January 26, 2013 - Church at Worship

Sermon: "Seventh-day Adventists and Health"- Theodore Levterov

Pastoral Welcome: Bernard Taylor

Baptism: Khela D. Dunn, Angelica Gomez, Daniel Patrick Madigan- Timothy Gillespie-2nd service

Children’s Feature: Genevieve Koh Isidro

Meditation:

The greatest wealth is health. – Virgil
 
A man too busy to take care of his health is like a mechanic too busy to take care of his tools. – Spanish Proverb
 
The view held by some that spirituality is a detriment to health, is the sophistry of Satan. . . . The influence of the Spirit of God is the very best medicine for disease. – Ellen G. White

Scripture Reading: Revelation 21:1–5, TNIV

Sermon Notes:

The general health practices of nineteenth-century America were simply deplorable.
To borrow the words of Otto Bettmann, “the good old days – they were terrible.”
While we may have a nearly idyllic picture of the past, the reality was very different.
One in six children died before reaching his/her first birthday. Fruits and vegetables
were considered poisonous. The average life expectancy was 35, and the hospital
was the place where people went to die.

Despite the appearance of health reformers, however, the new Seventh-day Adventist denomination was not interested in health or healthful living, at least initially. After all, Jesus was coming soon, and they were busy preaching “the present truth” to
a dying world. But lack of health habits brought the new movement to near collapse.

The “turning point” came in 1863 when God used a woman, Ellen G. White, a major
leader of the Adventist movement and the founder of Loma Linda University, to
guide the new denomination toward health awareness and lifestyle transformation.
Today, after 150 years, the Seventh-day Adventist Church has the largest Protestant
health system in the world.

But could it be that this is not just an interesting piece of Adventist history? Could
it be that in the midst of our hectic lives the same Father God is calling us today?
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take
my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you
will find rest for your souls” (Matt. 11:28–29). Maybe it’s time to stop and listen once
again and have a “turning point” in our busy lives.

Theodore Levterov, Director
Ellen G. White Estate
Branch Office, Loma Linda University

Note: Baptisms and child dedications are in the extras section in the DVD