Standard Edition | Teacher’s Edition | Easy Reading Edition
Years ago, one of our Adventist magazines published a parable about a dreadful swamp. As people passed along the path going through it, they were often overcome and fell in. Their dying cries could be heard all through the nearby village. It was terrible.
The people held a village council. In fact, they held many village councils. Various theories and papers were presented analyzing the cause and sometimes even proposing
solutions. But nothing was ever done except to continue meeting and talking. Over the years, the discussions continued. People wrote dissertations on the topic. Guest lecturers were brought in. Yard sales were held to raise money so that meals could be provided to those who sacrificed so many hours sitting in these meetings.
Eventually, money was raised to build a soundproof meeting room so that the cries
of the lost and dying would not disrupt the ongoing discussions. But nobody did
anything to help those who were in trouble. And nobody did anything to try to stop
more people from being lost in the swamp. They just talked.
The church as a whole and your Sabbath School class in particular don’t
want to be like the people in that village. We love our time together to pray,
think, share, and discuss. But we long to go beyond this and actually do
something for and with those around us. We want to make a difference in our
communities and around the world. We want the work to be finished, and we
want Jesus to return.
This quarter’s Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide is designed to focus attention on
getting out there and doing something. We will examine many wonderful Bible stories.
We will read about exciting experiences and illustrations. We will learn about available
resources to assist us in reaching out to our neighbors (especially to those who have no
Christian background). But those will just be ways of illustrating and motivating us. The
real focus, the real heart, of each lesson is what will be shared on Thursday each week—a challenge to get out and actually do something.
We will share theological insights and provide tools and ideas for you to work with. And each
Thursday’s portion of the lesson will issue a careful progression of challenges. It will begin with what’s easy. And as the quarter goes along, there will be subtle (and not so subtle) increases in the challenge. The goal is for each of us to take the challenge, pray for the Holy Spirit to guide us, apply what we’ve learned, and then spend a few minutes in the next week discussing how it went. This isn’t to be a time of boasting, but a time of sharing—both about what went well and what didn’t. As we share, the group will generate ideas. Prayer lists will grow (personal and collective).
In the end, it is our desire that this quarter be remembered, but not for memorable thoughts, engaging stories, or deep theological concepts. These may be there—lots of them. But it is our desire that we will all look back on this quarter as the time when the Holy Spirit took our humble efforts and worked mission miracles for the honor and glory of God’s name.
LESSONS
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