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Inside Story: Better than Toys

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Better Than Toys

By Andrew McChesney

Several friends gathered around Mariah at school on Monday.

“What are you doing after school?” one asked.

Mariah

Image © Pacific Press

“Can we come over to your house to play?” said another.

Mariah shook her head. “I have so much to do today,” she said

Nine-year-old Mariah was a busy girl in Pond Inlet, a small town located on an isolated island in the Canadian Arctic. Every weekday she went to school and did her homework. She also helped her parents around the house. On Sabbath, her family read the Bible and watched online sermons at home.

But Mariah’s friends really wanted to play with her. On Tuesday, the children gathered around her again, and on Thursday and Friday.

“But when can we come over to your house to play?” a friend asked.

“How about Saturday?” said another. “You must have time on Saturday.”

Mariah’s eyes lit up. She did have free time on Saturday. “You can come over to my house and join our Bible study on Saturday,” she said.

Her friends looked confused. They had never read the Bible. But they wanted to spend time with Mariah, so they agreed to come over on Saturday.

On Sabbath, a few friends showed up at Mariah’s house. As Mariah read from the Bible, they looked confused. They had never heard about the God of the Bible. They again looked confused with Father turned on an online sermon. They had never heard a sermon, and they did not understand the Adventist preacher. Afterward, they asked Mariah to explain.

“What did he mean when he said that?” one asked.

“Or what about when he spoke about that?” said another.

Mariah tried to explain the sermon and to simplify it. When she finished, her friends seemed to understand what she was attempting to say.

At school on Monday, several classmates asked Mariah’s friends what they had done at Mariah’s house on Saturday. “We read about God in the Bible,” answered one. “And we watched an interesting sermon,” said another.

The classmates also had never read the Bible or watched a sermon, and they wanted to know more. Mariah’s friends explained what they had learned. Mariah smiled as she listened. She felt good. This was better than playing with toys. She would welcome her classmates into her home every Sabbath.

Part of this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help open a church and community services center to share God in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, where Mariah lives. Thank you for planning a generous offering.

Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission.
Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org

Amen!(2)

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Friday: Further Thought ~ Free to Rest

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Further Thought:

“With the continual change of circumstances, changes come in our experience; and by these changes we are either elated or depressed. But the change of circumstances has no power to change God’s relation to us. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever; and He asks us to have unquestioning confidence in His love.” — Ellen G.

White, In Heavenly Places, p. 120.

Spectacles on Bible

Image @ Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

“Keep looking unto Jesus, offering up silent prayers in faith, taking hold of His strength, whether you have any manifest feeling or not. Go right forward as if every prayer offered was lodged in the throne of God and responded to by the One whose promises never fail. Go right along, singing and making melody to God in your hearts, even when depressed by a sense of weight and sadness. I tell you as one who knows, light will come, joy will be ours, and the mists and clouds will be rolled back. And we pass from the oppressive power of the shadow and darkness into the clear sunshine of His presence.” — Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 2, pages 242, 243.

Discussion Questions:
  1. It is often very difficult to help someone suffering from mental disorders or depression. What would be a good strategy for your church to learn how to minister more effectively to those affected by depression?
  2. We often struggle to be open and honest before God. Scan through some psalms and see how open and honest the biblical authors were before God. How can we foster an atmosphere of openness and honesty in our local congregation?
  3. Prayer is often difficult when we face depression. Discuss the power of intercessory prayer for those who cannot pray for themselves.
  4. Why is it so important that we remember that faith is not feeling? Just because we are depressed, discouraged, fearful, and worried doesn’t mean we lack faith or trust in God. It means only that, for the moment, we are depressed, discouraged, fearful, and worried, as all of us, have been at some point or another. How can we learn that, at times like this, reaching out in faith is so crucial, no matter how difficult it may seem?
  5. What great hope can you take from the story of the paralytic, especially if a sinful lifestyle has brought disease and sickness upon you?

<–Thursday

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Stephen Chavez: Who Controls the Holy Spirit? 8/21/2021

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18 August 2021  | Read the article by Stephen Chavez here: For most of the last decade, Seventh-day Adventist church leaders at the highest levels have hammered the necessity of revival and reformation. The height of this obsession was perhaps demonstrated most starkly in March 2021, when 10 pages in Adventist World magazine featured messages […] Source: https://atoday.org/stephen-chavez-is-the-holy-spirit-under-our-control-8-21-2021/

Fire Forces Leoni Meadows Camp Evacuation

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18 August 2021 | Yesterday, Adventist-owned Leoni Meadows Camp in Grizzly Flats, Northern California, was evacuated as the Caldor Fire, which started August 14 near Lake Tahoe, neared the camp. “Everyone is out safely. We will post updates as available. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers,” posted the Leoni Meadows Facebook account early […] Source: https://atoday.org/fire-forces-leoni-meadows-camp-evacuation/

Name change official

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It’s official! Avondale University is the new name of Avondale University College. Here’s the story about why confirmation of the change took five weeks. Source: https://wp.avondale.edu.au/news/2021/08/19/name-change-official/

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