Following the Lamb: Reviving Faith in the Western Adventist Church

[Music] [Music] good morning GC we ask you to join us

singing this beautiful hymn Christ the lord is recent today Christ the Lord is with

today hallelu sons of man and angels hallelu praise your Jo and

tri hallelu singing H and Earth rep

Hallelujah is again our glorious King hallelu where is now thy

s hallelu what he di our souls to sing

hallelu where th victory was great hallelu Love's

redeeming work is God Hallelujah for the the battle

one hallelu death in for to right hallelu

open Parise Hallelujah we where Christ

hasu calling our exalted head hallelu may like him like him

right hallelu of the of great the SK

Hallelujah Genesis we sing Our next song Crown Him With Many Crowns [Music]

Him With Many CR the L upon his the heav

at all Bey but it all oh wake my soul and S all him who die for me

and H him as the matchless king through all eternity crown him the Lord Of

Love behold his hands and visible in Beauty

GL no angel in the sky can fully bear that

my his wondering on that hisory so great him the Lord of

Peace the way from to fall and May ceas and all be

prayed and prise his R shall no and round his

andet theise their fragrance ever [Music]

sweet the lord of the the

creator of the holy spirit in oh Hil Redeemer

H for th has died for me th gra shall never ever through all eternity

[Music] we invite you to stand as we sing Our theme song together one last time

wherever he [Music] goes you your son to us in

love eternal life to share his sacrifice his Precious Blood shed for me is almost more than I can

bear what can I do what can I say but promise you today yes promise you today wherever he

goes I'll follow over mountains through stor he sees wherever he goes I'll

follow of all that he's done for me he gave his life what could he the ultimate price so I could live I'll take his hand

and follow the lamb wherever he go he calls me to Adventure now saying take hold of your cross journey through

paths Unown in sech of Soul who been lost I don't feel worthy how can it be father should choose someone like

me but he will give me strength as I move forward in faith whereever he

goes follow over Ms to stor se whever he goes I'll follow of all that he done for me he

gave his life what more could he G the ultimate price so I could live I'll take his hand and follow the lamb wherever he

goes whever he [Music] goes standing Before the Throne of God

joined upon the glassy seaes of thousand shout the lamb has G the

victory then we will sing the song of the Lamb with joy and hearts in just thinking of that

day gives me the courage to St whever he goes I'll follow over mountains to stormy seas wherever

he goes I'll follow of all that he's done for me he

gave his life what could he give theate so I can live I'll take his hand and follow the L whever he go

[Music] whever he [Music]

goes whereever he go good morning

gyc you may take your seats can't believe I'm saying this but we've made it to the end and I think

that's a sad thing don't you I wish uyc could continue forever but the thing is if we're truly to follow the lamb we

have to go home we have a work to do don't we I'm reminded of a Bible verse in

First Peter chapter 2 and verse 21 the context here is the sufferings of Christ but I believe it's applicable to

us as we think about how to take this theme home with us second Peter 2 sorry 1 Peter 2:21 says for even here unto

were you called because Christ also suffered for us leaving an example and here's the key

part that ye should follow his steps as I welcome you here this morning I pray that as we listen to Pastor Shane this

morning and we listen to that final charge to go wherever jesus takes us to go wherever he goes that we will be able

to take that message to heart and take it to those in our homes in our churches our

families and all that God has called us to reach we pray that you're blessed this morning as we spend this final time

together you know it's a sad thing when a good thing comes to an end however your experience that you

receive that this conference does not have to come to an end you can I I can carry the

relationship with Jesus as I go back home following the lamb is not just for four days in Columbus

Ohio but truly it's a matter of a lifetime and so I feel like before we even dive into our final

message we should talk to our Heavenly father can we do that let's

pray father as a song the theme song says you gave your life so that we could

live we thank you for that Lord we're so grateful for these power packed

days the messages the experiences father we are

praying that the experience we had at gyc does not end here rather father we would go

home wanting to follow the lamb wherever he goes and so father before we even dive

into this final message we are praying for yet again another outpouring of your your Holy

Spirit and father when this message comes to a close while we will be dismiss from this convention center

please dismiss us not from your presence we want to see Jesus Come In Our

Lifetime and so father I pray that the Holy Spirit would be poured out so that we lord would never forget the one who

died for us and father if we are struggling to surrender our hearts to you may this

message be the time where we do in Jesus name everyone said

amen this morning I have the privilege of introducing our final charge speaker our speaker this morning is Pastor Shane

Anderson from the Pioneer Memorial Church at Andrew University he's a senior

pastor ironically growing up Pastor Shane never wanted to be a pastor in fact that was the last thing that he

wanted to do he grew up in a challenged home with conflicting experiences regarding True Religion during his

freshman year at walaw Wala University where he was studying engineering with a desire to design cars and go to Detroit

at some point God convicted him to change his major in his first quarter from engineering to

Theology and so through much rustling and finally very angry at this calling of God he raised up his fist and

accepted the call and although though he was angry as he accepted that call the peace of God flooded his soul a number

of years later he found himself pastoring at a large Church in Washington and ironically although he

was at an Adventist Church and was an Adventist Pastor he himself was unconvinced of the Adventist message the

conference president sent him to a field school that he didn't want to go to but as he went to that field school he heard

the distinctive truths of the Adventist message and from that point on he has become an instrument for the sharing of

the Three Angels messages as a minister of the gospel and so this morning the person who will be speaking is not just

a pastor but a man who has had a merciful experience with God the next words that you'll hear after this

special music will be that of Pastor Shane Anderson [Music]

of a [Music] mighty and it's

closer now [Music] ever I can almost the

[Applause] trumpet as gel s [Music]

the at the Midnight's run will be going home when Jesus steps

[Music] out ground to his children the dead in Christ shall

rise to [Music] be

and shall we greatly [Laughter] at the Midnight Cry at the Midnight

Cry when Jesus comes [Music] again I arounds

me I see prophecies [Music] fulfilled and signs of the

ties they're appearing everywhere I can almost hear the father as he says son get your children

and at the Midnight's cry the bride of Christ will arise we will

Jesus on the call children thead Christ shall rise to meet him in the

and then [Music] those shall we quickly

change at the Midnight Cry at the Midnight Cry when Jesus comes

again and then we [Music] shall be quickly

Chang at the midnight C at the midnight C when jesuses [Music]

again at the midnight C at the midnight C when Jesus comes again [Music]

again all God's people said you know a wiser preacher after a music like that would just have the

benediction to go home but I'm not that wise so I'm going to keep talking I bring you greetings from the

good people of Pioneer Memorial Church and Andrew University and particularly from Dr John Wesley Taylor I who is our

newish University president there he and I started on the same day July of 2023 and it's been my privilege to work with

him uh pioner Memorial Church and Andrews University are developing a very strong partnership there and Dr Taylor

and I are are very strongly hoping that we can have a regional gyc event at Andrews University in the not too

distant future so if you are open when that time comes we'll try to keep you posted details more they as they develop

we would love to have you come and be a part of that originally the Bible was written to

be read aloud it was an oral culture to which it was sent so I invite you to keep your Bibles closed and listen

carefully to Romans chapter 6 beginning with verse one what shall we say then shall we go

on sinning so that Grace may increase by no means we died to sin how can we live in it any

longer or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death we were

therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through

the glory of the father we too may live a new life well one amen sister stick with me this

morning we're going to go places all right this is the essence of our theme you know wherever he goes right all of

that hinges on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ if you've been here in the morning sessions that

we've been talking about the the the death of Jesus and indeed that is where this going wherever he goes begins in

baptism we die to the old way of life that's the symbolism right we go under the water and and and and and we're

there we even stop breathing for a moment or at least you should and there it's symbolizing dying to the old way of

life but praise the Lord he doesn't leave us there if all Jesus did was die for our sins no

Resurrection we would be all the more pitiful for it because the price for our guilt would have been paid but the

ability to live a new life free from sin in Jesus Christ would not have been made available to us and so because Jesus has

been raised from the dead by faith we identify with him not only in his crucifixion but also in his resurrection

the old is gone the new has come praise the Lord and notice

carefully it doesn't cause Christ to break into a sweat to raise you from your sinful

grave because he already sweated that sweat in the Garden of Gethsemane that that that sweat was already done on the

cross that that that price has been paid and now no matter how far down the scale you have gone no matter how bad of a

sinner you have been Jesus looks in you and if you are willing to call him Lord and savior he will take you and he will

raise you up it doesn't cause him to break a sweat at all

but what if what if corporately

speaking could it be that when it comes to the corporate church and let me get even more specific

the Seventh Day Adventist Church in the west where's the West okay United States Canada Australia

Europe maybe a few other likeminded places there that's that's often called the global West what if the global

Adventist Church in the West is too heavy to raise from the

grave individually no problem Christ doesn't break a sweat at all but what if it is a the case spiritually speaking

with the church in the west that we have picked up too many weighty bad habits that Resurrection from the grave

collectively speaking as the church in the west it's too difficult for it to take

place you might be think thinking well why would you ask a question like that well simply because of this what happens

in the rest of the world doesn't seem to happen here did you hear about the 3,000 people

that were baptized in Chicago last year at the end of an Evangelistic series me neither because it didn't

happen when we look at the rest of the world you know 100 people being baptized in a day a thousand people being

baptized in a day anybody hear about NG right New Guinea how many people I mean tens of thousands of

people baptized in a single day you know in the west meanwhile back here at home I'll just pick on my own country the

United States if 10 people from the communi so 10 people with no connection with the Adventist Church prior to that

and they do an Evangelistic series and 10 people get baptized on a single Sabbath there would be one of two

responses number one Adventists there would pass out in disbelief they at potluck they oh yeah

they just fall over and you call the EMTs and they say what happened to them oh somebody got baptized they couldn't

believe it or secondly the response would be something like this and I've heard this

way too many times oh so they baptized 10 people I'll bet that was some slick evangelist you watch a year from now not

a single one of those 10 will be in church it's almost like we've become so skeptical in the west that we defend our

lack of fruitfulness and of course here's the thing you tell me does God want the church in the west

to thrive yeah I mean that's an easy question right of course he does of

course he wants to see us be be be fruitful he wants to raise us up out of this grave of ignorance and apathy and

Leo deia absolutely no question and yet it doesn't happen at least not yet and it's almost like we are simply too heavy

for heaven to resurrect we've got too much baggage too too many too many old dead habits that we're

hanging on to and it's like Jesus and Gabriel and the Heavenly Host have all grabbed an edge of the church in the

west and they're heaving on it for all their worth come on Gabriel lift that thing I'm trying Lord more Angels more

angels and the irony of it all is that we didn't used to be this way you

see it used to be that the West Was the passionate heart of the

church not merely its wallet it used to be that the Three Angels messages sharing Jesus Christ in

the Three Angels passionately and effectively it began here didn't it this is where it started in the West in fact

Russell bur number of years ago did some research he discovered that for the first 60 to 70 years of the 7th Day cist

Church's existence we were the fastest growing Protestant movement that the world had ever

seen that's astonishing yeah it's an astonishing thing we didn't need to be lifted out of the Grave ourselves

because that had already happened we were too busy helping other people helping Jesus lift other people out of

the Grave all over the world and so the question begs to be asked what happened what happened

what heavy weight has the western church picked up that is holding us down from this great Resurrection experience that

Christ longs to give to us what did our Adventist forefathers and mothers do then in the early days that we don't do

now how can we truly as a corporate Church in the west be raised up out of our musty spiritual grave follow the

lamb wherever he goes and finish the work of sharing Christ with the world well you know

what I think I know the answer to that question I do and it's not because I'm a genius

it's because God has made it clear in his word and the spirit of Prophecy this is not a

mystery so let me share this with you to the best of my ability at lightning speed let me share with you the

highlights of what it will take to lift the Western Adventist Church out of its leodan grave that it currently lies in

now they've only only given me like three hours this morning so I'm going to have to move quickly

okay but let me share with you six things how many things six things that the Adventist Church in the west needs

to experience in order to have that Resurrection experience are you ready okay let's

begin a first key to see in the western Adventist Church rise from its spiritual grave is

this is a secret so far aha here we go a Revival of true godliness now many people say well

that's pretty Elementary but you can't skip this step do you see what she says there a Revival of true godliness Among

Us is the greatest and most urgent of all our needs to seek this should be our what first work now first means number

one so anything else that I say in these remaining five things on this list here if you haven't done this one don't go

any further the fact of the matter is is that there is no substitute for Jesus not one you can't fake a

relationship with Jesus Christ heaven will know Jesus longs to be with us the core

of being a Seventh Day Adventist Christian is a deep and abiding relationship with Jesus Christ and

there's no substitute for that if you do not know Jesus Christ as your personal friend and savior if you're not walking

with him each day I would just invite you to start now everything else I'm going to say for the rest this morning

is secondary to this Jesus loves you he died for you he rose from the grave for you and he Longs for you to be in his

kingdom what more could we possibly ask for we need a Revival of true godliness that we might become transformed by his

resurrection power the kind of people that he has always dreamed we could be people of love and mercy and integrity

and obedience and compassion and power it's our first need and it's the first key if the western church is to rise

again there's a second one and it is closely tied to the first and it's this the former and latter Reigns of the Holy

Spirit now again some of you think well we've heard about this before stick with me here the former and latter Reigns of

the Holy Spirit nobody gets off the planet alive unless these two things happen no one Ellen White has this to

say about it she says before the final visitation of God's judgments upon the Earth there will be among the people of

the Lord such a Revival of primitive godliness as has not been witnessed since Apostolic times the spirit and

power of God will be poured out upon his children now the results of this are many in our short time this morning let

me just share this with you evangelism page 7701 it says this Servants of God with their faces lighted up and Shining

with holy consecration will hasten from place to place to proclaim the message from Heaven by thousands of voices all

over the Earth the warning will be given Miracles will be wrought the sick will be healed and signs and wonders will

follow the Believers sounds like your church service at home doesn't it it will one day that's what's being

promised here the message will be carried not So Much by argument as by the Deep conviction of the spirit of God

the arguments have been presented the seed has been swn and now it will spring up and bear

fruit I would love to tell you what the rest of the quotation says it'll be with us just a moment I'm

sure my screen is not showing it I'll just read it from my notes then it says now the now the Rays of

light penetrate everywhere the truth is seen in its clearness and the honest children of God sever the bands which

have held them family Connections Church relations are powerless to stop them now truth is more precious than all besides

notwithstanding the agencies combined against the truth a large number take their stand upon the Lord's Side and

that includes the West that 3,000 people that didn't get baptized last year in Chicago they will it's going to happen

it's going to come to your town and to mine to your city and to mine we will see these great events and how long do

we have to wait for this outpouring of the Holy Spirit Well you see the latter the former and the latter Reigns they

can come to you personally right now you can personally experience the beginning power of the Holy Spirit and

the taste of his maturing power the latter rain you can do that right now today you don't have to wait for that

corporately speaking it's a little more difficult the church has to be ready for that latter Reign God is not going to

give that kind of power to a group of people that aren't prepared for it and so we need to be ready for that but

notice carefully what Ellen White has to say about that she says this she says The Descent of the spirit upon the

church is looked forward to as in the future but it is the privilege of the church to have it when now seek for it

pray for it believe for it we must have it and Heaven is Waiting to bestow it right now now so pray for this pray for

it you know this coming March just a few months from now March 1-9 2025 at pineer Memorial Church uh we're having a a

meeting entirely dedicated to this very idea it's about Revival and discipleship it's about the infilling of the Holy

Spirit March 1 to9 Don mford is going to be with us uh the general conference has been very generous and the North America

Division and the Lake Union together we're sponsoring this event people will be coming from all over the country you

are welcome to join us because this is absolutely Ely essential for the church again no one gets off the planet alive

without the outpouring of the former and latter Reigns of the holy spirit so pray for it ask for it ask for it by name

every day in your personal devotions find other people to pray with about it it is absolutely essential oh what a day

it will be when the spirit is poured out on the church which brings us to a third key a

third key to Western adventism rising from its Grace is this the restoration of Jesus Christ in the Three Angels

messages as the primary reason why the Seventh Day Adventist Church exists if that seems basic to

you trust me it's not because the Adventist Church in the west has become preoccupied with all

kinds of good things that have nothing to do with our unique message and Mission did you hear

me Ellen White put it this way she said in a special sense seventh the Adventist have been set in the world as

Watchmen and lightbearers to them has been entrusted the last warning for a perishing World on them is shining

wonderful light from the word of God they have been given a work of the most solemn import the proclamation of the

first second and third Angels messages there is no other work of so great importance they are to allow nothing

else to absorb their attention that's pretty straightforward isn't it ladies and gentlemen we are a

prophetic Movement we are not like every other denominational belly button out there God doesn't love Seventh Day

Adventist more than anybody else and nonetheless Seventh Day Adventist have a unique message and Mission to share with

the world and we cannot afford to be distracted by other things however worthy they may seem our medical work

from the local Clinic to our most massive hospitals our education work from from The Homeschool living room to

the doctoral programs at our largest universities our personal witness in whatever form it takes all of this

whatever it is whatever ad are doing it must be squarely aimed at the proclamation of Jesus Christ in the

Three Angels messages not because I say so but because God says

so now the first three things that I've shared with you many of you have been

nodding your heads and say yeah okay I I see that yeah I I get that the last three keys are very practical ones and

I'm going to spend a little more time on those than I did the first three how come it's not because the first three

are not important they are the most important get those wrong and the last three don't matter at all but the reason

why I'm going to spend more time on the Practical is because of this too often 30 years now of pastoral Ministry too

often what I have seen happen even at conferences like this is that people they they get excited and rightly so

Jesus begins to work in their life they they experience the the beginnings of Revival and Reformation they're walking

with Christ and they're excited maybe they're even beginning to see some fruit in their lives and then they run

smack into the lack of these three last keys and it wears them down particularly

number six and they lose their experience and they go back into the leodan grave that most of the western

church is caught in today so the first three are the most important but the last three are perhaps

the ones that get talked about the least so let's get into it a fourth key that the Adventist Church

in the west needs to experience the resurrection that Christ Longs for it to have is a return to regular strategic

church planting now listen carefully if you tell me that your church experience that your Christian experience is boring

I automatically know you are not planting a church I know that for a fact because

there's nothing like church planting I've done it before myself I've been the lead on a church plant I've assisted

with numerous other ones in there church planting is spiritual bungee jumping at its best this is where the action is if

if you're thinking well you know the Christian Life is born there's nothing to it in there you need to be involved

in planting a church because that's where the action is at notice this uh James White was was

not necessarily known for beating around the bush and in early in the Adventist uh uh setting 1862 in the review in

Herald he had this to say he said some who join the Seventh Day Adventist commence at once to preach to the

Brethren many of whom are far in advance of them and our Brethren often he in urging such to spend their time in

preaching to them so do you see the situation somebody comes in probably has some previous religious experience

someplace else becomes a Seventh Day Adventist uh the Brethren urge them hey stay here preach to us we want to hear

you in your enthusiasm Etc James White says that's an error notice he continues on let such

ministers be first suitably instructed by those of experience in the message then let them go out into new Fields

trusting God for help and success if they cannot raise up churches and friends to sustain

them then certainly the cause of Truth has no need of them and they have the best reasons for concluding that they

made a sad mistake when they thought that God called them to to teach the third Angel's

message in other words uh interviews for ministers in those days were really short James would sit down and called

the young man in he said tell me son have you planted a church well no sir I haven't next

you couldn't get a job in the Adventist Church unless you had first proven that you could plant a church this was how

Central it was in the Adventist Church I wish I could say more about this the Adventist the New Testament Church would

not have existed without church planting you would not be sitting here today without church planting because your

church at some point back home was a planted church and let's just be honest there are more people being born than

there are being born again through the ministry of the sth Adventist Church in the west we are not keeping up with even

the general population much less making Headway there's no possible way on Earth that the current number of churches in

the west will be able to reach the Harvest period end of statement we must plant some of you listening right now

and some of you listening later on in the recording the Lord has been tapping you on the shoulder that he has

something for you maybe he's even gotten specific with you and it's a the church plant maybe you're excited about it

maybe you've been holding back I just want to urge you please please please say yes if God is calling you to plant a

church you need to go we must have more churches in new places reaching new people it must

happen a fifth key a fifth key to the resurrection of the Adventist Church in the west from

its spiritual grave is this the social meeting or something like it now I know this was on the tip of your tongue as

you walked in this morning you were thinking you said oh I hope he talks about the social meeting good news I'm

going to the social meeting uh was not a barbecue sorry it was not a vegue uh it was not a a a a a a call for tea and

crumpets no no no the social media that was a technical term used in the early years of the 7th Day Adventist Church to

describe the main method of discipleship in the Adventist Church so understand carefully key number four church

planting that's that was the main way the main method that the Adventist Church used to grow geographically the

social meeting was the main way that the local Adventist Church grew internally and did evangelism locally and it was

powerful you know if you went to an Adventist Church in the first 60 to 70 years you would almost certainly not

hear a sermon now I know some people believe that the apostles themselves initiated the current order of service

for churches in the Adventist West you know the Apostle Paul had had the announcement to time and then opening

prayer and then doxology actually it's not true the the the Adventist Church did not generally

have a sermon on Sabbath morning but they always always always had a social meeting the social meeting was excellent

it it excelled in so many ways it excelled evangelistically it excelled relationally it not only led to regular

baptisms but it then took new Believers and it taught them how to pray how to apply the Bible to real life how to

speak in public about Jesus how to lead in the church how to care for one another how to love one another how to

establish a deep sense of community rooted in Christ and his word it was awesome and almost no one does it today

in the Adventist West almost no one and oh how we need it we need it or something like it very badly in the

Adventist West and some of you are still think well what in the world was a social

meeting you're young and enthusiastic I'm going to leave further research to you here's what you need to do go to

your preferred access to the spirit of Prophecy database and type in the words social medium be sure and put quotes

around it so your Boolean logic will will will drive appropriately social meeting together in quotes you'll

probably find close to 200 uh references to the social media and I'm going to warn you in advance if you have never

studied about the social meeting and the prime role it it played in local church evangelism at DIS discipleship what you

find will blow your mind it's got to come back or something very nearly like it if we're going to

finish the work that God has given us to do which brings us to number six number six is is is is

massive number six when the New Testament Church had this this key in place okay so it didn't lack it it had

it this is one of the main reasons why the Apostle Paul could say just within

Decades of Jesus death and resurrection that the gospel had been preached to every creature under Heaven that's how

powerful this key is a sixth key for the Adventist Church in the west to be able to to to rise

from its spiritual grave is simply this the restoration of pastors and its Planters and a radical return to the

vast majority of local Ministry being done by local members now Elder deaser hinted at this

yesterday and I'm going to build upon that Foundation here right now notice carefully what this looks

like in the Adventist Church as with many other churches there's at least two groups of people there's clergy and

there's lay people clergy are people like me uh in the Adventist Church uh you know we often call them pastors and

they're responsible in most of the West uh to lead out in church life and Ministry they're paid by the tithe

Etc everybody else essentially is referred to as lay people Ley uh and and this this is the not people that are

paid these are people that volunteer their time to help lead out in the in in the church and its Ministries and we

praise the Lord for that and what I am suggesting is that if the western church ever wants to catch up with the rest of

the world and ultimately finish the work that God has given us to do it will not happen until we return to pastors

primarily planting new churches coupled together with a return to powerful lay Ministry being the norm

at the local level rather than the exception now what I'm going to put on the screen here in just a moment is is

is pretty incendiary stuff if you've never heard it before so I want to make something clear right now this call for

pastors to be plants and for Lay people at the local church level to carry forward with passion and enthusiasm

local discipleship and Evangelistic efforts at the local church this is not a call to

Anarchy this is not a call to to to burn down the general conference or to hang all the pastors from the highest tree we

our structure for whatever its flaws may be is God ordained we are to honor our elected and appointed leaders and pray

for their abundant success amen all right and

and most Adventists in my experience in the west have no idea what the biblical role of their Pastor

actually ought to be nor do they know how low the level of lay Ministry is in the western church today compared to the

New Testament and early adventism they have no concept whatsoever how did we get into this

mess well let me show you early Adventist leaders in the mid 1800s they're trying to organize the

church trying to put everything together trying to figure well how should we structure the ministry that God has

called us to do and someone said I've got an idea let's read the Bible and say that's a great idea let's read the Bible

so they did and this is what they found let me put a couple things up here on the screen for you they found that in

the Old Testament there was a philosophy called come here come here in other words Israel God's chosen people were to

be lights to the Gentiles they were to live out the kingdom of God in such a way that that the Gentiles would be

drawn to them Isaiah speaks about this specifically they were like this this this Global Center and people would come

to them come here and God set up a structure to facilitate that process it had three parts to it part number one

was leaders of the people and there were a number of these different types of leaders of the people over the years uh

there were Patriarchs and Elders this was often within family units uh there were judges later on they kind of had a

regional Authority there were Kings yeah it wasn't a part of God's plan but it's a fact of history they did have this

National even International Authority and there were prophets they had leadership almost everywhere uh amongst

God's people uh the second part of this leadership structure were the priests obviously very important we've read

about them the the the the sanctuary there in the desert they were crucial to keeping the people on track towards God

and number three there were the Jews themselves they were called to live out these principles in their daily lives to

help be that light for the Gentiles to come here now question for you did this come here Kingdom structure

work no it didn't failed miserably not God's fault it was ours we were the human element we were the weak link so

Jesus comes he dies on the cross he rises from the grave the Christian church has begun and there is a distinct

change in philosophy no longer is it come here but now it is go there Matthew 28 18 to20 Great

Commission all authority was given in Heaven and Earth to me Jesus says therefore what go go and make disciples

don't just wait around for people to come to you now you're going to go and God set up a kingdom structure to

facilitate this new philosophy and it again it had three parts to it number one it had leaders of the people but

there's some changes now at the top of the chain are Apostles apostles were Church Planters they main task was to

spread the gospel they had large Regional Authority sometimes even International Authority Church planting

the extension of the Gospel geographically keeping the church in track theologically that was their role

uh there were also Elders they were the highest leaders in the local church that's what they were there that's what

they did deacons and deaconesses served within the local church and the role of prophet was maintained as we know the

gift of Prophecy is going to go all the way down to the second coming correct okay so it's still there in this first

section the second section of leaders here are still priests but who are the priests

now everybody all Christians if you call Jesus Lord you are a priest in the kingdom of God you were called to help

take the good news of Salvation in Jesus Christ to as many people as possible that they might experience forgiveness

of sins and New Life in Jesus Christ that's your job and notice this the third level is

the same it's the Jews but now who are the Jews all Christians that's exactly right

if you call Jesus Christ Lord you are a son or daughter of Abraham that's what Ephesians tells us right this this is

this is the new structure here now look carefully at that right hand side of the screen what's

missing there's a glaring hole at least by our present day Western standards let me give you a hint where are the

tsps what's a tsp a tsp is a typical settled Pastor do you know what a typical

settled Pastor is a typical settled settled Pastor is essentially what the Adventist Church in the west has almost

everywhere uh a typical settled Pastor stays at the same church for 3 to seven years uh they do almost all of the

preaching they do relatively little evangelism and they almost never plant a church that's just not part of the deal

for most churches in the west uh they marry they bury they chair committees they put out fires they stop fights uh

they Shear the sheet but not too close they're paid from the tithe and then every 3 to seven years they move on to

another established church and they do the same thing all over again that's a typical settled pastor and I ask you

again where are they and the answer is they are not there and they were never intended to

be some of you might be scratching your head and say well hold on Pastor Shane me pastor is legitimate role it's a

legitimate spiritual gift that's true fact let me put something on the screen here for you the English word that we

have Shepherd Pastor uh comes from the Greek word pyman it's not poor man although some pastors are poor that's

true but but poyon here translated as Shepherd or pastor and it can refer to a number of things in the Bible it can

refer to actual Shepherds with real sheep out in the field somewhere it refers most often to Christ who who's

the master Shepherd or it can refer to Elders or local volunteer leaders in in the church but it never it never refers

to a settled Pastor not once settled pastors as we have them in the western church today are foreign to the New

Testament they're not there and so we have to ask ourselves well if they're not there how did they get to be

here a whirlwind tour of Adventist history this is from the Wabash Indiana plane

dealer this was a newspaper a secular newspaper uh from October 1 1886 it was an article entitled The

Seventh Day Adventist some facts and figures gathered from Elder Star that was GC president at the time how they

have grown in 40 years and what they believe now remember 7th Day Adventist first 60 to 70 years we were the fastest

growing Protestant movement that the world had ever seen even secular news outlets were noticing this okay we got

to interview these people figure out what's going on question from the reporter by what means have you carried

forward your work so rapidly answer well in the first place the Elder replied we have no settled pastors how many none

zero zip now that okay our churches are taught to take care of themselves while nearly all of our ministers work as

evangelists in new fields in the winter they go out to the churches the halls or School houses and raise up Believers in

the summer we use tents pitching them in the cities and Villages where we teach the people these doctrines this year we

shall run about 100 tents in this way wow now that was 1886 notice this 19 199 sth day Baptist are also noticing the

sth day Adventist growth it says all 7th Day Adventist clergymen are missionaries not located pastors and are busy

teaching preaching teaching and organizing churches the world over everybody knew this everybody knew this

now here's the thing some of the planted Adventist churches in those first to 60 to 70

years had some difficulties and because of those difficulties they would call the

conference office and they would say hey you've got to send us a pastor to stay with us here to to solve our fights and

our difficulties things aren't going right here we need to have a settled pastor this was Ellen White's response

to those requests she said God has not given his ministers the work of setting the churches right no sooner is this

work done apparently that it has to be done over again church members that are thus looked after and labored for become

what's the next two words religious weaklings you can kind of see why they

sent her off to us Australia can't you yeah you know I mean she she went from preaching to medal like 0 to 60 in 1

second flat right religious weaklings how dare she say that because it's the truth because you see church members

that are relying upon a minister to keep their their spirituality propped up they are allowing a pastor to do for them

what they ought to be doing for themselves and you know the saying if you don't use it you lose it

she continues if 9/10 of the effort that has been put forth for those who know the truth have been put forth for those

who have never heard the truth how much greater would the been the advancement made God has withheld His blessings

because his people have not worked in harmony with his directions you want to see the lattering

of the Holy Spirit be poured out members in the church need to do their work and pastors need to do

theirs now this next one here signs of the times January 27 1890 it's an article entitled the most effective

agent for God I've emphasized a few things here look at this here the success of a church does not depend on

the efforts and labor of the living preacher but it depends upon the piety that's the that's the Devotion to Christ

of the individual members when the members depend upon the minister as their source of power and efficiency

they will be utterly powerless they will embibe his impulses and be stimulated by his ideas but when when he leaves them

and by the way in the Adventist system in the west they always leave they will find themselves in a more hopeless

condition than before they had his labors and get this next sent this is extraordinary I hope that none of the

churches in our land will depend upon a minister for support in spiritual things for this

is dangerous how how is that even possible ladies and gentlemen much of

ministerial training today teaches pastors to have people depend upon them for support in spiritual things now

notice carefully it is fine to be blessed by a sermon that a pastor gives it's fine to be blessed by the by the

efforts and Ministry that you see a minister do and that's fine but to require their presence to depend upon

them if you're a baby Church you get a pass babies need their parents the Apostle Paul stayed for about three

three and a half years with the church in Ephesus because they needed it he had to establish them get them on a footing

and then he left if you're an established church if you're an established Christian and you

need you depend upon a minister to do for you what you ought to be doing for yourself that is dangerous because you

are exalting a man over Jesus Christ she continues when God gives you light you should praise him for it if

you extol the messenger you will be left to bearness of Soul just as soon as the members of a church call for the labors

of a certain minister and feel that he must remain with them it is time that he was removed to another field that they

may learn to exercise the ability which God has given them ladies and gentlemen in the eous

west they always call for the services of a particular Minister and she says up no no no send the minister someplace

else let the people go to work let them thank God for the encouragement they have received and then make it manifest

that it has wrought in them a good work Let each member of the church be a living active agent for God both in the

church and out of it that means evangelism we must all be educated to be independent not helpless and useless let

it be seen that Christ not the minister is the head of the church the members of the body of Christ have a part to act

and they will not be accounted faithful unless they do act their part let a Divine work be wrought in every soul

until Christ Shall Behold His Image reflected in his followers I underlined that last phrase

there because many people have mistaken this car this beholding His Image in us as purely individual character

development I submit to you that while it may include that it's also talking about how we conduct ourselves as a

local church final elen white quote here the greatest help that can be given our

people is to teach them to work for God and to depend on him not on the ministers now as time progressed and we

developed some large institutions these became the only exceptions that we had were we settled pastors adventism it's

never explicitly spelled out as best I can tell the reason this was done is because for instance at Battle Creek

where there was a you know sanitarium there was our the Battle Creek College Etc the the the population was so

transient you know students would come they would have classes they would graduate they had to have some way to

maintain continuity of ministry so grudgingly reluctantly they settled Pastors in these institutional settings

this is the only way that I sleep well at night okay the last quotation I want to give to you

here this morning is is not from Ellen White it's from a guy by the name of AG Daniels he said this in a ministerial

Institute in in LA in California 1912 at the time he said this he was GC president and I don't know that uh AG

was was a prophet or a son of a prophet but I got to tell you at least in this one instance he spoke very prophetically

and accurately here's what he said we have not settled our ministers over churches as pastors to any large

extent in some of the very large churches we have elected pastors but as a rule we have held ourselves ready for

field service Evangelistic work and our Brethren and sisters have held themselves ready to maintain their

church services and carry forward their Church work without settled pastors and I hope this will never cease to be the

order of Affairs in this denomination for when we cease our forward movement work and begin to

settle over our churches to stay by them and do their thinking and their praying and their work that is to be done then

our churches will begin to weaken and lose their life and spirit and become paralyzed and fossilized and our work

will be on a retreat my words now in 1915 Ellen White died in 1920 AG Daniels finished his

time in office within the decade settled pastorates were well on their way to become BEC the norm and an amazing thing

happened or perhaps not so amazing when we stop and think about it our growth rate dropped sharply that is less and

less people became Disciples of Jesus Through the Adventist Church no we didn't stop growing but our rate of

growth declined drastically Israel had gotten the Kings she so desperately wanted indeed making her like the other

denominations around her which today are facing nearly Mirror Image decline we adopted their ways of doing church and

now we have their problems this leads me to four conclusions number one if you're a

pastor or are feeling called to pastoral Ministry a key measure of your success will be how much your church members

succeed in Ministry without you if you're being called to Ministry if you're a pastor listening right now

too often we pastors believe that our job the the totality of our job is to give Bible studies and to counsel the

Wayward and to visit the sick and these things and the truth is that if you're going to be a pastor you'd better be

doing those things but not because you're a pastor because you're a Christian because those are Christian

functions visiting the sick and giving Bible studies and counseling that that's for Christians to do now that's not a

pastoral role your job as a pastor is to train other people to do it so that you can go into new places and reach new

people a major key to your success will be what your people do without you number

two the Adventist Church was designed by and for young people anyone of any age is welcome to the Seventh Day Adventist

Church don't misunderstand but it was designed by and for young people it requires the energy and creativity and

optimism that young people have God is calling you to work in his church I cannot emphasize this enough

look look at this list here one more time I mean these six Keys here that are needed if we're going to be raised up

out of the Grave with Christ's resurrection power as a church in the west Revival and the latter reign of the

Holy Spirit and the Three Angels in Christ becoming Central return the church planting and the social meeting

radical member Ministry and church planting by pastors you think that old people like me are going to get this

done no way no way God is calling you to work in his church some of you will get paid for the privilege others of you

will have the privilege of volunteering your services but all of you are called to work in God's Seventh Day Adventist

Movement we need you number three if you are a young Christian your purpose in life and

greatest joy will be to know Jesus and there are some things about Jesus the deeper things the more impactful things

that cannot be known unless you are actively seeking to share Christ with others on a regular basis so find your

spiritual gifts ask more experienced Christians for help if you need it and then share Jesus whatever your

giftedness is however you're going to do that your imprint or door to door face to face whatever it's going to be share

Jesus this is is the adventure of your lifetime and you and those you reach will be transformed because of it there

is no greater Adventure in life than following Jesus wherever he goes nothing greater and number four good news we

know the way out of the Grave that we are lying in in the west we know the way Jesus Christ has conquered death

including the spiritual death that grips Western adventism today if we are willing to commit fully to him and his

plans the great event that we have only heard of happening in other parts of the world will at last begin to happen

here God is able to raise any of us personally from the grave of sin and he will raise his church in the west from

the grave as well even here even using people just like you if you would like to commit to doing your part to raise

the church up in Christ's resurrection power whatever the cost wherever he takes us if you want to commit yourself

to following the lamb Jesus Christ wherever he goes to finish the work he's given us to do then I invite you to

stand to your feet right now let us pray Lord Jesus you have seen the

commitments that have just been made now you've seen the commitments that have been made over these many days of

gyc we have made our intentions clear now bring your promise to pass Lord we ask here and now for the

outpouring of your Holy Spirit in the former and the latter Reigns We crave it we need it we cannot see you face to

face without it please Lord pour out your spirit send the former and the latter Reigns Empower each person that

is here Lord whatever discouragements the devil has prepared for them as they go home as they go back to the places

they used to be may they refuse to stay in the western Adventist grave may they reach every upward and take as many

people with them may they reach out to those around them Empower their giftedness give them courage give them

strength when they fall lift them up and may the Harvest be great because of what you are doing in and through us for the

glory of God we ask it in your name and all God's people said amen [Music]

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