Daily Lesson for Sunday 20th of October 2024

As last week’s lesson illustrated, the Gospel of John begins with Jesus Christ, the Word, in His eternal existence before Creation. But in that same prologue, John the Baptist appears as a witness to Jesus. Some Jews in Jesus’ time expected two messiahs, one priestly and the other royal. John clearly teaches that John the Baptist did not claim to be one of these messiahs but, rather, was a witness to the one true Messiah.

Image © Providence Collection at Goodsalt.com

The religious leaders sent priests and Levites to ask John who he was. With Messianic expectations high in Judea, it was important for John the Baptist to clarify his relationship to those expectations. He was not the Light, but he was sent from God to bear witness to the Light and to prepare for the coming of the Messiah (John 1:6-8). That’s why he answered them as plainly as he could, saying: “I am not the Christ” (John 1:20).

Also, John baptized with water, but Christ would baptize with the Spirit (John 1:26,33). John was not worthy to loosen Jesus’ sandal strap (John 1:27). Christ was preferred before John because He was before John (John 1:30). Jesus was the Son of God, and John merely pointed to Him (John 1:34).

In the days of rutted and rock-filled roads, servants were sometimes sent ahead of the king to level the surfaces of roadways and to take out sharp turns so as to smooth the way of the king. So, in fulfillment of prophecy, John came in order to prepare the hearts of the people for Jesus.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24d-04-the-testimony-of-john-the-baptist/

Join the Hit the Mark panel as they discuss Sabbath School Lesson 3 – The Backstory: The Prologue. It’s the fastest hour of the week!

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/the-backstory-the-prologue-hit-the-mark-sabbath-school/

Daily Lesson for Sabbath 19th of October 2024

Image © Pacific Press

Read for This Week’s Study: John 1:19-23, Isaiah 40:1-5, John 1:29-37, Romans 5:6, John 1:35-39, John 1:43-51, John 3:1-21.

Memory Text:

“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God’ ” (John 3:3, NKJV).

No question, Jesus provided people with powerful scriptural evidence to back up the claims that He had been making about Himself, including “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life” (John 6:47).

But there’s more: turning water into wine; feeding thousands with a few loaves of bread; healing the nobleman’s son; restoring the man at the pool of Bethesda; giving sight to the one blind from birth; raising Lazarus from the dead. The evangelist calls on a variety of events, and people—Jew, Gentile, rich, poor, male, female, rulers, commoners, educated, and uneducated—to bear witness to who Jesus is.

John points even to the witness of the Father Himself, and to Scripture, all giving evidence of Jesus’ identity.

This week begins with the powerful witness of John the Baptist. Other witnesses come on the stage as well: Andrew and Simon Peter, Philip and Nathanael, and a most unexpected witness, the Pharisee Nicodemus. But another witness stands back in the shadows (that other disciple with Andrew, in John 1:35,40)—John himself.

*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, October 26.

Sunday–>

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24d-04-witnesses-of-christ-as-the-messiah/

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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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/mission-spotlight-for-october-19/

Inside Story for Friday 18th of October 2024

By Andrew McChesney

A Native American man walked onto the construction site.

“What are you guys building here?” he asked, watching volunteers place log walls on the concrete foundation of the All Nations Center in Wapato, a town in the U.S. state of Washington. “Another church?” he said, shaking his head. “You guys don’t even know what day of the week to keep.”

Image © Pacific Press

A construction leader, Jeff Weijohn, struck up a conversation with the man, who had never heard of Seventh-day Adventists. The man thought that the new church would be open for worship on Sunday, but he believed that the Creator should be worshiped on Saturday.

Jeff was surprised. “It was the first time that I heard that some Native Americans have a history of Sabbath keeping,” Jeff said in an interview.

Later, Jeff sought clarification from a historian familiar with Native American history. The historian confirmed that one or two tribes on the Yakama Indian Reservation, where Wapato is located, traditionally believed that the seventh day was the Creator’s day and worshiped Him on that day.

The realization that God had planted a Sabbath seed in Native hearts energized Jeff and his wife, Terri, in mission outreach to Native Americans.

The outreach program got its start with the help of a Thirteenth Sabbath Offering in 1990. A highlight of the program is the All Nations Center, which opened in 2001 and was designed as a multipurpose building. It has a worship corner, where people gather to worship on Sabbath mornings; a food area, where meals are served and an annual Mother’s Day brunch draws 300 to 400 people; and volleyball and basketball courts, where up to 200 children and their parents come for game nights. The center also offers day camps, Vacation Bible Schools, and after-school tutoring.

Native Americans and others can lease space. “One reason we built the facility was because the community had nowhere to meet,” Jeff said.

In a notable instance, a Native American leader chose the site over a native-owned casino to conduct health seminars, saying gambling was destroying his people.

“It was quite a testimony that he didn’t want anything to do with the casino,” Jeff said.

The center’s culturally sensitive concept has proven so successful that it has been replicated elsewhere, including in Canada, he said.

Thank you for your Thirteenth Sabbath Offerings that continue to make a difference. Pray that God uses them to proclaim the everlasting gospel to every tribe, tongue, people, and nation.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24d-03-inside-story-a-sabbath-seed/