Relevant Verses: Acts 15:36-41//2 Tim. 4:11; Philemon; Rom. 8:5-11

Leading Question: What biblical stories of restored relationships are most powerful for you?

Our lesson for this week focuses on two New Testament experiences and then several passages of Scripture to show how unity can be restored when a relationship is healed.

1. Question: Paul rejected John Mark as a suitable “missionary” – because he abandoned an earlier assignment (see Acts 15:36 - 41). What is significant about his restoration? (2 Tim. 4:11)?

Acts 15:36-41: 36 After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Come, let us return and visit the believers in every city ...

Relevant Verses: Matt. 7:12; John 13:35, 1 John 3:18, 23

Leading Question: What thought immediately comes to mind when one hears the theme of our lesson for this week, “The Most Convincing Proof?

For those who are familiar with the writings of Ellen White, Adventism’s charismatic founder, a well-known quote immediately comes to mind: “The strongest argument in favor of the gospel is a loving and lovable Christian” – Ministry of Healing (1905), 470.

In the published writings of Ellen White, the first recorded use of the phrase “loving and lovable” with reference to the believer’s behavior is this one: “God would ...

Relevant Verses: Acts 4:8-12; Matt. 15:1-13; Exod. 20:8-11; 1 Cor. 15:51-54

Leading Question: Does a faith community decide issues of belief by democratic vote?

This week’s lesson focuses on particular beliefs that are important to Seventh-day Adventists. They sometimes come under the heading of “landmarks.”

The companion term to “landmark” is “present truth,” truth that is cutting edge, new for the “present” time.

Adventism has always experienced a certain tension between those who want to call everything “landmark,” even the smallest point, and those who are eager to explore the new. Ellen White fully affirmed the landmarks, but she opposed the impulse to ...

Relevant Verses: Acts 6, 10, 11, 15

Leading Question: How does a community, or an individual, know when a conflict is one that needs to be solved by firm confrontation, or by finding a way to allow both views to exist or co-exist within the community?

This week’s lesson addresses three specific instances when the early Christian community faced conflict, and worked their way through to a solution. These are represented by the narratives in Acts 6, 10, and 15.

1. Question: When it came to the distribution of food and other supplies to Jewish and Greek widows, the Greek widows claimed ...

Relevant Verses: John 10:1-18; 1 Pet. 2:9; Exod. 19:5-6; 1 Cor. 3, 12

Leading Question: How does the New Testament build on an Old Testament foundation when it comes to illustrating the idea of unity?

Although our overall theme of “Oneness in Christ” could be taken to suggest that one doesn’t really find oneness and unity until the appearance of the Incarnate God in the New Testament, some remarkable images in the Old Testament provide a bridge between the Testaments.

1. Question: To what extent are the images give in 1 Peter 2:9 (“chosen race,” “royal priesthood,” “holy nation,” “God’s own people”) rooted ...

Relevant Verses: Acts 1-2, 4- 5

Leading Question: With reference to unity, how should one assess the NT evidence: Positively? Negatively? Or as a toss-up?

In light of what one finds in the New Testament and in the history of Adventism, I have found one line to be both truthful and helpful: “God’s people have never had their act together for more than a few minutes at a time.”

1. Question: If one considers just Acts 1 and 2, what adjectives might one think appropriate for describing what these chapters depict?

Comment: Words like tumultuous, intense, and marvelous, come to mind as being appropriate ...

Relevant Verses: Ephesians

Leading Question: Among believers today, does being “in Christ” transform everything?

The vision in the book of Ephesians is incredibly expansive, the memory text for this week makes this bold assertion: “And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth” (Eph. 1:10, NLT). Could one make an argument for universalism on the basis of this passage?

1. Question: According to the first chapter of Ephesians, God has a plan to bring all things together in him. Is that hyperbole, fantasy, or genuine hope?

Comment: Universalism has ...

Relevant Verses: John 13-17, Mark 9:38-41, John 10:16

Leading Question: Is oneness (in Christ) so important that we should seek unity at any price?

In his famous “unity” prayer, Jesus asked that his disciples be “one,” just as Jesus and his Father are one. The unity of the Godhead looms large in Jesus’ prayer, and he uses that unity as a model for his disciples, a tall order, given the natural tendencies of human beings.

1. Question: In John 13, the chapter immediately preceding Jesus’ famous dialogue with his disciples (John 14-17). Jesus predicted Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial. Were these predictions locked ...

Relevant Verses: Deut. 28, Judges, 1 Kings 12, Jer. 3:14-18; 1 Cor. 1

Leading Question: If Paul admonishes us to think on what is true, honorable, just, and pure (Phil. 4:8), are we justified in focusing on the causes of disunity?

This week’s lesson covers some of the most troubling incidents in the history of God’s people. Even though Paul admonishes us to think on the good things, when there is an illness, one needs to spend some time on the illness if there is to be a cure. The solution to our disunity can be found in Jesus, but diagnosing ...

Relevant Verses: Genesis 1, 3, 11

Leading Question: Why should one little sin in the Garden of Eden Leave such a huge imprint on the human family?

Our topic this quarter is “Oneness in Christ,” suggesting that without Christ there is no “oneness.” Our first lesson focuses on “Creation and Fall.” Scripture makes it clear that a great gulf is fixed between Creation and the Fall. The reasons for that gulf are something we must explore in this lesson.

1. Question: In Genesis 1-2, is there any hint of the coming storm that will engulf God’s creation? Does the complete absence of ...