YOUNG ADULT Sunday School • Fall Quarter, 2020 • September, October, November LIVING HEROICALLY QUARTERLY AIM: The students will learn how to live heroic lifestyles by studying the faith, obedience and trust that the great men and women of the Bible had in God. 6 So Great a Cloud of Witnesses . 3 Hebrews 11:1-3; 12:1-3 13 Abel—It Is All About Faith . 11 Hebrews 11:4; Genesis 4:1-8 20 Enoch—Pleasing God . 18 Hebrews 11:5, 6; Genesis 5:18-24 27 Noah—Standing in Awe of God . 25 SEPTEMBER Hebrews 11:7; Genesis 6—8 4 Abraham and Sarah—Vision, Faith and Blessings . 32 Hebrews 11:8-16; Genesis 12—21 11 Abraham and Isaac—The Joy of Sacrifice . 39 Hebrews 11:17-19; Genesis 22:1-14; John 8:54-58 18 Isaac, Jacob, Esau and Joseph—Carrying on a Legacy . 46 Hebrews 11:20-22; Genesis 25—33 OCTOBER 25 Joseph—Following a Dream . 53 Hebrews 11:22; Genesis 37—50 1 Moses—Becoming Great God’s Way . 60 Hebrews 11:23-29; Exodus 1-14 8 Joshua and the Children of Israel—Doing Business God’s Way . 67 Hebrews 11:28-30; Exodus 6:1-5; Joshua 6:1-21 15 Rahab—An Unlikely Hero . 75 Hebrews 11:31; Joshua 2:1-13 22 Whom the World Is Not Worthy—Every Day Heroes . 82 NOVEMBER Hebrews 11:32-40 29 One True Hero—Jesus . 89 Hebrews 12:1, 2 Vol. 7, No. 3, Fall Quarter, 2020. Writer: Robbie Horne Editor in Chief: Kyle W. Elkins, [email protected] Business Manager: Dean Grigsby, [email protected] © 2020, Bogard Press, 4605 N. State Line Ave., Texarkana, TX 75503-2928 www.bogardpress.org; 1-800-264-2482 ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dr . Robbie Horne pastored churches in the American Baptist Association for forty-three years . Robbie is married to Pam (Clift) Horne and has two children, Jacquelyn and Clint, three grandchildren, Cody Dale Beene, Hadley Grace Horne, and Maverick Lee Horne, and one great grandchild, Adeline Beene . Robbie is a 1970 graduate of Benton High School in Benton, Arkansas . After serving three years in the United States Army, Robbie enrolled in the Missionary Baptist Seminary in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in theology . In 2010, Robbie earned a doctor’s degree in theology from the Central Arkansas Baptist Bible Institute in Benton, Arkansas . Robbie is an instructor at CABBI, has taught Hermeneutics, Life of Christ, Church Epistles and Leadership, and is presently teaching first, second and third year Hebrew . Robbie enjoys the Arkansas Razorbacks, reading, writing, talking, preaching, teaching, playing the guitar, spending quality time with his dog Max, and taking vacations to Branson, Missouri and Panama City Beach, Florida with his wife of forty-six years Pam . Email: [email protected] 2 Lesson 1 September 6, 2020 SO GREAT A CLOUD OF WITNESSES Lesson Text: Hebrews 11:1-3; 12:1-3 Principle: True heroes believe Jesus is the Son of God, which is the first step a person must take to live heroically . Recently my nephew, a third grader, played his first football game . The opposing team’s running back broke through the line and my nephew pushed him out of bounds after a thirty-yard gain . And what did my nine-year-old nephew do? He beat his chest as if he had just sacked the quarterback in the endzone for a safety . Why did a nine-year-old put on such a macho unsportsmanlike display? He watches football on television, of course, and how do professional athletes act when they make impressive, hard-hitting plays? They celebrate in unique, often silly ways . My nephew, no doubt, had seen his heroes on television and believed that it was okay for him to beat his chest and taunt his opponent like a professional . The chest-beating incident didn’t sit well with my brother-in-law, the nine-year-old’s grandfather . After the game, he told him, not only did he 3 make a fool of himself—the opposing player ran for thirty yards—the family name was on the back of his jersey, and that if he pulled another stunt like beating his chest after a mediocre play again, he would tear the family name off the back of his jersey and never attend another game . My nine-year-old nephew stepped out of his grandfather’s car with his feather’s ruffled . Was my brother-in-law too rough on his grandson? No! He had played for a no-nonsense coach in high school, he holds people in high regard, and he treats them with respect . He is proud of his country, his family and his church, and he expects his children and grandchildren to show respect and to exercise proper behavior . I don’t know about you, but I don’t have a problem with a man who sets a proper example and instills in his children and grandchildren a respect for themselves and their fellowman . Far too often, everyday heroes—men and women, like my brother-in-law, who try to do the right things—are over- shadowed by highly compensated actors and athletes who are paid millions to play a game or play a role . The world needs heroes, but, unfortunately, heroes are hard to find . Hebrews 11 is often called God’s Hall of Fame . It is true that each man and woman mentioned in Hebrews 11 is a genuine hero . With faith in God, they overcame many obstacles Satan placed in their paths . After describing the heroic feats of Old Testament saints, the writer of the book of Hebrews stated, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1) . The “great cloud of witnesses” are the men and women the writer mentioned in Hebrews 11 . These men and women, no doubt were heroes, but we cannot overlook what made them heroes: they believed God, they placed their faith in a coming Messiah, Jesus, the Son of God . In fact, the Hebrew writer points out that the very same thing that made Old Testament saints heroes makes twenty-first century Christians heroes as well . Therefore, like Old Testament heroes, we must look “unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (verse 2) . It is important to note that God’s Hall of Fame consists of men and women like you and me . Elijah, for example, “was a man subject to like passions as we are” (James 5:17), which means he was just a man, flesh, blood and bones, with the same strengths and weaknesses we have . Yet Elijah (flesh, blood and bones) became God’s warrior and preserved true faith on earth . 4 As I have already stated, the world needs heroes, but sadly, true heroes are hard to find . The truth is, we can live heroically, just like the great “cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1) . Like the men and women enshrined in God’s Hall of Fame, we, too, believe that Jesus is the Son of God . Despite our human frailties, we, like the heroes of faith, can serve God bravely in an increasingly anti-Christian world . EXPLORING THE PRINCIPLE Heroes and Faith THINK After the Hebrew writer pointed out the ABOUT IT! importance of assembling together and the danger of sinning willfully (Hebrews 10:23- LIVING HEROICALLY 31), he quoted the prophet Habakkuk and said, Do you want to live heroically? “Now the just shall live by faith” (verse 38) . This sounds good . True heroes live by faith . But what If you do, a heroic life begins does it mean? The Hebrew writer (probably the with a relationship with God apostle Paul) wanted ancient Christians, and us, through His Son Jesus. to know what it means to live by faith; therefore, A relationship with God begins he defined faith so that Christians in every age with faith. could grasp this important principle: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence Jesus said, “For God so loved of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1) . the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever “Faith” is confidence, assurance and trust . believeth in him should not “Substance” is assurance . “Evidence” is legal perish, but have everlasting life” proof . Faith, therefore, is being confident in (John 3:16). things we hope for and is legal proof that we will receive things we cannot presently see . A The apostle Paul wrote, “For by popular study Bible states, “Biblical faith is not grace are ye saved through faith” (Ephesians 2:8). a vague hope grounded in imaginary, wishful thinking . Instead, biblical faith is a settled confi- Once you have believed that dence that something in the future—something Jesus is the Son of God and that is not yet seen but has been promised by have called on His name, you God—will actually come to pass because God are “just” and “the just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17; will bring it about . Thus biblical faith is not Hebrews 10:38). blind trust in the face of contrary evidence, not an unknowable ‘leap in the dark’; rather, biblical This means, regardless of what faith is a confident trust in the eternal God who you encounter in life, your faith is all-powerful, infinitely wise, eternally trust- in God doesn’t waver, and 5 that you trust in Him in every worthy—the God who has revealed himself in circumstance.