Tuesday, September 19, 2006
It was a great honor to be one of the 10,000 participants at Billy Graham's Amsterdam 2000 conference for evangelists. It's pretty unforgettable to look out over an audience with Christ's ambassadors from 209 countries! The most international gathering in the history of this planet - and it was in Jesus' Name! One Great Commission challenge I just could not get out of my mind that week: almost half the world is under 25 - three billion young people! That's why I was literally moved to tears by the way this historic conference ended.
We heard the music of a choir of young people from 50 countries all in their native dress. I mean, it was really impressive. Then, after an unforgettable communion service, a soloist began to sing, "Go Tell it On the Mountain" and the 50-nation youth choir joined in. A banner, depicting the old rugged cross, was lowered from above the platform and ultimately was carried by those young people over their heads. And then, as 10,000 representatives of Jesus Christ joined in singing "Go Tell it On the Mountain," those young people carried the banner of the cross high above their heads, through the crowd, and out to a world that desperately needs Jesus.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Young World."
I couldn't help but put the scene I just described in the context of Acts 2:17, our word for today from the Word of God. "In the last days," God says, "I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams."
God says that just before the return of His Son, the world will experience the greatest outpouring of the Holy Spirit in history. And it appears His Last Days Army will be led by young people, "Your sons and daughters, your young men." And empowering them, older people who share the dream and the vision that the young people have for the world.
This prophecy takes on more significance than ever in light of a world where half of it is under 25! And when you consider that 75% of those who ever come to Christ do it by the age of 18, they are the half of the world who are by far most likely to come to Christ! So do we, as Christ's people, have anything more important to do than to introduce young people to Jesus Christ?
Right now, there are probably Christian young people in your church who really need some adults to believe in them, to pray for them, to pray with them, to challenge them, and to get involved with them. So many of our Christian young people are living way beneath their potential; they're over entertained and under challenged! They need some people who will challenge and equip them to make a difference for their community, for their lost friends, and for a hurting world.
Together, we need to move outside the walls of the church where most of the young people are. Drowning people don't come to the lifeguard station - the lifeguards have to take the risks to go where the drowning people are! It's time for churches and leaders to wake up to our young world and reach the people who need Christ the most, who are the ages where most people come to Christ!
If you want to throw your life into something exciting, then get involved with the young army Jesus is building - an army that will hold high the banner of the cross and carry it to the world Jesus died for!