To dance, to worship, to suffer

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To dance, to worship, to suffer

• Bill Taylor with his friends in
• College Stationthat nation called Aggieland

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A question

• Who was Jamil Ahmed Rifai and what happened to
  him on May 6, 2003?

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So what is worship anyway?

• Pure adoration
• Worship is the strategy by which we interrupt
  our preoccupation with ourselves and attend to
  the presence of God.
• Eugene Peterson

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Thoughts on the book of Revelation

• Most of the Bible was written in a context of
  unsettledness, not peace and prosperity, nor
  democracy
• The book of Revelation was written by the aged
  apostle John, a man of many faces
• It was written with specific churches in mind,
  perhaps like ours here.

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Why was it written? And how did they read it?
And we?

• To encourage believers, but with a code
• To give the big picture of the Epic Story and
  their Epic Story is ours today
• They read/listened to it in crisis of faith, but
  knowing the code.
• A challenge for us to read this book rightly.

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Stark antitheses within the book

• God versus Satan
• Our holy and divine trinity versus a vile
  trinitythe Beast, the Dragon, the Great
  Prostitute
• Worship versus hopeless fatalism
• Famine versus the wedding feast
• Gods people versus all Gods enemies

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FIRST THEME Worship

• The 19 worship scenes of the book from small
  cascades to huge, powerful waterfalls

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• 51 Then I saw in the right hand of him who
  sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both
  sides and sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw
  a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, "Who
  is worthy to break the seals and open the
  scroll?" 3 But no one in heaven or on earth or
  under the earth could open the scroll or even
  look inside it. 4 I wept and wept because no
  one was found who was worthy to open the scroll
  or look inside. 5 Then one of the elders said
  to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe
  of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is
  able to open the scroll and its seven seals."

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• 6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been
  slain, standing in the center of the throne,
  encircled by the four living creatures and the
  elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which
  are the seven spirits of God sent out into all
  the earth. 7 He came and took the scroll from
  the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 8
  And when he had taken it, the four living
  creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down
  before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they
  were holding golden bowls full of incense, which
  are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang
  a new song

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Everybody!

• "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open
  its seals, because you were slain, and with your
  blood you purchased men for God from every tribe
  and language and people and nation. 10 You have
  made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve
  our God, and they will reign on the earth."

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• 11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many
  angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and
  ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled
  the throne and the living creatures and the
  elders. 12 In a loud voice they sang
• Everybody!
• "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to
  receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
  and honor and glory and praise!"

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• 13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and
  on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and
  all that is in them, singing
• Everybody!
• "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
  be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever
  and ever!"
• 14 The four living creatures said, "Amen," and
  the elders fell down and worshiped.

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Second theme The high price paid for their
faith--suffering and martyrdom

• Who was Jamil Ahmed Rifai and what happened to
  him on May 6, 2003?

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The High Price Being Paid for the Gospel

• loneliness
• rejection
• harassment
• legal attacks
• prison
• physical attack
• death

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A cemetary in Nigeria
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(No Transcript)
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Revelation on suffering and martyrdom

• Rev. 69-11 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw
  under the altar the souls of those who had been
  slain because of the word of God and the
  testimony they had maintained. They called out
  in a loud voice, How long, Sovereign Lord, holy
  and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the
  earth and avenge our blood? Then each of them
  was given a white robes, and they were told to
  wait a little longer, until the number of their
  fellow servants and brothers who were to be
  killed as they had been was completed.

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• Rev. 713-14 Then one of the elders asked me,
  These in white robes--who are they, and where
  did they come from? I answered, Sir, you
  know. And he said, These are they who have
  come out of the great tribulation they have
  washed their robes and made them white in the
  blood of the Lamb.
• Rev. 1211-12 ...they overcame him (Satan) by
  the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their
  testimony they did not love their lives so much
  as to shrink from death.

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Drawing to a close...so what?.what do I
do?.what do I take home?
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Three sobering sides to the book of Revelation

• The reality of suffering for Christ, even
  martyrdomnot American themes!
• The reality of human rebellion against the
  revelation and love of God,
• The reality of eternal separation from God. The
  tough side of the Good News.

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The international students and peoples of the
world have come to America

• Varieties of Christian faith, and
• Islam
• Buddhism
• Hinduism
• Spirit worship
• So prepare, learn, welcome, pray, befriend, teach
  English, open up your homes and spaces..

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Celtic Christians and the Colors of Martyrdom

• Red.
• Green
• White..

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Walking out with commitments

• Go on a short-term mission trip this year.
• Learn to intercede/pray with wisdom and
  knowledge, shaping history.
• Join with the Global Impact Ministry Teams
• Take the Perspective World Mission Course this
  Spring.
• Get involved in international students lives
• Invest financially in one of your missionary
  families

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• And you, yes you, play your role, your dance, and
  you may pay a high price, but you must be sure
  that its worth living and dying for.