"All Things New," Part 1 with Pastor Chad Stuart - September 5, 2026

And 1,999 years ago, this year was AD 27, 1,999 years ago.

And there's something that's significant for this church that happened 1,999 years ago.

The Fidinay amphitheater collapsed.

Now you might say, why is that significant for the Spencerville church?

Let me tell you.

This was a poorly built wooden amphitheater and it collapsed in the town of Fidinay, killing an estimated 20,000 of the 50,000 people in that amphitheater.

This led to two laws, two actions by the Roman Senate.

The first was that they banned gladiatorial games for lower class citizens.

They felt like maybe they were a little too wild and they rocked that place too much and it fell down.

I remember the first time I was at RFK Stadium and people began to cheer and the thing began to move.

And I thought to myself, is this thing gonna fall down?

It was quite terrifying.

Some of you guys remember those days.

But the second thing, the second law they enacted, and this is what is relevant to us, is the Roman Senate enacted some of the first known permit and property inspection licenses.

So if you don't understand why that's significant to Spencerville, then read up a little bit.

But that's ex that's significant to us.

But that's not the thing that really matters about A.D.

27.

Something far more important than that happened in A.D.

527.

I want to invite you to turn your Bibles to Daniel chapter 9.

Daniel 9 · chapter mention

Daniel chapter 9.

Daniel 9 · chapter mention

500 years before God, before Jesus was born, God gave the prophet Daniel a date which pointed to a specific event that would happen in 27 A.D.

Daniel chapter 9 and verse 25.

Daniel 9 · chapter mention

We don't have time to dig deeply into this prophecy, but we're just gonna give a quick overview.

Daniel chapter 9 and verse 25.

Daniel 9 · chapter mention

Know therefore and understand, this is what the angel said to Daniel, that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of the anointed one, anointed one simply means Messiah.

That's what that word means.

It means the Messiah.

From the coming of the anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks and four sixty-two weeks.

Again, kind of Bible language, but seven weeks and four sixty-two weeks simply means sixty-nine weeks.

And Daniel is told in this prophecy that after sixty-nine weeks, there will be an anointed one.

There will be a prince.

There will be a messiah.

Now, one of the principles that is important for understanding this prophecy, this isn't a principle made up by me, it's not a principle made up by Seventh-day Amnas.

This is a principle you can read in other places and amongst other scholars all around, was a principle that was known as the day-year principle.

And the day year principle is this it is a prophetic day represents a real-time year, a literal year.

So a prophetic day equals a literal year.

Some evidences of this are in the book of Ezekiel, chapter 4, verses 5 and 6, the book of Numbers, 14, and verse 34.

Ezekiel 4:5

And so Daniel gets this prophecy and he he hears these words, 69 weeks, and then the anointed one shall come.

69 weeks, 483 years.

And Daniel is told also in that prophecy that this prophecy would be fulfilled, or this prophecy would start, that timeline would start in the year that the commandment went forth to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.

And that year was 457.

And again, you can read this all.

Check me, you should always be scholars yourself of the Word of God.

You can read this in Ezra chapter 7, verses 1 through 26.

Ezra 7:1–26

When Arta Xerxes gave the order that the Jews could go back and restore and rebuild and build Jerusalem.

So if we start there and we count forward, 69 weeks equals seven times seven days equals 483 prophetic years, and we get to the year 27 A.D.

And specifically the fall of 27 A.D.

So what happened in 27 A.D.

It wasn't the collapsing theater that Daniel was prophesying about or that the angel sent the message for.

It was something much more significant.

And I invite you to open your Bibles to the book of Matthew, chapter 3, or on your phones, but only as long as you don't scroll anywhere else once you're there.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 3, beginning in verse 13.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 3, beginning in verse 13, and reading through 17.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

Then Jesus, our Messiah, came from Galilee to the Jordan to John.

That's John the Baptist, to be baptized by him.

John would have prevented him, saying, I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?

But Jesus answered him, Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.

And then John consented.

Verse 16.

And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were open to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove.

And a voice from heaven said, This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased.

Jesus waded into that Jordan River.

The heavens are open.

A dove descends, representing the Spirit or as the Spirit, and then this voice from heaven says, This is my son, I am well pleased.

That is an anointing.

That is God anointing the Messiah.

This moment is the inauguration, is the inauguration of Jesus' public ministry.

Jesus came into this world, the Bible says, to save sinners.

And his ministry, his public ministry, was all about communicating this message to the world.

Right on schedule, five centuries after Daniel had written it down.

If we do the math, from 483 to 27 AD is 480, 457 to 27 AD is 483 years.

And if we go from that point till now, that means next year, in the fall of next year, 2,000 years will be the 2000th anniversary of the baptism, the inauguration of Jesus' ministry to save each and every one of us.

Now think about this.

Think about all the various events that we have celebrations for.

Think about the holidays that we actually do emphasize something that Jesus has done.

We have Christmas.

We have Christmas for Jesus' birth.

We have we have the resurrection or we have Easter for Jesus' death and resurrection.

The baptism Jesus, 2,000-year anniversary, is in the fall of 2027.

The baptism seems like a good season for all of us to pause and invite people to consider Jesus' life and ministry.

It seems like we should celebrate as well the inauguration of Jesus' ministry, his life on our behalf.

I remember Anthony Kent, who was up here with me last week and shared his testimony.

I remember Anthony Kent uh came up to me a couple years ago.

It was in our old church.

I remember I can see us standing there in the lobby, and Anthony comes up to me and he said, Hey, hey Chad, in just a few years, it's gonna be the 2000th anniversary of Jesus' baptism.

And he was all excited.

And and I and I had a I I just stared at him.

Okay.

And then he said, We should do something for that.

And I had this very profound, profound pastoral answer.

I said, Okay, cool.

And that was the the end of the of the conversation that Ann Anthony and I had.

Well, I guess some other believers agreed with him because there's been this call for believers all over this world to mark 2027, the fall of 2027, as the anniversary of Jesus' baptism.

Not with a party, though, not with cakes and and streamers and all of these things, but by doing the very things Jesus started doing that day, proclaiming that He and He alone can save us.

That He and He alone can make all things new.

It's an initiative that the church has declared called One Voice 27, which is truly a mission for each and every one of us that are followers of Jesus.

Now, there's been some confusion on this because some people say, well, what am I supposed to just tell people?

It's one voice 27.

No, that's the name of the initiative, but that's not the message of the initiative.

The message of the initiative is actually this meet Jesus, the one who makes all things new.

That's our message.

To tell the world that Jesus is the one who makes all things new.

And by the way, that is straight from a sermon that Jesus preached.

If you turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter 4, just a couple books over from Matthew, Matthew, Mark, Luke.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

Luke chapter 4, in verses 14 and 15.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

The Bible tells us that Jesus, after he was in the desert, he was baptized, then he went into the desert and he communed with God.

He spent time with God, and then we know that the devil came and tried to distract him, tried to tried to steer him away from his mission.

But Jesus overcame through the power of God, through that time he spent with his father in communion.

And then the Bible tells us that he comes back into the city and he begins to preach.

In verse 14 and 15, and Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country, and he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

And look what was the first scripture according to the Gospel of Luke that was his scripture for his inaugural sermon.

Jesus said this in chapter four and verse 17.

He said, And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him, that's Jesus, and he enrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written.

And he read this the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me.

There's that language again.

He has anointed me to proclaim the good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim the liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.

And Luke records just a small portion of Isaiah 61, but Jesus was signaling to us the bigger picture of this message.

First, he was signaling to us that he was the Messiah.

He's saying, I am the anointed one that was prophesied about.

I am the one that is coming.

But secondly, Jesus gave us the direction of his ministry.

If you go to Isaiah chapter 61, if you flip back there real quick to Isaiah chapter 61, we see the the more expansive passage of what Jesus was quoting.

Isaiah 61 · chapter mention Isaiah 61 · chapter mention

One of the things that I was taught when I was in seminary was I was taught that when you see a uh uh a scripture or something quoted in the New Testament, or you you see some illusion in the book of Revelation from the Old Testament, it's good to go back there and look in the Old Testament and see the larger uh context of that message.

And in Isaiah chapter 61 and verse 1, listen to what it says.

Isaiah 61 · chapter mention

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, is what Jesus said.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim the liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, to grant to those who mourn in Zion, to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit, that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations, they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.

To heal and to mend and to share with others.

I believe what Jesus was saying is that I am the one that is going to make all things new.

In Isaiah chapter 61, right there in just those four verses I read, I count a minimum of 14 things in this list.

Isaiah 61 · chapter mention

Where Jesus says, That thing that's bad, I'm gonna make it better.

I'm gonna make it good.

Not just good, I'm gonna make it new again.

Some of you might see yourselves in some of this list here.

Those who mourn will have joy, those who are brokenhearted will have newness, a peace and life and love in their hearts.

The things that are devastated in your life, the things that have crumbled, and you you wonder how they're ever going to be restored, Jesus comes and he says, I am going to make all things new.

That is the message of Jesus' first sermon, and that is the message in Romans chapter, Revelation chapter 21 and verse 5.

Revelation 21 · chapter mention

Jesus says, Behold, I am coming and I make all things new.

If that is Jesus' first sermon, shouldn't that be a sermon that we're preaching to every single person in this world?

You need hope?

Jesus is the answer.

You need peace, Jesus is the answer.

You need some encouragement that things are going to be better than they are right now.

Jesus is the answer.

I am making all things new.

And what would be a better way to commemorate Jesus' ministry and message than to honor his anniversary by us as a people declaring to the world that Jesus is the one who makes all things new.

Now we can't make all things new, but we can point people to the one who can make all things new.

Now I want to be honest.

Let's be honest with each other for a moment.

This is a new initiative, but it's not really actually new.

It's not really actually a new initiative.

In fact, if you read in scripture, you'll find that it is a very old initiative.

Recently, I heard uh Pastor Kohler point out, he said, there's never been a need for more voices to be sharing with people the hope that is in Jesus.

He said, all around you look and you see the tragedies and the struggles and the doubts that are increasing.

And he said the need to share hope with people is on the rise.

And yet he pointed out a sad statistic, which is actually true.

It's not just perception, but it is true.

He said, While the need to share hope with others is on the rise, the engagement amongst followers of Jesus is actually in decline.

That's not a recipe for success, folks.

Greater need, less engagement.

That's a recipe for failure.

And so God is calling us back, reminding us in this season to share with the world that Jesus makes all things new.

This beautiful message of newness, which is actually from long ago and from of old.

You can read all about it in the scriptures.

In fact, there are five direct, five direct commissions in the Bible for us to go out and to be witnesses for Him.

There are more than 60 imperatives that we are decl to declare the good news of Jesus in the Bible.

Imperative simply is the word that means it's a command.

God telling us, if you're a follower of me, then this is your command that you are to take my message and share with the world.

There are over 300 plus passages that reference the missionary work of God throughout history through his people.

This is a new initiative by name, One Voice27, but this is an old initiative that Jesus gave us long ago.

And the reason why we need to be reminded is because while the need for hope has increased, our engagement as followers of Jesus has decreased.

Ellen White wrote, every true disciple is born into the kingdom of God as a missionary.

Every true disciple is born into the kingdom of God as a missionary.

I want to do everything for him in every place, in every situation, in all times, and in all ways.

But that message of hope is not to be kept just for us internally to ourselves, but that message of hope is to go to all the world, to be shared with all the world that Jesus is coming soon and he will make all things new.

And that and Ellen White said that true disciples are born with a passion to share this calling, this hope with others.

And so here's what we want to invite the Spencerville church family to do: three things.

And if you came and you got a bulletin, then you have a paper and you can go ahead and take that out.

You can follow along there.

But three things we're asking you to do as a church family, as individuals within a church family and also us collectively.

The first is we should pray.

Pray for Jesus to be a part of your life at all times and in all spaces, and pray that he would give your mind the heart and the creativity and the desire to share Jesus in your home, in your school, in your workplace, in your neighborhood, on social media.

It's part of the big part of this initiative.

That is what the first step.

Pray.

Pray, Jesus, Lord, come into my heart and give me a passion for you that I want to share you with others wherever I am at all times and in all spaces.

The second thing that we're asking you to do is to read.

Beginning September 12, we're gonna have a plan here for you of reading over the next year the desire of ages.

We're gonna take it really slow.

So if you're like one of these people, like, oh, it's a big book, I I'll get lost or I'll fall behind.

No, we're gonna take it really, really slow.

And the reason for that is because we want to drink deeply from that wonderful book and to learn more and more about Jesus.

And the reason why we want you to read Desire of Ages is because outside of the Bible, I believe it is the most beautiful testimony of Jesus and his ministry.

Now, how many of you have read the Desire of Ages before?

Good.

Now, with your other hand, raise them up because you're gonna read it again, right?

Amen.

But here's why we want you to spend a year reading about Jesus.

Because I can't say, Oh, I'm gonna go share Jesus unless I myself.

And focused on Jesus.

If I don't know something about someone or something, then I'll leave.

I'll lose the motivation.

Maybe I'll feel foolish when I'm out there sharing.

But if I've had an experience with Jesus every single day, then I will have that urge to share him with others.

Because we believe, we believe that the more that we focus on Jesus, the more we will come to know Jesus.

And the more that we come to know Jesus, the more that we will love Jesus.

And the more that we love Jesus, the more that we will live for Jesus.

And the more that we live for Jesus, the more others will see in what we say and what we do, the characters of Jesus, and they will say, I want to know him too.

So one, we pray.

Two, we're gonna read and study and spend time with Jesus every single day.

And number three is we're going to share with Jesus, share about Jesus.

And day one of that sharing is today.

We're asking every church member, and I'm gonna talk to uh uh probably a large majority of you, but a specific group, every single church member who has social media to turn it into a tool for missionary work today.

Now, we all know that we share all kinds of nonsense on social media.

I mean, I've gotten things about cats and I've gotten things about people like falling on their faces or slipping on ice.

The other night I was watching uh uh I was watching this this thing, and Christina was laying in bed next to me asleep, and I was I kept laughing.

Babe, did I wake you up when I kept laughing?

I don't know.

She was in here just a second ago.

I think she's here.

There she is.

I was laughing, oh man, and I just kept we have all kinds of nonsense that we share.

Why don't we ask God to sanctify our devices and to use them for his glory?

The Adventist Church is setting the goal for today, September 5, of one million posts across multiple platforms with members of the church sharing that Jesus makes all things new.

That Jesus makes all things new.

Now, why is there so much emphasis on social media?

It's because of this, folks.

There is a digital mission field out there.

70% of the global population is on social media.

If someone's 18 years or older, 94% of all those 18 years are older or on social media.

There's an average, there's an average of every 9.3 new users every second.

So, in other words, in the 30-so minutes I have preached this sermon, 16,000 new people have entered into the world of social media.

So we need to be in that space, telling those people that Jesus makes all things new.

Every post that you make, sharing that truth, sharing the hope that you have in Jesus, is participating in that great commission.

Share stories about your life.

Share stories about the hope that you have in Jesus.

Share scriptures that just inspire you.

Re-post someone else's thing if you're not creative.

But be creative and find ways to speak to people about Jesus.

And when you do, share this hashtag all things new.

Now I'm gonna tell you one of the reasons why I love this initiative.

Well, I'm gonna give you three reasons why I love this initiative.

One is because I know what it was like to be lost and to discover some sort of hope in Jesus.

And there's people that are in your lives that know what it feels like to be lost right now, but they don't know what it feels like to have hope.

And they need to have hope.

The second reason I like it is because it actually is targeting using our younger generation as evangelists and missionaries for Jesus.

You know, a lot of times a church says things like an army of youth rightly trained, right?

We've heard that statement.

We'll take over the world.

And and we we build things and we build programs and plans that don't really appeal to that generation or don't really utilize that generation's talents or gifts as much as it does old gray heads like me.

This is an opportunity for our young people to use all their creative skills, all their technology skills to share Jesus with others.

And so we want you, starting today, to share things.

Share one post about how Jesus has made something new in your life.

Some sentence, some scripture that you want to share with people that Jesus has made all things new in your life, and hashtag it all things new.

Do that today, and then start doing it day in and day out.

There's something I want to share with you that I just read this morning at 5:30 in the morning when I was reading, getting a head start on my reading in Desire of Ages.

And I read this and I thought, oh man, I need to share this with our church family.

Listen to what Ellen Wright, Ellen White wrote in Desire of Ages.

Lessons must be given to humanity in the language of humanity.

Folks, as much as I hate it, and I do hate it, this is the language of humanity.

This is where most people are most of the days.

People are spending more hours on this device than they are in physical conversations.

Ellen White said, lessons must be given to humanity in the language of humanity.

If you're someone that uses that language, you're in that world, in that space, then use it for Jesus.

Now I know there's some of y'all that don't have social media and you're like, we're off the hook.

No, no, no.

You're not off the hook.

Every true disciple is born into this world a missionary.

You are called to be missionaries also.

My son Lannon came to me this week asking me.

He said, Hey Dad, what can I do for One Voice 27?

And I said to him, I told him, encourage his peers.

I said, share with your peers at Spencerville Academy.

Encourage them to be a part of One Voice 27 Initiative.

And he responded in good teenager wisdom.

He said, He said, Dad, I don't have social media.

And he said, No one does something someone says to do if they aren't doing it.

Well, that's that's true.

I don't know if this was wisdom or a ploy for him to try to get a cell phone.

I'm not sure which one it was.

But let me say this if you are not on social media, you don't need to get on social media.

We have enough of us out there.

Parents, if you don't let your kids on social media, hurrah, I'm right there with you.

We have enough people out there on social media.

The digital influence is digital media, particularly social media.

But one voice 27 is every Spencerville member, every Spencerville voice speaking for Jesus at all times and in all spaces.

At work, if someone needs prayer, you see someone going through a hard time, be bold, take courage, and offer to pray for them.

Do you know in studies that they say the thing that is that is least denied from religious people is prayer.

I've knocked on doors all over this country and I'll offer people literature, I'll offer this, I'll offer that, I'll do any kinds of things.

People will say no left and right.

Almost no one says no to prayer.

It's amazing.

People will accept prayer.

So offer it.

If your neighbor needs help with their groceries, help them.

At school, don't be a bully.

Be nice to the kids around you.

Don't hold grudges.

Forgive and make things right.

As you forgive, so you will be forgiven.

The list of ways we can be more like Jesus goes on and on.

If you need some more, read this book.

There's billions of ways that we can be like Jesus right in this book.

And each time we speak and act like Jesus, we are participating in one voice.

Brothers and sisters, if you heard the call of Jesus in your life, if you know that Jesus is your Savior, then you are called as a true disciple to be a missionary for him.

And some person out there, someone out there might observe your kindness.

They might hear a word from you, they might see some post that you made on social media, and that might be the impetus by which they say, I want what they have.

I want hope in Jesus.

Let me end with this story.

In the late 1800s, John and Mary, husband and wife, were walking down a street, about 1897, were walking down a street in a city just north of Sydney, Australia.

And they happened upon a discarded sheet of paper on the ground.

That paper happened to be a sheet from what was then known as the Review and Herald, now known as the Adventist Review.

They picked that sheet up and they began to read that sheet of paper, and it led them to hope in Jesus.

The hope and the promise of Jesus' second coming.

From this paper that they happened upon that was laying in the road.

It made their lives new, it made their home new.

It made their future new.

This couple, John and Mary, had a son by the name of Francis, Francis Nickel.

Francis F.

D.

Nickel would go on to become the editor of that paper that they picked up off the ground that changed their lives, which is pretty amazing right there.

And Nickel himself impacted tens of thousands of lives over the course of his ministry.

He had a baptize ministry, he baptized hundreds, if not thousands, over the course of his career in ministry, including Alma and Gladys Wilson, two sisters that were married to two brothers, including Bill and Anna Dresser, and including a name that you might recognize if you drive around here and have seen street signs, Thomas Haviland.

On April 19, 1941, F.

D.

Nickel baptized these five people, the first five baptisms of the mission work being done in the little hamlet of Spencerville, Maryland.

The first five baptisms of this Spencerville church were conducted by a man who became a follower of Jesus because his parents were walking down the street and they happened upon truth as they were just strolling up the road.

Who out there might be baptized because someone happens upon some truth that you post on social media.

Because someone happens upon you in this moment where you're thinking about how can I be a witness for Jesus?

The first five members of this church were baptized by a man who had parents strolling down the road, and Jesus had a piece of paper laying before them.

Who are the people that we're going to baptize?

Because people are scrolling through their media at night and they see a post that you made and they become followers of Jesus.

Brothers and sisters, your calling is clear.

My calling is clear.

We are called to be missionaries at all times and in all spaces, telling about, telling people about Jesus, the one who makes all things new.

So my challenge, my question for us is are we in?

Lord Jesus, please help us to be disciples, true disciples, who understand that that means that we are also missionaries.

Lord, I pray, whether it's through our social media or any other means, Lord, we want the message to be spread far and wide.

That in this world that seems so often hopeless, there is hope.

There is good news.

And it is this that Jesus makes all things new.

Give us the boldness to share that, Jesus.

Give us the heart's desire to love you and to love people enough to proclaim your name far and wide.

Our message today is Jesus.

Amen.