News reports from Oakland, California; Loma Linda University; the Society of Adventist Communicators; the Philippines; and Avondale University: Embracing Change Post News Group reported that on October 8, the Northern California Conference held its annual convocation which, this year, was themed Embracing Change. The event took place at Grand Avenue Seventh-day Adventist Church in Oakland […] Source: https://atoday.org/news-briefs-for-october-27-2022/
Fourth Blessing in the Beatitudes (What Does Jesus Teach Us?) – Pastor Ted Wilson
This week, Pastor Ted Wilson talks about the fourth blessing Jesus mentioned in the Sermon on the Mount. Have you been terribly hungry or thirsty? Your throat went really dry and your stomach was aching so badly. And over time, your craving for food and water became stronger. Then, what a relief it was when you finally got some food and water to satisfy your hunger and thirst! Jesus tells us in the fourth beatitude, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled" (Matthew 5:6). Here, instead of talking about physical food and drink, He is referring to spiritual nourishment—longing after righteousness. What is righteousness? "Righteousness is holiness, likeness to God, and 'God is love,'" (Ellen White, Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, page 18). It is conformity to the law of God, for "all Thy commandments are righteousness" (Psalm 119:172), and "love is the fulfillment of the law" (Romans 13:10). Therefore, righteousness is love, and love is the light and life of God. This love is embodied in Him. So, we receive righteousness by accepting Him. This righteousness is not something we can earn because it is a gift from God. "Not by painful struggles or wearisome toil, not by gift or sacrifice, is righteousness obtained; but it is freely given to every soul who hungers and thirsts to receive it" (Ellen White, Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, page 18). In every human being, there is a "God-shaped hole"—a place in the heart that only God can fill. Ecclesiastes 3:11 seems to verify this by saying God has "put eternity" into our hearts. Though many people try to fill that space with philosophy, materialism, secularism, and the like, only God can truly satisfy the hunger and thirst of the soul. Jesus says, "I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst" (John 6:35). Just as we need food and water to sustain physical life, we also need Christ to sustain spiritual life to follow where He leads us. "A divine element combines with the human when the soul reaches out after God…If you have a sense of need in your soul, if you hunger and thirst after righteousness, this is an evidence that Christ has wrought upon your heart, in order that He may be sought unto to do for you, through the endowment of the Holy Spirit, those things which it is impossible for you to do for yourself" (Ellen White, Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, page 19). Then, on page 20, we are given this promise: "The words of God are the wellsprings of life. As you seek unto those living springs, you will, through the Holy Spirit, be brought into communion with Christ. Familiar truths will present themselves to your mind in a new aspect, texts of Scripture will burst upon you with a new meaning as a flash of light, you will see the relation of other truths to the work of redemption, and you will know that Christ is leading you; a divine Teacher is at your side." And again, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled" (Matthew 5:6). This is a precious promise we can claim today. To learn more about this topic, read Ellen White's book Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing and download its digital copy at https://egwwritings.org/. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEz3XTESMMA
Non mi vergogno di essere avventista
Versetto introduttivo: Daniele 8:14 Meditazione a cura di: Willy Amaro Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgHx8kE9R5E
Video Giornale Avventista – 29 ottobre 2022
Come comunicare il vangelo in un mondo complesso? I professionisti dei media avventisti si sono ritrovati in Romania per partecipare al GAiN Europa 2022 A Cesena c’è uno spazio in cui approfondire le tematiche della teologia cristiana. È la biblioteca della chiesa avventista. All’inaugurazione anche il sindaco della città. Selezionati i 5 progetti delle Associazioni sportive dilettantistiche che hanno risposto al bando “IoGiocoDavvero” 2022. L’obiettivo? Promuovere sport, stili di vita sani e inclusione sociale. Ed altro ancora… guarda il video. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XklPG3g_15A
Inside Story: Christ’s Ambassador
Christ’s Ambassador
By Benjie Leach
One of my goals as chaplain of Forest Lake Academy in Orlando, Florida, was to become acquainted with each student. It was a challenge in a school with 450 students in the mid-1970s.
Image © Pacific Press
At the beginning of the school year, a student came up to me and said, “Have you had a chance to become acquainted with Paul yet?” I had not.
“You need to get acquainted,” the student said. “Just ask where he is from.”
My curiosity was aroused, so I invited Paul to my office. He turned out to be a rather shy 16-year-old. “So, Paul,” I said, “where are you from?”
“I’m from a little town in Georgia called Plains,” he said.
My mouth dropped open. “What?” I said. “That is where the president of the United States — Jimmy Carter — lives!”
I had to ask. “Paul,” I said, “do you know the president?”
“Oh, yes,” he said.
Early that summer, he had needed a job to pay for his tuition at Forest Lake Academy, and he had gotten a job at a peanut warehouse, the main industry, in Plains. He was excited about finding work and thought that he had made it clear about taking Sabbaths off. But his work supervisor stopped him when he left on Friday with a promise to return on Monday.
“No,” the supervisor said. “You come tomorrow. We are open Saturday.”
“But, you see, I’m a Seventh-day Adventist,” Paul said.
“Come tomorrow, or you won’t have a job anymore,” the supervisor said.
Paul thought for a moment. “Can I speak to the owner?”
“But that’s the president!” the supervisor exclaimed.
“Is he in town?” Paul said.
“Yes, but I don’t think that it’s going to make any difference.”
Paul went to the Carter home. He had to go through the Secret Service, but he was able to sit down with the president. Jimmy Carter listened attentively as he explained the situation and his observance of the seventh-day Sabbath. “I respect any young person who has convictions and stands up for what he believes” the president said. “You can have your Sabbaths off.”
And the soft-spoken 16-year-old teen became Christ’s ambassador to the U.S. president.
You and I also are ambassadors for Christ. “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us” (2 Corinthians 5:20, NKJV). Let us, with Christ’s help, be faithful ambassadors.
Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission. Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org
Amen!
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