Combined Sabbath morning at Schofields – 15 August 2015
All members from Wentworthville, Slavic and Schofields churches assembled together for a combined Sabbath morning program held at the Schofields centre. This special Sabbath was organized due to a short visit from Br Sureshkumar, who at the time was the Vice-president of the General Conference.
Sabbath School started as normal at 9:30am, and the lesson study for that day was “How to Study the Bible”. “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding” Proverbs 4:7. Whenever one enters the study of God’s Word, it is essential to always begin with prayer. “Without the guidance of the Holy Spirit we shall be continually liable to wrest the Scriptures or to misinterpret them”… Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 704.
It was wonderful to have so many children fellowship together in the Children’s Sabbath School class. They studied about the twelve spies who went to search out the land of Canaan. Ten came back with a negative report, but Caleb and Joshua came back with a positive report: “Sure giants live there in walled cities, but our God can fight for us. Let us go and conquer the land.” Children’s Treasures Vol. 1, No. 3 p. 47. Let us learn to always be positive and trust God for leading and strength as we face many obstacles in our lives.
We then were privileged to hear the Divine Service message delivered by Br. Sureshkumar. During the service it was brought out that God showed man the plan of redemption through the work of the sanctuary. Some of the key Bible verses read were:
“…Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” John 1:29
“And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.” Hebrews 9:22.
“But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:” Hebrews 9:7.
Br Sureshkumar shared that without the understanding of the sanctuary one can’t fully comprehend or appreciate the plan of salvation. Every sacrifice made symbolised Jesus death and the forgiveness of sins. Everything about the sanctuary pointed to something in the great plan of redemption.
We are living in the Day of Atonement. While Jesus is atoning for us, we must be also preparing ourselves and our loved ones for the great day of Jesus’ Second Coming.
After the Divine Service, a combined fellowship lunch was enjoyed by all.
We thank God for the wonderful time we all shared together.