Exiles as Missionaries – Teaching Plan
[Lesson plan for July 25—31, 2015]
Key Thought : We have a mission to engage creatively with society and to demonstrate the power of faith within our culture.
1. Have a volunteer read Daniel 1:8-13.
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a. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
b. What do these texts tell us about Daniel’s character? Did that have an effect on those around him?
c. Personal Application: Id what we eat or don’t eat a powerful witness to those around us? Share your thoughts.
d. Case Study: One of your relatives states: “Do you think it was only Daniel who refused to eat the king’s meat out of all the exiles in Babylon? Why do you think the others compromised so easily?” How would you respond to your relative?
2. Have a volunteer read Daniel 2:47.
a. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
b. What does the king say that shows he has learned something about the true God from Daniel?
c. Personal Application: Look at your own life and answer the question, “What kind of witness does my life represent in the world?” Share your thoughts.
d. Case Study: One of your friends states, “How do you feel when you exercise spiritual courage in difficult situations? What emotions do you experience when you choose the easy way out?” How would you respond to your neighbor?
3. Have a volunteer read Daniel 7:13,14.
a. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
b. What focus is brought to light here by the statement that the Son of Man came to the Ancient of days? How does this connect with the second coming?
c. Personal Application: What are the outward characteristics that SDA’s should display to identify us as a people waiting to leave this world of bondage? Share your thoughts..
d. Case Study: One of your neighbors states, “Is this saying that Jesus won’t come until we do our work of preaching to the whole world? How do we understand this?” How would you respond to your friend?
4. Have a volunteer read Isaiah 39:5-7
a. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
b. Why did God tell the king that his people and their children would be taken in captivity for a long period of time?
c. Personal Application: Do you feel like you are a slave to your sinful nature and in captivity to the world? How anxious are you for Christ to come the second time? 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.” Ministry of Healing, p. 148)
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