Thank you for visiting our website. We are all profoundly grateful to Almighty God that the pandemic has not been more severe than it was in the United States. Now would be a logical time to pause and reflect on building hope for the future and believe in a brighter tomorrow.
Unfortunately, we face another pandemic marauding across the U.S., and indeed the globe. There is currently a radical redefining of all of our country’s cherished institutions. The names attached to these many changes sound realistic, worthwhile, and appropriate, but their tenets bear out something different. Anti-Fascism, Antifa, wokism, Black Lives Matter, CRT, wealth re-distribution, and pro-choice all sound good and harmless, but a cursory examination of these topics shows hallmarks of destruction, hatred, violence, disrespect, “cancelation” of people, victimization, oppression, and a resounding lack of Godly wisdom.
God has a way of cutting to the chase. He has a way of obliterating the noise to get to the heart of a matter. He definitely knows how to keep things simple and to make His teachings understood by young and old, rich and poor, and all ethnicities. God provides each of us with opportunities to make something of ourselves. He’s watching each of us to see what we do with them and how well we do it. It’s like taking an extended test. The Sabbath Church of God strives to teach using God’s syllabus. Let’s review:
God says to love your neighbor. (Matthew 19:19) We don’t hate our neighbor.
God says to love our enemies. (Matthew 5:44) We don’t cancel our enemies.
God says to forgive our brother. (Matthew 18:21-22) We don’t attack our brother.
God says no one is perfect, including you and me. (Romans 3:23) We don’t engage in complete and utter condemnation due to imperfection.
God says to look out for your neighbor’s interest as you do for your own. (Philippians 2:3-4) We don’t destroy our neighbor’s reputation, name, life or belongings.
God says all things should be done decently and in order. (I Corinthians 14:40) We don’t defund law and order.
God says work hard to achieve, and He encourages a free-market society. (Proverbs 31:13-16) We don’t take the wealth of another. We get a job and create our own wealth.
God says not to be overcome by evil. (Romans 12:21) We overcome evil with good.
Basically, God has ten points to this test. He calls them commandments. The last six commandments tell us how to treat all people – and it does not involve berating, belittling, killing, maiming, or canceling anyone. God is a fan of peace, patience, harmony, forgiveness, and mercy. And that’s how we should be.
We loved those teachers in high school who gave us specific clues on how to get an “A” on an upcoming test. We loved those teachers because they made it easier to laser focus on what was important. God is one of those wonderful teachers. In Matthew 25:34-45, He gives us the answers on how to treat people. That is how we achieve an “A.”
We’ve seen that the moral fabric of our nation is being threatened by a complicated mixture of hateful ideas and evil acts. But God’s teaching offers rules we can understand and instructions we can follow – all based on love, charity, mercy, and humility. God’s way is the path for making a wonderful world.
And so, a wonderful world is there for the taking! The song made popular by Louis Armstrong says it best … “I see trees of green, red roses, too. I see them bloom for me and you. And I think to myself, what a wonderful world. I see skies of blue and clouds of white, the bright blessed day, the dark sacred night, and I think to myself, what a wonderful world … I see friends shaking hands, saying, ‘How do you do?’ They’re really saying, ‘I love you.’”
Don’t complicate life. The answers we’re looking for in troubling times are really right in front of us. Come join us for services where we get the simple answers God has already provided in His Word. You are welcome to attend in person or by live streaming this Saturday, His Sabbath. We’d love to share it with you!
With love and prayers,
Randall Ricker, Minister
Sabbath Church of God