Daily Lesson for Sunday 22nd of October 2023

Abraham was sitting at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. This behavior was unusual. At that time of the day in summer, when the sun is at its zenith, everyone is looking for shade and for a fresh breeze. But, perhaps, Abraham was enduring the heat in order to help anyone who might be passing by.

While there, he saw three travelers. His practice, most likely, was to offer hospitality to strangers. This is why the initiative of the encounter was from Abraham: in the text he ran toward them from the entrance of his tent. That is, and this point is important: Abraham took the initiative to meet them even before they came to him.

“ ‘Please let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. And I will bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by, inasmuch as you have come to your servant’ ” (Genesis 18:4-5, NKJV).

Abraham was aware of his mission, which was to share with everyone the knowledge of the Lord in a world engulfed in paganism, idolatry, and polytheism. As we can see in this incident, his most immediate way to fulfill his mission was through hospitality toward these strangers, who seemed to have just appeared on the horizon.

Meanwhile, Abraham’s “great household consisted of more than a thousand souls, many of them heads of families, and not a few but newly converted from heathenism. Such a household required a firm hand at the helm. No weak, vacillating methods would suffice. . . . Abraham’s influence extended beyond his own household. Wherever he pitched his tent, he set up beside it the altar for sacrifice and worship. When the tent was removed, the altar remained; and many a roving Canaanite, whose knowledge of God had been gained from the life of Abraham His servant, tarried at that altar to offer sacrifice to Jehovah.”—Ellen. G. White, Education, p. 187.

From the start, this man understood that God had called him to mission, and that his going to the Promised Land was not for a vacation but to be a blessing to those around him and, through his seed, to the world.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/23d-04-the-gift-of-hospitality/

Daily Lesson for Saturday 21st of October 2023

Read for This Week’s Study

Genesis 18:1-33:1-33, James 5:16, Romans 8:34, Hebrews 7:25, Genesis 19:1-29, Genesis 12:1-9.

Memory Text:

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35, NKJV).

From the start, Abraham wanted to be used by God for mission. This truth can been seen, for example, in Genesis 18:1-33:1-33, when God warned him about what was going to happen to Sodom and Gomorrah. “Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7, NKJV). And in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, “His servant the prophet” was Abraham.

Abraham was resting during the heat of the day when he saw three travelers. “Abraham had seen in his guests only three tired way­farers, little thinking that among them was One whom he might worship without sin.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 138, 139.

Abraham, however, soon became personally involved in God’s mission. His involvement, as revealed in this chapter, was to pray for and intercede for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. That is, he wanted to see if, somehow, these people, despite themselves, could be saved. In a sense, if that is not what mission is about—what is?

Throughout this chapter, three great spiritual qualities of Abraham are revealed: hospitality, love, and prayer—qualities that can greatly aid in mission, as well.

*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, October 28.

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

By Andrew McChesney

Gina Wahlen was excited to visit a house church in a country where Christians face persecution for their faithfulness to God. She had arrived to collect mission stories for Adventist Mission.

The house church turned out to be a former home on the ground floor of an apartment building. The apartment had been gutted and turned into a church with a main sanctuary on one side and a small room on the other. Gina began interviewing people in the small side room with an interpreter.

The people were earnest and kind. But they didn’t seem to have any special stories, speaking instead about the technical aspects of a house church.

As time passed, Gina grew desperate. This was the only place where she had planned to collect stories in the country. “Dear Lord, please help me to find someone who has an inspiring story,” she prayed. “I don’t know how to find anyone because I don’t speak the language, and I don’t think that the interpreter can help. So, Lord, would You please send someone?”

Soon afterward, a woman stepped into the room. Gina felt impressed to speak with her and struck up a conversation through the interpreter.

“Have you been coming to this church for long?” Gina asked.

No, the woman hadn’t. She had been coming for only a few months.

Gina asked how she had learned about Seventh-day Adventists.

The woman said she had been walking with her children to the market on a Saturday. As they walked along the sidewalk, two neatly dressed men approached.

“The seventh day is the Sabbath,” said one.

“To learn more, look on the internet,” said the other. Then the men kept walking.

The woman went home and searched online. Somehow, she found a series of Adventist presentations by a U.S. evangelist that had been dubbed into her language. She watched many programs and was greatly blessed.

Then, she somehow found the house church. She showed up, prepared for baptism, and was baptized shortly before Gina’s arrival. “I was amazed when I heard her story and was so delighted that God answered my prayer in such a beautiful way,” Gina said.

Gina Wahlen served as Mission quarterlies editor at Adventist Mission for three years. Currently, she works as editor and project manager for the Office of the General Conference President. The house church featured in this mission story illustrates Mission Objective No. 2 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s “I Will Go” strategic plan, “To strengthen and diversify Adventist outreach in large cities, across the 10/40 Window, among unreached and under-reached people groups, and to non-Christian religions.” Read more: IWillGo2020[dot]org.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/inside-story-desperate-for-a-mission-story/

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: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_az3HMIRtg?si=HPfrn-aFt4waXTGK&w=560&h=315]

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/mission-spotlight-for-october-21/

Daily Lesson for Friday 20th of October 2023

Read Ellen G. White, “The Great Commission,” pp. 25–34, and “A Seeker for Truth,” pp. 131–142, in The Acts of the Apostles.

“Before ascending to heaven, Christ gave His disciples their commission. He told them that they were to be the executors of the will in which He bequeathed to the world the treasures of eternal life.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

You have been witnesses of My life of sacrifice in behalf of the world, He said to them. You have seen My labors for Israel. And although My people would not come to Me that they might have life, although priests and rulers have done unto Me as they listed, although they have rejected Me, they shall have still another opportunity of accepting the Son of God. You have seen that all who come to Me confessing their sins, I freely receive. Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out. To you, My disciples, I commit this message of mercy. It is to be given to both Jews and Gentiles—to Israel, first, and then to all nations, tongues, and peoples. All who believe are to be gathered into one church.”—Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, pp. 27, 28.

The Great Commission is clear: “ ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations’ ” (Matthew 28:19, NKJV). Therefore, it is definitely about going to others, especially other nations.

“The gospel commission is the great missionary charter of Christ’s kingdom. The disciples were to work earnestly for souls, giving to all the invitation of mercy. They were not to wait for the people to come to them; they were to go to the people with their message.”—Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, p. 28.

“There are in our world many who are nearer the kingdom of God than we suppose. In this dark world of sin the Lord has many precious jewels, to whom He will guide His messengers. Everywhere there are those who will take their stand for Christ. Many will prize the wisdom of God above any earthly advantage, and will become faithful light bearers. . . . Convinced that Peter’s course was in direct fulfillment of the plan of God, and that their prejudices and exclusiveness were utterly contrary to the spirit of the gospel, they glorified God, saying, ‘Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.’ Thus, without controversy, prejudice was broken down, the exclusiveness established by the custom of ages was abandoned, and the way was opened for the gospel to be proclaimed to the Gentiles.”—Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, pp. 140–142.

Discussion Questions

1. How would you define the word mission as you apply it to your own life?
   
   
2. In what ways could you, daily, express mission in your attitude and behavior? How can you be more mission minded in your daily tasks?
   
   
3. How important is it that we examine our hearts and seek power from above to be purged from prejudice against those unlike us?
   
   

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/23d-03-further-thought/