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2nd Quadrennial Session of Bahamas Conference of Seventh-day
Adventist Opening Night
[January 4, 2007]
Celestine
Creighton Reporting.
Under the theme “Words of Hope”
the Bahamas
 Conference
of Seventh-day Adventists began its Opening night of the 2nd
Quadrennial Session. The first night of the session heard
from Pastor Leon B. Wellington, Vice President of the
Inter-American Division of Seventh-day Adventist. Pastor
Wellington drawing on the theme of hope reminded the
delegates, visitors and members in attendance that “I’ve Got
Hope.”
People, he told his listening
audience, who find themselves in difficult circumstances
often rely on others to help them out of their plight. But
hope, he said, is vital in fact critical for your everyday
survival in life. Hope is as essential to the human life as
food or water to the physical body and even hell will be so
unbearable without hope. Elder Wellington told the packed
Hill view Church that the most costly tool in the devil’s
flea market was discouragement, for what he cannot do with
any other tool he can certainly do with this tool.
Quoting Romans 15:4 Pastor
Wellington said people are hopeless about many things; a
terminal illness, a dysfunctional marriage, a romance that
has gone sour. Some become hopeless because they do not feel
that they are loved by anyone. People are even hopeless
about the level of crime and violence stalking the land.
He went on to ask the question.
How can I develop my confident expectation and hope? The
reply was by feeding on the word of God Psalm 119.105 114.
The word of God is the basis of our hope, he opined. God’s
hope is an attitude of confidence and trust. By waiting upon
God we develop hope. Again he asked. What is patience? His
reply was the capacity to endure trials or injustice with
perfect self control. According to Isaiah 40:31 Elder
Wellington said by waiting upon God we come to know God
which is the foundation of our character. Patience is
forbearance under stress, and pressure. Patience is a virtue
that is not natural to us; it is something we develop each
day the nearer we get to Christ.
To hope is to cherish the
fulfillment of our expectation. Jesus Christ is our only
and best source of hope. The world is so unreliable but in
Christ Jesus there is safety and surety. He begged the
waiting crowd to set apart Christ as Lord in your heart and
always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks
you the reason for the hope that you have. Real hope is not
a dead hope but a hope that causes us to want to take action
by sharing our hope. A Christian who will not share his hope
will cause others to believe it is not real. True hope has
one source Romans 15:13. Nobody can affect the joy that is
inside of you when you really have the joy that comes from
Jesus Christ.
People, he said, repose their hope
in many things; family, wealth, prosperity, career houses,
but hope placed anywhere except in Christ is futile and you
are certain to be disappointed.
Are you enjoying and experiencing
that steadfast hope in Jesus, he asked? To the believer the
word hope is packed with powerful expectancy. Expectation of
something based on what Christ has done and is still doing
for us. God not only offers us hope but is the source of
hope. Joy and peace are the trademarks of a hope filled
life, Heb 10:35, 36. Elder Wellington called on all present
not to throw away the confident hope that we have in Jesus
Christ as it will bring us a rich reward.
As he closed his remarks on that
grand opening night, Elder Wellington called on all present
to Arise, awake and go to serve because Jesus is the power
to soften the hearts that the spirit calls and woos to him.
The 2nd Quadrennnial
Session was well attended by representatives from all of the
sister conferences in the Union as well as Missions and
Institutions in the Union. Also in attendance at
the opening ceremonies and bringing greetings on behalf of
the Opposition Party in the Bahamas was the Rt. Hon. Hubert
Ingraham leader of the official Opposition. Other
Ministerial Members in attendance included Mr. Alvin Smith,
Mr. Joshua Sears, former Ambassador to Washington, and Dr.
Minnis.
Melanie Griffin, Member of
Parliament for Yamacraw and Minister of Social Developnment,
representing the prime minister also brought greetings on
behalf of the government of the Bahamas...
Dr. Allen, President of West
Indies Union of Seventh-day Adventists in bringing greetings
to the August body reminded the gathering that the unity and
the fellowship of the church is very important to us. He
said that this was evident from the representatives from all
over our fields coming to fellowship with you today. We are
all gathered to fellowship, worship and transact the
business of the church. This is a time when the leaders
report officially to the constituency, elect officers for
the New Year and continue the work of the church.
Session is not a pause or a full
stop in the church in terms of its mission, or goals.
Nothing has changed in terms of where we are going. We are
pursuing the strategic path of Pentecost 2007 and more. We
are not here to make excursions into the world and then
retreat behind our ivory palaces from time to time. We are
not here for that but rather to impact the world. We
continue the race. The relay continues. We are simply
looking to see how we will run the race for the next four
years, and until Christ
comes.
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