In a sermon that evoked hearty amens from North American Division (NAD) Annual Council executive committee delegates, official invitees, spouses, and guests alike, Erton Köhler, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, delivered a message centered on Revelation 21:1 during the Oct. 31 Sabbath worship service at NAD headquarters in Columbia, Maryland. In the sermon, he encouraged church leaders to renew their hope in Christ’s return and share that hope boldly.

Köhler, preaching a sermon entitled “A Living Hope,” emphasized to those gathered at the 2026 NAD Annual Council (DAC) the need to ground their mission in Scripture, connecting the hope of Revelation with the Creation account in Genesis. “If you don’t accept the beginning, you won’t be ready for the end,” he said.

Before Köhler took the pulpit, G. Alexander Bryant, NAD president, welcomed him and fellow leaders from the General Conference (GC), saying, “We’re very, very happy to have you in our presence as we worship the Lord in spirit and truth.” Then Bryant shared highlights of Köhler’s ministry, including his service as a district pastor, youth ministries leader, South American Division president, and GC executive secretary before his election as GC president in July 2025.

Bryant emphasized Köhler’s commitment to integration, recalling a 2011 visit by NAD officers to the South American Division. Although they did not hear the word often, they saw ministries working together in an integrated way wherever they went.

“The only way we really can finish the work is we have to integrate our ministries, our gifts, our talents, and our resources, and work as one,” Bryant said as he welcomed Köhler to the podium.

Before getting into his sermon, Köhler expressed gratitude to the NAD, and thankfulness for the music, joking that listeners would rather keep hearing The Asidors singing family than hear him preach in English. “Thank you so very much not only for singing well but for dedicating your gifts to the Lord,” he told the family.

He also thanked the division for its integration with the world church and its mission focus, encouraging leaders to adapt methods while remaining committed to the message.

“We don’t have a formula; we have a mission,” he said.

As he began his sermon, Köhler shared how important it is to start with the beginning of humanity’s story in Genesis. The Bible’s first two chapters and last two chapters present a world without sin, he expounded, linking Creation with the restoration promised in Revelation.

Köhler continued to expand the thought, sharing that in Genesis, tears, pain, and death appear; in Revelation, they disappear. The garden doors close in Genesis and reopen in Revelation. Humanity is created in God’s image; in Revelation, humanity will be recreated in God’s image. Eternal life is lost at the beginning and restored at the end.

“The conflict that began in Genesis will finally be resolved in Revelation,” Köhler said. He also traced the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s origins to Revelation 10, its identity to Revelation 12, and its mission to the three angels’ messages in Revelation 14. He identified Revelation 21 as the expression of its “blessed hope.”

Comparing God’s creation of humanity in Genesis 2:7 with the resurrection promised in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, he explained that faith in Creation prepares believers to trust God’s promise of re-creation.

To illustrate the personal meaning of Revelation 21:1, Köhler shared an imagined scene of John on Patmos, looking at the violent sea surrounding his place of exile. John’s vision of a world with “no more sea,” he suggested, offered assurance that what threatened him would not endure.

“All the things that make us suffer on this earth will no longer exist in heaven,” Köhler said, inviting listeners to consider the promise in relation to cancer, divorce, addiction, unemployment, and their own burdens.

Köhler then turned to the promise of a home in John 14 and the description of believers as strangers and pilgrims in Hebrews 11. He shared a quote from Ellen G. White’s book, The Great Controversy, that echoes Revelation: “On those peaceful plains, beside those living streams, God’s people, so long pilgrims and wanderers, shall find a home” (p. 675). Living hope, he explained, carries two implications: this world is not believers’ ultimate home, and their hope should lead to bold mission.

“This is the place where we need to serve, to work, to help, to preach, to accomplish the mission,” he said of life on earth. “When our eyes are on heaven, our heart is on mission.”

“A hopeless world is looking desperately for a hopeful church,” Köhler added. He asked whether listeners held that hope in their hearts, made it their priority, and proclaimed it to others.

Drawing upon 2 Corinthians 3:12, he reminded the congregation of the connection between hope and boldness. He noted that believers should be active in mission, rather than remaining spectators and critics.

“Those who have hope are bold in mission,” Köhler said, calling on all present to work together. He connected that appeal with the NAD’s emphasis on being “Together in Mission,” saying that unity opens the door for the Holy Spirit to work.

He mentioned his phone case with a smile and chuckle, describing his phone as already “baptized” with OneVoice27 branding and noting that other GC leaders had joined him. He noted that Bryant’s phone had been baptized too. He then brought home this point: a phone can serve very different purposes. “It can be a blessing. It can be a curse,” he said. “It can be a pulpit, or it can be a weapon. It can be a mission field, or it can be a battlefield.”

Köhler described OneVoice27 and All Things New as a call to boldness, acknowledging doubts about whether members around the world would use their personal social media accounts for mission. “Let us try to do something together,” he said.

He urged members to use their devices to share Jesus and the hope of His return. He also highlighted books for sharing that message, including Jesus Makes All Things New, an abridged edition of The Desire of Ages, and a resource explaining Daniel and Revelation through illustrations, QR codes, and additional content.

As he concluded his sermon, Köhler urged listeners to renew their hope, focus on mission, and be bold, even when money or people seemed insufficient. “We have the opportunity now to use the screens, all kinds of screens, to announce . . . [that] Jesus is coming soon,” he said, encouraging investment in sharing the message of Christ’s return. “We don’t have money. Move forward by faith. We don’t have people. Use the people that you have.”

“Don’t do what we did in the past just because it’s easier,” he said. “Be bold.”

He invited everyone willing to say “Count on me, Lord” to stand for prayer, committing their gifts and leadership to sharing hope.

“Use us and use everything we are and everything we have to proclaim hope and to fulfill the mission,” Köhler prayed.