Speaker

Dwight K. Nelson

Dwight 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 11, 2017
Program: 
As We Begin
Most Lovely Lord Jesus • Hermann Schroeder
Praise
Holy Is the Lord • This Is My Desire (Lord I Give You My Heart) • Speak O Lord
Prayer
Sharon Terrell
Tithes & Offerings
Arioso • Johann Sebastian Bach
Baby Dedication
Cyrus Salvador Virchel presented by Gary & Athina Wood with José Bourget
Bible Reading
1 John 2:3-6 NLT
Worship in Music
Wayfarin' Stranger • Traditional / Barry Milner
Sermon
“STORM: Finding Jesus in the Gathering Dark”—7 • Dwight K. Nelson
Connect Card
I Would Be Like Jesus • 311
As We Depart
O Lamb of God, Unspotted • Johann Sebastian Bach

“STORM: Finding Jesus in the Gathering Dark”—7
www.newperceptions.tv

 

  • Storm
    • James Hunter: “We say we want renewal of character in our day, but we don’t really know what we ask for. To have a renewal of character is to have the renewal of a creedal order that constrains, limits, bind, obligates, and compels. This price is too high for us to pay. We want character but without unyielding conviction. We want strong morality but without the emotional burden of guilt or shame. We want virtue but without the particular moral justifications that invariably offend. We want good without having to name evil. We want decency without the authority to insist upon it. We want moral community without any limitations to personal freedom. In short, we want what we cannot possibly have on the terms we want it.” (The Death of Character: Moral Education in an Age Without Good or Evil quoted by Gordon Bietz in Southern Columns Spring 2016)
  • Walk and Talk
    • Genesis 5:21-24
    • Hebrews 11:5
    • Ellen White: “In every phase of your character building [i.e., growth is taking place] you are to please God. This you may do; for Enoch pleased Him though living in a degenerate age. And there are Enochs in this our day.” (Christ’s Object Lessons 332, emphasis supplied)
    • John 15:5 à John 5:19 à John 5:30 à John 14:10
  • Credo
    • Hebrews 2:13—“‘I will put My trust in Him.’”
    • When you walk by faith, you will be like Jesus.
      • “By faith Enoch walked with God” (Genesis 5:24) 
        • “By faith Jesus walked with God” (Hebrews 2:13)
      • “By faith Enoch pleased God” (Hebrews 11:5) 
        • ​“By faith Jesus pleased God” (John 5:30)
    • Ellen White: “Enoch kept the Lord ever before him, and the inspired word says that he ‘walked with God.’ He made Christ his constant companion. He was in the world, and performed his duties to the world; but he was ever under the influence of Jesus. He reflected Christ’s character, exhibiting the same qualities in goodness, mercy, tender compassion, sympathy, forbearance, meekness, humility, and love. His association with Christ day by day transformed him into the image of Him with whom he was so intimately connected. Day by day he was growing away from his own way into Christ’s way, the heavenly, the divine, in his thoughts and feelings. He was constantly inquiring, ‘Is this the way of the Lord?’ His was a constant growth, and he had fellowship with the Father and the Son.” (Review & Herald 4/28/1891)
    • Mark Labberton: “I started to read the New Testament just as I was about to enter college. With very few assumptions, and with no theological or spiritual commitments, I simply picked up the Bible and began to read. I read and reread the Gospels, and then the whole New Testament. . . . I was by no means sure there was a god, nor was I sure that this text and its apparent claims were true or relevant to some possible divine being. It simply seemed to me that a literate person should be acquainted with the Bible, and so it all began.”
    • “I came to discover that what Jesus offered was in fact the antidote to smallness: the kingdom of God. The smallness that pervades much of our natural human enterprise, whether it is business, education, politics, or religion, was the problem of a shrunken heart and mind. By contrast, the kingdom of God—life under the reign of God’s grace and truth in Jesus Christ—expands and unleashes our heart, mind, soul, and strength for the profound purposes for which we were made.”
    • “To my utter surprise, the Bible proved itself to be clear to me, even though I knew almost nothing about it. What the Bible made plain was that I was loved, sought, convicted, called, and redeemed by the true and living God who came to save the world—including me—in Jesus Christ. The clarity of Scripture was not an abstract principle; it was an apt description. . . . Over time, it has formed my spiritual genealogy and biography.”
    • “However urbane and cosmopolitan, skeptical and doubting, or poor and broken people may be, God’s Word speaks with authority and power. Just as water will always find its own way, so the Bible’s ‘streams of water’ do the same—finding their way into parched and thirsty lives to bring new life. . . . It’s not simply the clarity of comprehension for which Jesus calls us to be ‘perfect,’ but a life that looks increasingly like the life of the Word made flesh. This is the final test of the Bible’s clarity: Can people read our lives and see the life of God in us? This is the perspicuity [transparency] that God has given us in the Bible, a clarity that is meant to be readable in part through the unfinished lives of those who read and trust it.”
    • “The clarity of our faithful Bible reading is meant to show up in the clarity of our faithful lives.” (Christianity Today Jan/Feb 2017)

 

When you walk by faith in the Word,
 you will be like Jesus in the world.

 

Mission and Strategy Statements Town Hall Meetings
Pioneer Youth Chapel

The Elders have finished! After many months of prayerful and concerted work, the draft of Pioneer's potential new mission and strategy statements are ready for your review.  

Please join us at any of the identical Town Hall/Q & A sessions listed below to hear Pastor Shane and our elders present the drafts for your feedback.  Our goal is to take your input, modify the drafts as needed, sent them back to the church board for final review, and begin implementation in the Fall.  

Please join us for any of these important and impactful meetings that will help guide Pioneer's witness for years to come!

May 13, Tuesday, 7:00-9:00 PM

May 18, Sunday, 9:00-11:00 AM

May 22, Thursday, 7:00-9:00 PM (Zoom only)

The Tent

Join us for a special Evangelistic Series presented by the Jr. High Students of Ruth Murdoch Elementary School. We hope you can join us in big white tent near Griggs Hall at 7pm starting Friday May 9 through May 18. There will be no meeting on Tuesday. Come and be inspired as our students share messages of hope, love, and the good news of Jesus. Your presence will encourage them, and more importantly, you can help bring someone closer to Christ. Bring a friend or family member and experience God's message together!

Holding Onto Jesus

Sunday, May 25, 3-5 PM Pioneer Youth Chapel What do we do when our life is shaken by illness, a great loss, or some other devastation? How do we find God when it feels like He isn’t there? Women of all ages are invited to hear Emily Gibbs share her testimony, and explore ways that we can have resilience in the midst of difficult experiences. Register by texting TRIALS to 269-281-2345. Questions? Email women@pmchurch.org.

AdventistGiving Online (AGO) Contributors

 Your faithfulness is very much appreciated.  To ensure that your donations are properly credited to your account, when contributing through Adventist Giving, please log in under your name, instead of contributing as a "Guest."

Adventist Seniors of Michiana Meeting May 18.

Seniors 55 and up are invited to the Adventist Seniors of Michiana program to be held in the PMC Commons May 18. Bring a dish and enjoy the potluck starting at 1 PM followed by a program featuring Ken Denslow, recently retired Lake Union Conference President. His topic will be Project Amigo and Other Missions. For any questions call Cheryl Doss at 269-277-0767

Offering for May 10, 2025

Disaster & Famine Relief

This Sabbath, our church joins many others in collecting a special offering to support ongoing disaster relief efforts. Funds collected today support both Adventist humanitarian organizations, Adventist Community Services and Adventist Development and Relief Agency. Each serves in different geographical areas. Adventist Community Services responds to disasters of all kinds across the North American Division which includes the United States, Canada, Bermuda, Guam, and Micronesia. As we approach Christ’s return, the Bible tells us that crisis events will increase. Emergency Management records have tracked disasters for over 50 years and confirm tornadoes are touching down with greater impact, hurricanes are moving at greater speeds, and violent killings in the form of mass shootings increase with alarming frequency. Adventist Community Services stands ready to serve those affected by these and other tragedies. Some services provided are:

  • open collection centers to receive and sort donations, sending them to areas of greatest need,
  • provide emotional and spiritual care to the distraught,
  • and deliver essential supplies to areas hardest hit by a disaster.

1 John 3:18 tells us to love with action and in truth. Today, we ask that you give liberally, and we thank you for joining the team who extends the hand of mercy to people in crisis. Together we are serving communities in Christ’s name. 

North American Division Stewardship Ministries

Love on the Move

 Would you like to make a difference in our community? God's Hands 4 Kids has ways you can do that. GH4K loves the "True religion way to love the least of these" James 1:27. The Foster Parent Appreciation Dinner is being held on May 16 in a church in our community. We are working with the Berrien County Department of Health and Human Services to put this on.  We are looking for childcare help. Also seeking gift baskets, gifts or gift cards. For more information contact Carol Jordan at Godshands4kids@gmail.com There is a presentation this Friday evening from Unaccompanied Refugee Minors. Ask for more info if interested.

Music Camp at Pioneer!

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!

Lamson Hall Upgrades with Maranatha

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/.