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It Is Written

Sabbath School 2nd Quarter 2026: Growing in a Relationship With God

Nina Atcheson

Eric Flickinger

01 Reality Check

Welcome to Sabbath School brought to you by It Is Written.

We are beginning a brand new quarter of Sabbath School and this quarter we're going to be looking at how to grow in a relationship with God.

13 lessons, 13 weeks that will help you start wherever you happen to be and grow in that relationship with God.

And we're going to start week number 1 with a reality check, and we'll find out why we're starting there in just a moment.

Father, we thank you for drawing us together today as we learn how to grow in a relationship with you.

We ask that as we learn these things, not only would they become our intellectual property, but that they would change our lives so that we can in verity grow in a relationship with you.

We ask your blessing on us today and throughout the rest of these lessons and we thank you in Jesus name.

We're glad that you are here, but we are also glad to have the author of this quarter's Sabbath school lesson with us, Nina Acheson.

Nina, welcome, we're glad that you're here.

Let's talk about who you are and why you've written this.

So you are, and I'll see if I can get this right, the curriculum manager and senior editor of the Sabbath School and Personal Ministries Department at the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

That's a lot of words, but summarize that for us.

How did what you do impact why you've written this quarterly for us?

So I have the privilege of serving at our world headquarters, and right now I'm focusing on developing the new Alive in Jesus Sabbath School material for children.

Right now, we've just released the first 4 levels.

These are being used around the world by children and parents everywhere.

But not only do I have a passion for writing and editing and making the Bible come alive for children and youth, but I have such a burden for everyone, for adults as well.

And so when I was approached by Clifford Goldstein to write this quarter, I of course prayed about it and then said, yes, I'll try to fit it in into the busy schedule of creating this other curriculum.

But it's been an exciting process, because of course, this topic of how to grow in a relationship with God is really, we could focus on many, many things.

I've been really praying, of course, as I was writing, I was praying a lot, but really praying that as we study these lessons together that all of us, including myself, will grow closer in a relationship with God.

So you've been passionate about curricula and how to help people learn more about God in the Bible for many, many years.

How far back did this adult Sabbath school Bible study guide that we're going through right now, when did that process begin?

It was about 5 years ago that I was asked to write it.

And yeah, it was a wonderful experience, actually, I must say, because such a big, as I said, such a big topic to consolidate it and to really think, okay, well, it's a very personal topic.

I think as you read, as our viewers read the lessons, they'll also see that it's written in a personal way, a little differently to other quarters perhaps, but God is a personal God and he wants us to have a close connection with him personally.

We start on week number 1 with a reality check.

Why are we starting with a reality check?

Why start there for this 13 lesson journey?

Of course, before we can grow in our relationship with God I think it's important to to really reflect on where am I now and I don't know when someone last asked you Pastor Eric how are you going spiritually?

Where is your relationship with God at right now?

It's not really something that we talk about with each other very often.

And yet at the same time, I think it's good just to pause and reflect and ask ourselves, am I in a good place?

Do I still have that first love that I once had for Jesus?

And all of us have these, perhaps, valley or mountaintop moments in our walk with God.

I think that it's helpful to ask, though, am I just going through the motions of going to church?

Is my Bible, am I opening it and reading it?

There are so many areas, of course, that impact whether our relationship with God is growing or whether it's kind of just dwindling away.

And it's exciting to think that perhaps over the next 13 weeks, all of us can give some time to God and can invest in this most important relationship.

So we, I think we all know we need a better relationship with God, regardless of where we are on that spectrum.

An improved relationship with God is only going to benefit us.

Does Jesus have anything to say about the importance of us having a relationship with him?

And We know that, of course, God sees the depths of our hearts.

We might put on a facade sometimes in front of others at church or elsewhere in our workplace.

We might come across as though we're strong spiritually and we're doing well.

He knows what we're like with our connection with him.

And in Revelation chapter 3 verses 14 to 16, Jesus actually describes our condition, our personal condition, but as a church as well.

Would you be willing to read that for us, Eric?

And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, These things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.

I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot.

So then, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth." We will read the next part in a moment, but I just want to pause here to reflect on these words for a moment.

It's interesting that in verse 14, Jesus says he describes himself as the faithful and true witness.

He tells us he's not going to lie about our condition.

He's going to give it to us plainly and straight.

And then he goes on to say that He knows what we are like.

But it's interesting that Jesus says, I will vomit you out of my mouth.

So that to me says, we're still in his mouth, he's giving us this warning and this encouragement.

He hasn't yet spat us out, but he tells us we taste bad.

He wishes that we would live for him wholeheartedly or not at all.

Don't sit on the fence with your relationship with me.

So we need to make sure that we are not, as he says, lukewarm, tepid, if you will.

So this is a pretty, Well, some might think this is a pretty harsh rebuke that Jesus is giving here.

But why are these words so significant to us today?

He writes to the church of the Laodiceans.

Now, somebody might think, I don't live in Laodicea.

I don't even know where Laodicea is, so he's not talking to me.

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Series

Sabbath School 2nd Quarter 2026: Growing in a Relationship With God

01 Reality Check

Transcript

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Parts

01 Reality Check

28m

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