Pastor's Corner
Hampton Roads Seventh-day Adventist Church
3400 Kecoughtan Road ~ Hampton, Virginia 23661
Church Office ~ 757.722.1221 ~ Church Fax ~ 757.722.7642 ~ Email ~ jeanniehoward@cox.net
Saturday (7th day Sabbath)
Sabbath School 9:30 am ~ 10:40 am
Family Worship 11:00 am ~ 12:00 noon
Prayer Meeting ~ Wednesday 7:00 pm
Who are we? Seventh-day Adventists are Christians who believe there has always been only one way of salvation taught in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. The way of salvation is by grace through faith in the blood of a substitute sacrifice. This was taught in preview in the Old Testament in a variety of episodes in the history of God's people. Recall the ram that was sacrificed in place of Isaac, the Passover lamb whose blood spared Israel the stroke of the death angel just prior to the exodus from Egypt, the bronze serpent Moses was commanded to make and place upon a pole, and the entire sanctuary and temple service which was centered around this teaching. In the New Testament the reality of a substitute sacrifice was finally completed through the death of the true Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, on Calvary's cross.
Seventh-day Adventists also believe that God is the Creator of all things, that in six days the Lord made "the heavens and the earth", along with all living things on the earth, in the sky, and under the seas. On the seventh-day, God rested from His creative work and established the Sabbath to be a memorial to His creative power and activity. (Exodus 20:8-11)
The Ten Commandments were listed a second time in the Old Testament. There, the stated reason why the Sabbath was to be observed was also as a reminder of the redemptive power and activity of God. The Lord had so recently brought His people out of Egyptian bondage and wanted them to always remember their deliverance through His power and might. (Deut. 5:12-15)
Sabbath observance is a symbol of belief in the Creator, Redeemer God who sent His only begotten Son into the world to be a ransom for all who would place their faith in His substitute sacrifice for sin. True Sabbath observance is a sign of righteousness by faith since we are reminded that it is God who saves and sanctifies us by bringing us out of our own "Egyptian bondage" in sin. (Ezekiel 20:12)
Seventh-day Adventists also believe that the Advent, or second coming, of Christ is near. The second coming of Christ to this earth has been the blessed hope of the Church and the goal of the Gospel. That event will be the grand climax of His story worked out in human history. The second coming of Christ will be literal and visible. When Jesus returns, the righteous dead will be resurrected, and together with the righteous living will be glorified and taken to heaven. At that moment of Christ's return, those of earth who have been righteous by faith in Christ as Lord and Savior will be granted immortality. The redeemed will be granted a life that comes to measure with the life of God. (I Cor. 15:51-55) What a day, glorious day that will be!
Are you a person of faith in Christ as Lord and Savior? Are you ready for His return? Those are questions we all must answer. Let's answer them in a positive fashion and inherit the eternal kingdom God is preparing for all those who trust in Christ alone for salvation.
