Church Life

September 8, 2012

Key Thought : Paul admonishes the Thessalonians on their attitude toward church leaders, keeping a
positive Christian attitude, and how to relate to new light on prophecy.

1. Have a volunteer read I Thessalonians 5:12-15.

A. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
B. How difficult is it for the church members to be at peace among themselves? Why does the
church have so many dissentions and disputations?
C. Personal Application: What has been the experience with church leadership in your church? Is
there a tendency to distrust and challenge leadership, or blindly submit to it? Share your thoughts.
D. Case Study : One of your relatives states, “I don’t see how we can warn the unruly in Christian love
without being accused of ‘judging” them. Even though they outwardly do things that are wrong by
church standards and God’s word, they say, ‘God knows my heart.’” How would you respond to your
relative?

2. Have a volunteer read I Thessalonians 5:16-18.

A. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
B. How can we give thanks in everything when not everything is good? Bad things happen to good
people, but how can we be thankful for the bad things? Share.
C. Personal Application: In what ways have you been benefited by the encouragement and help
manifested by the church? How did it make you feel?

D. Case Study : One of your friends states, “What does it mean to pray without ceasing? Does that
mean we’re supposed to pray all the time? How are we supposed to have time to do anything? We can’t
walk around on our knees all day. What does this really mean?” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read I Thessalonians 5:19-22.

A. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
B. What does it mean to abstain from all “appearance” of evil? What’s the difference between the evil
and the appearance of evil?
C. Personal Application : What kind of impact has the writings of Ellen White had on your life? Which
writings would you most recommend to others?

D. Case Study : One of your neighbors states, “I follow the teachings of your church, but I
don’t read Ellen White. I don’t need her writings; I just follow the Bible. There’s too much controversy
about her anyway. Her writings are outdated. They don’t apply to our situation today.” How would you
respond to your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read I Thessalonians 5:23-28.

A. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
B. Do we pray for our church leaders as we should in the local church, the conference, and the general
conference?
 C. Personal Application: Do others consider you as kind and patient? If not, what can you do to
change this perception?

D. Case Study : Think of one person who needs to hear a message from week’s lesson. Tell
the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Note: “Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its
blessings can be retained only as it is shared.” MH p. 149)

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Please Note: These Sabbath School Lesson Aids are written by Adventist lay members who may or may
not be associated with SSNET.org.
They are provided only as a supplement to your own prayerful Bible study of the week's lesson topic, and
do not necessarily reflect the views of the Sabbath School Department of the General Conference of
Seventh-day Adventists or of the administrators of SSNET.
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