The great lesson we learn from dear Paul this quarter is that we are to 
Stand Up! Stand Up For Jesus! – Hymn 618. This is a beautiful theme hymn to give us a great reminder of what we need in our world which is falling apart these days.

Paul is very much sounding like a wonderful father to all the people with whom he and his fellow workers have had contact and brought to Jesus: 
Hymn 101 – Children Of The Heavenly Father helps us understand just a little more. “The Sermon on the Mount (says Wednesday) paints a beautiful picture of what it means to be children of the Heavenly Father”. Paul pleads 
Father, Help Your People – Hymn 353.

“Our most powerful weapon, judiciously used, is ‘the Word of God’” says Monday’s study: 
Hymn 272 – Give Me The Bible and please 
Give Me Jesus – Hymn 305. This is where we will learn that 
Faith Is The Victory – Hymn 608 in Jesus conquering name.

Thursday brings to us a very brilliant reminder of being united in Christ, as does the second verse of 
Hymn 214 – We Have This Hope. When we are united, we will the 
Go, Preach My Gospel – Hymn 378 with the wonderful power of God. This will then find us all 
Marching To Zion – Hymn 423 as we see “the devil is powerless to stop the onward march of God’s truth”.

All the above will happen just as Sister Ellen White says on Friday because 
I Know Whom I Have Believed – Hymn 511.

Please continue to search the scriptures this week to be blessed, and to bless others.

To learn unknown hymns, you will find the accompaniment music for each one at: https://sdahymnals.com/Hymnal/

Another great resource is for when there is a hymn you wish to sing but can’t find it in your hymnal. Go to https://www.sdahymnal.org/Search and in the search bar type a special word in that is in the hymn. I am sure you will be amazed at the help you will be given.

 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.”

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/3-life-and-deat-singing-with-inspiration/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=3-life-and-deat-singing-with-inspiration

Key Thought: Although ready to die for Christ, Paul was confident of his long-term fate. The most important thing for him was to honor Christ and to preach the gospel to as many as possible…
January 17, 2026

1. Have a volunteer read 2 Corinthians 10:3-6.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. What is the basis of the spiritual war we wage, and what are our weapons?
3. Personal Application: In what ways are you experiencing the reality of the great controversy How can you draw comfort and strength knowing Christ has won the victory already? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states, “How can God allow so much suffering, pain, and death in this world? If Jesus died on the cross to end all the results of sin, why is it still going on two years later? How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read Philippians 1:23,24.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2.  What does Paul mean when he says that to depart and be with Christ is far better?
3. Personal Application: No one wants to die, but have you ever thought that the next thing you will know is the return of Christ? Does this help us understand Paul’s thinking in this passage? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states, “How would you explain the Bible teaching on death to me, because I believe that Paul and other Christians are with Christ in heaven? ” How would you respond to your relative?

3. Have a volunteer read Philippians 1:27-30.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What do both Jesus and Paul say is indispensable for unity in the church?
3. Personal Application: How does our unity and striving together for the faith of the gospel relate to fearlessness? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “What hope and comfort do Chriasrtians have when they are being persecuted, under duress and stress, and suffering? Should they have hope and comfort in these situations?.” How would you respond to your friend?

4. Have a volunteer read I Corinthians 4:14-16, I Thessalonians 2:10,11; Galatians 4:19.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What relationship did Paul have with the churches he established and the people he won for Christ?
3. Personal Application: Review how you live and how you treat people, especially those who don’t treat you well. What kind of witness for Jesus do you present? 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)

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/3-life-and-death-teaching-plan/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=3-life-and-death-teaching-plan

Daily Lesson for Sunday 11th of January 2026

Although Paul was no criminal, this was not the first time that he had been imprisoned, and he was no stranger to persecution. To the Corinthians, he detailed his sufferings up to that time: “In prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness” (2 Corinthians 11:23-27, NKJV).

Image © Educational Concepts Collection at Goodsalt.com

But lest we think these sufferings were uppermost in his mind, Paul immediately adds, “besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches” (2 Corinthians 11:28, NKJV).

Like Jesus, who spared nothing to save us, Paul was willing to “spend and be spent” for the sake of fellow believers (2 Corinthians 12:15, NKJV). But, paradoxically, the more a person’s actions resemble that of Jesus, the less they are loved or appreciated by some. “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12). But faithful Christians remain perhaps the most powerful way to glorify God and to reveal the truth of the gospel (compare Philippians 1:7). “Paul’s patience and cheerfulness during his long and unjust imprisonment, his courage and faith, were a continual sermon.”—Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, p. 464.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/26a-03-christ-will-be-magnified/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=26a-03-christ-will-be-magnified

Daily Lesson for Sabbath 10th of January 2026

Image © Pacific Press

Read for This Week’s Study:

Philippians 1:19-30, 1 Corinthians 4:14-16, 2 Corinthians 10:3-6, John 17:17-19, Micah 6:8, Acts 14:22.

Memory Text: “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21, NKJV).

Death, we’re often told, is just part of life. That’s a lie. Death is the opposite of life, the enemy of life. Death was no more built into life than wreckage was built into a car. Paul emphatically says that Christ died to “destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Hebrews 2:14-15).

Although ready to die for Christ, Paul was confident of his long-term fate. The most important thing for him in the meantime was, by his own life or death, to honor Christ and to preach the gospel to as many as possible. Perhaps that is one reason we have so many epistles bearing his name. Through his writings, he could reach many people and places, including places that he himself had never visited.

Life is short, and it is vital to make the biggest impact possible for God’s kingdom within the span of the years that God grants us. No small part of that impact has to do with our encouraging “the unity of the faith.” As we shall see beginning this week, this theme was one important reason for Paul’s writing to the Philippians.

*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, January 17.

Sunday–>

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/26a-03-life-and-death/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=26a-03-life-and-death

Inside Story for Friday 9th of January 2026

Oscar has worked as a Global Mission pioneer for 10 years, leading 120 people to baptism and planting two churches. He hopes to open a third church soon. Learn more about Global Mission pioneers at bit.ly/GMPioneers.

Oscar stood still, praying, as three barking, snarling dogs surrounded him outside a house in Kenya. The owner, who had unleased the dogs as Oscar approached the house, came over. “Who are you?” he demanded.

“I’m a messenger of God,” Oscar said.

“What message has God sent you with?” the man said.

“It’s the message of God,” Oscar said. “Can I come in?”

The man called off the dogs and tied them up.

He looked at Oscar expectantly after they entered the house. “Let’s pray,” Oscar said. The man didn’t close his eyes. Oscar prayed and then began discussing the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch.

The man wasn’t a Christian. He belonged to a major, non-Christian world religion, but he knew those books of the law. He asked many questions, and the two men became friends. Today, the man and his wife are Seventh-day Adventists.

On another occasion, a homeowner expressed interest when Oscar offered Bible lessons. He sent away his three children, ages 6, 8, and 13. As they left, Oscar saw that they were limping in pain. “Let the children come here so we can pray,” he said. Then he saw that the children had chiggers, a tiny mite with parasitic larvae that live on or under the skin and cause irritation.

Oscar prayed for the children and left to buy medication.

The family thought that the chiggers were caused by witchcraft. But when Oscar returned, he helped the family clean their house and bedding. He instructed the parents to bathe the children, and then he provided the medication. The children were clean. Oscar prayed for the children again, and he studied the Bible with the parents. Later, the family became Adventist and sold land for the construction of a new Adventist church.

In sharing the gospel, Oscar also goes from church to church on Sundays. In Kenya, it’s a tradition to allow visitors to greet church members. But once, a church leader invited Oscar to a worship service and then refused to allow him to speak upon learning that he was an Adventist. Oscar stayed for the worship service. As he left, he recognized several members as his neighbors, and he went over to greet them.

“The Bible is like a big ocean, and this is not the time to wait for the pastor to come and teach you,” he said. “I have lessons that you can study yourself.”

Seven people accepted the Voice of Prophecy Discovery Bible lessons on the spot. Others were wary but later agreed to take the lessons. Today, 43 people from the church are studying the Bible with Oscar. “Not bad for a meeting where I wasn’t allowed to speak,” he said with a smile.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/26a-02-inside-story-messenger-of-god/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=26a-02-inside-story-messenger-of-god