Everyone Welcome

Sabbath School and Church

Church In Person or On-Line

Everyone is welcome to attend the worship hour. It starts at 10:45 a.m.  

We broadcast Church live on youtube.com. Church will start at 10:45 AM.  Go to youtube.com and search for "greeley sda".  Click on the circle with the church picture.  You may need to choose the "Live" tab.

OR click on the "Sermons" link in the menu selections above to access the services. (On a phone or tablet the menu selections will be in a button that looks like three bars at the top of the screen.) Select "Live" in the tabs.

Weekly Church Meetings

Wednesday - 1:30 p.m.  Midweek study 

Sabbath 4:00 - p.m.  End Time Events with Shawn Korgan

Food for Thought

Lesson From the Trolley Car - “I Can do everything through Him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13 NIV

Through the years I have really enjoyed reading Morris Venden’s books. I have quite a few of them, and the other day I pulled one off the shelf that I had read a number of years ago. Not remembering exactly what the book was about I reread it. The title is “Last Trolley Out” and the book is a very detailed account of last day events on this earth before Jesus comes again. As I read through this book I still was not totally remembering the connection with the title about a trolley car.

Then I got to the very last chapter “The Trolley.” This chapter uses a parable and contains the real message of the entire book. People were very busy getting on the car – looking down and watching their step, finding a seat, talking to fellow passengers. Then suddenly someone realized the trolley car wasn’t moving. They all agreed and then decided to form a committee to figure out the reason. Ideas began to surface: conductor asking too much money, the need to fill all the seats with “good quality” passengers, maybe a new conductor, maybe even redecorating (red carpet or blue?).  

Then one day a very quiet passenger leaned out the window and happened to look up. Bringing his head back in, he excitedly said, “Hey everybody, I know why we are not moving! We are not connected to the power source up above.” But the passengers were in a deep discussion about whether it was appropriate to wear blue jeans on the trolley, and they hardly heard him.

A few passengers, however, did look up and decided they should read The Trolley Car Manuel for directions. A number of passengers joined them and attached the car to the power source. Finally, the trolley car began to move which terrified some passengers and they began jumping off. Morris Venden ends the book by saying that the last he heard the trolley car was getting very close to the Final Destination.

Jesus loved to teach with parables as well. Perhaps one of His best known is the parable of the Sower. (Luke 8:4-15)  The farmer is scattering seed, and it falls on different types of ground: the wayside where it was simply trampled underfoot, rocky soil – sprang up quickly but soon died, among thorns but was soon choked by other plants. But some seed fell on good soil – those who hear the word and retain it. In other words, those who stay on the “trolley car” connected to the Source of Power – Jesus. 

Paul says: “May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The One who calls you is faithful, and HE WILL DO IT.”  (1 Thess. 5:23,24 NIV)

We only need to maintain that connection daily with the Power Source.

Sharon Oster 

“Motivation and The New Year” - “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went out to a solitary place where he prayed.” Mark 1:35 NIV

When I was a Senior in the academy, our principal was planning to leave at the end of the year. So our class decided we would have a special surprise Saturday night program to honor him. We decided to do a “This Is Your Life” program and invite all the parents to come. Different plans were being made – his wife was altering her wedding dress to wear, we sent plane tickets for his parents to fly in, but the actual script was yet to be written. Another girl and I were chosen to write it, but we were busy – classes all morning, work all afternoon, study period all evening. Finally – amazingly – we were given permission to spend the Thursday night before the program alone in the office of the Ad Building so we could use the electric typewriters. It was a long, tiring night, but we finished writing the script just in time for our 7:00 a.m. geometry class. Only our motivation to complete this before Saturday night kept us going.

The dictionary says motivation is the desire or willingness of someone to do something. In the Bible Hannah wanted a child so badly she was motivated to promise God she would lend the child to work for Him. And she did, leaving Samuel to work at the temple with Priest Eli when he was probably only about three or four years old.

Ruth, after becoming acquainted with Naomi’s God, was motivated to leave her homeland and all that was familiar and travel back with Naomi to her home. She eventually married Boaz and gave birth to a child who was an ancestor of Jesus.

Esther was so motivated to save her people the Jews, she risked her life, going in unannounced before the King to invite him to a banquet where she pled for the safety of her people.

A number of years ago a church member and I decided we needed to spend the first hour of the day in devotional time. Since we both had very small children, it meant getting up very early (5:00 a.m.) for Bible study and prayer. It is something I have continued through the years to this day. Mrs. White says: “No man is safe for a day or an hour without prayer.” (Great Controversy, p. 530)  My motivation – wanting and needing Jesus to spend the day with me. As we begin this new year, I hope this is a motivation we all share!

Sharon Oster

The Christmas Doll - “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16 NIV

Jerry and I have a little grandson who loves cars and trucks. Rarely do we see a picture of him without a vehicle of some kind in his hand. In one of his latest pictures he is standing by his desk at preschool and, of course, holding a car.

When I was his age, I loved dolls. Rarely was I without a doll in my arms. When I was only two or three years old, I had a very favorite doll that I carried almost everywhere. Unfortunately, in the middle of the night one night when we had to leave our home quickly because of an urgent flood warning, my doll was left behind. I lost that doll that night in the flood waters that swept into our home. In the next few years, I acquired some more dolls. They are now displayed on a shelf in a spare bedroom with a plaque that says “Loves Dolls.” Our grandchildren just refer to the bedroom as “grandma’s doll room.”

We have five granddaughters and when they were little, the American Girl doll was just coming on the scene. Of course, my granddaughters all had one (or two). When we would go to visit them or they would come to visit us, I would join them in their “doll play.” The American Girl doll company generously provided for a price many doll clothes to try on the dolls. I never thought for one minute that my granddaughters were misunderstanding my interest in their dolls. I just wanted to spend time with them and join in their fun. BUT they thought I really wanted one of those dolls for my very own.

When Christmas came that year, two of the girls were at our house for Christmas. There was the usual excitement Christmas morning as everyone unwrapped their gifts. Soon there was only one package under the tree with my name on it. All at once the girls – and even their brother – lost interest in their gifts and insisted I open my present. I can see their happy, eager faces yet as they gathered around me and watched me open my gift – an American Girl doll.

That doll now sits on the bed in the “doll room.” But when I look at that doll, I mainly see those happy faces of my grandchildren. Then I know for certain two things: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35)  I also know it was love that inspired the gift.

Real love always inspires giving –

“For God so loved that He gave . . .” John 3:16

Sharon Oster