Participants:
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP220820S
|
00:01 ♪♪
00:14 ♪♪ ♪♪ 00:28 ♪♪ 02:19 ♪♪ ♪♪ 04:22 ♪♪ ♪♪ 05:30 ♪♪ 07:08 >> Good afternoon, Church. I invite you to open your Bibles 07:13 to Psalms 78:1-6. "My people, hear my teaching; 07:20 listen to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth with a 07:23 parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old -- 07:27 things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have 07:30 told us. 07:31 We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy 07:36 deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done. He decreed statutes for Jacob 07:42 and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach their 07:47 children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and 07:52 they in turn would tell their children." Psalms 78:1-6. 07:57 >> Amen. 08:02 >> In this new year -- new school year -- 08:05 dedication service, we now play an instrumental 08:09 version of the hymn. "Father, Lead Me Day by Day." 08:16 This music expresses varied thoughts in the hymn text, 08:21 so I'd like to read the hymn text to you before we play. 08:28 "Father, lead me day by day, ever in Thine own sweet way; teach me to be pure and true, 08:38 show me what I ought to do. When in danger, make me brave; make me know that Thou 08:48 canst save; keep me safe by Thy dear side; let me in Thy love abide. 08:57 When I'm tempted to do wrong, make me steadfast, wise, and strong; 09:04 and when all alone I stand, shield me with Thy mighty hand. May I do the good I know, 09:13 in Thy loving child below; then at last go home to Thee, evermore Thy child to be." 09:27 ♪♪ ♪♪ 09:46 ♪♪ ♪♪ 10:05 ♪♪ ♪♪ 10:23 ♪♪ ♪♪ 10:42 ♪♪ ♪♪ 11:01 ♪♪ ♪♪ 11:20 ♪♪ ♪♪ 11:34 ♪♪ >> Amen. 11:47 >> And I want to -- I want to thank again my young friend Harald Osman, 11-year-old who 11:53 read the Scripture for us today. When I found out it was going to be an 11-year-old -- 11:59 I didn't know it was going to be Harald -- I said to Claudia -- I said, 12:02 "Listen, you better check with the mother to make sure. This is the longest passage 12:05 I've ever picked for a Scripture reading." Harald, I say it again, 12:12 you're going to be a preacher. [ Light laughter ] And I'm saying it now because 12:16 the seminary dean is here, Harald, and he's going to invite you to the seminary. 12:24 Harald, well done. God bless our kids. God bless our children. 12:28 I mean, look at all these kids. These are ours. They belong to this parish. 12:33 They belong to the university church. They are our young. 12:38 And we are grateful. So, let's pray and then go, please. 12:43 Oh, God. that's a wonderful prayer, "Father, Lead Me Day by Day." 12:48 What else could we ask on this eve of a new year? And we do thank you 12:55 for the children -- Harald and all of them. They're doing -- The children 13:01 that are coming next week, new students at this university, they're all children. 13:05 They're your children. We're all your children. So speak to us these few moments 13:09 we have together. We humbly pray in Jesus' name. Amen. 13:16 And "Moses answered, 'We will go with our young and our old, 13:22 with our sons and our daughters, and with our flocks and herds, because we are to celebrate 13:30 a festival to the Lord.'" 13:36 Philip Gulley, a Quaker minister, has written 13:40 a whimsical book. Title of the book -- 13:42 "Front Porch Tales: Stories of Family, Faith, 13:45 Laughter and Love." And it's full of all of that. 13:49 One of his childhood recollections 13:51 is of a time in which -- well, I'll let him put it here. 13:54 So I'm quoting Gulley now. "My family drove off 13:59 and forgot me. We were on vacation -- 14:02 five kids, Mom, and Dad. 14:05 And we stopped to eat at a Stuckey's." You have to go to first service 14:09 to know what a Stuckey's is. [ Light laughter ] "I was in the bathroom when they 14:14 climbed back in the car and headed out. They went 20 miles before 14:19 discovering they were short a kid." [ Light laughter ] 14:24 "Took a quick vote and decided to come back for me." [ Laughter ] 14:29 "It was almost a tie, but at the last minute, Mom changed her mind." 14:33 [ Laughter ] Oh, who would ever leave a child behind? 14:40 Hmm. 14:46 And :Moses answered, 'We will go with our young and our old, 14:53 with our sons and our daughters, because we are to celebrate a festival to the Lord.'" 15:00 The land of Egypt is wracked and ruined by this devastating assault 15:07 of divine plagues like precision missiles, laser-guided, one after another 15:12 of the pantheon of the pagan countries' gods eliminated. But the pagan monarch is 15:22 desperate to cut one more deal. "Okay, okay, okay. But you leave your children." 15:32 Moses -- unequivocal. "No deal with this wily king. Our children shall go with us." 15:46 Hmm. Period. We gather today 15:53 because this institution -- if you're talking about the university, if you're talking 15:57 about the congregation -- this institution long ago made a solemn vow -- 16:01 a perpetual covenant, if you please -- "Our children shall go with us." 16:09 We will not go alone. We will not leave them behind. The children coming next week, 16:18 the children the week after, we will not go alone. They shall go with us. 16:25 No other reason supersedes this one in our raison d'être. No greater reason can Andrews 16:31 and Pioneer find to validate our existence than this one -- "Our children shall go with us." 16:38 That is precisely Jesus' powerful point, and we need to get it. 16:42 Open your Bible to Matthew chapter 18. Matthew 18. 16:46 We're going to begin in verse 1. And while you're finding it, 16:49 let me just remind you, as if I have to, that Jesus was huge on the young. 16:55 In a society where children were to be seen but not heard -- quite unlike ours -- 17:00 Jesus kept pulling children into the center of attention. You think about it. 17:04 Two of his three miracles are for kids. The first one is a 12-year-old 17:11 only daughter. The second one is a teenage only son. 17:17 I had worship with Andrews Academy faculty this Monday, and we spent some time 17:21 thinking about that boy in a little mountain village called Nain. 17:27 His mother's a widow. That boy was her only sustenance, 17:31 her sole provider. But when Jesus -- and I told the faculty, by the way, 17:37 he's a teenager. They said, "How can you find it? 17:39 It's not in the record." I said, "Watch this." When Jesus raises the boy 17:43 back up, the first words -- the very next words in the Gospel are, 'He sat up and began 17:50 to talk.' And who loves talking more than teenagers?" 17:53 And when he's up, said, "Where were we when I fell asleep?" Jesus was huge on the young. 18:00 When the children shouted hosannas in the church, grumpy old Pharisees walked over 18:04 and said, "Come on, can't you hush up these kids?" And Jesus said, "Do you know 18:09 what? God has ordained the praise that they're speaking right now." 18:13 On another occasion, Jesus went so far as to say Heaven is for the young. 18:19 I'm telling you, he was huge on the young. And so, when the disciples 18:23 come elbowing their way into Jesus' attention that day in Matthew 18, 18:27 they have one question on their minds. It's not kids, it's themselves. 18:31 "Yo, Master, which one of us is the greatest? Me or he, me or he, me or he, 18:35 me or he, me or he?" Jesus says, "You missed it all." Let's go, Matthew: 18, 18:44 right there at the top, New International Version. Here we go. 18:47 "And at that time, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, 'Who, then, is the greatest 18:51 in the Kingdom of heaven?' And Jesus called a little child to Him and 18:55 placed the child among them." And I love the way Mark described it. 18:58 Jesus puts his arms around the child, so He's just holding that child. 19:01 Was it a girl? Was it a boy? We don't know. But He wraps the child. 19:05 What a picture of Jesus. What a tender thought. He just hugs the child. 19:11 "He places the child among them." And then he says to the boys, 19:15 "Truly, I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, 19:20 you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes 19:24 the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. 19:28 And whoever welcomes one such child in My name welcomes Me.'" 19:33 Isn't that beautiful? "Whoever welcomes one child welcomes Me." 19:39 In a few days, we're going to welcome a whole lot of "childs" who are coming to this 19:44 university for the first time. Yes, we are. And this is -- this is a big 19:48 deal now, because for two years, Pioneer has not been able to host its annual 19:53 new student dinner, where we put tables out under all those trees. 19:56 And we have them sit down, and we're giving them home-cooked meals and food. 20:01 And, ah, so now, after two years missing it, we get to do it. Speaking of "welcome," 20:08 we get to do it. By the way, so many of you -- true story -- so many of you 20:14 have promised to bring food that we need more families to host a table 20:21 and bring no food. [ Light laughter ] No, seriously. 20:25 "Good for Pioneer," I'm saying to Pioneer. So, listen, if you would be 20:29 willing to host a meal, somebody else has made the food. But you're going to sit 20:32 at that table and just love on those kids for the few minutes 20:35 that you're with them, on behalf of this campus congregation. You just do that number, 20:40 269-281-2345, and you just text the word "picnic." I'll be there, 20:45 and we'll count on you. We need you. Well, how does the line go? 20:49 "And whoever welcomes one such child in My name welcomes Me." And I know what you're thinking. 20:54 "Yeah, do I? But that is talking about tiny tots, and these are not 20:58 tiny tots coming to us." You are wrong. And now I'm going to show you. 21:02 The very next verse, Jesus pivots on His sandal and, oh, boy, here He goes. 21:08 Matthew 18:6 -- here it comes. "'And if anyone --'" By the way, fellows, 21:13 "'If anyone causes one of these little ones --" the Greek word for "little" is "micro." 21:19 Micron. So, everybody knows what "micro" is. 21:22 There's macro and there's micro. Everybody knows micro is small, little. 21:27 "Well, see, I told you, Dwight, they're tiny tots." Keep reading. 21:30 "'If anyone causes one of these little ones -- those who believe in Me --'" 21:35 Intellectual ascent is going on. There's cognition. They're making choices. 21:41 You don't have tiny tots doing that. So now he's raised the bar, 21:46 and come to find out, many scholars believe that, in fact, he's talking 21:49 about new believers. You can be any age and be in that category. 21:54 "'If anyone causes one of these little ones -- those who believe in Me -- to stumble --'" 21:59 Stop. Hold it. The Greek word is scandalized right there. 22:02 Scandalize. So, whatever is going to come, this is -- this is scandalous. 22:10 "'If anyone causes one of these little ones -- those who believe in Me -- to stumble --'" 22:14 keep reading -- "'it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck 22:19 and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.'" End quote. 22:23 This is provocative stuff. Can you believe it? Frederick Dale Bruner, in his 22:32 marvelous two-volume commentary on the Book of Matthew, he unpacks this for us. 22:39 So let's do -- Let's go to his unpacking. "The millstone of which Jesus 22:44 speaks is not the small, hand-operated --" You know that little, round 22:47 thing? Shh-shh-shh-shhh. No, it's not that. 22:49 "But the large, mule-driven one --" it's huge -- "making the picture 22:56 particularly grotesque." Because what did Jesus say? What are you going to do 23:00 with that large stone? "When Jesus says that it would be better to be drowned 23:06 with this stone around the neck than to trip up even one little one --" 23:10 and, remember, anybody fits in the "little one" -- "He means that it would be a blessing if a 23:16 person died this awful death before misleading a little one by false teaching or false 23:22 living and so suffer eternal damnation." Whew! 23:28 That's pretty heavy. What's going on here? You know what's going on? 23:34 Jesus is quietly, but seriously, upping the ante. He's raising the bar 23:41 on the high price, even the the higher expectations that attend 23:46 spiritual leadership. And anybody that works at a Christian university wants to 23:51 be known as a spiritual leader. It doesn't matter what discipline you represent. 23:56 We're all spiritual leaders. And he's just raised the bar on us. 24:01 Whoa. Apparently, spiritual leaders for Christ must be on the alert, 24:10 on the lookout for that which would scandalize -- to borrow Jesus' language -- that which 24:15 would scandalize a young or a new believer into a path of certain doom. 24:22 "What in the world, Dwight, are you talking about?" I spent part of my study break 24:30 this summer drilling down on this insidious killer arrow 24:36 in Satan's demonic quiver -- the arrow that he has saved till last. 24:42 Poison arrow. Wshooh! Phhh! 24:47 That arrow. "But what are you talking about?" 24:50 I'm talking about pornography and sexual addiction. That arrow. 24:56 You know what the truth is? I realized this summer, pornography, sexual addiction -- 25:01 one leads to the other. One leads to the other. It doesn't matter. 25:07 You're dead meat either way. Whoa. How insidious, how deadly is 25:15 this last arrow in his quiver? Let me run a few numbers by -- there are books of 25:21 numbers, but I've picked seven. So, I'm going to run seven stats by you right now. 25:26 Stat number one -- "Porn is a global, estimated $97 billion industry, with about $12 billion 25:32 of that coming from the U.S." China is the highest in the world 25:35 in consumption of pornography, but the U.S. is right behind. Stat number two -- 25:41 "In 2019 alone, the equivalent of nearly 6,650 centuries --" When I wrote this down, 25:49 I thought it meant years. And suddenly, I realized when I was going over it 25:52 with a PowerPoint producer Friday, I realized, "Good night, that word is 'centuries.'" 25:58 6,650 centuries. That would be 665,000 years of porn was consumed 26:07 on one of the world's largest porn sites. And they're proud of it. 26:10 Not going to tell you what that porn site is, but they're boasting. 26:14 "6,650 centuries have been spent with human beings looking at that screen 26:18 and consuming our product." You can't believe it. Stat number three -- "One out of 26:26 three Americans seeks out porn at least once a month -- 32%. 49% of Americans never seek out 26:33 porn." Well, at last, some good news, that less than half of the 26:36 nation doesn't even look. Stat number four -- "49% of young adults -- 26:41 college students -- 32% for teens -- say all or most of their friends 26:45 use porn regularly." I had a kid from the academy in my office this last winter, 26:49 and that's exactly what he told me. He said, "Everybody does it. 26:52 Everybody." Really? What is this, number five? 26:58 "51% of all Americans seek out porn at least occasionally." Half the nation. 27:03 "57% of young adults -- 18 to 25 -- seek porn at least once a month." 27:07 That's our college age now. Six -- "Practicing Christians --" this is a quote 27:12 from Barna's research -- "Practicing Christians do, indeed, seek out porn 27:17 much less frequently than other teens and adults." And that's good news. 27:22 "Just 2% of practicing Christians search for porn daily, compared to 8% of 27:26 the other Americans. Seven in 10 practicing Christians -- 72% -- report 27:30 never searching for porn --" God bless you -- "compared to 39% of those who 27:35 do not practice Christianity." So Christianity does have an effect -- holding back. 27:42 But there's -- there's one more quote. This is significant. 27:47 This is number seven. "A low-priority faith is strongly correlated with 27:52 more frequent porn seeking. In fact, self-identifying Christians --" 27:56 "Are you a Christian? "Yeah." "Are you an Adventist?" 27:58 "Yeah." "Self-identifying Christians who do not consider 28:01 their faith important --" "I'm just following along because Mom and Dad are there. 28:05 It's not a big deal for me. I'm not in it." "Self-identifying Christians 28:10 who do not consider their faith important are more likely than the national average 28:15 to seek out porn daily, weekly, once or twice a month." Unbelievable. 28:21 What's this telling me? What's this telling you? 28:24 Just because students are on our three campuses 28:27 and say they are Adventists or Christians does not mean 28:30 they are not regular users and consumers of pornography. 28:34 And by the way, that would apply to adults. 28:35 Just because you teach or work in a Christian university 28:38 does not mean you are not a sexual addict. 28:41 That's what it's saying. The lines between the world 28:46 and church have become hopelessly blurred. 28:49 But this much, we can know -- going back to Jesus 28:51 in Matthew 18. 28:52 He is unequivocal in his warning against spiritual leaders. You're talking about parents 28:56 and teachers and pastors and chaplains and professors and spiritual volunteers 29:00 of all stripes, Sabbath-school teachers and elders. 29:06 Jesus is warning us against doing anything to cause the youth -- 29:12 to cause the young believers to endanger and even lose their souls. 29:19 He could hardly be more stern in the warning. Come on. Matthew 18:6 again. 29:25 "'If anyone causes one of these little ones -- those who believe in Me -- to stumble, 29:31 it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck 29:34 and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.'" Talking about a bright 29:40 red-letter warning. Wow. Jesus seems like he's really ticked off. 29:44 No, he's not really ticked off. But he really loves children of all ages. 29:52 He loves children. And if you make that child lost... 30:04 There are some who, in the name of compassion and tolerance 30:11 and broad-mindedness, like they like to say, are unwittingly, 30:16 unintentionally pushing a sexual-addiction advocacy that can go like this. 30:23 "Hey, listen, girl. Hey, boy, I'm not against that. I mean, look, look, 30:27 everybody's different, and everybody has a right to enjoy sexual expression the 30:31 way they feel is right to them. So don't worry about it." But, frankly. 30:40 that no-stand kind of stance can push boys in their early 20s, 30:49 can push girls in that same age bracket, can push them into a way of 30:55 sexual living that will end up in the scandalizing loss of their souls. 31:02 That's the point. 31:08 It is not compassion. I don't care how you describe it. 31:12 It is not compassion to turn a blind eye to what you know is wrong. 31:17 It is not compassion to say, "Hey, it's different strokes for different folks." 31:22 That isn't compassion at all. That's culpability. And you're pushing him. 31:30 "Go, girl. Come on." Why would you do that? Why would you want to do that? 31:41 Jesus is right. There is a high price for those who are called 31:45 to spiritual leadership. Is it too high a price? I think not. 31:49 Hey, listen, there's no higher privilege in life than to be called by Jesus, 31:53 as you have been called and as I I've been called, to shepherd children of the faith, 31:59 to say to them, "No, no, no, no, no, hey, hey, hey, don't go -- don't, don't, don't, 32:03 don't, don't. Don't go down there. Yeah, yeah, come back, come 32:05 back, come back, come back." No, no, no, no, no. To shepherd, to guard, 32:10 to protect, to love on the young, who can be every age in the heart of Jesus. 32:19 And by the way, you don't do that as a policeman. You do that as a spiritual 32:24 guardian, a mentor. Think seriously about what you say to kids. 32:32 Think seriously about what you publicly advocate. And don't -- don't mistake 32:38 your tolerance for compassion. That's all. It's not compassion. 32:51 And by the way, to help you be that mentor, that spiritual friend, this fall -- 32:57 We got our lead chaplain sitting on the front row, José Bourget. This fall, 33:03 the Center for Faith Engagement has invited Pioneer to join them in sponsoring a sexual-purity 33:08 conference called "Pure Desire" in October. And I'm going to give you 33:12 the dates in October. This outside organization will come onto our campus 33:17 for a Friday night and a Sabbath conference, the likes of which we have never 33:20 seen on this campus. And it'll be dealing, this conference, with sexual 33:25 addiction, sexual freedom, and sexual purity, from a Christian point of view. 33:31 Okay? Because they will charge all attendees, 33:36 Pioneer is going to raise the money to greatly reduce the per-attendee charge. 33:41 And by the way -- of course, you're right -- students are our first priority. 33:44 Is that not right? Students are our first priority, but also high 33:48 on the priority list are teachers, our volunteer leaders, 33:51 spiritual mentors, chaplains, pastors, parents, elders. Why? 33:56 Because -- The Sabbath-school teachers. Why? 33:58 Because it takes a village to raise a child. Can't just say, 34:01 "You got to raise a child." No, it takes a village, or at least a campus, 34:04 to raise a child. And so they're reminding everybody to sign up. 34:10 More on that later. But the point is, we can't just sit here and cluck our tongues. 34:15 "Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, oh, what a mess this world is in," wringing our hands, 34:19 "What shall we do? What shall we do?" Nonsense. 34:22 We act. We act. 34:29 Because sexual-purity leadership means we lead the way. Which leads 34:39 to one more statistic. I wish I didn't have to share this one. 34:42 This will be number eight. From Barna. "Barna research in its 34:47 national survey discovered one in five youth pastors -- 21% -- and one in seven 34:53 senior pastors -- 14% -- 'admitted they were currently using porn.'" 34:57 It's an anonymous survey. 35:02 "About half do so at least a few times per month, and the vast majority feels 35:07 guilt or shame when they do so. More than half the youth pastors who use porn -- 56% -- 35:13 and one-third of the senior pastors who use porn -- 33% -- believe they are addicted." 35:20 It's sad. It's the truth. Now, before you put on your 35:26 pharisaical garbs and look down that long nose of yours, if those numbers 35:33 are true for pastors, what's to say they aren't true for professors? 35:39 What's to say those numbers aren't true for teachers? What's to say those numbers 35:44 aren't true for spiritual leaders? Apparently. 35:50 Frederick Dale Bruner, again, draws from Jesus' words this somber caveat. 35:59 "One's eroticism --" we'll just call that sexual addiction, okay? -- One sexual addiction 36:05 "may be breaking out in one's conversation," and one has no idea 36:09 what's happened. "Nobody knows about me. Nobody knows what I'm doing," 36:15 you may think, but Bruner has a point. "One's sexual addiction may be 36:24 breaking out in one's conversation --" unwittingly -- "in one's lifestyle, 36:29 and in one's teaching more often than one realizes, with deleterious effects 36:35 on the community." We all suffer. You don't know it. 36:44 But we've been affected. It doesn't matter what you teach. 36:48 It doesn't matter what you do. My. So, apparently, you're not 36:55 just hurting yourself. 36:59 In other words, if you yourself, as a spiritual leader in any form, are struggling 37:05 with porn and sex addiction, you are a wounded practitioner whose addiction is subtly 37:11 but negatively impacting all the children you teach, no matter their age, 37:17 no matter your subject, which means the emphasis this fall has to be on us -- 37:22 me, you, all of us. Jesus has all the power. We all need to be set free 37:32 from all our addictions. And we all have addictions. So that's good news 37:41 for all of us. How did he put it? Ah. The Sermon on the Mount -- 37:46 "Blessed are the pure in heart," He said, "for they shall see God." 37:52 That's a beautiful text. "Call upon Me," quoting the same God -- 37:58 "Call upon Me in the day of trouble, and I'll deliver you." 38:00 "Yes, I will." "And you will glorify Me." Oh, yes, you will. 38:04 "What a testimony I'm going to give you when I deliver you." Here's another one, 38:08 "For I will contend with him," that dark warrior with his deadly arrow. 38:14 "I will contend with him, who contends with you, and I will save your children." 38:20 Can I get an amen to that promise? "I will save those children. 38:23 I want to use you, but I don't have to use you. I need to use you. 38:27 I will contend with the one who contends with you, and I'll save your children. 38:31 Your children. Your children -- I'll save them." 38:37 I remind you, this same Jesus contends with that mutual enemy at the Cross, 38:44 in that mortal battle, down to the last dying breath. It is hand-to-hand combat 38:51 at Calvary. And when he wins a victory -- oh, I love the way Paul 38:56 comes along and says, "Let me tell you about that victory at Calvary." 38:58 This is Colossians 2:15 -- one of my now-favorite verses. Colossians 2:15 -- 39:03 "And having disarmed the powers and authorities, Jesus made a public spectacle 39:07 of them, triumphing over them by the Cross." Isn't that good news? Wow. 39:13 Triumphing over them. Lucifer has been shamed ever since Calvary. 39:20 Shamed in the eyes of the universe. "Look what you did to the King." 39:26 But by the King's victory, look what He can do -- Jesus -- for you and me. 39:33 Ah. Everything we need for a life of purity is already ours 39:39 in our Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one that makes it come true. 39:45 "Blessed are the pure in heart." He'll make that true for you and me. 39:50 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they should see God." Hey, listen, I want to be pure 39:55 in heart, don't you? I want to have the purity of Jesus. 40:02 I don't want anything impure in my life. Jesus, I want to be like you. 40:08 That's what spiritual leaders are. They want to be like Jesus. 40:12 And I want to protect every child You send to me, Jesus. Every -- Every student 40:17 that you entrust to me, I want to protect that child. I don't want to send her, 40:22 I don't want to send him down a scandalized pathway that ends in doom and death. 40:30 So help me, please. So help me, God. That's what I want. 40:36 Don't you want that? Come on. Spiritual leaders, I know. 40:39 I know. "Our children shall go with us." And by His grace, 40:49 they shall go with us. We're going, and they'll go with us. 40:54 So we come to that moment when we have a chance, as a campus -- three campuses 40:59 and one congregation -- to go online -- to go on -- put it on the line, 41:05 put it on the banner, "I want to be that kind of a leader, by the grace 41:10 of the Lord Jesus Christ." I'm not raising my hand because I'm perfect. 41:13 No, but I want to be that kind of a leader that points people to purity 41:20 in Jesus. So, this will be time number 10th. 41:24 Time number 10th. [ Chuckles ] Oh, my, the years have flown by 41:29 since 2013. 41:31 Turns out, this will be our president's 41:33 and my last time to officiate at this unforgettable moment. 41:38 But what an honor, for the 10th time, to invite you. 41:43 You say, "Who are you talking to, Dwight?" 41:44 I'm talking, as a symbol of our new year's dedication 41:46 to spiritual leaders, I'm talking about every 41:48 teacher -- private, public school, homeschool, 41:50 doesn't matter. I'm talking about all faculty, 41:52 staff, and administration on all three campuses. 41:55 I'm talking this year about adding the spiritual leaders 41:57 of children at Pioneer. So if you're working with 42:00 children downstairs, I'm inviting you to come forward, 42:02 as well. You're an elder, I'm inviting 42:04 you to come forward. Put your name up. 42:06 Chaplains, come on. We'll all do it together. 42:14 We're not doing this for anybody but for our Lord Jesus. But I got to admit, 42:19 it's a joy to be able to put your name there and know that by the grace of God, 42:23 I've made a decision this New Year to be the leader you need me to be. 42:27 And I'm saying that, too. Is it coming down? I'm just trusting that it is. 42:35 I haven't looked yet. Okay, now, here's the deal this time, because I know you're 42:40 really concerned about this. Just two squirts will do it, and just be wiping your hands 42:45 all the way back to your pew. Alright? So, our organ 42:48 is going to begin playing. There's no fancy fanfare. At the end, 42:52 our president will get up, Andrea Luxton, and she will lead us 42:55 in the litany of dedication. You say, "Where is that?" It's in your bulletin. 42:58 It's right there in your bulletin. And we will read that 43:00 responsively with our president in just a few moments. But, first, come on. 43:05 Let's say you'll be the brave one that will step out and say, "Dwight, I'm a part of that 43:09 category. I'm a spiritual leader on this campus, and you can count 43:12 me in." And you just grab one of these red pens, and I'll be out of 43:15 your way, and you just walk up there. And we need the taller ones. 43:19 Come on, if you are tall, you got to go up here. Don't right in the box. 43:24 But go up here and fill up the white space there. [ Indistinct conversations ] 43:32 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 44:00 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 44:28 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 44:55 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 45:22 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 45:48 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 46:15 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 46:38 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 47:01 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 47:27 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 47:53 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 48:20 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 48:45 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 49:12 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 49:38 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 50:02 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 50:24 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 50:46 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 51:09 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 51:31 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 51:54 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 52:17 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 52:39 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 53:01 ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Indistinct conversations ] 53:18 >> If you would like to turn with me now to your bulletins -- 53:22 maybe it'll be up on the screen, too -- we have a litany we're 53:26 going to read together. And I will read 53:28 the leader's portion, and I'll invite you to join me 53:32 in the people's portion. Deuteronomy 6 and 7. 55:13 Our Lord and our God, as we begin another academic year here 55:20 at Andrews University and in the family of Pioneer Memorial 55:24 Church, we ask for Your blessing with us. 55:30 We need You. You have asked us to reach out 55:34 to You in our prayers and ask for Your guidance. 55:37 And we do that today. We know that we have a good year 55:42 ahead. We know that's because 55:45 we are asking You to be with us during this year. 55:50 We pray for all those who work on the campus 55:54 of Andrews University, Andrews Academy, 55:58 Ruth Murdoch Elementary School. 56:01 Each of us needs You, Lord, and we ask for that today. And we pray, Lord, 56:08 for every student that is here and will be coming, in the next day and the next week 56:13 and the next two weeks. We ask that each of them, too, receive 56:18 a portion of Your blessing as they come to this campus, because it is all together that 56:25 we become a community of faith -- a community of faith that You have called us to be. 56:31 So today we dedicate ourselves to You, with the knowledge that You will 56:37 answer our prayers. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. 56:42 ♪♪ ♪♪ 56:58 >> Before you go, let me take an extra moment 57:00 to share with you an opportunity to get into the Bible 57:02 in a fresh, new way. All across the world, 57:05 more and more people are hearing the call to examine Scriptures 57:07 for themselves. If you've felt drawn 57:10 to learn more about God's Word, but you don't know where 57:12 to start, or you're just looking for a more in-depth examination 57:15 of Bible truths, then I have something right here 57:18 that I believe you're going to enjoy. 57:20 I want to send a series of guides to get you started. 57:22 This one is entitled "Why Does God Allow Suffering?" 57:25 Each guide begins with a story and an introduction of the 57:28 subject, then through a series of focus questions. 57:30 You'll be learning portions of the Bible 57:32 you may never have known before, and when you're through, 57:34 you'll be able to share with others some of these 57:36 inspiring Bible truths. So just call our toll-free 57:39 number. It's on the screen. 57:40 877 -- the two words "His will." Our friendly operators 57:44 are standing by to send these study guides to you. 57:46 Once again, that's 877-HIS-WILL. Call that number, and then 57:51 again, join me next week right here at the same time. 57:55 "New Perceptions." ♪♪ 58:08 ♪♪ ♪♪ |
Revised 2022-08-31