Sabbath School Quarterly Commentary

In the seventh lesson on "On Death, Dying, and the Future Hope", Morgan discusses with Rodney Maller the topic "Contrary Passages?".

In the seventh lesson on "On Death, Dying, and the Future Hope", Morgan discusses with Natasha Sua the topic "The New Testament Hope".

In the seventh lesson on "On Death, Dying, and the Future Hope", Morgan discusses with Michael Chapman and Tarenne Greenwood the topic "Christ's Victory Over Death".

In the sixth lesson on "On Death, Dying, and the Future Hope", Morgan discusses with Steven Duncan the topic "He Died for Us".

In the fifth lesson on "On Death, Dying, and the Future Hope", Morgan discusses with David Bertelsen about Resurrections Before the Cross.

In the third lesson on "On Death, Dying, and the Future Hope", Morgan discusses with Natasha Sua about the Old Testament Hope

In the third lesson on "On Death, Dying, and the Future Hope", Morgan discusses with Rodney Maller how to Understand Human Nature.

In the second lesson on "On Death, Dying, and the Future Hope", Morgan discusses with Declan Van the Death in a Sinful World.

In the first lesson on "On Death, Dying, and the Future Hope", Morgan discusses with Mark Sutherland the Rebellion in a Perfect Universe.

In the last lesson of "In the Crucible With Christ", Morgan talks one more time with Natasha Sua about how Jesus Christ is our example for many things, including how to react to trials and suffering. In the end, Gavin Anthony wrapped up this quarter.

In the twelfth lesson of "In the Crucible With Christ", Morgan talks one more time with Gavin Anthony about how moulding God's children into reflections of His image first requires them to die a spiritual death to themselves and their self-reliance.

In the eleventh lesson of "In the Crucible With Christ", Morgan talks with Jacob Ellis about how patience can be among the hardest traits to exhibit during trials, but God sets an example for us about the importance of waiting.

In the tenth lesson of "In the Crucible With Christ", Morgan talks with Lyndelle Peterson about how meekness and humility are not discussed much in our culture, but God promises that learning these skills from Him can help us endure our trials to the glory of God.

In the ninetieth lesson of "In the Crucible With Christ", Morgan talks with Natasha Sua about how praising God may not feel natural when life is hard, but the Bible promises that praise in these times is exactly what the Christian should do.

In the eighth lesson of "In the Crucible With Christ", Morgan talks with Jacob Ellis about how it can be difficult to "see" the invisible God when things are falling apart around us, this is when we should seek God the most.

In the seventh lesson on "In the Crucible With Christ", Morgan discusses with Matt Parra how watching God interact with His people as they go through the trials of life helps us understand how we can find hope amid the turmoil.

In the sixth lesson on "In the Crucible With Christ", Morgan discusses with Marcial Hernandez how relating to God often requires perseverance and struggle, but God's grace can transform the human heart and character no matter how hard the trials we face.

In the fifth lesson on "In the Crucible With Christ", Morgan talked with Natasha Sua about how experiencing extreme pain or difficulty can cause people to reject God or form untrue opinions of Him. The Bible helps us understand the danger God risks when He "turns up the heat" on His children.

In the fourth lesson of "In the Crucible With Christ", Morgan talks with Jacob Ellis about God's plan and how it is to conform His children into the likeness of Himself, but often the only way we can see God's true image is through fiery trials.

In the third lesson of "In the Crucible With Christ", Morgan talks with Lyndelle Peterson about how God plays a role in our lives, even when we face trials, and understanding how God fits into the trials we face isn't always easy to understand.

In the second lesson of "In the Crucible With Christ", Morgan talks with Marcial Hernandez about living in a world of sin comes with inevitable trials and how the Bible helps us put these trials into a proper God-centered perspective.

In the first lesson of "In the Crucible With Christ", our host, Morgan Vincent, talks with this quarter's study guide author, Pastor Gavin Anthony, about how Psalm 23 helps us to understand the journey on which God leads us throughout our lives.

Though God intimately knows the future, we are still free in the choices we make. How do we reconcile these two ideas?

What are ways that others should be able to see, from the kind of lives that we live, the reality of our God? Though we can be forgiven and accept God's forgiveness, how do we learn to forgive ourselves, no matter how unworthy we are of that forgiveness?

How can we learn to trust God and cling to His promises when events don't appear providential at all, and indeed, God seems silent?

What are the idols of our culture, our civilization? How can we make sure we aren't worshiping anyone or anything other than the Lord?

How can we learn to trust God when we don't see “justice” being done, when we see people who do evil get away with it, or when we see the innocent suffer?

Why is it so comforting to know that while not all things are God's will, He is still in charge?

How can we learn to keep focused on Christ and His righteousness as our only hope of salvation? What happens if we try to start counting up our good works? Why is it important that we not give up, despite times of doubt?

What kind of influence do our actions have on others? What kind of message are we sending about our faith by our actions?

What example do we have from history, or even the present, of the trouble that can come from those who seek to make a name for themselves?

What lesson can we learn from the Noah story regarding our role in warning the world about coming judgment?

Why must we do all that we can in God's power to eradicate sin from our lives?

If Satan was able to deceive a sinless Eve in Eden, how much more vulnerable are we? What is our best defence against his deceptions?

The book of Genesis and, hence, the whole Bible begins with God's acts of Creation. This fact is very important because it means that our creation marks the beginning of human and biblical history. This truth also implies that the Genesis Creation story has the same historical veracity as other events of human and biblical history. The two Creation texts in Genesis 1 and 2 contain lessons about God and humanity. As we study this week, we will understand better the profound meaning of the seventh-day Sabbath. We will ponder God's act of creating humans in His image, and out of the dust too. We will be intrigued by the purpose of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and by its connection with the tree of life. The most important lesson of the biblical stories of the beginnings is a lesson on grace. Our existence is purely an act of grace. God created the heavens and the earth while humans were not yet present. Just as our creation was, our redemption is, too, a gift from God. And how profound it is that both concepts, Creation and Redemption, exist in the seventh-day Sabbath commandment.

Why is it important to remember that God is leading us as a group? What are my responsibilities to the group? What are the best indicators that brotherly love is strong in a congregation?

The shaking of the heavens and the earth means, then, the destruction of the earthly powers that persecute God's people and, more importantly, the destruction of the evil powers (Satan and his angels) who stand behind the earthly powers and control them.

Why is it important to recognize that our faith results from and feeds on God's faithfulness? How can we learn more to trust in His faithfulness to us and to the promises He has made to us?

Why should the reality of what Christ has done, not only on the cross but what He is doing now in heaven, give us assurance of salvation?

The sanctuary sacrifices teach us that the experience of salvation is more than just accepting Jesus as our Substitute. We also need to “feed” on Him, share His benefits with others, and provide reparation to those whom we have wronged.

By living a perfect life, and then by dying in our place, Jesus mediated a new, better covenant between us and God. Through His death, Jesus canceled the penalty of death that our trespasses demanded and made possible the new covenant.

What do you feel when you think that God has made an oath to you? Why should that thought alone help give you assurance of salvation, even when you feel unworthy?

God is holy, and sin cannot exist in His presence; so, our own corrupted nature separated us from God. This week, we are going to study the amazing things the Father and the Son did to bridge that gulf.

What two things does the Sabbath rest commemorate, and how are they related?

What are ways that you can learn to experience more deeply that reality of just how close Christ can be to you? Why is having this experience so important to your faith?

Right after Adam and Eve sinned, God promised them a “seed,” a Son who would deliver them from the enemy, recover the inheritance that had been lost, and fulfill the purpose for which they had been created (Gen. 3:15). This Son would both represent and redeem them by taking their place and, ultimately, by destroying the serpent.

A Jewish document written a few decades after Hebrews, around a.d. 100, contains a prayer: “All this I have spoken before you, O Lord, because you have said that it was for us that you created this world. . . . And now, O Lord, behold, these nations, which are reputed as nothing, domineer over us and devour us. But we your people, whom you have called your first-born, only begotten, zealous for you, and most dear, have been given into their hands.”—James H. Charlesworth, ed., The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 1 (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1983), p. 536.

Have you ever imagined what it would be like to hear Jesus, or one of the apostles, preach? We possess written excerpts and summaries of some of their sermons, but these provide only a limited idea of what it was like to hear them. God, however, preserved in the Scriptures at least one complete sermon for us: Paul's letter to the Hebrews.

How does the story of Moses' death and later resurrection show us how the New Testament, though often based on the Old Testament, does take us further than the Old Testament and can indeed shed much new light upon it?

Whether using direct Old Testament quotations, or allusions, or references to stories or prophecies, the New Testament writers constantly used the Old Testament to buttress, even justify, their claims.

This week we will focus on how the book was used by later writers. What parts of Deuteronomy did they use, and what points were they making that have relevance for us today?