50th Anniversary Divine Service Program - Pastor Nerval Myrie - September 4th, 2021

[Music] good morning and happy sabbath welcome to toronto perth seven day adventist church we're so happy that you're joining us again today absolutely my name is nishana and this is simone and we will be your hosts for today so nishana first things first for everybody in our live chat welcome whether you are a member or a visitor we welcome you all the same and right now one of our members kenisha's in the chat so we're going to invite you to dialogue with her say happy sabbath to her as well as other members in the chat and also keep the dialogue going for the rest of the day absolutely uh here at toronto perth we are a family church and we cannot wait to connect with you so don't forget to follow us on all our social media platforms at toronto perth sda also feel free to leave a comment in the comment section below letting us know how you felt about the program and if you need prayer or someone to talk to our pastoral team is always on standby and their information will be in the description box below last but not least i mean we're here on status but we are also fellowshipping during the week so feel free to join us on zoom on wednesdays for prayer meeting and on thursdays for family life discussions at 7 30. so if you're free join us the zoom link will be in the description box below hello yes so nishanna for the past three months we have been celebrating 50 years here at toronto the big 5-0 absolutely and oh my goodness god has really brought us far so far really brought us far and for those of you who have not been tuning in i don't know what you're doing their internet was not connecting it's okay we give you a pass but please go back now that your internet is working and your devices are up to par and watch the video okay well for those who did not have those type of technical difficulties here's a recap i've written a couple highlights down for you let's go for it so we started off with the 70s where pastors parchment and ali reminded us of the immense sacrifice and faith that it took for our charter members to step into unknown territories and start a new congregation absolutely in july we continued our journey through the 80s with pastor cassimy and lazarus and they spoke about the family-centered worship experience and the pillars of evangelism and church growth that were central to that era then moving into the 90s we had pastors nem hard and daughter and we got a sense of our rich music and pathfindering history that are still central to our church today yep and also last night we actually had the honor of having our conference president pastor mansfield edwards yeah it was amazing yep absolutely and so today it brings us today uh the 2000s we're celebrating today shout out to the 2000's y'all today we're gonna have pastors myrie and fraser fraser tonight fraser will be tonight and am i missing anything else i think that's no and there's gonna be a concert so you guys should come on now yes the concert we can't forget about that yeah come on down okay so out of all the eras nishana that we just spoke about which one is your favorite and why well i really hope you don't steal mine but mine is the 90s i mean i was born in the 90s 90s baby and i mean after watching the 90s program the music was so rich it just took me back that's true how about you simone well i'm not going to steal it for you today okay i'm not going to stress today um actually it's the 2000s for me only because that was around the time i had joined the church and pathfinders was quite the uh memory for me right and i learned a lot from pathfinders as well as gaining a lot of special people that i am still friends with today including the gentleman behind the camera shout out to you adrian i love that and i mean talking about adrian our wonderful cameraman who's behind the camera right now i just want to say a special special thank you i mean we've spoken about it the past three months but i mean nobody really wanted to do a virtual anniversary like it's yeah like we weren't expecting it but hey foreign well the media team definitely stepped up to the club absolutely so many things going on behind the scenes so many segments that we had to use together it's hard work so i mean thank you thank you thank you thank you to our production team for all the work all the sacrifice all the long hours we couldn't have done it without you thank you for sure so much absolutely so much oh my gosh it's just i feel so tired thinking about it i am tired of thinking about it all right so guys a reminder today's theme and the theme that we've been dealing with for the past three months is celebrating the past and embracing the future so as you watch the service today think about god's goodness think about how far he's brought you through and also reflect on our charter members and how much they had to sacrifice to get where we are today and maybe implement what they implemented then in your life now i mean your journey of faith is yours but it's always great for you to learn and implement stuff from the people who came before you absolutely simone what time is it sean it's time for us to sit down okay absolutely gotta get this show on the road i'm ready i'm ready and i mean it's been great over the past three months fellowshipping and hosting the program for a wonderful it's been fun it's been fun it's been great we even matched yeah i mean last day this was not coordinated believe it or not but hey divine intervention divine intervention maybe i don't through our clothing choices perhaps okay we'll go with that okay but anyway uh forget all that but uh guys we invite you to sit back relax and enjoy ourselves enjoy the service have a happy sabbath guys bye [Music] in all of us we see the right the true lord strong and free from far [Music] god [Music] we stand on guard for oh [Music] antigua and barbuda [Applause] barbados costa rica [Music] curacao [Music] england eritrea [Music] ethiopia grenada [Music] guyana [Music] haiti [Music] jamaica [Music] nigeria [Music] panama [Music] rwanda [Music] st lucia [Music] saint kitts and nevis saint vincent and the grenadines trinidad and tobago the united states of america zimbabwe [Music] canada [Music] welcome toronto pelt family and visiting friends the privilege is mine to bring greetings on behalf of our past and present pastors of toronto path as we celebrate our 50th anniversary under the theme celebrating the past and embracing the future as we all know by now the journey started from 243 perth avenue in 1971 to toronto path a 220 betrick road where we are in praising god because now we are worshiping in person from june to today we have had three special stops and these stops have been on the first sabbath of each month and today it is the fourth and the last stop through all these jobs we have been encouraged to keep and remember our happiness we've been encouraged to run the race we've been encouraged to keep on fighting a good fight we've been encouraged to be a beacon of hope and today being our final sabbath of celebration i'm sure it won't be any different as god is about to do a new thing in our future it is our prayer and hope therefore that you will continue to visit or better still to come back in person to toronto path a 220 bedrooms wherever you go and wherever you are remember path will always be home greetings and welcome once again on behalf of the men and women at the toronto police service i would like to congratulate everyone celebrating the 50th anniversary of the toronto perth seventh-day adventist church toronto is home to many faiths which provide our lives with meaning and act as a source of strength for 50 years the toronto perth seventh-day adventist church has welcomed hundreds of worshipers weekly to join together in worship and fellowship congratulations on 50 years of worshiping and serving together and most importantly for fostering love and support in your community good morning and happy sabbath perth the earth is the lord's and the fullness therefore the world and they that dwell therein for he hath founded it upon the seas and establish it upon the floods who shall ascend into the hill of the lord or who shall stand in his holy place he that hath clean hands and a pure heart who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity nor sworn decitefully he shall receive the blessing from the lord and righteousness from the god of his salvation this is the generation of them that seek him that seek thy face o jacob lift up your heads o ye gates and be ea lift up ye everlasting doors and the king of glory shall come in who is this king of glory the lord strong and mighty the lord mighty in battle lift up your heads o gates even lift them up the everlasting doors and the king of glory shall come in who is this king of glory the lord of hosts he is the king of glory this is our call to worship [Music] my church family it's a pleasure to be back here at church to worship we're just um inviting you all if you can to come out and worship again with us because it's a pleasant experience hello church family i'm glad to see you all happy happy 50th anniversary happy sabbath family thank you for the fellowship 50 years milestone we've come this far but i think another 50 more god willing i pray family happy 50th anniversary i heard having you happy 50th anniversary nice to be back today and hear pastor william's sermon he really enjoyed it hello brothers and sisters i bring you greetings from the kate family to the toronto perth seventh-day adventist church family as we celebrate our 50th anniversary may god set apart this church for its mighty words and may souls be drawn to the kingdom of god through the mild loss manifestation of its faithfulness of toronto earth and in the life of every member past present and future congratulations and happy 50th anniversary hi church family of the 50th anniversary family this is surrounded perth avenue church and we're having our 50th anniversary it is so great god has blessed us with so many things and for that we give you thanks lord hi church family happy 50th anniversary may god continue to bless us as we continue to worship him good morning brothers and sisters of the toronto birth seventh day as a district it is my pleasure to send you greetings from the pinnacle from you this morning yes [Music] we have celebrated [Music] for the past four sabbaths [Music] today being the last for 50 years of god's leading [Music] of this church today is no exception [Music] that we want to greet you all in the precious name of jesus our lord and savior we greet the past the presence and future [Music] leaders of this great church and yes as it is said we have celebrated the past and looking forward to the future from the pentecost family this morning we wish you god's speed as you transit [Music] into the start of another 50 years allowing god who has been faithful to continue to lead us [Music] until he comes [Music] have yourselves a wonderful [Music] sabbath and may you experience god's presence and his peace as you worship him today god bless you always amen i don't know just foreign hi church family happy 50th anniversary from our family to yours happy 50th anniversary happy 50th anniversary childhood hi toronto perth church family happy 50th anniversary may the lord continue to bless each and every one of you it's such a joy being with all my brothers and sisters again earth is all this is where i'm at i am so thrilled i am so excited i don't know how to express oh with such a joy god i just want to give you thanks for this opportunity of being together again and soon we'll be in the kingdom forever together hi church family happy 50th anniversary looking forward to seeing you soon even through this pandemic church family happy 50th anniversary god bless happy 50th anniversary tomorrow for god's blessings hey perth family my name is jean lauren scotland happy anniversary 50 years my family and i have been here for all 50 so we are so very happy to celebrate with you and congratulations and god bless you all and hope to live to see another 50. happy anniversary purse hi church father glad to see each and every one happy 50th anniversary and it's a blessing to be at this church and i continue to pray that we keep our eyes on the lord and not on the world peace and love family happy 50th anniversary may we live to see many many [Music] throughout the more from heavenly family and we look forward to the coming of our savior jesus christ have a happy sabbath all right family happy anniversary god bless you always hey hello hi perth family it's so wonderful to share the your the 50th anniversary with everybody i've been enjoying it immensely and it was so great seeing so many of you on camera and i just want to tell you hi and i hope you're enjoying it as much as i am hey first family happy 50th anniversary hi church family happy 50th anniversary god bless you god bless you bye bye hi prayer family how are you happy 15th on the verse it's been a long time you have been a family to us georgia myself hello kids and hi perth family it's been awesome celebrating with you it's been a joy happy 50th god bless and i love you i remember when i was in the hospital pregnant um with nishana and my toronto perth family came to give me a surprise baby shower who does that eh i felt such love and such support until this day um you know that's a memory that's dear to me happy anniversary toronto perth hi church family happy 50th anniversary happy 50th anniversary toronto perth it's been a long journey we're here and we will be here until god comes blessings always hi church family have the 50th anniversary god has brought us this far and he will take us through another 50 years until the lord comes i turn on the first family happy 50th anniversary all the blessing nothing of love coming from good morning church and happy summer to everyone i am here to add my voice thanks to the founders of toronto births adventist church its founding was as visionary as it was the unnecessary recognition of the need for a permanent place of worship all arrivals to a new country must determine an anchoring point for themselves their families and community to thrive from the start founding members of chronic earth church continuously relied upon the certainty of their faith they provided a place effort resources time and commitment toward the community's growth in addition to their spiritual nourishment toronto pearl has reportedly lived up to their charge of delivering god's message building our community and contributing to our country this responsibility must inevitable pass from the founders and members first 50 years to its current and future students i deeply appreciate the opportunity to express my gratitude to those who made toronto possible may god continue to bless our founders the current and future leaders and members of our church family happy anniversary family happy anniversary happy anniversary love you love you hello everyone this is the lawrence's we have been at first for 50 years we have no regrets my virgin at first they are very kind very loving and my prayer is that we will continue to be like that until jesus come happy anniversary birth [Music] this is sister kirwan i bring you greetings on behalf of the kirwan's family to our church family at 21 to perth we give god thanks for his blessings for the past 50 years and look forward for his continued guidance as we continue to serve him in spirit and in truth he has been faithful to us so let us be faithful to him let us continue to live in unity and because in unity there is strength let us love one another he's coming soon let us be ready to meet him have a blessed and happy sabbath thank you hi everyone everyone love you first people i love you guys to god be the glory great things he has done [Music] i rejoice with you as we celebrate our jubilee 15th anniversary as we reflect on the past i would like to thank you for keeping our church spiritually in heaven in the past 50 years may god's blessing be upon us as we embrace the future and continue to work [Music] hey guys welcome back i'm nishana and this is simone as always and today we have a special surprise for you we are live on location at 243 perth avenue where it all started simone aren't you just so excited i'm excited and i am ready to see what has happened since we left absolutely are you ready i am so ready okay without further ado come on let's go guys let's go all right so as you can see we are we're the stairs leading up to the front door and where our parking lot used to be out you know we couldn't find parking we definitely couldn't but um i guess that's been fixed now but anyway we don't need parking come on guys let's go [Music] [Music] all right guys we're going to take you to where the sanctuary probably would have been around that time and as you can see they've definitely installed a lot of uh transportation [Music] so here we are on the third floor this may or may not have been the balcony uh yeah i think i think it might have been yeah for sure yeah i mean it's the third floor it's the highest level so i'm just gonna go with that um and as you guys can see you have to be really quiet because there are tenants currently living in all of these units um if you did not know it's been converted to a loft so there are tenants or renters and i mean shout out to them what used to be our church is now their home [Applause] all right guys so we're actually in the hallway here at the apartments but this used to be the fire escape so leading to and from so i mean if there was ever a fire or anything yeah we would have got out yeah this is crazy i know this is so serious what used to be our fire escape is now now their way of getting in and out of the building yeah this is good yeah let's go [Music] so now we are entering into what would have been our sanctuary so many fond memories so many car members of singing in our choir in his name um pathfinder days absolutely even weddings weddings funerals like there's just so many memories just imagine yourself walking down the aisle at church kids running even though they weren't supposed to they weren't supposed to but they did anyway and now guys as you can see [Music] it's a hallway yeah and there's apartments apartments on either side and it's kind of nostalgic though i kind of feel like i'm walking down the aisle leading to the front of the church there's a pastor preaching or something yep it's really a sense of humility right now yeah because this used to be where we had roamed and engaged in worship yeah and praised and prayed and fought a lot of our battles that we fought as a church together here in this room yeah so simone as we enter into this elevator do you remember like all the times that we used to be in the basement absolutely and all the socials and the memories [Music] yeah i remember all that and what we're i think what we're doing now we're about to head down to the basement for some social is there social activity social activity uncle wendell i think you would love it yep so guys we're standing outside the gym the condo gym which probably would have been the children's room or one of the rooms down in the basement yeah um or even maybe the treasury yeah and we're about to go inside [Music] wow i mean we still have amazing memories of the children's room the treasury the pathfinder room a lot of the kitchens hanging out yeah a lot of socials a lot of plants there no no that didn't work out sorry no anyway a lot of banquets too because remember before we used to have banquets at um other locations the original banquets were at the church absolutely so a lot of our aunties designated aunties and uncles chosen family yes chosen family a lot of them um you know set up these banquets and these social events and it was just magical yeah as you watch this i mean tell us what is your favorite memory of the basement and all the amazing socials that happened there so tell me do you remember how we struggled to find parking do you remember the house that was right across the street yeah well the wonderful builders here at the current 243 print avenue have added an addition in 245 perth avenue so where our parking lot used to be and where the house used to be there is now another addition to this condo so come on well let's show it to you [Music] but guys look at all this space can you imagine how this i mean it seems small but if we had had this parking yeah if we had the opportunity to do this this is probably what it would have looked like yep this is just so surreal to see that this is where our parking lot stood absolutely shout out to the builders for vision yeah absolutely for sure i don't think we could have ever imagined a parking garage maybe an extension to the parking lot but i don't think we ever considered a parking garage so this is amazing and this is 2 45. this is 2 for what they call 2 45 here yeah so let's go outside and show you what's going on out there yeah the parking lot would have been here and it would have let out here as you guys remember our pastors would have parked here some of our pastors actually not the pastoral study would have been right here towards these two windows and yeah it's just so crazy to see the uh it looks new the platform party would have met back here in the best three yep and every uh every service and then they'd walk out so simone do you remember being in the vestry and getting your outfit checked to make sure that you were presented to make sure the hem was i don't know if my hem would have you know been acceptable yeah but you're fine yes you would have been fine but yeah i mean so many great memories even the prayers with the prayer warriors i was just going to see where you going auntie parleen mr ambrose lee sister pentecott even our wonderful bible workers yes auntie norma absolutely and even the pastors just meeting back here getting your outfit checked making sure you know what you're about to go on stage and say and just getting in the attitude of worship so that you could connect with the saints and the family in the sanctuary yeah i remember too during baptisms the uh candidates would walk past this way as well so that was awesome including myself i'm so blessed to be baptized here at this church so yeah a lot of memories a lot of amazing memories yes who remembers the pit leading down the stairs this would have been the parking lot well here we are this is the times we used to hide uh so we didn't have to go to ay small that's in the evening i know i'm but it's true never did that okay sure you didn't i never did that that's fine we used to love hanging out here during our summer time right and we didn't want to go back in it was just lovely weather outside and yeah we'd hear ay time ay time i'm inside come in and we'd be like absolutely it's okay it's fine it was fine it was it's great it's our childhood and a part of our experience and what we remember that makes this important to you yes shawna do you remember as soon as sunset hit bro i was a good child you were reckless with your friends okay okay okay fine we all thought we bought we all bought we all bought free yeah we're we're gonna go with that narrative so anyway after as soon as sunset hit on salmon straight up to lucky's convenience store freezies we picked up candy simone actually picked up a fun dip guys and fun story she thought that it used to be bigger this used to be bigger guys no this is how big they use no no no okay anyway that's neither here nor there but this again this was fun times with us absolutely absolutely all right so that concludes the tour nashata yeah what do you think honestly like i feel it feels so surreal like even the way we remember toronto perth and how it looks now is not what our charter members saw when they came here they put a lot of hard work into the church that actually used to be here before we acquired it and i think it just brings back so many memories and i mean kind of a push like if we could have transitioned from this church to where we are now and just thinking of all the memories yeah it definitely yeah definitely a humbling experience i mean to walk on the ground that we used to walk on all those years ago walk down the aisles walk down the aisles hang out in the attic the basement the basement where we're gonna plant okay that's the last time but also also seeing what could have been if we had stayed here absolutely for example the uh garage the indoor garage i know we were looking to do that but yeah was a big issue for us absolutely and a lot of renovations that uh the builders did that even the wheelchair ramp if you think about it yeah the wheelchair wrap absolutely there's so many of our members past and present who would have benefited from a wheelchair ramp but you know what it's it's okay it's it's a part of our growth as a church and i think we are blessed that we had the experience to uh purchase a location as this and we were blessed yet again how many years later to be at 220 bethridge road so god is really amazing continuing to work with us and uh put blessings in our lives and we hope for another 50 100 years god's spirit our lives uh that will continue to do ministry uh win souls for the kingdom exactly so yeah thank you so much for joining us we enjoyed it as much as we did 243 and 245 perth avenue thanks for coming bye [Music] because of who you are i give you glory because of who you are because of who you are i will lift my voice and say lord i worship you because of who you are lord i worship you because of who you are because of who you are i gave you glory because of who you are i give you praise because of who you are i will lift my voice and say lord i worship you because of who you are lord i worship you because of who you are you see your jehovah [Music] my providers [Music] jehovah's child my prayers are peace and i worship you because of who you are because of who you are i give you glory [Music] because of who you are i give you [Music] because of who you are i will live my voice and say lord i worship you because of who you are lord i worship you because of who you are your jehovah [Music] lord you reign [Music] [Music] and i worship you because of who you are [Music] [Music] victory [Music] i worship you lord i give you all the praise and all the glory i worship you lord i worship you because of who you are [Music] lord i worship you because of who you are [Music] [Music] the year 2000 y2k who could ever forget the beginning of a new millennium amidst dire prophecies of an apocalypse the world moved into the year 2000. the perth avenue sda church moved with the times but could not help reflecting on how far they had come from that fateful day january 2nd 1971 when 46 charter members from the toronto west sda church and other dedicated members officially opened the doors at 243 perth avenue for the first time through the 70s 80s and 90s they had seen phenomenal growth so much so that they had birthed two new congregations in 1990. they had been blessed with members who gave sacrificially and paid off the church mortgage in less than 10 years they had been ably led by godly pastors who had shepherded them through times of joy and sorrow and they faced the new millennium without fear they had started the journey in 1971 under pastor earl parchment and through the 70s they were also blessed with the leadership of pastors rick backus shirley green and in the 80s by pastors orville parchment ted mccleary and steve cassamy pastor cassamy brought them into the mid 90s after taking the bold step of establishing two new congregations the mount olive sda church and the faith now hope sda church he was succeeded by pastor ray llewellyn and it was he who faced the monumental task of steering the church into the new millennium from the year 2000 until now we have seen unprecedented change in church structure and demographic and been led by pastors who understood how to embrace change the leadership of the church passed from pastor llewellyn to pastor joelle nemhart in 2001 and he was followed by pastor theodore sergeant in 2006. once again the church attendance had exceeded its seating capacity and surrounded by issues of an aging building and continuous parking problems pastor sergeant took on the difficult task of convincing the congregation to consider relocating he worked with the members to assess different properties but what was called to the conference before a suitable space was found pastor nervel murray stepped into the breach on january 2nd 2010 exactly 39 years after the church had first opened the doors at 243 perth avenue he led the church on a walk of faith mimicking that taken 39 years before the sanctuary at 243 perth avenue was put on the market and the church purchased a car dealership at 220 bethridge road in etobicoke on june 15 2010. once again the church was in the grips of renovation construction mortgages and bylaws it was necessary to maintain both properties while the new space was being renovated the first wednesday night prayer meeting was held at 220 bethridge road on august 11 2010 with more than 120 members in attendance they persevered and managed to turn a commercial space into an amazing worship venue the perth avenue sda church became the toronto perth sda church now worshiping in the new location which was dedicated on july 6 2013 with a new mortgage the church had to take innovative steps towards fundraising showdown at dura will forever be held up as a striking example of what can be accomplished when members worked together under able leadership the then first lady of the church zenith miri with the assistance of her daughter rachelle wrote and produced this extraordinary play that was performed multiple times to pact audiences and netted the church thousands of dollars pastor murray brought in singers such as linda randall and steve green and plays such as i need to know my father all geared at raising much needed funds our current pastor pastor eustis williams took the helm in 2018 and it is he who has the formidable job of leading the church through all the changes required to navigate worship during the covet 19 pandemic toronto perth has always been a church that is adaptable an attribute that lends itself to the versatility needed in these unprecedented times talented members have stepped up to bring us onto an online platform that allows us to provide consistent worship experience for our members as we continue to move and grow and change in these times we can look back on 50 years of service and worship 50 years of togetherness 50 years of sharing and caring 50 years of growth and excellence and to say thank you to the members who sacrificed to forge the path that led to this moment we have lost many some from old age some to illness and sadly some to covet 19. they are gone but not forgotten we will be forever grateful for everyone who stepped out in faith over the last 50 years so that we can embrace this pentecostal experience god brought us to trials and he brought us through trials again and again and he will continue to do so again and again we are thankful for the legacy of those who started this journey and it is our firm belief that we can continue this legacy 50 years from now our children and our children's children will be able to look back on this 50th anniversary celebration and say we too have come this far by faith 50 years a legacy of faith it is truly a year of jubilee with god's grace may it continue [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] happy sabbath boys and girls welcome to story time i'm auntie diana and today our story is entitled the parables of the pebbles the parable of the pebbles so long ago there was this man and his son they went for a hike but they spent all day looking at the the water looking at the the river and the birds and the trees they had a really good time they even went fishing on their way back it got really dark and the little boy he was so scared so as they were walking they heard a voice and the voice said pick up some pebbles and put them in your pocket and tomorrow you will be both happy and sad the little boy he was so scared he bent down and he started taking up pebbles so did his dad they put them in their pocket and then they ran all the way home the next morning they both reached into their pocket and when they looked instead of pebbles they saw diamonds and rubies and emeralds all sorts of precious stones and they were happy and at the same time they were sad they were happy because they had found real treasure and sad because they hadn't taken more so it is with god's word the bible i'm sure that all all of you have a bible at home and in the bible there are many many treasures and all we need to do is take some time each day to read god's word and in it we will find treasures beyond our wildest dreams for example in the bible god tells us who we are he tells us that we are loved he tells us we are valuable we are his he tells us that we are important so when you when people might say to you you know what you're ugly you can always go back to god's word where god says you are beautiful if someone tells you that you know you're of no value go back to god's word where he tells you you are valuable so today i just want to ask you to read your bible daily and if you can't read just ask your mom or dad your aunts uncles cousins whichever person is around you just ask them to read maybe a verse or two one of the things i encourage my boys to do matthew and gabriel i encourage them to study god's word each day the first thing in the morning they have is quiet time just a few minutes when they seek god by reading maybe just one verse in the bible so that they can learn more about god and know that he has their best interest at heart so today as we close the story let's remember that god's word is full of buried treasures happy treasure hunt boys and girls good morning everyone after 50 years i can still hear the words of this song ringing in my ears it was taught to me by my late mother it goes like this keep it with love store it above give it with a willing heart 50 years is a very long time i have spent more than 50 years trying to out give god let me pause to remind or inform you unequivocally that you can never outgive god everything we have was given to us by god what a kind and loving god he loves us so much that he gave up his only son to die in our place if this is not love then we don't know what love is love is not a noun love is not an adjective love is a verb love is always moving love is what we do love love is an action word god loves us so much that he gave his son we said we love god what do we love what do we give him because of our love how much i love him my action will show what is your action showing is it pride and selfishness or caring and sharing for this or 50th anniversary i want you to give as the lord prospers you be it 50 500 or even thousand dollars remember to whom much is given much is expected may god continue to enlarge our territory let us pray dear god give us a heart like you help us to help others give us the ability to be kind and caring allow us to share our faith with others continue to provide for our needs thank you for the provision and the protection this is my prayer in your son's name amen [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] um [Music] [Music] he promised us that he would be our culture [Music] a mighty god and a prince of peace he promised us [Music] his promises are true everything is [Music] just how much jesus really means to me [Music] is [Music] everything you eat [Music] lazy [Music] [Music] to me i stand amazed when i think the king of glory [Music] you really love me is [Music] wonderful [Music] dreams [Music] everything he's probably [Music] could [Music] is [Music] [Music] everybody is [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Laughter] of lives lost and longing an obsidarian tribute for the dearly departed members of the perth avenue sda church by don minatte adventism and seventh day 50 years ago integrated bringing believers in unison a community was generated combining time people place in bonds near can be disrupted divine the time they loved on god through songs and prayers dedicated effervescent the people cultures merging a family they created friendly the place foundation laid perth sda church inaugurated gathered they from diverse places congregants as one they worshipped honorably they served some tilled breath ceased and last heartbeat pulsated inconceivable the loss as fresh today as the day that they departed jesus now holds their souls in waiting till the day of their awakening knowing soon will we unite cherished you are in our memory sustaining living we are from day to day in joyful anticipation awaiting maranatha come lord maranatha he is coming now would not be a moment too soon to see resurrection mourning oh to see our loved ones again standing face to face beholding pastors and parishioners who've passed on before now are rising quiet oh no we will not be they'll be jubilation shouting reunited forever we will be never again to be departing sisters brothers in christ all around they'll be rejoicing trading happy tales telling how we made it overcoming unattainable longing now fulfilled as to heaven we're ascending victory is ours proof is in his nail-pierced hands extending wiping tears into his tender embrace he is drawing exalted hallelujahs praise off jasper walls resounding you're the love who stayed past death christ resurrected savior king zion is now our home with you adoration forever we will bring you happy sabbath church family what a privilege and what an honor it is for us to be able to sing praises to god he deserves our worship he deserves our praise so today we're gonna sing about his marvelous grace how many know that he's a marvelous god i invite you to join us wherever you are whether you're on your couch i want you to open the window so the neighbors can hear you we're gonna sing praises to our lord he's done marvelous things [Music] praise [Music] and you keep singing [Music] has [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] praise that exceeds our sin grace [Music] grace that is [Music] praise the lord [Music] everyone his grace [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] oh everybody [Music] [Music] praise the lord [Music] [Applause] hey praise the lord my god is awesome i don't know about you but he can move mountains he can heal me when i'm sick oh yes when i'm broken the the brokenness that you can talk to however many people you want to but no one can heal those wounds like god so whatever you have i don't know where you're at but bring it to a god that is awesome amen he's mighty he's a deliverer he's a provider my god is awesome [Music] [Laughter] is [Music] when [Music] [Applause] my god is awesome [Music] my god is [Music] my god is your [Music] [Music] my god is [Music] is is [Music] is [Music] is is [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] keep me [Music] [Music] strength [Music] [Applause] what you think about everything that god has done do you just realize that he is everything we cannot do anything by ourselves he's our joy he's our strength he's our all in all and you know it gets a lot simpler when we realize that we can't actually control things by ourselves we try so many times that's the thing we try so many times but we fail we fail miserably because he has all the power he knows what's best for us and he's in control so if you know that can you say with us god is a joy i know we all know it so if you got a testimony if you've been through some stuff you can say god is the choice say god god is the joy and the strength of my life he moves all pain misery and strength he promised to keep me never to leave me he's never ever fallen short [Music] keep my life clean every day i want to go with him when he comes back we're gonna try that again i've come too far [Music] he promised to keep [Music] [Music] all right here it is [Music] [Music] yes [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] do it all right [Music] to every situation [Music] trust in jesus [Music] blew it off [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] upon [Applause] [Music] because god is not a man he does not lie god is not a son of man he doesn't have to say sorry oops i did it wrong he is god and so whatever you've been through you might not be able to say i've learned to depend you might be like god i'm trying right now i'm fighting right now but i want to tell you that god restores yes wherever you are whatever your situation he restores and so he has promised to restore the years that the locusts have eaten so no matter how many years that is you don't have to worry god restores he will do a brand new thing in your life [Music] can we just say god restores good god [Music] [Music] he restores my mind he restores my soul with his healing hands [Music] he makes my life complete my reunion is so sweet [Music] god restoration relationships of a broken marriage [Music] [Music] he makes my life [Music] completely testimony [Music] [Music] look at me [Music] i'm a living testimony that god restores [Music] happy sabbath everyone and all the members of the toronto perth church family just want to greet you in the name of jesus as we get ready now to have the prayer i just ask you whether you're in church or you're online this time we assume an attitude of prayer as we lift our hearts to god let us all pray at this moment mighty god and our loving savior we pause to give you thanks and praise for the wonderful mighty god that you are when we look back over 50 years we can say if it were not for the lord on our side where would we be today it was 50 years lord 50 years of goodness and grace and mercy but 50 years of also struggles and setbacks and death father we know you never promised that everything would be easy but you promise that you will always be with your people and so today we can say that the lord has led us through 50 years we thank you lord for the opportunity to have started where we were first planted downtown toronto and that the gospel was spread in that area we thank you o lord for the many souls that were won to jesus over 50 years we thank you lord for those who blaze the trail for you for the pastor from year one to year 50 we give you thanks for every minister of this church and so lord we just want to praise you for who you are and when you saw that it was time you put an end to us adjourned downtown and you brought the church to 220 brethridge road where the light will continue to shine in the greater toronto area and beyond and today we can say to god be the glory great things he has done we want to thank your god for the many families that you've brought together at toronto perth we thank you for the many lives impacted we thank you oh god for all that this church accomplished through the name of jesus christ it wasn't always easy along the way oh god we face calamities along the way we've faced different situations struggles and hardship along the way also lord we also experience the cold fingers of death even through this pandemical god this church has been hit hard so many of our members that were laid to rest and are still too god we can't complain or question you we can only leave everything in your hand and lord we stand in support of the families and we moan with them because we are a family and whatever we go through we go through it together but we're a happy lord that weepin may endure only for a night but that joy will come in the morning so help the families and all the friends and everybody to be prepared for that great getting up mourning when the dead in christ shall rise and we shall meet again in heaven never to part o lord i pray that you may keep each one faithful and so lord we thank you for this year of jubilee where we can we can praise god and give him all the glory and lift up his name on high because we know hither to the lord has led to run a perth and so father we ask in a very special way today that you will continue to lead this church for the next 50 years and beyond if you tarry may you give her increase wisdom strength and may you oh lord populate this place with the righteousness of god and and workers who will hit the city with the good news of salvation and lift up the trumpet and love let it ring that jesus is coming again lord if we have not used these 50 years to get closer to god then father we would have we would have failed to achieve what you want us to achieve so as we examine ourselves on this 50th anniversary as we search our souls help us o lord to cry out to you and ask that if there is anything in us that is unlike you that you will remove it oh god and save your people i pray lord that you may be with the speaker of the hour dr nerval myrie that indeed oh god you will be with him you will bless him you will empower him you have let him you have used in my toronto perth lord for over many years you have inspired him you have given you have in largest territory you have given him the wisdom lord and the and and the vision so that he could have brought the church to that level and god you have helped in many ways to bring about change that toronto perth and we give you praise for that and his work may you bless him and use him now to your names and on glory and may the words that he bring today will bring blessings to our hearts and will provoke us to righteousness may you bless pastor williams and pastor patrick as they continue the work to carry on beyond the 50 years and may you continue to in bless them and inspire them and may you continue lord to use them to blaze the trail you are using them to do a wonderful work and god the great work that you have started in them you will bring it to even greater heights and we give you thanks so into your hand we commit this day's worship we commit this church and its vision and its plans for the future and may you lord bless this church with success bless this church oh god that she will continue to grow from strength to strength so lord have your own way in the lives of the families of toronto perth and we pray oh god that you may help us to recognize that your coming is so near and we need to be ready so that we can be transported to heaven where it will not only be 50 years in glory but eternity and so may all things all things oh god be done to bring you glory honor and praise so into your hands we commit everything and tell you thanks in the mighty name of jesus let everybody say amen our scripture reading is taken from numbers chapter 10 verses 29 to 32. now moses said to holbab the son of ruel the midian knight moses is father-in-law we are setting out for the place of which the lord said i will give it to you come with me come with us and we will treat you well for the lord has promised good things to israel and he said to him i will not go but i will depart to my own land and to my relatives so moses said please do not leave in as much as you know how we are to camp in the wilderness and you can be our eyes and it shall be if you go with us indeed it shall be that whatever good the lord will do to us the same we will do to you here ends the reading of god's holy word today's worship services both now and in the afternoon ends our series of special services marking the 50th anniversary of the toronto perth seventh-day adventist church to bring us the final divine worship service message is dr nerval myrie dr mary knows this congregation at toronto perth very well having pastored it between the years 2010 and 2018. he currently serves however as the lead pastor of the ruth seventh day adventist church in brampton ontario canada pastoral ministry has been pastor mary's vocation for the past 34 years he has pastored on two continents and in two countries first he spent 15 years in england where he served eight churches in four pastoral districts in 2002 however dr mary migrated to canada and joined the ontario conference during this time he has pastored such congregations as the mississauga church for eight years and the toronto perth church for another eight years and i might add at this point that the number eight seems to be following pastor mary and i wonder if he will be pastoring the ruth church for eight years just a thought just a thought during his tenure at mississauga he led in the building of the first gymnasium in the ontario conference and that took place in 2006. also during his tenure of during his tenure of service at the toronto perth avenue church as it was named then he provided visionary leadership and relocated the congregation to its present location at 220 bethridge road in etobicoke dr mairie has academic degrees from oakwood university newborn college and a doctor of ministry degree from northern baptist theological seminary in lombard illinois he is married to zenith who just completed a phd in public health and together they have two adult children raquel and liam who are both very actively involved musically in the churches in toronto and in ruth on behalf of pastor nicolas patrick the assistant pastor of this church the elders the 50th anniversary planning committee and the entire congregation at toronto perth we welcome you dr mary as our special speaker on this special occasion may god grant you his anointing as we climax the divine worship services marking the path over which god has led his people here at toronto perth god bless you and may he use you in a powerful way to magnify himself and to impart a blessing to the people of god thank you and god be with you [Music] do [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] jesus name [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] time [Music] down [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] down [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] oh ah [Applause] [Music] ah [Music] [Music] is [Music] wow [Applause] [Music] [Music] um [Music] [Applause] [Music] man oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] it is my absolute delight today to greet you in the powerful and the saving name of jesus christ our lord and our savior on this the final sabbath of your 50th anniversary celebration that you've been celebrating for the past four months i bring your greetings on behalf of my family my wife zenith and my and our children rational and liam it was our joy to serve this church for eight years as a pastoral family from january 2nd 2010 to january 6 2018. i would like to thank your senior pastor pastor eustace williams assistant pastor nicholas patrick had elder atembika kezwa an assistant head elder ralph um anderson the board of elders the departmental leaders the planning committee and the members for your kind and thoughtful invitation to share with you in this momentous celebration of your 50th anniversary ironically the your senior pastor was the one who actually installed me as the senior pastor of the toronto of the perth avenue church on january 10 2010 while he was the personal ministry director of the ontario conference we are certainly in what we would call a great movement my family and i had eight eight wonderful years here at toronto perth and perth avenue i want to say that my ministry in this church was made more successful and more enjoyable by both the pastoral and lay leadership that partnered with us and partnered with me for instance pastors theater sergeant my predecessor who bore the heat of the day in leading the church through the painful process of agreeing to relocate pastor duane raised a fraser for three years of joint ministry of pastor fitzray radlin for four years of ministry together and pastor windell montague for one year together i want to also hail the services of our bible instructor norma horton for four years and norma what for four years and by the way that's the same person it was my delight to perform her [Music] a wedding to other marriage to stanley what on november 17 2013. may also um hail the the the local lay leadership that made our ministry here enjoyable and fulfilling i'm arthur aka ralph anderson first elder for my tenure here joan hines our treasurer part excellence treasurer here during my time since the brenda forrester i'm a church clerk i needed someone to organize me and god gave me a good organizer in brenda forrester and her team i want to thank people like laura lindsay brother her deacon for eight years you would not find a more dedicated and harder worker for god than brother lindsay so pamela moan had deaconess for six years and eugene agrees for two years they were just outstanding workers and by the way may i thank all those who made it possible to keep our treasury department afloat because you came and you cleaned the church you made sure that even though we could not have afforded a paid cleaner you made sure that the church was kept clean thank you very much and i want to say also i could not have or um a more a better fundraiser and in dominable fundraiser in perlin kirwan she and her team of which i was part of by the way found other sources of income to make sure our budget would balance and also our church police mr um and brother tony lawrence our safety officer who made sure that things were in order as they say without law and order we would have anarchy if i were to mention everyone i'll be here for a long time but may i thank all the members because the truth is i had support from all the members of this church thank you for all you have done to have made our ministry in this church successful and also um want to remember at least for me however i would be amiss if i did not thank the lady who is brave enough and courageous enough thoughtful and kind enough to adopt me as her son i lost my biological mother in 2002 and so i speak of no other than sister blanche gardner my adopted mother we continue to share a beautiful mother and son relationship and i would say we need to just take a few moments just to pause as we remember those who have gone on before us awaiting the first resurrection their contributions still live on in the life and in the ministry of this church we thank god for all of them who made this church what it is today in my first sermon to you on january 2nd 2010 i spoke on the subject give me this mountain and in that sermon i challenge you not to be afraid of asking god for difficulties even as caleb did when he asks for the mountain i would not have known that in just six months god would give us one of our most difficult assignments the selling of 243 perth avenue where we've been for 40 years where you've been for 40 years and with all those wonderful memories over those 40 years to sell that church which was debt free and to purchase 220 brethridge road where we would incur a debt of two million dollars with a monthly mortgage repayment of twenty thousand dollars what a mountain but we asked god for it and you rose to the challenge and you purchased our present home on june 14 2010 barely six months after becoming your senior pastor for you to have trusted me so quickly must have been the leading of the lord god was in it from the beginning for almost one year we owned two buildings perth avenue and bethrich it was not until july the second 2011 that we were able to officially move from 243 perth avenue to 220 between road after we sufficiently renovated the facility pastor dwayne razor fraser who will speak later on this evening he and i are the only pastors who have passed this church at perth avenue and bethridge 243 perth avenue and 220 between what an awesome privilege and so church as we consider our theme for today and our theme for the past four months as you celebrate your 50th anniversary celebrating the past embracing the future and as we claim axis celebration i want you to know that a celebration of the past is not an opportunity for us to pat ourselves on the back and to say well done great job but for us to declare to god be the glory great things he has done it's a celebration of god's activities in the life of this church in my final sermon to you on january 6 2018 i told you to get out of the way so you don't impede restrict slow down the mighty work of god and so on this your 50th anniversary i say to you the same words get out of the way and let god take center stage let god sit on the pedestal let god get the credit for our accomplishments let god get the glory for all our successes let's get out of the way and let god take center stage but the second part of the theme embracing the future i would like to draw your attention to numbers chapter 10 and verse 29. numbers 10 verse 29 and moses said to obama the son of reuel the midianite moses is his father-in-law we are setting out for the place which the lord said i will give it to you come with us and we will treat you well for the lord has promised good things to israel let me read it to you from the new living translation on [Music] one day moses said to his brother-in-law hobab son of ruel the midianite we are on our way to the place the lord promised us for he said i will give it to you come with us and we will treat you well for the lord's promise wonderful things for israel so my subject today on this anniversary sabbath is simply come with us come with us let us pray our father in heaven we realize that we can do nothing good without you and so lord we want to pause just to thank you for how you've led this church in the past i want to thank you for your for your promise that you will be with us as we embark upon the future we commit ourselves lay lord to you for your um for your blessing for your service help us dear father to let our light so shine that men and women may see our good works but glorify you our father in heaven thank you for hearing this prayer in jesus name amen after leaving egypt for three months the israelites had reached sinai they remained there for about nine months and they kept their first passover on the anniversary of their deliverance from egypt in numbers 10 11-13 we read now it came to pass on the 20th day of the seventh month in the second year that the cloud was taken up from above the terminal of of the testimony and the children of israel set out from the wilderness of sinai on their journeys then the cloud settled down in the wilderness of paren so they started out for the first time according to the command of the lord by the hand of moses just imagine with me folk imagine with me their thoughts and their fears as they look forward to to to the enemies and the trials that awaited them in the wilderness from the story it would appear that some time before the the in during the encampment before they left sinai a relative of moses by marriage namely obab came into the camp to visit he was a millionaire by race he knew every foot of the ground as men like him would he knew where the springs were in the wilderness he knew the camping places he knew the shortcuts he knew the safe routes by now moses who when he was with his father-in-law rule or jethro same person he knew much about the wilderness then but moses's debtor's skill and knowledge had somehow waned by now um and so because he could not remember most of the territory he said to obama come with us come with us and give us the benefit of your practical knowledge in fact in verse 31 he says and you can be our eyes you can show us the way you can guide us you can lead us i ask you as you plan on embracing the future how do you plan to negotiate the wilderness the great unknown like ancient israel were called out of egypt spiritual israel we are called out of the world and we are both going to the place of promise that god had promised us and as the journey continues both israel's are beset by dangers along the way malicious adversaries surround them deceitfulness of their own hearts within them and and the doubts that plague their minds and as they grapple with these demons within and demons without behold before before them before they the the blessed entrance into the promised land that god had promised they are to grapple with all these things and the question is how will they negotiate it god holds before them the blessed hope of an abundant entrance into the rest the rest he has promised when each shall reach the end of their journey again i ask you as you plan on embracing the future how do you plan to negotiate the wilderness the great unknown well may i say and that sometimes in negotiating the great unknown there is the temptation to depend on the known to deal with the uncertainties of the unknown you'll miss that let me repeat it as we negotiate the future there is a temptation to depend on the known to deal with the uncertainties of the unknown we feel good let's face it we feel good when we have someone with us who knows the way that we are traveling someone who has been that way before we feel good when a person like that is with us and that is fine when the place you are traveling to is your chosen destination it's fine when you are the one who have chosen and set the course it's reasonable to plot your journey if the place you're traveling to is a destination that you have chosen but what if the place you are traveling to is according to what god told moses we are on our way to the place the lord promised us for he for he said i will give it to you who then is supposed to be your traveling companion to a place like this the place promised by god who is to be your traveling companion so moses turned to obama the one who knows the wilderness terrain he felt comfortable taking obab the known the known to deal with the uncertainties of the unknown in fact he said as i mentioned before he said you can be our eyes in verse 31 but what does god say in second corinthians 5 and verse 7 he says for we walk by faith and not by sight the question is by inviting hobarb was moses guilty of putting his trust in man and not in god turn the perth as you seek to embrace the future i ask you who will you put your trust in traveling to the place the lord has promised we cannot afford to walk by sight we must walk by faith the indispensable component called faith is necessary to embrace the unknown that we call the future now we know what hebrews 11 verse 1 and verse 6 says now faith is the substance of things hope for it is the evidence of things not seen but without faith it is impossible to please him for he who comes to god must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him i call upon you today to face the future the great unknown with faith and faith is trust in divine power so resist the temptation to deal with the unknown by the known when you are traveling to the place that god has promised so as we seek to embrace the future and deal with the unknown not only is there a temptation to depend and rely on the known to deal with the unknown but we must decide on who will guide us through the wilderness to the promised land who will guide us who will your guide be well will you be satisfied with just human help well many rely on human help to carry out a divine assignment we we seek our hobbs follow me now we seek our obers we seek the advice of the sage grey-haired counselor we seek the the the formation of a strong intelligent and wealthy committee or committees we we are careful in observing precedent if it happened before then it will happen again our hobbs those in whom we who have longevity in the church we tend to depend on those who are the spiritual giants in the church we tend to rely on oh yes we have our hobbs and while there is nothing intrinsically wrong with this because there is no virtue in being a hermit for no one is an island the truth is often god speaks to us yes god speaks to us through human instrumentality they are they are his ministers to us for good we do well to listen to god's servants the prophets believe his prophets so you will prosper so we do well to certainly um listen to those whom god send our way however though there is a great danger there is a great danger in putting man before god there's a great danger to think more of the glasses than what they are intended follow me now that we would cling to our orbs so as to become unmindful of the true guide the true leader of our souls the danger that we would worship the creature and not the creator you know there is an old jamaican adage that says the new broom sweeps clean but the old broom knows the corners spiritually speaking our obs might know the way but they don't know all the corners the corners with the devil is always lurking we cannot rely on our orbs when we need someone who knows the corners when we need someone who has a panoramic view when we need someone who sees things before they happen when we need someone who is always ahead of the game oh the only one i know who sees things before they happen who can fly the devil's traps who sees and knows the end from the beginning is the creator of heaven and earth is the one who is not subject to pre-existent matter when he makes anything at all including the creation of the world the one who holds the world in his hand i'm talking about the one who has a panoramic view you cannot the one who knows the corners he's the ancient of days who never changes but the same today yesterday and forever as first mostly 1 17 says now unto the king eternal immortal invisible the only wise god be honor glory forever and ever amen i'm saying to you that our orbs are useful but they are limited they are limited because they don't know the corners where the devil is lurking you need therefore more than human help you need as you as you negotiate the wilderness the great unknown the future you need divine help divine help as we go through the wilderness the great unknown we cannot depend on our obama's human help to navigate us through the rough treacherous and deceptive terrain we need we need divine help we need a god we need god to be our leader god to be our guide and to be our spiritual gps by the way the true leader the true leader of the children of israel in their wilderness journey was not moses but the divine presence in the cloud with a heart of fire that hovered over the camp for a defense and sailed before them as a guide in fact exodus 13 21 says and the lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light so as to go by day hour by night apart from the cloud by day and the fire by night the ark of the covenant was also in front of them this is what um numbers 10 33-36 says and i'm reading from a new living translation they march for three days after leaving the mountain of the lord with the ark of the lord's covenant moving ahead of them to show them where to stop unrest and they moved on each day the clouds of the lord hovered over them whenever the ark set out moses would shout arise o lord and let your enemies be scattered let them flee before you and when the ark set down he would say return o lord to the countless thousands of israel the truth is there is really no need for obab as a guide because god was their true and trusted guide so moses said to obama come with us in the invitation i believe moses says something to the church i believe he's saying to church that we need to give a similar invitation to come with us we are not inviting people as a church to a place that we have contrived or to some church program this is what we're inviting them to we are on our way to the place the lord promised us for he said i will give it to you come with us and we will treat you well for the lord has promised wonderful blessings for israel as a church we need to speak like moses and we need to say come with us come with us and when we speak like moses as a church we need to speak moses persuasively does not command but he persuades he does not merely give a suggestion or formal invitation but he uses an attractive argument and we will treat you well and so church when we invite people to come with us may we also say to them that we will treat you well too often people come to the church and they are not treated well what we promise we don't deliver it on this our 50th anniversary say to us as we go forward let us treat people well but moses also spoke heartily there was a warmth and pathos in his voice come with us give me your hand my brother my sister how welcoming come with us as a church we must speak persuasively we must speak heartily with warmth and pathos we must also speak earnestly moses invitation which he repeated by the way when obama said he would not go it would return to his to his um to his kingdred moses pleaded with him earnestly and moses said leave us not i pray thee we must not give up when people say no we must not just accept that they are not interested but we must continue and to repeat the invitation this is what dr luke says in luke 14 23 and the lord said unto the servant go out in the highways and the hedges and compel them to come in that my house may be filled so we must compel them not force them but but but speak persuasively and passionately and irresistibly and compel them to come we must not be content with what i would like to call a search theology just tell them just tell them for me oh that is good but that's not good enough we must embrace what i call a harvest theology and bring them bring them in from the fields of sin bring them in do not be content with just a harvest uh sorry search theology to to just to tell them but you must you must somehow be consumed with a harvest theology to bring them in bring them in from the seal of from the field of sin and when they come in you must treat them well this is what jay hasten says about the church and his commentary numbers page 378 he says when the church says come with us to any who are hesitating or undecided her face is evan warts her movement is in that way she hold her hand um she hold in her hand the role of promise the map of a better country even heavenly and sees her own title to the possession written there with the finger of god she is not lured onwards by the dreams of natural enthusiasm or by the frequent light of philosophy or by the dim hopes which arise in the human breast of something better and nobler to come by god's grace out of all this rock and storm of disappointment sorrow unchanged these things are good he says in their own place and measure but the church has a word of promise from god a promise clear and firm about another life a perfect state a better country a heavenly country this is where we are calling men and women too this is what we're offering them a better country a better way a better state a perfect state a heavenly country and so when they come may we treat them heavenly heavenly may we treat them well i want to say to you as you travel to the place of promise do not be content to go to the promised land alone do not be content to go to the promised land alone as stated before there was no need for obab as a guide because god was their true guide and trusted guide but i believe i believe obama's presence in the narrative in this story is very significant follow me now please follow me i believe his presence in this narrative is very significant obs presence i believe asks the question of us on your way to the place of promise who is coming with you who are you taking with you and i believe his presence in this narrative is saying to us make sure you bring your family with you oh babes was was moses his brother-in-law that's family the perth avenue 200 perth church has existed for 50 years but many of our family members and loved ones are still in the world we need to bring them with us as we travel to the promised land the devil is still getting their allegiance they are still in the world we cannot be content to leave them by the wayside we must invite them come with us to the place of promise and when we speak to them we must speak speak persuasively we must speak heartily we must speak speak earnestly don't be apologetic but about about repeating the invitation don't say i invite them before and they have not come why bother no that's just a search theology mentality you must have a harvest theology mentality and you must bring them bring them don't just invite them bring them to me um joshua declared that when he said in joshua 14 verse 15 if it seems evil to you to serve the lord choose for yourself this day whom you will serve whether the gods which your father served that were on the other side of the river or the gods of the the amorites in whose land you dwell but as for me and my house family we will serve the lord you cannot be content to go to the place of promise alone you must have a passion to bring your family and notice for moses this was family by marriage just imagine how much more you should labor for those who are in your blood family i want to say to us do not be content to go to the promised land alone now andrew i believe gave us the formula gave us the harvest theology formula in john chapter 1 4 to 42 on one of the two who heard him speak followed him that's john 1 4 to the 42 one of the two who heard him speak followed him was andrew simon peter's brother he first found his own brother simon notice family found his own brother simon and said to him we have found the messiah which is translated the christ and the bible says verse 42 and he brought him to jesus he didn't just tell him about jesus of the messiah oh he's over there go to that um place here or there no but he brought him to jesus that's what it's all about we need a harvest theology for our family like andrew to bring them to jesus do not be content as you celebrate these 50 years say to yourself which family member do i need to plead for and to invite to come with me to come with us here is something else this may make you uncomfortable not only should you as you go to the promised land not only should you not go alone by bringing your family with you i want to say to you do not be afraid to invite those who believe differently from you to come with you you'll miss that do not be afraid to invite those who are different to you and believe differently from what you believe to come with you why why i said that obab was what he was a midianite not an israelite and i believe that in this story oh bob is here to say to us not only must we not not go to the place of promise alone but we must take our families with us is his presence in this story he's also saying that we must also take those who do not believe the same as what we believe who are not family let the midianites we need to invite them to come with us sometimes we are afraid of those who believe differently from us that's why we we stay far from people of other faiths but we make a mistake we make a mistake when we do that sometimes we are afraid of them because we think that because they believe differently they might influence us but god has called you to be a leader is call you is giving you the truth so you can champion the truth both to your family and to the world and to those by the way who believe differently of a different faith so as we go to the place of promise we must invite the midianites with us as we embrace the future we need to widen we need to widen our circle of friends to include the midianites the non-israelites widen your net widen your circle jesus said in john 10 16 and all the sheep i have which are not of this fall them also i must bring that they may hear my voice and there will be one flock and one shepherd so jesus himself said he has other sheep the midianites those who believe differently bring them to invite them to to come with you as you go to the place of promise we need not be afraid of them because they believe differently to you in fact you might just discover as you associate with them as you befriend them as you talk with them as you invite them you might just discover that they are on the same side as you are well where do i get that from luke chapter 9 49 and 50. now john answered and said master we saw someone cast not demons in your name and we forbade him because he does not follow with us but jesus said to him do not forbid him for he who is not against us is on our side room my friends my brothers my sisters make room for those who are different to you obab says to us that there is there should be a place for the midianite as we travel to the place of promise there should be a place for families as we travel to the place of promise do not become content with going alone you must take your family with you and take those that god has put in your circle with you who are different and who believe differently to you and i want to say finally that as we negotiate the wilderness as we negotiate the great unknown the future do not be content just to to use what you know to guide you to the unknown i want to say to you also do not be content with just human help you will develo you need a divine compass and i want to say to you do not go it alone invite your family invite those who believe different to you but i want to also say to you believe believe that going back is not a credible option you must believe that going back turning back is not a credible option now moses said to ober again the son of ruel the media knight moses father-in-law we are setting out for the place of which the lord said i will give it to you come with us as invitation come with us and we will treat you well for the lord has promised good things to israel and the good things god has promised to israel you will also receive as well because god is not a partial blesser god blesses everyone who seeks to to to to walk in the way toward his promised land the text says and albert said to him oh bob said to him i will not go but i will depart to my own land and to my own relatives in other words i'm going to go back from whence i came i'm saying to you that going back is not a credible option ob was deciding to go back to his homeland to his family rather than to place the lord has promised what a dead end decision what is he going back to to reject the invitation to go to the place that the lord has promised to go back from whence you came is not spiritual progress cannot be credible in fact [Music] we find a similar situation in john chapter 6 verse 66-68 from that time many of his disciples went back they turned back like oh bob they want to go back they turned back and walked with them walk with jesus no more that jesus said to the 12 and i say to all those who are listening today i say to to toronto perth after 50 years with the lord i say to you as jesus said to the 12 do you also want to go away do you want to turn back do you have a desire to turn back but simon peter anselm lord to whom shall we go you have the words of eternal life and we have come to believe and we know that you are the christ the son of the living god we've come to believe and we know that you are the christ the son of a living god in other words peter says leaving is not a credible option for us because jesus you have the words of eternal life how can we leave everything and go back to nothing that's not progress so as you celebrate the past and as you embrace the future believe that turning back is not a credible option god has brought you a mighty long way turning back is not an option you see in the power of god transformed many lives turning back is not an option you have seen god do so much with so little you jesus as the key of death and the grave turning back is not an option and today today even as i speak we at a funeral the funeral of our dear sister of algae we've had many funerals over the past few months i want to say to you we cannot turn back because jesus has the key of death and the grave he is the resurrection and the life we cannot turn back because jesus will keep faith with the dead we cannot turn back he's the way the truth and the life he had the words of eternal life jesus has gone to appear a place for us and he will come again and receive us unto himself that where he is there we may also be and so today i want to invite you to come with me to my father's house to my father's house to my father's house come and go with me to my father's house because there is joy joy joy there is peace and there is love abiding in my father's house i want to say to you that there is no dying in my father's or thank you jesus there is no dying in my father's house in my father's house jesus is the way that's why we cannot turn back jesus is the way to my father's house we cannot turn back there is sweet communion up there in my father's house come come go with me to the place of promise my father's house i want to say as i close with him the words of this wonderful hymn as we celebrate the past and as we embrace the future i want to say to you that heaven now is in view heaven now is in view just over the mountain in the promised land lies the holy city built by god's own hand as our weary footsteps i think i missed something here as a weary footsteps on the mountain crest we can view our homeland of eternal rest we are nearing home in the roles of the prophet we've long been told of that what holy city built by pure gold i want to say to us i want to say to us that we are nearing home see the splendor gleaming from the domes afar see the glory streaming through the gates ajah there will soon we'll enter nevermoor to rome here the angels singing we are nearing home we are nearing home i want to say to us today let us celebrate the past not because of what we've done but because of what god has done through us let us embrace the future knowing that god is our shore guide and god invites us god invites us to a place of promise the promised land and i want to say to us we can see that we're nearing home the signs all around us tell us that we're nearing home we cannot be content just to stay here but we must have a desire to go home i want to say to you today my brother my sisters will they meet us there in the land of sunshine where there'll be no care will you meet us there accept god's message and to him be true then when jesus cometh he will call for you we are nearing home we are nearing home i want to say to us today let none of us choose turning back as an option because it's not a credible option oh it's an option yes because you're free to do what you want but what are you going back to a world of sin a life of um [Music] of pleasure what are you going back to we're nearing home let's stay on course let us stay in course oh yes we need more than human help we need divine help and we have it because god is our show guide i say guide me o the great jehovah guide me guide us to the place of promise i appeal to you members my sisters do not depend on human help rely on divine help do not be content to go alone to the place of promise bring your family with you bring those who god put into your circle the midianites bring them with you [Music] and i want to say do not trust the known to deal with the unknown trust in god without faith it is impossibly pleasing i say to you today as we go forward let's go forward in faith knowing that we must conquer because jesus is our leader in fact that's what we used to sing have you heard of the what the advent church how she is moving according to prophecy for the lord is our leader and we surely must conquer have you heard of the advent church [Music] let us today thank god that he's allowed us to be part of his church and we're going to stay i'm going to stay i trust that you're going to stay and you'll stay like peter lord to whom shall we go you have the words of eternal life great god and our father in heaven thank you so much for your invitation to go to the place that you have promised your invitation that you will give us good things i pray there god as we travel that we will not become weary but we will keep our focus on jesus christ our leader and our guide lord sometimes we will have obstacles oh yes there will be people lord who will try to derail us the devil knows the corners but thank you god that you have a panoramic view and you are the god who goes ahead of us go ahead of us there father as we go forward into the future and help us help us to walk in your footsteps not to walk ahead of you but to walk behind you and to follow exactly where you live i pray for this church i pray for leadership of this church i pray for the pastors and the elders and and all the leaders of his church i pray that god even we celebrate this 50th anniversary that we will thank you for what you've done with us and through us and may we commit ourselves further to give you even more faithful service as we go forward hear this all prayer and bless this church in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit and everyone amen [Music] you

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Length: 180min 55sec (10855 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 04 2021