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.

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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.

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

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

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

Further Thought: Read Ellen G. White, “Why Was Sin Permitted?” Pages 33-43, in Patriarchs and Prophets; “The Origin of Evil,” Pages 492-504, in The Great Controversy.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

“There was no possible hope for the redemption of those [Satan and his angels] who had witnessed and enjoyed the inexpressible glory of heaven, and had seen the terrible majesty of God, and, in presence of all this glory, had rebelled against Him. There were no new and wonderful exhibitions of God’s exalted power that could impress them so deeply as those they had already experienced. If they could rebel in the very presence of glory inexpressible, they could not be placed in a more favorable condition to be proved. There was no reserve force of power, nor were there any greater heights and depths of infinite glory to overpower their jealous doubts and rebellious murmuring. Their guilt and their punishment must be in proportion to their exalted privileges in the heavenly courts.” — Ellen G. White, Confrontation, p. 21.

“From the beginning, God and Christ knew of the apostasy of Satan, and of the fall of man through the deceptive power of the apostate. God did not ordain that sin should exist, but He foresaw its existence, and made provision to meet the terrible emergency. So great was His love for the world, that He covenanted to give His only-begotten Son, ’that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ John 3:16.” — Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 22.

Discussion Questions:

<–Thursday

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The post Friday: Further Thought ~ Rebellion in a Perfect Universe first appeared on Sabbath School Net.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/friday-further-thought-rebellion-in-perfect-universe/

We begin a new quarter of lessons. First up is Rebellion in a Perfect Universe. This lesson centers on something we want from God, but often don’t perceive that we receive it. Join the discussion to learn what this is.

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The post Rebellion in a Perfect Universe – Hit the Mark Sabbath School first appeared on Sabbath School Net.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/rebellion-in-a-perfect-universe-hit-the-mark-sabbath-school/