Junior and/or Earliteen Sabbath School August 2, 2008

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

H. M. S. Richards used what could be called the “cutting edge of technology” when he pioneered radio evangelism. The Voice of Prophecy was first broadcast in 1929 on one radio station in Los Angeles, California. The program now is broadcast on over 400 stations in North America.

The Church again stepped out in faith when it entered the new medium of television in 1950 with Faith for Today. William A. Fagal, the founder of Faith for Today, saw his task as “extending the gospel wherever people can view the program.” George Vandeman also believed in using the technology of the day to spread the gospel, and in 1956 founded the It Is Written television ministry. Pictures retrieved from Picture retrieved from William Fagal Family watching Faith for Today George Vandeman

Today The Voice of Prophecy, Faith for Today, It is Written and other television and radio programs continue to reach people for God.

Because people in North America no longer attend mass evangelistic meetings as they once did, media plays an increasingly important role in evangelism. Besides purchasing time to broadcast radio and television programs on public or commercial stations, the church operates an extensive network of radio stations and Hope TV. These avenues have proven effective in reaching those who are either unchurched or who are searching for Bible truth beyond what they receive in their own churches. World Headquarters, Hope Channel Hope Channel is broadcast in countries around the world.

Now new technology is making the gospel more accessible than ever. As Craig Jeffery stated in the January 2008 issue of Adventist World-NAD, “many young people in North America are connected at any one time to four electronic devices, typically an iPod (or other MP3 player), a PDA (personal digital assistant), a laptop computer, and a cell phone.”

According to Jeffery, Vandeman and the other broadcasting pioneers could never have imagined how the Internet, smartphones, text messaging, iPods, Facebook, and YouTube might be used to share the gospel, but today they do. The Adventist Channel [found at provides a video-on-demand, 24/7 cyberspace place to share our unique message of Christ’s amazing grace.

In spite of modern strides in technology, radio continues to be a powerful force in people’s lives. Christian programming can reach significant numbers of people who might never be reached by other means. This quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will focus on broadening our reach to people across the North American Division via radio. Please give generously and help others hear the gospel of good news.

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 the territory of Nunavut.

Where is Nunavut

Country Flag Canada Territory Flag Nunavut

Time for the Mission Story We are taking the good news to the entire world. Read the Mission Story on pages 12 and 13 of the Third Quarter Adventist Mission Youth and Adult Magazine while slowly progressing through the next 3 slides.

The names of the People in the story are “Aaron and Katie.”

This story is from Canada.

The title of the story is “Youth Forge Modern Ministries.”

Lesson Study Time

GROWING SEASON

Have you ever planted a garden or worked on a farm?

In some parts of the world, people buy most of their food in stores.

Perhaps if Jesus lived in those places today, He would tell a parable of the cereal aisle!

His parables were always about things with which people were familiar. He wanted people to look at them and remember the lessons He taught.

P O W E R P O I N T God gives us His Word extravagantly.

P O W E R T E X T JOHN 6:63, NIV “The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.”

A boy shifted the heavy seed sack from his right to his left shoulder. He’d been out with his father since early morning planting.

He decided he would rather live in the city, where his cousins didn’t need to worry about growing seasons.

“Time to eat. I hope there’s enough here to satisfy your hunger,” his father said, smiling. “It’s a good thing we’re farmers.”

Then his tone became serious. “I heard that new rabbi tell a story about planting.”

“The one they call Jesus?” the boy asked. “Why would He talk about planting?”

“Why? What kind of question is that?” his father said, shaking his head.

“As I was saying, a farmer was planting seed in a field near the lake where the rabbi spoke from a boat.” “A boat?” the boy asked.

“Yes. It was a brilliant idea. The people crowded around the rabbi trying to listen to Him. They nearly pushed Him into the lake. He climbed into a boat. Everyone thought, That’s it! He’s leaving.”

“But instead He pushed off from shore, dropped anchor in shallow water, and began teaching.” The boy’s father’s eyes glowed as he remembered.

“So the rabbi pointed to the farmer and told us to watch him. Every head turned to look at that farmer. He was sowing the hillside above us.”

“The rabbi talked about planting. Planting. Just like we’re doing right now. As the farmer arced his arm over the soil you could almost see the seeds flying.”

The boy searched the basket for another fig.

“The rabbi said, ‘As the farmer was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on and the birds of the air ate it up.’ ”

“ ‘Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture.’ ”

“That shows how much rabbis know about farming,” the boy said. “No farmer would try to plant in soil like that.”

“No. Listen.” His father waved his hand in the air. “The rabbi said, ‘Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.’ ” (Taken from Luke 8:5-8, NIV.)

“I don’t get it,” the boy said. “I didn’t either,” his father said. The boy looked at his father. His eyes still glowed.

“I’ve thought a lot about this story,” his father continued. “I don’t think the rabbi was really talking about planting.”

“Huh?” “I think He was talking about God.”

“So you think God’s a farmer?” “Yes. The rabbi said, ‘The kingdom of God is like a farmer...’ ”

“So what is the seed?”

“I think the seed is God’s Word.”

The boy sat up. “You mean like the Torah?”

“Yes. You’ve noticed how every synagogue has the Scrolls? We have God’s Word in every synagogue.”

“It’s just like seed. God doesn’t worry about where His seed is planted. No. He scatters it everywhere.”

“But that seems like a waste, Father,” the boy said.

“That’s true, my son,” his father said. “But the heavenly farmer scatters it anyway, hoping it will take root and grow.”

His father held one tiny seed between his thumb and forefinger. “No one knows how many seeds this one grain will produce, do they?”

The boy shook his head no.

“And imagine how many seeds will be produced from all the seed in this sack.”

“It would be impossible to count,” the boy said. He wasn’t sure how to ask the question that was forming in his mind. “Father,” he said, “do you think this rabbi Jesus knows something we don’t?” “Father,” he said, “do you think this rabbi Jesus knows something we don’t?”

“Like what?” “Well... do you think He knows God better than we do?” Father looked intently into the eyes of his son. “Yes, I think He does.”

The boy and his father both turned to look at the open field waiting for them. Suddenly the boy felt glad that he lived in Galilee.

Choose one of the following options for creatively illustrating the lesson.

Option 1 Create a poem about this parable.

Option 2 Create a banner of the memory verse, illustrating it with a graphic from the parable.

Option 3 Write an original parable. Use something from life today to illustrate God’s grace.

Option 4 Compose a song praising God for the gift of His Word.

Option 5 Research “Jesus, the Word of God.” Be prepared to explain how John 1:1, 2, 14 applies to the parable about the sower.

Option 6 Count the seeds in one piece of fruit. Estimate how many pieces of fruit would be produced by one plant. Estimate how many seeds would be produced by the fruit of one plant.

Option 7 Use your imagination to create a way to convey the idea that God doesn’t look for quick results. He knows that growing takes time.

After everyone has had time to work, and report their project, consider the following:

Often, when this parable is studied the focus is on the four types of soil on which the seed falls.

Today our focus has been on the work of God in scattering His Word everywhere. What did you learn about God from this parable today?

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.

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 12 and 13 of the Third Quarter Adventist Mission Youth and Adult Magazine. The title of the story is “Youth Forge Modern Ministries.” You can go to the website and find the link titled “Publications” to download the Adventist Mission Youth and Adult Magazine. 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 12 and 13 of the Third Quarter Adventist Mission Youth and Adult Magazine. The title of the story is “Youth Forge Modern Ministries.” You can go to the website and find the link titled “Publications” to download the Adventist Mission Youth and Adult Magazine. Notes to Teachers Please let your friends at other churches know about these Sabbath School programs. You can download a PDF version of a slide show brochure for ing or printing at: 20School%20Slide%20Shows.pdfhttp:// 20School%20Slide%20Shows.pdf.

Copyright Grants Pass Seventh-day Adventist School Art and graphics copyrighted by the General Conference and the Review and Herald® are included on slides 41-51, 53, , and 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 Notices