Daily Lesson for Tuesday 14th of July 2026

By and large, cliques result from too high a view of human leaders. This is very threatening to the unity of the church and to the members’ spiritual health, for a distorted view of Christian ministry may lead a church to give excessive importance to certain leaders, all to the detriment of others. The consequence of such behavior is an atmosphere of competition, which can split the church. More than that, if we treat human leaders as central to our Christian identity, we risk moving Christ from the correct position in our lives.

Image © Educational Concepts Collection at Goodsalt.com

Paul makes it clear that spiritual maturity leads the believer to appreciate the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 2:6-7), which is communicated to us through the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:13), and which contrasts with the wisdom of this age (1 Corinthians 2:6), human wisdom (1 Corinthians 2:13). The wisdom of God is unveiled in the cross of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:1-4). More precisely, the wisdom of God is revealed in Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection. Thus, before resuming his appeal for unity (1 Corinthians 3:1-17), Paul wants his readers to acknowledge the need for true wisdom and maturity in Christ.

Wise and mature Christians are spiritual people, not carnal, not like infants (1 Corinthians 3:1). They compare spiritual things with spiritual things, because “the things of the Spirit . . . are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:13-14, NKJV). Wise and mature Christians feed on solid food, not milk (1 Corinthians 3:2; compare with Hebrews 5:12). The believer “who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” (Hebrews 5:13-14, ESV). Wise and mature Christians do not say, “I am of Paul” or “I am of Apollos” (1 Corinthians 3:4), referring to different people.

After all, these people are, like them, “God’s fellow workers” (1 Corinthians 3:9, ESV). We, as a church, are God’s field, building, and temple (1 Corinthians 3:9,16-17). We all belong to God through Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11).

<–Monday Wednesday–>

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/26c-03-wisdom-and-maturity/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=26c-03-wisdom-and-maturity

Oh, the beauty of studying this quarter’s lessons. We will learn so much of the Love of God (and our Saviour, Jesus) which stands out in so many pages of this quarter. Trying to choose just one hymn for the Theme Hymn was almost impossible, but these ones stood out all through the lesson pamphlet from which you may choose:  
Hymn 79 – O Love Of God, 
Hymn 349 – God Is Love and then in seeing God’s amazing love we can
Hymn 600 – Hold Fast and 
Hymn 602 – O Brother, Be Faithful.

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/Search 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.”

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/3-unity-in-christ-singing-with-inspiration/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=3-unity-in-christ-singing-with-inspiration

Daily Lesson for Monday 13th of July 2026

The formation of cliques constituted here a denial of one’s allegiance to Christ (1 Corinthians 1:10). God called us “into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9, NKJV). Our Lord is Christ, and we must be centered on Him. Thus, the answer to the rhetorical questions “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Corinthians 1:13, NKJV) is a resounding “No!” Christ is not divided. It is Christ who was crucified for us. We were baptized “in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19, NASB).

Image © Erik Stenbakken at Goodsalt.com

Paul mentions that we are “the body of Christ and individually members of it” (1 Corinthians 12:27, ESV; emphasis supplied). While the body has many parts—each one with its function—it is still one body. For the body to function properly, each part has to do its work according to its capabilities. This metaphor indicates that Paul is looking for unity, not uniformity. He is looking for unity in the diversity. More than that, he is looking for unity despite diversity.

However, all thoughts and opinions must be submitted to Christ, our Lord. The fact that Christ is our Lord is such an important concept for Paul that he resorts to it repeatedly, in the opening of 1 Corinthians (1 Corinthians 1:2,7-10). Thus, before Paul deals with the issue of cliques and human leaders, he first emphasizes that all of us have Jesus as our Lord. The church is not centered on human leaders. Christians are centered on Jesus.

The emphasis on the Lordship of Jesus in the early verses of 1 Corinthians helps us understand what Paul meant by the words: “Be united in the same mind and the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10, ESV). The Greek term translated as “united” comes from the verb katartizō, which suggests that something is to be restored to its proper condition. When cliques are formed around human leaders, relationships within the church must be restored to their proper condition, and that can happen through unity in Christ and the death to self it entails.

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/26c-03-centered-on-jesus/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=26c-03-centered-on-jesus