Inside Story for Friday 28th of June 2024

By Andrew McChesney

Ukrainian pastor Vadym Krynychnny faced a major challenge finding a building for a Russian-speaking church in the Spanish city of Valencia. But, with prayer, he managed to lease a hall seating 100 people in the city center for a token 500 euros (US$550) a month.

“It is worth much more,” Vadym said.

The hall was large for the initial group of 26 worshipers, but Vadym got to work on outreach programs. The church began to host a get-together with a meal on Sundays. Russian-speaking children were invited to special activities. Additional programs were organized around such holidays as New Year’s and Easter. Concerts proved especially popular, filling the church to overflowing and sometimes requiring the rental of a larger hall.

The church forged strong ties with the local Russian-speaking community and became a center for Russian speakers. About 80 percent of Spain’s estimated 400,000 Russian speakers live in Valencia and along the nearby Mediterranean coast. Of those 400,000 people, at least 500 are Adventists.

But the first person baptized at the new church was not from Russia or another former Soviet republic. The woman was born in Iran and had been raised in a non-Christian world religion. She spoke Russian fluently after studying for 12 years in the former Soviet republic of Belarus, and she came to the church after someone invited her off the street.

After 25 baptisms and several former Adventist families recommitted their hearts to Jesus, weekly church attendance stood at 65 adults and 40 children when the conflict erupted in Ukraine in 2022.

Vadym realized with astonishment that the church was well positioned to help people fleeing the conflict. The church quickly used its local connections to establish a refugee center. In the first two months of the conflict, 200 people visited the center, receiving lodging and food. About half of them were Adventists. Since then, many more people have received assistance.

“Many have come to us, knowing no one in Spain,” Vadym said. “But they come to us because we speak Russian, and they seek something familiar.”

He credited God for positioning the church to help refugees even before the conflict started. He said he longed to share the hope of Jesus’ soon coming with them and all Russian speakers in Spain. “We are concentrating all our efforts on meeting the needs of these people,” he said.

Your Thirteenth Sabbath Offering this Sabbath will help spread the gospel in the Euro-Asia Division, the home of many Russian speakers. Thank you for planning a generous offering.

(0)

The post Inside Story: Refuge for Russian Speakers first appeared on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24b-13-inside-story-refuge-for-russian-speakers/

Daily Lesson for Friday 28th of June 2024

“There the wide-spreading plains swell into hills of beauty, and the mountains of God rear their lofty summits. On those peaceful plains, beside those living streams, God’s people, so long pilgrims and wanderers, shall find a home. . . .

“There, immortal minds will contemplate with never-failing delight the wonders of creative power, the mysteries of redeeming love. There will be no cruel, deceiving foe to tempt to forgetfulness of God. Every faculty will be developed, and every capacity will be increased.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

The acquirement of knowledge will not weary the mind or exhaust the energies. There the grandest enterprises may be carried forward, the loftiest aspirations reached, the highest ambitions realized; and still there will arise new heights to surmount, new wonders to admire, new truths to comprehend, fresh objects to call forth the powers of mind and soul and body.”—Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, pp. 675, 677.

“With unutterable delight the children of earth enter into the joy and the wisdom of unfallen beings. They share the treasures of knowledge and understanding gained through ages upon ages in contemplation of God’s handiwork. With undimmed vision they gaze upon the glory of creation—suns and stars and systems, all in their appointed order circling the throne of Deity. Upon all things, from the least to the greatest, the Creator’s name is written, and in all are the riches of His power displayed.”—The Great Controversy, pp. 677, 678.

“The great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners are no more. The entire universe is clean. One pulse of harmony and gladness beats through the vast creation. From Him who created all, flow life and light and gladness, throughout the realms of illimitable space. From the minutest atom to the greatest world, all things, animate and inanimate, in their unshadowed beauty and perfect joy, declare that God is love.”—The Great Controversy, p. 678.

Discussion Questions

1. Why do you think God has allowed sin to go on for so long? At the same time, no human being suffers in this world longer than their own existence here. That is, no one suffers more than his or her own lifetime. How short is a human lifetime compared to the thousands of years of sin? How might this perspective help us deal with the difficult question of evil?
2. How does the thousand-year period known as the millennium fit into the plan of salvation? Think about what it says about the character of God that—not until all of the redeemed will have had a chance to see the justice and fairness and love of God—will final judgment be brought upon the lost.

(0)

The post Friday: Further Thought – The Triumph of God’s Love first appeared on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24b-13-further-thought-the-triumph-of-gods-love/

Join the Hit the Mark panel as they discuss Lesson 13 – The Triumph of God’s Love. It’s the fastest hour of the week!

(0)

The post The Triumph of God’s Love – Hit the Mark Sabbath School first appeared on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/the-triumph-of-gods-love-hit-the-mark-sabbath-school/