November 6, 2020 | Silver Spring, Maryland, United States | By Ted N.C. Wilson, President, General conference of Seventh-day Adventists
Hello, Friends! Today I’m happy to let you know this coming week is our worldwide Week of Prayer. This is a time when the entire world church comes together in prayer, and is blessed by a series of special readings and sermons that are found in the November issue of the Adventist World magazine. If a hard copy is not available to you, I encourage you to access this special issue by visiting adventistworld.org and clicking on the Week of Prayer issue.
Just before His ascension, Jesus Christ gave His followers an important commission—to reach the world for Him. This well-known passage is found in Matthew 28:18-20.
“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.”
And, of course, this command to “Go,” is part of our wonderful new strategic plan for the world church, called “I Will Go.” It’s an invitation, really, to you personally, to “Go” wherever the Lord may lead you to reach others for Him.
The theme for this coming Week of Prayer is “Reach the World: Faithfulness in Christian Lifestyle.” Now, you might wonder—What does Christian lifestyle have to do with reaching the world for Christ?
The answer is—a lot! Because who we are as Christians is revealed by how we live our lives. What are our values and priorities? How do we spend our time and resources? What kind of life are we living?
Ellen White wrote that, “Many in our world seem to think that to be a Christian is to step down very low, getting upon a very low level. But this is a very mistaken idea. What is it to be a Christian? It is to be like Christ” (“The Privilege of Being a Christian,” MR, vol. 9, p. 230.
Jesus is our example, and it is only through His grace and power that we can be faithful to His calling as we lean completely on Christ and His Word.
During the readings in the upcoming week we will explore some very important topics, beginning with the Bible as the foundation for the Christian lifestyle. We’ll also look at how “Kingdom Values” inform Christian living, and the way Christian virtues guide our lives. Health is a very important aspect of Christian lifestyle and as we see Christ as our Model, we’ll truly be encouraged and inspired. Christian lifestyle and media, sexuality and the Christian life, will also be addressed in this year’s Week of Prayer readings. We’ll end this special week with an article titled, “Living in the End-Time: Christian Lifestyle and Eschatology,” by Ellen White.
In today’s world, there are many humanistic philosophies vying for our attention but ultimately lead us down a very dark path. But God’s Word is proven trustworthy. It lights our way and gives us reliable, divine direction. It provides the very foundation for developing and maintaining a relationship with Jesus Christ, and for learning what it means to live the life He intends for us. It is Christ’s living Word—timeless Truth that transcends all earthly cultures and points us to the culture of heaven.
I hope you’ll join me in exploring the connection between a Christian lifestyle, as revealed in God’s Word, and reaching the world for Christ. As we consecrate ourselves to God and surrender our plans to Him each day, how important it is to take time to pray and to listen to Him speak through His Word. “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path,” said the Psalmist in Psalm 119:105.
Let us humbly pray for the promised latter rain of the Holy Spirit and the power only He can give in helping us to live our lives for Him!
Let’s pray together.
Father in Heaven, we thank you for the Word of God that you’ve given to us to light our pathway– opening before us exactly what you would have us accomplish for you. As we live in these very end times, these troubled times, give us the light from heaven through your Holy Word, through the leading of the Holy Spirit, through our connection with you in prayer, through our understanding of instruction given to us in the Spirit of Prophecy to light our way, so we truly will understand how you wish us to proceed. Bless us now, Lord, as we understand relationships between the Word of God and Christian lifestyle and the times in which we’re living. So we can truly be a witness for you, pointing people to Christ, sacrificial life, His death on the cross, his resurrection, His interceding for us in the most Holy Place of the Heavenly Sanctuary right now, And his soon Second Coming. Thank you for hearing us in Jesus name. Amen.