Read for This Week’s Study: Acts 1:12-14, Acts 2:5-13, Rev. 14:12, Acts 2:42-47, Acts 4:32-37, Acts 5:1-11, 2 Cor. 9:8-15. Memory Text: “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42, NKJV). Church unity is the result of a shared spiritual experience in Jesus, who is the truth. “I am the way, the … Continue reading –>
Further Thought: Ellen G. White, “The Spirit of Unity”, pages 179-188, in Testimonies for the Church, vol. 9. “Christ recognized no distinction of nationality or rank or creed. The scribes and Pharisees desired to make a local and a national benefit of all the gifts of heaven and to exclude the rest of God’s family in the world. … Continue reading –>
It has become an iconic line from the movie, A Few Good Men, back in 1992. Colonel Nathan R. Jessep, played by Jack Nicholson, is being interrogated during a military trial. He and Lieutenant J.G. Daniel Kaffee, played by Tom Cruise, have the following exchange: Col Jessep: I’ll answer the question. You want answers? LTJG … Continue reading –>
By Philip Baptiste Amina is serving a five-year prison sentence in East-Central Africa after being arrested as she headed to India to blow up a large facility. But persistent visits by a Seventh-day Adventist pastor resulted in her discarding her fundamentalist understanding of Islam and being baptized into the Adventist Church several weeks ago. “I … Continue reading –>
Key Thought: Because God adopts, forgives, and redeems us, He also heals our relationships. We can experience a change in attitudes and actions that promote unity. Lesson 4, October 27, 2018 1. Have a volunteer read Ephesians 2:13-18. a. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text … Continue reading –>
Christianity is a religion of relationships: relationship with God and with one another. It makes no sense to claim to have a deep relationship with God without that relationship having an impact on the relationships one has with other people. Christianity cannot be lived in a vacuum. The principles of unity Paul discusses in his Epistle … Continue reading –>
“But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift” (Eph. 4:7, NKJV). While salvation is a gift given to all people who will receive it, some spiritual gifts are given to certain people for a special purpose. Read Ephesians 4:11. What gifts of leadership does God give to the church? … Continue reading –>
Our unity comes as being a member of the body of Christ: Hymn 570, “Not I, But Christ”. We are reminded on Sunday that we are all family in Christ, and therefore: “Heir of the Kingdom”, Hymn 594. “God prepared salvation before the foundation of the world” : Hymn 646, “To the Name That Brings Salvation”. … Continue reading –>
The key to unity. Those words seem to imply that unity is a goal of God’s people. But what kind of unity? A cohesive group of criminals unites to attack a boarding school of young Christian children. It took a lot of planning to organize this offense. But is that what God wants us to do–unite … Continue reading –>
Paul is practical in his inspired words to the Ephesians. The unity that exists between Jews and Gentiles, between people of different cultural and ethnic backgrounds, is not a myth or simply a theoretical construct; it is a reality that demands us “to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called” (Eph. 4:1, NKJV). … Continue reading –>
