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Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP190216A
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00:09 >> ♪ Holy, holy, holy ♪ ♪ Let us all adore Thee ♪ 00:21 ♪ Casting down our golden crowns ♪ 00:26 ♪ Around the glassy sea ♪ 00:33 ♪ Cherubim and seraphim ♪ ♪ Falling down before Thee ♪ ♪ Which wert and art ♪ 00:49 ♪ And evermore shall be ♪ [ Song ends ] 01:03 >> Let's stand as we pray. 01:12 Holy Father, is it okay to sing "Happy Birthday" in church? 01:17 The Pioneer Memorial Church -- 60 years old today. 01:21 What else can we sing but "Praise God, From Whom All 01:24 Blessings Flow"? 01:26 For six decades, You've come down to meet with us beneath these towering arches and 01:30 jubilant pipes, and we thank You. For 60 years, You've come down 01:35 for the joy of weddings and graduations, for the grief of death and funerals, for the 01:39 birth of babies and the baptism of sinners, and we thank You. "Crown Him with many crowns, the 01:46 Lamb upon His throne." That's what they sang on that first Sabbath 60 years ago, and 01:52 so we sing it, too, but let it be Your music today, blended with our birthday praises, as we 01:58 worship You now in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. 02:08 [ "Crown Him with Many Crowns" begins ] 02:16 ♪♪ ♪♪ 02:36 ♪♪ ♪♪ 02:56 ♪♪ ♪♪ 03:16 ♪♪ ♪♪ 03:36 ♪♪ ♪♪ 03:56 ♪♪ ♪♪ 04:16 ♪♪ ♪♪ 04:36 ♪♪ ♪♪ 04:56 ♪♪ ♪♪ 05:16 ♪♪ ♪♪ 05:36 ♪♪ [ Song ends ] 05:45 >> You may be seated. 05:53 [ "Majesty" begins ] 05:58 ♪♪ ♪♪ 06:18 ♪♪ ♪♪ 06:38 ♪♪ ♪♪ 06:58 ♪♪ ♪♪ 07:18 ♪♪ ♪♪ 07:31 [ Song ends, "Great Is the Lord" begins ] 07:36 ♪♪ ♪♪ 07:56 ♪♪ ♪♪ 08:16 ♪♪ ♪♪ 08:36 ♪♪ ♪♪ 08:56 ♪♪ [ Song ends, 09:00 "Agnus Dei" begins ] 09:06 ♪♪ ♪♪ 09:26 ♪♪ ♪♪ 09:46 ♪♪ ♪♪ 10:06 ♪♪ ♪♪ 10:26 ♪♪ ♪♪ 10:46 ♪♪ ♪♪ 11:06 ♪♪ ♪♪ 11:26 [ Song ends ] In 1 Samuel, it says, "There is 11:30 none holy like our God," and He deserves our worship and our 11:35 total praise. So, at this time, if you want to 11:38 give your praise to Him or you have a burden that you'd like to 11:42 bring to Him, I just invite you to come forward at this time. 11:46 And I invite you to stand as we sing. 11:49 [ "Total Praise" begins ] 11:55 ♪♪ ♪♪ 12:16 ♪♪ ♪♪ 12:36 ♪♪ ♪♪ 12:56 ♪♪ ♪♪ 13:16 ♪♪ ♪♪ 13:35 ♪♪ ♪♪ 13:55 ♪♪ [ Flourish, song ends ] 14:10 >> It was a big day 60 years ago when they opened these doors to 14:14 the world and that crowd -- and we're gonna look at pictures in 14:17 just a moment -- that crowd came flowing in. 14:19 It was a huge deal. In fact, the next day, we ended 14:21 up on the front page of the South Bend Tribune. 14:26 I have the South Bend Tribune here -- Sunday morning. 14:29 So Valentine's Day was a Sabbath in 1959. 14:32 Sunday morning, front page, they had to move the articles around to get two beautiful pictures. 14:38 So here's the picture of the filled, brand-new, for the first time Pioneer Memorial Church 14:43 sanctuary, and underneath it, these words -- "Adventist Church filled for first worship 14:48 service. A capacity audience of 2,000 persons --" they didn't have 14:52 double services back then -- "2,000 persons attended worship services in the new $440,000 15:00 campus church." [ Laughter ] Man. 15:02 Can you imagine building a church for $440,000? We spent 10 times that amount 15:11 just to put these two wings on. Anyway, "The service marked the first time the newly completed 15:17 structure had been used. The inaugural service was led by Pastor J.L. Tucker, campus 15:23 pastor, Pioneer Memorial Church. An house of prayer for all people." 15:30 Not to be outdone -- and I'll put this one on the screen for you because we do have this in 15:34 our archives. "Student Movement, February 23, 1959." 15:39 Can we put that up there? There it is. "Student Movement, Campus 15:43 Edition. Emmanuel Missionary College." Here's how the piece opens. 15:47 "Jesus -- central theme rings in the new church." Quoting J.L. Tucker, the first 15:52 pastor, "'I have no other central theme than Jesus,' as Tucker began the first sermon in 15:58 EMC's new church on February 14. 'It shall ring from the nave, the balcony, the classrooms of 16:04 this church,' he continued. 'With David of old, we say I was glad when they said unto me, let 16:09 us go into the house of the Lord. With gladness, we welcome our 16:13 visitors and members to this first service in our new church home. 16:17 It is to be an house of prayer for all people.'" What did the church look like 16:22 back then? What did it feel like when they began to, brick by brick, raise 16:27 up this place of worship? Let's pull out an old family album. 16:32 We're all black and white back then. Here's where they were 16:36 worshipping before this church was erected. That's the old auditorium. 16:41 Can you see a balcony up in the corner? That balcony wrapped all the way 16:45 around the auditorium. It had a sloping floor, and this is where the students, this is 16:50 where the faculty, this is where the community -- this is where everybody worshipped. 16:54 But then comes a student movement to raise money, and soon the walls begin going up. 17:00 Take a look at this picture. Next pictures, please. Well, this is groundbreaking. 17:06 I don't recognize a soul in that picture, do you? [ Laughter ] 17:10 I don't. By the way, I forgot to do this in second. 17:13 We did this in first. Was there anybody -- Is there anybody here who was in 17:20 Pioneer Memorial Church February 14, 1959? Anybody here? 17:24 Just put your hand up. I was surprised in first church, and you're gonna see behind me. 17:28 Anybody here? I see a hand over there, Ray Phillips. 17:31 All right. Ray Roberts, sorry. I see Ray Roberts. 17:35 I see a hand right -- Rosie, you were here? Good night! 17:40 >> Choir! >> No, don't -- [ Indistinct shouting ] 17:43 What? [ Shouting continues ] Oh, there are people behind me? 17:46 [ Laughter ] Are they standing? >> Yes. 17:48 >> Are they the same ones that stood in first service? [ Laughter ] 17:52 Okay. We've got Judy, Joann, and Rick. 17:56 Can you believe that? Put your hands together for people who were here 60 years 18:00 ago! [ Applause ] All right. 18:08 Let's go back to our family album. So, there comes the church on 18:11 campus. We're gonna get an aerial view in just a moment. 18:13 You're gonna love the aerial view. Okay, so there they're going up. 18:16 These are our walls. Those are our rafters. Next, please. 18:20 Now beginning to extend. Nice. Next, please. That's a picture taken from 18:27 right here, looking out over the campus, and you're gonna see what kind of a campus was out 18:31 that front door in a moment. Next, please. Okay, the mortar. 18:35 Beautiful Indiana limestone going up, as well. Next, please. 18:40 Ah! Pews. The assembling of the first pews. 18:45 You know what? These pews have been putting up with your weight for 60 years. 18:50 [ Laughter ] And this is about the end. We're gonna put in brand-new 18:54 pews come May. May, June, July, and August, we're gonna put in brand-new 18:58 pews. We'll have padding on the back. You're gonna love it. 19:02 Okay, pews. Next, please. Ah, there it is -- 19:05 College Avenue and Westwood Drive. Yeah, we can picture it. 19:08 Next, please. Okay, there's the aerial view. Hold that up. 19:13 Okay, try to guess where the campus is back then as compared to what you know about now. 19:18 So, we see Pioneer, of course, here at the bottom, on the left. There's nothing in front of 19:23 Pioneer. It's just a field. There's no James White Library, 19:26 there's no seminary, there's no "ad" building -- there's nothing. 19:30 There's just a parking lot to the north of Pioneer. We see Lamson. 19:35 You see Lamson beyond Pioneer, and then there's a field. 19:38 There's an old building or two. Let's not worry about trying to guess the names of the 19:43 buildings, but the point is, 60 years ago, when they opened these doors, that was the campus 19:48 of Andrews University. Let's look at the next picture, please. 19:52 That is opening Sabbath. And we know it's Michigan because of the snow on the 19:57 ground, and nothing's changed in 60 years, and here's everybody going in. 20:02 And there in the front -- For you aficionados, there in the front is a Rambler. 20:07 [ Laughter ] Rambler went to church that day, yep. 20:10 Those were the days. Is this the last -- No, we're gonna go to Sabbath school. 20:14 Go downstairs for a moment please. See how big the rooms were? 20:18 We've had to put walls in over the years just to accommodate more and more divisions, and for 20:23 awhile, we were meeting in every classroom on this campus, it felt like, until we built these 20:27 two wings back in '96 and '98, but there is the Sabbath-school room and our beloved pastor. 20:33 Next picture, please. Oh, not quite right yet. This is the church. 20:37 Minnie Iverson Wood led the combined corral -- 250 voices. We used to have, when I came, 20:43 the choir benches that went that way -- permanent benches tiered up to the top near the pipes. 20:50 But there they are on opening Sabbath. Now we have Pastor J.L. Tucker, 20:54 the beloved first pastor of the Pioneer Memorial Church. And you know what, folks? 21:00 The student body of Emmanuel Missionary College -- it didn't become Andrews until 21:04 '61. The student body of EMC initiated the fundraising for 21:09 this church. They raised the money. In fact, I want you to hear -- 21:17 this is unbelievable, but the president of the student association was in the class of 21:23 1953 -- he was the president in '52/'53 school year -- he lives right here in Berrien Springs. 21:31 We took our cameras in, sat down in the comfort of his family room -- Fred Stephan, my friend 21:37 Fred Stephan, been a longtime Adventist educator for years across North America. 21:44 He remembers the fundraising, and let's listen to him tell the story. 21:47 Fred Stephan on the big screen. 21:50 >> Well, I graduated from Cedar Lake Academy, and it was 21:56 just a thing for us to do, and I know I was the first one in our 22:02 family to go to college, and I elected to come here -- to EMC 22:07 in those days. 22:11 South Hall or North Hall -- one of those -- but it was this large room that had the balcony 22:18 came all the way around and with a slanting floor. 22:24 And that's where we had our church services. 22:33 We met with the student council and started to lay out some 22:37 plans for the year. We dealt with the picnic and 22:41 various activities, and I suppose that the idea was out 22:49 there that we needed a church, and we certainly did. 22:58 ♪♪ We passed out little honey bears 23:02 that were about 8 inches tall, little pink/yellow bears, and 23:08 encouraged them to save their money -- coins, whatever -- and 23:15 I recall one student, a dorm student, donated a very valuable 23:23 coin collection. 23:25 And we would initiate programs, like we would encourage students to give up their dessert for a 23:33 month or any period of time and contribute the money for their desserts toward the building of 23:39 the church. And there were other activities that we would encourage them to 23:45 donate toward the church, and they were active. 23:50 We had a good response. 23:57 In the early '60s, because I became principal of 24:02 Wisconsin Academy, and we brought students over. 24:06 And I recall going to the church and looking at it and going 24:13 through it at that time. 24:16 Well, I was really happy to see it, and you get that feeling -- 24:20 "I wish we would've had this nice building." 24:28 I would hope that it might continue to focus on its 24:34 mission, that we could hasten the coming of the Lord. 24:42 ♪♪ 24:48 >> Good morning. Good morning. It is so good to see you guys up 24:53 here. There are just a few of -- We're gonna let everybody get settled, 24:57 and then we're gonna do something a little bit different. 25:00 Now, you guys really missed out by coming to second, because 25:04 first service, we did this, and I'm gonna be honest -- we had no 25:08 idea how it was gonna go. It was exciting, to say the 25:11 least, but we're going to try it again, so things could still go 25:15 awry. 25:16 So it's good that you're here still. So, Emmett, come up here for a 25:22 minute. 25:27 We're gonna give Emmett a little quiz. He did pretty well in first, but 25:33 we're gonna see how he does now. Okay, Emmett, come here. Can you tell us when Christmas 25:45 is? 25:50 >> No. [ Laughter ] 25:52 >> Oh. Okay. How about Thanksgiving? 25:56 >> No. >> Okay. We're gonna make this a little 26:01 easier. How about the Fourth of July? >> No. 26:05 [ Laughter ] >> Okay. Maybe something a little bit 26:09 more recent? Can you tell me when Valentine's Day was? 26:12 >> No. [ Laughter ] >> Okay. 26:15 Well, hold on. Hold on. Can you tell me, Emmett, when your birthday is? 26:24 >> October 11. >> Okay, okay. Thank you so much, Emmett. 26:31 You did a fantastic job. Here's the thing. You guys, you know when your 26:36 birthdays are, don't you? >> Yes! >> Yeah. 26:40 Because our birthdays are a very, very special day. >> I know my birthday. 26:47 >> I'm sure you do. And here's the thing. I like my birthday, too. 26:54 I remember it was my eighth birthday, it was getting close, and I was looking forward to it. 26:59 I was starting to get excited. You know how it is. You start counting off the days, 27:03 and when you're in your birthday month, it is getting close. And I was excited, except there 27:10 was a problem. Every time I seemed to bring up my birthday to my parents, they 27:16 kind of changed the subject. It was like they weren't planning anything, and it was 27:22 getting closer and closer and closer, and, pretty soon, my birthday was going to be the 27:27 very next week, and it didn't seem like they had any plans at all. 27:32 This is troubling for a middle child. [ Laughter ] 27:37 And so, finally -- I remember my birthday fell on a Sunday that year. 27:44 And so, finally, Sunday came along, and, all of a sudden, people started showing up at the 27:49 house, and my parents threw a surprise party for me. But there are good surprises, 27:55 and then there are other surprises, aren't there? And the other surprise was none 28:02 of my friends had been invited to the party. It was a party for all my 28:08 parents' friends, and I was so disappointed. But, guys, if you think 28:14 birthdays are a big party, a bigger party is coming. Jesus is coming again, and it's 28:20 gonna be a party like absolutely no other because the entire universe is gonna be celebrating 28:27 this party. There is gonna be nothing like it, and if you want to talk 28:32 about a party you can look forward to, the Second Coming is that party. 28:35 Are you guys excited about the Second Coming? >> Yes! 28:38 >> Are you excited about seeing Jesus? >> Yes! 28:43 >> My question for you then is, "Have you invited your friends to the party?" 28:49 >> Yes. >> Because we can't always rely on our parents to invite our 28:56 friends, can we? [ Laughter ] We need to make sure that we're 28:59 inviting our friends for ourselves, and you guys -- you guys already are old enough to 29:04 know how to invite your friends, aren't you? So how many of you guys are 29:09 willing to commit to you are going to invite your friends to the Second Coming? 29:16 Okay. Thank you so much. And now I need one more volunteer. 29:19 Oh, you guys are really brave. You're raising your hands before I even tell you what this is 29:24 for. This is dangerous. Okay, I need one volunteer for 29:28 prayer, and you right there, come on forward. 29:41 And what is your name? >> German. >> German. 29:44 Okay. So, let us bow our heads and close our eyes while she prays 29:48 and thanks God for the big party He has planned and help us to remember to invite people to the 29:56 party. >> Dear Father, we thank You that You have brought us to 30:01 church. Thank You for that You protect us. 30:05 Please help us to remember to invite our friends to the party. Amen. 30:10 >> Amen. And as you go back to your seat, start thinking about the friends 30:14 you want at that party. 30:21 [ "Praise God, From Whom All Blessings Flow" begins ] 30:28 ♪♪ ♪♪ 30:48 ♪♪ ♪♪ 31:03 [ Song ends ] Blessed Father, You have, for 60 31:07 years, rained down upon this piece of terra firma. 31:14 And we have stood before You now and declared our gratitude and our praise for what the 31:21 Lord of hosts, the Lord of angel armies, has done. And You're not through yet. 31:27 We pivot on our heels and now look forward. What is yet to come? 31:38 Renovate heart and house. We've talked about the house for the last few moments. 31:43 Now, Father, renovate heart, renovate all our hearts. As Your family, we pray in 31:49 Jesus' name. 31:50 Let all the people say... >> All: Amen. 31:53 >> And amen. Be seated, please. Want to share a story with you 31:57 that Krish Kandiah wrote in the most recent Christianity Today 32:02 magazine. It's a great story. 32:05 Happened over in England. Here we go. 32:09 There in England, this "little boy was playing in the street, 32:12 kicking the dust, jumping off walls. 32:14 My wife happened to walk past him with our five children, 32:17 which caught the lad's attention. 32:19 He watched from a distance for a while and then plucked up the courage to jog over and ask, 32:24 'Are you going to have a party?' My wife quickly answered, 'Yes, we are! 32:28 We call it church. If you go and check with your mum, you can come with 32:32 us.' That little boy ran home and was back in a couple of minutes with 32:35 a huge smile on his face. That Sunday, he stayed for a cup of hot chocolate and left before 32:40 the services began. But he was back the next week and the week after that. 32:45 And, pretty soon, he had brought his mother, his brother, and a couple of his cousins. 32:49 Eight years later, they are an integral part of our church. One of the most moving moments 32:54 of those years was when the boy's mother was baptized," as we saw just a moment ago. 32:59 "Standing waist-high in the water, she explained a little of her traumatic childhood, her 33:03 years living rough, and something of the struggles of trying to hold her own family 33:08 together. Her face shone, and her voice clearly articulated her love for 33:12 the God who had found her and welcomed her home. The idea that had caught her 33:17 son's imagination was that the church was like a party and that he and his family were invited 33:23 to it. Until then, they had sadly mostly experienced what it was 33:27 like to be excluded, but the discovery that church wasn't so much an event you turn up to as 33:33 a family you belong to was life-changing for them. In fact, it was life-changing 33:39 for the whole church." Isn't that good? Did you catch that last line? 33:44 The church isn't so much an event you turn up to as a family you belong to, and it is a 33:50 life-changing discovery. It'll change you forever and ever, once you realize we are 33:57 family. That's not some new-fangled notion that comes with the third 34:02 millennium. Are you kidding? That's as old as Scripture. 34:05 You take the apostle Paul -- he's scribbling off a letter to his young ministerial protégé, 34:12 young pastor Timothy, and Paul gives this counsel. Put it on the screen for you. 34:16 Look at it there -- 1 Timothy 5:1-2. 34:19 "Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but instead exhort him 34:23 as if he were your --" what? "...as if he were your father." 34:27 Keep going. "Treat younger men as your --" 34:30 what? And older women as your what? 34:33 Mm-hmm. And younger women as your 34:36 sisters, "with absolute purity." Just in case there is a young 34:40 seminarian that has wandered into this space for worship 34:43 today on our 60th anniversary, I want to say to you that that 34:46 line, taught to me by my dad and first initiated by the apostle 34:50 Paul, has been the credo that I've sought to live by. 34:54 I'm telling you what, guys, ladies, if you'll treat the older women as your mother and 35:03 the younger women as your sisters, you won't have any problem at all. 35:08 You know why? This isn't just about sexual ethics, by the way, whether 35:13 you're male or female. This is about the metaphor "we are family." 35:18 We're family. That's the whole idea of the Church. 35:21 We are family. Paul goes on -- in the letter to the church in Rome, he scribbles 35:28 a little P.S. at the end. 35:29 "I want you to pass my hugs and kisses on to some in the 35:32 congregation," so here we go. I'll put it on the screen. 35:34 Romans 16:1, 13. "I commend to you our sister --" 35:38 where'd you come up with that? Family metaphor, of course. 35:41 "I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church 35:44 in Cenchrea..." Oh, and by the way, "Greet 35:47 Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a 35:50 mother to me, too. Give her my love and hugs." 35:55 Why? Because the Church is family. We are family. 36:00 That wasn't original with Paul. The Lord Jesus, when He was here, that was His metaphor. 36:05 You remember that day that Jesus is teaching away, and, all of a sudden, his mother and his 36:09 half-brothers show up at the back of the crowd, and they sent a word by somebody, and they 36:13 say, "Your family's here, and they want to talk to you." Jesus then speaks. 36:17 Watch this -- put it on the screen. 36:19 This is Matthew 12:49-50. "Pointing to his disciples, 36:24 Jesus then said --" hey, guys, look -- "'Here are my mother and 36:28 my brothers. For whoever does the will of my 36:31 Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.'" 36:34 Why? Because we...are...family. 36:37 Jesus went on Luke chapter 18. Put that up, please -- 36:40 Luke 18: 29-30. "'I tell you the truth --" he 36:44 said to another crowd -- "'no one who has left home or wife or 36:48 brothers or parents or children for the sake of the 36:52 Kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in 36:55 this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.'" 36:58 In the 60 years that we have watched these baptismal 37:01 curtains open, time and time again, there have been 37:04 occasions -- you haven't known about it -- when men, women, 37:07 young adults, teenagers, and sometimes kids standing in that 37:10 baptistery have done so at great relational cost to 37:17 themselves, and they have subsequently been ostracized by 37:21 their most tender and precious relationships. 37:25 Jesus says, "You may lose those biological relationships when you follow me, but guess what. 37:31 You're gonna get 100 times more in the community I have for you because we are family. 37:37 We are family." Yeah, it's a big deal [Chuckles] for Paul, for Jesus, for 37:44 Scripture. "Church isn't so much an event you turn up to as a family you 37:50 belong to." And it's just the very same way with the last letter ever 37:55 written in the Bible, bar none. It's the last letter to the seven churches. 38:00 It's to the church living at the end of time. It's the letter to Laodicea. 38:04 That's been our little winter theme. Just a few more parts left, and 38:07 we're done, but let's go to Revelation chapter 3, the last letter. 38:11 Jesus dictated it to John there on the isle of Patmos. But what's the letter say? 38:16 Well, may I show you that, if we read between the lines, we see that it's still big on family? 38:21 Watch this. Revelation 3:14... 38:34 You can stop it right there. He calls himself, "I am the 38:37 ruler of God's creation." And guess what. 38:40 The ruler of God's creation is the inventor of the family. 38:44 He's the one who said, "You'll be male, and you'll be female, and, oh, by the way, will you 38:50 please go and multiply?" The creator of the universe, who created us, is the Lord of 38:56 families. He says, "By the way, I'm the one who's sending you this 39:00 letter. I'm big on family." But we know He's even just as 39:03 big on family by another clue tucked away. Let's look at that verse 14 we 39:07 just read a moment ago and just use the opening line. "To the angel of the church in 39:12 Laodicea..." Because you know what? When Laodicea existed as a 39:16 church, they didn't have edifices. They didn't have Gothic arches 39:20 like this. They didn't have cathedrals. They had nothing. 39:24 All they had was somebody's house. Church happened in a home, a 39:28 family circle. That's what happened. The families gathered together 39:32 in a house and worshipped every seventh-day Sabbath. Embedded between the lines -- 39:40 "We are family." That's why Jesus comes along here in verse 20 -- This is 39:46 something else. This is the one line that everybody who knows Scripture 39:50 remembers. 39:51 "Oh, this is the only part of the letter I remember." 39:53 Verse 20. "Here I am!" Jesus speaking... 40:04 The door is a family house. It's the door to a family home. 40:08 "Hey, yo, family, you're having a big party in there, but do you 40:13 know that I'm not in there? 40:15 Anybody open the door for me, I'll come in, and we'll be family together. 40:19 We'll share that meal together." Yeah, why? Because we...are...family. 40:28 "Church isn't so much an event you turn up to as a family you belong to." 40:35 And that's why "Renovate" is not just about house. "Renovate" is about heart and 40:42 house, and right now you and I are thinking "heart." In fact, nothing has brought 40:48 this reality into sharper focus for us here at Pioneer than what has been happening over the last 40:53 few years. I have a friend who told me years ago, "Our business, 40:57 okay --" so he's talking about the Church. "Our business," as a Church, "is 41:00 to find the wave the Holy Spirit is creating and then to surf it." 41:06 Now, you have to to be a surfer to get this, and I have my young friend Michael Von Dorpowski 41:10 here, and he's a top-flight surfer. And, so, Michael, let's put a 41:14 picture of the wave -- let's see a picture of the wave on the screen. 41:17 That's a big wave, isn't it? And Michael will tell you the first thing you got to do is you 41:21 got to have the wave. If you don't have a wave, you're not surfing -- you're paddling, 41:25 right? Once you get the wave, once you see the wave, then 41:29 [Snaps fingers] you ride it, you surf it for all you're worth. The Holy Spirit has been 41:38 creating a wave around here, and we didn't even note it. We didn't even see it till the 41:44 other day. Oh, my, let me show you. You're saying, "Dwight, what's 41:47 that wave?" Let me show you a picture from this morning about eight minutes 41:51 ago. Let's put that picture on the screen, please. 41:54 Recognize those faces? That was taken just eight minutes ago. 41:58 That's not the whole group. That's the only part that we could get into the lens. 42:04 You know who those are? Yeah, those are children. For months now, the number of 42:09 children coming forward for the children's story each Sabbath has been unbelievable, and it's 42:13 still growing. Where did these children come from? 42:16 I'll give you a little hint. They came from their parents, all right? 42:20 [ Laughter ] Where do the parents come from? The parents have come from all 42:23 over campus, they've come from around the community, they've come from around the county. 42:27 They're coming. "Why are they coming here, Dwight?" 42:30 I'll tell you why. Because what Pioneer does for children, that's why. 42:34 In just the one hour allotted for the Sabbath-school time each Saturday morning, what Pioneer 42:39 does is without parallel. You say, "You're just biased." Of course I am, but let me tell 42:43 you something -- the reputation is heard on the street, around the world. 42:47 I travel, and people come up and say, "Yo, I know about your church -- the children's Sabbath 42:51 schools." 42:56 We have the finest, we have the most creative children's Sabbath schools on Earth, bar none, and 43:02 they're known throughout the denomination. And as you can see, they enjoy 43:06 the same reputation here at home. That's why they're showing up. 43:10 You throw in a Pathfinder Club second to none and an Adventurer Club that is the 43:15 largest in North America, and it all adds up -- voilà -- Pioneer's future. 43:20 The Holy Spirit has created a wave, and we've got to surf that wave for all we're worth as long 43:25 as the wave is here. See, that's the deal. And so the confluence of two 43:31 compelling realities has convincingly shown us the wave of the Holy Spirit here that 43:38 He's created in Pioneer. Okay, what are the two realities? 43:41 Well, one I've already given you -- number one, the throngs of children that now occupy this 43:45 space, and number-two reality is the highly motivated, visionary volunteer leadership that the 43:51 Spirit has anointed and appointed. Back in September, I sat down in 43:55 my office here at the church with Laurence Burn, who's children's Sabbath-school 43:59 superintendent from birth through grade 1, and Glynis Bradfield, who's 44:03 children's Sabbath-school superintendent from grade 2 through early teens, and they 44:07 were brimming -- [Chuckles] I'm listening to them -- brimming with ideas about how to grow 44:11 children, and not just the children, but to grow their families, and not just the 44:14 families, but grow the Kingdom in the process, and, this morning, while you were wherever 44:18 you were during Sabbath school, they were packing that youth chapel out. 44:22 We took a picture, and I want to put the picture on the screen for you. 44:25 You know what they did? They had all the Sabbath schools downstairs come upstairs, 44:29 parents and children alike -- 276, head-count right there. And they put on a humdinger of a 44:36 program, and they sent the teams who were having their youth Sabbath school there down into 44:40 those rooms downstairs to teach little classes up and down the hallway. 44:45 That's the kind of creativity that the Spirit is raising up. He's created a [Chuckles] wave. 44:49 We got to surf this wave. And so, after much prayer and planning with our team here and 44:55 with our Conference administration, we are pleased, on this 60th birthday Sabbath, 45:00 to announce a major paradigm shift in the pastoral team at the Pioneer Memorial Church on 45:05 the campus of Andrews University, and here it is. 45:09 Jim Collins, in his mega best-seller, "Good to Great," uses the leadership metaphor of 45:13 the bus. He says, "Listen, the deal is, you got to get the right people 45:17 on the bus first, and after you have them on the bus, you've got to get them in the right seats." 45:22 Well, that's exactly what we've realized, and that's what we're about to announce. 45:27 In keeping with that, we're moving two pastors to new seats on the Pioneer bus. 45:33 To respond to this wave that the Holy Spirit has already created with our children, we are asking 45:38 Ben Martin -- you met him just a moment ago, that precious little Emmett, his boy, and Arlo -- 45:43 we're asking Pastor Ben, our present youth pastor, to become our new pastor for children and 45:49 family discipling, giving special leadership and oversight to children from birth through 45:54 early teens. Ben has long had a passion for reaching the youngest of the 46:00 members of God's family, and he's shown a proclivity to that skill, and we're very grateful 46:06 that he has accepted this invitation. It's a perfect shift to surf the 46:11 Spirit's wave. Now, his departure from youth ministry means that our team 46:16 will only be complete when we bring in a new youth pastor on board to join the Pioneer 46:21 team, and our new youth pastor will be a woman. >> Amen! 46:26 >> Amen! >> Well, two of you are happy. [ Laughter, applause ] 46:31 I knew you would. Yeah, amen. Our new youth pastor will be a woman. 46:37 We don't know who it is yet, but we know it'll be a woman. You say, "How do you know that, 46:41 Dwight?" Because those are the only names we've turned in. 46:43 And I just was on the phone with the Conference president, Jim Micheff -- who's a great 46:49 supporter of Pioneer -- yesterday, and we got the date for the interviews. 46:53 They're gonna happen all on the same day, in just a few days. So we know that God will be 47:00 sending a woman to Pioneer to begin to lead, spiritually lead our teens. 47:06 Hmm. But with the recent retirement of Pastor Sharon Terrell, we've 47:12 had to bring two people in. Pastor Sharon has been our finance and stewardship pastor. 47:21 We're making two shifts. We've asked Joann Siagian, our accountant, to become our new 47:26 church treasurer, and she's accepted a new responsibility and is doing great. 47:30 And we're asking José Bourget, our campus chaplain, to become our new executive pastor. 47:35 For the first time in the history of the Pioneer Memorial Church, we have 47:38 now a leadership position called "XP," executive pastor. "Why are you doing that, 47:43 Dwight?" Because I need, because we need someone with a passion for 47:49 administration to oversee the vision mission of Pioneer as we now move into the seventh decade 47:55 as a campus congregation. José's task will be to lead the annual strategic-planning 48:00 process, reviewing the mission vision and core values, developing key objectives and 48:05 tactics, and establishing three- to five-year goals for the Pioneer Memorial Church. 48:10 We need it. Which means now we've got to find a gifted campus chaplain to 48:16 fill Jose's position. And we're now beginning that search process, as well. 48:22 Well, the Spirit will lead us. I'm not worried about it. The Holy Spirit will lead us to 48:25 the right person. By the way, there's one other major change that I need to 48:28 announce to you, and that is our GROW Group pastor, that is vacant when Sabine Vatel left to 48:37 become a hospital chaplain, but we're very grateful already that Pastor Rodlie has agreed to step 48:43 into that leadership position, GROW Group discipleship ministry, along with the 48:47 community-outreach ministry that he already is carrying in his portfolio. 48:52 And Brianna Martin -- we just met her a few moments ago -- will continue to assist 48:58 Pastor Rodlie in this critical ministry of GROW Groups, providing discipleship for this 49:04 congregation. So we have the right people on the bus, and, by the grace of 49:11 God, they're occupying the right seats on the bus. And with the arrival of our new 49:16 youth pastor and our campus chaplain, this team, at last, will be complete again, to which 49:21 I'm gonna say, "Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord." Yeah. 49:26 ♪ We are family ♪ They ought to write a song like that sometime, you know? 49:32 [ Laughter ] I mean, seriously. It just has something to it. 49:36 ♪ We are fa-mily ♪ Little bit of Pauline syncopation perhaps. 49:42 But that's family. By the way, I'm putting it on the screen for you. 49:46 That's "Family" with a capital F. I want to end with a quotation. 49:49 One more time -- the words of Krish Kandiah, from his Christianity Today piece. 49:53 This is profound. On the screen... 50:01 "It can be an antidote to more individualistic --" which is 50:04 society today -- "sadly even consumptive --" Everybody's a 50:07 consumer, consumer. We're always trying to attract 50:10 consumers, something new to get consumers to come to us. 50:13 No. "...sadly even consumptive 50:15 models of church participation that are common today." 50:18 We don't want that, he's writing. 50:20 Now read... 50:37 To which I say amen. So let there be no question that 50:43 the God who for six decades has led this mighty congregation, 50:48 beginning 60 years ago right now, is the God who will guide 50:53 us. "Oh, Thou great Jehovah, 50:56 pilgrims through this barren land, we are weak, but Thou art 51:00 mighty. Hold us with Thy powerful hand." 51:04 And He will, for He is the God of Abraham and Sarah, He is the God of Isaac and Rebecca, He is 51:10 the God of Jacob and Leah and Rachel. He's the God of the pioneers, 51:14 for whom this church is a memorial, and you know what? I have good news for you today. 51:19 He is still the Lord of Pioneer. What do you say? >> All: Amen. 51:23 >> Amen. Amen, because we are family -- all are family. 51:32 Amen. Invite you to turn your worship bulletin over, and on the back 51:37 cover is the Litany of Dedication that we are going to read right now. 51:44 Find your bulletin. Turn it over, back cover. And Karen is gonna join me as we 51:53 invite you to stand. She'll lead the congregation in this Litany of Dedication, after 52:00 which we'll sing the mighty "Lord's Prayer" together, all right? 52:08 "Almighty God, we give You thanks for the work You have done through Christ in this 52:15 place." >> All: "We thank You for adopting us into Your family as 52:20 Your sons and daughters." >> "You have sent Your Holy Spirit to heal and comfort 52:25 our hurts, our sorrows, our infirmities, and our losses." >> All: "You have listened to 52:31 our confessions and forgiven our sins." >> "Lord, thank You for drawing 52:36 us a congregation to become part of Your global Church." >> All: "Thank You for our 52:42 pioneers and founders who obediently listened to Your voice to raise up both our 52:48 church and our congregation for Your sacred purposes." >> "Help us to teach our young 52:55 Your Word and Your ways so they will know who they are and whom You call them to be." 53:01 >> All: "Inspire us with a vision for Your glory, to be a house of prayer for all people, 53:09 and use that vision to direct the path of this congregation." >> "Continue to empower us with 53:16 Your Spirit, that we might connect, grow, serve, and go with the Gospel of Jesus Christ 53:22 as Lord and Savior to all people." >> All: "In our families, in our 53:27 community, and to the ends of the Earth." >> "Help us to witness to the 53:32 good news of Jesus Christ until people of every nation, tribe, tongue, and people worship Your 53:39 holy name." >> All: "May all glory and honor be Yours, in and through Your 53:46 Church, and in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen." 53:51 >> Let us sing together the "Lord's Prayer." 53:54 [ The "Lord's Prayer" begins ] 54:02 ♪♪ ♪♪ 54:22 ♪♪ ♪♪ 54:42 ♪♪ ♪♪ 55:02 ♪♪ ♪♪ 55:22 ♪♪ ♪♪ 55:42 ♪♪ ♪♪ 56:02 ♪♪ ♪♪ 56:22 ♪♪ ♪♪ 56:42 ♪♪ Amen. 56:46 ♪♪ [ Song ends ] 56:58 >> Before you go, let me take an extra moment to share with you 57:01 an opportunity to get into the Bible in a fresh, new way. 57:04 All across the world, more and more people are hearing the call 57:07 to examine Scriptures for themselves. 57:09 If you felt drawn to learn more about God's Word, but you don't 57:12 know where to start or you're just looking for a more in-depth 57:15 examination of Bible truths, then I have something right here 57:18 that I believe you're going to enjoy. 57:20 I want to send a series of guides to get you started. 57:22 This one's entitled, "Why Does God Allow Suffering?" 57:25 Each guide begins with a story, an introduction of the subject. 57:28 Then, through a series of focus questions, 57:30 you'll be learning portions of the Bible you may never 57:32 have known before, and when you're through, you'll be able 57:34 to share with others some of these inspiring Bible truths. 57:38 So just call our toll-free number. 57:39 It's on the screen -- 877 -- the two words -- 57:42 HIS-WILL. Our friendly operators 57:44 are standing by to send these study guides to you. 57:46 Once again, that's 877-HIS-WILL. 57:49 Call that number, and then, again, join me next week 57:54 right here at the same time. "New Perceptions." 58:00 ♪♪ ♪♪ 58:17 ♪♪ |
Revised 2019-02-27