This is your call to take the baton and lead in church, at school, and across digital spaces.

Hartland Fall Convocation 2025: Engage Clarity Mode

<p>This is your call to take the baton and lead in church, at school, and across digital spaces.</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Hartland Institute of Health and Education

Rico Hill

Arise and Shine

And the reason why I'm so honored is because I'm a ram in the thicket.

And whenever God can use me as a ram in the thicket, you have to be honored.

So I'm honored to actually be used in this way by the Lord.

And I think you'll understand a little bit why, a little more why, as I share some of my story, some of my testimony.

You know, it's always good, as I mentioned in the earlier session, it's good to share your story.

And as I share my story, some of it anyway, I think you'll understand why I'm so honored to be in this position.

I'm going to jump right in because this service has gone along with all the preliminaries.

It's been a blessed convocation though, hasn't it?

I was sharing with Sister Mayer that when I used to live in Arizona, I used to listen faithfully and I would wear out those CDs from the 3 Angels Chorale.

Ah, if there's some latest additions to that, I would like to have it.

Let's have a word of prayer and let's get right into the message, okay?

Gracious loving Father and our God in heaven, Lord, we're so thankful for the opportunity to come and to speak a word on your behalf But Lord No man or woman is worthy of such a task So Lord we need your spirit.

And the Bible says, not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.

So I want to claim the promise with my brothers and sisters here today, that if we being evil know how to give good gifts to our children how much more shall our Heavenly Father give the gift of the Holy Spirit to them that ask and Lord we're asking yea pleading in Jesus name amen okay so the message is rise arise and shine you're familiar with that text from Isaiah yeah arise and shine for thy light has come now in every generation God has raised up called people to carry the torch and to pass the torch on.

And I need to let the older ones here know that they have specifically given me the assignment to really target this message to our Gen Z and our Alpha generation.

So God has called specifically this generation, you know, consider track.

I ran track for a short period when I was in like grade school and I ran relay and relay the whole idea in running relay is to not to win the race alone The idea is that you would run as fast as you could, get the baton to the next person, and then they would get it to the next person, and then that last person, that last person, woof, they had to bring it home.

Many believe that when we talk to Gen Z and this Alpha generation, you're receiving the baton for the final final lap, for the final sprint.

But God, God who has called you, I read somewhere that all of his biddings are enablings.

So if he's called you, he's going to equip you.

Now in sharing my story a little bit, I want to sort of frame it this way for you.

I think if we can get through this life with the least amount of regrets, with the least amount of guilt.

Because I read somewhere again that when we have guilt and regrets it weighs down the vital force.

So as I speak to younger people, notice I use that, younger people, you want to minimize the amount of regrets.

I know that there are older people here today who wish they could go back and change a few things, modify a few things, adjust some things.

As I said, I was not raised in this church.

And there were times, there were times when I didn't realize God was calling me.

In fact, I didn't realize it until I became an adult.

And I went back and I said, wow, you were trying to get a hold of me then, weren't you?

But I'm thankful that basically in our lives, as we walk with God, Even when we don't walk with him, he walks with us.

I'm also a producer with 1 of our networks.

And everything is based on a three-act structure, isn't it?

And you have like the first act, the second act, and the third act of your life.

That first act I realized, you know what?

Didn't decide who were going to be my parents.

Didn't decide any of those things and yet that's my experience.

In that second act That's when you start to develop your own experience.

You started to, as the old people say, you start to smother yourself.

You start to come into that position where you have to Know God for yourself and make choices.

Many of us, myself included, fell miserably in that second act.

So I want to share with you how I grew up in the streets of Washington, D.C.

Now I grew up on the mean streets of DC, and I was getting in trouble all the time.

And There was a family who lived right next door.

My neighborhood was black, but they were white.

And I befriended their son And he invited me 1 day to go on a fishing trip.

I had never been fishing before, but I loved animals and I love fishing.

So I go on this fishing trip and they gave every kid, we got up super early, somewhere off the coast of Maryland, we went way out into the water and they gave each 1 of us a fishing pole.

And it must have been about 30 kids, maybe 40.

And we're all around the boat and we're all excited and we throw our line into the water and we're fishing and it was early and you know they threw out some bait just to kind of get the fish you know and before I knew it the guy next to me said I got 1 and then the next person said I got 1 and then the next and everybody was catching a fish.

And then I still haven't caught not 1 fish.

And then the next thing I know, somebody else catches 1.

They're on their second 1 and I have none.

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Arise and Shine

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