Welcome to Burnt Mills Sabbath School
Burnt Mills Sabbath School
Dear Friend,
Welcome to Burnt Mills Sabbath School. We trust you had a good week. We invite you to come study, fellowship and worship at Burnt Mills this sabbath – August 7th.
Our Sabbath School program at 10:30 a.m. presented by Willy Calderon, features a dialoque with David Oh, Personal Ministries Director for Burnt Mills and the upcoming evangelistic series of meetings – “Forty Days of Prayer”, “Amazing Discoveries in Lost Cities of the Dead”, and the prophetic series “Decoding Prophecy”.
Come discover how you and your Sabbath School Class could be a vibrant part of these evangelistic meetings.
Please pray for the evangelistic meetings as we join hands with several area churches to reach the community of Silver Spring with the message of Jesus Christ, and make this a personal goal – to invite atleast ONE friend or neighbor to these meetings.
We know you have been blessed by the contemporary comments on the weekly lessons - often tied to a current national or world event. Thanks to Contemporary Commments for the use of their ministry tool. Be sure to share your own views and understanding of this week’s lesson. It will be a blessing to others in your class.
Expounding the Faith | August 7, 2010 | Adapted from Contemporary Comments
Romans 5
Peace and Joy
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned— for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.
But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
“He supposedly killed nine people (or was it 40) and evaded authorities. But New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is still considering a pardon for a historic figure of the old west— nearly 130 years after the saga began. Why? A dispute still rages about whether he was actually gunned down by Pat Garrett on July 14, 1881. Some say that Garrett didn't actually kill Billy the Kid — he just shot him, leaving the Kid to flee to Texas, where he would die in 1950.
Billy the Kid has become a hero, with movies and songs created around his character. He was shot down by Garrett after escaping from prison in a legendary shootout. In 2003, Richardson supported a plan to reinvestigate the case, and the Associated Press reports he is mulling over a pardon this week. Garrett's descendants clearly aren't happy and said in a statement that a pardon would be a "defamation" of their grandfather.
Three of the late lawman's grandchildren sent a letter to Richardson this week that asked him not to pardon the outlaw, saying such an act would represent an "inexcusable defamation" of Garrett. "If Billy the Kid was living amongst us now, would you issue a pardon for someone who made his living as a thief and, more egregiously, who killed four law enforcement officers and numerous others?" the Garrett family wrote.
The issue has resurfaced because Richardson asked a New Mexico columnist earlier this year to check with historians to measure their support for issuing a pardon. The governor plans to meet with Garrett family members next week to discuss the issue.
Garrett shot Billy the Kid down on July 14, 1881. Garrett tracked him after the outlaw escaped from the Lincoln County jail in a famous gun battle that left two deputies dead.
In our lesson this week on Romans 5 we find a lot of terms that relate to this interesting old west tale: death, pardon, grace, blood, wrath, law, and trespass. Garrett’s relatives believe Billy the Kid was a criminal who deserved to die. The truth is, we are all guilty of breaking God’s law and deserve death (see Romans 3:23 and 6:23). Even if Governor Richardson grants a posthumous pardon to Billy, the “Kid” won’t experience any peace. He’s already dead.
The Apostle Paul teaches us that though we are guilty of sin, Jesus Christ died in our place so that we may have pardon through His own shed blood. Our peace comes from being justified through faith in what our Lord did for us. We cannot be forgiven based on some new evidence uncovered 130 years later. We are simply guilty.
Satan is sending letters to heaven saying we can’t be pardoned. We are guilty. Nothing can change that. Our first earthly father (Adam) brought sin on the whole human race, so we all deserve death. But something has changed that. The second Adam (Christ) came and paid the penalty for sin so that we might be pardoned and set free. When we give our lives to Jesus and in a spirit of repentance ask Him to forgive us, the case is closed.”
Wishing you an abundance of God's sabbath blessings.
Regards,
Joseph Pakkianathan
Burnt Mills Sabbath School