The theme hymn for this quarter’s studies “On Death, Dying and the FUTURE HOPE” is 
Hymn 214 – We Have This Hope.

Choice is something God gave to humankind at creation. Still, we may sing
Lord, I Have Made Thy Word My Choice – Hymn 273.  May we make further wise choices, with God’s abundant help. 

Adam and Eve were deceived by the serpent (Monday), therefore, we can choose to request 
Gracious Father, Guard Thy Children – Hymn 621 to have ‘freedom from the wiles of Satan” (verse 3). 

We learn of immortality on Wednesday and that 
Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise – Hymn 21.

With the Consequences of Sin where “Eve broke her loyalty to God” we are able to walk 
In the Garden – Hymn 487 and have God walk and talk with us. Ah, to cherish these times with our Gracious God.

The First Gospel Promise shows us the saving grace “that Christ implants in every human life”: 
Amazing Grace – Hymn 108 and 
Hymn 109 – Marvelous Grace all given by “His covering righteousness: 
Hymn 412 – Cover With His Life.

To learn unknown hymns, you will find the accompaniment music for each one at: https://sdahymnals.com/Hymnal/

Another great resource is for when there is a hymn you wish to sing but can’t find it in your hymnal. Go to https://www.sdahymnal.org and in the search bar type a special word in that is in the hymn. I am sure you will be amazed at the help you will be given.

 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Amen!(0)

The post 2: Death in a Sinful World – Singing with Inspiration first appeared on Sabbath School Net.

The post 2: Death in a Sinful World – Singing with Inspiration appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/3-death-in-a-sinful-world-singing-with-inspiration/

The world, as it came from the Lord, was perfect (Genesis 1:31). Death was an unknown experience for Adam and Eve. In that context, God came to the Garden of Eden and warned: “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die” (Genesis 2:16-17, , NRSV).

How does Genesis 2:16-17,  show the reality of free will in the perfection of Eden? That is, why would God have needed to warn them if they couldn’t freely choose?

Image © Bible Adventure Collection at Goodsalt.com

Sometime after this warning from God, Satan assumed the form of a serpent and also entered Eden. Eve beheld the serpent joyfully eating the forbidden fruit without dying. “He himself had eaten of the forbidden fruit” (Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 54), and nothing had happened to him.

Read Genesis 3:1-4. Putting yourself in the position of Eve, why might those words have sounded convincing?

From the perspective of human logic, the argument of the serpent sounded much more convincing than did the word of God. First of all, there was no evidence in the natural world, so far, for the existence of sin and death. Second, the serpent was actually eating the forbidden fruit and enjoying it very much. So, why should Eve restrain herself from doing the same? God’s command seemed to be too restrictive and senseless.

Unfortunately, in deciding between the two conflicting statements, Eve ignored three basic principles: 1. human reason is not always the safest way to evaluate spiritual matters; 2. the Word of God can appear to be illogical and senseless to us, but it is always right and trustworthy; and 3 . there are things that are not evil or wrong in themselves, but God has chosen them as tests of obedience.

We should realize that the experience of Eve in the Garden of Eden is not a single case in time. Every day and every moment we need to decide between the Word of God (which for many can be unpopular) and the seductive appeals of our surrounding culture. Our choice will have eternal consequences.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

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The post Sunday: Statements in Tension first appeared on Sabbath School Net.

The post Sunday: Statements in Tension appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/sunday-statements-in-tension/

Image © Pacific Press

Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Genesis 2:16-17; Genesis 3:1-7; Psalm 115:17; John 5:28-29; Romans 5:12; 2 Corinthians 5:21.

Memory Text: “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12, NKJV).

Christ was the Divine Agent through whom God brought the universe and the world into existence (John 1:1-3, John 1:10; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2). But when God the Father conferred special honor on Christ and announced that They together would create this world, “Lucifer was envious and jealous of Jesus Christ” (Ellen G. White, The Story of Redemption, p. 14) and plotted against Him.

Having been cast out of heaven, Satan decided “to destroy the happiness of Adam and Eve” on earth and thereby “cause grief in heaven.” He imagined that “if he could in any way beguile them [Adam and Eve] to disobedience, God would make some provision whereby they might be pardoned, and then himself and all the fallen angels would be in a fair way to share with them of God’s mercy.” — Ellen G. White, The Story of Redemption, p. 27. Fully aware of Satan’s strategy, God warned Adam and Eve not to expose themselves to temptation (Genesis 2:16-17). This means that even when the world was still perfect and blameless, there were already clear restrictions for human beings to obey.

This week we will reflect on the fall of Adam and Eve, on how sin and death took over our world, and on how God planted a seed of hope for humanity even back in Eden.

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, October 8.

Sunday–>

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The post Sabbath: Death in a Sinful World first appeared on Sabbath School Net.

The post Sabbath: Death in a Sinful World appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/sabbath-death-in-sinful-world/

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=hDCQIzA3nqk&w=560&h=315]

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The post Mission Spotlight for October 1 first appeared on Sabbath School Net.

The post Mission Spotlight for October 1 appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/mission-spotlight-for-october-1/

Set Free From Chains

By Andrew McChesney

Screams pierced the air in the rural village in Laos.

A Seventh-day Adventist pastor, who was visiting the village with a small team of church workers, headed toward the loud cries to find out what was happening. He was surprised to see a 16-year-old boy chained to the wooden floor of his family home. “What happened to your boy?” he asked the parents. “Why is he chained up?”

Image © Pacific Press

The parents looked sad. “Our son Aer has been sick for many years,” his father said. “He becomes normal for several hours but then he loses his mind again, several times a day,” his mother said.

The parents had spent all their money trying to find a cure. But the situation steadily had gotten worse until they reluctantly decided to leave Aer in chains all the time to prevent him from harming himself and others. He had been bound to the wooden floor for the past six months.

The pastor spoke with Aer and told him and his parents about the saving love of Jesus. “If Jesus is willing, He can heal Aer,” he said.

He asked for permission to pray for the boy. Aer’s parents happily agreed. Hope shone in the faces that their son would be healed.

A few days later, the pastor and his team again visited Aer and prayed for him. The pastor invited the family to worship in the nearest Adventist church in a neighboring village.

The next Sabbath, the parents arrived at church with Aer, his hands bound in chains. Each church member prayed for Aer, and then the pastor asked the boy’s father also to pray for him. All heads bowed as the father prayed to Jesus on behalf of his son. From that day, the boy was healed. He returned to normal and no longer needed to be chained up.

Neighbors were amazed, and they deluged Aer’s parents with questions.

“Is this the boy who was ill for many years and was chained up?” one said.

“Why is he OK now?” said another. “Who healed him?”

The parents explained that the Christian God had healed their boy.

Not only did Aer’s parents accept Jesus as their personal Savior after the healing, but many other families did so as well. Those families are among 122 people who were baptized at the church in April 2021, filling the church building to overflowing.

“We praise God for performing so many miracles in this area, resulting in many people coming to Him to be saved,” said the Lao pastor who shared the story with Adventist Mission.

Thank you for your Sabbath School mission offerings that support the spread of the gospel in Laos and around the world.

Amen!(3)

The post Inside Story: Set Free From Chains first appeared on Sabbath School Net.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/inside-story-set-free-from-chains/