Was just listening to
David Assherick's sermon about Mission and Identity.
If you are a Seventh-day Adventist, there are 6 non-negotiables that strongly identifies our mission. 6 pillars upon which the church stands or falls. There are other issues that those within the church can debate about until the cow comes home, but these 6 are what is sure and true as there has been overwhelming evidence to prove its exactness beyond a shadow of a doubt. I'm not talking about common beliefs of mainstream christians like baptism, trinity, salvation because it has been "accepted by the mainstream to be true already" but especially distinct beliefs that makes Adventists stand out.
The 6 are:
Sabbath
Scripture
Spirit of Prophecy
Sanctuary
State of the dead
Second coming
A brief description of each one is
here.
I personally believe that a study of these beliefs especially would solidify your faith in Adventism. If you find someone wavering in church attendance even though that person has been through bible study from someone, it's because that person hasn't been fully convinced or exposed enough to the fundamental beliefs of what Adventists stand for and has not as a result established the Adventist Identity within them.
It takes conviction and full belief for someone to do something. It includes doing something crazy too. I remember the time i was still in Junior College 2 (18yrs old). I was having lunch one day and my economics lecturer sat opposite me. The conversation went on until he asked me which church i attended. I said i attended Jurong Seventh-day Adventist Church. He hesitated a while and mentioned whether i knew there were some doctrines that were not right. At that period of my life, i was just attending church because my parents brought me along and longed to go back home after worship service, not even staying for lunch. But his reply somehow made me want to study the beliefs of the church i attended. Because if i was wrong, i wanted to know it and if i was right, my conscience would be clear to continue following my parents. So i went on to study for a month everyday i came back from school about the most distinctive doctrine which is the Sabbath. I read and studied from the bible and other writings for and against the Sabbath. After that month, i found out that my parents were right. Not only did my faith in my church grew greatly but i had established the Adventist identity within me that would find me being very rooted in the Adventist church. After that i went on to study more of the other doctrines and the roots and Adventist Identity grew stronger. Since then, i've come to realise that it's only through being convinced of something, that you would do it consistently no matter what. If i didn't study much about the Sabbath, i most likely wouldn't mind attending ECAs or taking exams/tests on Sabbath. I probably know that the 7th day is the Sabbath but so what? But since now i'm convinced about the importance of it, i try my best to keep it.
I believe Bible study can bring about a change in my church that would solidify our identity and hasten the 2nd coming.
If we lose our identity, our mission will crumble. Because identity drives mission, and mission in turn strengthens identity. - David Assherick
