Under Grace – Pastor Brian Cassel
Briefing Document: Spring Meadows 7th Day Adventist Church Service – May 31, 2025
Date: May 31, 2025
I. Key Events and Announcements
This church service highlights a vibrant and active community with several significant events and initiatives:
- Potluck and Fellowship Meal: The service concludes with a potluck meal in the fellowship hall, emphasizing community and hospitality. “right after we get fed spiritual food by Pastor Brian we’re going to file out into the fellowship hall and we’re going to have a wonderful potluck meal.”
- Vacation Bible School (VBS):
- Theme: “True North: Trusting Jesus in a Wild World.”
- Start Date: Monday, June 2, 2025.
- Volunteers: Approximately 239 volunteers are involved. A staff training session is scheduled for 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM after the potluck for VBS volunteers.
- Set Design: Special thanks were given to Miss Vanessa, Pastor Alex, and Deanna for their work on the VBS set.
- Final Touches: Volunteers are requested to help with final preparations on Saturday from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM.
- Culmination Sabbath: The following Sabbath (June 7, 2025) will be a special culmination of VBS, encouraging attendance and bringing friends.
- Outreach: VBS is a significant outreach event, with “approximately 350 kids enrolled for VBS and then that number usually goes up higher… twothirds of those kids are non-Adventist kids that are coming because they’re wanting to enjoy the benefits of VBS.” It is described as “one of the best marketing events for our church.”
- Prayer Request: Congregation is asked to pray for more help for VBS and for the children attending, especially those who don’t regularly attend church, that “they will fall in love with Jesus and their hearts will grow big for Jesus.”
- Membership Transfers: Seven individuals are formally welcomed into the Spring Meadow 7th Day Adventist Church family through a second reading of their names and a unanimous vote:
- Sadra Clareville (from French SDA Church)
- T. Rose Hunt (from Deberry Orange City SDA Church)
- Carla Sue Jones (from Taylor Mill SDA Church)
- Travis Moley (from Glendale SDA Church in Phoenix, Arizona)
- Nay Rivas (from Orlando Central SDA Church)
- Cameron Scott (from St. Petersburg SDA Church)
- Sherry Van Allen (from Forest Lake SDA Church in Apopka, Florida) The congregation is encouraged to greet and welcome these new members.
- Baby Dedication: The family of Noamy and Kal, with children Rain and Connor, dedicated their “littlest addition,” Hrix Connor.
- Name Meaning: “Hrix” is of Old English origin, meaning “lord’s manor” or “master of the house.”
- Scriptural Blessing: Ephesians 3:17 (“Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him.”) was given as a blessing, connecting the name’s meaning to Christ dwelling in Hrix’s heart.
- Symbolic Gift: A beautiful quilt made with “great love and care and prayers” was presented.
- Meadows Academy (Daycare/Pre-K):
- Overview: The church campus hosts Meadows Academy, a daycare/pre-K serving “about 92 children” five days a week, focusing on care, learning, and teaching about Jesus.
- Leadership: Dearus Cordiero (Director) and Chandrani Siri Gimpola (Spiritual Director) were recognized for their leadership.
- Pre-K Graduation: A video showed the graduation of 22 children from the pre-K program.
- Spiritual Curriculum: Chandrani shared that they “are introducing Jesus Jesus love to them… with prayer and practicing their kindness toward each other” and teach a “Bible-based curriculum… Bible stories memory verses and singing and teach them to pray.” They also “contact with the parents and to pray with parents.”
- Prayer for Staff and Graduates: A special prayer was offered for the Meadows Academy staff and the families of the graduates, recognizing their “milestone of prek moving into kindergarten and first grade.”
- Offerings and Financial Support:
- The offering is for the church budget, which supports initiatives like VBS.
- Emphasis on God’s provision: “The Lord is my shepherd i have everything I need.”
- Online giving is available as a routine method of donation.
II. Theological and Spiritual Themes
The sermon and prayers centered on several core theological concepts:
- God’s Grace and Sufficiency:
- The “Amazing Grace” hymn underscored God’s saving grace for the lost.
- Elder Mike emphasized that “God’s grace is so sufficient for us.”
- The Psalm 23 reading highlights God as the shepherd who provides “everything I need,” offers “new strength,” and guides “in the right paths.” Even “through the deepest darkness,” God’s rod and staff protect.
- A personal motto shared: “Lord, get in my head before I do,” acknowledging that God’s leading prevents worries and problems.
- God as a Friend and Father:
- The children’s offering song reinforced “God is a father who loves us a friend when we need him our God is a friend we can trust.”
- He provides “peace in the trouble we struggle.”
- Trusting Jesus: The VBS theme “True North: Trusting Jesus in a Wild World” extends to daily life, including trusting Jesus “when we wonder,” “when we’re alone,” “when we’re powerless,” “when we need hope,” and “when we need help.”
- The Nature of Salvation and God’s Law (Sermon by Pastor Brian):
- Context: The sermon addresses the common misconception of two paths to salvation (Old Testament “law” vs. New Testament “grace”). Pastor Brian challenges the idea that “those who lived before the cross going to say ‘Man you guys had an easy road to those of us who lived after the cross?'”
- Misinterpretations: He specifically tackles verses like Hebrews 8 (better covenant, old obsolete) and Romans 6 & 7 (not under law but under grace, delivered from the law). He argues that reading these “at face value” leads to a flawed theology where the law is no longer important or valid.
- Importance of Context: Pastor Brian stresses that “context is important” when interpreting scripture, using humorous newspaper headlines as an analogy for misinterpretation without broader context.
- Paul’s Intent: He explains that Paul in Romans is comparing “the life before and after conversion” and our “relationship to God,” not historical periods. Before Christ, “when we were under the law we were condemned because the law cannot save us.” After accepting Christ, we are “under grace” and “redeemed.” “He’s not saying there’s two paths of salvation it’s not a historical context he’s talking about it’s not an old period of time and a new period of time he’s talking about how we relate to God and our relationship to him it’s experiential and positional.”
- Law is Holy: “Paul’s actually saying that the law is actually holy law is not bad the commandments are just and good the problem is with us not the law of God.”
- Salvation by Grace Through Faith Alone: “by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified… It is all only strictly exclusively by the blood of Jesus and faith in that blood.” Abraham was justified by faith, not works.
- First Commandment Reinterpreted: Pastor Brian re-frames the First Commandment (Exodus 20:1-3), starting with “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt out of the house of what bondage.” He argues that it emphasizes God’s prior deliverance (Passover, blood of the lamb symbolizing Jesus) which forms “the premise of our obedience.” “God’s accomplishment for us forms the premise of our obedience what God has done actually leads to what he’s asking us to do it does not come the other way around where we do then God does.”
- Law as Precept and Promise: The commands are not just “thou shalt not” but also “a promise.” “All of God’s commands in the Bible are always promises as well his biddings are his enablings.” In light of God’s “redeeming love,” “you will not kill, you will not steal, you will not commit adultery.”
- Woman Caught in Adultery (John 8): This story exemplifies the principle. Jesus doesn’t condemn the woman first; he first offers non-condemnation (“Neither do I condemn you”) and then says, “go and sin no more.” This demonstrates that “condemnation perpetuates sin… but God’s love and grace liberates.”
- New Covenant and Identity: God’s grace transforms us from the inside out. “It’s in that belief and acceptance that we are transformed by the power of his love and grace.” The new covenant means God writes his law on our hearts, a reality only possible through His forgiveness and acceptance.
- God’s Unstoppable Love: “God is relating to us as human beings and the universe at large with a love that is unstoppable… He says, ‘I am your God your deliverer i have already done these things i’ve already forgiven i’ve already redeemed you at the cross of Calvary therefore the promise is you will follow me.'”
- Anticipation of Christ’s Second Coming: The closing prayer includes a petition for readiness for God’s “coming is very soon,” desiring to “spend eternity living the dream that you wanted to give us to start with way back in the Garden of Eden.”
III. Community and Outreach Focus
- Hospitality: Evident in the potluck invitation and the welcome extended to new members.
- Children and Youth: A strong emphasis on youth ministries, with VBS being a major annual event and Meadows Academy providing daily spiritual education. The attention given to the children’s offering and the dedication of baby Hrix further highlight this focus.
- Lighthouse in the Community: The church seeks to be “a lighthouse here in our community to witness for you,” with VBS being a prime example of this outreach.
IV. Summary
The Spring Meadows 7th Day Adventist Church presents itself as a dynamic, growing community deeply rooted in its faith. There’s a strong emphasis on practical application of Christian principles, community building, and outreach, especially towards children. The sermon reflects a sophisticated theological understanding, aiming to clarify foundational doctrines like grace, law, and salvation, emphasizing God’s transformative love and redemption as the basis for obedience rather than a set of rules to earn favor. The atmosphere suggests warmth, welcome, and a commitment to spiritual growth and service.
Other Sermons In This Series
Rooted in the Word – Pastor Alex Harter
January 04, 2025
Beginnings Matter – Pastor Jonathan Osorio
January 18, 2025