iShare 2014: Light

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Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

iShare 2014 Plenary Sessions

Anthony Baca

Commencement Message iShare 2014

Taariq Patel

Testimony

Anil Kanda

Dwelling in the Secret Place

Leah Jordache

Do This and You Will Live

Kyle Allen

Daniel Garza

Scott Mayer

Vera Onkoba

Adam Patel

Arnold Trujillo

Sabbath School Panel

We would just like to begin by introducing ourselves so you can get to know some of us and some of the panelists that are here before you.

So we're going to go ahead and start to my left, your right, and we're going to go ahead and introduce both moderators and the panelists.

My name is Kyle Allen, and I am a pastor and currently serving in the North American Division working as secretary for ASI.

And I am a pastor working in the Northern California Conference.

I'm Leah Jordache, and I'm a pastor currently working as discipleship coordinator in Central California Conference.

I work in video ministry and sharing the gospel using media.

I am a literature ministries assistant in Central California Conference.

I'm Arnold Trujillo and I'm vice president Pacific Union Conference.

My name is Vera Oncoba, and I work as a nurse in Arizona, and I'm a follower of Jesus.

And I currently live in Sacramento, and I work for Apple Computer.

Well, it's a good thing Danny has an apple here.

Well, we have some really good questions that were texted in this morning and we thank you for doing that.

And the first 1 is a question that people often have and all of us ask from time to time and I'm just going to say it just as it came in.

I think there's a verse in Jeremiah that gives us an inkling of this.

It's Jeremiah 33, verse 3, and knowing God's will to what I have come to discover is knowing God.

When we know God, we will know his will as well for us in our lives.

So Jeremiah 33, verse 3, as I can turn there, and God's word says, call to me and I will answer you and will tell you great things, great unhidden things that you have not known.

And in John chapter 17 verse 3 Jesus says that, And this is life eternal that you may know me, the only true God.

And so knowing God's will boils down to actually knowing God.

And as we spend time in the word, that's how we begin to know God's will.

This is something that many young people go through, especially in this time of our lives when we're making so many different decisions.

And 1 thing, if I could boil it down to 1 thing that's really helped me is John 7, 17, that says, if anyone wills to do his will, he shall know concerning the doctrine.

I think something that's hard for us as young people is that we have a plan for our lives.

And we have dreamt of it ever since we were young.

And so really being willing to do anything God wants us to do is that first step.

Am I willing to go to the very place that I really don't want to go?

Or decide the very thing that I really don't want to decide right now?

And so in the few major decisions that I made in my short 24 years, I have come to the conclusion that this is my first step, Lord here are my options.

Just to give you something practical, here are my options.

And am I willing to do any of these things if you called me to do it?

And asking God to bring me into that point where I'm like, okay, Lord, bring me to the place where I would really be willing to do anything you called me to do.

And that's always been a blessing because then God is actually able to speak exactly what he wants us to tell us to do.

I was just sharing a passage from Romans chapter 12 with a non-Christian person who is starting to think about following God simply because the health message is attractive to them.

So viewing the body as a temple was a new idea.

And he said that he doesn't know how to pray, but he feels that taking care of his body is his form of prayer.

And so I gave him this passage from Romans chapter 12 to kind of help connect how that connects with knowing God's will.

And here's what it says in Romans 12, 1 and 2.

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you.

And you know we often think that following God and knowing God's will is a lot to do with our philosophy of living and our mindset, but here it's talking about our physical bodies.

This will be, let them be a living and holy sacrifice, the kind he will find acceptable.

Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think, and God is doing that for you, then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

You know, that's really exciting because I know there are many young people who are wondering, Lord, what do I do with my life and where do you want me to go?

And there are some young people here that may not even know if God is actually real.

And so they may have not even gotten to that stage.

And so 1 question that came in is, how can a young person be sure that God is real?

No, really ask him, and not just with your mouth, with your heart.

If you're serious to seek God with all your heart, he said I'll be found of you.

And there's 1 thing I know in my personal life is that when I my heart got serious, God got serious.

And I wasn't ready to see him in like that powerful in my life because he came through strong.

So if you want to know God is real, make sure your heart is ready, and I would challenge him on this word.

If he has a promise in there, you wanna see if it's true, live it out in your life, see if it's gonna work, and he'll come through.

I just wanna back that up, bro, with a scripture.

Deuteronomy chapter 4 verse 29, but if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul." Something about the cry of the soul that God's ear is attuned to.

And with my testimony, it was the same thing.

I asked a question when I was addicted to drugs and shaking in his living room.

And boy, oh boy, did he show up that day.

Something that just struck me this week when I was out in Mount Glacier before I came to Aisha was as I was beholding the beauty of nature and the handiwork that we see.

And as Christians, we believe that God created all things.

And in Psalm 19, it says that the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows his handiwork.

And I just started thinking, wow, God has a beautiful mind.

And as I see the beauty in nature, God is speaking to me of his character, which is beautiful.

And so even through nature, through the unseen things that sometimes we don't understand, God is constantly trying to make himself very tangible to us.

And in Acts chapter 17, Paul says that God is near us.

As we are seeking Him, He can be found because He's really near us.

I think it's so important that we understand that 1 of the main ways that God reveals Himself to us, aside from our relationships with other people, is through the scripture.

And if you're willing to commit the time to be daily searching the word of God for him and for his presence and for his character, you will find him there.

And so often we go to the scripture to find other things, to find guidance or truth or even our own identities.

But really, Jesus tells us in John 539 that you search the scriptures so that by them you may have eternal life.

But these are the scriptures that testify about me.

So we're looking for life in many, many places, and even in the scripture, but if we're not looking for Christ there, we're going to miss it.

That's when we can find that he truly exists, is in the pages of his word.

If we're willing to, like you said, ask him and make that commitment to search for him there, he will be found by us.

Just real quick, I'm itching over here, sorry.

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Series

iShare 2014 Plenary Sessions

Sabbath School Panel

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

Parts

Commencement Message iShare 2014

35m

Testimony

47m

Dwelling in the Secret Place

45m

Do This and You Will Live

43m

Sabbath School Panel

1h

Sound Doctrine