Given the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s history and distinctive focus on the second coming of Jesus Christ, it’s not surprising that, during tough economic times, after natural disasters or amid seasons of great uncertainty, many members speculate how “near” the end is. The Visitor team talked with four pastors and captured excerpts of their perspectives.
Cesar Gonzalez, pastor of Chesapeake Conference’s Cambridge and Beacon of Light churches on the Eastern Shore of Maryland
Story by Cynthia Mendoza
A little over five years ago Victor Rivera was given one of the most dreaded diagnoses; cancer. He was given no more than six months to live.Though at the time he did not belong to any denomination, Rivera asked God for a seemingly impossible blessing: that God would give him five more years, long enough to see his son grow to at least eight years of age. Against all medical odds, Rivera didn’t die after six months.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law” (Gal. 5:22–23, NIV).
When I think about the fruit of the Spirit, I think about our pastor’s Week of Prayer. Each day he focused on one “Fruit of the Spirit” and brought a different fruit to represent that particular “fruit.” He told us how the fruit was good for our bodies, and then related it to our spiritual lives. At the end of each talk, we got to taste the yummy fruit.
When I think about the fruit of the Spirit, some fruits stick out more than others. They are all important, but love, patience, faithfulness and self-control are the ones that mean the most to me.
“And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow Him. Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness” (Col. 2:6–7, NLT).
I find that my favorite text can shift depending on where I am in my spiritual journey. At times, I have found over the years that it seems easier to whine about issues than change my attitude to “overflow with thankfulness.” The text states that as I grow in Christ and my life is built on Him, then the natural overflow will be thankfulness, for the fruit of a mature Christian is thankfulness.
“The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in His love He will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing” (Zeph. 3:17, NIV).
During the quarantine, God is with us and He is mighty to save us from COVID-19 by protecting us from evil. We can take great delight in God by reading His Word and by praying every night. We have to pray from our hearts, and we have to pray for everyone not to get COVID-19 and for the sick ones to get better from it.