The Laurelbrook Seventh-day Adventist Church service on December 1, 2018 began with Rodney Herra welcoming everyone and making a few announcements.
Leilani (junior) played an introit. The congregation knelt as the elders entered. Elena (sophomore) had the invocation. Everyone then sang “Faith Is the Victory”. Rodney Herra had the main prayer; the congregation responded with “Hear Our Prayer, O Lord”.
Asher (sophomore) then called for the offering. Brothers Eric (senior) and Eldric (sophomore) then collected the morning offerings; the loose offering went to the local budget. The congregation sang the doxology, and Rodney Herra prayed for the offering.
Mark (junior) told the children a story. Benny (sophomore) then read Matthew 24:13-14 “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”
Elena (sophomore) and Lindsey (sophomore) discussed David Livingstone, Eric Liddell, and Jesus. The congregation sang “When We All Get to Heaven”. Lindsey had the closing prayer. The people on the platform left while Leilani played “Dismiss Us, Lord”. Then the congregation was dismissed by the deacons.
Personnel Other Than Students:
Rodney Herra - former Laurelbrook staff member presently engaged in a car repair business with his son Bubba / local head elder
Following are some notes on the sermon by Elena and Lindsey:
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David Livingstone – he grew up in a Scottish family known for personal piety, poverty, hard work, zeal for education, and a sense of mission. At age 10 he went to work in the cotton mill.
- In 1834, he decided to become a doctor after hearing a plea for more medical missionaries in China.
- In 1838, the London Missionary Society accepted him as a medical missionary to China, but the opium war slammed that door shut. Instead, after a talk with Robert Moffat, a notable Scottish missionary working in southern Africa, he determined to there, arriving in 1841.
- For the next fifteen years, he kept busy with exploration to expose slave-trading routes, clashes with the Boers and Portuguese over their treatment of the Africans, and witnessing for Christ. By 1842 he had gone further north than any other European into the difficult Kalahari country.
- In 1844 he was mauled by a lion but continued to explore and spread the gospel.
- After many years of spreading the gospel and exploration, he finally died of malaria, dying as he knelt for prayer one last time.
- Livingstone shows us that we should never let anything or anyone hinder our work for God.
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Eric Henry Liddell was born in Tientsin, China to Scottish missionary parents. He got his education in Edinburgh.
- At the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, he refused to run in 100-meter race because it was held on a Sunday; instead he ran in the 400-meter race, which was held on a weekday.
- He won the Gold Medal in the 400-meter race, completing the course in 47.6 seconds. For the next 12 years, he was known as the fastest man in the world. He said he asked God to help him through the second half of the race.
- In 1925 he went back to China as a missionary teacher, remaining there through 1945 when he died in a Japanese internment camp five months before he was to be liberated. He was 43 years old.
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Jesus came from heaven as a true missionary to our dark and dreary world, giving his life as an atonement for our sins. He was mistreated and put to death but rose again to go heaven on our behalf.
- We can show the gospel through our actions, words, and life, but we must be willing to go where He sends us.