Image © Pacific Press

Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Mark 2:1-12, 1 Kings 1:1-46, 1 Kings 19:1-8, Matthew 5:1-3, Isaiah 53:4-6, 2 Kings 2:11.

Memory Text: “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1).

Many of the people Jesus encountered in His earthly ministry were sick, sometimes even unto death. They thronged to Jesus for healing and for rest from their sufferings. And they always received it, too.

Sometimes He just spoke a word, and they were fully recovered. Sometimes He touched the sick, and miraculously, they were healed. Sometimes He sent them off, and healing took place as they went on their way. Jesus healed men, women, children, Jews, non-Jews, rich people, and poor, unassuming people. The worst cases of leprosy and blindness were not beyond His reach. Indeed, He even healed those with the worst “sickness” of all — death.

This week, we look at two very different examples of healing. In the one, the sufferer was so ill that he could not even come to Jesus on his own. His symptoms were clearly visible to everyone. In the other case, there were no obvious visible symptoms. In both cases, healing came in God’s time and way.

As we explore the topic of rest from pain and suffering, we will also contemplate the question that all of us, at some point or another in our Christian walk, have experienced. And what happens when our prayers for healing aren’t answered?

How do we find rest then?

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, August 21.

Sunday–>

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Prepare to Meet Thy God

By Jessica Cebuhar Atwell

My 6-year-old son, Asher, approached me at home in Bangkok, Thailand.

Image © Pacific Press

“Mom, I want to hand out flyers to people,” he said.

After some questioning, I figured out that he wanted to distribute a small Thai-language tract called “A Love Letter From Jesus.” My heart skipped a joyful beat as I realized that my little boy wanted to share his love for Jesus.

Image @ Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

But Friday didn’t seem like a good day. The Covid-19 pandemic was keeping people indoors. In addition, I was preparing for the Sabbath.

During my devotions on Sabbath morning, I remembered Asher’s request and felt impressed to take him out with the tracts. But I didn’t.

That afternoon and evening, I watched Sabbath sermons with a friend. One preacher ended his sermon with an appeal from Ellen White: “As a people who believe in Christ’s soon coming, we have a message to bear, ‘Prepare to meet thy God’ (Amos 4:12).” The passage came from Gospel Workers, page 52. “That’s exactly what I want to tell Thai people!” I thought.

On Sunday morning, I opened the EGW Writings app to read that day’s scheduled devotional message. Guess what I read? A passage that included Amos 4:12: “Prepare to meet thy God.” I was cut to the heart.

At breakfast, Asher gazed at me longingly. I promised that he would hand out flyers no matter what. After he memorized Amos 4:12 in Thai, we left.

My husband, Brian, and I had to make a delivery of fresh bread from a bakery at an urban center of influence that we helped establish after arriving from the U.S. state of Washington in 2014. Usually Asher rides around on his bicycle during deliveries, but he announced that he would be too busy. “I’ll walk and hand all these out,” Asher said, referring to the tracts.

We began the 1-mile (1.6-kilometer) walk to the neighbor who had ordered the bread. Asher chased down everyone he saw. “Prepare to meet thy God!” he exclaimed in Thai, extending tracts to passersby. Despite Covid-19 worries, no one could refuse the earnest boy.

He was ecstatic when we returned home two hours later. He had distributed 100 tracts. “I want to do this every day!” he declared, smiling.

God truly wants the great city of Bangkok — and the people of the other big cities of the world — to be ready. “As a people who believe in Christ’s soon coming, we have a message to bear, ‘Prepare to meet thy God.’”

This story illustrates a key component of the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s “I Will Go” strategic plan: “Increased number of church members participating in both personal and public evangelistic outreach initiatives with a goal of Total Member Involvement”(KPI 1.1). Learn more about the strategic plan at IWillGo2020.org.

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

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Further Thought:

“As Joseph was sold to the heathen by his own brothers, so Christ was sold to His bitterest enemies by one of His disciples. Joseph was falsely accused and thrust into prison because of his virtue; so Christ was despised and rejected because His righteous, self-denying life was a rebuke to sin; and though guilty of no wrong, He was condemned upon the testimony of false witnesses.

Image @ Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

And Joseph’s patience and meekness under injustice and oppression, his ready forgiveness and noble benevolence toward his unnatural brothers, represent the Saviour’s uncomplaining endurance of the malice and abuse of wicked men, and His forgiveness, not only of His murderers, but of all who have come to Him confessing their sins and seeking pardon.” — Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, pages 239, 240.

“Nothing can justify an unforgiving spirit. He who is unmerciful toward others shows that he himself is not a partaker of God’s pardoning grace. In God’s forgiveness the heart of the erring one is drawn close to the great heart of Infinite Love. The tide of divine compassion flows into the sinner’s soul, and from him to the souls of others. The tenderness and mercy that Christ has revealed in His own precious life will be seen in those who become sharers of His grace.” — Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 251.

Discussion Questions:

<–Thursday

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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=mruSguQUYq8&w=560&h=315]

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Joseph’s family finally arrive in Egypt. There are no more dark secrets in the family. His brothers must have admitted to having sold Joseph when they explained to their father that the son he had thought had been killed was now prime minister of Egypt.

While it may not always be possible or wise to restore relationships, this does not mean that we cannot forgive. We may not be able to hug and weep with our offender, but we may want to voice our forgiveness either vocally or through a letter. And then it is time to let go of pain to the utmost degree we can. Perhaps some pain will always remain, but at least we can be on the path to healing.

Read Genesis 50:15-21. What are Joseph’s brothers worried about, and why would they be worried about it? What does this fear say about themselves?

Image © Kim Justinen at Goodsalt.com

Joseph’s brothers had been living in Egypt for seventeen years (Genesis 47:28), and yet, when Jacob died, they were afraid that Joseph would take his revenge. They realized again how much they had hurt Joseph. Joseph reassures them of his forgiveness again, now after their father’s death. This refresher was probably good for Joseph, as well as his brothers.

If the wound is deep, we will probably have to forgive many times. When memories of the wrong come to mind, we will need to go to God immediately in prayer and make the choice to forgive again.

Read Genesis 50:20. How does this verse help explain, at least partially, Joseph’s willingness to forgive his brothers’ sin against him?

Joseph firmly believed that his life was part of God’s big plan to help save the then-known world from famine, and then to help his family fulfill God’s promise to become a great nation. Knowing that God had overruled the evil plans of his brothers to bring about good helped Joseph to forgive.

<–Wednesday Friday–>

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