What is love? How can we become truly loving people? In this message, we examine some biblical and spiritual foundations of love, contrasting it with its opposite—selfishness —as explained by the Bible and Ellen G. White (see texts below).

This message presents the second item of the Stewardship Commitment Card: “To improve my relationships by growing in love, forgiveness, and reconciliation.”

Despite some missing parts, this message has been published due to the profound relevance of the topic. It includes personal testimony, biblical insights, and a call to follow Christ on the path of sacrificial love.

Main subjects in this presentation include:

• • How to become a loving person
• • Why love is supernatural, not natural
• • The role of confession in answered prayer (Psalm 34:15-16; 1 John 1:9)
• • The fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)
• • True discipleship and the character of God
• • How movies and entertainment can shape our decision-making power and capacity to love
• • What it means to die to self
• • Why you can’t love without the Holy Spirit

Special Highlights:

• • Personal testimony: Why I gave up the ambition to be a successful pastor
• • The Stewardship crown: a crown of thorns and a crown of glory• God’s call to follow Him through the desert into the Promised Land

This video has some missing parts, but has been published anyway because of the relevance of the subject it covers.

Originally presented to 350 pastors during the “Set Apart” Ministerial Convention of the Trans-Pacific Union Mission in Nadi, Fiji – February 12–16, 2024.

This is the second episode in the series “The Power of Vows and Commitments,” which explores all items on the Stewardship Commitment Card.

Download the card in multiple languages here:

stewardship.adventist.org/commitment-card-promise

Learn how to use the Stewardship Commitment Card (courtesy of the South Pacific Division):

https://stewardship.adventist.org/how-to-use-the-iproimse-commitment-cards

Discover more about Promise Offerings (mentioned in this message):

https://stewardship.adventist.org/promise-(regular-and-systematic-offerings)

More about Vows and Commitments: https://stewardship.adventist.org/vows-and-pledges-resources

Available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Rmj9i3ZV_v4 (with slightly more complete notes on description)

My notes:

What is love? How to love and become a loving person?

• * The power of prayer.

Lessons of Faith From Joshua — God Is Faithful! — Further Thought:

Join us as we study the Bible Study Guide for the fourth quarter of 2025 called Lessons of Faith From Joshua. We are studying the lesson for week 12 called God Is Faithful!.    

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Sermon at Newmarket Adventist Group l Newmarket, Ontario, Canada

Newmarket Seventh-day Adventists is the official church group of the Ontario Conference of Seventh-day Adventists in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. In collaboration with Paradise Health Clinic, Newmarket Adventists shares life-changing Adventist health principles and the gospel in the context of the Three Angels’ Messages to prepare people for the soon coming of Christ.

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The narrative changes gears considerably in the last two chapters of Joshua. 

We get "the years passed" and mention that "Joshua was now very old", and it is clearly a conclusion to the story of this mighty leader. It is interesting to notice the ways in which Joshua himself can't easily see how emphases might change as God continues to lead his people. This entirely normal human limitation is perhaps just as true of any generation, and we are intrigued by the way Old Testament history proves God is more gracious than Joshua imagined.

Further Thought: Read Ellen G. White, “The Last Words of Joshua,” pp. 521, 522, in Patriarchs and Prophets.

“Satan deceives many with the plausible theory that God's love for His people is so great that He will excuse sin in them; he represents that while the threatenings of God’s word are to serve a certain purpose in His moral government, they are never to be literally fulfilled. But in all His dealings with His creatures God has maintained the principles of righteousness by revealing sin in its true character—by demonstrating that its sure result is misery and death. The unconditional pardon of sin never has been, and never will be. Such pardon would show the abandonment of the principles of righteousness, which are the very foundation of the government of God. It would fill the unfallen universe with consternation. God has faithfully pointed out the results of sin, and if these warnings were not true, how could we be sure that His promises would be fulfilled? That so-called benevolence which would set aside justice is not benevolence but weakness.

“God is the life-giver. From the beginning all His laws were ordained to life. But sin broke in upon the order that God had established, and discord followed. So long as sin exists, suffering and death are inevitable. It is only because the Redeemer has borne the curse of sin in our behalf that man can hope to escape, in his own person, its dire results.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 522.

1. Review the evidence of God’s faithfulness in your life. What can you point to? At the same time, how do you respond when things haven’t gone as you have hoped or prayed for, or when claimed promises are met with silence?
2. Discuss the biblical teaching about God’s anger. How would you present the wrath of the Lord as part of the good news?
3. What principles can you gather from this week's lesson regarding association with unbelievers? How can we balance having clear boundaries in terms of our principles and practices while mingling with people to serve them and to look out for their well-being?
4. What are some of the obstacles that prevent you from clinging to the Lord with all your heart?

Discussion Questions: