Inside Story for Friday 29th of March 2024

By Andrew McChesney

Ryszard Jankowski couldn’t get the police to leave him alone. Every time he set up a stand to sell Ellen White’s The Great Controversy and other books in a Baltic resort town in Poland, the police showed up and demanded that he remove the stand and the books.

Then the Polish Seventh-day Adventist publishing house released a special issue of the Signs of the Times magazine, and church leaders sent copies to members of the Polish government. One government minister liked the issue so much that he wrote a letter asking towns across Poland to support its distribution. Ryszard took the letter and a copy of the magazine to the mayor of the resort town where he had trouble with the police.

The mayor was impressed. He knew the government minister.

“He was my university professor,” he said. “Of course, you can freely distribute this magazine here.”

“Can I get your permission in writing?” Ryszard asked.

The mayor wrote a letter and gave it to Ryszard.

Ryszard took the letter and again set up his book stand on the street. He placed the Signs of the Times magazine on the stand together with The Great Controversy and other books. Before long, the police appeared.

“You can’t sell your books in our city,” a police officer said.

“Look, I have a letter from the mayor,” Ryszard said.

The police officers read the letter carefully. Then they saluted.

“OK, you can stay,” one said.

But that wasn’t the end of the story. Shortly afterward, a grandmother stopped by the book stand. Someone had given her The Great Controversy some time earlier, and she had read it to her grandson. He had liked it very much, especially the portrayal of Waldensian young people clandestinely sharing the Word of God at the risk of their lives in the Middle Ages. The grandmother told Ryszard that her grandson wanted to be like the Waldensians. Her grandson understood that he needed to be like them—faithful to the Word of God at all costs.

“He saw your stand and your book The Great Controversy,” she said. “He said to me, ‘Grandma, the Waldensians are in our town.’ ”

So, the grandmother sought out Ryszard to tell him about her grandson. She later joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Thank you for your Thirteenth Sabbath Offering in 2017 that helped build a television studio for Hope Channel Poland. Ryszard Jankowski is the president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Poland and a regular speaker on Hope Channel Poland, the local affiliate of Hope Channel International.

Join the global church in the mass promotion and distribution of The Great Controversy in 2023 and 2024. Visit greatcontroversyproject.org for details or ask your pastor.

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The post Inside Story: Waldensians in Poland appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24a-13-inside-story-waldensians-in-poland/

Daily Lesson for Friday 29th of March 2024

Read Ellen G. White, “Growing Up Into Christ,” pp. 67–75, in Steps to Christ.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

The Psalms utter fervent appeals to wait on the Lord. “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him” (Psalms 37:7, NKJV). When waiting strikes us as burdensome, uncertain, and lonely, we should remember the disciples on the day of Jesus’ ascension to heaven (Acts 1:4-11). Jesus was taken up to heaven before their eyes, while they were left behind to wait for Him to come back on some unknown future day. Who has ever experienced a more intense yearning to receive God’s blessing now than the disciples on that day? They surely longed, “Lord, take us with You now.” Yet, they were instructed to wait for the promise of the Father and for Jesus’ return. If we think that the disciples were filled with despair and disappointment, we will be surprised. They returned to Jerusalem and did exactly what Jesus told them—they waited for the gift of the Holy Spirit and then preached the gospel to the world with power (Acts 1:12-14, Acts 2:1-47).

Our Lord’s commandment to wait on Him is an impossible one unless He has done His work in us through the Holy Spirit. No amount of human enthusiasm will ever stand up to the strain that waiting will impose upon our frail self. Only one thing will bear the strain, and that is abiding in Jesus Christ, namely, a personal relationship with Him. “Then if Christ is dwelling in our hearts, He will work in us ‘both to will and to do of His good pleasure.’ Philippians 2:13. We shall work as He worked; we shall manifest the same spirit. And thus, loving Him and abiding in Him, we shall ‘grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.’ Ephesians 4:15.”—Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 75. As we continue to wait on the Lord, we will find peace and contentment in the Psalms. Our prayers and songs are where God’s heart and our hearts meet daily.

Discussion Questions

1. Why is waiting significant in our spiritual life? Discuss the experiences of waiting of some biblical heroes of faith. How did waiting purify and strengthen their faith? (Romans 4:19-22, Hebrews 11:1-40).
2. What is the end of our waiting? (Psalms 37:34-40). That is, what are we promised when all things are, finally, resolved? What hope do we find in these texts, for instance, about the justice that has so long been missing in this life?
3. Why, as far as the dead are concerned, and as far as their own experience goes (Ecclesiastes 9:5), is their waiting for Jesus almost done? What hope can we take from the answer?

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The post Friday: Further Thought – Wait on the Lord appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24a-13-further-thought-wait-on-the-lord/