Putting First Things First (09/18/2021)

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] welcome to sligo church [Music] whether you're joining us live or you found us online we thank you for being a part of our worship today to the broken and to the hurting to the desperate and to the defeated to the common the average the plain and the small i want you to know you matter to god to the washed up and the worn out to the helpless and the hopeless to the cast outs the dropouts the last picks and hypocrites to the unimpressive and the underwhelming to the nobodies and has-beens to people just like me you matter to god [Music] you are not defined by your worst days or your biggest mistakes and you are not the sum total of all your setbacks slip-ups failures and faults because who you are is not determined by what you have where you've been or what you've done but who jesus declares you to be you matter to god maybe at some point somebody told you something that simply wasn't true unless you're nothing but unworthy unwanted and unloved but i want the loudest voice in your ear to be the voice that breaks the cedars and shakes the wilderness and he says you matter to me before the galaxies were born or the first star gave light before the ocean waves crashed or the night sky cracked with thunder before any creature crawled or any birds sang before the planets were set in motion he said in motion the plan of your salvation from the highest heights of heaven the lord of all creation looked upon your desperation he became like one of us to remake all of us to make an orphan his child to make a rebel his friend to set the prisoner free you matter to god so to all the sons and daughters of god to all my brothers and sisters in christ behold his power and glory and majesty behold the one who matters most good morning sligo what a glorious and pleasant sabbath we have before us and how wonderful it is to have your presence whether physically in this building or online wherever you are welcome welcome welcome when you stop to think and i was just so excited listening to that last video i was just so excited what a god we serve to think of it that a god who can speak and things will show up actually concerns himself with what happens to you when no one else understands what's happening to you he does how can you help but love someone who would literally lay down their life when you were their enemy and so with excitement with joy as you ponder the words sing with me this morning oh how i love jesus we will sing all three verses [Music] is [Music] is [Music] tell me oh [Music] is [Music] [Music] from our house to your house and anywhere in between welcome to sligo church live online and mobile at sligochurch.com good morning and welcome to sligo live we're so glad you've joined us on wau weekend this is an important weekend for washington adventist university as we put together a whole string of events that hopefully you can be a part of and enjoy and get a chance to really know our university in a better way we're so glad that you've joined this church service at sligo church today is a fantastic day to join us and i know you will be blessed one of the great pieces of this academic university this this fantastic location here in the nation's capital is our religion department in fact as a christian university it is one of our centerpieces and as we move forward one of the aspects of that religion department is its name and today we're going to talk about a renaming ceremony that we're doing here on campus very important renaming ceremony and it's going to be renamed for elder henry and mrs sharon fordham as they have recently tragically passed away we want to honor their legacy with this naming and so today we have with us our uh professor bogdansker welcome good morning good morning we uh this is no small decision for uh the university uh this is a large decision give us a sense of what kind of led to this consideration of renaming the department we wanted to honor the legacy of dr henry fordham and mrs sharon fordham they tragically passed recently and we all mourn with allegheny east conference and the entire membership of the conference leadership of the conference and we wanted to do something to honor their legacy and contribution to recognize the work and the lifelong work that they put into the work of god into the work of the gospel and it was just our honor our great honor and joy to name our department after dr henry fordham and mrs sharon fordham to honor them and to also express our desire to be closely connected to local church and to local conferences in our union we see ourselves as a department that serves union and local conferences and we would like to express in this gesture our desire for that connection and to reaffirm that connection so this decision reconfirms a direction that you've been looking to take for the department um for a long time uh what is what is kind of this new direction that you're looking at actually we already made that decision and we're moving in that direction for about two years now we recognized the the value and the significance of our location we are in a metropolitan center major metropolitan center in north america actually we consider ourselves to be in the center of the political diplomatic capital of the world and as such we see ourselves as a well positioned to shift our attention and our focus towards urban ministry because we are in urban center and according to united nations statistics today about 54 of the world's population lives in urban centers around the world and we would like to prepare our students to serve and minister as pastors and leaders of ministries in urban centers we would like to prepare them to navigate that intricate and delicate dynamics of urban centers so we are preparing our students four urban ministries specifically we moved in that direction about two years ago and we are reconfirming that direction in this renaming ceremony um today afternoon at five o'clock you're i can i can hear the passion in your voice it's you know the excitement of where we can go four o'clock actually at four o'clock oh make sure it's four o'clock we we are uh in this ceremony it is about honoring the fordham's it is about uh honoring the family uh and and giving them a chance to kind of memorialize uh during this moment but it is so much about uh sending our students correct our students are a big part of this ceremony correct correct we love fordhams and we want to honor them and we want to recognize their contribution to our university to our department but we also want to use this opportunity to send our students to reconfirm their commitment to urban ministry and ministry in general so our students our beloved students will be part of this ceremony will take part in this ceremony today at four o'clock awesome it is a part of uh the weekend uh wau weekend we have of course this dedication sabbath this morning uh in saigon church at uh this morning our 11 o'clock service and then we're gonna have uh a service at four o'clock this is the renaming ceremony the fordham department of religion renaming ceremony at four o'clock it'll be on the lawn in front of uh richards hall of course we want to make sure that you are aware we've asked uh people who are attending to please rsvp uh to that event uh we'll put a graphic here on the screen if you're watching and if you are uh online if you're watching online please go to the wau.edu website um to kind of switch gears here we have a big event coming up uh very soon for the religion department um called the keo summit and it's going to be two days of uh discussion this isn't a small discussion though the questions that are being asked are are really relevant for today give us some more information on that yes this is another tremendous event an exciting event for us as a department and university and we hope that it will be a momentous event for our union for our division for the world we would very much like to invite um all the people from different parts of the world to join us to tune into this event the theme the main theme of the event is unity in the church so there are various reasons why we are disunited in adventist church there are ethnic reasons economic reasons very other reasons racial reasons there and many other reasons why we are united many other walls that exist between us and we would like to spend two days reflecting on how do we overcome those obstacles how do we dismantle these walls between us and how do we move forward into the future of the adventist church until christ comes united in unity together worshiping together working together preaching the gospel and evangelizing the world together that that relevancy really comes from so many of the events that have happened recently in the world and we've seen this this kind of splitting of ideal ideologies in the church right and so we're looking to have that discussion on what that means for us going forward and how we can bring it together very much so we would like to explore is there a room in seventh-day adventist church for diverse opinions for diverse theological perspectives um for diversity of voices can we unite those voices and theological perspectives together and and have a church that benefits from diversity of voices so yes very much so this is a relevant event in the light of recent recent happenings in our culture but it is also very much inspired by the visions of revelation of the book of revelation where people of gods serve worship god together in the kingdom of god so we would like to move a little bit closer to one another to christ coming in unity reflecting that vision of the book of revelation fantastic well thank you so much uh professor chair of the religion department uh we're so glad that you you've joined us this morning and thank you for for letting us know about these fantastic things in the religion department uh we're we're so glad again that you joined us this morning we're moving on to our main service where uh president dave wagley will be presenting our message we look forward to that and we will have a dedication moment for all the faculty and staff at washington adventist university again thank you for joining us for sago live if you have any questions if you if you have a prayer request please go to sligochurch.org and leave your prayer requests there we have a fantastic pastoral staff again thank you for joining us for saigon live good morning and welcome to sligo church this morning as we here are on the campus of washington adventist university our sister institution and as we celebrate the wise week wau's week in spiritual emphasis we welcome you here today those of you who are here in our sanctuary we welcome you we are so glad to see you we enjoy having you here in the pews and those of you who are at home worshiping in your homes we are so excited that all around the world you have chosen to be with sligo church today now we know that there are a lot of contagions going around in the world today but one that i'd love for you to spread is something that is infectious is a smile why don't you turn to your neighbor and give them a big bright smile today ah that looks so good and at home turn to your family and smile as well this is a day of dedication this is a day when we will be dedicating things to god and in the bible it tells us when king solomon had his day of dedicating the temple that he sacrificed hundreds even thousands of sacrifices offerings to god and as we sit here hundreds in the room yea even thousands at home we want to be the living sacrifice when solomon made his sacrifices the bible tells us that the cloud of god's glory was so great that they couldn't continue in the temple we want that same cloud here today amen we want to feel god's glory in this room so also speaking about the glory of god in the room we want to remind you to please make room to socially distance give the glory some room between you and remember to socially distance the pews are marked so that we can stay safe sligo is a church that has a very active life and does a lot of marvelous things in the community and throughout the area and so we have a grief ministry it is called uplifters it is part of our heart lifters ministry and when we say grief we don't just mean if you've lost a loved one of course that is something that will grieve you but if you've lost a job if you've lost normalcy if you've lost hope this seminar is for you it is saturday the 18th today and the 25th it's at 3 30 and mike tucker and d taylor are our presenters you don't want to miss these virtual seminars on zoom you could go to our website for more information on october 2nd through 23rd we will be beginning a uh prophecy the sure word of prophecy seminar featuring dr renko stefanovic new testament professor from andrews university from our seminary he will be carrying out these seminars if you've ever heard dr stefanovic you do not want to miss this it will be deeply enriching and it will show you revelation from a perspective that you've never seen before please join us it will be online and so this will be something that you would love to be a part of and we would love to welcome you also we want to just mention that on october 9 what day did i say october 9 i heard you at home too october 9 we will be installing our new senior pastor alex barriantos i hope i said that correctly following the service we will have an opportunity to meet and greet him we're going to do a drive-by welcome the way we do it only here at sligo and it's going to be in the church parking lot there will be tables out for you if you'd like to give a gift to him you could put it on the tables we are so excited that pastor barriantos and his family will be joining us as we start this new phase of ministry here at sligo with our joys and excitement also comes our concerns in prayer and so we mourn with the family of maziel mistrapa brother of our own beloved orlando mastrapa who has recently passed please keep that family in your prayers we also mourn with the wright family who's recently lost our dear sister carol wright please keep the wright family in your prayers we're asking that you will also pray for victor phillips he was formerly an organist here at sligo church and we are just asking that you keep him in prayer as he is in the hospital in the icu and then we also want to pray for and give praise for a birthday that was that uh took place this month ivy bellroy turned 80. we got her permission to say that and we just want to give god glory for all the 80 years that she spent on this earth and now it is my distinct pleasure and privilege to welcome to the platform our president of wau dr weymouth spence [Applause] thank you very much pastor dr bridges this is a special day and always a special day here at sligo and at washington at venice university i want to join in with this pastoral staff and welcome you welcoming you to our service today in our midst we have a board of trustees faculty staff and students of washington adventist university learning community dr mcfarland and the entire pastoral staff officers and members of sligo church i want to express my deep appreciation for the partnership we're establishing in joining and establishing our joint missions here in the metropolitan area uh welcome to also our visitors and friends that are online i think much of our community from the university is also online having just uh started the fall semester face-to-face and our students are excited dr cheer that they are back on campus just about everyone i've spoken to have said they are tired of none face to face they are not experiencing the wau experience my friends it is a tremendous blessing to have this day of the week the seventh day where every seventh day we can leave our stress or routine work or assignments or studying and reflect on the blessings of god let me hear you say amen oh that's not good enough let me hear you say amen you have to say that a little louder you know because remember you have the mask on you to the congregation here at sligo church i want to congratulate you on recently conducting a worldwide search for our senior pastor i had the opportunity to serve on the search committee and i'm so happy of the selection you made ladies and gentlemen the sligo church selected a w what let me say a washington adventist university graduate you did very well i am sure the lord will continue to bless him as we partner in ministry here at sligo sligo being the university church our partnership will enhance our mission this is the university's dedication weekend the dedication of the members of the our learning community and our church community so that we are in alignment with god's mission here at washington at venice university we blend faith and learning we graduate outstanding nurses accountants computer experts but they not only are competent in their specific discipline but they blend in moral leadership christian principles as they depart to the world to serve this is [Applause] i am done but i'm not quite done remember you have the mask on so you have to shout that out this is sabbath we're no studying no assignments to do today this is [Applause] thank you very much it is our privilege today to dedicate the faculty and staff at washington adventist university at this time i invite faculty and staff to come forward and we have plenty of room to spread out you can use both platforms the lower and upper as a graduate it wasn't washington administer university yet it was columbia union college then but i personally am witness to the dedication and passion of the professors the faculty the staff of washington adventist university some of them have become lifelong mentors for myself and so it is with privilege that we as ligo church recognize the call that each of these faculty members and staff members fulfill in their life as god has called them to shape the minds and spirits of our students i invite elder remembers to pray a prayer of dedication for our faculty and staff let's bow our heads together oh lord we are grateful that we can come together today that we can celebrate another year of academic endeavor here on the campus of washington adventist university lord we're thankful for the 117 year legacy that we build upon we're thankful for those who have gone before and laid the foundation that we have today and lord we pray that your holy spirit would be poured out in a specific way upon the faculty and staff here at washington avenue university we're grateful that they have committed themselves to the ministry of education and we pray that your holy spirit would rest upon them as day by day they stand before students and teach that as they serve that they would do it as though they are doing it for you lord we pray that you would be with each one of our students this year we're thankful for each one who has come to receive uh education and training here we pray that in addition to the intellectual knowledge that they will gain and the skills that they will learn that they would also find you as their personal friend and savior we pray that as they walk through the the gateway to service that they would accept this call that they would use the knowledge and skills that have been gained here on this campus this year and that they would use it to to be agents of change in this world that they would represent your voice and your works around the world lord we're thankful for our board members who are here as well and pray that you would give them your spirit of wisdom as they make important decisions this year and lord we are grateful for this church this congregation the sligo church for its rich history and for what it does now today and will be doing this year in ministry to this campus and this community lord we do so to honor you and we just pray that your holy spirit would be poured out with great power may you give us the vision the passion the skill the resources that we need to accomplish your purpose here this school year in jesus name we ask and pray and amen family we ask that you continue to remember our faculty staff and students throughout the year because it has been a difficult year and we know that they especially need our prayers faculty and staff we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for what you've been doing this last year and what you will be doing this year thank you [Applause] it is our privilege to stand and sing with excitement on our lips because this reality trumps everything else that you might be concerned about and that is the lord in zion reigneth what a wonderful thought what a wonderful reality please stand with me if that is something you are able to do and sing loud enough to disturb your neighbors with this wonderful truth [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh oh [Music] is is [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] foreign [Music] as we enter into our time of prayer i invite those who are able to kneel as we seek the lord in prayer and those joining us online you are welcome to kneel or take whatever posture you're able to as we seek the lord this morning let us pray father in heaven lord we thank you so much that you are here with us lord we thank you so much that you have decided to show up into this service into our lives because we so desperately need you lord and if if you don't show up what are we doing here and so we're so grateful that you're here this morning and lord you've heard the the people who are in desperate need of your help those who are in the icu those who are dealing with the loss of loved ones those who are going through unbelievable amounts of pain that only you know a lot of us have scars that are unseen but they're seen by you you know the stresses that we've gone through and that we're in right now you know the difficulties that we face and none of it falls on deaf ears lord we're so grateful we can cast our cares on you because you care for us and it's you that we need right now and so whatever has happened during the week lord we just set that at your feet whatever it is that we're going through right now we just set that at your feet and just for this moment just for this moment we want to see you high and lifted up we want to see you just become so real in our lives that the cares that we face just fade away in the presence of your glory so i just ask at this moment you show up in a big way and that you make yourself magnified we thank you so much for coming into the midst of our lives and for showing up and we look forward to the great and marvelous things you will do not just in this service but in our lives we pray in the name of jesus amen [Music] [Music] hi boys and girls how are you i have a question for you do you remember last sabbath we had a child dedication yes that was very special right and i bet you that most of you if not all of you are dedicated when you were a child too and you know my question is who are you dedicated to that's right to jesus to god that's right good job you know what so can you see god do you trust god i mean do you really trust god what's the whole point of us being dedicated like what does that even mean right we're dedicated to god the god that we love you know maybe i can't see him i can't touch him here but god is real do you believe that do you believe that god is real do you trust god you know you can see me right you see me at church you see me at school and around do you trust me would you trust me if i said hey let me put this bag of water over your head would you trust me ah yeah probably most of you would but if i said hey let me put a pencil through the bag of water while the bag is on top of your head would you trust me then natalie i want you to meet my niece natalie hi natalie natalie you were dedicated when you were a baby right to god do you trust god yeah yeah so would you trust me to put this bag of water over your head while i poke a hole with a pencil what do you think what do you think boys and girls alright let's see oh look at that boys and girls wow would you be willing to trust me with two pencils natalie oh she said yeah boys and girls what do you say all right let's do two look at that boys and girls say bye natalie bye thank you natalie look boys and girls can you believe that natalie decided to trust me my question to you is will you decide to trust god today the god who we're dedicated to the god whom we serve the god who we love because he loved us first that's right it's not because of what's in it for us but it's because of who he is it's god that's right it's all about god so may god continue to bless you boys and girls and may you always remember to keep your eyes on him okay let's pray dear heavenly father we're so thankful for everything that you do for us we ask you to bless our boys and girls we dedicate them to you once more and their families maybe continue to keep our eyes on you trusting you knowing that you are our god that we are able to trust you in everything and we ask you all of this in jesus name amen we'll see you next time boys and girls god bless you bye-bye good morning the scripture reading for today will be taken from the book of deuteronomy chapter 6 verses 4 to 6. i'm reading from new king james version and if you don't have your bible with you you can join us my reading with your phones or your tablets yeah o israel the lord our god the lord is one you shall love the god the lord your god with all your heart with all your soul and with all your strength and these words which i command you today shall be in your heart may the lord bless the reading of his words in our lives amen we are honored today to have of as our speaker our chairman of the board dr dave whiteley he was elected in 2006 and serves also as the president of the columbia union conference of seventh-day adventists the union is comprised of eight conferences with more than 146 000 members 850 churches 81 elementary and secondary schools two healthcare networks with 12 hospitals and washington adventist university and also kettering college in ohio yesterday at lunch he made a point that synchronized his transition from a farm boy to where he is today which is a signature of washington adventist university we are moving up in the ranks of social mobility for students here's the background our chairman was one of eight children raised by an adventist dairy farmer in anders pennsylvania and his buyer says near hershey no wonder he's so sweet because of their strong commitment his parents sacrificed to send all their children through christian education let me hear you say amen come on my friends let me hear you say amen we have to support christian education uh from 1955 to 1970 there was always a widely at bma he said sometimes when they needed to pay the tuition tuition they would sell a car today a farm boy they call him president of columbia union conference and chairman of our board of trustees social mobility he attended washington adventist university in my estimation that's why it's so great you see you don't have to be great to start but you have to start to be great and washington adventist university set the tone for where he is today he graduated from southern adventist university in tennessee where he completed a bachelor of arts degree in theology he also holds a masters of business administration in managerial leadership from the city university of seattle washington and a doctor of philosophy in leadership from angers university his wife is becky weigley uh rishi rebecchi he has two adult children we share two having children and i think we also share wedding anniversaries in may of 2016 he was re-elected for an unprecedented third five-year term his vision drive and results-oriented leadership have made an indelible mark in this area of adventist work i uh it is a joy working with him and best practice indicates that the leadership of the president and the chairman of the board and the chairman on the board entirely determines the success of higher education institution my friends are speaker for this dedication weekend dedication weekend 2021 is the chairman of the washington adventist university board of trustees and or president of the columbia union conference [Applause] just before he speaks we will hear from the world's best music department here at washington adventist university [Music] is [Music] so [Music] is [Music] yes [Music] true blue oh [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] jesus [Music] there [Applause] okay good morning it's a pleasure being with you here in sligo i've been looking forward to this for some time when dr spence invited me to participate in this fashion on this special sabbath of dedication and i will agree with what i hear dr spence telling those who just sang to you he kept saying well done well done well done beautiful number thank you also thank you for the wonderful leadership today at sligo of dedicated women pastors thank you dr cheryl bridges-wilson and thank you pastor beneatha fiedler thank you so much and of course you also saw the chaplain of washington avenue university the new chaplain the young chaplain as well as others on this staff chaplain jason dietz it's good to see youth isn't it but also i want to say underscore the sligo thank you for the way you affirm women in ministry in a time that's needed yes it was over 50 years ago i had the privilege dr spence i'm walking on this campus and being impacted by higher education i still remember the dedication of those professors who taught me the accounting experience was wonderful college was another story it was good very challenging pushed you to the limit but also it began to expand my mind like nothing else i just remember sitting in elder barnes bible class called teachings of jesus wow what a ministry that dedicated minister professor had on my life and many others and he will stand with those of others you even named one after dr kiel the key election series it was i believe here at the time i was here didn't have the privilege taking classes from him but so many dedicated men and women over the years 117 years of teaching the gospel of presenting the word of presenting adventist education right here in tacoma park maryland washington missionary college columbia union college and of course washington adventist university thank you dr spence i knew you had wisdom when you married a becky i knew you had wisdom when you married her on august 14 1977 the same year and they i married my becky yes and i think he and i share the same birth year we have a lot in common just knew it was a marriage we started years ago and this year when the clock ticks 2022 dr spence will have been here 14 years longest serving president yes longest serving president of those three institutions i just mentioned we'll talk more about this later at another time but today dedication how much do you look like your parent or parents have you have you considered that has anyone ever told you you look a little bit like your dad you look a little bit like your mom um how much do you act like them uh it's not too well not too off but once and when i say to my wife becky honey you sound just like your dad it's it's a strange thing isn't it and fascinating study determine how our environment our associations and family impact us it's only as i've gotten older i've realized how much my father and my mother had impact on on my faith on my beliefs and who i am though my father has been going more than 30 years now he still has an impact on me today we're talking about dedication how much are we affected by a close friend or family member and their dedication in our life i was a senior at blue mountain academy dad was running a big dairy farm in fact he had bought another farm and more cows and dad's dream was you know this summer i was ever at sligo by the sea on the way back to sligo by the sea your counterpart out there in ocean city as i was driving back i kept coming by these little fruit places where you sell all this good healthy fruit but every so often i see a a picture of an ice cream cone and i guess it's the power of suggestion got in my mind i said i got to get an ice cream somewhere and then along came this place where it was a dairy serving fresh soft serve ice cream i had to pull in you probably know where it is that was my dad's dream to have a soft-serve ice cream place and so he added more farms and more cows and a partner in this and then it all fell apart because my dad's health became broken and i was at academy mom dad said no we want to keep david academy i was the last of those going through blue mountain academy there was another one that would go thunderbird academy but his mom and dad said no we're going to keep david academy not going to bring him home let's keep him at the school let's hire somebody to help us but my dad got so ill he was bedridden and in that bedridden state his dreams began to change in fact the dream of having this soft-serve ice cream dairy store began to fade away and he what well what would he do he sat there in that bed he re-read the book desire of ages and he heard the nurse say one night to my mom his first name was paul and she said to my mother i don't think paul's going to make it through the night to my dad who was not yet 50 years of age close but not there yet he said i i crawled out of that bed i got down on my knees and i said lord if you will heal me if you'll spare my life i will sell everything all the farms everything and i will move to arizona because in arizona it's dry and i can my asthma and my emphysema i can i can i can bear i can get through i can i can i can work and i'll spend the rest of my life working for you and god answered my dad's prayer in a positive and he began to get better that day and later that year before i graduated from blue mountain he sold the farms and we moved to tucson arizona and for 16 years god gave my dad life and he became a lay pastor and a church planter moving god's mission forward you see how that impacted this young life i was only 18 at the time but somewhere observing my dad giving his life dedicating his life to jesus christ impacted this young life and many others of the family members what does it mean to dedicate well it's very simple come on dave the what webster says it is to commit to a goal to a way of life and so we dedicate that which is important we dedicate babies thank you for the children's story how beautiful we dedicate churches we dedicate money to a cause and we dedicate ourselves now why would we dedicate why do we do such a thing take for a child for example isn't it because we first want to tell god and we want to tell others that we are committed to raising this child in the name of jesus under god's education under god's direction we give ourselves and we give this child to god and we dedicate the child unto him we commit this child to the almighty today we've come to dedicate our university i in my mind wrote it i'm dedicating a student body the young lives that are coming into the doors of our classrooms sitting at the feet of professors teachers i in my mind am asking god to dedicate this seeking student body and secondly i want to dedicate and i ask god and i call on you to dedicate we've already had the prayer but in your heart and in your mind i want to dedicate the talented st the talented faculty and staff of this wonderful school yes and finally i want to be a part of dedicating the visionary administration of dr spence a of dr kazunzu and the capable cfo patrick party the three executive officers we've come to dedicate and i'd also i should say finally we come with the board of the board of trustees who are here with us today and online we also call for them to dedicate in the presence of god and unto god we dedicate but let for a moment before we talk about a lot of this who are we dedicating to we're declaring ourselves uh to god yes let's turn to deuteronomy chapter 6 in your bibles you have there and i'm reading from the new king james version and we heard it in our scripture today deuteronomy chapter 6 says it it says hear o israel the lord our god the lord is one i'd like to ask you to say that with me for a moment this morning could we say that together beginning let's do it here o israel the lord our god the lord is one let's do it again better this time more in using one two three hear o israel the lord our god the lord is one that is what you would hear in a jewish synagogue this morning had you gone there it is called the shema it is the confession of faith it is a declaration that jehovah is god alone now interestingly in the hebrew the speaker does not say jehovah is a lone god but jehovah are elohim plural is one jehovah in contrast to those who worship many gods apostle paul says it this way in firth corinthians chapter eight in first corinthians chapter eight in verse 5 he talks about the single god that we worship for he says there in first corinthians chapter 8 verse 5 for even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth as there are many gods and many lords so-called paul says yet for us yet for who yet for us there is one god the father of whom are all things and we for him and one lord jesus christ through whom are are all things and through whom we live and somebody say amen one god i was working in my my bible commentary my pulpit commentary i referred to from time to time when building a sermon and it came across this description and words fail but an attempt made by the author on the description of our god the source of all authority is a being of his essential goodness he is so monarch incomparable and unapproachable he dwells alone higher than the highest creature the disparity between him and an archangel is immeasurable he is absolutely perfect every attribute and quality that is essential to perfection is found in him he is light having no darkness anywhere he is the source of life jehovah the living the life-giving all we have and are and hope to be is derived from him he has deigned to come into our intimate relations with us he has made us a voluntary compact with us he calls us his people and he allows us to call him our god oh i like that today today we dedicate we commit ourselves anew to this deity this absolute and supreme god the great creator who has hung this world in space but not just this earth this beautiful world that is being viewed i guess for the first time for four people who aren't astronauts circling this wonderful globe he hasn't hung just this earth in space no no no he has hung mercury and venus and mars and jupiter and saturn and uranus and neptune and pluto but it gets better than that god has named and hung into this earth in this world the galaxy called the milky way this is the god we serve according to wikipedia and i love to go there but listen talking about our milky way did you know i'm sure somewhere in your life you may have come across this but in the milky way alone there are 100 to 400 billion stars in one galaxy according to wikipedia but then take it a step farther we know we're not the only galaxy and according to national geographic oh yes natchez geographic says that the deeper we go into the cosmos the more galaxies we see and as it is the ones that we can see are around 2 trillion but we know more than that as a christian that out there space is infinite this god this creator this supreme being of whom we are getting or dedicating ourselves to today is all-knowing omniscient all in inhabiting of all space omnipresent yes the bible says if you go to heaven he's there if you go to hell he's there he's gonna in the light he's there if you go in the darkness he's there psalm 139 says i can't go anywhere you aren't god he is the eternal one always always has existed and always will our god who's given us life covets our love our first parents there in the garden of eden with them walking and talking with them he coveted their relationship he wanted to be with them because he created them in his image we also have the desire to be with someone and this covet has been a really tough time hasn't it being sheltered in place away from the human touch how wonderful it is to be able to begin to come back into people's presence again how wonder to have that contact we are created in the image of god god desires our love he desires our contact and he's made us in that image yes if you take deuteronomy chapter six to the next part we hear oh god o israel that the lord is one yes he is the god of all the universe the jehovah and then he says this there the pentateuch writer pends these words you shall love the lord god with all your heart with all your soul with all your strength and while on this earth jesus was asked that great question what is our duty to god what is the first and important commandment and there jesus gave those words he says the first of all commandment is hear o israel the lord our god the lord is one and you shall love the lord your god with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind and with all your strength this is the first commandment and the second is like to it you shall love your neighbor as yourself you notice all the things the bible identifies there in a love relationship with god heart soul mind strength what part of us are we dedicating today back in the early 90s had the privilege of going to russia preaching the gospel along the volga river in fact our team going up the volga river was the first of protestant preachers of any faith going up the vulgar river and preaching the gospel there in parts of russia went to seven different cities preaching the gospel and having the people come and hear the word proclaimed for the first time publicly that in public calls at any time in history there was no reformation in russia or eastern europe like there was in western europe but there i heard the story of the russian soldiers when they were invited to be a part of the russian orthodox church when those soldiers were taken out into the water to be baptized they took out their sword and held it above the water they were not going to baptize their sword because they would use their sword to kill which part are we dedicating today as we come here today and we talk about dedication are we not talking about all of us all of our self the bible identifies the heart the mind the soul the strength everything that we are we dedicate unto god today and we dedicate ourselves today let us remember that we follow the example of jesus christ himself and dedication his earthly parents took him accountable to the faith of their time and brought as an infant jesus to be dedicated i'd like to turn to luke there we find in the book of luke the great passage of christ's dedication luke chapter 2 and verse 25 and we are following the example of jesus and dedication even though he was just an infant infinite unconscious in a sense of what was taking place yet in his divine being in his divine consciousness he was modeling a wonderful dedication and i noticed the words here in luke chapter 2 and verse 25 there was a man in jerusalem whose name was simeon and this man was just and devout waiting for the consolation of israel and the holy spirit was upon him it had been revealed to him by the holy spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the lord's christ and so he came by the spirit into the temple and when the parents brought the child jesus to him to do for him according to the custom of the law they took him up he took excuse me he took him simeon took him up in his arms and blessed god and said look now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your your word for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared before the face of all people a light to bring revelation to the gentiles and the glory of your people israel and joseph and his mother marveled at those things which he was spoken then simeon blessed them and said to mary his mother behold this child is destined for the fall and rising of many in israel christ our example dedicated came to live on this earth but first he was dedicated dedicated to the mission that he was called to do today we are dedicating ourselves the board the faculty the administration the faculty the students all of us dedicated unto the great jehovah god the elohim the jehovah jireh the god of the of creation we are dedicating ourselves today following the example that jesus coming in dedicating himself here upon this earth and remind let's remember remind ourselves that when jesus came upon this earth he came and he gave the ultimate sacrifice some will say because god is omniscient knowing all things that did he not know when he came he would return back to his father years ago i was listening to a bible worker who had worked in detroit michigan she was telling the experience of how some well in those days hippies had come to her and they were studying the bible together and and they talked about the all-knowing god and the experience of jesus coming and the hippie turned to the bible worker and said you know i don't get it i don't get it he knew everything he knew when he would come from heaven and be upon this earth he would give his life but then he'd succeed and go back to heaven and he lived there forever okay it was painful but he knew the bible worker said oh you must understand something when jesus came when the great god of the universe came and took on human garb he took that on and forever he will stand by the throne of god in the human garb it was an eternal sacrifice that god made so today we recognize jesus dedication from the manger to the cross the life of jesus was a call to self-surrender god calls us to a life of dedication to walk as he walked to live as he walked to give as he gived as martin luther king once said if a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for he isn't fit to live jesus said it this way to his disciples if anyone desires to come after me let him deny himself take up his cross daily and follow me for whoever desires to save his life will lose it or to ever lose his life for my sake will save it may i say i think the greatest need in the world today is god's church god's people the graduates of every adventist institution especially here washington adventist university to be about allowing god to use them to go forth and express god's will god's mission god's truth to the world it is the greatest need today we live in a world by pulled by strife by conflict we have so much hate anger in the world today we have so much misunderstanding i can look back through the years that i have experienced on this earth and i can say i see society becoming to be more and more degenerated more depraved a mind that does not know god becomes more and more mindless a mind that does not experience god's spirit in their life in a way of surrender becomes more in rebellion a society that becomes more and more anti to each other becomes more and more filled with hate and more and more filled with that which is not of god and god calls upon us god's people god's church god's school to to educate young lives to go forth and to make a difference in the world for him and what a difference it makes what do different make the world needs to understand that there are people upon this earth who yes are part of the earth but their citizenship is not necessarily first of this world their citizenship is of the heavenly world their lives and their lifestyle is not the conduct of this world but rather it follows the vision of heaven it is the principles of heaven and washington university is about trying to share in a young person's experience especially touching the mind touching the other parts of the life we talk about the mind body soul experience yes but it's to touch the mind and help them to grasp the understanding who god is and what god his claim is upon us he's the great life-giver he's the one that called us into being and he's the one that expects us to go forth and share his love his message with the world that does not know him jesus said there in the beatitudes you are going to be what the what of the earth the salt i don't know if you've had experience you yourself or a loved one that may have experienced this enemy called coven uh three weeks ago tomorrow i was diagnosed with covet and i had all those fears that people have about oh you've got cobod well thank goodness for the vaccine i will credit our own health systems both from the one that is represented across the street but now up in white oak adventist health care and kettering health network i will credit the leaders there saying dave get your vaccine you'll be safer and i was thankful for the vaccine for my covet experience was three days of coughing a little congestion and i came out of it and by my dear little wife i was worried about her because of her fight with cancer what's going to happen but she got her shots and of course protected and it was an interesting experience and she would make the food in the other room and she would say okay it's ready and she'd escape that room i'd get the food come back to my room we'd all say mask up as we were trying the social distance in house me being a positive covet she being you know immune compromised because of her bout with cancer last year and still fighting that and thank god that we're making good progress thank you for your prayers yes um amen amen yes just just uh yesterday she did her routine scan she has to do for every four to six months and she was clean of cancer praise god praise god god is good but the point my experience telling i'm telling you experience about my covert experience is to tell you this the one thing that i did really experienced with cobot i lost my taste now it's no fun eating cardboard you know you sit down you want to eat a good meal and you want to dig i mean i was using salt it didn't help i'm not supposed to use a lot of salt but i was still using salt it didn't help it was tasteless and i think that's what that's what the lord is getting to didn't did he say that you know if the salt has lost its savior what good is it god has called us to be the savior god has called us to make the difference god has called us into this world to share his message his love his hope one day soon this world isn't going to be anymore and i don't know if we're getting closer only god knows but there's enough indication something is going on and god has called this movement to proclaim his good news and to be the citizen of heaven to take on god's values and to push aside those things those pressures in this world that come at us that challenge our things in the area of racism in the area of sexism and other things that come at us god expects us to be the citizen of heaven that we might that we might embrace his values and live his values upon this earth may god help us all be faithful to go forward dedicated unto the great creator jehovah god the elohim to live his principles in our lives and to prepare a people for god's great coming now the board members didn't quite join the faculty and the dedication so i'm going to ask board members to stand right where you are board of trustees i'm going to pray for you and as the chairman of the board i want to pray for all the faculty too and staff would you please stand right where you are but i want to pray for our board members especially thank you and faculty and staff please join join the board as we have a little prayer as i close my remarks to you today let's pray father god we thank you for the privilege of life there's been too much loss in our world today lord loved ones have passed we thank you that we're alive today standing on our feet sitting here board members lord are standing because they're dedicating their life to you and they're committing their wisdom to you asking you to bathe us anew with holy spirit power and holy spirit discernment as we are a part of the board of trustees we also thank you for the faculty who are standing as dr remers has already prayed i want to join his prayer i thank you lord for the faculty and staff administration of this great institution lord use us we dedicate our heart our mind our body our might our strength to you to advance your mission of love and care and hope in a world that does not know you bless us now to that end we pray in jesus holy name amen just want to thank elder weigley for that powerful call to action this morning thank you for that what shall i render unto god for all his blessings what shall i render what shall i give the act of giving is a form of worship when we bring our offerings to this altar we worship god in spirit and in truth the act of giving is a form of praise when we give god our offering we show him that he is great and greatly to be praised we want to thank you sligo church for always giving of yourselves and giving more and more to god and to the work of this church to keep sligo active in the community so as we call the deacons forward to take up our tithe and offering we ask that even during this difficult time that you still continue to dig deep we no longer want to be here we want to finish out the work of heaven amen and as we give our offerings we can be more active in the community in which god has given us to serve let's bow our heads heavenly father god we thank you for this opportunity to offer to you lord what you have given to us to be stewards of your offering to be stewards of your riches god we ask that you will bless this offering that you will pour out your glory and your praise that you will dedicate it to the work not just in this community but around the world we ask that you will allow this money this offering lord to go greatly throughout the world and we thank you for your blessings on us and on it in jesus name amen [Music] is [Music] is [Music] so [Music] foreign [Music] us [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] is is [Music] these [Music] see [Music] [Applause] uh there's only one sensible response and that is to say just as i am without one plea but that thy blood was shed for me and that thou bidst me come to thee o lamb of god i come we will be singing the tune of 3 14 but we will be singing the words of 3 13 1 2 3 and 5 those stanzas please join me stand reverently and sing [Music] justice foreign [Music] justice [Music] god [Music] is [Music] just as i am [Music] me [Music] let us pray dear heavenly father we thank you for this beautiful service today we thank you for allowing us to have the privilege to hear from you not only hear from you but pray to you every day through the blood of jesus christ throughout this week father allow us to seek you with all of our heart with all our soul and with all of our strength god it's the least we can do for all that you've done for us for who you are father we thank you we come to you in thanks allow us to be a peculiar people by seeking your holy spirit father allow us to be anointed even though we don't deserve it we are just broken vessels looking for a righteous savior and jesus you are it we confess our love to you right now we surrender to you we consecrate ourselves to you father let us not just be christians over the weekend father but christians every day through love through serving others and not just deeds but just just being loved as you our love father let us just just be surrounded by your love how you love to motivate us to do good things not to look good for others not to get the hoops and the hollers father but to truly seek you to be righteous we pray this all in jesus name please bless us and protect us as we go throughout this week in your name amen [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] you

Channel: Sligo Seventh-day Adventist Church

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Keywords: Church worship, Sligo Church, sligochurch, sligo Seventh-day Adventist Church, Sligo worship, Takoma Park, Maryland, Jesus Christ, Worship, Spiritual, God

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Length: 106min 40sec (6400 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 18 2021