On Sabbath, November 30, 2019, Laurelbrook’s Sabbath services began with a song service led by Saysay (freshman) and Maria (senior), accompanied on the piano by Jacqueline Miller. The opening song was “This is my Father’s World”.
Denise welcomed everyone. Daphne (senior) had prayer and read the scripture reading – Daniel 4:2 “I thought it good to shew the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me.”
Yzzynne (freshman) read a mission story from East Africa. Elijah went on a field trip to Italy. He couldn’t find any justification for sprinkling instead of total immersion and heard about the 7th day Sabbath. He also wanted to know about Jesus. Eventually he was baptized and became an Adventist evangelist.
Eldric (junior) and Felix (senior) collected the Laurelbrook Missions Offering. Daniel (sophomore) played a violin solo for special music. Michael (senior) had the theme talk on true greatness and had the closing prayer. The congregation divided into three Sabbath School classes, a class in the main church sanctuary taught by Clayton Brandt, a student class “behind the glass” taught by Sergio Bellani, and a student class in the nearby boys’ dorm lobby taught by Gerrie Varmaak.
Some notes on the theme talk:
- Daniel 8:14 “And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”
- Nebuchadnezzar had the most powerful empire of its time. But he was bothered by the prediction of other kingdoms after his.
- Then God gave him a dream. Daniel was able to interpret the dream. In the dream the king was shown a great tree. Another angel cut down the tree, leaving the stump.
- Daniel advised the king that he was to be this stump and advised the king to repent of his sins to avoid the punishments.
- The king was given the same impression of the need for repentance time and time. And his pride grew. He questioned whether Daniel was telling the truth.
- Eventually he claimed out loud to have created his kingdom himself. He became like a beast of the field for seven years.
- This was necessary in order to humble the king. He was eventually was restored – and praised the Lord.
- True greatness lies in admitting that God was superior to us.
Personnel Other Than Students:
Clayton Brandt – works with Laurelbrook’s heavy equipment / local church elder
Gerrie Varmaak – organizes Laurelbrook’s vocational program
Jaccqueline Miller – semi-retired nurse living on Laurelbrook’s campus
Sergio Ballani – Laurelbrook marketing director