Yeah, I know what you mean.
But when the going gets tough, the tough get going.
Some call this the sledgehammer approach.
What I think is a challenge is when someone does that is to tangent off that with a follow up comment...or check to see if the quote is on target. Sometimes it is taken out of context and means the opposite of what the original intent was. Hey the reason I can say that is from my Pharisee days of yesteryear...

I will give you an example of the misapplication of EGW in my next post..have to dig up the quote.

To appreciate my sensitivity to this partial quote, you would have to know my pre SDA background.
I went to a mega church (8,000 members+)that was pastored by one of the best pastor/teachers in America. I don't mean doctrinally as much as his homiletics (art of preaching).
My experience with listening to sermons in general is one of disappointment ever since ..with a few exceptions.

So..when I experience these little sermonettes during communion or when there is a multibaptism.
OR
when the message time is taken up by an all music show
OR
when there is a Pathfinder day
or
Christmas program or
Mothers day handing out of the flowers
or
a testimonial hour
or
GET MY DRIFT??
this is the SDA way of voiding the law through tradition.

Here is the quote....
to support this no sermon mode...

" Our people should not be made to think that they need to listen to a sermon every Sabbath."

This is a snippet from Evangelism p 348

See they say , "even EGW says it is ok to delete the sermon."

Here it is with the the surrounding text....

Evangelism, page 348, paragraph 1
Chapter Title: Clinching the Interest
Often Make Sabbath Meeting a Bible Class.--It has often been presented to me that there should be less sermonizing by ministers acting merely as local pastors of churches, and that greater personal efforts should be put forth. Our people should not be made to think that they need to listen to a sermon every Sabbath. Many who listen frequently to sermons, even though the truth be presented in clear lines, learn but little. Often it would be more profitable if the Sabbath meetings were of the nature of a Bible class study. Bible truth should be presented in such a simple, interesting manner that all can easily understand and grasp the principles of salvation.-- Letter 192, 1906.

Got to be careful out there with those Rom 8:7 churchian
sons of Satan and daughters of the Devil.

Wheweee

Two men looked out
From behind prison bars.
The one saw the mud,
The other the stars.

Life is like that. We can see in everything or anything what we want.

If life hands you a lemon, make lemonade.

Meaning, if we feel that the SS lesson is boring, it may be "ME" as much as the teacher. Go to the class and see the stars, bring lemonade, and make a difference. Bring some of your excitement to class and share it. It may be contagious.

A friend had charge of a youth class in church. When the kids did not raise their hands to say that they had studied, he sent them up to their parents. One Mother said, "If my son did not come up to me, it is because he lied". Either that, or they would go outside and goof off.

This upset me so I approached his about it. He was adamant and said "I do not want them there.I told him, if the kids had not studied, they needed him to teach the lesson all the more. When asked if he would do this as a teacher in an adult class, he said "No". Wonder why.

After telling me something that was in error, he called and apologized and said he would not send the kids out anymore.

The moral: even if a person has not studied the lesson, s/he is there so FEED THEM!

There is one fellow who is the most bored and boring person in our church and he falls asleep in our class. I know that he seldom studies. When I taught the lesson, he actually surprised me with some good comments.

I always liked the teachers quarterly. There were thoughts there that were not in the lesson so I added some of that to give the class something that they may not have gotten otherwise.

It is interesting to study things from the past but we have the future of the hereafter to look forward too so better make sure that folks will understand the relevance of the lesson to our days and what is soon to happen.

Mopsie

I am going to share something now that might get your attention.

The SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH is currently studying Jonah for the sabbath school lesson. It consists of just 48 verses that can be read in 6 to 7 minutes out loud. BUT because of the usual TOPICAL approach the tendency is to cover one topic, maybe 2 each week. This week the focus was on judgement. SS lesson leaders, teachers, facilitators will most likely lead discussion involving judgement in general..maybe not even relevant to the book of Jonah...

Now I know in this age of quick sound bites that most in the congregation would greatly suffer trying to concentrate on listening to 6-7 minutes of scripture reading..especially at one time.
However I know that in some sabbath school classes the verses will not even be read over the course of 13 weeks.


It is now supposed to be a no no ,in some areas, to even ask the sabbath school class if they took opportunity to study or even look over the sabbath school lesson...too offensive or embarrassing.
I challenge you..the ones who are faithful attenders of your sabbath school class to see if the book of Jonah is ever read once this quarter in class, out loud, by the teacher or a few people taking turns. I also challenge any teacher out there to ask at the end of the quarter to see if any class members took the time to read the 48 verses of the book of Jonah..or have ever read the whole book of Jonah.

Keep this under wraps and wait til the end.
Write it on a paper and stick it in Lesson #13 of your quarterly..

What makes most people show up late at sabbath school?

Sabbath School is more than just the SS Lesson.
There are other parts to the program as well.

A question that all SS Super's should ask themselves and their staff is "what difference is SS to make in the lives of those that attend".

When I was SS superintendent, I wanted people to leave having

• done something that uplifted their spirits
  
• learnt more about God and the Bible
  
• learnt something that would make their lives better
  
• got involved in something in their church or their community
  

I felt that all but the last was achieved. I never did figure out how to get most people involved in anything.

/Bevin

busybob,
It's been 3 months since the thread started..is your sabbath school still long?

Sylvia,

When I was teaching, I would make the lesson into many, many questions that I would throw out to the class for discussion. I would not preach to them. I made every effort to get all members involved. I had a following of folks who still miss my class. Some would even come from a neighboring church to attend.

I always made a special point to ask how the lesson fit into our lives today and for the future. If we study the past and do not bring it down to our days, what is the purpose of the lesson?

With the thought that one picture is worth a thousand words, I would also bring some 'show and tell' to the class. The adults liked that as much as kids do and it helped the important thoughts to stick with folks better.

Shirley