Tag / Teaching adult Sabbath School class

by In Light Of The Cross

11: What More Could I Have Done?-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

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Prepared by William Earnhardt, for Sabbath School Class, March 15, 2025

Main Theme: The cross shows us God has done everything possible to prove His love for mankind.

Read in Class: Romans 3:23-26 and Romans 5:8. Ask the class to define the main idea of these passages.

Study: How do these passages refute Satan’s lie that God is not love?

Apply: Read Revelation 12:10-12 in light of Genesis 3:15. How does the blood of the lamb help you to overcome Satan’s lies and temptations?

Share: Your friend asks you if the third angel’s message about the mark of the beast can be tied to the cross? What do you tell your friend? How can you share the goodness of God in the third angel’s message.

Read in Class: Isaiah 5:1-4. Ask the class what is the main idea of this passage?

Study: Who is speaking in these verses? Whom is Isaiah speaking about? Whom do the vineyard and vineyard owner represent? What is the significance of the actions of the vineyard owner on behalf of the vineyard? What is the result?

Apply: When you look at the cross, where God offered Himself as a sacrifice for all our sin, how do His words, “What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done in it?”—take on an utterly amazing significance?

Share: Your friend says some people were brought up in better environments than others, and so some have a better chance to be saved than others. Some have no chance at all. What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Matthew 21:33-39 and Isaiah 53:4. Ask the class to define the main idea of these passages.

Study: What more could God do than what He has done to save us?

Apply: Whose “griefs” and “sorrows” did Christ bear on the cross? What should this tell us about all that God has done for us and what salvation has cost Him?

Share: Your friend asks you, how you know Christ has born your griefs and sorrows? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Isaiah 5:3-4, Revelation 15:3 and Revelation 19:1-6. Ask the class to summarize these passages.

Study: What do these passages teach us about God being vindicated in the cosmic conflict, especially at the end?

Apply: What assurance do you have that God has done everything possible to help you experience His love and truth?

Share: 2 Peter 3:9 tells us God wants everyone to come to repentance. Romans 2:4 says it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. How can you share God’s goodness this week with someone so they may be led to repentance and salvation?

by In Light Of The Cross

10: Rules of Engagement-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

Prepared by William Earnhardt for Sabbath School Class, March 8, 2025.

Main Theme: This week’s lesson explores the parameters of both sides in the battle between Christ and Satan.

Read in Class: Daniel 10:1-14. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What do these verses teach that is relevant to the cosmic conflict? What do you make of the angel sent by God being “withstood” for twenty-one days?

Apply: How have you experienced the limits of working only through the principles of love and not coercion? What lessons did you learn about the limits of power?

Share:  Your friend asks, Why did the angel get withstood 21 days? Why didn’t God’s angel immediately get the king of Persia to begin the process of delivering God’s people? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Revelation 13:1-8. Have class define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What does this reveal about the extent of the dragon’s jurisdiction?

Apply: However hard for us to see it now, in the end good will eternally triumph over evil. Why is it so important that we never forget this wonderful promise?

Share: Your friend asks you why the world leaders in Jesus’ day crucified Jesus for claiming to be God, and then years later instead of crucifying the beast who claims to be God, the world leaders worship the beast who claims to be God. What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Job 1:1-12 and Job 2:1-7. As the class what is going on in these passages?

Study: What principles of the great controversy do we see unveiled here?

Apply: Job found himself in the middle of the great controversy between Christ and Satan. In What ways has the reality hit you that you are in the midst of the Cosmic Battle between Christ and Satan? How does it comfort you knowing God put limits on what Satan could do to Job?

Share: Your friend says it was not fair for God to let Satan harass Job in a conflict Job had nothing to do with? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Mark 6:5, and Mark 9:29. Ask the class to define the common thread in these passages.

Study: What do these texts display about how even divine action might be integrally related to factors such as faith and prayer?

Apply: Noah preached in his day only to save 7 other people in the end. There were people that Jesus could not work with miracles with. How should this comfort us when the success of our ministry seems to be limited, while not letting us use it as an excuse for failure?

Share: In Matthew 6:10 Jesus prays for His Father’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven. In heaven Satan was cast out. Your friend asks if our prayers can also limit Satan’s working in our homes, churches and communities? What do you tell your friend? How can you pray this week for your community in light of the cosmic conflict?

by In Light Of The Cross

9: The Cosmic Conflict-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

Prepared by William Earnhardt for Sabbath School Class, March 1, 2025.

Main Theme:  We will address how the two following questions might be answered according to some crucial biblical passages: (1) Where does Scripture teach that there is a cosmic conflict between God and Satan? (2) According to Scripture, what is the nature of the conflict?

Read in Class: Matthew 13:24-30 and 36-43. Ask the class to share the main idea of this parable.

Study: How does the parable help us understand evil in our world?

Apply: What are some of the dangers in seeking to uproot the tares from the wheat now? At the same time, why does this not mean simply ignoring the evil that we encounter?

Share: Your friend asks you where do you see or experience the conflict between good and evil? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Ezekiel 28:12-19 and Isaiah 14:12-15. Ask the class to identify the common thread of these passages.

Study: How do these passages describe the one who fell, and the origination of evil?

Apply: How do we understand the fact that Lucifer, who fell, was originally “perfect . . . from the day” he was created “till iniquity was found” in him (Ezek. 28:15)? How could a perfect being fall unless being “perfect” included true moral freedom?

Share: Your friend asks, why didn’t God stop this evil up in heaven before it got out of control? What do you tell your friend? How might the parable of the wheat and tares in Matthew 13 help you explain your answer?

Read in Class: Genesis 3:1-7, 15, and Matthew 4:1-11. Ask the class if they see any similarities in these passages.

Study: How do these passages help us understand the conflict between Christ and Satan, and how sin originated on earth, and its solution?

Apply:  God’s statement in Genesis 3:15 to the serpent that the Seed of the woman, referring to the Messiah, would crush the serpent’s head is often identified as the first gospel (protoevangelium) in Scripture. How does this both reinforce the reality of the conflict and yet provide hope for us in the midst of it?

Share: Your friend asks you how are we as mere mortal human beings supposed to survive the same kind of Satanic attacks Jesus endured? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: John 8:44-45 and Revelation 12:7-9. Ask the class what similarities they see in these passages.

Study: What do these passages reveal about the character of the devil and his strategy?

Apply: How does putting on the whole armor of God, as described in Ephesians 6:10-19 help you defend yourself against Satan’s strategies?

Share: “Often He [Jesus] met those who had drifted under Satan’s control, and who had no power to break from his snare. To such a one, discouraged, sick, tempted, and fallen, Jesus would speak words of tenderest pity, words that were needed and could be understood. Others He met who were fighting a hand-to-hand battle with the adversary of souls. These He encouraged to persevere, assuring them that they would win; for angels of God were on their side, and would give them the victory. Those whom He thus helped were convinced that here was One in whom they could trust with perfect confidence. He would not betray the secrets they poured into His sympathizing ear.” –Ellen White, Desire of Ages, Pages 91-92.

How might you encourage someone this week who is fighting a hand-to-hand battle with the adversary of souls?

by In Light Of The Cross

8: Free Will, Love, and Divine Providence-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

Prepared by William Earnhardt, for Sabbath School class, February 22, 2025.

Main Theme: Strong Biblical evidence shows that God does not determine everything that happens. Instead, He grants humans free will, even to the point where they (and angels) can choose to act directly against His will. The history of the Fall, of sin, and of evil is a dramatic and tragic expression of the results of abusing this free will. The plan of salvation was instituted in order to remedy the tragedy caused by the misuse of free will.

Read in Class: Psalm 81:11-14, Isaiah 30:15-18, and Luke 13:34, Define the common thread of these passages.

Study: What do these texts say about the question of whether God’s will is always being done?

Apply: Think through the implications of any theology that attributes everything that happens to God’s direct will. What kind of deep problems, especially in the context of evil, would such a theology create?

Share: Your friend says that she has always heard that God puts into office whoever He wants in that office, and yet Hosea 8:4 says, “They set up kings, but not by me?” What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Revelaion 11:17, Matthew 19:26, Jeremiah 32:17-20. Define the common thread of these passages.

Study: What do these passages teach about God’s power?

Apply: Scripture also teaches that God wants to save everyone (for example, 1 Tim. 2:4-6, Titus 2:11, 2 Pet. 3:9, Ezek. 33:11), but not everyone will be saved. What does this fact teach about the reality of free will and the limits of God’s power with beings granted free will?

Share: Your friend asks, you if there was ever a time when you knew what the right thing to do was, but you still had a hard time doing it? What did you end up doing and what were the results?

Read in Class: Ephesians 1:9-11. Ask the class to identify the main idea of this passage.

Study: What is this text saying about predestination? Are some people predestined to be saved and others to be lost?

Apply:  What kind of attitude and response to God might people have if one believed in predestination? 

Share: Your friend says that if God knows the end from the beginning then we really have no choice in anything? How is your friend’s thinking faulty? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: John 16:33. Ask the class to define the main idea of this passage.

Study: Even when the consequences of other people’s choices bring us trials and suffering, what hope does this passage give us?

Apply: How often do you think about the fact that God is grieved by suffering as well? 

Share: Romans 8:28 tells us that all things work together for good to those who belong to God. This does not mean that everything that happens is God’s will or even good. What it does mean is that God will overrule everything that happens to bring about good to those who love Him. Can you think of someone this week, who you can encourage by your own testimony on how God has overruled evil in your life? How can you share your testimony with that person this week?

by In Light Of The Cross

7: The Problem of Evil-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

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Prepared by William Earnhardt for Sabbath School Class, February 15, 2025.

Main Theme: Many atheists identify the problem of evil as the reason that they are atheists. But as we will see in this week and in coming weeks, the God of the Bible is entirely good, and we can trust Him—even despite the evil that so infects our fallen world.

Read in Class: Job 38:1-12. Have the class identify the main idea of this passage.

Study: How does God’s answer to Job shed light on the problem of evil? How much do we know and not know about what might be going on behind the scenes?

Apply: Read Job 42:3.  How does Job’s response illuminate what we should recognize about our own position?

Share: Your friend asks why God has allowed others to suffer if He is a God of love? What experiences of your own can you share about prospering from suffering? Or what experiences can you share from your parenting? For example why would a good parent allow their child to receive a painful shot at the doctor’s office?

Read in Class: Psalm 73 and Isaiah 55:8-9. Ask the class what the common thread of these passafges may be.

Study: How does the psalmist approach the evil and injustice around him? What does he see that puts his understanding in a different perspective?

Apply: How can the Adventist understanding of the judgment and the sanctuary doctrine shed light on the problem of evil? Is it helpful to you to know that, while we have many questions now, the details of history and God’s righteous judgments will be revealed in the end?

Share: Your friend asks, how can we have hope when there is so much corruption everywhere? Everyone is so greedy for money and power? There is no integrity anywhere? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Genesis 2:16-17. Ask the class what is the main idea of this passage?

Study: How do these verses display the moral freedom granted to Adam and Eve?

Apply: Sony Corporation has created a robot dog, called Aibo. It will not get sick, not get fleas, not bite, not need shots, and not shed fur. Would you trade your flesh and blood dog for an Aibo? If not, how might your choice help you better understand why God created us as He did, with free will—despite the risks?

Share: Your friend asks, how do you encourage someone who keeps reaping the consequences of their continual bad choices?What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Romans 8:18 and Revelation 21:3-4. Have the class define the common thread in these passages.

Study: How can these texts give us confidence to trust in God’s goodness, despite all the evil in our world?

Apply: How does keeping in mind the fact that God grants us free will help protect us from thinking that everything that happens is God’s will?

Share: Romans 2:4 tells us it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. Can you think of someone who has been the vicitm of their own sin and suffering? What are some practical things you can do for them this week so they can see God’s goodness and be lead to repentance?

by In Light Of The Cross

2: Covenanted Love-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

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Prepared by William Earnhardt, for Sabbath School class, January 11, 2025.

Main Theme: We must respond to God’s love in order for His love to be relational.

Read in Class: 2 Peter 3:9, 1 Timothy 2:4, and Ezekiel 33:11. Ask the class to identify the common thread of these passages.

Study: What do these passages teach us about God’s desire to save everyone?

Apply: How should we show our love and respect for every human being?

Share: Your friend asks, if God’s love is unconditional then why will some people be lost?

Read in Class: Deuteronomy 7:6-9. Ask the class to identify the main idea of this passage.

Study: What do these verses teach about the relationship between God making covenants and God’s lovingkindness?

Apply: What are ways that you can constantly keep the reality of God’s love in your thoughts? Why is it important to do that?

Share: Your friend says a certain man keeps coming by the church asking for money to buy food for his family, but only uses it for his drug addiction. How can we help free people from their bondage and addictions when they won’t even help themselves? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: 1 John 4:7-20. Ask the class to identify the main idea of this passage.

Study: What does this tell us about the priority of God’s love?

Apply: Think about what you have been forgiven and what it cost you to be forgiven by Jesus. What should this tell you about forgiving others?

Share: Your friend says she can never forgive her aunt for what she did to her and her family. It is beyond forgivable. What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: John 15:12, 1 John 3:16, and 1 John 4:7-12. Ask the class to identify the common thread of these passages.

Study: What do these passages teach about the relationship between God’s love, our love for God, and love for others?

Apply: What specific steps can you take to love God by loving others? What could you do today and in the coming days to show people God’s love and (eventually) invite them to enjoy what it means to have the promise of eternal life?

Share: Can you think of someone in your community who needs to be shown unconditional love? How can you show them God’s love this week?

by In Light Of The Cross

11: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

Prepared by William Earnhardt for Sabbath School class, December 14, 2024.

Main Theme: This week’s lesson looks at how the Gospel of John presents the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but now within the context of the farewell discourse (John 13:1-17:26).

Read in Class: Genesis 3:7-9, John 3:16-17, and 2 Corinthians 5:19. Have class define common thread in these passages.

Study: How does this reveal the breach that sin caused, and what does it mean that it was God seeking them out, not vice versa?

Apply: These verses present the Father in close connection with Jesus Christ, His Son. The Father has intimate contact with our world and a deep investment in our salvation. What does this truth teach us about God’s love for us?

Share: Your friend says, “Jesus made the greatest sacrifice to come and die for us while all the Father had to do was watch from heaven.” What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: John 5:19, John 7:16, John 14:10,23 and John 17:3. Have the class define the common thread in these passages.

Study: What do the following texts teach us about the relationship between Jesus and the Father? 

Apply: How would your life be changed if your thoughts and actions were fully an expression of God’s will for your life? That is, how can we better live out what we know from Jesus is God’s will for our lives?

Share: Your friend asks how do we get to know God now that Jesus is up in heaven and no longer with us? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: John 1:10-13, John 3:5-8, John 14:26 and John 16:13. Have class define the commin thread in these passages.

Study: What do these passages teach us about the importance of the Holy Spirit for conversion?

Apply: How have you seen the Holy Spirit working in your conversion process?

Share: Your friend says that the Holy Spirit convicted her that the Sabbath is no longer binding. What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: John 17:1-26. Have the class define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What words or phrases in this chapter express the desire of Jesus for a close relationship of love between Himself, the Father, and His disciples?

Apply: How can you better reflect the love of God, such as exists between Jesus and the Father, in your own life?

Share: Your friend asks how your church family reflects the unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. What do you tell your friend?

by In Light Of The Cross

10: The Way, the Truth, and the Life-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

Prepared by William Earnhardt, for Sabbath School class, December 7, 2024.

Main Theme: This week’s lesson will begin with the purpose of the farewell discourse and its introduction with the significant episode of Jesus’ washing His disciples’ feet. Then it will turn to the “I AM” statement in chapter 14 (“I am the way, the truth, and the life”).

Read in Class: John 13:1-20. Ask the class to define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What happened here, and why is this story so important? What lessons did Jesus seek to teach?

Apply: What does the Ordinance of Humility teach you about following in the footsteps of Jesus and how to humbly serve others?

Share: Your friend says the ordinance of humility, which we do every quarter is an illustration of how we are to serve each other, but what are some literal ways you have seen church members serving each other besides the ordinance of humility? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: John 14:1-3. Ask the class to define the main idea of this passage.

Study: In what context did Jesus say these words?

Apply: What does the Cross teach us about the certainty of Christ’s second coming? Without the Second Coming, what good did Jesus’ death do us at the first coming?

Share: Your friend says he is not sure he will make it to heaven. What do you tell your friend, and how might you use John 14:1-3 in the process?

Read in Class: John 1:14, John 1:17 and John 14:5-11. Ask the class to identify the common thread in these passages.

Study: How does John tie the concept of truth directly to Jesus? What query did Thomas make about where Jesus was going? How did Jesus respond?

Apply: Why is it so comforting to realize that Jesus is the best revelation we will have here of what God the Father is like?

Share: Your friend says there are many world religions and ways to get to heaven besides just Christianity. What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: John 5:38-40. Ask the class to define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What is Jesus saying here about the Scriptures?

Apply: Read Luke 24:27. What example did Jesus give us to apply when sharing the truth about Jesus with others?

Share: Your friend asks, “Are there any truths taught in the Bible that science, even in theory, can never teach us?” What do you tell your friend?

by In Light Of The Cross

6: More Testimonies About Jesus-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

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

Main Theme: This week’s lesson looks at some of those who witnessed and testified about Jesus. In each of these incidents, some aspects of who Jesus really is are revealed, and together they create a deeper vision of Jesus, the Messiah.

Read in Class: John 1:32-36 and Jon 3:25-36. Ask the class to define the common thread between these passages.

Study: How does John the Baptist compare himself to Jesus? What are some things John Said about the Messiah that may have surprised his listeners?

Apply: How can we learn the lesson of humility before both God and humanity? What can we learn from the example of John here about humility of the soul?

Share: Your friend asks you how you came to realize that Jesus is the Messiah and your personal Savior? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: John 6:51-71. Ask the class to summarize this passage.

Study: What did Jesus say that people had trouble accepting?

Apply: What can we learn from this story about the fact that the majority is usually wrong? Why must we remember this, especially with the aspects of our faith that are unpopular with the ­majority—even the majority of Christians?

Share: Your friend asks, what did Jesus mean by “eat my flesh and drink my blood?” What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Matthew 3:17 and John 5:36-38. Define the common thread of these passages.

Study: What does the Father say about Jesus, and what does Jesus say about the Father?

Apply: Read 2 Peter 1:16-21. How would we know the truth about Jesus as our atoning sacrifice unless it were revealed to us? Why, then, is knowing the Bible and what it teaches about Jesus so crucial?

Share: Your friend asks, “How can I know if God is well pleased with me?” What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: John 7:37-53. Ask the class to summarize this passage.

Study: When Jesus spoke to the Jews attending the Feast of Tabernacles, what was the response of many in the crowd?

Apply: In John 7:47-48, the leaders imply that the people should not believe in Jesus since the leaders don’t believe in Him. How much influence do you allow leaders to have over what you believe? See Truth is not a Popularity Contest.

Share: In your sphere of influence what has been your testimony about Jesus? Is there someone you can share your testimony with this week?

by In Light Of The Cross

5: The Testimony of the Samaritans-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

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

Main Theme:  John recounts the encounter between Jesus, the woman at the well, and the people of the Samaritan city of Sychar.

Read in Class: John 4:5-15. Ask the class the identify the main idea of this passage.

Study:  How did Jesus use this opportunity to open a dialogue with the woman at the well? How does Jesus begin witnessing to this woman?

Apply: Read John 7:37-38.  What is Jesus saying to us in these verses, and how do we experience what He is promising here?

Share: Your friend asks, “What are some of the taboos in your own culture that could hamper your witness to others? How do we learn to transcend them?” What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: John 4:16 and Ezekiel 36:25-27. Ask the class to define the common thread in these passages.

Study: How did Jesus respond to the woman’s request? What truth in Ezekiel 36:25-27 was Jesus trying to bring home to the woman?

Apply: In John 4:16 Jesus gets very personal with the woman to make her aware of her need for healing. How do we react when a friend or maybe even a sermon in church may expose an area where we need healing? Do we become defensive, or do we acknowledge our need for healing?

Share: Your friend asks, you how God has taken away your heart of stone and given you a heart of flesh? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: John 4:16-26. Ask the class to define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What did Jesus do to show this woman that He knew her deepest secrets, and how did she respond? How did Jesus reveal His identity to her?

Apply: What should this story tell us about why the gospel needs to break down the barriers that we humans create with each other?

Share: Your friend mentions how you can see a friend you have not seen in years, and once you get back together it was like you were never apart. Could it be because you had been together “in the Sprit” even while you were apart? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: John 4:27-42. Ask the class to define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What surprising action did the woman take?

Apply: What happened following this encounter, and what does it teach about how the gospel can be spread?

Share: What should this story tell us about how powerful the witness of even one person can be? How powerful a witness are you to what Jesus has done in your life? Who can you share your story with this week?