GYC 2021: Nothing

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Generation. Youth. Christ. (GYC)

Plenary

Sebastien Braxton

Nothing It Says

That's the reason we all sing together with me Love Him Oh, how I love Jesus Singing, oh, how I love Jesus.

Oh, how I love Jesus, because He first loved me.

How many of you, that's why you're here tonight, because you love Jesus?

I am so excited to be with you this week.

It's been 2 years since we've gathered together in this capacity.

Stuck in the house, locked down, non-locked down.

But somehow by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, He was able to bring us back together again.

It is a privilege to be alive in the times in which we are living.

It is a privilege to be able to gather in this capacity knowing soon and very soon we will not be able to worship the Lord the way that we do now, with the same freedom and liberty.

It is a privilege to stand before you as 1 of the vessels that God has chosen to navigate us through this steam on Laodicea.

As I often ask those who I get the privilege to preach to, I have a couple favors.

The first favor, if you can say yes by the raising of your right hand, is that you this week will pray every single day, if not every single meeting, that God would do something this week that he's never, ever done before.

You say, Sebastian, I'm willing to do that.

Second favor, is there's going to be appeals.

There's going to be people making calls and invitations on the basis of your convictions.

You did not come here for more of the same.

You did not come here for the exact same thing that you would get at your local church.

You came here for God to move in a way in your life and in my life that He has not moved hitherto.

And so if God is going to move, how much more do we need to also move?

And so my second favor is that when those appeals are made and you know in your heart of hearts that the Spirit of God has laid conviction on your soul, that you will respond and you will come.

You say, I'm willing to make that commitment.

And last but not least, I want to challenge you To avoid the normal distractions of life.

This week, it's easy to go back to our phones and to see who won the Lakers game.

It's easy to go back to our rooms and say, oh, you know, I'm gonna catch up on my favorite show.

It's easy for us to text our friends and just kind of take our minds somewhere else.

But we did not come here to waste time on our phones Or tablets or computers, concerned about what is the Wi-Fi password.

Say, how did that brother know I was asking?

But I want to ask you to, as this favor, as I'm asking of myself, to say, Lord, help me to remove all distractions because as the so-quoted statement is from Sister White, when every other voice is hushed, and in silence we wait before him, The silence of the soul makes more distinct the voice of God.

So you say, Sebastian, I'm willing by the grace of God to put aside those distractions this week.

For all of you, to the executive committee of GYC, to the board of directors that has extended this great privilege to me, to speak to you these next 4 evenings, I extend my gratitude, I covet your prayers, and pray that you would join with me as God leads us through his word.

The title of my message is, Nothing It Says.

Will you bow your heads with me as we pray?

Mighty God, everlasting Father, you did not wake us up today because we are worthy.

You woke us up because you have a calling and a purpose.

So here we are on this night, praying that the sweet, sweet Spirit of Jesus may rest upon this meeting in Houston, that he may move from heart to heart and from mind to mind in pressing the truth upon the soul.

And now, Father, as we turn to Your Word, use this man who is nothing before you.

May you speak through me and may you speak to me.

This is our prayer and we trust that you will help this to be our experience.

For we offer this prayer from our hearts in Jesus name amen conspiracy just this 1 word can cause people to politely edge away before they are cornered by someone who is foaming at the mouth like a rabid animal to spread their wild theories.

But despite this discomfort that so many people have, conspiracy theories still persist.

There's a lot of famous theories out there.

I know we all have had that conversation with a crazy uncle, crazy grandparent, crazy cousin coming with some obscure website that looks like it was made on the dark web.

That was not executed by Osama bin Laden and his radical followers.

But this was a calculated plot of the government, the president, working with different entities.

Some believe that we never made it to the moon.

It was all coordinated by the media and by NASA and by the government to totally make up a moon landing.

Then there's Roswell, Area 51, UFOs missing and we know that there's extraterrestrial life and we're hiding it somewhere in a bunker.

And even in our day today, you have vaxxers and anti-vaxxers.

Where you stand on the vaccine, for the COVID-19 vaccine can literally, and has literally, divided churches, split up marriages, and divided families and communities.

They appeal to the very core fear that people who have power are lying to us.

There was 1 I read about called Birds Aren't Real.

The Birds Aren't Real conspiracy is a movement developed by a young man named Peter McIndoe.

He was 23 years old when he started spreading this idea in 2017.

He just came out in December 2021 in an interview with the New York Times.

McIndoe stayed in character as a true believer, insisting in the media, interviews and online that birds are not real, but rather they are surveillance drones made by the US government.

Birds aren't real, has staff, it has organized real life protests, it has bought real life billboards, And it even has vans emblazoned with the claim, birds aren't real.

McIndoe, is to parody the misinformation that Generation Z finds itself stewing in.

He says, and I'm quoting, birds aren't real is not a shallow satire of conspiracies from the outside.

A lot of people in our generation feel the lunacy in all of this and birds aren't real has been a way for people to process that.

In other words, he says it was an experiment that revealed that Conspiracies sometimes grow because people are so quick to believe anything they hear.

In fact, even local media, news networks sometimes reported on birds aren't real As if it was something that young people really believed, rather than an elaborate joke.

Birds aren't real organizers hope that the joke will become a force for good by Exposing all the ways that misinformation thrives and is spread This is his last quote he says yes in 2001 December We have been intentionally spreading misinformation for the past 4 years But it's with a purpose It's about holding up a mirror to America in the Internet age.

Conspiracy theories still abound even when they're intentionally created to be deceptive, to be a distraction.

Because at the very core of conspiracy theories is this worry about others lying to us more than how we lie to ourselves.

See, when we look at Laodicea, if you have your Bibles, I want you to turn with me to the book of Revelation.

Revelation chapter 3, when you're there you can say amen.

Okay, if you're not there, just say have mercy.

Nothing Has Changed

Because he first loved me, that's the reason we all are to love.

Oh, How I love Jesus, singing, oh, how I love Jesus, oh, how I love Jesus, Because He first loved me.

How many of you, that's why you're here tonight?

I pray that God has blessed you today already, and my prayer is that God would bless us again.

Would you bow your heads with me as we begin?

Mighty God, everlasting Father, we are nothing before you.

Lord, we've already confronted the reality of the lies that we tell ourselves.

We've come to your altar to leave those lies at Jesus's feet.

And now Lord, we pray that you would use this man who is but dust 1 more time.

That you would speak through me and that you would speak to me.

That Jesus may be lifted up, that he may be seen clear.

And Father, that our hearts may be changed.

This is our prayer, and we trust that you will help this to be our experience.

For we offer this prayer from our hearts, in Jesus' name.

The title of our message this evening is Nothing Has Changed.

It was Phillips Brooks who said, Sad will be the day for every man when he becomes absolutely contented with the life that he is now living, with the thoughts that he is now thinking, with the deeds that he is now doing, when there is not forever beating at the doors of his soul some great desire to do something larger which he knows that he was meant and made to do because he is a child of God.

The day that we become contented with the life that we are now living is the day that we have confused our comfort with our safety.

I want you to take your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Genesis and the third chapter.

Genesis chapter 3 and we're going to read in verse 7.

Okay, if you're not there just say have mercy.

It's Genesis so it shouldn't take you that long.

Genesis chapter 3 and verse 7, are we together?

The Bible says, and the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons." Now, there are 2 types of people clearly in the Bible.

This verse brings out the reality that there are people who are naked and don't know it.

But just Because we might have come to the realization last night that we have lied to ourselves about our own condition, that we are actually naked when we believe that we are clothed, doesn't mean that we're fully out of the woods.

Because Adam and Eve, according to Genesis chapter 3 and verse 7, they knew that they were naked.

So what happens when you come to the reality that you are now naked, what do you do?

The Bible says that Adam and Eve, when they came to this knowledge, it led them to something that I like to call sinnovation.

The combination of the word sin and innovation.

You see, the Bible says, if you look there with me in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 7, it says that after the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew that they were naked, what did they sew together?

They sewed fig leaves together and they made themselves what?

Who taught them how to sew fig leaves together.

Who taught them to make aprons and coverings?

Do you imagine that this was a part of the orientation in the Garden of Eden?

And on Sundays, we actually teach sewing classes on how to make aprons.

Do you guys think that's actually what happened in the Garden of Eden, yes or no?

This means that this was an innovation driven by their sin.

Because they had fallen, because they realized that something in their experience had changed.

They were now naked, they were vulnerable, they were exposed, And rather than going to Jesus, the 1 that clothed them in the first place, they decided to sin-ovate.

They couldn't accept the reality that there was nothing that they could do.

You see, we decide in our hearts, even though we realize that we are self-deluding ourselves, that I'm going to address my own nakedness by some creative means.

To cover up my nakedness rather than going to the person who clothed me with that robe of light from the very beginning.

I want you to think about what you and I do when we fall, when we are tempted and we fail, when we are going through trials and difficulties And we do not hold on our faith in Jesus.

You see, we decide that we're going to join a mission school because this is really what's gonna help me get over my addiction.

This is what's gonna help me to get away from this toxic relationship that I've been having.

So I'm gonna join a mission school and I'm gonna find the 1 that takes me all the way across the world.

And by going all the way across the world, I'm going to be free from this sin, but you see brothers and sisters we have to stop sin evading and go to Jesus We decide that somebody's like I'm gonna lock myself in my room and I'm a super glue my Bible and desire of ages to my body until I fully understand and have this thing on my mind.

But brothers and sisters, we have to stop sin evading and go to Jesus.

Somebody's telling themselves, you know what, I'm gonna deny myself all and every pleasure that I normally enjoy and I'm gonna punish myself for my sin because I don't deserve the blessings of this good friendship.

I don't deserve the blessing so, you know what, Why would I just call on Jesus only when things are difficult?

But we must stop sin evading and go to Jesus.

Some of us decide, you know what, Sebastian, you don't understand, brother, I'm in public ministry.

We're gonna have to fake it till you make it.

Maintain public appearances and try to get it under control behind the scenes.

But you gotta stop sin-evading and go to Jesus.

Some of us decide, you know what, my problem is I just need to be surrounded by spiritual things all the time, so I'm gonna go into full-time ministry.

And our desire to go into ministry is really just us sin-evading instead of going to Jesus.

Too many people are stepping into ministry who are not called, Simply because they just feel like if I'm surrounded by the Bible, if I'm surrounded by evangelism, I will be free.

What you fail to recognize is that when you decide and when I decide to do full-time ministry, You just signed up to be on the very front lines of the great controversy.

Wait till you start going into full-time ministry.

You see, Brothers and sisters, the reason why we prefer to sin-ovate instead of going to Jesus is because we don't want to face the music.

We like to believe that there's something that we can do before we go to Jesus.

That we just need to repent, we need to get the sorrow, we need to work ourselves up until an emotional frenzy.

Lord, I'm so sorry, we gotta be crying, because you know what?

No repentance is sincere without tears, but in reality we're just synovating.

And as 1 preacher put it, true Christianity helps us face the music even when we don't like the tune.

I may not like the fact that as Steps to Christ reminds us we must, We will often find ourselves weeping at the feet of Jesus for our mistakes and our shortcomings.

No need to sew your own aprons and cover up and manifest your own righteousness.

Oh, you know, I'm going to give more money.

I'm going to join this ministry, as if that's going to cover up your sin.

Nothing You Can Do

Tonight our sermon is entitled, Nothing you can do.

Mighty God, everlasting Father, it is your time.

We have not come to hear the words of a man or philosophers or of politicians, but we've come to hear the Word of God, unadulterated and centered in Jesus.

So Father, we pray that you would use this man who is but dust before you.

And Father, that you may speak through me and that you may speak to me.

That Jesus may be lifted up high and that he may draw every heart to him tonight.

And we offer this prayer from our hearts in the mighty name of Jesus.

If you have your Bibles, turn with me to the Gospel of Luke.

The Gospel of Luke chapter 15, beginning in verse 1.

Luke chapter 15, beginning in verse 1, are we there?

The Bible says, then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.

And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, This man receives sinners and eats with them.

You see, the Pharisees gave this criticism of Christ because it was taught by the Jews That before God's love is extended to the sinner, he must first repent.

He must manifest sorrow for sin and have a resolution to turn away from it.

Then God's love would be extended to you.

But in their view, I'm talking about the Jews, repentance is a work by which humanity earns the favor of heaven.

In other words, there was something you could do in order to earn the favor and the love of Jesus.

But you see, Jesus began to give a parable in your Bible, it says in verse 3, and he spake this parable unto them, saying, What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he lose 1 of them, doth not leave the 90 and 9 in the wilderness and go after that which is lost until he find it.

When he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders rejoicing.

And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.

I say unto you that likewise Joy shall be in heaven over 1 sinner that repents, more than over 90 and 9 just persons which need no repentance." Let's compare this Jewish idea to the parable of Jesus.

The Bible tells us in verse 7 that there will be more joy in heaven over 1 sinner.

Now if the sheep is a picture of the sinner, Please explain to me what exactly did the sheep do?

From all the verses we read, the only thing I saw the sheep do was get lost.

He had 90, he had a hundred sheep and the only contribution to the story is that the sheep got lost.

Now that means that in the parable of the lost sheep, Jesus teaches that salvation does not come through seeking after God, but through God's seeking after us.

We do not repent in order that God may love us, but God reveals His love to us.

But God reveals to us His love in order that we may repent.

That means that God loved you before you even repented.

That means that God loved you while you were watching the pornography video.

God loved you while you were sitting in depression, watching dark videos on YouTube, contemplating your suicide note.

God loved you every lie you told, every time you pretended to be spiritual.

God loved you while you were masturbating.

God loved you while you were having premarital sex with your boyfriend and your girlfriend.

God loved you in your greed, in your jealousy, before you even repented.

And God reveals his love to us that we may repent, which means that the love pre-existed the repentance.

Brothers and sisters, you see the theological perspective of the Jews perpetuated a culture of shame.

Shame is defined by Brene Brown, who is an expert on shame.

The intense and painful feeling That we are unworthy of love and belonging The intense and painful feeling that we are unworthy of love and belonging You see I remember my second daughter her name is Marari I was coming home from work and as I walked in, you know, kids are, when somebody else does something wrong, kids are kind of like a newspaper person in the 1950s.

They just want to advertise because they're like, somebody else about to get this spanking.

And so of course, normally when I come home, all my kids rush the door, Papa, Papa, right?

So I went upstairs, So my wife was starting worship and as I walked into the room, right, singing a song, after we sang a song, did our little Bible verse and then we prayed.

So I'm giving my kids hugs goodnight and I come and Marari's acting like she doesn't want to give me a hug.

She said, it's okay, Papa, you don't have to give me a hug.

I said, of course I'm going to give you a hug.

And She said, it's okay, Papa, you don't have to give me a hug.

I said, of course I'm gonna give you a hug.

And she said, it's okay, Papa, you don't have to give me a hug.

I said, look, come here, sunshine, give Papa a hug.

And finally, as I give her a hug, I said, don't worry sunshine, I know you messed up my Bible, but you're still my sunshine.

And she immediately starts crying and she says, but I don't feel like your sunshine.

You see, when you and I fail God, fail our own expectations of ourselves, we feel just like my daughter, Not realizing that you are God's sunshine.

And in that moment when you fail, when you're struggling over and over and over and over and over and over, and probably even before you came to GYC.

Adam Ramdin

The Beast and the Beauty

In the midst of a global crisis that we can gather together in this setting, I would like to thank the leadership of GYC for the invitation to speak and thank them for running GYC this year.

Series

Plenary

Nothing It Says

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

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2. What Science Cannot Do

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04 How to Train A Dragon: Unshackling Adventist Creatives

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GYC 2011 Seminar: The Holy Spirit in Evangelistic CARE Groups

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White Raiment Part 2

37m

Morning Devotional

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58m

The 4th Angel: Literature Evangelism Made Relevant In A Postmodern World

4. How to Reach the Five Major Religions Using Literature – Part 1

49m

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3. Growing an Above and Beyond Devotional Life

1h

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Sound Doctrine