Participants:
Series Code: PME
Program Code: PME230311S
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00:13 >> Let's pray. Father, we're honored to worship 00:19 You, to continue in worship now. Thank you for being -- 00:24 Through the songs, through the worship, 00:27 through the preaching of your word, 00:31 we commit this time to You. And thank You for being with 00:33 everybody that's watching online and all those 00:35 that are gathered here as well. We thank you in Jesus' name. 00:38 Amen. >> Amen. 00:42 I invite the congregation to sing with us 00:44 as we sing our opening song. 00:48 [ "Ancient of Days" begins ] 06:01 [ "We Fall Down" begins ] 07:03 >> It is now prayer time, and I invite the congregation 07:06 to come forward if you have anything special on your heart 07:09 that you want to tell God. So come forward as we sing 07:13 this next verse. 13:22 >> Amen. >> Amen. 13:27 >> Once again, good morning and happy Sabbath, Pioneer. 13:31 Today's scripture is found in Isaiah 60-1:3. 13:36 "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the 13:42 Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth 13:46 and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises 13:50 upon you and his glory appears over you. 13:53 Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of 13:58 your dawn. Please join us in singing 14:01 "Ancient Words." Gentlemen, please join me 14:03 in the first verse. Ladies, please join them 14:06 in the second verse. [ "Ancient Words" begins ] 17:40 >> Ancient words. Ever true. Changing me and changing you. 17:49 That was beautiful. I love that song. Well, God, that really is my 17:56 prayer, all of our prayer. Ancient words? Got that. Ever true? We believe it. 18:06 Changing me? Please. And changing all these youths that are here. 18:15 In the name of Jesus. Amen. 18:23 "Mission: Impossible (Maybe)." Where did that maybe come from? "Born for Battle -- The Saga of 18:31 a Peace-loving People." Here's a question. What is it that makes 18:38 this mission so impossible? Well, let me try it. 18:48 The answer, that is. Washington Post 10 days ago, 18:53 I read "The medevac helicopter carrying a pilot, 18:57 the patient, two companions, and a nurse 19:01 was flying to a hospital in Brooke's Point in Palawan, 19:04 an island off the coast of the Philippines, 19:06 when all contact with the aircraft was lost." 19:10 You may have heard of this. "Subsequent discovery of 19:13 wreckage from the helicopter on the surface of the sea 19:16 has led authorities to believe all five occupants 19:19 perished in the crash. The search and recovery mission 19:23 continues." 19:27 One early morning this week, Karen and I got a text from our friend Ann Hamel. 19:34 Ann is a practicing psychologist who serves the General Conference of Seventh-day 19:38 Adventists as a counselor, as a mentor, as a companion to Seventh-day Adventist 19:47 missionaries in every corner of this planet. She said, "Pray." 19:56 And we have been. Aboard that medevac chopper was a young Seventh-day 20:01 Adventist nurse who has been serving the peoples of her island. 20:08 She's learned their language. It's not Tagalog. It's a unique 20:12 language to those peoples. Janelle Alder is an Adventist Frontier Missions 20:22 missionary. The pilot, young pilot, American as well, 20:30 from California -- Seventh-day Adventist. Missing. 20:37 So Ann flew over there. Why? Because the missionaries there are grieving. 20:41 What's our next step now? Somehow speak to their -- their broken hearts. 20:49 Janelle's parents have flown there, hoping against hope. I want to play a video clip. 20:57 As it turns out, AFM -- Adventist Frontier Missions -- did an interview, 21:02 a video interview with Janelle on the island. I want to play just the first 21:08 60 seconds of the interview. You can go to the AFM website and you can watch it 21:14 in its entirety. Let's roll this piece. 21:25 >> Here at the clinic, we see a lot of different health disorders 21:29 or health needs. 21:31 Because it's a tropical environment, we see a lot of 21:34 fungal infections. Of course, we see a lot of 21:36 respiratory infections, urine infections, 21:41 cuts and wounds. 21:43 Really, we see almost everything. There are a lot of more 21:50 far-out villages that a lot of times, parents will bring their kids like 21:54 three, four hours away sometimes to receive help. And when they have a fever 21:59 in the middle of the night, it's not very easy to send them out to the hospital, 22:03 which is another two-hour hike. So it's helpful that we can be a center here for Mantalingajan 22:10 but also for all of the other villages that are more far out. They can come to us for help, 22:14 and then we have an opportunity to share the gospel with them. 22:23 >> God bless that young nurse and young pilot 22:29 who were faithful to death. Faithful unto death. I repeat -- Do you know 22:37 what the impossible means when we say impossible mission? "Mission: Impossible." 22:47 As Janelle Alder's tragic death reminds us, ours is a mission to all the world. 22:53 Doesn't matter how difficult the terrain, doesn't matter how -- how dangerous the topography. 23:00 How difficult mastering the language might be. When Jesus said, 23:06 "Go into all the world," that was not an option. You already know that. 23:11 If Jesus is your Lord and Savior, and He is, or you wouldn't be here, 23:15 it's the command you and I live with day and night. "Into all the world. 23:21 Whatever the cost. Go for me." And she did. 23:28 So here we are in this congregation on the campus of a university in this piece 23:34 of terra firma, a university raised up once upon a time with the name 23:41 Emmanuel Missionary College. Missionary. It's always been our mission. 23:48 And guess what? Nothing's changed. And that's what's so impossible 23:54 about this mission that you and I have inherited. But hallelujah. 24:00 I got some great news for you. I'm going to give you a sneak preview. 24:05 I want you to take a peek at how this story ends. And it is absolutely 24:11 spectacular. Open your Bible, please, to the last book in the Bible, 24:16 Revelation 18, the last book of the Bible, chapter 18 of Revelation. 24:21 I'm in the New International Version. You got your Bible. 24:25 Let's use it. Revelation 18. Only one line that we'll be 24:28 brooding on together today. Revelation 18:1. Here it goes. "After this I saw another 24:35 angel --" There are three angels that I know fairly well in this book. 24:38 I think of this as the fourth angel. "After this I saw another angel 24:43 coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his 24:48 splendor." My, oh, my, oh, my. Do you understand the story that 24:53 is embedded in that single line? Let me run it by you one more time. 24:58 "After this, I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the 25:03 earth was illuminated by his splendor." Now, the Greek word for splendor 25:08 is glory. It means glory. It's the first half of 25:14 "doxology," doxa. That's the word. What's doxology? 25:18 A word of glory to God. So here comes this angel descending from heaven. 25:26 Whatever he's up to upon his arrival, what we know is the moment he arrives 25:32 it's just this -- pshew! -- just this nuclear white. You remember those black -- 25:36 Come on. You've seen them. The black-and-white newsreel clips out of Los Alamos, 25:40 New Mexico, where they were experimenting with the atomic bomb and it just went white, you 25:45 remember, and then went black? That's what happens. This angel's descending. 25:50 Well, we can understand the light part. Obviously he's come 25:54 from the kingdom of light, from the very throne room -- shew! Pssh! 25:59 And the whole planet bathed in light. I've got to tell you, 26:05 there's no light in the angel. The angel has no light. Because the angel's like you. 26:12 The angel's like me. Any light we get is reflected. And I'm also going to tell you, 26:18 this has been one wonderful week to be running early in the morning because the moon has 26:23 been full. There's a special name for the march full moon. 26:25 I don't remember what it was, but I'm telling you, it was absolutely spectacular. 26:30 That white orb just smiling down in the dark. You know what? 26:37 You can go to the moon, look inside, there's not a drop -- There's not a ray of light. 26:40 There's nothing inside of it. It's just a piece of rock. Why is it so white and 26:44 beautiful? Because the sun shines on it. This angel comes down. 26:53 Why is all that light? Because the Son -- S-O-N -- shines on the angel. 26:59 My, oh, my. Well, we shouldn't be surprised that the author of Revelation 27:06 also wrote the fourth gospel, and he opens the gospel this way. 27:09 Everybody knows these words. Come on. "In the beginning was the Word, 27:12 and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Keep reading. 27:16 "He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through 27:20 him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life 27:24 to everything that was created, and his life brought --" What? "Brought light to everyone." 27:29 Keep reading. "And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has 27:34 not --" Hallelujah. It has not overcome it. An angel will descend to this 27:40 planet one day, sooner than we think, and when he 27:44 enters our atmosphere -- pssh -- white light. Wow. 27:52 My, I told you this thing ends with spectacular glory. Whew. 27:59 All of which, of course, is the point we're making. Revelation 18:1 is none other 28:06 than that explosion of glory just before Jesus returns. And even if it's only for 28:15 a singular moment, I get it. Not everybody's going to embrace that light and receive 28:21 the healing that it offers. No, I understand that. But in the words of Camelot, 28:25 for one brief shining moment, the light will pierce the darkness and the earth -- 28:32 the entire earth will be illuminated with His glory. Mmm. 28:40 But you think about it. I mean, come on. Why are we so surprised? 28:45 Can you imagine Jesus issuing the command as he has to you and me "Go into all the world 28:50 and make disciples of all nations" -- Why in the world would he issue 28:54 the command if, in fact, that command could not be completely fulfilled? 29:00 Come on. The whole world. And by the way, it's not like God hasn't been sending us hints 29:07 from the very fall of the human race. Take the first missionary, 29:11 since we're talking about missionaries, take the first missionary, 29:13 Abraham. Great children's story, Tiago. Well done. 29:17 Let's talk about Abraham. What does God say to the first missionary? 29:21 "I will make you," Abraham, "into a great nation, and I will bless you; and 29:24 I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing... and all peoples on earth --" 29:28 How many peoples on earth? All peoples, Palawan included. "All peoples on earth 29:33 will be blessed through you." Global domination. In the end. 29:42 Our scripture reading, we just read it a moment ago. Isaiah 60. 29:45 "Arise and shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. 29:50 See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, 29:53 but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, 29:59 and kings to the brightness of your dawn." Mercy. 30:04 How pervasive is this? Ooh, the minor prophet Habakkuk doesn't leave us guessing. 30:10 Come on. Habakkuk 2:14. "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge 30:14 of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." Come on. 30:19 Old Testament is not going to end with one more reminder. There will be 30:23 a spectacular finale. Janelle Alder did not die in vain. 30:29 Last line in the Old Testament. Malachi 1:11. "My name will be great 30:34 among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets." 30:40 Those are my two homelands. It rises every day in Japan and sets every day in America. 30:45 Look at that. And every nation in between. God continues, "In every place 30:50 incense and pure offerings will be brought to Me, because My name will be great 30:54 among the nations,'" says the Lord of Hosts, the Lord Almighty. 30:57 And look how Jesus, when the Lord of Hosts becomes flesh, look how Jesus concurs 31:03 with the Old Testament witness. He has standing in front of him right now 31:08 a pagan Roman warrior. And the centurion says to him, "I understand authority. 31:17 I'm a man under authority. I say to one servant, and he goes, another, come. 31:21 So I'm asking you, just speak the word. My servant is dying at home. 31:27 Speak the Word and my servant will be healed." Jesus, his eyes widen 31:31 and he turns to all the Jews standing around him. And he says to them, 31:37 "I have never in Israel seen such faith as this pagan warrior." 31:44 And then he speaks these words, acknowledging what he's been saying all through 31:48 the Old Testament. "I say to you that many will come from the sunrise from the 31:53 east and the west and the sunset, and they will take their places at the feast with 31:58 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of Heaven." 32:02 Man, oh, man. You know 32:05 how expansive this mission is? Look at Paul, 32:08 a follower with the sunlight that blinded him. 32:11 Paul, a follower of the Lord Jesus. Notice how Paul describes 32:15 the extent of his mission. Colossians 1:23. "This is the gospel that you 32:20 heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven --" 32:24 Are you serious, Paul? Yep. "Every creature under heaven." Now, look, there's probably 32:29 a little bit of hyperbole here. But Paul is looking into the future and he's prophesying, 32:36 predicting that one day every creature under heaven will hear that gospel "of which 32:41 I, Paul, have become a servant." And when that day comes and King Jesus is crowned 32:48 before the universe, what will happen then? Paul says, in Philippians 2, 32:53 Paul says don't ever forget that, "At the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, in heaven 32:59 and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is 33:06 Lord, to the glory of God, the Father." My, oh, my, oh, my. 33:11 Hallelujah is right. 33:13 What did we just read? "After this, I saw another angel 33:17 coming down from heaven. And he had great authority, 33:21 and the earth was illuminated by his splendor." 33:28 Janelle Alder gave her life to fulfill Jesus's mission 33:32 and hasten his coming. 33:33 "Mission: Impossible"? Never. Never. I love this line 33:39 from Hudson Taylor, that intrepid missionary to China a century and a half ago. 33:44 Oh, this line is a keeper. I'll leave it up so you can get it. 33:47 "There are three stages of every work of God. First, it's impossible, 33:53 then it's difficult, then it's done." Isn't that good? 33:58 Come on. "First, it's impossible, then it's difficult, 34:03 then it's done." Of course it's impossible. What did you think it was going 34:07 to be, namby pamby? When God writes the last chapter of his story on this planet? 34:16 That's why what I'm about to share with you is such a moving line for me, 34:21 and I've memorized it. "Servants of God, with their faces lighted up and shining 34:27 with holy consecration, will hasten from place to place, proclaiming 34:33 the message from heaven." Oh, I love that. Hasn't happened yet. 34:37 It's going to happen. I'll put that on the screen for you. 34:40 Come on. This is "Great Controversy," page 612. 34:43 "Servants of God --" By the way, notice it does not read "clergy of God." 34:46 I have a clergy friend who's visiting here from another denomination. 34:50 We've been friends for 10 years. He said, "Dwight, I've got to 34:53 get there before you leave." And he's here today. You're sitting by him. 34:56 All right, "Servants of God." It doesn't say "clergy of God." "Servants of God," 35:01 that's you and me. If Jesus is our master, we are his servants. 35:05 "Servants of God, with their faces lighted up and shining with holy consecration, 35:09 will hasten from place to place to proclaim the message from heaven." 35:13 I want to be one of those servants, don't you? Oh, I do. 35:16 I want to be one of those servants. Come on. 35:20 You know what's going on here? I'll tell you what's going on. What this is about. 35:23 This is the final revival and reformation that will sweep through the Church and push the 35:29 Church into the world one last time. That's what's going on here. 35:32 How do you know that, Dwight? Because of the powerhouse sentence that precedes this. 35:36 Let me share it with you. "The angel who unites in the proclamation 35:39 of the third angel's message --" That would be Revelation 18:1. We've just read it. 35:43 This angel "is to lighten the whole earth with his glory." We got it. 35:47 We've read that twice now. "A work of world-wide extent and unwonted --" That word, 35:55 I had to look it up myself. Unwonted means unusual, uncommon. 35:59 "A work of world-wide extent and unusual, uncommon power is here foretold." 36:07 My, oh, my, oh, my. Something's coming down this pike. 36:14 And there will be an explosion of glory on this planet one day. Whew. 36:19 Talking about global domination for Christ. Keep reading. 36:22 "The great work of the gospel is not to close with less manifestation of the power 36:27 of God than marked its opening." That would be talking about Pentecost, the story of Acts. 36:31 Man, that's pretty powerful, in my humble opinion. It won't be any less powerful 36:35 at the end. That's in the beginning of Christianity. 36:37 This will be at the end. Nope. Keep reading. "The prophecies which were 36:42 fulfilled in the outpouring of the former rain at the opening of the Gospel --" Pentecost. 36:49 I got to tell you, the writers of the New Testament and Old Testament live in 36:54 a basically agrarian society. Farming, farming, farming. And every farmer in Palestine 37:00 and every reader in Palestine knows that as soon as you plant the seed, 37:03 you're going to need some rain. It's called the the autumn rains. 37:07 They refer to them as the early rains. The rain has to help the seed 37:10 germinate and sprout up and grow and green, green, green. Then at the end, 37:15 just before the harvest, there is a second rainfall. This is the early rain 37:18 at the planting of the seed. The second rainfall is the later rain, 37:23 or we call it the latter rain, the Bible does, and there's a final burst of growth 37:28 in that grain until the end. It's harvested. They need that last rainfall. 37:35 So the Bible has embraced that metaphor. "The prophecies which were 37:40 fulfilled in the outpouring of the former rain at the opening of the Gospel," 37:43 the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, "are again to be fulfilled 37:47 in the latter rain at its close [before Jesus' return]." For several Sabbaths now -- 37:54 Come on. You know you and I have been talking about revival and 37:57 reformation. Yes, we have. We've been talking 37:59 very carefully one to another. And we have agreed -- I know we have -- that revival in 38:04 and of itself is insufficient. We have noted that the whole divine purpose of a revival 38:12 is to always push us toward reformation. What's reformation? 38:16 It's the reforming and the changing and the growing of my heart and my life. 38:20 There needs to be a reformation. It's for the growing and reforming 38:27 of our collective heart. And whenever that revival falls upon a faith community, 38:38 the Holy Spirit immediately is pushing the church. "Come on, get out, get out, 38:40 get out, get out!" This is not about sitting in a circle, humming Kumbaya 38:45 and holding hands. No. Out. The whole purpose is to push us 38:52 out. In fact, there's a prayer that I like to pray. 38:57 And I'll share it with you here. It's no spectacular prayer. But it goes like this. 39:04 "O God --" help me, "Help us help you save the world for Christ." 39:12 That's it. It's very simple prayer. "Help us help you 39:18 save the world for Christ." We can't save a single human being. 39:24 So help us help you save the world. That's what Janelle Alder 39:28 was doing. "Help me help you save Palawan for Christ." 39:36 Wow. It's the very prayer the disciples were praying in the 39:40 upper room. We started this whole winter series together 39:43 in that upper room in Acts 4. I want to go back to that prayer because 39:46 it's such a powerful prayer. Here it is. Acts 4:29-30. 39:49 "'Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak 39:54 your word with great boldness.'" "We're going to kill you, Peter and John. 39:57 If you ever say another word in this man's name, we're going to kill you. 40:00 You understand that? Read our lips." "'Now, Lord, consider their 40:03 threats and enable us to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand --" 40:08 not our hand. "Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs 40:12 and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.'" 40:18 In fact, just read. Just read the next line past "Servants of God, with their 40:25 faces lighted up." We'll read it again. "Servants of God, with their 40:27 faces lighted up and shining with holy consecration, will hasten from place 40:31 to place to proclaim the message from heaven." Now, hold on, because here 40:35 it comes. "By thousands of voices --" This is not thousands 40:39 of clergy voices. This is thousands of disciples of Christ's voices. 40:44 "By thousands of voices, all over the earth, the warning will be given." 40:50 Now, notice what happens. "Miracles will be wrought." As it happened here, 40:55 it will happen here just before Jesus returns. "Miracles will be wrought," 40:59 number one. Two, "The sick will be healed," and three, "Signs and wonders 41:06 will follow the believers." It is absolutely appropriate for you and me to ask 41:12 God to stretch forth His hand to heal for His glory. Never for my glory. 41:18 Never because this will draw attention to me. No, no, no, no. For you, God. 41:22 Heal. Stretch forth your hand. It's going to happen. 41:27 "Signs and wonders will follow." Will follow the believers. Oh, and there'll be somebody 41:34 there. Just you -- you can be sure of this. 41:38 Whenever God does something big, copycat demon king Satan himself tries to counterfeit it. 41:49 He'll imitate it. He'll fake it. So I'm not surprised with this 41:55 last sentence. "Satan also works with lying wonders, 42:00 even bringing down fire from heaven in the sight of men" and women, 42:05 faking like he's Elijah. That's a quote from Revelation 13:13. 42:09 "Thus," final sentence, "the inhabitants of the earth will be brought to take 42:14 their stand." Pssh! Glory to the whole planet. 42:22 And every man, woman, and child makes a decision now. Now. 42:27 This is the only one you've got. It's now. The entire human race. 42:36 Well, I believe that in the great Revelation 18:1 revival and reformation to come 42:42 that will sweep this planet, I believe, number one, that the same boldness 42:47 of those disciples long ago that empowered their witness for Christ will be granted 42:52 to all who pray that same prayer. "Grant your servants boldness." 42:57 Number one, I believe that. Number two, I believe that the same signs and wonders that 43:01 those first disciples prayed for will be repeated one day. The same signs and wonders, 43:06 not the signs and wonders of any disciple. It's the signs and wonders 43:09 that the God of the universe who shows up to affirm and confirm "What she says is 43:18 truth." This can't be done. It can't be imitated. 43:25 Oh. I believe, number three, that the same motivation 43:29 of the first disciples to seek the outpouring of heaven for the sake of seeking 43:35 and saving the lost. And by the way, that's what drove our Lord Jesus 43:38 all the way through his life. "The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost," Luke 19:10. 43:42 That which drove him will drive the servants, the friends, the disciples, you and me 43:49 down here. Down here at the end. But I'm going to add 43:53 a fourth one. And I really believe this one too. 43:57 I believe that as it was in the beginning, when heaven's shock troops -- 44:01 you know what shock troops are? It's a military term. It's the soldiers 44:06 they put in the very front. They're the advance guard The rest of the army is 44:11 following behind the shock troops. I believe that even as heaven 44:14 chose for its shock troops in the book of Acts a band dominantly comprised 44:21 of the young -- John boy, young Steven, young Saul, the young apostles. 44:30 I believe even so, at the end. Oh, by the way, even as it was in this movement 44:36 for whom this church is called Pioneer Memorial Church, they were dominantly young, 44:42 all of them. I believe even in the end for the shock troops' 44:49 final spiritual assault on this planet, they'll be the young again. 44:56 They will be the young again. Did you notice how old Janelle was? 45:03 The helicopter pilot? You didn't see him. Not much older. 45:08 I believe that these young warriors God is raising up. 45:15 you who are young and are willing to be a warrior for him, you are the shock troops. 45:24 I've stayed here all these years. You know why? 45:27 Because I believe what I just said. If I did not believe what I just 45:31 said, I would not have stayed this long. Been plenty of chances 45:34 to work somewhere else. But I've stayed on this campus and in this congregation 45:41 because I'm putting everything in this generation, the young poised 45:48 for God's strategic endgame. I believe with all my heart. [ Applause ] 46:01 Yeah. And I receive your amen that 46:06 you share that same conviction. You may have heard these words 46:10 before -- "Your mission, should you choose to accept it, 46:14 is the mission of this congregation right here." 46:16 It's the mission of this university right here. 46:20 Oh, my. You're about to have a new 46:24 beginning when your new pastor arrives, and they're getting 46:27 close. 46:29 You're about to have a new beginning when your new president drives up. 46:36 And I hope you give to these two new leaders all your cooperation, 46:44 your support, your prayers, your volunteering. "Can I do anything? 46:49 What can I do to help? What can I do to help around here?" 46:54 And that leader will rise up and call you blessed. 47:00 One thing is sure. Unless this congregation... 47:09 ...continues to embrace, and even in a more fervent and passionate way, its mission 47:16 to train and mobilize the young at Ruth Murdoch, at Andrews Academy, 47:22 at Andrews University, this, Revelation 18:1... 47:32 ...will not just happen. It will take the mobilization of this generation. 47:46 There isn't a heart here that doesn't want Jesus to come soon. 47:51 If I said, "Put your hands up if you want Jesus to come soon," every hand will go up. 47:53 Come on. I know. This is an Adventist congregation, after all. 47:58 I'm just saying. Don't you ever let this church veer from its mission 48:05 to train young warriors to seek and save the lost for Christ. Whatever the future brings, 48:13 don't swerve, don't veer from that mission for the university and for the congregation. 48:23 And I really believe Revelation 18:1 declares the best is yet to come. 48:27 I believe that with all my heart, the best is yet to come. Come on. 48:32 Hudson Taylor. What did he say about impossible? 48:39 I'm going to put Taylor on. But first I want to put these words somewhere 48:44 in a book called "Education," which I guess applies to us. "With such an army of workers 48:50 as our youth, rightly trained, might furnish, how soon the message of a crucified, 48:55 risen, and soon-coming Saviour might be carried to the whole world! 48:59 How soon might the end come -- the end of suffering and sorrow and sin!" 49:07 It'll happen. I promise you. It will happen. 49:12 Now, Taylor, tell us one more time. "There are three stages 49:16 of every work of God. First, it's impossible, then it's difficult, 49:22 and then," hallelujah, "it's done." You never quit. Never give up. 49:30 Because then it's done. O, God, I thank you for this people. 49:37 It's been a long winter. And some of us are heading out the door in a few hours to a 49:45 place called Cuba. What was that prayer? "Help us help you save the world 49:55 for Christ." Father, bless these 20, 30 seminarians and 50:03 the pastors who are going from Pioneer. And may we come back rejoicing 50:12 of the testimony of your goodness and your grace. May Cuba never be the same. 50:19 We humbly pray. And, O, God bless this congregation and this campus 50:25 awaiting new leaders to come. Anoint those leaders. Prepare them. 50:33 May we be a people that will surround them and offer them all that we can give 50:43 for this shared mission that we embrace. And Janelle Alder, 50:52 we entrust her to you. Daniel Lui, the chopper pilot, we entrust him to you. 51:04 But one day, they will see that their lives were never in vain. 51:12 The best has come last. And keep all of us on that trajectory 51:21 until Jesus comes. We pray in His name. Amen. 51:26 I want you to pull the hymnal out in front of you. I got a photocopy of it 51:30 right here. There's a beautiful prayer. We're going to sing it 51:32 right now. Come on. Don't jump up. 609. 51:36 Pull out the hymnal in front of you. 609. 51:40 I don't think you and I -- I don't recall you and me ever singing these words together. 51:45 But perhaps we have. But I want you to notice this prayer. 51:50 And while you're finding your hymnal, I want to go to the Connect Card here real quick 51:54 because there's a box number two that I want you to give attention to. 51:58 Text "mission7" to our familiar number, 269-281-2345. You're online or you're watching 52:04 on TV or you're here now. 52:07 "Mission7." My next step today is "I want 52:09 the Revelation 18:1 angel to set my own heart 52:12 ablaze with the prayer: 'Jesus -- please help me help 52:15 You reach my little world for You.'" 52:18 I want to pray that prayer every day. And I invite you to join me 52:21 in praying that prayer. Now, here's the one that I need some of you 52:25 to give careful attention to. "I am interested in becoming a missionary -- 52:30 please pass my name on to Advanced Frontier Missions and the Center for Faith 52:35 Engagement" here on the campus of Andrews University. Why? 52:38 Because I would be willing to consider taking a year out, as Janelle did. 52:44 Taking a year out and serving my king somewhere on this planet. 52:51 "Send my name," because we'll have the electronic information that will reach you. 52:56 "Send my name to either AFM, Adventist Frontier Missions, or the Center for Faith 53:02 Engagement." They'll take it from there. You're not signing up 53:05 for anything, but they'll describe to you the options 53:09 that are available for you if you're young and if you're not so young. 53:13 They take both. The Holy Spirit may be saying in your heart, 53:17 "Come on, girl. Give me a gap year. Come on, boy. 53:20 Give me a gap year. I want that year." You'll come back changed. 53:24 "Give me that year." Just put a check mark there. We'll be in touch. 53:29 They'll be in touch with you. 53:30 Final box -- "I want to follow Jesus 53:32 and be baptized and help Him reach the world now." 53:35 Amen. If you haven't been baptized, 53:36 put a check mark there electronically. 53:38 We'll be back in touch with you for sure. 53:42 Now I want to sing this. You got to look at them -- So they may be on the screen, 53:46 but I want you to look at the words in your hymnal. I'm not going to read them 53:49 to you. They're so profound. You just read them. 53:52 The tune will be so familiar, you'll be able to just concentrate on the words. 53:57 Let's do it. Let's stand together, everybody. It's a very short hymn. 53:59 So let's stand together and just pray these words to our Lord. 54:05 [ :Am I a Soldier of the Cross?" begins ] 56:26 >> Amen. Let's bow our heads 56:27 as we pray for the benediction. Now may the Lord bless you 56:32 and keep you. The Lord make his face shine 56:35 upon you and be gracious unto you. 56:37 The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace 56:41 now and forevermore. 56:42 Let all the church say. Amen. You may be seated. Well, thank you once again 56:48 for worshiping with us here at Pioneer Memorial Church. It's been an honor to 56:52 worship with you. Just a reminder, as you make your way out, 56:55 there's giving baskets where you can drop in your tithes and offerings. 56:58 There's also resources you can grab that will bless you. Till next time, God bless you, 57:03 and we will see you soon. 57:07 >> Think of the last time someone said, 57:10 "I'm praying for you." Did it give you a sense of peace 57:14 and reassurance that somebody cares for me? 57:16 I know how I feel when I get an e-mail 57:17 from one of our viewers saying, "Yo, Dwight, I've been praying 57:20 for you lately." 57:21 There's nothing like knowing someone is praying for you. So I want to offer you 57:24 an opportunity to partner. Let me, let us partner with you in prayer. 57:28 If you have a special prayer request or a praise of thanksgiving 57:31 you'd like to share with us, I'm inviting you 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. 57:40 877-HIS-WILL. That friendly voice 57:43 that answers, you tell him, you tell her what your prayer 57:46 need is. We'll join with you in that 57:49 petition. May the God who answers 57:51 prayer journey with you these next few days 57:53 until we're right back here together again next time. 57:59 ♪♪ ♪♪ 58:18 ♪♪ |
Revised 2023-03-23