Inside Story for Friday 4th of October 2024

By Andrew McChesney

An eerie heaviness rested on the red wooden cabin as eight Alaska Native girls prepared for bed on their first night at Camp Polaris, a Seventh-day Adventist summer camp in southwestern Alaska. All the girls felt it. The cabin’s two counselors felt it. It was an intense feeling of evil and harm.

One counselor, 21-year-old Rachel, was physically exhausted but couldn’t sleep. She sensed evil angels were more prevalent than usual. She thought about the eight teens in her cabin. Many of them had been abused, practiced self-harm, and struggled with drugs. One girl’s uncle was a shaman.

Rachel got up and stoked the fire in a small black furnace. Even in August, the Alaskan summer nights were chilly. She began to sing about Jesus. Naturally shy, she didn’t like to sing, especially by herself. But the song sprang from her lips. As she sang, Rachel visited each bunk bed and prayed with each girl. Finally, the girls fell asleep.

After that, Rachel sang every night and prayed with the girls.

One night, as she made the rounds, she asked a girl if she had any prayer requests. “Yes, I want to pray to be safe and protected,” the girl said.

“Safe from what?” Rachel asked.

The girl said that in the darkness of the previous night, someone grabbed her by the neck. As she struggled to breathe, a bright light appeared, and the unseen being released his grip. In the bright light was an angel, and he said, “Do not be afraid.” Peace immediately swept over the girl. She fell asleep and hadn’t mentioned the incident to anyone until she spoke to Rachel.

After Rachel prayed with her, the girl became more interested in Jesus for the remainder of her time at camp. She was a quiet girl who didn’t say much. But clearly a seed was planted in her heart.

Rachel was delighted when the girl returned to camp to train to become a staff member a few years later.

Rachel Carle, who now teaches at an Adventist school in Sitka, Alaska, still volunteers at Camp Polaris, the place where she witnessed the reality of the great controversy between good and evil as a young counselor.

“Working in Polaris has shown me that there are people in the United States who do not know Jesus,” she said. “Working at this camp was why I decided to become a teacher in Alaska.”

Thank you for your 2016 Thirteenth Sabbath Offering that helped repair and expand Camp Polaris so more children could attend. Part of this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help open a center of influence at the Adventist church in Bethel, Alaska. The Bethel Church sends local children to Camp Polaris every year.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24d-01-inside-story-heaviness-in-a-camp-cabin/

Daily Lesson for Friday 4th of October 2024

“Jesus had given him [the disabled man] no assurance of divine help.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

The man might have stopped to doubt, and lost his one chance of healing. But he believed Christ’s word, and in acting upon it he received strength.

“Through the same faith we may receive spiritual healing. By sin we have been severed from the life of God. Our souls are palsied. Of ourselves we are no more capable of living a holy life than was the impotent man capable of walking. . . . Let these desponding, struggling ones look up. The Saviour is bending over the purchase of His blood, saying with inexpressible tenderness and pity, ‘Wilt thou be made whole?’ He bids you arise in health and peace. Do not wait to feel that you are made whole. Believe His word, and it will be fulfilled. Put your will on the side of Christ. Will to serve Him, and in acting upon His word you will receive strength. Whatever may be the evil practice, the master passion which through long indulgence binds both soul and body, Christ is able and longs to deliver. He will impart life to the soul that is ‘dead in trespasses.’ Ephesians 2:1. He will set free the captive that is held by weakness and misfortune and the chains of sin.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 203.

“Jesus repelled the charge of blasphemy. My authority, He said, for doing the work of which you accuse Me, is that I am the Son of God, one with Him in nature, in will, and in purpose.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 208.

Discussion Questions

<–Thursday

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24d-01-further-thought-signs-that-point-the-way/

Key Thought: John called Jesus’ miracles signs. Turning water to wine, restoring health to the sick, and healing the paraplegic at the well. All point to Jesus as the Son of God.
October 5, 2024

1. Have a volunteer read John 2:1-11.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. How did this help the disciples believe in Him?
3. Personal Application: What about your reasons for believing and following Jesus? What have you seen in your life? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states, “Even if we were to see a miracle, doesn’t the Bible say demons can perform miracles? What must we consider before automatically assuming it is from God?” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read John 5:1-9, 14.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. Because everyone at the pool was there to get healed, why did Jesus ask the paralytic if he wanted to get healed? And why didn’t He heal everyone there?
3. Personal Application: How can we submit our wills to God in the face of adversity and trials without denying Christ like Peter, or running away like John, or trying to physically fight like Peter? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “What is the relationship between sickness and sin? How do we discern that not all sickness is a direct result of sins in our lives, yet Jesus says here that sickness can be a result of sin?” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read John 5:10-16.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What lessons can we take away from the hardness of the religious leaders hearts in response to Jesus and the miracles He just performed?
3. Personal Application: Are there some “rules” that we may cling to that may actually be destroying another person’s ability to experience God’s power in their lives? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states: “Do you know anyone that has maybe become spiritually hard regardless of evidence in the Bible and in their lives? Are prayers going up for them so that Jesus could make a miracle in their lives?” How would you respond to your neighbor

4. Have a volunteer read John 5:16-18.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. Why was Jesus persecuted for His action on the Sabbath and what did He say to help the leaders see Him for who He is?
3. Personal Application: How can we be careful to not just believe in God and have correct doctrines, but not surrender fully to Christ? Share your thoughts.
4. 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/1-signs-that-point-the-way-teaching-plan/

Join the Hit the Mark panel as they discuss Sabbath School Lesson 1 – Signs That Point the Way. It’s the fastest hour of the week!

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/sabbath-school-lesson-1-signs-that-point-the-way/

Daily Lesson for Thursday 3rd of October 2024

The miracle by the Pool of Bethesda provided an excellent opportunity for John to emphasize who Jesus is. John takes nine verses to describe the miracle and about 40 verses (see below) to describe the One who performed the miracle.

Image © Jim Howard at Goodsalt.com

John 5:18 can be disturbing because it seems to say that Jesus was breaking the Sabbath. However, a closer look at John 5:16-18 shows that Jesus argues that His “work” on the Sabbath is in line with His relationship to His Father. God does not stop sustaining the universe on the Sabbath. Consequently, Jesus’ Sabbath activity was part of His claim to divinity. The religious leaders persecuted Him on the basis of supposed Sabbath-breaking and a claim to equality to God.

Jesus defends His actions in three steps. First, He explains His intimate relationship with the Father (John 5:19-30). Jesus indicates that He and His Father act in harmony, to the point that Jesus has the power both to judge and to raise the dead (John 5:25-30).

Second, Jesus calls four “witnesses” in rapid succession to His defense—John the Baptist (John 5:31-35), the miracles Jesus does (John 5:36), the Father (John 5:37-38), and the Scriptures (John 5:39). Each of these “witnesses” gives testimony in favor of Jesus.

Finally, in John 5:40-47, Jesus sets before His accusers their own condemnation, revealing the contrast between His ministry and their self-seeking. Their condemnation, He says, will come from Moses (John 5:45-47), the one in whom they have set their hopes.

<–Wednesday Friday–>

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24d-01-jesus-claims/