A reception will take place on the lawn in front of Pioneer (Campus Mall) immediately following the 11:45 AM service on August 28. We are looking for volunteers to help furnish 3 dozen cookies for the event. We will serve cookies and lemonade to welcome the new students. To help, please call the church at 269-471-3131 or confirm online. Instructions will be sent to volunteers furnishing cookies. We hope you'll join us in welcoming the new students!
Storm
Finding Jesus in the Gathering Dark - 7
DVDs
To purchase a DVD of this sermon please visit our online shopping cart. Proceeds go to support the New Perceptions media ministry.Buy DVD Online Buy series
Speaker
Dwight K. NelsonSince 1983, Dwight Nelson has served as lead pastor of the Pioneer Memorial Church on the campus of Andrews University. He preaches on the “New Perceptions” telecast, teaches at the theological seminary and has written some 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
More In This Series
“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)
- “By faith Enoch walked with God” (Genesis 5:24)
- 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.
New College Students Welcome Reception
Support SDA Church Members in Madagascar
Andrews University is helping to support the SDA church members in southwest Madagascar who are currently experiencing severe drought and famine in addition to the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, you can provide food to those in desperate need. We have been told that some members eat mud, roots, and leaves to try and remove hunger cramps. As a member of the Adventist family, you can feed a family of four for one month for $50, providing vital rice, beans, oil, and other essential food. The neediness of these families is serious. There are eleven churches scattered around the affected area with 494 families and over 1,691 individuals. Even though some food aid was collected and distributed in November 2020, the drought has continued, and that food is now used up.
Give online or write a check to Andrews University with the memo “CIDP-Famine Relief” and send it to:
Office of Development
8903 US Hwy 31
Andrews University
Berrien Springs, MI 49104-0660
Joel Luc Raveloharimisy, MBA, PhD
Director of Community and International Development Program
Andrews University
More Info: cidpprojects@andrews.edu
Offering for July 24, 2021
Michigan Advance Partners—Adventist Education
Most people have some idea about how the stock market is doing because the health of their investments is tied to it. It is safe to say that everyone who invests in the stock market wants to find investments that will provide a positive dividend and increase to their portfolio. Essentially, they want to get more money out of their investment than what they originally put in.
The Bible talks about an investment that is completely different than the investments of the world. From a purely worldly perspective, it doesn’t seem to make any “cents.” And, in fact, this is beautifully true. Matthew 6:13 says, “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."
Adventist Education perfectly fits the concept of heavenly investment because investing in the life of a child has an incredible impact. In fact, investing in Adventist Education provides a double impact because of the positive force students can have as citizens of this life and in the life to come.
As we near the coming of Jesus, the need for Adventist Education has never been greater. Additionally, the need for financial support for families to send their children to our schools has never been greater.
As you consider your investment portfolio, won’t you consider choosing one of the most important investments possible, that is, a child of God?
Investments deposited in the heavenly treasury will never result in loss or ruin. Furthermore, throughout eternity you will be able to reap the dividends and be grateful that God empowered you to be a channel of blessing to a child of God.
—North American Division Stewardship Ministries
Something In Common Sabbath School
Something in Common Sabbath School is meeting again! For the summer we are temporarily meeting in the Pioneer Commons. We are watching portions of Gary Smalley's classic "Keys to Loving Relationships" and discussing how to apply these principles to our families. Come and join us!
Saturdays, 10:30-11:30 AM
Location: Pioneer Commons
International Day of the Widow
The estimated number of widowed persons worldwide in 2020 was approximately 350 million, with the large majority, approximately 80 percent, being widowed women. But, the actual number is likely to be much higher and to grow further as the coronavirus and its related effects on health continue to range around the world. Here are some resources to share with those who may be grieving loss.
Bible verses of comfort to share in a card:
- "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels or demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." -Romans 8:39
- "Don't be afraid, for I am with you." -Isaiah 41:10
- "The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble." -Psalm 9:9-10
- "Those of steadfast mind you keep in peace--because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for in the Lord God you have an everlasting rock." -Isaiah 26:3-4
What is appropriate to say to a grieving widow/widower:
- "I'd love to make you dinner and drop it off tomorrow night if that's okay with you."
- "I am here for you and care about you."
- "Know that I am here to support you."
- "I am here anything you'd like to talk."
- (Don't push for details: Let the bereaved talk about their loved one. Be a good listener. Elderly spouses, in particular, will likely want to talk and tell stories about the spouse. ... Don't bring up other people's losses: Let the spouse focus on his/her loss.)
- What is appropriate to do for a grieving widow/widower:
- Soon after the death, show up at their door and say, "I'm here to clean your house" (Or polish your shoes or take out the trash or shovel snow.)
- People are numb after such a loss and will need help with simple things. One friend stayed overnight with a new widow until her sister arrived. She also met people at the door, wrote down names of visitors, and put food in the fridge.
- Sit with them in church. It's difficult for many to return and sit alone.
- Call them from time to time or send occasional cards.
- Invite them to be part of a small group.
- If they have young children, offer to babysit one day so they can have time to do something without worrying about the kids.
- Ask them to help you in an outreach activity.
- Include them in holiday plans. This is a particularly wrenching time for the bereaved.
- Above all, continue your friendship. Don't stop including them in your social activities just because they are no longer part of a couple.
Financial Peace University
It's time to stop worrying about money! In Financial Peace University, you'll learn the biblical truths to help you keep a budget, beat debt, and build wealth! Class begins Tuesday, June 8, 2021 (6:30—7:30 PM).
A.U. Eats
A.U. Eats is back! Offering chef made vegetarian/vegan meals delivered to your door. Go to GET.CBORD.com to place your order or for more information call 269-471-3161.
Timeless Tours
Join Timeless Tours next March 16-27, 2022 for an unforgettable tour to ancient Egypt. Two experienced biblical archaeologists will be your guides. For more information contact Timeless Tours through Stefanie Elkins at selkins@andrews.edu. You can also learn more about the tour, find application forms, payments, itineraries and more via our website; www.digtheadventure.com.
Mommy and Me has a New Name!
Mommy and Me is now Preschool Pray & Play! Our goal is for our new name to reflect the way we welcome ALL caregivers--moms, dads, nannies, grandparents, babysitters, etc.—as well as our faith-based approach to friendship and play.
Pray and Play is a great group for caregivers and children ages 0-5 to meet new people, make friends, sing, pray, and play together. This year, we'll be meeting through the summer months, and we'd love you to join us! Text PLAYINFO to 269-281-2345 to be notified about upcoming meetings/events, or join online.
Sabbath Afternoon Prayer Walk
Join us for our Sabbath afternoon prayer walk on campus! We meet at the stairs behind the statue, and it starts at 5:00 PM and ends by 6:00 PM. We would love to have you join us. If that day/time does not work for you, there are other days that people are
prayer walking, as well. Questions? Contact: Ildiko at igyeresi@andrew.edu; Andrew at tidwella@gmail.com; or Andrea at gibbsak777@gmail.com.