Category / Sabbath School Teaching Plans

by In Light Of The Cross

1: The War Behind All Wars-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

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Prepared by William Earnhardt, for Sabbath School class, April 6,2024.

Main Theme: Love cannot be forced. Only by love can love be awakened. Love will overcome all evil and reign forever.

Read in Class: Revelation 12:4, Revelation 12:7-9, Isaiah 14:12-14, and Ezekiel 28:12-15. Define the common thread of these passages.

Study: What do these passage reveal about the freedom existing in heaven and the origin of evil? When Lucifer rebelled, in what ways could God have responded? What went on in the mind of this angelic being called Lucifer that led to his rebellion?

Apply: What tactics and weapons do you think Lucifer used in his “war of the minds” in heaven? What methods of gaslighting, narcissism or maybe even flattery have people tried to use with you that Lucifer may have used in heaven?

Share: Your friend says, “God could have allowed Lucifer to have free choice but then just destroyed him the minute he rebelled before things got so bad?  Or, since God knows the end from the beginning, He could have not created Lucifer at all. God can give free choice and  then only create people who will choose to serve Him” Do you agree with your friend? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Genesis 3:1-8, Genesis 3:16-19,Romans 3:23, and Romans 6:23. Define the common thread of these passages.

Study: What tactics did Lucifer use to get Adam and Eve to disobey God, and what were the results of their disobedience?

Apply: What tactics do you see the serpent using with Adam and Eve that Lucifer may have used with the angels in heaven?

Share: Your friend asks, “why such a harsh penalty for such a small sin?” What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Genesis 3:15, Genesis 3:21, John 1:29, and John 3:16. Define the common thread of these passages.

Study: What was God’s solution for the sin problem?

Apply: How does Jesus’ death on the cross not only pay the penalty for your sins, but also expose all of Satan’s lies about God in the war between good and evil? How does the cross keep you from falling for Satan’s lies and temptations now?

Share: Your friend asks you to share the plan of salvation. What do you tell your friend? Need help? See Salvation in Light of the Cross.

Read in Class: Hebrews 4:15-16 and Hebrews 7:25. Define the common thread of these passages.

Study: How do these verses give us assurance in a world of temptation, suffering, disease, and death?

Apply: According to John 17:24-26, what is Christ’s longing desire in the great controversy between good and evil?

Share: Your friend asks, “Why did Christ have to sacrifice Himself in order to save us?” What do you tell your friend?

by In Light Of The Cross

13: Wait on the Lord-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

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Prepared by William Earnhardt, for Sabbath School class, March 30, 2024.

Main Theme: Waiting does not mean that we do nothing. It means we look forward to our hope as we keep doing the tasks at hand.

Read in Class: Psalm 27:14 and Psalm 131:1-3. Define the main idea of these passages.

Study: What do these passages teach us about our relationship with God, and what He wants us to do?

Apply: What are some things you are waiting for now from God? How do we learn to wait in faith and in trust, especially when what we are praying for hasn’t yet come?

Share: Your friend says that it souns like God wants us to be like a small child waiting and trusting Him all the time, but He also wants us to grow up in Christ. How can you be mature, indapendant and responsible while still being like a little child? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Pslam 126:1-6. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What gives strength and hope to God’s people? What is being said here, in this context, that we can apply to our own lives today?

Apply: Dwell on some times when you clearly and unmistakably saw the Lord working in your life or in the lives of others. How can you draw hope from those experiences for whatever you might be going through now?

Share: Your friend says he has so many unanswered prayers and is getting tired of “waithing” on the Lord. What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Pslam 92:1-15. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What two aspects of the Sabbath day are highlighted in this song for the Sabbath day?

Apply:  What great hope is offered to us in Psalm 92:1-5, and how can we, even right now, take comfort in what it says?

Share: Your friend says he has to take a job working on the Sabbath because he has a family to feed. He says its his God-given job to provide for his family, so he can’t be expected to just wait around for some miracle to put food on is family’s table. What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Psalm 30:5 and 2 Peter 1:19. Define the common thread on these passages.

Study: What time of day is symbolically portrayed as the time of divine redemption and why?

Apply: What happened in the morning here in Mark 16:1-8 and why is that so important to us?

Share: Your friend says, “Since Ecclesiastes 9:5 says the dead know nothing, in one aspect thier wait for the resurection is over.” Do you agree or disagree with the idea your friend is sharing? Is so, how? If not why?

by In Light Of The Cross

12: Worship That Never Ends-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

Prepared by William Earnhardt, for Sabbath School class, March 23, 2024.

Main Theme: Worshiping God as a faith-community also involves every aspect of our personal lives.

Read in Class: Psalm 33:3, Psalm 40:3, and Psalm 96:1.

Study:  What is the common motif in these texts?

Apply: Read Isiaih 42:10-12, Revelation 5:9 and Revelation 14:3.  What can we infer about the “new song” from these biblical texts?

Share: Dwell on God’s blessings in your life. If you were to share a new song, what would it be?

Read in Class: Pslam 15:1-5. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: Who are the people worthy of worshiping in God’s presence?

Apply: Read Psalm 24:3-6 and Pslam 101:1-3. How do our choices and how we spend our time help reveal to ourselves and others who or what it is that we worship and praise?

Share: Your friend tells you the things of this world keeps distracting her from Bible study and prayer. She asks how you keep from being distracted by the world? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Psalm 96:1-13. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What manifold aspects of worship are mentioned in this psalm?

Apply: Compare Psalm 96:1-13 with the three angels message in Revelation 14:6-12. In what ways does it teach the same basic truths as does this end-time message that we are to proclaim to the world?

Share: Your friend asks how we can make sure our praise and worship does not just become another meaningless ritual? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Psalm 40:6-8. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What is the best way to worship God?

Apply: According to John 4:23-24 what is the best way for us to worship God? How do you practice worshiping God in Spirit and in Truth?

Share: Can you think of someone who has not been to worship service in a while? Can you invite them this week to share the worship service with you next week?

by In Light Of The Cross

11: Longing for God in Zion-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

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Prepared by William Earnhardt, for Sabbath School class, March 16, 2024.

Main Theme: The blessings of Zion overflow to the ends of the earth because the Lord’s person and grace exceed the boundaries of any holy place. Zion is the joy of all the earth affirming that the whole earth belongs to God.

Read in Class: Psalm 84:1-12 and Plsam 122:1-5. What is the main idea of these passages?

Study: Who is blessed by being in God’s house and what exactly are those blessings?

Apply: What are some practical ways we can make being in God’s house here on earth a blessing?

Share: Your friend says ever since her divorce she does not feel accepted at church anynore. She prefers to just watch online sermons at home on the Sabbath. What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Psalm 87:1-7. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What is said about Zion that makes it such a wonderful place?

Apply: How does Zion’s readiness to adopt all people find its fulfillment in the church’s Great Commission to preach the gospel to every nation (Matthew 28:18-20)? How does this idea fit in with our call to preach the three angels’ messages?

Share: Your friend points out that Psalm 87:6 says that it will be noted who is born in Zion when being registered. Your friend says this means that God will take into consideration where each of us were born and raised when He judges us? Is that an accurate application? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Psalm 46:1-11. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: How is the world poetically depicted here?  What is God’s response to violence and destruction in the world?

Apply: How do we learn to have peace and to trust God amid a world that, indeed, has so much turmoil?

Share: Your friend asks, “How has God been a very present help to you in times of trouble?” What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Psalm 125:1-5. Define the main idea of this passage?

Study: How are those who trust God portrayed here?

Apply: How are the righteous tempted and what can we learn from this description of temptation?

Share: Your friend says God is no longer with the Seventh-day Adventist church, because it has apostasized and become like Babylon. What do you tell your friend?

by In Light Of The Cross

10: Lessons of the Past-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

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Prepared by William Earnhardt, for Sabbath School class, March 9, 2024.

Main Theme: Each generation of God’s people plays a small but significant part in the grand historical unfolding of God’s sovereign purposes in the great controversy.

Read in Class: Psalm 105. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study:  What historical events and their lessons are highlighted in this psalm?

Apply: How should we, as Seventh-day Adventists, see ourselves in this line of people, from Abraham on? (See Galatians 3:29.) What lessons should we learn from this history?

Share: Your friend asks, why do we need to study the stories of the Old Testament when those laws don’t deal with us anymore. We are in the New Testament now? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Psalm 106:1-23. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What historical events and their lessons are highlighted in this psalm?

Apply: Psalms 106:13 reads: “They soon forgot His works; they did not wait for His counsel” (NKJV). Why is that so easy for us to do in our own lives, as well?

Share: Your friend mentiones that Pslam 106:12 says they sang praises and Exodus 15 says Mirriam the prophetess led the people in singing and celebrating the Egytpians demise in the Red Sea. Why were they celebrating the death of the wicked? We aren’t supposed to celebrate anyone’s death are we? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Psalm 80. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: How are God’s people portrayed in this psalm, and what great hope do they plead for?

Apply: How have you experienced for yourself repentance as a return to God?

Share: Your friend says he has done too many bady things and it is too late in life for him to seek forgiveness and change his ways. What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Psalm 135. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What historical events are highlighted in the psalm? What lessons does the psalmist draw from them?

Apply: How can we make sure that we don’t have idols in our own lives? Why might idolatry be easier to do than we realize?

Share: Your friend says the reason history repeats itself is because human nature is the same regardless of place and time. Studying history is actually studying human nature. She asks what lessons history (In the Bible and even our history school books) has taught you, and how studying history has stopped you from repeating the mistakes of those we lived befroe us? What do you tell your friend?

by In Light Of The Cross

9: Blessed is he who Comes in the Name of the Lord-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

Prepared by William Earnhardt, for Sabbath School class, March 2, 2024.

Main Theme: In all the Psalms, through the psalmists’ laments, thanksgivings, praises, and cries for justice and deliverance, we can hear the echoes of Christ’s prayer for the salvation of the world.

Read in Class: Pslam 23, Psalm 78:52-53 and Psalm 100:3. Define the common thread of these passages.

Study: How is the relationship between the Lord and His people portrayed in these texts?

Apply: Read John 10:11-15. What does Jesus say about Himself as the Good Shepherd?

Share: You friend asks you how Jesus has been a Good Shepherd to you? When has He actually Shepherded you? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Psalm 22:16-31 and Psalm 118:22. Define the common thread of these passages.

Study: How was the Messiah treated by those He had come to save?

Apply: Jesus on the cross paid in Himself the penalty for every sin you have ever committed. How should the fact that He suffered on your behalf impact how you live now, that is, why you should find sin so abhorrent?

Share: Your friend asks you why Jesus had to suffer and die in order to save us? Why couldn’t God just forgive us without anyone having to die? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Psalm 89:27-32, Psalm 89:38-46 and Psalm 132:10-12. Define the common thread in these passages.

Study: What is the Davidic covenant about? What seems to have endangered it?

Apply: Read Colossians 1:16; Colossians 1:20-22. What do these verses teach us about who Jesus was and what He has done for us? What promise can you take away from this for yourself?

Share: Your friend asks, why God had to reconcile heaven to Himself? What do you tell your friend? See Why Heaven Needed to be Reconciled to God at the Cross?

Read in Class: Psalm 2:1-12 and Psalm 110:4-7. What is each Psalm saying?

Study: What do these passages tell us about Jesus being an eternal king and an eternal priest? How is Christ’s priesthood unique, and what great hope can we find in Christ’s heavenly priesthood?

Apply: Read Hebrews 7:20-28. What are some of the implications of Christ’s superior priesthood?

Share: Your friend asks, “How does Christ’s unique and superior priesthood according to the order of Melchizedek strengthen the certainty of salvation for God’s people?” What do you tell your friend?

by In Light Of The Cross

8: Wisdom for Righteous Living-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

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Prepared by William Earnhardt for Sabbath School Class, February 24, 2024.

Main Theme: Wisdom for righteous living is gained through the dynamics of life with God amid temptations and challenges.

Read in Class: Psalm 119:1-16. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: How should we keep God’s commandments, and what are the blessings that come from doing that?

Apply: How did Christ demonstrate the power of God’s Word in His life (Matthew 4:1-11)? What should this tell us about the power that comes from a heart set on obeying God’s law?

Share: Your friend says David focused on the law because Jesus had not come yet. Today we just focus on Jesus and don’t pay any attention to the law. What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Psalm 90:1-17. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What is the human predicament?

Apply: No matter how quickly our life passes, what promise do we have in Jesus? (See John 3:16.) What hope would we have without Him?

Share: A very young married couple asks your advice for having a long and happy life. What practical as well as philisophical advice do you share with them?

Read in Class: Psalm 26 and Psalm 141. Describe how these passages coincide or differ?

Study: What does divine testing involve and how does the Psamist pray regarding these tests?

Apply: How has God tested your heart and what lessons have you learned? David tells God not to count him among those who murder but he did commit murder with Uriah. What should that tell us about how careful we should be when examining our own hearts?

Share: Your friend tells you they do not want to be rebuked by anyone in the church. She says she does not need anyone telling her what is right or wrong. Everyone should just mind their own business. What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Psalm 1:1-3 and Psalm 112. Define the common thread of these passages.

Study: What blessings are promised for those who love and obey the Lord?

Apply: Why is the Cross, and what happened there, the guarantee of the promises found in the New Testament of what God has in store for us? How can we get comfort from those promises even now?

Share: Your friend asks you what practical or tangible blessings you have received from loving and obeying the Lord? What do you tell your friend?

by In Light Of The Cross

7: Your Mercy Reaches Unto the Heavens-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

Prepared by William Earnhardt, for Sabbath School class, February 17, 2024.

Main Theme: Experiencing God’s mercy encourages us to serve Him alone.

Read in Class: Psalm 136:1-3 and Psalm 51:1-5. Define the common thread of these passages.

Study: What thought predominates in these Psalms? Why does the Psalmist appeal to God’s mercy?

Apply: Read Psalm 51:6-19. How does this help you understand how forgiveness is applied to you? How does this help you understand the goal of forgiveness?

Share: Your friend asks, if God can forgive David for adultery, deception and even murder then could God still forgive those who have committed adultery and even murder today? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Psalm 130:1-8. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: How are the gravity of sin and hope for sinners portrayed?

Apply: Think about the question, “If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?” (Psalm 130:3). What does that mean to you personally? Where would you be if the Lord marked your iniquities?

Share: Your friend asks if “He Shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities” (Psalm 130:8) means that God will give his people victory over every form of sin, no matter how powerful that form of sin is? What do you tell your friend? How might Titus 2:11-14 NLT help you answer that question?

Read in Class: Psalm 113:1-9 and Psalm 123:1-4. How do these two Psalms contrast?

Study: What do we learn from the contrast in these two Psalms?

Apply: Dwell on the Cross and what happened there for you personally. What has Jesus saved you from? Why is it so important to keep the Cross foremost in your mind?

Share: Your friend says, sometimes we are not prisoners of circumstances but rather prisoners of our own thought patterns? In light of Psalm 113 and Psalm 123 what do you think your friend means? Do you agree with the statement?

Read in Class: Psalm 103:1-22. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: How is God’s mercy portrayed here?

Apply: How does God’s love and mercy encourage you to worship and trust God and God alone?

Share: Can you think of someone who may be discouraged and could benefit from hearing about God’s mercy this week? Can you share something from the Psalms with them this week?

by In Light Of The Cross

6: I Will Arise-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

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Prepared by William Earnhardt for Sabbath School class, February 10, 2024.

Main Theme: Only God can truly deliver us from wickedness and oppression, which He does in His own time.

Read in Class: Psalm 9:18, Psalm 12:5 and Psalm 146:6-10. Define the common thread of these passages.

Study: What is the message here to us, even today?

Apply: How much do we think of the “poor and needy” among us, and how much do we do for them?

Share: Your friend says people are poor because they are lazy and therefore we should not help them. What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Psalm 82:1-8. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What happens when the leaders pervert justice and oppress the people they are tasked to protect?

Apply: What kind of authority do you hold over others? How justly and fairly are you exercising that authority?

Share: Your friend asks, in our society who is ultimately responsible for social justice? The state or the church? Or God alone? What role do we play as individuals? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Palm 69:22-28 and Psalm 94:1-12. Define the common thread of these passages.

Study: What sentiments do these psalms convey? Who is the agent of judgment in these psalms?

Apply: Who doesn’t, at times, have thoughts or fantasies about vengeance on those who have done them or their loved ones terrible wrong? How might these psalms help you put such feelings in proper perspective?

Share: Your friend says that the language in some of these Psalms seems pretty harsh? How could God inspire such harsh language? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Psalm 96:6-10 and Psalm 132:7-9. Define the common thread of these passages.

Study:  Where does God’s judgment take place, and what are the implications of the answer for us? How does the sanctuary help us understand how God will deal with evil?

Apply: Read Romans 8:34. How does this verse show us that what Christ is doing in the heavenly sanctuary is good news for His people?

Share: Can you think of someone who is suffering from oppression or injustice? How could you help encourage them this week? How could you even help relieve their suffering at least to some extent?

by In Light Of The Cross

5: Singing the Lord’s Song in a Strange Land-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

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Prepared by William Earnhardt for Sabbath School class, Sabbath, February 3, 2024.

Main Theme: The psalmists respond to God’s perceived absence, as well as to God’s presence.

Read in Class: Psalm 102:3-5, 11, 23-24. Define the main idea of these passages.

Study: What experiences do these texts describe? In what can you relate to what is said here?

Apply: Think about Jesus on the cross and what He suffered because of sin. How should that reality, that God in Christ suffered even worse than any of us, help us keep faith even amid times of suffering and trial?

Share: Your friend says it is wrong to express grief or doubt in our prayers, as it shows a lack of faith in God and His love. What do you tell your friend? See The Difference Between Cynicism and Lamentations.

Read in Class: Psalm 42:1-3. Psalm 63:1, and Psalm 69:1-3. Define the common thread of these passages.

Study: What causes great pain to the psalmist?

Apply: Read Psalm 10:12, Psalm 22:1 and Psalm 27:9. What can we learn from the psalmists’ responses to God’s apparent absence? How do you respond to times when God does seem silent? What sustains your faith?

Share: Your friend asks you how you know God is with you when you can’t see, hear or feel His presence? What do you tell your friend? See How I Know God is With me.

Read in Class: Psalm 77:1-20. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What experience is the author going through?

Apply: Think about past times when the Lord worked in your life. How can that truth help you deal with whatever you are facing now?

Share: Your friend tells you that while her teenage son was expressing how terribly depressed he was he used some foul language. She ignored the foul language and just tuned into his feelings. Her husband on the other hand scolded him for using foul language. Your friend asks you which one of them handled the situation properly? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Psalm 73:12-20. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What brings the psalmist through the crisis? What is the end of those who trust in futile things? See also 1 Peter 1:17.

Apply: How does the promise of God’s judgment upon the world, and upon all its evil, give you comfort when so much evil now goes unpunished?

Share: Do you know someone who feels like life has been unfair to them? How can you encourage them this week from the Word of God and your own experiences?