Key Thought: Like the Reformers, we can discover a God big enough for every challenge.A God who gives our lives meaning and purpose.
May 4, 2024

1. Have a volunteer read Psalm 119:103, 119:147, 119:162.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on the most important point in this passage.
2. What was David’s attitude towards God’s word?
3. Personal Application: In what ways have the Scriptures comforted you in times of trouble? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states, “Why is the idea of the Bible and faith so important to the Christian walk and salvation? Why don’t we consider tradition and culture as well? Isn’t the Bible full of cultural and traditional influences?” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read 2 Corinthians 2:1-6, 2:14.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What does this tell us about Paul’s confidence in proclaiming the truth of God’s Word?
3. Personal Application: Think about your life and your impact on others. What opportunities do these texts show you to have an influence on others for eternity? Share your thoughts
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “I don’t think your community or culture uphold the Scriptures like you do. Many look at Scripture as part truth, part allegory or myth. Some accept only the New Testament and reject the Old as irrelevant. Some try to change the focus and interpretation of women’s role in the home and church, the idea of sexual deviation as normal, and other Biblical standards as out of touch with modern life. How can you hold onto Biblical truths in the face of all this.” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Ephesians 2:8,9; Romans 3:23,24; Romans 6:23.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on the most important point in this text.
2. What do these verses teach about the plan of salvation?.
3. Personal Application: How should we interpret the Bible? Many say you can interpret things in many ways. So can different interpretations be right and still truth? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states: “If salvation is by grace through faith as the work of God through Christ, what role do our works play in the Christian life? How can we affirm the importance of good works without getting caught up in legalism?” How would you respond to your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read I Peter 2:2, 2 Peter 3:18, Colossians 1:10.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on the most important point in this text.
2. What truths do these passages reveal about the Christian life?
3. Personal Application: In your life, what hope of salvation do you have? Do you feel like you have a saving relationship with God, or is there room for improvement? 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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Daily Lesson for Wednesday 1st of May 2024

God has provided salvation as a gift. His Holy Spirit leads us to accept by faith what Christ has so freely provided through His death on Calvary’s cross. Jesus, the divine Son of God, offered His perfect life to atone for our sins.

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Divine justice demands perfect obedience. Christ’s perfect life stands in place of our imperfect lives. The divine law we have broken condemns us to eternal death. The Bible is clear. Through our sinful choices, we have “fallen short” of God’s ideal for our lives. We have sinned. Left to ourselves, we cannot meet the just, righteous demands of a holy God. As a result, we deserve eternal death. But there is good news. The apostle Paul assures us, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23, NKJV). It is a gift, undeserved; if it were by works, we would earn it, and if there is any one truth that shines out of the gospel, it is that we cannot earn salvation.

Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformers discovered Christ and Christ alone as their source of salvation. It was then that Luther began to preach the message of Christ’s saving grace. Crowds flocked to hear his heartfelt, life-changing messages. His words were like a drink of cold water in the barren desert of their lives. The people were shackled by the traditions of the medieval church and kept in bondage with centuries-old rituals that provided no spiritual life. Luther’s biblical messages touched hearts, and lives were changed.

As Luther read the New Testament, he was overwhelmed with the goodness of God. He was amazed at God’s desire to save all humanity. The popular view taught by church leaders at the time was salvation as partly a human work and partly God’s work. Luther discovered that Christ’s death on the cross was all-sufficient for all humanity.

“Christ was treated as we deserve, that we might be treated as He deserves. He was condemned for our sins, in which He had no share, that we might be justified by His righteousness, in which we had no share. He suffered the death which was ours, that we might receive the life which was His.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 25.

What a powerful and wonderfully written summary of the gospel, that we could be justified by a righteousness “in which we had no share.” What a promise!

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Daily Lesson for Tuesday 30th of April 2024

One day while studying in the university library, Martin Luther came to a turning point in his own life. He discovered a Latin copy of the Bible. He never knew before that a book like this even existed. With sheer delight, he read chapter after chapter, verse after verse. He was amazed at the clarity and power of God’s Word. As he pored over its pages, the Holy Spirit illuminated His mind.

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He sensed the guidance of the Holy Spirit as truths obscured by tradition seemed to leap off the pages of Holy Writ. Describing his first experience with the Bible, he wrote, “O that God would give me such a book for myself!”

John 14:25-26

John 16:13-15

2 Peter 1:20-21

What’s so powerful in these verses is the assurance that the same Holy Spirit that inspired Bible writers guides us as we read Scripture. He is the divine interpreter of divine truth. Unfortunately, many professed Christians today downplay the supernatural element in the Bible and exaggerate the human element. Since Satan can no longer keep the Bible from us, he does the next best thing: strip it of its supernatural character, make it merely good literature or, even worse, an oppressive tool of religion to control the masses.

The Reformers saw clearly that the Holy Spirit—not the priests, prelates, and popes—was the infallible interpreter of Scripture. There is an interesting exchange recorded between John Knox, the Scottish Reformer, and Mary, Queen of Scots.

“Said Mary: ‘Ye interpret the Scriptures in one manner, and they [the Roman Catholic teachers] interpret in another; whom shall I believe, and who shall be judge?’

“ ‘Ye shall believe God, that plainly speaketh in His word,’ answered the Reformer; ‘and farther than the word teaches you, ye neither shall believe the one nor the other. The word of God is plain in itself; and if there appear any obscurity in one place, the Holy Ghost, which is never contrary to Himself, explains the same more clearly in other places, so that there can remain no doubt but unto such as obstinately remain ignorant.’ ”—David Laing, The Collected Works of John Knox, vol. 2, pp. 281, 284, quoted in Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 251.

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Our learning this quarter will show us that 
God Is Working His Purpose Out – Hymn 225 so that we will Lift Up The Trumpet because 
Jesus Is Coming Again – Hymn 213. You may have two hymns from which to choose for your theme hymn this quarter.

Faith Against All Odds raises our first hymn for Sabbath School:
Hymn 608 – Faith Is The Victory which is what the Reformers had so strongly, all because they all asked 
Give Me The Bible – Hymn 272.

We learn from our Bible 
O Word of God Incarnate – Hymn 274. There are many faithful workers named for us this week, who worked so faithfully to give us the Bible we know today and were willing to say 
Take My Life, And Let It Be – Hymn 330.

Martin Luther opened to us 
Marvelous Grace – Hymn 109 and alerted us to 
A Mighty Fortress – Hymn 506 is our God. He also pointed us to not be looking at ourselves but “look to Jesus instead”: 
Hymn 507 – Moment By Moment.

Ellen White reminds us of 2 Kings 6:17 on Friday in the story of Elisha “Lord, I pray Thee, open his eyes, that he may see”. Therefore, please Lord, 
Open My Eyes, That I May See – Hymn 326.

To learn unknown hymns, you will find the accompaniment music for each one at: https://sdahymnals.com/Hymnal/

Another great resource is for when there is a hymn you wish to sing but can’t find it in your hymnal. Go to https://www.sdahymnal.org/Search and in the search bar type a special word in that is in the hymn. I am sure you will be amazed at the help you will be given.

 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

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Daily Lesson for Monday 29th of April 2024

The apostle Paul faced overwhelming odds in his work of spreading the gospel; yet, he had the confidence that God’s Word would eventually triumph, “for,” as he said, “we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth” (2 Corinthians 13:8).

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The Reformers faced similar trials; yet, by faith they remained faithful to God’s Word. An example of courage in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds is William Tyndale. Tyndale’s greatest desire was to give England an accurate, readable translation of the Bible. He determined to translate the Bible from the original languages and correct some of the errors in Wycliffe’s translation about 140 years before. Eventually Tyndale, too, was arrested and tried. Many of his Bible translations, which were printed in Worms, Germany, were seized and publicly burned. His trial took place in Belgium in a.d. 1536. He was condemned on the charge of heresy and sentenced to be burned. His executioners strangled him while they tied him to the stake and then burned his body. His dying words were spoken with zeal in a loud voice and were reported as, “Lord, open the king of England’s eyes.” God miraculously answered Tyndale’s prayer.

Within four years of his death, four English translations of the Bible were published. In 1611 the King James Version of the Bible was printed, and it was largely based on Tyndale’s work. The 54 scholars who produced the work drew heavily from Tyndale’s earlier English translation. One estimate suggests that the Old Testament of the 1611 King James Bible is 76 percent Tyndale’s translation, and the New Testament is 83 percent. In 2011 the King James Version of the Bible celebrated its 400th anniversary by passing the milestone of one billion Bibles in print. The King James Version has impacted tens of millions of people around the world. Tyndale’s sacrifice was well worth it.

No matter how difficult it seemed or how challenging the circumstances were, Tyndale and his Bible-believing colleagues trusted that God was working out everything according to His will. Tyndale’s life made a difference for eternity.

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