A friend of mine was travelling last year and visited the SDA church near his hotel. He had never been to this town before. No one knew him.

He walked into the church on Sabbath morning and was there from Sabbath School all the way to main service.

The entire experiece was dry, monotonous, lacking in life and energy with songs sung half asleep and a sermon that had no intelligible point to it.

But that wasn't the worst of it.

Not one person spoke to him the entire morning.

No one said hello. Asked where he was from or invited him to eat.

He felt so crushed by the experiece that he decided to visit the local evangelical church the next Sunday.

As soon as he walked in he was warmly greeted, and not just by a greeters team but by every day church members.

They had never seen him before and wanted to meet him. It wasn't overwhelming or over the top. It was sincere and genuine interest.

They made sure he had a good seat. During the altar call another member came by and sat next to him and asked him if he would like to pray together.

They invited him to stay and eat and gave him a flyer with information about their mid week small groups so he could connect during the week and find a good support network.

After telling me this story, my friend (a committed SDA elder who has planted 3 churches himself) looked at me with despondency in his eyes and asked:

"What is wrong with us?"

We sat there in silence. Neither knowing what to say.

I don't know whats wrong. I honestly think its the wrong question - the kind that takes you down a pointless rabbit trail that ends nowhere.

My prefered question is this: Who’s ready to do something different for the kingdom?

Who’s ready to say 'no more'?

Who’s ready to move without permission, love without restriction, and serve without condition?

If you said "I am" to any of the above questions, then I want to encourage you. The future of our movement depends on a new generation of believers like you who value relationships over religion, people over programs, and togetherness over tradition.

Get moving! I'm in your corner rooting for you. And if you need help along the way, feel free to check out my website for training resources and content to empower you along the way.

Here's to an Adventism. Redesigned.

Pastor M

Pastor Marcos | Missional Church Planter

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