For my days are consumed like smoke, And my bones are burned like a hearth.My heart is stricken and withered like grass, So that I forget to eat my bread. Because of the sound of my groaning My bones cling to my skin. Psalm 102:3-5 NKJV
Do all our prayers have to be upbeat, cheerful, and positive? No! Do we show a lack of faith when we lament? No! Cynicism doubts God’s existence and love. Lamenting is when we grieve knowing God exists and loves us. There is an entire book in the Bible about lamenting, its called Lamentations. A great portion of the Psalms and other portions of Scripture include prayers of lamentations. As a matter of fact, in the end of the book of Job, God rebukes Job’s friends for not allowing Job to lament.
To me, lamenting is clinging to God like Jacob did to the angel until He blesses us, or until things get better. God wants us to be real with him and pray real prayers. This includes praying prayers of lamentations when our hearts are grieving. Talk to God when you are joyful. Talk to God when you have complaints about the pain and grief He is allowing in your life. Bottom line is talk to God!
Study: What experiences do these texts describe? In what can you relate to what is said here?
Apply: Think about Jesus on the cross and what He suffered because of sin. How should that reality, that God in Christ suffered even worse than any of us, help us keep faith even amid times of suffering and trial?
Share: Your friend says it is wrong to express grief or doubt in our prayers, as it shows a lack of faith in God and His love. What do you tell your friend? See The Difference Between Cynicism and Lamentations.
Apply:Read Psalm 10:12, Psalm 22:1 and Psalm 27:9. What can we learn from the psalmists’ responses to God’s apparent absence? How do you respond to times when God does seem silent? What sustains your faith?
Share: Your friend asks you how you know God is with you when you can’t see, hear or feel His presence? What do you tell your friend? See How I Know God is With me.
Read in Class: Psalm 77:1-20. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: What experience is the author going through?
Apply: Think about past times when the Lord worked in your life. How can that truth help you deal with whatever you are facing now?
Share: Your friend tells you that while her teenage son was expressing how terribly depressed he was he used some foul language. She ignored the foul language and just tuned into his feelings. Her husband on the other hand scolded him for using foul language. Your friend asks you which one of them handled the situation properly? What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class: Psalm 73:12-20. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: What brings the psalmist through the crisis? What is the end of those who trust in futile things? See also 1 Peter 1:17.
Apply: How does the promise of God’s judgment upon the world, and upon all its evil, give you comfort when so much evil now goes unpunished?
Share: Do you know someone who feels like life has been unfair to them? How can you encourage them this week from the Word of God and your own experiences?
Main Theme: The Lord’s sovereign rule thus renders the world firmly established and secure. The psalmists want the reader to understand this foundational truth. With this worldview as their lighthouse, the psalmists seek to thrive and to serve God with undivided devotion.
Read in Class: Psalm 97:1-12. Define the main point of this Psalm.
Study: What characterizes the Lord’s reign? What is the domain of His reign?
Apply: “You who love the Lord, hate evil!” (Psalms 97:10). Why should our love for God cause us to hate evil? How are these two concepts related?
Share: Your friend says Psalm 97:10 says the Lord delivers his saints out of the hands of the wicked. Yet so many innocent people have died in concentration camps and human trafficking. What good does that promise do them? What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class: Psalm 75:1-10. Define the main idea of this Psalm.
Study: Why is the boasting of the wicked in vain?
Apply: The Psalms call us to rejoice in anticipation of God’s judgments. (See Psalm 67:4, Psalm, 96:10-14, Psalm 98:4-9) How is God’s judgment good news for those covered by the blood of Christ?
Share: Your friend claims he never gets promoted at work because of all the corruption where he works. Company politics has everything rigged. How might Psalm 75:6-7 help you respond to your friend? What illustrations in the Bible can you find of godly people being promoted even in the most corrupt environments?
Study: The theme of God’s judgment prompts a significant question: How can God’s people have peace with God and assurance of salvation at the time of judgment?
Apply: What do we have in Jesus, which shows why these promises made to ancient Israel can now apply to us? See Galatians 3:26-29.
Share: Your friend says that the promises in the Old Testament were only given to the Jews. How do you answer your friend?
Study: How is Satan’s attack on the law of God actually an attack on the kingdom of God? Why does Satan have to attack God’s law in order to reach his goal in in Isaiah 14:13-14? How do we know Satan will never reach his goal of reigning over the universe?
Apply: What are practical ways that keeping God’s laws and rules and testimonies have helped you in your life? On the other hand, what have you suffered from violating them?
Share: Your friend tells you the law of God was nailed to the cross and done away with. What do you tell your friend?
Main Theme: God’s mission will be fruitful and have much success.
Read in Class: Revelation 14:6-7. Summarize the first angel’s message.
Study: What do these verses have to do with our last day message and mission?
Apply: Do you have a plan for sharing the everlasting Gospel? If a friend asked you how they can know if they are saved what would you tell them? See Salvation in Light of the Cross. How does this everlasting Gospel help you prepare for the judgment?
Share: Your friend asks how the Seventh-day Adventist Gospel is different from any other Gospel preached in protestant churches? Don’t we all preach the same cross? Is the Gospel preached by Adventists any different? What do you tell your friend? See the God-forsaken God.
Share: Your friend says that instead of preaching the Three Angel’s message in the last days we should be Preaching the cross instead. What do you tell your friend? See The Three Angel’s Message in Light of the Cross.
Study: What exactly is the mark of the beast? How is accepting the mark of the beast not only rejecting the Bible Sabbath but also rejecting the cross of Christ and salvation by grace? For example what is wine of God’s wrath that is poured into the cup of His indignation? Is this the same cup Jesus asked to pass from him, but ended up drinking for us?
Apply: What assurance do you see in Revelation 7:9-14 and Revelation 15:1-4 that the call out of Babylon and the warnings not to take the mark of the beast will be successful? What other passages in the Bible assure you of the success of God’s mission in the last days?
Share: Your friend asks you if the 144,000 who are saved in the last days is a literal number or symbolic? What do you tell your friend?
Challenge: How are you hastening Christ’s return? Are you planting seeds of hope in the hearts of those who need to hear good news? Are you “watering” new believers by helping them learn what it means to live a life of loyal obedience to Christ? Pray for opportunities to communicate the promise of the earth made new with the people on your daily prayer list.
Challenge Up: Some of your “disciples” may be ready to accept Christ. This includes joining a church or group of believers. Put yourself in his or her place and imagine attending your church for the first time. What kind of experience would he or she have? How prepared is your church to welcome and disciple new people? Are you open to starting new groups of believers, not just building up your own existing church? Create a strategy to address weak areas. Share your thoughts with your church leaders, and work with them to implement a plan to become a more intentional disciple-making church.
Main Theme: If we humbly seek them, we can find people in the cities interested in the Gospel.
Read in Class: Matthew 9:35-38. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: What does this teach us about mission to the multitudes, wherever we find them?
Apply: How can we help people see just how futile, in and of themselves, “their magnificent palaces and marts of trade” are, and why they need Jesus?
Share: Your friend asks, “What are the needs of those in your community and how is your church meeting those needs? What are your challenges in reaching the unreached in your community?” What do you tell your friend?
Study: In these passages, whom does Jesus describe as having faith?
Challenge: Open your heart in prayer for a greater portion of faith with which to share your love for those near and far.
Challenge up: How did you come to know Jesus and the precious three angels’ messages? List three spiritual blessings that you have experienced from Jesus in your personal life.
Main Theme: Paul shows us how to reach people for Jesus.
Read in Class: Acts 17:10-16. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: How did Paul wind up in Athens, and how did he respond to what he found there?
Apply: What kind of idols are people worshiping in your society, and how can you open their eyes to how worthless it all is?
Share: Your friend says that the Jews stirred up the crowd and made Paul leave Berea. In early Adventism a crowd was stirred up over opposition to the 1888 message forcing Ellen White to have to leave the United States. Your friend asks why God allows so much opposition? What do you tell your friend? What were the results of Paul leaving Berrea for Athens and Ellen White leaving the United States for Australia?
Read in Class: Acts 17:18-21. Discuss the main idea of this passage.
Study: What were some of the different ways that the pagans in the marketplace reacted to Paul’s speaking and questioning?
Apply: After Paul’s experience in Athens with these pagans and philosophers, he wrote to the Corinthians that “I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). What lesson is there for us about how central Christ must be to our message regardless of whom we are preaching to?
Share: Your friend says, just like with Paul at Athens, many today just enjoy talking about new ideas about the Bible and prophecy all the time but that’s all they want to do is talk. There seems to be no real conviction. How do we help people become convicted of truth? How again might 1 Corinthians 2:2 help you answer your friend?
Read in Class: Acts 17:22-23. Define the main idead of this passage.
Study: What was Paul doing here in his attempt to reach these people with the gospel?
Apply: What bridges and points of contact can you think of that would open opportunities for deeper conversation with others with whom you come in contact?
Share: Your friend notices that Paul said these people were very religious even though they were worshiping false gods and therefore had a false religion. your friend asks you, which is easier, reaching someone who has no religion or reaching someone who has a false religion? What strategies do you use for reaching people with a false religion as opposed to people with no religion? What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class: Acts 17:24-34. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: What approach was Paul taking here in an attempt to reach these people?
Paul probably spoke longer at the Areopagus than just the few words Luke shared in this story. It seems reasonable for the sake of space that Luke just summarized Paul’s speech. If that is true, then each of the concepts we have read so far Paul probably fleshed out in more detail. Then we break down Paul’s speech into concepts:
Paul first complimented their current spiritual awareness and sincerity.
Next he showed that he had studied their belief and that he found some things that he respected from what he had learned.
He then told them about one particular thing that he had discovered in his study of their religion that they admitted they did not understand.
After that, he shared the aspect of God that he knew they desperately needed, which is the fact that God exists and that He loves them and is not far away.
Finally, at the end of his speech, Paul moved to warning them of what it means to reject the knowledge of this God they did not yet know.
Apply: Notice Paul’s appeal to the created world and to God as the Creator (see also Romans 1:18-25). Why is this such a good approach to take, at least as a start, with most people? What is it about the created world that points so powerfully to God?
Challenge: In prayer, ask for God’s specific guidance in knowing how best to witness to someone you know. Explore social media as a possible “Areopagus” for you to represent the gospel—with Paul’s clarity and discretion—to unbelievers.
Main Theme: The Bible shares events and experiences in the early church that give us guidance as we prepare for mission.
Read in Class:Luke 24:36-49. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: What happened here, and why was this such a pivotal experience for the apostles?
Apply: How well grounded are you in the prophecies that point to Christ, both His first and second comings? Especially in the last days, why must we be grounded in the Word of God, including the prophecies, and why is understanding them so crucial, especially for mission?
Share: A classmate in Sabbath School notices, that earlier in Luke 24 Jesus could have shown his scarred hands to the two on the road to Emmaus, but instead He just directed them to Scripture. Later Jesus lets everyone see his scars, handle Him and still led them into the Scriptures. Your friend asks, how much do we rely on signs, and what we see and feel, compared to how much we rely on Scripture alone? What do you tell your classmate?
Read in Class:Acts 1:12-26. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: What were the disciples, now numbering around 120 men and women, doing while they were waiting?
Apply: How can you learn to wait upon the Lord and not lose faith in the meantime? Meanwhile, while waiting, how can you best use your time, as the disciples did here?
Share: Your friend says casting lots sounds a lot like gambling. Can we really just pray and flip a quarter to see what God’s will is? What do you tell your friend?
Study: What happened to the disciples as a result of receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost?
Apply: Why should the idea that even some of those who were complicit in Christ’s death were offered salvation (1) encourage us for our own souls and (2) encourage us to witness to others, no matter how bad they may seem to be?
Share: Your friend says that our churches are not growing as fast as the early church grew. Your friend asks why we are not seeing more baptisms now? Do you agree with your friend or not? What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class: Acts 2:41-47. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: What kind of picture of the early church is present here?
Challenge: Think of someone in your life who you wish was a believer. Pray every day for him or her to have a personal experience with Jesus.
Challenge Up: Whom are you discipling and leading into a relationship with Jesus? Look for ways to bring him or her into fellowship with other believers.
Main Theme: In the book of Ephesians Paul tells us how God’s grace protects us against the wicked powers in our community.
Read in Class: Acts 19:13-20. Discuss the main idea of this passage.
Study: What strange event leads to widespread reverence for “the Lord Jesus” in Ephesus?
Apply: What did the burning of their own books signify, even at such an expense to themselves? What does that say about a total commitment to the Lord?
Share: Your friend asks why the demons were able to overpower the people using the name of Jesus? What clues from the passage itself can you share with your friend? Also see Matthew 7:21-23.
Apply: At the end of his third missionary journey, Paul meets with elders of the Ephesian church. How would you summarize Paul’s concerns? (See Acts 20:17-38)
Share: After reading these warnings, you friend asks, “What do you think Paul would warn our church today about, and why?” What do you tell your friend?
Study: How does Paul begin and end his letter to the believers in Ephesus? What do we learn about his deepest desires for them? How does Paul worry about the effect his imprisonment will have on believers in Ephesus? See Eph. 3:13.
Apply: How can you use your personal tribulations as a witness to others about the goodness of God?
Share: Your friend says, “I thought the whole point of accepting Jesus as our Savior was so He would bless us and make us prosperous? If we still have tribulations what’s the point of having Jesus in our lives? How has God’s grace protected us from the evil in our community if we still suffer harm?” What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class: Ephesians 1:9-10. Discuss the main idea of this passage.
Study: How does Paul announce the theme of his letter?
Apply: In the church of which you are a part, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, God is drawing together a transnational, multilingual, multiracial, cross-cultural community (Rev. 14:6, 7) that points the way to the fulfillment of His plan to unite all things in Jesus (Eph. 1:9, 10). How can we work in concert with God’s grand plan?
Share: Can you think of a friend who would enjoy these studies on Ephesians? Can you invite your friend to Sabbath School?
Study: How long was this power to rule through previous centuries? (Note: 42 months; a time, times, and half a time; and 1,260 days is the same 1,260 years from 538AD with Justinian’s Code to 1798AD with Berthier marching into Rome and putting the pope in prison.)
Apply: Think about how amazing biblical prophecy is and how it reveals to us God’s knowledge of future events. What should this fact teach us about why we can trust the Lord’s promises, even the ones we don’t yet see fulfilled?
Share: Your friend says the 1260 days are still in the future and do not have anything to do with the papacy. What do you tell your friend?
Study: What does Paul predict about the last days? What identifying marks does he give for the beast, the antichrist power?
Apply: “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 7:12, NKJV). How must we apply this principle in dealing with the theme of the beast powers in Revelation 13 and 14?
Study: How does John describe these final scenes of earth’s history? What powerful contrast is seen here?
Apply: How do make sure we are not unwittingly at war with the Lamb?
Share: Your friend asks, “Why does the Lamb have to conquer all the other powers? Why can’t we just all peacefully coexist? What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class: Revelation 14:9-12. Define the main idead of this passage.
Study: Where is the mark of the beast placed? (See Deut. 6:8, Deut. 11:18). What two characteristics contrast God’s people from those who receive the mark of the beast?
Apply: In what ways has humanity always been divided along the lines of being on either God’s side or on Satan’s? Why can there be no middle ground? How can we know, for sure, just whose side we really are on?
Share: You friend says that she heard someone say that the third angel’s message in Revelation 14:9-12 is all about righteousness by faith. How so? What do you tell your friend?
In Light of The Cross 