❤️📖 FROM THE HEART | 05.06.2026 | Three Relationships | Pastor Erton Köhler
Have you ever wondered whether you truly belong? In a world that values speed and listens slowly, the church must sound different. The Seventh-day Adventist Church is called to keep its doors open and its message clear, with genuine warmth and steady faithfulness. Three relationships help a local congregation remain welcoming and faithful at the same time.
Fellowship is the open porch where anyone can step in without fear. Membership is the family table where a covenant is made and discipleship is practiced. Leadership is the room where example, guidance, and protection are offered with humility. When we understand these relationships, we stop confusing welcome with commitment, and we stop confusing kindness with silence.
Fellowship means that every person is treated with dignity before they are understood, and loved before they are evaluated. We do not ask for a résumé at the door. We offer a handshake, a smile, a seat, and time. “Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God” (Romans 15:7, NKJV). Fellowship means learning names, sharing a meal, praying with a family in crisis, visiting the sick and the lonely. Fellowship creates trust. Trust opens the heart.
Membership is the relationship of a covenant. It is the public step of baptism and the daily step of discipleship. Membership is not earned by talent, background, education, culture, or social status. It is a response to Jesus, a choice to follow Him in truth, worship, and mission. “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15, NKJV).
Leadership is not a higher class of Christian. It is a deeper responsibility. Leaders are not perfect people. They are people who must walk closely with God. Scripture calls leaders to shepherd the flock and to serve willingly, being examples to the flock. True leadership protects both truth and tenderness.
Fellowship keeps our arms open. Membership keeps our identity anchored. Leadership keeps our mission focused. Let us be a people who welcome widely, disciple deeply, and lead gently, until Jesus comes.
About the series
From the Heart is a weekly devotional series in which Pastor Köhler reflects on what it means to be rooted in the Word of the Bible and focused on mission, together and personally. Each episode is based on the four pillars of the strategic plan of the Seventh-day Adventist Church: fellowship with God, identity in Christ, unity through the Holy Spirit, and mission for all.
The series connects biblical faith with everyday life and shares brief reflections and insights into how God works through Adventists around the world.
Pastor Erton Köhler is president of the General Conference of the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church.
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