3. TAKE A JOURNEY
TOWARD WHOLENESS
In the early 1800s a small group
of people from different Christian
traditions and various walks of life
set out on a quest. Driven by a
desire for a clearer understanding
of what the Bible says about how
the world will end, they discovered
more than they could imagine.
The Bible describes more than
simply an apocalyptic catastrophe
as reflected in science fiction
stories. It promises an end to a
brokenness that was never a part of
God’s plan. Having lives splintered
and fractured into disconnected
pieces was not our Designer’s idea.
This group of people would also
discover that the whole life the
Designer desires is meant to begin
right now.
God’s plan for a life that reflects
intimate spirituality, that radiates
physical and relational vitality, and
that rejoices in blessing other lives
through service is truly a whole life.
Because of the beauty of the
message that the believers
discovered, the small group
continued to grow and became the
Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Along the journey they
rediscovered many blessings,
such as the gift that God gave
all humanity—the Sabbath. This
24-hour period is time meant for
reconnecting with our loved ones
and with our Creator. They also
rediscovered a way of life that
honors the body as God’s temple
and began to implement practices
in healthy living that could make
life more vital. They rediscovered
that love for God means serving
others, doing as much as possible
to remove the scars of brokenness
until the Designer comes again and
makes all things new.
What they ultimately learned by
studying the end was that long
before we get there, life can have a
new beginning … even today.
You are invited to explore what we—the
Seventh-day Adventist Church—have
discovered and why we believe that
your whole life matters.
4. You are loved.
Spirituality means a deliberate relationship
with God and an acceptance of His Son,
Jesus, as Savior. People who profess to
love God follow His commandments and
live so that others can see God in them.
“May you experience the love of Christ, though
it is too great to understand fully. Then you will
be made complete with all the fullness of life
and power that comes from God.”
Ephesians 3:19
YOUR WHOLE
LIFE MATTERS
5. When sin entered the world,
God immediately thought of a
way to rescue you. He wanted
to save you from the ultimate
consequences of sin.
While the gift of eternal life is
free for you to take, it came at a
painful cost. God sent His own
Son, Jesus, to earth to die for your
sins. He died for the sins of the
entire world, but He still would
have carried out the mission if you
were the only person in the world.
He loves you that much.
Not only did God send His Son to
save you, but He also sent the Holy
Spirit to guide you. “And I [Jesus]
will ask the Father, and he will give
you another Advocate, who will
never leave you. He is the Holy
Spirit, who leads into all truth. The
world cannot receive him, because
it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t
recognize him. But you know him,
because he lives with you now and
later will be in you” (John 14:16, 17).
God sent you two gifts: (1) the gift
of salvation through the death and
resurrection of Jesus, and (2) the
gift of the Holy Spirit, who guides
us according to God’s will.
God’s love for you will never run
out. There is no contract you need
to sign in order to receive this love.
In fact, God sent His Son to die
for you, even knowing there was a
chance you might choose not to
believe in Him and accept Him as
your Savior. But He still sacrificed
for you.
There is nothing you can do that
will make Him love you more, and
there is nothing you can do to
make Him love you less.
Not only does God love you—He
wants to have a relationship with
you. This relationship goes beyond
praying, reading scriptures, and
attending worship services. God
wants to dwell within your heart.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the
free gift of God is eternal life through
Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 6:23
6. Imagine that you’re
separated from the person
you love the most for a
long period of time. During
this time you’re given one
device to communicate with
your loved one. This device
is custom-made for your
use. It is irreplaceable. It also
comes with a certain set
of instructions. It must be
handled with care in order
to optimally perform. How
would you treat this device?
Would you follow the manual,
or would you try to figure out
how to work it on your own?
Would you put the proper
protective accessories around
it, or would you intentionally
endanger it? Would you be
satisfied with the original
design of the device? Would
you be jealous if you saw
someone else with a similar
device? Would you keep it safe,
or would you let anyone use it
any way they pleased?
“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Psalm 139:14
Vitality involves a wholistic view of life and a recognition that
your life is a gift to be valued. It goes beyond nutrition and
exercise. It’s about having access to education, maintaining
healthy relationships and developing socially and mentally.
When Jesus grew up, He “grew in wisdom and in stature
and in favor with God and all the people” (Luke 2:52). Jesus
modeled a wholistic life for us to follow.
YOU ARE A CUSTOM-MADE
MASTERPIECE.
As you were reading this scenario, you were probably
thinking of a device that’s very important to you. Maybe
it’s your smartphone, tablet or laptop.
Well, you have something that’s more valuable than any
piece of technology, and it’s smarter than the smartest of
phones with the latest operating system—it’s your body.
Your body is the instrument through which you perceive
God’s voice. Not only can God communicate with you
through your senses, but God can also dwell within you.
“Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple
of God and that the Spirit of God lives in
you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). How should
you treat your body, knowing that
God dwells within? Don’t you want
to avoid conditions that disrupt your
communication with God?
Not only is God concerned about
your body but He also wants you to
have a healthy mind. He wants you
to have healthy relationships with
your parents, children, coworkers,
friends and acquaintances.
God is in tune with everything about
you because He created you for a
specific purpose.
7. Service means putting the needs of others before your own
needs. God has commissioned us to love others.
What prompts you to go out of your
way to help others? Seeing a video of a
starving child in a developing country,
devastation from a natural disaster,
injustice to women and children,
discrimination based on skin color or
religious affiliation, or a homeless man
asking for money on a street corner?
While some may attribute their service
to their ability to empathize,
Seventh-day Adventists
believe that the ultimate motivation
to help others comes from the love
of God that dwells within us.
Maybe you feel an urge to do
something great. Perhaps you have
a longing to make a difference.
Maybe observing all the daily
destruction around the world has lit
a fire within you to do something.
Did you know that God placed this
desire in you?
God made you for a specific
mission. He wants you to
experience a whole life that radiates
the love and hope that comes from
Him. When people experience
and embrace God’s love, they are
unable to keep it to themselves.
Once you accept the love of
God into your life, you have a
responsibility to share it with as
many people as you can. As a
Christian, you cannot silence your
knowledge of the gift of salvation.
Once God has entered the life, you
are unable to live the same way.
By spreading the love of God, you
can make the world a better place.
You can live the way Christ lived,
by helping those who cannot help
themselves, reaching out to those
who have been overlooked, and
seeking people who are searching
for truth. By helping others, you
will be helping God. “I tell you the
truth, when you did it to one of
the least of these my brothers and
sisters, you were doing it to me!”
(Matthew 25:40).
This world needs you. It needs your
passion, your voice and your ideas.
But more important, God needs
you to help tell more people about
His love and the whole life He has
designed for everyone.
“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love
each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love
each other. Your love for one another will prove to
the world that you are my disciples.”
John 13:34, 35
YOU CAN CHANGE
THE WORLD.
8. THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH…
the spiritual, physical, mental and social
needs of people around the world.
FAMILY MINISTRIES
• The Adventist Church helps
nurture marriages and families
because strong marriages lead
to strong families, and strong
families lead to strong churches.
YOUTH MINISTRIES
• The Adventist Church provides
resources to lead young people
into a saving relationship with
Jesus and help them embrace
His call to discipleship.
CHILDREN’S MINISTRIES
• The Adventist Church provides
resources and materials to help
children to become disciples,
nurturing them into a loving,
serving relationship with Jesus.
WOMEN’S MINISTRIES
• The Adventist Church provides
a ministry for every woman,
focusing on the areas of nurture,
empowerment and outreach.
adventist.org/vitality
On Service
• The lifestyle of serving is a
cornerstone of the Christian faith.
We are called to serve just as
Christ served. Whether through
a member, a congregation or a
corporate ministry, you will discover
that service is the impetus behind
so much of what Adventists do.
• Individual Adventists all over the
world serve by providing for the
needs of their neighbors, opening
their homes to comfort one another,
volunteering for community service
projects, and sharing the attributes
of Christ’s character through
selflessness, compassion and love.
• The Adventist Church is also
dedicated to improving the lives
of those in need throughout
the world. This is seen in the
extensive global humanitarian
aid through the Adventist
Development and Relief Agency.
ADVENTIST DEVELOPMENT
AND RELIEF AGENCY (ADRA)
• ADRA provides emergency relief
and development assistance to
more than 120 countries. The
agency strives to protect the
vulnerable, support families,
promote health, provide food
and water, establish livelihoods
and respond to emergencies.
• In 2012, ADRA improved
the lives of nearly 20 million
people around the world.
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
• The church’s department of
Public Affairs and Religious
Liberty advocates for religious
liberty of all people while working
with networks on Capitol Hill in
Washington, D.C., in the United
Nations in New York City and
in other international bodies.
ADVENTIST MISSION
• Adventist Mission seeks to establish
churches in parts of the world
that don’t have a Seventh-day
Adventist presence. It is constantly
looking for new ways to reach
new people with the gospel.
adventist.org/service
On Spirituality
• The Seventh-day Adventist
Church was established in 1863.
• The Adventist Church has
more than 18 million members
worshiping in more than 140,000
congregations around the world.
• In 2011, the Adventist Church was
recognized as the fastest-growing
Christian denomination in North
America, according to USA Today.
WRITINGS OF ELLEN WHITE
AND THE WHITE ESTATE
• Ellen G. White was a co-founder of
the Seventh-day Adventist Church
who shaped its mission and vision.
• She is the most translated
American author.
• Her most translated book, Steps
to Christ, a how-to guide on being
a Christian, has been translated
into more than 165 languages.
ADVENTIST WORLD RADIO
• Adventist World Radio (AWR) is
a radio broadcast ministry that
focuses on highly populated
regions without a strong Christian
presence, such as Asia, Africa, the
Middle East and Eastern Europe.
• Through its many broadcast media
including shortwave radio, local
AM/FM stations and podcasts,
AWR reaches more than 80
percent of the world’s population.
HOPE CHANNEL
• Since 2003, Hope Channel—the
official television network of the
Adventist Church—has emphasized
a lifestyle that prioritizes Jesus. Its
programs focus on faith, health,
relationships and community.
• Hope Channel creates a unique
environment for spiritual and
personal growth through vegetarian
cooking shows, talk shows about
relationships, interactive Bible
studies and a live prayer community.
adventist.org/spirituality
On Vitality
• The Adventist Church has the
largest Protestant integrated
network of hospitals and
clinics worldwide.
• The lifestyle of Adventists has been
featured in National Geographic
and “The Blue Zones”, a New
York Times best-seller book that
describes the lifestyles of the
world’s longest-living people.
• In addition to being one of the
largest and most comprehensive
studies on diet and longevity, the
Adventist Health Study-2, which
surveyed the lifestyle of 96,000
Adventists, is also one of the
largest dietary studies of African-
Americans and sheds light on
why this group has more cases
of cancer and heart disease than
other ethnic groups in America.
EDUCATION
• The Adventist Church operates the
world’s second largest integrated
network of schools, with more than
7,800 schools worldwide enrolling
more than 1.6 million students.
HEALTH MINISTRIES
• The Adventist Church focuses on a
“ministry of healing,” which caters to
9. WHAT
CAN YOU
DO FROM
HERE?
LEARN MORE ABOUT
YOUR WHOLE LIFE.
Visit adventist.org to find
inspiration for your journey
toward living a whole life.
Ask God to lead you.
Dear God, I have discovered that You have created me to live
a whole life that is rooted in You. I don’t want to live the same
old way. Please guide me to a church that will help me gain a
better understanding of You, my life and my world.
