1 Jochebed (I): Civil Authority When Pharaoh commanded the killing of every Hebrew newborn boy, five women — two midwives, a princess, a sister, and a mother — defied him. Their story teaches you what to do when human law commands what God forbids. Exodus 1:8-22; Exodus 2:1-10; Numbers 26:57-59; Acts 5:29; Romans 13:1; Hebrews 11:23 2 Jochebed (II): Courage, Obedience, and Faith in the Truth of God's Promises Last Sunday we watched two midwives defy Pharaoh. This Sunday we walk with three more women — Miriam, Pharaoh's daughter, and Jochebed herself — and we learn the interior virtues that make external courage possible. Exodus 2:1-10; Hebrews 11:23-27; Numbers 12:1; Exodus 15:20-21; James 2:17; Matthew 25:14-30; 2 Timothy 1:5 3 Enjoying Intimacy with God (I): Degrees of Intimacy (A) Every person alive stands at some distance from God, and every person alive chooses that distance. This is the first of five lessons that trace the ancient Ethiopian and Desert Fathers' teaching: intimacy with God has degrees, and you decide which one you will live at. Exodus 19:11-12; Exodus 24:9-17; Exodus 33:11, 33:13, 33:18-23; Exodus 34:29; Matthew 6:24; Mark 3:35 4 Enjoying Intimacy with God (II): Degrees of Intimacy (B) Last Sunday we climbed Sinai with Moses and traced four circles of intimacy in the Old Testament. This week we watch Abraham become the only man in Scripture called 'the friend of God,' and we learn how intimacy can be forged, forgotten, and forged again. Genesis 12; Genesis 13:14-15; Genesis 15; Genesis 18:17; Genesis 22:6-14; Isaiah 41:8; James 2:23; Psalm 18:1-3; Psalm 23; Revelation 2:2-5 5 Enjoying Intimacy with God (III): The Gifts of Intimacy (A) The disciples were poor and unlearned. Then they walked with Christ, and the world could not contain them. What did nearness to Him actually give them? Luke 10:1-20; Matthew 10:1-20; Acts 9:1-16; Ephesians 4:11-16; 2 Peter 3:18 6 Enjoying Intimacy with God (IV): The Gifts of Intimacy (B) 'Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Feed my sheep.' The Lord asked one question three times before He would trust the keys of a ministry to His disciple. John 21:15-17; John 15:16; Mark 10:43-45; Galatians 1:15-18; Isaiah 6:1-8; Isaiah 40; Galatians 5:16-23 7 Enjoying Intimacy with God (V): Developing an Intimacy with God Five lessons have described the road. Now the last question: how do I actually walk it, day by day, once nobody is watching? Matthew 6:25-34; Luke 14:16-24; Luke 8:14; Amos 3:3; 1 John 1:6-9; Galatians 5:22-23; John 15:5 8 Obadiah the Prophet (I): God's Calling to You (A) In the shortest book of the Old Testament — twenty-one verses — hides a prophet whose whole vocation began when he chose fear of God over fear of a king. As you stand at the edge of your senior year and try to hear God calling you into your life's work, meet Obadiah first. 1 Kings 18:1-16; 2 Kings 1:9-15; The Book of Obadiah 1-21; Ephesians 2:10; 1 Corinthians 12:4-7; Jeremiah 1:5 9 Obadiah the Prophet (II): God's Calling to You (B) Last Sunday we watched Obadiah answer the call to hidden ministry inside Ahab's palace. This week we open his book — twenty-one verses about pride, judgment, and the calling that awaits every graduating senior who refuses to be an Edomite. The Book of Obadiah 1-21; Genesis 25:24-34; Genesis 27; Numbers 20:14-21; Isaiah 14:12-14; Malachi 1:2-3; 1 Peter 5:5-6; Matthew 25:31-46 10 When the Soul Is Cast Down: Depression and the Hope of Christ There is a heaviness that no amount of willpower lifts and no cheerful verse instantly cures — a darkness the saints themselves knew by name. This lesson refuses both the lie that faith means never breaking and the lie that breaking means you have no faith. It walks with you into the honest lament of the Psalms and out again into the real, patient hope of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. Psalm 42:5-11; 1 Kings 19:1-18; Matthew 11:28-30 11 Remember Now Your Creator in the Days of Your Youth (I) Ecclesiastes 12:1 as a graduation homily. Youth is the season to plant the deepest roots, because life will demand them later. Ecclesiastes 12:1-8; 1 John 4:8-10; John 7:37; Galatians 5:19-23; 1 John 2:14 12 Remember Now Your Creator in the Days of Your Youth (II) The narrow gate — and how to walk it through a university, through peer pressure, through career, through marriage. A survival manual for the first ten years out. Matthew 7:13-14; Philippians 4:13; 2 Timothy 4:17; Revelation 7:9-14; Isaiah 63:9 13 Emmanuel: Which Means, 'God Is With Us' On Tahsas 29 our people sing 'Emmanu'el Amlakena' – Emmanuel our God. The whole meaning of Christmas is compressed into that one name. Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:22-23; Matthew 2:1-12; John 1:14; Hebrews 1:1-2:4; Revelation 3:20; Song of Solomon 5:2 14 Semune Himamat: Holy Week and Good Friday — Christ, My Personal Savior In the Passion Week, we do not observe from a distance. We enter His suffering, and He enters our story. Isaiah 43:1 15 An Introduction to Patrology (I): The Fathers Who Teach Us You are about to leave the classroom of your parish and enter a world of competing teachers. Before you go, meet the ones the Church has trusted for eighteen centuries — the Fathers whose lives, letters, and love shaped our Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo faith. Isaiah 55:11; Hebrews 13:7; 2 Timothy 2:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:15 16 An Introduction to Patrology (II): Sayings You Can Take to University One page from a Father can carry you a whole semester. Here are the sayings of St. Antony, St. Athanasius, St. Cyril, and our Ethiopian saints — chosen for the young theologian about to leave home. Hebrews 13:7; 1 John 4:18; Psalm 27:1-3; Ephesians 5:18 17 Main Books in Our Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church The library the Holy Spirit gave a mother to raise her children Isaiah 66:12-13 18 Hosea the Prophet (I): Moral Relativism God once asked a prophet to marry an unfaithful woman as a picture of what our own hearts do to Him. Before you go to university and hear that morality is 'just your personal choice,' meet the prophet God sent to teach Israel — and to teach you — what love and truth actually mean. Hosea 1:2; Hosea 3:1-2; Hosea 4:1-2; Leviticus 20:10; Romans 1:24-25 19 Hosea the Prophet (II): Other Gods Nobody in your generation will ask you to bow to a golden calf. They will only ask you to check your phone first thing each morning, to build your life around a career, to define yourself by desire. Before you graduate, meet the prophet who named modern idolatry three thousand years ago. Hosea 4:1-14; Hosea 8:7-11; Hosea 9:1-17; Hosea 10:1-13; Hosea 11:1-4; Exodus 20:3; Matthew 6:24; Romans 1:25 20 Hosea the Prophet (III): The Nature of Our Relationship with God In the last two lessons Hosea diagnosed the sickness of Israel and named the modern Baals. In this final lesson he tells you who God actually is beneath every accusation — a Bridegroom whispering to a runaway bride, 'I will betroth you to Me forever.' Hosea 1:7, 1:10-11, 2:14-23, 6:1-2, 6:6, 11:1, 13:14; Matthew 2:15, 9:13, 12:7; John 15:1; Romans 9:25-26; 1 Corinthians 15:22-55 21 The Anchorites (I): The Ones Who Preferred God to the Whole World St. Antony called them 'the ones who chose Christ before they chose bread.' You may never live in a cave — but the desert has a message for every senior who is about to be scattered by the world. Matthew 6:33; 1 Kings 19:11-12; Luke 10:42; Hebrews 11:38 22 The Anchorites (II): How They Began, How They Fell, How They Blessed Us The desert was not a birthright — it was a decision. This lesson looks at how each hermit began, why some still fell, and why every Ethiopian Orthodox student today is still walking in their blessing. Genesis 12:2; Genesis 3:21; 1 Corinthians 10:12; James 5:16 23 Evangelism and Church Growth (I): Preparing the Field Before the harvest, the plough. Before the plough, the prayer. How our Ethiopian Orthodox Church learned to grow — and how the young Christian at a secular university joins that story. Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 8:26-40; Acts 1:8; Romans 10:14-15; Psalm 34:8 24 Evangelism and Church Growth (II): Eight Practical Steps for a Parish The Great Commission does not need a stadium. It needs a Sunday-morning plan, a prayer meeting, a small group, and a friend brought to the door. Matthew 10:7-8; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 2:42-47; Psalm 34:8; 1 Corinthians 12:7 25 Evangelism and Church Growth (III): The Seven Gifts of the Mission Field The mission field needs more than preachers. It needs tent makers, translators, teachers, planners, and quiet volunteers. God has given every one of us a place in the work. 1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11-13; Acts 20:33-35; Acts 6:1-6; Acts 18:1-4 26 Christ Is Risen — He Is Indeed Risen (Fasika) Who will roll away the stone? — the question of Easter morning and of every human heart Mark 16:3 27 Comparative Theology: Why Our Church Glorifies St. Mary The Theotokos — Mother of God, Ever-Virgin, and the Kidane Mihret of our Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo heart. Luke 1:26-56; Luke 11:27-28; John 2:1-11; John 19:26-27; Revelation 12:1 28 The History of Our Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (I): From Aksum to Autocephaly You are about to graduate into a world that will keep asking you where you come from. Before you answer with a city or a passport, you need to know the deeper story — a chain of shepherds, martyrs, and monks that stretches from a chariot in the Gaza desert to the throne of His Holiness Abune Mathias. Acts 8:26-40; Isaiah 19:19-25; Psalm 68:31; Matthew 28:19-20 29 The History of Our Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (II): A Brief Synopsis Century by century, the same faith. Nicaea to Chalcedon, Debre Damo to Lalibela, Fasilides to Abune Mathias. This is the walking map of the story you are inheriting. Isaiah 54:17; Matthew 16:18; Hebrews 12:1-2; 2 Timothy 1:14 30 We Must Have a Christian Worldview (I): Three Kinds of People Before you graduate, take an honest look at who is sitting in the driver's seat of your life. Self? Flesh? Or Christ? The answer shapes every semester that comes next. 1 Corinthians 2:14; 1 Corinthians 3:1-3; Galatians 2:20; Romans 5:8; Acts 4:12 31 We Must Have a Christian Worldview (II): The Spiritual Person The third type is not a legend from another century. It is what the Holy Spirit is offering you tonight. Here is the portrait — and the seven practices that make it real. Galatians 5:22-23; Romans 8:2; Acts 5:41; John 6:54-56; 1 Kings 19:12 32 The Holy Spirit and the Formation of Personality — Individual and Community How the Paraclete makes a Christian and how the same Paraclete makes a Church. Two miracles. One Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13; John 16:13-14; Galatians 5:22-23; Acts 6:1-6 33 Yes… There Is Hope for the Future (I): The Christian Grammar of Hope Every senior class stands at a doorway. Behind it is the world's word: 'It depends on your grades, your luck, your visa.' Ahead of it is Christ's word: 'Rejoice in the Lord always.' Philippians 4:4-9; 1 John 4:4; Romans 5:1-5; Romans 8:24-28; Jeremiah 29:11; Matthew 6:33 34 Yes… There Is Hope for the Future (II): Hope Applied to University, Vocation, Marriage, and the Religious Life The map is drawn. Now unfold it over the actual decisions in front of you – a university acceptance letter, a career choice, a possible marriage, or a call to the monastery. Philippians 4:8-9; Jeremiah 29:11-13; Proverbs 3:5-6; 1 Corinthians 7:7-8, 32-35; Matthew 19:12; Ephesians 5:22-33 35 The Main Features of Our Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (I): Foundations When friends at university ask, 'What kind of Christian are you?' – what do you say? This lesson gives you the foundations behind that answer: Scripture, Tradition, and the unique 81-book canon our fathers preserved. 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17; 1 Corinthians 11:1-2; Philippians 4:9; John 1:14; Matthew 16:18; 2 Timothy 2:2 36 The Main Features of Our Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (II): Worship, Fasting, Song, and Sanctity The Tabot. The three modes of Zema. Two hundred fasting days a year. The Covenant of Mercy. A Church that worships with its whole body and remembers with its whole calendar. Psalm 100; Colossians 3:16; Matthew 6:16-18; Luke 1:46-55; Hebrews 12:1; James 5:14-16; Exodus 25:10-22 37 The Impossibility of the Perversion of the Holy Bible You are about to face a university where thoughtful teachers will suggest that the Holy Bible has been altered, embellished, or invented over time. This lesson gives you the historical, manuscript, and specifically Ethiopian evidence to answer them. 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Jeremiah 1:12; Matthew 24:35; Matthew 5:18; Luke 24:44; John 5:39; 1 Peter 1:23-25; 2 Peter 1:20-21 38 Christ in the Epistle to the Hebrews (I): The Preeminence of Christ The Epistle to the Hebrews is a systematic proof that Jesus Christ is greater than every messenger the Old Testament ever produced — greater than the prophets, greater than the angels, greater than Moses himself. It was written for young Christians tempted to slide back to something older. It is written, in a real sense, for you. Hebrews 1:1-14; Hebrews 2:1-4; Hebrews 3:1-6; Hebrews 4:8-16; Hebrews 5:1-10; Colossians 1:15-20; John 1:1-3; Philippians 2:5-11 39 Christ in the Epistle to the Hebrews (II): His Priesthood Last week Hebrews showed you a Christ greater than the prophets, the angels, and Moses. This week it shows you a Priest who was chosen before He was born, whose priesthood is not by inheritance but by an eternal oath, and whose one offering will never need to be repeated. Hebrews 2:11-18; Hebrews 4:14-16; Hebrews 5:1-10; Hebrews 6:19-20; Hebrews 7:1-28; Psalm 110:4; Genesis 14:17-20 40 Christ in Hebrews (III): The Cross, Salvation, and the Eucharist The altar carries the Cross forward — an extension, not a repetition Hebrews 9:12 41 Salvation in the Orthodox Concept (I): No Salvation Without the Blood of Christ Why the whole Bible — not one verse — teaches a lifelong salvation grounded in the Blood Hebrews 9:22 42 Salvation in the Orthodox Concept (II): The Importance of Good Deeds Faith without works is dead — and the Judge Himself has told us we will be judged by both Psalm 62:12 43 Salvation in the Orthodox Concept (III): Striving and the Grace of God The crown of the runner, the armor of the soldier — synergy of grace and human effort 2 Timothy 4:7-8 44 How Can I Share My Faith Without an Argument? (I) Five questions that open a heart without kicking down its door. Evangelism for the coffee shop, the study group, and the roommate you're afraid to talk to. 1 Peter 3:15; 1 Timothy 1:15-16; 1 Corinthians 2:3-4; Matthew 28:18-20; John 6:44 45 How Can I Share My Faith Without an Argument? (II) Six verses that carry the whole Gospel. Let the Bible be the evangelist; you are just the friend who opens the page. Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23; John 3:3; John 14:6; Romans 10:9-11; Revelation 3:20 46 Answering the Mormons (I): Who They Are and Why It Matters Recognizing a modern movement that calls itself Christian but denies the ancient faith Jude 1:3 47 Answering the Mormons (II): Answers to Their Specific Claims Scripture and the Fathers respond to each error, one by one 1 John 4:1 48 An Introduction to the Book of Revelation (I) The Bible begins with a garden lost and ends with a city gained. In this first of two lessons on the final book of Scripture, we discover why the Apocalypse — the most misunderstood book in the Christian world — is actually a book of infinite love, unbreakable hope, and heavenly worship. Revelation 1:1-20; Revelation 4:1-11; Revelation 5:1-14; Revelation 19:9-16; Revelation 21:1-27; Revelation 22:1-21; Genesis 1-3; John 1:1-14 49 An Introduction to the Book of Revelation (II): The New Jerusalem and the Blessing at the End of the Road This is the last lesson of your senior year, and the last lesson of the entire twelve-year Mahibere Teklehaimanot Sunday School curriculum. What you receive today is not one more lesson. It is the benediction of the whole road behind you — and the blessing to walk into everything ahead. Revelation 1:19; Revelation 4-5; Revelation 8; Revelation 15-16; Revelation 19:6-9; Revelation 21:1-27; Revelation 22:1-21; Numbers 6:24-26; Philippians 4:7 50 The Epistle of St. Paul to Philemon (I): Christlike Communication (A) The shortest, most personal letter St. Paul ever wrote is a masterclass in how a Christian speaks — not to strangers, but to friends who must forgive. Before you leave home this year, learn from Philemon the rhetoric of Christian gentleness. The Epistle to Philemon 1-25; Colossians 4:7-9, 4:17; Ephesians 4:29; James 3:1-12; 1 Peter 3:15 51 The Epistle to Philemon (II): Christlike Communication How to ask a hard thing of a proud friend without breaking either the truth or the friendship — St. Paul's masterclass in mature persuasion. Philemon 8-25; 1 Corinthians 13:4-7; Colossians 3:12-14 52 The Deuterocanonical Books of the Holy Bible You are about to leave home with a Bible in your bag. If you look at the Bibles your Protestant classmates carry, you will find fewer books than yours. Why? This lesson is a serious argument for the second canon and for the unique 81-book canon of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. Tobit 8:4; Judith 8-13; Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-9; Sirach 38:1-15; Baruch 3:36-38; 1 Maccabees 2-4; 2 Maccabees 7 & 12:44-46; 1 Enoch 1:9 (cf. Jude 14-15); Jubilees 1-2