Sabbath: God’s Mission to Us: Part 1
Daily Lesson for Sabbath 30th of September 2023
Image © Pacific Press
Read for This Week’s Study
Genesis 3:9-15; Genesis 28:15; Exodus 29:43,45; Matthew 1:18-23; John 1:14-18; John 3:16; John 14:1-3.
Memory Text:
“Then the Lord God called Adam and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ ” (Genesis 3:9, NKJV).
Mission finds its origin and purpose only in God. This mission did not begin with Abram’s call (Genesis 12:1-4) or with the Exodus (Exodus 12:31-42). It did not begin even with Jesus Christ on the earth (Matthew 1:18-25) or with Paul’s missionary journeys (Acts 13:4-52; Acts 14:1-26). This mission began with God Himself, when He brought the universe into existence and later created humanity (Genesis 1:26-27).
In the Scriptures, we see a God who intentionally reaches out and desires to be with His children. From the beginning, He establishes a relationship with Adam and Eve. Even after sin enters, He continues His mission, but now it is to reestablish His relationship with humanity. In the end, God’s mission will be accomplished (Revelation 21:1-27; Revelation 22:1-21), which is why we should be motivated in the work of proclaiming the eternal gospel to the world (Revelation 14:6-7).
The foundation of any mission endeavor, therefore, must be centered on a relationship with the Creator and with the proper understanding of His missionary nature and character. But before we understand the mission of God, it is essential to better understand the God of mission.
*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, October 7.
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I remember that 20-30 years ago, in educational and church environments. we spent a lot of time hammering out mission statements. Ultimately, institutions were supposed to provide some sort of pithy statement about what they were about. These statements were emblazoned on walls, incorporated into working documents, added to letterheads, and put up anywhere we thought people would read them.
I don’t remember any of them today. I remember at the time, I travelled a bit more widely than I do today, and I would visit a church or Seventh-day Adventist education institution and most of the mission statements had a similar ring to them. I do remember the seminars and workshops we had about mission statements. We would gather in small groups and discuss what we thought was important enough to be included in the statement. Then we would compare our statement with those made by other groups.
Ultimately, I think the big winner out of all this mission statement work was not the final, carefully worded statement that went up on the wall. It was the interchange of ideas with others that made a difference in the way we acted. We could have saved a lot of time an energy by appointing a small committee of wordsmiths to concoct a mission statement for us, but that defeats the real purpose of mission statements. The fact that all of us interacted, argued, restated, listened and told one another about how we viewed putting it into practise, gave us the opportunity to re-evaluate what we were doing and the way we were doing it. That is much more important than a cute statement.
So, this quarter, we have the opportunity to study mission. It is not really about how we say it; its about how we live it.
"Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.", King Jesus Christ in Matthew 4:19.
This is our common mission (commission). I love being used by Him to pull people into the kingdom. He is the only one that can enable us to achieve this end.
I thank Him for this opportunity 🙏 🙏 🙏 I love you King Jesus Christ 🤗
Happy Sabbath to all from beautiful South Africa !
I wont to get one thing straight the 1st day of the lesson, then I plan to be quiet about it the rest of the quarter. You don't have to go far away from your local to be a missionary, you just have to get out of your comfort zone. However profound that may seem to be, it is true. That is similar to the true notion, that your neighbor is your mission field. Now if you are led to catch a boat or plane overseas the same holds true. It could be that overseas is easier getting out of your comfort zone. Whatever, wherever the Lord will give you the power to get out of your comfort zone. Establishing a relationship with the part of humanity who are not in Christ, takes the power God gives. And how do we get that power, through prayer?
Philippians 2:13.
Ephesians 6:18.
It is probably worth reminding us of this several times through this quarter and the next!
Reminds of the hymn "Brighten the corner where you are" and "Hark the voice of Jesus calling". We struggle so much to evangelise the outside world and forget our family members and neighbours
Reminds me of the words to a song, “My mission field begins at home, and then across the street. I dare not trample down the grain, it’s everyone I meet.”
"For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?", King Jesus Christ in Matthew 16:26.
The world has a famous saying "Charity begins at home.". Now, the old English meaning of the word charity is love, therefore this saying translates to "Love begins at home."
I heard of a church where the exit from their parking lot had a sign which read "Your are now entering the mission field."
This reminds me of one of the lessons I read in one of the minister's bible study guide "why do we live?" We live with God and we live for others. The last line has weight. One cannot live with God without knowing God. First thing first is to know God. Brings one to the understanding of the Adventist believe numbers one to five.