Author: jeremiahtan963404

Pastor's Updates

Mid-week Pastor’s Update 10-19-2022

(Please be sure to read all the way through this update, to find important prayer praises & requests, and announcements, including Hispanic Evangelism this coming week, and a Halloween alternative activity taking place at our sister church in Orange.)

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

10/19/2022

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9

If you know me very well, you know I am a BIG fan of memes. My fascination probably started as a kid with those 1-panel “Far Side” comics: such wry humor, making you think and realize the absurdity of an aspect of life, in a single frame! Then, in high-school government class, I learned that single-panel political cartoons had been around for decades if not centuries.

I ingest a healthy diet of memes on almost a daily basis. Sometimes I go searching for memes on certain topics, other times they just show-up in my social media feed. Most are funny, some are thought-provoking and stimulating, but then there is a third minority category that I dislike: memes that bother me, and give me a sickening feeling in my stomach.

I had a huge one of those come across my feed earlier this week, of all places, in an Adventst Pastors’ group. There is plenty of fun and also serious discussion that goes on there, but we also sometimes post & discuss difficult and painful things, because it is of course important to know what the outside world is thinking & saying about Christianity & matters of faith and the church.

The following meme had behind it a picture of a denim-clad kid crying in a corner (like the one shown above). This text was in bold, white letters. The following emphasis points are from the meme itself:

“The entire basis of Christianity is that you are BROKEN, WEAK, sinful, and inherently bad. It then tells you that only Jesus, through the Church, can fix you. You are nothing without them. THIS IS ABUSE.”

This accusation stopped me in my tracks. It made me feel equal parts maddened, offended, and sickened. It made me pause for a minute and say “Can this be true? Does the church serve to perpetuate spiritual abuse rather than spiritual healing & help?”. I’ve long heard accusations that institutional religion is primarily a means of controlling people and getting their money, but this meme struck me differently. It was, I don’t know, more accusatory of Christianity and church being toxic and destructive to the individual soul, rather than to the broader society as a whole.

And I knew that having hundreds of thousands of people see this accusation come across their feeds would be instantly harmful to faith and church affiliation, because, in a way, it can partly match with a superficial understanding people have in society of what Christianity and church are and do. While doing that, it obviously highlights the negative, while pointing out none of the positive.

The comments posted in our group below it showed a variety of offense vs. admission that this is how we’re perceived. And I thought “How did our public perception get this way?”

After chewing on this for a bit, and settling my emotions, I thought of what I’d like to say to the person that wrote this.

First of all, I thought, I would want to listen: I would want to hear what motivated the person who created this to do so. Rather than go on my first assumption that they were just trying to twist the narrative & purpose of Christianity to appear destructive, I would want to know: were they somehow hurt by the church themselves?

Jesus reserved his probably most forceful and shocking words to people who hurt little ones (and I believe this includes spiritually, within the church or faith context) “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck, and they were thrown into the sea.” Matthew 18:6, Mark 9:42, Luke 17:2.

A pretty well-known, simple, but profound phrase says “hurt people hurt people”, and I wonder if that’s what’s happening here. Someone was wrongly treated by the church or someone in a church, and they’ve decided to spew venom at the whole concept of Christianity because of it.

And then, after listening and helping them know they’ve been heard & understood, I’d gently ask them about some of their presuppositions. Is it really the church, externally, which tells people they’re bad? Or do our own consciences tell us that? Does the face in the mirror tell us that? Does the daily news on TV or the internet tell us that? If the similar accusation were made “Doctors tell you that you’re sick and that only they can cure you”, is it them who made you sick? Is to make someone aware of something distinctly different than causing it? And I hope they’d concede the point on that one.

I suppose it could also be that they want to ascribe to the feeling that humanity is generally good, rather than bad. And we, of course, want to feel like generally a good person. Largely, though, we do that by comparing ourselves with others: we soothe our consciences by thinking of criminals, the homeless, or drug addicts, what have you, and think “I’m better than most”. Christianity should drive us away from such thinking, but I don’t know how much it does in practice. What other contrast do secular people have to feel good about themselves, though? I don’t know. I can’t get into the heads of other people, whether Christian or atheist.

And in response to the 2nd half of the meme, I do believe that only Jesus can “fix” us, but is access to Jesus exclusively through the church? I wondered if this person knows of the historical and theological differences between Catholicism and Protestantism, because, yes, in the sacramental/Catholic model, the church does distribute grace as it provides the sacraments (including forgiveness being based on confessing one’s sins to a priest), but in Protestantism, the religious institution is secondary to the direct communication line between the individual and God: both in God communicating to us through His Word, and in us praying to Him in open and honest sharing of our feelings, needs, and hopes. Yes, these things are done and facilitated at church, but by no means are they the only place where they happen! Jesus himself said the most important place where communication with God takes place is in the private prayer time, the closet prayers, mentioned in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:6. And of course, hearing a sermon once a week is no substitute for daily feeding on God’s word in personal study/devotional time.

And thirdly I would ask the person: Does the priest or pastor who oversees the church not themself need the same benefit that the members do? The forgiveness and acceptance of God? The need to be educated & corrected on their own daily walk? The accusation that church leaders more-or-less say “you must bow before me/my authority to have access to Jesus and His salvation” is hugely problematic. I have had numerous occasions in sermon preparation times where I’ve changed the pronoun direction from “you” to “we/I”. Not “YOU need to get right with the Lord/obtain His forgiveness/get on a right path with Him”, but “WE/I” do!

So, I just left this meme feeling hurt and discouraged, because obviously I couldn’t actually reach the person who created this meme, to hopefully come to a more balanced understanding with them. And I couldn’t and can’t reach the probably hundreds of thousands of people who have seen/will see this meme online. The damage is done. And what can I really do to improve it?

Well, I tell you what I can do, what we can do as a local church community: we can do our very best, prayerfully, intentionally, to make sure the narrative and accusations described in this meme are NOT in the subtext of things we say and do. Jesus is a compassionate Savior! And he came to all humanity, to heal and help, and ultimately save. He doesn’t condemn us (John 3:17), we are naturally condemned to the grave by the ‘natural’ order of things in this world. Even atheists have to agree with that. And the church, in its right posture before people, doesn’t tower over the masses to demand obeisance toward it: rather, it itself strives to be the bride that Christ deserves (Ephesians 5:27). The church doesn’t stand in the place of God to the world, the church stands in the place before God of the ones needing help & purification from our heavenly fiancé! And we weekly (and personally daily) ask him to wash us and make us white as snow before him (Isaiah 1:18).

So: the light of such accusations makes me re-realize just how important our daily witness is to others. We of course have no idea what kinds of feelings & possible resentments people around us have to matters of faith, Jesus, and the church. But let us intentionally make sure all conversations are sprinkled with kindness, love, encouragement, and helpfulness. That when people who know us come across such an accusation, they say “No! That doesn’t match my experience with authentic Chrstians: whoever said this is off in their assessment.”

It is still with a burden in my heart over this that I wish you and your loved ones a good rest of the week, covered by God’s loving grace. May we be a light amidst the darkness!

Sincerely,

Pastor Mark Tatum

Announcements

Announcements – 10-12-2022

Announcements:

Wednesday Food Bank Distribution: Food Bank Distribution takes place today and every Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. in our church parking lot. It is primarily a drive-through service. If you or someone you know would benefit from a heaping box of free food, don’t hesitate to come receive. We are utterly appreciative of our volunteers who give of their time and energy to bless the community.

Mid-week Prayer/book discussion group will be meeting at its regular time each week, Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. Meetings going forward will be on zoom only: (meeting ID#: 7053955673, with password 172569). We also continue to discuss book, “Patriarchs and Prophets”, written by Ellen White. This week we will discuss chapter 26 “From the Red Sea to Sinai”. Join with us to get a mid-week Spiritual recharge, and connection with fellow church members.

Spanish Prayer Group: For the first time since the pandemic shutdown, our Spanish group has recently resumed its weekly prayer group on Wednesday evenings @ 7:00 in the fellowship hall. If you are a Spanish-speaker, come receive a blessing with fellow believers.

Sabbath Morning Church Worship: We continue to meet in the sanctuary. Folks are still recommended to wear facemasks while worshipping, especially those who are not fully vaccinated.

Current Sabbath Worship/Activities schedule:

9:00 a.m. Spanish Sabbath School service (Fellowship Hall)

9:20 a.m. Kids’ song service (all ages) in Youth Room

9:45 a.m. Kids’ Sabbath Schools in their age/grade-based classrooms

10:00 a.m. Spanish Devotional Service – Fellowship Hall

      Young Adult Sabbath School – room 304

      English Adult Sabbath School – Sanctuary

11:00 a.m. All ages/languages church service in sanctuary (Pr. Nathaniel Preaching)

3:00 Kids’ Clubs of Pathfinders/Adventurers

5:00 p.m. Sociedad de Jovenes bilingual closing-of-the-Sabbath service

Online Worship Options: If you are ever traveling, sick, or still prefer to worship from home, we have online worship options, live Sabbath mornings from 10:00-12:00 on Zoom (mtg ID# is 7053955673, with password 172569), or services being posted after-the-fact on our Anaheim Sunkist SDA Youtube Page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfZrh44kEB7LJUy2c37XrFA 

Hispanic Evangelism Starts October 22nd! You may have seen the large banner in front of our church: from October 22-29, members & visitors from a few surrounding Hispanic churches will be joining our Spanish group to welcome guest speaker Arnaldo Cruz as he brings the theme “Enamored with Jesus”. Weeknights will begin at 7:00 p.m., but the two Sabbath services will include a concert before hand, and will start at 5:00. 

Pastor Mark’s Limited Availability & Transition: As announced last month at church, Pastor Mark has been offered and has accepted a new job at the Southeastern California Conference of SDAs in Riverside, and is now serving as the Assistant to the President there. From now on, his weekday time will be spent there, though he continues to be available via phone/text/e-mail during the week, and will continue to preach and be available Fridays & Sabbaths to the Anaheim/Orange SDA Church district until a new Senior Pastor is found. Please pray for the up-coming transition time, and for discernment in God’s will for the future of our church district. Pastor Nathaniel will be continuing to serve as associate pastor through this time of transition and onward.

Online Giving: Please remember the church’s local funding needs in your giving plans.  Your tithes (10% of your increase) and offerings are most appreciated during this time. Adventist giving has both a phone app and a website you can donate through: adventistgiving.org. Any donations made here are applied directly, with no percentage skimmed off, and your donations will come in your year-end receipt, seamlessly integrated with donations made in the church. May God bless us as we partner with him in faith through our finances.

Pastor's Updates

Mid-week Pastor’s Update 10-12-22

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

October 12th, 2022

“He who is faithful with little will also be faithful with much, and he who is unfaithful with little will also be unfaithful with much.” Luke 16:10

At the “manufactured home” complex in which we live, our neighbor’s mobile home has a fenced-in porch that faces toward our space’s driveway. The family there has two dogs, a gray bulldog and a little brown chihuahua, who fly into a rage anytime they perceive something or someone moving in their sight. Sometimes we will hear the “alarm” of their barks going off, only to glance out the window and see that the Amazon delivery person (or UPS, what have you) has dropped-off a package. And when Jime, or the kids and I go out to get in the car to go somewhere, they go absolutely wild! Agressively barking and snarling, as if to say “if only this fence weren’t here, we’d rip you to shreds!”

Now, my kids like dogs very much. They’ve repeatedly asked us to get one (the answer is always “no”), and when we go to the grandparents’ house in Riverside, they spend a good amount of time playing with their dog (they’ve even told their teachers that that dog is “their” dog, apparently ;-p ).

So I’m sure that, if these neighbor dogs were nicer, that our kids would happily go over and talk to them, pet them through the vertical slats, and maybe even ask the neighbors to go onto their porch to play with the dogs. But as it is, they keep their distance from the fence of that porch, and never mention wanting to build a relationship with those dogs.

Sometimes I wonder how similar or different we as a society may look to heavenly intelligences. We are allotted our ‘little space’ in our society: the little property of our homes, but also the circles of influence in our workplaces and social circles. And I wonder if our interactions are more welcoming or aggressive in the aggregate.

Just as I think it’s a loss for both those dogs and my kids that they don’t take a friendlier posture toward them, I wonder how many opportunities for good interactions, friendships, and even bonded relationships are lost because we take a default posture of defensivism, or even aggression, toward others.

And, while I don’t believe we’re saved by our actions, I believe the record of our actions, amassed over time, gives testimony to the heart of the person. So if angels & unfallen beings are asking themselves “should earthlings be permitted to come join us?” our kindness & generosity vs. defensiveness & aggression here and now can clue them in to how wise that prospect would be.

Lately there’s been verbiage in the outside world that churches are hateful places that breed intolerance: I hope nothing we do serves to feed that narrative. Rather, I pray that the Spirit of Christ would be shown, both through our personal lives as well as through our corporate body when we gather together.

Above all, I hope that when Christ returns, He will indeed ‘find faith on the earth’ (Luke 18:8), partially because of our faithful, encouraging, friendly interactions and invitations into Kingdom life with Him.

May God bless you and your families this week and beyond.

Sincerely,

Pastor Mark Tatum

Announcements

Announcements – 10-5-22

Pacific Union Pathfinder Camporee Starts Today! Clubs composed of young people & volunteers are convening from 5 states at Lake Skinner (kind-of between Hemet and Temecula) for a weekend of fun, friendship, and faith. Please pray for safe travels for our club and others, and for our young people to be encouraged in their faith & their responsibilities in growing-up.

Wednesday Food Bank Distribution: Food Bank Distribution takes place today and every Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. in our church parking lot. It is primarily a drive-through service. If you or someone you know would benefit from a heaping box of free food, please don’t hesitate to come receive. We are utterly appreciative of Michael Warr and our group of volunteers who give of their time and energy to bless the community.

Mid-week Prayer/book discussion group will be meeting at its regular time each week, Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. Meetings going forward will be on zoom only: (meeting ID#: 7053955673, with password 172569). We also continue to discuss book, “Patriarchs and Prophets”, written by Ellen White. This week we will discuss chapter 25 “The Exodus”. Join with us to get a mid-week Spiritual recharge, and connection with fellow church members.

Spanish Prayer Group: For the first time since the pandemic shutdown, our Spanish group has recently resumed its weekly prayer group on Wednesday evenings @ 7:00 in the fellowship hall. If you are a Spanish-speaker, come receive a blessing with fellow believers.

Sabbath Morning Church Worship: We continue to meet in the sanctuary. Folks are still recommended to wear facemasks while worshipping, especially those who are not fully vaccinated.

Current Sabbath Worship/Activities schedule:

9:00 a.m. Spanish Sabbath School service (Fellowship Hall)

9:20 a.m. Kids’ song service (all ages) in Youth Room

9:45 a.m. Kids’ Sabbath Schools in their age/grade-based classrooms

10:00 a.m. Spanish Devotional Service – Fellowship Hall

      Young Adult Sabbath School – room 304

      English Adult Sabbath School – Sanctuary

11:00 a.m. All ages/languages church service in sanctuary

2:00 Hispanic Ministry Meeting

3:00 Adventurer Club meets (Pathfinders away on campout)

5:00 p.m. “Sociedad de Jovenes” bilingual closing-of-the-Sabbath service

Online Worship Options: If you are ever traveling, sick, or still prefer to worship from home, we have online worship options, live Sabbath mornings from 10:00-12:00 on Zoom (mtg ID# is 7053955673, with password 172569), or services being posted after-the-fact on our Anaheim Sunkist SDA Youtube Page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfZrh44kEB7LJUy2c37XrFA

Church Board Meeting this Monday: Our leaders will be gathering for our monthly meeting where we discuss plans going forward. Please pray for our leaders in both discerning and implementing God’s will. Church Board members, please prioritize attending, and get any agenda items you’d like to have discussed to Pastor Mark as soon as possible.

Pastor Mark’s Limited Availability & Transition: As announced over the summer, Pastor Mark has been offered and has accepted a new job at the Southeastern California Conference of SDAs in Riverside, and is now serving as the Assistant to the President there. From now on, his weekday time will be spent there, though he continues to be available via phone/text/e-mail during the week, and will continue to preach and be available Fridays & Sabbaths to the Anaheim/Orange SDA Church district until a new Senior Pastor is found. Please pray for the up-coming transition time, and for discernment in God’s will for the future of our church district. Pastor Nathaniel will be continuing to serve as associate pastor through this time of transition and onward.

Online Giving: Please remember the church’s local funding needs in your giving plans.  Your tithes (10% of your increase) and offerings are most appreciated during this time. Adventist giving has both a phone app and a website you can donate through: adventistgiving.org. Any donations made here are applied directly, with no percentage skimmed off, and your donations will come in your year-end receipt, seamlessly integrated with donations made in the church. May God bless us as we partner with him in faith through our finances.

Pastor's Updates

Mid-week Pastor’s Update 10-5-22

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

October 5th, 2022

“Cast your burdens on Jesus, for he cares for you” 1 Peter 5:7

I’m sure you have many times been where I have, when the discouragements, difficulties, stressors and sadnesses of life seem to overwhelm us to the point of despair. This past week hasn’t by any means been the worst of those, but several contributing factors have definitely confluenced to make it a tough week.

During those times, naturally, I want to communicate to the Lord about it. And I’m so glad to have him as a resource to run to! I, frankly, don’t know how atheists, agnostics, and the like “soldier through” life without going to the sweet place of peace, acceptance, and unconditional love.

I frequently yearn to hear from God: to get specific advice for my problems! “Just reveal to me your will, Lord, and I will do it!” And while, of course, spiritual impressions, counsel from Spiritual friends, dreams, and even an audible voice are all in God’s toolbox to use, for the most part, God chooses to remain silent. For sure, sitting with us, comforting and consoling us through the issue(s), but choosing to not directly intervene.

At such times, obviously wanting to hear from God, I turn to the Bible: His primary method of communicating with humanity. The Bible is profound! The eternal truths applied and contextualized to our time and place never cease to bring out great blessing and insight.

But again, you can probably relate with me on this: the Bible doesn’t always speak direct advice to the crises we face in our daily lives. “I want to know about your will for a relationship, or a job opportunity!” And we open the Bible to see a description of the Israelites battling with the Assyrians. “I need counsel on what path to take regarding medical intervention!” And we open to see a passage on something like beasts fighting each-other in prophecy.

In my current personal Bible reading plan, I’m currently in the middle of Job, a dense chunk of many chapters harping on suffering and asking questions of God’s justice throughout. My current issues, while causing some angst, have nothing to do with personal health or family suffering (for which I thank God), and so I was like “Man, Lord, this isn’t relevant to me in my needs right now!”

And then I had to pause for a minute and humble myself. First of all, I have to respect the fact that God didn’t write the Bible for exclusively me, or even "us", he wrote it for all humanity throughout all periods of history! So of course some passages aren’t going to be relevant to me right now. To package in 1200 chapters something that will speak to all cultures on all continents throughout all periods of history is a seemingly impossible task! Yet God has done it.

I also had this thought: God is more than happy to hear from us. He wants to know our trials, our struggles, our victories, and our defeats. He is fully willing, through prayer time, to hear us talk about our agenda at any time. He will listen sympathetically, patiently, compassionately. He will love us despite our shortcomings, our sins of commission and omission, our weaknesses and our cowardliness. He is wonderful to accept us as we are, to soothe and heal, to forgive and embrace us despite our faults and failures.

But when we open the Bible, we put ourselves on God’s ground, to speak His agenda. I should not expect or demand that the Bible be tailored to me, I must submit myself to it as acknowledging that this is what God wants me to know for living and navigating life.

Many parts are counsel for how to walk according to eternal principles. Many parts are accounts of how God came through for his people through the ages. Many parts are predictions, divine assurances, of what will come. The fact that the majority of prophecies in the Bible have been fulfilled is easily verifiable confirmation for us that His word is indeed sure.

So, between the two, prayer being us talking to Him, scripture being Him talking to us, it makes for a two-way street in which true, authentic, communication is being accomplished. Yes, it may at times feel like the two routes of communication are “talking past” each-other, but if we are eager to receive as willingly as we are trusting that God is hearing our prayers, I hope we would see reading scripture as an epic opportunity to see life from God’s eyes, His perspective.

So, I had to humble myself in regards to grumbling about the Bible. We are fortunate to have it! As the Apostle Paul confirms: “Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.”

So: God does want to hear from us: help us, walk with us in our issues, all of it. But he also wants to speak to us on his terms. And the desire to do the one does not negate the necessity of the other. We are fortunate to have this arrangement: let us never get discouraged in it. God has truly given us all we need to navigate life on a daily basis, and to acquire a knowledge sufficient for salvation (1st Timothy 2:4, 2nd Timothy 3:15).

I pray a blessing for you and your families for this week and beyond, May God bless you and keep you, ‘till we meet in person once again.

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

Announcements

Announcements – 9-28-2022

Announcements:

Wednesday Food Bank Distribution: Food Bank Distribution takes place today and every Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. in our church parking lot. It is primarily a drive-through service. If you or someone you know would benefit from a heaping box of free food, don’t hesitate to come receive. We are utterly appreciative of our volunteers who give of their time and energy to bless the community.

Mid-week Prayer/book discussion group will be meeting at its regular time each week, Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. Meetings going forward will be on zoom only: (meeting ID#: 7053955673, with password 172569). We also continue to discuss book, “Patriarchs and Prophets”, written by Ellen White. This week we will discuss chapter 24 “The Passover”. Join with us to get a mid-week Spiritual recharge, and connection with fellow church members.

Spanish Prayer Group: For the first time since the pandemic shutdown, our Spanish group has recently resumed its weekly prayer group on Wednesday evenings @ 7:00 in the fellowship hall. If you are a Spanish-speaker, come receive a blessing with fellow believers.

Sabbath Morning Church Worship: We continue to meet in the sanctuary. Folks are still recommended to wear facemasks while worshipping, especially those who are not fully vaccinated.

Current Sabbath Worship/Activities schedule:

9:00 a.m. Spanish Sabbath School service (Fellowship Hall)

9:20 a.m. Kids’ song service (all ages) in Youth Room

9:45 a.m. Kids’ Sabbath Schools in their age/grade-based classrooms

10:00 a.m. Spanish Devotional Service – Fellowship Hall

      Young Adult Sabbath School – room 304

      English Adult Sabbath School – Sanctuary

11:00 a.m. All ages/languages church service in sanctuary (Daniel Geli preaching this week)

3:00 Kids’ Clubs inaugural meetings (see announcement below)

5:00 p.m. “Sociedad de Jovenes” bilingual closing-of-the-Sabbath service

Online Worship Options: If you are ever traveling, sick, or still prefer to worship from home, we have online worship options, live Sabbath mornings from 10:00-12:00 on Zoom (mtg ID# is 7053955673, with password 172569), or services being posted after-the-fact on our Anaheim Sunkist SDA Youtube Page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfZrh44kEB7LJUy2c37XrFA

Pathfinder/Adventurer Clubs Resume this Sabbath! At 3:00 p.m. in front of the fellowship hall. We are thankful to Margarito Gonzales, Mirella Velasco, and their teams of volunteers for blessing our kids, and instructing them in Godly principles. A calendar of future events is listed on our church calendar, which is accessible through our website. The Pathfinders are going to the once-every-three-year Union Camporee mid-week next week, with clubs coming from 5 states! Pray for safety and fun for everyone participating.

Pastor Mark’s Limited Availability & Transition: As announced over the summer, Pastor Mark has been offered and has accepted a new job at the Southeastern California Conference of SDAs in Riverside, and is now serving as the Assistant to the President there. From now on, his weekday time will be spent there, though he continues to be available via phone/text/e-mail during the week, and will continue to preach and be available Fridays & Sabbaths to the Anaheim/Orange SDA Church district until a new Senior Pastor is found. Please pray for the up-coming transition time, and for discernment in God’s will for the future of our church district. Pastor Nathaniel will be continuing to serve as associate pastor through this time of transition and onward.

Online Giving: Please remember the church’s local funding needs in your giving plans.  Your tithes (10% of your increase) and offerings are most appreciated during this time. Adventist giving has both a phone app and a website you can donate through: adventistgiving.org. Any donations made here are applied directly, with no percentage skimmed off, and your donations will come in your year-end receipt, seamlessly integrated with donations made in the church. May God bless us as we partner with him in faith through our finances.

Pastor's Updates

mid-week Pastor’s Update 9-28-2022

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

September 28th, 2022

“From heaven the Lord looks downand sees all mankind;from his dwelling place he watchesall who live on earth—he who forms the hearts of all,who considers everything they do.” Psalm 33:13-15

In my daily commute to Riverside earlier this week, I had an experience that you have likely had a time or two yourself: I saw one of those “Google street view” cars, with the funny circular camera mounted on top. I even paralleled it coincidentally for a few blocks. That made me think of times I’ve used Google street view*, and thought ‘huh, well, that’s how they get those images’. I wondered whether the images were stored on a hard-drive and uploaded, or simultaneously streamed to Google’s servers.

Then I got to thinking about how crazy amazing it seemed to me when Google Earth came out, in the early 2000s. I remember spending probably in the neighborhood of 10 hours on my computer in my dorm room that week, looking at everything from familiar places and neighborhoods, to beautiful places like bays and national parks, to different capital cities and governmental centers around the world (like the Mall in Washington D.C.).

I remember thinking how amazing it was that images like these could be available, for free, at my fingertips at any time. I also remember thinking that it seemed crazy that it was legal! Minus a few “top-secret” places that were blurred out, you could see just about anything, anywhere that you wanted. But then I figured, well, the visuals are out there in the real world to be looked at by people’s eyes at any time, perhaps putting them on the internet isn’t such a logical leap of public availability.

Google satellite view changed the way I see the world. Of course, I’d used maps on family trips before, and I’d see the weather forecaster standing in front of their big wall map, but getting a ‘birds-eye-view’ just really put my life in context, simultaneously making sense of my place in it, but also making me feel really small!

I feel that the Bible does the same thing for us: it helps us “zoom out” from our own neighborhood and daily circumstances, to see and understand the meta-narrative that is around it: How God created this world, implemented the plan of salvation to redeem it, and is to soon come and conquer its nations (Daniel 2:44-45, Revelation 11:15). It both puts my life in perspective, with its joys, sorrows, challenges, and victories, and also makes me feel very small in the midst of the grand narrative! Yet, to know that I am seen, loved, cherished, and intimately known as an individual in the midst of all of it, boggles my mind to the point of scrambling my brain. "How precious are your thoughts concerning me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!" Psalm 139:17

In ancient days, people could only climb a really tall tree, or stand on a cliff-edge of a mountain to get a bit of perspective as to the layout of the land. Through the centuries, we’ve steadily advanced until now we have Google satellite and street views.

Similarly, Bible characters of previous generations only knew portions of God’s grand narrative. We know much more now (this is the positive side of the prophecy in Daniel 12:4 that knowledge would increase in the last days). But soon we will be lifted even higher, to see integrated purposes of God that go beyond our current understanding, but within which our world, and our personal story fits in like an interlocking jigsaw piece.

I’m thankful to Google for the added perspective it’s given me. But I’m even more thankful to God, eternally so, for giving us the “bird’s eye view” of His perspective on us, through His Word.

May God bless you and your families richly, the remainder of this week and beyond.

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

* I often look-up satellite & street views before going somewhere new. I regularly do it before visiting Adventist churches, and did so before I first came to interview for our church at Anaheim! I still remember thinking “Can that be right? That church looks kind of weird and disproportional from the front!”. :-p

Announcements

Announcements – 9-21-2022

Announcements:

Zoom Week of Prayer Under-way! Our sister district church in Orange is holding an online week of prayer each evening this week, with several of its elders providing the nightly devotional thoughts. The theme is “Christian Unity”. Meets Sunday – Sabbath @ 7:00 p.m. Zoom mtg ID# is 878 6881 3884, with passcode 952045. Please consider joining in for a Spiritual enhancement with dear brothers & sisters! See Monday’s service with Pr. Mark & Pr. Nate here: https://youtu.be/VNwnObIc4is  

Wednesday Food Bank Distribution: Food Bank Distribution takes place today and every Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. in our church parking lot. It is primarily a drive-through service. If you or someone you know would benefit from a heaping box of free food, don’t hesitate to come receive. We are utterly appreciative of our volunteers who give of their time and energy to bless the community.

Mid-week Prayer/book discussion group will be meeting at its regular time each week, Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. Meetings going forward will be on zoom only: (meeting ID#: 7053955673, with password 172569). We also continue to discuss book, “Patriarchs and Prophets”, written by Ellen White. This week we will discuss chapter 23 “The Plagues of Egypt”. Join with us to get a mid-week Spiritual recharge, and connection with fellow church members.

Spanish Prayer Group: For the first time since the pandemic shutdown, our Spanish group has recently resumed its weekly prayer group on Wednesday evenings @ 7:00 in the fellowship hall. If you are a Spanish-speaker, come receive a blessing with fellow believers.

Sabbath Morning Church Worship: We continue to meet in the sanctuary. Folks are still recommended to wear facemasks while worshipping, especially those who are not fully vaccinated.

Current Sabbath Worship/Activities schedule:

9:00 a.m. Spanish Sabbath School service (Fellowship Hall)

9:20 a.m. Kids’ song service (all ages) in Youth Room

9:45 a.m. Kids’ Sabbath Schools in their age/grade-based classrooms

10:00 a.m. Spanish Devotional Service – Fellowship Hall

      Young Adult Sabbath School – room 304

      English Adult Sabbath School – Sanctuary

11:00 a.m. All ages/languages church service in sanctuary (includes communion service)

12:30 p.m. Church Potluck in Fellowship Hall

4:00 p.m. Kids’ Clubs ice cream social / club registrations (see announcement below).

5:00 p.m. Sociedad de Jovenes bilingual closing-of-the-Sabbath service

Online Worship Options: If you are ever traveling, sick, or still prefer to worship from home, we have online worship options, live Sabbath mornings from 10:00-12:00 on Zoom (mtg ID# is 7053955673, with password 172569), or services being posted after-the-fact on our Anaheim Sunkist SDA Youtube Page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfZrh44kEB7LJUy2c37XrFA 

Communion Service Approaching: With this Sabbath the 24th being the last Sabbath of the quarter, we will be holding a communion service in memory of Christ’s life of service & sacrifice on our behalf. Please be preparing your hearts as we come to participate in the symbols he gave us of foot-washing and self-sacrifice.

Church Potluck this Sabbath! Being the last Sabbath of the month, we’ll be gathering in our fellowship hall for a time of nourishment and companionship after our church service. If you plan to participate, please bring a vegetarian dish to share.

Pathfinder/Adventurer Ice Cream Social and Registration: at 4 p.m. this Sabbath, we’re inviting our church kids, neighbors, VBS participants, etc. to come enjoy treats and fellowship in the courtyard, as we kick off this year’s kids’ clubs of Pathfinders and Adventurers. We are thankful to Margarito Gonzales, Mirella Velasco, and their teams of volunteers for blessing our kids, and instructing them in Godly principles. A calendar of future events throughout the school year will also be available: events are already listed on our church calendar accessible through our website. (Note: there is a registration fee for getting kids in the clubs, but if finances are a hindrance, the church can help with it).

Pastor Mark’s Limited Availability & Transition: As announced last month at church, Pastor Mark has been offered and has accepted a new job at the Southeastern California Conference of SDAs in Riverside, and is now serving as the Assistant to the President there. From now on, his weekday time will be spent there, though he continues to be available via phone/text/e-mail during the week, and will continue to preach and be available Fridays & Sabbaths to the Anaheim/Orange SDA Church district until a new Senior Pastor is found. Please pray for the up-coming transition time, and for discernment in God’s will for the future of our church district. Pastor Nathaniel will be continuing to serve as associate pastor through this time of transition and onward.

Online Giving: Please remember the church’s local funding needs in your giving plans.  Your tithes (10% of your increase) and offerings are most appreciated during this time. Adventist giving has both a phone app and a website you can donate through: adventistgiving.org. Any donations made here are applied directly, with no percentage skimmed off, and your donations will come in your year-end receipt, seamlessly integrated with donations made in the church. May God bless us as we partner with him in faith through our finances.

Pastor's Updates

Mid-week Pastor’s Update 9-21-22

Please be sure to read (or at least scroll) to the bottom of this update, to see important prayer requests, and announcements such as communion, potluck, and kids clubs’ social event, all happening this Sabbath!

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

September 21st, 2022

“And the God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” Genesis 1:31

Even though I’m working during the week at the conference office now, I’m grateful that I still get to help with food bank pickups once per week. The familiarity, the physical nature of the task (where I can let my mind wander, or think of other aspects of my work), and knowing I’m helping with a practical good in the community, all help me feel good about it.

Sometimes we get food given to us by the stores that are unfit to distribute. Both our local food bank training, as well as certified food handler procedures state that rotten food, food that hasn’t been properly refrigerated, or packaged food with broken seals can’t be distributed.

Each week we find a few leaky/sticky packages, a few pierced or sliced plastic-wraps, and an occasional punctured yogurt cup lid. We toss them in the trash, or, if they look good enough to eat ourselves, we can take them home, knowing the slight risk we run.

But I had a thought as I was arranging things a couple weeks back: in general, the fruits and vegetables we receive & distribute don’t have to be packaged. We handle while boxing and distributing items such as bananas, apples, citrus, onions, potatoes, etc. as is, and I began to ponder: why are there strict packaging rules on some things, but not on most of our produce?

I realized: it’s because the “packaging” God gave these fruits & veggies is sufficient to pass food-handler’s quality standards! An orange can roll in the dirt, but, since you un-peel it to eat it, it’s okay! A banana can be squashed and ugly externally, but still be nutritious & delicious inside! A carrot can be grimy from its growing place in the ground, but wash it off, and it’s fine for consumption.

Beyond that, nature’s packaging is informative: telling you both the type and quality of the food inside. Additionally, it’s biodegradable, causing no harm to the environment – can even be great for composing! Furthermore, peels often edible (though we may prefer not to), and can be used humorously (in the case of an orange peel being used as a funny smile, or a banana peel to make someone slip!)

To me, that’s just a microcosm of how God’s ways are better than man’s. Every system God made in the natural world, be it the weather cycle, the decomposition cycle of animals & plants alike (and even humans), the revolving nature of our solar system, is all recyclable and sustainable. In a word, brilliant!

We are the ones who really muck things up by making chemical reactions to produce things that don’t break down, can’t get re-used productively, and end-up causing much more long-term harm than the brief benefit they offer. I was just reading the other day about an industrial toxic waste dump site north of the Santa Ana river in Riverside that was used for about 20 years from the ‘60s to the early ‘80s. That site is desolate and untouchable now: the article said it will take some 500 million years for those toxins to neutralize!

So, sadly, we’ve exacerbated the needs for a new heavens* and a new earth. We’re gradually ruining the one we’ve got!

Praise the Lord, he had a contingency plan in place far before we knew we needed it. “Behold, I am making all things new!” is Jesus’ bold proclamation in the second-to-last chapter of the Bible (Rev. 21:5). And I say “Bring it, Lord Jesus!” Beyond being fascinated to observe the re-creation process, I wonder how similar or different the new creation will be to the one we know now? We’re given a few tantalizing clues, a ‘glimpse through the door-crack’ in Revelation 21 & 22, but, as C.S. Lewis says, God is just whetting our appetite to be eager for the full revealing of what he has in store.

So, the next time you bite into a piece of fruit (whether it’s the type that you remove the peel for, or bite through), think of God’s superior designs & mechanisms to man’s, and how there is much more to come!

May the Lord bless you & your families the remainder of your week.

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

* the reason the word “heavens” is pluralized in much of scripture is because in Bible times they had a concept of 3 levels of heaven: first is what we’d call sky, the blue part, the breathable ‘dome’ of our atmosphere (it may seem weird to us that they’d use the same word for our local sky as for God’s dwelling place, but Spanish and other languages still do it too), the second level would be what you can see at night: the planets, stars, and galaxies beyond our reach, and then the 3rd level would be God’s glorious dwelling place. This 3rd level is what’s referred to by the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:2-4.

Announcements

Announcements – 9-14-2022

Announcements:

Wednesday Food Bank Distribution: Food Bank Distribution takes place today and every Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. in our church parking lot. It is primarily a drive-through service. If you or someone you know would benefit from a heaping box of free food, don’t hesitate to come receive. We are utterly appreciative of our volunteers who give of their time and energy to bless the community.

Mid-week Prayer/book discussion group will be meeting at its regular time each week, Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. Meetings going forward will be on zoom only: (meeting ID#: 7053955673, with password 172569). We also continue to discuss book, “Patriarchs and Prophets”, written by Ellen White. This week we will discuss chapter 21 “Joseph and his Brothers”. Join with us to get a mid-week Spiritual recharge, and connection with fellow church members.

Spanish Prayer Group: For the first time since the pandemic shutdown, our Spanish group has resumed its weekly prayer group on Wednesday evenings @ 7:00 in the fellowship hall. If you are a Spanish-speaker, come receive a blessing with fellow believers.

Sabbath Morning Church Worship: We continue to meet in the sanctuary. Folks are still recommended to wear facemasks while worshipping, especially those who are not fully vaccinated.

Current Sabbath Worship/Activities schedule:

9:00 a.m. Spanish Sabbath School service (Fellowship Hall)

9:20 a.m. Kids’ song service (all ages) in Youth Room

9:45 a.m. Kids’ Sabbath Schools in their age/grade-based classrooms

10:00 a.m. Spanish Devotional Service – Fellowship Hall

      Young Adult Sabbath School – room 304

      English Adult Sabbath School – Sanctuary

11:00 a.m. All ages/languages church service in sanctuary

5:00 p.m. Memorial Service for Ermelinda Patarroyo (see announcement below).

Online Worship Options: If you are ever traveling, sick, or still prefer to worship from home, we have online worship options, live Sabbath mornings from 10:00-12:00 on Zoom (mtg ID# is 7053955673, with password 172569), or services being posted after-the-fact on our Anaheim Sunkist SDA Youtube Page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfZrh44kEB7LJUy2c37XrFA 

Memorial Service for Ermelinda Patarroyo We grieve with sister Martha Patarroyo for the recent passing of her mother. Though Ermelinda had lived outside the country for the past several years, she was a member of our Spanish group for many years when she was here. We will be having a memorial service for her this Sabbath afternoon, September 17th, at 5:00 p.m. All who fondly remember Ermelinda are welcome to come and support the Patarroyo family during this time of loss. (Note: this will be replacing the usual “Sociedad de Jovenes” program)

Zoom Week of Prayer with Orange Church Sept. 18-24th: Our sister district church across is holding an online week of prayer next, with several of its elders providing the nightly devotional thoughts. The theme is “Christian Unity”. Meets Sunday – Sabbath @ 7:00 p.m. Zoom mtg ID# is 878 6881 3884, with passcode 952045. Please consider joining in for a Spiritual enhancement with dear brothers & sisters!

Communion Service Approaching: With the 24th being the last Sabbath of the quarter, we will be holding a communion service in memory of Christ’s life of service & sacrifice on our behalf. Please be preparing your hearts as we come to participate in the symbols he gave us of foot-washing and self-sacrifice.

Church Potluck coming up on Sept. 24th! Being the last Sabbath of the month, we’ll be gathering in our fellowship hall for a time of nourishment and companionship after our church service. If you plan to participate, please bring a vegetarian dish to share.

Pathfinder/Adventurer Ice Cream Social and Registration: at 4 p.m. the afternoon of the 24th, we’re inviting our church kids, neighbors, VBS participants, etc. to come enjoy treats and fellowship in the courtyard, as we kick off this year’s kids’ clubs of Pathfinders and Adventurers. We are thankful to Margarito Gonzales, Mirella Velasco, and their teams of volunteers for blessing our kids, and instructing them in Godly principles. A calendar of future events throughout the school year will also be available: events are already listed on our church calendar accessible through our website. (Note: there is a registration fee for getting kids in the clubs, but if finances are a hindrance, the church can help with it).

Pastor Mark’s Limited Availability: As announced last month at church, Pastor Mark has been offered and has accepted a new job at the Southeastern California Conference of SDAs in Riverside, and is now serving as the Assistant to the President there. From now on, his weekday time will be spent there, though he continues to be available via phone/text/e-mail during the week, and will continue to preach and be available Fridays & Sabbaths to the Anaheim/Orange SDA Church district until a new Senior Pastor is found. Please pray for the up-coming transition time, and for discernment in God’s will for the future of our church district. Pastor Nathaniel will be continuing to serve as associate pastor through this time of transition and onward.

Online Giving: Please remember the church’s local funding needs in your giving plans.  Your tithes (10% of your increase) and offerings are most appreciated during this time. Adventist giving has both a phone app and a website you can donate through: adventistgiving.org. Any donations made here are applied directly, with no percentage skimmed off, and your donations will come in your year-end receipt, seamlessly integrated with donations made in the church. May God bless us as we partner with him in faith through our finances.