Memory Verse
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth”
John 1:14
First Sabbath Offering
Your brethren and sisters from the Paraguayan Field
The Republic of Paraguay is a landlocked country in South America, where it is bordered by Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil. The population is around 6.1 million inhabitants, 96.1% of whom profess Christianity (88.3% Catholicism and 7.8% other Christian faiths); 2.6% profess no religion, and the remainder are of other religions or did not specify. The national economy is based primarily on agriculture—especially soybeans—and over the last 50 years, Paraguay has also cultivated a vast hydroelectric power industry.
The first SDA Reform Movement members arrived here from Hungary in the 1940’s and the work expanded further in the 1950’s through the colporteur ministry and later in the 1970’s through medical missionary work. We currently have a wonderful group of faithful members in the main cities.
For many years we had a natural health center operating in the capital city of Asunción, enabling us to share the gospel with many souls and to teach the lifestyle of God’s remnant people. With the help of God and our interdisciplinary team of professionals, we hope to revive the clinic—but now for it to function as an outreach in the city, with an extension in the countryside to fulfill the divine mandate: “‘Move out of the cities. Establish your sanitariums, your schools, and offices away from the centers of population.’ ”— — Selected Messages, vol. 2, p. 357.
With this vision in mind, we acquired a plot of land in an imposing rural area in the department of Paraguarí, about 66 km. (41 miles) from the capital. We already have a sanctuary and parsonage on the property, but this is only the beginning. The goal is to establish a multifunctional center with a basic health center, church school, chapel, and a facility for the development of self-supporting health food enterprises.
We appeal to the generosity of our worldwide brethren to help us bring this goal to fruition. Your collaboration will give new impetus to the last phase necessary to complete the project. We rest in the power and wonderful grace of God and are sure that the Lord will bless the efforts of our community around the world to empower and expand evangelism in this part of His vineyard.
Daily Lessons
“From the days of eternity the Lord Jesus Christ was one with the Father; He was ‘the image of God,’ the image of His greatness and majesty, ‘the outshining of His glory.’ It was to manifest this glory that He came to our world. To this sin-darkened earth He came to reveal the light of God’s love—to be ‘God with us.’ ”— — The Desire of Ages, p. 19.
“Christ, the Word, the only begotten of God, was one with the eternal Father—one in nature, in character, in purpose—the only being that could enter into all the counsels and purposes of God.”— — Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 34.
“Angels are God’s ministers, radiant with the light ever flowing from His presence and speeding on rapid wing to execute His will. But the Son, the anointed of God, the ‘express image of His person,’ ‘the brightness of His glory,’ ‘upholding all things by the word of His power,’ holds supremacy over them all.”— — Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 34.
“It was Christ that spread the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth. It was His hand that hung the worlds in space, and fashioned the flowers of the field. ‘His strength setteth fast the mountains.’ ‘The sea is His, and He made it.’ Psalm 65:6; 95:5. It was He that filled the earth with beauty, and the air with song. And upon all things in earth, and air, and sky, He wrote the message of the Father’s love.”— — The Desire of Ages, p. 20.
“God spoke, and His words created His works in the natural world. God’s creation is but a reservoir of means made ready for Him to employ instantly to do His pleasure.”— — EGW SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 1, p. 1081.
“As the earth came forth from the hand of its Maker, it was exceedingly beautiful. Its surface was diversified with mountains, hills, and plains, interspersed with noble rivers and lovely lakes; but the hills and mountains were not abrupt and rugged, abounding in terrific steeps and frightful chasms, as they now do; the sharp, ragged edges of earth’s rocky framework were buried beneath the fruitful soil, which everywhere produced a luxuriant growth of verdure. There were no loathsome swamps or barren deserts. Graceful shrubs and delicate flowers greeted the eye at every turn. The heights were crowned with trees more majestic than any that now exist. The air, untainted by foul miasma, was clear and healthful. The entire landscape outvied in beauty the decorated grounds of the proudest palace. The angelic host viewed the scene with delight, and rejoiced at the wonderful works of God.”— — Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 44.
“The Bible recognizes no long ages in which the earth was slowly evolved from chaos. Of each successive day of creation, the sacred record declares that it consisted of the evening and the morning, like all other days that have followed. At the close of each day is given the result of the Creator’s work.”— — Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 112.
“It was [Christ] who had spoken through everyone that throughout the ages had declared God’s word to man. Of Him all the excellences manifest in the earth’s greatest and noblest souls were reflections.”— — Education, p. 73.
“Christ is the ‘Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.’ John 1:9. As through Christ every human being has life, so also through Him every soul receives some ray of divine light.”— — Education, p. 29.
“The power of God is still exercised in upholding the objects of His creation. It is not because the mechanism once set in motion continues to act by its own inherent energy that the pulse beats, and breath follows breath. Every breath, every pulsation of the heart, is an evidence of the care of Him in whom we live and move and have our being. From the smallest insect to man, every living creature is daily dependent upon His providence. . . .
“The mighty power that works through all nature and sustains all things is not, as some men of science claim, merely an all-pervading principle, an actuating energy. God is a spirit; yet He is a personal being, for man was made in His image. As a personal being, God has revealed Himself in His Son.”— — Education, p. 131.
“In the words, ‘I am the light of the world,’ Jesus declared Himself the Messiah. The aged Simeon . . . had spoken of Him as ‘a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel.’ Luke 2:32. In these words he was applying to Him a prophecy familiar to all Israel. By the prophet Isaiah, the Holy Spirit had declared, ‘It is too light a thing that Thou shouldest be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give Thee for a light to the Gentiles, that Thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth.’ Isaiah 49:6, R.V. This prophecy was generally understood as spoken of the Messiah, and when Jesus said, ‘I am the light of the world,’ the people could not fail to recognize His claim to be the Promised One.”— — The Desire of Ages, p. 465.
“Since Jesus came to dwell with us, we know that God is acquainted with our trials, and sympathizes with our griefs. Every son and daughter of Adam may understand that our Creator is the friend of sinners. For in every doctrine of grace, every promise of joy, every deed of love, every divine attraction presented in the Saviour’s life on earth, we see ‘God with us.’ ”— — The Desire of Ages, p. 24.
“That we might become acquainted with His divine character and life, Christ took our nature and dwelt among us. Divinity was revealed in humanity; the invisible glory in the visible human form. Men could learn of the unknown through the known; heavenly things were revealed through the earthly; God was made manifest in the likeness of men.”— — Christ's Object Lessons, p. 17.
“The Son of God was assaulted at every step by the powers of darkness. After His baptism He was driven of the Spirit into the wilderness, and suffered temptation for forty days. . . . If He was not a partaker of our nature, He could not have been tempted as man has been. If it were not possible for Him to yield to temptation, He could not be our helper. It was a solemn reality that Christ came to fight the battles as man, in man’s behalf. His temptation and victory tell us that humanity must copy the Pattern; man must become a partaker of the divine nature.”— — EGW SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 5, p. 1082.
“To keep His glory veiled as the child of a fallen race, this was the most severe discipline to which the Prince of life could subject Himself. Thus He measured His strength with Satan. He who had been expelled from heaven fought desperately for the mastery over the One of whom in the courts above he had been jealous. What a battle was this! No language is adequate to describe it. But in the near future it will be understood by those who have overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.”— — EGW SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 5, p. 1081, 1082.
“Christ was treated as we deserve, that we might be treated as He deserves. He was condemned for our sins, in which He had no share, that we might be justified by His righteousness, in which we had no share. He suffered the death which was ours, that we might receive the life which was His. ‘With His stripes we are healed.’ ”— — The Desire of Ages, p. 25.
“Christ made a full and complete sacrifice, a sacrifice sufficient to save every son and daughter of Adam who should show repentance toward God for having transgressed His law, and manifest faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. . . . Christ is the Captain of our salvation, and by His own sufferings and sacrifice He has given an example to all His followers that watchfulness and prayer, and persevering effort, were necessary on their part if they would rightly represent the love which dwelt in His bosom for the fallen race.”— — Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, p. 664.
“God loves His obedient children. He has a kingdom prepared, not for disloyal subjects, but for His children whom He has tested and tried in a world marred and corrupted by sin. As obedient children, we have the privilege of relationship with God. ‘If children,’ He says, ‘then heirs’ to an immortal inheritance. . . . Christ and His people are one.”— — EGW SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p. 1077.