Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. 1 John 2:15-17 NLT

A few years ago I had baptismal studies with an elderly man named Oscar. He had just come to the United States from Guam but was actually already a U.S. citizen before ever stepping on American soil. Guam has its own government, but it is an unincorporated United States territory. This gave Oscar the opportunity to become a U.S. citizen before even setting foot on U.S. soil.

I had never heard of someone being a citizen of a country they had never been to before, but then it occurred to me that all Christians are citizens of a land they have never been to before. This world is not our home. The fact that the world is not our home could account for why we do not always fit in. It could explain why the world cheers at things that break our hearts and why we sometimes cheer and the world does not cheer with us.

When people move from other countries to the United States, I notice they like to keep a lot of their cultural traditions, especially foods. I watched a documentary a while back on the History Channel, talking about how food companies in America expected immigrants back in the day to start buying traditional American foods,. The documentary went on to say that never happened! So the American food companies had to start catering to the diet of the immigrants. 

Picture taken by William Earnhardt

As citizens of heaven we find some cultural traditions in our communities pose no threat to our Bible standards, but many do. It is then that we need to remember to cling to our heavenly culture while living in another land. We need to remember we are the visiting team.  Have you ever followed your favorite sports team to a road game? It is a totally different atmosphere than when you are watching them play at their home stadium. When you are on the road, you stand up and cheer when your team scores, but you cheer alone, because everyone else is for the home team. And when something happens to make the home crowd cheer, you just sit there. Everything seems backwards when your team is playing on the road. I have been to several Tampa Bay Rays baseball games over the years,  and I notice how fans of the visiting team dress and behave. First of all you can tell they are not fans of the home team when you see them wearing shirts and ball caps with the visiting team’s logos. Funny that so many Christians try to blend in with the world by the way they dress, but sports fans visiting another team’s ballpark never try to blend in with the home crowd by the way they dress. They are proud of the team they represent; so they are proud to stand out from the rest of the crowd. As Christian, are we proud to stand out from the culture and crowd we are around? Fans of the visiting team don’t cheer when the home crowd cheers. They don’t try to blend in with the home crowd by the way they act either. As Christians we are the visiting team here on earth. Do we behave as we would back home in heaven, or do we try to behave like the world, hoping to blend in? 

Now to stay balanced – the visiting team fans do follow general home field rules and cultural traditions. They all stand for the national anthem. They all stand for the 7th-inning stretch, and they all politely wait in line at the concession stands and wait their turn at the ticket counter. They don’t act differently just for the sake of being different. They only act differently when team loyalty is called into question. Likewise Christians should not be standing out just to look strange or weird. It does not help the cause of Christ when Christians act strange for no good reason. We should only act differently to make our loyalty to God clear. 

As I am writing this, I am thinking of the many times a city or community has weathered a rough storm either literally or metaphorically, and they looked to their local sports team to lift their spirits and help put pride back in their community. Today with the COVID-19 affecting our communities, I could not help but think that we don’t even have sports now as a lighthearted way to lift our spirits. While some simple and even innocent pleasures of the world are now fading away as 1 John 2:17 describes, we now more than ever should be proud to belong to a God who always lifts our spirits. With ballparks and even church buildings that give us a sense of fellowship and lift our spirits are closed now, we still belong to a God who alone can lift our spirits and give us hope. 

Do we dress and act here on this earth, the same way we would dress and act in God’s kingdom, where we belong?

As Christians, let’s let the world know that earth is not our home. While being as polite and pleasant to be around as possible, let it be known that our home is in heaven, not here. We do not blend in with the world because we are not a part of this world. Let’s not be afraid to look different and act different. Lets be as proud of the kingdom we belong to as visiting team fans are proud of the teams they belong to. Actually even more proud. 

You may listen to and share the podcast version of this article here. 

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/we-are-the-visiting-team/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=we-are-the-visiting-team

Daily Lesson for Sunday 8th of February 2026

All of us have, at one time or another, found people we admire and want to emulate. For children, it’s especially important that they have good role models. Ideally, this would be their father and mother. As they grow, they will find other role models, perhaps connected with their chosen career or even in biographies they have read. They can also learn how various Bible characters dealt with challenges and compare them to their own life experiences.

Image © Sally Weimer from GoodSalt.com

Unfortunately, in today’s media, bad role models abound. We are bombarded with clickbait—stories detailing the salacious problems and messed-up lives of celebrities. Paul’s readers in Philippi, though of course not dealing with the internet, nevertheless faced similar challenges.

The fact is, the world Paul lived in was very corrupt, immoral, and evil, as is ours today. There has always been—and always will be, at least until the end—more than enough evil to go around. The question for us is: How do we respond to it?

We must not miss Paul’s love toward those with whom he disagrees—he weeps over them! Notice also that he doesn’t call them his enemies but “enemies of the cross of Christ” (Philippians 3:18). Paul recognized that much larger issues were at stake, namely, how the Cross breaks down barriers and places us all on the same level, as sinners in need of a Savior (see Ephesians 2:11-14).

Also, not to be overlooked is how Paul urges the Philippians to focus on the good examples, not the bad; to observe carefully those whose manner of life is much like his own. Interestingly, Paul uses similar language in warning the Romans to “note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them” (Romans 16:17, NKJV). The deceivers in Rome are described as those who “do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ but their own belly” (Romans 16:18, NKJV).

<–Sabbath Monday–>

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/26a-07-role-models/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=26a-07-role-models

Daily Lesson for Sabbath 7th of February 2026

Image © Pacific Press

Read for This Week’s Study

Philippians 3:17-21; Philippians 4:1-23, 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, John 14:27, Psalms 119:165, Job 1:21, 1 Timothy 6:7.

Memory Text: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6, NKJV).

This week’s lesson concludes our study of Philippians, and it is packed with valuable lessons and maxims for daily living. It seems that many of the high moral values that guided the apostle Paul’s life are found in the closing verses of the epistle. Similar to the teachings of Jesus, which focus on the inner person, what Paul shares with us are secrets to living a joyful Christian life.

Even when things don’t go the way we would like, which happens more often than we would like, we don’t need to be worried or anxious or discouraged. Instead, there are principles that will help us find inner strength to face the challenges that life brings, and thus we can experience a settled and lasting peace that only God can give. The present and the future are in His hands, and He will supply everything we need.

Most important, we need not place our hopes in earthly systems of government, which regularly disappoint us. As Christians, we are citizens of God’s heavenly kingdom. And with that citizenship comes privileges, wonderful privileges. And responsibilities, too.

*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, February 14.

Sunday–>

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/26a-07-a-heavenly-citizenship/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=26a-07-a-heavenly-citizenship

Our Sabbath School program has always been linked to the support of the Seventh-day Adventist Mission program. This video provides a little insight into this important work.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/mission-spotlight-for-february-7/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=mission-spotlight-for-february-7

Inside Story for Friday 6th of February 2026

This mission story illustrates the “Mission For All” objective of the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s “I Will Go” strategic plan, which says in part, “Christ mingled, showed sympathy, ministered to needs, won confidence, then invited people to follow Him. The goal is to take a genuine interest in people, leading them to Christ and inviting them to unite with the Seventh-day Adventist Church as disciples of Christ who make disciples.” Read more at IWillGo.org.

Gilbert Fimaka woke up on a Sunday with a strong desire to go to church.

Image © Pacific Press

The 22-year-old medical missionary shared his longing with his roommate, a fellow medical missionary. The two young men were just wrapping up a three-week mission trip in rural Zambia.

“I’m thinking about visiting a church here,” Gilbert said. “I’d like to share the Word of God and also tell them about the seventh-day Sabbath.”

Then he laughed. His roommate also laughed. The idea seemed preposterous. But in his heart, Gilbert wanted to go. So, he went.

As he entered the closest church, he felt nervous. He knew that he couldn’t just say, “This is not the day of worship.”

To his surprise, the church members quickly made him feel at home. Many recognized him from his medical work, and they welcomed him warmly. They even gave him a seat of honor with the church leaders.

Then it was time for the sermon. To Gilbert’s surprise, he was invited to preach. He felt humbled as he approached the pulpit, but he was scared to talk about the Sabbath. So, he opened his Bible to the book of Job.

As Gilbert spoke, he heard a voice say, “Talk about the Sabbath.” He ignored it and continued preaching. The voice spoke a second time.

When the voice spoke a third time, Gilbert turned in his Bible to Leviticus 23:3 and read, “Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings” (NKJV). Then he read Matthew 28:1 and Genesis 2:1-3.

“The seventh day does not fall on a Sunday but on a Saturday, so the true day of worship is not Sunday but Saturday,” he said.

When he finished the sermon, a church leader stood up and announced, “I will stop worshiping on Sunday and only worship on Saturday.”

As people left the church, many talked loudly. Some were weeping. “We didn’t know that we were worshiping on the wrong day,” said one. “From now on, we will worship on Saturday,” said another.

A short time later, the church leader was baptized in a Seventh-day Adventist church, and many other church members began studying the Bible in preparation for baptism.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/26a-06-inside-story-unexpected-church-visit/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=26a-06-inside-story-unexpected-church-visit