Song Service at Avondale Rest Home, Auckland, New Zealand
Sabbath, 14th April 2018
We have been blessed in recent weeks with the return of Brother Doug Thirkettle and Brother Sam Batger and his family to New Zealand.
On the Sabbath morning, prior to the rest home visit, Br. Doug gave a sermon on “The Bible, Its Counterfeits, and The Struggle for Supremacy.” He stressed on the reliability of the Bible and preservation of its manuscripts throughout the ages.
“God had faithful witnesses to whom He committed the truth, and who preserved the Word of God. The manuscripts of the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures have been preserved through the ages by a miracle of God.”—Letter 32, 1899, quoted in Experiences in Australia, p. 341.4.
“I saw that God had especially guarded the bible, yet learned men, when the copies were few, had changed the words in some instances, thinking that they were making it more plain, when they were mystifying that which was plain, in causing it to lean to their established views, governed by tradition.”—Spiritual Gifts, vol. 1, p. 117.1.
After enjoying the vegetarian lunch, our group went to visit Avondale Rest Home. It was raining at the time, but we made it there on time to deliver a song service and meet with the lovely residents present on the day. Visitors, brethren, and most of the children from our church came and joined in the singing, Bible reading and poem recitation.
Visits from the EMC Missionary Students
In April we were happy for and truly appreciated the visits of nine EMC Students to our Auckland Church. One came individually, and the others came in two groups of four over three Sabbaths respectively. Br Jesse Dumitru spoke on “The Faith of the Patriarchs”, discussing Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Sr Kaitlin Hanuska (“Open Our Eyes”) reflected on the need for spiritual eyesight and how to get it; and finally Br Ebert Fountain shared a message with us on the last Sabbath of April.
To God be the glory!
–A Pedrosa
