PREPARE THE SANCTUARY!

Recent (November 18) shooting of a teenager - Amon Beckles - a mourner at a funeral for Jamal Hemmings, himself a victim of gunshot slaying a few days earlier, held at the Toronto West Seventh-day Adventist Church, wakes the community of faith to accept the responsibility to positively influence our youth and to prevent escalation of violence in our communities.
Pastor Andrew King of Toronto West Adventist Church, Toronto mayor David Miller, Elder Derrick Nichols, president of the Ontario Conference and several religious leaders, were present at the Church service last Sabbath to support grieving families.
How do you see a church? What is a church for you? Recently I heard a comment "I can't come to a church! It would be hypocritical, because I made mistakes." I am sure you've heard people call church goers "hypocrites." Seems like most people see the church as a showcase for saints, a safe place of refuge where people are holy. Consequently, if you are not holy and perfect - what are you doing in the church?
That is not Biblical view of the Sanctuary. Why did people come to the Temple in Israel? Yes, to pray, to worship, to give thanks! The main reason a person would come is to bring their sins and to leave them behind. Get this: SINNERS CAME TO THE SANCTUARY TO DUMP THEIR SINS THERE.
We, the Seventh-day Adventist made one significant contribution to the Christendom: the SANCTUARY DOCTRINE! Study it, know it, for it is our mission to the dying world - calling people to the Sanctuary!
A garbage dump, a trash can, a waste compactor, a recycle bin - any of these apply to the Sanctuary, to the Church? That is how Israelites knew the Sanctuary. That is exactly what God intended to provide humanity with - a place where we can leave behind all our baggage, all things that beset us, all things that are broken and wasted, so we may live free, so we may receive innocence, Christ's purity and justification.
One day all the collected rubbish will be placed on the scape goat, the devil, where it really belongs. Until then, until the Sanctuary final cleansing - come, bring it, and dump when there's still time!
The Church is a safe place! But not because you and I are there. Because God is there. It is a Holy Place, a Place set apart just for this purpose - to free us from our mess. And it is Holy not because we are holy, but because God is Holy, and makes us too.