OPENING PRAYER: Father, help me to promote and defend the Christian faith in Jesus’ Name.
PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE: The teacher should allow the Assistant teacher to review the lesson for the previous week.
MEMORY VERSE: “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:” – 1 Peter 3:15 (KJV)
BIBLE PASSAGE: Jude 3-4 (KJV)
3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
LESSON INTRODUCTION: The English word apology comes from a Greek word that means “to give a defense.” Christian apologetics, then, is the science of giving a defense of the Christian faith. Many sceptics doubt the existence of God and/or attack belief in the God of the Bible. Some critics attack the inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16) while false teachers promote false doctrines and deny the key truths of the Christian faith. The mission of Christian apologetics is to combat these movements and instead promote the Christian faith and truth.
TEACHING OBJECTIVES:
Through the lesson, students should be able to:
a. Know what apologetics means.
b. Explain with the Scripture why the Christian faith needs to be defended,
c. Understand how to go about the defence of our faith.
TEACHING PLAN: To achieve the above-stated objectives, teachers should:
a. Allow the students to read the Bible passage, recite the memory verse, participate in the class activities and do the assignment.
b. Allow the Assistant teacher to conduct the class, mark attendance and assignment, grade performance and close the class session with the closing prayer.
c. Lead the opening prayer, review previous week’s lesson, teach the lesson outlines, summarise, conclude, evaluate the lesson and give assignment to the students.
TEXT REVIEW: Jude 3-4.
In the above text, Jude exhorts his readers in very clear terms to be contenders for the faith. He wrote:
i. Beloved, when I gave all diligence ………. V3.
ii. For there are certain men crept in ………..V4.
LESSON OUTLINES:
REASON AND BIBLICAL INSTANCES
WITH GENTLENESS AND RESPECT
1. REASON AND BIBLICAL INSTANCES
A. There is no excuse for Christians to be completely unable to defend their faith (Jude 3-4).
i. Christians should know what they believe, why they believe it, how to share it with others, and how to defend it against lies and attacks (Colossians 4:6).
ii. We are all commanded to be ready and equipped to proclaim the gospel and defend our faith (Matthew 28:18-20; 1 Peter 3:15).
iii. The only way to do this effectively is to study why we believe what we believe (2 Timothy 2:15).
iv. This will prepare us to “demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ,” as Paul said we should (2 Corinthians 10:5).
B. Jesus was His own apologetic:
i. He often stated that we should believe in Him because of the evidence He provided (John 10:25; 10:38).
ii. In fact, the whole Bible is full of divine miracles that confirm what God wants us to believe (Exodus 4:1-8; 1 Kings 18:36-39; Hebrews 2:3-4; 2 Corinthians 12:12).
C. Paul practiced what he preached; in fact, defending the faith was his regular activity (Philippians 1:7).
i. He refers to apologetics as an aspect of his mission in the same passage (V.16).
ii. He also made being an apologetic a requirement for all believers (Titus 1:9).
D. Jude, an apostle of Jesus, wrote, “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” (Jude 3).
2. WITH GENTLENESS AND RESPECT
i. Defending the Christian faith, as apologetics, should never involve being rude, angry, or disrespectful (2 Timothy 2:24).
ii. While practicing Christian apologetics, we should strive to be strong in our defence and at the same time Christ-like in our presentation (Matthew 10:16; 1 Thessalonians 2:7).
iii. If we win a debate but turn a person even further away from Christ by our attitude, we have lost the true purpose of Christian apologetics (2 Corinthians 6:3).
CONCLUSION: We are commanded to use apologetics in as many or more places as we are told to preach the gospel.
QUESTIONS:
Give three examples of people in the Bible that defended the faith.
How should believers defend the faith?
EVALUATION: Mention at least two people who defended their faith in the scriptures.
CLOSING PRAYER: Father, create in me the zeal to wisely and persuasively defend this Christian faith.
ASSIGNMENT: Mention five things you can do to defend the faith (2×5=10 marks).
RCCG Sunday School HYMN
O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
O how I love Thee well,
I am happy, it makes me glad
To rejoice at Thy birth.
O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
Thy friendship suits me well,
Both young and old will sing Thy song,
We long for Sunday School.
O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
Christ was Thy first teacher,
The Holy Spirit, great teacher,
Does manifest in thee.
O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
This testimony is sure,
That God, the Father Almighty,
Poured His blessing on Thee.
O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
Though the sun be so bright,
Or if the clouds black with rain,
I’ll be in Sunday School.
O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
I rejoice to see Thee,
Will thou pass over me today?
Without my being blest?
Action Point
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I know you might agree with some of the points that I have raised in this article. You might not agree with some of the issues raised. Let me know your views about the topic discussed. We will appreciate it if you can drop your comment. Thanks in anticipation.
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