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SENIOR HIGH
Bible Teacher
March, April, May 2015
SPRING QUARTER
Vol. XCVI
No. 2
Senior High
Bible Teacher
SPRING QUARTER
March, April, May 2015
The Weeks Ahead .................................................................................................
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The Spirit Comes
UNIT I: The Pledge of God’s Presence
Mar. 1—The Lamb of God—John 1:29-34......................................................................... 3
Mar. 8—The Promise of a Comforter—John 14:15-26..................................................... 9
Mar. 15—The Spirit of Truth—John 16:4-15........................................................................ 15
Mar. 22—Receive the Holy Spirit—John 20:19-23 ............................................................. 21
Mar. 29—Coming in the Name of the Lord—Mark 11:1-11 ............................................... 27
UNIT II: The Community of Beloved Disciples
Apr.
Apr.
Apr.
Apr.
May
5—Resurrection Guaranteed (Easter)—I Cor. 15:1-11, 20-22.................................
12—Love One Another—I John 3:11-24 .....................................................................
19—Believe God’s Love—I John 4:13—5:5.................................................................
26—Watch Out for Deceivers!—II John 1:1-13 ..........................................................
3—Coworkers with the Truth—III John 1:1-14.........................................................
May
May
May
May
10—Gifts of the Spirit—I Cor. 12:1-11.........................................................................
17—Members of One Body—I Cor. 12:14-31 .............................................................
24—Gift of Languages—Acts 2:1-7, 12; I Cor. 14:13-19 ............................................
31—The Greatest Gift Is Love—I Cor. 13:1-13 ...........................................................
Paragraphs on Places and People......................................................................
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UNIT III: Woven Together in Love
Editor in Chief: Grace M. Todd
Writer: Benjamin Barnhart
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Edited and published quarterly by
THE INCORPORATED TRUSTEES OF THE
GOSPEL WORKER SOCIETY
UNION GOSPEL PRESS DIVISION
Rev. W. B. Musselman, Founder
Price: $2.05 per quarter*
$8.20 per year*
*shipping and handling extra
ISBN 978-1-59843-310-4
Lessons based on International Sunday School Lessons; the International Bible Lessons
for Christian Teaching, copyright © 2011 by the Committee on the Uniform Series and used
with permission. Edited and published quarterly by The Incorporated Trustees of the Gospel
Worker Society, Union Gospel Press Division, 2000 Brookpark Road, Cleveland, Ohio
44109-5812. Mailing address: P.O. Box 6059, Cleveland, Ohio 44101-1059. www.union
gospelpress.com
The Weeks Ahead
God never meant for us to walk
through this life alone. He wants to live
in the hearts of those who follow His
Son through the Holy Spirit.
The first unit this quarter shows how
God promised to send the Holy Spirit to
His children. In lesson 1, we see John
the Baptist’s testimony that the Spirit
first came and resided on and in Jesus,
who would later baptize people not with
water but with the Spirit Himself. Lesson 2 shows that God never planned for
the Holy Spirit to stop there. He promised to send the Comforter to each one
of His children to abide with us and help
us obey God and experience His blessing. In addition, the Holy Spirit is the
Spirit of truth, as we learn in lesson 3.
He will convict us of sin and guide us to
obey all that Jesus has taught.
In lesson 4, we learn that the Holy Spirit is the free gift of God to us. We do not
have to earn this; we simply receive His
presence. As we do so, we also receive
His mission to spread Jesus’ love,
peace, and forgiveness to others. Lesson 5 takes a slight backtrack to emphasize Jesus’ mission: to come to earth in
the name of the Lord. He came to fulfill
God’s plans through the power of the
Spirit. So as He sends us, we can trust in
that same power as we go in His name.
The second unit of lessons focuses on
the community of believers to whom the
Holy Spirit is sent. In lesson 6, on Easter
Sunday, we see the good news of how
Jesus’ resurrection guarantees the future
resurrection of all who believe in Him.
Lesson 7 begins to focus on the way God
wants His followers to act. It is of para-
mount importance that the community of
believers show love for one another.
In lesson 8, we see the importance of
trusting in God’s love for us. If we believe in this love and abide in it, it casts
out our fear, helping us love God back,
love our brothers, and overcome this
sinful world that comes against us. Lesson 9 picks up the theme of resisting
the world’s lies by showing the importance of watching out for deceivers. We
must go against anyone who brings
any teaching other than the true gospel
of Jesus as the Son of God, bringing
salvation and love. In lesson 10, we
learn more about how to proactively
love our brothers and resist evil by becoming coworkers with the gospel.
The last unit of lessons is about how
the Holy Spirit knits the community of believers together in love. In lessons 11 and
12, we see how the Holy Spirit gives
many different gifts but is just one Spirit.
None of us has them all, so we need others to help us serve God. Different gifts
are given to each of us as members of
the body of Christ. We are as different as
the parts of a human body, but all our
gifts are needed for the body of Christ to
function as a unified whole.
Lesson 13 takes a closer look at one
gift of the Holy Spirit—the gift of
tongues, or languages. This gift is meant
to enable people to speak words they
normally could not for building up the
body of Christ, not for dividing it. We finish in lesson 14 with a look at God’s
greatest gift to us: His love. This love
binds us together and never fails, holding us securely when all else fails.
PLEASE NOTE: The Incorporated Trustees of the Gospel Worker Society, Union Gospel Press Division, most earnestly endeavors to proclaim fundamentally sound doctrine. The writers are prayerfully selected for their Bible knowledge and yieldedness to the Spirit of Truth, each writing in his own style as enlightened by the Holy Spirit. At best we know in part only.
“They received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts
17:11).
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LESSON 1
MARCH 1, 2015
Scripture Lesson Text
JOHN 1:29 The next day John
seeth Je⬘sus coming unto him, and
saith, Behold the Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sin of the
world.
30 This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.
31 And I knew him not: but that he
should be made manifest to Is⬘ra-el,
therefore am I come baptizing with
water.
32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spir⬘it descending
from heaven like a dove, and it
abode upon him.
33 And I knew him not: but he that
sent me to baptize with water, the
same said unto me, Upon whom
thou shalt see the Spir⬘it descending, and remaining on him, the same
is he which baptizeth with the Ho⬘ly
Ghost.
34 And I saw, and bare record
that this is the Son of God.
NOTES
Senior High Bible Teacher
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The Lamb of God
Lesson: John 1:29-34
Read: John 1:29-37
TIME: A.D. 26
PLACE: east of Jordan
GOLDEN TEXT—“The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the
Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
Studying the Text
We are not alone in this life. As believers in Jesus, we have become recipients
of the amazing gift of Emmanuel, God
with us. The Lord Jesus, Ruler of the
world, lives in our hearts through the
Holy Spirit! In the upcoming weeks, we
will learn more about the promise and
work of the Holy Spirit on our behalf.
Our study of God’s Spirit begins with
Jesus. Can you imagine what it would
have been like to be alive at the time
when He arrived on earth? He was
clearly a man unlike any other; but how
could anyone know who He was or
where He came from? Who would
vouch for this revolutionary Teacher
and Leader? God did not want to leave
people in the dark as to Jesus’ identity and status, though. He sent His Spirit to be with His Son and to empower
Him for ministry.
In this week’s lesson, we will see
how God provided two different witnesses to testify to Jesus’ authenticity.
John the Baptist saw that Jesus was
sent from God, and God Himself
vouched for His Son by sending the
Holy Spirit. The Son of God was accompanied by the manifest presence
of God on earth as He undertook God’s
mission.
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JOHN’S TESTIMONY—John 1:29-31
John the Baptist (not to be confused
with the author of the Gospel of John)
was related to Jesus and was His forerunner (cf. Luke 1, 3). John the Gospel
writer has given us little of the Baptist’s
backstory, choosing instead to focus on
two important facts. First, John the Baptist openly declared that he was not the
promised Messiah, the Saviour Jews
everywhere were awaiting (cf. John 1:20).
Second and more important, though, He
also said that he had been sent to prepare the way for this Messiah, who was
coming soon (cf. vs. 23). He baptized
people with water as they repented of
their sins to help them get ready for this
Messiah’s coming (cf. Luke 3:3).
John the Baptist’s ministry created
such a stir among the people that the
religious leaders of the Jewish community sent priests and levites to question him. The day after he plainly told
them he was not the Messiah, the
events of this week’s passage took
place. Jesus came to be baptized by
John in the Jordan River—even though
He had no sins to repent of—in order
to “fulfil all righteousness” (Matt. 3:15).
As soon as Jesus arrived, John began
to testify about Him.