Collegedale Camp Meeting 2023: Expanding His Kingdom

Georgia-Cumberland Conference

Plenary

Justin Kim

In the Hands of a Master Gardener

I almost want to say happy Sabbath, but it's not happy Sabbath yet.

It's a privilege to be here at the George R.

Cumberland Conference Camp Meeting, and coming here is like coming home for me.

I was not born here, I've never lived here, but my parents are here.

And so coming here is like visiting, it's not like, it is visiting my parents.

And we are, as you can see, we are of the Asian flavor.

Please don't ask us if we're North Korean or South Korean.

We come from the North and in New Jersey and in New York area.

My parents came down to the Atlanta area about 10 years ago, and they love the South.

They said, my father once said, I love it that you can go into a restaurant and all these people are praying before they eat.

People open the door for people and they say, sir and ma'am.

My wife is originally from Korea and you know, she came down to the set, we visited the southern area before and she says, what is this thing that looks like oatmeal but it's not oatmeal?

Anyway, this is the land of grits and of sweet tea, and it's home for us, and it's a privilege to be with you all here tonight and this week.

From the General Conference, greetings from the General Conference.

A lot of our leadership is in Europe, and just to give you maybe a broader view of Adventism, I've had a great privilege to travel to different places around the world, just to give you a different view of Adventism.

1 third of all the world Adventists are in Latin America.

That's Mexico, the Caribbean, Inter-America, South America.

Another third is in Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa.

So you take all of Africa, or Sub-Saharan Africa, Africa and Latin America, that's about 66% of the avenues of the world.

Now you take all of North America, you add all of Europe, and then you throw in Australia in there, just because Australia can do that with Australia.

And what percentage do you think we have of the world Adventist in those 3 areas?

Just to give you the demographics of how the world church is changing.

And so there is this great need now that the part of the church that once sent its missionaries is now slowly becoming the area that needs missionaries once again.

Especially, we talked with the boys up here, I love their presentation on the Middle East.

If you're familiar with the 1040 window, please raise your hand, praise the Lord.

There is also the 18 to 35 window, the young people in our church that are missing.

And so the general conference staff, in the month of May, they just blitzed Europe.

And they just got back like a couple days ago.

And all over Europe they said, hey, evangelism does not work.

We just sit and we sit really quietly in our sermons.

We don't come up for altar calls, we don't do evangelism.

And the General Conference leadership says, hey, we don't believe in that, and they just sent all their leaders over there, and I think Elder Wilson, our GC president, was in Prague.

There was others in Poland and in some places, some people in Ukraine while the war is going on next door and there's some amazing stories going on and you can go to AdventistReview.org to find those stories.

If you have your Bibles, please turn on your Bibles or open your Bibles.

So appreciated the special music of thy word.

If you have your Bibles, and you shouldn't — I shouldn't say if, this is Georgia Cumberland Conference Camp meeting, you should have your Bibles, amen?

And if you don't, just look over the person next to you, and if they are falling asleep, the Lord has anatomically created your elbow to be the sharpest bone of your body.

And so if your spouse is just nodding to the sermon a little more aggressively than is expected, just give them a nice jab to wake them up and the Holy Spirit will bless you indeed.

If your Bible's turned to Luke chapter 13, Luke chapter 13, and before we read from scripture, I ask that you bow your heads with me 1 more time here tonight, let's pray.

Gracious Father, We so ask for the pouring of your Holy Spirit.

You have appointed camp meetings, large conventions, convocations to be the means by which you send forth your Holy Spirit.

And I believe that every person in this humble house is expecting large blessings from you.

So beyond the speaker, beyond the title, beyond where we are in history, beyond the leaders, beyond all the tech and the screens and all the whatnot, we ask for a contact point with Scripture here tonight, made only possible by your Holy Spirit.

Chapter 13 is after chapter 12 in most translations.

Verse 1, the Bible says, "...they were present at that season, some that told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

And Jesus answering said unto them, suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all Galileans because they suffered such things I tell you nay But except you repent you so all likewise perish Every generation has 1 iconic news breaking a breaking news event Some of you totally remember the assassination of JFK.

Others would say, maybe those who are older, would remember the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Other generations would say, I remember when the Berlin Wall fell in the late 80s.

Some others who are younger would say, I remember as 9-11 being the defining event of my generation, and for those who are much younger, would say the pandemic is the generation defining event.

After all these global events, we have become addicted to breaking news.

Whether you listen to and watch CNN or Fox News or MSNBC or whatever your news, Chattanooga, Times, Free Press, we all have now ADHD.

It used to be a long time ago, there was just this 1 person on the screen, yeah?

You had an anchor, and then he's like, this is breaking news, this just happened.

You got 1 person here, you got the person they're talking, you got a correspondent here, you got the scene going on, and then there's like tickers on the bottom and numbers going everywhere, and you just don't know where to look at.

Just the other day I got on my phone breaking news of some insignificant actor who's 85 years old has now given birth — not he, he impregnated his girlfriend's 27-year-old.

This is not breaking news, friends, amen?

But this is the society that we are now living in.

We are, just this morning we heard about a North Korean missile, the debt ceiling reaching a deal, and This is breaking news.

And the question is, how did Jesus deal with breaking news?

How should his disciples in the 21st century react to the news and to the suffering that's happening around us?

And this is what Luke chapter 13 is about.

In verse 1, you see that at that season, some of them that told of the Galileans whose blood Pilate mingled with their sacrifices.

Here was a geo-religio-political affair where the reigning Roman government under Pilate massacred some national civilians of Galilee while during their visit to the temple.

To Jesus By Night

Praise the Lord for that wonderful music.

I don't know about you, but when they were singing peace, oh man, peace.

I know that we are in a horizontal format, but worship is not horizontal, amen.

We must resist the horizontal directionality that often in our entertainment formats, we get used to that.

And we meet, This is not a meeting, you are not the audience, amen?

And there is, we get used to wanting to applaud, maybe we get the awkward silence.

We must not give them the evil eye and cast them out of, you know, demons out of them.

But it's not appropriate in the format of vertical directionality.

And so we praise the Lord for wonderful musicians, violinist, wonderful choir, the Korean people, you know, it's wonderful.

Choir, pianist, male, female, and they are our leaders on our behalf offering a musical offering not for our ears, amen, but for the Lord's ears.

And because we can't sing like that, we can't play like that, we can't do that, and so we just add our amens at the end as an attachment.

Saying, Lord, I can't do that, but they are doing that on my behalf, and just register my amen.

And so that happens also in the preaching of the word, that maybe you hear something, it's not saying, oh preacher, you're awesome, I agree with you, that's not really what an amen is, it sometimes it becomes that way, I do understand.

But sometimes you hear something, and you're like, man, that spoke to my heart.

That, Lord, you're speaking through this weird Korean guy from the G.E.C.

And you understand the dynamics of worship.

And so we are here congregated today to study the word together, to be inspired by the Holy Spirit, and to offer our children, offer our lives, offer our wallets, offer our hearts, offer our ears, offer our brains, offer, offer, offer.

That is the objective of vertical worship.

Well, once again, it is a privilege to be here.

Our family has just so enjoyed this campus, so enjoyed the weather, though it's a little hot and humid down here, but can't complain too much.

Been walking around campus and have been meeting many of you and have appreciated encouragement that you have given.

Many of you are praying for the Adventist Review.

We have had a change in leadership, and I'll share a little bit more on Saturday morning, but we are wanting to continue the legacy of the Adventist Review, 1 of the, if not, the longest Protestant magazine in the world.

And if you follow the theology, at the time they were discovering 1844.

If you have no idea, come see me or a pastor.

They'll be happy to share what 1844 means.

They're discovering 1844, the great disappointment, heavenly sanctuary, heavenly sanctuary, Most holy place.

Are you following what I'm saying without me getting into all that?

Most holy place in the Ark of the Covenant, 10 Commandments, Fourth Commandment, Sabbath.

And with the seal of God, how do we receive the seal of God?

How do we get this communication out to the believers out there?

Ah, it's through the newsletter of the present truth, initially, which evolved, we can use that word here, yes, evolved into the Adventist Review today.

And we want to restore the historical legacy that we still have with us.

We'll share a free copy with you on Saturday morning if you're part of the 144, 000 remnant that gets here on time.

I'll be also sharing a little about Inverse.

We are continuing the Bible study show on Hope Channel.

By God's grace, we're gonna continue going.

It is the Young Adult Bible Study Guide for Savage School, and we have been receiving all this praise all around the world.

Thank you for a rigorous Bible study curriculum.

We're getting into the Word, and this quarter Coming up, we are looking at the book of Leviticus.

And whether you are a young adult, or young at heart, or young in mind, you can actually go to the ABC and get a copy of Inverse, it's purple, purple cover, and we are praising the Lord for the results that we see there.

I'd also like to give a special shout out to had different members who have come to me and they shared that they served in the Korean War.

I think it was Brother Ashlock, who was 93 years old, and said he served in the Korean War.

And on behalf of my people, and for those of you who have had family members, or yourselves, have served in the Korean War, I want to say thank you for your service, and thank you for allowing the opportunity for religious liberty to exist in South Korea so that many can hear the gospel message.

Whereas right across from the 38th parallel, there is no opportunity whatsoever.

That service, that sacrifice was not in vain.

I'd like to start the message proper here tonight.

The message is entitled To Jesus by Night.

If you have your Bible, please raise your Bibles, your phones.

If you don't have anything, shame upon you, in the most loving, kind way.

We, Adventists, like meetings, Yes or no?

How many of you have been to GC session before?

Ah, don't you just love it when you have 75, 000 Adventists inside a stadium and you sing Jesus is coming again or We have this, hope you get the thing on the back of your neck.

We have all these meetings, and by the way, a short plug, in 2025 we'll be meeting in St.

Louis, and in 2030, if the Lord does not come, we will be meeting in Indianapolis.

We love our convocations, we love our meetings, we love our conventions.

They are the means by which the Lord pours out his Holy Spirit.

Let's be praying for that here while you are here, that it is not another normal Georgia Cumberland camp meeting, amen?

But more than the corporate experience, it is the individual experience that is key.

And this evening, I'd like to ask you to open to the Gospel of John.

John, and we're gonna go to chapter 3 and chapter 4, and no, we're not gonna look at the night passage per se, not per se, we're gonna look at the entire Gospel of John.

Gospel of John emphasizes the one-to-one experience.

As Adventists, we like the one-to-the-many.

Jim Howard

Eager to Preach

You know, I used to live in Missouri for 10 years.

I was 9 years old to 19 years old and Then I moved back home to Ohio.

I lived in Michigan for a while and what have you.

But just a few years back, my brother pulled out an old video from when I was 20 years old.

And I watched myself on that video and I could swear I was from Georgia.

So it feels good to just say y'all just once.

I wasn't, to be clear, I wasn't a Missouri guy.

But I did I did have something of an accent for a while there.

I have to have a shorter warm-up than I had in the early service because I have less time this sermon than last time.

I'm looking forward to the message today though to the privilege of worship and to diving into the word.

So before we do, do you mind if we pray once more?

Let's bow our heads and ask God's blessing on our time in His Word.

Our Father in heaven, we're grateful for the privilege of worship and fellowship, and most of all that your mercies are new this morning.

We thank you, Father, for your Spirit that gives us the ability to understand what you want to reveal to us and that does a work on our hearts.

So we pray for that now, that you would help us, that you would change us, that you would speak to us and have an encounter with us today.

Well, last night we talked about expanding the kingdom using Christ's method.

I just get an idea of what I'm dealing with here.

I'm gonna tell you in essence the 3 things we learned last night.

Number 1, the power and motivation for witnessing comes from being right with God and experiencing the joy of salvation.

We become witnesses by first experiencing Jesus' power and the power of the Spirit of God in our own lives.

So it's a personal experience that makes us witnesses.

Number 2, as we experience Jesus, we then reflect a Christ-like character and this is of vital importance for effective witnessing.

And we're speaking about both the passive virtues of Christ, that would be things like gentleness and meekness and patience and kindness, and the active virtues of his character.

Push and energy and force and courage and determination.

The active virtues are important because the Great Commission is to go and make disciples.

We must take the initiative if we're to follow Christ's method.

Taking the initiative to find spiritually interested people that we can lead to Jesus.

And the third thing that we learned was that the only way to be truly successful in making disciples is to follow Christ's method.

And Christ's method is always and above all personal.

And we went through the 3 steps, briefly, the 3 steps of Christ's method, summarized in this.

That involves mingling and sympathizing and ministering to people's needs with an intent to lead them through the next 2 steps which are number 2 to proclaim and number 3 to train so last night we talked about befriending and This morning we're going to talk about proclaiming.

And the title of this morning's message is, Eager to Preach.

Now, I said this morning, I'll say it again.

I believe that my goal is to have some conversions here this morning.

And I'd be fine if it was a conversion to Christ for the first time, But what I intend when I say it is the conversion of some of the thinking that you may have about your role in Christ's method.

And I'm going to tell you right now, I believe you are called to preach.

So I'm going to now seek to try to explain this in a way that you will receive it.

I'm gonna start with a quotation that's gonna help tie together last night to this morning.

It's a quotation from a book called Christ's Object Lessons, page 57.

It says this, "...the sowers of the seed have a work to do in preparing hearts to receive the gospel.

In Christ-like sympathy, we should come close to men individually." There's the personal labor again.

"...and seek to awaken their interest in the great things of eternal life." So, let me just touch on a few points here.

There's a job that we have to do in preparing hearts to receive the gospel.

I call that preparing the soil, or preparing the soil of the heart.

It's the same thing you have to do before you plant seed in a garden.

And the way that we do that is what we talked about last night, befriending.

And that involves mingling, showing an interest in people, listening to them, sympathizing with them, befriending them.

Now, The question that we have to answer from this quotation is, who is it, who is supposed to prepare the soil of the heart?

Well, the quotation told us, The sowers of the seed have a work to do in preparing hearts to receive the gospel.

Jesus taught us through the parable of the sower that the seed is the Word of God.

So the sower of the seed is the person who intends to share the Word of God.

So who is it who is doing the befriending?

The person doing befriending is somebody who has an intentionality that they desire after befriending to share the seed, the word of God.

Sometimes people are in silos and they think my job, I like what you talked about last night, Pastor, befriending.

But befriending is a step in a process that must include sowing the seed.

That's a significant part of what the befriending is all about.

When we're befriending, we always have the sowing of the gospel seed in mind, in view.

We would not be good friends if we failed to have an interest in people's eternal welfare.

I'd like to share with you a quotation about Christ's method now.

Last night we focused on Ministry of Healing, page 143.

It's the well-known quotation that says, Christ's method alone will bring true success in reaching the people.

But as I told you last night, it's not the only Bible or Spirit of Prophecy statement about Christ's method.

I'm going to share another 1 with you now.

It says, "...from Christ's method of labor we may learn many valuable lessons.

In various ways he sought to gain the attention of the multitude, and then he proclaimed to them the truths of the gospel." So Jesus was always trying to get people to look beyond temporal to eternal matters.

He longed for the salvation of every soul that he met.

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Plenary

The Witness of Christlike Character

Transcript

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