海角视频

Elizabeth Talbot, former associate speaker for the Voice of Prophecy radio broadcast, spoke at PUC May 18 and 19 about God鈥檚 abounding love and the Holy Spirit鈥檚 calling for each person.

At Friday night Vespers, Talbot focused on the story of the Samaritan woman鈥檚 encounter with Jesus at the well, found in John chapter 4. 鈥淪he had never met anybody who loved her more than her failures,鈥� Talbot said of the Samaritan woman. Talbot outlined five obstacles the Samaritan woman had to overcome before Jesus could reach her.

First came the obstacle of prejudice. Talbot said that this woman had an inferiority complex that prevented her from understanding how Jesus鈥� love transcended society鈥檚 prejudice. 鈥淕od never spoke the prejudice language and never will,鈥� Talbot declared.

Second was superiority, seen in verse 12. The woman asked Jesus if He compared Himself to her ancestor Jacob as a way of giving herself false superiority. 鈥淩eligious superiority is the worst kind,鈥� Talbot said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 when you bully other people with your religious heritage.鈥�

Third was her use of superficial truth, rather than the whole truth. In John 4:17, the woman told Jesus she had no husband, saying nothing of the five husbands she had in the past. 鈥淚n church, we are not very good at truth,鈥� Talbot said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e very good at superficial truth. We all have skeletons in our closets. We are all struggling with something and God knows about it. And He鈥檚 still talking to us. He still loves us. Because where sin abounded, grace abounded even more.鈥�

Fourth was the problem of religiousity, or the misplaced importance on rules and regulations. In asking Jesus on which mountain she was to worship, Talbot said, the woman was diverting attention from her shameful past. 鈥淚f your whole religion is mountains, you鈥檝e missed Jesus,鈥� said Talbot.

Last was procrastination. The woman declared in verse 25, 鈥淚 know the Messiah is coming.鈥� She was not prepared to accept that Jesus鈥攖he Messiah鈥攚as standing before her at that very moment.

Talbot summed up the message as it relates to us today, saying, 鈥溾�業 know what you鈥檝e been through, I know what you鈥檙e going through now, I know the whole thing,鈥� says Jesus, 鈥楢nd I鈥檓 here talking to you because I want you! And I love you above all those other things.鈥欌��

Talbot鈥檚 sermon on Sabbath morning, titled 鈥淥n Dreams and Robes,鈥� centered on Joseph鈥檚 story in Genesis. 鈥淚n spite of your handicaps and dysfunctionalities, God is using you,鈥� Talbot said, describing what would be theme of the sermon. She likened the stages we each go through on the way to realizing our calling to different 鈥渞obes.鈥�

The first robe, Talbot demonstrated, is the robe of one鈥檚 calling. This is the stage where one鈥檚 calling is made clear and he or she becomes passionate. The second robe is the robe of one鈥檚 training. 鈥淚n this stage of your life, your integrity will be tested,鈥� Talbot said, alluding to Joseph鈥檚 situation with Potiphar鈥檚 wife in Genesis 39. The third and last robe is the robe of one鈥檚 investiture. Once we begin working with the gift God has given us, Talbot said not to forget that the gift still comes from God. 鈥淲hen you start believing that the gift is yours, God can no longer use you,鈥� she warned. She called this stage the 鈥渢he tomb of the caterpillar; the womb of the butterfly.鈥�

Talbot was the senior pastor of The Grace Place Seventh-day Adventist Church in Alhambra, Calif., for a number of years. She contributed to denominational history, serving for a time as the only female Adventist pastor of a church in the Southern California area. Her sermons may be found at or by searching the Jesus 101 channel on YouTube.