Grace Notes January 2026 Online Edition

January 2026

Full Color Online Edition:

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Build an Altar at Your Table

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ig idea: Homes don’t drift into holiness—they’re built, one small altar at a time. The family table can become the simplest yet strongest altar of worship in your home.

Where in the house do you feel close to each other and close to God? Some point to a prayer corner, some to a child’s tuckin time. The most surprising answer: “Right here—at our table.” Not because the meals are fancy, but because that’s where blessing, listening, and prayer show up in everyday clothes. Today I invite you to build an altar at your table—to turn the most ordinary place in your home into the most powerful place of formation.

Read Deuteronomy 6:4–9 (the Shema). Moses doesn’t say, “When you finally get everyone to a retreat center, then teach these words.” He says, “when you sit in your house… when you walk by the way… when you lie down… when you rise.”

God’s primary classroom is your daily life.

Paul writes in Colossians 3:12–15: “Since God chose you to be the holy people He loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.”

Paul dresses the home in gospel clothes: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, love, and

peace. Notice the verbs are relational – habits that must be practiced, not just admired.

The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 128:1 – 4: “How joyful are those who fear the Lord – all who follow his ways…Your wife will be like a fruitful grapevine, flourishing within your home. Your children will be like vigorous young olive trees as they sit around your table. That is the Lord’s blessing for those who fear him.”

This psalm pictures a table encircled by family like an oliveshoot garden—slow growth, deep roots, faithful fruit.

Summary: God’s vision for marriage and parenting is not built on a few big moments, but on a thousand small, sacred ones – especially around the table. You don’t need seminary degrees, a perfect marriage, or an Instagram kitchen. You need a plan for small, repeatable moments.

Here are three simple “altar practices” you can start this week in your home: 1) Speak a 30-second blessing (Numbers 6:24–26; Proverbs 18:21) What it is: One sentence of identity and one sentence of destiny.

Identity: “You are deeply loved and made in God’s image.”

Destiny: “God has called you to be courageous and kind today.”

When to do it: As you set plates down, at bedtime, or before a big day.

How it works in real life: Place a sticky note on the saltshaker: “Bless before you pass.” Whoever reaches for it speaks a short blessing over someone else at the table. Why it matters: Kids (and spouses) live up to words they hear most often. Blessing reframes the day and re-centers worth on God, not performance.

2) Pray “in the moment,” not only “for the moment” (Philippians 4:6–7) What it is: Instead of promising “I’ll pray for you,” pause and pray right then – 20 to 40 seconds, out loud.

Where to do it: At the table when someone shares a worry, in the car after a hard conversation, at the door before work.

A simple pattern (P-R-A-Y): Praise: “Father, thank You for being near.”

Request: “Give Ella peace for tomorrow’s test.”

Align: “Your will, not ours.”

Yield: “We trust You.” Why it matters: Children learn prayer by overhearing it.

Spouses learn peace by feeling it applied to real anxiety.

3) Practice repair quickly (Ephesians 4:26; Romans 12:18).

Conflict isn’t the enemy; unrepaired conflict is. Create a 2minute “repair ritual”: Step 1: Own it. “I was wrong to raise my voice. Will you forgive me?” (No “but…”)

Step 2: Name the impact. “I made you feel small.”

Step 3: Offer a next step. “Next time I’ll ask for a timeout before I’m flooded.”

Continued on page 5…

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Gospel Outreach

By Max Hammonds

o therefore and make disciples of all the nations, “G baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19, 20) Throughout the Christian world, most denominations send missionaries somewhere. Many churches sponsor two, three, or four missionaries full time. In some denominations, the church headquarters sponsors many missionaries with funds sent by the individual churches. In the Seventh-day Adventist Church, missionaries are sent out by the hundreds, many are sponsored by the General Conference Mission Office on short and long term mission assignments. Many more missionaries are sponsored by independent but supporting organizations (Adventist Laymen’s Services and Industries (ASI) members) and sent to areas of particular interest to that independent group.

Almost always the missionaries are sent to areas where a mission station already exists and the surrounding population has already heard the Gospel preached. Some Adventist organizations employ native speakers in order to reach the indigenous population, but frequently, the missionaries are sent from an affluent culture to a poor, struggling, unreached culture where the missionary – whether from Korea, Norway, or the United Kingdom – must learn the local language, culture and customs, and religious worldview in order to be effective.

The most difficult area to reach with the Gospel in the world is the 10/40 window, that area of the Old World from 10° north of the equator to 40° north of the equator across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Of the 8 billion people living in the world, forty-two percent have not heard the story of Jesus, according to the Joshua Project which tracks such statistics. Ninety-seven percent of these 3+ billion people live in the 10/40 Window. While many church organizations fund mission projects around the world, less than 2% of these funds are spent on reaching these people in the 10/40 Window.

In the early 1990’s two men, Edgar Pangilinan and Frank Stanyer, worked side by side in a mountainous area of the

Philippines among indigenous people who had not heard the story of Jesus. Although they were quite successful in their work, they realized that many young, trained Filipinos were not being used to preach the Gospel for lack of funding. These were the very ones who already knew the culture and the language and were the ideal persons to reach their own people.

In 1992 they enlisted Edgar Navales to begin a ministry among pagans on the island of Luzon. They raised money from their friends and founded an organization to specifically support local lay evangelists to work among their own people groups in the poorest countries of the world.

They created Gospel Outreach, a non-profit 501-c-3 organization dedicated to international ministry. They provided funding for local workers at a fraction of the cost of sending foreign evangelists, AND they provided all administrative direction by volunteers, reducing operating costs to a minimum. Their motto is: “Attempt something so impossible that unless God is in it, it is doomed to failure.”

By the end of 1993, Gospel Outreach was funding 13 local evangelists in the mountain provinces of the Philippines and Northern Bangladesh. In 1994, the number of local evangelists doubled and included Sri Lanka. By 1997, they were supporting more than 100 evangelists in 20 regions of the 10/40 Window. Currently, more than 2,000 local evangelists are working in more than 50 countries, almost all of them in the 10/40 Window.

Over the thirty-two years that the Gospel Outreach organization has been sponsoring local evangelists, hundreds of thousands of baptisms have resulted.

One local evangelist can reach 1001,000 homes in their area because they know the culture, the language, and worldview of the people. Their Christian deportment impresses the people, and their loving, compassionate personal care for people wins their trust.

The cost to support a local evangelist with a living wage is on average $150 per month/ $1,800 per year. While donations can be given to a general fund, contributors can elect to support a specific evangelist. Gospel Outreach coordinates with the Adventist missions, divisions, unions, and conferences in the 10/40 Window. The Adventist Church entity identifies the area for placement of the Bible worker AND trains the Bible worker to the needs of his/her area. Gospel Outreach then supplies the funds to pay the worker’s national salary. When the worker/evangelist is chosen and placed, the sponsor is notified by email and can link to a personal website for a picture of the worker, a biographical sketch, and where the worker is assigned.

Gospel Outreach is one more opportunity to share in the dream and the drama of the Gospel.

You can contact Gospel Outreach at goaim.org.

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God’s Open Door

by Max Hammonds

“I

know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name.”

(Rev. 3:8 – emphasis supplied) The Church of Philadelphia is commended by Jesus because although they have but little power to share His word, they are commencing to do so. The Reformation (the Sardis Church of Rev. 3) began the process of discovering and restoring the truths of the Bible that the Apostate Church had suppressed, thus closing the door to access God’s kingdom, and opening a false door to access human traditions. Knox, Luther, Calvin, Swingli, and numerous others, marching under the banner of the “Bible Alone,” inadvertently created the Protestant movement and what would become a series of church organizations determined to proclaim these truths to the world, pushing open the door to enter God’s presence (Heb. 10:19-23).

Although the Counter-Reformation attempted to shut this door, Bible prophecy had predicted that the reign of the Church (1260 years of the Little Horn – Dan. 7:25) would come to an end in 1798. However, even before that fulfillment, in the 1730’s and 1740’s, the First Great Awakening swept through Britain and the North American Colonies, pushing the door open even wider.

Led by George Whitfield, John and Charles Wesley, and Jonathan Edwards, this movement built on the Reformational ideals of personal choice and responsibility inherent in the Puritan and Presbyterian lifestyle. They rediscovered an understanding about the power of the Holy Spirit in personal conviction leading to a heartfelt need for revival and salvation.

Itinerant preachers trained by these leaders spread through Britain and the New World, promoting this restored idea of the “new birth” experience of the heart.

In Germany, Nicolas Zinzendorf had created a safe haven for Moravians and Anabaptists. From contact with the Moravians, George Whitefield and John Wesley both discovered the “new birth” experience and learned that Christianity is more than external duties. Wrote Henry Scougal (Moravian author): “True Religion is an (sic) Union of the Soul with God. It is Christ formed within us.”

Whitfield and Wesley both came to the Colonies of North America to evangelize. Whitfield established an orphanage in the State of Georgia and returned to England to preach the internal change of the heart. Wesley – unsuccessful in the Colonies – returned to England where after his encounter with Moravians, he said “I felt I did trust Christ alone for salvation . . . that he had taken away my sins . . . and saved me from the law of sin and death.” From these experiences, these men and John’s

brother Charles Wesley established Methodism – 1) being dead in sin requires a new birth, 2) justification is by faith alone, 3) this faith produces inward change of heart and outward pious living. Open-air preaching by these evangelists and their nonseminary trainees produced crowds of 10-50,000 in the mining communities near Bristol, in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

In the American Colonies, church membership had been stymied by the Counter-Reformation and the Enlightenment, leading to outward formalism, atheism, and deism. The Congregational Churches of New England and the Presbyterians of the Middle Colonies recognized the familiar sounds of revival and internal heart change under the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Under the influence of Dutch Reformed minister Theodorus Frelinghuysen and William Tennent, Sr. and the preaching of Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfield (from England), the message of the necessity of a personal conversion and the joy of living a holy life spread throughout New England and the Middle Colonies with 20-50,000 new members in the Congregational churches alone.

Although revivals continued into the southern back countries and slave communities, by 1745, the Awakening began to wane.

But the door of God had been pushed open even further.

In the 1780’s to the 1850’s, a Second Great Awakening began to spread throughout what was then the western States of Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and southern Ohio. Again, the Presbyterians, the Methodists, and the Baptists led in this emerging revival. The main thrust in the “frontier” states was in the form of camp meetings, an Americanization of a Presbyterian tradition of “holy fairs” which were outdoor religious meetings that lasted over several days or weeks.

In these gatherings, people camped in tents or other contrivances and for several days or weeks listened to various presentations on doctrines, the Holy Spirit, or holy living. These camp meetings spread into the Appalachian States of Virgina, Maryland, Pennsylvania.

Two major beliefs taught in these meetings were 1) the equality of all people, races, and classes and 2) postmillennialism. All people who attended these meetings were accepted because of their belief in the power of the Holy Spirit to change the heart and not the color of the skin or social class. Also, the belief was taught that Jesus would not return until there was a 1,000-year period of peace and happiness. Therefore, the push was not just to repent from personal sin but also to work for the moral perfection of society, to reform every sphere of life: slavery, child labor laws, treatment of the insane and demented, alcohol and tobacco use, health and diet, education of children, etc.

Several new movements arose during this Second Great Awakening, especially Dispensationalism (as opposed to “covenant spirituality”) – the understanding of the Bible as a constant unfolding of different eras in which God interacts with people in different ways, such that the old Mosaic codes of conduct do NOT apply to Christians of today, the prophecies of the Old Testament will be fulfilled in literal Israel, the rapture of Christians before the Great Tribulation and Second Coming of Jesus, and that the millennium will occur before Jesus comes the 2nd time (postmillennialism).

The new denominations that arose during this era were the

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Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS), Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW), Disciples of Christ Christian Church, and the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA).

Church membership soared during this time in the Methodist and Baptist Churches, as well as in the new churches that sprang up. The converts were predominantly female – 3 females for every 2 males – and among young people under 25. During this time, missionary societies, church-related colleges, and religious journalism sprang into being, most notably the American Bible Society in 1816.

In the 1820’s and 30’s people of many faiths in the United States and around the world were reading the prophecies of Daniel 9, calculating the time specified in that prophecy, and coming to the conclusion that the end of the world was to take place about the year 1843-1844. Just prior to this date, in the United States alone, 500,000 people were anticipating and preparing for the Second Coming of Jesus, and over two million people around the world were aware of the furor that accompanied this expectation. When the Second Coming did not occur as predicted, the fervor of this Second Great Awakening collapsed into a quieter seeking of a personal relationship with Jesus and a continued seeking of social good. But the door to God had been pushed open even more so.

From the American Civil War era and into the 20th Century, the Protestant denominations grew in social activism and missionary activity worldwide. William and Catherine Booth founded the Salvation Army. Hudson Taylor began the China Inland Mission. Charles Spurgeon in England and Dwight L. Moody in the United States continued to re-emphasize and promote the individual’s need of a personal relationship with God. The door to God was wide open.

With the sinking of the Titanic in 1915 and the 1st and 2nd World Wars, people rapidly lost their trust in science as the way to solve the physical and social problems of society and their belief that religion held any hope for realizing the reforms necessary to usher in the millennium. Despite the popularity of Billy Graham’s evangelistic efforts and Martin Luther King’s passive approach to desegregation, secularism quickly outpaced personal sanctification in the hearts of people worldwide into the 21st Century.

Mainstream Protestant churches had contracted sharply in their membership. Political activism, personal rights movements, theological schisms, Eastern mystical philosophy, and the achievement of personal goals over societal improvement had begun to close the door which had been forced open from the Reformation onward.

But in the last 10-15 years, the fastest growing Protestant church in the world – the Seventh-day Adventist Church with 1 million new members each year – began to experience awakenings in the heretofore unreached areas of the world. Jesus for Asia and Adventist Southeast Asia Projects (ASAP) are opening previously “dead” churches and making major inroads into Buddhist areas. Gospel Outreach reports hundreds and thousands of conversions in the 10/40 Window by nativespeaking evangelists and Bible workers. Outpost Centers International oversees multiple impactful projects in Africa, India, and the Middle East. Adventist World Radio (AWR) is changing the Israel-Muslim interface from Nazareth with

multiple accessions to Christianity, facilitating a Christian revival and a reconciliation between rebels and government forces in the Philippines, and overseeing an evangelistic effort that brought in 300,000 members in Papua New Guinea and 200,000 more preparing for baptism. In Africa, for some time the SDA church has been growing by the tens of thousands.

House churches in China are estimated to hold 600,000 Christian members – or more.

While kingdom growth has stalled in 1st world countries, it appears that the door to God’s kingdom is being forced open in the non-Western world. One 30-year worker with Adventist Frontier Missions said: “We may be closer than we think to realizing the truth of Matthew 24:14 – “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come.”

Continued from page 2…

Step 4: Seal with prayer. “Jesus, help us grow in patience.”

Why it matters: Homes don’t need perfect people; they need repenting people. Repair keeps the heart soft and the table safe. Pick one meal each week (Friday dinner, Sabbath lunch). Light a candle if you’d like. Keep it under 10 minutes so it’s repeatable.

1. Call to worship (30 sec.). “The Lord is here. His peace is in this home.” (Everyone says: “Thanks be to God.”) 2. Gratitude round (3 min). Each person answers: “One thing I’m grateful to God for this week,” and “One person I want to bless with my words or actions this week.”

3. Scripture & sentence (2 min). Read one short passage (e.g., Psalm 23:1 or John 15:5). Ask: “What word or phrase stands out?” Each person shares one sentence.

4. Intercession (2 min). Pray for one family outside your home, one need inside your home, and one person who doesn’t yet know Jesus.

5. Blessing (2 min). Parents speak the Aaronic blessing (or your own) over children; spouses bless each other by name.

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” Amen & eat (30 sec.).

Blow out the candle and enjoy the meal.

Some of you hear this and think, “We’re too busy,” or “We’ve failed too often.” God specializes in new starts. He doesn’t ask for a Pinterest-perfect table; He asks for a surrendered one. If you missed a night, start again tonight.

If your last family devotion went sideways, laugh, forgive, and try again. The point isn’t to perform a ritual; it’s to host His presence. Remember: Jesus did some of His deepest work at tables – calling Levi, forgiving a sinner, and opening Scripture after the resurrection. If He met people at their tables, then He can meet your family at yours now.

Prayer – “Father, make our homes little sanctuaries in a noisy world. Teach our mouths to bless, our hearts to forgive, and our hands to serve. Let Your peace be the atmosphere of our table, Your Word the language of our love, and Your Spirit the bond of our unity. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

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28 Fundamentals: Stewardship

# 21

awpaw, you got a minute?” Mark peered around the “P door of the bedroom of Albert Groot (aka “Pawpaw,” his grandfather).

Pawpaw turned in his swivel chair from his small, roll-top desk. “Sure, what’s happening?”

Mark stepped through the door. “I’ve got to do a presentation to my Bible Teachings class when I get back to college after this Thanksgiving break.”

Pawpaw leaned back in his chair. “What’s the topic?”

“Stewardship.”

“You already done your research?”

“Yep, right here.” Mark held up his yellow tablet. “But I don’t want it to be just about money. Can I run a few ideas past you?”

“Sure.” Pawpaw stood up and sidled through the doorway past Mark. “Let’s go talk in the den. Too crowded in here for a good discussion. Need thinkin’ room.”

Mark followed him down the hall and into the den. Pawpaw sat in his favorite chair near the fireplace where the morning’s ashes still glowed red. Mark sat in the rocker across from him.

“So . . . Where are you starting?” Pawpaw’s right elbow perched on the chair arm, his folded hand resting against his cheek.

“Like I said – I’m trying to avoid the usual financial theme.” Mark leaned into his topic with eager confidence.

“So, I’m starting with other areas where we are also stewards: our bodies and minds, our spiritual gifts, our time, and our material goods.” When he saw Pawpaw’s fingers unfold and touch his temple, he paused. “What are you thinking, Pawpaw?”

Pawpaw laughed. “Am I that obvious?” When Mark nodded with a smile, he went on. “Suggestion: start with Psalm 24:1 – it establishes God’s ownership of everything.”

Mark thumbed through his phone Bible. “Hmmm. Okay.

I get it. I can establish that stewardship results from God’s ownership, then He re-assigns management of His property to us as His stewards. I was having a hard time getting that point where it belonged.” Mark added Pawpaw’s scripture suggestion, some notes, and a big arrow pointing to the top of the page on his yellow tablet.

“Exactly.” Pawpaw nodded his approval. “Define stewardship as management of God’s property. Then, you can list the areas of His property that we are given to manage.”

Mark nodded as he scribbled on his paper. “Okay, got it.”

He began pointing to his previous notes as he spoke animatedly. “Now . . . I will discuss the areas of management personally given to each of us. 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20 – is our own bodies and minds. 1 Corinthians 12:7, 11 – is our spiritual gifts and abilities. Ephesians 5:15, 16 – is our time.

This includes our holy time with God – the Sabbath. I’m using Isaiah 58:13, 14 because it specifically addresses what we do with our time on Sabbath, not what the Sabbath represents.” Then he stopped and looked up.

After an awkward moment, Pawpaw asked, “What’s wrong?”

Mark blew out a big breath. “This is where I get stuck.

Money . . . and things.” He tapped his paper emphatically. “I don’t want make it sound like money is the main topic of the talk. And I’m stuck as to how to avoid it.”

Pawpaw tapped his fingertips together as he contemplated Mark’s dilemma. Then he looked up at Mark. “Were you going to use a biblical example of each of your other points?

“Yes, I was planning to.”

Mark cocked his head to one side, nodding slowly.

“Then . . . how ‘bout comparing the attitude of the man who built bigger barns to hold his increased abundance with the attitude of the widow who gave her last two coins – and saying that the management of finances is not about the amount of money but the attitude toward money. And that this attitude is the real secret of stewardship in every area of life.”

“But what about tithes and offerings?” Mark asked.

‘They’re a big topic in the Bible.”

“I wouldn’t shy away from tithes and offerings. Just say that the Bible gives lots of detailed specifics about tithes and offerings that a Bible search will reveal.” Pawpaw was warming to his topic, creatively thinking as he was speaking. “But the main point about stewardship is management of God’s resources – whether the ten percent or the ninety percent – based on attitude: thoughtful planning, compassionate caring, and others-focused – whether to God or to others.”

Mark laid down his pen. “I like it, Pawpaw. That’s where I wanted to go. I wanted to end with 1 Corinthians 4:2.”

“And furthermore that it’s required from stewards, that one be found faithful and trustworthy.”

“I think that’s your own translation, Pawpaw,” Mark said with a chuckle.

Pawpaw laughed with him. “Something like that. Because I love the impact of that verse.”

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The Open Door I. Adam pauses in the field, leaning on his hoe. Sweat drips off his eyebrows, blurring his vision. It’s so hot, and the ground is so hard. He must clear away these thistles, readying the land to plant a vegetable crop. It’s slow going.

The dew doesn’t seep into the earth as it did in his first garden. This land is dry and resistant, stony-faced under the curse.

Before Cain fled East, he helped his father. In fact, he was better than Adam at cajoling this hostile soil to grow the seed that keeps their family alive. But spilled blood further cursed the land. Now both Abel, Adam’s gentle lamb-raiser, and Cain, his tough hoe-handler, are gone. Seth helps, of course, but he is still learning – and there is so much to do.

Adam looks up at the blazing sun, harsh ruler of the day, then back across the field he is clearing. Eve, paused in her own work, brings a cruse of water up from the river. She hands it to Adam, who drinks deeply. Leaning her head against Adam’s arm, they gaze longingly up toward the highest hill. The tired pair know that just beyond their sight is the door, the way into the garden of perfection, the garden of God. Whenever they go back, the blazing cherubim look upon them with pity as the human family offer their sacrifices – for they cannot return until the snake-striking Son fulfills the promise. They sigh, standing in the thorny field, gazing toward paradise. But because of their choices, the door is shut.

II. Eleazar stands within the first chamber of God’s tent in the center of the Hebrew camp. It is the Sabbath. He exchanges the week-old challah bread on the table for twelve freshly baked ring loaves. In the Holy Place the delicious smell of fresh bread mixes with the smells of pure olive oil burning in the seven lamps of the menorah and the incense of frankincense resin lingering on the altar of prayer. Yet these scents cannot fully cover the metallic odor of blood, pervasive in the tabernacle.

Laying the challah in two rows of six, putting frankincense with each row, Eleazar glances at the veil separating him from the second chamber where God’s glory gleams between the cherubim, hovering over the covenant ark and its mercy seat. He, like his father Aaron, the high priest before him, can enter past the veil to the holiest chamber only once a year. It has only been a few weeks, but already

the veil is stained with dark spatters of blood from the sevenfold sprinkling of each sin offering.

Just as blood polluted the land before the flood and at the murder of Abel, so the blood of these sin offerings befouls the beautiful curtain, the altar, and the surrounding area.

From the veil, woven cherubim stare down – with pity, thinks Eleazar in his imagination – upon the priests who sprinkle the blood, pray while offering incense, tend the lamps, and change out the weekly bread. No matter how much blood builds up on the veil, the priests cannot remove it or clean it until the next Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Until the holy day, the blood stinks within the tabernacle, getting stronger and stronger. Though he prays from the Holy Place, Eleazar cannot enter God’s presence.

The door is shut.

III. Jesus hangs on the Roman tree on Skull Hill outside the northwestern gates of Jerusalem. It is the Preparation Day, and Passover season as well. A thick, unnatural darkness enshrouds all for nearly three hours. The time of the evening sacrifice draws near.

From the cross, a voice is heard: “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” Some watchers assume that Jesus is calling out about Elijah. In reality, He is beginning a short series of quotes from Psalm 22, poetically foretelling His own death and resurrection.

Gasping for air, pushing up with straining legs, Jesus croaks out His last words: “Father, my last breath is in your hands. . . . . It is finished!”

His body sags; the nails and bindings dig more cruelly into his flesh. But He no longer feels pain. The light has gone out of his eyes; His collapsing lungs push a final death rattle between his teeth.

For a moment, silence shudders under the weight of millennia of violence, selfishness, and sin crushing the life out of the only human who has never sinned. The serpent’s death venom enters His being. For an instant, the devil snake rejoices, quickly replaced by cold fear striking his heart, for this very death is his own undoing. The earth lurches and spasms; rocks split open with chaotic sounds as the sinless Lamb of God gives His own life as the ultimate sacrifice.

In the temple, a great tearing sound shreds the mood of the Passover’s evening slaughter. The massive veil, its gleaming guardians interwoven, is ripping down the middle, top to bottom. The Holiest of All is unveiled. The promise is kept. And now, the door stands open.

IV. “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

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“What Am I Eating?” he medical community is at last seriously T considering the mounting information concerning what their patients eat and its effect on their health.

Because bogus dogma and sensational claims abound, doctors tend to view all dietary advice with a jaundiced eye. Now a plethora of scientifically-verified information has appeared over the last 5-8 years in reputable, welldocumented medical journals (BMJ, Lancet, JAMA, Int’l. J. of Epidem., Bull. of WHO, etc.) leading to startling statistics and solid dietary recommendations.

The focus of these articles is on ultra-processed foods – a categorization that includes what’s known as “junk food” but also food refined, modified, and altered from its original state. This description comes from a study done 50 years ago in Brazil, investigating the rapid rise of lifestyle diseases and the change of food available in Brazil.

Proposed categories of foods are in four groups, Group 1 – unprocessed food sold in their natural state, altered only by cleaning, drying, or freezing – fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts, legumes, eggs, milk, fresh meat; Group 2 – processed foods using pressing, refining, or culinary ingredients such as oils, butter, salt, sugar, honey, vinegar; Group 3 – processed foods using combinations of groups 1 and 2 and common kitchen processes such as baking, boiling, or frying – canned vegetables, salted nuts, cheese, fresh-baked bread, fresh pasta dishes, soups from fresh ingredients; Group 4 – ultra-processed foods that are the result of industrially formulated processes – liquids, packaged snacks, chips, refined cereal products or boxed, bagged, canned or frozen mixes and preparations with supplemental nutrients, food additives, preservatives, artificial flavors and coloring agents – soft drinks, altered water, packaged snacks, chips, “instant” preparations, ready-to-eat meals, sugary cereals, reconstituted meat products (cold cuts, sausages, hot dogs).

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), ultra-processed foods account for 55% of the calories consumed by Americans and 62% of the foods consumed by children 1-18 years of age. Australians consume 42% of their calories from this category. Italy and South Korea come in at 10-25%. Mexico and Columbia consume 16-30 % of their calories from this category.

The threat of eating primarily from ultra-processed foods

was revealed in 45 reviews of studies in multiple countries and multiple age groups constituting nearly 9.9 million people.

Compared to people consuming a healthy diet, those consuming an ultra-processed diet eat 500 more calories per day and gain an average of one pound per day. The factors contributing to this high weight gain include tendency to eat these foods more rapidly, high calorie content, intense appeal to taste (rather than nutrition), and lack of fiber bulk to signal fullness.

Ultra-processed foods are consistently associated with higher risks of cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes, especially in younger adults (recent increased incidence of stroke and MI in 35-50 year olds.)

Children, ages 3 to 6 years, who consume more ultraprocessed foods have an increased BMI, waist circumference, fat mass index, and fasting glucose and a decreased HDL cholesterol. These parameters suggest the potential for increased cardiometabolic risk in early adult life.

Emerging relationships are developing between increased consumption of ultra-processed food and the risk of cancer, inflammation, cardiometabolic disease, and chronic medical conditions.

People eating a significant amount of their calories from ultra-processed food have a higher risk of depression and psychological distress, possibly due to nutritional deficiencies, inflammation, changes in gut microbiota, and altered neurotransmitter synthesis (serotonin, dopamine, and others).

Those who want to investigate their foods can consult Open Food Facts – an impartial, consumer-contributed, on-line website that lists the generic name, quantity and packaging, manufacturer and distributor, countries and stores where available, list of ingredients, potential allergies, nutritional info and value, and sales bar code for over 2.3 million foods in 182 countries.

OR – one can begin by building a personal eating program based on whole grains (roasted, rolled, ground, cooked, baked), legumes (beans and peas), fruits and vegetables (fresh, dried, frozen), nuts and seeds, and polyunsaturated vegetable oils consumed in quantities to maintain ideal weight along with a moderate exercise program. Guidelines for such a personal program of nutrition are easily found in the USDA ideal nutrition program or any of several Mediterranean-style dietary programs.

Either way, the medical community is recommending that we all take control of our eating habits to avoid the disastrous results from eating foods high in calories, low in nutrition, and with additives that are not food.

Page 8 | www.ArdenAdventist.org

LIVE IT IN THE KITCHEN

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Servings per recipe: 16

INGREDIENTS 3 Eggs, room temperature 3 1/4 Cup- All-purpose flour 2 Cup- Carrots, shredded

1 Tbsp- Vanilla extract 2 1/2 Tsp- Baking powder 3/4 Tsp- Baking soda

1 Cup- Apple, peeled and diced 1 Cup- Oil 1 Cup- Zucchini, shredded (unpeeled)

1/2 Tsp- Salt Pinch of ground cloves Pinch of ground nutmeg 1/2 Cup- Pecans, chopped

1/2 Cup- Honey 1/2 Cup- Sugar 1/4 Cup- Orange juice 1 Tbsp- Cinnamon

(optional) 1/4 Cup- Whole pecans for topping (optional)

DIRECTIONS Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8x4 inch loaf pans.

Blend oil, honey, egg, orange juice, and vanilla together. Combine flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg together.

Fold dry ingredients into wet along with carrots, zucchini, apples, and pecans.

Pour into prepared pans.

Bake until golden brown, approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until loaves spring back when gently pressed with fingers. Let cool before slicing.

Watch Live It in the Kitchen, a cooking show that inspires healthy, wholesome home cooking. In less than one minute, each episode demonstrates quick, easy vegetarian meals and snacks to help keep your family satisfied.

https://lluh.org/patients-visitors/health-wellness/live-it/kitchen Page 9 | www.ArdenAdventist.org

Tying His Shoes (based on a true incident)

by Max Hammonds

ome is where when you go there, they have to take “H you in.” Robert Frost, “The Death of the Hired Man.” Forty years ago, Jeremy was a successful businessman on the outskirts of Chicago, an active elder in his church, and the loving father of three sons and a daughter. The business that he had started was small, had only a few employees, and depended on his constant, twelve-hour-a-day management to keep it successful. His wife, Constance, worked hard at creating a loving environment for the family, especially for the last child, an adopted little boy with a major physical disability.

Because of Jeremy’s rigorous workload, Constance had become quite proficient at adapting the family schedule for tending their ½ acre garden, house and lawn care, meals, and family devotions to fit around Jeremy’s time requirements and the children’s school activities.

But the strain of adjusting these tight schedules to the requirements of a special needs child stretched the family’s resilience to the breaking point.

Nerves were frayed. Patience wore thin. Kindness was in short supply.

Frank was the second son. As the first son, Carl, Frank’s older brother, had a unique relationship with their father.

He strove to receive his father’s approval and basked in the praise that came with his successes. Even a busy father like Jeremy responded to this need of his first son. But Frank was the second son.

Frank was not ignored. But Frank wasn’t in first position.

He wasn’t the natural pride of his father. Like many second sons, Frank found his approval as a small child first in his mother. In his teen years his approval came from other male figures, sports coaches and school teachers who saw Frank’s excellent potential, physically and intellectually. As these role models played an increasingly significant part in Frank’s life, his relationship with his father became more distant.

When the special needs little boy joined the family, all the relationships in the family suffered. But the ones that struggled the most were the ones that were already distant.

It was a bad time for the entire family. But when work was left undone in the garden, when a task went undone for the young child, when Constance took a two week retreat to New Hampshire alone, when Jeremy lost control, he yelled at Frank, who – in his late teen years – sometimes yelled back, then stomped out of the house.

Over the intervening years, the family enjoyed a quiet vacation one week a year at an Oregon beach. The special needs child died as had been expected at fourteen years old. After that, no one returned to the Oregon coast for a vacation.

Frank went to medical school to understand why the child had died and moved to Portland, Oregon to be near the beach memories. Carl went to law school as his father had wanted him to do and moved to Atlanta. At 67, Jeremy had a major heart attack which severely crippled him. The daughter, Christine, took over the thriving family business.

Constance built scrapbooks from treasured pictures taken at the beach and hid the agony of the difficult times and torn family relationships deep in her heart.

Last Labor Day weekend, for Jeremy’s 80th birthday, all the family met at a timeshare unit Frank owned near the old vacation spot on the Oregon coast. Frank, still single, played the host. Carl and his family of four flew out from Atlanta.

Christine and her husband pushed Jeremy’s wheelchair through O’Hare airport, accompanying the folks on the airplane trip.

On their third day, Carl caught his father wistfully gazing out the window overlooking the rocky cliff face at the beach and tidepools down below. He nudged Frank, and together they approached their father.

“You want to go down there, Papa?”

“Can’t. Can’t walk.”

“We can make it happen.”

Together Carl and Frank joined arms to make a chair.

Despite their mother’s protest, they carried their father down the 110 steps to the rocky beach. With one son on each arm, they walked Jeremy slowly over the stones to the tidepools he had explored with them years before.

Carl was the one who noticed that Jeremy’s shoe was untied. Frank knelt on the wet sand and securely tied the laces. He looked up into his father’s face where tears trickled from his tired eyes into his thin, white beard.

Frank gathered his father in his strong arms and hugged him close to his heart.

Page 10 | www.ArdenAdventist.org

Arden Seventh-day Adventist Church Is a Safe Place to Grow.

Our family focus this month features Marion Ezzell who joined the Arden Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) church in August 2025.

Born in Asheville, North Carolina, Marion was raised in Hampton Roads, Virginia in the Tidewater area. She has one sister and two brothers. Her mother was a Seventh-day Adventist, raising Marion in the same faith. She was baptized when twelve years old and rebaptized forty years later at the Sharon SDA church.

Attending Hampton Road SDA Church school through the tenth grade, she finished her junior year at Shenandoah Valley Academy and her senior year at Fletcher Academy. She began attending classes at the Dublin, Georgia V. A. Hospital to be a Certified Lab Assistant (CLA). That course being discontinued, they “grandfathered” her in as a Medical Lab Technician. She lived with her aunt in Dublin which was a blessing to her.

Marion worked forty years in various positions as a Medical Lab Technician, her first job being at Pardee Hospital in Hendersonville, North Carolina. After her marriage, she and her husband moved to Charlotte, North Carolina where she spent most of her life. The last eighteen years Marion worked at LabCorp, retiring in 2016.

She is divorced, having two sons by her first husband and one son by her second husband. All live in Charlotte. Jason is her oldest son, Matthew, her middle son, and Christopher, her youngest.

Marion was a member of the University City SDA Church in Charlotte. She moved back to the Asheville area because of her love of the beautiful mountains.

She attended the Foster SDA Church, then moved to within six minutes of the Arden church. Even though she had planned to visit many area churches, she visited Arden first. One visit was all she needed! She loves Pastor Eric and considers him the best pastor she has ever had. She also loves the nice blend of Arden’s being contemporary, yet conservative, and enjoys the traditional hymns.

Marion’s hobbies include reading and walking. She has traveled to the Bahamas, Nebraska, Florida, Virginia, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina and Tennessee. She frequently travels to visit her sons and grandchildren which she thoroughly enjoys.

Within a few months of retirement, she found out she had breast cancer which led to a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery at 66 years old. Her family having a history of breast cancer, she wanted to do this early. She never had to have chemo or radiation and is doing very well and is very grateful.

Marion lives with her brother. After caring for her mother for ten years, Marion had to place her in Biltmore Haven nursing home where she resided for two years until her passing on November 23, 2025, from Alzheimer’s disease. Her mom, Anna Kelley, will be dearly missed by all who knew and loved her.

Marion decided to go back to work and found a wonderful caregiving organization called “Visiting Angels.” She works four evenings per week at the Julian Woods Retirement community and really enjoys it.

Marion hasn’t found a Sabbath School yet but has made friends with Jean Cutchens and enjoys sitting with her and Glenn for Sabbath potlucks.

We are so happy to welcome Marion to the Arden church family!

Page 11 | www.ArdenAdventist.org

Our Purpose is, by God’s Grace, to reflect His character in our community, to demonstrate a quality of life that will attract all to be reconciled to Jesus Christ, and to encourage people to become His loving, maturing disciples.

Grace Notes Editorial Staff: Max Hammonds ...............................................Editor Chris Small.................................................Columnist Jean Davey..................................................Columnist Max Hammonds ..................Reporter & Columnist Pen Braister-Sturgis ..................................... Reporter Sara McCord ................................................. Reporter Dan Reynolds ............................................... Reporter Arizona McCord ............... Reporter & Proofreader Chris Small ..................................... Special Graphics Jim & Carolyn Sullenberger ................Proofreaders Nolan Darnell ........................ Mailing Management Shirley Wallstrom ...................Circulation Manager Whitney Barron .................................Layout Design Comments, suggestions and praises are always welcome. Please email or contact the church office.

Services each Saturday morning: Sabbath School Bible Study, 9:30 a.m.

Worship Service, 10:45 a.m.

Location: 35 Airport Road, Arden, NC 28704 Located on Highway 280, (Airport Road), 1.5 miles east of I-26 exit 40, and a quarter mile west of Highway 25.

Church Office: Office Manager: Sharline Bliven Office Secretary: Summer Cronin Telephone: (828) 684-6700 Email: office@ardenadventist.org Website: www.ardenadventist.com Office Hours: Mon., Wed., Thurs.,9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Arden Adventist Pastoral Staff: Senior Pastor: Eric Bates, D. Min. Email: ebates@carolinasda.org Associate/Youth Pastor: Rich Maskelony, M .Div. Email: rmaskelony@carolinasda.org

Grace Notes is published monthly by the Arden Seventh-day Adventist Church. Subscription is free by calling or emailing the office. †Do you have questions about what Adventists believe? Would you like to become a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church? Would you like to study the Bible? You are invited to attend a Pastor’s Bible Study Class. Please call for location and time. All are always welcome. † Disclaimer—The contents of Grace Notes, such as text, graphics, images, and other material contained in this magazine of the Arden Seventh-day Adventist Church are for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of a qualified healthcare provider, who is knowledgeable and experienced in the use of specific medical or Lifestyle Medicine interventions, or about questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice, or delay in seeking it, because of information published in this magazine. Neither Grace Notes nor the Arden Seventh-day Adventist Church recommend or endorse any specific tests, products, procedures, opinions, or other information that may be mentioned in published articles.

Reliance on any information provided is solely at your own risk.

If you have a medical emergency, call your healthcare provider or 911 immediately.

Arden Adventist

NONPROFIT ORG U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 80 Arden, NC 28704

GRACE N TES A Magazine for Sharing God’s Love In Our Community

Arden Seventh-day Adventist Church 35 Airport Road Arden, North Carolina 28704 (828) 684-6700 If you no longer wish to receive Grace Notes, or if your address has changed, please contact us.

Arden Mission Trip to Bolivia with Quiet Hour Ministries

Whooo’s invited?

Dates: March 10-23, 2026 Location: Aiquile, Bolivia YOU Are!!!

Project: Multiple simultaneous evangelistic meetings, medical clinic, health education, construction project, and children's meetings

2 way s to m ake a t deduc ax table d onatio n:

2 Annual Fall Craft Sale nd

What:

Bags of Love* Fundraiser - On the Arden church website, Online Giving tab and give under the Mission Projects -

: https://adventistgiving.org/donate/ANT8BL When: BoliviaNovember 16, 2025 -Through the Quiet Hour website. Go to the Bolivia Mission Trip page, click the 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. button "donate" and you may search for specific team members to give directly to their fundraising goal. https://qhministries.org/trips/bolivia-2026/.

Where: code isArden attachedSDA below) Church Community Life Center 35 Airport Road, Arden, NC Why:

To Support Children in Need

*Bags of Love is a faith-based ministry to meet immediate needs of children taken from their homes in Buncombe, Henderson, Transylvania, Polk and Rutherford counties. A “bag” of essential needs & goodies is provided to bring comfort and security to displaced children in their time of feeling lost and confused. Your support of foster children and other children in crisis, is greatly appreciated!

For more info contact: bagsoflove4kids@gmail.com or call (828) 691-5593 CASH OR CHECK ONLY (Thanks)

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DRENCHED , BUT DELIGHTED (December 05, 2025)

Come stand with me beneath the waterfall of grace.

There is no waiting line, no jostling for position. There are no elbows, scornful faces, or murmured whispers of contempt. No one here will keep you from receiving what your withered spirit needs.

This is the fellowship of the redeemed. This is the company of those who gladly —daily—open their parched lives to the “washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5).

Grace isn’t some scarce resource, guarded by the worthy, requiring conservation or close rationing as though it might run out. This is the river of life—re-life; renewal; resurrection—flowing from the grace of Him whose great forgiving is “a spring of water gushing up to eternal life” (John 4:4).

Those who really “get” the grace of God keep pulling all those they love into the healing, rehydrating stream.

The waterfall keeps getting wider. More and more will be revived.

Step out of dry and into drenched.

And stay in grace.

Bill Knott

Page 13 | www.ArdenAdventist.org

WINDOW BOX PUZZLE

,

There are 4, 5, 6 letter words hidden in each row of letters in Column I. The number in parenthesis is the number of letters in the hidden word. All clues describe a door, a door’s place, or what’s behind a door. Think of the rows in Column II as a row of open and closed Windows. The clues to the hidden words are given next to the rows of Windows in Column II. Match each row in column I with its correct set of open Windows in Column II so that the hidden word appears in the open Windows. There is only one way in which each row of letters and each set of Windows are used.

COLUMN I

COLUMN II

1. V A P E I N O L (4) a.

a.

Angel pulled Lot in (Gen. 19:10)

2. A J D A M I R L (4) b.

Jesus seeks entrance (Rev.3:20)

3. O R G A N T I E (4) c.

Anointed him king (2 Kings 9:2, 3)

4. P L E N T E A R (5) d.

Open and shut by God (Gen. 7:16)

5. S H E D A R O T (5) e.

Tearing/opened holy place (Matt. 27:51)

6. T E A M P O L E (6) f.

Hid Sarah, not her laugh (Gen.18:10)

7. C L A M C R I K (3) g.

Carried by strong man (Judges 16:3)

8. S T A R E N O T (4) h.

Awakened by an angel (Acts 7:12)

9. H C O U D S E R (5) i.

Opened by earthquake (Acts 16:26)

10. J A E M H T R U (4) j.

key on his shoulder (Isaiah 22:20, 22) .

Page 14 | www.ArdenAdventist.org