Latest / Eurasia Region Podcast / S1-E78 | Everyday Eurasia | Amy Warner

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S1-E78 | Everyday Eurasia | Amy Warner · Eurasia Region Podcast

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  Hello and welcome to the Everyday Eurasia podcast,
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  Inspiring Faith for Every Day. Each day we are on a journey
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  with Jesus in our churches, our homes, our workplaces, and in so
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  many different places around the world.
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  Is it beautiful that no matter where we are, we can walk with
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  him every single day? Jesus is the one who connects us
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  all and stands at the very center of our lives day after
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  day. Through this podcast, you'll
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  hear voices from across the region sharing devotionals that
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  reminds us of God's presence in our everyday moments.
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  This week we're joining NYI, Nesrin, Jude International
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  Eurasia. Young people from across the
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  region will be sharing their stories in daily devotionals,
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  Voices from Scotland to India. Today they'll be listening to
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  Amy Warner. Amy is the Regional NYI
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  Coordinator for the Eurasia Region and she's passionate
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  about helping young people feel seen, valued and supported as
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  they live out their calling. She loves photography,
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  travelling the world and a good cup of coffee.
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  She lives in Scotland but feels at home everywhere.
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  Today Amy is inviting us to her table, a space for conversation,
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  connection and stories. And she's welcoming you to pull
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  up a chair and join her. Hi, everyone, and welcome to the
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  first episode of our journey together on the Everyday Eurasia
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  podcast. As MYI, your young people are
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  going to be leading you all week on the podcast sharing about
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  some of our MYI regional priorities and initiatives.
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  If we haven't met yet, my name is Amy Warner.
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  I serve the youth of our church as the regional NYI coordinator
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  for Eurasia. In this episode, we're going to
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  focus on our upcoming Nazarene Regional Youth Camp.
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  You may have heard it being called NYC.
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  The theme of this year's camp is At the Table.
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  So for a minute here, I want you to bear with me.
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  I want you to close your eyes for just a couple of seconds.
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  Unless you're listening to this in the car, you can just imagine
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  it. I want you to close your eyes
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  and to picture a table. Maybe it's your kitchen table at
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  home, covered in food and ingredients.
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  Maybe it's that beat up coffee table in your best friend's
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  house. Or maybe you're seeing a long
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  banquet table stretching out as far as you can see.
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  The table is where life happens. It's where we get fed, yes, but
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  it is also a place where we're seeing.
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  It is a place where we are welcomed to and invited.
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  Someone pulls out a seat, sits down next to us and connects
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  with us. It's where we can look each
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  other in the eye and where we feed our bodies and our souls.
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  In Revelation chapter 3 verse 20, Jesus says here I am.
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  I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and
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  opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person and
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  they eat with me. Jesus is speaking to our
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  imagination and helping us to see that He is a God that wants
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  to be with us. Jesus doesn't say he will come
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  in and teach us a lesson or that he wants to know first who will
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  be there to decide if he wants to hang out with us.
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  He doesn't say is the venue up to my standards?
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  Is it nice in there? And he hasn't asked him to see
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  what snacks we have. He says he will eat with us.
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  He wants to be at the table that we invite him to.
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  For us and Eurasia NYI, this year is all about understanding
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  the invitation from Christ. You see, the invitation isn't
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  just to sit down and stay quiet. When Christ is inviting a young
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  person to the table, He is starting a journey with them
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  that is the beginning of transformation, the start of
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  something beautiful in their lives that is going to lead to
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  action and to change. This is why we are so excited to
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  invite young people and leaders from all across Eurasia to NYC
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  this year because we believe something significant is going
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  to happen when God and His people come together.
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  They were they're going to go home and they're going to change
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  the world and their communities. What happens when you receive an
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  important invitation? First, you need to choose to
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  accept that invitation participation.
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  When Jesus says come and see, we need to take his hand and choose
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  to step forward with Him. This is the moment when we stop
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  standing in the doorway, we sit in the chair, we join the party.
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  It is responding to God's invitation by realising he has
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  something significant that only we can do with him and with his
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  people. That God's Kingdom needs us as
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  much as we need them. Participation is all about
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  stepping fully into the church's community and committing to one
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  another. It's about saying I belong here
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  and you belong here. We all belong.
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  And next you have preparation. When you accept an invitation,
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  you have to get ready for that party that is about to take
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  place. You have to be ready to for the
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  table that you're going to sit at.
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  At the table you get nourished. When you sit down, you are then
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  shaped and moulded and made different by the community of
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  God that is around that table. As young people in the Church of
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  the Nazarene, we're a part of this global community.
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  We are shaped by young people in the church over every nation of
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  every language, of every culture and background, and together we
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  become a new thing. We eat the bread of life.
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  So together so that we have that energy to become active
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  participants in God's mission. We are then shaped by the love
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  of God and community so that we can be moved to share the love
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  that we have experienced with others.
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  And we call this compassion. And through living out
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  compassion, we start to learn what justice looks like.
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  All of this shapes us into a new thing.
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  We are prepared together. Are you ready for what God's
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  table is going to shape in you? And what happens after we accept
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  the invitation? We become active participants in
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  God's Kingdom. After we are prepared and
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  reshaped by God's people and God's Kingdom, we are
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  transformed. You do not sit at a table with
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  Jesus and stay the same. As we fellowship with Him and
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  with His people, we move towards holiness.
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  This is what we call entire sanctification.
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  Our hearts become so aligned with His that we love what He
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  loves and we are changed from the inside out forever.
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  And finally we get to celebrate. We get to enjoy what has taken
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  place. The table is a place of joy.
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  It is about living in God's Kingdom right now and creating
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  heaven here on earth. This is the party that happens
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  when the lost are found and the hungry are fed.
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  When we find a home together, all are welcome to party with us
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  and with Christ. So my question for you, as we
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  close today, do you see an open chair?
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  Who can you invite to join you? Whatever you think might be
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  holding you back or disqualifying you from this
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  party, from this invitation, whether you feel ready or
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  worthy, Christ is holding out a chair for you.
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  And not only that, He is asking you to hold out a chair to
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  extend an invitation for the generation that is coming up
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  behind you. At NYC this year we are going to
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  explore what it means to be invited, what it means to
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  participate in God's Kingdom, what it means to be prepared and
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  transformed by God and its people.
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  And together we are going to celebrate being part of God's
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  Kingdom, heaven here on earth. For today though, just know
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  this. The feast is ready, the host is
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  waiting, and there is a seat with your name on it.
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  Everyone is welcome at NYC and everyone is welcome and belongs
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  in the community of NYI. So welcome to the table.
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  Let's pray together. Father, I asked today that you
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  would pour your Holy Spirit out over all of Eurasia so that your
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  young people might hear your call, that they may hear and
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  receive your invitation. God, may this generation of
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  young people be the one that accepts the calling of your love
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  on their lives, who will be shaped and transformed and so
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  that they can go into the world as a people of peace and unity
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  and reconciliation. That they might hear the voices
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  that are so often ignored. And that they might be shaped
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  into leaders and workers for your mission and Kingdom, so
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  that the whole wide, the whole wide world might join your
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  Kingdom. Father, we know you love your
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  church and we know you love your young people.
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  We offer ourselves up to you, ready to be shaped to be more
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  like you. In the name of your beautiful
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  Son Jesus, Amen. Thank you for listening to the
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  Everyday Eurasia podcast Inspiring Faith for Everyday.
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  For more Everyday stories, subscribe on this podcast
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  channel, follow our socials, Facebook and Instagram, or our
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  newsletter Snapshots. For our newsletter and further
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  information about the Eurasia region, visit our website,
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  Eurasia regionorg.