Adventism has an appreciation for prophecy. Some would say that the Seventh-day Adventist movement is a prophetic movement birthed in prophecy. The three angels’ messages found in Revelation 14:7-12 represent the DNA of our movement and require a present urgency in the proclamation of the gospel. This urgency was demonstrated by our early church pioneers as they shared time-sensitive truths pointing individuals to the nearness of Christ’s second coming.
Last Sabbath, Pastor Henry began a month-long preaching series on the four major prophets of the Old Testament. Pastor Henry introduced the series with a message on the call of the prophet Isaiah (Here I Am, Lord send Me). This Sabbath, I will introduce the prophet Jeremiah and his contrasting message of horror and hope. The despair in Jeremiah’s message will ultimately give way to the deliverance of God’s people because of “Jesus, the Righteous Branch.” Later in the month, I will introduce Ezekiel and his message on the ‘Valley of Dry Bones’, and Pastor Henry will conclude with Daniel and his emphasis on ‘Standing during the Time of Trouble.’
Coinciding with our prophetic pulpit series during the month of August, we will also introduce a new midweek prayer meeting series entitled “Revelation: The Fifth Gospel”. This new midweek series will continue weekly until September 18. There are seven messages with the invitation to meet the real Jesus. As a pastoral staff, we have used the materials of Elizabeth Talbot in the past, and we are truly impressed with her consistent emphasis on “Jesus Wins,” even when addressing prophecy. Prophecy’s purpose is not to agitate or scare us, but to point us to Jesus, our living hope and our shelter in the time of storm.
Finally, our summer emphasis on prophecy is pointing us to an evangelistic series entitled “Prophecy Odyssey: You Can Know the Future,” beginning September 20 with Pastor Doug Batchelor from Amazing Facts Ministries. The sixteen-part series will be broadcast from New York City and viewed throughout the world. This series is an invitation for all of us to open our homes, TVs, computer screens, phones, etc., and share an invitation with a neighbor, co-worker, family member, or friend for this must-see event. As an advent people, we have been told that we must continue to prophesize again (Revelation 10) even amidst the disappointments of our journey. So, I say to my church family, “Lift up the trumpet, loud let it ring; Jesus is coming again.”
Pastor Glenn DeSilva