GYC 2017: Arise

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Generation. Youth. Christ. (GYC)

Plenary

Moise Ratsara

Arise

This message was presented at the GYC 2017 conference, ARISE, in Phoenix, Arizona.

For other resources like this, visit us online at www.gycweb.org.

Thank you so much for that beautiful song.

What a privilege it is to be here with you and to have the keynote address.

I have A few thanks before I begin, but I got to tell you that I am blessed to have a beautiful wife, Amy, and thank you for that introduction.

I believe that my little boy as well is sleeping at this time.

So, The little man hopefully will be blessed somehow.

I want to thank the GYC volunteers for all of the dedication and the labor of love that you have given for the movement.

A lot of the things that you see are done out of sacrifice and love for you.

I also would like to thank my family, especially my wife and my parents, for their love, for their prayers, and for their great sacrifice.

If it were not for them, I would not be here today.

I also want to thank Pathways, and especially Lila Lewis.

For showing the heart of Christ in Phoenix, helping people receive free health care, but also blessing them spiritually that they might be a blessing to the world.

Thank you so much Pathways and every volunteer of Pathways that is here.

On behalf of GYC we just want to thank you for giving your time to do the best work and that is sharing the love of Christ.

Also would like to thank the Jackson and Bunker Hill Church.

You are watching right now, and I just want to thank you for all the things that you've done for bearing with me as I travel across the world to help this generation get a picture of Christ.

I just want to thank my local churches, and I also would like to thank, above everything else, God for his loving kindness and for being so patient with us.

Dear Heavenly Father, what a privilege it is to be here.

As we have gathered from all 4 corners of the world in the thousands, we have come because we believe, Father, that you wanna come soon, that you wanna come even more than we wanna see you come.

And may you speak in the name of Jesus we pray amen there were 2 Moravian missionaries by the name of Joanne and David 2 young men Moravian brethren's in her nuts Germany in the 1700s These 2 men received the call to mission work and they were dedicated to go to the end of the earth to share the love of God.

They got a call to go to an island in the West Indies, St.

But the only way that they could go to that island was that either they were a slave owner or they were slaves.

These 2 men were middle-class young men in the prime of their life, but they received the call to missions.

So they decided to sell themselves as slaves and go to the end of the earth.

As they went into the boat, they looked at their families and they said, "'May the lamb that was slain "'receive the reward of his suffering.' And there they went as slaves to share the love of Jesus Christ to a people somewhere in the world.

But I want to ask you the question today, GYC, do you know where you're going?

We know that our destination is for heaven.

Everything that we do, every ounce of GYC is so that each and every 1 of us can be in the kingdom of God together.

We know where we want to go, but how do we get there?

And today by the grace of God I want to give a clear vision and a mission for where GYC is going and where we must go.

To the Bible and to the spirit of prophecy.

Reading the Bible and the spirit of prophecy.

Turn your Bibles with me to John chapter 5 and verse 39 And we will see why.

In John chapter 5 and verse 39, this is what the Bible says.

It says, you search the Scriptures for in them you think you have what my friends?

You have eternal life and these are they which do what?

You see the Bible is not just another good book.

It is the mind and the heart of God made audible for man.

The Word of God is our only rule of faith and practice as a people.

Without the Word of God, my friends, we are nothing, and Moise is nothing without the Word of God.

Our vision and life must be driven by the Word of God and by the spirit of prophecy.

Every ounce of GYC must exist to propel, to inspire this generation to have a deep abiding relationship with God.

If we are not leading people to Christ then we need to stop existing.

That is where we must go to the Word of God.

But what about the spirit of prophecy, you might ask?

Do we need to read the spirit of prophecy?

A couple weeks ago I was on my tour to the beautiful continent of Africa.

If you could tell that I have an accent, that's because I am an African.

And I went to that beautiful continent and I was coming back on a 28-hour journey.

I wanted to see my wife and my beautiful little man, but what was before me was 4 inches of snow, very cold, dark, and fog.

I had my trusted little car, my Honda Civic, and if you have a Honda Civic you know it is reliable.

But unfortunately my Honda Civic was not heavy enough to face the snow.

Though I had traveled from very far, I wanted to be home.

My wife told me, sweetheart, Mo, I know you're a dedicated guy, but you could rent an hotel or stay in an hotel for the night till things are more safe.

So I went through the snow, through 4 inches of snow, roads that weren't plowed from Detroit to Lansing, driving, driving at about 35 miles an hour on the highway.

Left and right there were cars on the ditches, but I was heading home.

I knew the way home, but it was so dark that I could not see properly but I was thankful for those 2 red lights in front of me that were leading me all the way home the spirit of prophecy is still light though it is the lesser light it is still a light And according to Revelation chapter 19 and verse 10, it is the faith of Jesus Christ.

The year 2017 has been a year to be remembered.

As we're going through this life, more than ever before, young people just like you and I need to be in the Word of God, reading as well the spirit of prophecy.

Read ministry of healing it talks about Jesus Christ it has the same author the Holy Spirit read it this is where we must go as a movement to the Word of God.

To go to the local church, you might say, well, Moise, why do we have to go to the local church the book education page 265 to 266 says this the church is organized for service and in a life of service to Christ, connection with the church is 1 of the first steps.

Loyalty to Christ demands the faithful performance of church duties.

This is an important part of one's training, and in a church imbued with a master's life, it will lead directly to efforts to the world without.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church, my friend, and I'm saying this from love, is a grassroots movement, but it's the apple of God's eye.

More than ever before, we need young people to be involved in their local church.

To be involved in their local church, not only be on the sign lines and be attendees, but you are, my friends, participant.

GYC Beyond

For the last 15 years, GYC has stood to encourage, to equip, and to inspire young people to do something amazing, radical for God.

But as we've looked at the last 15 years, at the last 16 conferences, including this 1, We've discussed and we've thought about it and we've come to the realization that really out of the last 16 conferences, all we've had is maybe 3 at most that were at least in name mission focused.

Every year we go out, every year we send buses and we do things for God, but that's just not good enough.

This past week we were thrilled to partner with Pathway to Health and to see thousands of people radically impacted for the rest of their lives almost instantly.

People who had surgeries, people who had all sorts of problems come in and leave enriched and knowing that God loves them.

We need to be able to do more just as much.

This is why we've had Ambassador for the last 2 years.

This is why we've spent so much time trying to look at different ways that we can empower each and every 1 of you to be involved in ministry.

And so we thought about it and we're terminating the Ambassador Project because it was such a success.

And you'll say, why would you, Why would you end it?

And that is exactly why we as GYC have started GYC Beyond.

We want to go beyond just the annual conference.

A movement is a movement of young people.

We're doing something, not just for 4 days, but 365 or 366 if it's a leap year.

And so we have realized it can't continue like this.

And so as GYC leadership, we have been praying and thinking, how can we empower you to be able to do ministry where you are?

Something is always better than nothing, amen?

And God can bless small endeavors and make them wonderful and successful.

And we at USC, we have been praying and we have been putting together resources, partnering with other ministries and speakers, providing resources for you throughout the year so that you are empowered, inspired, and guided to do some kind of personal ministry in your local church, wherever you are, on your campus, in your school, even in your family.

We had an appeal this morning for missionary service, appeals for following God's will.

But this appeal, the decision you make, has to go beyond this conference.

As we go throughout the year, we have to remember what decision we have made and ask the Lord to guide us into the right direction.

And we want to see next year, we want to come back and see what God will do.

So this year what we're trying to do is to once again make as many resources available as possible.

And we've got our website, gycweb.org slash beyond that we've set up to show a little bit of what's been done over the last few years, the number of baptisms, the number of doors knocked on, and to just give you an idea of what GYC has done, not only at our conference, but even through a small number of people who are involved in the Ambassador Program.

And so what we're going to be doing is we're going to be offering a podcast twice a month, which will be there to equip and train you in different ways.

Maybe I can't do evangelism in the traditional sense, but how can I be involved in whatever trade I do with what I like to do?

And so we're going to be trying to use that as an avenue by which you can be more involved.

We also have a workbook that we're going to be putting together month by month.

Every week you can do a couple pages with activities that will help you succeed and ultimately we want to be a support to you as an executive committee as the organizers of this conference and so we've set up a page if you open your phone up you look on Facebook you'll see there's a group GYC beyond it's a sub group under our main page it's a group and you can join that page and if you have questions if you're trying to do something in ministry, you can post there, and we will make ourselves available to try to answer questions, to help support and lift what you are trying to do.

I wanna share with you a quote that really has guided the GYC movement over the past couple of years.

"'Success in any line demands a definite aim.

He who would achieve true success in life must keep steadily in view the aim worthy of his endeavor.

Such an aim is set before the youth, GYC, of today.

The heaven-appointed purpose of giving the gospel to the world in this generation is the noblest that can appeal to any human being.

It opens a field of effort to everyone whose heart Christ has touched.

Friends, what would happen if we make ourselves available for that noble aim?

Let's go beyond and let's come back by God's grace at next year's GYC and have a soul winning celebration.

Let's have baptisms of GYC and let's bring people that we have won for Christ to GYC next year.

7 years ago, I was a young person without any experience, talents, skills, or abilities that I knew of.

But I had a desire to serve God, and so I asked Him to give me an opportunity.

The very next week, my opportunity came to me in the form of an invitation to pass out evangelistic flyers.

And despite the hot summer's afternoon, I will never forget the joy that was in my heart.

As I passed out flyer after flyer after flyer, I was overjoyed because God had given me a chance to be used by Him.

Over the years, God has taken me, and despite my flaws, my weaknesses, and my failures.

He's grown me and taken me to places that I could never imagine possible.

And not only that, but he's given me the ability to work for him in ways that I'm passionate about and that are important to me.

I stand before you a very different person to who I was 7 years ago, simply because in being used by God, He has changed me.

This afternoon, I want to share 3 main ideas that I believe will help you get started on an incredible journey.

And not only do I think these will help you get started in service for God, but if you're already active, I believe they will keep you in service for God.

The first idea that I want to leave with you is you are not a big deal, but you are.

I think so many times we bring the world and its principles into ministry.

The world values being seen, being heard.

And perhaps this is why I had a friend who once shared with me his ambition to become the next General Conference President.

In fact, he even mentioned that he wished the Adventist Church would have open elections in a similar way to political parties.

I must admit, my friend later changed his mind and repented of his desires, but his desire is not really that unique.

Even if you and I are not as bold about sharing our ambitions with others, how many of us confuse our desire for ambition and success with our desire to serve Jesus?

You know, Jesus had this same problem to address with his disciples.

So many times his disciples were fighting amongst themselves over who was greatest, who had the most importance, Who would be closest to the King in the heavenly kingdom?

In response to this, Jesus shared with him his principles of the kingdom of God and ministry.

In Matthew 20, verses 25-28, Jesus said, ministry.

In Matthew chapter 20 verses 25 to 28 Jesus said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.

But whosoever will be great among you, let him be his minister.

And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant.

Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many.

Servants work hard without recognition, without appreciation, and without applause.

You and I are not ready for ministry until we are willing to be invisible so that God can be seen through us.

Chris Holland

He Must Arise

This message was presented at the GYC 2017 conference, Arise, in Phoenix, Arizona.

Bring you greetings from Canada, the largest geographical territory of the North American Division.

6 time zones from East Coast to West Coast.

John's, Newfoundland, closer to London, England, than you are to Vancouver, British Columbia.

I'm looking forward to sharing with you over the next 3 nights.

I ask that you would pray that God would pour out his spirit.

The year was 1986, Cape Canaveral, Florida.

STS-51L was scheduled for launch at 2.42 Eastern time.

But there was a delay and reschedule to January 23rd, and then a reschedule to January the 24th.

Then it was rescheduled to January the 25th because there was bad weather in Dakar, Senegal, the abort landing field, and then January the 26th bad weather at Kennedy Space Center caused yet another delay.

Now the Space Shuttle Challenger was scheduled for launch on January the 27th, 1986 at 9.37 AM Eastern time.

Mechanical errors and High winds caused yet another scrub of the launch, and the new date was January the 28th.

That evening prior to launch, temperatures fell there in Florida to negative 8 Celsius, 18 degrees Fahrenheit.

The space shuttle was blasted into space primarily by 2 solid rocket boosters and these solid rocket boosters had never been launched at a temperature under 12 degrees Celsius.

The solid rubber O-rings were believed to harden in such temperatures, and the engineers of those solid rocket boosters at Morton Thiokol were concerned over any such launch.

The evening before the scheduled launch, engineers from Morton Thiokol along with engineers from NASA had a conference call to discuss the launch.

The Thiokol engineers continued to express major concern over the safety of launching the space shuttle.

The morning of January 28 was so cold, Ice covered most of the launch pad and several parts of the space shuttle.

The temperature was negative 2 Celsius, 28 degrees Fahrenheit.

The engineers at Morton Thiokol along with Rockwell, the group that oversaw the totality of the shuttle experience, extremed caution.

However, under the pressure of finances, under the pressure to stay on schedule, under the pressure of yet another delay, they decided to go forward.

There was the right and prudent and safe thing to do, and then there was that which pressure dictated they would do.

Roger Bosley, 1 of the main engineers, had studied and he knew that there would be certain disaster.

He was so certain that there would be disaster he would not even watch the launch.

He believed that the space shuttle would explode right on the launch pad.

Eastern Time on January the 28th, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger fired its 3 main engines.

The solid rocket boosters fired, the hydrogen vent arm retracted, but did not latch.

To the shock of Roger Bosley, the shuttle actually lifted off.

However, he nor anyone else noticed the small black plume of smoke.

It was only after in slow motion replay that they were able to see it.

The shuttle after it lifted from the launch pad climbed higher and still higher.

But unbeknownst to the ground crew or the crew on board, at 37 seconds into the flight, gases began to escape the solid rocket boosters.

A stronger than normal wind shifted the vehicle.

The gap between the joints widened and more gas leaked.

Now there was a flame coming from the solid rocket booster.

Hydrogen was now leaking from the external tank.

At 68 seconds into the launch, Commander Dick Scobie answers, Roger at throttle up.

At 72.5 seconds into the flight, the space shuttle suddenly jerks in an acceleration.

At 73 seconds, just under 73 seconds, pilot Mike Smith says, Uh-oh.

And at 73.142 seconds into the flight, the dome of the external tank failed as 1 of the solid rocket boosters broke forth and struck it.

The external tank released its hydrogen and oxygen all at once and instantly ignited the shuttle and disintegrated it in the sky.

At 73.12, excuse me, 162 seconds, the entire vehicle was in pieces except for the ominous 2 solid rocket boosters as they strayed from the disintegrating shuttle.

On that day, Francis Scobie, Michael Smith, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnick, Ronald McNair, Gregory Jarvis, and the teacher Krista McAuliffe.

Because of the decision of leaders to go instead of waiting.

They placed money, efficiency, and busy schedules above the safety and the very lives of 7 astronauts.

Just 2 days later, the temperature returned to normal, and they would have been able to launch in safety if they would have simply followed that 1 word, wait.

Dear friends, could it be that this tragic story contains a vital lesson to us here at GYC 2017?

Could it be that while the call is to arise and shine, there is a certain key element that must come first.

Could it be that the rising to action must be preceded by something?

Today we will open the scriptures and seek an answer to this all-important question.

Heavenly Father we have gathered here this evening.

We come as a generation longing for your work on this earth to be finished.

We have come here to Phoenix longing for you to answer the most fundamental questions in each of our lives.

We have come here yearning for the ultimate answer.

How will you use each of us in finishing your work in us and through us.

Please, dear God, answer that prayer today.

If you have your Bibles with you, I'd invite you to open to Isaiah the 60th chapter.

It is the theme of this very conference you are attending.

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