Welcome

Many Sabbath School class teachers either preach a sermon to their class or deliver a monologue on the whole lesson, going through it "day-by-day." The most rewarding sessions involve the members in discussion. These questions here are intended to stimulate the active participation of the members in your class. Of course pertinent information imparted by the teacher is also very valuable, for which there are many resources in print and on the internet. This site seeks to provide a resource for discussions.

If you are a member and not a teacher and your class is boring, try asking questions such as these in your class.

Saturday, 22 March 2014

Lesson 13 (Mar 22-28), The Cost of Discipleship

Why does God want His people to suffer? Why can't His followers have a nice happy life? Wouldn't that attract more people to His side?

Calculating Cost: First Priority

  1. Is it possibly to maintain peace in a home where one loves God and one hates Him, by worshipping quietly? 
  2. Where there is a conflict what comes first, honouring parents or agreeing with the spouse?
  3. How is it possible to love God whom we have not seen, more than family who are with us?

Bearing Our Cross

  1. What are examples of crosses we have to bear as Christians?
  2. Are crosses designed for is by God or by the devil?
  3. Does Christianity have to be a public declaration always? Can one conceal one's belief in a community that hates Christianity?

Disciplined Response

  1. Why can't Christians take life easy? Why is discipline important?
  2. Can all sinful propensities, all human weaknesses be truly overcome, or do we need to live with them? Can a person overcome love for a particular sin? 
  3. What was the experience of Paul? Had he been able to overcome temptation successfully?

Comparing Costs

  1. If there were no future life would it be worth being good?
  2. Was the salvation of the human race cheap or expensive?
  3. Is it cheaper to go to heaven or hell?

A Better Resurrection

  1. Why can we not be saved without dying, since Jesus died for us?
  2. Did Jesus know he was going to be resurrected?
  3. Does the hope of resurrection really affect our attitude to dying? 

Saturday, 15 March 2014

Lesson 12 (Mar 16-22), The Harvest and the Harvesters

Would Jesus have used the imagery of "harvest"if he could see how crops are harvested today? Why, or why not?

Beggar's Bread
  1. Would angels have done a better job in evangelizing the world? When does God intervene and send angels to guide people to trut?
  2. What causes some disciples  to be remembered better than others?  Why inspired some to write while others did not?
When Jesus Urged Patience
  1. Hasn't the Holy Spirit always been on the earth? Why did the disciples have to wait for the Spirit?
  2. If one evangelist is more successful than another is it because of the Spirit? Why would the Spirit assist one evangelist more than another? 
  3. Are the qualities of a harvester inherited or developed?
  4. Are Adventist evangelisits patient enough?
Exercising Authority
  1. How did Jesus convince His disciples to forsake everything and devote their entire energy to spreading His message?
  2. What comvinced the disciples that Jesus was who He said He was?
  3. How can we know that Jesus is with us in our witnessing?
Labourers For the Harvest
  1. Are we brinigng people into the church too quickly?
  2. Should we spend more energy in retaining members considering we are losing them in larger proportions than we should?
  3. How soon after conversion can new members be drafted into active witnessing?
Lost and Found
  1. Which is worse, to be lost outside the church or inside the church?
  2. What are examples of attitudes of church members, represented by the prodigal's older brother's attitude? What things do we hear and say that are equivqlent?

Saturday, 8 March 2014

Lesson 11 (Mar 9-15), Discipling Spiritual Leaders

Leadership Starts Here

  1. What qualities should a leader look for when picking assistants? How does prayer help in selecting people?
  2. Why didn't Jesus pick more disciples? What was the difference between the 12 and the 70? 

Knowledge and Experience: Part 1

  1. Why is it important for disciples to live and travel with their master? Why could they not go home after listening to His lectures?
  2. What is the difference between being taught by Jesus and by the Spirit?
  3. When we are taught by the Spirit, how do we know it is the Holy Spirit and not our own imagination?
Knowledge and Experience: Part 2

  1. Why is it important for disciples to live and travel with their master? Why could they not go home after listening to His lectures?
  2. What is the difference between being taught by Jesus and by the Spirit?
  3. When we are taught by the Spirit, how do we know it is the Holy Spirit and not our own imagination?
The Early Leaders

  1. Why did Jesus pick poor people to be his future leaders? Can we expect rich people to learn from poor people? Will the poor co,e to learn from the rich?
  2. Is the fact that Jesus excluded women from the 12 or the 70 reason enough not to have women pastors?
  3. Why did Jesus not turn away Judas from following Him? Could Judas have been sincere, but misguided?
What Jesus Left

  1. What are the top three qualities needed for a leader of God's church?
  2. Why do people change for the worse after they become leaders?
  3. Do third or fourth-generation Adventists make better leaders in the church? Why or why not?
  4. Why do we require our leaders to be ordained if Jesus did not ordain his disciples?

Thursday, 6 March 2014

Lesson 10 (Mar 2-8), Discipling the Nations

The Prophets Foretold

  1. Why didn't God commission more prophets like He forced Jonah to Nineveh?
  2. How could prophets like Baalam exist outside Israel? Was he a prophet of Yahweh?

Woe Unto Thee

  1. If God foreknew that Israel would fail, why didn't he select another people in the first place?
  2. What made the Israelites fail to recognize their mission to evangelize the world?
  3. How much better is the Adventist church than Israel as an organization? What about as individuals? 

We Would See Jesus

  1. What could be the motive in such a request as this which the Greeks made to Philip?
  2. Could they have made a better request? If so, what?

Breaking Down Barriers

  1. Did the disciples understand their mission to the world before the crucifixion or only after? How did they acquire that understanding?
  2. Did the Jews look down on all foreigners or only certain ones? 
  3. Did Jesus attitude to and illustrations involving Samaritans help the Jews appreciate them more or did it make things worse? 

The Great Commission

  1. Were missionaries in the former centuries more dedicated to the gospel commission? 
  2. Were the earliest Adventists faithful to the gospel commission or not? How would you rate Adventists compared with other denominations in fulfilling this commission? How do you come to this conclusion and what accounts for this situation?
  3. How do Adventists compare in supporting missions financially compared to other denominations?,On a scale of 1-10 what score would you give Adventists for their involvement in fulfilling the gospel commission?