As the church began to spread—as Jesus predicted—“in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8, NIV), new believers took up the faith and ministry of Jesus. Among these was Dorcas—also known as Tabitha—in the city of Joppa. She obviously took seriously Jesus’ particular instruction that when clothing the naked, she was doing it for Jesus Himself (see Matt. 25:38, Matt. 25:40).

Read the description of Dorcas and her ministry in Acts 9:36. How might your life and ministry be described in a similar format to this verse? How would you like to be described?

Dorcas

It seems that Dorcas’s ministry was such that the description of her as a “disciple” (see Acts 9:36) and her faithfulness, energy, and focus on others were recognized even beyond her hometown.

Peter was visiting the nearby town of Lydda, and the people of Joppa asked him to come in response to Dorcas’s untimely death (see Acts 9:37-41). On his arrival in Joppa, Peter was met by many of the people Dorcas had helped through her work for the poor. They showed him the clothes that she had made and undoubtedly told him many stories of how she had helped them and others.

That Peter then prayed for Dorcas and God returned her to life is, of course, no guarantee that life will always work out well for those who devote their lives to serving others. After all, Dorcas had already suffered illness and death, and Stephen, one of those first deacons appointed to minister to the widows in the church, had also become the first martyr (see Acts 7:54-60). A life of service is not a smooth path; at times it could even be the rougher road.

However, in this story God used the recognition of His love and power in both Dorcas’s life and death to make a strong impact on the people of Joppa: “This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord” (Acts 9:42, NIV).

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After Jesus’ ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the group of believers grew rapidly and created the early church, a new kind of community among the followers of Jesus, and initially led by His original disciples. However, this new community was not just something that they made up among themselves; rather, it was built on the teachings and ministry of Jesus and drew on the long history of the Hebrew Scriptures and their prophets.

Read Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 4:32-37. What do you identify as the key elements in these descriptions of the early church community?

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While it seems the Israelites had failed to ever fully live out the blueprint for a just and generous society, the early church community took seriously the instruction that “there need be no poor people among you” (Deut. 15:4, NIV). One of the practical expressions of their faith was sharing their material resources—even selling land and contributing the funds raised (see Acts 4:34-5:2)—to meet the needs of their fellow believers, as well as to be a blessing to those outside the fledgling community, particularly through the ministry of healing (see Acts 3:1-11, Acts 5:12-16).

Yet, this community was not a utopian society by any stretch of the imagination. As the number of believers increased, tensions grew about the administration of these resources, particularly in relation to the daily distribution of food to widows (see Acts 6:1). The disciples, who were the natural leaders of the group, wanted to focus on preaching the gospel. In order to deal with the situation at hand, they needed to do some re-organizing.

Thus, seven people were appointed to focus on the practical matters of the church community. This was perhaps the first recognition of the different ministries and abilities to be exercised in the church; at the same time, it demonstrated the importance of practical ministry for the church’s life and witness. “The same principles of piety and justice that were to guide the rulers among God’s people in the time of Moses and of David, were also to be followed by those given the oversight of the newly organized church of God in the gospel dispensation”. – Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, p. 95.

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Read for This Week’s Study: Acts 2:42-47; Acts 4:32-37; Matt. 25:38, Matt. 25:40; Acts 9:36; 2 Cor. 8:7-15; Romans 12:1-21; James 2:1-9.

Memory Text: “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27, NKJV).

The verses known as the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20) are among the best known in the Bible, at least by Christians. The texts often have been described as our mission statement and have been the inspiration for all kinds of mission and evangelistic projects. Indeed, inspired by these texts, Christians have gone all over the world, sometimes at great personal cost, in order to spread the gospel.

And what did Jesus say in the Great Commission? To make disciples, to baptize, and to teach people “to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:20, NKJV). And, as we have seen, so much of what Jesus commanded us has to do with taking care of those in need, those hurting, those who are unable to take care of themselves. As such, we need to remember that these instructions to Jesus’ first disciples were not so much a new assignment, something that they hadn’t heard or seen before, but more a continuation of the mission Jesus already had been working among them. As such, this aspect of Jesus’ teaching can be clearly seen in the lives of the new church community as part of fulfilling the Great Commission.

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, August 31.

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Doctor Demands Abortion

By Andrew McChesney, Adventist Mission

Dina, a 60-year-old grandmother living in the Soviet Union, prayed every morning, “Lord, send me someone who I can tell about You”.

One day after praying, Dina waited at the bus stop in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, capital of the Far East region of Kamchatka. Noticing a pregnant woman, she asked, “Are you expecting?”

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The woman began to weep.

Dina learned that the woman, Lyuda Savostina, was expecting her first son, but the physician had insisted that she have an abortion.

“I already have a little girl, and I have always wanted a boy”, Lyuda said, tears rolling down her cheeks. “But the doctor says that if I try to have this child, he will be stillborn, and I will die”.

Dina comforted the woman and invited her to visit her house church on Sabbath. Lyuda had never attended church and agreed to go.

On Sabbath, Dina and Lyuda joined 12 other church members listening to Pastor Yakov Kulakov preach about God’s faithfulness. Afterward, Lyuda shared her dilemma with the pastor. He encouraged her to trust God, and he prayed for her.

On Monday, Lyuda announced to the doctor that she would keep the baby.

“Have you gone mad?” the doctor said.

When he couldn’t sway Lyuda, he summoned her husband, Vladimir. Later at home, Vladimir scolded Lyuda. “Are you so selfish that you are willing to die and leave your daughter without a mother?” he said.

“I will keep this baby”, Lyuda replied. “I trust in God”.

“Who is this God that you are talking about?” he said. “There is no God!”

The next Sabbath, Lyuda returned to church. And the next Sabbath. Soon she was baptized.

The doctor turned out to be wrong. The baby was born alive, and Lyuda did not die. Little Sergei, however, was sickly and suffered seizures.

One day when Sergei was about a year old, he suffered a severe seizure. His breathing stopped for 10 seconds. Twenty seconds. His lips turned blue.

Lyuda fell onto her knees, crying, “Lord, You gave life to this boy, please don’t take it away!”

Her husband rushed into the room.

“Come here and pray!” Lyuda told him. “We need your faith, too!”

Vladimir sank onto his knees. “Lord, I believe!” he cried.

At that moment, the baby began to breath.

The whole family became Adventist, and the children, now in their 40s, remain faithful church members, said Pastor Kulakov, 66, who retired after 41 years of ministry and lives in Podolsk, south of Moscow.

Why did this family become Adventist? The reason is because an elderly woman prayed every morning, “Lord, send someone who I can lead to You today”, said Pastor Kulakov, pictured left.

“There is power in this prayer”, he said.

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.

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Further Thought: 

Read Ellen G. White, “The Good Samaritan”, pages 497-505, and “The Least of These My Brethren”, pages 637-641, in The Desire of Ages; “A Great Gulf Fixed”, pages 260-271, “Who Is My Neighbour?” pages 376-389, in Christ’s Object Lessons.

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“Christ tears away the wall of partition, the self-love, the dividing prejudice of nationality, and teaches a love for all the human family. He lifts men from the narrow circle that their selfishness prescribes; He abolishes all territorial lines and artificial distinctions of society. He makes no difference between neighbors and strangers, friends and enemies. He teaches us to look upon every needy soul as our neighbor and the world as our field”. – Ellen G. White, Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, p. 42.

“The standard of the golden rule is the true standard of Christianity; anything short of it is a deception. A religion that leads men to place a low estimate upon human beings, whom Christ has esteemed of such value as to give Himself for them; a religion that would lead us to be careless of human needs, sufferings, or rights, is a spurious religion. In slighting the claims of the poor, the suffering, and the sinful, we are proving ourselves traitors to Christ. It is because men take upon themselves the name of Christ, while in life they deny His character, that Christianity has so little power in the world”. – Ellen G. White, Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, pages 136, 137.

Discussion Questions:

Summary: 

Jesus’ teachings set out a different way of living for those who are citizens and agents of the kingdom of God. Building on the foundation of the Old Testament Scriptures, He echoed and broadened the focus on caring for the poor and oppressed, emphasizing that His followers will live as people of compassion and mercy while they wait for His return.

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