Further Study: “God’s plan in the tithing system is beautiful in its simplicity and equality. All may take hold of it in faith and courage, for it is divine in its origin. In it are combined simplicity and utility, and it does not require depth of learning to understand and execute it. All may feel that they can act a part in carrying forward the precious work of salvation. Every man, woman, and youth may become a treasurer for the Lord, and may be an agent to meet the demands upon the treasury. . . .
“Great objects are accomplished by this system. If one and all would accept it, each would be made a vigilant and faithful treasurer for God; and there would be no want of means with which to carry forward the great work of sounding the last message of warning to the world.”—Ellen G. White, Gospel Workers, p. 223.
Discussion Questions: 
What are some of the issues regarding tithe in the church today? Why is tithing so important, not just for the function of the church, but for the spiritual well-being of the one who tithes?
Go back over Thursday’s lesson on the red heifer. Dwell on what it tells us about Christ’s death and ministry in our behalf. What does it tell us about our need to be cleansed from sin? What has Christ done that enables us to have victory over sin?
Think about your home. Are there things there that you need to cleanse, things that could be defiling it? Books, DVDs, music, magazines, whatever? What are they, and why should you get rid of them?
What are ways that we can help others, especially the young people in our church, use their God-given talents for the Lord? That is, how can we help steer folks, who do have gifts, in the right direction of using those gifts for the right purposes? What is our obligation to help them?
Summary:
| I N S I D E Story | ||
| Poured Out and Running Over: Part 1 by JOANNE W. LAFEVER My spirit was heavy as I walked upstairs into an empty classroom in the Adventist elementary school in Taipei, Taiwan, that day in 1998. Just two weeks before school started, I had received a phone call from the current principal saying that he couldn't return to Taiwan for health reasons. Suddenly I was the new principal as well as a teacher. The little mission school had been established to serve the children of missionary families working at the Taipei Adventist Hospital. It was registered with the Taiwan government as a foreign school, which allowed it to take any students with foreign passports who wanted an American-and Christian-education. My husband, Beech, and I were committed to continue teaching there if God wanted us to. But being the principal was a huge challenge, especially since I spoke no Mandarin Chinese. The school board agreed to keep the school open as long as we remained self-supporting and could fulfill our mission to lead people to Jesus. I knew that winning souls is what Adventist schools are about, and our school was ready to do it. Only one of the current students came from an Adventist home. We faced many challenges that first year, and only prayer got us through. But we knew that God had a plan. Then a radical idea hit me. Our family had seen God's blessings as we returned tithe. Why not tithe the increase of the school? We had no idea whether the school would break even financially that year, but I told God I'd return tithe on any income the school made. And by the end of the school year, we returned $450 tithe! We had never had the money to advertise our school, so getting new stu-dents was always a challenge. As the next school year approached, we decided to take out an ad in a major Chinese-language newspaper. It would run for just four days over a weekend. The Monday after the ad ran, a man called to make an appointment. He said he had seen our ad and wanted to enroll his first-grader in a foreign school. Then he mentioned that he never bought newspapers-except this one day! Then a colleague of his learned that he was transferring his child to our school. She decided to transfer her three children, too. Over the years that man has kept his three children in the Adventist school and recommended our school to 40 others.
JOANNE W LAFEVER is principal of Taipei Adventist American School in Taipei, Taiwan. | ||
| Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission. email: info@adventistmission.org website: www.adventistmission.org |
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