PRACTICUM OF THE FIVE MINISTRIES IN SABBATH SCHOOL ACTION UNITS Sabbath School is a system of local church religious education that builds faith and practice. Based at the local church, Sabbath School build faith through study of the Scriptures and the doctrines and teachings of the Seventh-day Adventist. It builds practice through the application of biblical principles of the Seventh-day Adventist Church to the individual lives of the Sabbath School members. Faith involves growth in Bible knowledge and relationship with Jesus; (Know/ be). Practice involves Application Faith in the context of living and witnessing with Jesus. (Do). Therefore, Sabbath School that just studies the lesson misses the mark! Balanced Sabbath School targets the Goals of Bible Study, Community outreach, World Mission emphasis, Fellowship and nurture. Holistic/Balanced Sabbath School Classes emphasize study, Nurture, Fellowship, Prayer Ministry, Reclamation, outreach, and are World Mission Focused with an eye toward being relational Small Group Families.
The ideal Small Group Family size that has maximum productivity in mind emulates the pattern modeled by Jesus. His model was 12. People will tend to be enthusiastically and beneficially active in Sabbath School to the degree that their needs ( Recognition, Response, New Experiences, and Security ) are being met. Churches will experience greater growth when Sabbath School attendees are (1) Loved, (2) Valued, (3) Appreciated, (5) Encouraged to share and serve, (6) Experience their needs being met within a secure environment. Sabbath School is willing to shift from old methods to new and more effective ways of reaching people. The efficient leaders-pastors, elders, Sabbath School Directors are not afraid to try new approaches and to invest the resources needed to ensure that the church is healthy. Such leaders pray to choose care coordinators and facilitators who have passion for God and his work. They continue their own education in order to teach and train the church and model to the members. S. Joseph Kidder says: Church growth is teaching and training and modeling to the members to become what God desires them to so that they can win people to the Lord Jesus Christ and His church. Thus church growth is a spiritual and yet practical conviction combining the eternal principles of 2
God s Word with the practical insights of reaching the lost. ( The Big Four Secrets to a Thriving Church Family, p. 19) Solid preparation of Sabbath School lesson According to Ted Hamilton, solid preparation takes time, hours of time, time praying, reading, thinking, writing, planning, and organizing. Hamilton Says: The Bible is fundamentally different from any other matter of study. The Bible is God s redemptive revelation of Himself. It is in intended to elevate, enliven, and engage to quicken the heart and renew the mind. The Bible is God s written Word. Prayer is God s living Word. God s transcendent dialogue with human hearts, it is prayer that breathes life and lends power to the comprehension and teaching of the written word. (Called to preach, p. 51) This Sabbath School changes the life of people. It practices five ministries in the classes to reach the four objectives of Sabbath School. The four (4) objectives of Sabbath School: 1. Bible Study 2. Fellowship and mentoring 3. Community outreach 3
4. The emphasis on world mission The five (5) Ministries in the Action Units The Care Coordinators are responsible for 4 to 5 ministries in the classroom. The class monitor, leader or facilitator takes a maximum of 5 minutes at the beginning of the 20 minutes allocated to the Care Coordinators, to welcome everyone. The four (4) Care Coordinators Ministries are: Prayer Ministry: To pray for the needs of the people in the class, for families, parents, friends and work colleagues, evangelism, church projects, ask 2 or 3 persons to pray. Time Ministry: Sabbath School encourages the members to study the Scriptures and to apply them to their lives. To explain members to spend time with an absent person, call him; pay him/her a visit). It must train members for service and inspire them to witness. To develop projects to involve members in soul winning activities. Social Ministry: To foster a sense of community among members by developing friendships, having meetings outside the classroom, participation in social activities. Sabbath School is also a prime means for reclaiming inactive members and nurturing those who are newly baptized. 4
Money Ministry: It must present a clear vision of the global mission of Adventist Church. It is important to explain local and worldwide. Sabbath School promotes a personal, systematic, investment funds and self-denying commitment to create in members a desire to help fulfill the gospel commission. Application of the four objectives of the Sabbath School and the five ministries We need to explain how to use the five ministries to achieve the objectives of the Sabbath School. To do so, we will explain the activities that are related to each department. First Sabbath of the month: Sabbath of Evangelism Every Sabbath, Care Coordinators should pay special attention for the absentees. The first Sabbath of the month is dedicated to Evangelism. The Care Coordinator may ask the following question: Have you talked about Jesus to a person during the week? Can you tell your story to the class? Care Coordinators explain to the Action Units members that the Christians main duty is to witness for Christ. It is important to read the passage from John 1: 34-45 to discover the power of testimony for Christ. 5
This biblical passage allows Care Coordinators to explain to members how they should witness for Jesus. Biblical definition of Evangelism Evangelism is the proclamation of the good news of God's reconciliation with men through the death of Jesus. Marc Finley said: "The ultimate human need is to be reconciled with God. " (The Great Commission / Instructor Manual, p. 33). In the New Testament, evangelism has a relational character (John 4: 7-26). It is this relational character that convinces the unbelievers. You can discover that evangelism is a process. A process is something that has been developing progressively until it ends in a result. As a process, evangelism brings us to win souls for Christ and to lead people to a transforming experience with God. It prepares them to meet Jesus. This Sabbath of Evangelism will allow Sabbath School to achieve its third objective which is: preparing members to share their faith in the surrounding community. During this Sabbath of Evangelism, Time Ministry is applied. It takes time to serve the mission. Care Coordinators help the members understand that Jesus' Mission is to get people who are lost. 6
According to the passage in Luke 15: 1-10, there are two categories of lost. Those who are on the outside and those who are within. The lost that are outside are illustrated by the Parable of the lost sheep, while those inside are characterized by the Parable of the lost coin (Luke 15: 1-10). The Care Coordinators s intent is to educate members to put themselves at the service of others, in other words to be at the service of Adventists and the non- Adventists. You need to spend some of your time to call, visit, and help others. Today, our time is precious. We must provide time as a precious gift to others. Our own business should not prevent us from taking the time to help others. Time Ministry well spent, can help us to reach many non Adventists. While performing this ministry, the following points should be adressed: Sabbath School s members absenteeism Home visitations Invitation to Sabbath School Contact with absent to share faith The testimony of experiences with Jesus The missionary work, door-to-door, Bible studies Evangelism during leisure time (e.g., sports), friendship evangelism. An explanation of the church evangelism plans etc.. 7
The Ministry of Prayer takes action in praying for missionary work. The second Sabbath of the month belongs to investment funds During the Sabbath, the care coordinator speaks about the investment fund. He should explain that the investment fund is an offering that is based on a personal experience with God. It is a business experience. The second Sabbath of each month can be booked at Money Ministry. This ministry is designed to help achieving the fourth objective which is "Financing global and local missions." Care Coordinators explain the nature of all Sabbath School offerings. The Sabbath School has five types of offerings. Four are given to world missions and the other for the local church s Sabbath School s expenses. The four offerings for global missions are: the weekly offering (every Sabbath), the Investment Fund offering based on personal experience (people who have such an offering can bring it only the second Sabbath of each month), the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering (each thirteenth Sabbath of each quarter), and the Birthday or Recognition Offering (fourth Sabbath of each month). Where should we place Sabbath School s regular and special offerings? Since 2005, the North American Division voted that these four offerings are listed in the "Love-Offering Combined Budget» section of the tithing envelope. This combined budget will be distributed as follows: 8
Local Church Budget 75% Conference Budget 15% World Budget 10% Care Coordinators should take a few minutes [some time] to explain that the Sabbath School s offerings are used to finance evangelism projects locally and elsewhere, to build school and church buildings, etc. Local churches may receive a portion of these offerings if the member places his/her offering in "Love-Offering Combined Budget» section. With these offerings, the Sabbath School can participate in spreading the Three Angels message of Apocalypse 14: 6-13. Thus, the objective of World and local Sabbath School s missions funding is to financially support the work of God. At the end of the promotion, the Prayer Ministry must be used to pray to God to bless the donors and missions offerings. The third Sabbath is devoted to progress During this Sabbath, the Care Coordinators show the importance of the study of the Word of God. They motivate and encourage the study of the Word of God. The Ministry of the Study aims to help members love to study the Word of God. God sanctifies His people through the truth of His Word. Jesus prays that God sanctifies them by His truth, His word is truth (John 17: 9
17). God's will for every Christian is holiness [sanctification] (1 Thessalonians 4: 3). Without holiness no man shall see the Lord (Hebrews 12: 14). The Care Coordinator must implement the Ministry of Sudy the Word of God to attain the first Sabbath School goal: "The Study of the Word of God. It encourages them to study the Bible, read the books of the Spirit of Prophecy written by Ellen G. White, to consult Biblical dictionaries, biblical commentaries and participate in Bible studies offered at the church. We must explain that the first of the four Sabbath School s goals is to prepare God's people to meet Jesus and be equipped to preach the Three Angels message of Revelation 14:6-13 to the world. At the end of this period, the Care Coordinator applies the Prayer Ministry so that God's promise found in John 16: 13 and Acts 1: 8 is fulfilled in every School Sabbath member s life. We must remember that prayer leads to revival and the study of the Word of God brings reform and transformation (Nehemiah 1: 1-4, 8: 1, 2, 6-12). Fourth Sabbath: Birthday or recognition This Sabbath must have a social nature. During this Sabbath, the Care Coordinator puts the Social Ministry into practice to achieve the Sabbath 10
School s second objective; Fellowship and Mentoring. The purpose of this Social Ministry is to promote the social needs of Sabbath School s classes. People in the Church of Jesus Christ need others love, compassion, friendship and support. Sabbath School must put people at the center of its ministry. We need to create fellowship in Sabbath School s Action Units. People should feel that they are at home. Sabbath School s Action Units can create a committee for social activities. Care Coordinators and Facilitators can meet with Sabbath School leadership to create a Social Activities Committee. The task of this committee is to establish, once a month, a calendar of social events for all classes. This committee may prepare social events for non-adventists. Class members may have a Sabbath to eat together. They can meet at a member s home. Each class must appoint a director to promote fellowship. Study Ministry The Care Coordinators have completed their work. Now, Facilitators (Instructors) introduce the Ministry of Study. What is the role of the Facilitator? The role of the Facilitator of Adult Sabbath School is to help a small 11
group of members to grow in the study of the Word. He must direct his members in a meaningful and redemptive study of the Word of God. "It is very important that Sabbath School Teachers be able to recognize some basic principles in the preparation of a more effective Sabbath School teaching. There are three basic principles to be aware of: the knowledge of Christ, the knowledge of the Bible, and knowledge of the student. "And this is eternal life," said John, "that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.» (John 17:3). There are many things that the teacher should know. But first he must know Jesus Christ. (Ref. TEACHING TEACHERS TO TEACH, page 14, Copyright 1949, Southern Association) Ellen G. White said: «As the highest preparation for your work, I point you to the words, the life, the methods, of the Prince of teachers. I bid you consider Him. Here is your true ideal. Behold it; dwell upon it, until the Spirit of the divine Teacher shall take possession of your heart and life. Reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, you will be transformed into the same image. 2 Corinthians 3:18, this is the secret of power over your pupils. Reflect Him (Education, p. 282) During the revision of the lesson, the facilitator s (instructor s) duty is to seek to engage the members in discussions and active learning. "It is not wise for the facilitators to incessantly talk. To lecture is one of the teaching 12
methods the more abstract and the less effective. "(Facilitators Guide (Monitors) for Adult Sabbath School, p. 9) A facilitator should engage the members of Sabbath School and help them understand the lesson and apply it in their daily life. The Inductive Method should be used to attain such result. This practice facilitates the class members to participate in discussions; it also allows facilitators to ask questions. They review the main points of the week's lesson by asking great questions 4-5 to help members of the Sabbath School to participate. The following questions can be asked: What does the text or lesson say? (This is an issue that is the meaning of the text or lesson.) What is the lesson teaching us this week? (This is an issue that can understand the meaning of the lesson.) What God calls us to do, to be and to change in us through this lesson? 13