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What is the Christian's Identity?
What is the Christian's Identity?

What is the Christian's Identity?

In "Doctrinal Discussion" Randy Bland writes:

Our identity is given to us by God the Father, through the work of Jesus on the cross. We receive this work of salvation by grace through faith. The Father declares that we are righteous, but it can be hard for us to believe this when we are struggling with temptation. In spite of our struggles, however, God has declared that we are His children. Only repeated, willful sin can change that. When we learn to accept that God has accepted us in Jesus, we can move into a deeper walk with God.

Discussion: How does understanding our identity as Christians help us grow spiritually?
Source: Jesus, Son of God: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 63.

Herald & Banner Press2016-05-06T09:00:00+00:00May 6th, 2016|Categories: Lesson Highlights|Tags: Identity|0 Comments

Spiritual Fruitfulness and Unfruitfulness
Spiritual Fruitfulness and Unfruitfulness

Spiritual Fruitfulness and Unfruitfulness

In "Word Focus" Darrell Grimm writes:

The contrast between the branches is illustrated in the husbandman's actions toward each. The word translated as husbandman not only indicates ownership but labor as well. So Christ said that “He,” the Father, cuts away those who bear no fruit. Christians are not fruitless because of some defect in their graft to the Vine, but because of the choice of their free will. Likewise the fruitful branch is so because of a desire to be so. Instead of being cut away completely, this branch undergoes a pruning which cuts away all that hinders fruitfulness. This pruning has been likened to the experience of sanctification. The heart must be purged of the old nature, or stunted growth and unfruitfulness will follow.

Discussion: Fruit is a natural by-product of a healthy tree or vine. If a Christian is unfruitful spiritually, what does that say about his or her heart?
Source: Jesus, Son of God: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 58.

Herald & Banner Press2016-05-05T09:00:00+00:00May 5th, 2016|Categories: Lesson Highlights|Tags: Fruitfulness|0 Comments

Source of Fruitfulness
Source of Fruitfulness

Source of Fruitfulness

“If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;” (v.23)
“Mommy, pick me up.” I hear that a lot from my youngest child. She throws her arms around my neck and clings to me, as if she is certain I will never let her fall.
Sometimes, I whisper this to my heavenly Father. “God, pick me up. Hold me. Don’t let me fall.”
This world is a scary place. Every day, I hear more and more news of Christians falling away from the faith, of wars being fought and battles lost, both spiritually and politically. If I only looked around, I would tremble and fall. But I look up.
Our faith is grounded in Christ. He is our security and our strength when the world rises against us and a war is waged for our soul. Through Him, we have the ability to bear fruit even in the most desolate of seasons and through the darkest of nights. Out of His amazing life comes our abundant life, rich and overflowing with His goodness and bringing forth abundant fruit. (Stephanie Carey)
Because Christ lives, we have abundant life that bears fruit in Him.
This devotional is the Tuesday, May 3, 2016 entry of Opening the Word.

Herald & Banner Press2016-05-04T09:00:00+00:00May 4th, 2016|Categories: Opening the Word|Tags: Fruitfulness|0 Comments

Teaching is Connecting

Putting a puzzle together can be an extremely enjoyable activity. It can also be very frustrating. Have you ever tried to put together a puzzle only to declare that some of the pieces must be missing? One puzzle strategy is to gather all the pieces with straight edges and attempt to construct the frame of the puzzle before filling the inside.
In a similar way, teaching is like putting a puzzle together. Your students come to you with a variety of backgrounds, issues, concerns, and cultural ways of understanding life. Scripture was written to and about people with very different issues, concerns, and culture. Yet throughout scripture we find biblical principles that transcend time and culture. The challenge we face is how to interpret and apply those biblical principles to contemporary life. And so we are putting a puzzle together. Help your students discover the joy of putting together the puzzle of biblical application this week!

Herald & Banner Press2016-05-03T09:00:00+00:00May 3rd, 2016|Categories: Teacher Helps|Tags: Teaching|0 Comments

New Life in Christ

Lesson 10 - May 8, 2016
Focus Text: John 15:1-17
Central Truth: We live spiritually through the life Christ gives us.
Objective: By the end of this lesson my students should be able to name two evidences of the abundant life in Christ.
Lesson Outline:

The Vine and the Branches (John 15:1-6)
The Lord and His Followers (John 15:7-11)
The Believer and Fruit Bearing (John 15:12-17)

Herald & Banner Press2016-05-02T09:00:00+00:00May 2nd, 2016|Categories: Weekly Lesson Summaries|Tags: life|0 Comments

Prayer – Lesson 9, The Foundation of Hope

Heavenly Father, we live in a broken, messed-up world. Encourage our classes today as they learn about the foundation of Christian hope. May our hope in You be rekindled and may we be challenged to live boldly for Jesus! Amen.

Herald & Banner Press2016-05-01T08:00:00+00:00May 1st, 2016|Categories: Teacher Helps|Tags: hope|0 Comments

Teaching is Questioning
Teaching is Questioning

Teaching is Questioning

An essential aspect of good teaching is well-placed questions. Teaching necessarily involves giving out information, but questions help students to internalize truth and apply it to their lives. Criticalthinking.org notes that every textbook basically contains answers to questions but this does not mean answers are more important than questions. Instead, this source asserts:
"Thinking is not driven by answers but by questions. ... To think through or rethink anything, one must ask questions that stimulate our thought. Questions define tasks, express problems and delineate issues. Answers on the other hand, often signal a full stop in thought. Only when an answer generates a further question does thought continue its life as such. This is why it is true that only students who have questions are really thinking and learning." (http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/the-role-of-questions-in-teaching-thinking-and-learning/524)
Does your teaching style assume students will learn if you give them the right answers, or are you attempting to help them ask the right questions?

Herald & Banner Press2016-04-30T09:00:00+00:00April 30th, 2016|Categories: Teacher Helps|Tags: Teaching|0 Comments

Hope of Glory
Hope of Glory

Hope of Glory

*"To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:27). *
One of my favorite vacation activities is reading G.K. Chesterton’s Father Brown mysteries. For a mystery to “work,” the secret must be revealed at the end. No one would want to reach the end of a book only to read, “I can’t tell you who did it. It is a mystery.” The last chapter should reveal the solution to the mystery.
Paul said to the Colossians, “Let me reveal the mystery that was hidden in the past: because of Jesus Christ, Jews and Gentiles alike live in hope” (Personal paraphrase). Christ is in you – that is the hope of glory! Our hope is not grounded on political currents or social trends; our hope is in Christ.
This hope is more than a statement of intellectual consent. It is a personal relationship; “Christ in you.” A political leader who professes to be a Christian was recently asked, “What does being a Christian mean to you?” He responded, “It means that I believe Jesus existed.” “Christ in you, the hope of glory” is much more than believing that Jesus existed. The hope of glory is Jesus Christ living in us leading to a daily transformation into His image. The hope of glory is lives shaped by the reality of His presence. (Randy McElwain)
Rejoice today in this wonderful news: the mystery of the ages has been revealed – Jesus Christ in us brings the hope of glory!
This devotional is the Friday, April 29, 2016 entry of Opening the Word.

Herald & Banner Press2016-04-29T09:00:00+00:00April 29th, 2016|Categories: Opening the Word|Tags: hope, salvation|0 Comments

Foundation for Christian Hope
Foundation for Christian Hope

Foundation for Christian Hope

Lesson 9 - May 1, 2016
Focus Text: John 14:1-19
Central Truth: Christ gives us good reason to live with hope.
Objective: By the end of this lesson my students should be able to state the foundation of the hope of the Christian in at least three areas.
Lesson Outline:

The Home Christ Is Preparing (John 14:1-7)
The Help Christ Promises (John 14:8-14)
The Helper Christ Has Provided (John 14:15-31)

Herald & Banner Press2016-04-28T09:45:00+00:00April 28th, 2016|Categories: Weekly Lesson Summaries|Tags: Christ, hope|0 Comments

Prayer – Lesson 8, Christ Demonstrates Humility

Heavenly Father, bless our Sunday school classes today. Help them to understand how humility is not weakness, but greatness in Your eyes. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Herald & Banner Press2016-04-24T08:00:00+00:00April 24th, 2016|Categories: Teacher Helps|Tags: prayer|0 Comments

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