Michigan Camp Meeting 2023: The Boldness of the Cross

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Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

P.R.A.Y. Like Never Before

Darrel Le Roux

P.R.A.Y. Like Never Before Part 1

You are about to enjoy a presentation recorded at the 2023 Michigan Conference Camp Meeting held at Cedar Lake, Michigan.

We pray that the Lord will bless you as you listen.

Thank you that we can trust you, we can come to you, and that you want to, like a father, give us every good gift.

And so we ask once more for your Holy Spirit to be poured out in our hearts and lives so that we can hear and understand how to connect with heaven and each other and press together in these times that we anticipate like never before.

I know that there are more people here that pray longer than I'm alive.

And so I am not trying to be an expert in prayer at all.

I think what God wants is not experts, But what he wants is 1 of the definitions of prayer is, prayer is the?

See, there are So many things that we all have and they're all different, right?

And that's what I think we want to learn, how to practice to breathe, not become experts, but just practice breathing the very presence, life-giving presence of God.

And when the soul experienced that life-giving presence, there is a energy and a synergy that should spring forth in service and in love for him.

You haven't seen my name anywhere before to do with prayer.

But just like you, I know that prayer is critical to the soul and it's critical to the body and we need to grow in breathing together.

This theme is with all boldness this year and I thought, wow, I'm gonna be bolder and say We are going to demand the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, because our need is itself the greatest demand.

If you read Ellen White, that's what she says.

And so I have been reluctant to demand, but when we come to a time like never before, I think our energy is going to focus on, Lord, it is not possible to go through this without you.

We have to have your presence like never before.

So in this journey, with all boldness, and I know I asked the question on the first Friday night, what makes us the most bold?

And it was the Holy Spirit that really connected the disciples with the cross of Jesus Christ.

And when they saw him crucified and resurrected, a living Christ, and the Holy Spirit got poured out, and he said, wait for the comforter, wait for this gift, wait for this power, then go and be disciples.

And it's the Holy Spirit that will make us the most bold.

And so we're going to go through this process and I thought, wow, we really have an opportunity at this camp meeting with a theme like this to experience and expect the Holy Spirit like never before as you press together to pray like never before.

The first is to participate in the prayer team.

And if you don't know how to use a QR code, please don't feel afraid to ask.

But just put your camera on, put it on the QR code and a little website will...

So your smartphone camera, just put it on the QR code and it will pop up with a little...

Some of you may be a little far away, but if you get closer to this, you can zoom in and see if a little pop-up will come up.

If a pop-up comes up, it means you click on it on your screen and it will take you to the website.

On the website, you will have a number of things.

The first thing you're gonna see is a prayer request, and you can click on there and send your prayer request, and that prayer request will be sent to the prayer team.

The second thing that you're gonna get is praise.

If you've had an answered prayer, We need to thank God.

Send it also and we'll praise with you as a prayer team.

The third thing you're gonna see there is a prayer wall, a virtual prayer wall, and you can click on that and you can put your prayers or prayers or petitions on that virtual prayer wall.

But besides that, when you scroll up more, you're going to find an invitation to participate in our prayer mornings.

So, 6 o'clock in the auditorium, the main auditorium.

I'm sorry that we printed the wrong place.

If any of you came here any morning to the chapel and it was locked, I apologize for that, but we are in the Commons at the back.

And so we will be meeting there from 6 to 6 45 every morning and that's going to be the time we're going to spend in earnest prayer.

The next thing that you will see on the screen and also on, if you go to the website, you're gonna see a place that can say, hey, I really want special prayer.

I'm feeling a burden for my own salvation.

I'm feeling the burden for whatever it is other people are going through health.

If you just look at some of the prayer walls, it's heart-wrenching to see some of the prayer requests for terminal illness, for relationships that are broken.

And so if there's anyone that wants to have special prayer time with a team member, Sue Fadik is available, and I'm available, and we'll be meeting here, it was probably in the lounge, and we can have time where we can pray earnestly together for those burdens that may be there.

So please sign up and become part of the team.

And there's a few questions I've asked because I want to screen.

I've already taken 1 or 2 prayers off the prayer wall because, you know, the kids are gonna ask, right?

So we kind of want to screen that people aren't just wanting to be there just to hear what other people are doing or in curiosity.

We want people that are gonna be praying because we need to pray like never before.

So just I'll go through that, but you will be invited to be part of the prayer team.

Also want to on the on the cards that you have in front of you, I'm going to go through this, these things for the rest of this week.

But you're going to see basically P-R-A-Y, praise, repent, ask, and yield.

And we're going to go through those 4 core concepts of prayer.

You also will receive some of these, and Sue, I put this around the corner, and we may use this a little later this afternoon.

After, every day after our prayer seminar, we're going to actually pray for a half an hour for those who would like to stay behind and do that.

We will be practicing the things that you want to take home and learn or put into practice from this.

So these are the daily in the main auditorium and also in the chapel after every seminar that we have in the morning or the afternoon.

Again, like I have mentioned, this whole series that I'm wanting to share from my heart as a pastor is not as an expert, but for us as a people of God to learn how to breathe God's presence constantly in our lives, His living presence, that we can have His living peace and his living power and his living providence guiding us.

And so pray like never before is not trying to say, hey, there's something new.

It's just, hey, we need to press together like never before because we're going to enter a time that Daniel talks about like never before.

And we want to prepare with connecting with God like never before for that time that we're going to face.

Put your prayers on the prayer wall and it might encourage us or someone else.

I'm expecting that we're going to see a lot more praises on the prayer wall.

Today is the most important, in my estimation, aspect of prayer that we often neglect.

As I mentioned before, I don't know if you ever saw this, but it said this drone was taking the dog for a walk, right?

So in this journey of COVID, lots of new things happened.

And like I mentioned, The 1 pastor said, listen, the good thing about Adventists is they know what's coming.

The bad thing about Adventists is they think they know what's coming.

And so in this journey, a lot of unexpected things came.

And if you ask a pastor, so where is the prophecy that the world would shut down in COVID?

Unexpected things that we didn't expect are going to happen.

And I think this is part of just preparing us for the most unexpected time like this world has not yet had before.

And we have to press together like we haven't done before.

Well, many of the posters, if you stop and you look at it, Ellen White often has mentioned and I'll put some of them on there, you know, it's not going to hurt you to weep.

He would go to a town and he wouldn't say much.

And the people that came into that auditorium began to weep with him.

And just weeping for the things that are wrong is really good for the soul.

P.R.A.Y. Like Never Before Part 2

Father in Heaven, thank you for your incredible goodness and mercy.

We are privileged to be the recipients of not just our Creator and owner, but our Savior and Lord and the presence of the Holy Spirit that wants to seal us for eternity.

So teach us how to hear and understand and surrender to all that you are.

Daniel 2.1 is where you get this time like never before.

And for those of you that haven't heard it, a pastor once said, the good thing about the Sermon on the Adventist is that they know what's coming.

The bad thing about the Sermon on the Adventist is they think they know what's coming.

Humility is anticipating what we haven't had before.

So don't think just because you know some prophecy, you know all that's coming.

Even the elect can be deceived, if possible.

And the only reason it's not possible are for those who are so connected that their hearts are in tune with His heart.

And that's part of this process of prayer.

So, just a reminder, I'm not an expert on prayer.

I'm just a fellow traveler wanting to practice God's presence on you.

In fact, prayer is the breath of the soul, right?

And if prayer is the breath of the soul, was like breathing, then you and I just want to practice breathing heaven's air.

And so let's just practice that together, right?

Some of you are way advanced than I am because you've had way many years than I have had.

And you've had many more experiences than I've had, and you've had the privilege of walking with God longer than I have, and so I don't consider myself an expert in any way.

We are just breathing and practicing how to breathe heaven's presence.

Just to recap, we do not want to be praying ER prayers, right?

We want the power of God's presence so that we can go through His presence every day.

And with His presence, we can experience this.

And praise, like we said yesterday, is entering His presence in the best attitude and way possible.

So these 4 core concepts, praise, repent, ask, and yield, are what we are gonna go through.

And just to recap quickly, praise, and the focus is all on God.

Have all for His mercy and His grace and His holiness.

Repentance is letting God reclaim control over our lives.

You don't have to write this down, it's on the bookmark.

But this process is sin wants to have control over us and dominate us, right?

And it says, sin will not have dominion, which means God has to reclaim.

And repentance is letting God reclaim control over us.

Asking is letting God continue that control over us as we want and value what God wants to give us.

It's not what we want, but what He wants to give us.

And yielding is not just saying, hey God, here I am.

Nothing between the Lord and my Savior, myself and my Savior, right?

And I'm asking what He wants, and now I'm ready to be used as He wants to use me.

Philippians 4 verse 4, praising God for who He is, rejoice in the Lord always.

Pray without, 1 Thessalonians 5, pray without ceasing, right?

We're going to go through some of these things.

We spoke about those experiences yesterday that God changes when bad things happen to us.

And because He doesn't change, our praise is not about whether it's good or bad.

Before I forget, Sue, why don't you just wave your hand to everyone.

She is my assistant and I'm really privileged to be praying with Sue.

Anytime at the end, if you have any questions, she'll be able to assist as well.

It was at Niles where she is the head elder there that I had the privilege to experience this enlightenment from God.

That His grace and His presence never changes.

And because He never changes, we should train the heart and the soul to praise God no matter what.

So in this experience of praise, rejoice in the Lord always.

When you're filled with praise, you won't be tempted to bad mouth or blame God.

And when we go through this, Philippians 4, we brought the Bibles.

We're just gonna quickly finish this praise concept.

It says there, let, in verse 5, let your gentleness be known to all, the Lord is at hand.

If God is at hand, think of Something that annoyed you today and you may have responded out of anger or frustration.

If you saw Jesus standing right next to you, would you change the way you respond?

And so practicing that the Lord is at hand, he actually is here, is training the soul to respond to his presence before you respond to circumstances that you might find yourself in.

He practiced before he spoke to his enemy, he spoke to God.

Before He responded out of a knee-jerk reaction.

And it's training the soul to respond to God because He is a constant all the time with us.

And in that journey comes this, be anxious for nothing in verse 6, but in everything with prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God.

And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

There is the result of this kind of praise to God, this kind of thanksgiving, is there's a peace that goes beyond understanding.

What does that look like and what does that mean?

So let's say you have cancer and you're going to die stage 4.

And do you have peace when you know that this is going to kill you?

You find out what caused the cancer, you find out all kinds of things about the cancer.

Do you get more peace because you know more about the cancer that's going to kill you?

In the horrible world we're in, more information doesn't bring peace.

Only the Prince of Peace can bring lasting peace.

That you get a peace beyond understanding.

It's not when you understand the cancer you understand everything.

It's when you go beyond the understanding that the Prince of Peace is holding your life.

P.R.A.Y. Like Never Before Part 3

Father in heaven, thank you so much that you have invited us to connect with heaven like never before, because you know what lies ahead like never before, And you want your presence in our lives like never before because you want an eternity with us like we haven't had before and so father as we Delve into this topic of repentance It is your presence that can move us, that can convict us and convert us through your Spirit.

And we plead that in your mercy and grace you will do that for us again.

Hear our prayers and as we open your word open our mind and hearts.

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.

If you look at the 2 passages in Matthew 3 verse 2 and Matthew 4 verse 17, You will find that the first 1 comes from John the Baptist, who was given a specific message and a specific invitation to prepare for the Messiah's coming.

So John the Baptist is preaching and what is he saying?

Verse 1 of chapter 3 says, In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea.

And this is the essence of it, saying, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

What made the kingdom of heaven at hand for John the Baptist?

So then it comes in chapter 4 verse 17 of Matthew.

At the same time, and this is where Jesus had gone through the wilderness temptation, he'd been filled with the Holy Spirit.

At that time Jesus began to preach and say, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Do you see the direct correlation between repentance and receiving the kingdom of heaven?

And why is there so little repentance in our prayers?

If you think about your prayers, which of these 4 basic core concepts of praise, P-R-A-Y, praise, repent, ask, or yield, Which of these 4 do we do the most?

And we go straight into asking after we've just said, hey good morning, hi, and now I want to tell you all that I want.

Now it might not be exactly that way, but it sometimes feels that way when we just dive straight into asking.

And when we haven't spent time on his attributes, who he is, we focus on ourselves more than on Him in our asking.

It is directly related and correlates with the kingdom of heaven.

Repenting has to do with preparing for receiving the kingdom of heaven.

Because if you don't repent, then who still controls you?

Now Satan claims dominion over you when you sin because he claims that you are obeying Him as master rather than the master.

But sin shall not have dominion over you, meaning that repentance is letting God reclaim control over our lives.

And if He reclaims control over our lives, we are preparing to receive His kingdom.

You cannot receive His kingdom if He's not in control of you.

And that's why, Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, is part of that journey of receiving the presence and person and power and authority of Jesus Christ in your life.

So just to recap, prayer is a privileged conversation with God.

We are to breathe the atmosphere of heaven just like Jesus breathed in the atmosphere of heaven all the time.

To have power in prayer is to focus on the source of all power and that is God.

And I know I've said this a few times, but His loving-kindness is better than life.

So which should you focus on, life or His loving kindness?

We think that the most important thing is life.

The Bible says His loving kindness is better than life.

And then you're aligning yourself to breathe heaven's atmosphere, even in this world.

So on this little prayer bookmarks, You will find these 2 things there and they're there for a reason because it helps us focus for instance This is an example.

You have to experience your own personal relationship with Jesus and with the Father and with the Son in a way that they will bring a clarity of who God is for you.

But In praise, if he is the creator and holy and we're focusing on that attribute, then our human attitude could be 1 of awe of this holy creator.

Like Isaiah, when I saw the Lord high and lifted up, right?

He says, woe is me, a man of unclean lips.

It's strange how holiness exposes our holes in our lives, how unholy we are, right?

And so when we come closer to holiness, the more we feel unholy.

And so the human attitude is in desperate need.

Yes, I hunger and thirst for this righteousness because I don't have it from within myself.

And so God's attribute should trigger our right human attitude when we experience it.

If you think of the children of Israel at Mount Sinai, when they heard the thunder and they saw the lightning and the trumpet sound, their attitude was, holiness is a fearful thing.

Isaiah, woe is me, because God is a consuming fire.

Series

P.R.A.Y. Like Never Before

P.R.A.Y. Like Never Before Part 2

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

Plenary

Unique Purpose

37m

Creating Joy in Everyday Life

02 Creating Joy in Everyday Life

55m

Established in the Present Truth

The Law of the Lord is Perfect

1h 7m

Snapshots of My Redeemer: Morning Devotional

The Servant

44m

Theodicy

Melanie’s Problem

1h

There Will Be No Americans in Heaven or Asians, or Africans, or...

02 What the Enemy Knows About Culture That We Don’t

57m

Creative Outreach for Everyday Life

04 Called to Serve I

55m

Effective Wholistic Witnessing Among Refugees

01 Effective Wholistic Witnessing Among Refugees

48m

Plenary

I Will Go

46m

Experiencing Jesus Through Galatians

06 Experiencing Jesus Through Galatians

39m

Healing Remedies Through the Storm

04 Contrast Shower, Heating Compresses, Steam Inhalation

53m

Plenary

Our Mighty Intercessor

1h 3m

Sound Doctrine