Category / Sabbath School Teaching Plans

by In Light Of The Cross

7: Mission to my Neighbor-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

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Prepared by William Earnhardt, for Sabbath School Class, November 18, 2023.

Main Theme: Our mission is to put the theory of the Gospel into practice.

Read in Class: Luke 10:25-26. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What did the lawyer ask and what was Jesus’ answer?

Apply: Jesus did not give his own opinion or philosophy when asked this important question. He directed the seeker straight to God’s Word to find the answer. What can we learn from this for when we are asked important questions regarding truth? Can we help people find the answer in the Word of God?

Share: Share a time a friend or even stranger was talking to you about a secular topic and you were able to use that secular topic as a springboard to share to Jesus.

Read in Class: Acts 17:11 and 2 Timothy 3:16. Define the common thread of these passages.

Study: How do these verses help us understand Jesus’ response to the lawyer in Luke 10:26?

Apply: Jesus, the Word of God made flesh, always pointed people back to the Written Word. What should this tell us about the importance of the Bible and why we must reject any philosophical or theological reasoning that lessens our trust in the Bible?

Share: Your friend tells you that while the Adventist church teachers the Bible over tradition that some traditions are not bad. He also insinuates that some Adventists have their own traditions apart from the Bible. Is your friend right? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Luke 10:27-28. Define the main idea of this passage. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What was the lawyer’s answer to his own question?

Apply: Read James 1:26 and James 2:17-22. How do these verses relate to what Jesus told the lawyer? How successful are you at putting God’s Word into practice? Especially when it come to showing love and compassion to those who may not be too loveable?

Share: Share a time you were a good Samaritan. Don’t be shy. We are not bragging we are encouraging others to put the Gospel into practice.

Read in Class: Luke 10:30-37. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: How would you summarize Jesus’ meaning in the story here?

Challenge: Begin praying daily for someone who is different from you, or even for someone you may not personally like.

Challenge Up: List at least three names of your acquaintances (non-Adventists); identify their needs (emotional, physical, social), and consider how you can minister personally to those needs. What can you do practically for them in the coming week?

by In Light Of The Cross

6: Motivation and Preparation for Mission-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

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Prepared by William Earnhardt for Sabbath School Class, November 11, 2023.

Main Theme: The Bible shares events and experiences in the early church that give us guidance as we prepare for mission.

Read in Class: Luke 24:36-49. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What happened here, and why was this such a pivotal experience for the apostles?

Apply: How well grounded are you in the prophecies that point to Christ, both His first and second comings? Especially in the last days, why must we be grounded in the Word of God, including the prophecies, and why is understanding them so crucial, especially for mission?

Share: A classmate in Sabbath School notices, that earlier in Luke 24 Jesus could have shown his scarred hands to the two on the road to Emmaus, but instead He just directed them to Scripture. Later Jesus lets everyone see his scars, handle Him and still led them into the Scriptures. Your friend asks, how much do we rely on signs, and what we see and feel, compared to how much we rely on Scripture alone? What do you tell your classmate?

Read in Class: Acts 1:12-26. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study:  What were the disciples, now numbering around 120 men and women, doing while they were waiting?

Apply: How can you learn to wait upon the Lord and not lose faith in the meantime? Meanwhile, while waiting, how can you best use your time, as the disciples did here?

Share: Your friend says casting lots sounds a lot like gambling. Can we really just pray and flip a quarter to see what God’s will is? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Acts 2:7-11 and 37-41. Define the main idea of these passages.

Study:  What happened to the disciples as a result of receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost?

Apply: Why should the idea that even some of those who were complicit in Christ’s death were offered salvation (1) encourage us for our own souls and (2) encourage us to witness to others, no matter how bad they may seem to be?

Share: Your friend says that our churches are not growing as fast as the early church grew. Your friend asks why we are not seeing more baptisms now? Do you agree with your friend or not? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Acts 2:41-47. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What kind of picture of the early church is present here?

Challenge: Think of someone in your life who you wish was a believer. Pray every day for him or her to have a personal experience with Jesus.

Challenge Up: Whom are you discipling and leading into a relationship with Jesus? Look for ways to bring him or her into fellow­ship with other believers.

by In Light Of The Cross

5: Excuses to Avoid Mission-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

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Prepared by William Earnhardt, for Sabbath School class, November 4, 2023.

Main Theme: We can learn from the story Jonah about what happens when we have the wrong attitude towards mission.

Read in Class: Jonah 2:13, 7-10. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What do these verses reveal about how Jonah started to understand God’s providence?

Apply: Winning souls is hard, too hard for humans to do on their own. How can we learn, instead, to let God win souls, but through us and our life and witness?

Share: Your friend says that he sees God’s providence leading him into soul winning, but he has many fears about opposition and rejection? How could the story of Jonah help you answer your friend? Or even the story of Joshua in Joshua 1:1-10?

Read in Class: Jonah 3:1-10. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: How did the people respond to what Jonah had preached? What lessons are here for us about witnessing?

Apply: What sacrifice is God asking you to make—or be ready to make—for the sake of sharing His love with someone else? How completely do you trust that He will fulfill His promise to enrich your life through sacrifice?

Share: Your friend asks, “What made the people change their minds so quickly about God? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Jonah 4:1-11. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What was wrong with this man?

Apply: The story doesn’t resolve with an ending of Jonah’s repentance. Rather, the unfinished story pivots to us. What will we do about God’s concern for the wicked, for the bullies, for the unreached across the globe?

Share: Your friend says, that in the end God really does not want to punish people. He wants to save us all. So in the end no one will really be lost. What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Isaiah 6:1-8. Define the main idea of this passage.

Apply: If you had been in Isaiah’s place what would your response to the question, “Who will go?” and why?

Challenge: On a blank sheet of paper or in your prayer journal, make a list of ten people you know are not believers. We will call them your “disciples.” List them by name if possible. Keep this list close by, and for the rest of the quarter, pray daily for each of your ten disciples. Pray that God will help you become casual friends with those who are acquaintances. Pray that you can develop deeper, closer, trusting friendships with your casual friends. As you deepen your relationships, carefully watch and listen so you can identify their specific needs, hurts, and pain. Then pray that God will meet them in that area of need.

Challenge Up: Choose a city near you as well as a city in another part of the world. Begin praying for the people who live and work in each. Ask that God will raise up a strong Adventist presence that can share the truth as we know it—the truth about the soon coming of Jesus.

by In Light Of The Cross

4: Sharing God’s Mission-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

Prepared by William Earnhardt for Sabbath School, October 28, 2023.

Main Theme: Genesis 18 gives us Abraham as a model of how God can use us in His mission.

Read in Class: Genesis 18:16-33. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: How did Abraham exercise his great quality of love for all people without distinguishing tribe, race, or people?

Apply: Why is intercessory prayer so important in our own prayer life? How can praying for others in need help us grow spiritually and experience more the reality of God’s love for sinners?

Share: Your friend asks what good it does to pray for the salvation of those around us? Isn’t God already doing all He can to save the world? How could our prayers possibly help God when He is already doing everything possible to save us?

Read in Class: Genesis 18:23-32 and James 5:16. Define the common thread in these passages.

Study:  What should this teach us about the power of intercessory prayer?

Apply: Read Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25. What do they tell us about what Jesus does for us, and how might this truth help us understand better our own role as intercessors for others?

Share: Your friend asks how God has answered your prayers regarding the salvation of others? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Genesis 19:1-29. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What was the result of Abraham’s spirit of hospitality, love, and prayer?

Apply: How can we learn not to be discouraged if we are not seeing the kind of results that we want when we do mission? See That’s Why I’m Here.

Share: Your friend asks, “How do we convince such a sinful generation that they need a Savior without making them feel condemned?” What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Genesis 12:1-9. Define the main idead of this passage.

Study:  What do these verses teach about submitting to God’s will, even when the path ahead does not seem clear?

Challenge: Challenge: In our cities, we face obstacles in preaching the gospel appropriately and effectively. We need to plead with God to intervene.

Challenge up:  Find a way to contact someone who is being directly affected by a difficult situation similar to your own. Tell that person you are praying for him or her, and ask God to show you what you can do to help.

by In Light Of The Cross

3: God’s Call to Mission-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

Prepared by William Earnhardt for Sabbath School Class, October 21, 2023.

Main Theme: God’s mission will call us out of our comfort zones.

Read in Class: Genesis 11:1-9 and Genesis 12:1-3. Define the main idea of these passages.

Study: What were the intentions of the people? What were they wanting to do, and why would God thwart it? In what way was God’s instruction to Abram a call to mission?

Apply: Are you part of a group or ethnic community that is more comfortable among themselves? In what ways may you possibly engage with others who are not part of your race, ethnicity, or nationality?

Share: Your friend asks you if God has ever sent you out of your comfort zone to accomplish a mission? What was the mission and how did it go?

Read in Class: Genesis 12:1-13:1. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What things happened to him next, and what mistakes did this man of God make?

Apply: What lessons can we take from the story about Abram in Egypt?

Share: Your friend asks, “What if God calls us somewhere were there is not much potential and things look pretty hopeless? How do we know God is calling us, will be with us, and we will be successful?”

Read in Class: Acts 8:1-4. Define the key thought in this passage.

Study: In the early church, what brought about the scattering of believers beyond their comfort zone?

Apply: In what ways could you, daily, express mission in your attitude and behavior? How could you be more mission-minded in your daily tasks?

Share: Your friend asks, “Does God always use persecution to get us out of our comfort zones to complete the mission? Does God ever use us in our comfort zones?” What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Acts 1:8. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What principle did Jesus present when doing the work of sharing or being His witnesses to the world?

Challenge: Identify and make a list of people groups with special needs in your community, whom the church has not made efforts to reach. Challenge Up: Begin praying for an opportunity in the near future to become engaged in mission to people with special needs.

Share: How may God be calling you out of your comfort zone to share in His mission? Are you willing be called out of your comfort zone this week?

by In Light Of The Cross

2: God’s Mission to us Part 2-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

Prepared by William Earnhardt for Sabbath School class, October 14, 2023.

Main Theme: The Scriptures reveal what God’s mission is all about.

Read in Class: John 20:21-22. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: How should the understanding that mission finds its origin in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit shape our mission?

Apply: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all involved in the work of saving souls. Why should you find this thought so comforting?

Share: Your friend says the word Trinity is nowhere in the Bible so we should not believe in the Trinity. What do you tell your friend? See also How a Proper Understanding of the Heavenly Trio Keeps Churches and Families From Falling Under a Dictatorship.

Read in Class: Matthew 28:16-20. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What elements of discipleship can you identify in this passage?

Apply: The mission is to “make disciples.” How is this mandate of the Master affecting how you live and minister to others? What can you do to be more involved in what you have been called to do?

Share: Your friend says he does not understand why someone has to go through a whole series of Bible studies to be baptized? Didn’t Philip baptize the Ethiopian on the spot? What do you tell your friend? See also What is Worse Than Persecution?

Read in Class: Revelation 14:6-7. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What aspects of God’s mission can you identify in the “eternal gospel” (NRSV) presented by the first angel of the three angels’ messages?

Apply: How is the concept of judgment linked to the “everlasting gospel” in the first angel’s message? Why must the gospel be central to the idea of judgment?

Share: Your friend says she is not in good health and can’t get out of the house anymore. She asks how she can help spread the gospel to all the world while she is in her home? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Revelation 7:9-10. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study:  What does this text suggest about the far-reaching geographical scope of God’s mission?

Apply: Will you pray every day this week for the community where you live. God has placed you there for a reason.

Share: Will you research the demographics of your area (what kind of people live around you)—ethnic and religious background, old, young, poor, wealthy, languages spoken, and so on. Ask God to show you how you may be a channel of His love to them.

by In Light Of The Cross

1: God’s Mission to Save us Part 1-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

Prepared by William Earnhardt for Sabbath School class, October 7, 2023.

Main Theme: God’s plan is to restore our relationship with God that was broken because of sin.

Read in Class: Isaiah 59:1-2, Exodus 25:8, and Exodus 29:42-45. Define the common thread of these passages.

Study: What was one of the main purposes of the Old Testament sanctuary?

Apply: What are ways that you experience God’s presence in your life?

Share: Your friend says that she feels separated from God because of her sinful lifestyle and wants to feel His presence again. What can you say to help your friend?

Read in Class: John 1:14-18. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study:  What can you learn from Christ’s incarnation about God’s mission to us?

Apply: Think what it means that God’s love for us is so great that He would come to us in our own humanity. How should we respond to this love, especially in terms of mission to others?

Share: Your friend asks you why God had to become human in order to reconcile us back to Him? What do you tell your friend? See Jesus Died as me as Well as For me.

Read in Class: John 3:16 and Matthew 28:19-20. Define the common idea in these passages?

Study: How do you see God’s love and mission interacting here?  What is the promise we can find in the Great Commission? How does it bring assurance for us as we get involved in God’s mission?

Apply: In what ways have you seen Jesus’ promise to be “with you always” being fulfilled in your own life as you are engaged in mission?

Share: Your friend asks, “If God is always with us why do bad things happen to us?” What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: John 14:1-3. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: In what ways is it connected with the end-time message found in the Scriptures?

Apply: How do Exodus 25:8 and John 14:1-3 compliment each other in helping us to understand the sanctuary message and Jesus’ work in preparing dwelling places so we can be with Him? How could this help explain why it is taking so long for Jesus to create rooms or mansions for us to dwell in? Are you allowing Jesus to make His home right in your heart so that where He is there you can be also?

Share: Can you pray for God to open the hearts of your friends and family to allow you to share God’s mission with them? Will you also pray for God to put someone new in your path who you can share God’s mission with?

by In Light Of The Cross

Turning Sabbath School Into a Bible Study

I actually thought I was the only one concerned about how little Bible study is actually done in Sabbath School. It seems we study the quarterly more than the Bible. Then I found this quote from 1991, and found out I am not alone, and have not been for years.

“Too often I find that what passes for Bible study in many Sabbath School classes is little more than a rehash of familiar sayings, personal opinion, and Ellen White quotations. It isn’t Bible study, but simply comments about the Bible…..Our “lesson study” has the guise of Bible study but isn’t. It is more a study of the Sabbath School lesson quarterly than the Bible.” –Myron Widmer, Adventist Review, September 12, 1991.

During the quarantine I would ask people what they have been finding in their personal Bible study time, only to get answers about what they heard a television preacher say. I never got any direct answers to my question about personal Bible study time. This greatly concerned me. In Acts 17:11 they were not only listening to Paul preach, but they were searching (not just casually reading) the Scriptures (Not a quarterly or periodical) daily, not just every now and then.

This is why I enjoy Michael Fracker’s teaching plans. These plans make Sabbath school a Bible study that may casually reference the quarterly, instead of a study of the quarterly that may casually reference the Bible. Quarterlies are great as they direct us to the Bible, but we need to follow those directions and go to the Bible. By the way, after using Michael Fracker’s lesson plans for twenty years, I have also helped write his lesson plans on occasion and even edit them. In the process I have also developed a somewhat similar set of lesson plans  following Michael Fracker’s vision of making Sabbath school time Bible study time. While some use my plans and many more use Michael Fracker’s teaching plans, I talk to several Sabbath School teachers who feel more comfortable making their own teaching plans. That is really best. The suggested plans are just to get you started. What is most important is making sure Sabbath School time is Bible study time.

You may study this week’s Sabbath School lesson here.

by In Light Of The Cross

14: Ephesians in the Heart-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

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Prepared by William Earnhardt for Sabbath School class on September 30, 2023.

Main Theme: Paul’s message is not just for the Ephesians but for believers all over the world.

Read in Class: Ephesians 1:4. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: If God chose us before the foundation of the world, what does that tell you about His foreknowledge?
Apply: How do you react to the thought that God not only knew you before you were born, but that He had chosen you to be saved and to live with Him throughout eternity?
Share: Your friend asks if Ephesians 1:4 teaches we are all predestined to be lost or saved with no choice of our own? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Ephesians 3. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: Is it both exciting and important to be a part of God’s church? Why or why not?
Apply: What kinds of barriers between believers exist in our church that should not be there?
Share: Your friend asks how God has exceeded your expectations? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Ephesians 4. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: What things does Paul tell believers to stop doing, and what things does he tell believers to do?
Apply: What are ways that we can contribute to the unity of our church, both at the local and worldwide levels? Why is it important to do what we can?
Share: Your friend asks how she can know what her spiritual gifts are? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Ephesians 5. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: How does Paul ask us to live out the gospel in our relationship with others?
Apply: How can we walk in love as imitators of God in our lives? What hindrances do we face in that kind of walk?
Share: What is your main take away from the book of Ephesians?

by In Light Of The Cross

13: Waging Peace-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

Prepared by William Earnhardt, for Sabbath School class, September 23, 2023.

Main Theme: Peace comes from knowing Christ is fighting our battles with us and for us.

Read in Class:  Ephesians 6:14, I Peter 4:1, 5:8. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: How does Paul’s imagine believers preparing for the battle against evil?
Apply: In what ways have you experienced the idea that goodness, holiness, and truth can be a protection?
Share: Your friend says working for peace if futile in a world where we know there will aways be wars and rumors of wars. What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class:  Ephesians 1:2, 2:14,15,17. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: Why does Paul use detailed military imagery when he is so interested in peace?
Apply: How does the following text help us understand what Paul’s military imagery should mean in our lives as believers? “God calls upon us to put on the armor. We do not want Saul’s armor, but the whole armor of God. Then we can go forth to the work with hearts full of Christ-like tenderness, compassion, and love.” — Ellen G. White, [Australasian] Union Conference Record, July 28, 1899.
Share: Your friend asks, what is the difference between the peace God gives and the peace the world gives? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class:  Ephesians 6:16,17. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: When and how should believers as combatants use the shield, the helmet, and the sword?
Apply: Does the military images teach us just how literal the great controversy really is and how seriously we should take it?
Share: Your friend asks, “How does the shield of faith protect you from the fiery darts hurled in your direction by others?” What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class:  Philippians 4:6, Colossians 4:2, I Thessalonians 5:16-18..
Study: Review the calls to prayer. Which one inspires you the most? Why?
Apply: How can we conduct prayer ministry based on these messages?

Share: Is there something in this week’s lesson that a friend needs to hear? How can you plan to share it with them this week?