Key Thought: Understanding the plan of salvation and prophetic events helps us to cultivate the hope that helps us overcome trials. The key is knowing who God is and that He is with us.
August 13, 2022

1. Have a volunteer read Job 42:1-6..

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. What was God trying to tell Job and what was the effect on him?
3. Personal Application: Are there things happening right now that you can’t understand? How do we deal with these things? Ignore them? Try to face them? Share your thoughts..
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states, “Why did Job abhor himself and repent in dust and ashes when he came into the presence of the Lord? Shouldn’t he have rejoiced that God had favoured him?” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read Isaiah 41:8-14.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What reasons for hope are there for people waiting for deliverance?
3. Personal Application: How can we make the reality of God holding our right hand sure in our lives? Share your thoughts
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “Why does God tell Jacob He is with him, but then calls him a worm? That doesn’t sound very encouraging.” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Jeremiah 29:1-10.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. What reasons for hope are given in Jeremiah?
3. Personal Application: What do you look for in hope? A friendly smile? Financial security? A stable marriage? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbours states: “Why does God tell Israel to not listen to those who said that God would bring them out of captivity? Why did He tell them that it would be seventy years before He would deliver them?” How would you respond to your relative?

4. Have a volunteer read Hebrews 12:5-13..

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What is the message to us here?
3. Personal Application: What is the source, the response, or the goal of discipline? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

Amen!(0)

The post 7: Indestructible Hope – Teaching Plan appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/7-indestructible-hope-teaching-plan/

Having scanned through the lesson quarterly, there are so many hymns from which to choose a theme. In effect, there is a commencing theme hymn which changes through the quarter to the finale theme hymn. To start with, we could use:
Hymn 552 – The Lord’s My Shepherd or 
Hymn 545 – Savior, Like a Shepherd.
Somewhere in the middle of the quarter one could change the theme and add in
Hymn 159 – On a Hill Far Away which is where we complete our studies in Lesson 13.

 Our lesson study title, as does Monday’s study, shouts so many hymns to us:
Hymn 214 – We Have This Hope,
Hymn 522 – My Hope Is Built On Nothing Less,
Hymn 5 – All My Hope on God is Founded, and
Hymn 440 – How Cheering Is the Christian’s Hope, just to name a few.

“When God seems far away, who is the one who has moved?” is an opening question for Tuesday giving us hymns to sing about solidity – no moving: 
Hymn 347 – Built On The Rock and 
Hymn 531 – We’ll Build On The Rock, showing that 
My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less – Hymn 522. The day’s study closes with God being so close to us, close enough to hold my hand –
O For A Closer Walk With God – Hymn 315.

 Wednesday brings back the issue of hope: 
Hymn 5 – All My Hope on God is Founded with the answer coming in 
Hymn 523 – My Faith Has Found a Resting Place because 
Hymn 99 – God Will Take Care of You. This answers the question 
Does Jesus Care? – Hymn 181.

 Paul describes all the trials on Thursday and it will be amazing to sing 
The Glory Song – Hymn 435 when all my labours and trials are o’er!  Paul goes on to say that it is faith that keeps us going when faced with all sorts of trying situations: 
O For A Faith that will not shrink – Hymn 533. “
The key is to fix our eyes upon Jesus ( Hebrews 12:3): 
Hymn 290 – Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.

Ellen White (Friday) encourages us to “plant our feet upon a foundation more firm that the everlasting hills, and new faith, new life, would spring into being”: 
Hymn 509 – How Firm a Foundation.

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 7: Indestructible Hope – Singing with Inspiration appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/7-indestructible-hope-singing-with-inspiration/

When we are hurting, it is very easy to presume that what happens to us is the only thing that matters. But there is a slightly larger picture than just “me” (see Revelation 12:7, Romans 8:22).

Read Habakkuk 1:1-4. What did Habakkuk face?

Image © Krieg Barrie from GoodSalt.com

You might expect that God would say something like, “That’s really terrible, Habakkuk; let Me come and help you immediately.” But God’s answer is the opposite. He tells Habakkuk that it is going to get worse. Read this in Habakkuk 1:5-11.

Israel had been taken into captivity by the Assyrians, but God promises that worse is coming: The Babylonians will now carry away the people of Judah. Habakkuk cries out again in verses 12-17, and then waits to see what God is going to say.

How does God’s introduction to the promised destruction of Babylon in Habakkuk 2:2-3,  bring hope?

Habakkuk 2:1-20 is God’s promise of the destruction of the Babylonians. Hebrews 10:37 quotes Habakkuk 2:3, hinting of a messianic application to this promise in the future. With the same certainty that the destruction of Babylon was promised, so we also have the certainty of the destruction of “Babylon the Great” (Revelation 18:2, NIV).

Habakkuk was trapped between the great evil surrounding him and God’s promise of worse to come. Yet, this is precisely where we find ourselves in salvation history. Great evil is around us, but the Bible predicts that much worse is to come. The key to Habakkuk’s survival was that he was brought to see the whole picture.

Therefore, in chapter 3 he is able to pray an incredible prayer of praise because of what God will do in the future.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

Amen!(1)

The post Sunday: The Big Picture appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/sunday-big-picture/

In lesson 6, Struggling With All Energy, we’ll discuss the nuts & bolts of living a victorious life, even when going through a crucible.

Amen!(1)

The post Struggling With All Energy – Hit the Mark Sabbath School appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/struggling-with-all-energy-hit-the-mark-sabbath-school/

Image © Pacific Press

Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Habakkuk 1:1-4, Job 38:1-41:34, Isaiah 41:8-14, Jeremiah 29:1-10, Hebrews 12:1-13.

Memory Verse: “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5, NKJV).

When in church surrounded by smiling people, how easy it is to talk and sing about hope. But when we find ourselves within the crucible, hope does not always seem so easy. As circumstances press around us, we begin to question everything, particularly the wisdom of God.

In one of his books, C. S. Lewis writes about a make-believe lion. Wanting to meet this lion, someone asks if the lion is safe. The person is told that he’s not safe, “but he’s good.”

Even though we don’t always understand God and He seems to do unpredictable things, that doesn’t mean that God is against us. It simply means that we don’t have the full picture yet. But we struggle with the idea that for us to have peace, confidence, and hope, God must be understandable and predictable. He needs to be, in our thinking, “safe.” As such, we set ourselves up for disappointment.

The Week at a Glance: How does our understanding of the character of God help us maintain hope in the crucible?

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, August 13.

Sunday–>

Amen!(2)

The post Sabbath: Indestructible Hope appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/sabbath-indestructible-hope/