• Home
  • Devotionals
  • BiblePhone
  • Blogs
  • TV
  • Prayer
    • Submit Prayer Request
    • Prayer Requests List
  • Contact us
  • Romanian

Intercer Adventist News

Closer To Heaven

  • About us
    • About Adventist Church
    • About Intercer Adventist News
    • About Intercer
    • About Lucian Web Service
    • Latest News
    • Romanian Church News
  • News and Feeds
    • Intercer Adventist News
    • 60 Second SlideShows
    • “Adventist Tweets” Paper
    • Adventists on Twitter
    • Adventists on Google Plus
    • Bible Resources
      • Adventist Universities Daily Bible
      • Answers For Me
        • Dear God
        • Healthy Living
        • Life Notes
        • Spiritual applications
        • Vegetarian recipes
      • Better Sermons
        • Spirit Renew Quotes
      • Daily Bible Promise
      • E-GraceNotes
        • Bible Says
        • City Lights
        • Family First
        • Staying Young
      • Story Harvest
        • Personal Stories
      • SSNet.org
    • Churches & Organizations
      • Adventist News Network
      • Adventist Review
      • Adventist World Radio
      • Avondale College
      • Babcock University Nigeria
      • BC Alive
      • British Union Conference
      • Canadian Adventist Messenger
      • Canadian Union
      • North American Division News
      • Outlook Magazine
      • PM Church – Pastor’s Blog
      • Potomac Conference
      • Record Magazine – Australia
      • Review and Herald
      • Trans-European Division
      • Washington Conference
    • Health
      • Dr.Gily.com
      • Vegetarian-Nutrition.info
    • Ministries
      • 7 Miracle (Youth)
      • A Sabbath Blog
      • Adventist Blogs
      • Adventist Today
      • ADvindicate
      • Creative Ministry
      • Grace Roots
      • Romanian Church News
      • Rose’s Devotional
      • UNashamed
    • Personal
      • Alexandra Yeboah
      • Iasmin Balaj
      • Jennifer LaMountain
      • McQue’s View
      • Refresh with Tia
      • Shawn Boonstra
  • Sermons & Video Clips
    • Churches
      • Downey Adventist Church
      • Fresno Central SDA Church
      • Hillsboro Adventist Church
      • Mississauga SDA Church
      • New Perceptions Television (PM Church)
      • Normandie Ave SDA Church
      • Remnant Adventist Church
    • Organizations
      • Adventist News Network (ANN)
      • ADRA Canada
      • Adventists About Life
      • Adventist Education
      • Adventist Mission
      • Amazing Facts
      • Adventist Church Connect
      • BC Adventist
      • Church Support Services
      • In Focus (South Pacific)
      • IIW Canada
      • NAD Adventist
      • NAD Church Resource Center (Vervent)
      • NARLA
      • Newbold
      • Review & Herald
      • SECMedia
      • Video Avventista (Italy)
    • Ministries
      • 3AngelsTube.com
      • Answered.TV
      • AudioVerse.org
      • AYO Connect
      • Christian Documentaries
      • GAiN #AdventistGeeks
      • GYC
      • Intercer Websites
      • Josue Sanchez
      • LightChannel
      • Pan de Vida
      • Revival and Reformation
      • Stories of Faith
      • SAU Journalism/Communication
      • Spirit Flash
      • The Preaching Place (UK)
      • Toronto East Youth Nation
    • Personal
      • Esther-Marie Hartwell
      • McQuesView
      • Pastor Manny Cruz
    • Sabbath School
      • Ecole du Sabbat Adventiste
      • Sabbath School Audio Podast
      • Sabbath School daily
  • Resources
    • Bible and Bible Studies
    • Health
    • Music
  • All articles
  • G+ News & Marketplace
    • G+ News & Marketplace Group
    • G+ Page
You are here: Home / Archives for News and Feeds / SSNet.org

Paying Our Debts While Forgiving Our Debtors

October 31, 2019 By admin

Earlier this summer I went to a baseball game with a friend who picked up the tickets earlier. I did not get the opportunity to pay him for my ticket the night of the game, so a few days later I took him to dinner. When the waitress  brought us the check, I took it and paid for both our meals. My friend asked me if I was sure I wanted to do that. I said, “Of course. Remember I owe you for the tickets.” He said, “Nobody owes me for anything.” Meaning he had an attitude of not keeping a record of debts. 

Tuesday’s section of this week’s lesson asks the question, “Have you done wrong to anyone? Most of us, if honest, would have to answer “Yes”. What’s stopping you, in whatever degree possible, from making restitution, even now?”

In 1946 Mora Gregg’s parents checked out a book for her from the Silver Springs Maryland library, called “The Postman.”  Mora, only a toddler fell in love with the pictures, so instead of returning the book, Mora’s family ended up taking the book with them when they moved to Canada. Over the years Mora would see “Silver Springs Public Library” stamped on the inside cover of the book. Finally 73 years later, Mora realized the book was not hers and needed to be returned. She returned the book with a letter of apology. The daily overdue rate would have had Mora owing more than $9,000.00 but it turns out there was a $15.00 cap for late fees. 

Has your conscience ever bothered you about something long ago that you just had to make right. For me it was a simple thank-you note. A lady in the church gave me a nice book journal when I graduated from high school. I failed to write her a thank-you note right away, and it got the point where it was too embarrassing or awkward to write a thank-you note. Over time, I kept thinking about it whenever I saw the book, and my lack of manners made me cringe. Finally in 2004, I was having dinner with friends in Florida and somehow the topic of my neglect came up. I told then how it was still bugging me  that I never wrote a thank-you note to that sweet lady. One friend suggested I go ahead and write a thank-you note now. That’s all the encouragement I needed. That night I mailed her a 20-year-overdue thank-you note. She did not respond to my late note, either because she was too old by then to write, or maybe she was waiting twenty years to respond. She has since passed away. As awkward as it may have been, I am glad I finally wrote the thank-you note. She knew I appreciated it, and it no longer bugs me like it did those twenty years. 

Paul says,

Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. Romans 13:8 NLT

I think this goes for gratitude and respect as much as it does for money and material items. We should not put off making things right today, no matter how we may have waited before.

On the other hand, what if we are the ones who are owed?

While conducting a grief counseling workshop, the issue came up  that sometimes people have guilt because they did someone wrong, and the person the person they did wrong died before they made things right. The survivor struggles with the guilt of never being able to tell them they were sorry and make things right. Matthew 18:21-35 tells the story about a servant who owed his master an incredible sum of money. Interestingly the servant never asks for the debt to be forgiven. He only asks for more time to pay the debt, but his master forgives him without even being asked. That reminds me of Jesus crying out from the cross, “Forgive them, Father!” even though no one was saying they were sorry yet! Peter, who had denied Jesus, was forgiven before he ever had a chance to say he was sorry. In Mark 16:7 an invitation especially mentions Peter, letting him know he  was forgiven before he even had a chance to say he was sorry. 

In the grief counseling workshop, scenarios were brought up, like a child talks back to his father as he leaves for school, and then his father dies in an accident at work before the child had a chance to say sorry. Now the child is left with the guilt of those cruel words being the last thing he said to his father. Sure, we can say the child should have been careful with his words because we never know when that will be the last time we talk to someone. Still, I think Jesus offers another way to heal those feelings of guilt and remorse. What if we were so quick to forgive, without even being asked, that even if we died before someone could ask our forgiveness, they would just know they were forgiven? This is why I think having a spirit of forgiveness is so important. This way if we don’t have the opportunity to formally forgive someone, they will still know they are forgiven, because we were always quick to forgive and never held grudges. 

Like my friend with whom I went to the baseball game and, more importantly, like Jesus, we need to pay our own debts, while freely forgiving all debts owed to us. 

Amen!(0)

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SabbathSchoolNet/~3/owPDVNn1ZFk/

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Filed Under: Adventist Sermons & Video Clips, SSNet.org

Inside Story ~ East Timor

October 31, 2019 By admin

Stubborn Wife

By Andrew McChesney, Adventist Mission

Convinced that Saturday is the biblical Sabbath, business owner Zelindo JoÃo Lay informed his wife that he would leave their Sunday church in Lospalos, East Timor.

“What, are you crazy?” exclaimed his wife, Dulce. “First you close our two mini-marts on Saturday, and now you want to leave the church. Why?”

Image © Pacific Press

“I have found the truth in the Bible,” he said.

Dulce refused to discuss the matter anymore.

“From now on, you go your way, and I’ll go mine,” she said.

She stopped cooking for Zelindo and sometimes locked him out of the house.

Zelindo cried and prayed, “What is happening to me? I found the truth in the Bible but now my wife wants a divorce because I am following the Bible’s teaching about the Sabbath.”

In the mornings, Dulce went to their larger mini-mart as usual, and Zelindo watched their young son at home. He took the noon to 9 p.m. shift at the shop, and Dulce returned home to be with their son.

One morning, Zelindo prayed, “If You want me to leave my church, show me a miracle.”

At noon, he walked into the shop and was shocked to find Dulce reading the Bible. He had never seen her read the Bible before. He saw she was reading about the woman and dragon in Revelation 12.

“Darling, if you don’t understand what you are reading, I can explain it to you,” he said.

BANG! Dulce abruptly slammed her hand onto the desk. The loud noise drew startled stares from browsing customers.

Dulce started crying. “Why did they lie to us?” she said. “Why did they hide this from us?”

Zelindo hugged her. “Thank you, God, for answering my prayer,” he said. “I have seen a miracle.”

On Saturday, the family went to a Seventh-day Adventist church for the first time.

Later, Zelindo and his wife were baptized into the Adventist Church.

Zelindo, 42, said God has blessed beyond measure as he has sought to honor Him at work. He stopped selling alcohol, tobacco, coffee, and tea, and he changed the employment rules. In addition to salaries, he provides employees with room and board. He asks them to worship with him every morning and evening and attend Bible studies once a week.

Zelindo prays every day, “I want to use this business to praise You. Help me to bring people to You.”

The employees have expressed amazement as they study the Bible.

“What you are teaching us from the Bible is really true,” they say.

Zelindo, upper right, said God has blessed his business beyond his biggest hopes: Eight employees have been baptized in four years.

Part of a 2015 Thirteenth Sabbath Offering helped build the first Seventh-day Adventist school in East Timor’s capital, Dili. Thank you for your mission offering.

 

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

All Rights Reserved. No part of the Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide may be edited, altered, modified, adapted, translated, reproduced, or published by any person or entity without prior written authorization from the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

Amen!(0)

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SabbathSchoolNet/~3/4516sARZHrQ/

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Filed Under: Adventist Sermons & Video Clips, SSNet.org

Friday: Further Thought ~ Violating the Spirit of the Law

October 31, 2019 By admin

Further Thought: Ellen G. White, “A Rebuke Against Extortion”, pages 646–652, in Prophets and Kings.

“As Nehemiah heard of this cruel oppression, his soul was filled with indignation. ‘I was very angry’, he says, ‘when I heard their cry and these words’. He saw that if he succeeded in breaking up the oppressive custom of exaction he must take a decided stand for justice. With characteristic energy and determination he went to work to bring relief to his brethren” – Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, p. 648.

Spectacles on Bible

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

“Jesus proceeded to lay down a principle that would make oath taking needless. He teaches that the exact truth should be the law of speech. ‘Let your speech be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: and whatsoever is more than these is of the evil one’. R.V” – Ellen G. White, Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, p. 67.

“These words condemn all those meaningless phrases and expletives that border on profanity. They condemn the deceptive compliments, the evasion of truth, the flattering phrases, the exaggerations, the misrepresentations in trade, that are current in society and in the business world. They teach that no one who tries to appear what he is not, or whose words do not convey the real sentiment of his heart, can be called truthful” – Page 68.

Discussion Questions:
  1. Why does selfishness lie at the core of our human problems when dealing with finances and interpersonal relationships?
  2. How can God’s people avoid greediness? What is God’s provision against it? Study the following texts: Isa. 58:3-12 and Mic. 6:6-8.
  3. Dwell more on the gift of speech and the power of our words. What does John 1:1-2 mean when it calls Jesus “the Word”? How does this help us understand the importance of words and what they mean?
  4. It’s amazing that thousands of years ago Jesus said that the poor would always be among us. We also are admonished to help those in need. How do these two ideas fit together in helping motivate Christians to work for those who are less fortunate?
Amen!(0)

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SabbathSchoolNet/~3/dsCDWbt3Ows/

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Filed Under: Adventist Sermons & Video Clips, SSNet.org

Thursday: Nehemiah’s Example

October 30, 2019 By admin

Read Nehemiah 5:14-19. What reasons does Nehemiah give for not demanding “the governor’s provisions [fees]” (Neh. 5:18, NKJV) from the people?

Nehemiah most likely wrote the account in these verses after his return to the court of King Artaxerxes, after his 12 years of governorship in Judah. Although governors were entitled to receive revenue from their subjects,

Image © Providence Collection Goodsalt.com

Nehemiah’s Example

Nehemiah never claimed this right, but rather financed his own living. Not only did he pay for his own expenses, but he also provided for his family as well as the whole court. Zerubbabel, the first governor, is the only other governor whose name we know. When Nehemiah says “the former governors”, he is most likely referring to the governors in between Zerubbabel and himself. As a result, by the time he was done with his term in office, he very likely lost money. Rather than acquiring riches, as one would expect from a prestigious position, he probably forfeited wealth and possessions. Nehemiah was wealthy, which is why he could provide the daily food for many people, and he was generous in supplying plenty to others (Neh. 5:17-18).

Though it was not the same thing as what Abraham did after the rescue of those taken captive by some of the surrounding nations (see Genesis 14), what Nehemiah does here nevertheless reveals the same crucial principle.

Read Nehemiah 5:19. What is he saying there, and how do we understand this in terms of the gospel?

What we see with Nehemiah is an example of someone who put the Lord and the Lord’s work before his own personal gain and advantage. It’s a good lesson for us all, regardless of our particular situation. It’s easy to work for the Lord when it doesn’t cost us much.

Read Philippians 2:3-8. In what ways, right now, can you reveal in your own life the self-denying principles expressed here?
Amen!(0)

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SabbathSchoolNet/~3/hfcQXCnY0zM/

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Filed Under: Adventist Sermons & Video Clips, SSNet.org

Wednesday: An Oath

October 29, 2019 By admin

Read Nehemiah 5:12-13. Why does Nehemiah pronounce a curse against those who do not uphold their part of the agreement?

Even though the leaders agree to restore and give back what they have confiscated, Nehemiah is not satisfied with mere words. He needs solid proof; therefore, he makes them swear an oath before the priests. This action also gave the proceedings legal validity in case he had to reference the agreement later.

Image © Classic Bible Art Coll. Goodsalt.com

Curse

But why does he pronounce a curse? Nehemiah performs a symbolic act of gathering up his garments as if to hold something in them and then shaking them out as a sign of losing it. Thus, those who would go against this oath would lose everything. It was customary to utter curses in order to impress upon others the significance of a certain law or rule. The people were also less likely to go against the law when a curse was associated with the breaking of it. Nehemiah apparently felt that this was such an important issue that he needed to do something drastic in order to enhance the probability of its success.

What do the following texts in the Old Testament teach us about the sanctity of oaths for these people? (Num. 30:2; Deut. 23:21-23; Eccl. 5:4-5; Lev. 19:12; Gen. 26:31).

In the end, speech is a powerful gift that God has given to humans; it exists as something radically different from what animals have. And there is power in our words, the power even of life and death. Hence we need to be very careful in what we say, in what we promise to do, and in what verbal commitments we make. It’s also important that our deeds match our words. How many people have been turned off to Christianity by those whose words sound Christian but whose actions are anything but?

Think about just how much impact your words have on others. How can we learn to be very careful in what we say, when we say it, and how we say it?
Amen!(0)

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SabbathSchoolNet/~3/oG6NXsmgMUw/

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Filed Under: Adventist Sermons & Video Clips, SSNet.org

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 673
  • 674
  • 675
  • 676
  • 677
  • …
  • 950
  • Next Page »

SkyScraper

Intercer Ministry – Since 1997!

We’re on Pinterest!

Partners


The Seven Thunders Ministry

Recent Posts

  • Can I pray for you? For those suffering from a breakup
  • Worship Service GC Session 2025 – July 12 | Morning
  • Worship Service GC Session 2025 – July 5 | Morning
  • Camp Meeting 2025 “Tell It Again” Promo
  • Camp Meeting 2025 “Tell It Again” Promo (text version)

About Intercer

Intercer is a website with biblical materials in Romanian, English, Hungarian and other languages. We want to bring the light from God's Word to peoples homes. Intercer provides quality Christian resources...[Read More]

Lucian Web Service


Intercer is proudly sponsored by Lucian Web Service - Professional Web Services, Wordpress Websites, Marketing and Affiliate Info. Lucian worked as a subcontractor with Simpleupdates, being one of the programmers for the Adventist Church Connect software. He also presented ACC/ASC workshops... [read more]

Archives

Follow @intercer

Categories

[footer_backtotop]

Website provided by: Intercer Romania · Intercer Canada · Lucian Web Service · Privacy · Log in


%d