Numidia Mennonite Bible School - Reflector Yearbook (Numidia, PA)

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MARK AcTionl This is whaT our class experienced The firsf period in The morning as we looked inTo This book - shorTesT of The four Gospels. Eliminafing The genealogy, birTh. and early life of Jesus Chrisf, Mark begins his accounf wiTh Jesus as a grown man already acTive in His minisTry. InsTead of relaTing much of whaT Jesus said, he porTrays our'ChrisT as a servanT serving His people. He was consTanTIy on The move sacrificing His Time and energy healing The lame, The blind, and The lepers, casfing ouT unclean spiriTs, and raising The dead. We found ThaT in answering The many quesfions and criTicisms which were direcfed To. Trip Jesus, he was as bold as a lion, buT genTle as a lamb, rebuking even Their unspoken Thoughfs. We wanT To Thank Bro. Gehman for help- ing us To deepen our appreciafion for our Lord who even To The very end was a Ser- vanT - giving his life a ransom for us. For even The Son of man came noT To be minisfered unTo, buT To minisTer, and To give his life a ransom for many. Mark lO:45. -Marion Grove I JOSHUA The class of Joshua wiTh I2 sTudenTs, led by Bro. Edwin Gehman, proved To be a very inTeresTing class. The main Theme of The book of Joshua is The conquesT and division of The land of Canaan. Joshua is a book of posses- sing our possessions. I We discovered ThaT The evenTs Taking place aT This ,Time of Israel's hisTory can be applied To our own Time. The children of Israel IefT The wilderness, crossed over The Jordan River by a miracle and enfered Canaan, .a I-and of bessings. By following 6od's direcTion, They Then proceeded To conquer The .land and iTs inhabiTanTs. These evenTs have Their counTer- parT wiTh God's pe-ople Today. A person leaves his life of sin by going Through The miracle of The new birTh. As he enTers The Chrisfian life. The baTTIes begin. The devil is There wiTh Temp- TaTions and Trials. BuT The vicTory is ours as, NCIS jollow The guidance and direcTion of The or . - ' - This book of The' law shall noT deparT ouT oT Thy mouTh: buT Thou shalT mediTaTe Therein day and nighT, -ThaT Thou mayesf observe To do according To all ThaT is wriTTen Therein: for Then Thou shalT make Thy way prosperous, and Then Thou shalT have good success. Joshua I:8i -PaT WiTmer Run-I AND Esn-:ER , The sTories of Rufh and Esfher received an inTeresTing review in The class TaughT by Brofher John Sensenig. Numerous Types and lessons for our own lives were discovered in Them. In RuTh, The concern God has in individual lives and His consTanT care for each person can be noficed. Rufh did noT know whaT she would face in Judah, buT she was deTermined To be among God's people and To go all The way wiTh Him. Her hearT-cry To Naomi was, WhiTher Thou goesT, I will go: and- where Thou lodgesT, I will lodge: Thy people shall be my people, and Thy God my God. RuTh l:l6. She is an ancesfress' of Chrisf lfhe greaT-grand- moTher of Davidl. Rufh is a Type of The Church and Boaz, a Type of Chrisf. Alfhough God's name is noT menTioned in The book of EsTher, His divine providence is seen. EsTher became Queen in The sTead of VashTi. When Haman's pIoT To desTroy The Jews was known, EsTher Took a consisTenT ap-' proach To her work and persisTed in iT unTil iT was finished. She mad-e inTercessions for her people la Type of Chrisflnand even risked her own life for Them. A concluding challenge was ThaT we, as God's people, need To sTand To- gefher in order To Tace TesTs of life Trium- phanTIy. . . . -Ellen E. Wenger l-1 I 8. II THESSALONIANS This class was TaughT by Bro. Alvin Snyder. The church aT Thessalonica, was esfablished on Paul's second missionary journey. Paul had a deep love and concern for This church, which prompTed him To wriTe This leTTer. Paul gives some very profound Teachin s concerning The Chrisfian life. He-deals mainTy wiTh The Chrisfian as he reIaTes To himself, To his fellow brefhren and also To The church. ' Much of The wriTing is concerning ChrisT's second coming. IT is apparenT ThaT The Thes- salonians held many incorrecT beliefs concern- ing The dead and The Times before ChrisT's coming. Paul gives some excellenf Teaching and warnings on This subiecf. 4 y May we ever be ready and waTching so ThaT ThaT day does noT Ta e us unawares. Therefore IeT us noT sleep, as do ofhers, buT IeT us wafch and be sober. I Thes. 516. -David Sensenig 22

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Kings. I and II Chronicles cover nearly lhe same period as lhe Kings. These books slarl wilh lhe end ol lhe iudges and conlinue on lhrough lhe lime of Samuel, who was lhe con- necling link belween lhe judges and lhe kings. The remainder ol lhese books relales lhe hislory ol lhe kings, lhe divided kingdoms, lhe deslruclion ol Jerusalem, and lhe capliv- ily The books ol Ezra and Nehemiah give in- sighls inlo lhe relurn from caplivily, while Eslher is a slory ol lhe lile of Eslher and lhe Jews in Persia. The books from Job lo Sol- omon are usually considered lhe poelic books. They do nol lollow lhe hislorical books in lime sequence. This poelry has been an inspiralion lhrough lhe ages lor ils exlraordinary beauly and power. -Anna Lee Barnharl EZRA AND NEHEMIAH Ezra and Nehemiah was laughl by Brolher Jesse Neuenschwander. ll gives lhe hislori- cal accounl of lhe Jews' relurn lo Jerusalem lrom Babylon. Ezra led lhe second group lo Jerusalem. In Ezra 7:IO, we see lhal he was a lully dedi- caled man lhal God could use: For Ezra had prepared his hearl lo seek lhe law ol lhe Lord and lo do il . . . . The king had senl malerials lo Jerusalem lo' aid in lhe building. In spile ol much opposilion, lhe lemple was finaly compleled, an example showing lhal .lhe Lord's work can'l be permanenlly hindered. In lhe laller arl ol lhe book, we find Ezra dealing wilh llie sin ol inlermarriage lhal had crepl in among lhe people. Nehemiah led anolher group lo Jerusalem aboul len years aller Ezra. Again we see lhe enemies ol God lrying lo hinder lhe work. Firsl lhey lried mocking lhem, and lhen lhey all conspired logelher lo lighl lhem, bul neilher allempl slopped lhe Jews lrom com- pleling lhe wall. Therich ol lhe land had oppressed lhe poor lo such an exlenl lhal lhey had lo sell ' lheir sons and daughlers lo buy lood. Nehe- miah lhen lold lhe rulers and nobles lo give back lhe land, and lhe hundredlhs parl ol lhe money, corn, and oil. Laler in lhe book, Nehemiah reads lhe law and lhe people lind greal ioy in obeying il. This is lhe lasl his- lorical book. -Dennis Carpenler 2I TABERNACLE STUDY -God said, And lel lhem make me a sanc- luary lhal I may dwell am-ong lhem. Jesus said, I am lhe way. The gale Ol lhe labernacle symbolizes lhis. No man can come any olher way bul by lhe gale or also he will be doomed. The shedding of blood lor lhe sacrifices represenled Jesus d-ying on lhe cross lor our sins. The laver was a daily experience ol cleansing. The priesls washed every day in lhe laver before lhey wenl inlo lhe Holy Place. The candleslick represenled Chrisl as lhe Iighl ol lhe world. The Allar ol Incense was lhe place ol inlercession. Aaron ollered incense morning and evening. These were iusl a shadow ol lhe good lhings lo come. We musl come lo God daily wilh our prayers. We cannol approach God in worship excepl lhrough Jesus Chrisl. Once a year lhe high priesl enlered lhe mosl I-Ioly Place lo sprinkle blood on lhe mercy seal lor lhe alonemenl of lhe people's sins. This represenls Chrisl's alonemenl lor our sins when he died on lhe cross. -Rulh Mellinger -li--11-1 REVELATION Blessed is he lhal readelh, and lhey lhal hear lhe word-s ol lhis' prophecy, and keep lhose lhings which are wrillen lherein: lor lhe lime is al hand. Rev. I:3. This was our experience as approximalely lwenly sludenls mel wilh Brolher Oliver Keen- er lo sludy lhe lasl book ol lhe Bible, a revela- lion ol Jesus Chrisl. God's purpose lor lhe book ol Revelalion was lo unveil and show us lhings which were, lhings which are. and lhings which shall be herealler. As we progressed lhrough lhe book, lhe Church age, lhe Raplure, lhe greal Tribula- lion period, lhe Greal While Throne Judg- menl, and lhe linal slale ol bliss lor lhe Chrislian, were revealed lo us. Much ol lhe liguralive speech used in lhe book can only be surmised unlil lhe aclual lullillmenl lakes place, and lhese lhings should be relained lor lulure reference as prophecy becomes lullilled. Ivlay each ol us be ready and walching wilh anlicipalion lor lhe Lord's second relurn, so lhal we will nol miss lhe many rewards lhe Lord has in slore lor us. s -Erma Weaver

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ROMANS Can you give a good d-efinifion for fhe word propifiafion? Do you know fhaf God's love is so greaf fhaf He onged fo acf foward fallen mankind in mercy and grace, buf be- cause of His holiness and iusfice He couldn'+ acf fhus foward mankind? Chrisf's sacrifice on Calvary safisfied God's demand for iusfice and now God can acf foward us as He longs fo, if we only allow Him fo. Thus Chrisl' is our propifiafion. The fesfimony of Paul in Romans I:I6, I7 carries fhe fenor of fhe book: For I am nof ashamed of fhe gospel of Chrisf: for if is fhe ower of God- unfo salvafion 'ro everyone fhaf Believefhg fo fhe Jew firsf, and also fo fhe Greek. For fherein is 'rhe righfeousness of God revealed from faifh 'ro faifhz as if is wriffen, fhe iusf shall live by faifh. In sfudying -'rhis book we have learned 'rhaf righfeousness is fhe key word. The divine nafure wifhin us, enables us 'ro live in a Chrisf- like manner. In fhis way, righfeousness has been imparfed fo us as children of God. These frufhs are a few of 'rhe blessings fhaf are received in digging info fhe book of Romans. My prayer is fhaf our sfudies af Bible School will be a real incenfure fo each sfudenfsfo confinue on for Chrisfl H -Regina Ulrich DIVISION II - DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH Buf in 'every nafion he fhaf fearefh Him, and workefh righfeousness, is accepfed wifh Him. Acfs IO:35. From 'rhis and ofher scrip- fures, we receive fhe basic docfrine of fhe church universal. We see fhaf, alfhough in 'rhe Old Tesfamenf fhe church was porfrayed in fypes, if wasn r unfil affer Chrisf's resurrec- 'rion fhaf we became a royal priesfhood . able fo come direcfly 'ro God. Our class sfudied 'rhe church as a spirifual organizafion, headed by Chrisf and composed of fhe body of 'rhe believers. This bod-y is direcfed by if's head, Chrisf, fhrough His 'reaching in fhe New Tesfamenf. We also discovered fhaf fhe church is a pracfical organizafion needing earfhly leaders. 23 I BIBLE SURVEY I Bible Survey I was a brief sfudy of fhe firsf eighf books of fhe Old Tesfamenf faughl. by Brofher Henry Weaver. We sfarfed in Genesis wifh fhe creafion and fall of man. From fhis poinf on fhe main fheme of fhe Bible is redempfion. We saw God's dealing wifh 'rhe Pafriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. ' ' We saw fhe life of Moses, 'rhe children of lsrael's deliverance from Egypf, and fhe giving of fhe law in Exodus fhrough Deuferonomy. We fhen noficed fhe children of Israel as 'rhey enfered info Canaan. Finally, we sfudied abouf Rufh fhe Ivloabifish woman who was con- verfed fo fhe Jewish faifh in 'rhe laffer parf of 'rhe period of 'Ihe Judges. . If was clearly broughf ouf fhaf fhe main fheme fhroughouf fhe Scripfure is fhaf of God providing a red-eemer for mankind. The Holy Scripfures are able 'ro make us wise unfo salvafion fhrough faifh which is in Chrisf Jesus. Indeed how frue fhis 'is if we are willing fo apply ourselves fo sfudying fhem. -Glenn Zimmerman BIBLE DocTRlNE The aufhorify of fhese leaders is God-given and God demands our submission. We musf remember, however, fhaf fhey are mere hu- man beings, and we should. nof shiff all fhe responsibilify on fhem. We, as members of fhe body, also have a responsibilify 'ro keep fhe church pure. Togefher, fhe leaders and fhe members, wifh 'rhe help of fhe Holy Spirif, apply fhe principles 'raughf in 'rhe New Tesfa- menf fo pracfical living. The sef of sfandards 'rhey have arrived af, are commonly called fhe discipline. Wifh fhe aid of 'rhe Holy Spirif and each ofher, we infend fo keep 'rhe body pure unfil Chrisf comes 'ro receive His bride and so shall we ever be wifh fhe Lord I Thess. 4:I7. elvin Burkholder