We are saddened to learn of the death of Pastor Roy Burgess, who passed away on 12 November 2023 following a long battle with a neurological condition. Pastor Burgess was born in Watford on 14 June 1926, and he spent his early years at Parkgate, Callowland, the Stanborough Schools, and Leggatts Ways Senior Boys’ School.
He entered denominational employment on 30 September 1942, serving as a general hand at Granose Foods Ltd and then as a baker until April 1948. He decided to study for the…Source: https://adventist.uk/news/article/go/2023-11-23/1768/
En memoria de Kit Watts
Kit Watts, una figura pionera en la Iglesia Adventista del Séptimo Día e incansable defensora para la igualdad de género en el ministerio, falleció el 15 de noviembre de 2023 en Walla Walla, Washington. Watts deja tras de sí un legado de importantes logros y decidida dedicación a su causa. Nacida el 5 de diciembre […] Source: https://atoday.org/en-memoria-de-kit-watts/
Inside Story: Mission Path to Spain ~ Part 2
Inside Story for Friday 24th of November 2023
By Andrew McChesney
Only five families were at home when gunmen descended on a cluster of nine houses occupied by Seventh-day Adventist pastoral families in Venezuela. Waving weapons, the attackers forced the families into a single house where they separated the men, women, and children. Police arrived and surrounded the house, leading to a standoff that ended peacefully ten hours later when, at 3:00 a.m., the gunmen fled into a forest behind the house.
The wives and children of the nine pastoral families were relocated after the 2016 attack. The pastors worked alone for several months as they waited for new placements. Several moved to other countries to serve as pastors.
Luis Paiva, who had served as a pastor for about decade, wasn’t sure what to do. Life had been difficult in economically volatile Venezuela before the attack. Money was tight, and food was scarce. For three years, he had been struggling to pay off a loan. But he couldn’t even keep up with interest payments, and the debt had swelled to US$1,000.
The hostage-taking was the breaking point for Luis’s wife. The family of five had not been at home at the time of the attack. But his wife was left traumatized, and she didn’t want to live in Venezuela anymore. Luis agreed that the country wasn’t safe, but he didn’t feel right about leaving an unpaid debt.
Luis prayed for a sign. He didn’t usually ask for signs because he believed that God could lead without them. But he didn’t know what else to do.
“Lord, if You work a miracle and help me pay this debt, that will be the sign for me to leave Venezuela,” he prayed.
The gunmen had stolen things from all nine houses, including Luis’s. Being robbed was not unusual. Luis’s home had been broken into many times over the past year, but he had not filed any insurance claims. Usually the thefts were too small to make them worth pursuing a claim. But after the last theft, church leaders offered compensation for everything stolen over the past year if Luis obtained a stamped police report confirming the latest theft.
None of the other pastors were able to get the police report. But Luis happened to have friends in the police force, and he secured the document.
Two months later, the insurance company deposited $1,000 into his bank account. It was the exact amount needed to pay the debt.
“I didn’t benefit from that money,” said Luis, who is a missionary in Spain today. “But I understood that God sent the money so I could pay off the debt. I knew that God also would bless the plan to leave the country.”
Thank you for your Sabbath School mission offering that helps support missionaries around the world. Read next week about how Luis flew from Mexico to Spain.
(0)The post Inside Story: Mission Path to Spain ~ Part 2 appeared first on Sabbath School Net.
Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/23d-08-inside-story-mission-path-to-spain-part-2/
Friday: Further Thought – Mission to the Needy
Daily Lesson for Friday 24th of November 2023
Read Arthur White, “A Few Days at Long Point,” Ellen G. White: The Australian Years: 1891–1900, vol. 4, pp. 100–104.
The Gospel writers recorded examples of Jesus’ practice of building bridges with people from other cultures in order to save them (Matthew 8:28-34, Mark 5:1-20). Likewise, we also are called to make friends and minister to people from other cultures, as well. Christ’s death was for everyone, regardless of race, nationality, wealth, or background. This is a point we must never forget. “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:2, NKJV).
“Men and women are not fulfilling the design of God, when they simply express affection for their own family circle, . . . while they exclude those from their love whom they could comfort and bless by relieving their necessities. . . .
“When the Lord bids us do good for others outside our home, He does not mean that our affection for home shall become diminished, and that we shall love our kindred or our country less because He desires us to extend our sympathies. But we are not to confine our affection and sympathy within four walls, and enclose the blessing that God has given us so that others will not be benefited with us in its enjoyment.”—Ellen G. White, Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, October 15, 1895.
The responsibility given to us to be a blessing to those outside our comfort zone, whether they are from another culture or just a helpless person, is a nonnegotiable mandate from Jesus Christ Himself (Acts 1:8, Mark 11:17).
Discussion Questions
- What is your own comfort zone, and why must you be willing to step outside of it when necessary?
- What are the implications of the incident when Jesus was called “ ‘a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners’ ” (Matthew 11:19, NIV)? What was Jesus doing that would have brought that accusation, and what does it teach us about mission?
- To what extent should a Christian engage in the celebrations of nonbelievers? How might Christians do that without compromising biblical principles?
(0)The post Friday: Further Thought – Mission to the Needy appeared first on Sabbath School Net.
Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/23d-08-further-thought-mission-to-the-needy/
Good and Evil Angels Always Present
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world. Ephesians 6:12.
Angels from heaven communicate with the human family, and not one of us by anything we can do may uphold or keep ourselves. We are where we are, kept every moment by the power of God. I have thought that we do not make the ministration of heavenly angels as important as we should…. What would we do without them? I want you to consider what kind of position we should be left in if we had not the ministry of holy angels….
We meet the opposition of men and women, but there is someone behind that opposition. It is the prince of the powers of darkness, with his evil angels, who is constantly at work…. Who is it that is ruling the world today? And who is it that has chosen to stand under the banner of the prince of darkness? Why, it is nearly the whole world at large. All the world that has not accepted Jesus Christ has chosen for their leader the prince of darkness, and just as soon as they stand under his banner, they have connection with evil angels.
Either the evil angels or the angels of God are controlling all human minds…. Every provision has been made; everything in God’s plan has been arranged so that we should not be left to our own impulses, to our own finite powers, to carry on the warfare against the powers of darkness in our own finite strength, because we would certainly fail if we were thus left to ourselves….
In the Psalm David speaks of God’s being a refuge and a strong tower, a refuge and a fortress; unto Him we can run and we can be saved. How precious is the thought that God is our refuge and that He will be our helper in all times and in all places, and that in every emergency we have God with us. He says that He will give His angels charge over us to keep us in all our ways…. In our God we have a helper, and we will trust in Him. We must constantly look in that direction, believing that the angels of God are round about us, and that heaven is in communication with us, because these heavenly messengers are ascending and descending upon the ladder of shining brightness….
How is it with us? Are we standing with the whole armor on, so that we can work in harmony with the angels of God who are working for us? If we separate ourselves from these angels by taking our own course of action, then we place ourselves where the wicked one can tempt us.—Manuscript 1, 1890 (Sermons and Talks, 2:57-59).
Christ Triumphant p. 333
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Prayer Requests
—-I have a very important unspoken request. Please pray. Buck
—-My wife is having equilibrium issues since yesterday, please pray for her recovery and our family’s dire need of salvation, I’m the only Adventist in the family. David
—-Please continue to pray for Davanna. She is in a lot of pain with her double ear infection. I’m trying to walk her through how to make and use an onion poultice. Prayers she can get some relief. Jennifer
—-I have a prayer request for an SDA-owned medical business that a family member works for. The owner strongly believes in getting out The Great Controversy to as many as possible. A few days ago, right after he had been impressed by God to fund more of the books to be sent out, his business was hit by a cyber attack for ransom. The authorities are now involved in figuring out who is behind it and working at getting the business back up and running. At this point, my family member and the rest of their team in accounting have not been able to work for the last few days due to the loss of the stolen information. This is really a bad situation and involves a lot of people’s personal information. Would you please pray with me for God to rectify this situation as soon as possible and in the best manner possible so they can continue to care for their client’s needs? May God be praised for what He will do! And may those Great Controversy books reach as many people for Jesus as possible!!! anonymous
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Dear Friends,
Thanksgiving is a time to remember God’s goodness to us. I thought I’d share with you something that happened some years ago when Ronnie Jay still lived at home. He needed to drive our van to go camping, so we had traded cars for the weekend.
A little later, Ron jumped into Ronnie Jay’s car and started the engine. As he was backing out of the driveway, he heard a loud snap. To his horror, the car stopped moving. The engine was still running, but it would not go anywhere. Ron thought that it must be the transmission. The next day, our mechanic examined Ronnie Jay’s broken vehicle and called with the results. The ball joint had broken as well as the A-frame that holds it. Somehow, that had caused some sort of u-joint that connects the transmission to the axle to snap. Oh the love and watchcare of God! How good and kind He is! Our hearts filled with gratitude as we realized His goodness to us. How thankful we were that the car had broken at home. Had it broken while Ronnie Jay was driving on the highway, he could have had a very serious accident.
It is easy to remember to thank God for something big like the car breaking down after we get safely home, but how often we forget to thank Him for the little blessings that daily surround us taking them for granted as though we deserved them. How many times our prayers are “give me” prayers instead of praising our Great Creator for goodness and mercy. In fact, one of the signs of the last-day generation is their unthankfulness. (2 Tim 3:1-5)
“O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron; Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High: Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help. Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder. Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death. Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses. He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing. They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end. Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders. He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground; A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein. He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into watersprings. And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation; And sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase. He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffereth not their cattle to decrease. Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow. He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way. Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock. The righteous shall see it, and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth. Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.”
“Therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Heb 13:15; 1 Thes 5:18; Phil 4:6, 7
Rose
Source: https://rosesdevotional.org/good-and-evil-angels-always-present.html
