Inside Story for Friday 24th of July 2026

By Sandra Dombrowski

Cameras are poised, ready to shoot. Models sporting hairstyles that defy gravity and trend-setting fashions wait to walk the runway. A high-end fashion show in New York City is about to begin.

If you peek backstage, you’ll see Isabelle, the woman running the show, pray with each model before sending them down the catwalk.

Isabelle has rubbed shoulders with well-known fashion designers and celebrities. But what stirs her heart most is the ministry happening at Bryant Park Life Hope Center, an urban center of influence where Adventists are reaching people for Christ.

Raised as an Adventist, Isabelle was taught that the world is a ripe field of souls for God. Whatever she has done—ballet, modeling, skateboarding, and now fashion design—she does for Christ. But since God cured her from a debilitating injury, her desire to serve Him has intensified.

When Life Hope Center began in 2021, she had recently been healed. “At that moment, I had experienced so many miracles in my life that I wanted everybody to know,” Isabelle said. “When the Life Hope Center leaders asked for volunteers, I said yes.”

But Isabelle’s impact reaches beyond the doors of the center. Because God has blessed her with success in the fashion world, she has the opportunity to influence an industry where few if any Adventists mingle. She leverages her design concept, fashion show themes, and personal interactions to point people to Christ.

Isabelle issues press releases with an explanation of the inspiration behind the shows, so no one misses the message. “In every collection of clothing I present, ultimately, I’m always pushing the same button, asking the audience to search their hearts, investigate their own actions and motives, and ask themselves, is there a God out there? Should I change? Is there hope for me?” Isabelle explains.

Isabelle also reaches out with her warm personal touch to share God’s love and peace. “After Fashion Week, the people who work with me would call me just to listen to my voice because they said it gives them peace,” she said. “I know that’s God, because I speak too fast to be peaceful!” She prays with the models, the organizers, and anyone in this highly competitive industry who appears anxious. “Some people ask me what church I go to. They say, ‘Wherever you go, I want to go.’ ”

Then Isabelle brings them to Life Hope Center for a program or Bible studies or to one of the area Adventist churches. She finds joy in volunteering at this center of influence. But wouldn’t you say that as she intentionally uses every aspect of her life to win people to Christ, she, herself, is a center of influence? What would happen if every follower of Jesus saw themselves as a center of influence?

To learn more about urban centers of influence and their ministry to plant new groups of Adventist believers, visit urbancenters.org.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/26c-04-inside-story-high-end-fashion-for-christ/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=26c-04-inside-story-high-end-fashion-for-christ

Daily Lesson for Friday 24th of July 2026

Read Ellen G. White, “A Message of Warning and Entreaty,” Pages 298–308, in The Acts of the Apostles.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

Interestingly, in the catalog of vices in 1 Corinthians 5:10-11 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, idolatry and drunkenness are listed along with sexual immorality. As Paul recalls in 1 Corinthians 10:7 (compare with Exodus 32:1-6), idolatrous festivals were usually marked with excessive eating and drinking, which opened the door for sexual immorality (1 Corinthians 10:8). Ellen G. White says:

“It is impossible for any to enjoy the blessing of sanctification while they are selfish and gluttonous. . . . The power of the human constitution to resist the abuses put upon it is wonderful, but persistent wrong habits in excessive eating and drinking will enfeeble every function of the body. In the gratification of perverted appetite and passion even professed Christians cripple nature in her work and lessen physical, mental, and moral power.”—The Sanctified Life, Pages 25, 26.

“When one is fully emptied of self, when every false god is cast out of the soul, the vacuum is supplied by the inflowing of the Spirit of Christ. Such a one has the faith which works by love and purifies the soul from every moral and spiritual defilement.”—Ellen G. White, The Home Missionary, November 1893.

“God is seeking to exalt us to His high, pure, heavenly standard. For this purpose His Spirit is constantly striving with us. . . . Our natural tendencies, unless corrected by the Holy Spirit of God, have in them the seeds of moral death.”—Ellen G. White, Manuscript 12, 1888.

Discussion Questions

<–Thursday

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/26c-04-further-thought-sin-in-the-church/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=26c-04-further-thought-sin-in-the-church

Daily Lesson for Thursday 23rd of July 2026

Paul’s affirmation that the body “is the temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:19, NKJV) occurs in the context of a warning against sexual immorality. Being a temple of the Spirit is the only means to live a holy life. The church is a Christian community that distinguishes itself from the surrounding environment. It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes it possible.

Image © Lifeway Collection at Goodsalt.com

There are significant lessons about sexuality in 1 Corinthians 7:1-40. Roughly speaking, this chapter can be divided up into two sections: (1) instructions regarding marriage (1 Corinthians 7:1-24) and (2) instructions regarding singleness (1 Corinthians 7:25-40). 1 Corinthians 7:1-40 helps us understand that speaking about sexuality is important and necessary.

However, when reading 1 Corinthians 7:1-40, we must remember that Paul is responding to specific questions related to issues in the church of Corinth. Otherwise, some statements could lead to the impression that he has a low view of marriage, which is not the case (1 Timothy 4:1-3, 1 Timothy 5:14; also Hebrews 13:4).

Remarkably, the command “flee from sexual immorality” in 1 Corinthians 6:18 (ESV) is bracketed by the idea of joining Christ (1 Corinthians 6:17) and being a temple of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). Is there a better way of fleeing from sexual immorality? Of course not.

Also, God created sex, but it is to be enjoyed in marriage alone. Sex is a privilege of those in a male and female marriage, the only kind sanctioned in the Bible.

When saying “flee from sexual immorality,” Paul may have in mind the story of Joseph (Genesis 39:6-18). The Bible says that before the lustful advances of Potiphar’s wife, Joseph “fled out of the house” (Genesis 39:18, ESV). This is mentioned no fewer than four times in Genesis 39:6-18. The Bible doesn’t say it directly, but it is implied that Joseph waited to have sex only in marriage (Genesis 41:45). He was a man filled with the Holy Spirit (Genesis 41:38) and wanted to do what was right before God’s eyes.

<–Wednesday Friday–>

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/26c-04-marriage-and-singleness/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=26c-04-marriage-and-singleness

Join It Is Written Sabbath School host Eric Flickinger and this quarter’s author, Dr Adenilton Tavares de Aguiar, as they provide additional insights into this week’s Sabbath School lesson.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/3-sin-in-the-church-it-is-written-discussion-with-the-author/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=3-sin-in-the-church-it-is-written-discussion-with-the-author

View an in-depth discussion of Sin in the Church the Hope Sabbath School class led by Pastor Derek Morris.
Click on the image below to view the video:

With thanks to Hope Channel – Television that will change your life.