Michigan Virtual Camp Meeting 2020: Forward to the Finish

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Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

Plenary

Justin Ringstaff

02 As Though He Saw the Invisible

And thank you, Elder Mitchiff, for your kind introduction, and for the reminder of where our strength lies that is ever on our knees, amen?

I can't believe I'm actually in the house of the Lord together with you.

And welcome to each of our churches here in the Michigan Conference joining us by live stream.

And also welcome to our strong tower radio Audience and I know there are others watching far beyond, Michigan Across this nation and and even beyond that isn't it wonderful to be a part of God's worldwide end-time movement I Mean I believe with all my heart that Jesus is coming again.

It's a journey of faith that's moving forward to the finish.

I mean, we are living at a time where our eyes are seeing things that we never thought possible, except for our knowledge of the prophetic word of God.

And God has raised us up for this moment.

He has raised us up and he's given us a message to give to the world.

It's a message that the world needs to hear now.

I mean, I just love the platform up here of a people who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus.

And we preach the 3 angels' messages with a loud voice To the whole world.

And then the Bible says, then Jesus will come.

Do you want to live for that day, friend?

If so, we need to be pleading with God as never before to help us to be about our Father's business.

Do you have your Bibles with you this morning?

If you're in your homes, grab your Bible, hold it up high.

Hold them tight as we pray and ask the Lord's blessing on us 1 more time.

Oh Father in heaven, it is now that you're calling a people.

It is now that you're calling us to your word as never before.

It is now that you are calling us to rise up as a people.

For the glory of the Lord has surely risen upon us.

Lord, I pray right here in this hour of worship that you would draw near to us, that we would know something of your presence.

Lord, I want glory only to go to your name.

Our theme this week is forward to the finish.

Forward to the finishing of our faith, forward to the finishing of the work, and forward to the finishing of this pilgrimage, finally to the promised land.

I mean, we should be the happiest, most just enthusiastic people on the face of the earth to know what the Lord has in store for us.

It's a journey by God's grace I want to be a part of to the very end.

And I pray that is your heart's longing as well.

This morning our attention moves from the life of Abraham to the life of Moses.

And like Abraham, who we reflected on last night, by faith Moses also looked forward to the finish.

Turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews.

The Bible says, by faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.

As a people who are moving forward to the finish, our identity should mean something to us.

The Bible says that Moses, when he became of age, by faith, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.

Who we choose to identify ourselves with is important, especially now.

In Acts chapter 7, this is Stephen recounting the early history of Moses, and he says in that recounting of that history, that When Pharaoh's daughter took Moses into her home, that she wanted to raise him as her own son.

You can imagine the struggle in the heart of Moses.

In the courts of Egypt he learned to love his adopted mother, but there was a struggle in him and he chose to hold his affections.

He chose to reserve his affections and rightly so.

Notice what the Lord's servant says in Patriarchs and Prophets, page 245.

Lest in his attachment to his foster mother or to Pharaoh, he would not be, what?

Moses treasured his identity with the people of God.

He wasn't ashamed of who he was meant to be.

And so through faith he guarded his affections and refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter even when she wanted to raise him as her own son.

Let us guard our affections from all the attachments that would keep us from being free to do the will of God.

We cannot afford to lose sight of who we are in this hour.

We can't afford to lose sight of who we are meant to be.

This isn't a time for us to be timid or to try and hide the colors of our faith.

The enemy is working harder than ever before that we would be ashamed to be Seventh-day Adventists with all of the peculiar principles of our faith.

And unless we guard our affections, make no mistake, we will be swept away with the masses and with all the other popular churches in the deception that is coming according to the working of Satan.

By faith we must refuse to ever be called a son or daughter of Egypt.

Rather let's be counted with Jesus knowing that He chose to be counted with us.

If we confess Him before the world, Jesus says that he will confess us before his Father in heaven.

But if we're ashamed, if we're embarrassed to confess him before the world, will he not also Be ashamed to confess us before the face of his Father in heaven.

Oh friends, we don't have to be ashamed of what sets us apart.

And there are tenets of our faith that make us stand out in the world, or at least they should make us stand out in the world.

We want to lift the banner high and arrest the attention of the people.

1 is that we believe that the Bible is true.

We don't have to be timid about believing in the creation account.

A creation account of 6 literal 24-hour consecutive.

This is a word that's hard, I can't even believe it's in my vocabulary, but contiguous.

We don't have to be ashamed when we speak of it in the public.

Haven't you enjoyed our Sabbath school lesson this past quarter?

I mean, what a blessing as we've been looking at the authority and the truthfulness of the Word of God.

Philip Mills

03 Cross the Jordan: Joshua

I believe we live on the verge of the second coming of Christ.

And how appropriate it is that we're studying forward to the finish.

Because I believe Jesus wants to come back and take us home far more than we realize.

And if we, as God's people, allow Him to prepare us, I hope and I believe that this generation could be the ones that see the second coming of Christ.

So as we get ready to open God's Word, I'm gonna ask you to bow your heads with me as we seek the Lord's guidance to be with us as we open his Word.

Heavenly Father, we've been blessed through the music, we've been inspired and challenged by the testimonies, We've been reminded over the events over the last few months that you are coming soon.

And Father, as we prepare to open your Word, The greatest danger that is here this evening is that you'll hide me behind the cross.

I pray that, Father, you will not just sanctuary those who are watching on the live stream, no matter where they are, whether they're watching in their car, their home, might even be some tuning in from a hospital room.

And may we make the decisions that you've called us to make.

The sermon this evening is really divided up into 2 simple points.

So, if you're taking notes, which I love it when those who are speaking do this, when I take notes, because it makes it very easy, you can put down 3 headings.

Introduction, second heading, go forward, and of faith.

We're introduced to Joshua as this man who's a mighty general for God.

In Exodus chapter 17, He's raised up to attack the Amalekites.

When you're there, if you'd let me know by saying amen.

Now the Amalekites came and fought with Israel and Rephidim.

And Moses said to Joshua, choose us some men and go out and fight with Amalek.

And tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.

So Joshua did as Moses said and fought and they won.

Joshua here is leading the children of Israel.

Now these were not men who were trained in war.

They really didn't understand how to do war.

But God, when He takes a man or a woman, and that man or woman allows God to change their life, that man or woman can do anything that God calls them to do.

It doesn't matter if you've been trained.

Now, training is important, don't get me wrong.

But when God calls, by the grace of God, we go forward to victory.

If you continue the story, here they are fighting.

And jump down with me to verse 10, because I want you to notice what happens.

You're probably familiar with this story, but I want us to see this.

So Joshua did as Moses said and fought with Amalek, and Moses and Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

And so it was when Moses held up his hands.

He was interceding with the God of Israel for victory.

When Moses held up his hands, that Israel prevailed.

And when he let down his hand, the enemy prevailed.

But Moses' hands became heavy, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it.

And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, 1 on 1 side and the other on the other side.

And his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

Here is Joshua introduced to the children of Israel.

He's the general leading the forces against it.

And right at the outset, God gives Joshua this very clear lesson.

If you're going to win in anything, you must go forward in prayer.

If you're going to win, you must go forward in prayer.

But if you go forward in prayer, every challenge you face, every difficulty you face will be overcome by the power of my Spirit.

It was an incredible lesson that Joshua learned at that point in his experience.

You see, what I find in the story of Joshua is that with God there is complete victory that we can have.

I know that's basic, but it bears repeating because it leads us into our first point in a story I want to share with you.

My grandfather, who was a minister and an evangelist for many years, recounted the story of a call he got from an elder in a church he was pastoring.

He said, OJ, or Elder Mills, I should say, My friend is dying in the hospital.

He really appreciates, would like the pastor to come and visit, and I was wondering if you would be able to come and visit.

He dropped everything, and he headed to the hospital.

He's got needles and tubes all over his body sticking into him.

He had gotten emphysema and lung cancer, and he had to begin to just ravage his entire body.

His skin tone was starting to turn that hue that happens just before someone dies.

And as my grandfather is there by the edge of the bed, the elder of his church introduced him to his friend.

He says, he says, hey, this is Elder O.J.

He's the minister of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and he's come to pray with you." And the man looks over at my grandfather, and a smile creeps across his pain-wracked face.

He looks at my grandfather, and now quoting from what my grandfather said, he said, I'm so glad that you've come.

I admire those who are able to do it, but it's too hard.

I don't know how I can live the Seventh-day Adventist life.

My grandfather looked back and shared words of comfort and hope from the Bible and I'm thankful for the promise that when we turn to Christ the Lord can save us and I believe that that man gave his heart to Christ in that hospital.

Way too hard and as he began to think about it, hard to walk the Christian way, he began to wonder, is it really too hard to give up?

Puff, it was now suffering with a tooth from the pain of the results.

It was too hard to give up tolerating a painful tube stuck into his stomach to feed him from his bladder and kidneys.

He looked at the Christian walk and he said, it's too hard, I can't do that.

Would give him the power to overcome, he just walked away saying, I can't do it, it's not possible.

From Christ, friends, you know what this is.

When you walk away from Christ, there is a walk in a pathway that is different than when God has called you to do.

Rodlie Ortiz

04 The Essential Lesson of Faith from the Life of David

If you're just joining us, we're actually continuing this camp meeting series called Forward to the Finish, where we're examining different heroes of the faith, these people that motivate us and compel us forward to run that race hard towards the finish line of faith.

And today, I just have to confess, I am so excited about talking, helping us discover together this warrior poet by the name of David, 1 of my favorite heroes of the faith in the Bible, and I'm gonna be addressing and talking about the topic of the essential lesson of faith from the life of David.

And I just wanna invite you to bow your heads 1 more time as we study God's word here tonight.

Father in heaven, thank you for pouring your spirit upon our local gathering here.

But Thank you in a special way for touching every single person watching online right now.

Every single person listening on the radio.

To those watching from a couch on a screen, to those watching on an iPad or a smartphone, to those that are driving and listening on the radio.

Father, thank you because we know that your spirit is not limited by location.

Your presence can be with them just as powerfully as if they were right here.

So Father, we give up this time to you now as your word is taught.

We do thank you and we praise in the name of Jesus.

So I wanna share with you an essential truth about storytelling, if I may, and it's this, that a hero is defined by the obstacles they overcome.

And I'm going to share with you a few examples of some heroes, and you tell me whether or not, in your opinion, they cross the threshold of being a hero.

Can we do that tonight for a few minutes?

I'm going to start off with Captain Sully Sullenberger, in your opinion, if you know the story, does he cross the threshold of heroism?

For the uninitiated, and for those that don't know his story, flight 1539, 2 minutes after takeoff, a flock of Canada geese disabled both of the engines on the aircraft.

Now, look, I'm no pilot, my father is a pastor, chaplain, but while he was in seminary, he got his flying license here at Andrews University.

But from what I understand, if 1 of the engines of an aircraft is disabled, that's not good news.

It's not the end of the world, but if both of the engines in an aircraft go down, you better start praying.

Because the airplane is going to go down and it's going to go down quick.

And so Captain Sully, as he's called, he quickly triangulated and he determined that no, in fact, he was not gonna have enough time to make it back to LaGuardia Airport.

And so he ditched the plane, as they say.

He determined that the very best and safest place to land was gonna be right there on the Hudson River.

He was the last person to leave the airplane.

You tell me, does Captain Sully cross the threshold of being a hero?

Okay, how about a really easy 1, a really general 1?

All our medical workers, our nurses, and our doctors during this COVID-19 era, can we call them heroes?

I mean, these people that are going out when everyone else wants to stay in.

These people that are donning the gear of this seemingly invisible war and pandemic, and they are bravely doing the deed every single day.

I know people in this community who are having to physically distance from their families.

They're living separated from their families because they're working with some of these people that are more exposed to COVID-19.

Okay, how about a really easy 1, last 1 for you here?

Corporal Desmond Doss, Come on, can we call him a hero?

Winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor, it's the highest and most prestigious military decoration given to a service member.

Here's what it takes to cross that threshold of getting 1 of those few congressional medals of honor that are ever given in history, you have to distinguish yourself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity, it means fearlessness, And quote, above and beyond the call of duty, for those that are unaware of his story, let me just remind you, he was there in Okinawa at the Battle of Hacksaw Ridge.

He personally rescued 75 men while under gunfire in the midst of this battle.

But to up the ante just a little bit, he's the only person to win the Congressional Medal of Honor that I'm aware of to do so as a conscientious objector.

What do you say, church, to those watching online?

Did he pass the threshold of being called a hero?

You see, a hero is defined by the obstacles they have to overcome.

If it's easy, you don't get to be called a hero, I'm sorry.

By definition, in many cases, it has to be almost impossible.

So in order to really understand a hero, you really have to understand the obstacles that a hero has to overcome.

And so tonight, for a few minutes, if that's okay with you, if we're really and truly gonna understand this hero of the faith, 1 of my favorite Bible heroes in the Bible, David.

Church, we've got to understand some of the obstacles that he had to overcome, and boy, did David have a lot of obstacles to overcome, what do you think?

But here's what we're gonna do for just a few minutes tonight.

I mean, we could do a whole series just on David, a whole series on every single 1 of these Bible characters but we're gonna take just a few minutes tonight and we're gonna focus on the, if you will, the physically largest obstacle that King David had to face.

We're talking about the Battle of David and Goliath.

But we're not going to start there tonight.

We're not going to start at the battle, if that's okay with you.

We're gonna go back in time even further.

In fact, I wanna take you back in time to the evening, perhaps, of his birth.

Listen to the screams of the mother piercing the night sky as she's in labor.

The midwife tentatively walking outside of the tent.

The face of the anxious father, relieved to hear the baby crying and walking inside the tent.

But imagine his joy turning to sorrow and perhaps being a little bit confused as he sees the baby just born in front of him.

And imagine the father taking 1 look at this baby and realizing instantly that he must name him none other than Goliath.

From the word conspicuous, which means attracting attention as by being unusual or remarkable.

The fact that he received the name Conspicuous, Goliath should in fact surprise us, and here's why.

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