Welcome to the second quarter of Sabbath School Lessons

The book of Genesis offers us so many and vast topics from which to choose a theme hymn. As we are starting at the very beginning, I would like to give praise to our Creator of heaven and earth in singing
Hymn 320 – Lord of Creation and 
Hymn 2 – All Creatures of Our God and King. The stories that follow creation will lean back towards our amazing God and what He has done for each of us in creation.

As the earth was created each day by our loving God, there are many things for which we are thankful:
Hymn 111 – It Took a Miracle,
Hymn 98 – Can You Count the Stars?,
Hymn 97 – Lord of the Boundless Curves,
Hymn 96 – The Spacious Firmament,
Hymn 640 – For Beauty of Meadows,
Hymn 94 – Nature With Open Volume Stands,
Hymn 95 – Spring Has Now Unwrapped,
Hymn 93 – All Things Bright and Beautiful,
Hymn 640 – For the Beauty of the Earth, and
Hymn 92 – This is My Father’s World.

Creation is crowned with the Sabbath Day we all cherish (Tuesday). Once again, we are blessed with some many hymns from which to choose:

Hymn 381 – Holy Sabbath Day,
Hymn 382/383 – O Day of Rest and Gladness,
Hymn 390 – We Love Thy Sabbath, Lord, to name just a few.

It was with joy that Adam and Eve, even though having just been created (Thursday) could 
Welcome, Day of Sweet Repose – Hymn 380.

God’s abundant blessings as we study through the first book of the Bible which our gracious God has given. May we be faithful and all say “Come, Lord Jesus, come – very soon” so we are able to go to our new home in Heaven.

To learn unknown hymns, you will find the accompaniment music for each one at: https://sdahymnals.com/Hymnal/

Another great resource is for when there is a hymn you wish to sing, but can’t find it in your hymnal. Go to https://www.sdahymnal.org and in the search bar type a special word in that is in the hymn. I am sure you will be amazed at the help you will be given.

2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Amen!(0)

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Read Psalm 100:1-3. What is the human response to the God of Creation, and why?

In Genesis chapter 1, the first message of the Creation account is “God.” We already hear it in the translation: “In the beginning God” (Genesis 1:1). In the first line (Genesis 1:1), the word “God” is placed in the middle of the verse and is underlined by the strongest accent in the Hebrew liturgical traditional chanting in order to emphasize the importance of God. The Creation text begins, then, with an emphasis on God, the author of Creation.

Image © Francesa Miller at Goodsalt.com

The book of Genesis begins, in fact, with two different presentations of God. The first Creation account (Genesis 1:1-2:4) presents God as infinitely far from humans, the transcendent God, Elohim, whose name speaks about the supremacy of God. The name Elohim denotes preeminence and strength, and the use of the plural form of the word Elohim expresses the idea of majesty and transcendence.

The second Creation account (Genesis 2:4-25) presents God as up close and personal, the immanent God YHWH, whose name many believe denotes closeness and relationship. The Creation text as a whole is, then, an implicit appeal to worship God; first, to be aware of God’s infinite grandeur and power, and at the same time to acknowledge our dependence on Him because He created us “and not we ourselves” (Psalm 100:3). This is why many of the psalms often associate worship with Creation (Psalm 95:1-6; Psalm 139:13-14,  [compare with Revelation 14:7]).

This twofold view of a God who is both majestic and powerful, and who is also close, loving, and in a relationship with us, contains an important point about how we should approach God in worship. Awe and reverence go along with joy and the assurance of God’s proximity, forgiveness, and love (see Psalm 2:11). Even the sequence of the two presentations of God is meaningful: the experience of God’s proximity and the intimacy of His presence follows the experience of God’s distance. Only when we have realized that God is great shall we be able to appreciate His grace and enjoy, in trembling, His wonderful and loving presence in our lives.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

Amen!(0)

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/sunday-god-of-creation/

Image © Pacific Press

Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Psalm 100:1-3, Genesis 1:1-2:25, Exodus 20:8-11, Exodus 40:33, Matthew 25:14-30, Matthew 19:7-9.

Memory Text: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1, NKJV).

The book of Genesis and, hence, the whole Bible begins with God’s acts of Creation. This fact is very important because it means that our creation marks the beginning of human and biblical history. This truth also implies that the Genesis Creation story has the same historical veracity as other events of human and biblical history.

The two Creation texts in Genesis 1:1-2:25 contain lessons about God and humanity. As we study this week, we will understand better the profound meaning of the seventh-day Sabbath. We will ponder God’s act of creating humans in His image, and out of the dust too. We will be intrigued about the purpose of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and about its connection with the tree of life.

The most important lesson of the biblical stories of the beginnings is a lesson on grace. Our existence is purely an act of grace. God created the heavens and the earth while humans were not yet present. Just as our creation was, our redemption is, too, a gift from God. And how profound it is that both concepts, creation and redemption, exist in the seventh-day Sabbath commandment.

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, April 2.

Sunday–>

Amen!(3)

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/sabbath-creation/