Participants: Justin Kim, Christian Berdahl
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR000956
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01:02 When you come to ASI you expect
01:04 to be thrilled and challenged and 01:07 stimulated and go home remembering 01:11 experiences where lives were changed. 01:13 Where God is using people just like you 01:16 and me to reach this dead and dying world. 01:21 Today you're not going to be 01:22 disappointed at all. Christian Berdahl over 01:26 ten years ago founded the Shepherd's 01:28 Call Ministry. Christian came from 01:31 a background of abuse and hardship 01:34 and heartache, but God used him in a 01:36 remarkable way, now in a ministry of 01:40 music and the spoken word in both 01:43 secular setting as well as in 01:44 spiritual settings. He's invited around 01:47 the world to ministering to cross 01:49 denominations in secular events and all kinds of 01:54 opportunities. Christian, how in the world did 01:56 you end up becoming a Christian? 01:58 Well my, I was raised in a 02:00 non-Christian home and my, 02:03 I was raised in non-Christian home 02:05 and my mother was a non-Christian 02:09 and she gave me the name Christian, 02:11 I don't know how, I've asked her that, 02:13 she said I don't know I just like the name. 02:15 She says now it was providential 02:17 praise the Lord. But I was raised in 02:19 an abusive home. My mother was a 02:22 17-year-old young girl when she had me. 02:26 My father was 19-years-old he was 02:28 a drug user and an alcoholic and an 02:32 adulterer, finally my mother after 02:34 having two different children decided 02:36 to divorce him and she was a single 02:40 mother taking care of three of us boys 02:43 and sent off to babysitters. 02:45 The babysitters unfortunately 02:48 the babysitter's son stole my innocence 02:51 as a young boy and then from there 02:55 my mother remarried and she remarried 02:58 to a man who became our worst 02:59 nightmare actually and he was 03:01 extremely abusive, very violent, 03:06 I've been whipped, I've been tied up, 03:08 I've been tortured, I've had open wounds 03:10 from the, from the top of my neck to my heels, 03:14 and so it was a tough, a tough life as a child. 03:18 I learned that you put on a face even 03:21 though your life is absolutely horrible 03:24 and terrible and you act like everything 03:26 is okay, and that was my 03:28 existence as a young child. 03:29 It seems that when we look at people 03:32 we don't know anything about 03:34 their background. We don't know what's 03:35 in their backpack, but even through 03:37 this heartache and tough time you 03:39 had growing up God still has chosen to use you. 03:43 Which amazes me because I, 03:45 how He got a hold of my life is absolute, 03:48 an absolute miracle because growing 03:50 up when you have father figures 03:53 abuse and then my biological father 03:56 molested all three of us boys and so 03:59 we just had so much baggage and so 04:00 much weight and so much hurt and pain 04:03 that I honestly couldn't believe that there 04:06 was a God in heaven that wanted to do 04:09 anything good to me. Because everyone I 04:12 had trusted had always hurt me so, 04:14 for God to take me from that to 04:19 singing and preaching for Him is a miracle. 04:21 Well just think how many kids are out 04:23 there that are going through this same 04:24 kind of heartache that you did. 04:25 I mean it's not that uncommon and here 04:28 we just look at people all cleaned up and 04:30 smiling and saying good morning and how 04:32 are you today as though nothing was wrong, 04:36 and yet there are people that are hurting 04:37 everywhere and you must have had 04:39 terrible pain as you went 04:41 through this experience. 04:42 Well it was true, you know there 04:43 were no answers, nobody ever shared 04:45 Jesus with me. I, in fact as I, 04:48 as I graduate, actually what 04:49 happened was I kept crying out and kept 04:52 crying out and there was no answer. 04:53 I cried out to God and there was no answer 04:55 and I said well if there is a devil out there 04:57 and you can help me, get me out of this 04:59 and of course God said, he doesn't know 05:01 what he's saying amen. So God has protected 05:05 me somehow someway I was, 05:07 I was violent as a child. I tried to take my 05:09 life a number of times. I was suicidal, 05:11 but it never went through. 05:12 God had always protected me even 05:14 though I didn't know him or acknowledge Him. 05:16 I was still His child. And then as a, 05:19 this abuse went on until I was a sophomore 05:22 high school when I went to child 05:23 protective services and I started telling 05:26 them a story. What if something 05:28 like this was happening. What if this was 05:30 happening. Not saying it is because I couldn't 05:32 trust anybody. My mother had 05:33 mentally and emotionally checked 05:35 out and my life was just a mess, 05:37 so my mother finally woke up and divorced 05:41 my step-father praise God and we left 05:45 actually with the police standby the day 05:47 we were moving out. We had police standing 05:49 there with their petrol cars in case he 05:51 went crazy because he was pretty 05:52 much crazy anyway. So what happened 05:55 was I got involved in theater, 05:57 I started finding escape in the theater arts 06:00 as a young person. I went to a Christian 06:03 retreat as a young person and all it was, 06:06 was if you don't worship God you 06:08 don't love God, you're gonna burn 06:09 forever and I thought well there you go. 06:11 It's just like the rest of the father figures 06:13 I've had in my life and so 06:14 I wasn't interested. This was high school? 06:17 This was in the high school. 06:18 And then right out of high school beginning 06:19 year of college I got involved in television 06:22 and video production and there I found 06:25 another escape, I stopped doing theater, 06:27 I started three, two business 06:29 which grew into three. We were successful 06:32 as young people. I was 21, 19 to 22 06:37 years old and I was making lots of money. 06:40 My, my career was expanding and audio 06:42 and video production and I was, 06:46 my business partner had embezzled from us. 06:48 Oh my. And, and totally ruined 06:50 our companies and I couldn't recover 06:52 them and so I was taking any job 06:54 I could to try to put my financial 06:56 life back together. And I was called by 06:59 a producer one and he asked me if I 07:01 would like to go and direct thing called 07:03 a camp meeting. I had no idea 07:05 what a camp meeting was and I grew up 07:07 camping and enjoying camping, 07:08 so I thought sure I like camping. 07:10 I'll take the job, so I took the job 07:14 and I show up on location looking for 07:17 the man who is running the camp meeting 07:19 and I said I understand this is a camp 07:21 meeting and you know we'll setup our, 07:23 our establishing shot now, 07:24 our audience reaction shot, 07:26 do we need a handheld remote for 07:28 shooting like the tent and cooking 07:30 demonstrations you know. And he's like tent 07:33 demonstration, what are you talking about? 07:34 I said well this is a camp meeting right? 07:36 He said yes and I said I assume 07:38 you're gonna be demonstrating camping 07:39 equipment right and he says oh no, 07:43 no camp meeting. He said I've never 07:46 heard that that's good. And so I said, 07:51 oh what's a camp meeting? 07:54 And you know there is a bunch of RVs 07:56 out there in tents and people walking 07:57 around and hiking boots, so I'm thinking you 07:59 know it's a camp meeting. And he goes no, 08:02 no, no this is a religious meeting that 08:03 people camp at and I went oh! Great, 08:09 I'm gonna learn about the God that 08:10 never did anything for me. 08:14 So where did it go from there? 08:15 I mean here you're in a camp meeting 08:17 and you're expecting to be putting up 08:19 tents and have a bunch of 08:20 boycotts making fire. 08:21 Exactly, there were no fires, 08:24 there were no boycotts, there were a lot of 08:26 strange people and they were, 08:28 I learned they were called 08:29 Seventh-Day Adventists. And they talk different 08:32 and they walk different and they dress 08:33 different and the music was different, 08:36 but what happened as I sat there in the 08:38 control and we had a portable van 08:41 and as I sat there in that production van 08:43 and I was switching, I was being drawn 08:47 in to what was being presented. 08:50 I had seen now someone present 08:53 Jesus in a way I had never heard before. 08:58 Isn't that indeed how God works. 08:59 Amen, so here I'm the technical guy 09:01 which is where I'm very comfortable. 09:03 I'm petrified to be right here 09:04 right this moment. I'm not the front guy. 09:06 I'm much more accustomed to be behind the signs. 09:10 I like it back there with all the, all the crew. 09:14 So I'm being drawn in. I'm hearing, 09:17 America was in the, was foretold in 09:20 prophecy and I'm hearing about the health 09:22 message and this guy is up there eating 09:24 weeds off beside of the road saying God 09:26 has provided Daniel's diet, 09:29 and I'm like who is Daniel. 09:30 I knew nothing and I'm thinking these 09:33 people are so weird, but I like them. 09:35 This is really, this is really different. 09:39 Be encouraged dear ones. 09:40 Yeah, I'm just a heathen that knew 09:44 nothing you know. So here I'm listening 09:47 to all this and by the end of the, 09:49 the meeting the man that was running at, 09:51 he and I became friends and I was having 09:54 some serious health issues. 09:55 He helped me through those. 09:56 I became a vegetarian, I became a vegan 09:59 vegetable and my strength return. 10:01 I'm stronger now at 40 then I was at 25 10:05 or whatever it was at 24 and so what 10:09 happened overtime was God let my life 10:12 to spiral out of control and I couldn't 10:16 find a job in production, by this time I had 10:18 amassed wonderful skills, I was directing 10:22 and editing and shooting and writing. 10:24 I've been working with ESPN and PBS 10:26 and Nickelodeon and a lot of high end 10:28 corporate work and my career was really 10:31 taking off. And when we 10:33 moved actually here to Chandler, 10:36 Arizona in the record heat. 10:39 Do you think it's hot today, 10:41 no it was hot a number of years ago. 10:43 Record days over 115. The hottest day was 10:45 the 127 and I was selling cars without air 10:48 conditioning, my life had went all the 10:51 way down. So what happened was 10:54 I just decided I'm gonna take a trip, 10:56 went back to California and I had a desire to go 10:59 see that guy that ran that camp meeting. 11:02 Something inside of me was changing, 11:04 my girl and I had separated. 11:06 We've decided, got her pregnant, 11:08 we lost our baby at five and half months 11:11 and it was a traumatic event for us, 11:13 so we decided that we shouldn't be intimate 11:16 together as worldly heathen people because 11:19 there were consequences for that and we weren't 11:21 ready for marriage and so we were taking 11:25 steps backwards in the eyes of the world, 11:27 but we didn't realize that we were taking 11:29 steps forwards in God's eyes. 11:31 And so He separated the two of us. 11:34 I went and saw my friend and I told him 11:36 how my life was falling apart he just 11:37 started laughing. And I said what are you 11:39 laughing at? This is not funny. 11:40 He said, yes I told you a long time ago 11:43 God has a calling for your life, 11:45 amen, and I said I don't know what that means, 11:47 but maybe you're right. So at the end of that 11:49 conversation he says to me you know 11:53 I can really use a man like you in my ministry 11:56 and doing video and graphic design 11:58 and all this type of work and friends, 12:00 I wanna tell you this, I tell you this very 12:02 seriously I knew right then when he 12:05 said to me I could really use a man like you. 12:09 God put a picture like a movie 12:14 in front of my eyes. And I saw He showed 12:17 me right then. I think it happened 12:18 in a split second. I don't know how 12:20 he has this technology, but it's fascinating and 12:22 he played this movie in front of my eyes 12:25 and I saw where Jesus had been there 12:28 from my birth. He had been there, 12:30 I never took my life. He had been there 12:32 and He protected me when I prayed 12:34 the prayer even to the devil and He 12:36 showed me all of these things to my life 12:38 how He had trained me, how He allowed me 12:40 to be trained up to be used for Him 12:42 in a later day. And I just thought 12:44 what just went, right through mind 12:46 and how He separated me from my, 12:48 my fiancee and all these things because 12:50 He had to do something to me that I 12:53 needed more than anything and that 12:55 was to deliver me from my baggage, 12:58 to deliver me from my sin. 13:03 And when I said I'll take the job. 13:09 It sounds like the Shepherd's call? 13:11 It was the Shepherd's call, 13:12 that's the name of our ministry. 13:13 I heard the Shepherd calling amen. 13:16 And He said Christian, I want you to come, 13:18 all broken and messed up like you are. 13:20 I need you, I want you, I love you. 13:23 And I thought to myself what. 13:24 And friends, I kind of joke about 13:26 this but I think a guardian angel grab, 13:28 my guardian angelgrab my jaw and 13:31 imitated my voice and said I'll take 13:33 the job because there is, there is no way 13:37 that I was gonna go and leave Arizona 13:39 where my girl was who I was still 13:40 in love with, and go work for a ministry. 13:43 I mean everything was not fitting, 13:46 so he said really you'll take the job 13:49 and right then I knew I was making 13:51 a decision that would change my whole life. 13:54 I said yes, I'll take the job 13:57 and I didn't know what that meant. 13:59 Eventually I stayed there and I worked 14:01 for that ministry for two and half years, 14:04 and we studied out the Sabbath 14:06 that next day. He said if you're gonna 14:07 work here, you got to understand 14:08 why I go church on Saturday. 14:09 He presented it to me right from the word 14:11 of God and I went wow is everything 14:13 that clear in the Bible? He said yes and I said 14:15 well I guess I'll be a Sabbath keeper. 14:17 And we started studying over and over 14:19 everything, every doctrine and I 14:21 fell in love with the Bible. 14:23 I fell in love with the spirit of prophecy, 14:25 amen, praise God for both. 14:26 Amen, amen where did you go from there Christian? 14:29 From there we went to my, 14:34 actually where I wen from there was a 14:35 really good thing. God brought Coby 14:37 back into my life. Praise the Lord. 14:39 And that was the miracle. I don't have time 14:40 to get into all of that, but God throug 14:42 a series of miracles brought her back into 14:43 my life as a, as a prayer to one 14:46 of my fleeces and by God's grace I was 14:49 this brand new Christian and God had did 14:52 something for me that I will be forever grateful. 14:57 He took away all of that baggage. 15:01 Amen. He took away all the pain and all 15:03 the molestation and all the anger and all 15:06 the rage and he just did, he performed some 15:09 sort of surgery that it no longer holds me 15:13 back and she saw that. She said, 15:15 what's going on with you and I didn't even 15:17 know what's happening. What's going on with you? 15:19 I said I don't know, she says but I like it 15:21 and I said well praise God, 15:22 and she says the good parts of you are gooder. 15:25 That's not a good word but or better. 15:27 And the bad parts of you are, 15:29 where are they? And I said I don't know, 15:31 and she said what's going on? 15:33 I said it's Jesus. It's Jesus Christ. 15:36 I said you haven't heard the Jesus that 15:38 I've learned about now. You and I were not taught 15:41 about Jesus when we were going up. 15:43 She was raised in an atheist home. 15:46 And so she just started breaking and crying 15:48 and I had the privilege over the next couple 15:50 of weeks to bring her to Jesus Christ. 15:53 Amen, amen, amen, and now you're actually 15:56 being called, how did the ministry 15:58 get started and you're being called into 16:00 remarkable places around the country 16:03 and really am anxious to know how he 16:07 made a difference in the various 16:09 places you're being invited to? 16:11 We'll leave out a large chunk of us getting 16:14 married and her believing everything 16:16 and my children being born which we're told 16:18 would never happen. And then God said Christian, 16:21 I want you to go out and I want you to 16:22 start singing and preaching. 16:24 Now friends I knew like, I don't know ten 16:27 songs that were Christian songs and I would 16:29 use special music. I'm not a trained vocalist. 16:31 I don't have any training. I don't know how to 16:34 sing professionally and so he said go 16:39 and sing and I said but father, me. 16:42 You're at the bottom of the barrel come on 16:44 there is other people surely they can do this. 16:46 And he says go out and preach. 16:47 I said preach, I had done one sermon 16:50 on the dangers of television and it got out 16:52 there somehow. You know that's how God is. 16:54 He takes your little humble efforts and says 16:56 wow and he just sheds them out there. 16:59 And all of a sudden I'm invited to a 17:00 camp meeting. We want you to come. 17:02 We want you to sing, we want you to do 17:04 a sermon and when I got to my location 17:08 I went to my room. I went to pull out my 17:10 notes because I was petrified as 17:12 I'm right this moment, and he says I went 17:14 to find him and guess what had happened. 17:16 I had left all my notes in the seat back 17:18 pocket of the airplane. Praise the God. 17:20 Praise the God. You see you're much, 17:24 much more senior in the faith my brother. 17:27 What I was like oh Lord, you called the 17:30 wrong person. And, and so that I went 17:34 the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy as 17:35 my custom had become and found Sister 17:39 White's first vision. I had, I had never 17:42 heard it before, I had heard about it 17:44 and you know the vision of heaven where 17:46 she is talking about the tree and the river 17:48 of life and all other things and as I was 17:51 reading it God said, put that song there. 17:53 Put that song there and in 35 minutes a 17:56 program entitled a vision of heaven was 17:58 born and that program we've done all around 18:01 this country and internationally. 18:03 And so he impressed my heart go out 18:07 and do this and the people were blessed 18:08 and they were blessed and I was blessed, 18:10 and God showed me I will give you a way 18:14 that you can go out and sing and preach 18:16 and it will not be about you. 18:18 It will be about me and my spirit of prophecy. 18:21 Amen, amen so you give this kind of 18:24 message even in evangelical 18:26 churches do you? Correct, yes, 18:27 we're really running long here but 18:30 I'm gonna have to cut our program short. 18:34 Not all, what happened is God put me, 18:35 I came in through this, to the truth, 18:37 through the independent movement 18:40 and God did something to me and what He 18:42 did was He put me in almost exclusively 18:45 in a Seventh-Day Adventist churches 18:47 when our ministry was started. 18:48 I said Lord if this is what you want me to do, 18:50 you need to make the phone ring, 18:52 because I'm not gonna call and go hi, 18:53 I can come sing at your church. 18:54 I didn't wanna do that, and so the phone 18:58 started ringing and they came, 19:00 I don't know how anybody knew about me, 19:02 but the word spread I think the angels 19:04 went around and said bring Christian, 19:05 because they needed to, you people needed to 19:09 teach me something and that was everywhere 19:12 that God's people are, no matter where they are, 19:15 no matter what church they're in. 19:17 There is a certain group of people 19:20 That has a flame of Jesus Christ burning 19:23 and God told me took these are my people 19:26 and I want you to be among them. 19:28 And not only that I want you to be 19:29 with them and ultimately God led me to become 19:32 by profession of faith to join the 19:34 Seventh-Day Adventist church, 19:35 praise the Lord, and now I'm an Ordained 19:37 Elder in the Seventh-day Adventist Church 19:40 and this is God's church my friends and we 19:42 can play games and say oh this is problems here, 19:44 problems there, friends, there are problems 19:46 everywhere. If there is a perfect 19:48 church I've decided I won't join it 19:49 because I'll ruin it. 19:52 You even get to go to 19:54 Pentecostal churches do you? Yes in fact 19:56 what happened was a friend of mine said 19:58 hey we want to invite you into a Sunday Church. 20:02 My uncle runs a Sunday church would 20:03 you do that. I had only done it in 20:05 my mother's Baptist church and I said sure 20:08 I love to do this program for any of 20:10 God's people. And it opened up my 20:12 mind to the fact that not only in the 20:16 Seventh-Day Adventist Churches but in the all 20:18 of the churches across the land. 20:20 There are the same people that have the 20:22 same flame burning my friends and Jesus said, 20:25 go and fan the flame. And so yes we go 20:29 and we do these program in public venues 20:32 at salvation armies, we do them at 20:34 food kitchens, we do these programs 20:37 in Pentecostal churches and church of 20:38 Christ and God and all these different churches. 20:41 They, they invite me and I don't go to do 20:42 a special music and support their service. 20:44 They give me the pulpit and I do 20:46 the service. Praise the Lord. So I introduce 20:48 them to the Spirit of Prophecy right under 20:49 own churches and they can't believe 20:51 how beautiful heaven is and they say where 20:53 did you get this and we say this I've got 20:55 plenty of more material you can 20:57 read if you like. And so praise God 21:00 for that and so they get introduced 21:02 to Desire of Ages, Steps to Christ right 21:04 in their own churches and they 21:05 invite us back. Praise the Lord. 21:26 Sitting at the feet of Jesus, 21:34 Oh, what words I hear Him say! 21:42 Oh happy place! So near, so precious! 21:51 May it find me there each day; 22:00 Sitting at the feet of Jesus, 22:09 I would look upon the past; 22:14 Oh for His love has been so gracious, 22:25 It has won my heart at last. 22:46 Sitting at the feet of Jesus, 22:55 Where can mortals be more blessed. 23:04 There I lay my sins and sorrows, 23:12 And, when weary, find sweet rest; 23:20 Sitting at the feet of Jesus, 23:29 There I love t weep and pray; 23:38 While I from His fullness gather 23:46 Grace and comfort every day. 23:54 Give me, Lord, the mind of Jesus, 24:03 Make me holy as He is; 24:09 Oh may I prove I've been with Jesus, 24:20 Who is all my righteousness. 24:29 Who is all my righteousness. 24:46 Good morning. To those who are not here, 24:51 but good evening to you. Happy Sabbath. 24:58 Bit nervous, forgive me. We stand here amidst 25:04 many ministries, many presidents, 25:08 many deans and professors and important 25:11 people and I ask myself, why am I here 25:16 and I like to thank ASI for this opportunity 25:20 to be up there, to in many sense 25:23 and in many ways to make a fool of myself, 25:25 but that's my profession. The foolishness of 25:28 preaching for Jesus Christ. 25:32 As one who has witnessed many friends 25:34 and associates emerge out of the ASI 25:36 Youth for Jesus Program. I attest to its success 25:40 and necessary role in the Adventist church 25:42 especially in these last days, 25:44 I really they do. ASI has been a 25:46 wonderful parent to GYC a Generation of Youth 25:50 for Christ and it has provided structure, 25:53 wisdom, professionalism and a certain classiness 25:57 that ASI is known for. Is that true? 26:01 Look around you walk around and there is 26:02 a certain wow this is, this is ASI. 26:07 I don't know maybe you've been here 26:08 and waiting for 20 years passing on see it. 26:09 When I came here is this is ASI. 26:13 We say it that way ASI. GYC's other parents is 26:20 CAMPUS the Center for Adventist Ministry 26:22 to Public University Students. 26:24 With CAMPUS' unabashed characteristic 26:26 to tackle Biblical issues and to be uniquely 26:29 and unashamedly Seventh-Day Adventist 26:31 on difficult university settings GYC is 26:35 the if you will love child of these both, 26:38 these two sponsors. ASI has a special 26:41 commitment to evangelism and 26:43 has had a enormous cascade effect to youth 26:46 ministry as evidenced by GYC's desire 26:49 to connect young people with self 26:50 supporting and church ministries. 26:53 This evidence is not only in 26:54 North America friends. This is all over 26:56 the world and what you see here is ASI 26:59 and Jesus guys coming up. The effects are worldwide 27:05 and always jealous that they have the coolest 27:07 t-shirts. The affect of the smallest things, 27:12 these new answers, trickle down. 27:14 I just came back from Zambia. 27:16 And people there are watching this screen 27:19 and they are thinking wow what can we do 27:21 be like ASI Youth for Jesus. 27:23 What can we do like to be like CAMPUS, 27:25 what can we do to be like GYC. 27:30 The whole world looks to these three 27:31 organizations for the cutting edge trends 27:35 in Youth Ministry. So this morning 27:38 though this evening or somewhere 27:39 in the world's morning. I'd like to share with 27:44 you the importance of youth and its 27:47 ramifications for the large organizations 27:50 such as ASI. Before we do so I ask you 27:53 to bow your heads with me. 27:58 Father in heaven, we ask if we've 28:00 offended thee in anyway for the blood 28:04 of Jesus to cover each person in 28:06 this small hall. Father, be with the speaker, 28:11 cleanse the sins off his lips, 28:13 be with every person who uses, 28:15 cleanse the sins off their ears and may 28:16 Jesus be glorified tonight. 28:18 We pray this in Jesus name, amen. 28:20 Get you Bibles, please open to 28:21 Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter 2, 28:23 you still have your Bibles with you amen. 28:26 ASI still give them Bibles. Yes, yes, yes okay 28:29 Luke chapter 2, Luke chapter 2. 28:32 Luke is the third gospel, chapter 2 is the second 28:36 chapter of Luke, verse 40, verse 40 to the end. 28:43 This is a, this is a not a, this is a common 28:49 story that all of you know and tonight I 28:52 hope not to tire out but through the Holy Spirit 28:55 to have a full understanding of 28:57 this passage verse 40. The child grew and waxed 29:02 strong in Spirit and filled with wisdom, 29:04 and the grace of God was upon him. 29:07 Verse 41. Now his parents went to Jerusalem 29:10 every year at the feast of the Passover. 29:13 When he was 12 years old, they went up to the 29:15 Jerusalem of the custom of the feast. 29:17 And when they had fulfilled the days as 29:18 returned the child Jesus stayed behind in 29:20 Jerusalem and Joseph and his mother 29:22 knew not of it. These is one of their 29:24 few passages we see of Jesus' childhood 29:26 in the scriptures. We don't see any other 29:28 stories of Jesus' childhood. 29:30 We don't see whether he was 29:31 dating in high school. We don't have any 29:33 teenage years, we don't know if 29:34 he was a bad kid. I'm assuming he was 29:36 a very good kid okay on Mary's knee. 29:40 But this one story is mentioned and 29:42 has importance to us today. Verse 40, 29:45 the child grew, isn't this amazing. 29:47 Jesus grew and what this passage 29:50 is saying is. This is not an isolated 29:54 event proclaiming the divinity of Jesus, 29:57 but this has merit for us as human beings. 30:00 That means there was a point in Jesus 30:02 when He wasn't doing something 30:04 or He didn't know something and then 30:06 after a certain period of time He grew into it. 30:10 And this gives us hope for as humans. 30:12 Verse 41, the feast of the Passover came 30:16 and his parents went to Jerusalem. 30:17 Now Passover was the big events of the year. 30:23 Joseph and Mary every year would 30:25 come to the feast of the Passover. 30:28 They get on feast of the Passover.org 30:31 and register for the Passover. 30:34 They'd meet relatives, friends, ex-coworkers. 30:37 They had registered for the annual 30:39 Passover convention in Phoenix, Arizona. 30:44 Every year they would pack their luggage 30:46 and load up their donkeys and go 30:48 through donkey port and go through 30:50 TSA and go through load their booth 30:53 and come to the airport, the donkey port 30:55 in Phoenix and just go through the, 30:59 the this of comings to Passover okay. 31:07 Every year they would meet other kinfolk 31:10 and acquaintances while waiting inline 31:12 for the registration at Passover. 31:16 Every year they would lineup for 31:17 registration, they get a print outs 31:20 of the program. They give them 31:22 the registration form in genealogy of 31:24 their background to make sure who they are. 31:25 They get a name tag a brochure 31:27 and they read through who the speakers 31:29 were and what seminars were being presented. 31:33 They look around for which hotels were 31:37 nearby Jerusalem. Place to stay, 31:41 to move in unpack and perhaps while 31:45 and during their stay there was a young 31:47 Asian Rabbi who spoke on Friday nights. 31:54 Verse 42, When Jesus was 12 years old, 31:57 they went to Jerusalem after the custom 31:59 of the feast. Meaning Jesus for 32:01 12 years did not get to go but finally 32:04 when He is 12 years old He gets to go 32:07 to Passover, Passover. Classy place, 32:15 prestigious place. The Hebrew culture 32:18 made 12 years old the year when one 32:20 became a son of the law. Son of the commandment 32:24 and we call this Bar what? Mitzvah, 32:28 this point on, this child was no longer 32:30 a child but became an adult and here 32:32 on Jesus' Bar Mitzvah he attends the feast 32:34 with his parents. Verse 43, when they had 32:36 fulfilled the day as they returned 32:37 the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem 32:40 and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. 32:42 Do you know the story? This is famous yes. 32:45 As they returned Jesus tarried behind 32:48 Joseph and Mary did know that Jesus was 32:50 not with them. The fact that the parents 32:53 did not know gives evidence that the parents 32:56 trusted Jesus and that He was a good child, 32:59 however this also gives evidence that Jesus 33:02 left His parents intentionally. 33:06 He was making a point, He's a good kid and good 33:09 kids don't leave their parents and make 33:11 them sad for no reason. 44, but after they 33:17 supposing to Him to have been in the 33:19 company went a days journey and sought 33:22 him among their kinfolk and acquaintances. 33:25 Joseph and Mary became entrenched 33:27 in the annual humdrum of the convention. 33:31 How many of you have been here many years. 33:33 Don't raise, please don't raise your hands. 33:36 This is your 90th year being here. 33:40 Is ASI that old? I don't know, 33:42 don't answer that question. 33:44 But you know I'm talking, 33:45 I'm just talking about ASI, 33:46 I'm talking about GYC, I'm just talking 33:47 about GC which is anything that people 33:49 come to, do you ever get into the mode 33:51 that you like just go. Then you go home. 33:55 You're calm and you go home. 33:58 You know what I'm talking about. 33:59 And those of who you have red coats 34:00 this is your first ASI. This is, 34:02 this is a wonderful experience, 34:04 but I see the eyes of those who 34:05 wear black coats. Yes, we're here again. 34:09 Now don't get me wrong I love ASI, 34:11 this is a great occasion and the Lord 34:13 uses events like this to pour forth 34:16 this Holy Spirit amen. But there is a danger 34:20 when you come to events large such as this. 34:26 Joseph and Mary allowed other interest 34:28 to take up their attention. 34:31 It was the same speakers, the same schedule, 34:33 the same food, the same annoying 34:35 people and the same not annoying people 34:37 that came to talk to them. 34:40 Perhaps their parents were engaged 34:42 in idle talk. Mary was finding out 34:44 what happened to Elizabeth and her 34:46 other relatives. Joseph was trying to 34:48 find out what the politics was behind 34:50 the new high priest. Maybe others were 34:53 making fun of their carpentry for 34:55 Yahweh booth in the booth section 34:57 I don't know. Now these are 34:59 not all horribly bad things, 35:01 but the key word is this in verse 44 35:03 the Bible reads, but they what? 35:08 Suppose, they assumed Jesus 35:12 was with them the entire time. 35:14 Do you ever, do you ever feel that way? 35:17 You come to events such as this 35:18 and you assume Jesus is with you 35:21 somewhere in the background. But the, 35:23 but the excitement, the adrenaline rush 35:26 of being with other people you kind 35:28 of lose track of Jesus, but he's kind of 35:30 somewhere in the back of your mind. 35:34 They assumed Jesus was with them. 35:38 For a whole day in the large crowd 35:40 and in the Greek access of a caravan. 35:45 There were some of the things that were 35:47 going wrong. One, in large groups such 35:50 as this there is ambition that's being 35:52 showed off. In large groups, 35:56 people are finding golden opportunities 35:58 and everyone wants that golden 36:00 conversation to find that golden businessman 36:03 or golden businesswoman to provide gold. 36:09 Am I making sense here? Ambition and 36:13 they're looking across to the other 36:14 side of the booth and like who is he talking, 36:16 oh he's talking with, I got to get in 36:19 that action. There is pride, 36:22 there is showing off, there is display, 36:24 there is throwing around weights. 36:27 My booth is larger than your booth. 36:31 I have tracks, I've key chains, 36:34 I've highlighters. There is a level of 36:41 gossip and the joviality happening here. 36:42 They're talking about everything and it's 36:45 just making sense. I'm being very real here. 36:48 I'm 28 years old, I don't know what 36:50 to categorize myself. I'm not an adult, 36:53 but I'm not a young person. 36:55 And we are very sensitive to see 36:57 what's happening. And this is the reality of it. 37:02 An additional thing is people are traveling. 37:04 You ever come on Wednesday evening, go 37:06 to registration, all of us are grumpy. 37:10 People are mad, they are tired, 37:12 the time change. The last thing they 37:16 wanna do is wait in line for registration 37:18 for another 30 minutes. We find you're A through 37:21 L and K through C or whatever it is. 37:27 This is part of the experience. 37:30 And during the whole time you think 37:32 Jesus is with you, but he is what. 37:35 He is not, he's tarried behind. 37:38 For a whole day they lost their child. 37:39 They spent the whole day assuming that 37:41 such a good child as Jesus was with them 37:43 and after all these were their family 37:45 members all hanging around. 37:46 This is, this is the in house, 37:48 there are the saints surely we're okay here. 37:52 This is the okay ground, Jesus should be okay 37:55 and these are my, our family members. 37:57 How many days have we been here 37:59 without Jesus. How many days have 38:04 we been here without intimate contact 38:08 with Jesus. Not about Jesus, 38:11 not hearing about Jesus, not seeing Jesus 38:13 in pictures and making green paintings, 38:16 but intimate contact with the Lord 38:18 and savior of the universe. 38:21 We have assumed that Jesus has 38:23 been with us. Verse 45, when Mary and 38:26 Joseph found him not, they turned their 38:28 back again to Jerusalem seeing him. 38:30 They came to pass, that after three days 38:32 they find him in the temple sitting in 38:33 the midst of the doctors both hearing him 38:35 or hearing them and asking them questions. 38:38 For three days and we don't know how 38:40 these three days work if it's additional 38:41 three days or it's one day they went back 38:43 and then they went back you know 38:44 I don't know, but three days later, 38:46 they haven't seen their child. 38:48 Now you understand, this is Mary. 38:50 Now how many of you are wives and mothers. 38:54 Wives and mothers when they lose 38:55 something they go into red alert mode. 38:59 How many women have lost keys, 39:02 handbags, passports, check books, 39:06 cell phones, children? Now you understand, 39:12 Mary was given the sacred trust 39:14 of the Son of God. She lost the Son of God. 39:24 Now you understand this was her own, 39:26 this was her child, a miracle birth. 39:30 In addition while she was giving birth 39:33 to this child there was a whole Egyptian, 39:35 the persecution had to go to Egypt. 39:37 So this child was someone that she 39:39 just treasured a little bit more then 39:41 anything else. Do you think that she 39:45 is gonna lose this child again. 39:47 The possibility, she is freaking out. 39:52 Mothers, you identify. She had nightmares 39:58 of harried. She was thinking, what will I do. 40:04 My mother lost her cell phone once 40:08 and for about a couple of hours she's gone around 40:11 looking for things and after a couple of hours 40:12 passage goes in panic mode. 40:14 Do you know what I'm talking about? 40:15 Once you're in the panic mode, 40:16 you go into crazy mode, 40:17 once you go into crazy mode, 40:18 you go into insane mode, 40:19 once you go into insane mode, 40:20 you go into irrational mode. 40:22 She's looking for her cell phone everywhere. 40:23 Now men do this absolutely, 40:26 but it's all internal we don't say it out loud. 40:29 We search for the whole house 40:34 and guess where it was. 40:36 It was in the refrigerator. 40:41 Sometimes life is hectic isn't it friends. 40:45 Get a sandwich and put your cell phone. 40:47 Here they finally come after three days 40:51 and they find him in the temple sitting in the 40:53 midst of seminary professors. 40:56 In my imagination Jesus is wearing a night robe, 41:00 I don't know why all the uncles after stories 41:01 having the night robe. He's in a night robe 41:03 and he has a Jackie Onassis's haircut. 41:05 He's surrounded by these 41:06 theological professors of his day. 41:07 And these doctors should have received 41:10 the message of Jesus. With a certain humility 41:13 or the certain divinity he's asking them 41:15 questions and then answering questions 41:17 on his wonderful beautiful dialogue. 41:19 I would have chopped my left hand 41:21 for a transcript of this discussion. 41:23 If these professors would have ushered 41:27 this message they would welcome the Messiah. 41:30 But 18 years later some of them are planning 41:35 to kill Jesus. Verse 47, all that heard him 41:40 were astonished at his understanding 41:42 and answers. And I'm telling you this, 41:43 as you see these little Munchkins 41:45 and little kids up here. 41:46 The ones who are 12 years-old are capable 41:49 of deep theological ideologies. 41:53 If Jesus could do it, 41:55 and if Jesus was someone who grew, 41:57 then the potential for our young people 42:00 is just the same amen. 42:02 Today young people are not sufficiently 42:06 challenged enough. This generation 42:09 that's coming has had the world 42:11 handed to them and they do not want the world 42:13 unless a challenge that is given to them 42:16 is beyond them, and there is only 42:19 one challenge that it meets to dignity 42:21 of the youth today. 42:22 And that is spreading the gospel, 42:25 the Three Angels Message not just 42:27 in North America, but the entire world. 42:29 The world is at their finger tips 42:32 and the previous generation must hand this 42:37 baton wisely, gently and forcefully 42:41 to this next generation. 42:43 Young people at age 12 are capable of 42:46 this kind of mission amen. 42:47 But they're not sufficiently 42:50 challenged enough. The largest problem is 42:52 church is that young people are sheltered 42:54 in the church, but they're not converted 42:57 and they know the world is bad. 42:58 And they know they should stay here, 43:00 but because they're converted, 43:01 so they're stuck in this trap. 43:03 They hate being here, 43:04 they know they shouldn't be there, 43:06 so they're in between. 43:08 And finally one day they'll crack 43:09 and they'll go out into the world 43:11 and never comeback. 43:12 A high enough challenge will keep 43:16 the young people involved. 43:18 Once converted youth can be one of most 43:21 powerful forces however they need expertise, 43:25 wisdom and experience of their elders 43:27 with this bond the results 43:28 can be catastrophic. Verse 48, 43:31 when the parents saw him, 43:33 they were amazed and his mother said unto him son, 43:36 why has thou thus dealt with us, 43:39 behold thy father and I have sought 43:42 these sorrowing. And now the translation is, 43:44 you have caused us pain. 43:46 Verse 49 He said unto them, 43:50 How is it that ye sought me? 43:52 Wish thee not that I must be about my 43:54 Father's business? And they understood 43:56 not the same which he spake unto them. 43:58 Meaning, the parents didn't get it 44:01 and I tell you as a young person that 44:03 there is nothing more frustrating 44:04 when your mom and dad don't get you. 44:06 I told my mom, mom, 44:09 I'm going to Arizona, Phoenix. 44:10 I'm speaking at ASI. Oh that's nice honey, 44:13 make sure you wear a coat. 44:14 Oh it's a 117 degrees out there. 44:18 Oh you wanna bring some sun block. 44:20 Joseph and Mary did not know what Jesus' 44:27 mission was. When a 12-year-old boy is lost. 44:30 Where do you go? Do you go the seminary building. 44:33 Is that your first choice that you go to? 44:35 For three days they probably went to the 44:38 bakery, they probably went to the 44:39 children's museum. They probably went to the zoo, 44:42 they probably went to the school, 44:44 they probably went to the summer school 44:45 education. I don't, I don't know. 44:47 You go where kids go, amen. 44:49 And the seminary was the last place they 44:52 thought Jesus would be. 44:53 They were trying to know where would Jesus be. 44:58 They were trying to know, think inside his brain 45:01 if I were a 12-year-old boy where would I be? 45:03 Would I be at the felafel station, 45:05 would I be going over there 45:06 getting sweets from the, 45:07 from the sugar guy or where, 45:09 where would he be? Many people today think 45:12 they know young people. 45:13 They think young people want rock and roll, 45:17 drums, dancing, the Macarena 45:19 and macaroni Sabbath schools. 45:21 They wanna play sesame street puppets 45:23 in Sabbath school. They want Holy piercing 45:25 and tattoos. They wanna hang out at coffee shops, 45:28 have music, chill sessions, 45:30 they gonna have playgrounds 45:31 inside the church, disco balls, bakeries, 45:34 candy shops and zoos inside church. 45:36 Now the thing is as a young person 45:38 do you know how awkward that is? 45:40 If you wanna go to those things, 45:43 you go to those things, 45:44 you don't go to church to do those things. 45:47 You go to church, you go to church. 45:49 But there is a generation of youth for Christ today 45:56 who want to be about the father's business, 46:00 who want to be in the father's house. 46:03 Starting at age 12. Do you understand ASI 46:08 we are at an important sociological cloisters 46:12 in the church. For one generation 46:14 we swung rights. We went into traditionalism, 46:17 we went to legalism, we abused some of 46:19 those principles. The next generation 46:21 that came swung all the way to the which side? 46:23 To the left, and they went to the other side 46:25 and they said hey, lets do away with this 46:26 and do away with this. And now here we are 46:29 in the third generation with a blank slate. 46:31 We can see the mistakes of what one generation did 46:34 and the abuses of another generation. 46:36 And we have an historical prospective, 46:38 right now the youth are at crucial point 46:44 where we need the experience 46:46 of the previous generation. 46:48 And what I'm tell you is this, 46:49 ASI is on the cutting edge of providing 46:53 that kind of support. This generation is radical, 46:58 they wanna be nuns and monks for Jesus. 47:02 They want to be David Livingstons, 47:04 they want to be Martin Luther Kings, 47:06 they wanna be John Wesleys, 47:07 George Whitefields, John Wycliffes. 47:08 Despite the all these good things 47:11 there is a generation 47:12 who wants to take this social justice 47:14 and they want to help humanity on the next level 47:17 in making the Three Angels Message a reality. 47:21 Not just some mantra 47:22 we shout out from the pulpit. 47:24 Now Jesus interesting He says, 47:30 My father's business. This was not their child. 47:34 This was the Father's child. 47:37 Too often we think the things 47:40 that are in our care are ours. 47:42 Joseph and Mary were given a special sacred 47:45 trust and in essence they abused it. 47:48 They didn't abuse it by disobedience. 47:50 They didn't abuse, they didn't lose it 47:53 by some kind of huge sin. 47:54 They just assumed that the status quo 47:58 would be the status quo. 48:00 Our resources are not ours. 48:03 Often we become indifferent, 48:06 and completion in North America 48:07 because of our riches and resources. 48:10 We start thinking that action results 48:12 and projects initiated by us bring forth results. 48:16 The reality is that our projects 48:21 and our ideas are too low 48:23 and too common placed. 48:24 We have to start saying what does 48:26 my father wants. My father is a big God, 48:30 a big God has big projects, 48:31 big projects need big money. 48:33 In North America despite the economy 48:38 we have a lot of money. 48:39 We still play golf in this economy don't we? 48:42 We still have people who get $90 haircuts 48:46 don't we? We still have movies, 48:49 they're still surviving aren't they? 48:51 Big projects need big money 48:55 and we should not be ashamed of our 48:57 financial resources. There is a sentiment 49:01 the Adventist church that to be Holy 49:03 is to be poor. To be ashamed of our talents, 49:07 to be ashamed of our resources, 49:09 our intelligence and I'll say this, even our age. 49:13 I support and I encourage those of the 49:18 previous generations if you are old then say 49:21 you are old with all confidence in 49:23 Jesus Christ. We need some 49:25 old generation people who have the faith, 49:28 who have marriages of like 60 years 49:30 and they are still married together. 49:31 We need those of who have gone before us 49:33 need that experience, we need that confidence. 49:36 But today we have older people 49:39 who are ashamed of their age. 49:40 We've rich people who are ashamed 49:41 of their riches. We've intelligent people 49:43 who are ashamed of their intelligence. 49:45 What kind of father do they have? 49:47 Who is their father? 49:50 In the Adventist church you have people 49:53 who love sanctified poverty and ignorance, 49:55 they say I have no education, 49:56 I have no degrees, I've no money, 49:58 I subsist on barley green and activated charcoal 50:00 and I live in a cave somewhere. 50:01 I'm holier than everyone here. 50:04 Where did that come from? 50:07 Who is your father? 50:08 I'm about my father's business. 50:13 I have a big God. My father is a rich man. 50:17 And we should not be ashamed of 50:19 these resources, amen. Amen. 51, 50:23 he went down with them 50:25 and came to Nazareth a subject unto them 50:27 but his mother kept all these things 50:28 in her heart. Jesus increased with stature 50:31 and wisdom and in favor with God and man. 50:33 Conclusion, Jesus was doing his work. 50:36 He went outside of the box 50:38 and he was even willing to offend His mom 50:40 and dad to do His Father's work. 50:41 Joseph and Mary were not doing their work. 50:44 They thought they were and this is what 50:45 the dangerous, dangerous. ASI, 50:47 if you think you're doing God's work 50:49 be very careful. Because we can assume 50:52 that Jesus is with us the entire time. 50:54 God has shown them such great honor 50:57 in choosing them as Holy parents 50:58 they had position, they had honor, 51:01 but they wasted it on camp meeting, on ASI, 51:06 on GYC, on a big event. The issue is not whether 51:12 you know God or whether you trust God. 51:14 The issue is does God know you 51:16 and does God trust you. 51:17 If God has given you Jesus, 51:20 will you take care of this precious gift 51:23 with all your mighty and power and energy 51:25 and finances and everything 51:26 that who you are. Assumption is the 51:29 enemy of the sacred. We want to stop assuming 51:32 that Jesus is with us. We must take up 51:34 and re-consecrate our secrete responsibilities 51:37 even if it causes our moms and dads 51:39 to be hurt if you will. We need aggressive 51:42 university deans who are willing to take them 51:44 an ideological and a theological 51:46 stand according to the Bible and uphold 51:48 the sacred trust. Amen. 51:50 We need aggressive businessmen and women 51:51 who are going to build schools investing youth, 51:54 finance technologies and move those that 51:57 they can influence toward heaven 51:58 as fast as possible. We need aggressive 52:01 artists and musicians and professors, 52:03 we need aggressive church leaders to manifest 52:05 the character of Christ on an administrative 52:07 level making the church more dependent 52:09 on cross not on evangelical ideas, 52:12 not on historical issues that are from the past, 52:14 not progressive propaganda 52:16 and not conservative traditionalism. 52:18 We need to move forward, 52:20 because Jesus is coming soon. 52:22 Now young people are tired of that mantra. 52:25 We say Jesus coming soon over and over again, 52:28 but we need action here. 52:29 What is the sacred work of ASI? 52:34 What is the sacred trust given to GYC? 52:37 What is the function of youth for Jesus 52:39 in these last days? What is the function 52:42 of your booth? What is the sacred trust given 52:46 to your individual ministry? 52:48 What is the function and the trust of 52:50 the Seventh-Day Adventist Church? 52:52 Have we assumed that Jesus has been with us? 52:55 Do we just assume that His hands 52:58 are upon our shoulders? Do we just assume 53:01 He is in this hall. Right now as I look upon 53:07 this group I fear that if we assume Jesus is here, 53:11 competition will set in to this organization. 53:14 We've hospitals fighting against those who believe 53:18 in natural medicine. We've self supporting 53:20 schools who are fighting against universities. 53:22 We've media organization against 53:24 other media companies. 53:25 We've publishers against publishers 53:27 and we have booths against booths. 53:29 This is not an appropriate environment 53:34 for Jesus to work in. How will you terry 53:38 behind in Jerusalem to do the father's business. 53:41 How will you breakout of the mold 53:46 and start doing the father's business 53:49 even it offends those around you. 53:52 We need a certain kind of I don't careness 53:58 in our ranks and the only thing we care about 54:02 is one person and guess who that is? 54:04 My Father, my Father. This sacredness, 54:12 this understand of the sacred task will cause 54:16 us to empty our wallets for Jesus. 54:18 This sacred trust will cause us to take a 54:22 creationist stance on science discussions. 54:26 This sacredness will cause us to find purpose, 54:29 meaning, passion. And it will cause us to know 54:34 our savior deeply. By knowing Him, 54:38 is this your desire? I speak frank 54:44 to all of you. I don't know you, 54:45 but I'm saying how many more ASIs do we need. 54:49 Now don't get me wrong, I love ASI. 54:53 There is a classiness here that I aspire to be. 54:55 But I pray we don't have a GYC ever again. 55:00 I pray we never have an ASI again. 55:02 I pray we have the camp meeting of all 55:05 camp meetings where upstairs in heaven. 55:08 Do you want to be about your father's business? 55:11 Do you wanna stop just playing around 55:15 and assuming and stupid competition? 55:17 Do you wanna not care about anything else, 55:20 is that your desire ASI. Amen. 55:22 If that is your sincere desire please stand 55:26 and pray with me now. 55:34 Father in heaven, Lord, 55:37 forgive us for assumptions. 55:42 Forgive us for supposing that Jesus is here 55:45 with us. Forgive us for playing around 55:48 and doing what we want to do, 55:50 thinking we're doing ministry. 55:51 Lord, every person in this room help us 55:57 to be about your business. 55:59 We maybe doing the same things, 56:02 but may our hearts be in the right place. 56:04 And may we be like the 12-year-old Jesus 56:08 with His innocence, with His direction, 56:13 this humility and his focus. 56:16 We ask that you change us anew again. 56:20 We pray this in Jesus name, amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17