If you would like to honor the memory of someone who has passed away since last Easter, you are invited to bring a spring flower to place at the foot of the cross during the Processional of Hope at either service this coming Sabbath, April 19, 2025.
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Jolly Old St Nicholas Goes to Bethlehem
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
More In This Series
“Jolly Old St Nicholas Goes to Bethlehem”
- Proverbs’ One Prayer
- Proverbs 30:8—“O Lord, give me neither nor , but give me only my .”
- A Christmas prayer asking God to keep me in because (v 9):
- The great danger in wealth is that it tends to make us feel of God. (Psalm 73:12; Job 21:13-15)
- The great danger in poverty is that it tends to make us feel by God. (Isaiah 8:21)
- “O God—give me neither poverty nor riches—but give me only my daily bread.”
- Joshua Becker, The More of Less: Finding the Life You Want Under Everything You Own” (Loc 199-213):
- www.becomingminimalist.com
- In the US we now consume as many material goods as we did 50 years ago.
- Over the same period the size of the average American home has nearly tripled and today contains about items.
- On average our homes contain more than people.
- The US Department of Energy reports that due to clutter, % of people with two-car garages don’t have room to park cars inside, and another % have room for only one vehicle.
- One out of 10 American households rents off-site —the fastest growing segment of the commercial real estate industry over the past four decades.
- The average household’s credit card debt stands at over $, while the average mortgage debt is over $.
- Will Rogers: “Too many people spend money they haven’t earned to buy things they don’t want to impress people they don’t like.”
- “My daily bread”:
- Born in a village whose name meant “House of ”(Beth-lehem).
- A fitting birthplace for Him who one day would teach us to pray: “Our Father who is in Heaven, give us this day our daily .” (Matthew 6:11)
- A fitting prayer from Him who one day would declare: “I am the of Life—whoever comes to Me will never go hungry.” (John 6:35)
- God’s One Promise
- 2 Corinthians 1:20—YES! and AMEN!
- Psalm 33:6, 9
- Isaiah 55:11
- John 6:63
- Jesus: “Give and it will be given to you—pressed down, shaken together and running over!” (Luke 6:38)
- AMEN!
- Joshua Becker, The More of Less: “It’s true that the less we , the more we can . But what if the inverse is also true? What if the more we give away, the less we need? In other words, what if leads to contentment?”
- God: “Bring the whole tithe into My storehouse and test Me and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of Heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” (Malachi 3:10)
- AMEN!
- Tweet: “The antidote 2 Black Friday is 4 words long. Memorize them—you’ll have no problem driving past a shopping mall 2day: “I don’t need it.” (@DwightKNelson)
- 2 Corinthians 1:20—YES! and AMEN!
“Give me Jesus”
Pioneer Operating Budget
Charles Schwab, Bank of America, and Fidelity are among many financial institutions that provide financial advisers to help people invest their money to prepare for retirement. Christ gave solid investment advice, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21 NKJV).
In other words, invest your treasures in the kingdom of heaven. God has a simple plan in place to finance His kingdom work here on earth. It’s so simple. First, He blesses His children, and then they return faithfully the tithe and freewill offerings. That’s it. As there are greater needs in growing God’s kingdom, He increases the blessings He gives to His children. So, the more faithfully we return, the more He gives. This is the divine partnership God wants His people to understand. There is no other plan, no substitute, no alternate. An all-wise God knew the right plan from the beginning. His investment system is fail-proof. Do you want to see God do a miracle? Let’s invest in Kingdom work and watch Him work His wonders.
—North American Division Stewardship Ministries
Join us for a free vespers concert at the Howard Performing Arts Center lobby on April 25, 2025. K-Anthony and Friends will engage us in an awesome evening of worship and vibing.
Violinist Carla Trynchuk and pianist Elena Braslavsky will be performing a recital including works by Bach, Brahms, and the Ukrainian composer Silvestrov. Trynchuk, faculty at Andrews University, has performed internationally as soloist and recitalist in more than 15 countries. Braslavsky, formerly a faculty member at The Juilliard School and the Mannes School of Music, currently serves on the piano faculty of the Mozarteum University of Salzburg. Trynchuk and Braslavsky were classmates together at The Juilliard School. Please visit us at our website howard.andrews.edu to purchase your concert tickets.
Best buddies is a worldwide organization that fosters relationships between individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities with others in the community. This April there will be a friendship walk on the Andrews campus. This will help us raise money for the organization, which then helps other chapters to be opened in new schools as well as programs in schools, workplaces, and communities. If you are interested in joining us for the walk you can sign up, and if you can not join us on April 27 you can still donate. All donations are welcome and appreciated.
The Memorial Service for Bruce Wrenn will be on Sabbath, April 26 at 5 PM at Pioneer Memorial Church. Visitation with the family will be in the Narthex from 4-5 PM.
The Institute of Young Musicians for Christ is excited to be having a music camp at Pioneer Memorial Church! At our music camps young people ages 6-17 are offered an immersive, week-long musical experience. Our quality musical training—combined with fun, friends, and faith-building encounters— provides a truly incredible opportunity. The camp offers tracks for children 6-12 with or without musical experience and a track for teenagers with significant musical experience. To learn more and register, visit iymcsda.org/michigan. We hope to see you there!
If you are a teacher/coordinator of a Sabbath School class that meets outside the PMC sanctuary, you are requested to inform your name, location and meeting time. This information will help to create a master list to assist visitors and members. Please mail your response to Melchizedek Ponniah, melponniah@gmail.com.
Pioneer Women's Ministries invites you to join us for 10 days of devotionals leading up to Easter (April 11-20). Together, we will consider what various individuals present at Christ's arrest, trial, and crucifixion might have thought and experienced. If you would like to receive daily text teasers and emails with the full devotional insights, please text the word "CROSS" to 269.281.2345.
From May 11–June 8, 2025, Maranatha Volunteers International will be working at Andrews University to update the Lamson Hall residential rooms and suite bathrooms. Please consider volunteering and letting your family and friends know of this opportunity. All individuals (including local) should sign up at the Maranatha website: https://maranatha.org/volunteer-opportunities/.