1) The document discusses three candidates running for student association president - Candidate A is popular but his qualifications are mainly popularity, Candidate B seems the most qualified but lacks charisma, Candidate C is a nice guy who tutors and coaches community programs in his free time. 2) It discusses the importance of servant leadership, citing Bible passages about how true leaders serve others. Jesus set the example by washing his disciples' feet. 3) Real religion is serving those in need, as God requires acting justly, showing mercy, and humbling walking with Him. Christians are called to serve others as Jesus did.

1. Service and Servant LeadershipMay16,2015
Sunday
HERE’S WHAT I THINK
In this year’s student association elections, three candidates are
running. Candidate A, Jim, is an extremely popular student, a star basket-
ball player, active in the church youth group. He’s good-looking, and ev-
eryone likes him. Candidate B, Michele, is a quiet, studious girl who gets
straight A’s and wants to study law. Of the three of them she seems to
really have the best ideas about how student government should work
and what she can do to improve the school—but she’s not a whole lot of
fun. Candidate C, Dave, is a nice guy but not a superstar. His grades are
good enough to run for president but not straight A’s. He has lots of
friends, but he’s not what you’d call super-popular. Mostly, people know
Dave as someone who works hard. He tutors underprivileged kids at a
community center after school, he coaches a kids’ soccer team for free,
and he’s gone on two church mission trips and been the hardest-working
member of the team.
Whom are you going to vote for? What qualities do you think are most
important in a leader?
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.
“Businesses planned for service are apt to succeed; businesses planned
for profit are apt to fail.”—Nicholas Murray Butler, 19th-century U.S. educator.
“The service we render others is the rent we pay for our room on
earth.”—Wilfred Grenfell, early 20th-century missionary to Labrador.
“Whoever renders service to many puts himself in line for greatness—
great wealth, great return, great satisfaction, great reputation, and great
joy.”—Jim Rohn, 20th-century U.S. motivational speaker.
“I know of no great men except those who have rendered great service
to the human race.”—Voltaire, 18th-century French writer and philosopher.
“To serve is beautiful, but only if it is done with joy and a whole heart and
a free mind.”—Pearl S. Buck, 20th-century U.S. writer and missionary in China.
“The highest destiny of the individual is to serve rather than to rule.”
—Albert Einstein, 20th-century U.S. (German-born) physicist.
FEAST OF FOOLS
(What connection do you think the following illustration has with
the Bible texts in Wednesday’s section?)
Imagine you’re visiting the great Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris,
sometime around New Year’s Day in the year 1405. You walk into the
huge building expecting to see a solemn worship service. Instead, you
see the most amazing sight. Priests are dancing around the altar, wear-
ing their clothes inside out and chanting nonsense syllables instead of
the words of the service. The smell of incense fills the air—but it stinks,
because it’s made from smelly old shoes! And up the beautiful center
aisle of the church, two monks are leading—a donkey! You wonder,
What is going on here?
You’ve arrived just in time for the Feast of Fools, an unofficial
“holiday” popular during the Middle Ages. On that day, all the normal
rules are turned upside down. People are encouraged to let off a little
steam by behaving in bizarre ways, doing things that aren’t normally
considered appropriate.
In even earlier times, similar celebrations were held in many
different countries. One of the best known is the Roman festival of
Saturnalia, held in honor of the god Saturn. During this festival, everyone
changed places in society. Masters served their slaves, and children
were allowed to run the household. For a short time, everyone pre-
tended things were different. Those on the bottom of the ladder got to
pretend for one day that they were at the top.
Can you imagine celebrating the Feast of Fools, or Saturnalia, at
your school? You could sit in the principal’s office with your feet up on
the desk and give your teacher detention for talking too loudly or run-
ning in the halls. OK—so maybe the faculty won’t go for that idea!
Our society depends on the idea that some people give orders,
while others take orders. We all know who’s important, who’s at the
top, who’s in charge. But Jesus came preaching a bunch of seemingly
crazy ideas about an upside-down kingdom in which the “leaders” were
really the servants, dedicated to helping the people lower down on the
ladder. In this kingdom, Jesus said, the way to get ahead was by getting
down on your hands and knees to do the dirty work. The only way to
become great was to serve others. And Jesus didn’t suggest this as a
one-day crazy festival. No, He said this was how things should be every
day—in our homes, in our schools, in our churches.
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 . . .
Matthew 20:25-28 (CEV)
“But Jesus called the disciples together and said: ‘You know that foreign
rulers like to order their people around. And their great leaders have full
power over everyone they rule. But don’t act like them. If you want to be
great, you must be the servant of all the others. And if you want to be first,
you must be the slave of the rest. The Son of Man did not come to be a
slave master, but a slave who will give his life to rescue many people.’”
John 13:12-15 (CEV)
“After Jesus had washed his disciples’ feet and had put his outer gar-
ment back on, he sat down again. Then he said: ‘Do you understand
what I have done? You call me your teacher and Lord, and you should,
because that is who I am. And if your Lord and teacher has washed your
feet, you should do the same for each other. I have set the example,
and you should do for each other exactly what I have done for you.’”
Matthew 23:11, 12 (CEV)
“Whoever is the greatest should be the servant of the others. If you put
yourself above others, you will be put down. But if you humble yourself,
you will be honored.”
Luke 14:12-14 (CEV)
“When you give a dinner or a banquet, don’t invite your friends and
family and relatives and rich neighbors. If you do, they will invite you in
return, and you will be paid back. When you give a feast, invite the poor,
the crippled, the lame, and the blind. They cannot pay you back. But God
will bless you and reward you when his people rise from death.”
James 1:27 (Message)
“Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this:
Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against
corruption from the godless world.”
Micah 6:8 (NIV)
“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord
require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with
your God.”
Matthew 25:40 (CEV)
“Whenever you did it for any of my people, no matter how unimportant
they seemed, you did it for me.”
Friday
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Look back at yesterday’s suggestions for finding ways to serve. Then jot
down a few ideas about how God might be calling you to serve others:
Needs I see around me:
Tuesday
SO WHAT?
Sure, we all know Christians are supposed to help others. But most of
the time it seems like something you do for extra credit. You know—ac-
cept Jesus as your Savior, go to church, pray, read the Bible—and, if you
have time, go on a mission trip or sing at the nursing home on Sabbath
afternoon. Doing it makes you look good and maybe even feel good—but
is it really all that important?
According to Jesus, it’s at the dead-center of the Christian life. It’s what
He’s going to be looking for when He comes back again. And it’s the only
way to get ahead, to really succeed. Jesus isn’t impressed by your
grades, your sports trophies, your friends, your clothes, even your perfect
Sabbath School attendance record. A big shot in Jesus’ kingdom is some-
one who’s willing to get down on their knees and do the dirty work.
That’s why Jesus did that little object lesson where He got down and
washed the disciples’ dirty feet. Nobody else was willing to do it. Jesus
showed that a real leader, a real success, is the person who’s not afraid
to get their hands dirty—serving others.
Thursday
WHAT DOES THIS
HAVE TO DO WITH ME?
Maybe you see yourself as a leader . . . or maybe you don’t. Either
way, God is calling you to serve. That means serving Him by serving
others. But how do you make that a little more practical? How do you
know what God actually wants you to do for others?
Different people will get different answers to that question. But a good
start is to take a look around you. What are the needs you see in your
family, in your school, in your community? Who are the people who re-
ally need help?
Take a look at yourself, too. God blessed you with natural talents and abili-
ties, and He’ll help those to grow if you give them to Him to serve others.
Where can your gifts be used to connect with other people’s needs?
Remember Jesus washing those disciples’ feet. He was being humble—
putting Himself down in order to serve others. Real service may use your
natural gifts and talents, but it will also involve being humble. Not draw-
ing attention to yourself or getting praise for how great you are. Doing
things that may be difficult, that others might not appreciate or under-
stand. It might even mean getting your hands dirty!
Really serving others brings us closer to Jesus—and to other people, too!
Start looking for opportunities to answer God’s call to service today.
SERVICE AND SERVANT LEADERSHIP / May 16, 2015
Copyright © 2015 General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
Things I’m good at and enjoy doing:
Where do the two connect? (How can I use my gifts to meet others’
needs?)