Roommates, Bad Dates, and Soul Mates

Roommates, Bad Dates, & Soulmates-Part 3

Speaker

Dwight K. Nelson

Dwight Nelson served as lead pastor of the Pioneer Memorial Church on the campus of Andrews University from 1983 to 2023. During his time at Pioneer he spoke on the “New Perceptions” telecast, taught at the theological seminary and has written books, including The Chosen. He and his wife, Karen, are blessed with two married children and 2 granddaughters.

Offering

Saturday, September 14, 2019
Program: 
Opening Music
It Is Well • Carrie Grusselle
Songs of Praise
O Magnify the Lord • Who You Say I Am • Bless His Holy Name • 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)
Prayer
Lindsey Pratt
Pioneer Baptisms
Jonathan Raveloharimisy and Favour Oluwatosin Adesina with Ben Martin
Children's Story
William Dos Reis
Amazing Grace • Michael Lewis
Worship in Music
Crown Him with Many Crowns • Paul Thompson
“Roommates, Bad Dates & Soul Mates”—3
Dwight K. Nelson with Rebecca Puii Fanai, Alexander Hales, and William Dos Reis
Connect Card, Tithes, & Offerings
Michigan Advance Partners
Hymn of Commitment
Jesus, What a Friend for Sinners • 187
Benediction
Closing Music
Love Divine • John Zundel

“Roommates, Bad Dates and Soul Mates”—3
www.newperceptions.tv

 

» Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

• #1—“Two are better than one” because you have someone to share the . (Financial benefit)

- “Research has shown the financial benefits of marriage. Long-term marriage offers a 77% better rate of return than staying single and total wealth of married persons increases 16% year over year. In other words, the  you are married, the more money you make. . . . [I]f this was the reported returns on a stock growth fund, we’d all be jumping in.” (www.moneyunder30.com/financial-benefits-of-marriage)

• #2—“Two are better than one” because you have someone to help you . (Emotional benefit)

• #3—“Two are better than one” because you have someone to keep you .  (Physical benefit)

• #4—“Two are better than one” because you have someone to help you . (Security benefit)

» A great love story most have never heard . . .

- C. S. Lewis: “We feasted on love; every mode of it, solemn and merry, romantic and realistic, sometimes as dramatic as a thunderstorm, sometimes comfortable and unemphatic as putting on your soft slippers. She was my pupil and my teacher, my subject and my sovereign, my trusty comrade, friend, shipmate, fellow-soldier. My mistress, but at the same time all that any man friend has ever been to me.” (Quoted in Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts 142)

- Les and Leslie Parrott: “If there is a lesson to be gained from this amazing love story, it must be that partners without a spiritual depth of oneness can never compete with the fullness of love that enjoy. Marriage, when it is healthy, has a mystical way of revealing God; a way of  bringing a smiling peace to our restless hearts.” (142)

» The third strand

• Jeremiah 9:24—“Let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know [yada] me, that I am the LORD.”

• Genesis 4:1—“Adam made love [yada] to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant.”

• God takes the same word for “making love” [yada] and declares “That’s what I want in a relationship with you—the between a husband and a wife—I want you to know me like Adam knew Eve.”

• Alan McGinnis: “There can be no intimacy without .” (The Friendship Factor 105)

• Alice Fryling: “[Sex] is an expression of intimacy, not the  to intimacy. True intimacy springs from verbal and emotional communion. True intimacy is built on a commitment to honesty, love and freedom. True intimacy is not primarily a sexual encounter. Intimacy, in fact, has almost nothing to do with our organs. A prostitute may expose her body, but her relationships are hardly intimate.” (www.focusonthefamily.com/faith/three-lies-about-premarital-sex/)

• Don’t miss Adventist Engaged Encounter with Jeff/Twyla Smith (Nov 1-3).

• Ecclesiastes 4:12—“A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”

- The Third Strand—Proverbs 18:24/John 15:13-14

- #1 Felt Need—How to grow a relationship with God

- Jennifer Schwirzer calls it “going .”

- “A New Way to Pray” (www.newperceptions.tv/newwaytopray)

• R

• R

• R

 

“Jesus, What a Friend for Sinners!”

 

With This in Mind...

Feeling unlike yourself this time of year? You might be experiencing the winter blues—or, for some, a more severe form called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). (Check with your medical provider.) This low mood often begins in Fall and lifts by Summer as sunlight—and serotonin—increase. To beat the winter slump, try using a SAD lamp, exercising, brightening your space, going outdoors more, planning meaningful activities, and keeping a steady sleep routine. Invite someone into this plan and make your spirit bright this coming winter! Prov 17:22 says, “A joyful heart is good medicine...”. 

Seeking Voices for Sabbath Video Series!

Adventist Learning Community is producing a short series exploring Sabbath keeping and its impact on everyday life. We're looking for individuals to interview who joined the Adventist Church within the last 15 to 20 years and are comfortable on camera. If you're open to sharing your experience and how Sabbath has shaped your life, please contact Luke Bowers at lbowersweb@gmail.com, we'd love to hear from you!

Belong: Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving tradition continues, just a little earlier this year! We’ll be serving Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday, November 16 at 6 PM If you would like to contribute a dish, please let us know by texting the word "TOFURKY" to 269-281-2345 to select an item or two from the list!

Fellowship Dinner
Pioneer Commons

 There will be a fellowship dinner held in the commons this Sabbath following the second church service. Visitors are welcome. 

Adventist-Muslim Relations Group

 Join us to pray for active missionaries and explore how to build bridges between Adventists and Muslims. We meet at 6:30 PM on the first and third Monday each month in the Leadership Lab of the Campus Center at Andrews University.

Join the Traffic Ministry Team!

We’re looking for volunteers to serve in our Traffic Ministry, helping direct vehicles and assist members and guests as they arrive and leave. Your friendly presence helps ensure safety and creates a warm first impression for everyone coming to worship. If you’re interested or want to learn more, please contact Derill Legoh 732-379-1300.

Offering for November 8, 2025

Annual Sacrifice for Global Mission

In 1857 David Livingstone was invited to receive a tribute and speak to students at Cambridge University in England. He had left behind a prosperous life in Europe to devote himself to preaching the gospel on the African continent.

As he stood in front of the students, he uttered the following words, People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Can that be called a sacrifice which is simply paid back as a small part of a great debt owing to our God, which we can never repay?—Is that a sacrifice which brings its own blest reward in healthful activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, and a bright hope of a glorious destiny hereafter?—Away with the word in such a view, and with such a thought! . . . I never made a sacrifice. Of this we ought not to talk, when we remember the great sacrifice which HE made who left His Father’s throne on high to give Himself for us.

Today, we continue our tradition for every member of the Adventist church to give sacrificially so the General Conference can continue with the endeavor of Global Mission.

—North American Division Stewardship Ministries

Howard Center Presents...Rachel Barton Pine

Rachel Barton Pine, a renowned violinist, suffered a life-altering accident in 1995 when she was severely injured in a train accident, resulting in the loss of her left leg and significant damage to her right foot.  Through resilience and determination Pine has overcome her challenges and has become an acclaimed American concert violinist whose infectious joy and passion transforms an audiences’ experience of classical music as they listen to her play.  She has performed with the world’s foremost orchestras both locally and internationally and is a leading interpreter of the great classical masterworks. Please join us on November 23, 2025 at 7:00 PM at the Howard Performing Arts Center for a heart-warming concert by Rachel Barton Pine.

Adventist Seniors of Michiana (ASM) Meeting

Let’s dig into autumn with our ASM meeting on Sunday, November 9, 1:00-3:00 PM. We look forward to hearing from Randy Younkers with an update on the Noah’s Ark archeological site in Turkey. CHANGE IN VENUE: We will be meeting in the Pioneer Memorial Church Commons. All seniors aged 55+ are welcome. Bring your favorite potluck dish to share. For further information, contact Christine Rorabeck at 734-904-2001.

Katherine Smith Celebration of Life

We are saddened to share that Katherine Smith, 95, passed away on August 8, 2025, in Mesa, AZ, from complications of Alzheimer's. A former Associate Dean of Women and Pioneer Memorial Church co-Head Elder, she was a fixture in the Berrien Springs community for over 50 years. An informal Celebration of Life will be held at the Pioneer Memorial Church Commons on Saturday, November 8, 2025, from 5-7 PM. Please join us as we share fond memories and  fellowship together while enjoying a light supper. Share your favorite memory with Susie at livrefou@hotmail.com. In lieu of flowers, please contribute to Neighbor to Neighbor at https://www.n2nhelps.com.

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