4 July 2015 | San Antonio, Texas, USA [Victor Hulbert, tedNEWS] It is the largest Sabbath service in the world! One hundred and sixty-eight countries worshipping together in one place! Despite a walk along crowded paths in the heat of a Texas morning, church members from across the world are here in tens of thousands.
When the congregational singing accompanied by the combined Montemorelos and Washington Adventist University Choir and orchestras start, it is impressive, spine tingling! ‘Crown Him with many crowns’. “I wanted to sing! Fantastic”, enthused Lynn Kvinge from Norway. The only thing to beat it is the special music – first from the Montemorelos choir and then, just before the sermon, from their Washington counterparts.
Even the offering is a special time – dedicated as it is to youth evangelism. That is significant in an event where youth delegates are in a minority – though they are well represented today by Pathfinders from the local Conference expertly collecting the donations – in whatever-currency you choose to give.
It is July the 4th – so Pastor Ng invited all the American citizens and permanent residents in the auditorium to stand. He then told those who would like to be residents, “You can stand next time.”
Then quickly moving from Independence Day he asked, “Who are you?” His personal response: “I am GT Ng, a sinner saved by grace?” He then stated that as a church, we maybe need to answer that question. We equally need to ask, do we know who God is?
Seeking the answers, he directed the congregation to focus on Daniel 12 and Revelation 10 and particularly the ‘son of man’ that he sees portrayed in those two chapters. This led to a delving into prophetic history and then a potted history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, including the disappointment of 1884, the formation of the church and the development of mission.
“Can the imperative for Mission be emphasised”, he asked. Quoting from Revelation 10:11 and its emphasis on “many peoples, nations, languages and kings” enthusiastically repeated, “Yes, we must prophesy again” while throwing out statistics that shared the joy of Adventist Mission and growth in a Church of 18.5 million world-wide.
“He has the gift to inspire”, Reider Kvinge reflected. “He gives us a strong identity. Maybe Revelation 10 is something I need to take back to Norway.”
Yet there are challenges in Mission. Without being specific Dr Ng emphasised that we need to be focused and not distracted by what we think are important issues while really, “the church can be treating a troublesome itch while the patient is dying of cholera.”
And so to the appeal: “We live in extraordinary times”, Dr Ng stated, an oft repeated mantra over the past few days. “Whatever way you look at the world there is no hope. We live in a world that is doomed for destruction. God is calling us for a commitment to mission.”
His solution: “Instead of praying for ‘I, me and myself’, we need to pray for people in our neighbourhood, for people who do not know Jesus.” He then emphasised that beyond prayer, we need to be really practical and commit our time and our money to mission.
“It was inspiring. Very good music, good planning and a general impression of the diversity of the church and its mission”, Danish church elder, Ivan Rechter reflected.
And what better way to climax that reflection than a glorious rendition of Handel’s Hallelujah chorus. A tune to stay in the mind for the rest of a glorious Sabbath – and a call to Mission to stay in our hearts for the rest of our lives – until Jesus Comes. [tedNEWS]
tedNEWS Staff: Miroslav Pujic, director; Deana Stojkovic, editor
119 St Peter’s Street, St Albans, Herts, AL1 3EY, England
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.ted-adventist.org
tedNEWS is an information bulletin issued by the communication department of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Trans-European Division.
You are free to re-print any portion of the bulletin without need for special permission. However, we kindly request that you identify tedNEWS whenever you publish these materials.
