Lesson 5 (Oct 27-Nov 2), The Experience of Unity in the Early Church

Days of Preparation

1. What kinds of adversity bring a church together? What developments can we envision in the near future that will drive the church to unite?
2. While waiting ten days for the Holy Spirit, how would the disciples have spent their time together?
3. What will it take to get Adventists to spend whole days in prayer together?

From Babel to Pentecost

1. Why do Christians not have feasts of celebration like the Jews had? Is it improper to celebrate like pentecostals in church?
2. Why did the Holy Spirit come with a noise (of wind), when He could have come quietly? Was there some significance to that?
3. Does the Holy Spirit bestow gifts of tongues today? How could that be manifested?
4. Since several languages are dying out, is it possible that the world will be of one language again? What was the purpose of confusing languages at Babel? Do those purposes still exist or not?

Unity or Fellowship

1. How was it possible to prepare three thousand people for baptism in one day? Can that be done today?
2. Is it acceptable to baptise people first and then teach them later, or should all the teaching be done first?
3. Is the breaking of bread more important than the wine at communion? Why is breaking bread mentioned more often?
4. Should the Adventists church celebrate communion more often than once a quarter?

Generosity and Greed

1. Should our local churches be sharing their wealth with each other like they did in the time of the Apostles? If not why not?
2. In the spirit of sharing and caring in the apostolic era would it have been wrong for Ananias and Sapphira to keep back some of the proceeds from the sale of their land?
3. What was the real sin of Ananias and Sapphira?

Remember the Poor

1. Considering that people in the apostolic era and also those who lived in the 1840s sold their land prematurely and were left destitute when Jesus did not return in their life time, how will we know when it is really time for us to dispose of our properties?
2. Since it is hard to know how much a person has saved, how can we know who the real poor are so we can avoid giving to those who might actually have more than we have?

Lesson 4 (Oct 20-26), The Key to Unity

Blessings in Christ

1. Are adopted children like second-class family members? What could contribute to as strong a sense of "belonging" as biological members might feel?
2. Why do some people believe that God has predestined some for salvation and others for damnation?
3. Has God persevered more in saving some people and neglected some others?

Breaking Down the Wall

1. Why were Jews against allowing Gentiles and women into the temple proper? What harm was there?
2. What categories of people if any might be unwelcome in an Adventist church?
3. Why do some Adventist churches in South India ban women and children from the main platform? Is this justified?

Unity in One Body

1. Is the idea of "one caste" or "one class"included in any of the following listed by Paul --one body, one faith, one baptism, one hope? 
2. What are ingredients of success in achieving unity?
3. What are the advantages and disadvantages in organizing church conferences and unions on the basis of ethnicity and language?

Church Leaders and Unity

1. Is leadership a gift one is born with or does it need to be cultivated?
2. What are the qualities of a good Christian leader? Which ones, if any are peculiar to leadership of a religious organization compared with a secular one?
3. Would Jesus accept a post as president in the Adventist church?

Human Relationships in Christ

1. Why does poor relationships with others disqualify one for church leadership? What damages could result?
2. How much importance is given to the home situation of a candidate when selecting church leaders? 
3. How much involvement in evangelism can be expected of a conference president?

Lesson 3 (Oct 13-19), That They All May Be One

Jesus Prays for Himself

1. Why did Jesus need to pray for Himself? Could He not do everything the Father could?
2. How is knowing God eternal life? Can one know God through other gods?
3. Why did Job say he knew God before his affliction through hearing and after his affliction by seeing? How serious is the difference? Wasn't his earlier knowledge of God sufficient for his salvation?

Jesus Prays for His Disciples

1. Why did Jesus have reason to be concerned about his disciples? Why didn't Jesus address their disunity himself instead of praying to God for them to be one?
2. Shouldn't unity come from within the group rather than from above? What is the attitude that leads to unity?
3. What does it mean to be "not of this world?"

For Those Who Will Believe in Me

1. Why was Jesus so concerned about unity of Christians? Would a united Christianity have been more effective than many smaller denominations working in different ways?
2. How are the Father and Jesus in unity but not in uniformity?
3. Why did Jesus make no mention of the Holy Spirit in the unity he shared with His Father?

Unity Among Christians

1. Should Adventists participate in ecumenical movements to unite Christianity?
2. Should Adventists engage in fellowship activities with other Christians?
3. When Jesus used the term "not of this world," did he mean non Christians or non Adventists? 

Our Faith Shared in Love

1. On a scale of 1-10 how united is the Adventist church?
2. Is it possible to really love people we don't know intimately? Aren't there some people whom loving would be burdensome? If there are how is it more our problem than theirs?
3. Is something wrong if it is necessary to sacrifice in order to love?

Lesson 2 (Oct 6-12), Causes of Disunity

Return O Backsliding Children

1. Why did the Israelites keep falling into idol worship when they knew from past experiences that they would suffer consequences
2. Why did God tolerate their repeated failures for hundreds of years?
3. Are those who are faithful to God rewarded consistently? Are those who are unfaithful punished regularly?

Right in His Eyes

1. What was the cause for anarchy and chaos during the period of the judges?
2. What are the benefits of belonging to a tribe? What are the curses of tribalism?
3. What are Seventh-day Adventists known for in our community? What should we be known for?

The Division of the Hebrew Nation

1. Why did God allow the ten tribes to be led by kings so wicked that eventually the kingdom had to be discarded?
2. How successful was Solomon's reign from God's point of view? Had God granted him the kind of wisdom he needed and asked for?
3. Why did Rehoboam prefer the advice of his friends?

Schism in Corinth

1. To what extent can quarrels and disunity in the church be blamed on outstanding characters in the church?
2. How can a pastor-evangelist or officer keep members of the church from getting too attached to him?
3. How visible and/or important should a conference or higher unit officer be in a local church?

Wolves Will Come

1. In today's scenario, who are the wolves who are a threat to the church?
2. What do we mean by sheep's clothing? What are some examples of wolves in sheep's clothing?
3. What are some trivial topics that are wasting the time and resources of the church in these days?
4. If there is disunity in a local church how should it be addressed? 

Lesson 1 (Sept 29-Oct 5), Creation and Fall

Love as a Foundation of Unity

1. Was love built into Adam and Eve or did it have to be developed?
2. Were Adam and Eve created virtuous or merely innocent? What does it mean that they were created perfect? How could perfect humans fail?
3. At what point did disunity enter, at the fall, before, or after?

The Consequences of the Fall

1. How did Adam and Eve learn to blame someone else?
2. Could Adam and Eve have defended themselves without blaming anyone else?
3. How did sin influence the relationship between Cain and Abel?

Further Disunity and Separation

1. What makes people launch out as pioneers in new lands? Why did the people not spread out after the flood?
2. How could the people forget God after such a major event as the flood?
3. How else could God have dispersed people besides confounding their language? What made the assault on language ideal for His purpose?

Abraham, Father of god's People

1. Do Muslims and Christians worship the same God?
2. Can it be argued that not all Adventists worship the same God?
3. Why could Abraham's sons and Isaac's sons not remain united like Jacob's sons? Do two sons have a harder time getting along than a dozen?

God's Chosen People

1. Why did God keep starting with one person at a time (Adam, Noah, Abraham), rather than with a group of people?
2. What qualities in Abraham attracted God? What weaknesses did he have? Did those have to be overcome, or did some remain till the end?
3. What makes Adventists believe that they are a chosen people, the remnant?