GYC West 2015: Saved to Serve

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GYC West

Plenary

Jean Ross

A True Knowledge of God

The theme today that I'll be sharing with you, the title that was given, A True Knowledge of Him or A True Knowledge of God, of course that's where it all begins, is having that connection with Christ and allowing His love to shine through us in the work that He's called us to do.

So that'll be the theme that I'll be sharing with you a few moments this evening But before we begin I invite you just to bow your heads as we have a word of prayer Dear Father we thank you for the privilege that we have of being able to come to you in prayer We don't want to take for granted this wonderful opportunity that you have given us where we can speak to the creator of the universe.

And Lord, as we open up your word, we invite the Holy Spirit to come and draw close to us, lead our hearts and our minds into a deeper and fuller understanding of your great love and the work that you wish to do in each of our hearts and our lives as we trust in you.

So bless our time together, for we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen.

My key text that I thought we'd begin with is John chapter 17 verse 3, talking about a true knowledge of God.

Jesus speaking, John 17 verse 3, he said, and this is eternal life, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.

The essence of everlasting life, the essence of living that eternal life is knowing God, knowing Jesus, knowing the power of His Spirit working within us and through us.

Several years ago a pastor friend of mine invited me to go with him on a Bible study.

The person that he was studying the Bible with was a young man, and they had been looking at some of the basics of the Christian experience, the importance of prayer, the importance of Bible study, the importance of sharing your faith, the topic that they were looking at that evening together had to do with prayer.

And so the pastor began by giving a number of verses illustrating the importance of prayer and how we have examples in the Bible of people who prayed.

And about halfway through the Bible study, the young man turned to the pastor who was leading out in the Bible study, and he asked the question.

He said, I understand from Scripture that we need to pray.

I also know that God knows everything that we ask before we ask.

I also know that I need to be persistent in prayer, but he said what really is the point?

Do we just simply pray to tell God something that he already knows?

Is there merit in just repeating our requests continually before God?

I remember the pastor gave him an answer.

I don't quite remember the answer he gave, but he said something along the lines of, well we need to pray because it prepares our hearts, and so it does, to receive the blessings that God wants to give us.

But I wasn't fully satisfied with the answer that he had given to this young man in the Bible study.

So it got me thinking, why is it that we as Christians need to pray?

There is a statement that Ellen White makes where she says, it is impossible for the soul to flourish while prayer is neglected.

Prayer for the Christian is very important, but what is the focus of prayer?

What are we hoping to achieve as a result of prayer?

Well, after thinking about this for a while, and he kept going to the Bible study, but I kept pondering this thought, what is the focus of prayer?

Near the end of the Bible study, as we walked back to the car, I turned to the pastor.

I said, I think it's dawn on me why we need to pray.

He kind of looked at me somewhat strangely.

I said, I think I understand the focus of prayer.

And we started driving back to the town where we were staying and I began sharing with him.

The thought came to me, could it be that 1 of the aspects of prayer, 1 of the focuses of prayer, why prayer is so important is because prayer brings us into the presence of God.

And We've been told that prayer does not bring God down to us, but it lifts us up into His presence.

Because prayer brings us into the presence of God.

Why is that so important for the Christian?

Because it's in God's presence that we experience transformation.

It's in the presence of God that we experience forgiveness.

It's in his presence that our hearts are warmed by his spirit.

It's in his presence that our lives are being transformed.

It's like when Moses approached the burning bush and God said remove the sandals from your feet for the place where you're standing is holy ground.

The purpose of prayer is to lift us into God's presence.

Not simply was I just to pray to do a task that I knew I had to do as a Christian, to check that off the list, yes I spent time in prayer, but I began to pray for the purpose of entering into the presence of God.

Again, Alan White says that prayer is opening our hearts up to God as we would to a friend.

It's not just simply telling God something that he already knows, but it is a turning of our attention.

It's seeking for a sense of God's grace, God's power, God's love in our hearts and in our lives.

Now sometimes in the busyness of our lives, it takes a little more time in prayer to sort of quiet all of the busyness and focus upon God, upon His Word, and upon what it is He wants to teach us in prayer.

I found in my own prayer experience that sometimes I'm sort of in that attitude of prayer, and as I begin to pray, it's as if I can sense God's presence quite quickly.

There are other times that I need to spend some time in repentance and some time in reflection, in prayer, a humbling of my heart in order to enter into the presence of God, in order to sense His Spirit working in my heart and in my life, to sense His peace and his joy and his love.

The purpose of prayer is not just to tell God what he already knows, but it's to enter into his presence so he can reveal to us what we need to know about Him and about ourselves.

In the book Christ Object Lessons, page 114, we have this statement.

It says, the experimental knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ whom He has sent transforms man into the image of God.

So knowing God transforms us into God's image, and that's the whole purpose of prayer.

It is to be transformed into the image of God.

That's why God created us in the beginning.

The purpose of us coming to God and spending time with God in prayer and in His Word, it is to be recreated, to be transformed back into that image that God originally purposed for us to be.

I heard the story once of an evangelist that had a unique way of doing evangelism.

He would go to an unentered territory and he would connect with the children in that community, and through the children he would reach the parents.

And the way that he'd get the attention of the children, he had a cardboard beehive that he had made.

And inside the cardboard beehive he had little cardboard bees.

And on each of the bees was an exhortation from Scripture, like, be kind, be obedient, be forgiving, be loving.

So he'd have his cardboard beehive and he'd go down to the park, he'd go to the beach a number of years ago, and the kids would be playing and all the kids would gather around and they'd say, what do you have?

And he'd call the kids and say, let me show you what I have.

And he'd have his cardboard beehive, and then he'd put his hand in the little opening and he would pull out 1 of these cardboard bees.

And Then he'd give the cardboard bee to 1 of the children.

And then he'd talk a little bit about the importance of being kind.

Reach his hand in the little beehive and he'd pull out another bee and it would be, bee forgiving.

And then he'd give that to 1 of the kids and he'd explain a little bit about how we ought to forgive and the importance of forgiveness.

And so he was doing this and he had quite a group of children standing around and they were listening and responding and he gave a cardboard bead to a little girl and she kept looking at him and he explained a little bit about the importance of being loving and so on.

And then he went on and he was talking to 1 of the other kids.

But then finally she raised her hand and she said, Sir, I have a question.

He said, Sure, I'd like to hear your question.

And she responded, she said, Sir, you've told us that we need to be kind, you've told us that we need to be loving, that we need to be obedient, but you haven't told us how.

Now unknowingly that little girl put her finger squarely on 1 of the most important questions that anybody can ask.

Fred Hardinge

Health Ministry Around the World

I wanted to share with you a little bit about health ministry.

Nedley's last quotation was most appropriate as a segue into what we're talking about and what I'm going to be sharing this evening.

If you look in your program, you'll see a totally different title.

I'm not exactly sure what happened to my titles that I submitted earlier, but we're going to look at this evening at health ministry around the world.

I have been involved in health ministry for about 35 years, a little more than that now, and I have never seen a greater interest in our church, and I am very thankful to the Lord for that.

There are a number of reasons that might be mentioned, but this evening I just want to share with you some things that are happening in the world of health ministry.

And it's just a small set of what I have the privilege of being able to see and interact with in the work that the Lord has called me to right now.

30 years ago, the Lord laid upon the heart of a pastor and his wife the burden that they should become interested in health personally.

They knew very little about it, but they began reading the good books.

And they were moved and inspired and strengthened by the Lord.

And when they decided to become vegetarians, they were told by their conference president that they would never see another church.

They would be stuck for the rest of their lives where they were.

But they said no to themselves, no, the Lord has led and we will continue.

Today, that pastor is the conference president.

He has worked all of his ministry in that conference.

Today, it is a leading influence in the area of health ministry throughout South America, including the country of Brazil.

In the city of Sao Paulo, there are 4 conferences.

And 1 of those conferences is being led by this pastor and his wife.

About 25 years ago, they felt impressed with a small group of friends that they should buy a piece of land that was outside of the city of Sao Paulo and that they should establish a training center for health ministry.

Today, that piece of property of 13 hectares is within the city limits of San Paolo.

And it is located in a very, very upscale neighborhood.

They can now, and I have a few pictures of this training center.

They can house about 450 people at 1 time for training seminars.

And it is dedicated to training for health ministry.

Now, that is not the only seminars that come.

But Long ago, they made a decision that they would choose the food that would be served to all who would enter those gates and come to seminars or to training programs, whether they were sponsoring the training program or not.

Thousands and thousands of individuals have now been trained in health ministry at this conference.

It is the most desirable conference center for Seventh-day Adventists in the entire city of Sao Paulo.

And Elder Biazzi's wife, many years ago, came to the conclusion that 1 of the reasons there was prejudice against a vegetarian diet was that it was not being prepared well, it didn't taste well, and it wasn't being presented well.

And so she took upon herself to attend and become certified in a chef school, 1 of the best chef schools in all of Brazil.

And she has taken and applied those principles to what happens here in the training center.

And I just show you a few pictures of a few of the meals that I had during the time I have been there.

I've been there twice and will be going back there next year.

They have a very, actually they have 2 sessions back to back of health ministry training.

People from all over Brazil, as well as other parts of the country.

Just a few pictures of the kind of food that we get to eat when we're there.

And it's all presented absolutely wonderfully.

This was 1 of my breakfasts and I just couldn't help but get my cell phone out and take a picture of it.

Pastor Biazzi is the man standing to my right in the picture.

She had slipped and fallen on a wet floor and was not able to be in the picture, but most of these individuals are the people who helped pioneer this training center with him.

But the most exciting news of all is that their kitchen has, and they are cooperating with our university in Sao Paolo, and they have recently been approved for an accredited vegetarian chef training program, the first and only 1 in all of South America.

You need to learn Portuguese if you're going to attend.

But they are hoping to expand it into Spanish and possibly English.

There is a huge need for this kind of training.

They now are booked 5 years out and it's a waiting list.

They gave Seventh-day Adventists the first opportunity and the first 2 classes are almost all Seventh-day Adventists.

After that, they opened it up to the public.

They were actually mandated to do that by the government.

And they have Seventh Avenue along with a large waiting list of individuals who want to come and learn how to cook vegetarian food.

And it will be a wonderful program, it is a wonderful program, because it is not only teaching the preparation of food, but also good nutrition concepts, because they have a core of good nutrition classes required in their program that is being taught by our nutrition department at our university in Sao Paulo.

I just want to share with you, and this was a couple I met, a young physician couple.

They have been Seventh-day Admins for 8 years now.

Fascinating story of how a layman came to Daniela's business.

Her father is 1 of the best known oncologists in Brazil and he insisted that she take medicine and she did but when she graduated she opened a restaurant very different than practicing medicine.

And she did that against her parents' wishes, but she did it, and it became a very successful Japanese restaurant.

And 1 day there was a knock on her door, and there was a man that she had never met before, he was an older man, and he walked into her office and he said, I understand you're a physician, and she had been hiding that.

And he said, you need to be a medical missionary.

And she looked at him and said, what is a medical missionary?

And he said, I can't tell you very well, but I brought you 7 books that you need to read.

And he said, I have marked in, I put bookmarks in those books and you need to start with number 1 and then you go to number 2 and you go to number 3 and 4 and 5 and 6 and she said it went up to about 35 or 36 bookmarks.

And these were books by Ellen White, believe it or not.

She was, she had no Christian experience in her background, never been to a Christian church, she had no interest in the Christian church, and she put those books in a pile as she was handed them in her office.

And the idea was what is a medical missionary?

And a few weeks later she took those books home and she began reading.

And she began reading from Ministry of Healing and she began reading from Desire of Ages and she began reading, these were all the books that he had given her, with the bookmarks and she followed it, 123, just as he had suggested.

And when she got to reading Steps of Christ, her heart was broken by the Holy Spirit, and she gave her life to Christ.

She continued reading everything that he had suggested.

Now this is a wonderful case of medical missionary work.

And she found the publisher of those books and she called the publishing house.

And by God's grace, somebody who was very attentive and sympathetic listened to her, answered the phone, and listened to her.

And when she said, I don't know what to do, they said, if you tell us where you live, we'll tell you where a church is located.

And they gave her the address to a local Seventh-day Adventist church that was just a few blocks from where she lived, where her restaurant was.

And as she went, on the first Sabbath, there was the man in the lobby that had delivered those books.

And he, she introduced herself to her, to him.

He introduced her to the pastor and to some other members.

Bible studies ensued and Danielle, she was baptized.

She had been accepted into a family practice residency at Johns Hopkins.

She had 6 months before she needed to come to the US.

And during those 6 months, she volunteered to work at a clinic for the poor in Sao Paulo.

And she became the director of that clinic, the medical director anyway, and 1 day a young man showed up and he had also been accepted to Johns Hopkins for a family practice residency.

He had just finished and he was doing some time before he went to the States.

And 1 Friday He said to her, would you like to go out and party this weekend?

Neeta Hillman

The Co-Working of the Divine and the Human

Father in heaven, we come before you humbly.

You know how much the verse means to me that says that you called us out of darkness and into marvelous light And what a privilege, what a privilege that is, Lord.

And Lord, I just ask, you've saved us to serve.

And I thank you for the testimonies that we've heard in word and in song.

And I pray that you would use your servant tonight to share a little bit more of that glory of what you long to do in and through us.

And I pray that those who need to hear this message would hear what you are calling on their hearts, and I pray that tonight I would be hidden behind the cross, that you may be lifted up and that you would draw men to yourself.

May we have a deeper walk when we leave here because of you, because we met with you, not your servants.

Preparation for the surgery started 5 months prior and it took a team of 70 to begin.

There were 7 pediatricians, pediatric anesthesiologists, 5 neurosurgeons, 2 cardiac surgeons, 5 plastic surgeons, several nurses and several technicians.

The twins joined at the head shared a large major vein, the sagittal suprasinus, superior sinus, that had to be separated and reconstructed.

To do the surgery would require doing work with the cardiac surgeons.

The neurosurgeon could not work on his own.

At 11.10 PM, they finally were able to separate down to the dura.

The boys, the 2 twins, their body temperatures were then lowered using hypothermia, lowering the body temperature from 95 degrees Fahrenheit down to 68 degrees.

The purpose was to stop all the metabolic processes so that they could then divert the blood and allow for the vein to actually be cut and separated for each of the young boys.

This allowed the physicians 1 hour, 1 hour then to separate the veins and the rest of the head in addition to reconstructing the veins and restart the blood.

The team work that ensued was described by the surgeon as such.

By using 20 minutes to separate the vessels, this gave us only 40 minutes to complete our work.

Fortunately, the cardiovascular surgeons had been looking over our shoulders and observing the configuration of the sinuses as I was cutting through them.

From the pericardium, they cut pieces to exactly the right diameter and shape.

Although they were estimating, the 2 men were so skilled that when they handed the pericardium to Long and me, all the pieces fitted perfectly.

We were able to sew them into place along the affected areas.

At 1 point, perhaps 45 minutes into the hour, I knew we were moving close to the deadline.

Without looking around, I sensed the tension level around me increasing, almost as if the individuals were whispering to each other, are we going to finish on time?

I completed mine, and within seconds before the blood had started flowing again, We were right on target.

A silence momentarily filled the operating room and I was conscious only of the rhythmic humming of the heart-lung machine.

As a pessimist, as I was going about the eventual outcome of the surgery, I still felt a glow of pride of being able to work side by side with the best men and women in the medical field.

And the end of the surgery wasn't the end of our teamwork.

The post-operative care was as spectacular as the surgery.

Everything in the weeks following the surgery confirmed again our togetherness.

It seemed as if everyone from the ward clerk to the orderly to the nurses had become personally involved with this historic event.

We were a team, a wonderful, marvelous team.

Without the cardiovascular component of the surgery, the surgery of separating the head and the brains of these children would have been impossible.

But diverting the blood away to be cooled and directing the blood flow from the site of the neurosurgery site, in and of itself was not the main surgery that needed to be done.

It was necessary and even critical, but it was not the final goal.

Yet without that component of the surgery, the main neurosurgery component could not have been taken care of.

We're going to go back to a very familiar story, The story of Naaman.

Many of us know the story, you could probably tell it.

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Phil Mills: Medical Evangelism Weekend

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