Iglesia Adventista Del 7mo Dia La Agustina

Thursday August 4 In the Midst of a Crooked Generation No question, the world needs what we have been given in Christ. It’s nothing in us, ourselves, that makes what we have so important. Rather, it is only by virtue of what we have received from Christ that gives us our imperative to reach others. And it’s precisely because we have been given so much that we are called to reach out to those who don’t have it. “ 'Freely you have received, freely give’ ”  ( Matt. 10:8, NKJV ) . Read   Philippians 2:13-15 . What are we being told here, and how does it fit in with our calling to reach out to others without falling away ourselves? We have to be careful about so seeking to protect ourselves from the world that we never come in contact with the souls in it. It’s very easy to stay in our own spiritual and theological comfort zone and to become spiritual introverts. Such introversion can turn into self-centered religion. How often do local churches, for instance, spend more ...

Wednesday August 3 Mingling Wisely A speaker asked a group to tell how many “non-Adventist friends” they had. One man in the back of the room stood up and triumphantly proclaimed, “I’m proud to say none!” That man might have meant well, but his words said a lot about what kind of light to the world he was. As we saw already,  Matthew 5:13  says we are the salt of the earth, but this salt can lose its savor. A merchant in Sidon had stored much salt in sheds with a bare earth floor. Because the salt was in direct contact with the earth, it lost its savor. This salt was thrown out and used to pave roads. In the same way, we need to be careful as we mingle with the world: Are we letting the world rob us of our unique savor? Are our values the same as the world’s? What  can we learn from these stories about how not to mingle with the world?  Gen. 13:5-13 ,  19:12-26 ,  Num. 25:1-3 ; see also  1 John 2:16 . These biblical examples illustrate the ...

Tuesday August 2 Eating With Sinners Read   Matthew 9:10-13 . What crucial message should we as individuals take away from Jesus’ response to His critics?  Read Hos. 6:6 . Jesus is reclining at the dinner table, where He is fellowshiping and eating with what this society would deem “undesirables.” What  kind of people does your culture deem “undesirables”? Interrupted by the Pharisees’ question of the appropriateness of Jesus’ mingling with such despicable people, Jesus challenges them to learn the meaning of mercy in contrast to sacrifice. “ 'But go and learn what this means: “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance’ ”  ( Matt. 9:13, NKJV ) . How sad that Jesus has to tell religious leaders to learn one of the most crucial truths of their own faith. Here again we are seeing the same problem that we saw occurring in Old Testament times, that of religious forms and ceremonies becoming more ...

Monday August 1 Lost and Found Jesus tells three parables in  Luke 15:1-32 , in direct response to the accusation of the Pharisees and teachers of the law that Jesus “welcomes sinners and eats with them”  ( Luke 15:2, NIV ) . Read  the following passages and note the essence of Jesus’ answer to these accusations. Luke 15:3-7 Luke 15:8-10 Luke 15:11-24 Each parable begins with something lost and ends with a celebration, an expression of God’s love for us and His profound interest in our salvation. A pastor was following up a Voice of Prophecy interest and discovered that the whole family was interested in Bible studies, except one. The mother, father, and younger daughter had accepted Christ and were eager to receive the pastor in their home on a regular basis. The older son had rebelled against Christianity and wanted nothing to do with it. Every evening that the pastor visited, the young man left the room and would not participate in the lesson studies. ...

Sunday July 31 Christ’s Method Alone Ellen G. White, in an often-quoted paragraph, summarizes what Jesus did in order to reach out and bring the people to salvation.  (See also  Matt. 9:35-36 .) “Christ’s method alone will give true success in reaching the people. The Saviour mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, 'Follow Me.’” - Ellen G. White,  The Ministry of Healing , p. 143 . Let’s analyze this a bit. Jesus mingled with people as One who desired their good. (He opened networks.) Jesus sympathized with people. (He formed attachments.) Jesus ministered to their needs. (This also formed attachments.) When He combined the first, second, and third elements, He won people’s confidence. “Then   He bade them, 'Follow Me’” (to become disciples). What we see here is a wholistic model of the gospel. This ministry method will guide us in procl...

Lesson 6 * July 30-August 5 Jesus Mingled With People Sabbath Afternoon Read for This Week’s Study:   Matt. 1:22-23 ;  John 1:14 ;  Luke 15:3-24 ;  Matt. 9:10-13 ;  Ps. 51:17 ;  1 John 2:16 ;  Phil. 2:13-15 . Memory Text:  “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, 'This man welcomes sinners and eats with them’”  ( Luke 15:1-2, NIV ). A deacon in a local church drove a van that took the youth to an old-age home to hold a worship service every month. In the first week, while the youth were leading out, an old man in a wheelchair grabbed the deacon’s hand and held it during the service. This happened month after month. One time, when the youth group came, the man in the wheelchair was not there. The staff said that he would not likely live through the night. The deacon went to his room, and he was lying there, obviously unconscious. Taking the...

Friday July 29 Further Thought:  Read other teachings of Jesus that inform you and your church’s role in the community:  Matthew 7:12 ,  23:23 ,  25:31-46 , Mark 4:1-34 ,  6:1-13 ,  Luke 6:36 ,  11:42 ,  12:13-21 , 14:16-24 ,  16:13 ,  18:18-27 ,  19:1-10 ,  John 10:10 , 12:8 ,  17:13-18 . Read Ellen G. White, “ 'The Least of These My Brethren,’ ”  pp. 637-641, in  The Desire of Ages ; “The Missionary’s Pattern,” in Signs of the Times , March 19, 1894 . “Unless the church is the light of the world, it is darkness.” - Ellen G. White, in  Signs of the Times , September 11, 1893 . That’s a powerful thought. It reminds us of Jesus’ words, “ 'He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad’ ”  ( Matt. 12:30, NKJV ) . Jesus is making it plain: there is no neutral territory in the great controversy. We are on Christ’s side or the devil’s. To have been given great li...