August 23, 2025 • 51 mins
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Elder Keyes (00:00):
Amen.
Distinct privilege of introducing our guest speaker today.
And the next time he speaks, he may not be the guest speaker.
He might be the pastor.
So I am really thankful that Dale and his wife are here today.
And um the bio I have, I'm just gonna hit some brief points
(00:21):
Uh he's been a pastor and has served uh in that position as a senior pastor for 22 years.
He's been a teacher, a chaplain, a missionary, and part of the director.
uh a directorship of several places as well, including recently where he was in Hanoi at the center of influence there with the Seventh-day Adventist International Church as well as pastor there.
(00:45):
Before that he pastored, it looks like almost ten years in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
And I know that place pretty well.
Both my kids went to school and
um at Southern, real close to Chattanooga.
I I had the privilege of meeting with Dale and his wife Cheryl at a little Mexican restaurant in St.
Louis
Uh back in July during the General Conference and we had a good meal together there, had a good time together, got a chance to get to know them a little better.
(01:12):
And I've been impressed with his desire to serve God first and foremost.
One of the questions I asked him while I was there was, how was the experience in Vietnam thinking Vietnam's like
a third world country, you know, how did you do over there?
And he goes, and basically he told me, no, they have everything we have here.
And I was kind of surprised.
uh and mentioned how difficult it was to reach people in that community.
(01:37):
And generally when it's tough to win people to Christ
People move pretty quickly, but he hung in there trying to bring people to Jesus for over six years in the in that community.
So thankful today for
Uh Dale Tunnel, his wife Cheryl, and I could see some in-laws that I know pretty well.
Uh Jason.
Uh we um
(01:58):
had him on our baseball team at at uh Thunderbird Academy and of course uh I see Sarah played basketball with my daughter.
Is there a connection here?
I'm trying to get figure Okay, I knew that
I'm just being a wise guy.
But his his daughter is here as well.
And we're so thankful that they're in this community.
And who knows, maybe they have friends they could bring to this church when Dale is pastor.
(02:21):
Wouldn't that be exciting?
So, Dale, today I'd like to welcome you to the Mesa Palms Church.
It's a privilege as a president of the Arizona Conference to have you speak to us today.
God bless us with your message today.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
It is a joy for my wife and I to be here with you and with family.
Um see mentioned we've been living in the country of Vietnam for the last six years.
Um what you see there in the picture is uh
My morning routine was to go out exercising.
(03:01):
And in the background there, you see some of the high-rise apartments.
And that's the way a lot of people live there in Hanoi.
And that's the way we lived for six years.
We uh lived in the high rise, uh had to move three times, so if you ask me which floor, I don't remember exactly all of them.
Uh but uh living in a high-rise apartment was something new for us.
(03:24):
Uh we had never done that kind of thing before.
But our morning routine, as I said, was to go out and exercise.
Uh when we first got there, moved into the apartment in the high rise.
Uh the apartment building was relatively new.
It was maybe only half full at the time.
We would go out exercise in the morning.
There was very few people out exercising.
(03:46):
And we were out there with them.
And every morning we would see people.
And we would always say good morning to them, even though they did not understand English.
I didn't speak very good Vietnamese.
And uh we would wave at people, we would smile, and our goal was to try and get people to smile and wave back to us
(04:09):
And uh we saw people that were older than us, people that were younger than us, and oftentimes there would be someone that was
usually younger, that would come and want to talk with us.
And uh one day my wife, uh I was out running and she was walking and uh gentleman came and began to talk with her and walk with her.
(04:32):
And they talked for a significant amount of time.
And he got to know her fairly well and then she introduced him to me and he and I began to run together.
Several times a week.
And uh then he decided that he wanted me.
I don't know if it was so much him, but his wife decided that she wanted
(04:53):
Me to teach her son because her husband, he was he spoke very good English, but he had learned his English in India.
And she did not like the fact that her son was learning English with an Indian accent.
And said, Can you have the American teach our son English?
(05:16):
And so I got the privilege of teaching his son.
And his son brought along a friend or two, and we uh um had fun teaching, but it was fun getting to know this family.
There was another one day we were down in the pool and uh there at our our uh it's harder to say hotel, there at our apartment building.
(05:38):
And uh we were just relaxed in the pool and a young girl came up to us and she was quite young for
Three maybe.
But she knew a little bit of English and she wanted to practice her English.
And you could tell she wanted to practice her English, but
I don't know if she was really shy or if she was plain shy or if her English wasn't good enough, but uh
(06:06):
We started to try and communicate, and we were having fun and splashing each other, and then she would run away, and and then uh finally her father came over and said, She really wants to talk with you.
And found out that he spoke pretty good English.
And so he and I uh ran together several times.
(06:27):
So we got to know some of the people very well by exercising with them.
Fast forward six years, Cheryl and I are getting ready to leave Vietnam and we have many people.
That we have been exercising with, and we call this uh I call it my running club.
(06:49):
Uh this is our exercise team that we are out with.
Uh
And we want to say goodbye to them, but we don't know exactly how to do it.
I came up with a great idea.
I was going to
to work with my translator and have a piece of paper printed and I was going to put it on my shirt and that said, I'm leaving in two weeks.
(07:12):
I didn't want them to think I had just, you know, been raptured.
I didn't want them to think I had just disappeared and run away from them, uh, that I didn't like exercising with them anymore.
I wanted them to know what was going on.
But I decided that putting the sign on my shirt wasn't the best way to do it and so I wrote to these two gentlemen
Uh, about ten days before we were getting ready to leave, uh, it was uh a Sabbath afternoon, I wrote them a text message and I told them, I said, We are getting ready to uh to leave Vietnam.
(07:44):
It would be fun if we could uh
Get together with the club and uh say goodbye to everybody.
Uh I'm telling you two so that you can pass the word along.
Because I want people to know what is happening.
I don't want you just disappear on them.
(08:05):
These two individuals wrote back, and they wrote really lengthy text messages back.
Uh, but one of them said, Hey, are you gonna be running tomorrow morning?
And I said, Yes, I run every Sunday.
And he said, uh
I'm going to tell the the the group from our apartment building that you are going to be running tomorrow morning and we will take a picture together.
(08:29):
And so the next morning uh we were out there running together and there was a whole lot more than what you see here in the picture.
And after we got through uh uh running here, we decided to take a picture together.
Um that's our apartment building in the background that we lived in.
(08:50):
And that's the group that was out uh almost every morning running with us.
And after we took our picture, one of the young ladies came and she said, Here, we would like to give this to you.
And uh they gave me a bag and I reached inside and I pulled out a shirt.
(09:12):
They had a running club there at the apartment complex that had run marathons together and uh done other events together.
And I had uh
How do I put this?
I had longed to have a shirt.
Uh and now that they gave me a shirt, I said, finally.
(09:40):
I'm leaving, but I feel like I belong to the running club
It's nice when we have a place of belonging.
I had felt like I belonged
To the church in Vietnam.
(10:00):
I felt like I had belonged to the language school there in Vietnam.
But when they gave me the shirt, I felt like
Well, I knew I was accepted.
They smiled, they talked to me, they greeted, even though many times they were running together, and they would run one direction and I would run the other direction.
(10:24):
Every morning th the whole club
Regardless of when I passed them, they would always say good morning to me.
And so I knew that there was a connection.
But when I received the shirt,
There was something special.
(10:44):
I felt like the connection was there on both sides, not just my side.
And there was a belonging.
Do you have that place of belonging
(11:06):
The Seventh day Adventist Church, the worldwide Seventh Day Adventist Church.
Has chosen as its focus, its mission statement, the Bible text in Revelation chapter 14.
We know this mission statement text that we have of Revelation 14, 6 through 12, there of the three angels' messages.
(11:30):
The messages that are supposed to go to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.
The messages that everyone is supposed to hear.
In the last days.
Everyone is supposed to know about.
We are excited about these messages.
And when the Seventh-day Adventist Church proclaims these messages, we get really excited and making sure that people have a good understanding of these messages.
(11:58):
So that we want to make sure they understand the context of Revelation 10, Revelation 11, Revelation 12, Revelation 13.
We want to make sure they understand these beast powers.
That come up out of the sea, the the the beast power that comes up out of the land.
We want to make sure that they have this this understanding so that when we present that that
(12:21):
The three angels' messages.
When we present that first angel, that first angel that says, Worship.
It's a call to worship.
Come and worship the Creator God.
We understand that that reference, the one that made heaven and earth, the the the one that that that
(12:49):
Create the Sabbath.
We make sure that they understand that connection
We make sure that when we talk about that fear God, for the hour of his judgment has come, we make sure that they have a good understanding what it means to fear, what it means that the the hour of judgment has come.
(13:11):
We make sure that they they have a good understanding because this message is critical.
This message is
important.
The second angel's message warning people that Babylon has fallen, has fallen, that Babylon, those those false religions of the world.
We make sure they understand Revelation 18, calling people out of Babylon and saying, please come out of Babylon, my people.
(13:38):
We make sure that they have an understanding of these messages.
The third angel's message reminds them of the consequences of not coming out of Babylon.
And warns them of what will happen if they choose to remain in Babylon.
And so as a Seventh-day Adventist church, we too really, really
(14:02):
A fantastic job of talking about these messages.
But I like to continue on reading in Revelation 14.
Our scripture reading today came from a few verses after these messages.
(14:24):
Revelation 14.
I want you to open your Bibles there.
Revelation 14.
I want you to see verses fourteen through sixteen again.
So then I looked, and behold a white cloud, and on the cloud sat one like the son of man, having his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle
(14:55):
And another angel came out of the temple temple crying with a loud voice to him who sat on the crack cloud
for you to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
So he who sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.
(15:24):
When I read that, I just want to shout, hallelujah.
Hallelujah.
This is this is talking about that event that we are uh are looking forward as Adventists.
This is talking about that second coming of Jesus Christ.
(15:46):
This is talking about the time when we are going to meet our Lord in the air.
This is talking about when he comes as as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
He did that once when he came.
(16:08):
the first time.
But when the Bible describes him coming here in the book of Revelation, it is not the same.
He has a crown of gold on his head, a sickle in his hand.
He is coming to harvest the earth.
It pictures him coming in glory.
(16:33):
All the artists' pictures that you have seen do not do it justice of what it's going to be like when Jesus comes in the clouds of glory.
Turn over a few pages to Revelation chapter 19.
Another description of this, Revelation 19.
(16:59):
Verses eleven through fourteen.
It says now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse.
And he who sat on him was called faithful and true.
And in righteousness he judges and makes war.
His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns
(17:19):
He had a name written that no one knew except himself.
He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God.
And the armies of heaven clothed in fine linen white and clean followed him on white horses
Now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword that with it he should strike the nations, and he himself will rule them with a rod of iron.
(17:47):
the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
And he has on his robe and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
What a picture.
The picture of Jesus riding on the white horse.
The picture of Jesus coming in
(18:07):
in purity, the picture of Jesus coming in victory, the picture of Jesus coming in triumph.
When Jesus comes with that crown of gold upon his head, riding upon this white horse.
Ah, this is a picture of a victorious general.
He's pictured coming not in defeat.
(18:32):
But a picture in victory, because he has been victorious over the forces of evil
Christ's coming is to vanquish the enemy.
He's coming as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
The book of Revelation is very, very plain.
Jesus comes to reap the harvest of the earth.
(18:54):
Jesus comes as leading the armies of heaven.
Jesus comes as King of kings.
He is returning here as the victorious king, triumphantly and gloriously.
The book of Revelation teaches
That he is coming for you and for me.
(19:15):
Turn back a few pages in the book of Revelation, chapter 11.
Revelation chapter eleven, verse fifteen
Says in the seventh angels sounded, and there were loud voices in heaven saying, The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign.
(19:44):
Forever and ever.
When Jesus comes, he is bringing this great controversy to an end.
He's bringing it to a conclusion.
His desire is to continue moving towards the time when sin will be no more.
(20:05):
This coming is not supposed to be a mysterious event.
He's coming to reign over the entire universe
He's coming to be worshipped and praised as our Redeemer forever and ever.
He's coming because he has a place of belonging for you.
(20:25):
And for me, he is coming together us for the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Do we want to be ready for that day?
Other places in Scripture also talk about this.
I want to look at some of the other ones here in in the New Testament, Luke chapter 17.
(20:52):
Luke chapter seventeen Verses twenty-three and twenty-four.
Says, and they will say to you, Look here, or look there.
(21:12):
Do not go out after them or follow them, for as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in his day.
He tells us this is not going to be a secret event.
(21:34):
This is not going to just happen over in Hanoi.
This is not just going to happen in in Manila.
It's not just going to happen in New York City.
It's not just going to happen in Paris.
It's not just going to happen in Los Angeles.
This is
Something that's going to be
Like lightning.
(21:55):
Did you see the lightning this week?
Wasn't it beautiful?
Do you like lightning storms like that?
Not only is it beautiful, but the the benefits that come from the lightning.
Oh, it's wonderful when God does that.
As a small demonstration to remind us what it's going to be like when he comes.
(22:22):
When you can see lightning everywhere.
And it looks when you when you see it, it looks so so close.
And then you begin to count to see how close it really was.
I remember flying with my flight instructor once, and he was we we saw some lightning up there in the sky, and he says, How far away do you think that lightning was?
(22:47):
And I said, That's too close for comfort.
I'm ready to go home.
And he says, no, he says that lightning was at least 25 miles away.
And I said, there's no way that lightning was 25 miles away.
He said, yeah, at least.
He said, when it's close, it'll scare you.
(23:08):
You'll know it.
That doesn't scare you.
I said, it scared me.
Lightning is something that you see.
It tells us that when Jesus comes, it's not going to be a secret.
It's not going to happen in in solitude.
(23:32):
He's not just going to be walking along some famous
street somewhere and raise his hands and say, I'm the Messiah, I'm here, and hopefully a uh somebody's cell phone is catching it and it's put up on what is it?
TikTok.
Uh no, they got newer ones than that now.
That's oh, don't don't don't confuse me
(23:55):
Uh we don't want to go there.
It's not just going to happen on the internet.
That's what I'm trying to say.
It's going to be something that that that we see.
Acts chapter one
(24:16):
Well, I like to hear people turning their Bibles like that.
That's that's good.
Acts chapter 1.
We know this one because Jesus was this is when Jesus was meeting with the disciples, and it says as they they were talking together, he was caught up in the the air.
And verse 11 says, these verse 10 says, uh, while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel
(24:47):
Who also said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven?
This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven.
It says this is this is the same Jesus.
The same one, the one that Thomas wanted to touch.
(25:12):
I won't believe unless I can touch him.
And when Jesus showed up, Jesus said, go ahead and touch me.
This is the the same Jesus who ate in front of the disciples so that they would know that he was not a spirit.
(25:33):
This is the same Jesus that cooked along the Sea of Galilee for the disciples.
And fed the disciples bread.
This is the same Jesus who walked along the road of Emmaus and broke bread.
This same Jesus, the text says, this same Jesus is going to come in like manner.
(25:58):
As you have seen him go into heaven, he is going to
Come again.
Now there's always somebody in the group that's going to ask, and how is he going to do that so that everybody sees him on this round earth?
And my answer is all what my my favorite answer is.
to most every question.
(26:20):
Just warning you about asking me questions tomorrow.
I don't know.
I use that answer too often.
I don't know how it's going to happen.
But we serve a mighty God, and our God says it's going to happen.
(26:43):
He says it's it's possible.
I'm gonna go back to Revelation because I want you to see it with your own eyes.
Revelation 1.
So you know it's not just me saying it, but it's scripture, Revelation 1, 7 here.
Says, behold, he is coming with clouds, and every eye will see him.
(27:10):
How many eyes?
Even they that pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of him.
Even so, amen.
I mean it's it's it it's that Jesus that says, and every eye is going to see him.
(27:35):
Don't ask me how.
I'm just reading the text.
My favorite scripture is probably First Thessalonians chapter four.
I like First Thessalonians four as it describes the coming of the Lord.
(28:01):
First Thessalonians chapter four.
Uh we'll just do sixteen and start at sixteen
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel.
(28:22):
With the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first
Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.
(28:43):
When you you read this text and you we we catch a few things here that it describes what the second coming is going to be like.
That says he's going to descend from heaven with a shout.
How soft can you shout?
Shout.
(29:06):
Is that a shout?
No.
Is that better?
We know that we know a shout when we hear it.
It is not something that happens quietly.
It says with the trumpet of God,
(29:27):
Oh, I read that phrase and I wonder exactly what that means.
Does God play a trumpet?
Will God be blowing the trumpet or is it just his trumpet that somebody else is blowing?
Any of you play the trumpet?
(29:51):
Yeah, when I was in high school, I I took trumpet lessons.
My teacher told me I needed to practice more.
I lived in a dormitory.
I tried to practice more
The fellow students in the dormitory did not appreciate my practicing.
(30:12):
They told me to quiet it.
And so I did what the teacher said and put the the mute in the trumpet and evidently that didn't help much.
It still was not quiet enough because it's hard to blow a trumpet quietly
(30:32):
The nature of a trumpet is for it to be to be loud.
So if you have the loud shout and you have the trumpet of God, it says the dead in Christ will rise first.
Makes you wonder what that shout is going to say.
How many names are going to be called?
(30:54):
What role or what record will they be going down when when when God finally gets or is it every name that's on the record he says, Come forth?
So-and-so come forth.
So-and-so come forth.
So-and-so come forth.
What it's going to be like.
(31:15):
Says, then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds.
What a picture.
What a glorious picture that's going to be
To be able to be to be caught up in the clouds to meet our Lord and Savior.
(31:44):
Oh, the picture that is there
The picture that is there.
Isaiah is saying, This is our God that we have waited for.
The words that come out of our mouth as as we worship him as our our our King of Kings and our Lord of Lords.
(32:10):
As we see the beauty of him on the on the white horse
As we see him in victory and glorious victory.
I mean, the desire of our hearts is
(32:36):
The twin verse with uh First Thessalonians is uh First Corinthians chapter fifteen.
It's hard for me to read one without the other one.
First Corinthians chapter 15
(32:58):
And for some reason the older I get, the more I like this one.
Isaiah.
I mean Isaiah.
First Corinthians chapter 15, verse 51.
It says, Behold, I tell you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.
(33:21):
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Hallelujah.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
(33:42):
So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is
Swallowed up in victory.
Oh death, where's your sting?
Oh Hades, where is your victory?
Oh man, what a glorious event this is going to be.
(34:09):
The lightning strikes, the earth shakes.
The voice of our God rings out.
The trumpet is played.
The graves are opening up.
(34:30):
Our bodies are being healed
Oh, what a beautiful event that's going to be.
The curse of sin is going to be done away with.
Ears that have not heard are going to hear.
(34:50):
Eyes that have not seen are going to see.
Can you imagine the first thing they see is the beauty of the Lord and Savior coming in glory?
Those that have been crippled, those that are old and walking with a cane, or or they're going to be healed.
(35:16):
Those that are going to be, uh in a wheelchair are going to be able to walk.
I mean, I read this text and I just want to say, hallelujah.
I want to say glory.
I want to say, even so come, Lord Jesus.
I want to say, now's not too soon.
(35:41):
But we have a message to tell to the world.
Every nation, every kindred, every tongue, every person needs to hear that Jesus is coming again.
Turn your Bible again, John chapter 14.
You guys know this one by heart.
It's it's one you remember from I don't know, kindergarten, primary, juniors.
(36:07):
Every class in between there and now.
Jesus talking with his disciples, John 14, he says, Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God, believe also in me.
In my father's house are many mansions.
If it were not so, I would have told you.
(36:28):
I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also.
Friends, this is the language of a marriage proposal.
(36:52):
This is the language of a groom that is down on his knees and is saying, I'm going to my father's house
I'm going there to prepare a place for you, and I'm going to come again and take you to be with my family.
And you will have a place there.
You have a place of belonging with my family.
(37:15):
If you believe in me, I will come again and and receive you unto myself.
That's our place of belonging.
Who needs to hear this?
(37:35):
Who?
Yeah, those are pretty big words, aren't they?
Let's break it down.
Our children, our parents, our cousins, our aunts and uncles
(37:57):
Our nieces and nephews.
Oh, Pastor, that's too close.
Can we go someplace else?
Okay.
Our co-workers.
Our fellow classmates, our students
(38:19):
Oh Pastor, you're still too close.
Can we move a little further?
Just take me on a mission trip somewhere.
I'd rather preach over there.
That's okay.
Every nation, kindred, tongue, and person needs to hear.
They need to know
(38:41):
They need to know that they have a place of belonging.
Do you know that you have a place of belonging?
We taught an English class that was uh free once a week.
(39:04):
Usually it was older, more mature.
The students, the lady here, let's see, she's on my right.
I should say this was our class.
Some of the teachers, some of the students.
But the lady that was on my right, she was leaving Vietnam.
(39:26):
She's Vietnamese, but her husband had been working for the U.
S.
Embassy and had somehow won some kind of lottery.
And she was going to be able to go to the he was going to be able to move to the United States.
And she had been coming to our English class for the last year.
(39:49):
in excitement and anticipation and with a desire to learn English so that when she got to the United States
She could speak English.
Hopefully she could find a job.
While the US Embassy had
(40:10):
Gotten them a visa work permit, I mean the uh uh uh the necessary paperwork to enter the United States.
They were not providing a job of any kind for any of the families, so they needed to find jobs when they got here.
They were not providing a place of living and and so they needed to find a place to live.
(40:31):
But they had some Vietnamese friends and uh so I found out uh where they were moving and
Noticed that it was rather close to the Washington, D.
C.
area.
And I said, you know, we have friends there.
So I contacted some of my friends at the general conference and I said, uh, would it be possible for you to uh find someone that or a church that's close to this address?
(41:02):
And so when this family arrived there, there could be a welcoming committee there.
There could be take them a fruit basket or something, welcome them to the United States.
Um few days later I get an email back.
They know a friend of a friend of a friend.
(41:25):
And a church that's close by and they say, yes, we are willing to to do this.
And um the day comes
They leave Vietnam, they get to the United States, they're staying with their Vietnamese friends, and
(41:48):
Our family shows up and welcomes them to the United States.
And I said, when you meet them, you be sure and tell them that Del Tan uh that you're friends of Del Tanell.
I don't know how they said it because they had no idea who Dell Tonell was except through email.
(42:18):
And I said, but I want you to make them feel welcome.
They did, they went above and beyond my expectations.
Our church family welcomed them.
They found out the day that they were going to be moving.
out of their their their host family and moving into their own apartment and they said, we'll be there with you on moving day.
(42:41):
They said, we know some friends that are moving.
They have some table and chairs and some beds, and we've collected this and this and this for you.
Are you willing to accept it?
And the the the family, the Vietnamese family, they wrote wrote to me and they said, We are so thankful for your friends.
(43:05):
I said, I just want you to know that you have a place of belonging.
There's a family there that you can call yours.
If you need help, those individuals will help you.
(43:29):
Sometimes we have this concept of our place of belonging is just near to the heart of God.
Our place of belonging is where Jesus has gone to a place to prepare for us.
But our place of belonging starts here, it starts now.
(43:52):
This is God's family.
Do you realize the connections that you have in God's family?
I mean, I've told my kids for years, I said, if you ever break down on the road, just call the Seventh-day Avenue Church.
(44:14):
I said, get a hold of the Seventh-day Adventist church pastor.
And they said, oh no, we're not doing that.
We've seen the other end of those phone calls.
I said, yes, you know what it's like.
Mom and I always went out and helped people
(44:35):
Do we realize the family that we have?
The place of belonging, the connections that we have?
I mean if a shirt can make me feel like I have a place of belonging.
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What does it take here?
I mean, I'm excited about what happened today.
I'm excited that the church service got expanded today with the baptism, with the the child dedications.
I mean, this is exciting thing.
(45:22):
This is family life.
This is what church is all about.
It's that place of belonging, that place of acceptance, that place of saying.
I'm with the people of God.
These are the people I want to live with throughout eternity.
(45:46):
These are my people.
I mean Cheryl and I we have a we have a connection with
people in Vietnam.
We have a connection with people in in in in Mongolia, having having served in those two countries for a lengthy period of time.
We have a connection with
the Seventh-day Avenue Church here in the United States.
(46:09):
And and friends, we have connections everywhere.
You talk to people.
You share with them.
When they're traveling to
to Spain or when they're traveling to Denmark or when they're traveling to to to Morocco, you tell them we have family there.
(46:34):
Look up our family.
Check them out.
Go and visit.
And if they don't treat you just right, tell me about it, and I'll contact them.
Because the family of God is supposed to be the family of God.
This is supposed to be our place of belonging as we
(46:59):
As we prepare to meet our Lord in the air
Oh, what a glorious day that that's going to be when we are caught up in the clouds to see Jesus face to face.
Friends, but that day starts
Yesterday, the day before, the day before.
(47:25):
Now.
That place of belonging is now
For us, for our church, for our community, for the people around us
(47:45):
Soon our big brother is coming to take us home.
Soon we're going to be able to live in a place that He has prepared just for us.
But unto that, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, I know that I have a place where I belong.
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I belong to the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
And wherever the Seventh day Adventist Church is, I'm with family.
We need to know that we have a place of belonging as part of the family of God.
Do you know where you belong?
(48:34):
Do you have that special connection?
There's a large group of people in Hanoi that I want to see in heaven.
There's a large group of people in Mongolia that I look forward to seeing in heaven.
(48:57):
The large people in the United States that I look forward to seeing in heaven.
Oh, I have a longing in my heart that I
Look forward to that day.
I pray that you are looking forward to that day with eager anticipation.
(49:20):
Because that's the place where we belong.
Our gracious Heavenly Father, you are an awesome God
You have given us promise after promise after promise that you're going to come and reap, that there's going to be a harvest.
There's going to be a time when you will come again and that you will receive us unto yourself, that you're going to to to gather us up into the air, and that we are going to be able to live with you throughout eternity.
(49:56):
Lord, we look forward to that with eager anticipation.
We know you love us
Lord, that belonging that we have, I pray that you would help me to understand that that belonging starts now.
And that if I'm near to your heart right now, I will have a longing to share your love.
(50:24):
With my nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles, cousins, co-workers
I will provide a place of belonging for others that I come in contact with, because I want your love to envelop them
So that they too look forward to your soon return.
(50:50):
Prepare us for that day, Lord, because in a little while we're coming home.
Thank you for being our God.
I pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen
Amen.
Distinct privilege of introducing our guest speaker today.
And the next time he speaks, he may not be the guest speaker.
He might be the pastor.
So I am really thankful that Dale and his wife are here today.
And um the bio I have, I'm just gonna hit some brief points
(00:21):
Uh he's been a pastor and has served uh in that position as a senior pastor for 22 years.
He's been a teacher, a chaplain, a missionary, and part of the director.
uh a directorship of several places as well, including recently where he was in Hanoi at the center of influence there with the Seventh-day Adventist International Church as well as pastor there.
(00:45):
Before that he pastored, it looks like almost ten years in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
And I know that place pretty well.
Both my kids went to school and
um at Southern, real close to Chattanooga.
I I had the privilege of meeting with Dale and his wife Cheryl at a little Mexican restaurant in St.
Louis
Uh back in July during the General Conference and we had a good meal together there, had a good time together, got a chance to get to know them a little better.
(01:12):
And I've been impressed with his desire to serve God first and foremost.
One of the questions I asked him while I was there was, how was the experience in Vietnam thinking Vietnam's like
a third world country, you know, how did you do over there?
And he goes, and basically he told me, no, they have everything we have here.
And I was kind of surprised.
uh and mentioned how difficult it was to reach people in that community.
(01:37):
And generally when it's tough to win people to Christ
People move pretty quickly, but he hung in there trying to bring people to Jesus for over six years in the in that community.
So thankful today for
Uh Dale Tunnel, his wife Cheryl, and I could see some in-laws that I know pretty well.
Uh Jason.
Uh we um
(01:58):
had him on our baseball team at at uh Thunderbird Academy and of course uh I see Sarah played basketball with my daughter.
Is there a connection here?
I'm trying to get figure Okay, I knew that
I'm just being a wise guy.
But his his daughter is here as well.
And we're so thankful that they're in this community.
And who knows, maybe they have friends they could bring to this church when Dale is pastor.
(02:21):
Wouldn't that be exciting?
So, Dale, today I'd like to welcome you to the Mesa Palms Church.
It's a privilege as a president of the Arizona Conference to have you speak to us today.
God bless us with your message today.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
It is a joy for my wife and I to be here with you and with family.
Um see mentioned we've been living in the country of Vietnam for the last six years.
Um what you see there in the picture is uh
My morning routine was to go out exercising.
(03:01):
And in the background there, you see some of the high-rise apartments.
And that's the way a lot of people live there in Hanoi.
And that's the way we lived for six years.
We uh lived in the high rise, uh had to move three times, so if you ask me which floor, I don't remember exactly all of them.
Uh but uh living in a high-rise apartment was something new for us.
(03:24):
Uh we had never done that kind of thing before.
But our morning routine, as I said, was to go out and exercise.
Uh when we first got there, moved into the apartment in the high rise.
Uh the apartment building was relatively new.
It was maybe only half full at the time.
We would go out exercise in the morning.
There was very few people out exercising.
(03:46):
And we were out there with them.
And every morning we would see people.
And we would always say good morning to them, even though they did not understand English.
I didn't speak very good Vietnamese.
And uh we would wave at people, we would smile, and our goal was to try and get people to smile and wave back to us
(04:09):
And uh we saw people that were older than us, people that were younger than us, and oftentimes there would be someone that was
usually younger, that would come and want to talk with us.
And uh one day my wife, uh I was out running and she was walking and uh gentleman came and began to talk with her and walk with her.
(04:32):
And they talked for a significant amount of time.
And he got to know her fairly well and then she introduced him to me and he and I began to run together.
Several times a week.
And uh then he decided that he wanted me.
I don't know if it was so much him, but his wife decided that she wanted
(04:53):
Me to teach her son because her husband, he was he spoke very good English, but he had learned his English in India.
And she did not like the fact that her son was learning English with an Indian accent.
And said, Can you have the American teach our son English?
(05:16):
And so I got the privilege of teaching his son.
And his son brought along a friend or two, and we uh um had fun teaching, but it was fun getting to know this family.
There was another one day we were down in the pool and uh there at our our uh it's harder to say hotel, there at our apartment building.
(05:38):
And uh we were just relaxed in the pool and a young girl came up to us and she was quite young for
Three maybe.
But she knew a little bit of English and she wanted to practice her English.
And you could tell she wanted to practice her English, but
I don't know if she was really shy or if she was plain shy or if her English wasn't good enough, but uh
(06:06):
We started to try and communicate, and we were having fun and splashing each other, and then she would run away, and and then uh finally her father came over and said, She really wants to talk with you.
And found out that he spoke pretty good English.
And so he and I uh ran together several times.
(06:27):
So we got to know some of the people very well by exercising with them.
Fast forward six years, Cheryl and I are getting ready to leave Vietnam and we have many people.
That we have been exercising with, and we call this uh I call it my running club.
(06:49):
Uh this is our exercise team that we are out with.
Uh
And we want to say goodbye to them, but we don't know exactly how to do it.
I came up with a great idea.
I was going to
to work with my translator and have a piece of paper printed and I was going to put it on my shirt and that said, I'm leaving in two weeks.
(07:12):
I didn't want them to think I had just, you know, been raptured.
I didn't want them to think I had just disappeared and run away from them, uh, that I didn't like exercising with them anymore.
I wanted them to know what was going on.
But I decided that putting the sign on my shirt wasn't the best way to do it and so I wrote to these two gentlemen
Uh, about ten days before we were getting ready to leave, uh, it was uh a Sabbath afternoon, I wrote them a text message and I told them, I said, We are getting ready to uh to leave Vietnam.
(07:44):
It would be fun if we could uh
Get together with the club and uh say goodbye to everybody.
Uh I'm telling you two so that you can pass the word along.
Because I want people to know what is happening.
I don't want you just disappear on them.
(08:05):
These two individuals wrote back, and they wrote really lengthy text messages back.
Uh, but one of them said, Hey, are you gonna be running tomorrow morning?
And I said, Yes, I run every Sunday.
And he said, uh
I'm going to tell the the the group from our apartment building that you are going to be running tomorrow morning and we will take a picture together.
(08:29):
And so the next morning uh we were out there running together and there was a whole lot more than what you see here in the picture.
And after we got through uh uh running here, we decided to take a picture together.
Um that's our apartment building in the background that we lived in.
(08:50):
And that's the group that was out uh almost every morning running with us.
And after we took our picture, one of the young ladies came and she said, Here, we would like to give this to you.
And uh they gave me a bag and I reached inside and I pulled out a shirt.
(09:12):
They had a running club there at the apartment complex that had run marathons together and uh done other events together.
And I had uh
How do I put this?
I had longed to have a shirt.
Uh and now that they gave me a shirt, I said, finally.
(09:40):
I'm leaving, but I feel like I belong to the running club
It's nice when we have a place of belonging.
I had felt like I belonged
To the church in Vietnam.
(10:00):
I felt like I had belonged to the language school there in Vietnam.
But when they gave me the shirt, I felt like
Well, I knew I was accepted.
They smiled, they talked to me, they greeted, even though many times they were running together, and they would run one direction and I would run the other direction.
(10:24):
Every morning th the whole club
Regardless of when I passed them, they would always say good morning to me.
And so I knew that there was a connection.
But when I received the shirt,
There was something special.
(10:44):
I felt like the connection was there on both sides, not just my side.
And there was a belonging.
Do you have that place of belonging
(11:06):
The Seventh day Adventist Church, the worldwide Seventh Day Adventist Church.
Has chosen as its focus, its mission statement, the Bible text in Revelation chapter 14.
We know this mission statement text that we have of Revelation 14, 6 through 12, there of the three angels' messages.
(11:30):
The messages that are supposed to go to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.
The messages that everyone is supposed to hear.
In the last days.
Everyone is supposed to know about.
We are excited about these messages.
And when the Seventh-day Adventist Church proclaims these messages, we get really excited and making sure that people have a good understanding of these messages.
(11:58):
So that we want to make sure they understand the context of Revelation 10, Revelation 11, Revelation 12, Revelation 13.
We want to make sure they understand these beast powers.
That come up out of the sea, the the the beast power that comes up out of the land.
We want to make sure that they have this this understanding so that when we present that that
(12:21):
The three angels' messages.
When we present that first angel, that first angel that says, Worship.
It's a call to worship.
Come and worship the Creator God.
We understand that that reference, the one that made heaven and earth, the the the one that that that
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Create the Sabbath.
We make sure that they understand that connection
We make sure that when we talk about that fear God, for the hour of his judgment has come, we make sure that they have a good understanding what it means to fear, what it means that the the hour of judgment has come.
(13:11):
We make sure that they they have a good understanding because this message is critical.
This message is
important.
The second angel's message warning people that Babylon has fallen, has fallen, that Babylon, those those false religions of the world.
We make sure they understand Revelation 18, calling people out of Babylon and saying, please come out of Babylon, my people.
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We make sure that they have an understanding of these messages.
The third angel's message reminds them of the consequences of not coming out of Babylon.
And warns them of what will happen if they choose to remain in Babylon.
And so as a Seventh-day Adventist church, we too really, really
(14:02):
A fantastic job of talking about these messages.
But I like to continue on reading in Revelation 14.
Our scripture reading today came from a few verses after these messages.
(14:24):
Revelation 14.
I want you to open your Bibles there.
Revelation 14.
I want you to see verses fourteen through sixteen again.
So then I looked, and behold a white cloud, and on the cloud sat one like the son of man, having his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle
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And another angel came out of the temple temple crying with a loud voice to him who sat on the crack cloud
for you to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
So he who sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.
(15:24):
When I read that, I just want to shout, hallelujah.
Hallelujah.
This is this is talking about that event that we are uh are looking forward as Adventists.
This is talking about that second coming of Jesus Christ.
(15:46):
This is talking about the time when we are going to meet our Lord in the air.
This is talking about when he comes as as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
He did that once when he came.
(16:08):
the first time.
But when the Bible describes him coming here in the book of Revelation, it is not the same.
He has a crown of gold on his head, a sickle in his hand.
He is coming to harvest the earth.
It pictures him coming in glory.
(16:33):
All the artists' pictures that you have seen do not do it justice of what it's going to be like when Jesus comes in the clouds of glory.
Turn over a few pages to Revelation chapter 19.
Another description of this, Revelation 19.
(16:59):
Verses eleven through fourteen.
It says now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse.
And he who sat on him was called faithful and true.
And in righteousness he judges and makes war.
His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns
(17:19):
He had a name written that no one knew except himself.
He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God.
And the armies of heaven clothed in fine linen white and clean followed him on white horses
Now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword that with it he should strike the nations, and he himself will rule them with a rod of iron.
(17:47):
the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
And he has on his robe and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
What a picture.
The picture of Jesus riding on the white horse.
The picture of Jesus coming in
(18:07):
in purity, the picture of Jesus coming in victory, the picture of Jesus coming in triumph.
When Jesus comes with that crown of gold upon his head, riding upon this white horse.
Ah, this is a picture of a victorious general.
He's pictured coming not in defeat.
(18:32):
But a picture in victory, because he has been victorious over the forces of evil
Christ's coming is to vanquish the enemy.
He's coming as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
The book of Revelation is very, very plain.
Jesus comes to reap the harvest of the earth.
(18:54):
Jesus comes as leading the armies of heaven.
Jesus comes as King of kings.
He is returning here as the victorious king, triumphantly and gloriously.
The book of Revelation teaches
That he is coming for you and for me.
(19:15):
Turn back a few pages in the book of Revelation, chapter 11.
Revelation chapter eleven, verse fifteen
Says in the seventh angels sounded, and there were loud voices in heaven saying, The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign.
(19:44):
Forever and ever.
When Jesus comes, he is bringing this great controversy to an end.
He's bringing it to a conclusion.
His desire is to continue moving towards the time when sin will be no more.
(20:05):
This coming is not supposed to be a mysterious event.
He's coming to reign over the entire universe
He's coming to be worshipped and praised as our Redeemer forever and ever.
He's coming because he has a place of belonging for you.
(20:25):
And for me, he is coming together us for the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Do we want to be ready for that day?
Other places in Scripture also talk about this.
I want to look at some of the other ones here in in the New Testament, Luke chapter 17.
(20:52):
Luke chapter seventeen Verses twenty-three and twenty-four.
Says, and they will say to you, Look here, or look there.
(21:12):
Do not go out after them or follow them, for as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in his day.
He tells us this is not going to be a secret event.
(21:34):
This is not going to just happen over in Hanoi.
This is not just going to happen in in Manila.
It's not just going to happen in New York City.
It's not just going to happen in Paris.
It's not just going to happen in Los Angeles.
This is
Something that's going to be
Like lightning.
(21:55):
Did you see the lightning this week?
Wasn't it beautiful?
Do you like lightning storms like that?
Not only is it beautiful, but the the benefits that come from the lightning.
Oh, it's wonderful when God does that.
As a small demonstration to remind us what it's going to be like when he comes.
(22:22):
When you can see lightning everywhere.
And it looks when you when you see it, it looks so so close.
And then you begin to count to see how close it really was.
I remember flying with my flight instructor once, and he was we we saw some lightning up there in the sky, and he says, How far away do you think that lightning was?
(22:47):
And I said, That's too close for comfort.
I'm ready to go home.
And he says, no, he says that lightning was at least 25 miles away.
And I said, there's no way that lightning was 25 miles away.
He said, yeah, at least.
He said, when it's close, it'll scare you.
(23:08):
You'll know it.
That doesn't scare you.
I said, it scared me.
Lightning is something that you see.
It tells us that when Jesus comes, it's not going to be a secret.
It's not going to happen in in solitude.
(23:32):
He's not just going to be walking along some famous
street somewhere and raise his hands and say, I'm the Messiah, I'm here, and hopefully a uh somebody's cell phone is catching it and it's put up on what is it?
TikTok.
Uh no, they got newer ones than that now.
That's oh, don't don't don't confuse me
(23:55):
Uh we don't want to go there.
It's not just going to happen on the internet.
That's what I'm trying to say.
It's going to be something that that that we see.
Acts chapter one
(24:16):
Well, I like to hear people turning their Bibles like that.
That's that's good.
Acts chapter 1.
We know this one because Jesus was this is when Jesus was meeting with the disciples, and it says as they they were talking together, he was caught up in the the air.
And verse 11 says, these verse 10 says, uh, while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel
(24:47):
Who also said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven?
This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven.
It says this is this is the same Jesus.
The same one, the one that Thomas wanted to touch.
(25:12):
I won't believe unless I can touch him.
And when Jesus showed up, Jesus said, go ahead and touch me.
This is the the same Jesus who ate in front of the disciples so that they would know that he was not a spirit.
(25:33):
This is the same Jesus that cooked along the Sea of Galilee for the disciples.
And fed the disciples bread.
This is the same Jesus who walked along the road of Emmaus and broke bread.
This same Jesus, the text says, this same Jesus is going to come in like manner.
(25:58):
As you have seen him go into heaven, he is going to
Come again.
Now there's always somebody in the group that's going to ask, and how is he going to do that so that everybody sees him on this round earth?
And my answer is all what my my favorite answer is.
to most every question.
(26:20):
Just warning you about asking me questions tomorrow.
I don't know.
I use that answer too often.
I don't know how it's going to happen.
But we serve a mighty God, and our God says it's going to happen.
(26:43):
He says it's it's possible.
I'm gonna go back to Revelation because I want you to see it with your own eyes.
Revelation 1.
So you know it's not just me saying it, but it's scripture, Revelation 1, 7 here.
Says, behold, he is coming with clouds, and every eye will see him.
(27:10):
How many eyes?
Even they that pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of him.
Even so, amen.
I mean it's it's it it's that Jesus that says, and every eye is going to see him.
(27:35):
Don't ask me how.
I'm just reading the text.
My favorite scripture is probably First Thessalonians chapter four.
I like First Thessalonians four as it describes the coming of the Lord.
(28:01):
First Thessalonians chapter four.
Uh we'll just do sixteen and start at sixteen
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel.
(28:22):
With the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first
Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.
(28:43):
When you you read this text and you we we catch a few things here that it describes what the second coming is going to be like.
That says he's going to descend from heaven with a shout.
How soft can you shout?
Shout.
(29:06):
Is that a shout?
No.
Is that better?
We know that we know a shout when we hear it.
It is not something that happens quietly.
It says with the trumpet of God,
(29:27):
Oh, I read that phrase and I wonder exactly what that means.
Does God play a trumpet?
Will God be blowing the trumpet or is it just his trumpet that somebody else is blowing?
Any of you play the trumpet?
(29:51):
Yeah, when I was in high school, I I took trumpet lessons.
My teacher told me I needed to practice more.
I lived in a dormitory.
I tried to practice more
The fellow students in the dormitory did not appreciate my practicing.
(30:12):
They told me to quiet it.
And so I did what the teacher said and put the the mute in the trumpet and evidently that didn't help much.
It still was not quiet enough because it's hard to blow a trumpet quietly
(30:32):
The nature of a trumpet is for it to be to be loud.
So if you have the loud shout and you have the trumpet of God, it says the dead in Christ will rise first.
Makes you wonder what that shout is going to say.
How many names are going to be called?
(30:54):
What role or what record will they be going down when when when God finally gets or is it every name that's on the record he says, Come forth?
So-and-so come forth.
So-and-so come forth.
So-and-so come forth.
What it's going to be like.
(31:15):
Says, then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds.
What a picture.
What a glorious picture that's going to be
To be able to be to be caught up in the clouds to meet our Lord and Savior.
(31:44):
Oh, the picture that is there
The picture that is there.
Isaiah is saying, This is our God that we have waited for.
The words that come out of our mouth as as we worship him as our our our King of Kings and our Lord of Lords.
(32:10):
As we see the beauty of him on the on the white horse
As we see him in victory and glorious victory.
I mean, the desire of our hearts is
(32:36):
The twin verse with uh First Thessalonians is uh First Corinthians chapter fifteen.
It's hard for me to read one without the other one.
First Corinthians chapter 15
(32:58):
And for some reason the older I get, the more I like this one.
Isaiah.
I mean Isaiah.
First Corinthians chapter 15, verse 51.
It says, Behold, I tell you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.
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In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Hallelujah.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
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So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is
Swallowed up in victory.
Oh death, where's your sting?
Oh Hades, where is your victory?
Oh man, what a glorious event this is going to be.
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The lightning strikes, the earth shakes.
The voice of our God rings out.
The trumpet is played.
The graves are opening up.
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Our bodies are being healed
Oh, what a beautiful event that's going to be.
The curse of sin is going to be done away with.
Ears that have not heard are going to hear.
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Eyes that have not seen are going to see.
Can you imagine the first thing they see is the beauty of the Lord and Savior coming in glory?
Those that have been crippled, those that are old and walking with a cane, or or they're going to be healed.
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Those that are going to be, uh in a wheelchair are going to be able to walk.
I mean, I read this text and I just want to say, hallelujah.
I want to say glory.
I want to say, even so come, Lord Jesus.
I want to say, now's not too soon.
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But we have a message to tell to the world.
Every nation, every kindred, every tongue, every person needs to hear that Jesus is coming again.
Turn your Bible again, John chapter 14.
You guys know this one by heart.
It's it's one you remember from I don't know, kindergarten, primary, juniors.
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Every class in between there and now.
Jesus talking with his disciples, John 14, he says, Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God, believe also in me.
In my father's house are many mansions.
If it were not so, I would have told you.
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I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also.
Friends, this is the language of a marriage proposal.
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This is the language of a groom that is down on his knees and is saying, I'm going to my father's house
I'm going there to prepare a place for you, and I'm going to come again and take you to be with my family.
And you will have a place there.
You have a place of belonging with my family.
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If you believe in me, I will come again and and receive you unto myself.
That's our place of belonging.
Who needs to hear this?
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Who?
Yeah, those are pretty big words, aren't they?
Let's break it down.
Our children, our parents, our cousins, our aunts and uncles
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Our nieces and nephews.
Oh, Pastor, that's too close.
Can we go someplace else?
Okay.
Our co-workers.
Our fellow classmates, our students
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Oh Pastor, you're still too close.
Can we move a little further?
Just take me on a mission trip somewhere.
I'd rather preach over there.
That's okay.
Every nation, kindred, tongue, and person needs to hear.
They need to know
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They need to know that they have a place of belonging.
Do you know that you have a place of belonging?
We taught an English class that was uh free once a week.
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Usually it was older, more mature.
The students, the lady here, let's see, she's on my right.
I should say this was our class.
Some of the teachers, some of the students.
But the lady that was on my right, she was leaving Vietnam.
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She's Vietnamese, but her husband had been working for the U.
S.
Embassy and had somehow won some kind of lottery.
And she was going to be able to go to the he was going to be able to move to the United States.
And she had been coming to our English class for the last year.
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in excitement and anticipation and with a desire to learn English so that when she got to the United States
She could speak English.
Hopefully she could find a job.
While the US Embassy had
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Gotten them a visa work permit, I mean the uh uh uh the necessary paperwork to enter the United States.
They were not providing a job of any kind for any of the families, so they needed to find jobs when they got here.
They were not providing a place of living and and so they needed to find a place to live.
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But they had some Vietnamese friends and uh so I found out uh where they were moving and
Noticed that it was rather close to the Washington, D.
C.
area.
And I said, you know, we have friends there.
So I contacted some of my friends at the general conference and I said, uh, would it be possible for you to uh find someone that or a church that's close to this address?
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And so when this family arrived there, there could be a welcoming committee there.
There could be take them a fruit basket or something, welcome them to the United States.
Um few days later I get an email back.
They know a friend of a friend of a friend.
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And a church that's close by and they say, yes, we are willing to to do this.
And um the day comes
They leave Vietnam, they get to the United States, they're staying with their Vietnamese friends, and
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Our family shows up and welcomes them to the United States.
And I said, when you meet them, you be sure and tell them that Del Tan uh that you're friends of Del Tanell.
I don't know how they said it because they had no idea who Dell Tonell was except through email.
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And I said, but I want you to make them feel welcome.
They did, they went above and beyond my expectations.
Our church family welcomed them.
They found out the day that they were going to be moving.
out of their their their host family and moving into their own apartment and they said, we'll be there with you on moving day.
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They said, we know some friends that are moving.
They have some table and chairs and some beds, and we've collected this and this and this for you.
Are you willing to accept it?
And the the the family, the Vietnamese family, they wrote wrote to me and they said, We are so thankful for your friends.
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I said, I just want you to know that you have a place of belonging.
There's a family there that you can call yours.
If you need help, those individuals will help you.
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Sometimes we have this concept of our place of belonging is just near to the heart of God.
Our place of belonging is where Jesus has gone to a place to prepare for us.
But our place of belonging starts here, it starts now.
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This is God's family.
Do you realize the connections that you have in God's family?
I mean, I've told my kids for years, I said, if you ever break down on the road, just call the Seventh-day Avenue Church.
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I said, get a hold of the Seventh-day Adventist church pastor.
And they said, oh no, we're not doing that.
We've seen the other end of those phone calls.
I said, yes, you know what it's like.
Mom and I always went out and helped people
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Do we realize the family that we have?
The place of belonging, the connections that we have?
I mean if a shirt can make me feel like I have a place of belonging.
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What does it take here?
I mean, I'm excited about what happened today.
I'm excited that the church service got expanded today with the baptism, with the the child dedications.
I mean, this is exciting thing.
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This is family life.
This is what church is all about.
It's that place of belonging, that place of acceptance, that place of saying.
I'm with the people of God.
These are the people I want to live with throughout eternity.
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These are my people.
I mean Cheryl and I we have a we have a connection with
people in Vietnam.
We have a connection with people in in in in Mongolia, having having served in those two countries for a lengthy period of time.
We have a connection with
the Seventh-day Avenue Church here in the United States.
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And and friends, we have connections everywhere.
You talk to people.
You share with them.
When they're traveling to
to Spain or when they're traveling to Denmark or when they're traveling to to to Morocco, you tell them we have family there.
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Look up our family.
Check them out.
Go and visit.
And if they don't treat you just right, tell me about it, and I'll contact them.
Because the family of God is supposed to be the family of God.
This is supposed to be our place of belonging as we
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As we prepare to meet our Lord in the air
Oh, what a glorious day that that's going to be when we are caught up in the clouds to see Jesus face to face.
Friends, but that day starts
Yesterday, the day before, the day before.
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Now.
That place of belonging is now
For us, for our church, for our community, for the people around us
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Soon our big brother is coming to take us home.
Soon we're going to be able to live in a place that He has prepared just for us.
But unto that, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, I know that I have a place where I belong.
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I belong to the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
And wherever the Seventh day Adventist Church is, I'm with family.
We need to know that we have a place of belonging as part of the family of God.
Do you know where you belong?
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Do you have that special connection?
There's a large group of people in Hanoi that I want to see in heaven.
There's a large group of people in Mongolia that I look forward to seeing in heaven.
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The large people in the United States that I look forward to seeing in heaven.
Oh, I have a longing in my heart that I
Look forward to that day.
I pray that you are looking forward to that day with eager anticipation.
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Because that's the place where we belong.
Our gracious Heavenly Father, you are an awesome God
You have given us promise after promise after promise that you're going to come and reap, that there's going to be a harvest.
There's going to be a time when you will come again and that you will receive us unto yourself, that you're going to to to gather us up into the air, and that we are going to be able to live with you throughout eternity.
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Lord, we look forward to that with eager anticipation.
We know you love us
Lord, that belonging that we have, I pray that you would help me to understand that that belonging starts now.
And that if I'm near to your heart right now, I will have a longing to share your love.
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With my nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles, cousins, co-workers
I will provide a place of belonging for others that I come in contact with, because I want your love to envelop them
So that they too look forward to your soon return.
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Prepare us for that day, Lord, because in a little while we're coming home.
Thank you for being our God.
I pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen
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