July 19 2025

Have you ever had a best friend? What made them best friend material? How do you feel when they aren’t around? John the Baptist was not only a relative of Jesus, but he was one of Jesus’ best friends. Our lesson begins with John being executed by Herod. How will Jesus respond to this personal crisis? What can we learn and apply to our lives?

As a group, build the tallest tower you can in the space you occupy. Use whatever supplies are appropriate for the room you are in. Be careful to not use items that are easily broken or that you don’t have permission to use or move.

Solitude and rest often go together. When the press of the multitude or the noise of the crowd became overwhelming, Jesus would often retreat to a quiet place off the beaten path to think and pray. It was one of those days—John was unexpectedly dead, and Jesus needed a lonely place to talk to His disciples and His Father. Jesus retreated, only to be found by the people. How will He react? What lessons can we learn from Him?

Read Matthew 14:1-8.

At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, 2 and he said to his attendants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

3 Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, 4 for John had been saying to him: “It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered John a prophet.

6 On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for the guests and pleased Herod so much 7 that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”

Read Luke 9:7-9.

7 Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was going on. And he was perplexed because some were saying that John had been raised from the dead, 8 others that Elijah had appeared, and still others that one of the prophets of long ago had come back to life. 9 But Herod said, “I beheaded John. Who, then, is this I hear such things about?” And he tried to see him.

Read Matthew 14:13-21.

13 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

15 As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”

16 Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

17 “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.

18 “Bring them here to me,” he said. 19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 20 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 21 The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Read Matthew 14:22-33.

22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

29 “Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

This is a very interesting story. Jesus does two significant miracles in the space of a few hours. Up until this point, not all the disciples were willing to accept Jesus’ role as the Messiah.

Mark 6:30-52

LEADER’S NOTE

For a Relational Bible Study (RBS) you’ll want to get into the Scripture passage and encourage the youth to imagine participating in the story while it’s happening. Then you will be able to better apply it to your own situation today.

You will need to ask God for the Holy Spirit to be present as your small group discusses the questions (no more than 3-6 people in a group is recommended). Start with the opening question. It is a personal question and the answer is unique for each individual. There is no right answer and nobody is an expert here, so don’t be surprised when you hear different responses. You are depending on the Holy Spirit to be present and to speak through your group. Say what God prompts you to say, and listen to what others share.

Take turns reading the chapter out loud. Follow that with giving the students some time to individually mark their responses to the questions (a PDF version of the handout is available as a download). This gives each person a starting point for responding when you start to share as a group. Next, begin the discussion by asking the students to share what they marked and why on each question as you work your way through. Feel free to take more time on some questions than others as discussion warrants.

Encourage each person in the group to apply what is discussed to their personal lives and to share with the group what they believe God wants them to do. Then ask them to pray that God will help each of them to follow through in doing so. Remind them to expect that God will show them ways to live out the message of this passage in the coming week, and that they are free to ask others in the group to help hold them accountable.

Be sure everyone takes time for personal applications before you end your Sabbath School time together.

As a new quarter starts at the heat of summer, we get to see Jesus interact even more with the people and with His disciples. By this time Jesus had established a reputation for Himself, and gained quite the flock of supporters and followers. Although Jesus had many followers, He had 12 special right-hand men who were privy to the most intimate of experiences and encounters with the Savior. In this week’s lesson, we see two stories that are found in all four of the gospels: the feeding of the 5,000 and Jesus walking on water. Although each gospel recounts a slightly different version of the story that shines a unique light on it, we will be analyzing the account found in Mark.  

After a long day of dealing with people coming and going, Jesus attempted to take the disciples away so they could rest. As people saw them, however, they flocked to Jesus, and not being one to waste a minute, He began teaching the crowd. Late in the day, the disciples came to Jesus and presented a problem: it was getting late, there were many people, there was no food, and they were currently in a remote area. But this was no challenge for the Savior, and after providing and blessing a quaint meal, He sent the disciples to board a boat to Bethsaida, and He went off for some quiet prayer time. That night He joined them in the boat, walking across the water to join them.

These anecdotes of the discipleship experience relate to us in ways that we may never think possible. All of us, who are followers of Christ, qualify as His disciples. Each person, throughout their walk with Christ, develops their own tale of discipleship. Jesus is willing to do anything, even walk on water, to show us how much He cares. Just like the story of the feeding of the 5,000 shows, nothing is impossible for Him, even what we as humans may think is impossible. All we need to do is soften our hearts so that we can be open to receiving this glorious gift, and later passing it on to others as the tale of our discipleship.

What is a notable experience that you recall in your walk with Christ?

Read Mark 6:30-52.

30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. 33 But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

35 By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. 36 Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”

37 But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”

38 “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.”When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”

39 Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. 41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. 42 They all ate and were satisfied, 43 and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. 44 The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.

45 Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.

47 Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. 48 He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, 50 because they all saw him and were terrified.

Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” 51 Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, 52 for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.

Everyone, wherever they are in their walk with Christ, has a story to tell.

Jesus was very adamant in focusing on the people’s spiritual hunger, but that didn’t mean He overlooked their physical needs.

Miracles such as the feeding of the 5,000 or walking on water are big and not every day experiences, but we can all probably say that we have experienced a small miracle in our day to day lives.

Challenge yourself this week to find a miracle in your life, and thank God for it in your personal prayers.

Teach Me How to Pray
By Kymone Hinds

It seems like such a simple request. It was a request made by the disciples to Jesus one day. They saw Him praying and were so impressed and impacted by His prayer that they wanted to learn to pray like Him.

Prayer can be one of the easiest things to do and one of the most difficult things at the same time. It’s like talking to a friend – that’s easy. It’s talking to a friend you can’t see or hear audibly – that’s hard. Let’s be honest, you look weird talking to someone that is invisible.

Even though God is unseen it does not mean that He is not accessible. He can be reached. He is just a prayer away. This guide will help you to connect with Him deeper and get more out of your time in prayer.

PURCHASE