Tomorrow is the Sabbath. We are still praying for rain here. I just wanted to let everyone know ahead of time, prayers for rain are greatly appreciated.
Tomorrow is the Sabbath. We are still praying for rain here. I just wanted to let everyone know ahead of time, prayers for rain are greatly appreciated.
I have something to confess. In case you don't know, I am fairly new to the SDA Church. I was raised a Lutheran my whole life, so alot of stuff I hear at church is new to me.
I love every minute of Sabbath School and our Worship time. I am really enjoying learning so many new things.
I am a nurse and I work everyother Sabbath. That's just the way it is; I cannot change my schedule.
The problem is every time our church has had communion I have missed the service. Can someone tell me what the communion service is like? (my husband does not attend church very often and he is new to the church also, so he doesn't know either.) What does foot washing have to do with it?
I know I could ask at church, but I feel kind of ignorant around everyone who knows this stuff like the back of their hand.
I have something to confess. In case you don't know, I am fairly new to the SDA Church. I was raised a Lutheran my whole life, so alot of stuff I hear at church is new to me.
I love every minute of Sabbath School and our Worship time. I am really enjoying learning so many new things.
I am a nurse and I work everyother Sabbath. That's just the way it is; I cannot change my schedule.
The problem is every time our church has had communion I have missed the service. Can someone tell me what the communion service is like? (my husband does not attend church very often and he is new to the church also, so he doesn't know either.) What does foot washing have to do with it?
I know I could ask at church, but I feel kind of ignorant around everyone who knows this stuff like the back of their hand.
Help, please.
Don't feel bad about not knowing everything. None of us do, and I'm sure most people would be happy to answer your questions. I'll try to explain a few things about a typical Adventist communion service.
The Adventist Church begins the communion service with the footwashing because it is a reminder of what Jesus did before the last supper, when He washed His disciples' feet. Some churches refer to this practice as the "ordinance of humility" because it is a time when we remember Jesus' humility and example of service. My husband (who is a pastor) usually encourages people to ask God for forgiveness at that time as well, before participating in the rest of the communion service. This is also an opportunity to resolve any issues we might have with other people and to put aside our differences as we wash their feet. We look at it as a time to prepare our hearts to renew our commitment to Christ, which is what the whole communion service is about.
Most churches have traditionally designated separate rooms for men and women to wash each other's feet (mainly for modesty reasons, I think), and, in addition, many churches now have a third room for couples or families. Our children are too young to participate, but we usually take them to watch us. On a practical note, women today do not usually, as they did years ago, remove their pantyhose, but rather just take off their shoes. (I mention this because it is a point of contention in a few very conservative churches, especially with the fairly recent practice of adding a couples' room.)
After the footwashing, everyone returns to the sanctuary, and the pastor and elders sit in the front at the communion table. My dad used to be a Lutheran (my mom was raised Adventist), and I was baptized as a baby in the Lutheran Church, so we attended Lutheran services many times while I was growing up. I took part in communion there a few times. One big difference that I noticed between the two types of services (apart from the fundamental differences in how we view Christ's presence in the bread and the wine) was the way people received communion. In the Lutheran Church, the people would go up to the front to receive the bread and the wine (and they had both real wine and grape juice for those who didn't want to drink alcohol). On the other hand, in the Adventist Church, the pastor and/or the elders pray and bless the bread. Then the deacons walk from aisle to aisle, passing out the bread. After the bread is eaten, the pastor and/or elders pray for the wine (only grape juice in Adventist services). Then the deacons pass out the juice. There is usually some singing of hymns while the emblems are being distributed and at the end of the service.
The Adventist Church practices open communion, which means that anyone who has accepted Christ is allowed to participate, regardless of their denominational affiliation.
I hope this helps you understand what to expect. When I was a child, I often looked at communion as just a ritual that we did every three months or so, and I didn't really think that much about what it meant. Now, with my own children, I have found that I think about it a lot more as I try to explain it to them in ways that they can understand somewhat. They know that Jesus died on the cross to wash away their sins, so I tell them that communion is when we remember what He did for us. Still, just as I did when I was young, they have a hard time understanding why they can't have some of the bread and juice. And we have communion three times in one month because my husband has three churches!
What is the truth about these laws on Sabbath and Tithing?
May I be clarified regarding the law on Sabbath and Tithing? I have not read our Lord Jesus preaching these laws in the 4 gospels. However, Jesus said:
Mat 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Could it be that these laws were preached by our Lord spiritually since He said:
Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
And, could this refer to what Paul wrote in:
Rom 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
Rom 10:4 For Christ is theend of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
My question is, if indeed these laws “have ended” and are “spiritual,” how could we follow them?
I had a nice Sabbath! The Sabbath school was quiet, but I enjoyed playing for the music. It was a fairly peacful day...
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I have something to confess. In case you don't know, I am fairly new to the SDA Church. I was raised a Lutheran my whole life, so alot of stuff I hear at church is new to me.
I love every minute of Sabbath School and our Worship time. I am really enjoying learning so many new things.
I am a nurse and I work everyother Sabbath. That's just the way it is; I cannot change my schedule.
The problem is every time our church has had communion I have missed the service. Can someone tell me what the communion service is like? (my husband does not attend church very often and he is new to the church also, so he doesn't know either.) What does foot washing have to do with it?
I know I could ask at church, but I feel kind of ignorant around everyone who knows this stuff like the back of their hand.
Help, please.
I am sure that one day you will get to go to the communion service.
When it happens you will be blessed.
In the mean time your church minister should be made aware of your difficult situation and some of the ladies of the Church should come around with the minister and give you the chance to have your own communion service at home.
We have done that before when people have not been able to attend.
You may need to let your Pastor know about your circumstances
May I be clarified regarding the law on Sabbath and Tithing? I have not read our Lord Jesus preaching these laws in the 4 gospels. However, Jesus said:
Mat 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Could it be that these laws were preached by our Lord spiritually since He said:
Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
And, could this refer to what Paul wrote in:
Rom 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
Rom 10:4 For Christ is theend of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
My question is, if indeed these laws “have ended” and are “spiritual,” how could we follow them?
When Paul said that "the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual," he simply meant that law is good, but we by nature are bad. He wasn't saying that we should no longer keep the law. People tend to pick out the verses that they like from these chapters and ignore the context. Here is some surrounding context from Romans 7-8:
Romans 7:12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.
13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.
14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, 4 in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
5 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. 8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
12 Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation--but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
Notice that it says above (8:1) that Christ set us free from the law of sin and death. He did not put an end to the law; rather, as you quoted from His words above, He came not to destroy but to fulfill it. The word fulfill here obviously cannot be a synonym for destroy; otherwise, Jesus would have been contradicting Himself in the same sentence. Jesus fulfilled the prophets by becoming the Messiah that they predicted. Jesus fulfilled the law by becoming the sacrifice for our sins and freeing us from the law of sin and death that condemned us. That was what was nailed to the cross--the record of debt that we owed to sin. Jesus' death set us free from the slavery of sin and gave us a new Master, God, who helps us to live in a new way through the Spirit. And not only that, but we have been adopted as His children and not mere servants. We still have an obligation to keep the law, but it is an obligation to the Spirit and not to the law of death. Our obligation is to depend on God to work in our hearts and to lead us in the paths of righteousness, not to try to do all the right things in the hope of earning our way to heaven. The law is spiritual because we can keep it only through the Spirit living in us. We can keep it only as we follow the counsel in Romans 12:1-3:
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.
God obviously still has requirements for us to follow, and we still fall short of them. Paul said that he still sinned. We still sin. Paul also said that we should not continue to sin (see Romans 6). I don't know of anyone who thinks that God now finds it acceptable to worship other gods or steal or dishonor one's parents or murder or lie. The argument that the law was abolished at the cross really only comes up when it's convenient, which is generally whenever the Sabbath is in question. However, if you read carefully and in context what Paul said, it is clear that he by no means taught that the law was obsolete. It's just that we now have a new way of keeping it, which we could never do by our own power. What Paul repeats over and over in Romans is that we should offer ourselves to God rather than continuing in the bondage of sin. The difference is that we now focus on Christ instead of ourselves because He has the power to keep us from sinning.
I am sure that one day you will get to go to the communion service.
When it happens you will be blessed.
In the mean time your church minister should be made aware of your difficult situation and some of the ladies of the Church should come around with the minister and give you the chance to have your own communion service at home.
We have done that before when people have not been able to attend.
You may need to let your Pastor know about your circumstances
It is most important for "midnightcry" that she is not left out of this very important service, particularly as a new Adventist she needs to make sure the Pr. knows about her problem.
I am in Australia so I can't do very much but someone living close maybe able to help.
None of us do, and I'm sure most people would be happy to answer your questions. I'll try to explain a few things about a typical Adventist communion service.
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