Read Ecclesiastes 8:14. In what ways do you see the stark and powerful reality of what is written here?

While suffering, oppression, and tragedy are hard enough to bear in their own right, the injury or insult is harder still if it appears to be meaningless or unnoticed. The possible meaninglessness of sorrow is heavier than its initial burden.

Judgement Hope

A world without record or final justice is the ultimate in cruel absurdity. No wonder atheist writers in the twentieth century lamented about what they believed was the “absurdity” of the human condition. With no hope of justice, no hope of judgment, no hope of things being made right, ours would indeed be an absurd world.

But the cry of Ecclesiastes 8:14 is not the end of the story. At the end of his protests, Solomon takes a sudden turn. In the midst of his laments about meaninglessness, he says, essentially: Hold on a minute, God is going to judge, so everything is not meaningless; in fact, now everything and everyone matters.

Read Ecclesiastes 12:13-14. What does this tell us about just how important all that we do here is?

The hope of judgment comes down to what one believes about the core nature of God, life, and the world in which we live. As we have seen, the Bible insists that we live in a world that God created and loves, but a world that has gone wrong and in which God is working toward His plan for re-creation, all through the life and death of Jesus. God’s judgment is a key part of His setting our world right. For those on the receiving end of so many of the world’s wrongs—those who have been marginalized, brutalized, oppressed, and exploited—the promise of judgment is surely good news.

Amen!(0)

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You can view an in-depth discussion of “Living the Advent Hope” in the Hope Sabbath School class led by Pastor Derek Morris. You may download an MP4 video file, and audio file or a PDF lesson outline from the HopeSS site.

With thanks to Hope Channel – Television that will change your life.

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As I turned the page to look at the Sabbath afternoon lesson study, looking at the new title, the first hymn that sprang to mind was
Hymn 214, “We Have This Hope”. The memory verse is in
Hymn 375, “Work, for the Night Is Coming”.

Sunday’s title of “How Long, O Lord?” is sung in
Hymn 207, “It May Be at Morn”.

On reading Matthew chapters 24 and 25 we know that
“Jesus Is Coming Again”, Hymn 213, but,
“We Know Not the Hour”, Hymn 604 with inspiration given to
“Hold Fast Till I Come”, Hymn 600.

Monday gives us a certain hope in:
Hymn 5, “All My Hope on God Is Founded”,
Hymn 174, “Star of Our Hope”,
Hymn 214, “We Have This Hope”,
Hymn 440, “How Cheering Is the Christian’s Hope”, and
Hymn 522, “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less”.

“Hail the Day That Sees Him Rise”, Hymn 176 sings of the Resurrection Hope that we have as Seventh-day Adventists as does
Hymn 166, “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today”.

As we begin thinking of the Judgment Hope,
Hymn 416, “The Judgement Has Set”, asks questions for Wednesday’s study.
Hymn 418, “Day of Judgment, Day of Wonders!” ends with ‘You forever shall My love and glory know’. What a glorious promise!

“Gleams of the Golden Morning”, Hymn 205, sees all our tears wiped away (Thursday). Grief and pain are banished in
Hymn 206, “Face to Face”. Thursday finishes with the words ‘until then………….’ and we may finish our singing today with
Hymn 632, “Until Then”.

2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Amen!(0)

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Key Thought: Our great hope is the return of Jesus to bring an end of evil, to heal injustice, and create a new world. This hope gives ourage to our service for others as we await His return.

September 14, 2019

1. Have a volunteer read Luke 18:1-8.

1.  Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What is Jesus saying here about His response to the repeated prayers of His people to act for them?
3. Personal Application: Have you ever prayed earnestly for God to act or intervene and it seemed like He wasn’t listening or answering you? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states: “I am a pastor’s daughter, but I couldn’t work in another country in the former USSR because I was Ukranian. I couldn’t even attend church because the members didn’t approve of where I came from. Why is all this happening to me? I am a pastor’s daughter.” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read I Corinthians 15:12-19.

1.  Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. Why is the truth of the resurrection so crucial to the Christian hope?
3. Personal Application: Have you ever prayer that the Lord would come soon to end the death, misery, crime, hatred, and evil in this world? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “Why help the wicked and those who aren’t Christian anyway? They are going to be destroyed when He comes. We might be helping them to be stronger, live longer, and have more children of the devil that will eventually harm other people.” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Ecclessiastes 12:13,14.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. What does this tell us about how important all that we do here is?
3. Personal Application: What does it mean to you that one day justice will finally come? What does justice mean to you? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states, “What about the people who do all kinds of bad things, hurt others financially, physically, and mentally? If they repent and are converted; their sins are forgiven. Where is the justice to those they did harm to?” How would you respond to your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read Revelation 21:1-5.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. Is it difficult to imagine life without sin, death, pain, and tears?
3. Personal Application: What should we be doing now to prepare ourselves and others for the new heavens and earth? 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).

Amen!(0)

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Many of us in the church still struggle with sin and addictive behavior. We may find it hard to believe that Jesus can give us total freedom from those addictions here on earth. I find much comfort knowing that, when I look at my own weaknesses and past failures, God can still fill me with the fullness of His character. (See Ephesians 3:19) I find it encouraging that, even though I can’t picture myself as a complete overcomer, Jesus can still do more for my spiritual growth than I can presently picture or even try to imagine. (See Ephesians 3:20) With God all things are possible! Nothing is too hard for the Lord. (See Matthew 19:26 and Genesis 18:14)

When we fall and get discouraged and ask Jesus for forgiveness for the umpteenth time, we find it hard to believe we will ever have total victory this side of heaven. We sigh and think it will be like this as long as we live here on earth. It’s not that we want a “cheap grace” that will allow us to freely sin. We don’t. We just can’t imagine life any other way. God says He would rather that we obey than sacrifice. I believe millions of us agree with God. We would prefer to obey rather than to crucify Jesus. We are sick and tired of breaking God’s heart and the hearts of those we love. 

A few years ago I went to my regular Bible study with a young man who had overcome a sinful addiction. He was very upset because after several good months he had a relapse. He was beyond discouraged, thinking he had out sinned God’s grace. I shared with him how Psalm 51:17 tells us God will never despise a broken and contrite heart. The number of times that heart has been broken or contrite before does not matter. God will never despise a broken and contrite heart, no matter how many times sin has broken that heart before. That is good news. I have more good news! 

Image © Lars Justinen from GoodSalt.com

Grace saves us from sinful living.

For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people.  And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds. Titus 2:11-14 NLT 

One day I was walking in a nearby park that had a path for those fighting cancer. Every few feet there was a marker with an inspirational quote on how to cope with cancer. I remember one marker had a quote that simply read, “There are people who have survived every form of cancer.” Those simple words give hope to everyone who has been diagnosed with any type of cancer. There are people who have survived the most deadly cancers. Titus 2:14 reads, “He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin.” You may be struggling with an addiction that is overwhelmingly embarrassing to you. Don’t despair. Jesus has freed people from every kind of sin. 

Grace produces obedience. 

Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience….Romans 1:5 NKJV

A preacher from the General Conference office (sorry I forget his name) was preaching years ago at an Oklahoma camp meeting. He told the story about how he was going to a breakfast diner before work one morning and saw an empty parking space close to the restaurant. He also saw a car coming from the other direction towards the same space. His first reaction was to step on the gas and get the space before the other car could. However, he explained that He had submitted himself to Jesus that morning. Thus he eased off the gas instead and let the other car take the space as he parked much farther away. When he entered the restaurant the man who got the closer space was waiting to be seated. He thanked the preacher for letting him have the closer parking space. The preacher told him, “That wasn’t me.”  The man inquired, “Then who was it?” The preacher replied, “It was Jesus. I would have taken the closer parking space!”  Galatians 2:20 tells us it is Jesus who lives in us and does all the good things. It is not us.  Salvation by grace is a practical salvation, giving us real and practical obedience. 

Grace gives us good works. 

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:8-10 NLT 

In the  90’s I watched a documentary by Oprah Winfrey on child abuse. Abuse victims gave their testimonies. In many cases their abuser had been abused as a child. In several cases the abuser was a “pillar” in the church. I observed that this epidemic was handed down from generation to generation even in the church. Around this time I had seen bumper stickers reading, “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven.” I wondered if that alone was really good news. If Christians are only forgiven, that means the child abuse epidemic is doomed to continue from generation to generation in the church.

But God’s grace can free us from the cycle of abuse. It does not have to continue from generation to generation in the church. I have met more than one person who was abused by their parents, but by God’s grace took good care of their parents in their old age. More than that they created a wonderful loving home environment for their own children. They did this by following the pattern Jesus gave of crying out ‘Father forgive them” instead of retaliating or passing on the abuse epidemic to the next generation.  I have met grown children of alcoholics who have never drank a single drop of alcohol because they saw what it did to their family growing up, and by God’s grace they refused to allow alcoholism to destroy the family they married into.  This can only be accomplished by God’s grace, but by God’s grace the victories are practical and real. By grace Christians are more than just forgiven. By grace we are saved from sinful addictive behavior. By grace Jesus lives His obedient life of Good works through us. 

Amen!(2)

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