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.

The review of Abraham’s life on Sunday shows the testing time given revealed devotion to God. Therefore, praise was given to God with the beautiful outcome of the sacrifice of the ram: 
Hymn 11 – The God of Abraham Praise.

Hosea’s story shows in the first point, “God was working for their salvation”: 
Hymn 339 – God Is My Strong Salvation. In the second point on Monday there is love: 
Hymn 79 – O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go and 
Hymn 79 – O Love of God, How Strong and True!.

The final points in Job’s story on Tuesday, give us Job dealing “with his catastrophe by staying in God’s presence and worshipping Him”: 
Hymn 6 – O Worship the Lord. His story finishes with Job 1:21: 
Hymn Praise to the Lord.

2 Corinthians 1:9 in Paul’s story on Wednesday, gives us: 
Hymn 279 – Only Trust Him and 
Hymn 510 – If You But Trust in God to Guide You.

As the Red Sea and the Jordan crossings “paved the way to a new life” for Israel, we are reminded on Thursday 
God Will Take Care of You – Hymn 99.

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 5: Extreme Heat – Singing with Inspiration appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/5-extreme-heat-singing-with-inspiration/

The story of Hosea has some powerful lessons to teach us. Hosea’s situation is remarkable. His wife, Gomer, runs away and has children with other men. Though she is sexually unfaithful, God calls Hosea to take his wife back and fully show his love to her again. This story is meant as a parable about God and Israel. The Israelites had left God and were prostituting themselves spiritually to other gods, but God still loved them and wanted to show His love to them. But just look at God’s methods!

Read Hosea 2:1-12. What methods does God say He will use to pull Israel back to Himself? What would these experiences have felt like?

Hosea 2:2-3, 

Hosea 2:5-7

Hosea 2:8-9, 

Hosea 2:10

This story raises two important issues about the way we experience God when He is bringing us to repentance.

Image © Providence Collection from GoodSalt.com

First, we risk not recognizing that God is at work. When Israel went through such hard and painful experiences, it might have been hard for them to recognize that their God was working for their salvation. When our path is blocked by sharp thorns or we are walled in so that we don’t know where we are going (Hosea 2:6) — is this God? When our basic necessities disappear or we are embarrassed (Hosea 2:9-10) — could our Father be in the middle of it all? The truth is that whatever we feel, God is always working to bring us to repentance, because He loves us so very much.

Second, we risk misunderstanding God when He is at work. We may recognize that God is at work, but we don’t like what He’s doing. While we are feeling hurt and embarrassed, it is easy to blame God for being cruel, for not intervening, or for not caring. But God is always working to renew us through His covenant of love.

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

Amen!(1)

The post Monday: Wayward Israel appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/monday-wayward-israel/

Read Genesis 22:1-24. Out of nowhere and without explanation, God suddenly calls Abraham to offer his own child as a burnt offering. Can you imagine how Abraham must have felt? It was a totally revolting idea that a holy God should request that you sacrifice your own son. Even if Abraham thought that this was acceptable, what about God’s promises of an inheritance? Without his son, the promise would be gone.

Why did God ask Abraham to offer this sacrifice? If God knows everything, what was the point?

Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com

God’s request and its timing were not random. Indeed, it was calculated to exact the deepest possible anguish, for “God had reserved His last, most trying test for Abraham until the burden of years was heavy upon him, and he longed for rest.” — Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 147. Was this the test of a mad God? Not at all, for “the agony which he endured during the dark days of that fearful trial was permitted that he might understand from his own experience something of the greatness of the sacrifice made by the infinite God for man’s redemption.” — Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 154.

This was just a test — God never intended for Abraham to kill his son. This highlights something very important about the way God sometimes works. God may ask us to do something that He never intends for us to complete. He may ask us to go somewhere He never intends for us to arrive at. What is important to God is not necessarily the end, but what we learn as we are reshaped by the process.

Jesus may have been thinking about Abraham’s experience when He said to the Jews, “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad” (John 8:56, NIV). Abraham could have missed out on this insight, dismissing the instructions as from Satan. The key to Abraham’s surviving and learning through the whole process was his knowing God’s voice.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

Amen!(0)

The post Sunday: Abraham in the Crucible appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/sunday-abraham-in-crucible/

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=uan07WsdScM&w=560&h=315]

Amen!(0)

The post Mission Spotlight for July 23 appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/mission-spotlight-for-july-23/

Image © Pacific Press

Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Genesis 22:1-24, Hosea 2:1-12, Job 1:6-2:10, 2 Corinthians 11:23-29, Isaiah 43:1-7.

Memory Text: “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand” (Isaiah 53:10, NKJV).

As the wife of the famous Christian writer C.S. Lewis was dying, Lewis wrote, “Not that I am (I think) in much danger of ceasing to believe in God. The real danger is of coming to believe such dreadful things about Him. The conclusion I dread is not ‘So there’s no God after all,’ but ‘So this is what God’s really like.’ ” — A Grief Observed (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 1961), Pages 6, 7.

When things become really painful, some of us reject God completely. For others like Lewis, there is the temptation to change our view of God and imagine all sorts of bad things about Him. The question is, Just how hot can it get? How much heat is God willing to risk putting His people through in order to bring about His ultimate purpose of shaping us into the “image of his Son” (Romans 8:29, NIV)?

The Week at a Glance: Why do you think God is willing to risk being misunderstood by those He wants to know Him and love Him? How much do you think God is willing to be misunderstood in order to mold you into the “image of his Son”?

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, July 30.

Sunday–>

Amen!(2)

The post Sabbath: Extreme Heat appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/sabbath-extreme-heat/