John Bradshaw

It Is Written

The Day That Changes Every Day

GYC 2025: Seeing the Invisible

David Wright

Generation. Youth. Christ. (GYC)

Show Me Your Glory

I was 21, a theology major at Southern Adventist University.

My father was a senior pastor at the university church at the time.

I had returned from a year as a student missionary in Micronesia, and now apparently it was my mother's responsibility to arrange my marriage.

So on this particular Sabbath afternoon, they just so happened to invite some girls over for lunch.

When I got home from church, they just so happened to be in my parents' living room as my mother made the final preparations for lunch.

And it just so happened that I wasn't crazy about this idea.

So I successfully snuck upstairs to change clothes without even having to meet any of them.

I changed my clothes and distinctly remember just waiting upstairs, not wanting to go down and say hello.

I knew she'd be making faces and teasing and woo.

Nothing like a first date with the entire family.

I could only imagine my mother assigning me a place right in the middle of all these girls.

Well, for starters, you just don't go downstairs.

My little sister ran upstairs to tell me something I already knew.

Sure enough, the dining room table is spread out like it's Thanksgiving.

Fine china, the good silver, little name tags at every chair.

My older brother is there with his new wife.

They were married all of a year or so ago and I could hear my mother in my mind saying, now David, This is how you do it.

Connick is such a nice girl, and we think it would be nice if you could find somebody.

We just really worry about you being a single pastor." Mom, do you ever argue with your mom in your mind?

I go to class every day, I'm meeting people all the time, I'm not some monk living in some cave in the wilderness.

It just takes 1 and I'd rather be single my entire life than be married to the wrong one." I'm gonna pray for those of you who said amen really loudly.

There's still hope for your relationship.

Besides mom, I'm still arguing with her in my mind.

I don't think dating is the best way anyway.

It's there's all this pressure for the date and you put on your best and they put on their best.

And not to mention the fact that it's expensive just to figure out that, ugh, she's not the 1.

No, I'd rather just get to know them by hanging out in friend groups, getting to know them, observing them in various situations, how they respond to things, do they get upset easily, do they have a deep walk with God?

But I like to check the boxes more incognito.

That was the conversation in my mind as I came downstairs and and really what I was expecting Well, I have to admit I didn't have very high expectations.

I was thinking it was probably going to be nope, not likely, yikes, but you probably have a great personality.

But that wasn't what was waiting for me when I got downstairs.

They were all very nice, but there was 1 in particular that really caught my eye.

She had kind eyes, A sweet personality, a good sense of humor, and she appeared to be spiritual.

I mean, after all, this was just first impressions over a first lunch.

It's not easy to make a good first impression while having all these internal arguments with yourself.

Thankfully, it wasn't as awkward because of my brother that had it all together with his here's my wife to prove it there next to him.

But I knew I had to get to know this 1 girl better.

She had to run off to a concert that afternoon and to follow her seemed a bit desperate.

So off she went, but I just was thinking, how can I just bump into her somehow?

I was going to look for her in the cafeteria, maybe sit down next to her, maybe walk with her on the promenade, maybe try and hang out with her friend group, take a walk or go on a hike and just get to know her that way.

But time passed, week after week, month after month, And I never saw her at all.

Finally, near the end of my sophomore year, I saw her older sister, Emily.

And I sat with her group of friends for supper and I just said very casually, you know, after some conversation.

It's not the first thing out of your mouth, of course.

But my burning question was, where are your sisters?

I don't know if it's because our schedules were just too different.

She was in the nursing building and I was in the theology building.

They have since brought them closer together and then they built a new nursing building and put them far apart again I don't know I said well we should hang out let's get together okay and so we worked some things out we hung out a few times before the year ended I enjoyed my time with her I ended up getting her phone number I even tried to call her a few times over the summer, but we really hadn't established a very deep relationship before summer just messed everything up.

Sabbath School 1st Quarter 2026: Uniting Heaven & Earth: Christ in Philippians and Colossians

Eric Flickinger

Clinton Wahlen

04 Unity Through Humility

Welcome to Sabbath School brought to you by It Is Written.

We are taking a look at how God wants to connect heaven and earth together, especially as we look at Christ in the books of Philippians and Colossians.

This week is lesson number 4, Unity Through Humility.

Father, we thank you for bringing us together this week, as you have for the last several weeks.

We're looking at pictures of Christ that Paul gives us in the books of Philippians and Colossians.

And we ask that once again, you will help us to see how God wants to unite, how you want to unite heaven and earth together.

We're also glad to have with us this week, as we have for the last 3 weeks, Dr.

He is an Associate Director of the Biblical Research Institute.

And we're looking at Paul's letters, as we've said, to the Church in Philippi and to the Colossians.

And the Church in Philippi wasn't really unified real well.

They had some challenges, some difficulties, some issues.

I guess those are some words we could use to describe it.

What were some of the factors that led to this disunity that we see in the Philippian church?

Well, as the title suggests, lack of humility was part of it.

And honestly, that's something that probably quite a few of us struggle with from time to time.

And so if we would look at Philippians chapter 2, the first 3 verses, most of them, I think it will help us understand the problems that they face.

Therefore, Paul writes, if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of 1 accord, of 1 mind." Apparently, that didn't exist very well.

Verse 3, let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit.

It's mentioned a couple of times, this selfish, conceit, selfishness.

This is at the root of all disunity, ultimately, selfishness and conceit.

We think more of ourselves than we ought and less of others than we should.

Yeah, unfortunately, that's not human nature.

Human nature is the way that it is, and we see the results of this.

So a lack of humility and it was an interesting phrase here, selfish ambition, selfish ambition.

And much of our ambition really is selfish.

The vast majority, I think it's safe to say, is selfish.

And so they were seeing that here in the church.

And yes, ambition, if we're honest, touches all of us.

We all want to be better, do better, you know.

And Sometimes that gets in the way of what God wants for us.

So a lack of humility, we could call that pride, selfish ambition, these are things we all struggle with.

It's things that the members of the church in Philippi struggled with.

Paul is writing to them to try to help them to recognize the problem, clarify in their own minds that it exists, and then to help them through the problem by the grace of God.

What kind of advice, what kind of guidance, what kind of instruction does Paul give to the Philippians to help them over these obstacles that they're facing?

And in case we missed it, He puts it right there very clearly.

If there is any consolation in Christ, any comfort of love, any fellowship of the Spirit, you see, it's knowing Jesus, Knowing what we have received and how needy we are is what helps us to realize that selfishness, selfish ambition, conceit, pride, these are our enemies.

If any affection and mercy, you know, the affection and compassion, you know, this is who Jesus is.

You know, He told a couple of parables that exemplify this, and often it mentions that he had compassion on the multitudes.

But think about, for example, the Good Samaritan.

This man is by the side of the road, And the religious people we expect to help pass by on the other side.

They're more concerned about themselves, their reputation, who they are.

And the Samaritan, who was despised, had compassion on him and binded up his wounds, took care of him, took him to where he could get rest and recuperation and help.

Another parable, of course, the famous parable of the prodigal son who wandered off wanting his own way, when he finally realized what he had, what he left behind.

His father looked far off, it says, had compassion, ran on him and fell and kissed him on his neck.

This is a picture of God's love, the Father's love for us, His compassion.

And if we can only get an idea of what that is and how wonderful it is, we won't see ourselves nearly the way we have in the past.

I know we're gonna delve into this a little bit further here in the not too distant future, but in a word, as you said, and we get in chapter 2, verses 1 and 2, the people and the members, the church members, I mean, let's narrow it down, the church members in the church in Philippi, they didn't have Christ in their hearts.

And so they had selfish ambition, they had pride and so forth.

It's probably not much of a stretch to say we see some of these same things in the world today.

And if our problems in the church are similar to the problems that they had in the church in Philippi, and the church in Philippi didn't have Christ, it injures our toes a little bit, but we have to maybe sit up and swallow hard and take a strong dose of truth and say, well, maybe there's some people in the church today who also don't have Christ.

Maybe they're in the church for the wrong reasons.

I mean, we're glad people are in church, don't get me wrong, but some people may have that selfish ambition, they may have that pride, they may have a love of position, or think that maybe being in church somehow makes them better or something like that.

How might 1, if we lack Christ, how do we get Christ, if that's an appropriate way to ask the question.

Well, actually, that's exactly what Paul directs our attention to, looking to Christ.

And, you know, interestingly, Philippi was 1 of the better churches of the first century, let's say.

So not everybody in the church of Philippi were, you know, involved in this conceit, selfish ambition, pride, and disunity.

But there were certainly elements there, even in the best of churches, they exist.

And so we shouldn't be surprised if we see it in even in our local church, you know, that may be that, and the solution is always not looking at them, not looking to correct people necessarily, but looking to Jesus and helping them to see Jesus more clearly through our love, through our interest that we take in them and compassion.

This is the compassion of Jesus as we just were talking about.

We see it in the stories that you shared.

And now Paul is desiring to see that same compassion in the church in Philippi and in our church and so forth.

And getting connected to Christ is where that comes from.

It's not something that we can generate ourselves, we can't bear down and grit our teeth and become more Christ-like.

We spend time looking at Him, embracing Him, learning of Him, and that should impact us.

It should form His character in our hearts.

Which kind of leads me to another question that you talk about in this week's lesson.

What does it mean to have the mind of Christ?

I think we would like to have the mind of Christ.

We wish everybody had the mind of Christ.

Well, we understand that, of course, by looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, Hebrews chapter 12, 1 and 2.

And so we have a beautiful picture, maybe the most profound picture of what that means here in Philippians chapter 2.

He says in verse 5, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.

And just before that, at the end of verses 3 and verse 4, he says, in lowliness of mind, this is Jesus, he said, I am meek and lowly in heart.

In lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself.

Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others." And that's what Jesus did.

He came to save us because He wanted, He couldn't imagine heaven without us.

We just have to receive that, the results of that effort.

Talking Points 1st Quarter 2026: Uniting Heaven and Earth: Christ in Philippians and Colossians

Kameron DeVasher

Mark Howard

Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

I'm Cameron DeVasher and I'm Mark Howard and this is Talking Points.

We're on our fourth lesson now of this first series in our new year of 2026.

It's all about uniting heaven and earth, unity being an interesting theme for this particular season, but it's Christ in Philippians and Colossians.

So the Apostle Paul's counsel to these church families there, As we noted before, 1 he's helped raise up, well both he helped raise up, but 1 he hasn't even visited yet apparently.

But some practical counsel and this week the lesson is titled Unity Through Humility.

Well of course we're looking at Philippians and Colossians and this week what we're really looking at is the first half of the second chapter of Philippians where Paul is talking, you're urging the church toward unity and points them to Christ as the model for that.

In fact the quarterly says on Sabbath afternoon, this week we'll look at the biblical basis for unity in the church.

Well you put the talking points together so let me have a word of prayer and pass it back to you to lead us through our study.

Thank you for the opportunity to know you, to study your Word, and to fellowship and share and grow in our faith experience together in Sabbath school.

Bless us now as we seek to understand and apply this unity that we can find in Christ.

And Lord, let it be a blessing not only to us but through us to those around us for prayed in Jesus name amen amen okay so our talking points this week are number 1 unity is the byproduct of humility And that is drawn from Sunday and Monday primarily.

And then that leads us to talking point number 2, Christ is the model and the author of humility.

And that is from Tuesday through Thursday, primarily.

So that, well, that's the, you know, usually that's the lesson.

So you would expect, when I come to talking 0.3, we're going to do some rewind and expansion on some.

Talking point number 3 is humility is a choice.

And that comes primarily from Monday through Wednesday.

It's interesting also that when you study a lesson like this, there can be a tendency to like, we're in chapter 2 and forget there was ever a chapter 1.

And so when Paul begins in chapter 2, in fact I'm in the wrong book here, but we're going to believe Philippians.

He actually is beginning something that he had started addressing in chapter 1, so I'm actually going to have you read Philippians chapter 1, verse 27.

Okay, verse 27 says, Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in 1 spirit, with 1 mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel.

So we were looking at this 1 in 1 of our previous lessons obviously where Paul is encouraging the believers to live out the gospel, but he specifically is pointing to this idea of striving together for being of 1 mind, standing fast in 1 spirit.

So there appears to be a concern that there is some strife, potential division in the future of the church if they don't address some of these issues.

In fact, I put in our handout here, apparently the church in Philippi was suffering from what all churches do at some point, internal strife for position and or recognition which threatened to divide the church.

Yes, so whether they're experiencing it where there's potential on the horizon, given our human nature, it's inevitable that we're going to have to address this somehow.

And it seems again that the church had not been divided, but it was a potential, and then Paul wanted to address it and head it off.

So when he comes into chapter 2, of course, it begins with the word therefore.

And he says in, if you would read there, the first couple of verses in chapter 2.

Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of 1 accord, of 1 mind.

So you can see where he is picking up his admonition to live out the gospel, and he's pointing again to this need for unity in the church.

And in that opening, it's interesting, I did, I was telling you in our preparation, I read all these different commentators, and it just got more and more confusing.

But it appears right on the surface that Paul's basically saying, look, if you've benefited at all from the gospel that you received from me, then fulfill my joy by continuing to live out that gospel.

And I actually, as I was going through and studying, I came across a statement where Ellen White actually just paraphrases that introduction, and I found it very helpful.

It's in Letters and Manuscripts number 5, 5 LTMS, letter 11, 1887, and this is what, how she rephrases that in the words of Paul, I have been instrumental in bringing to you the gospel of Christ.

You claim to be my children in the gospel?

Then make my heart full of joy and comfort by living in love.

If the gospel of Christ has indeed benefited you, then reveal this in striving for harmony and love.

Do not do anything that will create feelings of discord and strife." That's a great paraphrase.

Paul is wanting this church to understand the value of unity.

It's interesting, there's so many things you could urge when you're talking about living out your faith, but I guess it's noteworthy because as Christians, there are a lot of things that we'll say, well, we don't want to be worldly anymore, so we're not going to be, you know, out drinking and carousing and this and that.

It doesn't seem that we put as much a premium on unity.

It can be fine if we're in fighting in the church, I'm just not gonna hang around that brother or that sister, I'll be over on this side of the church.

I think when we think of Christian behavior standards and lifestyle, we think of like what we eat, what we drink, what we wear, what we watch, entertain, but how we interact with each other is just as much a behavior that either reflects Christ or doesn't as any other behavior in our life too.

And it's got to be in the church of course, people are going to be watching the church, especially as we interact with each other.

It was Jesus who said, they will know you're Christians by your love.

Like this somehow has, this is a bigger deal than maybe we give it credit for.

Yes, and of course unity includes a unity of the faith, a unity of belief in certain things and what have you.

So this is what It's interesting to me that Paul proceeds from here after admonishing this, encouraging towards unity with the way they need to get there and that's through humility if you read verses 3 and 4 there of chapter 2.

He continues saying, let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.

Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

So it seems that Paul is recognizing here and trying to convey to the Philippian Church that You need to be united That's part of your Christian experience But you're never going to get there if you're self-focused and you're not humble.

Like humility is the gateway to, or the gateway to unity, and as I put it in the reverse, unity is the byproduct of humility.

So the idea, obviously what he wants is them to be united.

But he's saying here's how to get there, is you have to like get off of yourself all the time.

You have to have a lowliness of heart that esteems others better.

Yes, and as I put in our notes, without humility there can be no unity.

And I want to look at the lesson did bring out the text in James chapter 3 we're gonna look at James 3 verses 16 and 17 you have it there?

For where envy and self-seeking exist confusion and every evil thing are there but the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy." Now it does not use the word unity there, but it does use the concept like there's, because unity is the opposite of strife.

Strife, you're contending with 1 another or you're united.

But he says where this strife exists, you cannot, you know, you have to have in place of that, you have to have that willingness to yield.

And to me, that's indicating a level of humility.

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All Teachings

The Day That Changes Every Day

28m

Show Me Your Glory

1h 13m

04 Unity Through Humility

28m

04 Unity Through Humility

30m

Interview with the Wilsons

48m

A Costly Enterprise

1h 43m

One Heart at a Time: Christ’s Mission Continues

50m

Nothing is Impossible with God!

1h 55m

ECOM Sabbath School

58m

Pharaoh’s Compromise

1h 28m

The Incomparable Life

39m

Refuse to Be Called

1h

Sound Doctrine