Finals are just around the corner, and we’re excited to provide Finals Survival Kits—filled with goodies to help students stay focused during finals week. We invite you to volunteer or donate items for the survival kit! To sign up, please text the word "FINALS" to 269-281-2345.
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
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”
Help us show our home bound and assisted living members that we haven't forgotten them. This afternoon we have an Easter Lily to deliver to them. It just takes a few minutes, but a flower and prayer, puts a smile on their face every time they look at it. We will give you a card with their name and address on it.
On Saturday, April 19, 3:30 PM, at Mars Community Center, Michiana Adventist Forum will host an interview with Dr. Meredith Jones Gray, author of “As We Set Forth” (2002) and “Forward in Faith” (2024). This two-volume set recounts the history of Andrews University from its early days as Battle Creek College and Emmanuel Missionary College. In this interview, Dr. Jones Gray will reflect on her research and writing process as it intersects with her own long history at Andrews. Mars Community Center is located at 26-50 Sylvester Ave., Berrien Springs. Everyone is welcome.
Saturday April 19 at 8:30 PM, the Andrews University Symphony Orchestra is presenting the WAUS "Thank You Concert" in the Howard Performing Arts Center. This performance is sponsored by the radio station and the admission is free. Dr. Chi Yong Yun will be featured as guest soloist on Schumann's piano concerto in A minor, and the University Singers and Chorale will be performing Franck's Psalm 150 and The Heavens Are Telling from Haydn's oratorio The Creation.
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.
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.