Persecuted but Not Forsaken

INTRO: This week’s Bible Lesson turns from the focus on Paul’s suffering in prison for preaching the gospel of Jesus to reasons Paul gives for thanksgiving and prayer despite such challenges which are also facing Philippian and Colossian believers. Note this emphasis in the suggested Memory Verse for this week’s lesson from Philippians Chapter 1, verse 6, “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Q: When Paul reminds his readers of the “good work” God has begun in them, to what work ...

Memory Verse: “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4, NKJV). INTRO: This week’s lesson theme is “Persecuted but Not Forsaken.” Our “memory verse” for this week is chosen in light of the hardships Paul suffered. Memory Verse: “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4, NKJV). “Rejoice always”? What does Paul mean by that phrase? How are we supposed to do that? Someone you love is sick or dies. You lose your job. You are in great physical pain. Perhaps the key to understanding this is to ask, “Rejoice always” in what? ...

Lesson Guide, Introduction: "Shechem was the place where Abraham had built an altar upon his arrival in the land, and where God first gave him the promise of the land (Gen. 12:7). Now, when the promises given to Abraham have been fulfilled, Israel renews the covenant with God at the very place where the first promise had first been given….
 "Israel's existence as a nation is not the merit of any of its ancestors but the exclusive work of God’s grace. The fact that the Israelites are settled in the land is not a ground for boasting but the very reason ...

Text: Joshua chapter 13: 1 When Joshua was an old man, the Lord said to him, you are growing old, and much land remains to be conquered.
 2 This is the territory that remains: all the regions of the Philistines and the Geshurites,
 3 and the larger territory of the Canaanites, extending from the stream of Shihor on the border of Egypt, northward to the boundary of Ekron. It includes the territory of the five Philistine rulers of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. The land of the Avvites
 4 in the south also remains to be conquered. In the north, the following ...

Texts: Psalms 37:3–6, 34, 37. 3Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.4Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart's desires.
 5Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you. 6He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.
 34Put your hope in the Lord. Travel steadily along his path.He will honor you by giving you the land. You will see the wicked destroyed. 
37Look at those who are honest and good, for a ...

"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."—2 Corinthians 3:18 Let us suppose that in each of our minds is a natural law: "By beholding, we become changed." —Christ's Object Lessons, p. 355. What themes might we choose to behold? God has offered us a tremendous variety of literature, in style and content. Here is a summary report published in the Review and Herald, June 16, 1994, and written by Marilyn Thomsen, Southern California Conference communication director: John ...

Deuteronomy 20: 10 As you approach a town to attack it, you must first offer its people terms for peace. 11 If they accept your terms and open the gates to you, then all the people inside will serve you in forced labor. 12 But if they refuse to make peace and prepare to fight, you must attack the town. 13 When the Lord your God hands the town over to you, use your swords to kill every man in the town. 14 But you may keep for yourselves all the women, children, livestock, and other plunder. You may enjoy the plunder from your ...

Giants of Faith: Joshua and Caleb Moses sent 12 men, one from each tribe, to act as intelligence agents or spies, regarding the land that God had promised to Israel. Text: Numbers 13:17-20. 
17 Moses gave the men these instructions as he sent them out to explore the land: "Go north through the Negev into the hill country.
 18 See what the land is like, and find out whether the people living there are strong or weak, few or many. 
19 See what kind of land they live in. Is it good or bad? Do their towns have walls, or are they unprotected like open ...

Introduction: As with the fictional milkman Tevye, from the village of Anatevka*, God chose to bless Zelophehad not with sons— but instead, with daughters—five of them!
 Unlike Caleb and Joshua, but like all other men "twenty years old and upward" (Numbers 14 and Numbers 32:11), Zelophehad died in the wilderness. 
Joshua, in the firm belief that he was following God's direction, determined to divide his nation's new lands among its men.
 And in ancient Israel's patriarchal society, were these orphaned women to receive no portions of the promised land? And if so, were they to "wait, meekly wait and murmur not?" 
No, I guess ...

Lesson Guide: Of the Israelites: "Their most dangerous enemy was not outside their camp but within their own rank and file." Questions: What are our greatest dangers "within?" Those who interpret the Bible differently than we do? Those who demand perfect performance? Those who tolerate less-than-perfect performance? Those who would enlarge our tents, and open our gates to whomsoever will? Those who would guard our gates, and admit only those judged worthy? Those who believe that any messenger "inspired of God" must have no flaws? Those who delight in pointing out that God's ...