05: Creation and Morality – Teaching Plan
Key Thought : Creation morality encourages belief in fixed standards of right and wrong and calls us to serve and protect that which we have power over.
[Teaching plan for Creation and Morality January 28, 2013]
1. Have a volunteer read Genesis 2:16,17.
A. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
B. Why did God have a tree of knowledge of good and evil in different inhabited places in the universe? Why did He need to have a test? Share your thoughts.
C. Personal Application: Did you tell you children not to do certain things or there would be severe consequences? Did they listen, or did they disregard your warnings? What’s the difference between most of the time, half-half, some of the time, or only once or twice? Share.
D. Case Study : One of your relatives states, “Adam didn’t sie the day he ate the fruit, so was God deceptive in His warning, or was there another meaning to the statement?” How would you respond to your relative?
2. Have a volunteer read Acts 17:26.
A. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
B. What are some of the challenges between the rich and the poor? In what ways do people gain riches? Why do some people never see riches?
C. Personal Application: Do you think there are moral obligations on those who have more abilities or resources than others? Share your thoughts.
D. Case Study: One of your friends states, “The different races of people support the evolutionary theory because their differences prove an adaptation process for the area of the world where they lived. The common ancestor model of Creationism is not supported by the differences in the races.” How would you respond to your friend?
3. Have a volunteer read Matthew 5:44-48.
A. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
B. What does it mean to love your enemy? Do I have to like them or what they are doing or what they are? If my enemy is evil, am I supposed to love evil? Share your thoughts.
C. Personal Application: Have you ever had an enemy or someone that has used you? Did you pray for them, bless them, do good to them, and love them? Share.
D. Case Study: One of your neighbors states, “I was not raised to be a doormat to anyone. I was taught to stand up for myself and not let anyone disrespect me or walk on me, and I teach my kids the same thing. Meekness is weakness. You got to be tough in a tough world or you’ll be eaten alive.” How would you respond to your neighbor?
4. Have a volunteer read Revelation 20:11-13.
A. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
B. Where does our morality come from? Are we inherently born with it, are we taught it in the family and society; what determines what a person’s moral code is?
C. Personal Application: Can a Christian have a moral code that may be different from God’s standard of judgment? Share your thoughts.
D. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.
(Note: “Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.” MH p. 149)