Closer To Heaven
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Support for the mission activities of the Seventh-day Adventist church has always been part of the Sabbath School program. This video is Mission Spotlight for this week.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ69wL4dMyM&w=560&h=315]
(1)The post Mission Spotlight for February 5 appeared first on Sabbath School Net.
Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/mission-spotlight-for-february-5/
I always was a coward.
When I first moved into an academy dormitory in South Korea, I had to listen to Christian music to fall asleep at night. When some unkind students robbed me of 10,000 South Korean won (about U.S.$10) in the bathroom at the train station, I was scared to enter the train station’s bathroom again.
Image © Pacific Press
My fears peaked when I served for a year as a student missionary in rural Philippines. Young men who were curious about me, a young foreign woman, gathered around my candle-lit house at night, whistling and sometimes peering into the windows. I began to suffer insomnia and could only fall asleep at dawn after listening to Christian music and reading the Bible.
My anxiety followed me to southern Asia, where I now live with my husband and two sons. Many times my husband watched me carefully check my surroundings on buses or trains before closing my eyes to sleep.
“Daisy,” he said, “I’m really curious how a person as scared as you ever signed up to be a missionary.”
It was true. I was a coward missionary. I preferred to stay in safe places.
But something changed my mind. One day, my sons and I were discussing war over a meal. I told the boys that many wars were going on around the world, and 7-year-old Saint, who has many fears like his mother, asked with interest, “Mom, then we can’t go to places like that as missionaries, right?”
“Yes, we can’t go to dangerous places,” I said.
“Then does that mean that people there don’t know Jesus?” Saint said.
“Yes, many people are dying without knowing Jesus.”
Saint said firmly, “Mom, then let’s go to those places. Let’s go there and be missionaries.”
How could I reject to such conviction? “Let’s do that someday,” I agreed.
Deep down in my heart, however, I had many questions. I wondered: “I’m here as a missionary, but am I too worried about myself? I say I believe in God, but do I trust Him only when I feel that my own safety is secure?”
My daily prayers have changed since that conversation with my sons. Now I pray, “God, please give me a mighty faith. Give me a heart and a faith to love people, to go near them, and to take care of them that is bigger than my fears about my safety.”
This mission story illustrates Mission Objective No. 1 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s “I Will Go” strategic plan: “To revive the concept of worldwide mission and sacrifice for mission as a way of life involving not only pastors but every church member, young and old, in the joy of witnessing for Christ and making disciples.” Learn more at IWillGo2020[dot]org.
Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission. Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org
(0)The post Inside Story: Brave Missionary appeared first on Sabbath School Net.
Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/inside-story-brave-missionary/
“Christ is watching. He knows all about our burdens, our dangers, and our difficulties; and He fills His mouth with arguments in our behalf. He fits His intercessions to the needs of each soul, as He did in the case of Peter. … Our Advocate fills His mouth with arguments to teach His tried, tempted ones to brace against Satan’s temptations.
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
He interprets every movement of the enemy. He orders events.” — Ellen G. White, The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 7, p. 931 (Letter 90, 1906).
“It was Satan’s purpose to bring about an eternal separation between God and man; but in Christ we become more closely united to God than if we had never fallen. In taking our nature, the Saviour has bound Himself to humanity by a tie that is never to be broken. … This is the pledge that God will fulfill His word. ‘Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder.’ God has adopted human nature in the person of His Son, and has carried the same into the highest heaven. It is the ‘Son of man’ who shares the throne of the universe. It is the ‘Son of man’ whose name shall be called, ‘Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.’ Isaiah 9:6. The I AM is the Daysman between God and humanity, laying His hand upon both. He who is ‘holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners,’ is not ashamed to call us brethren. Hebrews 7:26; Hebrews 2:11. In Christ the family of earth and the family of heaven are bound together. Christ glorified is our brother. Heaven is enshrined in humanity, and humanity is enfolded in the bosom of Infinite Love.” — Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pages 25, 26.
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(0)The post Friday: Further Thought ~ Jesus, the Faithful Priest appeared first on Sabbath School Net.
Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/friday-further-thought-jesus-faithful-priest/
Jesus was “holy.” This means that Jesus was without fault in relationship to God (Hebrews 2:18; Hebrews 4:15; Hebrews 5:7-8, ). The Old Greek translation of the Old Testament used the same Greek term to designate those who maintain their covenant relationship with God and with others.
Image © Rolf Jansson at Goodsalt.com
Jesus was “undefiled.” He remained pure and untouched by evil, despite being tempted in “all points” (Hebrews 4:15, Hebrews 2:18). Jesus’ perfect sinlessness is important for His priesthood. The old covenant stipulated that sacrificial victims had to be “without blemish” to be acceptable to God (Leviticus 1:3, Leviticus 1:10, etc.). Jesus’ perfect obedience during His earthly life made it possible for Him to offer Himself as an acceptable sacrifice to God (Hebrews 9:14).
Jesus was “separated from sinners” when He ascended to heaven. The Greek verb tense suggests that this is a present state for Jesus, which began at a specific point in time. Jesus endured hostility from sinners during His earthly life, but He was victorious and was then seated at the right hand of God (Hebrews 12:2-3, ). Jesus is also “separate from sinners” in that He was perfectly sinless (Hebrews 4:15).
Jesus was “exalted … above the heavens” (ESV). It means that Jesus has been exalted above everything there is and, therefore, He is one with God. In the Psalms, God is the one who is “exalted above the heavens” (Psalm 57:5, ; Psalm 108:5).
Jesus was fully human, but He was not a sinful human being as we are (Hebrews 2:14-16, Hebrews 4:15). Jesus is perfect, not simply because He never sinned but because He was not corrupted by sin as we are.
Yet, because He was also fully human, He is also our example. He shows us how to run the race of life (Hebrews 12:1-4). He is the example that we must follow (1 Peter 2:21-23). Because He is “holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners” (Hebrews 7:26, ESV), He is our Savior, and we too can reflect His character.
| Though Jesus was a human being, like us, He never sinned. How do we wrap our minds around this amazing thought? Think about just how holy He must be! Why, then, should the promise of His holiness being credited to us by faith help assure us of salvation? |
(0)The post Thursday: A Sinless Priest appeared first on Sabbath School Net.
You can view an in-depth discussion of Jesus, The Faithful Priest in the Hope Sabbath School class led by Pastor Derek Morris. Click on the image to view:
With thanks to Hope Channel – Television that will change your life.
(0)The post 6: Jesus, The Faithful Priest – HopeSS Video Discussion appeared first on Sabbath School Net.
Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/6-jesus-the-faithful-priest-hopess-video-discussion/
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