GOD S MESSENGER (Part 1) Grade Levels: 9, 10 Objective: Ellen Harmon (White) accepted God s call to be His special messenger, to reveal His truth to others. In This Lesson Plan: Adventist Pioneer Story: Visions From God - Thought Questions - Journal Entry - Worksheet: Rays of Light Additional Assignments and Projects Ellen G. White Quotes THOUGHT QUESTIONS: (after reading the story) Suggested ways of incorporating thought questions in the classroom: A) Have a large class discussion. B) Divide students into groups and have them discuss the questions among themselves. C) Assign one or more questions and have students answer in paragraph form. 1. Why was Ellen Harmon hesitant about sharing what she had seen in her vision? If you had been in her shoes, how would you have felt? 2. Why do you think God chose a sickly, weak young girl to be His special messenger? 3. What was one of the ways God showed Ellen He was with her? 4. Ellen Harmon White was called to be God s special messenger. What does this mean for you and me today? ADVENTIST PIONEER STORY Visions From God Ellen Harmon was 17 years old when October 22, 1844, brought the Great Disappointment and Jesus didn t come as expected. A few weeks later, she was visiting in the home of a young friend, Mrs. Haines. Several other young women joined them for a prayer service. As they knelt to pray, God gave Ellen Harmon a vision, showing the travels of the Advent people to the City of God, and explaining that the light given before October 22 was genuine. There was no explanation of the Disappointment, but great was the assurance that God was leading. A week later God gave Ellen another vision. During this vision she was called to share with others the messages He gave her. God s angel said to her, Tell the people what I have told you. Ellen was a timid young woman, frail and sickly. She must have looked around to see to whom the angel was speaking. Surely he couldn t mean her! But the message came again: Tell the people what I have told you. How could she possibly do what God was asking of her? The 1
JOURNAL ENTRY: Have students spend 10-15 minutes writing their thoughts on the topic. This can be done at the beginning of the lesson to generate discussion material or it can be done later to help students recap what they ve been learning in class. Here are some suggested journal entry topics. 1. Ellen White and her writings 2. If Ellen White were alive today... 3. How I would feel if I were called to be God s special messenger 4. What I wish I knew about Ellen White WORKSHEET: Special Quotes Directions: See if you can figure out the message below, written by Ellen White in Selected Messages, book 1, page 27. The message contains every other word. The missing words are given in the Word Bank. Then answer the questions below. 1. What is Ellen White saying about her writings? 2. What does this mean to you? Answer: I do not write one article in the paper, expressing merely my own ideas. They are what God has opened before me in vision the precious rays of light shining from the throne. ADDITIONAL ASSIGNMENTS AND PROJECTS: 1. FIRST VISION: Read about Ellen White s first vision in Early Writings. Then draw a picture/poster illustrating the vision. Share your picture/poster and your knowledge of the first angel assured her that Jesus would be with her and guide her, and with this assurance she surrendered her fears to God and began her work for Him. Yes, she was willing to do His work. But how? She was young and thought the Advent believers wouldn t accept the revelations from someone her age and in such poor physical health. Knowing there was to be a meeting at her own home that night, she was so frightened of relating her vision to the little group that she literally ran away from home by asking someone to take her in a sleigh to a friend s house three or four miles away. The believers in Portland, Maine, thought that they d been disappointed on October 22 because they were mistaken in the time, and that Jesus would yet come in the near future. That, too, had been Ellen s belief before the vision in which she was shown that the time was correct but the event was wrong. Now she just couldn t face telling them something that was in opposition to that viewpoint. They would never believe her. Throughout the day Ellen felt greatly troubled by a sense of duty and commitment to God. She had promised God that she would deliver His messages, and now she was afraid. A feeling came over her that God had forsaken her. At last she surrendered and promised the Lord that if He d give her strength to get home she would deliver His message at the first opportunity. But by the time she got home the meeting was over, and the people had gone home. At the next meeting held in the Harmon home Ellen talked about her vision in detail. Instead of scorning her, the believers were happy to learn that there was a reason for the Disappointment. They had heard from others about her vision from God, and now to hear it from her own lips gave them great reassurance that God was leading. Still fearful, she received an encouraging visit from her angel. Deliver the message faithfully. Endure unto the end, and you shall eat the fruit of the tree of life and drink of the water of life. She committed her life to the Lord, ready to follow His leading, whatever the cost to herself. She asked God to open the way and she would follow. Not long afterward, Ellen was invited to speak in a town about 30 miles north of Portland. She saw the invitation as an 2
vision with at least one person during the week. 2. WHO WAS SHE?: Become better acquainted with Ellen White by finding out what she looked like, seeing pictures of places she lived, reading stories about her, etc. If you live close to one of Ellen White s homes or some other Adventist Heritage site, plan a special field trip for the students. opening from the Lord and agreed to go. But when she stood to relate what she d been shown in her first vision, her voice came out in a whisper. After speaking for a minute or so, quite suddenly her voice became clear and firm, and she spoke to the people for almost two hours. Later she wrote that In the meeting the power of the Lord came upon me and on the people.... When my message was ended, my voice was gone until I stood before the people again, when the same singular restoration was repeated. I felt a constant assurance that I was doing the will of God, and saw marked results attending my efforts. (*Adapted from Collins, Norma J., Heartwarming Stories of Adventist Pioneers. Hagerstown, Maryland: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 2005. Pages 79-81.) * * * During the next 70 years the Lord gave Ellen White about 2,000 visions. He used her to let people know of His love for them, and of His soon return to earth. He opened the way for her to travel from country to country. With her own hand, she wrote messages from God which are now printed in more than sixty different books. But how do we know Ellen White was a true messenger of the Lord? In the same way we measure biblical prophets. 1) Her teachings are in harmony with the Bible. 2) The fruitage of Ellen White s ministry becomes more compelling with the passing of time. 3) Ellen White s consistent focus on Jesus as the center of both her spiritual life and her theological principles emphasizes how convincingly she cooperated with the Spirit of prophecy. 4) A practical test The quality changes that the prophet s messages make in the lives of adherents. (Douglass, Herbert E., Messenger of the Lord. Nampa, Idaho: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1998. Pages 514-515). Ellen White is one of the many messengers God has used to show us the way to heaven. 3
ELLEN G. WHITE QUOTES In answer to the accusation of the priests Peter showed that this demonstration was in direct fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel, wherein he foretold that such power would come upon men to fit them for a special work. Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, he said, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: for these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel: And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: and on My servants and on My handmaidens I will pour out in those days of My Spirit; and they shall prophesy. The Acts of the Apostles, p. 41. The Word of God is sufficient to enlighten the most beclouded mind, and may be understood by those who have any desire to understand it. But notwithstanding all this, some who profess to make the Word of God their study are found living in direct opposition to its plainest teachings. Then, to leave men and women without excuse, God gives plain and pointed testimonies, bringing them back to the Word that they have neglected to follow. Selected Messages, book 3, p. 31. The Word of God abounds in general principles for the formation of correct habits of living, and the testimonies, general and personal, have been calculated to call their attention more especially to these principles. Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, pp. 663, 664. In ancient times God spoke to men by the mouth of prophets and apostles. In these days He speaks to them by the testimonies of His Spirit. There was never a time when God instructed His people more earnestly than He instructs them now concerning His will and the course that He would have them pursue. Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 661. This work is of God, or it is not, God does nothing in partnership with Satan. My work... bears the stamp of God or the stamp of the enemy. There is no halfway work in the matter. The Testimonies are of the Spirit of God or of the devil. Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, p. 230. 4
If the testimonies speak not according to the Word of God, reject them. Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 691. I do not write one article in the paper, expressing merely my own ideas. They are what God has opened before me in vision the precious rays of light shining from the throne. Selected Messages, book 1, p. 27. 5