By Andrew McChesney

It seemed the Seventh-day Adventist Church on Rügen island in Germany would have to close. Only six people worshiped there: four elderly members of a single family, and two other older people. Membership had dwindled from seven when the church was founded in 1940 and from its heyday of 33 members in the late 1950s. Conference leaders recommended selling the site.

“No, we want to keep the church,” Gunthardt, the church’s head elder, told them. “We don’t want to sell it.”

Membership fell after Germany’s 1990 reunification. Elderly members died, younger ones moved away, and the population of the former East German island grew very secular. Attendance only swelled when vacationers flocked to the island in the summer. Some vacationers were Adventist.

Gunthardt and his wife and parents joined the other two church members in praying for the church’s future. “Bring us new members,” they prayed.

Then an Adventist physician and his family moved to the island. Church members kept praying. A former member suddenly renewed his membership, and several other people joined. When membership hit 16, conference leaders changed their minds. They agreed to keep the church open.

But by then the church needed a new building. Members prayed and agreed to contribute 136,000 euros (US$136,000). While the sum fell far short of the final 730,000-euro bill, it encouraged them to keep praying.

Gunthardt, who had built several houses, designed a church building that also would serve as a center of influence. Church members from across Germany gave generously. The most unexpected contribution came after Gunthardt met a government leader at a business meeting. German politicians have authority to distribute state funds to private causes.

The leader, hearing about the initiative, put Gunthardt in touch with a local politician. Church members prayed before Gunthardt met with the politician and were delighted when the politician offered 300,000 euros. But he had a catch. “As a Christian,” he said, “I want the new church building to be used not only for social purposes but also to spread the Word of God.”

Today, 25 members and their children gather every Sabbath. “We have a new church building and no debt,” Gunthardt said. “God confirmed that our church should stay open.”

The Rügen church is waiting for more miracles. Located in one of the most secular places on earth, the church has a mission illustrating Mission Objective No. 2 from the Adventist Church’s “I Will Go” strategic plan, “To strengthen and diversify Adventist outreach . . . among unreached and under-reached people groups” (IWillGo2020.org). “The people here are not very religious,” Gunthardt says. “We are trying to connect with them.”

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/inside-story-the-little-church-that-could/

Daily Lesson for Friday 27th of October 2023

“Love for perishing souls inspired Abraham’s prayer. While he loathed the sins of that corrupt city, he desired that the sinners might be saved. His deep interest for Sodom shows the anxiety that we should feel for the impenitent. We should cherish hatred of sin, but pity and love for the sinner. All around us are souls going down to ruin as hopeless, as terrible, as that which befell Sodom. Every day the probation of some is closing. Every hour some are passing beyond the reach of mercy. And where are the voices of warning and entreaty to bid the sinner flee from this fearful doom? Where are the hands stretched out to draw him back from death? Where are those who with humility and persevering faith are pleading with God for him?

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

“The spirit of Abraham was the spirit of Christ. The Son of God is Himself the great Intercessor in the sinner’s behalf. He who has paid the price for its redemption knows the worth of the human soul. With an antagonism to evil such as can exist only in a nature spotlessly pure, Christ manifested toward the sinner a love which infinite goodness alone could conceive. In the agonies of the crucifixion, Himself burdened with the awful weight of the sins of the whole world, He prayed for His revilers and murderers, ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.’ Luke 23:34.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 140.

“Abraham was honored by the surrounding nations as a mighty prince and a wise and able chief. He did not shut away his influence from his neighbors. His life and character, in their marked contrast with those of the worshipers of idols, exerted a telling influence in favor of the true faith. His allegiance to God was unswerving, while his affability and benevolence inspired confidence and friendship and his unaffected greatness commanded respect and honor.”—Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 133, 134.

Discussion Questions

1. What other examples from Scripture show us an individual who fulfilled his call to mission? What about John the Baptist? Would you call him successful?
   
   
2. Read Genesis 19:30-36. What does this tell us about the character of some of those saved from Sodom?
   
   
3. What other lessons can we learn from the example of Abraham regarding mission and how it is done?
   
   
4. Think about this: Would you deem Abraham’s intercession for Sodom and Gomorrah successful or a failure?
   
   

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Daily Lesson for Thursday 26th of October 2023

One of the main qualities of Abraham was his submission to God’s will. All the experiences of Abraham with God were characterized by this submission.

Image © Phil McKay at Goodsalt.com

His calling: Abraham received a challenging call from heaven: “The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you’ ” (Genesis 12:1, NIV). When he heard a voice from heaven, his first reaction could have been to disregard this voice, thinking he was having a hallucination. Or he could have challenged the message, saying something such as, I don’t want to go; I like it here. “ ‘The land I will show you’ ” may have seemed a strange description of a destination! But he accepted the call. He submitted his will to the will of God and left his father’s household and his country: “So Abram went, as the Lord had told him” (Genesis 12:4, NIV).

Choice of the land: A quarrel erupted between the servants of Lot and those of Abraham, but Abraham was not a man to fight with his own flesh and blood. He submitted to God’s will, who again blessed him: “The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, ‘Now raise your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you see I will give to you and to your descendants forever” (Genesis 13:14-15, NASB).

Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah: When God revealed to Abraham the destiny of these two cities, Abraham, full of love, tried to save the cities. Because there were not even ten righteous persons in the cities, the cities were destroyed. Abraham submitted to the will of God and accepted God’s judgment of these cities.

The Lord was able to use Abraham because of his submission to God in all circumstances. It must be the same with us today.

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Daily Lesson for Wednesday 25th of October 2023

The text gives an interesting indication about the position of Lot in the city of Sodom: “Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom” (Genesis 19:1-38:1, NKJV). This means he was an important character in the city, certainly a public officer, because sitting in the gate is a privilege of officers, judges, and kings (2 Samuel 19:8, Jeremiah 38:7, Ruth 4:1).

Genesis 19:1-38 almost parallels chapter 18 and the story of the angels with Abraham. Abraham and Lot were each sitting at an entrance or gate (Genesis 18:1, Genesis 19:1); Abraham and Lot each invited strangers to rest in their abode (Genesis 18:3-4; Genesis 19:2); Abraham and Lot each prepared food for their visitors (Genesis 18:4-8, Genesis 19:3). Whatever else his faults, Lot had some good characteristics, it seems.

“Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground” (Genesis 19:24, 25, NKJV).

We don’t know how many people were living in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah at the time of this account, but among these thousands of people only four left the city, and only three were saved. The same with the Genesis flood. We don’t know how many were alive then, but we know that most were not saved.

The small number of residents of Sodom who were saved has implications for our own mission: not everyone will be saved. We would like everyone to accept Jesus and His plan of salvation, but each person has free will. Our task is to invite as many people as possible to make the choice for Jesus. While we are carrying out our mission, God assists us through the Holy Spirit, but He will never go against the will of anyone. Free will means that, in the end, no matter what we do, no matter how much we pray, salvation comes down to each individual’s choice.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/23d-04-abrahams-mission/

Join It Is Written Sabbath School host Eric Flickinger and this week’s featured guest, Gregory Whitsett, as they provide additional insights into this week’s Sabbath School lesson, “God’s Call to Mission.” [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj440qXWAR0?si=9572s8ceX0qUPbpi]

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