Friday November 20
Further Thought: The great gospel commission (Matt. 28:18-20) set in motion a remarkable religious movement throughout the whole world.
Here a few apostles or missionaries (the two words mean the same—“those who are sent”) went throughout the whole world and gathered up students, made them into disciples, called them to believe in Jesus, baptized them, and proceeded to teach them all the things Jesus has commanded them.
The picture is that of Christian converts from around the world, representing different cultures and speaking different languages, coming out of the waters of baptism only to enter a school and begin their education. This is not surprising, for they still had much to learn.
The reason Christians are always learning is not just intellectual curiosity or an eagerness to master knowledge, but rather that the Christian life and faith permeates every corner of daily life. There is so much to learn. Because of that, the letters of the New Testament contain both the proclamation about Jesus (sometimes called by the New Testament word kerygma [keh-RIG-ma]) and education in all the things Christians have to learn (sometimes called by the New Testament word didache [did-ah-KAY]). A good example of proclamation is seen in 1 Corinthians 2:2, whereas education begins in 1 Corinthians 4 and continues on and off in the rest of the letter. What is it Christians have to learn?
Work, rest, social issues, community relations, church and worship, economics, philanthropy, relations with the authorities, counseling, family systems, marriage relations and child rearing, food and its preparation, clothing, and even getting old and preparing for the end of life—both one’s personal life and life in this world; to be a Christian means to learn something about all these things and more. Understanding them does not come naturally. It has to be learned.
Discussion Questions:
• How important is the educational work for the mission of the church?"
• What did Ellen G. White mean when she wrote “Heaven is a school” (Education, p. 301)?
• Read 1 Corinthians 2:1-16 again. Look at what Paul is telling us about what God is revealing to us through inspiration. Think about his assertion that the rulers and wisdom of the age will come to nothing. If he could say that back then, what about some of the “wisdom” of our age, as well?
Inside Story
Resurrected in Indonesia
By Andrew Mcchesney
Two student missionaries greeted their supervisor, Sungbae Gee, with excitement when he arrived at their jungle village on the Indonesian island of Papua.
“Pastor, we have a very nice story!” said Santos, a 22-year-old student missionary from Universitas Klabat, a Seventh-day Adventist university on faraway Sulawesi island. “We prayed for a dead eight-year-old girl, and she was resurrected!”
Sungbae, a South Korean missionary serving as director of the 1000 Missionary Movement in Indonesia, had flown in a small airplane and walked two days and a night to reach the village in Papua’s Samir district. He had come to coach the student missionaries at the halfway point of their one year of mission service, but first he wanted to hear about the girl.
The student missionaries said something terrible had happened a few days earlier. Upon returning from a house visit, they had found the villagers weeping and chanting at the one-room hut of the village chief. The villagers were mourning for the chief’s daughter, Naomi, who had died two hours earlier and was lying on the hut floor. A witch doctor was leading the villagers in the chant.
The student missionaries began to weep. They longed for the villagers to turn away from their dead gods of trees and animals to trust in the living God of heaven. Santos and his friend sat beside Naomi’s still form. Santos gently picked her up and wrapped his arms around her. “Dear God, please show a miracle to the villagers,” he prayed. “We have given Bible studies, and they have listened. Show them that You are more powerful than trees and animals.”
The missionaries prayed for two hours, holding Naomi’s body and crying. They sang a gospel song, “Because He Lives.” The villagers were touched by the tears, the prayers, and the song. Suddenly, Naomi woke up. She turned to her astonished mother. “Mommy, I am hungry,” she said.
Her father, the chief, was shocked. With his own eyes, he had seen something more powerful than the trees and animals.
The village chief gathered the villagers for Bible studies when Sungbae arrived. All 57 adult villagers gave their hearts to Jesus.
“It was a miracle,” said Sungbae, now president of Pakistan Adventist Seminary and College. “Some people might think that resurrections only occurred two thousand years ago, but such miracles still occur today when we put full faith in God.” Thank you for your Sabbath School mission offerings that help spread the gospel around the world.
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