer the first work 47:23 and continually intercede for the people around us. 47:26 It is the most powerful tool that God has given us. 47:29 And I believe we have only vaguely tapped into it. 47:32 If we want to see the glory of God 47:34 revealed throughout the world, 47:35 as Isaiah 60 and Revelation 18 talk about, 47:38 this will happen when we let the Holy Spirit 47:41 fill our hearts to its completion, 47:45 when Jesus is shining through our lives, 47:48 when we lose all fear of sharing with people 47:50 that we believe in a God who hears prayers. 47:54 I want to encourage you to make a decision today. 47:57 Become an intercessor, 47:59 become a prayer missionary warrior. 48:03 They're almost 2,500, maybe 3,000 of us here today. 48:07 What will happen, 48:08 when we start to pray like this? 48:11 Eric, what do you believe will happen? 48:14 I believe that God will change the world in this generation. 48:17 Amen. God can make a difference. 48:20 He will make a difference. 48:21 He's promised us that if we unite with Him, 48:24 we can make a difference, not in our own strength. 48:27 It's none of us. We surrender all, it's all Him. 48:30 But how can He use us if we're refusing to be used? 48:34 And so I want to challenge you, 48:35 on your seats you have a commitment card. 48:38 You'll see it, 48:39 there should be one in every seat, 48:40 maybe on the floor, look around. 48:42 I want to challenge you to fill one of these out, 48:44 say, "God, in 2020, I want to go all out for You. 48:48 I want to go beyond GYC. 48:50 I want to serve in some capacity." 48:52 Maybe it's something small, maybe it's something big, 48:55 whatever it is, you can fill in the blank, 48:57 if you have something that doesn't fit, kind of, 49:01 the suggestions that we have on the card, 49:03 but whatever it is, say, 49:05 "God, I want to go all out for You in 2020." 49:08 And then one thing 49:10 that I want to mention as well, last year, 49:13 we heard back how you as GYC had been involved. 49:18 We asked you to fill out and text in numbers 49:22 of how many people that you've been 49:24 influential in witnessing to, in praying for, in baptizing. 49:28 And praise the Lord, 49:29 we had thousands of Bible studies completed. 49:32 We had over 750 baptisms, just represented among you. 49:36 And so today we want to ask you as well, 49:38 as you fill this out, 49:41 we also want you to pull out your phone. 49:43 Because in the GYC App that we're using, 49:45 we have a form you can fill out. 49:48 It's in the menu, it's called iServed. 49:50 It's the iServed menu. 49:52 And this is where you can share what you did this last year. 49:55 What did you do in 2019? 49:57 We have an option for other, 49:59 we have several options as well that 50:00 we're trying to calculate. 50:02 And we just want to see 50:03 what impact you have had in the past year 50:05 or so you can go either on the app 50:07 or to GYC web.org/iserved. 50:10 So check that out. 50:12 But we want to challenge you, go all out for Jesus in 2020. 50:15 Amen. 50:16 Friends, I'm tired of imagining 50:19 what will happen when we trust God. 50:21 I'm tired of imagining when the latter rain will fall. 50:25 Why don't we go on our knees and ask God to give it to us, 50:28 starting today, transforming our hearts to become active, 50:32 living sacrifices for Him, 50:35 people who are willing to look crazy 50:38 for the world in order to save some? 50:41 Jesus did this for us, 50:43 and we're called to do the same, friends. 50:46 Prayer is the beginning of that work. 50:49 You might not feel like going in outreach today. 50:51 You might not feel like caring about people. 50:54 I understand, I've been there. 50:56 And sometimes I still struggle with that. 50:58 But when you go into prayer, Jesus will change your heart. 51:02 He will pour His love into you. 51:05 And you will be encouraged to love the people around you. 51:10 I want to encourage you this morning GYC 51:13 to make a commitment with Jesus 51:16 and to become 51:17 a praying warrior missionary for Him, 51:21 not just today on outreach, but for the rest of your lives. 51:25 Are you willing to go? Amen? 51:28 Are you willing to go and do something for God 51:30 no matter how small or big it is? 51:32 If you're willing to make that commitment, 51:33 would you stand with us today? 51:36 Would you stand and say, "God, I want to fill this out. 51:39 I want to do something for You. 51:41 I want to make 2020 one step 51:44 further outside of my comfort zone, 51:46 one step more involved with You, 51:48 one step further than before. 51:50 I want to change the world. 51:52 I want to go beyond GYC. 51:53 I want to make a difference where I am?" 51:56 Amen. Let's pray. 51:57 Let's bow our heads. 52:00 Father, we are nothing. 52:02 We're dust and You love us. 52:04 Unbelievable. 52:06 And yet we recognize that 52:09 You have a calling upon our lives. 52:11 Thank You that You want to fill us 52:13 with a spirit. 52:14 Thank You that You want to make us like Jesus. 52:17 Thank You that we can be part of this mission. 52:21 Lord, thank You that 52:22 there are angels waiting to work with us. 52:25 You've promised us that when we seek 52:27 the welfare of the cities in our lives, 52:30 the places we live, the places we interact with, 52:32 the people we know that 52:34 You will do a mighty thing if we let You. 52:38 Iceland was just a glimpse, Father. 52:40 I know You have much more in store for us. 52:42 So as You see these commitments this morning, 52:45 as these young people are about to go out, 52:48 I pray that You'll give them incredible experiences, 52:51 that You will transform their hearts. 52:53 And as we leave GYC 52:55 that You will make this 2020 52:58 the year where the latter rain is poured out 53:00 on all of our lives. 53:03 Use us, Father, we're Yours. 53:05 We pray in the name of Jesus. 53:07 Let everyone say, amen. |
Revised 2020-08-28