Master Teacher: July- September 2021

By R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation

Master Teacher is the teacher’s quarterly to be used with Adult Christian Life and College and Career. Each lesson contains extensive biblical exposition and specific instructions for the teacher. The outline of the lesson is reader-friendly, and includes suggestions for maximizing teacher/student interaction and topics for making the study informative and enriching.

• Language: English
• Publisher: R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation
• Release date: Jun 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781681678306

Book preview

Lesson 1 for Week of July 4, 202

1

EXPRESSING THANKS

UNIFYING TOPIC:

An Attitude of Gratitude

LESSON TEXT

I. Isolated from the Community (Leviticus 13:45–46)

II. Restored Back to the Community (Luke 17:11–19)

THE MAIN THOUGHT

And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God. (Luke 17:15, KJV)

UNIFYING PRINCIPLE

People often receive mercy but do not acknowledge the one who helped them. Do you show appreciation? Ten lepers, isolated by their skin diseases, were healed; but only one, who was a foreigner, was saved by his faith and offered thanks.

LESSON AIM

When we believers look to Christ in all aspects of our lives, we discover that nothing can separate us from the love of God. This lesson will show even disease must yield to the healing power of God. The appropriate response to the mercy of Christ is for us to praise Him and show sincere thanksgiving. The goal of this message centers on becoming people reverently indebted to the love of Jesus.

LIFE AIM

Being a person who is thankful requires true worship of God. When Christians show gratitude, it touches the heart of God, changing the paradigm from isolation to communion.

BEFORE YOU TEACH

Consider . . .

Focus for College and Career—Young adults should always respond to the benevolence of others with appreciation. This spirit turns one’s attitude about benevolence from self-centeredness to Christ-centeredness.

Focus for Adult Christian Life—Adults should be careful not to shun others who are afflicted with disease, for—except for the grace of God—any of us could be in the same situation.

Supplementary Study Materials

For further reference, see today’s lesson from Boyd’s Commentary, New National Baptist Hymnal, 21st Century Edition, #138, Jesus Paid It All.

Need more teacher helps? Visit http://www.rhboyd.com.

TEACHING STEPS. . . .

First Step: Ask students to share a prayer request regarding an issue that they or others face. Make a request list and assign various students to pray for one item on the list. Include on the list praise points for which the class can express thanksgiving.

Second Step: Read out loud and responsively the Scriptures, allowing students the opportunity to participate. Ask someone to explain their understanding of the key verse (Luke 17:15).

Third Step: Teachers should share their explanation of the Scriptures in order that students may understand the historical context of the lesson verses. Consider explaining what it means to be thankful and to praise/worship God. Discuss differences and similarities between these expressions, emphasizing that these responses should be prevalent in our lives.

Fourth Step: College and Career—Role play someone as Jesus and others as the lepers. Make sure actions and words are based on the lesson passage. Discuss how we could be characterized as lepers due to our differences and conditions; then discuss how we can respond like Christ and the Samaritan leper. Adult Christian Life—Have someone prepare a testimony about a physical or mental condition and how the Lord healed them. Discuss the importance of faith and obedience during times of sickness.

Fifth Step: Ask students to help you make a list on paper or on the board of various conditions like leprosy. These conditions could include COVID-19, AIDS, mental illness, cancer, and so on. Then discuss how society treats people with these conditions, making points of application based upon today’s lesson. Because today is July 4, teachers may lead students in understanding what it means to be truly free. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. . . . If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed (John 8:32, 36, KJV).

God’s Word in Life

In the year of 2020, the world experienced the consequences of the terrible COVID-19 pandemic. Millions were infected by the disease, and countless died. The sickness was so contagious that many faced isolation in ways similar to the leper colony in this lesson. Yet the hope gained from the epidemic was that the same Jesus who compassionately healed those suffering in ancient days does the same thing in the 21st century. Let us turn to Christ in both our physical and spiritual illnesses, for the Great Physician has never lost a case.

Connect with Learners: Ask students to list situations that result in people being isolated. Guide them to include mental health challenges, as many people stigmatize those who have such issues. Then encourage them to identify one way that they will reach out to those separated from mainstream society.

Introduction

This lesson begins in the Old Testament book of Leviticus. When reading, one might easily discount the ancient Scripture because of its age-old rituals and traditions. Leviticus 13 reveals the regulations of the people of Israel as they address skin problems. Do not ignore these verses; they describe God’s way of keeping His people safe. These skin diseases, such as leprosy, often led to isolation and potential banishment from society. Conversely, Christ reveals that no disease can separate the believer from salvation. In Luke 17, the Lord works a miracle, restoring the lepers not only from disease but also from being outcasts.

I. Isolated from the Community (Leviticus 13:45–46)

In this 13th chapter of Leviticus, the writer offers detailed guidelines of what the Israelites had to do if they had skin problems. Diseases such as leprosy were so contagious and deadly that if they spread unchecked, an entire community could be destroyed. Therefore, God directed the afflicted person to see the priest, who would examine the skin condition and determine whether the person was clean or unclean. The priest served as a judge of sorts, whose decision to quarantine or declare clean resulted in his being the gatekeeper of Israel’s social health. He was, in effect, the chief administrator of Israel’s center for disease control.

Leviticus 13:45–46 reveals the limitation of human systems in dealing with disease. The best that a person could hope for if declared unclean was to be separated from the rest of society. This might have been a prudent, temporary remedy for leprosy, but it certainly was not God’s perfect plan. Notice that verse 45 conveys the sorrow (demonstrated through a lack of hygiene) associated with being declared unclean. The torn clothes indicate sadness, and the unkept hair makes clear that the diseased is to have no interaction with others or with God. Numbers 6:5 declares that uncut hair represents holiness unto God, while in contrast the lepers’ unkept hair conveys unholiness before the Lord.

The consequences of isolation were compounded for the leper because he or she had to announce his or her disease. Can you imagine having to announce to those around you that you had AIDS, an STD, cancer, or diabetes? What an embarrassment! Yet this was all that Israel could do to contain the spread of disease, which reveals the desperate condition of humanity apart from the healing that Jesus provides.

II. Restored Back to the Community (Luke 17:11–19)