Lesson 6 | Real Time – faith | Sabbath School | Second Quarter 2015 http://sabbathschool.es/

1. The Body of Believers and MissionMay9,2015
Sunday
HERE’S WHAT I THINK
A group of youth was working on a service project together. They
were washing cars and cleaning them thoroughly, inside and out. No do-
nations were accepted; it was a gift to the community. Unfortunately, a
thoughtless comment about someone’s inadequacy at washing cars
slipped out. Everyone had been working so well together; however, in
one moment it seemed that the mission was gone, the team was split,
and what was fun had become a chore. What would you do if you were
the leader and had several hours of work left to do? How would you get
your team back on track?
When have you experienced synergy before? (When the whole is better
than the value of all the parts.) When have you had a great team success?
Describe what happened and show how the team was more effective
than any one person’s strengths.
Log on to www.guidemagazine.org/rtf to post your responses. Be up-
front and honest. Say what you think.
Monday
WHAT ARE THEY
TRYING TO SAY?
Different people, different opinions. Some of the quotations below
represent the views of true kingdom citizens; others may not. Can
you tell the difference? How do these statements compare with
what God is saying in His Word? After reviewing the texts in the
God Says . . . section of the lesson, write a statement that cap-
tures your belief. Be prepared to quote yourself at Sabbath School.
“You cannot sink someone else’s end of the boat and still keep your
own afloat.”—Charles Brower, U.S. advertising executive.
“We are made for cooperation, like feet, like hands, like eyelids, like the
rows of the upper and lower teeth. To act against one another then is
contrary to nature, and it is acting against one another to be vexed and
turn away.”—Marcus Aurelius, 1st-century Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher.
“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress, working
together is success.”—Henry Ford, 20th-century U.S. automobile manufacturer.
“The church is God’s appointed agency for the salvation of men. It was
organized for service, and its mission is to carry the gospel to the world.
From the beginning it has been God’s plan that through His church shall
be reflected to the world His fullness and His sufficiency.”—Ellen G. White,
19th-century inspired writer and church cofounder.
“The key people in the kingdom of heaven will be those who have un-
locked their hearts to the needs of others on earth.”—William A. Ward,
American college administrator (1921-1994).
ALL HANDS ON DECK
(What connection do you think the following illustration has with
the Bible texts in Wednesday’s section?)
The country of Ethiopia shows up in the Bible more than 30 times.
The gospel message was spread in Ethiopia; however, almost 2,000
years later the work of the Christian missionaries in the book of Acts
might have seemed unfruitful given the strong presence of Satan
worship in the Wallamos tribe in the early 1900s. The Wallamos would
celebrate their own “Passover meal” by sacrificing a bull to Satan and
placing the blood on their doorpost. Then they would make the entire
family eat the raw flesh of the animal. It was because of these demonic
practices that a Protestant missionary society in the Sudan sent a group
of 26 missionaries to work among the Wallamos people.
After eight years of diligent work, the missionaries had led a group
of 48 native people to Christ. This group started a local church. The team
of missionaries worked faithfully; however, their work was cut short
when Mussolini invaded Ethiopia on May 9, 1936 and demanded that all
the missionaries leave. On April 16, 1937 the missionaries met with the
small church for the last time and had Communion. They then rested the
work of the church on the small group of believers. As the missionaries
climbed into the army trucks they wondered how this group would fare
on their own. Deep inside, they believed in the power of God working
through the believers, but they couldn’t help being a little bit anxious for
this brand-new band of believers.
The invasion of Ethiopia took place before the beginning of World
War II, and it would be another seven years before any of the missionar-
ies could return to the church. On July 4, 1943, the missionaries returned
to the region hoping to find a few shreds of their gospel work still alive.
What they discovered was truly amazing. The story unfolded before
them. The Italian soldiers had tried to crush the little church. The leaders
were stripped and brutally beaten to the point where they couldn’t even
lay on their backs for months. In addition, several members of the small
band of believers had been beaten to death. However, the band of be-
lievers continued to preach and spread the gospel. When Wandaro, one
of the leaders, was beaten by the soldiers for his faith he would preach
to the crowds in between the whippings. Another, named Toro, shouted
out the main components of the gospel message as he was mercilessly
beaten. The conversion of people only grew as those who were beaten
and survived continued to preach the gospel to other villages. Working in
teams and small groups, they continued the work the missionaries had
started. The missionaries soon discovered that the 48 believers they had
left had multiplied into 18,000 believers among the surrounding villages.
Copyright © 2015 General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
Write your own quotation.
What I say is . . .
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Key Text: Choose one of the texts from Wednesday’s section of the lesson.
Write it here and memorize it this week.
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2. Wednesday
GOD SAYS . . .
Hebrews 10:23-25 (NIV)
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised
is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward
love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the
habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you
see the Day approaching.”
Luke 10:1, 2 (NIV)
“After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by
two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He
told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord
of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’”
Romans 12:3-5 (NIV)
“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of
yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with
sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to
each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members,
and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we,
though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the oth-
ers.”
1 Corinthians 12:12-20 (NIV)
“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form
one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so
as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we
were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up
of one part but of many.
“Now if the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not
belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the
body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not be-
long to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the
body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing
be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?
But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just
as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the
body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.”
1 Corinthians 12:27-30 (NIV)
“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And
God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third
teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance,
and of different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are
all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all
speak in tongues? Do all interpret?”
Ephesians 4:14-16 (NIV)
“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves,
and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning
and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking
the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature
body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body,
joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds
itself up in love, as each part does its work.”
Ephesians 2:19-22 (TLB)
“Now you are no longer strangers to God and foreigners to heaven, but
you are members of God’s very own family, citizens of God’s country,
and you belong in God’s household with every other Christian.
“What a foundation you stand on now: the apostles and the prophets;
and the cornerstone of the building is Jesus Christ himself! We who be-
lieve are carefully joined together with Christ as parts of a beautiful, con-
stantly growing temple for God. And you also are joined with him and with
each other by the Spirit, and are part of this dwelling place of God.”
Tuesday
SO WHAT?
While a group were building a church in Sarawak it became clear how all
the parts are needed for the whole project to work. For example, during
the building project, the early risers would bring bags of cement to be
mixed before breakfast. As every new person trickled in to help, more
work was accomplished; windows were placed in the walls, lumber was
cut, and water was distributed to thirsty workers. Some were encouraging,
others were teaching, still others were arguing about what needed to hap-
pen right away. The older, more experienced men and women found
young people listening to their wisdom. Those who were only young at
heart were inspired by the dedication of the youth. It was because all
hands were on deck that the goal of the mission prevailed. Not one person
could take credit, and not one person entertained the impossible notion
that they could have done it alone. So it is with the church—your church.
It is no wonder when Jesus said “You are the salt of the earth” and “You
are the light of the world,” He was using the plural form of “you.” In other
words, “You—when you all come together with all your mixed-up idiosyn-
crasies—you have a power greater than one person who seems great.”
Scan through the verses mentioned in this lesson, and you will see that
we were designed to need each other in the same way that the body
needs a hand, or a foot, or the eyes. It might be one of the most difficult
obstacles to overcome, but the collective work of a church on a mission
is the church at its finest. Don’t think for a moment that it will be easy,
but know that it is worth it. When we truly embrace this truth as a
church, we will have success beyond our wildest dreams. The possibili-
ties are endless.
Thursday
WHAT DOES THIS
HAVE TO DO WITH ME?
As you read the writings of Paul you can’t help noticing what a team
player he is. He is a legend, yet throughout his letters he names people
he notices doing the work of God. He learned this from God Himself. If
you ever wonder if God notices the little things you do, then be reminded
of the promise that “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to
completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6, NIV). What is so
amazing is the way that God sees both our strengths and weaknesses
and still believes the best is yet to come for all of us. Don’t miss out on
the moments in which you can join the crowd of believers as they work
toward heaven’s goal. At times, you might feel like one sheep in a huge
flock, but be reminded that the Shepherd knows your name.
THE BODY OF BELIEVERS AND MISSION / May 9, 2015
Copyright © 2015 General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
Friday
HOW DOES IT WORK?
The Last Chapter: Put yourself in Paul’s shoes and write a modern-day
chapter about your church. Make sure you reread Romans 16 to get a
feel for what Paul was doing. Try to sound like Paul—if you can. Use the
names of families, pastors, teachers, and elders to reflect the work that
is taking place in your area. Paul greeted them, acknowledged their gifts
and sacrifices, and simply said “hello.” Write your letter on the lines
below or on separate paper: