Inside Story for Friday 17th of May 2024

By F. Edgar Nunes

On a recent Sabbath, two Syrian refugees attended the worship services at the Kingston Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Canadian province of Ontario. As the church’s pastor, I rejoice at the sight of any visitor, but to be able to welcome a mother and daughter who belong to another world religion was an unexpected privilege. How did they hear about us? Who invited them to our worship service?

It turned out that long before they set foot in our church, the Syrian refugees had been befriended by one of the church members, Shirley.

Shirley has a big heart for strangers, especially refugees, and she greets people with a warm smile that melts barriers away. She loves to help in any way she can, and people are moved by her kindness and compassion. They readily accept her invitations to family dinners and summer picnics. The Syrian mother and daughter, Eman and Heba, accepted Shirley’s invitation to come to church on Sabbath.

After the worship service, we visited outside the sanctuary. Eman and Heba seemed happy to talk and readily accepted my offer to pray for them. Afterward, I asked if they would be interested in a copy of the Gospel of John in Arabic, printed by the Canadian Bible Society.

“I won’t be offended if you say, ‘No,’ ” I said.

The mother accepted the book.

“We believe Jesus is a prophet, so we will read the book,” she said.

A few days later, Shirley called to ask if I spoke “Sudanese.”

“I have another family from Africa that I would like you to visit,” she said.

Shirley’s genuine love and warmth for strangers keeps unlocking hearts. Her example inspires us to follow Christ’s method. “Christ’s method alone will give true success in reaching the people. The Saviour mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, ‘Follow Me.’ ”—Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Healing, p. 143.

Shirley mingles with people, listening, serving, and showing disinterested love and acceptance, thereby breaking down the most formidable barriers. We also can go from heart to heart as Shirley does every day.

Jesus said, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35, NKJV). The love that reveals we are His disciples is the same power that opens the hearts of strangers and moves them to consider becoming His disciples.

This mission story illustrates Mission Objective No. 2, “To strengthen and diversify Adventist outreach in large cities, across the 10/40 Window, among unreached and under-reached people groups, and to non-Christian religions.” For more information, go to the website: IWillGo2020.org.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24b-07-inside-story-unlocking-hearts/

Daily Lesson for Friday 17th of May 2024

Look at the following chart for the prophecies of the 70 weeks and the 2,300 days. The prophecies start in 457 b.c. and foretell the events surrounding “Messiah the Prince,” upon whom the 70-week prophecy is grounded. With that solid foundation, the 2,300-day prophecy ends in the year 1844.

“Like the first disciples, William Miller and his associates did not, themselves, fully comprehend the import of the message which they bore. Errors that had been long established in the church prevented them from arriving at a correct interpretation of an important point in the prophecy. Therefore, though they proclaimed the message which God had committed to them to be given to the world, yet through a misapprehension of its meaning they suffered disappointment.”—Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, pp. 351, 352.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

“Yet God accomplished His own beneficent purpose in permitting the warning of the judgment to be given just as it was. The great day was at hand, and in His providence the people were brought to the test of a definite time, in order to reveal to them what was in their hearts. The message was designed for the testing and purification of the church. They were to be led to see whether their affections were set upon this world or upon Christ and heaven. They professed to love the Saviour; now they were to prove their love. Were they ready to renounce their worldly hopes and ambitions, and welcome with joy the advent of their Lord? The message was designed to enable them to discern their true spiritual state; it was sent in mercy to arouse them to seek the Lord with repentance and humiliation.”—The Great Controversy, p. 353.

Discussion Questions

1. What lessons can we learn from William Miller’s experience? Does God at times overrule our mistaken understanding?
2. Why is an understanding of Daniel 9:24-27 so significant in establishing the integrity of the Bible and the divinity of Christ?
3. What role does understanding prophecy play in the plan of salvation? Why is prophecy so significant in the plan of God?

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24b-07-further-thought-motivated-by-hope/