Participants:
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP200307S
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00:00 ♪♪ [ "Open the Eyes of My Heart"
00:11 begins ] 02:28 >> You guys can take a seat for our next song. 02:35 [ "Friend of God" begins ] 06:43 >> Alright. This is the time in the service 06:45 where if you have something that you've been carrying around 06:48 this week or maybe this month or maybe just this year time, 06:51 or we invite you guys to come forward for the prayer. 06:54 The last song we're seeing is called "Living Hope." 06:56 And that's because we have a living hope. 06:58 There are millions, billions of people around the 07:01 world that have no hope. They go to work. 07:03 They go to school with just just the mind-set 07:06 of having another day tomorrow. But we have that living hope. 07:09 We have the hope that there is a world outside of this world. 07:13 We have the hope that there is a Heaven 07:15 that God is preparing for us. We have that living hope. 07:18 And so I encourage you guys, if there's something that you're 07:20 holding onto, something that's been weighing down on you, 07:23 or maybe it's just the praise that you want to bring it 07:25 to God, I invite you at this time 07:27 to come forward. I also invite you guys to stand 07:29 as we sing our last song. [ "Living Hope" begins ] 12:38 >> All right, so good morning and happy Sabbath, all of you. You guys are all looking amazing 12:42 this wonderful morning. I hope you're all doing well as well. 12:45 So I just have a quick question before we start with this story. 12:48 How many of you guys have ever felt scared before? 12:52 I've, for sure, felt scared a lot. So when I was a little bit 12:55 younger than you guys -- I was about 2 or 3 -- I used to always be super afraid 12:59 of swimming. I was super scared of water. It was just super scary to me. 13:03 And that's because one time when I was 3, yeah, we went to a really warm, 13:09 nice place called Florida. My dad, we packed us up in our trailer. 13:14 It's kind of like a house on wheels. And we drove down to Florida. 13:17 And, so, we went to this city. It's called Panama City Beach. And we went to this beach. 13:21 And as soon as we got there, we went down to the beach, and I just jumped right in the water, 13:25 and I got all the saltwater in my eyes and it stung, and I did not like it at all. 13:29 And, so I told my dad, "Dad, I never want to get in that water again." 13:32 And he said, "Okay." And, so, the next day, he put me in the water again. 13:36 And, so, I was in that water, and it was just the worst experience of my life. 13:40 And, so, after that, I did not get in the water. I stayed on the beach, and I 13:44 made a sand castle, and it was great. And then the waves came, and it 13:47 destroyed my castle. And, so, I was even more upset at the water. 13:51 And, so, it was just the worst experience of my life. And, so, we went back home 13:55 to this beautiful cold place called Michigan. And, so, we stayed here, and we 13:59 didn't really have a family trip for the next couple of years. But eventually, my dad decided 14:04 that we were going to go back to the same place. And, so, we went back to 14:08 Florida. We went back to Panama City Beach. 14:10 And instead of going to the beach this time, my dad told me, he said, "I want to teach you 14:14 how to swim." And, so, he took me to the pool because it was a little more 14:18 enclosed, and, so, was a little bit safer to swim there. And, so, my dad got in the water 14:22 before me, and I stood on the edge of the pool, and I looked at him, and he looked at me, and 14:25 he said, "All right, Nathan, jump in. I'll catch you." 14:28 I said, "absolutely not. I don't want to get my eyes hurt. 14:31 I don't wanna get stung. It's too scary for me." So I did not get in. 14:34 So for 10 minutes, my dad kept telling me, "Nathan, get in the water. 14:37 Get in the water. You'll enjoy it It's a lot of fun." 14:39 And I said, "no way." And, so, for 10 minutes, we went back and forth 14:43 because I was too scared to get into the water. But eventually, my dad said to 14:46 me, he said, "Nathan, look at me. I'm your dad. 14:49 You can trust me." And, so, he opened his arms, and I looked at him. 14:52 I said, "All right, dad, I'm going gonna trust you." And, so, I jumped as high as I 14:56 could. I probably got half an inch off the ground. 14:58 I jumped into his arms, and he caught me, and he hugged me, and he gave me a kiss on the 15:02 head, and he said, "Oh, Nathan, I'm so proud of you. You're so brave. 15:06 And you jumped into this water." And then we had two hours, two hours that we just played 15:10 in the pool, and it was so much fun. So ever since then, I've loved 15:13 swimming. In the story, it makes me think about our Heavenly Father, 15:16 right? Our God, he's so strong and he's so big. 15:19 And he's always holding his arms out to us. And he's telling us, "hey, my 15:23 son, my daughter, jump. I'll catch you. I can always catch you. 15:26 I love you. And I'm with you." Our friend Jesus, he's always with us, and he's always there 15:31 to catch us. Who here is thankful for Jesus, for catching us and being there 15:34 with us? Amen. Amen. Does one of you want to pray 15:38 to Jesus and say thank you? Come on up. What's your name? 15:42 >> Nicole. >> Nicole. All right, let's pray, Nicole. 15:45 >> Thank you, Jesus. Pray my Sabbath. And pray for -- thank you, 15:50 Jesus. Pray. Amen. >> Amen. 15:53 So as you guys go back to your seats, remember, Jesus is always with you. 16:00 ♪♪ >> ♪ Lord, until I reach 16:10 my home ♪ ♪ Until I reach my home 16:14 ♪ I never expect my journey over ♪ ♪ Till I reach my home 16:19 ♪ Lord, until I reach my home ♪ Until I reach my home ♪ I never expect my journey 16:28 over ♪ ♪ Till I reach my home >> ♪ I would not be a sinner 16:34 ♪ I tell you the reason why ♪ I'm afraid my Lord might call my name ♪ 16:40 ♪ And I wouldn't be ready to die ♪ >> ♪ Lord, until I reach 16:44 my home ♪ ♪ Until I reach my home ♪ I never expect my journey 16:50 over ♪ ♪ Till I reach my home >> ♪ I went up on the mountain 16:57 ♪ I didn't know where to stay ♪ But then my soul got happy ♪ Then I stayed all day 17:05 >> ♪ Lord, until I reach my home ♪ ♪ Until I reach my home 17:11 ♪ I never expect my journey over ♪ ♪ Till I reach my home 17:16 >> ♪ I've got a crown up in that kingdom ♪ ♪ Ain't that good news? 17:22 ♪ I've got a crown up in that kingdom ♪ ♪ Ain't that good news? 17:28 ♪ I'm gonna lay down this world ♪ ♪ Gonna shoulder up my cross 17:34 ♪ Gonna take it home ♪ Gonna take it home ♪ Gonna take it home to 17:41 my Jesus ♪ ♪ Ain't that good? >> ♪ Lord, till I 17:49 ♪ Reach my home >> ♪ Lord, till I ♪ Reach my home 17:57 >> ♪ Until I reach, until I reach ♪ ♪ Reach my home 18:03 ♪ Until I reach, until I reach ♪ Until I reach my home ♪ Until I reach, until I reach 18:12 ♪ Reach my home ♪ Until I reach, until I reach ♪ Until I reach my home 18:20 ♪ Until I reach ♪ Reach my home ♪ Until I reach 18:29 ♪ Reach my home ♪ Until I reach ♪ Reach my home 18:39 ♪ Until I reach ♪ Reach my home ♪ Until I reach 18:47 ♪ Reach my home ♪ Until I reach ♪ Reach my home 18:56 ♪ Until ♪ I reach ♪ My 19:10 ♪ Ho-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-me [ Applause ] 19:25 >> Father, thank you. We needed that. That's like a tonic for the 19:29 soul -- until I reach my home. It's a crazy world we're in right now. 19:38 Pastor Lindsey just led us in prayer, praying for the coronavirus. 19:42 The whole Adventist Church is praying now for the coronavirus, wherever it is on 19:45 this planet. We're praying for our leaders who have to decide, do we 19:49 convene the whole church in Indianapolis this summer or not? I can't imagine the magnitude 19:54 of that decision. But we're lifting them up, as Pastor Lindsey has just done. 19:59 You do whatever it takes. We got to get on. But before we go home, 20:02 we have a world to reach. And we have -- We got us. 20:09 And, so, dear God, take this us moment, infuse it in our minds and hearts with the 20:14 Holy Spirit. We pray, in Jesus name, Amen. 20:18 So a friend of mine sent me an e-mail, and the title of the 20:21 e-mail is "Pastoral Visit." I've got to make a pastoral 20:24 visit this afternoon. So I know about -- 20:27 I know about pastoral visits. It's just a short little e-mail. 20:32 I'll read it to you. "After the birth of their child, 20:34 an Episcopal pastor, wearing his clerical collar." 20:38 You've seen those clerical collars. 20:39 You know, he's a pastor. "An Episcopal pastor, wearing 20:43 his clerical collar, visited his wife in the hospital. 20:47 He greeted her with a hug and kiss and gave her another hug and kiss when he left. 20:51 Later, the wife's roommate commented to her, 'Your pastor is sure friendlier than mine.'" 20:56 [ Laughter ] Oh, I love that. Because you know what? 21:02 There's -- The point is, obviously, between husbands and wives, there's a lot of hugging 21:06 and kissing going on. You can be a clergy couple and have hugging and kissing going 21:09 on, if that's okay with you. And we all know why we do it is to have babies, right? 21:15 [ Light laughter ] Right. So -- [ Chuckles lightly ] 21:19 So you can imagine Zechariah and Elizabeth. They've been a clergy couple 21:27 all their lives. And they really were a clergy couple. 21:29 And they've been hugging and kissing all their lives. But they have no child. 21:32 Like 10 percent of American couples -- No child. So you can also imagine 21:38 the flabbergasted shock when the elderly man hears that angel announced to him 21:44 that he and his wife are going to have a baby. How in the whole wide world 21:49 could that possibly happen? Let's pick up the story right there. 21:53 Come on. Go to it. Luke, Chapter 1. The Gospel of Luke, chapter 1. 21:56 You got it on your phone, pull it out. Luke, Chapter 1 -- 21:59 we're going to pick it up in verse 18. I'm in the NIV. 22:04 And the page number -- if you want to grab the pew Bible in front of you, the page number is 22:07 688. Let's go -- verse 18. "And Zechariah asks the angel, 22:12 How can I be sure of this?' I am an old man, and my wife is well along in years.' 22:19 And the angel said to him, 'Yo, I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, 22:26 and I have been sent to speak to you to tell you this good news.' 22:30 "And it is obvious to me that you do not believe this is possible. 22:34 "So you know what I'm gonna do? I'm going to give you some time to think on this in total 22:38 silence. You will not be able to speak." Pshew. 22:44 That's right. verse 21. 22:57 Meanwhile, because he's leading in worship and everybody's out there in the Temple. 23:00 "Where is he? Where is he? Where is he? Where's the where's the leading 23:02 pastor today for worship?" 23:07 verse 22. 23:10 [ Babbling ] 23:24 And he and Elizabeth resumed their hugging and kissing. And guess what? 23:32 They got it. This elderly father who said, "how can it be?" nine months 23:39 later believes. And he exclaims, "let it be.: I want you to see this. 23:45 Oh, my. Unbelievable. verse 57. So you got to drop down a bit 23:49 in that Luke, Chapter 1. 23:58 But of course. They're having parties all over the town." 24:00 "And on the eighth day" -- so little John is now 8 days old. 24:09 He's gonna be Zechariah Jr. We just know it. But no, no, no, no, no, no. 24:18 They said to her, "Girl, there's no one among your family tree who has that name." 24:23 You got no John in your tree. Why wouldn't you name him Zechariah Jr.? 24:27 We're going to ask his dad just to make sure that you got this right." 24:30 And, so, they go to -- they go to his dad in verse 62. "And they made signs to his 24:36 father." Which, by the way, indicates that probably Zechariah was not 24:42 only dumb or mute, He was deaf. He couldn't hear either. 24:48 Gabriel said, "I'm gonna gave you silence." Boy, he got silence. 24:53 He says, "Give me something to write on. Give me something to write on." 24:59 Then finally -- then finally there in verse 63. They bring him that writing 25:04 tablet. He asked for the writing tablet. "And to everyone's 25:07 astonishment," with that little stylus on that clay pallet, he inscribes the words, 25:11 "His name is John." And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, 25:19 and he began to speak, praising God." And I am sure he is standing, 25:23 and there's high-fives all over the community. And everybody going like this -- 25:29 "Whoa. This is some baby. You see what happened to that 25:34 dad? The moment he said his name, boom, pshew, it all came back." 25:40 In verse 65... 25:48 You see, back then -- back then, they didn't have telephones and they didn't have 25:51 telegrams, but they did have tell-a-neighbor. And all you have to do is tell 25:54 one little the secret to a neighbor, and it's all over the world. 25:57 Trust me. You don't need electronics. And the whole community 26:03 in the region is talking about these sayings. Verse 66. 26:13 What an appropriate question on this weekend where we're having a parenting conference call 26:18 "Disciple." Oh, last night, I wish you could have been there in the youth 26:21 chapel. It was full, as Ben and Brianna Martin are 26:24 leading us, thinking about creative parenting for third millennials. 26:29 Wow. There isn't a child born whose parent, whose father, whose 26:34 mother looks in that tiny little prune face and says, I wonder what this girl 26:38 is going to turn out to be. What's this boy going to turn out to be?" 26:44 Well, you know what? Actually, Zechariah and Elizabeth didn't have to sit 26:46 around and say, "what do you think the boy's going to turn out to be?" 26:49 They've already been told. They had been given, in no uncertain terms, the exact 26:54 mission of this child. I want you go to back just in case you forgot it. 26:58 Go back and pick it up there in verse 13, because this is when Gabriel shows up. 27:02 This is when Gabriel absolutely shocks Zechariah. He cannot even speak. 27:07 Gabriel shows up -- verse 13. 27:14 He has not been praying for a baby. Nobody that age prays for a 27:17 baby. He's been praying for Jesus to come. 27:20 He's been praying for the Messiah to arrive. "Your prayers have been heard. 27:25 I got good news for you. Your wife, Elizabeth will bear you a son." 27:28 "Well, what's that have to do with us?" "Well, listen. 27:29 You are to call him John. He will be a joy and a delight to you, and many will rejoice 27:34 because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. 27:37 He's never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with 27:42 the Holy Spirit even before he is born. Verse 16. 27:57 "Now here it comes. This is the reason your baby is going to be born. 28:01 Now, listen to me, Zechariah. Get this clear, and I want you to tell your wife about it. 28:04 And when that baby comes, I want you to remember these words. I spoke them to you right here 28:09 in church, in worship." "To make ready" -- how's it go? "To make ready a people 28:15 prepared for the Lord." They knew. Put those words on the screen 28:19 for us, please. come on. "To make ready a people 28:22 prepared for the Lord." "That's the mission of your "child, Zechariah. 28:27 And by the way, on the authority of that one line, I need to remind every young parent who's 28:33 here in worship today or watching on a screen somewhere on this planet, I need to remind 28:39 every future young parent who is here today and listening, I need to remind every parent today, 28:48 that on the authority of this one line, this generation that is being birthed in the very 28:56 context of the soon return of Jesus -- this generation has been given the identical 29:02 one-line mission, "to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." 29:07 >> Amen. >> Come on. Once you have been given the 29:10 why, mommy and daddy, once you understand the why your child was born, you will better 29:16 understand the how your child must live. Let me take a few moments 29:21 and talk about that "how." I'm really excited about this, as you can tell. 29:25 I want to share with you seven mentoring practices that will turn a young parent 29:32 into a vital mentor. Reach inside your worship bulletin right now. 29:35 Did you get worship bulletins? Reach inside and pull out a study -- there's a study guide, 29:38 a brand-new study guide. Brittany's put a beautiful study guide together, and I want you 29:41 to see it. And this is cardstock. So you can carry this thing 29:44 with you. Wherever you move to, you can take this with you. 29:47 You say, "I'm not even a parent yet." Good. I'm thinking about you, 29:49 especially. You write this down. Someday you'll want to know 29:52 what you discover today. 29:54 Grab that study guide, and let's put the title slide on the 29:57 screen, please, because there at the bottom you see -- those 29:59 of you watching live streaming right now, you're already at 30:01 that website. But those of you watching on 30:02 television right now, you see the website -- 30:04 newperceptions.tv. newperceptions -- one word -- 30:07 dot TV. You go there. 30:08 You're looking for a little series called "Prepared?" 30:11 question mark. And this is number three -- 30:14 "Turning Young Parents into Vital Mentors." 30:17 You go there and it says, "Study Guide." 30:19 Click on it. 30:20 Seven mentoring practices. Let's go. Mentoring practice number 1 -- 30:25 Parents must worship the Giver of the child. Okay. 30:30 So as soon as the baby's born, notice how Zechariah responds. verse 67. 30:36 "And his father Zachariah" -- well, little John is 8 days old. "And his father Zechariah 30:41 was filled with the Holy Spirit and he prophesied: 'Praise be to the Lord, 30:45 the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them.'" 30:50 The first response of a parent every single day is to worship the Giver of your child. 30:57 Would you jot this down. Because it's one of those great laws of parenting. 31:02 You can't pass on what you don't live out. You can't pass on 31:07 what you don't live out. The child will only get it, this business of worshiping the 31:12 Giver, if you do it. If you don't worship the Giver, the child will never worship the 31:16 Giver. No. Why should she? Why should he? 31:19 They've been watching you. Now, I learned something last night. 31:21 This is fascinating. I had never thought of this before. 31:24 So, Ben and Brianna -- they're gonna be there, by the way, 3:00 afternoon. 31:28 Don't miss it. 3:00 in the youth chapel. They taught a point I had never 31:34 heard. How did I miss out on this? Here's what they said. 31:38 If you want your child to have a relationship with your child's Savior, 31:43 a relationship with the Giver of your child to you, if you want your child to have a 31:46 relationship, you know what you gotta do? You gotta let the child watch 31:51 you having worship. I didn't know that. I thought when you have worship, 31:57 you just close the door, and you have it all privately. You've got to let that child 32:01 walk in on your daddy when you're there alone with your Bible. 32:04 Let that child sit down with you. "Hey, go get your Bible. 32:07 Come here. Sit with daddy. We'll have worship together." You let the child have 32:11 worship with you. You don't -- you don't hide it from the child, because the 32:16 child's watching you like a hawk. And that mini little hard disk 32:20 in that beautiful brain of that girl or that boy is recording every single detail. 32:26 And that child will say, "ah, That's how you have a relationship with the 32:32 Almighty God." Oh, that's good. You know what? 32:36 Brianna and Ben -- they've got two precious boys, and we all love them around here. 32:41 But Brianna, in her spare time as a mother -- can you imagine this? -- she has a website. 32:46 I'm gonna give you the website right now. Jot it down because it's not in 32:48 your study guide. Scribble it in the margin. Disciplemama.com. 32:52 I like that, because that's what mamas do. They disciple. 32:54 That's what papas do. They disciple. Disciplemama. 32:57 So I went to that website again. That girl has put together something that is a totally 33:02 amazing. We talked about social-media missionaries last week. 33:06 She'd be one of them. There are people all over the world that to come to this site. 33:09 How to deal -- listen to this. This is one of her blogs. "How to deal with mama guilt." 33:14 Because there's not a mother that doesn't feel guilty at times. 33:17 There's not a daddy that doesn't feel guilt either. How to help your child worship 33:21 Jesus. Oh, my. go to the Website -- 33:25 disciplemama.com. Now, the point is, I know that you wanted your child. 33:30 Now, some of you got surprised with it. But I know you wanted the child. 33:34 I know that God wanted you to have that child. Now, here's the deal. 33:40 I don't care the circumstances that got you pregnant. The fact of the matter is that 33:45 God chose for that baby of yours to be born. Some of you have heard the 33:52 story of your past. Let me tell you something, girl. Let me tell you something, boy. 33:58 It doesn't matter the circumstances of your birth. What counts is that you got 34:02 chosen. You were chosen to be born. You need to lock that in your 34:06 brain every single day. I was chosen. I was chosen. Mom and dad, you need to lock 34:10 that into your brain every day. "She is chosen. She was born because God chose 34:14 her for us. Do you understand that you have the greatest mission a human 34:19 being can have on this planet? Get this. Here's what you've got to do. 34:23 This is why it's so great. You have to take a child from zero, okay? 34:26 So this is zero. You have to take a child from zero all the way to eternity. 34:30 That's your mission should you choose to accept it? It's from zero to eternity. 34:34 It doesn't get greater or more significant than that. Zero to eternity. 34:39 Zero to eternity. You may not even be pregnant yet. 34:44 But it is none too early to begin living by this same mission. 34:48 Put it on the screen, please, again for us. "What's the mission, Dwight?" 34:53 If you have been born in this season of the soon-coming of Jesus, 34:58 then you were born with this mission. If you're too young right now 35:02 to even know that there's such a thing as a mission, your parents are old enough 35:06 and wise enough to now know this is your mission. Whether you are adopted, 35:14 whether you came by natural birth, it does not matter. 35:17 The moment you came -- this is your mission. Alright. Seven of these. 35:24 Here comes number 2. Mentoring practice number 2 -- parents must declare 35:28 the name of the child. We read it just a moment ago. Both Elizabeth and Zechariah 35:33 are absolutely convicted. This is to be the name. We didn't have the luxury, 35:39 at least Karen and I didn't, of an angel coming along and say, "By the way, you're 35:42 wondering what to name that boy. You call him Kirk." No, we just chose Kirk -- 35:46 Dwight Kirkpatrick Nelson. But you know what? We didn't do this. 35:54 But you can do it. You're part of a generation being born 35:57 on the edge of eternity. Why did you and your husband -- Some of you are anticipating 36:00 that child. You're gonna have a child someday, and you're thinking, 36:03 "Man, what are we going to name this child?" Why don't you do this? 36:06 Why don't you huddle up, just the two of you, husband and wife, with Jesus? 36:09 And you say, "Jesus, given the mission we have, given the values we have embraced, 36:14 given the dreams we have for this child, what name would you recommend 36:18 that we choose for our child?" Someday that little girl is going to ask you, I promise you. 36:23 Someday that boy is going to climb up onto your lap, Daddy. He's gonna say, "Hey, Daddy, 36:27 why am I named this? Why did you name me this?" And that will be your aha 36:32 moment, given by the God of the universe, to tell that child, "You know what, Son, before you 36:36 were born, we picked your name out. Your mother and I prayed. 36:40 We asked Jesus to lead us to the name that would capture the values that we embrace. 36:47 That's your name." Do you know what? That kid's going to go through 36:50 life with his shoulders thrown back. "I got named because Jesus 36:56 helped my parents pick it." "Really?" "Yeah." 37:01 Okay. 37:02 There's seven mentoring practices. 37:04 Here comes mentoring practice number 3. 37:10 Now, this is really good, because from verse 68 37:13 through verse 79, Zechariah is pronouncing 37:16 a blessing upon his newborn son. 37:18 Now, little John. Come on. You understand? He's 8 days old. 37:21 Little John cannot comprehend a word of what his father is now saying. 37:25 But that's okay. The father addresses his boy, and I want you to see this. 37:28 This is beautiful, actually. It's the actual wording of a personal blessing 37:32 pronouncement. Drop down to verse 76. So you can see, 37:35 old man Zechariah, he's got that baby in his arms, 8 days old. 37:39 "And you, my child" -- he's speaking to John... 37:51 Whoa. Blessing. 37:55 Gary Smalley -- The great family-life 37:58 specialist, Gary Smalley, and the psychologist 38:01 John Trent collaborated together with a wonderful book. 38:05 You can still get the book. It's being printed. 38:07 It's called "The Blessing." If you're a young parent, 38:10 buy the book. It's a little paperback. 38:12 "The Blessing." In the in the book 38:14 The Blessing, they remind us that from time immemorial, 38:16 fathers and mothers have often gathered 38:18 their little ones to them and they have put their hands 38:21 on those heads and they pronounce the blessing 38:23 of God over their children. Abraham did it. Isaac did it. 38:26 Jacob did it. Joseph did it. Moses did it. Everybody did it. Jesus, in fact, 38:32 himself did it. Do you know that? Yeah, when they brought -- 38:35 When the mothers brought the little babies, they said, "We want you 38:38 to pronounce a blessing. Please, pronounce a blessing on our child." 38:41 And Jesus did it. Now, Gary Smalley and John Trent remind us 38:46 that in 1602, there was a book on Jewish family life 38:50 and practice with the German name "Brantspiegel." Alright? 38:55 In the book, these words on the screen -- 1602. 39:14 What a powerful way through touch and prayer, all through your child's stages. 39:19 I remember when I left home, my folks gathered me -- They gathered around me, 39:23 my little brother and sister. But I'm leaving home for the first time to go away 39:26 to Singapore to Academy, and their hands being laid on, and the blessing 39:30 is being pronounced. And my dad read the same verse that his dad read to him 39:34 when he left home for the first time. The blessing got passed. 39:38 Now, I didn't think a thing about it, but it was a big deal. You can do it, too. 39:45 Alright. Mentoring practice number 4. Now, this is a good one. 39:53 Alright. Zechariah certainly did that all the way through his 39:57 pronounced blessing. The child psychologist Donna Habenicht -- 40:00 She's a member of our congregation who happened to be sitting right over there 40:03 in first church. She has written a wonderful book. 40:06 Title of the book -- "How to Help Your Child Really Love Jesus." 40:09 In fact, if you bring your child to us for dedication to the Lord Jesus, we'll give you a 40:13 free copy that book, just like that. In the book, 40:17 she tells a story about a little family with a 2-year-old named Jonathan. 40:20 Okay, so the 2-year-old is going to church. Well, they're in a church. 40:23 It's the Sabbath. It's a little Adventist church. And when Mother and Father 40:27 took their eye off of that energetic little 2-year-old, he broke away from them, 40:31 raced up onto the platform, grabbed the prayer mic, put it in his mouth, 40:34 and said, "Hi, Jesus!" And the place all laughed. They were so happy. 40:41 The parents were going under the pew. Why was everybody so happy? 40:46 Because little Jonathan, 2 years old, associated coming to church with being with Jesus. 40:52 That's why. He got it. Now, Donna has 40:56 some great principles, and I'm going to ask you to jot these down, because I've put 40:59 them in there for you. I'm getting a bit of feedback and a ring on this, guys. 41:04 Turn me down just a little, please. Alright. Thank you. 41:08 So, Donna Habenicht -- Donna Habenicht comes up with this list of six. 41:13 And let's put it down. 41:14 Just jot these down. "Show your children" -- 41:16 Number one -- show your children Jesus' love 41:18 through your own love. Oh, that's good. 41:21 So what's she saying? She said, hug your little baby. 41:24 And you say, "Mommy loves you and so does Jesus. 41:27 Daddy loves you. Oh, Daddy loves you. And so does Jesus love you." 41:30 What's happening? The child is associating parental love with Jesus love. 41:35 That's all you want. That's all you want to have happen. 41:38 Alright, here's number two. Jot it down. Paint a friendly 41:41 picture of Jesus. Keyword -- "friendly." 41:53 Go, boy. You go, girl. You just made Jesus so happy. 41:57 Okay, here's a good one. I thought this one was good. 42:11 "Jesus, look at this beautiful rose. You made this." 42:15 Smell that. "Jesus made that. Thank you, Jesus." 42:19 What's happening? What's happening is the child is hearing conversation of Jesus 42:22 all through the day. And it's not like something you do only at night when you 42:25 kneel down with your parents. It's something you do. You can talk to Jesus 42:27 all day long. And that's exactly what we want that child to know. 42:31 What number was at? 42:33 Was that 3? Okay. That's right. Okay. 42:35 Number 4 -- joyfully introduce Jesus through stories 42:38 and pictures about His life. Have you ever heard of 42:41 "My Bible Friends"? We've got a whole generation 42:43 raised on "My Bible Friends." Guess what. 42:45 They're still in print. My grandchildren 42:46 are reading them now. "My Bible Friends" 42:48 is a beautiful way for youngsters to meet Jesus. 42:50 The pictures are full page. You'll never forget him out of 42:53 your mind. And so is a picture of Jesus -- 42:56 This is another idea. A picture of Jesus 42:57 surrounded by children -- put that on the wall. 43:00 So every time she wakes up, every time he wakes up, he sees the picture of 43:02 Jesus. "Oh, he's a friend of children." That's good. 43:19 One more. Number 6. Oh, this is important. 43:34 Wasn't that good? You can do it. Alright. Practice number 5 -- 43:37 parents must confirm the mission -- write that in, please -- 43:41 the mission of the child. Now let's read that again. Verse 76. 43:44 We were just there a moment ago. "And you, my child" -- the words of blessing. 43:58 Zechariah is not only blessing his baby, he's confirming the baby's 44:01 mission, to make ready. Put it on the screen again, because that's every baby 44:05 that's being born in this third millennial generation. "To make ready a people" -- 44:10 can put on the screen? 44:15 The reason I'm insistent on that is because if we can just lock this in our minds, 44:18 it'll stay with us. It won't just be gone. My mother, God bless her, 44:25 did not choose my career or my calling. It wasn't till I was a junior 44:29 in high school that God said, "You know what? You're not going into medicine. 44:32 You're going into ministry." My mother never pushed me one way or the other. 44:35 She just fed whatever was happening in my life, as far as life vocation. 44:41 But she took the opportunity. This is why I'm telling you this. 44:43 She took the opportunity every time it was appropriate to remind me 44:47 that I was born for a reason. She said, "Dwight, Jesus has a plan for your life, son. 44:53 Come on, boy. Jesus has a plan for your life." When I nearly drowned at 44:58 3 years of age in a little mountain lake and they pulled me 45:01 out of that water -- I should be dead. Boy, did she 45:04 start zooming that in. "Somebody is keeping you alive, Dwight. 45:07 Jesus has spared your life for a reason." At the age of 10, 45:11 in that same mountain lake, when I skied, slalom, one ski on water, headfirst 45:16 into a cement pylon, they said it sounded like a watermelon dropping on concrete 45:22 when the head hit. She said, "Dwight, somebody is keeping you alive. 45:27 Jesus is keeping you alive." At the age of 16, when I nearly drowned 45:30 snorkeling in Guam, she said, "Dwight --" I don't know how my mother -- 45:33 How do mothers make it that far in life? That's just -- That's awful. 45:37 Now, do you go through that, too, Mom? She just kept taking the 45:43 opportunity. You don't need near-death moments. 45:45 You just do it all the time. You were born for a reason. "I knew that, boy, the moment 45:48 I looked into your face." The father is speaking. "You were born for a reason. 45:52 And I'm telling you, don't you ever forget that reason. You may forget a lot, 45:55 but don't you ever forget. Jesus wanted you to be born. He has a dream for you." 46:00 Wow. "Desire of Ages." Look at this. 46:01 "Desire of Ages." Speaking of John the Baptist. 46:11 Wow. Mentoring practice number 6 -- 46:13 There are only seven of these. Here comes number 6. 46:18 Watch this. This is beautiful. 46:20 This is called "like father, like son." Are you ready for this? 46:23 Okay, let's do father first. Verse 67. And, "His father Zechariah 46:28 was filled with the Holy Spirit." Okay? 46:30 You got that in verse 67? Now drop down to verse 80. "And the child" -- John -- "grew 46:35 and became strong" -- the Greek can read -- "in the Spirit." 46:39 Like father, like son. Isn't that beautiful? So, hey, Mom and Dad, 46:45 why not pray the prayer every day? "Holy Spirit, today..." 46:50 Lookit. He's only 9 months old. But I'm holding him 46:53 here for you. "Holy Spirit, today, I want You to baptize him. 46:56 I want you to baptize him with Your power." And your mission -- 47:02 protect him. "Oh, and, by the way, Holy Spirit, she's just 47:06 11 months old, but I wish you would baptize me too, right now." 47:10 Every day, ask the Holy Spirit to baptize that baby and you. Oh, my. 47:17 What a difference. >> "Yeah, but, Dwight, come on. This isn't John the Baptist. 47:21 I heard Gabriel say he'd be filled with the Holy Spirit before he's born." 47:25 Oh, I beg to differ with you. Watch this. "Desire of Ages" 47:28 again on the screen. You have it in your study guide. 47:43 Beep keep reading. "If we will live" -- Mommy and Daddy. 47:46 "If we will live in communion with God, we too" -- Mother and Father -- 47:50 "we may expect the Divine Spirit to mold our little ones, even from their earliest moment." 47:56 When is the earliest moment? [ Inhales sharply ] Aaahh! 48:00 That's pretty much the earliest moment, isn't it? Did I get that right? 48:05 From the earliest moment. "Well, when he gets to be 10 or when she gets to be 12" -- 48:10 Nonsense. You start asking for the Holy Spirit 48:13 to fill your child newborn. And you never back off that prayer until you die, 48:18 because your children will never be out of your mind. Parents, that's why we've been 48:22 given these wrinkly knees. Because you're a parent until you die. 48:27 And that child, as long as that child is alive, is your mission field -- 48:32 "To make ready a people prepared for the Lord." To make ready a boy, 48:35 to make ready a grown-up girl. It doesn't matter. That's our mission. 48:40 Wow. Alright. There's one more. 48:45 Mentoring practice number 7... 48:51 Watch this. Reverse 80 again. We just read it. Verse 80 again. 49:02 "He lived in the wilderness." Question. Question. 49:16 Write that down. "You control what comes into your home." 49:20 The very word "wilderness" -- you think about it -- suggests less is better, huh? 49:24 "Less of what, Dwight, are you talking about?" Come on. Come on. 49:26 "What are you talking about? Less of what? If less is better, 49:29 If I'm to make a wilderness out of my home, what kind of less are you talking about?" 49:32 Jot down a few ideas that came to my mind. See if you can add to them. 49:43 Less streaming. Listen. You've surely lived 49:49 long enough to know that what gets streamed into a house these days is less 49:54 and less morally fit for human consumption. I'm just saying. 50:01 Less streaming. In fact, there is an unseen being. 50:05 Hold on. Hold on to your pew now. There is an unseen being 50:08 who uses Wi-Fi streaming to infiltrate the minds and lives of both children 50:13 and adults in the same house. Somebody in your house -- Somebody has to be monitoring 50:19 the content of that incoming Wi-Fi warfare into your home. And I imagine that somebody 50:25 is you, young father. I imagine that somebody is you, young mother. 50:30 Somebody has got to be taking control. 50:46 Less. So the very word "wilderness" suggests less is better. 50:51 "What's another less, Dwight?" Well, I'm glad you asked. Let me give you another one. 50:55 There's less streaming You're not gonna like this one. You're not gonna like this one. 51:02 There's less sugar. Come on. Listen to me, please. 51:08 You surely have lived long enough to know that baby food is packed full of sugar. 51:13 You've lived long enough to know that kids' breakfast cereals and everything else -- 51:18 packed with sugar. You now have lived long enough to know that adult food 51:21 is jam-packed with sugar because the food industry, the sugar industry, 51:26 has made certain that we are all addicted to sugar. All of us. 51:33 So there has to be somebody in your home that recognizes that there is an unseen being 51:39 who uses appetite. I'm talking about sugar. I'm talking about alcohol. 51:45 I'm talking about caffeine. Lookit. it was a big deal to Gabriel. 51:47 He said, "I don't want your boy drinking any of this." 51:51 Now, all he could talk about back then was alcohol. There would be some others. 51:56 He would say, "Listen. This child is gonna be ready for Jesus to come. 51:59 This child is going to be an agent for our kingdom, "to make ready a people 52:02 prepared for the Lord." Then he -- she will not drink this. 52:05 And guess what, parent? You will not drink that in front of that child. 52:11 You won't even drink it behind that child's back, because you have 52:15 the same mission your child has, which is to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. 52:20 Appetite is a big deal, and there is an unseen being in your house and mine that has 52:26 discovered that if he can manipulate appetite, and what's appetite? 52:30 I gotta have it. What's appetite? I got have it. 52:33 What's appetite mean? I gotta have it, and I gotta have it now. 52:36 He has discovered that if he can manipulate appetite, appetite becomes the power 52:41 and the passion that controls the house. There are some children 52:47 who only eat one meal a day. God bless them. One meal a day all day long. 52:56 All day long. Every time that child is hungry, food goes in that mouth. 53:01 Every time that child said, "I want some," food goes in that mouth. 53:04 Come on. If you keep cramming food by special requests 53:11 from your cherub, you keep pushing food to him, you keep pushing food to her, 53:18 how will she ever know that you can actually control this power inside of me that says, 53:23 "I have to eat right now"? You don't have to eat right now. And Mommy and Daddy, 53:28 if you're pushing food to your own lips all day long, you have just 53:35 negated your argument. You, too. You do little snacks 53:41 around the office. You do little parties at 4:00 in the afternoon. 53:46 You do. "You drink that. Why can't I? 53:51 You eat all day. Why can't I?" Come on. 53:56 Somebody in your household will have to be the one to take charge so that appetite 54:02 and passion are under control for all occupants under your roof. 54:07 Somebody in your house. I don't know who it will be, your mother. 54:09 I don't know who it will be, young father. But it has to be somebody, 54:12 because there is an enemy that has said, "I'll get you here." The very word "wilderness" 54:17 suggests less is better. Let me give you just one more. You can come up 54:22 with your own list beyond this. 54:27 You've surely lived long enough to know 54:29 that the toy industry, the technology industry, 54:31 the consumer industry live by the mantra "You got to have 54:35 more," right? More toys, more gadgets, 54:39 more stuff. Karen and I, if we could do 54:41 it over, and she was sitting in that row 54:42 this morning in first service. If we could do it over, 54:48 we would never agree to the purchase of that child's 54:51 first smartphone at the age in which we purchased it. 54:55 >> Amen! >> I'm telling you, Mom and Dad, beware of the plea, 54:59 "But all my friends have one." Mm. Mm-hmm. 55:06 Mnh-mnh. No. Nope, nope, nope, nope. God bless you, young mothers, 55:13 God bless you, young fathers, who have the adult courage, who have the chutzpah to say no 55:19 to more stuff around your heart, more stuff around your home. No. 55:26 For the John the Baptist generation of which you and I are a part. 55:29 Just like John, control of our appetites and passions is the only way 55:33 we will have the bodies and minds Christ needs for his end-game movement. 55:37 One last time on the screen, please. "To make ready" -- this 55:40 is our mission, folks. 55:43 That's why Jesus came to endure 40 days and 40 nights of fasting so that 55:48 He might conquer the appetite that has taken us all down. The whole human race has been 55:52 taken down by appetite. He conquered appetite. And He says, "In me, 55:56 you can do the same." That's why Jesus spent seven long, dark hours on Calvary, 56:01 to conquer sin. What sin? All sin. 56:05 So that you and I might find that sin conquered in our lives 56:09 through faith in Him. Somewhere in the Bible, there is this line... 56:19 I want you to remember that line, because it's not a bad one for you, young father. 56:25 It's not a bad line for you, young mother, to be able to say to your children, to be able to 56:28 say to your child, "Honey, hey, children, children, children, I want you to do this. 56:32 You imitate -- You imitate me as I imitate Jesus." 56:38 Come on, mothers. We're going to say to them, "You imitate me. 56:41 Go ahead, girl. You imitate me as I imitate Jesus." 56:45 And guess what. Because if you keep your eyes on Jesus -- you got that 56:53 part? -- they'll be safe in keeping their eyes on you. And that is the truth 57:02 of parenting. Amen. >> Amen. 57:09 >> Think of the last time someone said, "I'm praying 57:12 for you." Didn't it give you a sense of 57:14 peace and reassurance that somebody cares for me? 57:17 I know how I feel when I get an e-mail from one of our viewers saying, "Yo, Dwight. 57:20 I've been praying for you lately." There's nothing like knowing 57:23 someone is praying for you. So I want to offer you an opportunity to partner -- let 57:27 me, let us partner with you in prayer. 57:30 If you have a special prayer request or a praise of 57:32 thanksgiving you'd like to share with us, I'm inviting you 57:35 to contact one of our friendly chaplains. 57:36 It's simple to do. You can call our toll-free 57:38 number -- 877 -- the two words "HIS WILL," 877-HIS-WILL. 57:44 That friendly voice that answers, you tell him, you tell 57:47 her what your prayer need is, we'll join with you in that 57:50 petition. 57:51 May the God who answers prayer journey with you these next few days until we're right back 57:55 here together again next time. 57:59 ♪♪ ♪♪ 58:18 ♪♪ |
Revised 2020-03-19