Latest / Arrow Heights Students / Conversion

Transcript

Conversion · Arrow Heights Students

• 0:02
  Speaker A: Okay, so.
• 0:05
  Speaker A: I think I heard even one comment about the title on the handout. But my question today is, have you ever been converted to a particular fandom? You know, you weren't a fan, and then something just gets you and you're. Yeah. I knew One Direction was going to be said. Yes. You know, just. Just like that. But was there, like, a thing that happened? You heard a song or, like, what? Yeah. What happened? Tell me your story.
• 0:36
  Speaker A: Oh, wow. The. What makes you beautiful? Just dance. Wow, that is. That's a good. That's a good one.
• 0:41
  Speaker B: Yeah, I don't really like Reliant Kid at all because I heard they're, like, really bad songs in the early ones.
• 0:46
  Speaker A: Yeah, the Bad Reliant Case.
• 0:48
  Speaker B: But then I heard, like, some songs on Airport Queen.
• 0:50
  Speaker A: I was hooked.
• 0:51
  Speaker B: And I love Reliant K now. It's like my favorite band.
• 0:53
  Speaker A: Okay, great. Yes. Yeah.
• 0:57
  Speaker A: What? No.
• 0:59
  Speaker C: Not good, bro.
• 1:01
  Speaker A: I don't even know what that. Am I missing something?
• 1:03
  Speaker D: It's like a weird Alaskan singer that he likes.
• 1:07
  Speaker A: Oh, but how did you come across Bjork? I heard about her in a movie review, and I was like, okay, I'll give it a listen. And I loved it. Wow, that is interesting. Levi.
• 1:22
  Speaker C: I think I was probably like nine or something like that, and my brother showed me this Tom Pitting the Heartbreakers music video, and it was Refugee. And I was like, bro, this guy's awesome. And so I, like, went to my room and started listening to it, and I was like, dude, this guy's so good. And then I always kind of like Batman.
• 1:39
  Speaker A: Okay. Like, since I was, like, little. Yeah. Whenever I think I was 12, I think.
• 1:43
  Speaker C: Or like 10 or something. I don't know. But we watched the Batman movie. Okay. And it was like. I don't know what it was, bro. It was kind of scary.
• 1:52
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 1:52
  Speaker C: Cuz it's super dark.
• 1:53
  Speaker A: That's the newest one, right? Yeah. Yeah.
• 1:55
  Speaker C: Like, this is kind of scary. Then, like, all these bad guys are, like, beating up this guy, and, like, Batman walks in and, like, they're like, oh, who's this guy? And I try to beat him up, and he just destroys them. This guy's awesome.
• 2:06
  Speaker A: I know the scene. Yeah, that's. That's great. That's incredible. Yes.
• 2:13
  Speaker A: Creed. How did. How did you be converted to Creed?
• 2:19
  Speaker C: I didn't from the songs that I heard first.
• 2:23
  Speaker A: I didn't really like them, but then.
• 2:24
  Speaker C: I heard Six Feet from the Edge.
• 2:27
  Speaker A: And I'm like, oh, this is. This is tough.
• 2:30
  Speaker A: Nice. Okay. Do you have something?
• 2:34
  Speaker D: I'm A big Arrow fan.
• 2:37
  Speaker A: Okay, cool.
• 2:39
  Speaker D: Yeah.
• 2:39
  Speaker A: So it's leaving pretty soon. Yeah. Yeah. All right. You got one. Okay. Okay.
• 2:46
  Speaker D: So basically there's this guy from One Direction who, like, I really like. He's like my favorite guy from One Direction. And basically I'm like, okay, So a few months ago, Sophie's like, hey, you should listen to Black and White by Niall Horn, which is the guy I like. I'm like, okay, so I listened to it. I fell in love with it. And then like, a few days ago, I'm like, you know what, guys? I'm just gonna start listening to Niall song, and then I listen to Slow Hands in this town, and. Nice to meet you. I just fell in love.
• 3:14
  Speaker A: Okay. Wow. Wow, wow.
• 3:19
  Speaker A: Do you have another. Okay, this is the last. Last one. Last one.
• 3:23
  Speaker C: Christianity.
• 3:26
  Speaker A: That was great. That was great.
• 3:30
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. I'm sure you're the one that converted your family to the Beatles. Yeah, yeah, that's. That's the likely story, Owen.
• 3:37
  Speaker A: Okay, well, so the seniors in the room, what year were you born? 2007. Like seven or eight. Right. Okay. I know you guys are younger. I'm just saying.
• 3:53
  Speaker A: So when I was growing up.
• 3:58
  Speaker A: The team called the Oklahoma City Thunder did not exist. I don't think you guys can sympathize with this. They did not exist. There was no. I mean, when I was a kid, I went to OKC Hornets games for a couple of years. If you knew about that, that happened. So. But I loved basketball. And I remember one time I was watching a game, and then I was like, man, that guy. That guy is awesome. And his name was Dwight Howard, and I loved Dwight Howard when I was a kid. So I love the Orlando magic in the 2000s, but then this team get moves from Seattle to Oklahoma City, and I'm getting to experience this. And I walk into the first preseason game ever. I didn't even know what the logo was going to look like. I knew they were the Thunder, but I had no clue. And then I see it on the court and I just remember, this is it. I don't like the Magic anymore. They're out. I'm a Thunder fan die Hard from literally day one. So, yeah, that's how it happened for me. I just didn't know if you guys knew this. It's just a crazy thing how you can really love a team or love something, but then it could just be switched like that. I really didn't think it'd be that easy, but it was really, really easy to switch. Even though the Thunder were terrible I mean, absolutely atrocious. Probably won like 23 games or something, if that. I don't remember. It was really bad. Anyway, so you guys can see we're talking about conversion, how you can be changed completely. This is what follows what we talked about last week, which was regeneration. But let's review real quick and kind of run through this lesson. What is theology?
• 5:47
  Speaker B: Yes, it's the study of God and how to be more like him.
• 5:50
  Speaker A: Boom. That's right. Studying God, how to become like him as well. Well, so we've been studying salvation, the doctrine of salvation. So all these teachings about what salvation is, we started with common grace. What is common grace?
• 6:06
  Speaker C: Yeah, grace that is given to, like, all humanity, whether they're Christian or not.
• 6:14
  Speaker A: Yeah. Christian or non Christian is given in different amounts. It's reflected in things such as art or even resources, all sorts of things. Looking at creation is common grace that is given to all people. I think marriage is common grace. It is given to all people. So that's common grace. Now, common grace, especially in creation and when we see these beautiful things in the world are supposed to point us to the reality that there is a God. And so it is kind of used by God to push people towards salvation. So that's why it's in this doctrine. And then we talked about election. What is election?
• 7:02
  Speaker C: Yeah, God's elected people.
• 7:06
  Speaker A: Yeah, God. God setting some people aside for salvation. Right. We talked about how different people understand that. Yeah.
• 7:17
  Speaker A: Well, no, it's. No, he. All Christians are God's chosen people. Yeah. So it's just how different. We talked about how different Christians have understood this. How does. How to have different Christians understood the people that are not part of the elect, as the Bible puts it. If you miss that or have any questions, you can ask me. Then we talked about union with Christ. What is union with Christ?
• 7:44
  Speaker A: What does that mean?
• 7:47
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 7:48
  Speaker E: Is that what we do up in heaven with him?
• 7:50
  Speaker A: No. Well, I mean, it's not irrelevant to being in heaven, but that's not quite right.
• 8:01
  Speaker D: Is it?
• 8:01
  Speaker E: When we do the. Is that when we do the bread and then the.
• 8:12
  Speaker A: I feel like you're maybe getting onto something.
• 8:16
  Speaker A: What does baptism depict? You know, we've had some baptisms lately. I think maybe even more today. Is that right? That's right. Yeah.
• 8:27
  Speaker C: What baptism depicts, like.
• 8:33
  Speaker C: You being a Christian?
• 8:36
  Speaker A: Evil. Yeah, yeah. So, yes.
• 8:44
  Speaker C: Like, to the whole world, like, and like the church, they, like, accept you.
• 8:49
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Did you have.
• 8:53
  Speaker C: Yeah, it depicts our death into sin.
• 8:56
  Speaker A: And our rising into new life. Yeah, yeah. That's what I'm looking for. We are one with Christ in his death and in his resurrection. So you die to sin, you live unto him. And so this oneness with Christ, then you get the you. Since you are now one and unified to Christ, if you have faith, then all of the privileges that Christ has earned are given to you. So eternal life with God, blessedness, these things are handed down. And we talked about regeneration real quick. What is regeneration? That was last week. Anyone remember.
• 9:35
  Speaker A: To regenerate something? Yes.
• 9:38
  Speaker E: It means to be made new.
• 9:39
  Speaker A: Yeah, made new. That's perfect. Yeah, like a new creation and then regeneration being made a new creation. So this work of the Spirit, where you are given a new nature occurs, and then you are converted. So we're on conversion. The summary sentence of conversion is basically just the definition of conversion at the top of your page. Conversion is the human response to the gospel, consisting of repentance from sin and faith in Jesus Christ. So conversion is the human response to the gospel, consisting of repentance from sin and faith in Jesus Christ. Let's go through our major affirmations. Number one. Conversion is a human response to the gospel. Now, how do we know that it is a human response? Any guesses?
• 10:26
  Speaker E: Because it's what we do after salvation.
• 10:28
  Speaker A: Yeah, it's what we do after being saved. And I think kind of because it's obvious, you know, we know. Well, you know, this is something that I'm doing. You know, if you're a Christian or even if you're not, you know, that's something that you are doing. You are responding. Go to Mark 1.
• 10:46
  Speaker A: Mark 1, 14, 15.
• 10:50
  Speaker A: Give you a second and then I'll read it real quick.
• 10:58
  Speaker A: Mark 1, 14, 15 says, now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God and saying, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. So what we see here are these two imperatives, repent and believe. So an imperative is something for you to do. It is a command. So it is. You must respond in obedience to the commands. And that brings us to our second affirmation, number two, conversion. It's a little formula. Conversion equals repentance plus faith. Conversion equals repentance plus faith. That's a good succinct definition of conversion. It's repentance and faith. So along with what we just read, Jesus proclaiming repent and believe in the Gospel, we find evidence of these two commands being combined, referring to conversion. So we just kind of see repentance and faith put together, all throughout the Bible very often. And that's how we understand these things going together. In fact, we even see repentance showing up in the Old Testament. Let me just read you a verse. It's. And if you want to write it down, you can. I'll just flip there. It's second Chronicles 7:14, which says.
• 12:29
  Speaker A: If my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
• 12:45
  Speaker A: So this verse doesn't say the word conversion. How does this verse talk about conversion? Well, you're not looking at it, so I'll just point it out. He says they are to humble themselves, so admit their shortcomings, pray, seek the face of the Lord, and importantly, turn from their wicked ways. What's another word for that?
• 13:08
  Speaker E: Repentance.
• 13:09
  Speaker A: Repentance. Yeah, raise your hand. That's okay. A short answer like that, you can just say repentance. That's right. And he says he will forgive them of their sins. He will hear their prayers. He will see their repentance and forgive them. And so we see the language of repentance even in the Old Testament. But let's go back to the new. So go to Luke 24.
• 13:33
  Speaker A: Luke 24. That's the last chapter of Luke.
• 13:43
  Speaker A: And will someone read verse 47? Luke 24:47.
• 13:49
  Speaker C: Yeah, you can read.
• 13:52
  Speaker C: 24:47.
• 13:53
  Speaker A: Yep.
• 13:53
  Speaker C: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
• 14:01
  Speaker A: Okay, great. Yeah. So according to Jesus, in this verse, what should be proclaimed?
• 14:10
  Speaker E: Repentance.
• 14:12
  Speaker A: Repentance. That's right. Repentance, which leads to remission or the forgiveness of. Of sins. So again we see this language of repentance. And we also see, he says, beginning from Jerusalem, which is important, we see kind of this idea of conversion emanating out, starting in Jerusalem to Judea and eventually to the Gentiles, which we see in the next verse. Go to Acts 2.
• 14:38
  Speaker A: Acts 2 38.
• 14:47
  Speaker A: Will someone read Acts 2:38?
• 14:53
  Speaker A: Yeah, you can read.
• 14:55
  Speaker C: Peter said to them, repent and be baptized for every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
• 15:05
  Speaker A: Okay, great. So again we see this idea of repent, be baptized. So this repentance leading to forgiveness, they need to believe in Christ in order to repent. But Peter here preaches that. This very same message that Jesus proclaimed. And who's he preaching it to?
• 15:25
  Speaker A: Yeah, the Gentiles. Yeah. So he's preaching this to Gentiles right now. There are Jews present. Right. So this is a mixed crowd present. But so we see that this is beginning to move out. This, this proclamation of repentance for forgiveness of sins is not even just unique to Israel. It's you. It's for all people to obey. Later in Acts. I'll just read this. Chapter 11, verse 18, we read, when they heard these things, they fell silent and they glorified God, saying then to the Gentiles also, God has granted repentance that leads to life. So repentance leads to life. But what is repentance? I don't think we've defined that yet. Can someone tell us what is repentance?
• 16:13
  Speaker B: You know, like turning away from your sins?
• 16:16
  Speaker A: Yeah, that's right. It's turning away from your sins, repenting, turning around, trying to go the other way.
• 16:23
  Speaker A: We get kind of some good helpful language in Second Corinthians, chapter 7. So you can flip there now, Second Corinthians 7.
• 16:43
  Speaker A: Seven. And then listen, I'm going to read starting in verse 9, 2nd Corinthians 7:9. As it is, I rejoice not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting, for you felt a godly grief so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal.
• 17:26
  Speaker A: What punishment. At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. So he talks about this godly grief that leads to repentance. So that is a key. So it's turning from sins, but it involves a godly grief. What do you think a godly grief is?
• 17:51
  Speaker E: Conviction from God.
• 17:53
  Speaker A: Yeah, conviction from God. So you are convicted or you are upset, sad by your sin. You know, what would a worldly grief be like? What would the difference be?
• 18:11
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 18:14
  Speaker A: Well, that's a good guess, but I don't think that's what Paul is talking about. He's kind of. Because it would be good to feel grief, losing a loved one. But he's kind of saying this worldly grief leads to death. So it's a bad thing. What do you think?
• 18:36
  Speaker A: Let me help. A worldly grief is like a remorse, kind of maybe for yourself. It would be selfish. Right. So if I sin and I'm caught and I'm merely just Embarrassed and angry that I got caught. That is a worldly grief. But if I am broken that I have sinned against God, that's a godly grief. It is only godly grief that leads to repentance. If you merely feel sorry for yourself, sorry that you've been exposed, or you just wish that you were perfect so that you would look and be perfect for your own sake, then that is a worldly grief that does not lead to life, that leads to death, is what Paul says.
• 19:19
  Speaker A: And so that is what we need. You start with a godly grief which leads to repentance. And then Luke 3:8 says, to bear fruits in keeping with repentance. So it is to bear fruit to continue to live a life that is marked by your repentance. Right. Because you don't become perfect when you repent one time, you must continually be repentant, always. But this repentance is accompanied by faith. We see this clearly in Romans 4. So you can flip over to Romans between Acts and 1 and 2 Corinthians.
• 19:57
  Speaker A: Romans 4:20.
• 20:03
  Speaker A: Romans 4, 20, 25. Read it. Romans 4:20 25 says, no unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was counted to him as righteousness. But the words it was counted to him were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him, who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
• 20:44
  Speaker A: So this is talking about Abraham. What did Abraham's faith do for him?
• 20:51
  Speaker E: Righteousness.
• 20:52
  Speaker A: Yeah, it was credited or counted to him as righteousness. That's what Abraham's faith did. So it was not merely just repentance, but it was belief. It was faith. And faith gave him or credited to him the righteousness of God. But what is faith? So we've defined repentance turning from sin, you know, godly grief and then turning from sin. What is faith?
• 21:18
  Speaker A: Yes.
• 21:18
  Speaker E: Having a type of trust.
• 21:20
  Speaker A: Yeah, it's a trust, right? Yeah. Do you have something to add? Believing in what you can't see? Yeah, yeah. I think the Bible kind of uses that language. So it is a belief, not a mere belief, but a belief that kind of drives how we live. Hebrews 11. One says, faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. So sight is not necessary.
• 21:48
  Speaker A: And assurance and conviction are. It is A deep seated belief. I like that word conviction because it doesn't just mean, yeah, I believe that the wall has some black paint on it now, which is. Anybody can affirm that, but it is a conviction. A conviction is something that drives how you live. It is a belief that really matters to your core and to your actions. That is faith.
• 22:16
  Speaker A: And so that type of faith plus repentance equals conversion. The third major affirmation is this conversion follows regeneration. So we talked about regeneration being regenerated, made new, new creation. And now how do we know that it comes first? Well, let me remind you of something we read last week from John chapter one.
• 22:43
  Speaker A: We read.
• 22:46
  Speaker A: But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And so we see here that it is of God's will that they were born again. Regeneration is not something that we primarily will, but it's something that God wills. Now, another verse that was John 1:12:13, if you wanted to know. Now, another verse we read was from 1 John 5.
• 23:21
  Speaker A: So I'll flip there. First John 5:1 said, Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. And so a scholar that I learned under when I was in school, he said that is the new birth marked by the past tense, has been born precedes, which means comes before, and is the ground for belief in Christ, which is marked by the present tense, believes and love for the Father, which is also the present tense, loves. So we see, to believe in Jesus, to love the Father in the present, means that in the past one has been born again. So that's what this verse is trying to help us understand. Now, while some true Christians disagree, it seems to me that if we must repent and have faith in order to receive a new nature, then that would mean it's coming according to our own will. So this is kind of a review from last week. That conversion comes after the regeneration. You know, we see in Ephesians 2 that we are dead in our sins. We need a new heart given to us by the spirit, which Ezekiel 36 tells us. And in order to we need that in order to repent and have faith. And this is kind of the same language that Paul uses in 2nd Timothy. So another verse that could help you, 2nd Timothy 2:25 says, God may perhaps grant them repentance, leading to a knowledge of the truth. This is something that God grants the heart that can repent from sin.
• 25:00
  Speaker A: Now, some errors to avoid. We got a few of these. So first, we must not take credit for our own conversion. This is obvious, right? You should never take credit for your own conversion. Now, I don't think Christians who disagree with what I was just teaching about the order are taking credit, but we need to kind of think. If you find yourself thinking about how you used your own will to convert yourself, then you're missing the point altogether.
• 25:29
  Speaker A: Paul says, by grace you have been saved through faith. This is not your own doing. It is the gift of God. It's not a result of work so that no one may boast. In short, God does the saving so that he gets the glory. If we contribute to the saving, then we get some of the glory, but God deserves all the glory.
• 25:50
  Speaker A: Second thing, second error to avoid. We must not minimize the importance of the human role in conversion. So we should minimize the importance of the human role in conversion. So those of us like me who believe that we must be regenerated by the Spirit before we're able to repent and believe, sometimes we are told this means, well, God just controls everything. You are a mere puppet. But the truth is that no one really believes that. That no one believes that God is a puppeteer. The Bible is clear that you must repent. You have the responsibility to turn from your sins and believe in Christ. When Jesus says, repent and believe in the gospel, that is a command to all people. You are responsible to obey that command. Now, I just think that sometimes this is maybe a doctrine that can be abused. So I want you guys to know there's no part of this teaching that says you should just kind of sit there and cross your fingers and hope that God regenerates you so that you can actually turn from your sins and believe. That's not how the Bible talks about this. What you need to know. With all this theology swirling around, here's what you need to know, and here's what you can communicate to others. Do you believe that you're a sinner? Do you believe that you deserve God's wrath? Do you believe that Christ became man, lived, died, and rose again in your place to save you from God's wrath? And if you can honestly say yes convictionally to all three, then you should be able to repent of your sins and believe in Christ. In fact, you probably already have if you can answer yes to those questions. So it's not, oh, has God actually regenerated me? Do you believe those things. If you do, you've been born again. I believe the third error to avoid. We must not insist that all conversions look alike. So I think this kind of happens a lot. And sometimes we even compare and contrast our own stories of conversion, commonly known as testimonies. And I think we do that maybe in unhealthy ways sometimes, but we should not force people to be able to say at a definitive moment when they were converted, right? So I had a definitive moment when I stopped. I turned from Dwight Howard and to Kevin Durant before he, you know, betrayed me. You know, there was a particular moment when I walked into that preseason game I told you guys about. But that may not be the case for everybody. Some people, it's kind of gradual. You know, maybe you just grew up, and maybe you're your dad's watching a certain team or your parents are listening to a certain band. That kind of piques your interest. But it's more over time. The same can be true of your conversion to Christ. Sometimes there's an instantaneous moment you remember, and sometimes you don't. I think we should be cautious to force people to fit their story into one particular mold. Now, there are, you know, there is some wisdom to that, right?
• 28:58
  Speaker A: But we just want to be a little generous. The Bible doesn't ever really talk about always having this one particular moment. You know, Paul maybe did, but that was really obvious, right? He was stopped by Christ on the road.
• 29:11
  Speaker A: So just be generous with that. Don't insist they all look alike. The fourth error to avoid. We must not think of conversion as only involving faith while ignoring repentance. I think this may be more common than we might have realized. There are some Christian traditions that, or at least supposedly Christian traditions that believe this entirely. If you merely just pray a prayer one time, then the grace will always be there. It doesn't matter if you even verbally reject God later in life. You still had that repentance earlier in life, and that's good. I don't think that's what the Bible teaches. I think that's a dangerous teaching. In fact, even this last year at the weekend, our speaker invited some students to the front. Some of you might remember, they said they wanted to follow Christ. They prayed, and he immediately told them, you guys are saved and you will always be saved. Told them that right there. That's what our speaker of the weekend said. Now, he cannot possibly know that. Of course, we all want that to be true, and perhaps it is true for those individuals. We don't know. But he didn't even know them. He didn't know their names. Those students at least appeared to believe, right? So they made a big step in showing that they believed and came to the front, in front of a lot of people. But in a moment like that, none of us know if they are repenting and if they are ready to live a life of repentance.
• 30:39
  Speaker A: If you don't repent of your sins, then your belief appears to be false. Belief is not a get out of hell free card. Your repentance leads to a life of repentance, a life where we are constantly repenting, always ready to repent. When sin is revealed in our lives, that is what it takes. Repentance plus faith, not just faith. Repentance plus faith is conversion.
• 31:09
  Speaker A: Any questions about that?
• 31:11
  Speaker A: All right, so with our last few minutes, let's enact the doctrine. How can we apply this to our lives? Well, first, thank God for His grace that enabled you to repent and believe. If you are a Christian, if you've turned from your sins and believed in Christ, thank God for his grace that enabled you to do that.
• 31:31
  Speaker A: Now, I've talked about people that kind of disagree in how God elects and regenerates and converts people, people. But the bottom line is that all Christians, every single Christian, believes that without God's grace, it is impossible to believe in Him. Right? There are a lot of little debates on what the grace does and how it operates. But we all agree that without his grace, we cannot believe in Him. So we should thank God that He made it possible to be saved from our sins, to be saved from the wrath that we deserve to bear. So if you have turned and believed, repented and believed in the Gospel, you've been saved from God's wrath by Jesus, then thank God that He elected you, called you, gave you a new nature so that you may repent and have faith. Thank God for that.
• 32:20
  Speaker A: Number two, share the Gospel and your story of conversion. Right. So commonly known as a testimony. Both of these things are useful in conversation, especially in the proclamation of the Gospel. I think sharing the Gospel messages is important and is supremely important. Your personal story can be a helpful supplement. Now, don't take away from the Gospel because of your story, but I think it is a very helpful supplement so people can see how the Gospel can transform a life. Perhaps there are elements of your story that they resonate with or even perhaps not, and it's just a helpful way to see how it can work itself out in someone's life. So think about your life story. I Know, some of you have done this. If you've been on a mission trip at all, you've probably been trained in this or maybe in some other circumstances. You have. Think about your life story, how it has or how it hasn't led to your conversion. Can you honestly say you've been converted? Can you remember a season of life or a moment when you think you were converted?
• 33:26
  Speaker A: And if you have, then use that story to demonstrate to others how the gospel changes lives. And then share that gospel, the gospel that you believed, that you say you've believed in and has changed your life. Share that message with others. You know, if you think through your story or your testimony and you find that you don't really have one, don't panic. But I would just charge you to repent and believe in the gospel. You know, if you're confused, you know, I don't know if my testimony really fits or it doesn't make sense. If you need to talk about it, I would love to talk about it with you. We have other adult leaders that would as well, and your parents probably would, too. It's not something to kind of just sit on and kind of be anxious about. I know a lot of people that have been anxious about was I really converted, blah, blah, blah, Whenever this happened. And they just carry that with them for years. Don't do that. You know, just talk it out with someone. There's no need to worry. Are there any questions on that?
• 34:28
  Speaker A: No. Cool. Well, next week we will continue with the next one, which I don't remember what it is, so I won't tell you what it is. But we'll maybe adoption or justification. Maybe one of the two. But we'll talk next week. Have a great week. Is anyone's last week of school?
• 34:50
  Speaker A: Two more. Your last week. Hey, you got. Wait, what?
• 34:55
  Speaker D: I'm done until January.
• 34:57
  Speaker A: You're already done. Yeah. Well, you're done for. Jaylee's done forever. All right. Hey, hey. Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray. I just want. I just wanted to know. Have great. Hey, have fun taking your exams. You know, you don't get to do that forever.
• 35:14
  Speaker A: It's all temporary, guys. Temporary. You'll miss it. All right, let's pray. Father, thank you for your word and that you regenerate that we may repent and believe in the gospel. Lord, we thank you for your work of salvation. We pray that you would call those in this room that have not believed to yourself that you would reveal to them their sin, that they would repent. Of it and believe in Christ Jesus for their own salvation. We pray this in his name. Amen.