Sabbath: Sequential Evangelism and Witnessing
Read for This Week’s Study:
Matt. 25:35–40, 1 Cor. 3:1–3, 1 Pet. 2:2, John 6:54–66, Luke 8:4–15.
Memory Text:
“I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it” (1 Corinthians 3:2, NKJV).
Key Thought:
In all evangelism and witnessing, it is important that we first present the simple truth of the gospel.
Sequential evangelism is a strategy based on the understanding that people will move from one church program to another when the programs are arranged in the right sequence. This, however, has to be done correctly or else it can do more harm than good.
Our key text shows how Paul understood the fact that we can undo by overdoing. We can deliver so much complex material, and in the wrong order, that the receiver either chokes on the volume, fails to grasp the depth of meaning, or is reluctant to apply personally what is learned. Just as a baby’s diet begins with milk and gradually comes to include solid food, babes in Christ must receive spiritual food so that their developing spiritual understanding can assimilate.
This week we will explore how evangelism and witnessing strategies and programs blend and how they build on, and support, each other throughout the church’s sequential evangelistic year.
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, May 5.
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As we begin to preach let us know how to arrange our lessons so we don't choke the souls we are briinging to God.
Thanks very much for the lessons God bless you and happy Sabbath.
We all need to learn to count from 1- 5 before counting 6 - 10
This week we will be studying about witnessing and evangelism "strategies".
Planning in God's work is always important. God is a planner and we need to follow His direction/example in this regard. We also have to remember that witnessing and evangelism are much more about God than they are about us. They should only be about us (at least with witnessing) to the extent that they showcase the power of God.
With that said, I have some questions for consideration:
--- Where do witnessing strategies come in?
--- While it is relatively easy to cater an individual Bible study to the needs, knowledge and understanding of a single recipient, how does one do something similar for a larger, diverse group or as part of a major evangelistic campaign?
--- When dealing with a sizable group, how do we know when someone has been previously exposed to deep truths without making a decision vs when they are now coming to the truth for the first time?
--- Do we believe that God has ways of ensuring that the right person shows up for the right message or series, assuming we've done everything else in His will?
--- Can we strategize ourselves out of the plan God desires to have for us?
Have a blessed Sabbath...
Yes there is a limit, as the author said earlier we can undo just by simply over doing; weither its a single individual or a larger diverse group our stratgedy must be based on the same formula, keeping in mind that we can only introduce the message to the recepient(s) while manifesting it in our own personal lifestyle.
Before we go to Judea and Samaria like the disciples did, we need to wait for the Holy Spirit.
When the Sequence is complete, my hope is that we will become mighty men and women of God feeding on the meat of the word.
How do we resolve this Church endorsed plan for sequential evangelism (a term I've never heard of as a lifelong Adventist), and the use of prophecy as the most popular theme of Church evangelistic approach? Is prophecy milk or the most solid of all foods?