1. religion and spirituality
2. christianity

Sunday School
Superintendent
March, April, May 2015
SPRING QUARTER
Vol. LXXX
No. 2
Sunday School
Superintendent
SPRING QUARTER
March, April, May 2015
Editorial..................................................................................................................
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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......................................................................... 4
Mar. 8—The Promise of a Comforter—John 14:15-26..................................................... 6
Mar. 15—The Spirit of Truth—John 16:4-15........................................................................ 8
Mar. 22—Receive the Holy Spirit—John 20:19-23 ............................................................. 10
Mar. 29—Coming in the Name of the Lord—Mark 11:1-11 ............................................... 12
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: Darrell W. McKay
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Edited and published quarterly by
THE INCORPORATED TRUSTEES OF THE
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UNION GOSPEL PRESS DIVISION
Rev. W. B. Musselman, Founder
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ISBN 978-1-59843-350-0
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
Editorial
BY
DARRELL W. MCKAY
The Spirit Comes
Welcome to another quarter of ministry. It promises to be a great one, especially if you rely on the help of the
Holy Spirit. He is the Helper par excellence and stands ready to inspire,
enlighten, and lead you and your
teachers to be and do your best for
Christ.
The theme of our fourteen weeks of
lessons centers on the coming and
ministry of the Spirit of God. Lesson 1
will find us in the Gospel of John,
where we will look at two of the several names applied to Jesus by John the
Baptist and the reasons he used them
when talking with others.
Lesson 2 takes us to the upper
room and the unparalleled teaching
found in the discourse of Jesus. We
will specifically look at the promise of
the Comforter’s coming to abide with
the disciples and why He would dwell
only with believers and not with everyone. It is a matter of faith that results
in love for and obedience to the Lord,
and the world stands lacking in that
regard.
In lesson 3 we will find Jesus giving
the reason He had to leave the disciples and what would happen when the
Spirit replaced Him. His words to them
might be likened to a parent telling his
ill child to swallow medicine because it
will make him feel better. Jesus’ going
and the Spirit’s coming were for the
good of all the world.
Lesson 4 will find us observing the
risen Christ appearing to His disciples to affirm the truth of promises
made regarding His death and resurrection. We will look at Jesus’ act of
breathing on the disciples and how
they received the Holy Spirit and confidently served with the Spirit’s presence.
When we come to lesson 5, we will
examine Palm Sunday and the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem.
The week that would change the history of the world began when Jesus rode
on a donkey into the crowded city filled
with locals as well as numerous pilgrims there for the Passover. We will
note Jesus’ commitment to fulfilling
Scripture to the letter.
When we get to lesson 6, it will be
Resurrection Sunday, the most glorious day on the Christian calendar. Paul
reminded the Corinthians that the
heart of God is revealed in the gospel
message and that the heart of the message is that Christ has been raised
from the dead. He lives, and so shall
we.
Lesson 7 takes us into the epistle of
I John, where we will be reminded of
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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the new commandment Jesus gave
His disciples: Those who name the
name of Christ should love others, especially the brethren. It is humanly impossible; but it is a fruit of the Spirit, so
it is eminently possible if we do not
stand in the Holy Spirit’s way. A challenging lesson, indeed!
In lesson 8 we look at what can happen when the Spirit of God is allowed
to produce the fruit of love in the heart
of the believer. That fruit includes confession of the deity of Christ as well as
the presence of peace that abides
within those whose love for God is all it
should be. Love brings not only peace
but also obedience to God’s commands.
Lesson 9 touches on love again, as
well as on truth and the continual need
for believers to be a discerning people.
It seems some Christians are easy
prey and fall for just about any new or
Sunday School Superintendent
novel teaching. That can be most dangerous. A strong church is made up of
strong Christians with a firm belief in
the truth. But it seems in many places
that Christianity is a mile wide and an
inch deep.
Lesson 10 provides us an illustration of tares living and worshipping
amid the wheat. John had high praise
for a man who by his attitude and
conduct gave no doubt as to his being a Christian. John then gave a
scathing rebuke to a man whose attitude and conduct were 180 degrees
different, revealing his non-Christian
soul. This is a wake-up call for today’s
church.
Lesson 11 begins our third and final
unit of study this quarter. God’s presence has come in the Person of His
Spirit and created a community of believers woven together in love. Our
theme in these final lessons is on the
Spirit’s work in the church.
Lesson 12 will find us looking in on
the Apostle Paul as he continued his
attempt to correct the Corinthian thinking regarding the gifts, tongues in particular. They misunderstood the gift
and placed it higher than all the others—something Paul sought to
change.
In lesson 13 the coming of the Spirit
on Pentecost and the resultant speaking in tongues will be studied. Then we
will note Paul’s effort to control the gift
in the church so that people would be
edified.
Lesson 14 wraps up our very interesting quarter of study on the Holy
Spirit and His work in the family of
God. The closing lesson is on love and
takes us into the great love chapter of
the Bible, I Corinthians 13. God loves
us, and His Spirit wants to bear His
fruit in us. Love is the first part of that
fruit mentioned in Scripture. We are
challenged to examine ourselves and,
if need be, yield more fully to the Spirit.
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LESSON 1
MARCH 1, 2015
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).
SELECTED HYMNS (Adults)
“Lamb of Glory” (Nelson and
McHugh)
“Worthy Is the Lamb” (Wyrtzen)
SELECTED HYMNS (Juniors and
below)
“Crown Him with Many Crowns”
(Bridges and Thring)
“O for a Thousand Tongues” (Wesley)
A PRAYER FOR DELIVERANCE—
“Deliver me in thy righteousness” (Ps.
31:1).
SUPERINTENDENT’S SPECIAL
Names—some like the name their
parents gave them; others would prefer a different name but live with it; still
others legally change their name to one
they like better.
With the resource material available
today, the derivation of a name can be
easily found. Surnames often denoted
one’s occupation, such as Miller,
Smith, and Carpenter. Some surnames
added a prefix meaning “son of,” such
as “Mc” before Donald. Surnames
were added to distinguish one Andrew
or William from another. Names may
stay the same but no longer reference
one’s occupation, as one named Baker may be a dentist or a welder.
Some names originally referred to
character traits, but the recipient did
not always live up to his name. Believers are called Christians. All who profess Christ need to keep that in mind
and live accordingly.
GUIDING THE SUPERINTENDENT
Our lesson text includes two of the
nearly dozen names and titles applied to
Jesus by the Apostle John, the book’s
human author, and John the Baptist. A
study of all those names is a rich one,
but we will confine our comments to the
two titles found in this week’s text.
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DEVOTIONAL OUTLINE
1. The Lamb of God (John 1:29-31).
John’s purpose in writing was to present Jesus for who He is and to show
what He came to do so that people
might come to faith in Him. He therefore recorded the comments of John