Daily Lesson for Thursday 2nd of May 2024

A new wind was blowing through the Christian church in the days of Luther. Tens of thousands of people were taught to look away from their sinful selves and look to Jesus instead. No doubt these people, looking at themselves and what they were like, saw only things to discourage them. What believer today doesn’t have the same experience? That’s why we need to look, instead, to Jesus.

Image © Lars Justinen at Goodsalt.com

God’s grace changes us. One day, John Wesley attended a Moravian meeting in London. Wesley sat amazed as he heard Luther’s introduction to Romans read. For the first time in his life, he began to understand the gospel. Something stirred within, and he felt strangely drawn to this Christ who had given His life for him. He exclaimed, “I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation: and an assurance was given me, that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”—John Whitehead, The Life of the Rev. John Wesley, M.A. (London: Stephen Couchman, 1793), p. 331.

The Reformers systematically studied the Word to discover more truth. Not content with the status quo, nor a rigid religious experience with little or no growth, they were constantly yearning to know Christ better. Many Bible-believing Christians in the Middle Ages paid an extremely high price for their commitment. They were tortured, imprisoned, exiled, and executed. Their properties were confiscated, their homes burned, their lands ravished, and their families persecuted. When they were driven from their homes, they looked for a city “whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:10). When they were tortured, they blessed their tormentors, and when they languished in dark, damp dungeons, they claimed God’s promises of a brighter tomorrow. Although their bodies were imprisoned, they were free—free in Christ, free in the truths of His Word, free in the hope of His soon return.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24b-05-obedience-the-fruit-of-faith/

Join It Is Written Sabbath School host Eric Flickinger and this quarter’s author, Mark Finley, as they provide additional insights into this week’s Sabbath School lesson.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/5-faith-against-all-odds-it-is-written-discussions-with-the-author/

View an in-depth discussion of Faith Against All Odds in the Hope Sabbath School class led by Pastor Derek Morris.  
Click on the image below to view the video:

With thanks to Hope Channel – Television that will change your life.

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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.

Image © Jeff Preston at Goodsalt.com

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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