If it had not happened, could we imagine a world in which God became a Man and lived among us? Although He could have come as a powerful and wealthy King, He chose to come as a newborn powerless and poor Baby. He lived like those around Him. He obeyed His parents and His government. He even allowed them to put Him to death.
We don’t know much about Jesus’ growing-up years … probably because it was much like everybody else’s [...]
Key Thought : Jesus respected the law and underlined the lessons about God’s grace and power revealed in the law.
[Lesson plan for Christ and the Law of Moses April 7,2014]
1. Have a volunteer read John 5:1.
a. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
b. How did Jesus relate to and demonstrate His obedience to the law?
c. Personal Application: How do the feasts help explain to us what Jesus has [...]
The New Testament does not tell us too much about the childhood of Jesus. One account, though, that gives great insight is Luke 2:41-52, the story of Jesus and His parents’ visit to Jerusalem during the feast of Passover. Read it over and then answer the following questions:
Image © Standard Publishing from GoodSalt.com
How does this story help to illustrate the decidedly Jewish character of the Gospels and how central the religion was to all that took place?
How is it [...]
John 5:1
After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem (John 5:1, NKJV).
Image © Providence Collection from GoodSalt.com
The first major festival period in the Jewish calendar year is the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread, which commences with Passover. The festival commemorates the deliverance of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, when the angel of death passed over the homes of those who put the blood on their doorposts. The Gospels record three occasions when [...]
(Luke 2:21-24)
God established His covenant with Abraham, saying that he would be the father of many nations (Gen. 17:4). When God made this covenant, the ninety-nine year old Abraham had only recently fathered Ishmael and had not yet seen the birth of his promised son, Isaac. Nonetheless, he was commanded to circumcise himself along with every male member of his household, and he was instructed to ensure that every son born into his household from that day forth be circumcised [...]
Current lesson of the Hope Sabbath School class led by Pastor Derek Morris. (Adobe Flash Player version.) A Youtube version of the Hope Sabbath School “Discipling Spiritual Leaders” is below. You can download the video, the MP3 audio, and the lesson outline from the HopeTV Sabbath School Site. You might want to bookmark the HopeSS Youtube channel.
There are many opinions that society wants us to believe: Climate is changing. Climate isn’t changing. Capitalism is good. Capitalism is bad. The internet/TV/video games/music are evil. Nothing’s evil; it’s all in how you use it. And don’t even get me started on what we should or shouldn’t eat or drink!
Mostly though, opinions are opinions and whether or not we agree is not going to make much difference in the long run. But underneath everything there are two beliefs that [...]
Read for This Week’s Study: Luke 2:21-24; Exod. 13:2, 12; Luke 2:41-52; Matt. 17:24-27; John 8:1-11; Deut. 22:23-24.
Memory Text: If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me (John 5:46, NRSV).
Many Christians have been raised on stories about Jesus’ supposedly negative relationship to the Jewish religion, an unfortunate misconception that has only helped feed anti-Semitism through the centuries. Jesus spoke out against abuses of the religion, that’s true, but not against the religion itself. [...]
Elizabeth Kimongo was born into a traditional Maasai family in Kenya. In her culture girls are expected to marry soon after their twelfth birthday. Women have little to say about their lives, but Elizabeth refused to leave school to marry. She had a dream.
Elizabeth Kimongo courtesy of the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission
While home for vacation before starting high school, Elizabeth learned that her father had arranged for her to marry an older man. With her mother’s blessing, [...]
Further Study: Read also Ellen G. White, Oath Taking, pp. 201-204, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1.
If Adam had not transgressed the law of God, the ceremonial law would never have been instituted. The gospel of good news was first given to Adam in the declaration made to him that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head; and it was handed down through successive generations to Noah, Abraham, and Moses. The knowledge of God’s law, and the [...]
