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Demonstrate care by changing plans if needed.
There may be some times when the best lesson you could teach your class is not printed in this quarterly. Before we explore this idea further, it should be noted that there are some teachers who, under the guise of following the Holy Spirit's leading, lead their class in some other activity - singing, sharing, chit-chatting - because they have not prepared to teach the lesson properly or do not want to deal with the subject matter. Such teachers ought to be ashamed of themselves!
At the same time, there will occasionally be events in your students' lives that are so stressful, shocking, or traumatic, that the best thing to do is put the lesson down and share or pray or sing or look in God's Word for scripture that speaks to the immediate need. Doing this requires sensitivity to the leading of the Holy Spirit, sensitivity to your students’ feelings and needs, and willingness to change one's plans.
We often think of discipleship in terms of being taught, but discipleship is about following - learning through relationship. Therefore, recognize that the most important lessons your students learn from your class may not be the words you say, but rather the behavior and lifestyle you model.
Lesson 8: God's Servants
Lesson 8 - July 24, 2016
Focus Text: Revelation 7:9-17; 14:1-5
Central Truth: Faithful service to Christ leads to increased opportunities for service.
Objective: By the end of this lesson my students should be able to identify at least three areas of life in which faithful service is required.
Lesson Outline:
- Sealed (Revelation 7:1-8)
- Serving (Revelation 7:9-17)
- Singing (Revelation 14:1-5)
Prayer – Lesson 7, The Judgments of God
Heavenly Father, we pray for our classes today as they study about Your coming judgment of sin. In this world of tolerance and disregard of sin, help us to be faithful in proclaiming Your coming judgment, the wickedness of sin, and yet Your great grace for all who will repent. We pray this in Jesus' name, Amen.
Do We Really Want Justice?
In "God's Word for Today", Steve Oliver writes:
Think back to when your children were small — or, for that matter, not so small. Did you ever hear, “That's not fair!”? What was the real problem that the child was protesting? Usually, it did not have anything to do with real fairness or justice. Rather, the problem was that the child didn't get what he or she wanted. Like children, adults tend to think of justice as “I get what I want” rather than what I actually deserve, but sometimes justice dictates that I get precisely what I do not want. Since God is just, He will always act in a just way, and justice includes giving punishment when it is deserved. In fact, when Christ took our sins, He had to endure the full weight of punishment for them.
Source: Christ, the Triumphant Lord: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 40.
When the Dam of God's Love Bursts
In "Biblical Perspective" R.E. Trotter writes:
Someone has said that God's wrath is God's love dammed up by man's disobedience, until finally the dam bursts, and it is poured out on the disobedient in righteous judgment. For myriads of people, the dam will burst after Jesus returns, and the tribulation will be a dreadful expression of His wrath and fury.
Source: Christ, the Triumphant Lord: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 42.
What lessons should we learn from the vision of martyrs and God's judgment in Revelation?
What lessons should we learn from the vision of martyrs and God's judgment in Revelation? In "Doctrinal Discussion" Don Englund suggests these conclusions:
What can this vast crowd of those “slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held” (Rev. 6:9) teach us? What can we learn from the outpouring of God's vengeance on a world that has rejected Him?
First, the martyrs teach us that the thing that matters most in life is faithfulness to God. These martyrs had not only been faithful to God but also to other human beings whom they had loved enough to testify to them of God's truth. … We may be repaid for our witness with death — and this is what happened to the souls John saw at the altar — but our love for others will impel us to speak up for the gospel. The martyrs in heaven are not taking care of the vengeance, but they are calling on God to handle it. …
Second, this passage teaches us that there will be an end of human history, and our Sovereign Lord will preside over this dramatic alteration of all things as we know them now. Just as the gospel is a leveler of men, the judgments at the end of the age will also be a leveler of mankind. Fake sources of security like money, power, nationality, influence, or freedom will carry no weight before God's judgment.
Source: Christ, the Triumphant Lord: Adult Teacher's Insights, pages 42-43.