Who Are We? A Study Series

For the next year we will try to answer a very basic, but very difficult question: Who are we? Who are we as young adult Seventh-day Adventists? To answer this question we will focus on three elements of identity: the past, the present, and goals for the future. We will begin by examining our genealogical heritage as followers of God. We will explore what it meant for our spiritual ancestors to be chosen by God as a special person or group and how they responded to God’s call to be separate and peculiar. We will try to understand what it meant for them to be chosen by exploring why God chooses and what God expects of His chosen. We will also explore how people responded to God’s call. Sometimes it is easy to respond to the call, but as our spiritual ancestors’ testimony demonstrates, many times it is extremely difficult to say yes to God’s calling as chosen and to continue to enthusiastically remain committed to being chosen by God. And sometimes people said no. Is that okay? Or when God chooses, must the response always be yes? We will wrestle with these and other questions as we examine the experiences of the Israelites, Esther, the songs of David, Mary, Elizabeth, Ellen White, the first generation of Seventh-day Adventists and others over the next 13 Sabbaths.
Secondly, we will explore our present by wrestling with our current identity as Seventh-day Adventists in the 21st century. We will examine what it means to be a Seventh-day Adventist young adult today. As a denomination founded partly on the belief that they are a remnant people, a people chosen by God with a special message for the end times, what does it mean to be a part of this chosen group today? And what work has God chosen this group to do? Is this what God is calling you to do? If not, what do you do? To begin to answer these questions we will look at current SDA beliefs and theology.
Lastly, we will explore where we feel led to go in the future. We will ask questions about the future of Christianity in the United States and the future of the SDA church in both the United States but also in the world at large. What is God’s calling for the future and how might we begin to work towards those goals?
We hope that you will join us throughout the next year as we prayerfully and thoughtfully explore our identity as chosen and loved by God.