It Is Time

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IMPACT Scandinavia

IMPACT Scandinavia 2012: Plenary Sessions

Daniel Pel

Immune to the Gospel

Father in heaven we thank you that we can come before you this morning.

We thank you for your Holy Spirit Which you have promised would guide us into all truth And so we ask for his presence right now in our hearts in our minds and may you speak to us each 1 individually and may we discern your voice for I ask this in the precious and almighty name of Jesus and let everyone say amen.

Turn your Bibles to the book of John, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, the fourth gospel book in the Bible, John chapter 1.

That's where we're going to start this morning.

Now you have come to a conference that is called impact impact, Scandinavia and I believe that each of you have come with a desire to be able to Impact people around you you want to impact your friends you want to impact your family you want to impact your colleagues you want to be a ambassador for Christ.

And yet in order for us to impact others, first we ourselves have to be impacted.

And what I want to talk about this morning, what I want to study with you this morning, is how we can be impacted by the gospel.

Not just once, not just twice, but on a day to day experience, a day to day momentarily experience of being impacted by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And I believe that if you would pour out your heart to me tonight, this morning, that there would be many of you this morning that would recognize that in your life you need to be impacted.

That you are, maybe you are struggling with things that no 1 else knows about, But deep inside you have a longing to walk closer with God.

And there are things in your life that have pushed you away.

And you want to be impacted because you come here and you get inspired.

And yesterday evening we talked about all the city missions and what our church is doing on a global level.

And I'm sure that your heart is burning within you and you want to be involved but at the same time you're thinking to yourself, you know, I need to be impacted.

Yes, I want to be an impact to those around me but first of all, I need to be a deeper, on a deeper level impacted by the message of scripture.

I think many of you will be able to relate to what I will be saying this morning and I want to look at 3 areas when it comes to the impact that God makes on us.

I want to look first of all at the first encounter with Christ.

In other words, the first impact, meeting Jesus.

What I secondly want to look at is how it is so common and so easy to lose that impact.

So we're going to look at getting the impact and we're going to look at losing the impact and then thirdly we're going to look at regaining the impact So meeting Jesus for the first time.

What do we experience that first love that vigor that energy?

But what many times happens in the course of our Christian experience, we lose that and we become immune to the gospel.

And so we want to look at the first encounter with Christ, losing that focus, and then how do we regain and retain that spiritual experience?

These are the 3 areas that we're going to look at this morning.

So we're going to start with that first encounter with Christ, that first love, that encounter with the gospel, and we go to John chapter 1.

John chapter 1 and we're going to read about the experience of Nathaniel.

I just love this story and I pray that we may dig deep into this story and I believe that many of you are going to be able to relate to the experience of the disciple Nathaniel.

The Bible says the following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee and he found Philip and said to him follow me and follow me that was the invitation to discipleship verse 44 now Philip was from Bethsaida the city of Andrew and Peter so Philip decides to follow Jesus now verse 45 not only does Philip decide to follow Jesus but immediately he is now going to extend this invitation to someone else and that is Nathaniel and this is This is where we really get into our story here.

And a little bit on in the story, we find out that he was sitting under a fig tree.

So I just wanted you to get that mental picture for a moment.

Nathanael is sitting under a fig tree and Philip is looking for him and then he finds his dear friend Nathanel and he comes up to him and listen to what he says.

Philip found Nathanel and said to him, we have found him capital H we have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote Jesus of Nazareth the son of Joseph Now you need to understand the impact of that statement.

What is he actually saying to Nathanael that is sitting there under that fig tree?

He is saying that they have found the Son of God.

That they have found the promised Messiah, the Savior of the world.

Now, the Jews had been looking forward to the Messiah for hundreds of years.

There had been prophets that had come and gone, and they had written of a coming messiah there was this great anticipation of of of the messiah coming and now philip says to nathaniel you know what nathaniel we found him we found him This was not just some little statement to make, this was revolutionary.

And yet, what does Philip add to that statement?

He says, you know, we have found him, Jesus, what else does he say, of Nazareth.

Now the moment that he puts in that phrase of Nazareth, something is going through the mind of Nathanel.

What is going through the mind of Nathanel?

You know, Nazareth, can anything good come out of Nazareth?

I mean, if we're looking for the Messiah, shouldn't we be looking at the capital like Jerusalem or shouldn't we be looking at some other place?

I mean, certainly the Messiah cannot come out of Nazareth.

Look at Look at his response there in John chapter 1.

Nathanael said to him, Can anything good come out of Nazareth?

Now Nathanael is not saying this in an obnoxious way.

Nathaniel, as a matter of fact, when you look deep at the story, was a sincere seeker for truth.

He is sitting under the fig tree, and there are many things that are going through his mind.

This was a favorite place where he would be.

The desire of ages so beautifully portrays that as Philip comes to Nathanel, Nathanel's at that moment just considering whether or not Jesus is really the Messiah.

And he's going through it in his mind, thinking about the Old Testament prophecies, thinking about the evidence of the ministry of Jesus, and he's thinking to himself, can Jesus really be the promised Messiah?

And so Philip comes and he says, we have found him, we've found him, Jesus of Nazareth.

And, and, and not fully decided in his mind.

Nathaniel answers and said, says, can anything good come out of Nazareth?

He is not quite sure There is still this objection in his mind.

That is the fact can really this be the Messiah?

I mean he comes from Nazareth and Philip responds in such a Remarkable way that by the way if we're gonna learn how to do Evangelism if we're gonna learn how to reach out to people, this answer is just, it blows your mind.

Philip could have sat down next to Nathaniel, And they could have spent the rest of that day talking about the evidence why Jesus could actually come from Nazareth and be the Messiah.

They could have spent the whole day and Philip maybe at the end of the day, Maybe could have removed that argument out of the mind of Nathaniel.

And yet, even if he could remove that objection out of the mind of Nathaniel, would Nathaniel be 1 step closer to his Savior?

And so Philip says to Nathaniel come and See my friends when you reach out to people around you They are gonna have objections against our faith and those objections can be many They can have an objection as to the fact that why is there so much suffering in the world if God is a God of love?

That's a question that you meet many times.

Others can say, well, I don't believe in a resurrection.

Others will say, well I don't understand the Godhead.

There are many objections that people have in which they don't want to make that step to know Jesus because they have those objections.

And what we many times do is we sit down and we stay under the fig tree.

And we try to put God and we analyze Him and we use the scriptures.

And there is a place for this, to study these topics.

Joakim Hjortland

IMPACT Scandinavia 2012 Monday Morning Devotional

Matthew chapter 5 and any 1 of you Bible students can tell me what is Matthew 5 and 6 about?

Yeah the opening address of Jesus of his ministry that he for sure had well thought through.

Very interesting sermon, very interesting truth you find there.

Basically he starts out with the Beatitudes, that basically is different stages, fascinating stages of the Christian walk.

That's how he started sermon and then he starts to talk about being salt and light of the world.

That is you know you can say the our mission you know the core of the Christian life, the core of our existence, why God doesn't take us to heaven right away, even though it would be better there, why we are still here.

He talks about being salt, that us being salt and light of the world.

We'll read a little bit here, we're going to note a very interesting thing.

A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lampstand and it gives light to all who are under who are in the house.

Verse 16, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Okay, 1 thing I want us to note here in verse 16, you know, he talks about being light of the world, right?

We all know we are light, God wants us to be the lights of the world.

In verse 16, we see a very important part of what that entails.

It says, Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works.

Our good works are an essential part of what it means to be light of the world.

You know, we see, we understand, you know, read the Gospels, this was an important part of the ministry of Jesus.

He didn't only preach and teach, sure he did that as well, but we read how he is going around doing good.

That was an essential part of the ministry of Jesus.

We also need teaching and preaching for sure.

The Bible is clear that God wants each and every 1 of us, I believe, to share the gospel with our mouth.

But our acts, in 1 way I think we can say, are maybe are even more important.

Our acts are more important than our words.

You know, you have this saying that says, your acts speak so loud that I cannot hear what you say.

Our action speaks even stronger, even more powerfully than our words.

You know, if I could choose between preaching a powerful sermon or between, you know, reflecting Christ in a powerful way through my acts, you know, I would prefer the acts, you know, every time.

How can we, by our good works, Let our light shine as God wants us to.

How can we fulfill our mission to be light of the world?

James, the brother of Jesus, the son of Joseph, probably the leader of the early church.

James 1.27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this.

Now, it's interesting actually, 1 thing we can notice here, it says God and the Father.

You know, usually we think, you know, God and Jesus, right?

But here, the brother of Jesus, he got the point.

The Bible is very clear, never doubt that.

I can show you that even from the Jehovah's Witness Bible.

Anyway, pure and undefiled religion, it says here, here it's describing what pure and undefiled religion is, what true religion is, true Christianity.

You know, I want to do that, I want to know what that is, you know, I want to serve God, I want to follow God.

Pure and undefiled religion, in God's eyes.

It is to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, to keep oneself unspotted of the world.

Visit orphans and widows in their needs, keep oneself unspotted of the world Acts of mercy, you could say, is the core of what it means to serve God and to worship God, and the core of what it means to live as a Christian.

If we think about ourselves, Do we do this?

If we are not doing that, are our religion true religion?

For some time ago, I visited a lady in her home, a lady from the church, Hermitage Church.

And I asked her, I talked with her and asked her what she thought about the local church she was attending, the church she was a member of.

And When I asked that question, the first she said, almost I think with tears in her eyes, was that when she moved there with her 3 kids, and the oldest 1, it was 4 years ago or something like that, the oldest 1, age of 14 at the time, 3 kids, In addition to that, she was in a divorce situation.

She had a disease that made her didn't have a lot, very little energy.

She came to this church, went through, going through this hard situation.

And she said, it took more than 1 year before anyone in her church invited her home for dinner.

And you know, she said it wasn't Even many people that talked with them when they came to church and even greeted them even after, they had to go themselves to greet the people and eventually in order to greet everyone, to meet everyone in the church.

And she said also she had not gotten any official visit from the church during all these years they have been in this church, this local church.

And it's not a very big church either actually.

Acts of mercy, these kind of things, this is the very core of true religion.

And actually, it says also, Paul writes that we are to do good, especially against the people of the faith.

First, actually against, you know, people in the church.

You know, in Matthew 25, when Jesus, on the last day, when he describes how he will separate, right, the sheep and the goats, the saved and the lost, what separates them?

What is the difference between those who are saved and those who are lost, you know, the sheep and the goats?

It's not, you know, the Bible knowledge, it's not, you know, the theory, how much they know about the prophecies, all this kind of things.

So it's very good and it can help us and we should know these things.

But it is the acts that separates the sheep from the goats, the lost from the...

He says, when I was hungry, you gave me food.

When I was thirsty, you gave me to drink.

Come with me to the book of Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 58.

This is a very interesting chapter, a very important chapter, a fascinating chapter.

How many of you, this will be interesting to see, how many of you would say that you know what this chapter is about?

Derek Morris

IMPACT Scandinavia 2012 Sabbath School

Lord God, I'm thankful that you want to lead us into truth even today.

We want to listen to you as you've spoken through your prophets and most clearly through your son Jesus.

And so we thank you that your word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.

We thank you that your Holy Spirit inspired the writing of this sacred text, these ancient words, and that you will speak to our hearts today.

Bless each 1 here, I pray, in Jesus' name, amen.

At the end of this series of studies on growing in Christ, the topic when all things become new.

How many of you here are looking forward to the day when all things become new?

Many of us have loved ones that we are looking forward to seeing again when all things are made new, amen?

Many of us who have been separated for whatever reason from loved ones, We're looking forward to the day when we are brought together again, when God will make all things new.

And we want to study about that wonderful theme.

And it is a very appropriate theme for Seventh-day Adventists because we believe in the second advent of Jesus and the making of all things new.

So I invite you and invite our class to begin by opening your Bible to 1 Thessalonians 4, a small letter that Paul wrote to the Christians in Thessalonica.

And I need a volunteer from our group who'd be willing to read 1 Thessalonians 4, verses 16 through 18.

Christian, would you read that for us, please?

And I'm going to ask them just to tell us what translation of the Bible they're reading from.

In our study, I only have 1 request of our class, and that is that they use a translation rather than a paraphrase.

We may have some Swedish Bibles up here, or someone may even read in Greek, who knows?

But I just ask that you read a translation rather than a paraphrase of the Bible so it's really a translation of the words from the original text.

And Christian, what translation will you be reading from today?

I'm reading from the New King James Version.

And it says, For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and thus we shall always be with the Lord.

Therefore comfort 1 another with these words." So the event being described here is which event?

And what are some key things that will happen when Christ returns in glory?

What are some key things that will happen?

All right, China says the dead in Christ, that means those who have believed in Christ but have fallen asleep in death, what's going to happen to them?

And then what's this next thing that's going to happen?

Yeah, we're caught up together with the living righteous, right?

Now, there are some missing people in this group.

We're going to talk about them in 2 more texts, but who is not yet described?

You've got righteous dead who are raised, and righteous living who are caught up with those who are raised.

Who have we not talked about in the text?

We haven't talked about the wicked, right?

And what about the wicked who are living when Christ returns?

Those questions are not answered, are they, in this text.

So let's go to 2 other texts, and please follow along with us if you have your Bible.

Revelation chapter 20, verse 4, and John 5, beginning with verse 28, we want to answer the questions, what about these others?

Revelation 20, beginning with verse 4, and who'd like to read that for us?

And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them.

And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witnesses of Jesus and for the Word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands, and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

But the rest of the dead will live not again until the thousand years were finished.

Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection.

On such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years.

So according to John, the Revelator, there are 2 resurrections and they are separated by how much time?

Now we're going to talk about what's happening during that thousand years.

But the righteous dead are raised, Shaina, when?

But the rest of the dead are not raised until?

Now, in case you think that John just thought this up, let's look at the words of Jesus in John chapter 5.

Look with us in John chapter 5, verses 28 through 30.

Yeah, Pranila, will you read that for us?

Give us the translation and begin with verse 28.

Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come forth those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation.

I cannot myself do nothing as I hear I judge and my judgment is righteous because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the Father who sent me.

Okay, so Jesus says there's 2 resurrections.

He doesn't in that place tell us how much time separates them, but He does say there's a resurrection of life and a resurrection of condemnation.

Now, even if we don't know all the details, would you agree that if you're going to be raised sometime, you'd like to be raised in the resurrection of life, right?

And how are you raised in the resurrection of life if you die, rather than the resurrection of condemnation?

Can you choose which 1 you will come up in?

You choose to have your name written somewhere according to the book of Revelation?

Series

IMPACT Scandinavia 2012: Plenary Sessions

IMPACT Scandinavia 2012 Monday Morning Devotional

Transcript

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