God in Nature (AY)
Summary
Now that creation is complete, God has finished his work, he did His very best because he
declared that it was good. However, now is the time for us to do the work he has left for us to do. We
all have been given talents but will we utilize our talents or bury them. Will we serve him half-
heartedly or will we give our all, and give our best?
This sabbath school program will show us how to give of our best to the master.
Program Aim
Sometimes we need to pack up our Bibles and Hymnals and take a walk outside of the man-
made cathedral and enter into the sanctuary made by God's own hand, that place is nature! This
week we will be presenting an AY program that takes your church into nature and reminds them that
God is the creator and that he speaks to us not only through the Bible but through his creative works.
Scripture References
Psalm 19:1
Theme Song(s)
#93- All things bright and beautiful
Preparations and resources
Instructions:
Form multiple groups (4 - 6 based on the number of people available).
Allow the groups to take 15 - 20 minutes to walk out in the surrounding nature and observe the
environment.
Each group should take note of 10 natural things in the environment.
For each Item list the following:
1. A Bible verse about the item.
2. What it tells us about God’s qualities or his character.
3. How it is beneficial to us or other plants and animals.
4. How can we protect or conserve it.
Each group should present their 10 items at the end of their nature walk. Presentations should be
limited to 10-15 minutes based on the number of groups present.
God in Nature!
A.Y. Program
Overview: This is an outdoor program. Take your church to a nice open area where they can walk
and explore various aspects of nature. A place with a body of water would be great, or anywhere that
has a nice diversity of plant and animal life.
Opening Prayer
Song Service (sing songs about nature, eg. All things bright and beautiful)
Scripture reading:
Special: song or poem about nature.
Psalm 19:1 reminds us that “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his
handywork.”
Outside of the Bible, there is another place where God reveals himself. He is written on the leaves of
every tree, his glory is etched into every stone and we can hear about him through the preaching of
the wind and waves. The birds sing His praises new every morning and the stars display his majesty.
Job 12: 7-9 encourages us to ask nature about who God is: “But ask now the beasts, and they shall
teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: 8 Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach
thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. 9 Who knoweth not in all these that the hand
of the LORD hath wrought this?”
Nature knows it’s creator and testifies of His magnificence everyday. Therefore according to Romans
1:20, you have no excuse for not understanding the works of the Lord. “20 For since the creation of
the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen,
being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”
Today we will be seeking to find God in nature, we will learn of the creator through all that he has
created.
Adventist Family Feud (AY)
Summary
The bible is a beautiful book. It is filled with stories of interesting people and
events. We as Adventists have grown up with our own perceptions of people in
the bible based on how were were taught and our local cultures.
Program Aim
Clarifying perceptions of the Bible.
Scripture References
2 Timothy 2:15
Theme Song(s)
Faith is the victory
Preparations and resources
Set up a projector or TV screens to display the game, paper and pen for scoring.
The powerpoint file does not display well on mobile devices. Please use a desktop or laptop computer
to view.
[Duration 1:45 minutes]
OPENING PRAYER [1 minute]:
SONG SERVICE [15 minutes]:
OPENING/THEME SONG [3 minutes]:272 – Give Me the Bible
SCRIPTURE READING [2 minutes]: 2 Timothy 2:15
PRAYER [3 minutes]:
PRELIMINARIES[3 minutes]:
AY MISSION:
The salvation of youth through Jesus Christ. We understand youth ministry to be that work of the church that is
conducted for, with, and by young people.
AY AIM:
The Advent message to all the world in my generation.
AY MOTTO:
The love of Christ compels me.
AY PLED
Loving the Lord Jesus, I promise to take an active part in the youth ministry of the church, doing what I can to
help others and to finish the work of the Gospel in all the world.
AY SONG:
Adventist youth are we from every land and sea
Together we pray and work and play in happy harmony
We have a faith to share
With others everywhere
A message of love from God above
To show the world we care
Adventist youth, Adventist Youth, Adventist Youth
WELCOME & GREETING [5 minutes]:
ACTIVITIES [15 minutes]:
Morning Watch, Testimonies, Hot Seat, Action group/unit meetings, etc.
PROGRAM INTRODUCTION [2 minutes]:
SPECIAL [5 minutes]:
MAIN PROGRAM [45 minutes]:
The bible is a beautiful book. It is filled with stories of interesting people and events. We as Adventists have
grown up with our own perceptions of people in the bible based on how were were taught and our local
cultures. We also have perceptions of people and things in everyday life that are based on our experiences.
Sometimes we need to pause and consider how much our perceptions affect our understanding of the bible
and of people around us.
Sometimes we need to put aside our biases and look at things from the perspective of other people, validated
by the word of God. This has the ability to improve our impact on the world as like Paul we become all things to
all men.
Today we will consider the perspective of Adventists all across the world, from Jamaica, to Saudi Arabia, to
Solomon Islands. All who have contributed to the results in this survey for the question we asked. We also
provide biblical answers to many of the question asked.
INSTRUCTION: Choose two groups (Team A and Team B) of 5 people to represent 2 teams. Each person
from Team A is asked a question until they make three mistakes or answers all the questions. The questions
and points can be passed to Team B if the Team A gets 3 wrong answers and Team B gives the next answer
correctly. The turn is then passed to Team B.
Download this Powerpoint with the Adventist Family Feud Game
[Link]
Download the Question and Answer sheet, if you are the host this will be
important to know if the responses are correct.
Watch the Family Feud Tutorial Video below
VESPER SERVICE [10 minutes]
CHARGE
CLOSING SONG
PRAYER
DEPARTURE SONG [1 minute]:
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
No video provider was found to handle the given URL. See the documentation for
more information.
I Want to Know What Love Is (Love Jeopardy
Bible Quiz) AY
Program Aim
This program aims to show examples of the different types of love in the bible as
well as challenge the congregation's knowledge of what the bible has to say
about love.
Scripture References
1 Cor 13:4,5
Theme Song(s)
248 – O, How I Love Jesus
Preparations and resources
To play the full Jeopardy game, you will need a computer, and a screen or
projector to display to the audience.
Download the Powerpoint file here to play the game following the instructions
located here.
If you do not have multimedia tools, you can simply read the questions and
answers from this PDF file.
OPENING PRAYER [1 minute]:
SONG SERVICE [15 minutes]:
OPENING/THEME SONG [3 minutes]: 248 – O, How I Love Jesus
SCRIPTURE READING [2 minutes]: 1 Cor 13:4,5
PRAYER [3 minutes]:
PRELIMINARIES[3 minutes]:
AY MISSION:
The salvation of youth through Jesus Christ. We understand youth ministry to be
that work of the church that is conducted for, with, and by young people.
AY AIM:
The Advent message to all the world in my generation.
AY MOTTO:
The love of Christ compels me.
AY PLEDGE:
Loving the Lord Jesus, I promise to take an active part in the youth ministry of the
church, doing what I can to help others and to finish the work of the Gospel in all
the world.
AY SONG:
Adventist youth are we from every land and sea
Together we pray and work and play in happy harmony
We have a faith to share
With others everywhere
A message of love from God above
To show the world we care
Adventist youth, Adventist Youth, Adventist Youth
WELCOME & GREETING [5 minutes]:
ACTIVITIES [15 minutes]:
Morning Watch, Testimonies, Hot Seat, Action group/unit meetings, etc.
PROGRAM INTRODUCTION [2 minutes]:
SPECIAL [5 minutes]:
MAIN PROGRAM [45 minutes]:
Introduce the Love Jeopardy Bible Quiz. Feel free to choose whether or not to
keep score, use individuals or groups or just throw the questions randomly
across the congregation. The Quiz will be the first part of the program.
The English language is very general with the word love. You can use the same
word to say "I love my wife" or "I love to eat bananas". Neither statement truly
conveys the magnitude or kind of love you are expressing for them, in fact, if you
say "I love my wife and I really love to eat bananas", it almost sounds like you
have greater love for bananas.
Thankfully, the Bible was not originally written in English, so we have insights as
to how the word "love" was used in its various contexts in the Bible. Today, we
will be focusing on love in the the Greek language, and we will learn what words
are used to express the different forms of love, what they mean and how they
were used.
There 4 types of Love
The ancient Greeks had at least 8 words to represent the different types of love.
For this program, we will stick to four of the most common, and the types you can
observe in the Bible. These four are Eros, Storge, Philia, and Agape. Not all of
these words are directly found in the Greek new testament, but understanding
their meaning, makes it more clearer what the Author was trying to convey.
Phileō
The first type of love we will look at is Phileō. This defines an affectionate or
kindly love, generally referred to as brotherly love. Examples can be found in
Matthew 10:37, John21:17, Titus 3:15. In the modern world, we often refer to this
as platonic love.
Storge
"Storge is only used a few times. Below is one instance in the New Testament.
In Romans 12:10 “storge is used as part of a compound word with philos:”
philostorgos “… is translated devoted or kindly affectionate. Phílos means
“dear friend; actively, fond, friendly” and “storgḗ (cherishing one’s kindred,
especially parents or children); fond of natural relatives, i.e. fraternal towards
fellow Christian.” Wikipedia records that “storge means “love, affection” and
“especially of parents and children”… It’s the common or natural empathy, like
that felt by parents for offspring… Rarely used in ancient works, and then almost
exclusively as a descriptor of relationships within the family. [Source]
Eros
“Éros means “love, mostly of the sexual passion.” The Modern Greek word
“erotas” means “intimate love.” Plato refined his own definition: Although eros is
initially felt for a person, with contemplation it becomes an appreciation of the
beauty within that person, or even becomes appreciation of beauty itself. Plato
does not talk of physical attraction as a necessary part of love, hence the use of
the word platonic to mean, “without physical attraction.”[Ibid]
Agape
“The most common word for all forms of love in the New Testament is agape,
agapao. This is one of the least common words in classical Greek, where it
expresses, on the few occasions it occurs, that highest and noblest form of love
which sees something infinitely precious in its object.” (1)
Agape [noun] and agapao [verb] according to Vine’s “are used in the New
Testament
(a) to describe the attitude of God toward His Son, John 17:26 ; the human
race, generally, John 3:16 ;… and to such as believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, particularly, John 14:21
(b) to convey His will to His children concerning their attitude one toward
another, John 13:34 , and toward all men, 1 Thessalonians 3:12 …
(c) to express the essential nature of God, 1 John 4:8 .” (2)
“Love can be known only from the actions it prompts. God’s love is seen in the
gift of His Son, 1 John 4:9 ,10 . [Ibid]
Activity
Create 3 or 4 groups and have them create Acronymns for the word L.O.V.E and
present them to the congregation.
VESPER SERVICE [10 minutes]
CHARGE
CLOSING SONG
PRAYER
DEPARTURE SONG [1 minute]:
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
How to be a Perfect Christian in 3 Easy Steps
Summary
This program tries to show that the ever illusive goal of perfection is not only
possible but required for every christian living here on earth. This program will dig deep
into the word of God to see what it has to say about perfection and how it can be
attained.
Scripture References
Matthew 5:48
Theme Song(s)
318 – Whiter Than Snow
Preparations and resources
It would be good to inform at least 3 elders a week in advance about the topic
and ask them to be prepared to share in their groups on the questions listed in the
program.
Do you know any perfect Christian? Can you name one?
Everyone should know at least one. I will reveal the name of that person at the
end of today’s program.
Perfection is a touchy topic. Very few people want to admit that they are perfect
because:
Out of fear that someone might point out some flaw that they were unaware of.
Out of fear that someone might point out some flaw that they were hiding, hoping
no one would ever find out.
There are also those that are intentionally and even openly committing sin that
they feel unwilling or unable to give up. Some people just consider it their
struggle and eventually they might get over it.
Others would never call themselves perfect because it seems like too great a title
to apply to themselves, because as far as they are concerned, only God and
maybe a few Bible prophets deserve that title.
So it is critical that today we dig deep into the Bible to find out what does perfection
really mean and whether or not it is possible to achieve perfection here on earth.
And after we have done that, we will determine if the person I will reveal at the end of
the program is in fact perfect.
Form 3 or 4 groups and complete the following activity. Discuss and write down your
answer to the following questions. Ensure biblical references are provided for all
answers. At the end of 15 minutes, have a representative of the group present on the
answers that the group came up with. Ideally, there should be at least one church elder
or biblically sound person in each group.
Group 1
List all the perfect people as stated by the Bible.
Did they ever sin?
Why were they considered perfect?
Group 2
Is perfection a requirement from God?
List 3 places in the Bible where God asks fallen mankind for perfection.
Can imperfect people make it to heaven? What does the Bible say about this?
Group 3
Is it possible to achieve perfection on a sinful earth with a sinful nature?
Does perfection mean you become sinless or just that you sin less and is it possible for a
perfect person to sin?
Can you be more perfect than another person or are all perfect Christians at the same level?
How many years of knowing Christ or how much knowledge of the Bible do you need to
become perfect?
Three Steps to achieve perfection are:
1. Surrender
2. Repentance
3. Growth
Dedicate 5 minutes for the congregation to pray and meditate in silence on the points previously
discussed.
Choose an elder to do a prayer of dedication. The prayer should emphasize on the three points
above
Closing thoughts
There is at least one perfect person in this congregation, and that one person is... me. Only
God and I can truly know that I am perfect. Given then opportunity we just had for self introspection,
I hope you can say the same. Any sin you may have identified in your life, you would have made the
commitment to surrender, repent and grow into newness of life. You are now perfect.
I will close with Jude 24-25
Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the
presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty,
dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
Testimony in Song (AY)
Summary
There are songs that have been integral in our spiritual experience
throughout the years. This program gives each person an opportunity to testify
about their favourite song from a list popular classics.
Program Aim
To encourage each other with testimonies of how God has worked through
the words of a song.
Scripture References
Ephesians 5:19, Psalm 95:1-2, 1 Chronicles 16:9
Theme Song(s)
286 – Wonderful Words of Life
Preparations and resources
Create a list of well known song for your congregation, or get a selection of known songs from
performers. You may use a praise team, individual singers, instrumentalists and groups. Ensure all the songs
are known by the performers and adequate practice is done prior to the execution of the program.
Paper, access to a printer to print the song list for distribution, microphones (cordless and/or regular
mounted microphone at the front of church), a projector to display the song lyrics or list of remaining songs.
Here are some activities You can also try:
OPENING PRAYER [1 minute]:
SONG SERVICE [15 minutes]:
OPENING/THEME SONG [3 minutes]:
SCRIPTURE READING [2 minutes]:
PRAYER [3 minutes]:
PRELIMINARIES[3 minutes]:
AY MISSION:
The salvation of youth through Jesus Christ. We understand youth ministry to be that work of the church that is conducted
for, with, and by young people.
AY AIM:
The Advent message to all the world in my generation.
AY MOTTO:
The love of Christ compels me.
AY PLED
Loving the Lord Jesus, I promise to take an active part in the youth ministry of the church, doing what I can to help others
and to finish the work of the Gospel in all the world.
AY SONG:
Adventist youth are we from every land and sea
Together we pray and work and play in happy harmony
We have a faith to share
With others everywhere
A message of love from God above
To show the world we care
Adventist youth, Adventist Youth, Adventist Youth
WELCOME & GREETING [5 minutes]:
ACTIVITIES [15 minutes]:
Morning Watch, Testimonies, Hot Seat, Action group/unit meetings, etc.
PROGRAM INTRODUCTION [2 minutes]:
INTRODUCTION:
We are encouraged in Hebrews 10:25 “not to forsake gathering together, but to encourage one another, especially now
that the day of His return is drawing near” (NLT). It is comforting to know that you are not the only one going through challenging
times, and can find encouragement in the experiences and testimonies of your fellow brethren. Through the sharing of their
testimonies, our faith can be affirmed and our eyes opened to the fact that God is still working in the lives of many people even
today, in remarkable ways.
MAIN PROGRAM [45 minutes]:
Program Outline
Print out a list of approximately 10-15 songs that could be rendered during the program through a projector or display
screen. Make sure to have different persons or groups to sing/perform the songs beforehand.
Place a microphone to the front of the church and/or have a cordless microphone on standby for those unable to walk up to
the standing mic at the front of the church.
Disseminate the list of songs to members in the congregation.
Ask individuals to look over the list of songs and ask them to choose one song and share a testimony about how this song
has ministered to them in the past. This testimony should be between 3-5 minutes long.
After the testimony, the group or individual who is slated perform that song will then sing/play that musical selection.
You can be creative with how the songs are presented. It could be sung, rendered through sign-language, played on an
instrument etc. This will add some diversity and creativity to the various musical selections.
CONCLUSION
VESPER SERVICE [10 minutes]
CHARGE
CLOSING SONG
PRAYER
DEPARTURE SONG [1 minute]:
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
