Category: Lessons

Revelation

• Lesson 5 for the week of April 25 to May 2

One of the foundational beliefs of Christians is that God exists and has revealed himself to us.  Theologians typically talk about two main types of revelation: general (or “natural”) revelation and special revelation. General revelation...

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Life

• Lesson 4 for the week of April 18 to April 25

Every culture has a hierarchy of values.  This is usually informal, but each member of that culture comes to recognize that some values are more important than others.  The lesson this week focuses on life-physical...

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Hope

• Lesson 3 for the week of April 11 to April 18

A century ago, many of those living in the so-called Western world were very optimistic about human nature and thus, very optimistic about the future. How much of this optimism remains is open to debate. ...

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Faith

• Lesson 2 for the week of April 4 to April 11

One of the challenges of talking about faith is that the word has so many different connotations.  As you reflect on the questions below, it may be valuable to list the many different ways in...

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Love

• Lesson 1 for the week of March 28 to April 4

This quarter, our discussion guide explores two related elements of the Christian life: doctrine and experience.  Each week, we will focus on one theme and, as Bruinsma suggests, we will “attempt to maintain a careful...

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Introduction

• Introduction

Before using this discussion guide, the reader should be aware of several assumptions made by the author. First, I assume this study guide will be used in close connection with the Adult Sabbath School Study...

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Confidence in the Prophetic Gift

• Lesson 13 for the week of March 21 to March 28

Theme: Confidence in the Prophetic Gift Leading Question: How does one develop confidence in the “prophetic gift”? If one starts with the question of how one develops “confidence” in a person, or in anything, for...

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The Blessings of the Prophetic Gift

• Lesson 12 for the week of March 14 to March 21

Theme: Blessings of the Prophetic Gift Leading Question: Is the prophetic gift more important for blazing a new trail or defending old landmarks? In Adventist History, two key words represent the poles between which any...

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Interpreting the Prophetic Writings

• Lesson 11 for the week of March 7 to March 14

Theme: Interpreting the Prophetic Writings Leading Question: Can a person be saved who has never heard of the Bible or listened to its message? 1. Interpreting prophetic writings: helpful, but not essential (Rom 2:14-16).  In...

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The Message of the Prophets

• Lesson 10 for the week of February 28 to March 7

Theme: The Message of the Prophets Leading Question: To what extent is it the responsibility of prophets to help God’s people retain doctrinal integrity? While it is very important for a believing community to hold...

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The Integrity of the Prophetic Gift

• Lesson 9 for the week of February 21 to February 28

Theme: The Integrity of the Prophetic Gift Leading Question: When speaking of prophetic messengers, what does the word “integrity” mean, as in the phrase, “The Integrity of the Prophetic Gift”? When scholars in the 19th...

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The Authority of the Prophets

• Lesson 8 for the week of February 14 to February 21

Theme: The Authority of the Prophets Leading Question: With reference to three kinds of prophetic voices, how does  the authority of a prophetic messenger differ: a living prophetic voice, a deceased prophet who has left...

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The Work of the Prophets

• Lesson 7 for the week of February 7 to February 14

Theme: The Work of the Prophets Leading Question: Is the work of the prophet primarily to bring good news or bad? The work of Ellen White parallels the work of the biblical prophets in both...

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Testing the Prophets

• Lesson 6 for the week of January 31 to February 7

Theme: Testing the Prophets Leading Question: To what extent should we simply “believe” the prophets?  Or should we also invoke our  critical and analytical powers to test them as well? When one is reading or...

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