Why do you go?

What is the purpose of the sabbath school?
Do you go so you can be a sprinkler, to others, of the water of the Spirt..or to be a sponge?

Is it a time to feed on the word of God and then spend the rest of the week doing lay activities so spiritual indigestion takes place?

Is it a training ground for Christian soldiers or a 30 minute class for weekend warriors who spend the rest of the week behind enemy lines, flirting with the harlots of Babylon?

I recommend looking in the lesson and finding at least one thing of significance to bring to the class... Be it a spiritual gem or question or an argument with the author of the lesson due to a misunderstanding or possible error/typo.

Does your class teacher/leader even use any of the excellent material in the teacher's quarterly? Do they guide you through any of the material?..doesn't have to be word for word..however there are many principles addressed in the scripture texts...and call me cynical but I would guess that the majority of the sabbath school attenders don't even read the lesson all of the way through.

I remember years ago when the question was asked how many studied the lesson and even before that how many studied every day.
Now the question is hardly posed because it might OFFEND some busy TV watching worldly backsliding SDA-on-the-books churchian.
For heaven's sake, we can't let that happen.
We can't inquire or discipline anyone unless/until the open sin reaches the media.

But I digress slightly..

Are you bummed out on sabbath school Religion..because it is only that?

Does anyone teach about life enriching/covenant relationship spiritual matters anymore.Something that has relevant contemporary application for interpersonal relationships and vertical God-human relationships???

Are you saying this quarter "oh puhleeezzzz, Hebrews again?"
or "The sanctuary, you have to be kidding..I don't care if there are 1 or 2 or 3 compartments."

The hardest sabbath school I attended was at a church where the listener was allowed a 10 second sound bite max and the teacher hogged the rest of the time.

There are some timid sorts that want only a 2nd sermon by a lay person.

Just thought of this too..is your sabbath school a place where you hardly hear the scripture read at all during the class time due to the "I think this or I think that" comments?

Are you in a crowd where NO/ZERO EG White is allowed to be quoted or read..? She is thought of as a hallucinating false cult prophet?


Would you like a spiritual check up to see where you are presently headed?

Read the following and see which one fits.

A -
We are in the world, but we are not to be of the world. Jesus entreats that those for whom He died, may not lose their eternal reward by lavishing their affections on the things of this perishing earth, and so cheat themselves out of unending happiness. An enlightened judgment compels us to acknowledge that heavenly things are superior to the things of earth, and yet the depraved heart of man leads him to give precedence to the things of the world. The opinions of great men, the theories of science, falsely so-called, are blended with the truths of Holy Writ. {FE 182.1}

But the heart that is surrendered to God, loves the truth of God's word; for through the truth the soul is regenerated. The carnal mind finds no pleasure in contemplating the word of God, but he who is renewed in the spirit of his mind, sees new charms in the living oracles; for divine beauty and celestial light seem to shine in every passage. That which was to the carnal mind a desolate wilderness, to the spiritual mind becomes a land of living streams. That which to the unrenewed heart appeared a barren waste, to the converted soul becomes the garden of God, covered with fragrant buds and blooming flowers.

The Bible has been placed in the background, while the sayings of great men, so-called, have been taken in its stead. May the Lord forgive us the slight we have put upon His word. Through inestimable treasures are in the Bible, and it is like a mine full of precious ore, it is not valued, it is not searched, and its riches are not discovered. Mercy and truth and love are valuable beyond our power to calculate; we cannot have too great a supply of these treasures, and it is in the word of God we find out how we may become possessors of these heavenly riches, and yet why is it that the word of God is uninteresting to many professed Christians? Is it because the word of God is not spirit and is not life? Has Jesus put upon us an uninteresting task, when He commands us to "search the Scriptures"? Jesus says, "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." But spiritual things are spiritually discerned, and the reason of your lack of interest is that you lack the Spirit of God. When the heart is brought into harmony with the word, a new life will spring up within you, a new light will shine upon every line of the word, and it will become the voice of God to your soul. In this way you will take celestial observations, and know whither you are going, and be able to make the most of your privileges today. {FE 182}

OR

B-
With the word of God in his hands, every human being, wherever his lot in life may be cast, may have such companionship as he shall choose. In its pages he may hold converse with the noblest and best of the human race, and may listen to the voice of the Eternal as He speaks with men. As he studies and meditates upon the themes into which "the angels desire to look" (1 Peter 1:12), he may have their companionship. He may follow the steps of the heavenly Teacher, and listen to His words as when He taught on mountain and plain and sea. He may dwell in this world in the atmosphere of heaven, imparting to earth's sorrowing and tempted ones thoughts of hope and longings for holiness; himself coming closer and still closer into fellowship with the Unseen; like him of old who walked with God, drawing nearer and nearer the threshold of the eternal world, until the portals shall open, and he shall enter there. He will find himself no stranger. The voices that will greet him are the voices of the holy ones, who, unseen, were on earth his companions --voices that here he learned to distinguish and to love. He who through the word of God has lived in fellowship with heaven, will find himself at home in heaven's companionship. {Ed 127.1}

SABBATH SCHOOL IS THE HIGH POINT OF THE WEEK FOR ME.
I LOVE IT BETTER THAN MOST SERMONS.

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SABBATH SCHOOL IS THE HIGH POINT OF THE WEEK FOR ME.
I LOVE IT BETTER THAN MOST SERMONS.

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How does it change what you do with the rest of the week?

/Bevin

bevin,
Thanks for the reply/question.

My participation helps keep my altruistic attitude consistent in my social interaction the next week...and as I reflect on what transpired during the sabbath school, I endeavor to improve on the class by remebering the attenders comments and analyzing so I can minister to the needs. Many times the questions and/or comments are not fully/properly addressed due to time or complexity.
I attend a very vocal and active class.
As I hear issues/principles that are challenging to me as far as application, I meditate on these and commune with the Spirit and he assists with bible texts and relevance so I can minister in a relevant, contemporary and practical way.

Gives a taste of what the life of Christ, prophets and apostles was like. Awesome living!

JimBob7,

You would not find yourself bored in the Sabbath School class that I attend, It is very active and has great participation by everyone in the class. We take the weeks lesson and expand it to include Ellen White and other Adventist authors and some non Adventist authors as well. We also allow the mixture of personal examples of the lesson to be used.

On top of this we have come to the conclusion that 0ne hour on the Sabbath is not enough, so our class has set up a time to meet on Friday Evening to study and bring in the beginning of the Sabbath together. We meet for about 3-3 1/2 hours. this is a large group of about fifty people and growing. A very rich class that studies and interacts very well together, nobody has gone away felling empty or left out. We have several of the Pastors, Elders,and Deacons in our class, you would fit right in to this group.

But then this is just one group in a church of many groups. And in our church you can find those type of classes that are all lecture, and very little interaction from the lay people. And there are those classes were you would have trouble staying interested in. So it does depend on the teacher and how well they prepare, and on their qualification to teach. Some folks are just more skilled than others.

God Bless!

BusyBob

ChildofChrist wrote:

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a good teacher will allow others to express opinions but as long as they study, really study and bring out some material other than what is read in the regular adult quarterly. I find myself getting bored with the regurgitated reading. Why bother studying by reading and looking up the texts? Another thing that drives me crazy is going day by day..."and on Sunday's lesson...and on Monday's lesson" etc. I feel like I need not bother if we are going to do it in class...

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I teach a class that is sort of a combination of both you describe here. Part of the reason it is both types is because I find MOST people in the class haven't opened their quarterly since the previous Sabbath and have not gone through the lessons.

Several of the class members and myself bring in other materials to share based upon the lessons (including Mrs White's writings )but it is hard to bring those itmes into the conversation when more than 1/2 of the class has no clue what the lesson is about. We have free wheeling discussions on the lessons and get sidetracked often into other areas that while may not be directly related to the week's study still need to be explored as well.

Out of necessity (class members who do not open their books during the week) some classes end up becoming a regurgitation of what is in the quarterly (word for word) and having the folks answer the questions right then (because they didn't do them during the week) just so you can get to the outside sources and material you as the teacher and others (who actually did the lessons and enjoy the subject matter) have brought in to share based on the fundimental points brough out by the lesson. If they don't know what the lesson says it is hard for some of them to grasp what is being shared from the outside source. It is frustrating not only for the teacher but for the class members as well.

How do I know these folks haven't opened their quarterly or done looked up the text or answered the questions? It's easy I walk around in my class as I teach and I can see their books. Some are well worn, highlighted, underlined, answers writtne out etc. Others look as new as when they were passed out no writing or underlining, no highlighting, NOTHING in them at all and when you ask a question you can see it clearly on their faces that they haven't looked up the scripture or even pondered the question asked in the quarterly.

Oh yeah and every Sabbath school teacher knows there are those who sometimes should only be allowed 10 seconds to speak. If given longer they try to take over the class to steer it to their own particular personal agenda and not in the direction the rest of the class wants to go.

I agree with JimBob7's observations as well as yours regarding the class and what it should be. Unfortunatley sometimes circumstances don't allow us to have the ideal class.

The class that I teach is a small class -- only five of us, but it is a class that has seen fantastic changes in the individuals. We are all ladies, and I sometimes think of the class as the "walking wounded", as they have all had so many traumatic experiences, or some things in their lives that has nearly lost them to the church.

In our small class, tucked away in a very pleasant room far from the noise of other classes, we can spend time in nurture (and sometimes the wiping of tears), and mostly discussion based on the lesson.

I have found that the best way to lead this class is to have firmly fixed in my mind the three most important points in the lesson. There are the occasional days when someone has faced trauma of some kind, and where the nurture part of our class becomes the main focus, as the hurting person is reassured of God's love for them or the person for whom they want special prayer, and our love. The thoughts are then turned to the lesson -- and it is amazing how the points previously selected so easily fit right in to the situation.

Yes, there is sometimes one or two who have not studied the lesson right through, but I feel that it is of more benefit to make sure they understand the main thoughts of the lesson rather than boring the class with a verse-by-verse study.

Just a thought.

Beryl

Thank you for your post. It is encouraging to see your devotion to truth and the Remnant church. My fiance' likes to say,"If you are bored it is because you are boring." I have read through the other posts and was also encouraged by much of what was said. I must say, however , that a verse by verse study is not at all boring to me.In fact, I wish we spent more time defining our terms as revealed by Scripture rather than society. For me, more Scripture and Spirit of Prophecy and less thought process and bickering would be far more edifying.Thanks agin from the new guy.
P.S.- Are you a writer? It sounds like it.

Interesting questions and answers. It has been 5 1/2 years since I have regularly gone to an adult SS because I've been in Cradle Roll, Kindergarten, and now Primary. Interesting that there are many people who work for a lot of years with the kids and have a hard time transitioning to the adult SS. My mom has recently said No to being an assistant in Kindy, and she's been in the lower division SS classes since I was born, so 34 years. She has a hard time concentrating in the adult classes. I've talked with others who have said the same thing. At first I tried to keep up with the adult lesson, but it is just too hard when I'm never able to discuss it with anyone and I'm busy preparing for the children's divisions anyway.

I really like what Beryl said about her class. That is so important, and it sounds like her class is really filling a need, rather than warming seats!

M

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Are you in a crowd where NO/ZERO EG White is allowed to be quoted or read..? She is thought of as a hallucinating false cult prophet?

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No, it's more along the lines that when someone reads her, all thought processes stop.

I have been to so many classes where the teacher or the lessons are concentrating on the bible, and people are begining to think for themselves and move from a culture position, when some saint will bring up a quote from EGW and then the class becomes silent after that or far less discussion takes place after that. The thinking process has stopped among the class...

Strange how that should happen....