‘All things to All Men ~ Paul preaches to the World’, is the title of the Adult lesson study for this week.

Adventist missionary pioneers quickly learned that they needed to present our present truth message in as culturally relevant a way as possible. Today the Global Mission initiative of the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church sponsors study centers around the world that explore ways to build bridges to people of other religions and cultures. Before we can effectively communicate with other people, we need to understand their culture and ways of thinking. This week we explore what it means to adapt our message to people in different circumstances. And we do so by looking at the various ways in which the apostle Paul, a firm and uncompromising believer in truth, tailored the message of Jesus for specific audiences. What
can we learn from Paul that will better enable us to reach people with present truth?

A weekend of seminars from Friday 29 – Sunday 31 August, by Dr Radisa Antic, Curator of the E G White Centre at Newbold College.

MP3s of the various talks are available here.

• Friday evening 19:00 The Encounter with Jesus with the Samaritan Woman

• Sabbath morning service 11:15 The Relevance of Ellen White for Adventist Theology and Practice.
• Sabbath fellowship ‘potluck’ lunch – please bring a contribution.
• Sabbath evening 18:00 The Biblical Concepts of Revelation and Inspiration; Hermeneutics

• Sunday morning 10:00 The Sanctuary Doctrine.
• Sunday lunch finger buffet.

All welcome, limited accommodation provided – contact Carole Peacock at the Scottish Mission Office Telephone 01764 653257, or Email: sdascotland@onetel.com

The theme for the next quarter, July – September 2008, is “Agents of Hope: God’s Great Missionaries”
Millions around the world have no faith in God, no hope in anything past the world around them. No wonder, then, that so many focus on the comforts of this life, seeking solace in pleasure and the various worldly distractions. The Christian faith—which calls upon us to “fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18, NIV)—is foreign to them.
As Christians, we are God’s agents to bring these people hope, to show that there is a God who loves and cares for them, to show that although life has many outrageous horrors, it is not ultimately an outrageous horror but that God will finally make all things right.
The Bible gives us many inspirational stories of God’s agents of hope. In this quarter’s lessons we will focus on some of these outstanding missionaries; on whom they were and what they did in seeking to bring others to a saving knowledge of the Lord of salvation.
Ellen G. White tells the story of a man nearly chilled to death in deep snow. He was about to give up struggling for his life when he heard the moans from a fellow traveller nearby. His first impulse was to rescue the other man. When he found him, he rubbed the man’s frozen limbs. He finally got him to his feet and carried him through the drifts to safety.
Then “the truth flashed home to him that in saving his neighbour he had saved himself also” by quickening “the blood which was freezing in his own veins.”—Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, p. 319.
The point? A healthy church is a church focused on mission to others. Sharing God’s love with the community brings fresh life and energy into the church.
Our prayer is that this quarter’s lessons on biblical agents of hope will lead us into a renewed commitment to share God’s love with our neighbours and friends and in mission fields around the world. In so doing, we may just find that we have entered into a whole new dimension in our Christian lives.
This week the study kicks off with “For Such a Time as This: The Apostle Paul”

Song service starts at 9:45 for 15 minutes, followed by the Sabbath School service and study groups.

Communion, which also includes the service of foot washing, is celebrated in this church once a quarter. Today the service will be led by our church pastor, Llewellyn Edwards. We hold an open communion – everyone who so wishes is welcome to participate, if they are believers in Jesus Christ.

The miraculous change that occurs at the Lord’s Supper is that our hearts are changed and that change manifests itself in a holy ‘communion’ or fellowship. What a supper for a faith community!

Retired church pastor Bob Rodd will be leading out in the service – watch this space for further details.