Youth Conference 2019: Kurt Skelly

open your Bibles tonight to the book of Genesis in Chapter number 25 if you have a Bible tonight Genesis chapter 25 I've got some guys helping me so they're gonna get some things set up tonight while they're doing that would you find Genesis chapter 25 in your Bible and then stand with me just quickly I want you to keep your Bible wide open thank you dr. Getz for that introduction thank you to Israel for that great song I want you to keep your Bible open tonight Genesis chapter 25 and I want you to look at verse 29 you're gonna recognize the passage Genesis chapter 25 and look please if he would at verse 29 the Bible says Jacob sod pottage sod he boiled stewed is what we would say today Esau came from the field he was faint and Esau said to Jacob feed me I pray thee with that same red pottage literally what Esau said was give me that red stuff for I am faint therefore was his name called Edom Jacob said sell me this day thy birthright and Esau said Behold I'm at the point to dine what profit shall this birthright do to me Jacob said swear to me this day and he sware unto Him and watched this verse 33 he sold his birthright unto Jacob he sold his birthright unto Jacob now look at verse 34 then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils or beans and he did eat drink and he rose up and went his way now watch the commentary watch the commentary that the Holy Spirit gives us about the story we just read because God is going to tell us now what he saw did I don't even know the Esau in the moment knew what he did but God is gonna just God's gonna tell us what he saw just did we might think ostensibly to all he saw did was eat a bowl of sin all the Esau did was make up a rash decision in a moment but watch God's commentary on what you saw dead because the Bible says in verse 34 thus in this manner thus Esau despised his birthright it's a strong word it's the same word that the Bible uses when Goliath saw David come on the battlefield the battle says that the glass disdained David just a small boy did you send a boy to fight a man he looked condescendingly look down on it Esau despised his birthright look down it's a small thing it's a stupid thing too insignificant thing it's the same word that the Bible uses when Michael the wife of David looked at David celebrating the coming of the ark back to Jerusalem the Bible says that that Michael despised David in her heart how dare he act that way how stupid how dumb to to celebrate it the Ark of God Esau despised the birthright and 52 on 52 years of age it's hard for me to believe I started preaching at the West Coast Baptist youth conference when I was 37 I I came to this youth conference with my with my junior high son the first time I preached here that Junior High son is now a father of three which makes me a grandfather of three I used to love and come and help do skits and I love to have fun if I could stay all week we'd have a blast we laugh and joke and skit I don't have time for that tonight the older I get the more I'm impressed upon three things number one I really want people to love Jesus I really just want people to look to do what they do because they love Jesus I really I really want people to love Jesus I want to love Jesus number two I really want people to value the Bible how many of you struggle reading your Bible every day come on I want people to value the Bible I want you to I want you to start reading your Bible everyday a shot in the arm on a Thursday night youth conference is not gonna get the job done you're going to have to find a way to get in your Bible everyday number three I don't want people to waste time I'm just gonna tell you this and I know I sound like I know I sound like your dad I know I sound like your mom when I say this I know but listen I want you to get busy serving God right now I don't want you to wait another moment I don't want you to delude yourself into thinking that you have time because you don't have time you don't have time now is the time more and more I find myself in concert with Solomon who said Rebecca behold now remember now that I created and the days of thy youth what while you can well you have time now I want to talk for a few minutes tonight it won't be a long message it's gonna be important one I want to preach tonight for a few minutes on despising your birthright what does it mean would you listen tonight hey balcony all the way in the back tired tired today would you listen to what God's word has to say our Father I pray that you'd bless the message tonight Lord I need your help Lord you know my desire and lord I I think on no your desire lord I pray that tonight you would use this message to impact hearts and lives oh god I pray that we would learn what it means to take seriously who we are in Jesus Christ Oh God tonight I pray that you would do a work on the inside of every single one of these young people youth leaders college students God work in my own life god I pray that you would do something tonight that only you can do I pray that the end result tonight would be that we would value the birthright that is ours in Jesus Christ oh God tonight bless this message would you be with my lips help me to say those things that would be totally consistent with your word be with my mind tonight help me to remember those things that you've laid upon my heart and study most of all tonight I pray that you would receive the honor and glory from this message please Lord I pray in Jesus name Amen you may be seated and thank you so much for standing I'm going to refer tonight several times in the course of the message to this table in this bowl nothing special about the bowl that is see-through because I wanted you to be able to see that it's just a bowl of beans that's all it is I don't really like beans beans make me do weird things we're gonna leave it right at that I want you to understand that Esau sold what was valuable in his life for eternity for what was in a bowl for what he wanted in the moment for what his stomach told him to do he was willing to trade the most valuable thing that he had for what was in a bowl I'm gonna ask you a question is that what's in your bowl what's in your bowl tonight what are you willing to trade what God has saved you for what are you willing to trade the purpose for which Jesus Christ has placed you on planet Earth what do you want to cash in for the reason why God has planted you in this generation to serve it after the will of God what is in your bowl tonight I'm gonna ask you that question over and over again tonight for Esau it was a bowl of soup for Esau it was red pottage for Esau it was a bowl of beans what he said I've got to have that I'm willing to give up everything that's good and valuable that God has given to me for what's in that bowl what's in your bowl look at Genesis chapter 25 I want to bring you up to speed in the passage look at verse 19 please of our text watch it real quickly Genesis 25 and verse 19 the Bible says these are the generations of Isaac Abraham's son Abraham begat Isaac now watch this in verse 20 okay the Bible says Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebekah to his wife that's a that's a pretty that's a pretty ripe old age to get married some of you are here how many of you are here with a chaperone that is not married would you raise your hand I'm good and I a chaperone that's here that's not married would you point at them okay cuz we need to get them married at this youth conference okay good if you're under 40 there's hope and help for you okay and the way the way Isaac got his bride is dad sent a messenger said you better pick one out because there's not much hope for Isaac otherwise okay and first view we just got to pick her out okay so the Bible says in verse 2 in verse 20 that he took we're back into his wife the daughter of bethuel the Sirian of padana ram the sister to Laban the Syrian so here's Rebecca here's Isaac they're 40 years old they're just getting married they're newlyweds at age 40 and the Bible says in verse 20 21 and Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife because she was barren hey by the way do you know when Isaac entreated the walk the Lord for his wife when he was 59 that means how do you know that because later on in the passage it says that the kids were born when he was 60 so he starts praying about it after 19 years it took you 19 years I think to start realizing well where do babies come from okay God maybe you need to get involved here and after 19 years he prayed and God answered the prayer and Rebekah got pregnant and what would happen to in verse 21 Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife she was barren and the Lord was entreated of him and Rebecca his wife conceived now Luca verse 22 and the children struggled together within her how many of you have a brother or sister raise your hand up good 9 okay keep your hand up if they're annoying okay I did not say raise your hand higher okay okay how many of you keep your hand up if you're the younger brother or sister okay I feel your pain okay older brothers and sisters are related somehow to Adolf Hitler I am convinced of that how many would agree with that absolutely how many of you are the older brother or sister would you raise your hand okay I hate you in Jesus name I can't stand your guts okay you're mean you're vile you're torturous and we just can't stand you and by the way it started for these Twitter how many of you are twins would you raise your hand up god bless you god bless you okay well here are twins and guess what they started fighting in the mother's womb they started fighting can you imagine that the Bible says they struggled now did Rebecca know that she was pregnant with twins they didn't have sonograms back then I don't know I think she just thought she's having a terrible pregnancy and what's what she does in verse 21 verse 22 the children struggled together within her and she said if it be so why am I just what's going on inside of me Lord so Isaac is praying lord give us kids and then Rebecca's praying and saying Lord why do I have kids okay and she said Lord why is this thus and she went to inquire of the Lord she's praying and saying God what's going on inside of me watch what happens in verse 22 and the children struggled together within her I'm sorry verse 23 and the Lord said unto her two nations are in thy womb did you just see what the Bible said she must have been a huge woman and then I realized the Bible is speaking metaphorically here okay two nations are in thy womb and two manner of people are in thy womb our shall be separated from thy bowels and the one people shall be stronger than the other people and the elder shall serve the younger in other words at Rebekah what you got going on inside of you is big and special a god what you have going on inside of you is you have two people that will end up leading two nations Isaac prayed Rebekah prayed God's doing something very very special with both of those God has a big plan for both of those children now look at verse 23 at verse 24 rather and when her days to be delivered were fulfilled behold there were twins in her womb verse 25 and the first came out read he must have been Native American the first came out read all over like an hairy garment how would you like to be that'd be the description of you when you're born you look like a rug well look at him he looks like an animal skin like a hairy garment I remember we have we have we have three boys than a girl all three of our boys were born with full heads of hair our daughter was born bald okay she's still but no she's not okay I'm just telling you and you people say all kinds of things when their kids are born that are that are lies they're lies they'll they'll post a picture on facebook of the newborn and say he's so cool he's so cute he looks just like grandpa now I'm saying yeah if you mean he has no hair no teeth and rules all the time sure and so here's Esau he comes out he's hairy but then watch this the Bible says and the first came out red all over like in hairy government and they called this name Esau and after that came his brother out and his hand took hold on Esau's heel so the two things that are memorable about the birth what one this guy looks like a red animal okay the other one this guy's holding on to another guy's heel okay these are dysfunctional kids they've been fighting and this guy still hasn't given up okay look at versa 2026 and his name was called Jacob which is the play on the word Jacob is a kind of a play on the word he'll he'll grabber I mean he's a he'll grabber and Esau is a play on the word red he's red all over so here's red man here's he'll man red man a healed man I mean could you've come up with better names than that maybe that's why God changed their names but look at what it says in verse 26 and his net his name was called Jacob and Isaac watch this now was threescore years old when she bared them so now you got mom and dad they're about 60 years of age and they're bouncing baby boys now watch what happens to these boys in verse 27 and the boys grew and the boys grew my effect what's gonna happen in verse 27 is we're gonna fast-forward now we're gonna fast-forward probably twenty maybe thirty years so now if I'm fast-forwarding twenty or thirty years from the time that Isaac is sixty now Isaac is going to be like 80 85 maybe ninety he's an old old man his boys now have grown up their men themselves because the Bible says in verse 27 that the boys grew esau now watch what happened to esau because the esau made something of himself he saw he was a guy that man he was voted who's who Esau he was the guy respected he was a man's man he was a guy every dad is proud of because the Bible says in verse 27 the Esau was a cunning hunter hey not just a hunter but a cunning hunter this guy he knew his stuff this guy could get the animal this guy knew just how to get the prey and he had the deer stand in just the right place that he had the deer blind in just the right foot position I mean a Esau he knew what he was doing and the Bible says that he was a cunning hunter and a man of the field that he was comfortable in the outdoors it he knew how to live within the element so he could stay out for weeks on end he could live off the land he'd be great on Survivor man I mean this guy ISA he was the man a cunning hunter a man of the field and then watched this in verse 27 a versa I'm sorry verse what verse are we in verse 28 27 and Jacob was so that seesaw okay here's Jacob trust me watch it and Jacob was a a plain man but that that's a good description hey describe your brother oh he's kind of plain oh but he lives in tents oh that helps he's plain and he lives in tents can you imagine putting that urge on your chick-fil-a resume resume he won't even get to you and get the job and saved my pleasure for the rest of your life watch what it says in verse 28 and Isaac loved Esau for no other reason than the fact that Esau was the hunter that could get meat and bring that meat to Isaac and Isaac loved to eat meat and therefore I love Esau Isaac loved Esau because he did eat of his venison but Rebekah loved Jacob he's the guy that's home he's the plain man he's the guy that didn't have much going for him he lives in the tent he helps mom cook dad loves Esau mom loves Jacob now look at verse 29 so Jacob sawed potus that's what he's good at that's what he does he's not spectacular he's doing the job that typically a woman would do back in those days at least he saw politics he boiled soup Esau came from the field he was faint let's give Esau a break how many of us guys come home and we've got to eat something like right now okay you don't talking about and by the way when you're when you're faint like that you'll eat anything even a bowl of soup even a bowl of beans now I've come home listen nothing's off-limits leftovers I don't care have that bacteria on it Salmonella makes no difference dog food I've been there done that okay if there's Captain Crunch that's always good hey it's not wrong to eat a bowl of Captain Crunch eat some Doritos and a peanut butter sandwich all at the same time okay that's not wrong and so a scheme Esau break here he's he comes in the Bible says and Esau said to Jacob feed me I pray thee with that same red cottage for I'm faint therefore was his name called Edom and Jacob said Jacob the heel grabber Jacob the deceiver Jacob always the slickster Jacob said okay I'll give you the bowl of soup but it's gonna cost you something now I'll tell you this about Jacob Jacob at least knew what was valuable at least Jacob knew that more valuable than a bowl of soup more valuable that way you could put in your stomach for one day more valuable than what could please your flesh in the moment more valuable than all of that was the birthright at least Jacob knew that and said I will give you a bowl of soup if you'll give me your birthright what good is a birthright to me said Esau what good is a birth what good is all the value that a birthright brings if I'm gonna die now listen he wasn't gonna die if you went to bed hungry that night but you're in the moment all he could think about was one bowl of soup and what did Jacob do he got the job done and made Jacob made Esau sell out the belt bowl of soup for his birthright all right now pastor Scully what in the world does this have to do with me I'm gonna tell you I'm gonna first of all explain you what the birthright is and I'll give you three statements tonight I want you never to forget these statements I want to tell you what the birthright is I'm gonna give you three statements okay first of all what is the birthright what was so important about the birthright that Esau was willing to sell for a bowl of soup okay the birthright number one the birthright when the birthright was given to a firstborn son the birthright meant that I had the privilege to be the priest of the family say pastor Skelly I've never wanted to be a priest they dress funny and they do weird things and they burn incense and I don't want to be that anyway no the priests in the Old Testament was the one that communicated to God for the family remember dad no Bible hey they have no iPhone with a Bible on it and no iPad no copy of the scripture there's no copy of the Old Testament wasn't even written yet they have no Bible the way by which they had a communication with God was through the patriarch of the family the priest responsibility that person that firstborn son had the prerogative now of being the one that communicated from man to God from God to man it was a huge huge blessing and so when Esau said hey I'd rather have this bowl of soup than my birthright I'd rather eat these beans than my birthright what you thought was saying is I'd rather have this in my stomach than have the prerogative of being the one that communicates to God for people or being on the communicates to people from God that's more important than communication with Almighty God that's what he was saying but not only was the birthright their prerogative to be the priests of the family number two the birthright was a double portion you say a passionate Skelly what do you mean a double portion here's what I mean if there were two sons in a family then the oldest son got a double portion of the father's inheritance so two sons he divided the inheritance three ways so the oldest son gets two thirds the youngest son gets one-third if there's four sons you divide the inherence five ways the oldest son gets to each gets one one one and so the oldest son gets a double put he gets more than he gets double than anything else and what Esau was saying is Esau said I don't care what I get in the future I don't care how much money my dad makes I don't care how big of the the the herd becomes I don't care how much net worth we find they accrue as a family a Jacob you can have double what I have as long as I can have soup right now as long as I'm back you have beans right now you can have everything else you want what good is that right now actually the birthright what was it it was the priestly responsibility I get to communicate not to people from God I get to communicate to God from people it was the double portion but you know you know else the birthright was the birthright was authority see pastor Skelly what do you mean by that okay the birthright meant that I am now the authority of the family hey four I say we go we go how I adjudicating a problem among the extended family is the way that that is adjudicated that's the way it's judged I'm the judge I'm the leader I'm the calm the king so to speak I'm the one that's a mover and shaker I'm the final authority I'm the supreme court I'm the authority and the family and what Dee Saul was saying is this bowl of soup is more important to me than having all the responsibilities of leading my family of guiding my children I've got in my cousins I've got in my grandchildren hey the bowl of soup is more important than all of that I'm gonna sell out every single promise God has for my future for what I can have right now that's what you saw did he despised his birthright he said god it's not that I don't believe the birthright is true it's not that I don't believe that one day it's gonna happen it's just I could never see it it's just taken too much time and I've got a bowl of soup in front of me right now and I'm really really hungry so god I want this now you can have that here are my three statements you're ready here they are write them down write them down despising your birthright statement number one like Esau we all have a birthright you say passionless Kelly what in the world are you talking about I'm the youngest of seven children you know I'm not the firstborn haha even if even if my parents did pass away they don't have much to give us an inherence anyway I couldn't get a double portion there's no priest today anyway I can't communicate for God what are you talking about we all have a birthright here's what I'm talking about do you know in the New Testament sense that Jesus Christ is called the first born of God do you know that do you know that in Romans chapter 8 and verse 29 the Bible says for whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son that he Jesus might be the firstborn among many of his creation here the Bible teaches the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is the first point God and when you got saved you got in Christ do you understand what I mean by that something you got saved last night somebody got saved this morning when you got saved you were placed in Christ securely and so every benefit that God has in Christ is a benefit that he has for you he that spared not his own son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things see when God saved you he started blessing you but he didn't stop blessing you when God saved you he he decided to begin a process in your life whereby you're gonna become more like Jesus every single day as you listen to the Holy Spirit as you cooperate with him as you've read the Word of God as you apply to your life every single day you become more and more like Jesus Christ and one day when you die you're gonna be just like Jesus Christ we call that glorification you know who does that God does that that's God's purpose for your life God's purpose for your life is that you would become more and more like Jesus Christ every day that's why this Bible is important that's what this Bible is paramount and you're left that's why you've got to get beating every day not just perfunctorily not just read my four chapters read my verse memorize my Awana memorize my teen verse memorized from my Bible test but read the Bible to love it Oh God open down mine eyes Lord that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law oh god I'm gonna hide your word in my heart that I might not sit against you and O God teach me your word why because Jesus Christ needs to be formed in your life and what what Esau was saying is let's listen that life of purpose that life of closeness to God that life of what God has for me that's not important what I'm saying to you is a New Testament believer if you've been saved you have a birthright and that birthright is now you have the prerogative to live like to live for to live in the example of Jesus Christ how you doing how you doing with that this morning did the other intense desire in your heart to say Lord Jesus I want to do the things that you would do if you were in my body today but I want to love the people that you would love if you were in my body today Lord I want to help the people that you would help if you occupied my body god I want to live my life for 1st of God I'm looking for people to help and bless God I don't want to fritter my time I don't want to spin my wheels I don't want to live my life like it's on a hamster wheel god I'm here it's one life and yesterday I was in youth conference and today I'm 52 and tomorrow I'll be dead and life we live our life of the tale that's told and one day passes and one month passes and one year passes and boom life is gone and I'm wondering is there a teenager in here tonight that will say listen I don't want to sell my birthright I've been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ I now have purpose I now have I now have all of this potential in Jesus Christ I don't want to waste one moment on whatever's in that bowl I want to spend my entire life serving Jesus Christ like he saw we all have a birthright I was trying to think as I study for this message what would be a good example of what that means I thought about a real a recent trip I took to the country of Nicaragua I've been many times I may have even told you a little bit about the country so I won't belabor the conditions just suffice to say that Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere after Haiti if you've never been on a third-world mission trip you need to go it'll change your life I remember going in Nicaragua years ago and the very first thing we do when we go to Nicaragua was we don't we don't go to some resort and we don't go down to the the beachfront no we go to the we go to the dump it's the first thing we did you say passionate Skelly you go to the dump yeah we go to the dump what people live there are you hearing me tonight people live there and this is not an American dump where we can actually throw away some things that are salvageable this is a Nicaraguan dump with where they don't throw away anything they can't use and there are people that live in that dump in fact there are many people there's a whole city of people that live in the dump but we drive the shuttle bus and we bring food because we want to feed them because they're hungry and we pull the bus up of these begin to come from everywhere they begin to come out of this mountain of trash they're picking through little pieces of plastic they're making little mounds of plastic so at the end of the day they they can take that that plastic and sell that plastic and maybe have enough money to buy food for one day we pull the bus up we've got some chicken to give them we got some vegetables to give them we have some fruit to give them and the kids pour down that mountain of trash and we preach the gospel to them and we give them some food and say it's interesting those kids will they'll take that little piece of chicken and they won't eat it they won't eat the chicken you know what they'll do they'll run home dr. R though run home with the piece of chicken because they want to share it with mom and dad and grandma and their cousin they wouldn't dare eat it all by themselves look at what God has given us a piece of chicken we support a pastor in that dump he lives right there among them what a man this pastor I wish you could meet him what a great spirit he has four children the one daughter is just as sweet as she can be big smile on her face they live in nothing they live in a little shanty I want to say it's it's no bigger than it's no bigger than this this little section here that's that's their house right here this is their house their whole house you enter their house and here's the first room and back here to the right is a small little room and big enough maybe for one bed that's where all the kids were all the kids that's where all the kids live the little girl I don't know how we found out about it but the little girl said all she's ever wanted but let's cot all she's ever wanted is a bed that's all she's ever wanted a bed think about that all she did was bed she's heard about people that have beds so we bought her a bed had delivered of just a just a single bed that's all you can fit in the room we went back down to Nicaragua listen we pulled the bus in here comes all the kids coming down the mountain of trash there bring all their piles of plastic the buses come in were preaching the gospel we're singing songs we're giving out toys and candy and chicken and meals and they're loving and here's that girl here's that girl she's tugging on me she's looking at me she's smiling she's speaking Spanish said come come medic Avantika we make our way to her house she can't wait brother Jason she can't wait to show me her bed we go in that room and she's sitting on her bed I have the picture I I meant to bring it she's sitting on her bed and to see the smile on her face and by the way I said now this is your bed and all of her key all of her siblings sleep with her in that bed and she's as happy as she could be say what does that have to do with birthright you know I wish I could take that little girl listen I wish I could take that little girl and scoop her in my arms I wish I could take that family scooped oh I wish I could take all of them I wish I could I wave a magic wand and give them all the right paperwork I wish I could bring them to my house I've got a beautiful house I've got three bedrooms I don't even use I've got space upon space I've got clothes to fill my walk-in closet we have four bathrooms that rooms in my house that are bigger than their entire house I want to scoop them up and I want to bring them home but I can't all I can do is give them a bed but listen that's not what Jesus did for you are you listening to me you're a seventh grader here tonight you're you're you're a tenth grade girl listen to me tonight that's not what Jesus did for you you know he did for you he came down to your dump Jesus showed up at your dump when you can do nothing when you couldn't get out when you were bound by a picking through the trash trying to live he came down and he rescued you and he saved you but listen he filed the paper he gave you a new birth certificate he gave you a new identity and he took you out of that dump and he gave you a new house and a new place a new hope and a new home that's what Jesus did for you now what if I did that for that little girl and just before we got on the plane just before we got on the plane she said oh no no pastor Skelly I cannot go with you I know you've adopted me I know you filed the paperwork I know you've taken me out of the dump I know you have a great plan for me I know there's a new home I'm supposed to live in I know you've got a school Christian school I was supposed to go to in the state I know I'm gonna eat well every single day I I know that my life will have a new purpose I know all of that but there's some ones offering me a hotdog and I know I'm gonna miss the fight now I know I'm not gonna go home with but I want to stay and eat this hot dog he said what are you talking about what are you talking a hot dog I've adopted you whatever a hot dog I've got a new home for you we've got about a hot dog I've got meals for you every day I've got a new purpose for you what are you talking about that's what you saw did that's what you saw good Esau said I don't care about every future blessing God has I don't care for the very purpose for which God placed me on planet Earth I don't see any of that all I see is I'm hungry now I want something now and I want to trade it all in now like some of you are doing destroying your soul looking at pornography every day in your bowl scooping it up destroying your purpose destroying your usability spending your whole life chasing what's good for you chasing what feels good chasing what you think will satisfy you chasing it changing it but it's just a bowl of beans it's in and it's now and it's no good and the birthright of serving Jesus Christ lays by the wayside what are we thinking like he saw we all have a birthright watch this number two like Esau like Esau we often struggle to see its value that's our that's our collective desire I speak for brother Dean I speak for a doctor Goetsch I speak for dr. R speak for a pastor Chapel I speak for brother Greg speak for these other good men but the Larry brother Pete I speak for all of them when I say that our desire at youth conference yes is for you to have a good time yes is for you to forge relationships yes it's for you to sing and enjoy all of that but our big desire is that you would serve Jesus Christ with your life that's our desire if you come and have fun if you come and make friends but you don't serve Jesus Christ with your life we failed the big desire is give your life to Christ give your life to quite locked stock and barrel everything you are all your emotion all your energy all your hopes and dreams and Bish's aspirations give them all to Jesus Christ like Esau we struggle we struggle seeing that value I'm 52 I see it way better now listen to me I see it way better now I wish I could go back in and see it as well as well as I see it right now I see it way better now I'm trying to wake up a 15 year old tonight I'm trying to wake up a 13 year old tonight to say now come on come on only one light and so soon it will pass only what's done for Christ will last like Esau we struggle we struggle seeing the value you know we place value on listen to me you know we place value on we place value on what we're good at if I'm good at something that's valuable hey Esau he was the cunning hunter that's what he valued he spent time practicing with his bow and arrow he spent time you're practicing his stealth moves he he spent time scouting his prey he spent time he was good at it no we found you we value the things were good we're good at that video game we're good at that sport we're good at that academic listen I'm not against I'm not against having fun I'm not gonna gets being competitive I'm not against being a good ball player but listen we spend our life on it we spend our life on it then we value it all our discretionary time it's nothing for us to sit down and watch twenty five hours of March and spent 25 seconds in the Bible I'm just saying we value what we're good at we value what we invested and that was he saw what he valued was what he was good at what he values was what he was familiar with he was a man of the field this is my domain this is what I'm good at oh I could never be a preacher I'm more of an outdoorsman guy I'm a sports guy I might go to college and go into sports medicine now I'm not against that that's God's call upon your life but too often in life we make all our decisions based upon what we're comfortable with well I would never leave America I'd never speak a different language I would never go to a Muslim country I would never listen what would you never do and we missed the will of God sometimes because we'll only pursue things that we're good at and we missed the will of God sometimes because we only person who thinks that we're familiar with or watch this sometimes when we value in life it's what gets us the most attention sometimes what we value in life is what gets us the most attention you know what got esau attention hunting hunting got him attention no gave him attended his dad everybody wants his dad's attention dad's proud of me I must I must be fulfilling lies purpose look at this I'm getting deer meat my dad loves me he's proud of me he's the one that's on the sidelines cheering me when I make the basket he's the one that's proud of me when I make the touchdown and listen I'm not against that I'm not against dad sure they're kids but wait a minute sometimes if the only person we look to for approval is somebody that's gonna clap their hands when I do what I want to do that's not necessarily God's will listen if I followed the approval of my teachers and even my own dad my own stepdad I never would have gone to the ministry I'm not saying disobey your parents what I'm saying is you better find out what God has for your life and nobody ought to be able to talk you out of that you better find out let me tell you a good story about a guy that did just that back in 1904 that's going back a few years back in 1904 a young man he'd graduated from high school at age 16 he went to a boarding school he was from Chicago but he got saved in Chicago on to the ministry of oratory his his dad was a rich rich man involved in silver mining this guy had loads of one of the richest men in America he sent his son to a boarding school in Pennsylvania he was a smart kid by the time he was 16 years of age he graduated from boarding school notice dad mom gave him as a graduation present in case some of you are graduating this year you want to give you a parent some suggestions here's a good one here it is right nobody gave him four for a graduation president he gave him an around-the-world trip gave him a chaperone put him on a put him on a cruise ship and they sent him around the world to see the entire world at age 16 for his graduation present you know what happened he began to go to these countries you know what he saw he saw what I saw oh not everyone lives like Americans oh not not not everybody not everybody has running water not everyone has a cushy life oh wow there are people that really are begging for food oh there are people that really have never heard the name of Jesus Christ he was a Christian you know what began to happen to this young man 16 16 no two habit em he got a burden no it was outside of his comfort zone it wasn't what he was familiar with it wasn't what he was good at he was an academic he was an athlete but he wasn't a missionary he was he didn't know foreign languages him just told the outside of his sphere but you know somebody had to do something somebody had to do something about it so this 16 year old boy said came home and said dad I want to do something about it no dad said no way dad said no what makes me proud when you get good grades know what makes me proud when you go off to common you'll go up to school and and get good grades and make the family name look good no way you'd go out and do missionary work yes for poor people and dad said no we know what this boy did he went to college Yale College the burden never left him now is 20 years of age no he does he goes to seminary Princeton back when it was a decent seminar went to seminary studied the Bible he told us dad dad I'm going his dad said if you go if you go to the mission you will not have a job in the family business you will men make any money they were listen by today's standards they were billionaires but this young man said dad I've got to go I've got to go dad said I'm cutting you out of the inheritance I don't care I'm gonna go and by the way he did age 25 he got on a boat to go to China to reach Muslim people in China province of China on the way to China he stopped in Egypt to learn the language when he got to Egypt to learn the language listen he was there for one month are you ready for this he was there for one month are you ready he died what a waste here's a 16 year old boy I mean had all this money that could have been given to him could've been a family business he was saved that's his level of comfort it's what he knows he could have given money to missions I mean what was he thinking he must have missed it oh by the way his name was William Borden William Borden today is a catalyst for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of missionaries being on the mission field hey God knows what he's doing he didn't sell his birthright no in his ball was a million billion dollars in his bowl was notoriety in America and his bowl was fame and fortune and all of it we said listen I don't want what's in the bowl I want the birthright that Jesus Christ has given me I wonder where's the young person tonight that will say I don't care what the devil puts in that bowl I don't care what life puts in that bowl I don't care what my desires put in that bowl I don't want what's in the bowl I want the birthright of following Jesus Christ with my life I want to start tonight like Esau we all have a birthright like Esau we often struggle to see the value of our birthright number three and lastly like Esau listen to me listen to me like Esau we have a choice are you listening like Esau we have a choice listen it's not your youth groups choice are you hearing me tonight it's not your friends to us it's your choice I don't know who you are I don't know who used youth group is but I know this you have a choice and she can't make it for you nor can you your youth pastor can't make it for you your daddy can't make it for you you're gonna have to make it all by yourself when I was 16 years old I got saved I had a choice I chose Jesus Christ as my personal Savior I repented of my sin I realized I was lost and undone I realized there was nothing I could do to save myself I chose Jesus Christ he was my only hope he was the way the truth and the life and then after I chose Jesus Christ as my savior I chose to follow him with my life I've not been perfect I'm far from it I've lived a broken life but I'll tell you one thing I'm so glad I'm so glad I gave my life to Jesus Christ and everyday I put myself back on that altar and say old Jesus I want you to use my life until I die my dad died at 56 he got cancer when he was 50 to languish for his last four years with pancreatic cancer died a horrible miserable death I'm 52 I don't know how much longer I have but I want every second of my life to count for Jesus Christ I'll give you that I'll give you the ball I'll give you this ball you can have this bowl you saw it's gonna cost you your purpose it's gonna cost you your birthright are you willing are you willing are you willing oh yeah what good is that for me what good is that for me okay okay swear swear swear II saw know what that meant in today's language that means okay put it down and writing know what that means in today's language hey notarize it yeah play them triple it he'll make sure that you use blue ink hey know what that means that ever seen the computer screen but you're about to do something like delete a file or format your drive or download a new app and the screen comes up and says are you sure you want to do this listen whenever your computer gives you a pop up screen that says are you sure you want to do this don't click yes until you really know that you know that you know that you know what you're doing you know Esau did the pop-up came in his life oh do you really want to do this he saw you know Esau said click yes yeah you know what in the moment I'm going to sell out my entire future for what I want right now you know the choice was watch this it was a choice for now over later do you know if you're a seventh grader how many seventh graders raise your head up good 9 do you want their 7th grader and you could come up with $100 I bet you could I bet you could I bet you can come up with $100 doctor I bet they could mow some lawns and do some side jobs you know steal mom's money from mom's purse when she's not looking and other wholesome ways to get money I bet you what would happen if you took $100 and said you know what I'm going to take that hundred dollars and put it in the bank and I'm gonna put it in an investment by the way a good investment no no I'd say this a decent investment will double your money about every seven years is that fair dr. R is that fair so $100 you're 12 years old you put a hundred dollars in the bank guess how much you have when you retire let's say you retired sixty-seven that's about the age people retired nowadays get so much money you have $25,000 you never invest one other dollar take a hundred dollars put it in the bank right now don't just forget about it when you retire you have $25,000 you know Einstein call that the magic of compound interest he said it's the greatest principle of learned the magic of comp you know what your life is when you give it to Jesus Christ compound interest man you start serving God when you're 12 you start serving God when you're 13 no God will take any 60 year olds get get saved gonna take idat o to get saved but man you're a teenager that give your life to God right now choose now o choose later over now hey later invest now for later but leave the bowl of soup where it is and best now for later he chose the physical over the spiritual what my body needs is more important than what my spirit needs no listen seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness all these things shall be added up God knows out of feet of bean soup when it's your time to get bean soup you just put God first in your life now I'm done I want you to show you one other verse I'm done look at Hebrews chapter 12 I want to show you something that rocked my boat when I saw it look at Hebrews chapter 12 we're done please don't miss this are you still with me say Amen look at verse 16 lest there be watch it verse 16 Hebrews 12 please put your eyeballs on it ready lest there be any fornicator that somebody that says that I want sex now watch this that somebody says I want sex now I can't wait til later it's a fornicator I want pleasure now I can't wait till later fornicator but then about says let there be any fornicator verse 16 or profane person watch this as Esau huh Esau was profane which means he didn't value spiritual things it was just a joke to him he just despised it it was ho-hum so what I had a bowl of soup so what I sold my birthright what's the big deal so what I'm a youth conference so what the preacher preached on something so what ho-hum so what I have a Bible so what I never read it so what I can pray to God so what I never do so what I cheat so what I look at pornography so what so what so what profane like Esau watch this who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright now don't miss it don't miss it verse 17 for you know how that afterward stop-stop you know what the writer of Hebrews is about to tell you he's about to tell you something that happened afterward years later because it tax watch this attached to the birthright was something called the blessing and they almost always went together now the father did not have to bless the same person he gave the birthright but almost always he did so what happened is the birthright Esau said not important I don't care God's blessing on my life doesn't matter just give me my bowl of soup but watch this many years later as the clock was ticking down and Isaac was about to die and Jacob once again fooled Esau and got the blessing and he saw came home and realized oh I missed out on the blessing then he said Oh dad Oh dad Oh dad but I really wanted the blessing but but but dad but that but be dead but good would you bless me too Oh father Oh father I do want the blessing Oh father I do want my life to count Oh father I do want my life to be valuable Oh father no Isaac said no please change your mind the Bible says though Esau cried though Esau was persistent though Esau pleaded Isaac would not change his mind you know why because I'll watch this cuz all the way back here when Esau was a young man he said I really don't care about serving God and so thirty years later are you watching 30 years later he said all I care about serving God now oh I want the father's blessing now oh I want God to bless me now please bless me and go to that can the years are gone I can't bless you you can't get in a time machine you can't come back to use conference you can't be thirteen again now's your chance now's your chance now's your chance you can't go back oh and guess what God renamed Esau Edom he named him after the soup his whole life was known for what he let go of the birthright oh by the way what did God name Jacob Israel his whole life was known for what he wouldn't let go of God I'm not gonna let go you until you bless me what are you holding onto because your friends will change your family might change your culture is changing the church is change but Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever you better love him you better follow him you better serve in you better give yourself in because it's the only life that matters

Channel: West Coast Baptist College

Views: 2,217

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: youth, conference, kurt skelly

Id: DjWtp4gtMSM

Length: 56min 43sec (3403 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 11 2019