Hmmmm.

The title of this weeks lesson is...
"THE STRUGGLE TO BE REAL"

Do you think the quarterly author for your quarterly is struggling too much??

Do you want to tell them to "GET REAL" ???

What if the picture was of a man?

MUST ANALYZE>>MUST ANALYZE>>>what was obnoxious/insulting/offending....??
the hairdo or the eyes or the gimmick? Maybe tells about the messenger...or what the messenger thinks of the audience??

The church has about one hour a week to counter the sensational/ secular humanistic message and brainwashing of the system of the world.

The suggestion to wake up the class...is it for the teacher?
Since it got in the quarterly...does the implication mean something like the title of this thread topic??

For perspective....remember that the prophets used some strange/abstract ways to get their listeners attention and point across.

Well, I understand the cartoon...there just needs to be some training or something substantive past the goal of a
WAKE UP CALL.
Also..it is part of the norm these days to use hyperbole in communication.
You are not using the usual quarterly..maybe the cornerstone or collegiate?

Wanted to share what happened last week in class.
On Nic and the Samaritan women.

Several of the class helped read 20 verses in chapter 3 and 30 verses in chapter 4

Since ch 3 included John 3:16 I asked of the members what their favorite bible verse was and 4 shared.
We talked about unconverted clergy, I read a quote from George Whitefield.. I mentioned the tough questions from that thread on this site.

we got into despised groups in contemporary society and talked about racism amd prejudice. we covered what grace is...I read a moving short story about a nerd who was considering suicide...I shared about what true worship was from the Desire of Ages ...since ch 4 deals with worship..
several people talked on the racism issue..since the class is multiracial..

more than 1/2 the class participated actively...

and we still had time to read more than 50 verses from the bible...
SO THERE!!!!!

JESUS WAS LIFTED UP..AS A LOVING, UNDERSTANDING, APPROACHABLE GOD

I DON'T MESS AROUND WHEN I LEAD A CLASS

THE NERD STORY

One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school. His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd." I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on. As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten
feet from him. He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes. My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him and as he crawled around looking for his glasses, and I saw a tear in his eye. As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks. They really should get lives." He
looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!" There was a big smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude. I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before. He said he had gone to
private school before now. I would have never hung out with a private school kid before. We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends. He said yes. We hung out all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him, and my friends thought the same of him. Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the
huge stack of books again. I stopped him and said,
"Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!" He just laughed and handed me half the books. Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends. When we were seniors, we began to think about college. Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I was going to Duke. I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem. He was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship. Kyle was valedictorian of our class. I teased him all the time about being a nerd. He had to prepare a speech for graduation.
I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak. Graduation day, I saw Kyle. He looked great. He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school. He filled out and actually looked good in glasses.
He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him. Boy, sometimes I was jealous.
Today was one of those days. I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!" He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled. "Thanks," he said.
As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began. "Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends. I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them. I am going to tell you a story." I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met. He had planned to kill himself over the weekend. He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn't have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home. He looked hard at me and gave me
a little smile. "Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable." I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome,
popular boy told us all about his weakest moment. I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realize it's depth. Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture you can change a person's life. For better or for worse.
God puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way. Look for God in others.

That's the second time that story has made me cry. Is it copyrighted? Are you the author? If not, do you know who is?
Thank you for sharing it with us.

Wayne,

I am not the author..I read this is sabbath school class last sabbath and started choking up during the speech part..sheeshh..really moving isn't it..??
I read it on another Christian site forum and copied it to print out to read in class..
since the lesson dealt with despised groups and nerds are in a way despised at schools..I read it in class during the discussion on the 4th ch of John.

OK...

The lesson uses the "L" word for this week.
I would be interested in the discussion that takes place in any of your classes on the "L" word...

On sabbath, went to visit my old home church and sat in the larger ss class..
Did my usual adding to the teacher's comments..

When toward the latter part of the ss hour I mentioned about the Passion movie and the poll in my #113768 post on page 2 of the Mel Gibson's Passion of Christ thread...heads turned...this really got their attention...was like..the sabbath school was BORING HO HUM until MOVIE TIME!!!

Since the lesson was about the "Good shepherd"...we discussed bad shepherds too. Mentioned the statistics in the 2nd table

Also about who killed Jesus..and the teacher read in John how he lays down his life willingly and nobody could kill Jesus before the time even if they tried..

The most participation came when the movie was discussed
"Hooray for Hollywood"...sheesh!
what happened in your class?
Any movie talk?
Any gay and lesbian marriage talk?
we had a very active class...

Some remember the Sabbath School survey records about daily lesson study, sharing one's faith, works of charity, items turned into Dorcas or whatever.

I am thinking of bugging the sabbath school superintendent to make out a QUARTERLY survey sheet..can be anonymous...that would be turned in and reviewed...it would have something like.

Do you look at your SS lesson
before the class..??
Answers - Most of the time...usually ...hardly ever..what SS lesson?