Miraculous Rock

By Andrew McChesney

A miracle rock stopped the pickup truck of Bounprany Vannady, who was serving as president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Laos.

Image © Pacific Press

It was just an ordinary creek. Any car could pass through its shallow waters easily. No car was known to have ever gotten stuck there. But the pickup truck decided to stop just as it entered the creek. It simply stopped.

Bounprany and two young pastors traveling with him found a rock blocking the way, but it seemed to be too small to stop the vehicle. Just to make sure, they moved the rock and tried to restart the vehicle. It refused to start. They hailed down a passing car and tried to jumpstart the battery, but the pickup truck still refused to start.

Since it was getting dark, Bounprany walked over to the nearest village. Several villagers came back to the pickup truck to help, but they couldn’t get it to start. The village chief invited Bounprany to spend the night in his house, while the young pastors stayed with the pickup truck.

“What are you doing in our area?” the village chief asked.

Bounprany explained that he was taking some sporting equipment to the next village. He was hoping to establish a connection with that village.

As he listened, the village chief sensed that Bounprany was a Christian, and he announced that he was a Christian. He pulled out a Voice of Prophecy correspondence school certificate issued by the Seventh-day Adventist Church of Laos several years earlier. He said he had reached out to a former church leader for support several years earlier but had been dismissed, so now he and about 200 other villagers were worshiping Jesus on their own. He asked Bounprany to teach him and the villagers about the seventh-day Sabbath.

It was at the moment that Bounprany realized that an angel must have stopped the pickup truck. It was like Balaam’s donkey who refused to go farther because it saw an angel of the Lord. This car must have seen an angel of the Lord standing in front of it in the creek, so it decided to stop.

The next morning, the pickup truck started at the first turn of the key.

Thank you for your Sabbath School mission offering that will help spread the gospel to the people of Laos and the other countries of the Southern Asia-Pacific Division. Part of this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help open an elementary school in Laos.

Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission. Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org

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Further Thought:

Despite all the good and hopeful truths in the book of Hebrews, there is also a series of warnings that reach their climax in chapters 10-12. These sections have at least two common elements. First, they all compare the desert generation with the readers of Hebrews. Second, they exhort us to have faith.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

The desert generation was the one that saw the amazing power of God unleashed in signs and wonders in their deliverance from Egypt. They also heard God speak, from Mount Sinai, the Ten Commandments. They saw the column of fire in the night and the protecting cloud during the day. They ate manna, bread from heaven. They also drank water that sprang from the rocks wherever they camped. But when they arrived at the border of the Promised Land, they were not able to trust God. They lacked faith, which is the core of what God requires. “Without faith it is impossible to please Him” (Hebrews 11:6, NKJV).

Paul says that we, like the desert generation, are also at the border of the Promised Land (Hebrews 10:37-39). Our privileges and responsibilities are greater, however. We did not hear God speak at Mount Sinai, but we have seen through Scripture a revelation of God greater than the one at Mount Zion: God in the flesh, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 12:18-24). The question is: Will we have faith? The author encourages us to follow the example of a great list of characters, which culminates with Jesus Himself.

Discussion Questions:

<–Thursday

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You can view an in-depth discussion of The Message of Hebrews 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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This video is produced by the South Pacific Division Discipleship team.

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Key Thought: The message of Hebrews focuses on Christ as our King, and Christ as our High Priest and Mediator.
January 8, 2022

1. Have a volunteer read Hebrews 2:14-16.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. What does this tell us about the nature of Christ as a human being?
3. Personal Application: What does this tell us was the purpose for Jesus to come in the flesh? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states, “Why does this say Jesus took on the seed of Abraham instead of saying the seed of Adam? Didn’t Jesus take on human nature before the fall instead of human nature after the fall? How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read Hebrews 5:1-4.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What function did the High Priest fulfill?
3. Personal Application: Do you consider believers like yourself as part of Christ’s royal priesthood? If so, in what way are believers priests? Share your thoughts
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “Did Jesus do away with the earthly priesthood as mediators and intercessors between man and God? If so, why is there a system of priestly intercessors and mediators today?” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Hebrews 8:8-12.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. What did God promise to us in the new covenant?
3. Personal Application: How will God have all His followers know Him without being taught? How thrilling is it to know that God will not remember our sins and iniquities? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states: “The law was part of the old covenant, but grace and truth are in the new covenant, so we don’t worry about the law as New Testament Christians. ” How would you respond to your relative?

4. Have a volunteer read Hebrews 1:5-14.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What is being said here about Christ contrasted to the angels in heaven?
3. Personal Application: What is the role of the angels in heaven? Are we aware of their presence and mission? 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).

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