GYC 2011: Fill Me

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Generation. Youth. Christ. (GYC)

GYC 2011 Plenary Sessions

Justin McNeilus

Wednesday Keynote Address

It's been, I think, just about a year since you and I met in a convention center much like this.

For some of you, probably your first time to GYC.

For others, maybe 4, 5, or even 10 times.

But it's been about 365 days since you and I met in a convention center and I would submit to you a lot has happened across our nation and across this world.

For instance did you know this year since we last met there have been 7 rather the seventh billion person alive on this planet was born?

Some of you knew that, some of you didn't.

The name is escaping me, but it's because of this exponential growth in the world population that people are beginning to doubt the Bible.

They get all their collective wisdom together and they say, you know, 7000000000 people it is impossible for the gospel to go to the world.

Primarily it resides on mainstream Christianity but they're saying, the collective wisdom is this, 7000000000 people, it is impossible for the gospel to go to the world.

And I would submit to you this, the edges of this foolishness, this doubt in God, is creeping into the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

That this gospel will not go to the world.

There's an army of young people who believe, who know without a shadow of a doubt this gospel will go to the world.

The young people in Australia are alive and well in the secular territory of Australia.

Young people are getting together, even as soon as next month we've met with them here, they are putting forth evangelistic theories to witness to the country of Australia.

The young people are alive and well in Australia.

The young people in Australia refuse to believe in collective human wisdom and side with Matthew that this gospel will go to the world.

You go north to Asia, You think of Asia, some of the most incredible territory, some of the most difficult challenges for us as a church.

You head up to Australia and the young people are alive and well in Australia.

You think of the Philippines, the young people are preaching their hearts out.

By the thousands they're being baptized in the Adventist church because of what young people are doing.

You think of the mountains in Mongolia, they're preaching there.

You think of the young ladies in China, they're preaching their hearts out.

Our church is experiencing growth in China.

In China, the young people are preaching their hearts out despite the cost.

The young people in Australia, they refuse to believe in collective human wisdom.

They side with Matthew that this gospel will go to the world.

There in Africa, the young people are putting us to shame in America.

A lot of times we think to ourselves, oh, we need to send missionaries to Africa.

In most places in Africa, they should be sending their missionaries here.

The young people in Africa are alive and well!

Inspired missionaries proclaiming the advent of Christ today.

Since its inception 2 years ago, 3, 500 people have been baptized in the church in Zambia.

You think of Gabun, Ghana, Liberia, what am I trying to say?

Yes, the young people are alive and well in there.

You Think of Ethiopia, the capital city, Addis Ababa.

In August, 1, 200 young people went out into the streets in the capital city of Ethiopia.

The young people in Australia refused to believe in collective human wisdom, aside with Matthew, that this gospel will go to the world.

You head north into Europe, some of the most secular territory in the world.

Did you know the young people are alive and well there?

You think of Germany, I was with young people there in April.

And Sabbath afternoon they rented a train and we they went out into the streets in Mannheim, Germany.

You think of Norway and Sweden, check this out.

The youth department there, every summer, they send up a group of young people in a bus They go to northern Norway.

Not 1 They go they spend their whole summer and they're preaching their heart out and they're baptizing people in northern Norway.

Check this out, in Latvia, did you even know that was a country?

Almost every young person in Seventh Avenue, this young person in that country gets together, has the evangelistic outreach, and at their conference guess what they do?

They listen to the GYC recordings in Latvia doing evangelism.

You know, we should do something in Europe.

You probably wouldn't come, so it's irrelevant.

The young people are alive and well in Europe.

With or without GYC, the young people in Europe refuse to put any stock or credibility and collective human wisdom inside with Matthew That this gospel will go to the world you think of South America.

You can find the same Enlightening stories the young people are alive and well there by the thousands.

They come to Brazil they preach in the mountains of Chile, the Peru and Ecuador cities.

The young people are going out and reaching out.

The young people are alive and well in South America.

They refuse to believe in collective wisdom.

And it's no reason that they should not put any stock in human credibility or human logic with the 7 billion, because it's been done before.

This gospel has gone to the world before.

They are in the upper room just before the Holy Spirit falls on them, just before they're praying out.

And how many Bible students were in the upper room?

Janet Page

Thursday Plenary

This message was presented at the GYC 2011 conference.

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

What an awesome privilege to be able to speak to you.

I know if you'd known it was this old lady, you wouldn't have come for this meeting.

Father, I need you right now, and I know that's a prayer you always answer.

I just pray, Father, for your Holy Spirit to bless each person here.

Give them just what they need, even if it's not anything I say.

That's not easy, getting up and down, but I can still do it.

I work in the ministerial department at the World Church headquarters.

It's been absolutely overwhelming to travel around this world and to see the needs.

I hope every 1 of you can be involved in a mission trip, be involved in service outreach, going to places.

It opens your eyes to this incredible world that needs our help.

I had something happen to me 18, 19 years ago that was awful.

I know, I know a lot of you cannot even relate to that.

But my friends, I call them my ex-friends because they did 1 of these horrible parties where black balloons, black crepe paper, a tombstone cake saying Janet Page's youth has died.

Because of that, I moved to the West Coast.

Actually I moved because God called us to.

But I thought it'll never happen to me again.

But then when I turned 50, it happened all over again, but this time it was worse.

My husband were here, he'd tell you why, but we won't let him.

But when I, it's, when you're young, it's, you can't wait.

You can't wait for that day you get to go to school.

You can't wait for that day you're going to get to drive a car.

You can't wait for that day you graduate from college.

You can't wait for that day you're going to marry.

But as I started getting into my 30s, life just seemed like it was going faster and faster and faster.

And there was all this busyness, all these priorities, these things that gotta be done.

And I remember 1 day just going what really matters.

I can't do all these good things What really matters?

And you think about your life really what matters And what came to my mind as I thought that was John 17 3 Which says and this is eternal life that they may know you the only true God Jesus Christ whom you have sent the only thing that really matters is if I know Jesus Christ and Yet I had learned when I was 17 years old from a Bible teacher that I needed to spend time with Jesus every day.

I mean, I try to be good, I try to go to church and read my Sabbath school lesson now and then.

Why do I need to spend this time with God every day?

I asked the teacher that and he said If you don't spend time with God and get to know him reading the Bible You're not gonna know Him.

And if you don't love Him, you're gonna walk away from Him.

I said, I'm gonna start spending time with Him.

And he suggested, well, maybe 30 minutes.

He said there's no set amount of time So I said, okay I Decided I want to do this, right?

So I got out my alarm clock, set it on the edge of the bed, and I started trying to pray.

I read my Bible psalm, I started praying, and I prayed everything I could think of.

And I thought, How am I going to spend the rest of this time with God?

But I have found the more I pursue God, the more He shows me how to spend that time with Him.

It shows, makes the Word interesting to me.

But I got into college and college was busy Really busy and I kind of forgot about spending time with God until exam week and that was oh god if you'll get me through exams So get me through exams.

I'm gonna read the Bible every day and spend that time and He would he'd help me he'd get me through exams And I would try to keep my promise and start spending time with him, but then I'd get busy again and I'd fall out of it until the next exam week I would remember again.

I'd go, oh God, you just helped me get through exams, I'm gonna read that Bible and really get to know you.

I went all the way through school like this, but I always thought well once you're done with college all you're doing is working a full-time job, you know.

You got, what's that, 8 hours or so a day?

You got all the rest of the time to get to know God.

There's just so many things to be done all the time.

But then I got married and we had a little baby.

And I quit my job 2 weeks before the baby was to be born because I wanted to stay home with my baby.

And I was so excited, I thought, I'm going to quit my job, I'm going to get to stay home, I'm going to have so much time to get to know God, read my Bible.

My mother failed to tell me, just going to warn you now, It's a 24-hour day job taking care of that baby, and it keeps you busy.

I would start praying as I'm driving in the car, Lord, I've got to help with the vegetarian cooking school.

God, I've got to help with the vacation Bible school.

I'll never forget the day I was driving down the highway and I go, God, isn't it exciting?

I'm sorry I haven't had time for you, but I'm doing your work, God.

Before I know it, I'm in my 30s realizing I really don't know him and I thought it's been so fast believe me it's gonna be fast someday you're gonna go whoo it went fast right now it seems slow but it'll be fast and and I thought it's gone by so quick and if I don't start getting to know him now, it's not going to happen.

So I started trying to spend time every day with God in the Bible.

And As I did that, I tried to follow the steps through the sanctuary of praise and thanksgiving.

You enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.

And then I'd go into time of confession and then into intercession.

But as I did the praise part and went into confession, I tried to confess everything I thought I needed to confess But there was this 1 particular thought that kept coming to mind and as it would come to mind I think oh I'm melancholy.

I know that's not sin and I just would try to shove it away But every time I'd spend time with God that same thought would keep coming back or sitting in in Meetings like this where they have prayer times it would keep coming to me and I finally told God 1 day I said, okay I know it's sin, but I can't deal with it I don't think Jesus could if he were here and had this problem just no way and I thought I could go on with life Live in a Christian life and not deal with that sin in my life And I just thought I could shove it to the side.

Kameron DeVasher

Fitting In To Heaven

Dot o-r-g good evening to you I think that was we will try to get the evening to you I think thank you so much has it been a blessing so far today and then fantastic as you've heard repeatedly at this point you should have heard repeatedly at least, that our theme this year is Fill Me, our earnest plea.

And for all intents and purposes that's just a fancy way of saying the topic, the theme that this conference is revolving around is the Holy Spirit's work in our lives.

In fact, speaking of the absolutely critical role of the Holy Spirit, we're counseled, and this is second manuscript release, page 15, It is beyond the power of language to express the blessings the Holy Spirit brings to God's people.

If received and appreciated, the Holy Spirit will make us holy, Christ-like.

Through its agency, we are united with Christ, partakers of the divine nature.

The reception of the Holy Spirit in its fullness is the great need of the church today.

It is my hope, in fact it is my most sincere prayer that tonight will be not just another opportunity to be more informed about the Holy Spirit, but by the grace of God and His indwelling Spirit be transformed into the character of Christ.

As we begin to study God's Word tonight, we must begin with a word of prayer.

Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, I thank you so much for the opportunity of bringing these young people together at GYC.

I thank you for the theme that's been chosen, And now, Lord, I thank you that you have promised to give us wisdom through your Holy Spirit as we open your word.

Please guide our minds, Lord, sharpen our minds.

And where it is needed, Lord, soften our hearts so that we may not only hear the words but be doers of the word, so we can reflect your character to the world and by your grace we may hasten your soon coming we pray all of this in jesus name above all of the other creatures that the lord god made in the creation week we're going to do this is chapter 1 by the way so I'll give you a head start.

Above all the creatures that the Lord God made, He gave humanity, man and woman, man, dominion over everything.

If someone were to ask you, why was man given the responsibility of dominion over planet Earth, what would be the reason?

And many of you would say, well, of course we were given dominion.

In fact, we were, and you might have some theological reasons why, we were given dominion of the earth.

You might say, well we were formed from the dust of the ground.

And while that's true, that doesn't make us unique.

Apparently according to Genesis chapter 2 and verse 19, the Lord God formed every beast of the field out of the dust of the ground.

Well, you say, but we were designed in a plural, man and woman, you know, like the Godhead works together in a unity and they create and we've been given the ability to procreate.

In fact, we were commanded to be fruitful and do what?

But the problem is the birds and the fish were told to be fruitful and multiply even before man was created.

You say, yes, but we have the breath of life.

But according to Genesis chapter 6 and Genesis chapter 7, the flood was given to wipe out all creatures that had the breath of life in them.

And I tell you something, it's not because we're the strongest creatures God ever made.

It's not because we're the fastest creatures God ever made.

It's not because we're the best swimmers that God ever made.

We don't have the coolest powers of any of the beings He made.

You know, we don't have bio, what is it called, luminescence.

We don't have, we don't operate by photosynthesis.

You know, we're not fueled by the sun, which think about that.

Every night the sun goes down When the sun comes back up You know, it's tremendous, you know, and we follow the sun as it goes but I'm living in Michigan now.

So maybe that's not the best thing, but those people in Florida and Arizona, boy, I tell you, they'd be struck.

I did not see that coming, I'll be honest with you.

We're not even the hardiest of creatures.

How much luggage did you pack for 4 days in the wild outback of Houston?

All the other animals seemed to get by without luggage.

We have to carry on and pack in and get...

What makes us unique is not any physical attribute, but a spiritual something.

Genesis chapter 1 verse 26 tells us what that is.

We get to eavesdrop on the conversation the Lord has with Himself, which is cool, says in verse 26 of Genesis chapter 1, let us make man...

I'm sorry to you, I just can't hear you tonight.

Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the cattle, over all the earth and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

In the image of God He created him, male and female, He created them.

The spiritual significance of humanity is why we've been given dominion.

Psalm 8, in reflecting on this creation week, and the significance, or rather the seeming insignificance of humanity amongst all the other creatures and beings and created worlds that the Lord God had established, look at what the psalmist says, Psalm 8, starting with verse 3.

He says, When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have ordained.

Verse 4, What is man that you are mindful of him, and the Son of Man that you visit Him.

He's thinking the same thought of all the things that you've made.

In verse 5, for you have made Him a little lower than the angels and you have crowned Him with glory and honor.

Charissa Fong Torossian

Friday Morning Devotional

It's great to see so many of you here so early this morning for our morning devotion.

Before we go any further I'd just like to offer a word of prayer just so that I can ask God to personally bless me as well.

Father in heaven, I just ask that in addition to the prayer that has been prayed, that you would take over this morning.

I pray that you would speak to our hearts.

May you take this message and apply it to each and every 1 of us individually, for we ask it in Jesus' name.

Without a doubt, Steve Jobs was unquestionably the Thomas Edison of our times and 1 of the greatest visionaries that our world has ever seen.

And when he passed away in October of this year, I thought it was very fitting that your president here in America, Obama, he said there is no greater tribute to Steve's success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device that he created.

And Steve being the ultimate showman, At 18 of his product launches, he knew the power of an encore.

And when he would come out dressed in his typical jeans and black turtleneck top, and he would introduce to the world Apple's latest market item, He would finish introducing the product and everybody would break into applause and he would turn and be about to walk off the stage when suddenly he would stop, turn around and say, Oh, and there's 1 more thing.

And it would be at that moment that he would then unveil yet 1 more feature, 1 more exciting feature of the product that his audience was already thrilling over.

And friends, in a similar sense, after Jesus had spent 3 and a half years training and teaching his disciples after he commanded them to go into all the world and baptize people and to teach them of him he also added 1 more thing to his commission and we find it in the book of Luke chapter 24 and verse 49 come with me to the book of Luke chapter in verse 49 Luke chapter 24 verse 49 Jesus says behold I send the promise of my father upon you but carry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high now friends let's not miss this the same 1 who commanded them to go into all the world also ordered them to stay and wait however long it took until they received power from the Holy Spirit can you imagine how they must have felt when Jesus said this to them?

I mean He had just told them to go and they must have thought how can we wait when there is a world to tell and the world is incidentally quite large.

But friends Jesus had good reason for His instruction He always does.

You see Jesus knew that unless they tarry unless they waited for the Holy Spirit's power they were destined to failure and here's why we read about it come with me to our theme story this morning, the book of Mark, Mark chapter 9.

Mark chapter 9 and our devotion this morning will begin in verse 14.

Series

GYC 2011 Plenary Sessions

Respectable Conventionality

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

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