Universal Life Church Sunday School

Here we have a vast collection of Sunday School lessons. They are here for your use. Enjoy! Some are written by our Universal Life Church ministers and some are found online. Credit is given where appropriate.

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Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Sunday School "According to God's Promise









All About The KingdomAll About The Kingdom 
Sunday School Lesson
"According to God's Promise (Christmas)"      


Lesson Text: Luke 1:46-55
Background Scripture: Luke 1:26-56; Galatians 3:6-18
Devotional Reading: 2 Corinthians 1:18-22

INTRODUCTION
    Are you ready for Christmas? That is a question people frequently ask or are asked at this time of the year. In most cases, this question relates to gift buying, decorations, food preparation, and entertaining friends and family.
    By the time Christmas Day arrives, many people are totally worn out from all the additional activities they have participated in during the weeks preceding Christmas. Since most retailers have their largest sales volume during this time, they seem to be trying to make the Christmas season start earlier each year.
    Of course, many of the aforementioned activities have little or nothing to do with the birth of Christ. While most of the church activities during this season do revolve around the true meaning of Christmas, there is a danger that the world's values will creep into our celebrations of Jesus' birth. To avoid this, Christians must diligently examine all activities to make suite they truly honor the Lord. As has been said so often, Jesus is the reason for the season!

Not What You'd Expect
    Have you ever had to wait a long time for a promise to be fulfilled? Do you remember as a child wondering if a special day would ever come? Can you remember a time when a promise was fulfilled in an unexpected way? Maybe you got what you wanted, but not from the anticipated source. Or maybe what you received was better than what you expected.
    The Bible is filled with situations where God kept His promises in unexpected ways and when His blessings came at unexpected times. The Christmas season is the ultimate example of a promise fulfilled in an unexpected way at an unanticipated time.
  
 
LESSON BACKGROUND     
    Over the past several weeks, we've looked at God's covenant promises to Abraham. In Genesis 12, God promised to make Abraham a great nation if he would leave his home country and follow God's leading. Years later, God reaffirmed this promise by telling Abraham that he would have numerous descendants, even though at that time he had no children (Genesis 15:1-6). Last week, we saw how God tested Abraham's trust by asking him to sacrifice his promised son, Isaac. Because Abraham was willing to obey even this mystifying command, God promised once more that all people would be blessed through him (22:18).
    By the days of Mary and Joseph, over 2,000 years had passed since the time of Abraham. The hope of the promise seemed to be nowhere in sight. The Jews had indeed become a large people group, but centuries of internal strife, political turmoil, and idolatry had resulted in generations of exile and domination by foreign nations.
    At the time of Jesus' birth, the Roman Empire, under the brilliant leadership of Emperor Octavian (Augustus), was just entering the apex of its power and had taken control of almost the entire Mediterranean world. The only chance for freedom lay in the ancient hope that God would remember His covenant with Abraham. The promise had been a long time coming by human standards.

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