How Will San Antonio Remember Adventists?

What impression will we Seventh-day Adventists leave with the city of San Antonio?

The thoughts of many delegates and attendees are focused on the business items that will be voted upon over the next ten days: others are pondering the elections that will take place. We are thinking about the friends we will see and the new friends we will make. We want to wander through the booths in the exhibition hall and maybe catch a glimpse or get a selfie with our favorite Adventist celebrity.

But can we pause for a moment to ask the question, “What impression will we leave on the city of San Antonio at the end of these ten days?”

How we answer that question speaks more to who we are than any of the “church” activities that will happen within the walls of the Alamo Dome or the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center.

“The church is God’s appointed agency for the salvation of men. It was organized for service, and its mission is to carry the gospel to the world. From the beginning it has been God’s plan that through His church shall be reflected to the world His fullness and His sufficiency. The members of the church, those whom He has called out of darkness into His marvelous light, are to show forth His glory. The church is the repository of the riches of the grace of Christ; and through the church will eventually be made manifest, even to “the principalities and powers in heavenly places,” the final and full display of the love of God.” Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, p. 9.

Will San Antonio agree that this is what The Seventh-day Adventist Church is all about at the end of these 10 days? Oh I pray with all my heart it may be so!

To accomplish this, I want to encourage each of us with just two words: BE GENEROUS!

Be generous in conversation with the San Antonians we come across. Engage, engage, engage!

Be generous in tipping your waiters and waitresses, your cab drivers, and your hotel staff. When you pull out your wallet to tip, take out what you normally give, and then give a little more.

Be generous in smiling. Yes I said smiling: let people see there’s something different about you by the way your face radiates an inner gladness.

Be generous in your affirmation. Look for opportunities to tell a San Antonian, “Good job.”

Be generous in commending their basketball team—the San Antonio Spurs–even if you are a Los Angeles Lakers fan.

Be generous in helping someone you see in need.

Be generous, if given the opportunity, to share the reason for the hope you have in Christ Jesus.

Be generous in praying for the salvation of every person in this city.

Be generous, be generous, be generous!

And by our generosity over the next ten days, our readiness to give more, may San Antonio know we are truly a church in love with Jesus!