Tag / The Book of Mark

by In Light Of The Cross

Jesus; The Model Disciple, Part 2

Last week we were looking at how Jesus not only made and taught disciples, He was a disciple of the Father. Jesus gave us the perfect model for being a disciple. Last week we saw Jesus modeled being a disciple by reflecting the image of God, which we saw can only be done by community as God is community. 

No wonder why Satan wants to divide and isolate us! Satan knows love is community and the image of God is reflected only through community. It is also by community that we grow into the image of God. In isolation we grow selfish and self-focused. In community we get on each other’s nerves and drive each other crazy sometimes as part of the growth process. During this process it is tempting to want to run away sometimes and be alone, and that may actually be a momentary solution, but not for the long haul. It may be the brother or sister who is rubbing you the wrong way who is actually polishing your character for heaven.

Sometimes it is tempting to pray that the person annoying us would just go away, but consider this: Saul was a humble man when he became king, but later ego got in the way and destroyed him. When Saul became king no one gave him any trouble. Is that why he became proud and finally let his ego destroy him? I ask this, because when David is anointed king he has opposition from Saul, which kept David humble and may have ended up saving his soul. The person we think Satan sent as a curse may be the person God sent to keep us humble in order to save our soul for eternity. 

When tempted to pray that those bothering us would just go away let’s keep in mind, 

Joseph did not try to get rid of his brothers. His brothers tried to get rid of Joseph.

David did not try to get rid of Saul. Saul tried to get rid of David.

Mordecai did not try to get rid of Haman. Haman tried to get rid of Mordecai.

Jesus did not try to get rid of the pharisees. The Pharisees tried to get rid of Jesus. 

In each case it is the unconverted person who is trying to get rid of the converted person, so keep that in mind whenever you are tempted to pray that God would get rid of someone. Discipleship is all about reflecting the character of God, and God is love and love is community. Love is also seeking to save the lost. 

for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10 NKJV

Jesus did not spend all his time with church people. He spend His time with some pretty rough sinners. He mentored them, ate with them and taught them to follow Him. I imagine if Jesus were here on earth today His cell phone contact list would be filled with names and numbers of unchurched people. Look at your cell phone contact list. How many unchurched people are on your list? This may give you an idea as to how well you are following the Model Disciple. How many unchurched people do you invite to your home? What is your attitude towards sinners in your church?

A while back I was teaching a new believers Sabbath School class, and a young man showed up who was obviously unchurched. In sharing with us his struggles he used a four letter word. Most all of my class were so tuned in to his feelings that they did not take special note of the four-letter word. One member later talked to me and encouraged me to let him know we don’t use that word here. Which do you find more concerning? A Sabbath school class with an unchurched man who accidentally lets one bad word slip, or a Sabbath school class where you never have to worry about hearing a foul word because that class would never dare allow an unchurched person to attend? 

My point is that discipling the way Jesus discipled may not always be pretty. Being pretty is not the goal. Seeking and saving the lost is the goal. There are a lot of difficult unchurched people who are seeking for Jesus. 

Often we regard as hopeless subjects the very ones whom Christ is drawing to Himself.-Ellen White, Christ Object Lessons, Page 72

There may be some apparently hopeless subjects in your community that the other churches in your area have spurned and turned away. Is your church ready to pray, “Jesus please send us all the hopeless outcasts the other churches in our community don’t want to deal with. Please send them to us Jesus and let our church love the people the other churches in our community refuse to love.” 

Jesus told His disciples, 

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Matthew 28:19-20 NKJV

 This means way more than reaching out to our Catholic and Protestant brothers and sisters  with the truth about the Sabbath. It means reaching out to a secular society cutting and drugging themselves. It means reaching out to them with the good news about the Savior. To follow our Model Disciple we must reach out to and disciple apparently hopeless people just like our Model Disciple, Jesus did. 

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

by In Light Of The Cross

13: The Risen Lord-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

Prepared by William Earnhardt, for Sabbath School Class, September 28, 2024.

Main Theme: Jesus is risen and we are to take this message to all the world!

Read in Class: Mark 16:1-8 and 1 Corinthians 15:1-8. Define the common thread of these passages.

Study: How does what happened here change the world?

Apply: How certain are you that Jesus was really resurrected? How do you know? See How do we Know the Disciples Didn’t Just Make Everything Up?

Share: Your friend tells you that Sunday is the Biblical memorial to the resurrection. What do you tell your friend? See First Day Texts in the Bible, and The Biblical Memorial to the Resurrection. See also, Romans 6:3-6.

Review in Class: Mark 16:1-8. Ask the class if they notice anything this time they did not notice the first time they read this?

Study: How did the women first respond to what happened?

Apply: Why must we not keep silent about Jesus and what He has done? Who can you tell today about Jesus and the plan of salvation?

Share: Your friend asks you why the angel singles Peter while mentioning the message to the disciples? What do you tell your friend? Your friend also mentiones the women being concerned about the stone, only to find it already rolled away when they got there. Your friend asks if you have ever worried about something in the future, only to find God had already taken care of it by the time you got there? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Mark 16:9-20. Have the class sunmarraize this passage.

Study: What do these verses add to the Resurrection story?

Apply: How can we protect ourselves from falling into the spiritual trap of doubt and unbelief? Why must we daily link ourselves to the risen Christ?

Share: Your friend asks you if God has ever done anything in your life or in your family’s life that you did not believe was possible or you had trouble beleving at first? What do you tell your friend?

Review in Class: Mark 16:14-20. Ask the class if they notice anything this time they did not notice the first time they read this?

Study:  What did Jesus say to His disciples when He appeared to them, and what do these words mean to us today?

Apply: Read Matthew 28:19-20. What words of comfort can and should we take from Jesus’ words?

Share: What specific good news from this week’s lesson will you be sharing with a friend this week?

by In Light Of The Cross

Jesus; The Model Disciple, Part 1

As we near the end of studying the life of Christ in the book of Mark, we see how Jesus taught His disciples and told them to make disciples, but did it ever occur to us that Jesus was a disciple? Jesus was a disciple of His Father, and in Jesus’ public life and private life He modeled being a disciple. Peter and James and John were discipled by Jesus while He was here on earth. That is great, but since Jesus is not here on earth anymore, I learn more by how Jesus was a disciple of His Father, while He was here on earth, but His Father was up in heaven. After all, Jesus is up in heaven. So, I can’t follow the exact model of Peter, James and John, who were being discipled while Jesus was here on earth, but I can follow the model of Jesus as He was a disciple while His Father was in heaven. So let’s look at how Jesus modeled being a disciple.

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? John 14:9 NKJV

As a Disciple of the Father, Jesus showed us the image of His Father. There is a reason the second commandment tells us not to make graven images. God does not want His character reflected through things. He created us in His image so that we can reflect His character. The whole purpose of God’s last day Seventh-day Adventist Church is to do way more than just be a remnant of the New Testament church. The plan of Salvation and the great controversy go back even further. It;s God’s plan that the Seventh-day Adventist Church will hep restore the image of God in mankind, from every tribe, nation, tongue and people to how it was before the fall. Just as Jesus showed us the Father, we are to show Jesus to the world.

The story goes of a group of pastors in a Romanian prison years before it opened up to the Gospel. Of course they were talking about Jesus, and the guards got tire of it. Finally one guard said, “I will let you say one more sentence about your God, and then you not be allowed to speak of Him again.” One prisoner, knowing the guards would be watching him, came up with the best sentence he could. He told the guards, “Jesus is like me.” When I read this I could not believe a human would say such a thing. But the more I thought about it, I thought this is exactly what Christianity should be. We should not be calling ourselves Christians in vain. This is what the third commandment is all about. Disciples of Christ are to do more than believe in Christ. Notice Jesus never told His disciples to accept Him. He told them to pick up their cross and follow Him to death. As Jesus reflected the image of His Father, He modeled for us what we should be as disciples. We are to reflect the image of Jesus to the world.

All of the Gospels are excellent study material on how to be a disciple of Jesus, but Jesus gave some extra special instruction in the sermon on the mount on what being a disciple of Jesus is all about. In that sermon Jesus said,

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16 NKJV

Notice Jesus did not tell His disciples to merely make sure the world sees what they believe. Rather He told them to make sure the world sees their good works so their Father in heaven would be glorified. Romans 2:4 tells us it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. A church with a last day message to the world needs to make sure the world sees the goodness of God that will lead them to repentance and salvation.

But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” Matthew 4:4 NKJV

When tempted Jesus used no special powers. He modeled for us how a disciple of God handles temptation. Every time Jesus was tempted or tried He referred to the Scriptures. The same Scriptures that Jesus used are available to us. Jesus showed us how to be a disciple just like He was a disciple of the Father.

And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. Matthew 14:23 NKJV

Before we can live like Jesus we need to pray like Jesus. Jesus modeled for us the balance we need between “the mountain and the multitude.” Jesus was the Model Disciple of the Father. Later in Matthew 14 Jesus walks on water, but so does Peter, until he takes his eyes off Jesus and looks at the waves. I wonder if Peter had continued praying like Jesus, if he would have been able to continue standing on the water like Jesus?

And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” Matthew 26:37-38 NKJV

Jesus asks His three closest friends to disciple with Him. He had to disciple in community. He could not disciple in isolation. Why? Remember, as disciples we are to reflect the image of God. In Genesis 1:26-27 God said, “Let us make man in our image.” And He made us male and female. What relevance does this have to us? First, God is speaking not as an isolated Being but as a community consisting of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God is not an isolated Creature. He is community. When God created us to be in His image, He created us to be community. God is community so it is impossible for us to reflect His character of Community while in isolation. Jesus needed His three closest friends because He could not be the Model Disciple by Himself. The importance of this truth is seen by the fact that when His three closes friends fell asleep on Him, and angel had to come down from heaven to disciple with Him. See Luke 22:43. It was simply impossible for Jesus to disciple in isolation, and it is impossible for you to disciple in isolation as well. As isolated individuals we cannot reflect the character of a communal God. We also cannot reflect the character of God with just one gender. God created males and females to be in His image, One gender alone cannot reflect the image of God.

This reminds of a popular passage in the Adventist world,

Christ is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His church. When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own.-Ellen White, Christ Object Lessons, Page 69,

Christ is not merely wanting His character reproduced in His church so that they can earn heaven by perfection. There is a great controversy going on regarding the character of God. Satan hs misrepresented God’s character and so many people are rejecting Him. Christ wants to perfectly reproduce His character or image in the church so the church can give God proper representation in the great controversy. Jesus wants the church to reflect the image and goodness of God so the world will know God is love. One isolated person cannot reflect the character of God. God is love. Love is community, together as a community of believers we show God’s love and mercy by being patient and understanding of each other’s faults and weaknesses. We strengthen one another where the other one is weak. As a church community we reflect the image of God. This is why Jesus had to model discipleship within a community of other disciples.

Next week we will see How Jesus modeled being a disciple, by mentoring the unchurched.

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

by In Light Of The Cross

12: Tried and Crucified-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

Prepared by William Earnhardt, for Sabbath School class, September, 21 2024.

Main Theme: In Mark 15 we see the plan of Salvation being perfectly carried out for you and me.

Read in Class: Mark 15:1-20. Have the class define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What kind of ironic situations occur here?

Apply: How hard is it to go against the crowd and majority opinion in any given situation? Is it hard to go against the flow? 

Share: Your friend says, “Many of these people who were crying out “crucify Him” were ignorant and surely God will not judge them.” What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Mark 15:21-38. Have the class share the main idea from this passage.

Study: What painful ironies appear in these passages?

Apply: Would you sacrifice yourself for people who cursed you, spit on you, mocked you, maimed you, and beat you half to death? Why didn’t Jesus just say, ‘forget it, you don’t deserve my love and efforts.’?

Share: Your friend asks, “Why did Jesus have to die in our place in order for us to be saved? Did God just have to see someone suffer for our sin? Why couldn’t God just forgive wihtout a sacrifice?” What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Mark 15:33-41. Have the class define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What are Jesus’ words on the cross in Mark? How do you understand why He said them?

Apply:  How can we learn that regardless of what happens around us or to us, that we can trust God and know that He will prevail?

Share: You friend says he heard that Jesus died the second death for us? What does that mean and how do we know? What do you tell your friend? See The God-forsaken God.

Read in Class: Mark 15:42-47. Ask the class to share the main point of this passage.

Study: What was the importance of Joseph’s intervention, since all the disciples were nowhere to be seen?

Apply: How can we be sure that when in crucial times, we are not missing in action? 

Share: Can you think of one friend who may benefit from hearing the plan of salvation this week? What can you do to share it with them?

by In Light Of The Cross

11: Taken and Tried-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

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

Main Theme: Throughout the narrative, two contrasting story plots march hand in hand. In a crisp style, Mark sets before the reader these clashing plots while revealing the triumph of Jesus.

Read in Class: Mark 14:1-11, 22-31. Ask the class to summarize this passage.

Study: What two stories are intertwined here, and how do they play off of one another? What great significance to the Christian faith is found in this account of the latter passage?

Apply: What can you learn from whatever times you promised God that you would or would not do something and ended up doing or not doing it anyway?

Share: Your friend asks you if we should still be observing Passover? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Mark 14:32-42. Ask the class to define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What did Jesus pray in Gethsemane, and how was the prayer answered?

Apply: What is the closest you have ever come to experiencing what Jesus experienced in Gethsemane?

Share: Your friend asks why was Jesus seeking assistance from His disciples? Since He was God why couldn’t He just make it on His own? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Mark 14:43-52. Ask the class to define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What happens here that is so crucial to the plan of salvation?

Apply: Think about the fearful idea that being a slave of only one vice led Judas to do what he did. What should this tell us about hating sin and, by God’s grace, overcoming it?

Share: Your friend points out that in Matthew 26:50 Jesus calls Judas “friend,” when He is being betrayed. Your friend asks why Jesus called Judas “friend.” What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Mark 14:60-72. Ask the class to define the main idea of this passage.

Study: Compare how Jesus responded to events in contrast to how Peter did. What lessons can we learn from the differences?

Apply: What words of hope would you give to someone who, though wanting to follow Jesus, fails at times to do so? Who of us has not, at times, failed to follow what we know Jesus wants?

Share: Can you think of a friend who may feel like they are on trial right now? How can you support them this week?

by In Light Of The Cross

So, is Jesus Still Coming Back?

After more than 175 years of preaching the Second Coming, one important question comes to mind for Seventh-day Adventists. Is Jesus still going to come again? Are we still planning on it? Is it still a part of who we are?

Growing up as a Seventh-day Adventist I heard people talk about how Jesus was surely coming in the next five years. We thought for sure that the oil crisis in the 70’s was the beginning of the end of the world. I remember looking at the form the Tulsa Roughnecks Soccer team sent me when I was a teen, asking me to renew my season tickets for the 1980 season. You may laugh at me, but I stared at that form in disbelief that I actually saw the year 1980 in print. There is no way the world will last that long I thought. Well that was over 40 years ago and we are in a new century. So what happened to the Second Coming? Is it still on?

In the mid ‘80s I joined a new Adventist church in the suburbs. I had just started dating a girl who went to that church; so I switched from the larger Adventist church where I was a member to her church. We had just started dating when she dumped me. I still stayed at this new church because I did not want people to think I changed churches just for her. Besides, this church seemed to be really on fire. The weekly prayer meetings were very spiritual, and everyone was praying for the power of the Holy Spirit to prepare them for the Second Coming. We had about as many people attending prayer meeting as attended our Sabbath worship services. We were sure Jesus was coming soon, and we were getting ready.

Then something sad happened. People stopped coming to prayer meeting. Some decided “Growing Pains” was just too funny of a show to miss for prayer meeting. People stopped coming to church altogether. This was not supposed to happen! Discouraged, I asked God why He did not come back when our church was at its spiritual peak, when we had it all together. He waited too long, and now look what happened!

I believe the Holy Spirit revealed to me why Jesus did not return when the church was on top of its game. Our church was on a spiritual roller coaster. Jesus is not coming back for a church on a spiritual roller coaster. He is not coming back for a people who walk with him off and on. A groom does not want to marry a bride whose love and devotion goes in cycles. Neither does Jesus.

Enoch walked with God many years before being translated. God will come back for a church who will consistently walk with Him year after year after year, and not on some roller coaster. The church is like a woman. For centuries God’s church has loved to flirt with Him, but it also loves to flirt with the world. God’s church likes to date Jesus, but it also likes to date other things too. Jesus is not returning for a date; He is returning for a wedding. When God’s church decides to stop dating and flirting with Jesus and decides to get married, He will return.

During this same time period our suburban church was also asking the Holy Spirit to get sin out of our lives so we could be ready for Jesus to come. We did not – or at least I did not – realize how legalistic that was. Jesus is not coming back for a legalistic group who get their act together so they can have some great reward like heaven. Jesus is coming back for a people who love Him because He first loved them. Today I ask the Holy Spirit to remove sin from my life, not because Jesus is coming back, but because my sin breaks God’s heart. I do not want to break His heart any more, regardless if He is coming back tomorrow or a hundred years from now.

Now that I am older I don’t hear people talking about Jesus coming back in the next five years. So is the whole thing off?

One of Satan’s best weapons are over-zealous religious fanatics. They tell people Jesus is coming back during a certain time table, and then when their “prophecy” fails, people doubt that Jesus is coming back at all. However this is all Satan’s plan. To get us to give up right before it happens. Concentration camp survivors say they survived because they never set a date for their rescue. Some wanted to be rescued by Christmas, and then when that came and went, they wanted to be rescued by Easter, and then when Easter came and went, they gave up hope. Others just knew that they would be rescued some day, and they survived.

As Seventh-day Adventists we must believe Jesus is returning, without setting dates. Some have gone to the other extreme now and don’t even preach the Second Coming at all. They preach social sermons which they find more practical in everyday living. While we must be practical, we must also realize that God formed our church over 150 years ago for a specific reason.

Are we embarrassed by our message? I am sure the disciples were embarrassed when Jesus was crucified, but there was no reason for them to be. Are we afraid people will not believe our message, so we just preach things we know the world will accept? If so, shame on us! We are doing our Savior and neighbor no justice by hiding our special message.

The Seventh-day Adventist church has a message that will do more than prepare people to live nice little lives in this world. We have a gospel that will prepare people for the world to come! We must let everyone know the Second Coming is still on!

There are twice as many prophecies about the Second Coming than there were about Jesus’ first advent. He came the first time, so we know beyond a shadow of a doubt He is coming the second time. Jesus warns against setting times for His return when He tells us, “ in the hour you think not, the Son of man cometh.” Satan has been using religious fanatics for years to get us all excited and then disappointed that He has not returned. Satan wants us to give up and think Jesus is not returning at all. There is great danger in what I was always hearing growing up – about Jesus coming in the next five years – because it does two things: It makes us give up hope when He does not return in those five years, and it also makes us think we have five years to prepare. One day we won’t have five years to prepare. We won’t have one year to prepare. In the hour we think not, He will come!

Don’t get ready, be ready! Be ready, not because He is coming back but because we love Him because He first loved us! The Adventist church – the church that believes the Bible prophecies about the Second Coming – has a reason to exist! If we just preach social day-by-day sermons that you can hear anywhere else, then we are not fulfilling our purpose for coming into existence over 150 years ago. A true Adventist more than believes Jesus is coming. We love His appearing! We have a message to give to world and the people of the world are hungry for our message. We need to tell them that Jesus is coming back. Jesus loves them and wants to be with them forever!

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

by In Light Of The Cross

10: The Last Days-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

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Prepared by William Earnhardt for Sabbath School Class, September 7, 2024.

Main Theme: Jesus not only predicts the future but also instructs His disciples both then and now in how to prepare for the coming trials.

Read in Class: Mark 12:41-13:13. Have the class summarize these passages.

Study: How much did the widow give, and what did Jesus have to say about that? How did the disciples respond to Jesus’ statement about the temple, and what is the significance of Jesus’ answer to them?

Apply: What do these passages teach us about being faithful in giving our offerings as well as our entire selves for the Lord’s work?

Share: Your friend tells you she gets scared just thinking about the time or trouble in the last days. What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Mark 13:14-18. Ask class to define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What clue does Jesus give in figuring out what the “abomination of desolation” refers to?

Apply: Read Daniel 11:31 and Daniel 12:11. What event are these passages applied to? What was the abomination of desolation during the days of the Roman empire? What event in the last days could be the abomination of desolation? Hint from Tuesday’s lesson: The abomination likely refers to the planting of the Roman pagan standards in Israel during the siege of Jerusalem in the late A.D. 60s. This was the sign for the Christians to flee, which they did.

Share: Your friend asks you why you trust the Bible? What predictions of Jesus have already been fulfilled? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Mark 13:19-23. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What does verse 19 refer to?

Apply: What hope do you find in Mark 13:20-23 for God’s people during the time of persecution, and what warning does He give them as it closes?

Share: Your friend asks, who are the false Christ’s Jesus warned us about? Can a false Christ also be a false idea or misconception about Christ? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Mark 13:24-32. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What great event is described here?

Apply: Is it possible for us to believe Jesus is coming soon but still plan like He is not coming in our lifetime? Why or why not is this a good idea?

Share: Can you think of some friends who would be encouraged to be reminded Jesus is coming again? How can you share this hope with them this week?

by In Light Of The Cross

9: Jerusalem Controversies-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

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Prepared by William Earnhardt, for Sabbath School Class August 31, 2024.

Main Theme: While the religious leaders tried to defeat Jesus they never could. Jesus’ teaching and examples will help truth to be victorious in our day as well.

Read in Class: Mark 11:12-26. Ask the class to define the main idea of this passages.

Study:  What is the significance of the events depicted here?

Apply: What things in your life do you need Jesus to clean? How does this happen?

Share: Your friend asks you, what if Jesus came into our church today? What signs of irreverance might He find? What do you tell your friend? What solutions might you share with your friend?

Read in Class: Mark 11:27-33. Ask the class the define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What challenge did the religious leaders bring to Jesus, and how did He respond?

Apply: Read Mark 12:1-12. How did this story apply to those accusing Jesus?

Share: Your friend tells you she has been trying to share with her inlaws Bible truths she has been learning in the Adventist Church. However, one of her inlaws is a pastor of another denomination. Her inlaws tell her they will listen to their relative pastor, but not to her because she is not a pastor, and has no authority to be trying to teach the Bible to them. What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Mark 12:13-27. Ask the class to summarize this passage.

Study: What is going on here, and what truths does Jesus teach?

Apply: If someone were to ask you, “Do you know the power of God?” what would you reply, and why?

Share: Your friend asks what Jesus meant when He said, “But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.” Your friend asks you if this means Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are still alive right now? What do you tell your friend?  

Read in Class: Mark 12:28-34. Ask the class to summarize this passage.

Study: What deep question did the friendly scribe ask, and what double response did Jesus give?

Apply: How do we learn to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves? Why is the Cross the key to following these commands?

Share: At the end of Mark 12:28-34 it says “no one dared ask Him any questions after that.” Your friend asks you what it was about that teaching that made them stop asking Jesus questions? What do you tell your friend?

by In Light Of The Cross

Meeting the Needs of the Community

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So Jesus answered and said to him, “What do you want Me to do for you?…” Mark 10:51 NKJV

While we were studying last week’s Sabbath School lesson in class, a friend told an interesting and disturbing story. She said several years ago her stepfather was in the hospital. A “sunshine band” from her local Adventist church came into his room and told him they would sing for him. He told them he was glad to visit but did not wish to be sung to. The sunshine band simply would not take no for an answer. They knew this man needed to be sung to regardless of what he thought or said. So they proceeded to sing around his bed, so sure this would cheer him up. He got so frustrated he tried to get up from bed and leave! Joyful members of the sunshine band pinned him down as the others joyfully sang, convincing themselves this was just what the patient needed, despite his vocal and physical protests.

This did absolutely nothing to endear this man to the church or to God, but the sunshine band members walked out of his hospital room patting themselves on the back for faithfully completing their mission. 

It was after my friend’s testimony in class that we read Mark 10:46-52. After the passage was read, another friend said, “Notice Jesus asked the man what he wanted Jesus to do for him.” After our friend’s story about her stepfather this observation was huge. We talked about how often a church will choose a “cookie cutter” form of evangelism for their community instead of finding out exactly what their own community wants or actually needs. We may want to do a Revelation Seminar, but what if the community needs a divorce recovery workshop instead? I know Revelation is important. You don’t have to tell me. I have been teaching and preaching Revelation for years. But when we have a Revelation seminar which no one comes to, can we really say we did our best and its the community’s fault no one showed up? After all, no one got on the ark with Noah and his family, right? All we can do is preach and if no one comes to hear that’s their fault, right? 

Well, did we even ask the community what they wanted, like Jesus asked the man in Mark 10:46-52 what he wanted? If we do a survey in the community and the majority ask for a divorce recovery workshop, and no one  asks for a Revelation seminar, it makes more sense to do the divorce recovery workshop, because people will actually show up, and after all, the Bible not only teaches us about last day events. The Bible also teaches us

we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, Titus 2:12 NKJV

Meaning, while prophecy is important, people also need to learn how to live like Jesus in ever day life. There is more to righteous and godly living than just knowing about last day events. We need to be interested in the community’s day to day lives and needs. 

Then again, maybe your community is asking for Revelation seminars. The point is, Jesus did not tell the man in Mark 10:46-52 what he needed. He asked him what he wanted. As my Sabbath School class discussed last week, we need to follow Jesus’ example of asking people what they want instead of being like the “sunshine band,” that pinned a man down in his bed making him take what they thought he needed. 

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

by In Light Of The Cross

Mentoring or Grooming

A while back I was watching my favorite show at the time, Unsolved Mysteries. This episode was about a young boy who was mentored by a young man. Since it was Unsolved Mysteries, where we’re often told to call their phone number to catch the bad guys, I was bracing myself for the turn in the story, when the man would harm the boy. That time never came. Instead the boy, now grown, was using the show to find his mentor, to thank him for being such a great friend in his time of need. It turned out to be a heart warming story about an adult mentoring a child.

Sadly the media often shares the horror stories which have made a few of my friends, both male and female, afraid to mentor children, even though they would make amazing mentors.. The horror stories, sadly mostly true, that get passed from church to church, scare legitimate mentors away from helping children as well. They do not want their intentions to be misconstrued.

A while back in a school I was working with, I heard an excellent discussion about child safety, which mentioned grooming. Grooming is where an adult with ill intentions, over time gains the trust of a child, only to abuse that trust. During the talk, it occurred to me, exactly why some would-be great mentors refuse to mentor. Is it possible to them, mentoring and grooming look alike? After all Satan has to have his counterfeit for everything good. He knows how vitally important mentoring is, so he wants his counterfeit, grooming to look like mentoring. This gives him a double victory. He can destroy innocent lives through grooming, and make good people afraid to mentor for fear they will be considered groomers. As a matter of fact, before I started writing this, I Googled, “Mentoring and grooming,” and found this website saying that grooming and mentoring are synonyms! That gave me a hunch that I may be on to something.

So I thought it might be a good idea if potential mentors could have a clear picture of mentoring, and a clear picture of grooming, so they could tell them both apart. I realize I am not an authority on the subject, so I would like to paint a picture of both just to get the ball rolling, and hopefully some people a lot more skilled than I am can chime in and agree or disagree and add some insight. Here goes:

Mentoring: A coach works with a group of children and other adult coaches to give each child a sense of belonging to the group and community. When a particular child needs extra coaching, the parents and/or child approaches the coach, and the coach gives the extra instruction on the group site, only as requested and needed. The goal of the coach is to get the child back into the group mainstream. The coach networks to get the child the help he/she needs. If Sally needs extra help memorizing her Sabbath School memory verse, the coach will share tips, like word associations, and then encourage other students and/or coaches to practice with Sally. The coach wants Sally to feel like she is a valued part of the community, and trains Sally to be a useful and healthy member of the group and community. Regardless of the genders of the mentor and child, regardless of how long the mentor has known the child, regardless of how close the mentor is to the family, the mentor will never under any circumstances allow themselves to be alone with the child. Mentoring is community driven and social in nature.

Grooming: A coach meets a child in a group, but then isolates the child from the group, under the guise that the child needs extra and “special” training that only the coach can give. The coach may even claim that Sally should not be working with others, as she may become “confused” by the tips others may give her along with the tips the coach provides. The coach wants Sally to feel like she is special when she is alone with the coach, instead of feeling special to the entire group. Instead of training Sally to be a healthy member of the group and community, the coach teaches Sally to rely on her/him and the special instruction only she/he can give. The coach may even suggest time alone to properly mentor Sally but remember, Regardless of the genders of the mentor and child, regardless of how long the mentor has known the child, regardless of how close the mentor is to the family, a legitimate mentor will never under any circumstances allow themselves to be alone with the child. A groomer plans on being alone with the child at some point even if it is in several years. The legitimage mentor has no plans or intentions of ever being alone with the child-ever. Grooming is one-on-one driven, and is isolating in nature.

I hope together, we can give a clear picture of what healthy mentoring looks like, as boys and girls can use, not one or two, but many positive male and female mentors in their lives. The more the merrier-and the healthier!

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