Daily Lesson for Sabbath 17th of August 2024

Image © Pacific Press

Read for This Week’s Study

Mark 10:1-52; Genesis 1:27; Genesis 2:24; Galatians 4:1-2; Romans 6:1-11; Isaiah 11:1-16.

Memory Text:

“ ‘For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many’ ” (Mark 10:45, NKJV).

This week covers Mark 10:1-52, completing the special section in which Jesus teaches His disciples in preparation for the Cross. About half of the chapter deals with the disciples themselves, and the rest with issues important to discipleship but told through the lens of others who interact with Jesus. Pharisees come and argue with Him over the subject of divorce. Parents bring their children for Jesus to bless. A rich man asks about eternal life, and a blind man asks for sight.

This chapter of Mark carries important teachings about what it means to follow Jesus, particularly as it relates to living in the here and now: marriage, children, how to relate to riches, and the reward and cost of following Him. Topping it off is the healing of a second blind man (Mark 10:46-52; compare with Mark 8:22-26), which provides the closing bookend for the section (Mark 8:22-38; Mark 9:1-50; Mark 10:1-52) and a beautiful illustration of what following Jesus both costs and leads to.

Together, these lessons prepare the follower of Jesus—whether the disciples 2,000 years ago or disciples in the twenty-first century—for the challenges that come with discipleship.

*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, August 24.

(0)

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24c-08-teaching-disciples-part-ii/

Inside Story for Friday 16th of August 2024

By Andrew McChesney

One Sabbath, Anush and Mother returned home from church to learn that Father had made plans for a countryside picnic. “Let’s barbeque,” he said.

Anush remembered how the Israelites had prepared their Sabbath meals on Friday, before the Sabbath hours (Exodus 16:1-36), and wondered whether it was a good idea to barbeque on Sabbath. Out loud, she said, “No, Father. That’s not a good plan. I don’t even eat meat.” She had become a vegetarian.

Father called off the picnic, but he still didn’t grasp that Anush no longer ate meat. The next day, he prepared chicken for Sunday lunch and handed her a piece. “Father, I don’t eat meat,” Anush said.

Now Father understood, and he was upset. He thought it was abnormal not to eat meat. The next day, he forbade Anush and Mother from going to prayer meeting at the house church in their town. When the pair protested, Father angrily aired frustrations that he had collected against Adventists. He criticized the biblical requirement to return tithe and offerings (Malachi 3:8-10).

“Tithe and offerings are a business,” he said. “You are just supporting a business.”

He accused the Adventist Church of being a foreign group intent on destroying Armenia. He lashed out at Anush’s lifestyle. “Today you say, ‘I don’t eat meat,’ and tomorrow you will say, ‘I don’t have a father,’ ” he said.

Anush sat still and prayed silently, “What should I say, Lord?” Every time Father spoke against God or the church, she prayed, “This is not addressed to me. This is addressed to You. It’s Your responsibility to answer.” She remembered Romans 2:4, which says, “The goodness of God leads . . . to repentance” (NKJV). She sensed God was saying to extend a similar goodness to her father. She prayed, “There’s nothing that I can do except love Father.”

Father owned a small grocery store. When he left Mother or Anush in charge, they wouldn’t sell alcohol or cigarettes. Now, as Father berated them, he felt condemned. “Do you think that I’m evil and you’re good because I sell alcohol and cigarettes and you don’t?” he asked. “I’m a better Christian than you. I’m going to lead Sabbath worship services from now on. You can no longer go to church. I will lead the worship services.”

That ended the conversation. Anush went to her room, and Mother followed. Both were shocked. “What will we do?” Mother asked.

Anush suggested cooperating with Father as long as he didn’t oppose the Bible. “He said we will worship at home on Sabbath,” she said. “He didn’t take away our Bibles. He even respects the Sabbath. Let’s wait for the Sabbath. If he keeps his word, we will keep the Sabbath at home with him. If he forgets his word, we will pray and see how God guides us.”

Part of last quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering went to open a center of influence for families like Anush’s in Yerevan, Armenia. Thank you for helping spread the gospel with your offerings. Next week: Father allows Anush and Mother to return to church.

(0)

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24c-07-inside-story-food-choices-trigger-uproar/

Join the Hit the Mark panel as they discuss Sabbath School Lesson 7 – Teaching Disciples: Part I. It’s the fastest hour of the week!

(0)

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/teaching-disciples-part-i-hit-the-mark-sabbath-school/

Daily Lesson for Friday 16th of August 2024

Read Ellen G. White, “Ministry,” Pages 426–431; “Who Is the Greatest?  “Pages 432-442, in The Desire of Ages.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

“Before honor is humility. To fill a high place before men, Heaven chooses the worker who, like John the Baptist, takes a lowly place before God. The most childlike disciple is the most efficient in labor for God. The heavenly intelligences can co-operate with him who is seeking, not to exalt self, but to save souls.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 436.

“By all that has given us advantage over another,—be it education and refinement, nobility of character, Christian training, religious ­experience,—we are in debt to those less favored; and, so far as lies in our power, we are to minister unto them. If we are strong, we are to stay up the hands of the weak. Angels of glory, that do always behold the face of the Father in heaven, joy in ministering to His little ones. Trembling souls, who have many objectionable traits of character, are their special charge. Angels are ever present where they are most needed, with those who have the hardest battle with self to fight, and whose surroundings are the most discouraging. And in this ministry Christ’s true followers will co-operate.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 440.

Discussion Questions

(0)

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24c-07-further-thought-teaching-disciples-part-i/

Daily Lesson for Thursday 15th of August 2024

At first, this passage may seem to be a collection of disparate teachings of Jesus thrown together without any rhyme or reason. However, a closer look reveals that each successive teaching has a catchword connection to the previous one. The passage revolves around three main terms that move the instruction forward step by step—“causes to sin,” “fire,” and “salt.”

Image © Kevin Carden at Goodsalt.com

The first teaching is about “little ones,” referring to new believers. Teachers and leaders are tasked in the kingdom of God with the responsibility to care for these new converts with special care, similar to the Old Testament ethic of caring for those weakest in ancient society—widows, orphans, and foreigners. Jesus speaks in hyperbole that it would be better to be drowned in the sea than to cause one of these “little ones” to sin.

The catchphrase “causes to sin” leads to the longest teaching in this passage. Two conundrums confront the reader. First, is Jesus really teaching people to cut off a hand or foot or pluck out an eye? Second, is He teaching an eternally burning hell? The answer to the first question is no, Jesus is not teaching mutilation—that was rejected in Judaism (compare with Deuteronomy 14:1; 1 Kings 18:27-28). The Lord is using hyperbole to make His point. If losing a hand, foot, or eye is terrible, how much more a disaster should it be for the Christian to sin!

The second question also receives a negative answer; no, Jesus is not teaching an eternally burning hell. How do we know? First, the passage contains a certain comedic aspect. Consider people entering the heavenly city with one eye or one foot or one hand. Then consider people who are whole going to hell. Should it not be the other way around? The healthy man in hell? That is comedy. Such comedy over a serious topic leads one to consider that Jesus is illustrating a point with hyperbole. Sin should be taken so seriously that it would be better to lose a hand, foot, or eye than to sin.

As to hell being eternal, its consequences are eternal, not the fire of hell itself. “ ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life’ ” (John 3:16, ESV; emphasis supplied). Those who are lost do not burn forever; instead, they perish forever—a very big difference!

(1)

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24c-07-the-healthy-man-in-hell/