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Sabbath School Bible study guides for Earliteens (approx. 12 to 14) SUBSCRIBE

What The Lessons Are About

The emphasis of this curriculum is God’s kingdom of grace, being a recruited agent (steward, citizen) of that kingdom, and the battle between it and the kingdom of evil. Being in God’s kingdom requires action—being doers and not just listeners (James 1:22) of how to live as God’s agents on this earth.

The first lesson of each quarter of the two-year cycle is a different portion of the Sermon on the Mount which is “at once Christ’s inaugural address as King of the kingdom of grace and also the constitution of the kingdom” (Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 5, p. 322).

After the first lesson of each quarter each of the other twelve lessons (or sets of lessons) is about a different challenge, right, or privilege in the “real-time” of being an agent of God’s kingdom. A Christian never knows what he or she will be encountering next.

Quarter One

• Contrast between God’s kingdom and kingdom of evil (Matthew 5:1-12)

• A life of Christian character

• The Great Controversy

• The sinner’s need of Jesus

• Growing in grace

• Your identity in Christ (parts 1 and 2)

• Breaking down your own prejudice

• Withholding judgment

• Transforming the critical spirit

• Heroes

• Jesus, ultimate hero

• You a hero

Quarter Two

• Communicating with the kingdom through prayer (Matthew 7:7-12) (parts 1 and 2)

• Walking with God (parts 1 and 2)

• Hanging on in God’s apparent absence

• “Alone” with God

• Listening on purpose (parts 1 and 2)

• Authenticity and hypocrisy (parts 1 and 2)

• Needs, wants, and blessings

• Competition and the Christian (parts 1 and 2)

Quarter Three

• What does “perfect” look like in the kingdom? (Matthew 5:38-48)

• Getting a handle on our emotions

• Coping with guilt and fear

• Created in God’s image

• Reflecting God’s image

• God’s Truth

• The way the world began

• Changed by baptism

• Gossip and grace

• The Christian and homosexuality

• Random acts of kindness

• Vocation and the Christian

• Thinking right in a gone-wrong world (absolute truth)

Quarter Four

• Spiritual Disciplines and the kingdom (Matthew 6)

• Prayer and Bible study

• Christian Service

• Worship and tithing (Lordship)

• Submission

• Secret goodness

• Fasting, purity, simplicity

• Christian sacrifice and faith

• Handling money as a Christian

• Speaking the truth in love

• Expressing emotions

• Finding someone to talk to

• Use of time

Quarter Five

• Witnessing for the kingdom (Matthew 5:13-16)

• Why am I a Christian?

• What is my mission?

• Holiness---growing in grace

• End-time prophecy (parts 1, 2, and 3)

• A missions mindset

• Finding my place

• Resisting negative peer pressure

• Substance and other body abuses

• Living in the here and now (postmodern culture) (parts 1 and 2)

Quarter Six

• Christian lifestyle and the kingdom (Matthew 7:13-23)

• Positive reading choices

• The Bible

• Bearing the title “Christian”

• Global missions

• The body of believers and mission

• Service and servant leadership

• Growing in a church family

• Teachers

• Making choices

• Balance and moderation

• Media and entertainment (parts 1 and 2)

Quarter Seven

• Judging others in the kingdom (Matthew 7:1-6)

• Growing stronger in Jesus

• Addictions (parts 1 and 2)

• Friendship

• Guys and Girls

• Sexuality

• Profanity

• Jewelry

• The upside-down kingdom

• Fools for Christ

• Music

Quarter Eight

• Rules of the kingdom (Matthew 5:17-37

• Pornography

• Spiritual gifts

• Relating to the local church

• Family matters

• Fashion and modesty

• Attacks on Jesus’ identity and ours (parts 1-4)

• The Christian and technology

• Rulership and ecology

• Jesus' second coming