Closer To Heaven
|
|
|
Join us as we discuss Lesson 7, The Unified Body of Christ.
(0)The post The Unified Body of Christ – Hit the Mark Sabbath School appeared first on Sabbath School Net.
Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/the-unified-body-of-christ-hit-the-mark-sabbath-school/
In the prior section, Ephesians 4:1-16, Paul’s theme was the unity of the church. When we compare Ephesians 4:1 and Ephesians 4:17, we note how similar these two exhortations are about how to walk or to live. This resemblance suggests that Paul addresses the same theme — unity and the lifestyle that supports it — but from a new and initially more negative vantage point.
Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com
In Ephesians 4:17-24, Paul contrasts Gentile lifestyle, which he regards as undermining unity (Ephesians 4:17-19), with truly Christian patterns of life that nourish it (Ephesians 4:20-24). As we read Paul’s sharp critique of the depraved, Gentile lifestyle, we should recall his conviction that Gentiles are redeemed by God through Christ and offered full partnership in the people of God (Ephesians 2:11-22, Ephesians 3:1-13). In Ephesians 4:17-19, then, he is offering a limited and negative description of “Gentiles in the flesh” (Ephesians 2:11).
Paul is not just concerned about specific sins or behaviors exhibited by Gentiles. He is concerned about a pattern of behavior that they exhibit, a downward trajectory of living in the grip of sin. At the heart of Ephesians 4:17-19 is a portrait of a calloused spirituality: “in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God” (Ephesians 4:17-18, NKJV). This calloused spirituality is the source of the darkened understanding highlighted at the beginning of the passage (“because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous,” Ephesians 4:18-19, ESV) and the depraved sexual practice underlined at its end (“and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity,” Ephesians 4:19, ESV). Alienated from God, they don’t know how to live, and, separated from His saving grace, they continue in a downward spiral of sin and depravity.
| What has been your own experience with the power of sin to continue to drag a person downward into even more sin? |
(0)The post Sunday: The Downward Spiral of Sin appeared first on Sabbath School Net.
Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/sunday-downward-spiral-of-sin/
Image © Pacific Press
Jose Antonio lived on the streets of Palma, Spain, as a homeless man for years. With gray, straggly hair and beard, Jose looked older than his 57 years. One day, Salva Garcia, the owner of a hair salon, approached Jose and proposed a complete makeover.
With Jose in the salon chair, a hardworking team cut, dyed, and styled the tangled bundles of hair and beard. Next, Jose then got new stylish clothes. Then came the reveal! As Jose sat in front of a mirror, tears came. “Is this me? I’m so different; no one is going to recognize me!” Later he would add, “It wasn’t just a change of looks. It changed my life.”
In Ephesians 4:17-32, Paul argues that believers have experienced a complete transformation. They have taken off their old selves and have embraced their new identity. Somewhat like Jose’s change, though, this is no mere external transformation. It includes being “renewed in the spirit of your minds” (Ephesians 4:23, ESV), bringing into the life “true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24, ESV). This is the ultimate makeover.
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, August 19.
(0)The post Sabbath: Christ-Shaped Lives and Spirit-Inspired Speech appeared first on Sabbath School Net.
Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/sabbath-christ-shaped-lives-and-spirit-inspired-speech/
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=ACard5ophGg&w=560&h=315]
(0)The post Mission Spotlight for August 12 appeared first on Sabbath School Net.
Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/mission-spotlight-for-august-12/
About a year passed. Almira prayed and read the Bible every night to keep the evil spirit at bay. She attended church every Sabbath, enduring painful criticism and even threats from parents, relatives, and neighbors. But the rest of her life remained unchanged. She went to school on weekdays and often partied with friends at clubs on nights and weekends.
Image © Pacific Press
At 18, Almira reached a crossroads in her Christian faith. She came across a question that she could not answer. She couldn’t understand why the Bible called Jesus’ death a sacrifice. To her, Jesus’ death didn’t seem like a sacrifice. While He was cruelly persecuted and crucified, He surely knew that he would be resurrected, so how was His death a sacrifice? In contrast, Almira faced persecution every Sabbath, and she felt like she had sacrificed her relationship with her parents, relatives, and friends for Jesus. She had no idea how her story would end. She seemed to have made a greater sacrifice.
Stumped, she prayed for an answer. “Jesus,” she said, “I have read that I need to openly tell You about my worries and You will answer. Here’s what I propose: I will read about Your life in the gospels and The Desire of Ages every day. Please reveal to me what Your death on the cross means and why Your sacrifice was so great.”
Almira didn’t really want to read the Bible or Ellen White’s The Desire of Ages, but she forced herself to read both every day. At first, she fought boredom as she read. She didn’t have a close relationship with Jesus. Even though she worshiped on Sabbath, she lived her own life during the week.
Almira kept reading and finally found an answer. She read in The Desire of Ages, “Satan with his fierce temptations wrung the heart of Jesus. The Saviour could not see through the portals of the tomb. Hope did not present to Him His coming forth from the grave a conqueror, or tell Him of the Father’s acceptance of the sacrifice. He feared that sin was so offensive to God that Their separation was to be eternal” (753).
This was the answer to her prayer. Jesus also had been afraid that He would die forever, but He had been ready to take the risk for her. It struck her that He had not known the end, just as she did not know how her story would end. But He had risked His eternal life to save her.
Amazed by such infinite love, she poured out her heart in prayer. “Jesus, even if no one else on earth follows You, I will follow You,” she said.
She decided to give her life to Jesus in baptism.
Read more about Almira next week. Thank you for your mission offerings that help spread the gospel in Russia and around the world.
Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission. Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org
(1)The post Inside Story: A Genuine Sacrifice? ~ Part 4 appeared first on Sabbath School Net.
Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/inside-story-a-genuine-sacrifice-part-4/
Intercer is a website with biblical materials in Romanian, English, Hungarian and other languages. We want to bring the light from God's Word to peoples homes. Intercer provides quality Christian resources...[Read More]
