GYC 2025: Seeing the Invisible

Why am I a Seventh-Day Adventist

David Wright

Generation. Youth. Christ. (GYC)

03 What Makes You So Special?

Ellen White? Why Should I Care?

Mark Howard

03 How to Avoid Misreading Ellen White

Mark Finley

HopeLives365

Many Will Use the Name of Jesus and Still Be Lost

You know, names are very powerful things.

Names can give you entrance into places where you never could get entrance otherwise.

Names can get you into a physician's office much more quickly than if you didn't know the physician.

Let me tell you an experience that I had.

So when we were at home, He examined my back and he said, Dad, I need to do some work on your back.

You have a few spots that we need to care for.

I don't think they're malignant, but I need to cut them out.

So come by the office at 11 o'clock on such and such a day and I'll fit you in.

Now what you need to know about my son is this, we have the same name.

So as I came to the office, the receptionist said, sir, can I have your name?

No, I don't want the name of the provider, sir.

She said, sir, not the name of the person that's treating you, your name.

No, sir, I could see she's getting a little bit agitated.

The name of Jesus is an incredibly powerful name.

The name of Jesus gives us entrance to the Heavenly Father and all the treasures of heaven.

The name of Jesus brings all the strength of the Father into our lives.

I remember reading this story on 1 occasion of E.P.

Scott was a missionary to India, and he was sharing the gospel in a very incredibly remote village.

And as he did that, the villagers became very hostile.

They raised their knives, they brought their spears, and they surrounded him.

And he had a violin, he was a very good violinist, and E.

And this is what he played, All hail the power of Jesus' name.

Let angels' prostate fall, Bring forth the royal diadrem, and crown him Lord of all.

Scott tells the story, the villagers dropped their spears.

Some had tears in their eyes when they heard the song played.

A mighty revival took place in that village, and there were many, many conversions.

What is it about that name that causes devils to tremble?

What is it about that name that causes the hosts of hell to flee?

Why did Jesus instruct us to pray in the name of Jesus.

You see, the name of Jesus speaks of the person of Jesus, the presence of Jesus, and the power of Jesus.

When we really understand what that name means, it makes an amazing difference in our lives.

When we grasp its life-changing power, we'll live lives of victory rather than frustrated defeat.

When we really grasp the name of Jesus and what it means in our prayers, we live lives of joy rather than despair.

We live lives of hope rather than discouragement.

When we let the name of Jesus be the very foundation of all of our prayers, a new peace floods into our hearts, a new joy floods into our minds.

Understanding the power of the name of Jesus will make all the difference.

So this morning I want to study with you 7 aspects of the name of Jesus.

And once we incorporate these aspects into our lives, our whole prayer life is changed, our Christian life is transformed, and we live those lives of joy and happiness and peace and power.

The first eternal truth about Jesus' name is this.

John chapter 13, the scripture reading for the morning, but I want to go back to it.

John chapter 13, or John chapter 14 rather, verse 13 and 14.

You're taking your Bible and we're looking at a couple passages in the book of John.

John chapter 14, looking there at verse 13 and verse 14.

The scripture says, whatever you ask in next 2 words, what are they?

My name, whatever you ask in my name, that I will do, that the father may be glorified in the son.

If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.

When our requests glorify God, did you notice what our text said?

Whatever you ask in my name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

When our requests glorify God, and we ask in Jesus name, we can have the absolute assurance that our prayers will be answered.

To ask in Jesus name is to ask according to His will.

It's His will to give us power over the enemy.

It is His will to give us victory over the temptations of the evil 1.

It is his will to give us wisdom and strength in witnessing because all that glorifies his name.

So when you pray in Jesus' name, we can know that our sins are forgiven.

When we pray in Jesus' name, we can know that victory over temptation is ours.

When we pray in Jesus' name, we can know that the wisdom that comes from heaven is indeed ours.

Jesus says, John 16, and in that day you will ask me nothing.

Why does Jesus say to his disciples, in that day you'll ask me nothing.

They will see him no more, but they are to approach the father in his name.

Verse 23, I say to you, whatever you ask the father again, in my name, he will give it to you.

Until now, you have asked nothing in my name.

Because they've come directly to him, but he's about ready to ascend into heaven.

Ask and you'll receive that your joy may be full.

To ask in Jesus' name is to ask according to his will.

To ask in Jesus' name is to ask with the absolute assurance that he's the God that listens.

There's a quite amazing statement in the book Desire of Ages, page 667.

Notice this statement as Ellen White makes it.

As yet the disciples were unacquainted with the Savior's unlimited resources and power.

02 Isn’t Loving Jesus Enough?

I don't know if you like to travel, if you like the outdoors.

How many of you have been to Grand Canyon National Park?

But if you go to Grand Canyon, you have a lot of signs that say, what goes down must come up.

And there's lots of warnings and trying to talk about what can happen.

And do not attempt to hike from the canyon rim to the river and back in 1 day.

Each year, hikers suffer serious illness or death from exhaustion.

Apparently, this girl did run the Boston, which is not an easy task.

And then she went down to the bottom unprepared, and she became exhausted and died.

And so let's put this on a sign so other people won't die from the same thing.

Over the edge, death in the Grand Canyon.

2, 3 people a year die due to falls in the Grand Canyon.

Despite all the signs that they put out, do not enter, dangerous overlook.

Is 3000 feet to the bottom and no undertaker to meet you, take no chances.

There's a difference between bravery and just plain ordinary foolishness.

And there's the people sitting on the edge.

The signs are there as a safeguard to protect you and me from Danger.

And so we're looking at why am I a Seventh-day Adventist.

We just did the first 1, does the truth really matter?

What makes you so special will be this afternoon along with what makes the devil angry and then what's wrong with being a cultural avidness.

But today or for this section, part 2, isn't loving Jesus enough?

There was a group that had this tag that was just Jesus period, all period.

Aw, isn't that nice but then what if somebody said well what's your wife's favorite food oh no don't get into those specifics I don't want to know that what color eyes where she liked to go what makes her happy what what What really brings a smile to her face?

No, no, no, just Jesus all, just Elizabeth all.

So I mean it sounds good on the surface, but there are so many aspects of Jesus that can be fleshed out only as we read God's Word.

In fact, knowing God, I think, is the ultimate that God has called us to.

And all of these signs along the way are things to help us not to fall off the path, if you will, and get distracted to get tripped up and all these other things.

But the relationship that God wants to have with us is at the core, Right?

And at what point have we known enough about Jesus?

I mean, it's almost like, wasn't there a meme or commercial or something?

Honey, I finally came to the end of the internet.

Or the end of the social media thread or stream or whatever they're, I don't know, do you ever reach the bottom?

And how much more infinite is God, right?

The present truth, the special message given to our world, even the third angel's message, comprehends a vast field containing heavenly treasures.

No 1 can be excusable who says, I will no longer have anything to do with these special messages.

She says I won't have anything to do with our unique message.

No 1 can preach Christ and present the truth as it is in Jesus, unless he presents the truths that are to come before the people at the present time when such important developments are taking place.

To me, it's a very clear statement that just preaching Jesus only.

Somehow I'm getting some feedback from something.

I don't know what it is Maybe there's nothing to be done It's not okay.

Others would say the Seventh-day Adventist Church has too many doctrines Do you think that's the case?

And to that I would simply ask, what do you know about the will of God for your life that you wish you didn't.

Evangelicals have Jesus, but they're rejecting the truth as it is in Jesus.

They rejected the doctrines or teachings of Jesus oftentimes.

They reject the careful study of God's Word.

So the reality is, Protestants have Jesus long before Adventism came on the scene.

If Jesus is all you need, then why raise up another denomination?

What is it about Adventism that's so important if Jesus is all?

So here comes Adventism and says Jesus all I Submit to you and this isn't new either the 5 S's of Adventism I don't know if you've heard about them the sanctuary the state of the dead second coming the Sabbath and the spirit of prophecy It's not an exhaustive list, but those are really the 5 that make us unique, if you will.

And my question is, where you're attending church, do you hear those 5 S's spoken of regularly?

There was a study that came out within Adventism and on the state of the dead it was alarming to me how many people did not have a clear understanding of where grandma is.

And so do you hear those distinctives often enough?

I'm going to skip through some of these very quickly, but the 5 S's of Adventism, the first being the sanctuary.

Evangelicals look to the cross as the sole basis for salvation, But what model did God give us to understand salvation?

Justin Kim was talking about that earlier.

This is the model God gave and to just go to the cross and say everything was done at the cross is not complete.

You know, the sinner's guilt was symbolically transferred to that perfect lamb.

The perfect lamb was slain and his blood caught in a basin.

02 How Inspiration Works

InVerse 1st Quarter 2026: Apologetics

Sebastien Braxton

Joe Reeves

Paul Samuel

Jonathan Walter

Hope Channel

05 Jesus and Hinduism

Coming to you from Silver Spring, Maryland, Welcome to Inverse, a Bible-based conversation on life principles, contemporary issues, and thought-provoking perspectives.

Now here's your host, Joe Reeves, with Inverse.

My name is Joe and we at Inverse study the Bible with friends at a table and with you.

And we're so excited that you've joined us today.

We're very glad to have you here, Felicia.

And we've been studying apologetics this season.

We've been learning as we've prepared for this, and these programs aren't scripted, but we do study and prepare, and then we have a great conversation and so apologetics what we've done for this is episode number 5 what what have you learned so far.

1 that apologetics does not mean you're apologizing for anything, but it means making a defense, giving answers as to why you believe what you believe, but knowing how to communicate in such a way with other people who have never heard the gospel, have never heard the name of Jesus, and knowing how to share that in a way that resonates with them, that is not in a dogmatic kind of way, but an attractive thing.

And so that's 1 thing that we've covered about apologetics.

It's also paying attention to getting an interest in the ideas out there, the beliefs of other people out there, knowing a little bit about the fears and hopes and desires of people, And that helps us respond with the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the medicine where the need is.

Uh-huh, and in episode 2, we looked at a story of Paul doing that when he was in Athens and he perceived their thoughts, their beliefs, and he addressed them.

He even quoted from some of their own authors.

Anything else you're picking up this season?

I think just a reminder that, you know, the word that we said it comes from apologia, obviously in that word is the root word logos, right?

And the idea of Christianity through apologetics shows us that it appeals not just to the heart, but to the mind.

That you don't have to check out your brain to be a Christian.

That you can be a reasonable, rational person and still believe in God, which we brought up that Richard Dawkins quote.

And the reminder of that, that yes, he can be vast and incomprehensible mentally, but still close to the heart.

And I wanna remind you that, that's important for each 1 of us.

So I, at a very young age, I learned the Bible stories.

But as a teenager, I thought, you know, I don't want to be a Christian just because it's my culture or my tradition.

I only want to be a believer if I can defend it and I can give reasons why.

And so that, it's not just about who gets the faith, it's about who keeps the faith.

And every single person, Every single believer needs to understand the reasons for themselves and to be able to explain and share with others.

Grappling with the questions is like developing antibodies within ourselves.

The grappling with the doubts, this is important.

If we do, when tragedy hits, when life's challenges hit us, then we're caught unawares, and our faith falls, and we fall apart.

But as Christians facing the doubts, facing the questions, they grow in us faith that's informed.

And we're looking at the scriptures today and we want to pray and ask God to be with us.

And Felicia, could you pray for us at the beginning?

Father, we thank you so much that we can bring our questions to you.

You don't ask us to follow you blindly, but as we go on our way and we have these different thoughts that come, we know that we can find the answers in the person of Jesus.

So as we study about different religions and different questions, we pray that our faith in Jesus would grow.

We are turning in our Bibles to John chapter 3.

It's a conversation that Jesus has with somebody.

Jesus came into this world in a certain context 2000 years ago.

There were already religions and worldviews that were out there.

Jesus offered something that was different.

So as we think about these words, we've studied John chapter 3 before, but we're listening to this conversation of Jesus and how would this be heard from an Eastern religion or from a worldview to the East.

And this is very important for us to think about in our context today.

I don't know how many of you have neighbors and friends that practice Hinduism or similar religions like that originating out of India and Nepal, but really a global religion now.

We have, Yes, 2 of the world's largest temples by area size are in the US and in Canada, in Europe and so forth.

It is a growing religion, adherents around the world.

They are migrating and building families and forming communities around the world.

So it's likely that you will find them as neighbors, that you'll interact with them in business, in the workplace.

And it's a rich opportunity to encounter their hopes and fears with the gospel.

So let's bring the words of Jesus to the conversation from John chapter 3, and I think verses 1 through 8.

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no 1 can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.

Jesus answered and said to him, most assuredly I say to you, unless 1 is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus said to him, how can a man be born when he is old?

Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?

Jesus answered, most assuredly I say to you, unless 1 is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.

Do not marvel that I say to you, you must be born again.

The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.

Back to Menu

All Teachings

03 What Makes You So Special?

50m

03 How to Avoid Misreading Ellen White

43m

Many Will Use the Name of Jesus and Still Be Lost

47m

02 Isn’t Loving Jesus Enough?

1h 2m

02 How Inspiration Works

52m

05 Jesus and Hinduism

29m

Defeating the Strong Man

58m

01 Does the Truth Really Matter?

45m

01 Is Ellen White Even Biblical?

1h

05 Shining as Lights in the Night

25m

05 Shining as Lights in the Night

28m

05 Shining as Lights in the Night

30m

Sound Doctrine