Junior and/or Earliteen Sabbath School July 19, 2008

Opening Prayer Opening Prayer

This Quarter the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering is going to the North American Division Information adapted from Adventist Mission, Youth and Adult Magazine and the SDA Encyclopedia.

How is the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering going to be used? This quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help: Place rebroadcast radio stations in communities across Canada Expand the reach and effectiveness of Life Talk Radio across the United States

The division is made up of two of the world’s largest countries—the United States and Canada—and the island nation of Bermuda.

Every year, one million people from countries around the world come to live in North America.

Thousands of Adventists serve as missionaries in countries around the world. North America has frontlines of mission too. “Project Hope for Montreal,” part of the worldwide “Hope for Big Cities” initiative, plans to plant two new congregations in the metropolis by 2010. Bible workers are reaching out through health and family seminars, in addition to conventional Discover Bible Courses.

While the Adventist Church started in North America, nine out of ten Adventists live outside North America. In fact, five of the church’s 13 world divisions have larger memberships than North America.

As of June 2007, church membership in the division is 1,030,361 As of June 2007, church membership in the division is 1,030,361. That’s less than 8 percent of the Seventh-day Adventist church’s 15 million members worldwide.

Millions of people living in North America have never heard the Adventist message. North America is a mission field with many who need to feel Jesus’ loving embrace.

According to world church president Jan Paulsen, “It's up to individual church members to shape how the Adventist Church is perceived. Our faith finds its most compelling expression in the everyday words and actions of Christians in their communities."

Whether you are a student, or become a gardener, a teacher, a store clerk, a nurse, or a doctor. Whatever you do, do it to honor God, and you will be God’s missionary. Another way we can be a missionary is to bring our mission offerings every week. And on Thirteenth Sabbath, we can bring an extra large offering to spread God’s love via radio waves to millions of people in North America.

Collect Offering

Exploring God’s World In this section we study one of the countries in the division where our Thirteenth Sabbath offering is going.

Today we are going to learn about California.

Where is California ?

United States of America Country Flag United States of America

Time for the Mission Story We are taking the good news to the entire world. Read the Mission Story on pages 8 and 9 of the Third Quarter Adventist Mission Youth and Adult Magazine while slowly progressing through the next 3 slides.

The name of the person in the story is “Blia.”

This story is from the United States.

The title of the story is “Owner of the Sky.”

Lesson Study Time

WISDOM RULES

Have you ever said, “It’s not fair” only to have someone answer, “Life isn’t fair”?

This week’s story is about how God’s servant, King Solomon, ruled with fairness, told from the viewpoint of imaginary palace workers.

First, let’s see what the Power Point and Power Text say.

P O W E R P O I N T God’s love leads us to serve others fairly.

P O W E R T E X T Galatians 5:13, NIV

“Serve one another in love.” Photo by Neva MacPhee

“You heard it back here?” the steward asked. “What was all the commotion about earlier?” the cook asked the king’s steward as he walked into the kitchen. “You heard it back here?” the steward asked. “I think everyone in the palace must have heard it,” the cook replied.

“Two women were fighting over a baby,” the steward said. “Really?” the cook chuckled. “Only two? It sounded like a harem. What happened?”

“Two women with a baby showed up at the gate this morning, demanding to see the king. The guards tried to turn them away.”

“But I was passing by and told the guards to let them talk to the appointment office.”

“I led them to the appointment office, since I was going to check on next week’s schedule. The appointment officer didn’t want to deal with them either.”

“ ‘I’m not leaving until I see the king,’ the woman with the baby in her arms shouted. I asked her what was so urgent. She told me the most amazing story.”

“I thought, This is perfect. We have a lot of people from Egypt here “I thought, This is perfect. We have a lot of people from Egypt here. They’ve come because of King Solomon’s wisdom. Having him rule on this case could be a good opportunity to demonstrate it.”

“So what was their story?” interrupted the cook.

“They lived together in the same place and had babies three days apart “They lived together in the same place and had babies three days apart. One of the babies died. Apparently the mother had fallen asleep and smothered it. She covered up her baby’s death by switching her baby with the other woman’s live child.”

The cook whistled. “That was pretty bold!”

“What’s worse is that the mother of the dead baby insisted that she hadn’t switched babies. Of course, the other mother knew her own baby. They fought over it for several hours.”

“They got their neighbors involved, then the local authorities.”

“Of course, everyone had opinions. People took sides “Of course, everyone had opinions. People took sides. They were getting nowhere fast.”

“Finally the real mother said they were going to have to get someone else to decide.”

“Everyone knows that King Solomon asked God to give him wisdom to rule fairly. So the mothers came here, trailed by their neighbors, the authorities, and people they collected along the way.”

“The real mother calmly told the king that because the other woman’s baby had died, she was trying to take the live child away from her.”

“The other woman denied everything “The other woman denied everything. She screamed that the real mother was lying. The woman didn’t like that so she screamed back at her.”

“In front of the king?” the cook said, shaking his head.

“And his guests,” the steward replied. “That was the noise you heard.”

“When the mothers calmed down, they both told convincing stories “When the mothers calmed down, they both told convincing stories. King Solomon listened thoughtfully to everything they had to say. Finally, the king spoke.”

“What did he say?” “ ‘Bring me a sword.’ ” “What?” the cook exclaimed.

“His armorbearer brought the sword,” the steward continued “His armorbearer brought the sword,” the steward continued. “That blade glinted in the light. I winced when I thought of what it could do.”

“King Solomon looked at the sword, then looked at each woman.”

“He said, ‘Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.’ ”

“My heart almost stopped beating,” the steward said “My heart almost stopped beating,” the steward said. “The real mother was terrified that they would cut her baby in half. She shouted, ‘Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!’ ”

“Standing beside her, the other mother shouted, ‘Neither of us will have him! Cut him in two!’ ”

“The room grew deathly silent. I saw the real mother shiver “The room grew deathly silent. I saw the real mother shiver. The other woman’s face looked like stone. All eyes turned to the king. Would he really do it?”

“The king pointed to the real mother and said, ‘Don’t kill him “The king pointed to the real mother and said, ‘Don’t kill him. Give the baby to her. She is his mother.’ I exhaled and realized that I had been holding my breath.”

“The court attendant placed the baby in the arms of his mother “The court attendant placed the baby in the arms of his mother. She buried her face in the baby’s clothes and started crying.”

“She left the courtroom thanking the king, praising his judgment.”

“Wow! What an incredible man!”

“I just hope God has some wisdom left over for the rest of us,” the cook said, stirring the pot. “King Solomon seems to have it all!”

Activity Section Activity Section

EXPLORING THE BIBLE

Divide into four groups Divide into four groups. Each group take one of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John).

When everyone is finished, let each group report to the class. The wisdom of Solomon is actually the wisdom of Jesus. Skim through the Gospel assigned to your group to find one or more places in which Jesus used His wisdom to solve problems or to respond to His enemies. As you read look for three things: Who was there, and what Jesus said or did. How people involved might have been affected. The wisdom Jesus showed and what His audience would have gained. When everyone is finished, let each group report to the class.

God’s prophecy found in Jeremiah 23:5 (NIV) came true. "The days are coming," declares the LORD , “when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.”

Important Information PowerPoints® art copyrighted © 2003 by the Review and Herald® Publishing Association. Text and illustrations from Adventist Mission Youth and Adult Magazine is copyright © by the General Conference Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists. Scriptures quoted from NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version, copyright © 1973, 1980, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers. ClickArt Infinity by Broderbund, © 1999 TLC Multimedia Inc.

Closing Prayer Closing Prayer

Notes to Teachers You will want to have a hard copy of the Mission Story ready to read during the Mission Story section. You can find the story on pages 8 and 9 of the Third Quarter Adventist Mission Youth and Adult Magazine. The title of the story is “Owner of the Sky.” You can go to the website http://www.adventistmission.org/ and find the link titled “Publications” to download the Adventist Mission Youth and Adult Magazine.

Copyright Notices Art and graphics copyrighted by the General Conference and the Review and Herald® are included on slides 39, 41, 46, 47, 49, 52, 54, 57, 59, 65, 66 and 68-73. Images and artwork are copyrighted by the Pacific Press Publishing Assoc., Review and Herald Publishing Assoc., It Is Written and others. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Copyright Grants Pass Seventh-day Adventist School