Daily Lesson for Saturday 9th of March 2024

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Read for This Week’s Study

Psalms 84:1-12; Revelation 21:3; Psalms 122:1-9; Psalms 87:1-7; Galatians 3:28-29; Matthew 28:18-20; Psalms 46:1-11; Psalms 125:1-5.

Memory Text:

“My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God” (Psalms 84:1-12:2, NKJV).

The songs of Zion are joyous hymns that magnify the beauty of Zion and the sovereignty of the Lord, who reigns from His holy mountain. These psalms often praise the merits of the Lord’s house and express a love for the sanctuary that can be found in other psalms, as well. Many of these psalms were composed by the sons of Korah, who had firsthand experience of the blessedness of the Lord’s house as the temple musicians (1 Chronicles 6:31-38) and keepers of the temple gates (1 Chronicles 9:19).

What makes Zion the source of hope and joy? Zion represented God’s living presence among His people. As the people of Israel are God’s chosen people (Deuteronomy 7:6), so Zion is God’s chosen mountain (Psalms 78:68, Psalms 87:2). God reigns from Zion (Psalms 99:1-2) and founded His temple on Zion, as well (Psalms 87:1). Thus, Zion is a place of divine blessings and refuge. Zion is often referred to in parallel, or even interchangeably with, Jerusalem and the sanctuary, the center of God’s work of salvation for the ancient world.

The blessings of Zion overflow to the ends of the earth because the Lord’s person and grace exceed the boundaries of any holy place. Zion is the joy of all the earth (Psalms 48:2), affirming that the whole earth belongs to God.

*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, March 16.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24a-11-longing-for-god-in-zion/

True or False: It is essential for Gen Z and millennials to listen to Gen X and Boomers to experience a solid Christian experience. Join us for Lesson 10 – Lessons of the Past.

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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-march-9/

Inside Story for Friday 8th of March 2024

By Andrew McChesney

After Sekule refused to work for several Sabbaths, his commanding military officer began to understand that he could not compel the young soldier to violate his conscience.

“So, you can’t work on the Sabbath in the army?” the officer said.

“That’s right. I can’t work on the Sabbath,” Sekule said.

“From Friday evening to Saturday evening?”

“Yes, I can’t work.”

“Then you can’t eat during those 24 hours.”

“Why can’t I eat?”

“If you’re not working, you don’t need to eat. Eating is working. Also, some of the food is prepared on your Sabbath, so you shouldn’t eat it.”

Sekule was eating only bread and drinking tea because the other military rations contained lard. But he agreed not to eat bread and drink tea that was prepared on the Sabbath. As a recently baptized Seventh-day Adventist, he wasn’t sure that food prepared on the Sabbath was off-limits. But he needed to give an answer that met the officer’s expectations. If he had refused to work but demanded bread and tea, the officer would think that he was being unfaithful to God.

Several months passed, and the military cooks began to cook one meal a week without lard. It was the only meal that Sekule could eat. But it was prepared and served only on the Sabbath.

Sekule prayed, “God, please, could You change the day from Sabbath to Sunday? Would You do that for me?”

He prayed for a month, and the lard-free meal was moved to Sunday.

Sunday happened to be a recreational day for the soldiers, a time when they could relax by playing soccer, basketball, and other sports. Sekule wished that the recreational day was on the Sabbath. It would be easier for him to refuse to play soccer than to refuse to work every Sabbath.

He prayed again. “I’m sorry, but could I ask You one more thing? Could You move the recreational day from Sunday to Sabbath so I don’t need to explain every Sabbath why I can’t work?”

A week after the lard-free meal was changed to Sunday, the recreational day suddenly was moved to Saturday.

Sekule Sekuli´c is an affluent entrepreneur and faithful Seventh-day Adventist in Montenegro. Read more of his story next week. Thank you for your Sabbath School mission offerings that help spread the good news of Jesus’ soon coming in Montenegro and around the world.

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Daily Lesson for Friday 8th of March 2024

Read Acts 7:1-60 and Hebrews 11:1-40. What does the New Testament say is the ultimate goal of God’s sovereign leading of His people in history?

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

The historical psalms are a powerful witness to God’s fidelity to His people. Each event in the history of God’s people was a providential step leading toward the final fulfillment of the divine promise of the world’s Savior in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Even the trials, which often perplexed God’s people and made them think that God had abandoned them, were under God’s sovereign control and part of His providence because God is the supreme Lord of history. The psalmist skillfully presents the truth that even the people’s disloyalty cannot prevent God from keeping faith to His people and fulfilling His promises. However, the unrepentant individuals and groups were excluded from the covenantal blessings, and their infamous end serves as a lasting warning of how life without or opposed to God destroys people.

The Psalms encourage God’s children in all times to hope in the Lord and remain faithful to Him. “We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history.”—Ellen G. White, Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, p. 196.

For God’s people to go forward fearlessly, they need to know the facts of their history. Ellen G. White advises believers to read Psalms 105:1-45 and 106 “at least once every week.”—Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, p. 98.

The history of God’s people demonstrates that no promise that God has made in His Word will be left unfulfilled. This includes both divine promises of present individual care and future promises of Christ’s second coming, which will establish God’s kingdom of justice and peace on the new earth.

Discussion Questions

1. What are the blessings of remembering God’s faithful leading of His people in history? What are the consequences of forgetting or ignoring the lessons of the past? How can we apply that same principle to us, as a church called to do the same thing that ancient Israel had been called to do?
2. How do the Psalms encourage us to recognize God’s providential care in our life and to exercise patience and trust in God’s sovereign ways, even when it’s not easy to understand why things are happening as they are?
3. How can we make the study of the history of God’s people more prominent in our personal and communal worship services? How can we be more intentional in telling our children about the more recent history of God’s people?

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