Count the stars. Imagine how Abraham felt when God told him about the number of people in his inheritance. “Count the stars,” God said. Back then, with far less to block the view from earth to sky, the sky was the setting for billions and billions of heavenly bodies. Abraham was to be a key player the … Continue reading –>
The consequences of the Fall were enormous. The disobedience of Adam and Eve started the rupture of a harmonious interdependence between all life forms. Even worse, it started the disunity, discord, and divisions among human beings that exist even today. The disharmony is seen immediately in how Adam and Eve sought to put the blame … Continue reading –>
A clear message flowing out of the Creation story in Genesis Chapters 1 and 2 is the overall harmony that existed at the end of the week of Creation. God’s final words that all was “very good” (Gen. 1:31) refer not only to aesthetic beauty but also to the absence of any element of evil or discord … Continue reading –>
Our Unity in Christ The church is God’s family on earth: serving, studying, and worshiping together. Looking to Jesus as its leader and Redeemer, the church is called to take the good news of salvation to all people. Number 14 of the Fundamental Beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church states, in part: “The church is … Continue reading –>
Read for This Week’s Study: Gen. 1:26-27, 1 John 4:7-8, 1 John 4:16, Gen. 3:16-19, Gen. 11:1-9; Gal. 3:29; Deut. 7:6-11. Memory Text: “Then [God] brought [Abraham] outside and said, ‘Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’ And he believed in the LORD, and He … Continue reading –>
Healthy Church for the Rich By Andrew McChesney, Adventist Mission Kiyong Kwon, a business owner and church planter, chose an affluent suburb of South Korea’s capital, Seoul, for his second church plant. His first church, opened in a rural area four years earlier, was filled to overflowing, and he wanted a new challenge. “When God … Continue reading –>
Further Thought: “Christ has given to the church a sacred charge. Every member should be a channel through which God can communicate to the world the treasures of His grace, the unsearchable riches of Christ. There is nothing that the Saviour desires so much as agents who will represent to the world His Spirit and His … Continue reading –>
On a set day, the Jews came in large numbers to hear Paul’s presentation of the gospel (Acts 28:23). Read Acts 28:24-31. What was Paul’s point in quoting Isaiah in this context? The quotation from Isaiah 6:9-10 describes what happens when people refuse to accept the divine message. Though some Jews believed, others didn’t, and so, because of this … Continue reading –>
Monday’s lesson, The Shipwreck, reminds me of another storm at sea and the faith of a young girl. Below is a remarkable account of Ellen Harmon, no more than eighteen years old. She is on a steamboat leaving Portland Maine that has just run into a very dangerous storm. While many were fearful for their … Continue reading –>
After three months in Malta, Paul and his companions were finally able to continue their journey (Acts 28:11). They arrived in Puteoli (Acts 28:13)—modern Pozzuoli, in the Bay of Naples—from where they would travel to Rome by road (see Acts 28:11-16). The news of Paul’s approach quickly reached Rome, and from there a group of believers traveled several miles … Continue reading –>
