The Power of Christ Working Through one Individual | Mark Finley Lake | Pentecost 2025

Summary

Pastor Mark Finley discusses the transformative power of Christ working through individuals amidst today's challenges. Highlighting the rapid global changes causing uncertainty, he emphasizes the significant difference one person can make through prayer, sharing God's word, and acts of kindness. Using biblical and historical examples, Finley illustrates how just one individual's actions can change countless lives. Through stories of biblical figures and modern believers, he encourages everyone to see themselves as potential agents of God's grace in a world often beyond our control.

Highlights

• Mark Finley highlights the world's anxiety and uncertainty due to rapid changes and conflicts 🌍.
• He uses historical anecdotes to show the power of one vote and one decision in shaping history 🔄.
• The sermon showcases how biblical figures, through the power of Christ, made monumental differences 📖.
• Real-life stories of individuals like Mikuel Kulakov underline the impact one person's faith can wield ✊.
• Acts of kindness, no matter how small, are potent and can lead to community transformations 💞.

Key Takeaways

• The power of one person is immense; your small actions can have ripple effects 🎯.
• In a rapidly changing world, spiritual guidance can be a beacon of hope 🌟.
• The smallest act of kindness can transform a life ✨.
• Prayer and personal commitment can bridge gaps between communities and cultures 🌍.
• Even in times of crisis, one person can ignite change through faith and actions 🔥.

Overview

There's something profoundly moving about recognizing the power within an individual to affect change. Pastor Mark Finley speaks to this truth, urging us not to be daunted by the vastness of global issues. Each person, he insists, holds the potential to be a conduit of divine power, transforming lives through small yet potent actions, like prayer or simple kindness.

Finley provides a panoramic view of global challenges, from geopolitical tensions to hunger and natural disasters, painting a picture familiar yet daunting to all of us. But rather than sinking into despair, he points to the Bible and history to show how individual efforts have brought change - with prayer being a powerful catalyst.

He draws from inspiring stories, both ancient and contemporary, illustrating the influence a single person's actions can have. Whether through prayer, the distribution of literature, or acts of service, each action echoes through time, rippling across communities and cultures. Within this message lies a challenge and a hope: be the agent of change.

Mark Finley conveys that amidst the world's chaos, individuals impassioned by faith and kindness can spearhead change. He highlights this message through biblical examples and real-life stories where individual prayers and actions have reshaped lives and communities. His call to action is clear: In your own capacity, let the power of Christ work through you and witness the transformation of the world around you.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 04:30: Introduction and Current World Challenges The chapter titled 'Introduction and Current World Challenges' discusses the significant changes the world is undergoing. The pace of these changes is incredibly rapid, making it challenging for individuals to keep up. The focus is on the power of Christ working through individuals, emphasizing the impact one person can have amidst these evolving circumstances. The chapter sets the stage for exploring these themes further.
• 04:30 - 10:00: One Individual Making a Difference The chapter 'One Individual Making a Difference' explores the theme of societal instability and the pervasive feeling of uncertainty in the modern world. Pastor Mark articulates that a single word to describe current society is 'uncertainty,' highlighting the deep-seated anxiety and insecurity that pervade our world as we grapple with unpredictability about the future.
• 10:00 - 15:00: Examples of Individual Impact The chapter "Examples of Individual Impact" addresses the sense of helplessness individuals often feel in the face of global issues. It highlights the staggering statistics of world hunger, noting that 828 million people are expected to go to bed hungry in 2024, emphasizing the scale of the problem as one in every ten people globally. This chapter likely explores how, despite such overwhelming numbers, individual actions can still have a significant impact.
• 15:00 - 20:00: The Power of Prayer This chapter highlights significant global challenges related to hunger and displacement, particularly in Africa. It mentions that 20% of Africa's population will experience hunger, and 117 million people worldwide have been displaced due to persecution, conflict, and human rights violations. The theme 'The Power of Prayer' suggests that prayer may offer solace or a call to action amidst these pressing issues.
• 20:00 - 25:00: Personal Encounters with God’s Grace The chapter delves into current global conflicts, highlighting the tragedies unfolding in regions like the Middle East, including Gaza, Israel, and Lebanon, as well as the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. It underscores the stark contrast between the relative peace some might experience and the dire situations faced by young men and women involved in these conflicts. Additionally, the chapter touches on the tribal conflicts occurring in Ethiopia, painting a picture of a world rife with turmoil and strife.
• 25:00 - 30:00: Impact through Sharing the Word The chapter highlights the severe conflicts in Africa, with a special focus on Sudan, where it is estimated over 500,000 people will die due to these conflicts. It also notes the increasing frequency of natural disasters globally, mentioning the United States government expenditure on such events in 2022.
• 30:00 - 35:00: Acts of Kindness The chapter 'Acts of Kindness' discusses the significant financial impact of natural disasters in the United States, highlighting that in 2022 alone, 23 separate weather-related disasters each cost over $1 billion, with the government spending a total of $223.88 billion on disaster relief. Additionally, the chapter touches on a report issued by a group of nuclear scientists, known as the Atomic Scientist Bulletin, which annually assesses global threats by discussing their concept of 'midnight.'
• 35:00 - 46:00: Call to Action and Conclusion The chapter 'Call to Action and Conclusion' discusses the urgency of global issues, symbolized by the Doomsday Clock being moved to 90 seconds before midnight. This signifies a heightened fear of nuclear weapons being used by rogue governments or powers. The chapter reflects on a statement by Ellen White about the consolidation of evil forces, preparing for a significant crisis.

The Power of Christ Working Through one Individual | Mark Finley Lake | Pentecost 2025 Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 [Music] [Applause] [Music] My topic this morning is the power of Christ working through one individual. You know, the world we know it today has dramatically changed and the pace of change is so rapid that it's difficult to keep up with it. It seems
• 00:30 - 01:00 that the very foundations of society are crumbling. This is produced in uncertainty and insecurity and in an anxiety in our world. If you ask me, Pastor Mark, what's one word that would describe the condition of society today? I would use the word uncertainty. We're uncertain about the future, uncertain where the world is
• 01:00 - 01:30 headed. And you know, the average person is so overwhelmed with what's going on in the world that sometimes we throw up our hands and say, "Can I make any difference at all?" When you look at the numbers, they're really staggering. For example, 828 million people in 2024 went to bed hungry. That's one in every 10 people in the world. In fact,
• 01:30 - 02:00 20% of the people living in the con on the continent of Africa will go hungry tonight. You think about the refugees in the world. 117 million people have been forcibly displaced from their homes by the end of 2022 as the result of persecution, conflict, and violence or human rights violations. You think about the conflicts that are raging in our world.
• 02:00 - 02:30 Whether you look at the tragedy of Gaza when if you look at what's going on in Israel, Lebanon, that whole Middle East cauldron seems to be uh exploding. You go to Russia and the Ukraine and see the deaths on either side of that conflict. As we sit here in relative peace, there are young men and women dying in that conflict today. You think about Ethiopia and the conflict there and the tribal
• 02:30 - 03:00 conflicts throughout Africa. And you think about the Sudan. Do you know that this year over 500,000 people, a half a million, will die as the result of those conflicts? And have you noticed the rising number of natural disasters in our world? In fact, in 2022, in the United States alone, our government spent either state governments or local governments or the uh national
• 03:00 - 03:30 government spent $223.8 8 billion dollar on the disaster relief. In fact, there were 23 separate weather disasters in the United States in 2022 that cost $1 billion or more. Then I was interested in a report recently by the a group of nuclear scientists. They published what was called the atomic scientist bulletin. Every year they take a look at what they call the midnight
• 03:30 - 04:00 clock that's on the cover of that bulletin and they moved it up to 90 seconds before midnight. There's concern in the world today about some rogue government or rogue power using nuclear weapons. It reminds me of a statement written by Ellen White in the ninth volume of the testimonies that says the agencies of evil are combining their forces and consolidating. They are strengthening for the last great crisis.
• 04:00 - 04:30 Now notice this sentence. Great changes are soon to take place in our world and the final movements will be rapid ones. We have entered in to a state of rapidity in society that this society hasn't seen before. Your whole life can change in a day. Economically, as we notice the uncertainty in the United States as a result of the tariffs and whatever side you're on, politically the
• 04:30 - 05:00 whole issue of tariffs has caused anxiety. You look at the stock market down couple thousand points in in one day and people are concerned about their retirement accounts. Now, when you have all this going on in the world and all this uncertainty and calamity, the average person can simply throw up their hands and say, "There's not much I can do about any of this. I'm going to just live in my own cocoon and try to preserve myself and and my family." As
• 05:00 - 05:30 we contemplate the state of the world and the rapidly deteriorating world conditions, it's easy to become perplexed and throw up our hands, say, "There's not much I can do." Dwight Moody, the renowned American evangelist, read Isaiah 6 verse 6 to8. As we read it in our scripture reading, if you have your Bible, turn to it again. Isaiah chapter 6 6-8. When Moody read this, he was deeply
• 05:30 - 06:00 moved by the spirit. And uh I'm reading Isaiah 6, starting with the sixth verse. Then one of the sarabim flew to me, having in his hand alive coal, which he had taken with the thongs from the altar, and he touched my mouth with it, and said, "Behold, this has touched your lips. Your iniquity is taken away. Your sin is purged." And I heard a voice of the Lord saying, "Whom will I send and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me." Moody wrote in the fly
• 06:00 - 06:30 leaf of his Bible after reading that text these words. I am only one but I am one. I cannot do everything but I can do something. What I can do I ought to do and what I ought to do by the grace of God I will do. Because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something that I can do. There is only one you. When the genes and chromosomes came together to form the unique
• 06:30 - 07:00 biological structure of your personality, God threw away the pattern. You're the only person with your exact heritage, your exact life story, your precise series of events in the pilgrimage and sufferings of life that have brought you to this hour. You're the only one with your personal convictions. You're the only one with your skills and appearance and your touch and your voice and your style and your surroundings. And you're the only
• 07:00 - 07:30 one with your sphere of influence. You're the only one by the grace of God that can touch somebody in your world. One person can make a dramatic difference. Did you know that in 1654, one vote gave Oliver Cromwell control of England? In 1649, one vote caused Charles I of England to be executed. In 1776, one vote gave America the English
• 07:30 - 08:00 language instead of German. If it wasn't that one vote, when we left church today, we might all be saying a vitane, you know. So, one vote gave America the English language instead of in in 1839. One vote elected Marcus Morton governor of Massachusetts. In 1845, listen to this one. One vote brought Texas into the Union of States. Texas could be part of Mexico if it wasn't for that one vote. In 1875, one vote changed France
• 08:00 - 08:30 from a monarchy to a republic. In 1876, one vote gave Rutherford be Haynes the United States presidency. But here's more seriously. In 1923, one vote gave Adolf Hitler control of the Nazi party. Think about that. One vote and what that cost. When I read God's word, I find that God works
• 08:30 - 09:00 through people. God works through individuals. And these individuals make a difference. From Genesis to Revelation, we see God's hand in the light of the life of individuals. Men and women consecrated to God who made a decision to do what was right regardless of the result and they made a difference for God. In the Bible, we discover the power of one guided by God. One person making a difference for God. One
• 09:00 - 09:30 person's decision changing the course of history. One person's actions impacting scores of other lives. One person's witness changing the world. One person's kindness making a dramatic difference in the people around them. Heaven's vision for an endtime people is men and women filled with the spirit of God touching others with God's grace, reaching out in loving kindness, sharing a piece of
• 09:30 - 10:00 literature, sharing the word of God, praying for others, one person making a difference in their world. Think about it. How's how's going to God going to accomplish his mission? If God was going to primarily com accomplish his mission through the angels, he would have done it long ago. We have the joy of cooperating with God in his mission. Who does God use? Peter, a fisherman with smelly
• 10:00 - 10:30 hands and calloused hands from throwing out the net and changed by the grace of God. And he preaches and on the day of Pentecost, 3,000 are baptized. Who does God use? Matthew, a conniving, cheating at times tax collector transformed by God's grace who writes the first of the gospels. Who does God use? A consecrated physician by the name of Luke who writes
• 10:30 - 11:00 more in the New Testament volumewise than anybody else. Who is it that God uses? two demon-possessed demoniacs that are transformed by God's grace and go to decapus 10 cities and accomplish more than the disciples could have accomplished at that time. Who does God use? A Samaritan woman who's transformed by God's grace who leaves her water pot by a well and goes back into Samaria to
• 11:00 - 11:30 share the story of the cross. Who does God use? He uses Mary who's come to the tomb, the first to announce Christ's resurrection. Jesus uses young and old, rich and poor, educated and uneducated, men and women with the triumph of God's grace. I want to talk to you about three things. First, the power of Christ through one person praying. We began to develop that theme early this morning.
• 11:30 - 12:00 Secondly, the power of Christ through one person sharing God's word. Thirdly, the power of Christ through one act of kindness. We find these three examples in scripture. I invite you to take your Bible and turn to Acts the 10th chapter. The power of Christ through one person who is praying. Acts the 10th chapter. Cornelius, a seeker, is on his knees
• 12:00 - 12:30 praying. He has a heart for God, but in that heart for God, he doesn't know the divine truth of God's word, and he doesn't know Jesus. Acts 10 verse 1. There was a certain man in Cesaria called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian regimen. Cornelius. This centurion knew the ravages of war. He
• 12:30 - 13:00 saw blood sprinkled on the sands of the Middle East. He though had a heart for God. And the scripture says he was a devout man, one who feared God with all his household, who gave arms generously to the people. And he prayed to God always. About the 9inth hour, 3:00 in the afternoon, he saw clearly a vision, an angel of God coming up and saying to him, Cornelius. And when he observed
• 13:00 - 13:30 him, he was afraid and said, "What is it, Lord?" So he said, "Your prayers and your arms have come up for a memorial before God. Send men to Japa and send for Simon, whose name is Peter." Cornelius is praying. He is seeking God. He has an honest heart. There are thousands of people in our world today that do not know Jesus and do not know the unique truths of the message that God has given to this church that are honest in heart and they are seeking. At
• 13:30 - 14:00 the same time, Peter is up there on his roof and he's praying. And as he prays, a sheet comes down out of heaven. And in that sheet, there are all kind of unclean animals. There are pigs in that sheet. There are rats in that sheet. There are snakes in that sheet. There are alligators in that sheet. And God says, "Rise up and eat." And Peter says, "Lord, I never ate a fried rat before or a stewed snake before." That's Mark Finley's interpretation of the story.
• 14:00 - 14:30 And so he says, "I I've never done that before, God." And God says, "Rise up and eat." The purpose of the vision was not for Peter to eat unclean foods because Peter interprets the vision in which Peter says himself God showed me that I should not call any man or woman unclean. So the vision was a vision of racial harmony. The vision was a vision that God has made of one blood all
• 14:30 - 15:00 nations. And the gospel is to go to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. But here's the point. Cornelius is praying. His prayers ascend to heaven. And God sends him an angel. Go send people over to to Peter's house. Peter is praying. And Peter is praying. And as he prays, his prayers ascend to heaven. And God sends him a vision. So God prepares by divine
• 15:00 - 15:30 revelation through prayer these two to meet and as they pray they make Peter makes a dramatic difference in his prayers. Cornelius makes a dramatic difference. One person praying Peter opens up the gospel to go to Cornelius and he shares it with his Italian band and others. Cornelius prays. One person praying makes a difference. As many of you know that in the early 90s I spent
• 15:30 - 16:00 considerable time in the former Soviet Union. From 1985 to 1990 I had the joy of serving as the ministerial secretary of the transuropean division. We had three communist countries or socialist countries in our division at the time. Poland, Hungary, and Yugoslavia. I began working in those countries often talking to Soviet leaders. Every one of those countries had a minister of religion. They all were atheists. The ministers of religion were atheists. Their goal was
• 16:00 - 16:30 to control religion. When the Soviet Union fell and the socialist countries opened up, we had opportunities first to go into Russia 1991,9293 and continued to to work there. I developed lifelong friendships with my with the leaders of the Soviet church there. And Mikuel Kulov and I became really close friends. I preached his funeral sermon, helped in writing the
• 16:30 - 17:00 biography of his life. And uh Mikuel told me this story. He said, you know, his father was a Adventist pastor and he was a young man, 21 years old and worked with his dad in ministry. Well, the at that time it was against the law for any young person to be baptized and uh Mikuel's father baptized six young people one night secretly about midnight the baptism took place or early in the
• 17:00 - 17:30 morning in a river. But one of those people that were baptized, one of those young people, a 17 year old girl or 18 in that area was a Soviet plant. and she went back to the government and she said, "I was forced against my will to be baptized." As the result of that, Mikuel's dad was arrested for a counterrevolutionary activity. The trial took place about a week. No relatives were allowed in the courtroom and Mikuel had to stay out in a in in a hallway.
• 17:30 - 18:00 When his father was sentenced, he was put in a small holding cell and uh below the courtroom and Mikuel went down because he knew he may never see his father again. His many people Jacob Kulakov in fact died in a concentration camp uh uh Mikuel's father's brother uh there and he never he thought I may never see my father again. So he went down and talked to a young Soviet guard
• 18:00 - 18:30 and he said, "Can I talk to my dad for five minutes? Just give me five minutes." And the Soviet guard told him, "Okay, go in." I said to him, "Tell me, I really want to know what did your father say to you in that five minutes." And he said, "Dad, put his arms around me and hugged me." And he told me how much you loved me. And he told me that in the court records I would be arrested next as his associate. And he was within six months he was arrested. And he said, "My dad
• 18:30 - 19:00 rubbed his fingers through my hair." And in those years he had dark black hair. And he said, "Mikuel, when you're arrested, they're going to cut off your hair, but don't worry, it's going to grow back." And uh Mikuel was sent to prison. Now, here's something interesting. He told me, he said, "I've been praying and praying because the Russian Bible was in the old Sedotal language." And Mikuel knew Greek, but he didn't know Hebrew. Never had the privilege of
• 19:00 - 19:30 coming to Andrew University to learn the August language of Hebrew. And so he never knew Hebrew. And he said, I was praying, "Lord, I need to learn Hebrew. I need to learn Hebrew some way." He was put in prison with rabbis. And those rabbis taught him Hebrew in prison. And he told me, he said, "Some people have the privilege of going to university to uh to learn Hebrew. My Hebrew course was in a Soviet prison
• 19:30 - 20:00 where I learned Hebrew. He came out and established the Russian translation Bible Society. And through his team, the Old Testament from Hebrew was translated with other Hebrew scholars and the New Testament. And today, the Bible that is used most often in Russia is a Bible translated by the Russian Bible Institute team led by Mikuel Kulakov. And thousands can hear an accurate translation of the word of God. One
• 20:00 - 20:30 person's prayers made a dramatic difference, even if it meant going to prison to learn Hebrew. The power of Christ working through one person praying makes a difference. The power of Christ working through one person sharing God's word makes a difference. Take your Bible, please, and turn to Acts chapter 9. Acts chapter nine. The power of one person sharing
• 20:30 - 21:00 God's word. We have little idea of what our prayers do or what our prayers mean. Acts chapter 8 rather 8th chapter book of acts Philillip is led to Samaria he preaches God's word there in Samaria as he's preaching God's word the gospel goes forth scores of people come to Christ seed was sown by the Samaritan woman
• 21:00 - 21:30 seed was sown by Jesus and here as Philip is in this successful meeting God says to him you're preaching in in a province, in an area, Samaria. But I want to open up a whole continent. I want to open up Africa. That great continent that that was the cradle for my son Jesus and protected him during those years. I want to open up Africa. And so we read Acts 8 26. Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philillip saying,
• 21:30 - 22:00 "Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is desert. So he arose and went. Then behold, a man of Ethiopia, a unic of great authority under Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship. So here is an Ethiopian Jew who's been to Jerusalem to worship. He understands the message of hell from the scripture. He understands the Sabbath.
• 22:00 - 22:30 He understands the significance of tithe. What he doesn't know is Jesus. And there as he's riding back on the chariot, he's studying prophecy. He's studying the prophetic word outlined in Isaiah 53. And so the scripture says in verse 30 of Acts 8, so Philip ran to him and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah and said, ' Do you understand what you're reading? And he said, how can I except somebody guides me? And he asked
• 22:30 - 23:00 Philillip to come up and sit with him. The place in wii in the scripture which he read was this. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter and like a lamb silent before a sheerer. So he opened his mouth in his humiliation. His justice was taken away. And who will declare this generation? For his life is taken from the earth. So the Ethiopian says to Peter says to Philillip uh uh who's this speaking about and Philip explains Jesus to him.
• 23:00 - 23:30 And as he does, this Ethiopian accepts Christ and he's baptized. Think about the influence of Philillip sharing the word of God with that Ethiopian. You know, Ethiopia in those days, first century, was a trade route. Gold, incense, spices, ivory, silks, tapestries were were shared there. And so from all over Africa,
• 23:30 - 24:00 people came through that trade route between east and west and they took the message of Jesus back and the message of Sabbath back. Do you know that the message of Sabbath is deeply embedded in African culture? Let me give you some examples. I had a wonderful time in Ghana, Kamasi, Ghana, preaching there among the Ashante people. To me, there is nothing like preaching, and I preached all through Africa. Nothing
• 24:00 - 24:30 like preaching in the African night under the stars in an outdoor amphitheater with thousands of people coming. It it's one of the greatest thrills of my life was to preach through Africa. But when we're in Kamasi, let me let me share with you how the Sabbath roots are deeply embedded with that with that um in that culture. Do I have any of my Ghana friends here today? Any Ghana friends? Okay. In the Ghananese culture, in the Ashante people, if you're born on Saturday, the day that
• 24:30 - 25:00 you're born on, you are given a uh a name based on the day you're born on if you're a male. So, if you're born on Saturday, your name iswami, you what doeswami mean? One belonging to the creator. Why do you name a boy born on Saturdaywami? one belonging to the creator. Now, if you're born on Sunday in the Ashante culture, your name is
• 25:00 - 25:30 quasi. And you know what quasi means? Foreigner. So, if I'm walking down the street in kamasi, the children will be sitting there and they'll say quasi brun. Brun means white. And they'll say there goes a white foreigner. And I will stop. They don't understand that I understand. And I'll say noami brun. I may be white, but I keep Sabbath. Do you know what the name for God is in uh in the Ashante language?
• 25:30 - 26:00 Now, you are going to have to understand my weak Ashante pronunciation, but I'll get it halfway right. You know what that means? God is Saturday born. The name for God in the Ashante tribe says God is sh is Saturday born. Now what's the point? Here's the point. Philip is led by God to an
• 26:00 - 26:30 Ethiopian that e he shares the prophetic word of God with one person that Ethiopian that Ethiopian goes back to Africa and shares the truth of God's word. A trade route comes through there. And today, 7th Day Adventists have between 7 and 8 million believers on the continent of Africa. 35 to 40% of our membership
• 26:30 - 27:00 lives on the continent of Africa. Did Philillip's witness sharing the word of God make a difference? God uses one man, one woman, one boy, one girl. Who does God use? He uses those that are available. God does not call the qualified. He qualifies those that are called. God is not looking necessarily for our ability. He's looking for our availability. Some of
• 27:00 - 27:30 the people that I've met that have been the most effective in winning souls have been people that you wouldn't have expected. We were in Chennai in India and I and I met Swamines Johnson and I said tell me about some of the lay people that are winning souls for Christ. He said pastor Mark I need to tell you about one of our best soul winners. She's a blind woman. I said blind woman what? What do you mean? She gives the most effective Bible studies. I said h how does that happen pastor swamas? He said oh her daughter leads
• 27:30 - 28:00 her by the hand to the different homes. And as her daughter leads her to these homes, the daughter knocks on the door and says, "Madam, my or sir, my mother is blind. She cannot read the Bible. Would you be so kind to read the Bible to her? Who could possibly turn that down?" And I said, "Then what happens?" Oh, my mama goes into the home and she says, "I want to learn something about the second coming of Jesus.
• 28:00 - 28:30 Can you uh h who's going to see Jesus when he comes? Daughter, help her find Revelation 1:7 and have and have her read that to me. He comes with clouds and every eye will see him. But who's going to be resurrected when Jesus comes? Daughter, help her find Revelation 1 Thessalonians 4 16 and 17. The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, the trump of God. The dead in Christ are going to rise first.
• 28:30 - 29:00 That blind woman may not have been qualified in some people's sight. She may not have been available when somebody called for a witness class, but God used her. God is looking in this generation for one man, one woman that intercedes and can pray. He's looking for one man, one woman who shares that piece of literature,
• 29:00 - 29:30 shares that Bible study, gets involved in that small group. Shortly after the Ukrainian war started, Tiny and I felt we had to do something. We felt we could not sit at home. And so I contacted the president of the transuropean division. We had worked in that division. And I knew that uh Poland was one of the places where
• 29:30 - 30:00 the refugees were coming across. And I knew the challenges that were taking place in our churches. Adventist churches opened up. Uh Adventist pastors wives were spending 12 14 hours a day feeding people. They were sp people were sleeping on pews and sleeping in cotss in our churches. We wanted to go and minister to the refugees that were coming across. We wanted to go to Hungary and and Poland. So, we did. And I spent time talking to
• 30:00 - 30:30 many refugees who went through terrible, terrible emotional trauma. And I talked to one lady and at first it was very, very difficult for them, very, very traumatic. And I talked to one lady, Ukrainian lady, who told me that uh the bombs were exploding all around her and that she and others found refuge in a basement. It was cold. They had no heat.
• 30:30 - 31:00 They had no electricity. It was dark. 150 people jammed into this basement. And she said, the Lord impressed her. I'm only one. I'm only one, but I can make a difference here. And she said she had her Bible and every night she would brace herself against the wall, brick wall. She said it was freezing cold and the 150 people would be sitting there. And she said she'd open the Bible and begin to read the
• 31:00 - 31:30 promises of God with a little light. Promises like this. Isaiah 41:10, "Fear not, for I'm with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I'll strengthen you. Yes, I'll help you. I'll uphold you with my righteous right hand. She said, "I am only one, but I can make a difference for God. You may be only one. One man, one woman. You can make a difference in your family. You can make
• 31:30 - 32:00 a difference in your neighborhood. You can make a difference in your community as you share a piece of literature. As you give out a book, as you give a Bible study, heaven is going to be an incredibly wonderful place. Someday in a land called glory. Someday in a place called eternity. Someday where there's no sickness, suffering, heartache, or death. Somebody is going to walk down those streets of gold. You may never recognize you had any
• 32:00 - 32:30 influence on them. And they're going to put their arms around you and with tears coming down their face, they're going to say, "Thank you. Thank you for praying for me. Thank you for coming to my home. Thank you for giving out that book. Thank you for giving that out that piece of literature. Thank you for inviting me to that small group. Thank you for bringing me to that evangelistic meeting. Thank you for driving out of your way and picking me up and driving me 15, 20 miles every single night. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Heaven is going to be a wonderful
• 32:30 - 33:00 place because those that we've not seen the impact of our life and impact of our prayers will come up to us and say, "Thank you for leading me to Jesus." One person praying can make a difference. One person sharing God's word can make a difference. One person with an act of kindness can make a difference. Acts 3:6. Acts chapter 3, looking there at verse
• 33:00 - 33:30 6. One person's act of kindness can make a difference. Peter and John were going to worship at the temple that day. They had no idea that they would meet a man there who had been crippled from birth, who who was suffering. They had no idea that their one act of kindness would change that man's life. Acts 3:6. This man was, the scripture says, let's look
• 33:30 - 34:00 at verse two to get the setting. Acts 3:2, a certain lame man from his mother's womb was carried whom they laid daily in the gate of the temple, which is called beautiful to ask arms from those who entered the temple. What this man wanted was money. That's what he wanted. He needed to survive. He wanted money to buy food, maybe to buy clothing, maybe for lodging. He wasn't expecting what he was going to receive. Verse three, and who seeing
• 34:00 - 34:30 Peter and John about to go to the temple asked for arms. And fixing his eyes upon him with John, Peter said, look at us. So he gave him his attention, expecting to reap something from them. And then Peter said, "Silver and gold I don't have, but what I have, I give you. In the name of Jesus, rise up and walk." This man received far more than he re expected. Peter and John didn't walk by him. Peter and John reached out in
• 34:30 - 35:00 compassion, in kindness, in love. Peter and John reached out and gave this man something far more than he expected. Around us, there are people that have great needs. There is that man whose wife is in the hospital and he's not an expert at cooking at all and you bring him a loaf of bread and some homemade granola and say, "I know your wife's in the hospital. Can I pray
• 35:00 - 35:30 with you?" There's that lady whose husband has died and a grass has grown a foot long and you look over there and you say, "She needs some help in cutting that grass." you cut the grass and develop a relationship and and have f and a prayer with her. We make a friend and then we make a Christian friend and then we make a 7th day Adventist Christian friend. You see all around us people are looking for kindness. They're looking for somebody
• 35:30 - 36:00 who cares in a world that is self centered in a world that is filled with egotism and pride. In a world that's filled with people that are interested in their own problems. The reason there are so few great soul winners today because most people are so filled with their own problems they can't take on the problems of others. But Jesus invites us to go out of oursel. Somebody has said anybody wrapped up in themsel is a very small
• 36:00 - 36:30 package to reach out in kindness to touch another life with compassion. to genuinely and authentically care for others. I've had the privilege, Tina and I, of working in China quite a bit recently and been back and forth to China. And my friend Daniel Jao is the president of our work in China. And he was telling me about
• 36:30 - 37:00 cities in China that have a million people for population but do not have one 7th Day Adventist living in them. And so he challenged church members, lay people in China to go to a city where there was no Adventist member to share God's love. And he said to them, "I don't know how you're going to start. I don't know what you're going to do, but God will equip you to reach people in that city. Oh, that we had a
• 37:00 - 37:30 thousand lay people in North America that would go to a thousand unentered territories in North America and depend on God and God alone and we'd see a major church planting movement. This happened in China. So Daniel Jiao says who will go? young man stands up physical therapist and he said pastor Joe I will go but will you pray that God will give me wisdom in how to reach people so he
• 37:30 - 38:00 went to a city 1 million people no 7th day Adventist and this physical therapist began praying what should I do then he began thinking I know what I'll do I will take my physical therapy table I will set it up in the town square and I'll begin to give people massages so he did. People came and they said, "How much?" He said, "Nothing." They said, "Who are you?" He said, "Well, I I I'm coming here because I want to bless this city." And as he
• 38:00 - 38:30 began giving massages, people began lining up. And pretty soon, he told me, he said, Daniel Jao told me, he said, "This physical therapist saw a man limping down the street, limping, could hardly walk, tremendous pain in his leg." And the physical therapist, the Adventist, said, "Well, can I give you a massage on your leg? I think I can ease that pain. So, as he was massaging his leg, the physical therapist, our Adventist believer, had a deep conviction. Tell this man to get up and
• 38:30 - 39:00 walk. Now, God does not always work miracles. Does it take more faith to be to be miraculously healed or to live trusting God with the affliction you have? What is a miracle? A miracle is a supernatural working by God that occasionally he works to show that if it
• 39:00 - 39:30 was necessary, he could work it all the time. So God at times leads us through trials and difficulties that we learn deeper trust and greater faith. But sometimes when a miracle is absolutely needed to advance God's work to glorify his name to bless his cause breaks through in unusual ways. It's what we call the economy of miracles. So in this
• 39:30 - 40:00 instance, there's no believers in that city and God has to do something so dramatic, so powerful. So as this massage is being given, the God impresses this massage therapist, I'm going to work a miracle, tell this man to get up off the bed and walk. And so he he he said, I can't do that, God. And you know, he debated with God back and forth. And finally he said, "Sir, in the name of Jesus Christ,
• 40:00 - 40:30 get up and walk." And Daniel told me, Pastor Joe, that that man got up off the bed, ran down the street, and ran back. And he said, "You got to come to my family. You got to tell them. We got to show. I don't know what happened, but you got to show them." They went to their apartment, this man's apartment. They called all the neighbors in. And our believer said, "This happened in the name of Jesus Christ, and I'd like to tell you more about this Jesus I love." And today in that city, we have 60 people worshiping on Sabbath
• 40:30 - 41:00 in a new church plant because of the act of kindness. Now, here is the incredibly good news. When we step out in faith to witness for Jesus, we grow as we go. He strengthens us. He empowers us. He sustains us in his everpresent with us.
• 41:00 - 41:30 When we sit in comfortable complacency as a consumer of God's blessings and not a giver of his blessings, our spiritual experience withers and dies. We lose what we do not share by God's grace. Will you say, "Jesus, use me. I don't know the gifts God has given you. I don't
• 41:30 - 42:00 know who that person is that God wants you to touch with his life this week. You may be a student here at Andrews University. And there may be a student three doors down that's depressed, discouraged, wanting to end it all. There may be a student wants to leave the university. And you have that sense that
• 42:00 - 42:30 you need to go down and sit with them, encourage them, pray with them, give them hope. It may be your neighbor that needs a loving touch, an act of kindness. It may be a child, a teenage child that's been just rebellious and you need to sit by their bed and use the banana principle. Take a banana and peel it and start eating it and let them talk
• 42:30 - 43:00 so you don't talk. You see, there are people all around us that need to know Jesus. And there are people all around us to know need to know his loving touch, to know his grace, his goodness, his power. This week in the divine drama of destiny, God is going to bring you in
• 43:00 - 43:30 contact with somebody that needs your prayers. Somebody that needs a piece of literature. Somebody that needs a book. Somebody that needs to be invited to a small group. Somebody that needs to be encouraged to go to an evangelistic meeting. Somebody that needs an act of kindness and love deep within your heart. Do you want to say,
• 43:30 - 44:00 "Jesus, lead me to somebody this week that I can share your love with." As we pray, would you like to raise your hand and say, "Lord, I'm serious about this. I don't know how it's going to happen, but I'm willing. I'm available. Share with me what you want me to do this week to touch somebody with your grace. Would you like to just raise your hand and say that as we pray? There may be somebody
• 44:00 - 44:30 here today that you've been going through a struggle in your own life. You've been facing some challenges that are bigger than you are, some trials that are greater than you are. The mountain seems high. The journey seems long. And you say, "Pastor Mark, I need a fresh revelation of Jesus love and grace and strength right now. I feel broken and I can only
• 44:30 - 45:00 share the healer if I'm healed." Right now, I want to give my trials, my difficulties to Jesus. right now I want to ask him to touch my life and give me a sense of his grace, his goodness, his power. If this morning you want to lift your hand to heaven and say, "Jesus, I need you right
• 45:00 - 45:30 now and by faith I believe in your words, come unto me all you that are burdened and heavy laden, and I'll give you rest." If you have that need of Jesus because you're facing some challenge now, just lift your hand and I want to pray for you. Oh my father, you are an absolute wonderful God. You arranged for Cornelius and
• 45:30 - 46:00 Peter to meet. You sent Philillip to meet with Ethiopian and Africa was opened up. You sent Peter to meet a man's felt needs, but to meet a man's inner needs. Lord, you know us by name. You know the longings of our heart. And first, I pray that you would lead us to divine encounters this
• 46:00 - 46:30 week. Lead us to people that we can pray with and pray for. Lead us to people that we can share your word with. Lead us to people that we can act kindly toward. And Lord, what an adventure it's going to be this week. I can't wait till we meet under the tree of life and we share these experiences. And father, for somebody who's carrying a heavy burden, for somebody who's facing a trial or a challenge right now,
• 46:30 - 47:00 I pray in the quietness of this moment that they would give it all to you. Help them to know that you care, you love, and you'll strengthen them. And we thank you, Lord, with all of our hearts that you are a God that has said, "I'll never leave you or forsake you." And we praise you for that in Jesus name. Amen.
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