GYC SE 2011: A New Beginning

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GYC Southeast

GYC SE 2011 Seminar: Youth in Mission

Elizabeth Williams

Lift Up Your Eyes

Dear Heavenly Father God, I praise your name for every single person that is here.

I thank you so much for this High Sabbath where we got to hear so many inspiring messages.

Thank you so much for Jesus Christ and I just ask right now that He is lifted up.

I ask that the Holy Spirit comes down and just blesses what we talk about today.

Give us understanding God and just a passion for the lost Heavenly Father.

So I just beg you again for the Holy Spirit and confident that you will bless this talk today in every single heart and mind.

So the title of the first talk in the series is called Youth in Mission is lift up your eyes.

So just as way of an introduction, self is our greatest enemy.

I suggest to you guys, self is our greatest enemy.

Look at me getting good grades in school, getting straight A's, right?

Look at me in this amazing picture on Facebook.

Look at me because I have so many friends and people actually want to hang out with me.

I just fixed this amazing meal and everyone is raving about it.

Look at me competing in athletic competition in record time.

We all struggle with this every single day, don't we?

And self, I suggest to you guys, is epitomized by the devil.

So I hope that you guys have your Bibles here with you today, and let's turn together to Isaiah 14.

So Isaiah 14 and we're going to be reading verses 12 to 15.

You guys are right on time because we're just starting.

So Isaiah 14 and we're going to be reading verses 12 to 15 and it says this, How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning, how you are cut down to the ground, you who weaken the nations.

For you have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.

Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the pit." Self feels good for a time, doesn't it?

It feels good to be looking good or to be doing something where people are actually paying attention to you.

Just like the devil, you end up in a pit.

So as a young adult in college, I'm just going to be honest with you guys.

Totally completely and absolutely and it's definitely something that I struggle with today as well.

Sure I had my devotions for a few minutes every day.

Sure I strive to know God a little bit, but self was the name of the game.

I was going to get good grades because that would make me happy, right?

Then I was gonna go to law school and become a lawyer and perhaps help a few people along the way, but I wanted a nice car, a nice job, and the things that this world has to offer me when I have a good amount of money.

I wanted to have the coolest friends, and I wanted to do fun and exciting things in the weekend.

I wanted to have a super cute, funny, athletic boyfriend who would make me happy, right?

I wanted to have a sporty car, something that could go pretty fast, you know?

And that people could say, oh, that's a nice car.

I wanted to have nice clothes and things.

Can any of you guys relate to what I just said?

I was having fun, but I was addicted to self and the pit was just around the corner for me and Actually it happened in October of My senior year of college.

This was definitely a turning point in my life and a huge wake up call given to me graciously by God.

So first of all in October, my cool funny boyfriend at the time who was real smooth and had lots of friends, he told me 1 day, I think I only want to be with you 80%.

Next, on my 21st birthday, the actual day of my 21st birthday, 2 weeks before, my parents had given me a new Volkswagen Jetta.

And for the last 2 weeks that I had had it, the first thing I would do in the morning was actually run outside and sit in it and smell it because it smelled so good, that new car scent.

However, on the day of my actual 21st birthday, I was a stick shift novice, and I had put the emergency brake on, but I didn't know that you had to put it in gear.

And you guys can drive past where I live this afternoon.

It's right across from the Little Debbie plant.

And basically, my car decided to go down the hill by itself and crash into a tree.

Praise the Lord that it went into a tree and not into a car or a person.

Next, I told you before I wanted to go to law school.

And I took the LSAT, which is the Law School Entrance Exam, on October 12th.

And as I went into the LSAT, I was used to doing OK in school, like study, do fine.

However, when I went into the LSAT and had all of these people praying for me, all of a sudden my mind went blank.

I was just sitting there, just like numb, not doing anything.

And so what I did was in the break, because I sat there for about an hour, and in the break, I went to the bathroom, looked at myself long and hard in the mirror, and just started crying, and went and just canceled my test score.

So basically, academic achievement, bankrupt, right?

Relationship, slipped through my fingers.

Materialism, slipping through my fingers.

And I was in a deep, grimy, disgusting, dark pit.

The rest of that school year, I was kind of like in a little bit of a haze.

Basic Training

Dear Heavenly Father God, thank you so much for the opportunity to come and talk about service.

And I just ask that you fill every single heart here and may we all get it.

It is that this session is in your strength and for the glory of Jesus Christ in Him only.

Again, just bless us now and bless all our family, friends and loved 1 as well.

May we have a high Sabbath for your glory.

So, we're going to discuss the topic today of basic training to be a youth in mission.

And I just want to say to you guys that God's Word is amazing.

The Bible is amazing and it's definitely the guidebook to our life.

And so what we're going to do today is just delve into the Bible and glean some principles that we can apply to our lives.

So for basic training, let's go to Matthew 6, 9 to 13.

So if you'll turn with me to Matthew 6, 9 to 13.

We're going to go through the Lord's Prayer and draw out some principles.

So first of all, let's start with Matthew 6 9.

So Matthew 6 9 and it says, In this manner therefore pray, Our Father in heaven.

So basic training principle number 1, God is our Father in heaven.

So I don't care if you guys are homosexuals.

I don't care if you guys have switched genders.

I don't care if anyone in here has had an abortion.

I don't care if you have put a gun to your wife's head.

I don't know if anyone's married in here.

I don't care if you've committed sexual immorality.

I don't care if you have a drug addiction even right now.

I don't care if you are a stealer a thief.

I don't care if you're full of pride and selfishness I don't care right now if you feel depressed and feel worthless Regardless of any of these things if anyone is struggling with any of these things you guys have a father in heaven No matter what did you know that you have a father in heaven?

No matter what if you're struggling with any of these things and not just You have a Father in heaven no matter what if you're struggling with any of these things.

And not just you have a Father in heaven, you have a Father in heaven that sent his Son to die for you No matter what you have done.

You have a Father in heaven who will pick you up where you are at, fill you with the love of Jesus Christ, and change your life to overcome those things I just described.

And so the first principle is, you have a God in heaven.

The first building block for basic training is you have a Father in heaven, your identity.

And did you guys know that Your identity then fuels your mission, right?

When you have an identity, that fuels your mission.

For example, are you guys students right now?

That's your identity, so what is your mission?

If your identity is a nurse, what is your mission?

If your identity is Christian, what is your mission?

To spread the gospel and to share the love of Jesus Christ to others, correct?

So basic training Principle number 1, God is your and our Father in heaven.

In this manner, therefore, pray, Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be your name.

So Here's the second principle, Hallowed be God's name.

Basically it means let God's name be glorified in your life.

Basically God's ultimate mission is to bring you back into perfect communion with him, correct?

And then he will fill you and change your heart to serve others.

I suggest to you guys, for God's name to be hallowed in your life, you need to delve deeply into prayer, and you need to delve deeply into Bible study.

So you need to delve deeply into prayer and also Bible study.

I told you about a couple of individuals that are from the amazing continent of Africa.

The first 1 is, I talked about him a little bit last seminar, Paul Ratsara.

Paul Ratsara, who is the head of the Southern African Indian Ocean Division.

He spends hours a day commuting with God.

Well, he tells this story of how his brother had actually left the church.

Here he is, the division president and his brother is no longer attending church in Madagascar.

He fell on his knees and he prayed and he prayed and he prayed.

He just prayed and he prayed and he prayed.

And the next time that he was in Madagascar, his brother met him at the airport and God had changed his life.

And he was back in a relationship with Jesus and back in the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

The other person I told you about was Golden Leponi.

He literally spends hours of day in prayer and intercedes for people all over the world and he sees mighty answers to prayer.

He writes me when he gets these answers to prayer and let me know what's happening.

For example, he wrote me a couple weeks ago and said, I prayed for this lady in South Africa and God healed her of her cancer.

So we definitely need to commune with God in prayer.

Several months ago, I went up to a conference in Canada and I was supposed to do 6 seminars.

To be honest, it had been a long week of teaching classes.

It was in April, about the next to the last week of school.

It was a long week of classes, and I was worn out.

I think I was flying up on a Thursday, and I was rushing to get my seminars ready, The final touches.

And I had to fly all the way from Chattanooga to Edmonton.

Well, when I got to Seattle to transfer planes, I got up to the gate and I was flying up there with 2 other individuals who were speaking.

And we got to the gate and they were able to get on the plane just fine and all of a Sudden when I got there was these loud buzzing noises pop up up up up and I said, ah, what's happening?

And come to find out a robot had bumped me off the plane That's what the airline said A robot bumped me off the plane and I said, oh great, a robot.

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Series

GYC SE 2011 Seminar: Youth in Mission

Lift Up Your Eyes

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

Parts

Lift Up Your Eyes

51m

Basic Training

42m

Sound Doctrine