As this week’s Sabbath school lesson focuses on Living with Each Other, I am reminded how isolated our world is becoming. A couple of summers ago, I was in New York City riding the subways. On the subways, passengers mind their own business. Strangers don’t strike up conversations with other strangers. I get it. There … Continue reading –>
“[As a child] Jesus carried into His labor cheerfulness and tact. It requires much patience and spirituality to bring Bible religion into the home life and into the workshop, to bear the strain of worldly business, and yet keep the eye single to the glory of God. This is where Christ was a helper. He … Continue reading –>
Introduction Three admonitions, six imperatives, eight brief admonitions, and closing prayer. This is how Paul concludes his first letter to the Thessalonians. Fasten your seat belts. This could be an exhilarating and life-altering experience for us, sitting with the rest of the last-day believers in church homes and other meeting places around the world. What is Paul’s … Continue reading –>
Read 1 Thessalonians 5:23, 24. What does it mean to be “sanctified wholly” and “preserved blameless” at the coming of the Lord? Shouldn’t we be that way, even now? In today’s passage Paul returns to the language of prayer. His style is similar to that of 1 Thessalonians 3:11-13. His main theme is also similar: being found blameless … Continue reading –>
“Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22, NKJV). What is Paul saying to us here? How can these words be applied in our experience? What “form of evil” must you, in your own situation, work extra hard … Continue reading –>
Key Thought: Paul admonishes the Thessalonians on their attitude toward church leaders, keeping a positive Christian attitude, and how to relate to new light on prophecy. [Teaching plan for Church Life September 3. 2012] 1. Have a volunteer read I Thessalonians 5:12-15. A. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main … Continue reading –>
(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.) According to 1 Thessalonians 5:12-15, Christians need to learn how to accept and how to offer constructive criticism. That can happen only in the context of relationship. The bottom line is that every Christian needs to be accountable to others and needs to be willing to hold others accountable. A praying church will … Continue reading –>
(1 Thess. 5:14,15) In verses 12 and 13 Paul addresses ways in which members in the church should treat their leaders. In today’s passage (1 Thess. 5:14, 15), Paul turns his attention to the leaders of the church and how they should treat those under their care.Read 1 Thessalonians 5:14, 15. What are the ways in which Paul admonishes church … Continue reading –>
(1 Thess. 5:12, 13) The two verses at the heart of today’s lesson follow the concluding admonition of last week’s lesson to “encourage one another and build each other up” (1 Thess. 5:11, NIV). This work takes place in local churches, in the process of mentoring and discipleship. The lesson today focuses on how disciples should respond … Continue reading –>
1 Thess. 5:12-28 Read for This Week’s Study: 1 Thess. 5:12-28, Matt. 5:43-48, Gal. 5:22, Phil. 4:4, John 15:4-6. Memory Text: “Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:20,21, ESV). Key Thought: Paul gives these Thessalonians, both leaders and lay members, very practical as well as spiritual advice about how to relate to one another. Paul … Continue reading –>
