that God is not the kind of person His enemies have made Him out to be: arbitrary, unforgiving and severe. Though infinite in majesty and power, our Creator is an equally gracious person who values nothing higher than the freedom, dignity and individuality of His intelligent creatures, that their love, their faithfulness, their willingness to listen and obey may be freely given. Because we believe that is the truth revealed through all the books of Scripture, we Seventh-day Adventists desire to allow the grace of God to mold our lives after the divine pattern, especially as revealed in the life of Jesus Christ: in His noble childhood, His baptism and life of service, His steadfast loyalty and obedience to His Father, His life of prayer and victory. Through respect for God's infinite law of love and liberty, we recognize our helplessness apart from Christ and gratefully accept the free gift of His salvation. We find in the heart of that law an invitation to remember the Sabbath, a God-given memorial of creation and redemption and an eternal safeguard against any attempt at self-righteousness or self-salvation. Even though mankind's lethal experiment with sin has brought with it disease, degeneration and death, we are grateful that God has graciously outlined principles of health and healing in His Word that can help prolong life and improve its quality. We desire to live by these principles to lengthen the years of our fellowship with God and our service to His people for whom Jesus died. Even the sting of death, we believe, has been softened by our loving God who permits those who die to sleep, awaiting the resurrection, safe, protected from viewing the awful consequences of sin that daily break the heart of our infinitely empathetic God. Even when His merciful hand of restraint is finally removed and sin is permitted to reap its final self-destructive reward, even after He has recreated the earth and each and every trace of sin is but a fading memory, His heart will still long for His children who chose the suicide of sin over His gift of eternal life. We believe that even now all heaven is taking a deep interest in each of God's children as Jesus ministers from the throne room of God the benefits of the salvation purchased with His own blood. This continual ministry of love, we believe will soon prepare a people whose overwhelming desire to be like Jesus and to be with Him, will be fulfilled when He comes again. In the meantime, we desire to share with all who will listen, the truth about our gracious God, ministering to their needs not only spiritually, but physically, mentally and emotionally as well. We desire by our lives, our choices of recreation and entertainment, our dress, our words and our behavior to testify truly of the Holy God we love. We covet as the highest of all recommendations the words of God about Job, "He has said of me what is right." Find out for yourself!   
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