Latest / Challenges of Faith Radio Program / Youth are searching! Ep 3460

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Youth are searching! Ep 3460 · Challenges of Faith Radio Program

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  Speaker 1: Welcome back to Challenges of Faith radio program. I'm Gary McCance.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for joining. Thank you for joining. Alright, so
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  Speaker 1: here we're going to talk about the young people. You know,
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  Speaker 1: the ones that's looking for an answer here on episode 3460.
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  Speaker 1: And I knew you already knew that the individuals around
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  Speaker 1: you who are young are In fact, looking for some answers.
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  Speaker 1: Stephen James, he grew up in church. Maybe there's a
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  Speaker 1: Stephen James at your place of worship. He attended nearly
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  Speaker 1: every Sunday and he knew what Christians believed and repeatedly
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  Speaker 1: heard that he needed Jesus Christ in his life. But
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  Speaker 1: there was just one thing he didn't understand, why. He said,
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  Speaker 1: I simply had not been shown why the problem that
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  Speaker 1: Christ came to solve was my problem. He stated in
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  Speaker 1: the interview. Yes, an interview that he gave. Without that understanding,
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  Speaker 1: invitations to accept Christ fell on deaf ears. So James
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  Speaker 1: eventually left church. He went to college. He climbed the
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  Speaker 1: career ladder. He married and built a life that seemed
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  Speaker 1: to work just fine without God. But the problem was
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  Speaker 1: his need for Christ had not changed. Years later, after
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  Speaker 1: a medical crisis, the end of his marriage, and serious
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  Speaker 1: financial trouble, a retired pastor who was also his friend
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  Speaker 1: sat down with him one day, and this time James
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  Speaker 1: heard about what Christ had done and why he needed it.
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  Speaker 1: Finally understanding, James accepted Christ in his 40s. His experience, however,
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  Speaker 1: raises an important question that millions of young people search
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  Speaker 1: for answers of their own. Are we clearly presenting the gospel?
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  Speaker 1: You know, they're asking some big questions. There was a 2026,
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  Speaker 1: we're still in it, but another month and a half
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  Speaker 1: But there was a Barna survey of 1,500 American teenagers
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  Speaker 1: who found that today's teens are wrestling with questions that
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  Speaker 1: go far beyond school, their friends, and what they want
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  Speaker 1: to do after they graduate. Did you realize that 72%
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  Speaker 1: said they felt pressure to figure out what is true
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  Speaker 1: or worth believing? And maybe you should go down memory
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  Speaker 1: lane and remember when you were a teenager. 70% are
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  Speaker 1: wrestling with who they really are. 69% are struggling to
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  Speaker 1: determine what is right and wrong. 66% wrestle with why
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  Speaker 1: they're here. 57% are trying to determine whether God loves them.
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  Speaker 1: And 56% are wrestling with whether God is real or not.
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  Speaker 1: The teens are also worried about the world in which
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  Speaker 1: they're living in and growing up in. 78% feel pressure
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  Speaker 1: to figure out how they'll make a living. 77% are
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  Speaker 1: wondering whether their generation will have a stable future and
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  Speaker 1: the same amount can't decide whether society is heading in
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  Speaker 1: the right direction or is falling apart. You know, the
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  Speaker 1: answers that these young people need are the same ones
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  Speaker 1: that James needed when he was growing up. Think about it.
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  Speaker 1: Unlike today's young people, he wasn't familiar with Christianity. He
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  Speaker 1: knew the terminology. He knew what Christians believed. Remember, now
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  Speaker 1: he spent years sitting in church. But as he discovered,
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  Speaker 1: knowing about Jesus was not the same as understanding why
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  Speaker 1: he personally needed a Savior. Remember, James believes that distinction
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  Speaker 1: is important for today's young people. You know, the invitation
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  Speaker 1: to receive Christ, you've got to remember now, is not
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  Speaker 1: the whole gospel. The gospel includes the reason the invitation
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  Speaker 1: exists in the first place, that we're sinners in need
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  Speaker 1: of a Savior. You've got to remember now, you're not
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  Speaker 1: a sinner because you sin, you sin because you are
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  Speaker 1: a sinner. That's a natural thing you know how to do.
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  Speaker 1: There are young people that, you know, may never walk
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  Speaker 1: into your place of worship, especially looking for the answers
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  Speaker 1: that they're looking for. And then there's others that They
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  Speaker 1: may darken your doors, but they may never hear the
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  Speaker 1: full gospel message. So you already know what you need
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  Speaker 1: to do, believer of the household of faith. It's time
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  Speaker 1: to give it to them. You have young people sitting
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  Speaker 1: in your neighborhood, behind the counters where you go and shop.
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  Speaker 1: They're sitting in classrooms with your children and grandchildren or
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  Speaker 1: delivering your grocery. And there by itself is a unique
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  Speaker 1: opportunity to reach them with the gospel. We may not
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  Speaker 1: know who is already wondering whether God is real. And
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  Speaker 1: we may not be able to determine which person is
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  Speaker 1: struggling to answer why they're here or whether anyone cares
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  Speaker 1: about them. But God knows. And he'll make the gospel,
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  Speaker 1: you know, reach the people that he knows who's ready
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  Speaker 1: for it. But the key is you and I got
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  Speaker 1: to be faithful to give it. You already knew that though,
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  Speaker 1: didn't you? Always be ready to give the reason of
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  Speaker 1: the hope that life would end. You, you, you. Me too.
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  Speaker 1: But most important, do you know where you can find
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  Speaker 1: that in the scripture? I know you've opened up the
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  Speaker 1: scripture to try to look for it. You should. Did
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  Speaker 1: you find it? I know you did.