#6 - Swimming Upstream - Teens Class | Cornerstone Connections Lesson Q3 2026

Hello everyone. My name is Eden Chorus and before we start our mission story, uh we'll have a word of prayer. Let's pray. Our kind and loving father, we thank you for this day. We thank you for your gift of life. As now we want to start our lesson. May you please help us understand and apply it in our daily lives. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. Our mission title is entitled um school surprise. School surprise natural in Spain. When he came home from his first day of school, he ran to his mother and exclaimed, "We don't have Bible class. We don't pray. We don't learn or memorize Bible verses. My teacher doesn't even know about God." Nacho's public school in Spain was nothing like the 7th Day Adventist school he had attended the previous year back in Argentina. Nacho had moved with his parents to Spain because his father's studies. His parents chose a university near a 7th day adventist school hoping that Nacho could attend. But when they arrived they learned that the school was full. Many parents wanted their children to attend the the Adventist school. So there was a waiting list of children hoping to study there. Natural put natural was put on the list and mother suggested they pray. We need to pray because only God can get you into the school. She said if you get into it, it will be a miracle. Nacho was very much Nacho wanted to attend the school with Bible class prayers, Bible memory verses and teachers who knew about God. That night during um family worship, he prayed, "Dear Jesus, please open a spot for me. Only you can do this. I trust you in Jesus' name. Amen." The next morning before school, he prayed again. bless us today and protect pro protect us with your angels at school but also please open a spot for me. Then he went to the public school with great attitude and a big smile on his face. At meal time, Nacho liked to say short prayers because he was hungry and eager to eat. But now he made his prayers a little longer. Dear Jesus, bless this food and open a spot for me. A month passed, then two, then three, then four. Nacho prayed every night, every morning, and at even and at every meal time. His parents also prayed for him to be able to go to the Adventist school. Sometimes they forgot, but Natural always reminded them and kept praying. After 5 months of prayer, mother began to have doubts. She wondered what to tell Nacho if he prayed for a whole year and still didn't make it to the Adventist school. Maybe God wants you to stay in a public school so you can tell your friends there about Jesus. She said, "Let's pray that his will be done." Many of Nacho's friends at the public school didn't know God. They weren't Christians. So Natra told them about Jesus and he kept praying. Then one day, mother heard that several children at the Adventist school were moving away. But it seemed unlikely for Nacho to be able to enroll. Four students in his grade will need to leave for a spot for him to open. After eight months of prayers, someone called mother from the Adventist school and told her that four children had left and there was now a place for Nacho. Mother couldn't wait to tell Nacho. She bought him a school uniform and tucked it into a box. When she got home, she gave him the box and said, "There was a package for you. It just arrived." Nacha had no idea what was inside. When he opened it, his eyes grew wide. It was a school uniform. "God has answered your prayers," Mother exclaimed. A bright smile filled Nacho's face. "He was so so happy. Immediately, he put on the uniform and jumped around the room. Nacho loves studying at the Adventist school. He loves Bible class, praying, learning and memorizing Bible verses. And he loves that teachers love God just like him. God answers prayers and it is faithful. He says before that God sometimes answers prayers. But after that experience, I believe that God always answers prayers. Nacho attends a school on our campus that received part of a previous 13th Sabbath offering after knowing after Yeah. The campus includes a 7th Day Adventist elementary school, high school and college in Saguto, Spain. This quarter offering will help more people learn than about Jesus and in Spain and other countries in inter in the inter European division. Thank you for planning a generous offering. Good evening, good good afternoon, good morning. My name is Brenda. Welcome to today's lesson of uh Connissan connection lesson lesson number six with the uh title swimming upstream. Uh I'm here with my co-panelists. they can introduce themselves. >> Uh, hi, my name is Jack No and my name is Sid and Gallalu. >> So before we start, we can start with a word of prayer. Uh, let's bow us for a word of prayer. Our father in heaven, we come before you this day. We thank you for the breath of life and for your protection as we go into this deep dive of our study. May we find something that relates to us and all of us and helps us to be better Christians as we continue to grow. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. So today's lesson title is swimming upstream and it actually has a really interesting photo on the first page. Do you guys know what what's your thought on on what this photo could mean? Do you have do you have any guess? >> Yeah, I I think uh the photo is just around the subject of nature. >> Yeah. Sid, do you have a a guess of what it could mean? >> Uh, no, actually, um, from what I'm seeing, maybe I could see that it is, [snorts] um, so it looks like a really small waterfall and there's fish kind of like swimming upwards. More like they look like they're jumping. >> Yeah. Yeah, >> this just a fun fact. I know we already have a did you know section, but just a fun fact. Usually salmons swim upstream against the river's current to go back to their birthplace so they can lay eggs. They have to go to the exact place they were born and after they lay their eggs, they die. It's a really it's a sad but really really I think it's a really cool story for perseverance, you know, fighting against the odds. And that that really connects to today's lesson. Uh, Sydney, you can read for us the key text. Of >> course. Um, the key text comes from Acts 5 29 and it says, "Peter and the other apostles replied, we must obey God rather than human beings." >> Must obey God rather than human beings. We'll just go really quick into the did you know. The Bible's authority for faith and practice rises from its origin. Its writers viewed the Bible as distinct from other literature. They refer to it as holy scriptures, sacred writings and the order of God. The uniqueness of the scripture is based on the origin and source. The Bible writers claimed they did not originate their message but received them from divine sources. It was through divine re revelation that they were able to see the truths that they passed on. Uh that's from the seventh day Adventist belief. Okay. And that's really cool when you think about it cuz most literatures are uh I'd like to say um original originals from the writers. The writers, you know, sit down, meditate, and they end up writing um books about what they believe in. But the Bible is one literature that we know did not come from man, but came from a higher higher being, which we know is the Holy Spirit. It was it was um it was given directly to the to the writers by through the Holy Spirit. And uh we'll just move on to the what do you think section. That's just a fun you know did you know but Sid you can help us go through the what do you think section. >> Yeah. Uh so under the what do you think section there are situations that we are to decide whether we would think it's best to go public with our opinion or to go with um public opinion or to stick with our personal beliefs. Okay. The first one here is most people you know think most people you know think that a particular guy is creepy and possibly dangerous. You don't really see it. He asks you to get together with him one evening. So here, do you think it is appropriate to go along with public opinion or would you stick to what you actually think about the situation? >> That's a that's a really interesting question. I want to hear your opinion. >> I really do. Um, so I think I go with uh personal belief because most of the time the public uh they don't uh view the status of someone in a in an appropriate way. Like nowadays it's all on racism or like the background you've come from. So it's like maybe the guy might have been misunderstood and he's actually a good guy. That's a that's a that's a really honest opinion. Personally, I'm torn in between going with public opinion, and I know that's not great to say out loud, but at least I think in this society that we live in as of right now, for women, we really do have to pay attention to some public opinion, okay, for our own safety. It's not even about women. It's bottles down to children also, right? and uh you can find yourself wanting to follow your personal opinion and you find out the public opinion is actually really true and you're putting yourself in a really big mess. So in this situation, let's say he asked for us to get together and I choose to believe my personal opinion. I'm like he's a he's a good guy. I don't have a reason to believe in the gossip and I end up in a really bad situation. But at the same time, it's not good to believe gossip. Gossip never does anyone good. So it's really 50/50 for me. Yeah. Okay, so the next one says, "You have been invited to a party. You're excited to go until you hear that alcohol may be served. All your friends say it's no big deal. Just don't drink any." So, do you think you would uh stick with your personal opinion or you would go with uh the public opinion? Me personally, I think I would stick with my personal belief because okay, I could give an example of uh uh our prom that was done a few weeks back. It was okay. Yeah, I could go to prom until I heard it's going to be alcohol. I was like, uh that's where I draw the line. So it's for me personally it's more of staying away from the trouble because you could be like ah I could go I'll just I'll just not have any then you don't get spiked. So it's for me it's yeah I'll I'll stick to my personal belief. >> Uh I think something I'm noticing a lot of these questions are about peer pressure. Yeah. And uh at least in this situation, it's all about whether you're going to stick to your beliefs or you're not. Cuz I have met people who are Christians or claim that they're Christians. And if they're in a situation, there's alcohol being served or something of the sort. They'll be like, I don't drink it, so it's it won't bother me if other people do as long as I don't drink it. You know, that's something I've heard many people say. But even if you don't drink it, you'll be in a situation where you're the outcast. And for you to be willingly like willingly accept for yourself to be the outcast, you really need a strong a strong spirit and a a level of understanding. I I like to I like to think at least cuz I've been in situations where I thought I think I think I can manage. You know, I've grown up in the church. I'm strong enough to to manage. If people drink around me, it won't bother me. But you will literally reach a point in your asking yourself will it hurt me like it's just it's just one drink. It's just it's always it's just until it becomes an actual problem. So in such situations especially if it's something that's going against what you personally believe in. I think it's just always best to go with your personal opinion. Yeah. Just to be safe. >> Do you want to add on on that? Uh I mean uh even even if you were to go but you won't drink an area surrounded with drunk people is not really a safe area. You know you may be the one just standing there you're not drinking just minding your own business then a drunk person will come up to you and either start a commotion rob you >> Yeah. >> or even in most cases it end up being a case of rape. Yeah. So, uh, firstly, you have to keep yourself safe. And second, as you just said, it's just not about yourself. Think about the others. Yeah. Not just because you don't drink, it won't bother you, but think about that guy who will drink and, you know, he's going to regret it later. >> I I really like how you you put that out cuz it's it's not always about you. You have to also think about the the second person, the second party, the third party. That's a really that's a really cool way to look at it. Uh I'll just really quickly read through the flashlights before we go go into the story. The reformed princes had determined upon having a statement of their views in systematic form with the evidence from the scriptures to present before the the diet and the task of its preparation was committed to Luther melathon [clears throat] and associates. The reformers were solicit solicitors that their cause should not be confounded with political questions. They felt that the reformation should exercise no other influence than that which proceeds from the word of God. This is from the great controversy page 206. And uh if I'm not wrong, this should be chapter 11 or 12 of the great controversy. And as I was going through it, studying it, there was really I really felt a strong conviction. And the princes that has spoken in this flashlight basically were those that agreed with the people who are going against the Catholic Church at the time. You remember that people were not allowed to study the Bible for themselves. They go to church, listen to what they're told, and you go home. That's all the the dose of word of God you get, you know, and that's a bit crazy for me to to just imagine such a situation where you're not allowed to go through the Bible yourself. And these princess decided it was a choice after going through the scriptures that this was wrong. And they they stood with who we now call the Pentecost people who went um against it, the Protestants basically. Okay. And uh it just goes really strongly with the lesson how we need to we need to have that strength, that conviction to go against what everybody else thinks is right, especially when we know the Lord tells us it's wrong. Yeah. So I'll just we'll go straight into the story. Um our story today comes from Acts chapter 5 25 and 42. And actually this is where we get our key text. Yeah. And um just in summary, it's about the apostles in specific. This is Paul and an Peter and Andrew, sorry, when um they had gone out evangelizing. Okay. And if I'm not wrong, earlier in the chapter around verse one, verse two, it clearly states that the Pharisees were jealous. Okay? So the people going against Peter and Andrew's evangelism is not the Gentiles in this story. It's the Pharisees who had an issue with them spreading the word of God. And um basically they're brought into the temple and they were questioned why are you going out preaching the word of this Jesus. Okay cuz I remember the the Jews did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah. Okay, they still had this thought that their Messiah is still coming. So they believed Jesus was not the real Messiah and anything regarding the preachings the teaching of his preaching was blasphemy. Okay. So they were really questioning them why why are you going against what we told you these are the teachers of the law very high people in the community and they were asking why are you going against us why do you keep doing this thing and they they were really bered at least I'd like the way I read when I was reading it I felt like it was a lot of pressure being put on them and at that point if it was me I'm not even going to lie at a situation I'm being bered by people people higher than me I get stressed and I might slip up and say no I wasn't you something like that and I feel we do that a lot and um Peter and the apostles. Let me just uh let me just read what they said. It is necessary to obey God rather than men. The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, the ones you killed by hanging him on the cross. And before that, Peter actually praised Jesus's name and he talked about how he's the son of God. And then he pointed out how you killed them. You killed him on the cross. And I think if I was a Pharisee, I think personally I'd be very offended if I was told I killed the Messiah, especially if I believe you're wrong. I personally would be very offended. And instead of Peter and the other apostles keeping quiet, humbling themselves, they really really poked at them. At least that's how I see it. And um we're then introduced to a new character in the story. His name is Gam Gamaliel. Yes. And he was a he was a Pharisee in the temple. A very honored one. Okay. He was really up in the ranks and he was respected by many people and he he decided to defend them. Okay, he came up front and told them do not lay a hand on them. Okay, cuz the Pharisees wanted to, you know, really kill them. They actually I think the plan was to kill them if I'm not wrong. And he told them don't do that. Don't lay your hands on these men because if they're doing work for themselves, if this preaching they're doing is for their own glory, he talks, he actually gave examples of other people who came up and preached their own doctrine and it all fizzed out that their disciples disappeared and they died and moved on. But if this preaching that Peter and his friends were giving was the truth, then it would be a crime for them to go against what God has ordained. Okay? And they actually listen to him. I think that's the Holy Spirit speaking through him. Cuz amazingly, these very hard-headed Pharisees listened and decided to just let them off with a warning. They told them, "Don't continue teaching about Jesus. Just go on your way." And though I think they were whipped, if I'm not wrong, they were given a thorough whipping and then they were let off with a warning. And in verse 40, verse 41 and two, if I'm not wrong, they it it actually quotes that um let me just read it really quick. And they and every day they were in the temple and in their homes teaching and preaching Christ, not letting up for one minute. That's the last verse. So even after the the whipping and the and the and the warning, they still went back out and they continued to preach with even more power, more conviction. And it even quotes how they were happy to know they were punished for his name. That they went through tribulations for his name. And I think that's that's something really hard that we we we don't know how to at least do in this time and age is because there's so much criticism for even speaking about God, about your beliefs. You can get so much criticisms from other people, but we need to learn, at least what I learned from this story is we need to learn to really speak out with no shame cuz Jesus speaks about you with no shame. He died for you with no shame, no fear. He did it willingly and I think we have to do the same. At least that's what I I picked up from the story. Do you guys maybe have a small lesson you got from today's story? Uh I mean uh today's story uh the lesson was [snorts] okay Peter stuck to his opinion. Yeah. To what he believed was right. And uh that that shows us one thing as Christians. No matter how hard the situation pressures us, >> we should always stand for the truth. Sid >> um me personally, I learned that when you know God's commands kind of conflict with other people's opinions. It's God's [snorts] commands that come first and they're never wrong. So you shouldn't be worried about doing anything wrong. So yeah, that's one thing I could say I've picked from the lesson. >> Amen. Amen. So we'll go straight into out of the story. We have some really, really interesting questions here. And um I want my co-panelist here to help us dive in. Maybe we can get some insight, some clearer message from today's story. >> Uh all right. So in art of the story, uh there's a lot of social pressure in this story. Both Peter and the Sanhedrin must deal with the opinions of the people. How do they deal differently? >> So the let me just let's clarify what this Sanhendrin is. This is basically a mixture of the Sadducees and the Pharisees. Okay, it was like a a modernday parliament if I'm not wrong. and basically the very high teachers of the law coming together to deal with issues within their community. And here we're talking about pressure. Okay, the pressure in this story is very deep because there's that conflict between what the teachers are are preaching about and what Peter and the rest of the apostles are preaching about. So the pressure is who's right? People are asking who should we listen to? And um this gives them a lot of and that's why I said in the beginning they were jealous cuz um in in this situation at least a lot of people were hearing about Jesus and quite a number were listening to it to the to the message and the the the Sanhedrin was losing its power. It's like people stopped listening to the area's leader. You feel it's it's a bit it's a bit stressful at least for them who had held this power for such a long time. So at least for my like how I look at it, how how I think they dealt with it at least differently, Peter and the apostles, I don't think they really focused on that stress cuz their eyes were constantly looking towards Jesus, looking towards God. So they would not bother themselves with the small stress of who to believe. They they were sent with a message, go and sell. Okay? And they went out, they have spread the message. They're continuing to do this with a very strong conviction, very strong will. The Sanhedrin is the one I feel were the ones who were dealing with that stress cuz they cared about how men saw them, thought of them. And if you read early in the chapter, you will see it is talked about how they they were very important in terms of decisions made in the community and a lot of people looked up to them. actually uh the the f the sadducey who spoke up for Peter and the apostles gamaliel he's actually one of the services that taught Paul so you can see it's very important people and they care about how people see them and this whole story with Peter and the apostles coming in I think it reduced their power and it got them thinking what if we lose our footing in societ so society you know all our lives we are dedicated to preaching about this message and all of a sudden people are not listening. So I think they dealt with it in a very harsh way because they were in a rush to make sure they still have a hold within society. >> Yeah. >> Okay. I think that question was answered uh in a really good way. So the next question is whose opinions matter most to the Sanhedrin and whose opinions matter most to Peter and the apostles? Um I think it's rather visible from the story that um for the Sanhedrin the the opinions that they find most important are uh of the people in like so the crowd so they they they find uh the opinions of the crowd more important while Peter and the apostles find um you know God's opinion the most important. I think that's quite visible from the story that we've done today. Okay. And the last question we're going to handle in out of the story is how does peer support give strength to either side of this conflict? >> How does peer support give strength to either side of this conflict? So they need to understand both sides of the conflict. Okay, we have the side of Peter and the apostles who are fighting for the word of God to spread and we have the side of the Pharisees and the Sadducees trying to stop this message from spreading. So how does Peter support give strength to either side? I think for Peter his support or the other apostles is from the other believers the other disciples. Okay. So that peer peer-to-peer support like I I want to use the example for primary school. We had this thing called clinical days. I don't know if you guys know what that is. Basically they go over your marks and they I don't of course we don't do corporal punishments anymore in Kenya but uh we used to get beaten. I don't want to say beaten but that's actually what it was. And um depending on your marks, how much you've gotten and improvements and stuff like that, you you can get beaten. But it it wasn't individualized like they just call you into an isolated room and they beat you by yourself. No, you're put in a lie, all of you. And in a way, it was funny. And you'd find yourself you're being beaten thoroughly, but you're literally laughing because we're all getting this equal, you know, punishment. And it's funny to see how other people react or to like, I don't know, there's just some something so funny about it. And it wasn't that serious at the moment when you're with other people. I think it's also similar to with Peter and his friends. Although they were going through all of these tribulations, they were getting whipped. And whips were really bad back then. They were really really painful. It wasn't just lever. They had hooks at the end so it could dig into the flesh. So the the whips were bad. And I'm just trying to imagine going through that by myself. I wouldn't survive. I I I think I would have just retired, you know, moved to the countryside, something of something of the sort. But they they really stood together and fought for this message together and that gave them so much strength. And I want to tie it back to where two or three are gathered, God is there. And as they were pushing the message together, God was with them. Just like Daniel and his friends, they were three in the fire, but God was with them and he did not burn them. Yeah. But for the side of the Pharisees, their peer support was very toxic. you know, they're supporting each other to do this bad thing. And I feel deep down, you can get some guilt when you're doing something wrong with a group of people. Yeah, you're feeling excited, but at the same time, at the back of your mind, your conscious is eating you out cuz like, you know, it's wrong. So, I think peer support can be negative and positive and can give you strength or can really weaken you individually. Yeah. So, that being the last question from out of the story, that was very interesting. I don't know if you guys learned anything. I did and it was it was good insight. We'll just really quick go into the connecting to life. Uh I'd like somebody to open for me Ephesians chapter 4 1-6. As we really as I read the Sabbath school part, the the Sabbath sorry day part. Um peer pressure isn't always a bad thing. Peer pressure can make people do good things that they wouldn't normally do as well as bad things. That is why God gave us a church. That's not to say that we should pressure each other, but the very fact that people around us hold a certain value, do certain things, or talk a certain way rubs off on us. Everyone wants to belong and we subly change our behavior and manners to do so. That's very true. I don't know if you guys have had that experience. When you It's not really code switching, but it's it's kind of similar. when you're around a group of people who talk a certain way, you you switch the way you talk and all of a sudden you can speak more Swahili or some of like when I'm around I have friends who can't speak Swahili at all. And when I'm around them, I also a bit I I can go forget Swahili and I I can't speak it that well, but I'm able to speak in a way they can understand. And it's the same thing when I switch to another group of friends. It's it changes. And this is how peer pressure works. It's not always negative. So when you're around some certain friends, you really get that good vibes, you know, you you end up talking about Jesus more even. And I think that's really cool. Yeah. So how has anyone gotten Ephesians chapter 4? >> Yeah. >> Can you just read for me? >> Uh Ephesians 4:1-6. It says that I therefore, prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all loneliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and father of all who is a father of all who is above all and through all and in your and and in you all. >> Thank you so much. And just before we go into the punchlines as we wrap up, uh there's a small activity in the Sabbath day uh section. And it's basically make a list of things you would do or normally not do if you were not, you know, in church or if you weren't in like a church community of sorts or with your Christian friends and um how have these things affected you? I think we can do two things each. one thing you you do because you're in church, one thing you don't do if you are not coming to church, you know, and how has that affected you? Can we can start from here? One thing I would do if I wasn't coming to church on Saturday. Uh personally if it was like every other day I feel like I'd sleep because after Friday school I'd get home be like ah I can sleep in tomorrow but then every once in a while I'd go out with my friends have lunch or something. Uh, one thing I do because I come to church on Saturday >> is um, uh, I want to say I I kind of feel like accomplished. like I come to church, I'll listen to the sermon, then when it's time to go home, I'll go home, I'll get home, I'm like, you know what? I can actually do this now cuz I I I'll sit down on Sunday now, do my work. I like ah yesterday it's okay. I feel rested now. I can I can do this one now. feel like if I wasn't coming to church on Saturday, I'd procrastinate everything cuz Saturday I'll sleep all day. Sunday I'm like, see, I slept yesterday, I can also sleep today, then I'll sleep the whole day. I feel like that's it. It it really helps with my procrastination. I don't know if we'll have time to go through down the whole panel, but we can just really quickly go to the punchlines. I think we can get one punch line from this side as I read the further insights, then we can wrap it up. Um, a punch line will come from the book of Genesis 2:18, which says, "The Lord God said, it is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him. >> Thank you so much. So the father insight said these faithful men acknowledge an authority above that the that of the earthly rulers. LG Y the great controversy page 202. So from this lesson just a summary of at least what I've gotten is peer pressure can be a good thing can also be a very negative thing. Okay. If Gamalia did not convince the other Pharisees, the Peter and his other friends might have died. So that's that's a sign of good peer pressure. But there's also uh bad peer pressure which comes in situations where we feel like we need to do something to fit in with other people. And we learn from this lesson that we need to fight back from that feeling cuz it's not of God. Yeah. And we need to learn to have that conviction just like Peter and his friends to continue to do that which goes against the world. And um gen personally I feel I feel very con convicted to do that. I want to to do more you know I want to go out tell more of my friends about Jesus you know so that no one misses out when he comes back. Yeah. Be the good peer pressure. Yeah. Be the good peer pressure basically. Uh we can have somebody uh do a closing prayer for us. Any volunteer? I'mma pick Sid. Yeah, you can pray for us. >> Um let's pray. Our heavenly father, we come before you this day. We thank you for the gift of life, your guidance and protection, for all the things that you've given unto us. Lord, um as we finish this lesson, I pray that you may uh help us to apply what we have learned into our daily lives that we may be the good peer pressure and not the bad peer pressure. For this is my prayer in Jesus name. >> Amen. M.