Closer To Heaven
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Join the Hit the Mark panel as they discuss Sabbath School Lesson 4 – Witnesses of Christ as the Messiah. It’s the fastest hour of the week!
(0)Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/witnesses-of-christ-as-the-messiah-hit-the-mark-sabbath-school/
Daily Lesson for Sabbath 26th of October 2024
Image © Pacific Press
Memory Text:
“Then they said to the woman, ‘Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world’ ” (John 4:42, NKJV).
Who were the Samaritans? The northern kingdom of Israel had been taken captive by the Assyrians in 722 b.c. To create political stability, the Assyrians dispersed their captives throughout their empire. Likewise, captives from other nations were brought to populate the northern kingdom, and these became the Samaritans, who practiced their own form of Judaism.
Relations, however, were not good between them and the Jews. For instance, the Samaritans worked against the rebuilding of the temple at the return of the Jews from Babylon. The Samaritans, meanwhile, had built their own temple, on Mount Gerizim. But this temple was destroyed by the Jewish ruler John Hyrcanus in 128 b.c.
At the time of Christ, this animosity continued. The Jews avoided Samaria as much as possible. Though commerce may have gone on, other interaction was taboo. The Jews would not borrow from Samaritans or even receive a favor from them. Within this context, John recounts the encounter between Jesus, the woman at the well, and the people of the Samaritan city of Sychar.
(0)Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24d-05-the-testimony-of-the-samaritans/
The Mission program of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is an opportunity for us to understand the needs of others and share in supporting them. Please click on the image below to watch the Mission Spotlight presentation for this week:
(2)Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/mission-spotlight-for-october-26/
Inside Story for Friday 25th of October 2024
By Andrew McChesney
An ambulance rushed 36-year-old Nigora to the hospital in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. She could barely talk. Her arms were numb. She was struggling to swallow. The doctor couldn’t diagnose her condition.
Nigora grew worse over the next month in the hospital. She couldn’t sleep for more than 15 minutes a day. X-rays showed activity in her brain.
Then a second doctor said Nigora had a terminal illness. He saw no hope.
Image © Pacific Press
Nigora didn’t believe in Jesus, but she had Seventh-day Adventist neighbors who did. They visited her in intensive care and asked for permission to invite their church pastor to come and pray with her. “No, no,” Nigora said. “I’m not well. I look terrible. Tell him to come when I feel better.”
But the neighbors insisted. “Let him come and pray for you,” they said.
Reluctantly, Nigora agreed. A day later, the pastor and his wife came to Nigora’s bed. The pastor read Psalms 23:1-6, anointed Nigora’s forehead with oil, and prayed, “Lord, give health to our sister. Give her healing so she can make a full recovery.” Nigora didn’t feel any different after the prayer.
The next day, the pastor and his wife returned. Again he read from the Bible, anointed her, and prayed. Again Nigora didn’t feel any different. But that night, she was able to sleep for several hours, not for 15 minutes.
The third day, the pastor and his wife returned. Again he read from the Bible, anointed her, and prayed. Again she didn’t feel any different. But that night, she slept the whole night. After that, she slept well every night.
The pastor and his wife continued to visit. Slowly, Nigora’s speech improved. Her arms and legs began to function. Hospital X-rays showed that her brain activity had returned to normal. The doctor was astonished.
“It’s impossible that you have recovered, and so quickly,” he said.
Four months after the pastor began praying, Nigora was driving her car and back at work.
The woman who hadn’t believed in God credited Him for her recovery.
“This is a miracle of God,” she said.
She is glad to have neighbors who cared for her. “I’m very grateful to God that He gave me these kind of friends, who are like family,” she said, speaking slowly but clearly in an interview with Adventist Mission.
Although Nigora believes in God, she has not given her heart to Him. A discouraging factor may be that many people in Uzbekistan view Seventh-day Adventists as members of a sect. Please pray for Nigora and others like her who have witnessed God’s power in their lives but have yet to make a decision for Him. Nigora is a pseudonym.
(0)Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24d-04-inside-story-power-of-prayer-in-uzbekistan/
Daily Lesson for Friday 25th of October 2024
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
Nicodemus “searched the Scriptures in a new way, not for the discussion of a theory, but in order to receive life for the soul. He began to see the kingdom of heaven as he submitted himself to the leading of the Holy Spirit. . . .
“Through faith we receive the grace of God; but faith is not our Saviour. It earns nothing. It is the hand by which we lay hold upon Christ, and appropriate His merits, the remedy for sin. . . . Repentance comes from Christ as truly as does pardon.
“How, then, are we to be saved? ‘As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,’ so the Son of man has been lifted up, and everyone who has been deceived and bitten by the serpent may look and live. ‘Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.’ John 1:29. The light shining from the cross reveals the love of God. His love is drawing us to Himself. If we do not resist this drawing, we shall be led to the foot of the cross in repentance for the sins that have crucified the Saviour. Then the Spirit of God through faith produces a new life in the soul. The thoughts and desires are brought into obedience to the will of Christ. The heart, the mind, are created anew in the image of Him who works in us to subdue all things to Himself. Then the law of God is written in the mind and heart, and we can say with Christ, ‘I delight to do Thy will, O my God.’ Psalms 40:8.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, Pages 175, 176.
Discussion Questions
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(0)Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24d-04-further-thought-witnesses-of-christ-as-the-messiah/
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