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The Mission program of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is an opportunity for us to understand the needs of others and share in supporting them. Please click on the image below to watch the Mission Spotlight presentation for this week:

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Join the Hit the Mark panel as they discuss Sabbath School Lesson 7 – More Testimonies About Jesus. It’s the fastest hour of the week!

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/more-testimonies-about-jesus-hit-the-mark-sabbath-school/

Inside Story for Friday 8th of November 2024

By Andrew McChesney

For four years, Donaldo Velasquez visited a Colombian prison every Friday to preach about Jesus. But one Friday, he couldn’t go. He worked as a carpenter, and a client urgently needed his help. Moreover, Donaldo needed the money.

Only four Seventh-day Adventists—Donaldo, two other church members, and their pastor—had permission to visit the prison in Acacias, and Donaldo called them for help. “No, I’m too busy,” Ranses said. Pedro also said he couldn’t go. The pastor apologized, saying he was out of town.

Image © Pacific Press

Donaldo wept and prayed. When his wife, Jesusita, asked what was wrong, he explained that he didn’t want to skip the meeting with the inmates but he needed to work. “Go, do your job,” Jesusita said. “God will provide.”

The next time Donaldo visited the prison, 38 inmates came to hear him preach. He was accompanied by another church member, Pedro.

“Where is the man who came last time?” an inmate asked.

“We didn’t send anyone,” Donaldo replied.

“Yes, you did,” said another inmate. “A man preached to us.”

“No, we didn’t send anyone,” Donaldo said, and he suggested that perhaps the preacher had belonged to another denomination.

“No, no,” the inmates said. “We know everyone who has permission to visit. This man has never visited before, and he wasn’t from another church.”

Donaldo asked about the man’s sermon, hoping for a clue to his identity. The inmates said he had spoken about the seventh-day Sabbath.

Amazed, Donaldo asked, “What did he look like?”

The inmates described him as a tall, well-dressed man wearing a white shirt. They said he knew the Bible so well that he probably was a teacher.

Pedro touched Donaldo’s arm. “An angel must have come and preached to them,” he said. “That’s the only explanation.”

Donaldo, however, wasn’t convinced. He went to the prison guard who registered visitors. The guard, a friend of Donaldo’s, looked through the computer log and shook his head. “No one came that day,” he said.

Astonished, Donaldo exclaimed, “Now I have no doubt that the angel of the Lord came to teach the Bible in my place!”

Returning to the inmates, he informed them that they must have seen an angel.

Six years have passed, and nearly all 38 inmates have given their hearts to Jesus in baptism. Donaldo said he won’t ever forget that day.

“Even though it is an incredible story, I believe God sent His heavenly messenger,” he said.

Thank you for your Thirteenth Sabbath Offering that helped two mission projects in Colombia last quarter.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24d-06-inside-story-we-didn-t-send-anyone/

Key Thought: John the Baptist did not disappear from human history after he fulfilled his role with the Elijah message. Many of the common people came to believe in Jesus, but many of the leaders refused to believe as they were close-minded and prejudiced.
November 9, 2024

1. Have a volunteer read John 3:25-36.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. How does John compare himself to Jesus?
3. Personal Application: How would you define humility? Do you think you are humble? Do you know anyone that you consider humble? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of you relatives states, “What should our proper attitude be when it comes to human position or recognition? How can we stay humble when we end up doing good things for Christ?” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read John 6:51-71.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What did Jesus say that people had trouble accepting?
3. Personal Application: In your experience, do you believe the majority of people are usually right? If this is not true, why it is so that most people are wrong? How can we be sociable and agreeable without compromising our faith? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “Why does your church want to be different? A majority of Christians believe a certain way, yet you people decide to be different, like a cult, taking your doctrine and orders from a self-proclaimed prophetess. We need unity in Christianity, not more division.” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read John 5:36-38, 12:32.

1. a. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point in this text is.
   b. What does Jesus say here about the Father?
   c. Personal Application: What did the Father say about Jesus? How do you explain the Oneness of God with the Father-Son references? Share your thoughts.
   d. Case Study : One of your neighbors states: “Why did Jesus say if He be lifted up, He would draw all people to Him? Here He is stating not that that we are drawn to the Father, but to Himself. Is He referring to a previous incident in the Bible?” How would you respond to your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read John 7:37-53.

1. a. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
   b. When Jesus spoke to the Jews, what was the response of many in the crowd?
   c. Personal Application: How did the religious leaders think about the people who followed Jesus? How do you think religious leaders will regard you in the future? Share your thoughts.
   d.. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/6-more-testimonies-about-jesus-teaching-plan/

Prepared by William Earnhardt for Sabbath School class, November 2, 2024.

Main Theme: John recounts the encounter between Jesus, the woman at the well, and the people of the Samaritan city of Sychar.

Read in Class: John 4:5-15. Ask the class the identify the main idea of this passage.

Study: How did Jesus use this opportunity to open a dialogue with the woman at the well? How does Jesus begin witnessing to this woman?

Apply: Read John 7:37-38. What is Jesus saying to us in these verses, and how do we experience what He is promising here?

Share: Your friend asks, “What are some of the taboos in your own culture that could hamper your witness to others? How do we learn to transcend them?” What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: John 4:16 and Ezekiel 36:25-27. Ask the class to define the common thread in these passages.

Study: How did Jesus respond to the woman’s request? What truth in Ezekiel 36:25-27 was Jesus trying to bring home to the woman?

Apply: In John 4:16 Jesus gets very personal with the woman to make her aware of her need for healing. How do we react when a friend or maybe even a sermon in church may expose an area where we need healing? Do we become defensive, or do we acknowledge our need for healing?

Share: Your friend asks, you how God has taken away your heart of stone and given you a heart of flesh? 

Read in Class: John 4:16-26. Ask the class to define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What did Jesus do to show this woman that He knew her deepest secrets, and how did she respond? How did Jesus reveal His identity to her?

Apply: What should this story tell us about why the gospel needs to break down the barriers that we humans create with each other?

Share: Your friend mentions how you can see a friend you have not seen in years, and once you get back together it was like you were never apart. Could it be because you had been together “in the Sprit” even while you were apart? What do you tell your friend? See One in the Spirit.

Read in Class: John 4:27-42. Ask the class to define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What surprising action did the woman take?

Apply: What happened following this encounter, and what does it teach about how the gospel can be spread?

Share: What should this story tell us about how powerful the witness of even one person can be? How powerful a witness are you to what Jesus has done in your life? Who can you share your story with this week?

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/5-the-testimony-of-the-samaritans-sabbath-school-lesson-teaching-plan/