Category: SonLight Education Ministry

Lesson 2- The Bible the Educator

“The Textbook”

“But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4

 “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by Thy name of Lord God of hosts. Jeremiah 15:16

 

Read:

Exodus 16; Matthew 4:1-11;

Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13

The Desire of Ages, 114-131

 

During Christ’s ministry, many wondered how He could know so much and teach with such power if He had not been trained in the traditional schools. Because the Bible was His textbook, His knowledge and understanding far surpassed the knowledge and understanding of the teachers who were respected in the community.

“The child Jesus did not receive instruction in the synagogue schools. His mother was His first human teacher. From her lips and from the scrolls of the prophets, He learned of Heavenly things. The very words which He Himself had spoken to Moses for Israel He was now taught at His mother’s knee. As He advanced from childhood to youth, He did not seek the schools of the rabbis. He needed not the education to be obtained from such sources, for God was His instructor.” (DA p70)

Because Jesus had been educated using the Bible as the basis of all His learning, He was able to use what He learned to resist Satan in the wilderness. “Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee.” (Psalm 119:11)

“Many look on this conflict between Christ and Satan as having no special bearing on their own life; and for them it has little interest But within the domain of every human heart this controversy is repeated. Never does one leave the ranks of evil for the service of God without encountering the assaults of Satan.”

We see this principle in the story of the Israelites in the desert. In Exodus chapter 16 they had left Egypt and successfully fled from the presence of their oppressors. They too were in the wilderness and were hungry. Instead of relying on God’s word, that He would supply their every need, they murmured and complained.

In fact, the experience of the Israelites in the wilderness mirrors the experience of Christ in the wilderness. Where the Israelites failed, Christ succeeded.

“Satan uses these same temptations to tempt and try men today. He uses the false educational system to train the mind to worship him.” (Ten Principles p44)

For every temptation, whether under the category of provision, presumption, or pride we may use the word of God to overcome. It is for this reason that the Bible should be our primary textbook.

Bible Class

“The Word of God must be the foundation, the inspiration, and the guide in every line of study as it was to Christ. There must be perfect confidence in the Word as God’s voice to the parent and child as they learn from the Master Teacher.” (Ten Principles p49)

Suggestions on how to conduct Bible class are included in this chapter beginning on page 49 of our textbook. Our studies should be conducted outside as much as the weather permits.

• Teaching outside will keep younger children occupied while you teach the older ones.
• Teaching outside tends to quiet hyperactive, nervous, or restless-type students. At first there may be moments of distraction, like watching every bug, or turning away at every sound, but these moments will pass as the student becomes accustomed to being outside. Even these distractions can often be turned into lessons.
• Teaching outside opens to the students what should have been their very first lesson book-the lesson book of nature-the wonders of God’s creativity in land, water, and sky!
• Teaching outside will improve the five senses. Students will become more sensitive to seeing detail, hearing quiet sounds, smelling fragrances, feeling breezes and changes in temperature, and tasting nature through the smells. This will help develop in them sensitivity to people, their needs, their loneliness, and their fears. It will also help them develop a discernment of people’s faces as they pay attention to details in nature. In their time of trouble it will be the little things that will help them to know how to respond to a friend or an enemy.
• Teaching outside offers time for personal prayer, thoughts, and meditation. It offers opportunity for the Holy Spirit to speak gently to students through nature. (Ten Principles)

 

“Let all things be done decently and in order” (I Corinthians 14:40)

“Order is heaven’s first law” (CT 174.3)

“As we copy the divine example, let us also have order in our home-school. Order begins by starting school at the appointed time. Allow no interruptions to divert you from this most important task.”

We need to have Order of time, our person, our place and or character. All of these items are discussed in further detail towards the end of Lesson 2.

“Before God met with Israel on Mount Sinai to give them the law, the children of Israel were required to have clean clothing (Exodus 19:10). The children of Israel were to do all within their power to cleanse themselves from inward and outward defilement. It may be a struggle for us to come up to God’s high standard of inward and outward cleansing, but our human efforts united with God’s divine power will succeed. An early start each day in our schedule is sometimes a problem because of lack of order and discipline. Children many times have no rules as to when to go to bed and when to arise. The birds of nature teach us when it is time to go to bed and when it is time to rise. When the precious habits of order are broken and time thus wasted in the early mornings, things are set out of course for the whole day. Remember, God wills us to bring ourselves into order. Let us go to bed early and use the fresh hours of the morning to form habits of regularity and order. We will improve in health, spirit, memory, and disposition.”

Keeping Records

It is very important for us to keep records, even in states where there is no requirement to communicate with the government about your homeschool. Keep a record of how many days you have school and keep your child’s work in a file. A suggested daily schedule and record sheet are included at the end of chapter 2 in the lesson book.

Teaching Academic Subjects by Christ’s Method

When we use Christ’s methods to teach academic subjects, the Bible will be the primary textbook. All studies will begin with considering what the Bible has to say, or what principles can be found that relate to what we are studying.

It is important for us to be with our children while they are working on their academics. This helps us to understand the child’s level of understanding and work ethic. It makes us aware when the child is frustrated. “Being in the presence of the student also enables you to observe his physical needs. Is he sitting correctly, is he sleepy because he needs more fresh air or to take a break, etc.?”

“Remember Christ’s ideal method of teaching is to exhibit the principles of truth and duty one by one as they occur in connection with the ordinary incidents and events of life.”

We want to use every day events to teach our children. When the children are not getting along, or do something wrong whether it be bad behavior or not completing a chore, we can turn these into teaching moments and tie them in with the current lesson/character quality.

With the Bible as our textbook, we will learn God’s word and be prepared for trial and temptations. We will learn habits or order and every day we will become more and more like Jesus.

Additional Resources:

Lesson 1- Character Building

“The Purpose of True Education”

 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. -Philippians 2:5

“Character building is the most important work ever entrusted to human beings; and never before was its diligent study so important as now.” (Ed 225)

“The change from earth to heaven will not change men’s characters; the happiness of the redeemed in heaven results from the characters formed in this life, after the image of Christ.”( 6BC 1072)

“In every generation and in every land the true foundation for character building has been the same-the principles contained in the word of God. The only safe and sure rule is to do what God says. ‘The statutes of the Lord are right, and he that doeth these things shall never be moved’ (Psalm 19:8;15:5) It was with the word of God that the apostles met the false theories of their day, saying ‘Other foundation can no man lay than that is ‘ (I Corinthians 3:11)” (AA 475)

 Read:

Matthew chapter 5, 6 and 7

The Desire of Ages pages 298-314

Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing

 The Beatitudes

Our study begins in Matthew chapter 5 with what is commonly known as the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount opens with what is known as the Beatitudes. It is important to know the backdrop upon which these words were spoken.

“Understanding what the words of Jesus meant to those who heard them, we may discern in them a new vividness and beauty, and may also gather for ourselves their deeper lessons. When the Savior began His ministry, the popular conception of the Messiah and His work was such as wholly unfitted the people to receive Him. The spirit of true devotion had been lost in tradition and ceremonialism, and the prophecies were interpreted at the dictate of proud, world-loving hearts. The Jews looked for the coming One, not as a Savior from sin, but as a great prince who should bring all nations under the supremacy of the Lion of the tribe of Judah.” (MB 2)

With this misconception of His ministry, Jesus spoke to the disciples in the hearing of the multitude. He began the sermon with these words: “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:2,3. This teaching was contrary to all the teachings the disciples or those in the multitude had ever heard from any priest or rabbi. They had been taught to honor and covet positions and rankings.

“In the days of Christ the religious leaders of the people felt that they were rich in spiritual treasure. The prayer of the Pharisee, ‘God I thank Thee, that I am not as the rest of men’ (Luke 18:11 R.V.) expressed the feeling of his class and, to a great degree of the whole nation. But in the throng that surrounded Jesus there were some who had a sense of their spiritual poverty.”

Christ’s very first lesson to the multitude was that they needed to recognize their spiritual poverty. This is the first lesson for those who would become students in the school of Christ and teach others. In classical education the opposite is taught. Students are encouraged to be the best, to be prideful, to choose careers based on how much money can be made.

Christ continues, stringing together important principles of true education.

“Throughout the Beatitudes there is an advancing line of Christian experience. Those who have felt their need of Christ, those who have mourned because of sin and have sat with Christ in the school of affliction, will learn meekness from the divine Teacher.”

We feel our need for Christ, we mourn because of our sins, and we learn meekness from the divine Teacher. This meekness creates in us a hunger and thirst for righteousness, as the hunger and thirst are filled we learn of the mercy of God which creates in us a desire to be pure in heart. Because of the purity that is now within, we desire to be peacemakers. This change within us stirs our enemies and we begin to be persecuted. We count the persecutions a blessing because Christ was persecuted in the same way and we can now rejoice knowing that our reward is in heaven. Within the Beatitudes, we have a beautiful picture of the progression of the Christian walk.

The Spirituality of the Law

The sermon continues. “I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill” Matthew 5:17

Christ knew that His teachings were not only revolutionary, but contrary to anything those in the crowd had ever heard. He knew that some would accuse Him of doing away with the law and teaching His own thoughts and ways. Addressing this reasoning within their hearts, He declared that He had not come to destroy the law, but yet to fulfill it.

“But Israel had not perceived the spiritual nature of the law, and too often their professed obedience was but an observance of forms and ceremonies, rather than a surrender of the heart to the sovereignty of love.

What is the main objective of True Education-that our hearts and minds would be completely surrendered to the heart of God. We want our children/students to obey, but we want them to do it out of love and not as an observance of forms and ceremonies.

The True Motive in Service

“The words of Christ on the mount were an expression of that which had been the unspoken teaching of His life, but which the people had failed to comprehend. They could not understand how, having such great power, He neglected to use it in securing what they regarded as the chief good. Their spirit and motives and methods were the opposite of His. While they claimed to be very jealous for the honor of the law, self-glory was the real object which they sought; and Christ would make it manifest to them that the lover of self is a transgressor of the law. “

In True Education, the motive for service is never selfish. We never seek to help others so that we may be benefited. We may be and often are benefited by helping others, but this should never be our focus. Service is an integral part of true education

The Lord’s Prayer

“The disciples had come to connect His hours of prayer with the power of His words and works (MB 103).

Christ gives the Lord’s Prayer twice. Once to the multitude in the Sermon on the Mount and then again while with His disciples alone. This repeating of the prayer shows just how important it is. As important as this prayer may be, it serves only as a model of how we should pray to the Father.

First we address Him as “Our Father”. Not my Father, or your Father, but Our Father signifying that we all are a part of His family. He is not ours alone. He died for the entire world. And though He would have died if there were just one individual needing to be saved, He died for all.

“The very first step in approaching God is to know and believe the love that He has to us (I John 4:16); for it is through the drawing of His love that we are led to come to Him. The perception of God’s love works the renunciation of selfishness. In calling God our Father, we recognize all His children as our brethren.” (MB 105)

We recognize that His name is holy.

“We are never in any manner to treat lightly the titles or appellations of the Deity.”

We pray for His kingdom to come.

Christ promised the disciples that He was going away to prepare a place for them and that He would return to take them home. “His kingdom will not come until the good tidings of His grace have been carried to all the earth. Hence, as we give ourselves to God (character building), and win other souls to Him, we hasten the coming of His kingdom.”

We pray that His will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

“…In heaven, service is not rendered in the spirit of legality.”

“There is perfect unity between them (the angels) and their Creator. Obedience is to them no drudgery. Love for God makes their service a joy. So in every soul wherein Christ, the hope of glory, dwells, His word are re-echoed, ‘I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yeah Thy law is within My heart’” Psalm 40:8 (MB 109)

We pray that daily Christ will give us bread.

“The first half of the prayer Jesus has taught us is in regard to the name and kingdom and will of God-that His name may be honored, His kingdom established, His will performed. When you have thus made God’s service your first interest, you may ask with confidence that your own needs may be supplied. If you have renounced self and given yourself to Christ you are a member of the family of God, and everything in the Father’s house is for you.” (MB 110)

Just as we pray “Our Father”, we pray to give “us” our daily bread. In this prayer we are asking not only for ourselves, but for others. “And we acknowledge that what God gives us is not for ourselves alone.”

“The prayer for daily bread includes not only food to sustain the body, but that spiritual bread which will nourish the soul unto life everlasting.

“We receive Christ through His work, and the Holy Spirit is given to open the word of God to our understanding, and bring home its truths to our hearts. We are to pray day by day that as we read His word, God will send His Spirit to reveal to us the truth that will strengthen our soul for the day’s need.” (MB 113)

We pray for forgiveness.

“Jesus teaches that we can receive forgiveness from God only as we forgive others.” “He who is unforgiving cuts off the very channel through which alone he can receive mercy from God.” (MB 113)

“God’s forgiveness is not merely a judicial act by which He sets us free from condemnation. It is not only forgiveness for sin, but reclaiming from sin. It is the outflow of redeeming love that transforms the heart.”(MB 114)

This is the essence of character of building. As we experience the forgiveness of God, that forgiveness will automatically flow out to others.

“The one thing essential for us in order that we may receive and impart the forgiving love of God is to know and believe the love that He has to us.”I John 4:16

“Forgiveness, reconciliation with God, comes to us, not as a reward for our works, it is not bestowed because of the merit of sinful men, but it is a gift unto us, having in the spotless righteousness of Christ its foundation for bestowal. (MB 115)

We pray to be delivered from temptation and from the evil one.

“Temptation is enticement to sin, and this does not proceed from God, but from Satan and from the evil of our own hearts. ‘God cannot be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempteth no man’. James 1:13 R.V (MB 116)

“God in His great love is seeking to develop in us the precious graces of His Spirit. He permits us to encounter obstacles, persecution, and hardships, not as a curse, but as the greatest blessing of our lives. Every temptation resisted, every trial bravely borne, give us a new experience and advances us in the work of character building. The soul that through divine power resists temptations reveals to the world and to the heavenly universe the efficiency of the grace of Christ.

“But while we are not to be dismayed by trial, bitter though it be, we should pray that God will not permit us to be brought where we shall be drawn away by the desires of our own evil hearts. In offering ourselves to the guidance of God, asking Him to lead us in safe paths. We cannot offer this prayer in sincerity, and yet decide to walk in any way of our own evil hearts. In offering the prayer that Christ has given, we surrender ourselves to the guidance of God, asking Him to lead us in safe paths. We cannot offer this prayer in sincerity, and yet decide to walk in any way of our own choosing. We shall wait for His hand to lead us; we shall listen to His voice, saying, ‘This is the way, walk ye in it” Isaiah 30:21 (MB 117)

God allows us to be tempted so that our characters may be strengthened. When we patiently bear these trials and teach our children to do so, we will experience victory.

We affirm that the kingdom, power and glory belong to God.

“The last like the first sentence of the Lord’s Prayer, points to our Father as above all power and authority and every name that is named. “In the prayer that breathes their daily wants, the disciples of Christ were directed to look above all the power and dominion of evil, unto their Father and everlasting Friend.”

As we look unto God, our characters will become more and more like the one we are beholding.

Not Judging, but Doing

As we allow Christ to transform our character, we will have sympathy for those who are not in Christ and the spirit we manifest toward them will be gently and not one of judgment.

“The effort to earn salvation by one’s own works inevitably leads men to pile up human exactions as a barrier against sin. For, seeing that they fail to keep the law, they will devise rules and regulations of their own to force themselves to obey. All this turns the mind away from God to self. His love dies out of the heart, and with it perishes love for his fellow men. A system of human invention, with it multitudinous exactions, will lead its advocated to judge all who come short of the prescribed human standard. The atmosphere of selfish and narrow criticism stifles the noble and generous emotion and causes men to become self-centered judges and petty spies.” (MB 123)

“Those who have never experienced the contrition of an entire surrender to Christ do not in their life make manifest the softening influence of the Savior’s love. They misrepresent the gentle, courteous spirit of the gospel and wound precious souls for whom Christ died.” (MB 125)

“When the doctrine we accept kills sin in the heart, purifies the soul from defilement, bears fruit unto holiness, we may know that it is the truth of God. When benevolence, kindness, tenderheartedness, sympathy, are manifest in our lives; when the joy of right doing is in our hearts; when we exalt Christ, and not self, we may know that our faith is of the right order.”

Nature Lesson

Each chapter has a nature lesson that ties in with the theme that is being studied. The objects for our consideration are rock and sand.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ refers to the wise man who built his house upon the rock and the foolish man that built his house upon the sand. In our lesson, we are given a definition for both rock and sand and shown how this applies to our lives and character building.

Rock	Sand
You can be a wise man!	You, hopefully, are not a foolish man
The Word/Jesus is the rock.	Self if the sand.
“We build on Christ by obeying His words.” (MB 149)	“But every building erected on other foundation than God’s word will fall.” (MB 150)
Character is the house being built.	Character is the house

 

“There are five areas of disharmony with the Word of God in educational theories and practices. These are only a few examples of disobedience; there are others, such as: social structure and codes agriculture as part of the curriculum, ostentation in place of simplicity, and character of entertainment.”

1. Incentive Motivation
2. Literature
3. Recreation
4. Nature Study and Occupation
5. Parent Education

We will cover these in greater detail in our future studies.

 

“Never for all our alarms and challenges and calls to repentance and prayer and revival efforts, never shall we effect a reform, till we go to the roots of the matter. We need to face up, as Christian men and women, to the stark facts, repent of our folly and indifference and neglect, and turn with all our heart to God. May the Lord so direct and control you that your homeschool shall become more like God’s Eden school than like the Greek school of the past.”

 

Additional Resources for further study:

Ten Principles Training Course (pdf)

Sonlight Education Ministry YouTube Channel

Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing

The Desire of Ages

Living Fountains and Broken Cisterns

Studies in Christian Education

 

We want to hear from you! Please let us know in the comment section below:

How have you  used SonLight materials to teach Character Building and how have they benefited you and your family?

What resources do you use to your family in the area of Character Building?

Please let us know what we can do to help make this training better and more practical.  We welcome your questions, comments and suggestions.

Come join us for the Ten Principles of True Education Summer Mini-Course!

Have you ever wondered what True Education means? What is it exactly? Some have looked at the SonLight Education Ministry materials and felt overwhelmed and find the materials hard to work with. When posed with, “Read the catalogue” or “Complete the Ten Principles of Education teaching course,” some immediately feel overwhelmed when you simply want to get a sense of what this is all about.

Well, this summer we will be offering a mini-course on the Ten Principles of True Education on the AHE Blog. This is meant to be an introduction for you to help you understand True Education. Some resources will be included to help you dig deeper into each topic area, should you choose to do so.  We will begin Sunday June 7th, 2015. We will post a new post each Sunday, going through the 10 Principles that are cited in the Ten Principles of Education teaching course by SonLight Education Ministry. We encourage you to post comments on the blog. Some questions will be posted for you to think about.  Resources will be shared in the comment section as well.  We will take time to answer questions that you leave there. Yolanda, our AHE-Living group moderator, and also a SonLight counselor, will be sharing this shortened version of the Ten Principles of Education course.

Sign up to follow the AHE Blog so you don’t miss a post! You can also follow the AHE Facebook page or the SonLight Education Ministry Facebook page as we will be posting the blog post links at both locations.  Links you need are at the end of this post.

Deeper Study

For those that want to dig deeper, a corresponding deeper study is going to follow along with the mini-course at the SonLight Education Ministry – SDA Facebook group. There will be deeper discussions over there and additional resources shared. Some are ready for this step, others are not. We offer both options for you so that you can choose what is best for you. The mini-course is designed to give you an overall look at True Education so you can see it really isn’t all that hard. We can all agree that within our scope of teaching, we know we each have talents and gifts the Lord has given us. Some of us need to study a little deeper in different areas of True Education, to get a better outcome. That is what the deeper study going on in the Facebook Group is doing, as they will be digging into the actual Ten Principles of True Education training course.

Teresa, another one of the SonLight counselors, is sharing a video series that walks you through the Ten Principles of Education training course.  These will be discussed at the Facebook Group mentioned above.  She is taping them on a tablet, so it is not professionally done, but I think you will still appreciate the wisdom she shares.  The introductory videos to the Ten Principles of Education training course video series are below.  We will share her videos with each chapter that we discuss as we go along.

Introduction video 1

Introduction video 2

Introduction video 3

Introduction video 4

Introduction video 5

Introduction video 6

Introduction video 7

 

Links You Will Need

See the links below to find the resources you need to follow this summer’s adventures with digging into True Education!

SEM’s Google Drive (where you can find the SonLight Education Ministry materials, including the Ten Principles of Education training course.)

AHE’s Facebook Page (Adventist Home Educators)

SEM’s Facebook Page (SonLight Education Ministry)

SonLight Education Ministry – SDA Facebook Group (for deeper study)