Closer To Heaven
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This video is produced by the South Pacific Division Discipleship team.
Lesson 5 – All Nations and Babel from SPD Discipleship on Vimeo.
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You can view an in-depth discussion of
All Nations and Babel; 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.
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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/5-all-nations-and-babel-hopess-video-discussion/
Pradeep Liyanage hadn’t really thought about Jesus until his son joined a Pathfinder club in the United Arab Emirates. The 13-year-old boy came home filled with joy about the Bible stories that he heard at the club. As Pradeep and his wife saw the boy’s enthusiasm and listened to the stories, a desire grew in them to know more, and they started to study the Bible with Muyi Oyinloye, pastor of the Seventh-day Adventist church in Sharjah.
Image © Pacific Press
The day came when Pradeep’s wife and son gave their hearts to Jesus and were baptized. Pradeep also wanted to join the Adventist Church, but he had a sinful habit that he seemed powerless to break: tobacco.
Around the time of the baptisms, a new health ministries director was settling into her job at the headquarters of the Gulf Field of the Middle East and North Africa Union Mission. As Kathy Coleman examined her new office, she realized that she was lacking the health ministries’ official stamp, which was vital for documents. A call to the former health ministries director yielded both the stamp and several boxes of materials that she had known nothing about. The boxes contained various Adventist health programs, including Breathe Free, a smoking cessation program.
While sorting out the materials, Kathy received a call from pastor Muyi.
“Could you arrange a stop-smoking program for Pradeep?” he asked.
Kathy realized that God had provided everything that she needed to help the man. God had put all the pieces together just in time for the pastor’s phone call. Kathy got in touch with Pradeep and helped him through the nine-week program. He stopped smoking and, two months after completing the program, remained smoke-free and without cravings. With joy, he was baptized on Sabbath, March 13, 2021. “The Lord has been blessing me both physically and spiritually in my life,” he said. “He has improved my health, my family is happier, and even at work I am performing better.”
Now the 47-year-old man is telling everyone about Jesus and inviting them to experience his joy. Through his testimony about how he quit smoking, three new families have sent their children to the Pathfinder club.
Jesus is inviting every one of His followers to shine brightly for Him, said Marc Coleman, president of the Gulf Field. “The Lord is calling all of us to live a transformed life that will let others know of the love of Jesus in us,” he said.
Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission. Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org
(1)The post Inside Story: Miracle in UAE appeared first on Sabbath School Net.
God’s design and blessing for humans was that they would “multiply, and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1, NKJV; compare with Genesis 1:28, NKJV). Against God’s plan, the builders of Babel preferred to stick together as the same people. One reason they said they wanted to build the city was so that they would not “be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth” (Genesis 11:4, NKJV). They refused to move elsewhere, perhaps thinking that together they would be more powerful than they would be separated and scattered. And, in one sense, they were right.
Image © Kim Justinen at Goodsalt.com
Unfortunately, they sought to use their united power for evil, not good. They wanted to “make a name for ourselves,” a powerful reflection of their own arrogance and pride. Indeed, whenever humans, in open defiance of God, want to “make a name” for themselves, we can be sure it won’t turn out well. It never has.
Hence, in a judgment against their outright defiance, God scattered them across “the face of all the earth” (Genesis 11:9), exactly what they didn’t want to happen.
Interestingly enough, the name Babel, which means “door of God,” is related to the verb balal, which means “confuse” (Genesis 11:9). It is because they wanted to reach the “door” of God, because they thought of themselves as God, that they ended up confused and much less powerful than before.
“The men of Babel had determined to establish a government that should be independent of God. There were some among them, however, who feared the Lord, but who had been deceived by the pretensions of the ungodly and drawn into their schemes. For the sake of these faithful ones the Lord delayed His judgments and gave the people time to reveal their true character. As this was developed, the sons of God labored to turn them from their purpose; but the people were fully united in their Heaven-daring undertaking. Had they gone on unchecked, they would have demoralized the world in its infancy. Their confederacy was founded in rebellion; a kingdom established for self-exaltation, but in which God was to have no rule or honor.” — Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 123.
| Why must we be very careful about seeking to “make a name” for ourselves? |
(0)The post Thursday: The Redemption of the Exile appeared first on Sabbath School Net.
Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/thursday-redemption-of-exile/
Join the Hit the Mark Sabbath School Panel as they have a lively, interactive discussion of the week’s lesson.
(0)The post All Nations and Babel – Hit the Mark appeared first on Sabbath School Net.
Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/all-nations-and-babel-hit-the-mark/
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