Today our series exploring key pieces of Adventism continues. We use the acronym "HAYSTACKS": "H" stands for "Hope," and our historic focus on Scripture and prophecy. "A" is for "Advent," Jesus is returning. Second Coming occurs very soon! "Y" stands for "Youthful Eternity." In the earth made new, those who accept Jesus and His unselfish principle of life, will receive new bodies, experiencing a perpetual youthfulness. The first "S" is for "Sabbath." God prepared His rest in the beginning, not merely to help us slow down for 24 hours, but that we might experience focused communion with Him on His holy day. "T" is for "Temperance," living the abundant life, refusing to be enslaved in sensation or anesthetized by food.

It has been impossible at any letter to leave Jesus out. Adventists are VERY interested in Jesus. We look to His soon return, but we're also deeply curious about Him. How did He live? How did He overcome? How can He be our pattern? How can we live a life that pleases Him?

Introduction

The Bible says that man is made in God's image. Humans are designed. We are not gods but we are designed with a similarity to the one true God.

Children are like parents, each unique. They possess traits echoing us. All of us represent something larger than ourselves. We're designed for eternal life but we're not immortal yet.

Life is so busy, our focus so fleeting. Could it be that someone needs to turn to Jesus all over again? Is today such a day for you?

Jesus raises the blessing-bar high. Many claim to be Christian. But let's make it personal and ask ourselves. Does our own behavior match what the Bible predicts for the believer?

Let's turn to Galatians 5:16-24. Listen:

INTRODUCTION

The Bible teaches that there is one God manifest in three distinct persons: God the Father; God the Son, that is, Jesus; and God the Holy Spirit, who, like the Father and like the Son, is also a person. Not three Gods, but one; not one person but three.

Some, more recently, are experimenting with a different teaching. These say that God the Father has always existed, but that the person, Jesus, has not always existed. Jesus, they say, had a beginning. They say that there was a time when He was not. Some are saying that the Holy Spirit is only an impersonal power, or, that He is not a person distinct from Jesus. Ideas are swirling. These mistaken teachings are not a problem for most. But we have friends. What will we say if our friends become interested in these ideas?

To...

The letters of the word "Haystacks" offer us a shorthand way to think and share what we as Seventh-day Adventists believe. "H" points us to "hope," "A" to "advent," "Y" to "youthful eternity," and now "S," to "Sabbath." What is the Sabbath all about?

Ephesians 3:20, 21 NKJV:

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever, amen.

Here is a fundamental question. Can Jesus do as much for us as we think He can? Can He do as much for us as we theorize?