Inside Story for Friday 21st of August 2026

The names of the author, characters, and location have been withheld.

My wife and I prayed earnestly that God would help us establish a home church in the veiled country where I serve as a witness. We knew only foreigners would attend initially, but we had faith that God would send us local people whose hearts He had been working on. It took some time, but He provided!

I met Salman one day when I ordered a taxi service. As he drove me to my destination, we started a conversation that soon diverted to religious topics. He shared that he had become a Christian two years ago after searching online for answers to his spiritual questions.

Salman and I slowly formed a friendship. One time, I asked him whether he was part of a community of believers or had Christian friends. I was shocked when he said he had never met a Christian before! My wife and I felt compelled to invite him to our home worship gatherings, and he began attending regularly. We were delighted that when he married, he brought his wife, and she, too, fell in love with Jesus.

One day, Salman decided to tell his brother Faisal about his love for Christ. To his surprise, Faisal told him he was already a Christian! He explained that he also sought answers to spiritual questions online and gave his heart to Jesus.

Salman told Faisal about our home church, and Faisal joined our group. He had no doubt that God had brought us together. He had recently visited a church seeking Christian fellowship, but the leader told him not to return because it was forbidden for people of Faisal’s faith to be there. We praised God for helping us provide a place of belonging for Faisal.

After two years of silence and prayer, Salman and Faisal decided to tell their family about their newfound faith. By the grace of God, their parents accepted their decision, but other family members turned their backs on them.

Please pray that Faisal and Salman and his wife will continue to grow in their relationships with Jesus and that my wife and I will experience many more Spirit-led encounters with God’s children in this closed country.

We call a country veiled when we have withheld its name to protect the lives and ministry of frontline workers serving there. To learn about Global Mission’s church-planting ministry, visit bit.ly/GMPioneers.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/26c-08-inside-story-spirit-led-encounters/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=26c-08-inside-story-spirit-led-encounters

Daily Lesson for Friday 21st of August 2026
Further Thought:

Read Ellen G. White, “God’s People Delivered,” Pages 635–652, in The Great Controversy.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

“The divinity of Christ is the believer’s assurance of eternal life. ‘He that believeth in Me,’ said Jesus, ‘though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?’ Christ here looks forward to the time of His second coming. Then the righteous dead shall be raised incorruptible, and the living righteous shall be translated to heaven without seeing death. The miracle which Christ was about to perform, in raising Lazarus from the dead, would represent the resurrection of all the righteous dead.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 530.

“The earth mightily shook as the voice of the Son of God called forth the sleeping saints. They responded to the call and came forth clothed with glorious immortality, crying, ‘Victory, victory, over death and the grave! O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?’ (See 1 Corinthians 15:55.) Then the living saints and the risen ones raised their voices in a long transporting shout of victory. Those bodies that had gone down into the grave bearing the marks of disease and death came up in immortal health and vigor. The living saints are changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and caught up with the risen ones, and together they meet their Lord in the air. Oh, what a glorious meeting! Friends whom death had separated were united, never more to part.”—Ellen G. White, The Story of Redemption, Pages 411, 412.

Discussion Questions

<–Thursday

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/26c-08-further-thought-the-power-of-christs-resurrection/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=26c-08-further-thought-the-power-of-christs-resurrection

1. While numerous religious traditions express a belief in some kind of future life beyond earthly death, Christianity alone binds this belief to the witness of people who reported seeing a specific individual, Jesus Christ, alive again, after having seen him die. (When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he specifically said that the risen Jesus had “appeared” to him and that many others who had seen the risen Jesus were also “still alive”). How important is this claim to historical, eye-witness testimony, in terms of your personal faith in the resurrection? What else supports your belief that God offers people eternal life?

2. Biblical scholars believe that what is known as the kerygma—the earliest, unfiltered “proclamation” of the disciples immediately after Jesus’ death and resurrection, is found in 2 places: Peter’s brief discourse in Acts 2:22-36, wherein he appeals to all those present to “listen carefully to what I say;” and Paul’s recap of “what I received and passed on to you, as of first importance” in 1 Cor 15. Re-read those two passages. How would you summarize, in your own words, the essential “core” message that launched Christianity? Is it still the essential core message today? Explain your answer.

3. Some modern people try to have it both ways, saying, “I’m a Christian in that I accept Jesus as a great moral teacher who is good for society. But I don’t believe in the resurrection or the other miracles.”  Why doesn’t this work?

4. The Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-12 contain multiple promises, such as “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth,” and “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Take a look at Matthew 5. Which of these  8 teachings depend on the resurrection of the dead to be true?

5. What difference would it make to you, personally, in everyday life, if you did not believe in the resurrection?

6. There are two stories recounted in Scripture about what happened in regard to the empty tomb: 1) Jesus rose from the dead and was seen by numerous people; or 2) The disciples came and stole Jesus’ body while the guards were asleep. (If there were a better 3^rd account that could have put an end to the unwanted post-resurrection developments, surely the political and religious leaders would have produced it immediately). So, one of the two stories recounted has to be a lie, and the other one true. How would you explain to someone why you think it was the political and religious leaders who lied?

7. Some philosophers/psychological theorists see belief in eternal life as a psychological defense mechanism against the fear of death. But in what way might the opposite be true, i.e., that a person might cling to simple materialism and death’s finality as a psychological defense mechanism against the  fear of God’s unfathomable eternity?

8. This Chapter is titled, “The Power of Christ’s Resurrection.” What examples have you witnessed of the power of Christ’s resurrection, at work in someone’s life?

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/discussion-starters-the-power-of-christs-resurrection/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=discussion-starters-the-power-of-christs-resurrection