Sabbath AM | Youth Week of Prayer | Empowered for Mission | Dr. Kaydene Duffus-Dacres | Mar 27, 2021

[Music] good morning and happy sabbat everyone chip here and i just want to welcome you to a very special sabbath school program why is it special because it is the end of our week of prior series as well at is our 13th sabbath day program so you don't even want to miss a second of what's going on because trusts me is something that is going to bless your soul today we have the youth class taking charge of the sabbath school and trust me it is something that you need to stay tuned because when youths are in the mix you know there's going to be something exciting so we are going to go into our mission story then our special and after which we will have the youth class leading in our lesson review but you know before we can do anything we have to have god in the mix so if you can hear my voice please bow your heads with me as we have open in prayer let us pray most kind loving compassionate heavenly father holy is thy name once more we your people just want to say thank you for being the god that you are you want to uplift your name on high because it is worthy to be praised i pray that those who are hearing my voice right now you will just put upon them a special blessing bless their friends bless their families and i pray god that when you shall come we all right here at this moment may be citizens of your kingdom god we just want to say thank you for all the blessings that you have given unto us and i pray that you will just continue those blessings as we go throughout the entire day may you give us your glory through your words jesus my prayer in jesus christ's name i pray amen happy sabbath everyone how are you doing this morning i don't know about you but i am feeling energized and revitalized to come before god and worship him this morning and i'm very excited to do that and i know you will be excited as well and i know that you will love to participate in this morning service but before we get into the nitty-gritty of our worship this morning let us free let us pray dear most righteous and heavenly father we want to thank you so much for another sabbath day that you have blessed us with lord help us to understand that worship is indeed a privilege because you know you don't need us to do any of this and so for the simple fact that you have called us by name to do this lord i ask that you will help us to be mindful of how of how great this is to participate in your praise in your worship in the work of you so lord i want to thank you for the privilege that you give us i want to thank you for your mercies that are new each and every single day and most importantly i want to thank you for the sabbath today the day that we get to reflect on our covenant with you and to rest thank you so much for your love for your grace and your mercy lord tune our voices together as we exercise our privilege and sing praises unto you in jesus name i pray amen amen this is andrew's essay memorial seventh-day adventist church and we will be doing your worship service this morning we have been through 17 i believe it has been since the beginning of 2021 and it is indeed a blessing to give praise on to god at this time the first song that we will sing is immortal invisible god only wise that's him number 21 and we are reminded by timothy in first timothy 1 verse 17 that our king is eternal he is immortal invisible and the only true god and he should be forever honored and gloried immortal invisible god only wise enlightened accessible hidden from our eyes most blessed most glorious the ancients of days almighty victorious thy great name [Music] and silence has light nor wanting [Music] thy justice like mountains high soaring above like clouds which i found of goodness as love to all life though give us to [Music] the true life we've blossom and flourish like leaves on a tree and wither and perish but not changes [Music] [Music] angels adore thee all veiling their sights all praisely should render o help us to see tis only the splendor of the lifetime amen that was indeed a blessing to participate in our second hymn for praise and worship segment is rejoicing pure in heart because philippians 4 4 says we are reminded to rejoice the lord always and zephaniah says if we are rejoicing we should do so indeed with all our hearts rejoicing pure in heart hype number 27 [Music] rejoice deep your hearts rejoice give thanks and see your vessel better wave the cross of christ your king rejoice rejoice rejoice give thanks and see with voices full and strong as ocean searching praise [Music] [Music] rejoice rejoice give the excessive with all the angels [Music] rejoice rejoice rejoice give thy sentence yes on through life's long path yes all through life's long path still chanting as we go from you to [Music] [Music] amen and our last song is how great thou art we are rejoicing we are giving praise to god because he is indeed almighty and he is amazingly great and powerful how great thou art him number 86. [Music] oh lord my god when i am [Music] wondering [Music] my hands have made i see the stars i hear the rolling thunder [Music] the universe displayed then it sings my soul my save your god [Music] how great thou art my soul my savior god great [Music] and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees when i look down from lofty mountain grander and see the broke and feel the gentle breeze then sings my soul my say your god how great the world how great thou art then sings my soul my savior to thee how great is [Music] amen amen it has indeed been a blessing to participate in this morning the sabbath morning praise and worship segment i invite you to tune in or stay tuned for your sabbath school segment thank you happy sabbath everyone this week's mission story is entitled teach us to pray this week we are introduced to natalio a ninth grade teacher at an adventist institution who helped her students to realize the power of prayer victoria why don't you start praying for us this morning natalia said 15 year old victoria was scared as she was unsure of how to pray how do i pray she asked begin like this natalia said dear god ask god to bless us just as he said in the story victoria had just finished reading a story about how the sun shines on all people good and bad the story illustrated that jesus shines his love on everyone every day and that christians should be alight to other people others in the tourist class were also scared to pray as not all of them were accustomed with doing so but natalia wanted them to experience the power of prayer for themselves after praying the first time victoria wasn't scared anymore but her friend ruslan refused to pray so natalia prayed for ruslan in a special way one day victoria fell ill with an ear infection and missed school for a whole month all of the students were worried about victoria especially ruslan natalia arranged a special day of prayer and all the students prayed except for ruslan then one day was announced that victoria would require an operation and so natalia organized a special day of prayer again for victoria this time she asked students to form a prayer circle and then she asked for a volunteer to pray to everyone's surprise ruslan shouted out i want to pray he prayed for natalya's success he prayed for victoria's successful operation for her healing and that she would return to school soon victoria's operation was indeed successful and she returned to school only a few weeks after god hears all of our prayers especially those of children who are scared said natalio we shouldn't be afraid to ask or to open our hearts to god we can pray anytime anywhere and god will answer us in ways we can't even imagine this quarter's 13th sabbath offering will go towards helping teach a natalia school in bhutan ukraine to construct its own building currently they borrow classes from an adventist college nearby and your offering will help the children to meet in their own classrooms thank you for your generous offering this is one of my all-time favorite songs for me to live is christ and this is the prayer of my heart of our hearts [Music] i make a vow my life will always honor christ whether i live or die i belong to him he bore my sin i owe this [Music] i make a vow my life will always honor christ whether i live or die i belong to him he bore my sin i owe this life to my savings [Music] i am not my own you [Music] for me to live is [Music] i choose to give this life away [Music] [Applause] i make a vow my life will always honor christ whether i live or die i belong to him he bore my sin i owe [Music] i am not my own you are in control [Music] hallelujah [Music] for me to live is [Music] [Laughter] [Music] is [Music] only by the cross i am saved for me to live no matter what price i pay [Music] i choose give this life away i make a vow my life will always honor christ whether i live or not happy cyber church family and welcome to the lesson review my name is trevine little and with me are a few members from the young adult sabbath school class namely chip sutherland hugh henry and titania white you will agree with me that this study has been exciting it's been a literature student's dream all of the imagery that we have seen in the book of isaiah the cover stories they have been spots on every week on a personal note i have a friend who is a christian but not a seventh-day adventist and she has been following the book of isaiah not only with us but her at her very own church and she confessed to me that she carries our lesson review book to her study class because she feels that it is more potent than what she's studying in her own church we're going to pray right before we get into our lesson study so i'm going to ask chip sutherland to do us the honors please bow your heads with me wherever you are let us pray lord and most high heavenly father holy is thy name once more we your people come before you firstly asking for forgiveness of sin so that we may be one in accord with you but i ask that as we we're about to go through this lesson this powerful lesson in this powerful book or one of your prophets i ask that god that everything that is said it comes from you and it will be done to thy names unknown glory and you put your blessings upon those who are listening right now this is my prayer in your son jesus name amen the cover story narrates that a young boy was fed up with his astronomy book if the world was going to go up in smoke if the world was going to burn and all life forms would end up dying then what was the point of continuing going to school it was all dismal but as children of god we have hope that not only will this world be destroyed but it will be recreated and so we go very quickly to isil chapter 65 verses 17 to 25 and i asked my panelists having read these precious words what struck you the most as you read well for those who are following with us i remembered in the passage that god was talking about his idea of creating a new heaven and a new earth and he was describing in details the various things that would um be a part of that experience and he was also talking about the fact that we would not have a lot of hurtful and painful things that we experienced right now one of the things that really stood out for me is the idea of being able to plant your own vineyards and not have to compete with thieves to get the fruits of it you know if living in in the corporate area especially if you have mango trees in the yard you know you can wake up at any time and somebody can be taking trees taking fruits off your tree just because it's bearing mango and it would be nice to have the choice to give them away but sometimes you find that people are up in the trees and that's one of the promises that that stood out for me in the new heavens and a new earth the the the verse 20 says that we would not be we'd build houses and be able to inhabit them and we'd plant vineyards and be able to read from them and i definitely i'm looking forward to that i love that titanium for myself the verse that stood out for me was the one about the animals about the different carnivores existing together the carnivore are the predator and the prey and nobody's eating each other i have a biology background and so for me that that was just like wow but what's interesting is as i read it um there's a zoologist adventists that i follow and he mentions that these things we do see here on earth right now seem as if even though sin is here we still see beautiful things of that god created this is something that we do see here and to know that this is going to be the thing when i mentioned the child beside a lion i'm just like one thing was the lion being beside the child but a parent trusting to leave their child beside a lion the level of trust that we're going to develop it is amazing and how confident you're going to be in those animals so that's to know for me we're going to see vegetarian carnivores imagine that chip what about you well for me i actually agree with titania the one the part of the scripture that stood out for me especially since i'm from the country is animals that you normally don't see together eating and growing up beside each other that is something that is completely strange and it touches back to the premise of what god said new heavens and new earth because this earth definitely that's not something you will see as titania said leaving your baby with a lion what where do you ever see that and to see things like wolves and axes you know tranquil tranquiling together that does really show that god is good he is preparing a world of peace a world of love and it's just something that i am totally looking forward to and so am i i am so glad that the snake is not going to get back its wings and that it will remain grounded and eat from the dust i am so glad let's talk about the imagery isaiah in chapter 66 speaks about the concept of trembling at the word of god what exactly does it mean to tremble at the word of god in your opinion anyone okay so i'll go because i was really thinking about this and my biology background and i love medicine it's like a hobby and when i heard trembling i was wondering why would somebody travel before god because god is love and we're we know he is love at what point would you tremble before god and there are different times when you tremble because it's just your body's reaction um your flights are fight mode trembling is basically your muscles getting ready to run off and so just like when other times do we positively tremble and what i realize is for example you have a birthday party and somebody surprises you you tremble but not in fear but in excitement and so when we tremble before god i believe the love that we have for him that excitement of being around him is the reason why we tremble i love that titanium sometimes i read the bible and i get so excited i just close it open and think about it and then reopen i'm like god did you'd really just say that a while ago i love that so let's hurry on and let's see if we can unpack isaiah chapter 66 a little more it's pregnant with imagery pun intended a woman who is about to give child birth be engaged in childbirth it has to be preceded by labor pains what exactly is happening in isaiah chapter 66 what is the context and what is the hope that we have coming from isaiah chapter 66 remember we have to break it down because isaiah was very wordy with all of this imagery so simple terms please i'll take a try that ship trip so the the imagery in isaiah chapter 66 especially when you talk about the new heavens and what god is going to do god is saying that there is a challenging time of trouble or challenges that cause the nation to feel like this is going to be the end of it and any anybody although i myself will never experience pregnancy but anybody that has gone through that can tell you that at some point themselves take me home because this pain is so crazy and at the same time throughout that pain that trying time you know we are we are told that a baby is born a baby's coming forth even in verse nine god asked the question shall i bring the nation to the point of birth and not give delivery says the lord or shall i who gives delivery shut the womb so god is actually making assurances for his promise that there will be deliverance that whatever pains we are going through and dealing with at the time of the end he will take us out of it completely the bible says in the new testament that the whole creation waited and grown it together as a woman in travail and so the imagery in isaiah 66 uses that same kind of imagery to bring home the idea that at some point we will experience such liberation such joy such newness that it will be like that newborn child that child that comes into the world and there is joy even though there was pain before that child was born amen so definitely we are seeing isaiah point jesus in a manner that he is coming to exact judgment on the world so for those of us who have been going through pains he's coming to nurture us he's coming to execute judgment and for those persons who never chose him then they will receive their reward they won't be nurtured oh trevine if i could add on to that absolutely all right so i agree completely with what hui says however i also see this chapter as seen how god is a god of order and a god of love because as it's depicted in childbirth it goes through the pain and then you go through a deliverance it's also denoting that god works in a process as in there's a pro process of suffering then there's a process of joy so just like a woman giving child a woman in labor she goes through pain and then at the end of it she is relieved it's the same thing that god's people are going to go through [Music] states of unrest a state of quote-unquote pain but then we wait for his deliverance and his judgment because it just shows that he doesn't want us to go through this pain but he wants us to be delivered and to understand that he's bringing us through a particular state into a state of peace and relaxation so it just shows just how mighty our god is and that he is just looking out for our best interest amen amen i'd like to add something so it is more than deliverance so something that it's not clear in the bible but if we think of the child birth it is known that after a woman would have given birth yes during the process she's ready to go home however at the end of it she's grateful for what she did and she's happy we might be going through this pain and yes there is really further in but more than that we will be happy for what we went through and that's something to remember there's joy amen that's profound very profound we have always had an all-inclusive gospel god's gospel has always been for all people and so when we read in isaiah chapter 66 verses 19 to 20 specifically where the exhortation is being given to take the word to other nations and these people will come back to jerusalem and they will offer sacrifices but the verse goes further it says that these same persons who were not originally jews would also become levites and priests what's the significance of this based on our history our bible history i think it would be good to read the text it's just two verse references from isaiah 66 verse 19 to 20. god says i will set a sign among them and will send survivors from them to the nations tarshish put lord meshkat tubal havan to the distant coastlands that have never heard my fame or seed my glory and they will declare my glory among the nations then they will then they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as grain offerings to the lord on horses in chariots in litters on mules on camels to my holy mountain in jerusalem says the lord just as the sons of israel bring their grain offering into a clean vessel to the host of the lord no god is saying that salvation is for all from the beginning of time peter said it this way god is not willing that he should suffer and he should perish but all should come to repentance and in this passage we find that they go to the nations that do not know god as we know him or do not understand a lot of the things about god and not only do they share god and they accept who god is but these nations they now come into the family they are welcome into the family and are given office priests a part of the priesthood they are allowed to serve in the temple of the lord and that is the highest position that we can have as children of god to to act as priests intercessors on behalf of others and yet these persons who did not know god will have access to the full-fledged experience of walking with him to the fullest level and that's because christ came to die for all of us and there is not supposed to be a division in the body it's supposed to be a united experience so they come from the north they come from the salt and we sing it all the time you know they come from all over the world but whether they are yellow black or white all are precious in his side amen so essentially the community of faith is not one for elites it's not a classics community when we talk about the community of faith but how does this look on a practical level persons who are coming into the church for the first time unbelievers what should be their attitude coming into the church how receptive what kind of reception should those of us who have already been in the church be towards them shouldn't we be should we be happy about the person who has now given their lives to god the same person who had a cause a friend to get fired at work i know they have come into the church this woman who you understand previously had cheated with your friend's spouse they have now come into the church how are we going to look on them on a practical level it's all well and fine to say that we are all brothers and sisters in christ but on a practical level how are we supposed to be treating members of the community of faith all right so as a member of the community of faith it is important that we understand that we are all made in god's image as it's stated in genesis and in matthew where it says that judge not that he be not judged god is telling us point blank right that we are to be accepting of one another we need to be welcoming of those who are outside the church who decided to come into the church because it brings joy in heaven it says it so many times in so many songs and it says it in scripture that heavens rejoice when a new soul has been won for the kingdom so for us as mortals to treat our brethren in some form of discord it's not godly and what god actually wants us to do is to welcome these persons into the fall which is why um back in isaiah you can see where the gentiles were given high position because god is trying to show that regardless of your birth you are of me no so it's it's god is such an ultimate teacher he does things to show an example so in doing this he's showing his people that okay you should not look down on these people but don't get it wrong you know it's not saying that no because you have this position you need to look down on those who had it first god is showing us that he created all of us to be with each other to be in love and most importantly as he said salvation is not for one our salvation is not for one group our family it is for everyone so for us to carry out god's will we need to be accepting of all his people amen okay so i'm going practical here i have a two-year-old baby sister she's going to be three in september and she went as i spoke about a woman giving birth before my sister came i would have been preparing myself there is a baby coming i'm thinking about how i'm going to treat her and how i'm going to react to her you also have to keep in mind that it's a baby and they don't really know and so you think about how are you going to teach this person how are you going to interact with the person so when my sister came initially she really didn't know and there was a lot of dependence but it was something i prepared myself for i prepared myself that that person is going to be dependent on me and i made myself aware that there are certain things i'm going to have to teach not because the person doesn't want to be taught but it's just a given they don't know and we're going to show and then there comes a point when they are thinking on their own at two years old now she seems to have her own opinion as to what to do but however we still need to guide as a serious guidance is needed because for her she does not necessarily know the right or wrong and i guide her as to what is right or wrong you can reprimand but you should reprimand and show love at the same time and showing that direction we should apply the same things for one person is coming to the church the four persons come you should be prepping yourself how am i going to treat somebody new into the church and when they come all of the holy spirit to guide you i saw how to help that person i think that's what i said to tell you and i agree with that analogy for a very practical um approach and application and i think it's a challenge to all of us even um watching us live know it's important for persons to think about that you know how am i asking god to help me to prepare for the new persons who come into the faith and we have to recognize that just like your little sister will make her own choices and have her own opinion as far as a baby can that there's still need for guidance but it has to be done in a way that is one of love there's a quote i wanted to share from this book called the ministry of healing which says christ does not acknowledge any caste color or grade as necessary to become a subject of his kingdom admittance to his kingdom does not depend upon wealth or superior heredity but those who are born of the spirit are the subjects of his kingdom spiritual character is that which will be recognized by christ his kingdom is not of this world his subjects are those who are partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust and this grace is given them of god christ does not find his subjects fitted for the kingdom but he qualifies each of his subjects by one thing his divine power and his holy spirit which is accessible to all amen amen as you were talking who i couldn't help but reflect that just this week in current news a social influencer derek jackson was just outed because of his infidelity alleged infidelity and a lot of other social influencers have come out and they have been mounting on their moral high horses to say that listen you sold a product and you did not follow through on it but we're all equal at the cross and when we think about romans 11 verse 17 to 18 and this is not an endorsement of derek jackson when we look on romans 11 verse 7 to 18 it says that when a branch is broken off and if you a wild olive shoot have been grafted in among the others and you know sheer in the nourishing sap from the olive roof root do not consider yourself to be superior to other branches you need to recognize this that you do not support the root but the root supports you so we are all members of the community of faith and we are equal but we are supported by god and the moment we take the focus off ourselves and each other and we focus on god then any questions any debates about who is better than who or who is inferior to the other will quickly disappear i have something to add and this morning i got a verse from my bible app uh the verse touched me but i didn't know it would be really fun to know so the verse is from galatians 6 verse 1 and it says brethren if a man be overtaken in a fault ye which are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness considering thyself lest thou also be tempted and when you mentioned the story and how they reacted this verse came to mind we have to be careful that's how the spirit works and so i know that we're running out of time but in the closing verses of chapter 66 of isil there's a reference that your name will endure what does that mean to you that your name will endure in the end what's in a name in this day and time we will say boy this person has a good name or even in society sometimes you will have different experiences because of your name your name can open doors for you and let you into circles and places that you would not normally have access to except if you are of this name and in in in a name in your name enduring it speaks to a number of things i find that especially a powerful promise because in the earth made new for those who are watching and may not have gotten the chance to read it god talks about their there being an end of death and with the fact that your name remains it suggests that our bonds are not broken by the unseeming hands of death because even today no matter how great the relationship and the interaction we all die at some point and that's one of the main reasons why our bonds end but in your name remaining it says that your spot is preserved forever and we do that for persons who have died we said you know i will always remember this person this way because we want to preserve the name and and for those reasons names matter and there's a lot more to it in terms of the culture of the hebrews and the jews and how they did things and i'm sure titania will touch on that but i just think in our current context and culture name and name preservation speaks to character and this is how god is saying to us our bonds will last forever we will they'll not be broken by the hands update amen all right uh let me just add on before titania comes all right so i agree with you in the what is the value of a name um just the other day one of my friends brought up a name of a historian and i'm sometimes i'm wondering how you remember that it shows the character of that person that he did something that even many many generations and years after people are still talking about them so it shows the longevity of how we are going to exist in god's new world we are your name your character and as hugh said that your name was your character back in the hebrew time where that you are denoted by what people would call you because these things would express how you treat people and how you would go about doing your daily work but when your name endeareth it shows that god plans on having it that you will last forever you will be something that your character all the things that you have done to live in his kingdom shall be something that he will hold and he will cherish and also he will preserve and that is the main thing that when you're naming the earth you can be happy to know that your god is just waiting to just rejoice with you forever tania well actually last start 10 seconds last start panelists each of you okay for myself historically names for the hebrews as whole they pro how they preserve their legacy and say i'm knowing that god preserves our name he preserves our legacy that's just performed for me um usually historically you would have to be giving birth to children and you literally have to work for your legacy but god is literally preserving it for us just need to follow him and he does the preservation amen thank you my closing thought goes back to where we started we talked about the new heaven and the new earth and i think it is it is so encouraging to to keep faith for that time because we are yet to experience the full use of all our faculties we're yet to experience being able to sense every aspect of beauty that is in this world and the universe we are limited we can't fly we can't see a lot of things right now and i'm looking forward to that time i just want to to share from that because where we started it talks about the fact that god himself will unveil that darkness from our face on our eyes and we'll see like we haven't seen before and i'm looking forward to that all right and my closing thought is just on the permits of whole great god god is the fact that throughout isaiah we see that his people the person that he has chosen have been disobedient however god has stayed true to his covenant with them he stayed true to his promises that he will deliver them regardless of their disobedience regardless of their ill mannered practices and he is going to carry them to a world made new that is so wonderful that you don't have to worry about death and pain and crying and as he said it's something that everyone should look forward to because there is nothing like living in complete paradise my closing thought comes to us from page 678 of the great controversy you see it in friday's lesson the great controversy is ended sin and sinners are no more the entire universe is clean one pulse of harmony and gladless speeds through the vast creation from him who created all flow life and light and gladness throughout the realms of illiteracy illimitable space tongue twisters today from the minutest atom to the greatest world all things animate and inanimate in their unshadowed beauty and perfect joy declare that god is love we thank you so much for sharing in our listening review this morning and right before titanio does the closing prayer we just want to let you know that we'll be showing a short clip showing the young adult sabbath school class while we were still in the youth room singing redeemed we were ecstatic we were happy and that will only that experience pills in comparison to how happy we are going to be when the lord recreates this earth may god bless you to tell you let us pray dear father i want to thank you for allowing us to be a part of this bible study and sharing with others or experience as we read your word as you interact with your holy spirit we all have so many different perspectives and as we share together we gain an even better view of who you are and what you do for us lord as this message goes out to individuals who are watching this clip i pray that they also gain this perspective and come to love you even more come to understand how much you are there for us come to claim that you are there for us your fathers want to thank you thank you so much in your name i pray amen amen [Music] happy sabbath saints it is a pleasure to greet you in the mighty name of jesus wherever you are worshiping with us this morning we are happy to have you we pray and trust that as you worship that you will find something special a nugget or two that will draw you closer to your lord and savior this morning as i greet you it is a unique weekend in jamaica in that the intensity of the spread of the virus is upon us as a nation and we have been placed on the even stricter guidelines so as i encourage you to adhere to these guidelines i also ask that you in so doing do not neglect to pray for each other to call each other because isolation can really make things difficult for some to deal with especially all the members so i share with you a passage from isaiah 26 verse 20. it says go my people enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you hide yourselves for a little while until the rot has passed by while we lock ourselves away for this little while let us use the moment as a time to reflect a time to introspect a time to connect with your lord and savior pastor would love me to share a couple of announcements with you this morning as he is unable to be here because of the restrictions so i share these few announcements as you listen please take note that our quarterlies are available so you can pass by during the week and collect your lesson study guide also there is a short board meeting today at 2 p.m so board members please take note and we invite you to join us for a e-wise this afternoon as our young people continue to lead us into new frontiers the information will be distributed in the various groups as to how you can connect follow anyways we will have for vespa service and we are asking you to come on to the vespa service because there is a small matter that we need to address after vespers have concluded as a church family so pastor seeks your support in that endeavor by now you would have realized that because of the restrictions of the weekend our planned drive by breakfast program would have been postponed so we ask you to stay tuned for further information as it relates to our new date as soon as we are able to we will be calling upon you to support this venture as we seek to response to address the needs of those who are less fortunate among us again please remember these individuals in prayer we have a number of our members who are grieving i ask you to remember brother ella lassells davis as he grieves the loss of his brother-in-law dr heather valeer has she too grieves the loss of her husband and sister sharon white who grieves the loss of her mother and i continue to ask you to pray for the family of brother hugh valentine in life we have the extremes as we grieve we likewise celebrate with other members of the family so today is a special day for sylvan and tamika they are celebrating their wedding anniversary so wherever you are sylvan and tamika i pray god's divine blessings upon you and may he grant you his favor that you will see many more happy milestones such as you celebrate today this week we had the blessings of many of our members celebrating birthdays i start with none other than our communications director sister charles pink she celebrated this week sister jones sister elitia edwards sister sabrina bacchus sister sylvia livingstone sister monica walker brother ezran brown all the way over in the caribbean islands hugh henry who you just saw on the sabbath school panel and today we have three celebrants michael allen sister cecile cooper and garfield goldberg to you who have the fortune of the double blessings of celebrating your birthday on this holy sabbath day we salute you and we ask god's divineness blessing open you as we conclude our pastor's segment i ask you to just bow your heads where you are as we reflect on these various activities and individuals who are sick grieving and those who are celebrating shall we pray almighty father we thank you lord for your continuous goodness towards us in the midst of debt of life there is that so we ask even now father that you remember our family members who grieve today the loss of their dear loved one may you create in us an image of you with that great power of compassion that as we reach out and as we say a word of comfort that the appropriate words will come to our lips whether it is we are to remain silent like job's friends in solidarity with those who grieve you will give us the appropriate emotions to express father we thank you for those who celebrated milestone we ask you to pour a special loans of blessings upon sylvan and tamika as they celebrate their anniversary and for all who celebrated birthday throughout this week and those who celebrate today michael cecile garfield by name may you in your own way oh lord reward them with a blessing so special they can't help but to cry out hallelujah father as we worship you today we pray that our family members wherever they are listening viewing this morning here in jamaica or abroad that they will see you high and lifted up and that as we approach your throne we will do so with hearts humbled and bowed down hear and answer our prayers now we pray in your son's precious name amen and magnify your name lord your holy lord [Music] [Laughter] as i look around and i see all the works that thy hens have made the awesomeness of you and how your love will never fail mere words cannot express what i feel inside i can't describe your glory divine but as a token of my love this is what i'll do i lift my hands and cry holy lord you're holy and we lift you up and magnify your name lord your holy lord you're holy and we lift you up and magnify your name there's not enough words that i can say to tell you how much i appreciate all the wonderful things you've given me your loving kindness your ted mercies it's my desire to praise you and tell you how much i love you you're worthy of all of the honor lord you're worthy of all the praise but i don't know how you can love me how you could give me so much mercy you didn't have to suffer and die for me way back on calvary but i just wanna thank you i just wanna thank you i really wanna thank you thank you thank you thank you lord wonderful glorious holy and righteous victorious conqueror triumphant and mighty healer deliverer shields and defense strong tower my best friend omnipotent omnipresent soon coming king alpha omega lord of everything your holy lord [Music] victorious conqueror triumphant and mighty healer deliverer shield and defense strong tower my best friend omnipotent omnipresent to common king alpha omega lord of everything your holy lord holy is your name [Music] holy [Music] oh is your name [Music] there's spirits in this place and i know it is the spirit of the lord there are sweeps expressions on each [Music] it place the presence of the lord's holy [Music] filling us with [Music] without a doubt we know that we have been revived when we shall [Music] wherever you are at this moment i invite you to assume a posture of reverence as we seek the lord in prayer holy holy is your name lord god almighty subjects we are unworthy we cry lord we are extremely grateful that you are our redeemer our father and our forever friend in a time such as this we need you more than ever so now lord we come asking you to cleanse us of all our unrighteousness anything that will prevent to a words of our mouth and the meditation of our hearts from being acceptable in your sight this morning disperse though we may be together we are at your feet and we o lord seek your presence with us as we worship father this nation jamaica land we love is bombarded on every side by violence debt sadness and despair the world o lord seems to be in a state of confusion but we know that you have the answer so we come this morning saying to you oh father lead on o king eternal the day of march is near as we give ourselves fully to you we pray o father that you will keep us in this difficult time may your faith never waver may we be steadfast and true even as you are may your ways o lord grow closer and closer to your way may your character reflect you in whatever deed an action may you o lord grant us the directions we so badly father as we worship you this morning we put before you the one who you have chosen to deliver the words that your people wait expectantly open sister katie as she shares the word this morning may you cover her oh lord from the crown of her head to the sole of her feet may every word that proceed out of her mouth be according to your appointment for your people who will hear this morning and may your words takes take grounding in our hearts may we not allow the rain and the birds to take the seeds that are planted but may they grow and manifest themselves in our lives and that all who witness our presence our speech or action will confess with their mouth that there is a god a god who loves even the ottomans so lord this morning we ask that you will hear an answer or prayer may the meditations of our hearts and the words are formal be acceptable in your sight we pray in your son's precious name amen happy sabbath everyone a special happy sabbat to the few that are here i mean few and of course our viewers online welcome to our sabbath divine service on the last day of our youth's week of prayer sad i know but the theme for the sabbath is lord i will go empower me we know that this is a very difficult time for our youth as it is a time when they're trying to secure their future and find their purpose but god has said in luke 10 verses 19 to 20 behold i give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you notwithstanding in this rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven as the lord has said we should not be troubled by the challenges that we face but just remember that we are never alone and that our goal is to reach in heaven when he comes again and we can use his time to draw closer to god use what we have at our disposal platforms such as social media to help in the furtherance of the spread of the gospel so i pray that everyone and especially our youth will be blessed and touched by the service as we invite the holy spirit to allow us to receive whatever message he has planned for us today and again i say welcome opening him is seeking the lost hymn number 373 [Music] seeking the loss yes kindly entreating wanderers on the mountains astray come on to me his message [Music] [Music] my [Music] seeking the laws and pointing to jesus so that our weak and hides that assault leading them forth in ways of salvation showing [Music] bringing the one [Music] [Music] jesus [Music] thus i would go on missions of mercy following christ from day on to day sharing the faith and raising the fallen pointing the lost [Music] [Music] jesus [Music] foreign every beast the forest is mine and a cattle upon a thousand hills the silver is mine and the gold is mine and it is god will give men power to get wealth as an acknowledgement that all things come from him the lord directed that a portion of his bounty should be returned to him in gifts and offerings to sustain his worship and in giving back you can give back through visiting the church's website you can fill out the electronic form so the treasury can act accordingly and you can also give back your deposit to the banking information that is shown on the screen or you can visit the church between mondays to thursdays between the hours of nine to five where you can give back your tithe in the dropbox the system of tides and offering was intended to impress the minds of men with a great truth that god is the source of every blessing to his creatures so bringing all the tides into the storehouse and prove me now saith the lord of hosts if i will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it the lord loves a cheerful giver first can be difficult what can we learn from noah that will help us put god first in our lives today [Music] can you imagine living in a town where you and your family are the only people who care about god well that was the life of noah people not only didn't care about god they didn't care about each other either the situation became so evil that if they were left to continue acting that way every human being would have been destroyed it was at that moment that god stepped in to save the world the first time around the world would end at least in the way it was before noah was told to put god first dedicate the next century of his life to building an ark and call on everyone to repent and change their ways noah and his family ended up being alone in this endeavor it was their time of the end and even though god's project required a lot of resources it seemed crazy but the family put god first investing all they had in it they realized they wouldn't be able to keep their possessions anyway noah was mocked and ridiculed by the very people he was instructed to warn but he didn't give up he was preaching and building to save as many as possible every day noah put god first and followed the instructions he was given the flood came and the ark saved noah and his family from destruction humanity was saved and noah received his property back a bigger one indeed in our time of the end we may be tempted to put our own projects and priorities first perhaps you're an administrator of many resources or perhaps you're constantly struggling to make ends meet like noah all of us are challenged every day every week every month to put god's kingdom first in a short time we also will be unable to keep our possessions everything will be lost anyway but those who put god first will see the results of their efforts with every person who will be saved god has also promised that all other things will be added to them and god keeps his promises with every plank and nail noah was putting god first his example compels us to do the same as we return our tithe and give our promise we are challenged to put god first [Music] we ask now that you assume attitude of prayer let's pray for father in heaven we do thank you for your mercy and your love thank you for all that you have done for us throughout this week and bringing us here in your course today father where we can lift up your name on high and worship you in spirit and in truth as i'm here interceding on behalf of your people i pray your father that you will take away everything that is unlike you that is within me now and may this prayer be heard and maybe of sweet incense to you i put before you father right now the speaker who is here to trumpet a message in this present time we ask that she'll allow herself to be diminished and allow you to be enlarged you know in your in her presence that the message that she is going to be delivered comes directly from you we ask the father also that the listeners that will not have a heart of stone but a heart of flesh to receive to readily receive the message that you have for us today i place before you also father the birthday celebrants that as they celebrate this another birthday father and to realize also that it is a year closer to your coming and that their life may be in order so that when you come they will be prepared to meet you also the sick ones the bereaved ones one sufferings we ask that you will grant healing and bereavement unto them father whether be mentally physically but more importantly spiritual father brings spiritual healing to your people and we ask further that whatever i feel of asking you for that you will grant it unto us if it is according to your will these mercies i ask in jesus mighty name amen happy sabbath azania how are you i'm okay i'm so delighted that you've decided to share the children's story with all the children and all the other big boys and girls who are watching us this morning could you tell us a little about your walk with god okay that's fine with me i can remember when i was younger i saw my parents talking to god like their friend i thought it was pretty cool so i started to pray to god like he was my friend i started to pray about little things until my prayers got bigger and bigger so share with us some of the things that you used to pray about well i started to pray about little things like one day when i went to the beach it started to rain so i prayed to god for the rain to stop and then the sun came up and i was able to go into the beach i also remember praying about really important things like helping me pass my exam helping me to be kind and obedient and you know what i even prayed for a baby brother and god gave me one it's just so cool that god can hear and answer my prayers well most of the time he answers my prayers but sometimes he doesn't some of the times when he doesn't answer my prayers i don't get mad because i know he's working out something that is even better in heaven azania tell us how do you share jesus's love with others i am now eight years old and i realized that god has given me many creative talents i enjoy using my hands to make creative things and use my brain to come up with ideas that will make others happy like recently i made a card for one of my classmates who had a broken arm i wrote talented words in the card that would make her feel like god was with her at all times and that she had to believe in god because he can heal her i also remember making a card from the street my teacher because some of the classmates were giving her a whole lot of trouble in the class i also wrote her a story telling about jesus love i like telling stories about jesus's love like once i wrote a short script about giving and sharing and i invited three of my friends to talk with me that's beautiful i wish i could have seen that drama what would you tell the other children who are listening to us right now as daniel well well first believe in god's power and to hear and he well first believe in god's power and believe that he can hear and answer your prayers number two is have fun learning about god through reading the bible like example we play sword in hand and i like to watch bible stories number three which is the last one find a bap of earth that will cheer you up when you are down and inspire you to always do your best for me my two favorite bible verses are john 3 verse 16 and philippians 4 verse 30. amen assania you're an incredible inspiration to boys and girls all over the world will you pray for us okay heavenly father i pray that you may encourage all the children to know that you that you love all of them and since you love all of them that they should be obedient kind caring sharing amen [Music] good morning happy sabbath online church it is my joy and delight to introduce to you this morning our speaker our speaker is dr k dean dafus dakers she is the current leader of the adventist youth department here at andrews sister duffers dakers is married to dwayne dakers and one thing i can tell you about sister dickers is that she's passionate about service in fact her mantra is with god all things are possible before you hear from our speaker this morning we're going to go to our scripture reading which is taken from acts 1 and verse 8 acts 1 verse 8 and it says but he shall receive power after that the holy ghost is come upon you and he shall be my witnesses unto me both in jerusalem and in all judea and in samaria and on to the uttermost part of the earth we're going to take a song of meditation after which you will hear the voice of sister day curse may your hearts be [Music] blessed in the harvest fields now ripen there is a work for all to do hark the voice of god is calling to the [Music] [Music] if we are faithful welcome home my child well done little is much when god is in it labor not for wealth or fame there is a crown and you can win it if you go in jesus [Music] there is a crowd [Music] if you go in jesus name happy sabbath everyone it's a blessing indeed for us to be worshiping together on another sabbath thank you so much brother bruce for your kind words of introduction in fact i want to thank the persons who assisted this week with our youth week of prayer without your participation and contribution it would not have been what it has been indeed we are happy that our youths are on a mission for christ's soon return thanks also to members of some of our other ministries such as communication music personal ministry and prayer ministry for the incredible support throughout this week i would also like to thank our team from ey members including sister marisa simpson caesar raquel sinclair cesar trevino's little to maureen beckford and sister gabriel davis and of course we will not forget brother yark ali walters for his contribution each week in helping us to send out our posters may god continue to bless you in your ministry and as you serve him faithfully may you receive many stars in your crown friends this week of prayer has indeed been a blessing night after night we've looked at the theme lord i will go last sabbath we focused on being filled sorry being renewed and then on monday we prayed for god's infilling on tuesday night we focused on healing and on wednesday we prayed for divine forgiveness on thursday we asked for god's guidance and just last night we prayed for god's strength if you missed a presentation you can still catch up with us on andrews memorial seventh-day adventist church's youtube channel today we'll be looking at empowered permission let us pray heavenly father we truly give you thanks for your goodness and your mercies towards us we thank your god that again we are load to worship despite the fact that we are faced with a pandemic we thank you for the various medium through which we can worship and we ask so god that you will be with your people even today as they listen may your holy spirit descend from an eye and may it fill us with your presence and transform our lives for service we pray in jesus name amen there is a story of two missionaries who on one occasion contemplated the niagara falls with admiration amid their astonishment one of them said i am sure this is the greatest unused resource of power in the world the other missionary looked at him shook his head and said my brother not so the greatest unused source of power in the world is the person of the holy spirit the holy spirit i agree is the greatest unused resource that we have as human being the person of the holy spirit or the holy ghost imparts a special power to the lives of god's children in the book of acts chapter 1 verse 8 the bible tells us but you will receive power when the holy ghost comes upon you and you will be witnesses in jerusalem and in judea and samaria and to the ends of the earth as we study the word of god we realize that the power of the holy spirit enables god's children and transform them from ordinary to extraordinary people for example we can mention the case of saul the first king of israel history says that saul was an ordinary man to the people even the day of his anointing we find that this prospective king was so frightened that he was hiding away faced with this great responsibility before him saul felt incapable despite this the promise the prophet sorry samuel anointed him as king do you know what happened next notice what is said in 1st samuel 11 6 when saul heard their words the spirit of god came powerfully upon him king saul was filled with the power of the holy spirit and went from fear to courage when the power of the holy spirit friends came upon him he was willing to face the challenges ahead so the spirit of god can drive out fear and i know many of us recognize this fact because there were so many instances when we were faced with challenges and the test of time but the spirit of god empowered us fear of the unknown friends can sometimes script us sometimes we are faced with fear of rejection fear of persecution but as we learned last night that you know god tells us over and over in scripture in fact 365 times that we should not be afraid you see this instruction from god we can use like our everyday multivitamin you know where we can take one a day being encouraged by the fact that god says to us do not fear but god does not just gives us empty command he doesn't just say friends do not fear he grants us his spirit to move from a place of fear to a place of courage and boldness let me give you another example do you remember the young man samson according to the bible samson was the strongest person physically speaking something he encountered or he overcame many things and he did extraordinary thing in judges 14 verse 6 it is said that he tore apart with his own hands a lion and in judges 15 verse 14 it is said that he alone one man faced great armies and conquered them and then in georges 16 verse 3 it is said that he dismantled the gate of the city and carried it on his shoulder and many of us looking at samso's extraordinary exploit may think what a man and sometimes we tend to explain it as him having used his natural strength others have concluded that it was something magical about his locks that caused samson to have had such great power but the bible does not support any of thee in fact the bible made it clear that it wasn't anything about samson's here or his natural strength but it was a holy spirit which resided in him that made him what he was for instance in georges 14 6 it is stated the spirits of the lord came powerfully upon him so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hand and then in george's 15 verse 14 it is noted that as he approached leia the pharisees came toward him shout for the spirit of the lord came powerfully upon him the ropes on his arms became like charred flocks and the bindings dropped from his hand the spirit of the lord do you notice that that it was not samson's physical power that enabled him to accomplish this great feat he was able to do all of these things because the power of the spirit of god came upon friends no matter how strong or how weak you think you are or adequate or inadequate or sufficient or insufficient you may feel we cannot depend on our feelings or our own strengths for us to be completely empowered the holy spirit must work in us and through us to carry out god's work we will receive the power of the holy spirit as the word of god tells us in zechariah 4 verse 6. it is not by might nor by power but by my spirit says the lord of hope we can go to another story that of the apostles when our lord called peter he was a mere fisherman for three and a half years we saw peter walking with the lord but just at the end when jesus was arrested and taken to the jewish courts for sentencing peter instead of standing courageously with his lord denied him three times why did peter deny the lord this simple it was out of fear he was afraid of the power of the jewish priests and leaders he was unwilling to defend the cause at the time of greatest need however god is a faithful and merciful god and jesus before peter did all of this said to him i am going to pray for you and we saw that peter repented and jesus forgave and restored him and then we can see where peter was now the one of the most courageous preachers of his time without the slightest fear we saw peter marshalling the troops for christ we also saw him facing jewish priests and leaders and he was the one who said it is better to obey god better than man he who one day denied jesus for fear of death no rises without any fear how could this extraordinary change could have eaten please temple peter was filled with the power of the holy spirit on the day of pentecost peter and the other apostles received the holy spirit and they were empowered to fulfill their mission as a result the apostle peter was able to rise without fear and proclaim the message of the cross the spirit of god my friends is able to transform because we saw him powerfully working to transform peter so that the legacy of peter didn't stop at the one who denied christ three times but the one who baptized thousands in a day this same peter fisherman known for his less than polish speech was able to write powerful words of encouragement through first and second peter the same transformation that is available or was available the peter is available to us today through the power of god's holy spirit we too can be empowered for mission friends the holy spirit empowers god's children who could see that christ's disciples most of them ordinary people would touch people from all over the world leroy froome noted during the apostolic era the triumphs of the cross continued the opposition dissipated pagan temples were emptied and converted multi multi convert sorry multiplied by the thousand without money christians overcame the confederation of riches around them without proper schooling they confused the learned rabbis without political or social powers they proved to be stronger than the scenadren devoid of a priesthood they defied the priest and their temp and without a soldier they were more powerful than the lesions of rome thus they came to plant the cross on the roman eagle that's right my friend when the holy spirit empowers people and especially the church great things can happen if we do not see where it works today it's simply because people are failing to recognize the power of the holy spirit do you know who will do the greatest works for the lord sister white says in the desire of ages pages 2 well page 250. he who loves christ the most will do the greatest amount of good there is no limit to the usefulness of the one who by putting self aside makes room for the working of the holy spirit upon his heart and lives will be changed and transformed if that person lives a life holy consecrated to god when the spirit of god takes over every part of our life we will work with the same power that the apostles of christ were this is why our greatest need today is to ask the power of the holy spirit to come upon each member of our church upon every young person every child and every adult when the holy spirit fills our lives we will see the wonders of god there's a story about a young man evan robert aged 26. he prayed for 13 years that his life will be fully controlled by the holy spirit he begged god to give him a whole heart a heart totally dedicated to the kingdom of god evan often prayed late at night and interceded for the youths and adults in his church when they had their wealth revival the youths in heaven church began to pray evan encouraged his friends to see the holy spirit to fill their own life the holy spirit touched their hearts and 16 young people accepted jesus as their personal savior from sin this sparked revival in their region in fact from their humble village it spread across the country and it is estimated that in the space of about nine months some 100 000 people accepted jesus in the small country of world and that as a result primacy people were transformed by the grace of god imagine what our nation could be like should we have such an experience friends what we need is to be empowered by the holy spirit the great spiritual revival began with a young man who simply asked that god would fill him with the holy spirit an entire nation was changed because of his prayer evan roberts and a group of friends who cried earnestly for the power of the holy spirit saw god answering their prayers and you know what something similar can happen to each of us if we seriously submit ourselves and ask that god will pour in us this holy spirit when this happens the word of acts 1 verse 8 will also be fulfilled in our day but you will receive power when the holy spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in jerusalem and in all judea and samaria and to the ends of the world you see friends christ's method is powerful but this is nothing without christ's spirit it is not by eloquence of speech nor by charismatic sermon and well presentations that we will do it not even by our understanding of social cultural context of the people who were trying to reach the power to convict a soul does not lie in any of us but comes from the spirit of god the power that the gospel message needs today comes directly from the throne of god it was dwight moody who said before we ask god to fill us i believe we must ask god to empty us before we can be empowered for mission we need to ask god to empty us of self and selfishness the world around us is dying friend and desperately in need of a savior the heart of men has works long ago as evidence from the tragedies all around us we need to be instruments of change today not tomorrow but today now more than ever we must put aside anything any weight that so easily beset us and seek god with our whole hearts anything that would distract us from our purpose and our mission must be set aside for ultimately we know that all of these things are temporary and will pass away we cannot carry them beyond the grave so let us get our priorities in line with god's priorities let us consecrate ourselves to god and pray that we have our receive the outpouring of the holy spirit you do not need a phd before god can use you to share the message of christ to others you do not need deep understanding of greek or hebrew before you can say to someone jesus loves you it takes no link except the connection to the man christ jesus all you need is humbly to say god fill me fill me with your holy spirit asked for that same power that moved the disciples of god in their day asked for the power that led samson to tear off the gates of the city ask for that same power that moved the young evan roberts in wales and his friends to kick-start a revival in their city come before god and seek his spirit earnestly and i promise that he will answer you do not stop praying and seeking god until you are experiencing the power of transformation which he has promised the god who promised my friend is faithful and he cannot lie he will empower you to carry out his mission in the last day finally the power of the holy spirit transforms ordinary people into effective instruments to fulfill his mission today i want to invite you to cry out together for the power of the holy spirit our prayer must be the same as following him over all me holy spirit bathe my trembling heart and brow fill me with the hollowed presence come oh come and fill me now feel me now feel me know jesus come and fill me now fill me with the hollowed present come o come and fill me yes my friend when the power of the holy spirit fills our hearts and mind our lives we will say as saul samson peter and the disciples have said i will go truly the harvest is ripe but the liberals are few do you want to see a change in your friend your family your neighbors your community your nation do you desire to be a witness for christ in his vineyard if so let us each day earnestly say to god fill me now fill me now for your mission and by your grace i will go may god bless you richly as you fashion in your hearts and minds to be empowered for his mission let us pray lord indeed we are truly grateful for your goodness your mercy and your grace words we thank your god that you are a god whose promises never fail and if we desire to be filled with your holy spirit indeed we are able through your outpouring spirit we know that we can be transformed from mission to go and to work for you i pray o god that he will stir up the minds and the hearts of those who listen that they will recognize that in their little corner they can shine a light for jesus that will transform the world around we pray god for the infilling of your holy spirit and that you will lead us even in these difficult times to reach others for you bless us to this end we pray in jesus name the closing hymn for the sabbath service is the lord is my light hymn number 515 [Music] the lord is my life then why should i fear by day and by night his presence is near he is my salvation from sorrow and sin this blessed persuasion it the lord is my light my joy and my soul my day and my night he leads the lord my joy and my song my dad by night he leads me alone the lord is clowns may arise faith stronger than psyche explode to the skies where jesus forever in glories of the rain then how can i ever in darkness remain the lord is my light my joy and my song my day and my night me along the lord is my light my joy and my soul by day and by the lord is my light the lord is my strength i know it is might i am conquered when my weaknesses mercy he covers with power and walking by faith he opposes each other the lord is my light my [Music] day and by night he leads me along the lord is my light my all and in all there is in his size no darkness at all he is my redeemer my savior and king with saints and with angels his praises i sing the lord is my light my joy and my song my dad by night he leads me along the lord is my light my joy is my song my day and my night [Music] happy sabbath everyone and welcome to walking in his word i am kuami thomas i'm one of your local elders in the andhras district of churches today i'm going to be joined well i'm joined rather by seasoned finalist pastor dean fletcher as well as well both season finalists so it's faster fletcher pastor dean fletcher and professor giles welcome gentlemen let's see i'll just pray first and then we just run right into it let us pray heavenly father thank you for having blessed us with the opportunity to sit and talk and have a discussion around your words dear father we pray that for the homes that we would have been in we ask that those homes will be glorified those homes rather will be edified and you'll be glorified bless your church bless your people and continue to draw us closer to you and to each other in jesus name we pray amen so gentlemen we have been looking at a number of things as you would have imagined we have covered 10 fundamental beliefs already we have looked at two and a half three separate doctrines of the church and now we are going to be looking at the idea of growing in christ but how we're going to it's going to be buttressed and all the doctrines that we have now because we understand that to grow means that you are going to be learning from the environment in which you exist and your perception is going to be informed by everything around you so without even asking more questions i'll restore it to you what does growing in christ mean how does it look any one of you can take it first thank you eloquami going in christ involves transitioning and developing in your knowledge of christ so that you become more like him to give you an example of what we are talking about the thief on the cross he accepted christ in his dying moments and he is assured of a place in god's kingdom but what if he had not died at that point do you think that he would have known all that pertained to godliness and righteousness he would not have by a process of learning he is reconditioned from a life of crime and other things to recognize and embrace the ways of christ so going in christ is about becoming like christ having accepted him right back of lecture i understand growing in christ to mean that i lose control of myself and as paul says allows i allow the mind of christ to be in my mind so i look at myself i see my vulnerability my proclivity to sin and i seek adjust my life in accordance with christ's will and purpose of my life and and even as i speak about growing in christ i i don't believe that i should be the person i was today that i was yesterday so today i should become a better representation of christ and a better version of myself oh so i'm hearing two things a better representation of christ and a better version of yourself so it's about behavior modification not necessarily about becoming someone else but becoming your best self all right i fancy that point but how are we to understand this idea in light of all the fundamental beliefs because we we know that we're for no we're finite creatures with we barely have the understanding or that the capacity to to comprehend the infinite so we're just gonna limit it to these six doctrines these 28 fundamental beliefs how should we understand growing in christ in the context of those beliefs um before i actually answer the question directly i think just to support what we have said already first ii peter chapter one gives us what is called peter's ladder that's second peter second peter chapter one from verse five it says and beside this giving all diligence add to your faith virtue and to virtue knowledge and to knowledge temperance and to temperance patience and to patients godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness and to broadly kindness charity now you'll notice that you start with faith faith is where it all starts for by grace are we saved through faith but having embraced christ by faith we grow to the ultimate of what charity or love the bible says that god is love and in growing we become more and more like christ however as it has been pointed out it is not something that we can just do of ourselves we need the holy spirit to do it the bible says jesus said if he being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children how much more will your heavenly father give the holy spirit to them that ask him why the holy spirit the holy spirit is given to us so that what the law could not do in that it was weak god sending his own son so that we might walk in righteousness not walking after the carnal way but walking after the spirit so all the doctrines of the church are towards helping us to grow in grace what we need to recognize that it is the gift of christ that provides the wherewithal the opportunity christ intercedes for us to receive the holy spirit which we need in order to be empowered to live righteously okay and i that's corruption that is in the world you lost so far with the understanding that i have a fallen nature that that that i would have uh inherited the sinful tendencies of my four parents but because i have this gift of the divine power and the grace and mercy of god i can be a better version of myself and a better representation of christ all right so i'm getting we're moving from just mere faith all the way up to charity and we're moving from being just ourselves to being the best version of ourselves so we're looking at oh god intended for us to be that's what we're saying so we have looked at what it means personally no no what it means personally though so i've looked at all these things to add to my faith patience and temperance and and all those things and then go into charity and then to be the best version of myself but if i'm to talk to somebody who has never come across how it's put in the bible or they have never exercised they've never had this discussion with you and you wanted to give give it to them simply to say this is what it means to grow in christ what would you tell them uh if if i may speak to that on my way here as i reflect on how we will speak about growing in christ it came to me forcefully that self-awareness is of critical importance and the johari window came to mind a window yes yes yes so for the johari window the the upper left quadrant speaks about the open self that which you know about yourself others know about you but the quadrant below that speaks of the hidden self that is you know this about yourself others do not know about this about yourself now on in the upper right quadrant there is the blind self no now the blind self is what others know of me that i don't know of myself and below that there is what is considered to be the hidden the unknown self right that is nobody knows that about me now as i think about it i i said to myself it is evident that we need to have persons to help us to get to better reflect christ and so proverbs 27 17 came to mind that says iron sharpens iron and so a man sharpens the countenance of his friends so i say for me to grow to be more like christ i need others who are heading in that direction to help me right now i i observe that i will need others especially when it comes on to my blind self now when it comes on to my hidden self i should be open to god to confess and forsake my sins and and there is said that much of me as would be said of you either of you is unknown and then it struck me that it is not truly unknown because there's a god who knows everything so if i want to better understand my life my purpose there's a need for total reliance on god for him to help me to deal with the challenges or or the grow grow growing edges of my hidden self and for me even to be more aware by interacting with others to know of my blind self and even to venture into what persons would consider to be unknown so there's a need of our dependence on the power of god so are we seen then that for so simply put the open self is what everyone knows yes the blind self is what those know of us but we don't necessarily know it about ourselves and then you have the hidden self which is just trust me on god for the most part those closest to us so so that being said for me it says that we should accept our vulnerability we should be open to feedback about ourselves because your wife kwame as you grow in christ will know some things about you that nobody at church knows about so for you to grow to be like christ your wife can help you in that direction that nobody else can and then we're asked to surrender the unknown self entirely well yes surrender everything pretty much but those will help the holy spirit guides us with the unknown self because he knows that and then others will help us along the way yes so that points back to relationship now though it's all about relationship having the right kinds of relationships around us because that's one of the primary ways that we'll grow you know because we started out by saying if we associate with others who are heading in in that particular direction so i just want to remind our viewers that they can they can communicate with us via youtube or or other means because we are streaming no and we are live we expect to get your queries your comments and your concerns if you have a question feel free to throw it in and we'll look at it if time permits so tell us now about the idea of growing in christ specifically based on our understanding of the life the death and the resurrection of christ first i'll look at that first then we look at growing in christ as far as what we love to call the great controversy is concerned but we're looking at first the life death and resurrection of christ so you can run with that okay one of the first things that we need to appreciate is that we use words and models to describe certain realities words and models however have limitations just as with any analogy you use an analogy or a model to illustrate some aspects of a reality but it does not tell you everything about the reality now salvation and sin it's a story it's a historical narrative that things that are things that actually happened somebody did something at a particular point in time was at a particular point that started it and it has progressed and affected certain other people and so when we start to understand who did what where when and how and we understand what was happening at the time when it was done we are better able to understand and appreciate the words and the models that are used to describe these things so we speak about um justification for example or being acquitted that has to do with sins of the past adam sin that condemned all humanity and our sins that we have to repent of in order not to be condemned for them right then we talk about sanctification receiving the holy spirit so that we can be molded after the character of christ and then we speak about glorification which is the transition from being mortal to immortality so salvation has several elements to it right and when we understand the reality that these words are used to describe who did what where and when and how it all progressed then we can understand why all these different elements of the story are important and so we should not make the mistake of thinking that salvation is just about justification that is being saved from the penalty of sin which is one thing it is very important but sanctification is also important we must receive the holy spirit to be made fit for heaven but it doesn't end there we must be glorified because flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of god and so the second coming of christ at that point will be changed to immortality and the dead in christ shall rise and so all these elements of the narrative are important and so it is within this context that we can fit all the different doctrines of the church all the different elements that complete the story so that we can understand why certain things are done at a particular point in time great stuff prof yes yes and and even as we continue to look at growing in christ especially within the context of the death of christ i see where paul says in galatians 2 verse 20 i am crucified with christ nevertheless i live yet not i but christ who lives in me so for me it means giving up myself as a sacrifice being acknowledging that when christ died on the cross my sins the penalty thereof was paid and with this awareness i can live with the anointing power of the holy spirit with freedom having freedom over the power of sin with a view of getting freedom from the very presence of sin through glorification all right that's that's that's a mouthful and and i like the way you you both have synchronized synchronized everything so the great controversy growing in christ in light of this great controversy you know because we we sometimes question what exactly is this controversy i know prof would have hinted at it without seeing it because we looked at the idea of seeing what did what you know who did what when where and who and and all of that but but in plain english you know how do we grow in light of of this controversy no and and then after that no we're we're gonna be looking also at the idea of the indwelling of the holy spirit so it's gonna be from the great controversy and then the idea of of the indwelling of the holy spirit so go on again all right if i could just mention in a nutshell what happened lucifer a high and exalted angel was in the very presence of god the bible says he was a covering cherub he took his eyes from of god admiring god and started to admire himself and in doing so he developed a diminished appreciation of who god is right and hence it led to his rebellion because he felt that he should have been more exalted than he was and that was where it all started and the bible tells us that one third of the angels or the stars of god were brought down with him that's revelation 12 because of his rebellion but not only that having rebelled god having created this earth commissioned adam and eve as stewards of it he came and he sold them his lie and as a result of that they opened their arms to him and disobeyed god and by doing so it gave access to this earth of not only satan lucifer or an angel who became satan but the one third of the heavenly host that fell with him so they are here also and as a result of that adam and eve you know we were made a little lower than the angels in the presence of the superior intelligence of angels the dominion that god gave to them was lost god did not give it to satan even although when um satan appeared when the sons of god appeared before god in the book of job and god said where are you coming from he said oh from walking to and fro upon the earth he wanted to show that he was in charge there but the bible tells us that through christ was come the son of god as a faithful steward demonstrating how submission to god the cr who made this earth how it operates and how it behaves god we are told in daniel 7 will turn over the kingdom take it away from satan and his horse will you serve it from adam and eve and give it to christ the son of man the second adam who will be king over all king of kings and lord of lords because we will be kings and priests with him and he will be king of kings and lord of lords over this territory which will be under his dominion for eternity so it is within the context of this storyline as i've mentioned it's a historical account of things that have actually happened things that are in progress no and things that have a glorious culmination of those of us who commit ourselves to christ and accept him as the faithful steward and be on his side because those who have usurped the dominion it will be taken from them and given back it will be given back to god's people to whom it was originally intended under the rulership of christ all right so i have two comments before i i throw the indian of the holy spirit on you we know how the story will end as such we implement strategies according to god's word for or growth and development to ensure by god's grace that we are saved and i'm seeing did not jesus say search the scriptures because they testify of me the spirit also will take i will tell us of jesus and reveal him i reveal them unto us the indwelling our holy ghost unto us the holy ghost and infilling and are submitting to him will develop an intimate relationship so again it points but most most other persons on on youtube are pretty much seen the same thing that we're seeing that it points back to the restoration of our relationship so you're gonna tell us about that indwelling of the holy spirit in light of everything that was said well before we get to the indwelling of the holy spirit human weakness is to take responsibility for our actions especially when we would have done wrong if we do something good or something uh worthy of commendation it's easy to say yeah i did that but if i really did something disastrous something disgraceful sinful it's it's a human weakness to be slow to accept responsibility as was manifested even in the garden of eden with adam and eve now while this is the case god knows that we are in this great controversy they struggle between right and wrong good and evil christ and satan and for this reason he admonish admonishes us through peter in first peter 5 verse 8 he says be sober be vigilant because your adversary you have an enemy the devil who goes around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may divorce so we have an enemy we should live with this constant awareness that the enemy of our souls wants to deceive us and and and the devil is so cunning that he may overpower us using or our strengths so so we may think that this is not an area where the devil is likely to attack so i leave it unattended right so peter is saying under inspiration that we should be in a right state of mind we should be sober we should be watchful we should we should be aware that the devil at all times seeks to devour us now while this is so i am guided to philippians 2 verses 12 and 13 which says therefore my beloved as you have all always obeyed not as in my presence only but now much more in my absence work out your own salvation with fear and sure and trembling no no no this part would suggest that boy maybe i can attain salvation by works but no the continuation of the text says for it is god who works in you both the will and to do of his good pleasure so hear what's happening now god does not leave me alone god is willing to work in me so i can do what is right and god is willing to work in any of us by the power of his holy spirit to do what is right even as he perfects his image in our lives so i'm i'm getting a whole it's a holy digest um today so one of the things that immediately came to mind when you were talking about the fact that the devil can at times use our own strengths to overpower us is the idea of what paul had said where he was having this discussion with god and he was saying to get this thorn out of my side you know and god says no you know my grace is sufficient for you could it be could it be that like paul we're being told not to pay so much attention or to glory too much in your own strengths because even though you're glory in your own strengths and your legitimate strengths the devil is as such where he can and at times he will use your own strengths to overpower you so you are to be careful lest you stumble so the invalid of the holy spirit grace hope those things know how can we use those things to buttress or or growth in christ so to speak how can we use these things to ensure that at the end of the day instead of just going and checking because i know i've had discussions with friends and and they said i have a sin bill you know where we're so on one side they have a sin bill where they can record all the scenes that that they have committed throughout the course of the day or wherever but then they have another thing now check some balances where you can say all right i have done this correct i have done this correctly and and so on and so forth how can we move beyond that to just understand and to appreciate the fact that when christ said it is finished it didn't mean that it will be finished or a part of it was finished but he paid the penalty for all sins at all times but he did not give us a license to continue in sin how should we appreciate or how can we better appreciate that in light of growing in christ as as i think about how we can grow in christ in this regard i am brought over to hebrews 4 verse 15 which says that you have not a high priest who cannot be touched with the feelings of your infirmities but one who was in all points tempted like as you are yet without sin no no no while i have that high priest the the good thing about the bible is that it is complete in its expression it continues to say uh in verse 16 let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need so yes we may be weak by ourselves in our strength but we can go to christ the one who would have paid the penalty for our sins and we can go to him boldly and receive grace and receive mercy as we accept that he has done that which is necessary for our salvation elder a carnal mind we struggle not just with our understanding of church or understanding of church doctrines but we struggle inwardly because sometimes i i feel as though we get baptized no and as soon as we're out of the water are out we are not fully out of the water we are just thrust into into this battle this this cosmic war that's happening inside of us never mind what's happening around us but what's happening inside of us and we are supposed to be temples of the holy ghost but we are constantly being bombarded with with with desires that we might not have known that we had we are being tempted we are always at war how do we survive how can we survive as a matter of fact or can we okay it is a complex matter because there are many elements to it as i said but we can simplify it we're told in philippians chapter 2 and verse 5 let this mind be in you which was also in christ jesus how do we receive the mind of christ in beholding we are changed we become changed to be like him whatever you focus on that is what you will become so in behold in christ we admire him and we learn of him and the spirit of god empowers us to be like him now it's very important to understand that certain models as i've mentioned before illustrate certain important aspects of the plan but they do not necessarily tell us about all the aspects so for example you have the debt model that speaks up represents a situation as us owing a debt and it being paid off we have the penalty model that presents the ideas of having committed a crime and he having paid the penalty for it for us but we have to relate these models to the reality itself because each model has its own limitation so for example one might ask a question if everything has been paid already i ordered it and everything has been paid money lodged to my bank account then why do i need to do more the fact is that model illustrates one aspect of the plan and of the situation because there are other elements of it for example jesus said strive to enter in a straight gate because many will seek to enter and shall not be able to so there's another aspect to it that we have to understand that while christ has canceled or dead or death in relation to certain things so for example adam sin that condemned the entire human family the bible says as in adam all die so in christ shall all be made alive so where adam's sin is concerned there's no one who will be called upon to pay a penalty for that because christ has taken care of that however what about your personal sin do you think that it is canceled if you don't repent of it the bible is clear you must repent of your sins otherwise it's not gone you will pay the penalty for it in the lake of fire and so i'm saying we have to look at all elements of the story in context and it's important to note the death of christ acquits us however that is acquittal from adam's sin that con them all humanity and then by his intercession on our behalf when we repent of our sins we are cleared of those and those will be placed eventually on the real criminal which is satan who as the scapegoat will pay the ultimate penalty for those but there's a process we must accept the holy spirit that empowers us to live above sin so that we do not continue in the life of sin otherwise we will disqualify ourselves for heaven our sins will not be canceled christ has not paid the penalty to give us a free pass to continue committing sins so i'm just saying all of these things have to be considered in order to get the full sense and context of who did what where when and who and what we need to do because we have a part to play all right thank you very much eldar we are fresh out of time and i think we can just we can just leave our viewers with the understanding of i liked the johari window that you had that you had that you asked that we put up and it paints a context of all that we have been saying no and the idea of turning over the hidden and the unknown selves because that's where that's where most of our or that's the subconscious that's most where where most of our proclivities might hide and god knows those and if we can turn those over to him then it should be far easier for us to to access that grace through faith and then turn towards love as we had put it any closing comments as we go and pray always be free to have frank conversations with god speak with god knowing that he knows how to deal with your secrets be open to identifying your points of weakness ask for strength as you continue to listen to him by reading his word and meditating upon his word all right so thank you very much gentlemen for having sat and having had this discussion and so we're going to be praying we're pretty much just going to pray as paranormal for for the pandemic what's happening now and for persons to have a closer walk with god and to ask for the indwelling of the holy spirit i'm going to leave you with that burden pastor and then we close our fully or father you understand the gravity of our current reality some persons are not careful to observe that we are living in trouble sometimes even our governing authorities they themselves sometimes are at a point of powerlessness and helplessness but you o god to whom all power and might belong we know that you never slumber nor sleep and that you watch over every affair of life i pray oh god that for all front-line workers who are inflicted and affected some physically some psychologically and emotionally that you in the midst of this crisis you will speak peace hope and healing for others even our church family who find church a haven of rest and sweet peace i pray oh god that while we may not be able to come together in a physical space that you will help us to experience the comfort of your holy spirit great god you who search the reins of our hearts understand the depths of our need i pray that you will minister to every member of this the andrews district church family the wider church family in east jamaica jamaica and the world at large that in this time of crisis or hope will be anchored on jesus christ i pray o great father that even as we look at growing in christ that through this pandemic we will be attentive to your voice as we seek to understand what you might be telling us through covet 19 through the lockdown through us not being able to meet together help us to understand how as a church we can remain vibrant and alive even when we are not coming together knowing that our connection remains with you bless us o god both now and forever in jesus amen amen so brethren thanks for availing yourselves and we just want to thank the viewers for having a load us into your homes and hopefully into our hearts we pray that you will be well and that god will constantly be with you as you will always see yourself as being in his presence and being able to access him and so until we meet again next week same time same place i bless you and i ask that you walk with god so see you next week same time same place bye [Music] you

Channel: Andrews Memorial S.D.A. Church

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Length: 172min 15sec (10335 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 27 2021