Closer To Heaven
|
|
|
1 May 2025 | News from Brazil On April 26, the Barreiros Seventh-day Adventist Church initiative in São José, Santa Catarina, organized by regional Adventist Possibility Ministries (APM), hosted an inclusive worship service for people who are blind, deaf, autistic, or physically disabled. Read the full story here. News from Cuba Boyeros Seventh-day Adventist Church […] Source: https://atoday.org/news-from-brazil-cuba-romania-and-north-american-division/
Inside Story for Friday 2nd of May 2025
By Andrew McChesney
When she was 12, Diana began drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana, and listening to hard rock music. Amid the partying, her thoughts turned to God.
God hadn’t been much of a part of Diana’s early childhood. Her father spent a lot of time overseas as a sailor in the Navy, and the family, like many military families, moved every two or three years. A few times, her mother took her and her sisters to church on Sundays when they were very young and lived in Florida.
Image © Pacific Press
Diana had the chance to attend Vacation Bible School, at the age of 10, while living in Norfolk, Virginia. A bus came around her neighborhood from the Baptist church and picked her and her older sister up. She memorized John 3:16 and the books of the Bible. She learned about missionaries and respecting the unchangeable Word of God. She chose to be baptized. The church gave her a spiritual foundation. Outside of church was a different story. Diana was being molested, and the trauma would impact her for years.
Then the family moved again when she was 12, this time to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Many of the neighborhood children used alcohol and drugs, and Diana joined them.
At 14, Diana moved with her family to Monte Vista, Colorado. While smoking marijuana with her new friends, she sometimes spoke about God. When she was 16, many of her friends were required to take religious classes. Wanting a deeper relationship with her friends, Diana attended the classes with them. During one class, the priest declared that the authority of their church was above the authority of the Word of God because the church had changed God’s day of worship from the biblical seventh day, Saturday, to the first day, Sunday.
Diana was shocked and concerned. She remembered learning that God’s Word could not be changed. She wondered, “Why do people worship on the first day when the Bible clearly says to worship on the seventh day?” Diana decided to finish the religious classes but not to attend the church. She kept on drinking, using drugs, and listening to hard rock music. Over time, they became her identity, her life, her religion.
This mission story offers an inside look at how God miraculously worked in the life of Diana Fish, development director of the US-based Holbrook Seventh-day Adventist Indian School, which received the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering in 2021. Thank you for supporting the spread of the gospel with this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering on June 28. Read more about Diana next week.
(0)Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25b-05-inside-story-part-1-a-girls-religion/
Daily Lesson for Friday 2nd of May 2025
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
“ ‘I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.’ Revelation 21:1. The fire that consumes the wicked purifies the earth. Every trace of the curse is swept away. No eternally burning hell will keep before the ransomed the fearful consequences of sin.
“One reminder alone remains: our Redeemer will ever bear the marks of His crucifixion. Upon His wounded head, upon His side, His hands and feet, are the only traces of the cruel work that sin has wrought. Says the prophet, beholding Christ in His glory: ‘He had bright beams coming out of His side: and there was the hiding of His power.’ Habakkuk 3:4, margin. That pierced side whence flowed the crimson stream that reconciled man to God—there is the Saviour’s glory, there ‘the hiding of His power.’ ‘Mighty to save,’ through the sacrifice of redemption, He was therefore strong to execute justice upon them that despised God’s mercy. And the tokens of His humiliation are His highest honor; through the eternal ages the wounds of Calvary will show forth His praise and declare His power.”—Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 674.
Discussion Questions
|
(0)Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25b-05-further-thought-the-nations-part-2/
"If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer" (Matthew 21:22, NIV).
Tag someone in need of prayer, and kindly share your prayer requests here:
https://wkf.ms/3DBuapQ 🎙️ New to streaming or looking to level up? Check out StreamYard and get $10 discount! 😍 https://streamyard.com/pal/d/4769477732859904 Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV9UOqA2VCI
02 – Christ on Trial | Luccas Rodor ➤Subscribe to Doug Batchelor: http://bit.ly/2zptpvf ➤Free Online Bible School: https://bit.ly/31xiNbd ➤Support Amazing Facts: https://www.amazingfacts.org/donate-o… Check out some more Powerful videos: ➤The Devil's Deadliest Deception: https://bit.ly/2O6DpCc ➤Spiritual Warfare: https://bit.ly/2pAWCT1 ➤Hearing the Voice of God: https://bit.ly/2D4souJ Follow us on: ➤Twitter: / amazingfacts ➤Facebook: / amazingfacts ➤Instagram: / amazingfactsministry Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iud_aSz5XB8
Who are the spiritual descendants of Edom, Moab, and Ammon who will escape the King of the North’s invasion and unite with God’s church in the final days? Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4ZcoU-2c6s
Join It Is Written Sabbath School host Eric Flickinger and this quarter’s author, Shawn Boonstra, as they provide additional insights into this week’s Sabbath School lesson.”
<
(0)Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/5-the-nations-part-2-it-is-written-discussions-with-the-author/
View an in-depth discussion of The Nations: Part 2 in the Hope Sabbath School class led by Pastor Derek Morris.
Click on the image below to view the video:
With thanks to Hope Channel – Television that will change your life.
(0)Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/5-the-nations-part-2-hope-sabbath-school-video-discussion/
by Reinder Bruinsma | 30 April 2025 | After a recent day of preaching and teaching in Stuttgart, Germany, I was graciously presented with a copy of Tomáš Halík’s most recent book, The Afternoon of Christianity: The Courage to Change. Tomáš Halík (b. 1948) is a Czech Roman Catholic priest and theologian who has also […] Source: https://atoday.org/the-afternoon-of-adventism/
Lesson 5: The Nations, Part 2………………………………………………………………….
IntroductionGod’s plan moves relentlessly toward its goal. Despite the chaos of human empires and the failures of the church, God continually gathers a faithful people. In this lesson, we see that in the New World God raised up a movement to carry the last warning to humanity. Seventh-day Adventists understand themselves as part of this prophetic commission: to “proclaim again”—to every nation, tribe, language, and people.
………………………………………………………………….
Bible Study
Question 1: What insights do we find in Revelation 10:1–11?
Revelation 10 portrays a mighty angel standing with one foot on the sea and one on the land. This posture symbolizes that God’s message extends over both the old and the new territories—the whole earth. The little scroll that he opens points back to Daniel’s prophecies, especially about the end of earthly kingdoms. The movement that follows is global and urgent. The commission is to prophesy again—now clearly, loudly, and worldwide.
Question 2: Why should the accuracy of Daniel’s prophecies strengthen our trust in God?
The precise sequence of empires that Daniel forecast—from Babylon to the divided kingdoms—demonstrates that God’s Word is utterly reliable. If earlier prophecies were fulfilled in such detail, we can be fully confident that His promise of an ultimate, eternal kingdom will also come true. That assurance gives us stability and hope in a chaotic world.
………………………………………………………………….
Spiritual PrinciplesGod works through history: He guides nations and peoples to fulfill His plan of redemption.
Prophetic fulfillment builds faith: Seeing Scripture come true bolsters our confidence in God’s Word.
“Proclaim again” is for every generation: Each generation must share the gospel with all peoples.
God’s kingdom will replace all earthly realms: We serve not for a temporary triumph but for an eternal crown.
………………………………………………………………….
Practical ApplicationStudy prophecy regularly to grasp God’s overarching plan more fully.
Live as living witnesses: Let your lifestyle, decisions, and words point people to God’s coming kingdom.
Trust the promises: Even when circumstances are bleak, rely on what God has revealed in His Word.
Proclaim boldly: Today more than ever, we must speak of Christ and His return with courage and love.
………………………………………………………………….
ConclusionWe live in a time when ancient prophecies are coming to pass. The “remnant church” is called to be a clear voice for truth. As the world increasingly pursues its own paths, we are commissioned to point people to God’s coming, eternal kingdom. Studying prophecy isn’t mere theory—it’s preparation for eternity.
………………………………………………………………….
Thought of the Day“God’s Word has always been fulfilled. Why should it be different now? The final chapter of history is already written—and it ends in victory.”
………………………………………………………………….
Illustration – “The Little Lighthouse”In 2025, on a storm-tossed stretch of America’s East Coast, stood a small, weather-beaten lighthouse. Scoured by salt and battered by wind, every night it bravely cast its beam across dark, rolling seas.
Ella, a young doctor who grew up there, loved that lighthouse. Her grandfather often told her, “If you ever feel lost, look for the light. It reminds you you’re not alone.”
Over the years, so much changed: new technologies, new wars, new promises of peace that quickly broke. Ella traveled the world, encountering turmoil, a hunger for truth, and despair everywhere. One evening back home, she walked the beach and saw the familiar beam cutting through the darkness. Tears filled her eyes.
“That,” she thought, “is our task as God’s people.” In a world full of darkness and deception, we must keep the light of God’s kingdom shining—clear, unwavering, unbowed by any storm.
Ella resolved to devote her life to that “ministry of light”: bringing hope, guiding people to Christ—the only safe harbor.
For no matter how stormy the sea of nations becomes—God’s light will never go out.
Intercer is a website with biblical materials in Romanian, English, Hungarian and other languages. We want to bring the light from God's Word to peoples homes. Intercer provides quality Christian resources...[Read More]
