God's Blessings Over the Last Ten Years

Well, good afternoon to everyone. I'd like to extend a warm welcome on behalf of the Home Office congregation, the North congregation here in Cincinnati, ABC students, the Home Office staff, to everyone who is here with us, to our guests, the GCE members and their spouses, and to all of the churches that are hooked up with us. It's wonderful to be able to have such a large group. Just think what Paul and the original apostles would have been able to accomplish if they'd had this technology in the first century. Can you imagine Paul, instead of having to run all over the place, being able to speak all over Asia Minor at one time with everyone? We have that privilege and we have that blessing today. We are here to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the United Church of God starting, which we all realize is a continuation of the Church since, and the work of the Church, since Jesus Christ began in the first century. And we're here also to seize the vision, to focus on the vision of the future. And we do acknowledge, as Mr. McNair said in his prayer, that Jesus Christ and the Father are the ones who get the credit for anything that's been accomplished this past 10 years. In fact, we see the attitude of Jesus Christ displayed because he realized this when he was here on the earth as God in the flesh. Notice in John 5.19 what Christ said. John 5.19, Then Jesus answered and said to them, Most assuredly I say to you, The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do. But whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. So he acknowledged that even though He was God in the flesh, He could do nothing except that were given to Him of the Father. Also in John 14 in verse 10, verse 10 here, John 14, He said, You do not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? Or He said, The words that I speak to you, I do not speak on my own authority. But the Father who dwells in me, He does the work. So we acknowledge that any work that's accomplished that is done is because of God dwelling in us through His Spirit leading and guiding us.

Now, the Apostle Paul understood this principle very clearly, and he explained it in the book of 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 3, beginning in verse 5 through verse 7. Notice, 1 Corinthians 3, 5, he says, Who's Paul? Who's Apollos? Or who are we as ministers, the ministers through whom you believe, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered. We all have different jobs, different responsibilities and duties, but God gives the increase. He's God who causes the growth. So then neither He who plants is anything, nor He who waters, but God who gives the increase.

I think we all realize that as members and ministers in the church, we fully recognize that God gives to each one of us different gifts, different talents, different opportunities, different responsibilities. God expects us to work. He expects us to work hard to sacrifice, but He is the one who produces the increase. What we strive to do is to make sure that our work, our labors, are according to His will, His plan, His purpose, that He's working out, and that God will bless them. And so we constantly pray and ask for God's direction, inspiration, and blessing. When you look at the church today, and since its conception, all credit goes to Jesus Christ because He's the head of the church.

In John 15, verse 5, John chapter 15, verse 5, Christ said, I'm the vine, you're the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit, for without me, you can do nothing. So without Christ, we are not able to do anything. As we look back over the past 10 years, we need to reflect on what God has done for us by His inspiration, by His power, through His spirit.

What lessons have we learned over the last 10 years? Well, we know that we've been tested and tried, have we not, in many different areas. And God has promised never to leave us, and He has fulfilled that promise because He has not left us. He has been with us. He has not abandoned us. He has been with us. He's held on to us. When I look back at the turmoil back in the mid-90s, I realize that God in His mercy has looked down and held on to a number of people and been very thankful.

He still leads us. He still guides us. What I'd like to do today, because I'm giving more of the history of the Church, is to give a summary of the blessings that God has given us that has enabled us to do the work of God over the last 10 years.

We're here to celebrate what God has done, what He has accomplished, and to acknowledge our total dependency upon Him, His guidance, and His direction. One of the greatest blessings that God has given the United Church of God are the members, the membership in the Church. They are the backbone of the Church. United has been blessed since its conception with a large core of members who've been in the Church for a long time, and we've got members who've been around 30, 40-plus years.

They had to stand up and remain faithful. In many cases, they took the lead against the heresies that were developing and forming in their local Church areas. We were all jarred out of our comfort zone a few years ago, as we realize. On Pentecost in 1995, many of us remember that very well because that was sort of the time that we looked at as our beginning. We had 11,726 in attendance in the United States on that particular day, who had withstood the deception, and it was great when we began to get news of how many people were meeting, what the Holy Day offering was, and looking forward to getting organized.

There was a testing, a refining, a purging, a cleansing going on. And it has also exposed the talents in all of us that we didn't know existed. Many have had to take on new responsibilities, new duties, and God has been with us. I think our membership has shown a degree of spiritual maturity in weathering the various challenges and trials that United has experienced. I want you to notice here in Ephesians 4, verse 11. Ephesians 4, verse 11, I think, describes the approach and blessings that we have from the membership.

Verse 11 explains that the ministry is a gift that God gives to His church, and He gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers. For the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, God has placed the full-time ministry in the church to help the membership qualify, be better servants.

And one of the emphasis that we have had is on Godly leadership over the years for building up the body, to edify the body. You find that the membership has been directly and indirectly involved in almost every facet of the work since United started, local, regionally, nationally, in the congregations, in humanitarian projects, in media efforts, almost anything that you can think of. Now notice verse 16 says, from whom the whole body joint and knit together by what every joint supplies according to the effective working, by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body, for the edifying of itself in love.

So what we acknowledge is that every part of the body, every member in the body, does supply something to the body that helps it to grow, that helps the stability of the body, that every part does its share. I believe we realize that our members are our greatest asset.

They're an army of spirit-filled, committed, faithful members. They are true servants, and without their dedication, without their involvement, on all levels of responsibility, there would not be a work being done. We've learned to respect one another, to love one another, and to deeply appreciate each other. When I see each other, I'm talking about the membership and the ministry. Now, I know all of us here, if you had the opportunity, would like to express to the membership worldwide our appreciation to them for their support, for their prayers, for their involvement, for their sacrifices, for everything that they've done. And that's been true over the last 10 years. Another gift that God has given us that we all freely acknowledge is, are the elders in the church. What a wonderful blessing the elderships in God's church are to us, and what an asset they've been. God provided united, and has provided united with hundreds of employed and non-employed, and they say non-employed, doesn't mean they're not working, but they're not employed by united, most of whom have been ordained for the past 10, 20, 30 years or more.

United started with a different approach. We started with the approach that there was no one who was going to exalt himself above everybody else. We also started out the approach that we would provide shepherds, servants to pastor and serve each congregation that we had.

We realized that for continual growth and development and stability, that we needed men who were totally dedicated to service and serving God's people.

1995, when we were first forming, we met in Cloverdale and Indianapolis. We had around 250 in attendance at that time. We initially hired 93 men. All ministers in United since that time have been asked to fulfill many responsibilities. In the past, most of us were church pastors. Now we've found ourselves to be writers, editors, camp directors, feast coordinators, special committees, task force writers, editors, almost anything that you could think of.

The maturity and the sound teaching that the ministry has provided over the years has helped to provide the stability to the congregation. Notice in Ephesians 4 again in verse 11. Ephesians 4 in verse 11.

Why God has set the ministry in the church.

He himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some preachers, or pastors and teachers. So again, we find that the ministry is a gift to the church. Now why? Well, for the equipping of the saints, to help the saints be properly equipped in their jobs and responsibilities and growth, for the edifying of the body of Christ, to build the body up, to strengthen the body, till we all come in the unity of the faith. In order to have the unity, the harmony, to be able to work together to have the same goals, purposes, desires, the work, that it is important that we have those who are on the same page who are there to work together. Till we all come to a perfect man. So one of the jobs of the ministry is to help lead and guide and work together with the membership to help all of us to mature and become complete. And then we would no longer be children so that we can teach. And we would no longer be tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine. But as verse 15 says, but speak the truth and love, may grow up in all things unto him who is the head, who is Christ. So we grow up, we mature.

I'd personally like to thank all of you men and women. And I know that all of us would like to extend that same note of appreciation for your tireless service to God, to His Church, and for what you have done in the community and going to the world.

I believe our ministers are the glue that helped to hold the Church together. Just one interesting fact. As of May 9th of this year, we have a total of 445 elders worldwide.

Atalat number 347 are serving in the United States and 88 are serving internationally.

So God has certainly equipped us and blessed us with a number of men who have been there to help support and to help build the Church. Another thing that we realize is very important are the young people and young adults within the congregation. What we might call the youth work.

We recognize that the youth are our future. They're future members, future leaders.

We've been blessed with many young adults, many teens, and younger people. In fact, we realize that there are a number of congregations where you go that maybe the makeup is more of those who are a little older. But we have a number of congregations, though, where there's a good balance and you find that a lot of young adults. God has placed a strong emphasis on passing along the baton of the truth of the Bible to our children, to our teens, to the young adults, to the next generation, that they might be able to carry that same torch forward and to carry on the work of God that God has given us to do. Now, from the beginning, United has been blessed with opportunities and human resources to be able to fulfill this priority. First order of business after the chairman was selected in the interim council was actually the establishment of youth camps. I remember very vividly when that came up. And we discussed the fact that this had been taken away. It was something that we needed to be able to do, that we needed to be able to have.

And it was one of the first orders of business that was carried out. And God has blessed our youth activities and our youth work. I believe one of the biggest successes that we've had in the United is the United Youth Camp program that has given thousands of teenagers and young adults the chance to grow spiritually and otherwise to work together and to concentrate in a very enjoyable environment. It's been a tremendous blessing. Malachi chapter 2 and verse 15 explains what God's desire is for having godly families, godly marriages.

Malachi 2.15, we read, but did he not make them one? God makes a man and a woman one. We become one flesh. Having a remnant of the spirit. And why one? Why has he done that? Well, it says, because he seeks godly offspring. This is what we want in our children, that they would be godly offspring. Therefore, take heed to your spirit and let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth. And this is one of the reasons why we have had an emphasis on family and on marriage in all aspects. We're all very familiar with Malachi 4 and verse 6, where it talks about at the end time, Malachi 4.6, that he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse. Special thanks, I think, needs to be given to all those who have served faithfully and diligently in our youth programs, who've helped in those areas. We also have the Youth Corps, that allows young adults the privilege of serving in remote areas of the world. We now have the vertical magazine that goes out, and we have many online services to help. Now, since we've kept detailed records in 1998, we had records, but they weren't as detailed prior to that.

1998 through the year 2004, as far as our youth camps are concerned, we've had approximately 5,895 campers. Now, many of those are repeats, we realize, but that's how many have attended. Approximately 2,652 staff members have helped staff, so we almost have a ratio of two to one, and approximately 643 ministers and their wives have served in the health. And so, I believe we find today that our young people are wanting to be more a part of the church, that we see more remaining faithful, more wanting to come and be a part of what we're doing. We have so many of the young people who, when they go through camps, they want to become a part of the young adults serving and helping, and the question always comes back, what can I do? How can I serve? And so, that has certainly been a blessing that God has given to us, and we look back over the last 10 years, I think, has been a foundation that has been laid that is going to provide much growth here in the future. I believe another success story has been the doctrinal clarity that we've had in United.

This is one of the main reasons why United began in 1995. In the late 80s and in the early 90s, our traditional beliefs, values, way of life were systematically being dismantled and torn down. The Insidious thing, we were being told that nothing has changed, and yet everything was being changed. God has blessed United as an organization and as a home where we can practice our traditional beliefs in peace. God has preserved the truth and we continue to live it.

All of you here are a testimony to that. The fact that God continues to give us a 2-3-4% growth every year is a testimony to that. There are others who are willing to do the same thing.

Through an established process involving the General Conference of Elders, the Council of Elders, the Council of Elders, numerous individuals who are involved, we've been able to research, articulate, expound on those doctrines in a manner that is clear and thorough. I believe we have some of the best literature we've ever had in the history of God's Church that teach and thoroughly expound God's way of life and calling. It's not something that we should take for granted. Even though we have thousands who are still going God's way, thousands of our brethren are not.

And so we are very thankful for that. In 1 Timothy chapter 4, 1 Timothy the 4th chapter in verse 1, let's notice what Paul wrote to Timothy. He says, verse 3, he says, Verse 6, he says, The good doctrine, the sound teachings that should be taught that you have carefully followed.

In 2 Timothy 2, verse 14, Paul had to remind Timothy that not everybody would follow what is right, what is good, what is sound. 2 Timothy 2, 14, And their message will spread like cancer, hymenus and phleidus, or of this sort.

And as it was true in the first century, so it is true in the 20th and 21st century, that there are many who spread false teachings and doctrines. In this case, these individuals, as verse 18 says, said that the resurrection was passed. 1 Corinthians 15, Paul said there were those who said that there is no resurrection. So there are all kinds of ideas that were floating around. And notice, and they overthrow the faith of some. Verse 24 says, As the servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle in all, able to teach, impatient in humility, correcting those who are in opposition. And I believe that God has provided many, many teachers and those who are able to teach and expound God's way of life. God has given us capable researchers, writers, editors that can make these vital truths understandable in a 21st century context and audience. You look at the Bible study course, the website, fundamental belief, tapes, audio tapes. You look at the study papers, literature. Our brethren and you individuals have a wealth of information at their fingertips that they can use to study on the Word of God. So that certainly has been one of the blessings, I think one of the highlights, that God has given us in the last 10 years. Something else that I think all of us really appreciate is the financial stability that God has granted us. That has not always come easy, as we know, but God has blessed us in that way. Thanks to God's blessing to dedicated members, co-workers, and donors, they have helped to provide the financial resources through their tithes and their offerings.

We all remember the potential disaster we faced back in 1997. We appreciate all of the sacrifices that have been made both by members and ministers to blunt that financial disaster.

I was doing a little digging the other day and found out that our first proposed budget in United, from April the 1st, 1996 to March 31st, 1997, was for 15,200,000. That was what we anticipated in contributions and support.

At the end of that year, it was estimated that we would have 5,500,000 reserves.

At the end of that year, we almost went bankrupt, as we will remember. Since that time, we've been able to accumulate proper reserves and live within our budget. There's been increase in income over the years that has allowed the Church to slowly improve, expand in every area.

Responsible and conservative use of finances by all employees during this last several years has allowed for a consistent cash flow. And what you find, that 5,500,000 reserve we were supposed to have then, we have now. And God has blessed us, but it hasn't always been easy getting there, as we know. So a significant asset in this regard, in being able to do this, was the purchase of the Home Office building. We were able to design and build a building for our needs, which allows a more effective and efficient operation, both postal, storage, office.

In addition, we have a valuable asset that's only going to increase in value as we march into the future. So, you know, there are any number of people that, you know, credit goes to for helping us in this area. And this is not something that any of us should take for granted. That God has certainly blessed us. And I believe that we are primed and we're getting ready to be able to launch the work in a way that we've not done before. And God is ready to bless us in those areas. And there is a sound, stable, financial foundation to build upon.

God has given us the ability to continue to preach the gospel to the world, to proclaim the gospel.

We realize that this is the commission that God has given to the church. The Bible is very clear, I think, on this topic, that the good news of the kingdom of God will be preached in all of the world before the return of Jesus Christ. And we realize that the church has been directed to proclaim that message. United was founded upon the principle of greater involvement.

We all remember talking about consensus and working together and teamwork. We've had to do this because of our manpower and financial resources being depleted. Everyone has had to jump in and help. As mentioned before, the ministry has had to wear many more hats than they've had in the past. Many have developed talents and used talents that have been underutilized in the past. We've developed teamwork. Sometimes we might think we developed too much teamwork because of all the input and the time that it takes to get things done. It seems like everything's in a committee somewhere. And how long does it take to get it done? But it does get done. And there is a vast amount of input that it is given. United has been given and has utilized nearly every available method to preach the gospel. We have not put our aids in just one basket.

These would include things like the good news, world news and prophecy, dozens of booklets, good news radio. We have two cable television programs tomorrow and the good news. We have the internet, we have advertising, we have public Bible seminars. We have many ways of proclaiming the gospel. We have printed over 3,543,000 booklets. And we have 31 titles here recently. We have two reprint articles that we have done, plus 19 other titles that are available online. We have printed over 15,690,832 good news magazines over the years. And those have been distributed to people. Recently, a media center was approved and we greatly believe that we have the capacity to increase our ability in the video area, including TV programming, streaming video for the internet. We were blessed within four months to receive 150,000 from members that were contributed to help build this. And we realize that through such efforts, including those of the international offices, that it is possible to come in contact with the church from almost every area of the world. The world is becoming flat now, as several books that have been written about how the world is becoming flat, meaning that people now have access to information.

And as a result, almost every country on the world doesn't matter if it's still a communist country, a closed society. If people have a computer, they can reach out and they can hear the truth. We have had responses from over 180 countries around the world that people have requested in literature. And so we realize that the message is out there. God gets the credit for the growth and development. And we all appreciate the blessings of being involved and actively in preaching the gospel and the fact that we all are helping to do that. Another thing that we have been given a unique opportunity today in a way that was not available before is in charitable opportunities. God has given us a number of ways of accomplishing this. He's given us the opportunity to help church members and all humanity. We understand that United has to use most of its resources to carry the commission of preaching the gospel and taking care of God's people. But God has graciously blessed us so that we can dedicate time and manpower and finances to help those who maybe are less fortunate than those of us in some of the western world. We have the Church's Good Works program. You find that we also have been able to use other charities like LifeNets to help serve hundreds of other people in numerous countries to be able to establish better lives. The value of the goods and services mount up into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Mr. Curt Patrick was mentioning that here in the first year, we have collected from the members who've gone out and worked over $80,000 and will probably approach a hundred by the end of the the year who have contributed to the Good Works program. LifeNets has been able to provide over $2 million in charity contributions and the majority of that going to our members and being able to help them. And so God truly has blessed us in being able not only to just preach the gospel, but when there are needs to be able in different ways to reach out to those people. It reminds me of 2 Corinthians chapter 8, verse 1, where the Apostle Paul was reminding the brethren in Macedonia of the afflictions and the needs in other areas, specifically in Judea. And he says, Moreover brethren, we have made known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia.

That in great affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty, they abounded in the riches of their liberality. For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing. And as verse 5 says, not only as we had hope, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and then to us by the will of God. And so you find back here there were those who were willing to give, that there would be an equity, there would be a sharing and being able to help. So that truly is a blessing that God has given us. And I would anticipate that as we march into the future that United will be able to continue to do that and do even greater works in those areas. Mr. Herbert Armstrong, when he was alive, used to say that salvation is education, that those who are striving for salvation have to, first of all, be educated in what is right and the right knowledge. In both the Old and the New Testament, there are clear examples and instruction of training future leaders within the church.

Some of the prophets established schools to meet this goal. The apostle Paul instructed Peter to train others, if you'll remember, so that they would teach the brethren. In 2 Timothy 2, verses 1 and 2, we find 2 Timothy 2, 1 and 2, you therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus and the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses. Commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. To this end, I think God has given us many tools in many ways, but one has been the establishment of the Ambassador Bible Center, a seven-month intensive formal study of the Bible. We've had, with counting this year's class, close to 200 students who've had the opportunity of going through this and to be taught and instructed and pass on to the next generation the truth of God. Along with ABC, there has been a strong emphasis in the church on education, as we know. The Bible admonishes all of us to grow in grace and in knowledge and understanding. United has been blessed with capable people in a variety of important educational areas.

The church has organized its educational efforts into four main categories—general education, youth education, ministerial education, and focus education. And we have dozens of individuals who are working behind the scenes in producing information to supply every year the membership and the various ones who ask for it. Beginning a year ago, we conducted an annual educational conference to ensure that our efforts are being coordinated and that there's no unnecessary duplication of efforts. That's something that I'm sure will continue. In addition to specific literature and articles in the Good News and United News, many of the classes at Ambassador Bible Center are now available online. They've been put on DVDs, CDs, and made available to local congregations. Instructors from ABC conduct three or four regional mini-samplers every year going out to local congregation. And ministerial services has started a very vigorous program of mentoring and developing leadership at the local level, regional levels, and then helping to provide more on the national level for ministers who can step into the gap here in the future. Now, I've only touched a small part of a number of the blessings that God has given to us, but I tried in some broad strokes to give you an overview of what God has been doing the last 10 years. More could be said about the last 10 years. We all again acknowledge that the credit and the glory for what has been accomplished goes to God, that He is the one through His Spirit who has inspired a work to continue to be done. The last 10 years demonstrates what God can do in spite of our human frailties and deficiencies that God is able to accomplish a work. So what do we now have as a church? Well, we have a solid church and a solid ministry. What value could be placed upon that? We have a solid core of literature. We have media opportunities with the ability to break out of the box and with the ability here in the foreseeable future to be able to begin to go out in directions that I think are going to bring a great deal of blessings and opportunities to the church. We have financial stability and soundness. So brethren, I know that we all look forward with great anticipation to the future.