PMC members who are invited to join the Fellowship Dinner on July 2 are last names Abriot-Byrd. Invitations have been sent to those with email addresses, and members are asked to respond by June 29 via email with the number attending. If you don't have an email address, you may call the church office at 269-471-6565 to reserve spots.
Mission Possible
How to Stand Alone - Living Up to the Luther in You
DVDs
To purchase a DVD of this sermon please visit our online shopping cart. Proceeds go to support the New Perceptions media ministry.Buy DVD Online
Speaker
Dwight K. NelsonSince 1983, Dwight Nelson has served as lead pastor of the Pioneer Memorial Church on the campus of Andrews University. He preaches on the “New Perceptions” telecast, teaches at the theological seminary and has written some books, including The Chosen. He and his wife, Karen, are blessed with two married children and 2 granddaughters.
Offering
More In This Series
“Mission Possible: Stand Alone—Living Up to the Luther in You”
- Psalm 119
- October 31, 1517
- Sola Scriptura—“by Scripture alone”
- Sola Fide—“by faith alone”
- Sola Gratia—“by grace alone”
- Martin Luther
- Luther: “I was a good monk, and I kept the rule of my order so strictly that I may say that if ever a monk got to heaven by his monkery it was I. All my brothers in the monastery who knew me will bear me out. If I had kept on any longer, I should have killed myself with vigils, prayers, reading, and other work.” (Roland Bainton Here I Stand 34)
- Luther: “I was myself more than once driven to the very abyss of despair so that I wished I had never been created. Love God? I hated him!” (Bainton 44)
- Johan Staupitz: “When it appeared to Luther that all was lost, God raised up a friend and helper for him. The pious Staupitz opened the word of God to Luther’s mind and bade him look away from himself, cease the contemplation of infinite punishment for the violation of God’s law, and look to Jesus, his sin-pardoning Saviour. ‘Instead of torturing yourself on account of your sins, throw yourself into the Redeemer’s arms. Trust in Him, in the righteousness of His life, in the atonement of His death.... Listen to the Son of God. He became man to give you the assurance of divine favor.’ ‘Love Him who first loved you.’” (Great Controversy 123-124)
- “Above everything else he delighted in the study of God’s word. . . . and to this he often repaired.” (Great Controversy 123)
- Luther: “There is on earth no clearer book written than the holy Scripture, which compared with all other books is like the sun compared with all lights.” (Luther’s commentary on Psalm 37:40, SDABC 9:131)
- “Luther translated the entire New Testament into German within 11 weeks. Like a man possessed, he worked at the rate of more than 1500 words per day. What he produced was so masterful that in time it did much to create the modern German language. He was determined to do as good a job as possible and to prove to the world that ‘German nightingales can sing as beautifully as Roman goldfinches.” (James Kittelson Luther the Reformer 175)
- Luther: “Night and day I pondered until I saw the connection between the justice of God and the statement that ‘the just shall live by his faith.’ Then I grasped that the justice of God is that righteousness by which through grace [sola gratia] and sheer mercy God justifies us through faith [sola fide]. Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise. The whole of Scripture [sola Scriptura] took on a new meaning, and whereas before the ‘justice of God’ had filled me with hate, now it became to me inexpressibly sweet in greater love. This passage of Paul became to me a gate to heaven.” (Bainton 49-50)
- The Diet of Worms: “The scene lends itself to dramatic portrayal. Here was Charles, heir of a long line of Catholic sovereigns—of Maximilian the romantic, of Ferdinand the Catholic, of Isabella the orthodox—scion of the house of Hapsburg, lord of Austria, Burgundy, the Low Countries, Spain, and Naples, save Charlemagne, symbol of medieval unities, incarnation of a glorious if vanishing heritage; and here before him a simple monk, a miner’s son, with nothing to sustain him save his own faith in the Word of God.” (Bainton 141)
- Luther: “‘Unless I can be instructed and convinced with evidence from the Holy Scriptures or with open, clear, and distinct grounds and reasoning—and my conscience is captive to the Word of God—then I cannot and will not recant, because it is neither safe nor wise to act against conscience. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen.’” (Kittelson 161/Bainton 144/Great Controversy 160)
- “Had the eyes of the assembly been opened, they would have beheld angels of God in the midst of them, shedding beams of light athwart the darkness of error and opening minds and hearts to the reception of truth. [One lone man standing on the Word of God—and yet all of Heaven joined in his defense!] It was the power of the God of truth and wisdom that controlled even the adversaries of the reformation, and thus prepared the way for the great work about to be accomplished.” (Great Controversy 150 emphasis supplied)
- “The Bible should never be studied without prayer. The Holy Spirit alone can cause us to feel the importance of those things easy to be understood, or prevent us from wresting truths difficult of comprehension. It is the office of heavenly angels to prepare the heart so to comprehend God’s word that we shall be charmed with its beauty, admonished by its warnings, or animated and strengthened by its promises.” (Great Controversy 600 emphasis supplied)
If you stand alone on the Word of God, you will never stand alone.
Michigan Advance Partners
Camp Meeting
Matthew 6:20-21 "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Camp Meeting: If you’ve been there, you have seen 1,148 fence stakes pounded into the ground, witnessed your pastors on their knees and backsides stretching 4,525 feet of fencing as straight as possible. If you’ve been there, you saw 2.28 miles of Streamers stretched across the campground and campus, seen prayer groups here, there, and everywhere, and witnessed kids singing “Give me oil in my lamp” and Adults singing songs that they will hum all year.
If you have been there, you have attended several of the 16,056 minutes- or 268 hours of seminars. You’ve watched kids going to their tents and classrooms where they have enjoyed 500 hours of meetings. If you have been there, you probably were one of the hundreds who were carefully licking vegan ice cream cones.
Michigan Camp meeting is the place where you can see the result of thousands of people accepting Christ and a place where you meet someone you do not even know and say, “Happy Sabbath.” It’s a place where you look to someone else and say "It’s so good to see you."
Right now, look to the person next to you and say, “Happy Sabbath.” Now look to someone else and wave or nod to them saying “It is so good to see you.” Did you see that? You just witnessed the joy of Christian fellowship.
This is the type of fellowship that is felt at the Michigan Camp Meeting. Today’s loose offering is for Michigan Advance Partners which helps to support Campmeeting. You can also give directly to Michigan Camp Meeting through the Tithe & Offering Envelope or through online giving. May God bless Campmeeting, as well as each one as we give to this special cause.
—North American Division Stewardship Ministries
July 11-15 from 9-11:45 AM at Niles Westside Adventist Church (1105 Grant St, Niles). Join us for Bible stories, crafts, games, and more! Please pre-register ASAP at www.NilesWestside.org or by calling 269-683-5998.
From Anger to Intimacy with Gary Smalley DVD series
June 11-Anger: Stuff It, Spew It, or Study It
June 18-Personal Responsibility and Emotions
June 25- The Spirit of Forgiveness
July 2- Crafting the Perfect Apology
July 9-Roadblocks to Forgiveness
July 16- Forgiving the Difficult, Addicted or Cheating Spouse
Everyone is welcome Sabbath mornings from 10:30-11:30 in PMC room 141.
Pioneer is pleased to announce that transportation will be provided for Sabbath services for attendees with physical challenges who would have trouble in negotiating stairs.
Pioneer Traffic and Deacon teams will transport attendees by golf carts from the canopy entrance to the doors at the east entrance (JN Andrews statue). At the end of the service, attendees will be invited to return to the door and alert a greeter to contact the cart that will transport them to their cars.
If you would like to be picked up from your car at the start of the service instead of at the canopy entrance, please call the church office on (269) 471-3133 by Friday at 10:00 AM and supply the following information:
- Name(s) of attendees
- Service attending
- Make, model, and color of car
- Estimated time of arrival
We hope that this interim measure will be a helpful blessing to you.
Ministry and Grow Group Leaders: We are here to help you create appealing materials both digital and in print in order to familiarize people with your ministry or upcoming event. Because we support many ministries, kindly provide us with at least 10 design days from the time we receive your project details to completion. Additional time may be needed for printing and shipping when applicable. Submit your project online today at pmchurch.org/design/submit. -Pioneer Media Ministry