Midtown Herald

Church Newsletter of the Midtown Seventh-day Adventist Church

PASTOR'S COMMENTS

Parable of the Swallows

Far, far away, where in wintertime the trees bloom and the fruits ripen, where there is so much that is beautiful in far away Africa, the swallows had a great gathering and council.

It was a beautiful gathering. All the swallows had previously washed in the dew. They had brushed up their coats like velvet. Their black eyes shone; their rosy little vests; their white breasts and skirts were in perfect condition.

They flew together to this gathering from far and wide, by the hundreds, yes, by the thousands. As soon as they were all there, the meeting opened. They began with song and prayer. After that, when all were quiet, they were told that since it was time to leave Africa and return to their summer homes, they would now have a consultation as to what day and hour the voyage should start. They were also told that exact laws and directions would be given to them about how they should behave on the way.

Then, with one accord, the swallows selected elders and managers from among themselves, and when that was done; they became quiet so that they could listen to them.

"Tomorrow on what people call the first of the month," their instructors said, "all of you must come to the yearly place of gathering. All who are late must stay in Africa.

"First we shall fly over beautiful landscapes till we come to the great water that is called the sea. All must stay in exactly the place assigned to them, because those that will not keep together will not be safe from birds of prey. Those robbers are afraid of thousands of swallows, but one or two flying alone are easily scooped up.

"While we are still flying over the beautiful countries, you must obediently follow every command. We must rest often and long. If there are ever so many flies all around you, you must not overeat, so that you do not get too heavy, for that will hinder your flight.

"When we arrive at the seashore, we shall have another convention. There we will commend ourselves into the hands of God because, here will begin the dangerous part of our journey.

"For a long time you will see around you only water, nothing but water, and you must not stop flying, because there will be no place to sit down.

"It is all thus arranged by our Maker; therefore only those swallows that will obey the laws given us by God and pray much, will succeed in flying over the sea. Let us pray now also." And they prayed and sang, and the gathering ended.

On the following day everything was black on the shores of a great and beautiful river because of all the swallows. First came hundreds, then thousands, then five thousand, then ten thousand, then a hundred thousand; and then there were so many that no man could count them.

Among these crowds flew gray swallows, keeping order; they were named the leaders. There were also white swallows, so white and clean that it seemed as if no earthly dust came upon them. They flew among the divided groups and admonished them to pray and obey the Holy Creator, the living God.

Because among the swallows there are boys and girls also, the boys played with each other, measuring their wings to see who had the longest and would be able to fly the farthest. They calculated that to fly over the seas was nothing (they had no idea of the extent of the sea). They got acquainted with each other and even fought together, presumably so that they would know how to fight the robbers.

"Don't do that," admonished the old gray leader. "It is not for us to fight. To make it home safely you have to ask God's help, believe, and fly. If you should fight with every bird of prey, you would never reach the goal."

The girls whispered among themselves about the kind of dress each had, which one had the smoothest combed head, the whitest breast, and the longest train of skirts.

A white swallow flew among them and said gravely, "You had better think of God and of the long trip ahead of you. Beauty will not keep you from perishing, and if any of you fall into the sea, she will perish with all her beauty."

The old swallows passing around looked over their particular groups of boys and girls, and groomed them, so that all would be prepared to go.

They had a prayer, a song, and then "Goodbye, Africa!" sounded from thousands and thousands of throats.

The sun was darkened by the black cloud that rose from the shore. The people stopped working and, looking at the cloud, said, "The swallows are returning home."

How pleasant the trip was over the beautiful countryside on the way to the sea. It was interesting also because of the many new acquaintances which the swallows made among themselves. At the command of the leaders, they often stopped and rested long; therefore almost none of the swallows felt at all tired.

Finally they came within view of the sea. Again the command came to rest! Many would rather have gone ahead at once, but the leaders would not allow them to do so. They needed the rest for their wings, and the strengthening they received in united prayer.

On that long, last rest, the leaders looked over the whole assembly. All those that had ever so small a scratch or possibly had some feathers damaged, or were in any way sickly, were to confess it. The assembly would wait for them until they became quite well. Some swallows acknowledged a problem, but others did not ascribe great importance to a little scratch, thinking it could heal on the way. Others (the disobedient ones) did not refrain from gulping up the many flies that were buzzing around, while the white swallows admonished that only those who knew how to deny themselves and control their desires would be able to fly over the ocean. This they let go in by one ear and out by the other. Those grew so fat in the few days that the assembly rested by the sea, that they slumbered wherever they sat down, and when they did not slumber, they chased after the flies again. They slumbered during the great prayer meeting, and when they sang with the others, their thoughts were on the flies, not on the beautiful words of praise to God.

"Now then, in the Name of our Creator, let us go!" sounded through the whole assembly. "Good-bye, Africa! Good-bye, Africa!" sounded from thousands of throats. "Over the sea, over the sea, we are going home!" And the echo sounded, "Home!"

Now the boys who, while at the river, said, "Never mind the sea" began to be convinced of how great the sea was! For a long time they flew and nothing was to be seen but water. Their wings were weary, their heads were drooping with faintness, and their eyes looked longingly for a place of rest; but the leaders just commanded, "Fly on, fly on!"

Those who, on the shore, did not take care of their bruises and damaged wings fell one after the other into that green water. If one of the healthy ones fell, the water carried her for a while, and then, with renewed strength, she arose again. But the disobedient ones could not rise again, so they drowned and perished.

Those that had fattened themselves on the flies began to lag behind one after the other, first just a little, then more and more as their strength was leaving them. "Wait for us! Wait for us!" they cried, and begged, but in vain!

The command of the leaders was, "Fly on, fly on!" It was the command of God. For God Himself had given each obedient swallow the sufficient strength in his wings that he needed to fly over the sea, but with each moment that strength diminished, and therefore none must delay nor drag behind.

The poor disobedient swallows! Yonder on the shore they did not know how to restrain their fleshly desires, and now they were too heavy for the long flight. The result of their greediness was that their weight drew them down into the sea.

Suddenly there came a storm, wind, and rain. Hundreds and hundreds of swallows fell into the sea. But those that were obedient and knew how to pray were renewed with courage and finally rose again. But of the disobedient ones, not a single one rose up again. For because of their disobedience they died in those terrible depths. They will not see their home nests again. Never will they come home!

When the swallows' plight was at its worst, they saw a ship in the distance. They lighted upon it wherever they could find a place. Oh, that was joy! When one party of swallows had rested on the ship, others sat down, and then the third party; thus they were all relieved.

Still another storm and wind thinned out the lines of the migrating multitudes, and it seemed as though, the swallows said, "It is impossible; we shall all perish!" "We shall not perish!" cried the white leaders. "Just believe, obey, and God will strengthen us!"

"Land, land!" cried the first thousands. The whole company rejoiced. The faithful swallows praised God and gathered their remaining strength. But a number, in the last moment, lost confidence in God's sustaining grace and thus the strength left them and they fell and perished at the very shores of Europe. The rest all reached land safely and landed for a long and joyful rest.

After everyone was refreshed, the swallows again held an assembly. This they started with prayer and a jubilant singing of praise to the kind Creator who had helped them so marvelously.

Then important work and council awaited them. Thus far they had been flying jointly, but now the dividing up started. Each one had to announce his birthplace. Some were English, some French, Russian, German, Italian, Austrian, Hungarian, and among them also Bohemian and Slovak. Thus they were sorted, first according to countries, then by districts, finally by names of cities and villages.

The whole assembly thanked the brave leaders for their faithfulness. The leaders admonished everyone that as soon as they arrived home they should announce the return of the summer. Then, with a final farewell, they parted, each to his particular part of the continent. But even while flying they were calling to each other: "Where are you headed for?" "To Leningrad." "And you, where are you going?" "To Paris!" "We're going to Prague!" "God be with you!"

When they began to separate and fly in opposite directions, those that were flying the same way to the same districts drew closer together. Then the swallows from Bohemia began conversing with those from Slovakia.

"Where are you going?" "We are going to Vienna!" "And where do you live there?" "We build our nests on the memorial church, which was built in commemoration of an incident, when a bad man wanted to kill the emperor, but God did not permit it. It is true the people did not like to see us build there, but we asked the Lord God if we might and He agreed, thus we live there (Psalm 84:3). Those swallows yonder live on the very top of Stephen's dome." "And you, where are you from?" "Budapest; it is good to live there, because it is full of mosquitoes."

"Well, here are the boundaries; here we must take leave one from another. Remember us and God be with you!" "God be with you also!"

Thus the swallows came from far-off Africa, across the distant sea, each to his own country, particular town and village, yes, even each one to his own particular nest. They came also to our village and to our houses. They came with great jubilation. Thus the swallows returned home.

Can this profound parable teach us some principles we ought to be following in preparation for the perilous days ahead of us? Should we ask ourselves where we might find ourselves fitting into this parable?

Pastor Fry

PROPHETIC COUNSEL

"We are saved because God loves the purchase of the blood of Christ; and not only will He pardon the repentant sinner, not only will He permit him to enter heaven, but He, the Father of mercies, will wait at the very gates of heaven to welcome us, to give us an abundant entrance to the mansions of the blest. Oh, what love, what wondrous love the Father has shown in the gift of His beloved Son for this fallen race." (7BC 950)

CHURCH NEWS

Voted Rosie Sheroian as Community Services Leader.
Voted Helen Koon as Community Services Thrift Shop Treasurer.

Business Meeting

Voted to send a group of men to inspect 1812 Washington St. property as a potential prospect for a church.
Discussed and voted to underwrite an amount of funds to help start-up the Community Services Thrift Shop.

Baptism

Rejoice with us! Two precious souls were buried with their Lord in baptism Sabbath (26th). Tyler Johnson was baptized and his uncle, Joe Fry was re-baptized. We are happy to have two new additions to our growing church family.

WBAJ HAS BEEN OFFERED a wonderful opportunity during the month of October! One of our listeners, who is not a member of our church, has offered to match all funds donated during a fundraiser on the radio. This means that every dollar you give becomes TWO dollars. Please talk this over with the Lord to see what He would like to have you give. WBAJ has helped direct many souls to Jesus and we do not want to let this effort stop or slow down for lack of funds. Listen to WBAJ radio for further details.

Karen Covington

COMMUNITY SERVICES

"God calls for Christian families to go into communities that are in darkness and error, and work wisely and persevering!)' for the Master. To answer this call requires self- sacrifice. While many are waiting to have every obstacle removed, souls are dying without hope and without God in. the world..." Testimonies, vol. 9, p. 33.

The Midtown Church family has been called by God to ministry through our Adventist Community Thrift Shop (ACTS). Our aim is to help others find Jesus through the literature we provide in the reading area of the shop, to provide friendly, Christ centered service and to provide reasonable prices for those who come to shop.

ACTS will have its grand opening on November 2, 2009, just four short weeks from now. We thank everyone who has helped at the work bees and who have donated items for sale at the shop. We have witnessed God's rich blessings as He has worked through each person who has taken part over the past few months, but we still have many needs. Clothing needs to be sorted and hung, furniture cleaned and dusted, the shop needs to be vacuumed, one bathroom still needs to be painted, or if you want to provide food for those who work, there is something for everyone to do. We will be working every Sunday and during the week as time permits. We also need ladies clothing if you have not taken the opportunity to clean out your closets yet. Please contact Rose Sheroian, Doris Sheriff or Helen Koon  if you are willing to help. What a blessing it is to commune and work together for the Lord!

Please remember that we will be having a drop-in on Sunday. November I, for the area Adventist Churches and others who may not be members of the Adventist Church but who have given unselfishly of their time, talents or finances to move this work forward. We will be planning more in the next few weeks and will be asking for volunteers to bring light finger foods and drinks on that day. We are a small church and we know that many have given sacrificially to this project. God will bless our efforts and will multiply all that we do. He already has! 

Helen Koon

CHURCH BOARD ACTIVITY

Voted to continue looking at the 1812 Washington St property as a potential church site. 

Voted to purchase a wireless microphone to be used for church and Sabbath School.

MIDTOWN BIBLE SCHOOL

Our Correspondence Bible School is steadily receiving completed lessons each month and are being graded and returned with a new lesson. Some students are very enthusiastic and call us if the lessons are delayed. They are very anxious to get them.

We are happy to announce that we now have an Internet Bible School. We solicit your prayers for this great opportunity to reach out through the internet to some otherwise unreachable. Please help us to distribute enrollment cards so those interested can go online to study their lessons. Check it out for yourself at Bibleschools.com/1311. Please keep all our students faithfully in your prayers. 

Doris Sheriff

BUILDING FUND

The Lord has done it! We have reached our matching grant.  Praise me Lord for His goodness. We greatly thank our anonymous donor for the $10,000.00 matching grant.  Our Building Fund continues to grow. It now stands at nearly $110,000. Let's continue to work towards our goal of $250,000.00 for a down payment.

Old gold, necklaces, rings, earrings, diamonds, old coin collections, anything of value that we can turn into building blocks for a representative church building would be appreciated. 

Charlie Davis, Chairman

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS

Members who will be celebrating their birthdays soon: 

Elizabeth Baynard, October 26

MIDWEEK AT MIDTOWN

The time of our Prayer Meeting is 7:00 PM. If you haven't yet stopped in, it's never too late. We welcome all members and visitors to join our group and participate in the Bible Study. We do have a lively discussion as we study Face To Face With Jesus. Our goal is to learn more about our dear Savior.

We also pray for our church, and other requests, as well as the needs recorded on our Prayer Request cards from our Worship Service. Stop by any Wednesday evening at 7:00 PM here at the Capital Senior Center.

We are told in Steps To Christ, p. 98, that, "Those who are really seeking communion with God will be seen in the prayer meeting." 

Bob Sitko

FELLOWSHIP LUNCHES

On the second Sabbath of each month, we have a Full Lunch, and on the fourth Sabbath of each month, we have a Light Lunch consisting of salads, soups, sandwiches and desserts. Please come and enjoy the fellowship of eating together and getting to know others better.

BITS OF WISDOM

Often your mind may be clouded because of pain. Then do not try to think. You know that Jesus loves you. He understands your weakness. You may do His will by simply resting in His arms. (MH 251).

Let God teach you His way. Inquire of Him daily to know His will. He will give unerring counsel to all who seek Him with a sincere heart. (5T 276).

Anything un-attempted remains impossible. Success is a ladder you cannot climb with your hands in your pockets! 

Mary Ann Fry

HEALTH BITES

Many night shift workers shrug off the inconvenience of their work hours by stating they do it for the extra income it brings. But could these "graveyard hours" be leading to grave health consequences? Numerous studies have linked graveyard shift workers with higher cancer rates and other problems. Studies now are linking night time work to an elevated risk of ischemic heart disease. Could it be that the increased risk might be due, at least in part, to late night eating? Night shift work causes a considerable shift in meal intake times, which has been shown to interfere with natural circadian rhythms and can cause abnormal metabolic behavior. In one study, researchers found that night workers who redistributed their eating mostly to the night shift had higher levels of serum cholesterol and LDL, and a higher LDL/HDL ratio than daytime eaters. This study suggests that nighttime food intake may be associated with the elevated risk of ischemic heart disease. Is night time the right time? Yes... For sleep! (Scandinavian Journal of Work Environment Health).

(Comment: The effect of food on serum cholesterol in night workers may also be due to a shift in the type of food they tend to eat - food that is high in fat and cholesterol.)

VESPERS

Friday Night Video Vespers

Each Friday, at 7 PM, you can watch an inspirational sermon from one of our church's great speakers, such as Dwight Nelson, Steve Wohlberg, Dr. Walter Veith, or others. The program lasts about an hour, and is a great way to start the Sabbath. Check our website, MidtownChurch.net. These video programs are held at Doug Leonhardt's home in the downtown Columbia area.

Bob Sitko

Church Location

Midtown Church meets at the Capital Senior Center on Park Circle, behind Maxcy Gregg Park, Sabbath (Saturday) Morning at 10 AM for Sabbath School and 11:15 AM for the Worship Hour. Please come and join us for fellowship and worship.

All photos by     ©2001-2012, Columbia Midtown SDA Church, 701 Gervais St. #150-301, Columbia SC 29201