Sabbath: Introduction – The Role of the Church in the Community
The Whole Gospel
A pastor held up his Bible before the congregation. It was in tatters, full of holes. In seminary he and some classmates had gone through his Bible and underlined every passage that dealt with justice, poverty, wealth, and oppression. Then, with a pair of scissors, they cut out every verse dealing with those topics.
Church
When they finished, his Bible was in shambles. Throughout Scripture these themes are so central that there is a lot missing from the Bible when they are removed. The tattered Bible speaks powerfully and loudly about the things that God cares about.
What should this story say to us as Seventh-day Adventists? It should say a lot. Research shows that approximately 30 percent of Seventh-day Adventists are involved in meeting the needs of the community outside the church. What about the remaining 70 percent? Jesus calls His entire end-time church to proclaim and live the whole “everlasting gospel” (Rev. 14:6) .
What is the whole gospel? Jesus’ mission and ministry depicted in Luke 4:16-21 portray the whole gospel as more than preaching the truth of salvation by faith, however foundational that is to all that we do. Jesus shows us that preaching the gospel also means tangible expressions of love and compassion for the poor, hungry, sick, brokenhearted, oppressed, outcast, and imprisoned. It’s about biblical justice and undoing what the devil has done, at least to whatever degree we now can as we look forward to Jesus’ ultimate triumph over evil at the end of the age.
This quarter we will explore this wholistic version of the “everlasting gospel” and will examine the role of the church in impacting their communities with this gospel. We define the “church” as a community of people who, together, do not exist for themselves but who are called out to live and to preach the everlasting gospel as expressed in the ministry of Jesus. This means not only preaching the gospel but living it in our lives through ministering to the needs of those in our local communities.
Organizationally, how does your local church serve those in need? All ministries of the church (for example, health, family, youth, Sabbath School, deacons/deaconesses, etc.) exist to work together for serving the community as well as church members. Adventist Community Services (ACS) units or centers work from the church to demonstrate the gospel and prepare the way for hearing the Word of God. In some parts of the world ACS is called Dorcas, Adventist Men, or some other name. The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) , the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s humanitarian agency with a nongovernmental organization status, though it does not operate from the local church, is another important part of reaching those in need.
How do you personally express your appreciation for what God has done for you in Christ? One church member put it this way:
On the street I saw a small girl,
cold, shivering in a thin dress,
with little hope of a decent meal.
I became angry and said to God:
“Why did You permit this?
Why don’t You do something about it?”
For a while God said nothing.
Then that night He replied quite suddenly:
“I certainly did something about it.
I made you.”
-In Dwight Nelson, Pursuing the Passion of Jesus (Nampa, Idaho: Pacific Press® Publishing Association, 2005) , p. 78.
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Our task to carry out the great commission of Matthew 28:19 is so multifaceted that accomplishing the majority of details is complicated beyond ability of the visionaries of leadership. Many opinions make total organization nearly impossible. Matt.28:19 was not written specifically for Seventh Day Adventist, but I believe that God has the right answers for the task at hand as He wills.
But,He did say we were to follow His example in reaching out, John SB 1146 Updates | Concordia University Irvine
We should show compassion to one another that our Lord God will continually bless us in His appointed time. Do not be weary of doing good to one another for in the due season you shall reap the fruit, Amen (Galatians 6:9)
Jesus wants us to reach out to others. I was touched by the idea of the child shivering in the cold. We really must do the good that is in our power to do for we really are God's hand and feet in this world to help make the world around us a better place for others and to uplift our fellowman.
This is not just to study but to practice it in our lives. who study this lesson like others and refuse to practice it is on his/her own (On-Your-Own).
thanks for the lesson
from Nigeria
I recognized the outreach pattern in the sabbath school quarterly when I glanced at the table of contents.
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MSNCF
"Christ's method alone will give true success in reaching the people. The Saviour mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, “Follow Me.” MH 143
There are a couple more patterns...
CLIRTS
confrontational, logical, invitational, relational, testimonial , service.
FORT
family occupation, religion, testimonial.
I have shared pithy approaches for the gospel.
The creator God loves humans and will forgive & fix them so they can live forever.
God has a gospel of grace pardon & rehab program for Earthling criminals.
Humans have a problem, God has a solution. One can accept it and have life eternal.
Here is an SOP gospel definition that get very little exposure in SDA churches.
"The gospel is the good news of grace, or favour, by which man may be released from the condemnation of sin, and enabled to render acceptable obedience to the law."
If your Church doesn't have an outreach, then pray that you may be used to start one, so many more in the Church can serve the needs of the community. Luke 10:2
The powerful poem was first published (and apparently authored) in Gujarat, India by Anthony de Mello, a Indian Jesuit priest, in a 1982 work, The Song of the Bird. It was later republished as unknown attribution by Sister Mary Rose McGready of Covenant House in her 1997 book Please Help Me God, and popularized by its inclusion in Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul that same year--Dwight Nelson likely encountered it in one of those 1997 books. Wikipedia has articles on both de Mello and McGready.