We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who made Angel Tree possible this Christmas. Because of your thoughtfulness and generosity, many of our students/student families experienced a warmer, more joyful holiday season. We extend a special thank you to the Lake Union for their generous support and partnership. We are deeply grateful for your continued giving and support of Belong Ministries and for walking alongside us throughout the academic year to serve and uplift our students at Andrews University.
The Last Letter
Game of Thrones, Crown of Thorns-1
Speaker
Dwight K. NelsonDwight Nelson served as lead pastor of the Pioneer Memorial Church on the campus of Andrews University from 1983 to 2023. During his time at Pioneer he spoke on the “New Perceptions” telecast, taught at the theological seminary and has written books, including The Chosen. He and his wife, Karen, are blessed with two married children and 2 granddaughters.
Offering
Saturday, March 16, 2019
Program:
We Begin
The King of Love My Shepherd Is • Charles Stanford
How Lovely, Lord, How Lovely Hal Hopson
Praise
Open the Eyes of My Heart • Forever • Yes and Amen • Give Thanks
Prayer
Tara Thona
Baby Dedication
Abigail Rose Bussey presented by Seth & Caroline Bussey with Ben Martin
Children's Story
Allegro Moderato • Felix Mendelssohn
Worship in Music
King of Glory, King of Peace • Alfred Fedak
Sermon
"The Last Letter: Game of Thrones, Crown of Thorns—1"
Dwight K. Nelson
Connect Card, Tithes & Offerings
Soldiers of Christ, Arise • 616
As We Depart
Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven • John Goss
More In This Series
“The Last Letter: Game of Thrones,
Crown of Thorns—1”
www.newperceptions.tv
» Revelation 3:21
• The promise: You will sit with Me on My one day.
• The condition: You must first today.
• Sigve Tonstad: “Awareness of conflict changes the way we construe victory and defeat. While Jesus makes promises ‘to everyone who conquers,’ with no object in the sentence, the tenor of conflict is better preserved if we translate it ‘to everyone who overcomes .’ It is not wrong to say that the believers ‘overcome’ or ‘conquer,’ but it is implied throughout that they are engaged in a .”
• Revelation 12:7-9, 12, 17
• “If the curtain could be rolled back, and each one could discern the constant activities of the heavenly family to preserve the inhabitants of the earth from Satan’s seductive
wiles, . . . [t]hey would see that the armies of heaven are in continual warfare with satanic agencies, to obtain victories in behalf of those who do not sense their danger, and who are passing on in unconscious indifference. Angels are belting the world, refusing Satan his claims to supremacy. . . . We hear not the voices, we see not with the natural sight the work of these angels, but their hands are linked about the world, and with sleepless vigilance they are keeping the armies of Satan at bay.” (In Heavenly Places 98)
• “To the one who overcomes as I .”
• John 16:33— “‘In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have the world!’”
» Why don’t more Christians live victorious lives?
• Reason #1—We do not fully appreciate the sinfulness of .
• Vaughn Allen: “We do not realize how utterly detestable sin is; we do not comprehend how contrary sin is to God’s character and how terribly offensive it is to Him. We have lived with sin and its results so long and toyed with it so much that for us it has lost much of its horror and repugnance.” (The War Is Real: And So Is the Victory 71)
• Steps to Christ: “We shall not renounce sin unless we see its .” (23)
• Vaughn Allen: “The absolute horror of sin can be seen only when we look at the . It would be well for us each day to pray that God would give us a genuine abhorrence of sin and a for it because of what it did to the Son of God and because of what it does to us.” (71)
• Reason #2—We are not convinced that sin is possible in this life.
• Great Controversy: “If those who hide and excuse their faults could see how Satan exults over them, how he taunts Christ and holy angels with their course, they would make haste to confess their sins and to put them away. Through defects in the character, Satan works to gain control of the whole mind, and he knows that if these defects are cherished, he will succeed. Therefore he is constantly seeking to deceive the followers of Christ with his sophistry that it is impossible for them to overcome.” (489)
• Signs of the Times: “Without Christ we cannot subdue a single sin or overcome the smallest temptation.” (August 10, 1891)
• Jesus: “‘Without Me you can do nothing.’” John 15:5
• Philippians 4:13—“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
• Jude 24—“Now to Him who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.
• Selected Messages: “He who has not sufficient faith in Christ to believe that He can keep him from , has not the faith that will give him an entrance into the kingdom of God.” (3:360)
• 1 John 2:1, 13-14; 5:3-4
• Revelation 3:20
• Before Jesus commands Laodicea to “ ” the devil, He invites us to “ ” the door.
• Selected Messages: “John pointed the people to the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world. He said, ‘Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.’ There is a great deal in that ‘taketh away.’ The question is, Shall we keep on sinning as though it were an impossibility for us to overcome? How are we to overcome? As Christ overcame, and that is the only way. He prayed to His heavenly Father. We can do the same....When tempted to speak wrong and do wrong resist Satan and say, I will not surrender my will to your control. I will cooperate with divine power and through grace be conqueror.” (3:195)
“Faith is the Victory”
Belong Ministries Thanks You
Fellowship Dinner
Pioneer Commons
We are having fellowship dinner on Sabbath following the second worship service in the commons. Visitors are welcome!
Offering for January 24, 2026
Michigan Advance Partners
The Conference leadership is tasked with guiding the churches in proclaiming the gospel in their areas. They do this in at least four ways. First, they provide pastors and specialized personnel like Family Ministries. Second, they encourage conference-sponsored evangelism activities done through pastors and members. Third, the conference supports and supervises Adventist schools. Fourth, they collaborate with the local congregations to build churches, schools, and other facilities.
For much of this work, the Conference depends on the local church and its members for their financial contributions, as the tithe only covers the salaries of the pastors and other specialized conference ministries and personnel. To finance the remainder of these projects, most conferences collect an offering once per month. The name for this offering may vary in some conferences, but it is generally called Conference Advance. While each giver must decide for themselves how much to give, it is recommended that each of us give the equivalent of 1.2% of our income. When this offering is collected, the local treasurer will then forward it to the conference.
Thank you for your committed support to the conference initiatives through your giving and for not becoming “weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” (Gal. 6:2, 9, ESV).
May you receive the bountiful blessings of God today.
—North American Division Stewardship Ministries
Something in Common back in the commons!
Hello, church family. After moving from room to room as space allowed, Something in Common is returning to our roots and will meet in the Commons again starting this week. Something in Common focuses on relationships: with God, with others, in marriage, and in parenting, featuring a variety of speakers and topics. Our current series, Vertical Marriage, wraps up next week. If you’re interested, come check us out.
Love on the Move
God's Hands 4 Kids, a PMC Grow Group outreach to our community serving foster, adoptive, kinship and guardianship families partnering with Berrien County Department Of Health and Human Services. As a gift to the families served by them and as a gift to the community of ministry leaders and professionals, we will be providing Hope for the Journey, a video conference on Trust Based Relational Intervention - trauma, on Sunday afternoons in February here at PMC. It is produced by Show Hope. For more information and to register go to our website GH4K.org
Honduras Mission update
Honduras Mission: Our 20 person Youth Mission Team sang, camped, taught, laughed and prayed. They also conducted a day camp for about 60 children, built a two car garage, led 19 worships, set up a security system, and provided food for 60 families. Thank you for your prayers and support for Pioneer Youth Missions.
With This in Mind...
Forgiveness, a key aspect of the Christian experience, promotes mental and physical well-being. Research shows it reduces emotional tension, psychological conflict, and even psychosomatic pain. Dr. Karen Swartz of Johns Hopkins notes that anger triggers the body’s fight-or-flight response, raising heart rate, blood pressure, and disease risk. Forgiveness, by contrast, fosters peace and lowers depression, anxiety, and stress. As Scripture reminds us, “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven” (Luke 6:37). Go ahead! Enjoy peace of mind.
Adventist Seniors of Michiana (ASM) January Meeting
DINNER FOR SENIORS Sunday, January 25, from 1 to 3 PM, Andrews Academy invites all senior citizens (55 or better) to a banquet at the Academy, to thank us and give us a report on how our support has been a blessing. Bring your appetite and your checkbook, and come enjoy the program and food they are preparing for us.
Master Guide Toolbox!
Please join us for the next Master Guide Toolbox event at the Andrews University Seminary, February 6-7, 2026! Share with your friends, colleagues, students or in your newsletters! If you have any questions, please contact Cheryl Logan at cjhlogan@gmail.com. Spread the word!
Introducing Parent Circle: A Sabbath Space for Growing Together
Parent Circle is a new discipleship space where parents of kids ages 4–12 connect, study the Bible, and grow together while their children are in Sabbath School. The resource area features a lending library, as well as support for completing youth and children’s ministry certifications. Join us on any Sabbath, anytime from 10:30-11:30 AM.