Metro Blog

It is indeed a rarity that human sexuality is a topic in the quarterly Bible Study Guide. Even though in this week’s study the topic is couched under the heading of “Living Holy Lives,” one, nevertheless, appreciates the fact that the church recognizes that this matter should no longer
be closeted but must be addressed in plenary sessions to help the church members, especially the youth, realize the dangers of the counterfeit teachings on human sexuality that are being foisted upon society today.

Q2 SS-2012 Lesson 9: Releasing into Ministry: (read Lesson 9)

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" Isa 6:8. This week focuses on releasing members into ministry and explores the following key areas.

• Shared Responsibility
• Risking for Success
• Matching the Laborers With the Harvest
• Spiritual Growth Through Ministry Involvement

I will present this week's Sabbath School summary using tweets from @metrosda. 1st up:

“And how shall they preach unless they are sent?..." Romans 10:15 Here I am Lord #SendMe and I will #go

— Metro Church (@metrosda) June 1, 2012

Read more of Metro's Sabbath School tweet summary.

Q2 SS-2012 Lesson 7: Corporate Evangelism & Witnessing: (read Lesson 7)

Key Text: “The things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2, NKJV).

1. Why is it that churches that are so busy fighting among themselves rarely do outreach?

2. What assurance can we gain from Psalm 37 in relation to the success of witnessing and evangelism activities?

3. How do we know when our planning is led by the Holy Spirit rather than by merely human preparation?

4. This week’s study addresses “corporate unity” in the Church. What does this mean—and not mean—in every day terms?

Q2 SS-2012 Lesson 6: Personal Evangelism & Witnessing: (read Lesson 6)

 Evangelism and witnessing are essentially two sides of the same coin.  They both serve the same purpose of presenting the good news of salvation to others and encouraging them to accept Jesus as their Savior.  They both are essential to church growth. They differ primarily in duration. Evangelism is generally a planned series of meetings in which sequential lessons are presented, while witnessing is often a spontaneous opportunity to share with others one’s personal testimony of the good news of salvation. Evangelism seeks a wider audience, while witnessing focuses on the individual, sharing with him Jesus’ love for us, the ultimate sacrifice He made for us, and His imminent return to take us home with Him.  Both the evangelist and the witness are ambassadors for Christ, personally representing Him as they carry His message to the world. While both of these endeavors are necessary for church growth, personal witnessing, doubtless, contributes to both the growth of the church and the growth of the individual.

Q2 SS-2012 Lesson 5: Spiritual Gifts for Evangelism and Witnessing (read Lesson 5)

Sequential evangelism is a step by step approach to sharing the gospel that was taught and practiced by Jesus during His ministry on earth. In the adult Sabbath School lesson five titled “Sequential Evangelism and Witnessing", we are reminded of four basic steps used by Jesus during his earthly ministry.  These fundamental steps remain valid today.

Step 1

• Meet the needs of people where they are.

In the Parable of the Sheep and Goats, Jesus taught that first step in evangelism is to meet the people where they are (Matt. 25: 31-40).  It is important that as individuals and as a church, we seek to meet the physical needs of the community we serve with love and kindness, for in doing so the process of evangelism is initialized.

Sphere of Influence

Q2 SS-2012 Lesson 3: Spiritual Gifts for Evangelism and Witnessing (read Lesson 3)

…. the one that is given to you by the Holy Spirit. That amazed me. Let’s explore it from the text.                                                                                         

“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-12, NKJV).

Two things that stood out in my study were firstly, gifts are given and secondly, they are given by a specific being:  the Holy Spirit. Apparently, gifts are not something that we are born with - they are not talents, right? Interesting! So we can actually have talented church leaders who may not have received the gift for that ministry. I always wondered how a once presumptuous sinner like myself (emphasis on “presumptuous”) could have still led out in church appointed positions. Reminds me about that sermon Pastor Johns preached on Bar-Jesus - "Behind Enemy Lines". 

Q2 SS-2012 Lesson 2: Every Member Ministry (read Lesson 2)

A CNBC Originals documentary, “Cruise Inc.: Big Money on the High Seas” (2009), took us inside the $30 billion cruise industry. The cruise ship documented was the Norwegian Pearl, a 15-story tall, 965 ft long, 93,000 ton “money making machine”. They called it a “floating city” that employs 1100 crew members to cater to 2200 passengers eating 12,000 meals per day. One could only imagine that all hands are always on deck to serve and entertain the passengers.

Imagine Peter the disciple being alive today and swearing (before he was saved, of course) at the cruise industry. He’d probably be thinking - what sense does it make for a multi-million dollar sea vessel to be burning through millions of dollars just to entertain?  They don’t even catch any fish!!

Q2 SS-2012 Lesson 1: Defining Evangelism and Witnessing (read Lesson 1)

So it’s your first “real” job and you are really excited or at least thankful - maybe about the benefits you’ll be offered or the location or prestige of the company. For some, it may be what you will be doing that is most important and exciting. But for most, you are probably just glad to be getting a paycheck. But what does your job really entail? What is your job description?