Youth Evening/En Presentation on Oulu RY 30.10.2021 18.04

In the name of the Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, let us quieten ourselves to pray.

Holy God, dear Heavenly Father, we are on this autumn Saturday, gathered together to discuss the way and the journey. Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, is the way, the truth, and the life. On this road, Father, you have called us to your grace, and on this road, you have cared for us and fed us with your Word. But we are also on a journey. We are on a journey towards heaven. We don't know how long this journey will be before us. Will we soon be at the destination? For this reason, dear Heavenly Father, our humble prayer rises up to you, that you would keep us on the right road. That you would let the Good Shepherd lead us on our journey to the living waters, for we are weak, and we often doubt. And we can feel our sinfulness. For this reason, on this journey, we often feel tired, and we are afraid. What if I am left behind? Dear Father, you, with your grace, unto this evening, you have protected us, you have fed us, and we are safe here in your care. When we begin to discuss the most important matter of our lives, we ask that you, through your Holy Spirit, would be leading us. Amen.

Dear travel friends, there is a massive gathering here, gathering of the young. Also listening on the internet, there are listeners of the Word. We are all together, all of us, before an important matter. The topic for the presentation tonight was given, and it is: How do I remain in faith? When we think of this topic, first of all, it comes to mind that the person asking this question is a believing person, a child of God, who has received the most important treasure, our faith. And why is this treasure so precious? It is because in the book to the Hebrews, it says, "Without faith, it is impossible to be acceptable unto God." When we speak of faith, we naturally are talking about the faith which the Holy Bible tells us, informs us... What kind of faith makes a person righteous?

And when we think of this topic, the second thing that comes to mind is that the person asking this question, "How do I remain in faith?" He or she wants to keep his or her faith, and also in the background, the one asking knows that faith is not something to be taken for granted, something that is automatic, that will automatically be saved once received. For this reason, the question, "How can I remain in faith?" is a humble question that leaves the heart of a believing person. I think a person who would ask this is the kind of person who is also ready to listen to the answer. Why else would he or she ask? Why would we ask if we already know how it is? This question contains a lot of humble prayers to the Heavenly Father, as the words of the hymn which we just sang. "Dear Jesus, keep me united with you." This was the prayer in the hymn.

This is not a topic only for youth evening. This question is not only for the people who are living in the spring of their life, but there are many winds and storms swirling around us, that many times make us wonder, what do I latch on to? What is correct? For there is a lot of messages sent out by the media in our times today. This matter of keeping one's faith is a timely topic for everyone, for every single person. We can't even think that even a person who is very old and has lived a very long life, that this matter of faith would be automatic to the end. Oh, that would be such a happy situation, if at some point in our life, the enemy of the soul would stop bothering us, that the enemy of the soul would think that, "Well, I must give up. I must give up teasing that person, tempting that person." No, it is possible to lose one's faith, even at the very end of one's life. It is not so, that if one is a servant of the Word, that a servant of the Word would even remain in faith automatically until the end of life. For we, too, are only believing by grace.

The doctrine of Christ tells us that God has created man and woman to live united with Him. This is why the human heart can find peace only with and from God. And also, every person who has been confirmed, everybody probably remembers that knowing God and our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, and being a child of God, is the most treasured matter in our lives. Isn't it so? What will it help a person to ask? Jesus asked, "What would it help a person who would gain all the treasures of the world, but would lose his eternal soul and eternal life?" Our faith is founded on our Lord Jesus Christ and His redemption work, and our clinging to this. The apostle said, "For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ."

For the foundation, it is not about somebody having experienced some powerful experience, or that one would need to see some miraculous vision or angels. No, the foundation is Jesus Christ and His perfect redemption work, which He did on behalf of the entire world, on behalf of you and me also. And when we speak of faith, we speak of the gift that God gave to us. It cannot be earned. It cannot be gained through wisdom or knowledge. It cannot be gained from anything that comes from man. The apostle wrote to the Ephesians and said, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."

Well, what is faith like? How could it be described? We often become silent and have to hunt for words when, for example, an unbelieving person would ask: How do you believe? What is faith to you? A familiar letter to the Hebrews tells about faith, and I'm going to read to you from three different translations, Bible translations. The different translations of the Finnish Bibles use slightly different words. Listen, there are very small differences in nuance. These different translated versions, they do not wipe out one another, but they are slightly different, and they do describe faith.

The oldest translation, the Biblia in Finnish, says, "Faith is the substance for those things hoped for, and the invisible is not doubted." But how is it with you when you hear this very old language? What does it mean? I will read it again. "Now, faith is the substance for those things hoped for, and the invisible is not doubted." I will go forward to the next translation. "Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Now, with this slightly more fresh translation, doesn't it seem a little easier to understand? I am not presenting these translation versions in any order of importance or correctness. I am just presenting them. For some people, the oldest translation opens things the best. Such a person has internalized this old language, but the newer translation says, "Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Our faith is reality or the substance of things that we hope for. Isn't it amazing, faith? Even though we cannot see it, we know it is true and real. We cannot see it.

And then I will read from the book of Hebrews eleven, six. This tells about Moses, "But without faith, it is impossible to please Him. For he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." Moses looked very far into the future, to the day when Jesus Christ would come, and he could see through faith, farther than one could understand with own understanding. He saw two things. He saw the ridiculing of Christ, and he saw the treasures of Egypt. He had two cups. In one cup was the ridiculing of Jesus, and in the other cup were all the treasures of Egypt. We know that when the tombs of the pharaohs have been opened, they have been filled with treasures, which have ended up in museums. And even though these treasures were put in the tombs of the pharaohs, not even one of those treasures, none of those treasures did Pharaoh take with him when he died, not even one. They all remained in the cellars of those pyramids, and robbers stole them, and many riches ended up in museums. But those treasures and riches did not leave. They did not depart with those pharaohs.

And I now would ask you, dearly beloved, you who have gathered to this youth evening, isn't it so that the choice that Moses made, it is so evident? He saw positions of power and glory. Maybe they would have built a pyramid for Moses, and they would have held a great funeral for him. But what choice did Moses make? He exchanged those treasures for the ridiculing of Christ. When that mother who raised Moses, the daughter of Pharaoh, she said, "Moses, think of your future." What do you think Moses answered to this woman who raised him? I think that Moses answered and said, "That is what I am looking at. I am looking at my future. I am not thinking about the future that is in the steps of my life, but I am looking further, much further to the real future. I am looking to the day of Christ. I am looking at the payment, the reward." I think I can answer on your behalf also, that you are looking far in the future. You also are looking at the payment, the reward. It pays to keep your eyes on that reward. Moses left through his faith. He was not afraid.

Now, I would like to ask you, dear young, and dear listeners of the internet, you, dear children of God, I want to ask you, listening on the internet, what is the foundation of faith? What is the core of our faith? Is it to experience troubles and ridiculing? It may seem in the world when they look at our lives, we are defined. They are those people who live with so many rules and limitations. It's all about those rules and things that are forbidden, and all about this troublesome life. Who wants to live like that? I would like to ask another question. If it would have been so, that all we have are troubles and worries and ridiculing, if we would only suffer, if it would only be about saying no... If our faith were only about that, would anybody have even come to this youth night tonight? Isn't it so that we would have become tired so very long ago? We would never have had strength to remain as children of God, if faith wouldn't also include joy.

"I bring to you great joy," said the angels to the shepherds, "for this day, the Savior has been born, and you can find Him in the manger." Dear child of God, we experience joy here in this kingdom. As the apostle wrote, "It is not food or drink, it is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit." We have found the treasure in the field, and we have found such a magnificent and huge treasure, that for this reason, we sell everything that we have and buy the field. I won't talk any further about that explanation now. That buyer just described, didn't just buy the treasure, he also bought the field. The whole Kingdom of God, the field in which the whole Kingdom of God is with all the children. All those ordinary people, all those troubled people, all those who have been overlooked. All those who have battled.

We have also been able to notice, and I am very happy that I have experienced the following: I have met many unbelieving people who honor believers. Have you also experienced this, that they respect us? That I respect your choice. I honor your courage, that you have courage to be what you are here in the midst of this world, the midst of people who make other choices. And even if it would be so, that we would have to face hatred and being overlooked, as has been predicted. We are able to withstand such things because we know what we have. That I have my sins that are forgiven, and I have peace with God. It is such a treasure, that we don't want to exchange this for anything else. And even if we would meet up with such a person in school or at work, that would behave in a very ugly way towards believers, dear brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus Christ teaches to us that we must pray on their behalf, and we must be gracious, and we must forgive them, even if they don't know how to ask for forgiveness.

And this is because... If this treasure would not have been given and opened up to me, I would be in the same position, in the position of a person who doesn't have a clue. And for this reason, we pray. And the apostle wrote to the Romans, and says, "Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses, for we do not know what we should pray for as we ask, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Romans eight, twenty-six and twenty-eight.

Wait a moment. Look in the internet. I have looked in the internet. I often look in the internet. It is such a magical box that we can find all kinds of information. So much information that we cannot remember it. I'm going to tell you about my youth. I lived in a village with sixteen homes in the countryside, and we had two telephones. One was on one end of the village, and the other telephone was only half a kilometer from my home. If I would have been told back then, as a young boy, that, "Hey, Arno, you're going to see-- Just imagine what you're going to see when you're seventy years old. You're going to be holding a little, tiny, palm-sized block, and you will be able to see pictures, and you will hear voices. And you can, with that block, you can travel to any corner of the earth, and you can find a flood of information." If someone would have told me these things, I would have said, "What are you talking about?" The cell phone.

Have you ever been at a youth evening where the young are gathered, and everybody has a cell phone? And they're trying to visit each other, but the cell phone seems to take everybody's focus. "Did I get a message? Hmm, has anything new happened in Instagram? What can I see? What notification has come? I don't even know all the things that are on the cell phone." What happens? We have got a thief in our hand, a thief that steals our time. It takes all our time. I'm seventy years old, and here I sit in the waiting room at the doctor's office, and I'm just staring at my phone. I'm gonna check and see if anyone sent me a WhatsApp message. Yeah, to say nothing of you. Can I even say this? If I wake up at three in the morning, I check my phone to see if I got any new messages. Hey, I'm just gonna tell you, thousand people sitting here, don't tell anybody. This is the life. This is how we live. And this thief that steals our time, oh, what else might it steal? You can guess. It could steal your good, clean conscience. That is a terrible thing to lose. If your good, clean conscience is stolen... Of course, this device is useful, but it can also be very useless, and it can be very damaging. And it can also be sinful. It's possible. A cell phone has the potential.

And again, I say, I am not talking only about you, young. I am talking also about all of us. Before us, we have social media, and social media, it presents beautiful pictures of people's lives. These beautiful pictures, shiny pictures. When I, with my wife, go out to eat and find something very good to eat in a lovely restaurant, what do we do? What's the first thing we do? Can you guess? Oh, we take a picture of our plate of food, and we send it to our family and say, "Look, this is what we're eating here now." And then all kinds of emojis pop up into the phone, and, "Oh, there's Mom and Dad. They're out to eat." The social media, it's about creating shiny lives, and often, these shiny lives do not depict the truth. My kids might see in WhatsApp that, "Oh, Mom and Dad are there eating juicy steak." But what about the media of the world? They paint pictures of beautiful clothing, fashion, trips to the sun, and beautiful, shiny pictures of life. And many people become lost, and they think that, "Oh, that's the real life. Why is my life so crappy-looking? Why is mine so ordinary?" And then it looks like life outside of faith. It looks so shiny and good, just as happened to Eve a long time ago.

The apostle writes to the Romans, "I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your body as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." And listen, this is important, and I'm talking to myself. "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." Romans twelve, one and two. Are you able to say, "Yep, I have always done this?"

Dear child, from your timid eyes, I gleaned signs of stinging defeat, slammed without explanation. At that moment, I relived my childhood. I feel I saw a familiar face from your gaze, and our pain was connected. How good it was to go forward under grace, led by those pierced hands. Teuvo Aho wrote this, "I look at your hands." And another, a poem, "He takes into his hands a broken reed, one that has broken under the burdens of sorrow. He blows on it, his warm breath, and look, it becomes whole again. Oh, there are so many broken, and each one of us is helpless. There are the limping ones, fumbling from sin, the beaten down and depressed. But the Lamb is the chosen of God. He does not shout into the abyss of defeat, 'You can stay there. I will not collect you.' No, He does not have an adverse mind. He takes the broken into His hands. The Father loves His soul. He gives hope again. Rejoice now, all you broken."

Oh, us, we broken ones. From our conscience, we often feel wounded. Oh, us, we who have been pressed down by sin and have experienced the feeling that I am such an unworthy traveler. Around us, there is a whole strong cloud of witnesses. "Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance, the race that is set before us." Faith and a clean conscience, they are connected. We have the gift of confession, where we can believe forgiven things that press us down. We have experienced what a great gift this is. "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin... Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews four, fifteen to sixteen.

Dear young, if you are already exhausted, this presentation will be over in five minutes. You have so patiently sat there and listened. Five more minutes. There's a story, an excerpt I will read. Grandpa asked, "You didn't go to Communion?" Ronnie answered and said, "None of my friends went," and he's looking at his phone. "They preferred to go to pizza." Grandpa said, "Sometimes it is so, but you can go alone also. You must care for your faith, it pays, and Communion has been given for this reason. It is through Communion that God can tell you that you are precious, and that grace belongs exactly to you. Isn't it so, that your faith, it's not dependent on decisions of your friends? For God gives to you personal strength for every moment, if you wish to remain in faith, and you want to, right?" Grandpa looked at Ronnie, and Ronnie nodded his head.

Ronnie steps, slow footsteps, one before the other, moves through the white tent. People are walking to the front of the tent, others are sitting in the benches. Nobody has any hurry. And then the organ begins to play. My beautiful home is in heaven on high. And there are my thoughts always turning. This earth is so restless, how often I sigh, my heart for my homeland is yearning. At that moment, Ronnie realizes he is not alone. It's like a warm, beautiful hand descended onto his shoulders, and Ronnie begins to sing with the others. And as he sings, he remembers how his grandfather raised his hands and blessed with the Gospel. And he also was able to bless his grandpa. When it's his turn, Ronnie kneels down at the altar and gets the bread and wine. On your behalf, this is given. On your behalf, shed. Dear young, on your behalf, on my behalf, this was given by the Lord Jesus Christ. He has called us to His flock. He has given to you the gift of faith. Doesn't it pay to believe? This excerpt that I read came from a book called, Given On Your Behalf by Anne Lindfors-Valinta.

Dear travel friends, read the publications of Christianity. Read the publications for the young. Order newspapers from the Kingdom, listen to the songs and hymns of the Kingdom, and remember to make good choices. What does it pay to listen to? What does it pay to listen and pay attention to what it pays to watch, so that your faith could be preserved? I still must tell you, I read the Päivämies from cover to cover. It is such a comprehensive newspaper. Dear young, take the newspapers of the Kingdom... They will feed your faith. They are comprehensive. They are written by people who have received gifts from God.

Okay, is my five minutes over? Dear travel friends, young and old, we are at the end of the presentation, but we will have a break, a coffee break, but I will present the five questions that we could discuss later. What do the words of the Catechism mean to you? To stay in and strengthen one's faith, a Christian should diligently use the Word of God and Communion, prayer, and have unity with other Christians. What has faith brought to you? What kind of music strengthens your faith? What do you wish for from your parents and grandparents? And also, we would love to hear any other things that are on your mind. So any topics that have been awakened in your mind, we can discuss.

Thank you, dear brothers and sisters. I will say again, that this presentation caused me to work very hard. I have done my best and written and redrafted and drafted again, and I have found myself to be so sinful. Can I believe my sins forgiven? I want to believe. The Heavenly Father, bless our discussion. The presentation ends here, and the translation is now over for the Internet at this point.