Inside Story for Friday 5th of July 2024

By Andrew McChesney

Father was the most prominent person in his small town in Nepal. Everyone sought his help. Townspeople believed that his animal sacrifices could cure any disease. Father came from a long line of shamans, and he became the shaman after the death of his father, who also was a shaman.

Image © Pacific Press

Father believed that his rituals wielded great power in the spirit world, so he was puzzled when he couldn’t help the person whom he loved most— his wife. He couldn’t cure her or even diagnose her illness. He sacrificed a chicken, but her pain remained. He gave money to another shaman, but she lost weight. He took her to a physician, but she grew weaker.

Father’s bewilderment grew when his adult daughter, Divya, returned home to help her mother. He came home one day and couldn’t find Mother or Divya. Searching the house, he finally found them in an upstairs room, kneeling on the floor and talking to someone he couldn’t see.

Father was astonished. He suspected something was terribly wrong. But he quietly slipped out of the room so as to not disturb them. He wondered whether his daughter had secretly become a shaman like him.

When he saw Divya later, he asked what she and Mother had been doing.

“We were praying to my God to heal Mother,” Divya said.

“Which God?” Father asked. He worshiped many gods.

“To my God, Jesus,” she said. “I have left our family religion. I have found a new God in Jesus.” She explained that her God created the heavens and the earth. “If I pray, He will hear and heal Mother,” she said.

Father didn’t believe it. He didn’t see how this God could be any more powerful than any of the family gods.

When Divya needed to return to her home in another town, she asked to take Mother with her. “She is sick, and you don’t have time to take care of her because you are working,” she said. “I’ll take her with me.”

Father, who worked both as a shaman and a construction worker, agreed. He was unable to help Mother, and he doubted that she would last long.

“She is your mother,” he said. “If she dies, let me know.”

Six months passed before Father saw Mother again. He traveled to Divya’s house and was surprised to find Mother healthy. He was full of questions.

“Why is Mother well?” he asked. “What medicine did you give her?”

Divya replied that she had only prayed to God. “God heard my request,” she said. “Now Mother is well and happy and goes to church with me.”

Father didn’t believe it. He laughed. He had never heard of such a God who healed without an animal sacrifice or another ritual.

This mission story illustrates Mission Objective No. 2 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s “I Will Go” strategic plan, “To strengthen and diversify Adventist outreach . . . among unreached and under-reached people groups.” For more information, go to the website: IWillGo2020.org.

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The post Inside Story: Bewildered Shaman: Part 1 first appeared on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24c-01-inside-story-bewildered-shaman-part-1/

Daily Lesson for Friday 5th of July 2024

Read Ellen G. White, “The Voice in the Wilderness,” pages 97–108, in The Desire of Ages; and “Heralds of the Gospel,” pages 166–176, in The Acts of the Apostles.

How fascinating that Revelation 14:1-20:6-7, the first angel’s message, parallels the gospel message of Jesus in Mark 1:15.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

The first angel brings the everlasting gospel to the world in the last days in preparation for the Second Coming. Just like the message of Jesus, the angel’s end-time gospel has the same three elements as illustrated in the table below:

The first angel’s message announces the beginning of the pre-Advent judgment, which began in 1844 and was predicted in the 2,300-day prophecy of Daniel 8:14. The judgment brings the kingdom of God to His persecuted people (Daniel 7:22). The first angel’s call to fear, glorify, and worship God is the call to discipleship, issued to the world in the last days as the beast powers of Revelation 13:1-18 present a false god to fear, glorify, and worship.

Just as Jesus’ message in Mark 1:1-15 is intimately tied to the prophecies of Daniel at the beginning of the gospel proclamation, so the first angel’s message is as well tied to Daniel at the close of earth’s history.

Discussion Questions

1. Compare and contrast John the Baptist and Jesus in Mark 1:1–13. What special lessons do you learn from the way they are presented?
2. Consider the meaning of baptism. Read Romans 6:1-4 and John 3:1-8, and compare them with the baptism of Jesus in Mark 1:9–13. What parallels and contrasts do you see? How does this help you understand more clearly the meaning of baptism?
3. Compare and contrast the gospel according to Jesus in Mark 1:14, 15 and the first angel’s message in Revelation 14:6, 7. How does understanding these messages help you see better your mission for today?

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The post Friday: Further Thought – The Beginning of the Gospel first appeared on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24c-01-further-thought-the-beginning-of-the-gospel/