Monday: Family First
The most natural first recipients of our gospelsharing endeavors are the people in our households. There is no more important mission field than this.
What conclusions can be drawn from John 1:40-42 about sharing faith at home? See also Deut. 6:6-7; Ruth 1:14-18.
Ruth and Naomi
An enthusiastic report. Andrew went beyond mere reporting; he arranged for his brother, Simon, to meet Jesus. An enthusiastic report about Jesus and an introduction to Him as a person—what a simple formula for sharing the gospel with relatives in our homes! After the introduction Andrew stepped back. From then on, Jesus and Peter had a relationship of their own.
Helping children to a place of faith. Children in a home can often be overlooked as fitting recipients of gospel-sharing efforts. Parents mistakenly assume children will simply absorb family spirituality. This must not be taken for granted. While children and young people learn from the modeling they observe, it is also true that these younger members of the Lord’s family need individual attention and opportunity to be personally introduced to Him. Deuteronomy 6 is insistent on this point: Attention must be given to the most effective kind of religious education. Regular spiritual habits of personal and family worship are to be encouraged in the home. Time and earnest efforts must be put forth on behalf of children and youth.
What can we learn from the evangelistic efforts of Naomi? Ruth 1:8-22.
Ruth saw Naomi at the lowest of moments: when she tried to push her daughter-in-law away and when, angry and depressed, she lashed out against God as she recounted her losses (Ruth 1:15, Ruth 1:20-21). No more eloquent testimony than Ruth’s can be given to show that youth can meet and make a commitment to a perfect God, even when introduced to Him by an imperfect parent.
| How does the notion of home as the most important mission field affect your attitude toward the people who live with you? Work together as a family to prepare a list of specific efforts your family can make to lead unsaved relatives to Christ. |
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I have told the story before of how my Grandfather became a Seventh-day Adventist at 80 years of age, due largely to the quiet persistent love of my Grandmother. Grannie was a quiet little woman, about the same size as my wife, Carmel, and Grandad was a rather large bossy man. He had been a builder most of his life, building civic buildings such as town halls and hotels, so he had a bit of "presence". Grannie just quietly kept on loving him and living a quiet Christian life until Grandad found he could no longer resist the love that he had been living with all his life.
You do not win people to Christ by persistently nagging them to accept Jesus and arguing with them about their sins. Persistent living Christianity is a powerful witness, particularly in the family circle.
You do not win people to Christ by persistently nagging them to accept Jesus and arguing with them about their sins. Persistent living Christianity is a powerful witness, particularly in the family circle.
So true Maurice,winning people is not by nagging and applying force to convert them but your simple Christ like life style speaks volume than your loud speaker evangelism. Your Grandma used the best form of evangelism even after a long time yet Grandpa succumbed.
God help us to work on our character which speaks more about us than words.
As a parent and being human, of course I'm not perfect! What about the example to my family?
I pray that the most important message that I leave be of someone who fights for what is good and honorable! Amidst all imperfections, may the image of Christ to be reflected, not mine!
My brother forced me to go to church when I visited him
He used a verse in the bible that says ....even the visitor in your house should rest on Sabbath ( he twisted it to mean ...should go to church)
I hated to go to that church because the happiness class (baptismal class) was being taught outside the church where my friends could see me when passing by.
I used to go to the church with them but I would leave when the happiness class would be told to go outside.
I hated Friday evening when he used Bible verses to target me.
Finally he stopped, they all stopped telling to go to church and that's when I decided to go to church.
It is difficult to preach to our relatives. They know you, they know your background and so they ignore your call.
But with Christ everything is possible. Today I am proud of my elder brother who forced me to go to church.
Please don't force anybody to go to church. Give the Holy Spirit chance to talk to the person.
"No more eloquent testimony than Ruth’s can be given to show that youth can meet and make a commitment to a perfect God, even when introduced to Him by an imperfect parent"
How does Ruth's Testimony shows that youth can meet and make a commitment to a perfect God even when they introduced to him by imperfect parents?
My teacher's notes for this Sabbath, on today's lesson:
"John 1:40-42 – Andrew went and told his brother, Simon, the good news that he found the Messiah, and his decision to follow Him. Then he invited Simon to come and meet Jesus for himself. When Simon came, Jesus knew his name before Andrew could introduce him, and like He did with Abram (Abraham), Jesus give Simon a new name, Peter (Cephas, the rock).
Deut. 6:6-7 – God, through Moses, is giving the Jewish parents, and us today, some child guidance and instructions on how to talk to our children. Tell them about God’s word when your children are sitting in the house, when they wake up in the morning, and when they go to bed at night. In many homes today, the children are lonely, the parents barely talk to them. For a lot of children, their parents only talk to them when they are giving them chores to do, or to discipline them for bad behavior. What God want is for us to talk to our children, to have a personal relationship with your children; ("talking at" your children is not the same as have a personal conversation with them; a conversation give two-way, not one-way). Most importantly, talk to them about God’s word, tell them what God would like them to do. Read to them from God’s word at bedtime; get a good children’s Bible if they are under 10 years ago.
Ruth 1:14-18 – Naomi, obviously, had made a deep impression on Ruth’s life, for her to make the decision to give up her own family and family traditions, and replace it with Naomi’s God and family traditions. Naomi had nothing else to give Ruth, she was too old to have any more sons for Ruth to be betrothed to (one of the many Jewish traditions, see the story of Tamar), but Ruth still decided to go with Naomi to a land that she didn’t know anything about, and to truly worship God as Naomi would. (that’s another thing, our children are watching how we worship God, and will emulate what they see and hear from us). In my opinions, Ruth saw how Naomi had led her own household; the influence Naomi had over her husband and sons was something that Ruth wanted to emulate. She purposed in her mind that is wanted to find a new life and a new husband in Naomi's homeland. It was Naomi that advised Ruth on what to do to get Boaz’s attention."
Have a great day everyone. Be blessed!
Toni: I don't read any of the ancient languages, so I have taken the word of those who do read those languages. They have pretty consistently translated Cephas to mean a rock as in a small rock like a pebble, and that Jesus is "The Rock".
Some of the comments made in the lesson agree with my opinion about how to win new converts. I am a quiet neighbor and try to be an example of God first in my life.
Nagging or browbeating is never my first choice. Probably not most others either.