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00:10 ♪♪♪ 00:20 ♪♪♪ 00:25 ♪♪♪ 00:31 CC BY ABERDEEN CAPTIONING 1-800-688-6621 WWW.ABERCAP.COM 00:36 Jean Ross: Good morning, friends. 00:38 We'd like to welcome all of you to "Sabbath School Study Hour" 00:40 here at the Amazing Facts offices 00:42 in Sacramento, California. 00:44 And Pastor Doug and myself, we are going to be studying 00:46 our lesson together, and this is lesson number 10 in the series 00:50 we have been studying entitled "Making Friends for God." 00:54 Lesson number 10 is an "Exciting Way to Get Involved." 00:58 And so we hope that this will help inspire you to get involved 01:01 in outreach and evangelism and witnessing. 01:04 We do have a free offer we'd like to tell you about. 01:06 It's a book entitled "Is It Easier to be Saved 01:09 or to be Lost?" 01:11 And this is our free offer for today. 01:13 If you'd like to receive a copy of the book, the number to call 01:15 is 866-788-3966 and ask for offer number 124. 01:22 Again, that number is 866-788-3966, and just ask 01:27 for offer number 124 and we'll be happy to get that 01:30 in the mail and send it to you. 01:32 If you're outside of North America, you can get a digital 01:35 download of the book and you can read it. 01:38 All you have to do is text the code SH039 to the number 40544. 01:45 Again, that's SH039 to the number 40544. 01:50 You don't have to be outside North America to get 01:53 the digital download. 01:56 Just text that code wherever you are in the world and you'll be 01:58 able to read the book, "Is It Easier to be Saved 02:01 or to be Lost?" 02:03 Well, before we get to our study this morning, we've got a 02:06 special musical item that we'd like to share with you 02:08 at this time. 02:11 ♪♪♪ 06:34 Jean: Welcome back, friends. 06:36 Thank you, Emma and Nathan, for bringing us that beautiful 06:38 encouraging song, "The Old Rugged Cross," 06:41 one of a favorite of many people. 06:43 Well, before we get to our lesson, as we always do, 06:45 let's start with a word of prayer. 06:47 Dear Father, we thank You that we're able to open up Your Word. 06:49 And even though we are separated through distance, 06:52 we can still study together. 06:54 We know the Holy Spirit is not limited to a particular place, 06:56 but he is everywhere, speaking to our hearts here as well as 07:00 those who are joining us. 07:02 And Father, we pray that as we study a way in which we can be 07:04 involved--more involved in witnessing and sharing, 07:07 that You would bless our time together, for we ask this 07:10 in Jesus's name, amen? 07:12 Well, Pastor Doug, as we mentioned, our lesson today is 07:15 entitled, "An Exciting Way to Get Involved," 07:18 and one of the important things when it comes to evangelism 07:21 or witnessing is getting the church members involved. 07:25 We're all part of the body of Christ, and each part of the 07:27 body has a work to do. 07:30 So that's going to be our study today. 07:32 And we'd like to let our friends know, those who are joining us 07:35 on Facebook, we're happy to take your questions. 07:38 If you have a Bible-related question or a question related 07:41 to witnessing or small groups or how do you share your faith, 07:45 this is a wonderful opportunity. 07:47 You can actually make a post on Doug Batchelor Facebook page, 07:50 and they'll be emailing those questions to me. 07:53 And we haven't seen the questions obviously beforehand, 07:55 but we're going to try and tackle as many questions 07:58 as we can. 08:00 We're going to sprinkle it throughout our lesson 08:02 as we study together. 08:04 So with that, Pastor Doug, lesson number 10, 08:06 "An Exciting Way to Get Involved." 08:07 Doug Batchelor: We always like to start with 08:09 the memory verse. 08:11 Greetings, friends. 08:13 This is a great study talking about-- 08:15 the title of it is "An Exciting Way to Get Involved," 08:17 and it's really-- the theme of the lesson 08:19 is the value and the importance of small groups. 08:21 And we have a memory verse, a memory verse I think 08:23 most people know already. 08:25 Matthew chapter 9, verse 37 and 38, "And he said unto his 08:29 disciples, 'The harvest is truly plentiful, 08:33 but the laborers are few. 08:35 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers 08:39 into His harvest.'" 08:41 You know, there's no shortage of people out there that want 08:43 to and need to hear the gospel. 08:45 We always think, "I'm afraid to witness. 08:47 Nobody's really interested." 08:49 That's not true. 08:51 There's a lot more people out there interested than you think. 08:53 The devil wants us to think that nobody wants to hear the gospel. 08:55 But Jesus said the harvest is great; the problem 08:58 is we have few laborers. 09:00 And one of the key ingredients, then, that we're dealing with in 09:05 this lesson is we're more powerful when we work together. 09:11 Even when Jesus sent his disciples out witnessing, he 09:13 sent them out in groups of two or sometimes three. 09:19 You can think of when Paul and Barnabas and Mark went together 09:23 as a group of three 'cause the Bible says in the mouth of two 09:26 or three witnesses let everything be established. 09:29 There's more credibility there if you've got a team that works 09:33 together, and God created human beings for fellowship. 09:38 The Bible says it's not good for man to be alone. 09:41 Of course, that was talking about wasn't good for Adam 09:44 to not have his Eve, but it's really a principle of life; 09:47 that man or woman, that we are designed to be social creatures. 09:51 We are made by a social God who is comprised of three persons 09:55 in the Trinity. 09:58 And so that plays out being made in God's image, that we operate 10:02 and we flourish in small groups. 10:05 Jean: And of course we've got small groups that make up 10:08 our lives in all different ways. 10:10 Most of us have a family. 10:11 That is a small group. 10:13 We participate perhaps at work with a certain group of people. 10:16 We're interacting with them, and of course at the church. 10:18 Now, some churches are smaller. 10:20 They might be a small group in themselves. 10:22 The Bible says where two or three are gathered together in 10:25 God's name, that's where He is. 10:27 Some churches--most churches, though, are comprised of, 10:30 you know, anywhere from 50 to 60 to 100, 10:32 to even 5,600 people, 1,000. 10:35 And it's so important, especially when the church 10:38 starts getting bigger, that we have small groups 10:40 within the larger church. 10:42 Then we're going to look at some of the reasons why 10:44 in our study today. 10:46 We need to be connected with people and we encourage one 10:49 another in our witnessing endeavor. 10:51 You know, Pastor Doug, it is kind of strange that here we're 10:53 talking about the importance of being in a group and belonging 10:56 and being connected, but at the same time we're going through a 10:59 pandemic and we're being told time and time again you got 11:02 to social-distance. 11:04 You got to be separate. 11:06 You got to keep space. 11:08 Now, we are grateful that this does not-- 11:10 this is not the permanent norm. 11:11 At least we hope not. 11:13 Because throughout the Bible, we do find a theme 11:15 of connecting with people, especially fellow believers. 11:18 If we're going to be effective in evangelism, it's connecting 11:21 with others and working together as a team. 11:23 Doug: Yeah. 11:26 And I think people have become especially sensitive 11:27 to that during this pandemic, where so many people 11:30 are feeling isolated. 11:32 They're realizing that, "Yeah, there might be physical benefits 11:36 in avoiding people that might have a contagious virus, 11:39 but there are definitely--" 11:41 There are detriments to our health because-- 11:43 as social creatures, and God designed us that way. 11:47 Some people are struggling with depression. 11:49 And they say that even during the pandemic, 11:51 they're seeing a terrible spike in suicides. 11:54 Some of that may be because some have lost their jobs and some 11:57 of it just people feeling isolated, 11:59 and it's affecting their depression. 12:01 You know, being together is part of God's original plan. 12:06 You can see here in Genesis chapter 1, verse 1 and 2, 12:09 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth; 12:12 and the earth was out form-- without form and void, 12:15 and darkness was on the face of the deep. 12:17 And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face 12:20 of the waters. 12:22 Then God said, 'Let us make man in Our image, 12:25 according to Our likeness. 12:27 Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds 12:29 of the air, over the cattle, over all the earth, and over 12:33 every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.'" 12:36 Even God enjoys association. 12:40 Even God wants to socialize. 12:42 And God, the Father, Son, and Spirit, are seem to be there in 12:44 the creation and all the way to the last book in the Bible where 12:49 it specifically mentions God the Father, God the Son, 12:53 and some of the closing words in the Bible says, 12:56 "And the Spirit says, 'Whosoever will, 12:58 let them take the water of life freely." 13:00 And so you have the person--the assembly of God, those three 13:06 witnesses that are seen right from the beginning to the end 13:09 of the Bible, and then God made us where we-- 13:12 how do we communicate intelligence? 13:15 How do we communicate thought? 13:16 You need people who are listeners. 13:18 We grow as iron sharpens iron. 13:20 So he made us to be social creatures. 13:23 Jean: You know, God made us to be social creatures even 13:25 at a high risk, a risk to Himself. 13:27 And of course we know about sin. 13:29 We have a freewill. 13:31 But despite the risk, God felt it necessary to create beings 13:35 that could love Him, that could choose to serve Him. 13:38 We could interact with God. 13:40 God can show His love and His goodness to us. 13:42 So that sort of places the importance of being connected 13:46 at a very high level. 13:48 God values friendship. 13:50 He values interaction, communication. 13:52 Of course, these are all aspects that we find when it comes to 13:54 evangelism, and especially connecting in a small group. 13:57 These are some of the benefits of being connected in a group. 14:00 Now, Pastor Doug, we've got a question that's come in, and I 14:03 want to thank those of you who are sending in your questions. 14:05 Again, if you'd like to send a question related to small groups 14:08 or witnessing, you can do so at Pastor Doug's Facebook page. 14:12 We have a question that's come in. 14:14 It says, "My question is, is there a right time 14:16 and is there a wrong time to share the Word of God?" 14:21 Doug: I'd say that--of course, whenever you have 14:24 an opening and as you walk with God and you walk in the Spirit 14:29 and you practice the skills of witnessing, you know, you're 14:32 going to represent--or you're going to recognize 14:35 when there are those prime times. 14:38 With farming, there's a good time to put seed in the ground 14:40 and there's a bad time to put seed in the ground. 14:43 And so there are seasons, and every day-- 14:46 and even in people's lives, you're going to see there 14:48 are seasons where a person is open. 14:51 And sometimes you might do a little test and talk to a person 14:54 about spiritual things. 14:56 You can see they're kind of closing up to it, 14:58 might not be the right time. 15:00 And so sometimes you'll never know unless you try, 15:02 and I think we're surprised. 15:04 We assume that people don't want to hear it, but I think it's 15:06 important to more often than not what's the risk. 15:09 Float some spiritual inquiry asking them, you know, where 15:15 they're at spiritually or find out what their interest is 15:17 and you'd be surprised. 15:19 Some people are more open than you might think. 15:21 So you might just, you know, do a little test every now 15:24 and then and see if you can make progress. 15:26 Jean: You know, one of the things that we teach in our 15:28 AFCOE class--AFCOE is the Amazing Facts Center 15:30 of Evangelism. 15:32 We teach witnessing. 15:34 And we ask people--if they meet someone and they start engaging 15:36 with them and they want to try and move the conversation to 15:38 spiritual things, one of the questions they can ask of 15:41 the person is, "Did you grow up in a religious environment? 15:44 Did you grow up going to church?" 15:47 And usually we find people are more willing to talk about 15:49 something that maybe happened in the past, maybe something 15:52 happened in their childhood, and you can kind of get a sense 15:54 or a feel as to where they are, do they still currently go to 15:57 church, do they have interest in spiritual things. 16:00 So the way that we pose the question can kind of open up 16:03 the door for some further discussion. 16:05 So that's a good thing to keep in mind. 16:07 Ask the person, "Did you grow up going to church? 16:10 Did you grow up in a religious family?" 16:12 And usually people are willing to share about their background 16:14 or about their family. 16:15 Doug: Yeah, you're asking them about them, 16:18 and sometimes people, they're-- 16:20 even if they didn't have a good experience growing 16:22 up with a religious background, they're happy for an opportunity 16:25 to vent and to tell--and then it teaches you a lot about 16:28 where they're at and what their perspective is. 16:30 That's very important. 16:32 You know, something else you can see right here 16:34 in the beginning-- now, we're still under 16:36 the section small groups are God's first idea. 16:38 In the beginning, families were the catalyst 16:42 for the small groups. 16:44 Abraham offered sacrifice for his family, and he had a pretty 16:47 large household and--same thing with Jacob and with Isaac, 16:51 and they would worship God in their families. 16:54 They didn't have churches quite like we have today, 16:57 or several places of worship. 17:00 They had altars that were scattered around the country 17:02 as they wandered. 17:04 One of the dangers you see is when sin entered the world, 17:08 it damaged relationships. 17:11 Everything from Eve and Adam blaming each other for sin, 17:17 Cain killing Abel, you can see that there was some tension, 17:21 some separation. 17:24 And one of the reasons we need small groups--people say, 17:27 "Well, I don't like going to small groups, 17:29 'cause I have trouble getting along with people." 17:31 That's why you need small groups. 17:32 It's because it helps us grow, it makes us accountable, 17:36 and it's just part of God's plan to redeem us to learn 17:39 how to love each other. 17:40 Jean: The plan of salvation-- plan of redemption 17:43 actually started in a small group. 17:46 We find in Hebrews chapter 1, verse 2, it says, speaking of 17:49 Christ, "Has in these last days spoken to us by His son," 17:52 so God the Father is communicated by His son, 17:55 "whom He has appointed heir of all things 17:57 and through whom also He made the worlds." 17:59 So the plan of salvation involves the Father, the Son, 18:02 and the Holy Spirit. 18:04 All three play an important part in our salvation in the plan of 18:07 redemption, and that's an example for us; that when it 18:10 comes to evangelism or soul winning, there are different 18:12 roles, different parts that different people play 18:15 in reaching out to those in the community. 18:17 Doug: Now, there's one more part in there that you talked 18:19 about that I think you missed. 18:21 Not only the Father, the Son, the Spirit and us, 18:23 it says the worlds. 18:25 So--you know, part of the plan of salvation is redemption of 18:28 this planet because we've been basically quarantined from the 18:33 unfallen angels and other worlds that God may have out there, 18:37 and we want to be restored to communion with God 18:40 and all of His creatures. 18:42 And so being in small groups and learning to love is part 18:46 of that school. 18:48 Jean: You know, there's an interesting statement that you 18:50 find in the book, "Fundamentals of Christian Education." 18:52 This is page 186. 18:54 It says, "The plan of salvation had its place in the councils 18:57 of the infinite from all eternity." 19:01 Now, Pastor Doug, someone might be wondering, 19:03 "Well, what is this council that's been referred to here?" 19:06 What is the council of infinite, or who is this group? 19:12 Doug: Yeah, well, when it says God said, "Let us," 19:15 there must have been some sort of forum 19:19 where the Father, Son, and Spirit-- 19:21 I don't know if they use Holy Spirit telepathy 19:24 when they communicate with each other. 19:26 I doubt they sat down in a boardroom with a PowerPoint, 19:30 but they consulted together and there was an agreement. 19:35 And so even the world was brought into existence, 19:38 you might say, in the catalyst of a small group: God. 19:43 Jean: All right. Well, let me ask a question. 19:45 I think this one came from the Philippines. 19:47 The question is, "How do we share the Word with someone 19:50 who is a devout Catholic?" 19:52 So, of course, you have different denominations in the 19:54 world, different religions. 19:56 How do you share, in particular this is asking, with someone 19:59 who's a devout Catholic? 20:01 Doug: You know, this is probably a good time-- 20:03 I've just remembered. 20:05 Friends, alert. Now hear this. 20:07 Amazing Facts is doing an evangelistic meeting that will 20:10 go around the world, including the Philippines, 20:13 in October of this year. 20:15 We've just done the release this week. 20:17 The website has just become active. 20:20 The meetings are called Revelation Now, and it's talking 20:24 about unfolding or decoding the Bible secrets of prophecy. 20:29 And I think the subtitle is, "Things are never going 20:32 to be the same." 20:34 And so Revelation-- now, matter of fact, 20:36 we have a website called revelationnow.com. 20:39 You can go take a look there right now, and you can join us 20:41 in being part of that in the Philippines. 20:44 'Cause if you got a Catholic friend and they watch that 20:46 series--well, we have a lot of people from the Catholic Church 20:49 that has said, "Wow, where have I been?" 20:51 And they've accepted the truth. 20:53 So one thing is, get them involved in Bible studies. 20:56 You might take them through an evangelistic program and-- 21:00 you know, there's different subjects that you can study 21:03 gently with your Catholic friends. 21:05 I find--depending on the background, I would begin with 21:07 a charismatic, a little different than I would maybe 21:10 with a Baptist or--and then again differently 21:12 with a Catholic, knowing their background. 21:15 One of the things I found is if you take the Catholics 21:19 into a Bible study of prophecy, they never get that. 21:23 Just take them through Daniel chapter 2. 21:25 They're inspired with the inspiration of the Bible, then 21:28 you can begin to show them some of the other things. 21:32 I find they always respond well to the study on the lake of fire 21:35 because they're so happy to hear that God is a God of love 21:38 and they don't have to worry about everlasting burning. 21:42 And so there's just a couple of ideas there. 21:45 What do you think? 21:47 Jean: Absolutely. Yeah, start by reaffirming. 21:49 And I think this principle is true no matter 21:51 who you're studying with. 21:53 Start by reaffirming the authority of the Bible, and I 21:54 think prophecy is one of the best ways to do that. 21:56 Many of these different religious groups or 21:58 denominations, we might assume that the people might study 22:02 the Bible or know the Bible, and they are. 22:04 There are denominations that do study the Bible. 22:07 But many of these different groups, they just sort 22:09 of follow the tradition. 22:11 They might get their information from a pastor or a priest, 22:14 but they haven't actually sat down and studied for themselves. 22:17 And so it's an exciting experience for people who might 22:20 be a devout Christian to actually get into the Word 22:23 and especially, as Pastor Doug says, a prophecy. 22:25 Start with Daniel and work your way into some 22:28 of the prophecies of Revelation. 22:30 These are things that most denominations shy away from. 22:33 They stay away from Revelation and Daniel. 22:36 So we have a great opportunity to share it with people 22:38 from those books. 22:40 Well, the next section that we have in our lesson, and probably 22:42 need to move along here, is small groups in Scripture. 22:46 And of course, we looked at small groups at the beginning. 22:48 We can see God Himself, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; 22:51 a small group right there. 22:54 But in the Bible, we also have small groups, 22:56 both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. 22:58 Doug: Yes, sir, like when Moses 23:00 was going through the wilderness, 23:02 his father Jethro came to visit him. 23:04 He saw Moses was sitting from dawn till 23:07 dusk judging the people. 23:08 He said, "You're going to surely wear away. 23:11 This is too great for you." 23:12 He said, "You need to organize your people 23:15 into smaller groups." 23:17 And you can find in Exodus 18:21. 23:19 He said, Exodus 18:21 and 22, "Moreover you shall select 23:23 from all the people able men, such as fear God--" 23:26 Small groups need to have leaders. 23:28 So that's another subject, how to be a small group leader. 23:32 "Able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness, 23:36 and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, 23:38 rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, rulers of tens." 23:42 I was just looking this morning online. 23:45 The smallest unit in an army is a squad that will have somewhere 23:49 between 17--7 to 14 soldiers. 23:52 So that'd be like--group of ten would be that category. 23:55 But the army found that that's the smallest group, 23:58 and they needed a leader, usually a sergeant, 24:01 and they were very effective. 24:03 You'd send a squad on a mission. 24:05 And it says that the smallest group was ten. 24:07 "And let them judge the people at all times, and then it will 24:11 be that every great matter they'll bring to you--" 24:13 Now, Moses was the Supreme Court. 24:15 "But every smaller matter, they will judge themselves so it will 24:18 be easier for you and they will bear the burden for you." 24:22 You know, if pastors would all get the vision of small groups, 24:26 they wouldn't have to be wearing themselves out, especially 24:28 when you get a church of 200 or 300 members. 24:31 The key is build up your leaders, men and women 24:34 who can lead in small groups. 24:36 And you can have different groups. 24:38 You can have a small group for the collegiate. 24:40 You can have a small group for the young mothers. 24:42 You can have a small group for retired men or just anything 24:46 where they can connect together, and then keep it with a biblical 24:50 Bible study focus and an outreach focus. 24:52 Jean: You know, Pastor Doug, you're so right, especially, 24:55 you know, our own church just to share with our folks 24:57 who are joining us. 24:59 We're in the process of building, and we hope that our 25:01 facility will be available and we'll be able to meet. 25:03 But Granite Bay has a membership of over 600, and one 25:06 of the challenges we have is keeping people connected. 25:09 We're very excited. 25:11 The pastoral staff of the Granite Bay church, we've spent 25:13 some time looking at how we can connect people, especially when 25:17 the new church facility begins. 25:19 One of the areas that we're thinking about, which is a great 25:21 idea, is to connect people who are going through 25:24 similar life experiences. 25:26 For example, young families. 25:28 They have a little child. 25:30 They go to Sabbath school together. 25:32 They're going through similar life experiences. 25:33 The youths; they're going through different challenges, 25:35 different things that they face, so pull them together. 25:37 You even got those who have retired and have 25:40 a little more time on their hands. 25:42 Connect them together and they can start planning and doing 25:45 some kind of outreach. 25:47 So there's different stages that a person goes through in life, 25:49 and you can cluster or organize these small groups based upon 25:52 where people are in their experience, in their walk. 25:56 We found this to be a lot more effective in pulling people 25:59 together that have something in common. 26:01 Doug: Amen, you know, along with what happened 26:04 there with Moses dividing the people up into 26:07 various group sizes, Jesus did this when 26:09 they distributed the bread. 26:11 Now, the bread for us, of course, is the Word of God. 26:14 And so as churches get together for bread distribution, 26:17 that's studying the Bible, how did he do it? 26:20 Well, it says here that there were about 5,000 men, 26:23 not counting women and children, that were fed when 26:25 he multiplied the bread. 26:27 And he said, "Make them sit down in groups of 50." 26:29 But you look in Mark 6, verse 39, it says, "He commanded them 26:33 to all sit down in groups on the green grass. 26:35 So they sat down in ranks of hundreds and in fifties." 26:39 Now, 50 would be a pretty big small group, but--you know, 26:46 I don't agree with everything they do, but I think it's 26:48 in the Jehovah Witness church. 26:50 I agree that they go out two by two. 26:52 That's a biblical-- it's a good method. 26:54 I don't agree with their message, good method. 26:55 Something else they do; when they get to church and they 26:57 reach about, I think it's 300, they then swarm 27:00 and they say it's time to start another group. 27:02 You almost don't want a church to get too big. 27:05 Now, we're doing something that's a little bit of an 27:08 exception here with the Granite Bay church 'cause we are 27:11 a church that is training churches. 27:13 So we needed a bigger facility for congregations, 27:15 but we just planted-- 27:18 or, I should say, we're in the process 27:19 of planting another church. 27:21 Granite Bay is a church plant of Sacramento Central, 27:25 and Sacramento Central planted several churches 27:28 and they all started with small groups. 27:30 Well, we had about 12 when we started Granite Bay. 27:33 Jean: That's right, started in somebody's living 27:34 room with about 12, 13 people and grew from there. 27:37 So the principle definitely works. 27:39 The next section that we have-- maybe I'll ask a question here, 27:42 Pastor Doug, that somebody sent in. 27:44 It might be a good time to ask. 27:45 Very important question. 27:47 So it's not directly related to small groups, 27:49 but the question I think all of us have. 27:51 It says, "Pastor Doug, what would you recommend 27:53 for somebody to do who is trying to have a personal revival 27:57 in their life?" 27:59 Personal revival. 28:01 Doug: Well, I think that the three keys to revival 28:04 are found in the holy place of the sanctuary. 28:07 They are the secret weapons for revival 28:11 and for the disciplines of a successful Christian. 28:15 There were three things in that room. 28:16 You had the altar of incense, which represents prayer 28:20 according to Revelation; you had the bread, which is a symbol for 28:24 the Word of God; and then you had a light, 28:27 which is a symbol for witnessing, 28:29 letting your light shine. 28:31 And so if a Christian is involved in daily prayer, 28:33 seeking after God; praying not just in regular times, 28:37 but through the day, walking with Christ; 28:39 reading the Word and getting an adequate Bible study in, 28:43 that could be part of being part of a Bible study group, 28:46 and then doing something with their faith. 28:48 Don't just sit on it, but share your faith. 28:50 Somehow reach out and minister to others. 28:54 And I found if people do these things, 28:56 it's the best formula for growth. 28:58 Jean: Well, you know, Pastor Doug, 29:00 it's interesting you mentioned the light 29:01 could represent sharing our faith. 29:03 And it wasn't just one lamp in the holy place, it said seven 29:06 branch candlesticks. 29:08 So they were tied together. 29:10 Effective witnessing is connecting with others. 29:12 Be involved in a small group; planned together, organized 29:16 together, and start reaching out to those 29:18 in the community around you. 29:20 Well, then that brings us to our next section, 29:22 which is organizing for service. 29:24 So the purpose of a small group isn't just for us to interact 29:26 and strengthen ourselves spiritually, 29:28 but we're to be evangelistic. 29:30 The Great Commission that Jesus gave us is to go make disciples. 29:34 Preach the gospel. 29:35 And so that needs to be a central theme of every small 29:38 group not only inreach, but we also need to have 29:41 an emphasis on outreach. 29:44 And that's the next section. 29:46 We see an illustration that Paul gives us in 1 Corinthians about 29:49 how the church and these different small groups are 29:52 to work together. 29:54 Doug: You're going to go--why don't you read 1 Corinthians, 29:56 what, 12 through verse 26? 29:57 Jean: Yes, 1 Corinthians 12 beginning verse 12 it says, 30:00 "For as the body is one and has many members; 30:03 but all the members of that one body, 30:05 being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 30:09 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body; 30:13 whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free; 30:15 and all have been made to drink into that one Spirit. 30:19 For in fact the body is not one member, but many members. 30:24 If the foot should say, 'Because I'm not the hand, 30:26 I am not part of the body,' is there therefore not-- 30:30 is it therefore not of the body? 30:33 And if the ear should say, 'Because I'm not an eye, 30:35 I am not of the body,' is it therefore not of the body? 30:38 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? 30:42 If the whole were hearing, where would the smelling be? 30:45 But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body 30:49 just as He is pleased, that there should be no schism 30:53 in the body, but the members should have the same care 30:56 for one another. 30:58 And if one member suffers, all members suffer with it; 31:00 or if one member is honored, then all rejoice with it." 31:04 So we can see there's different responsibilities, 31:07 different gifts that God has given and as we work together 31:10 in small groups. 31:12 Now it's interesting to note, different groups might have 31:14 a different form or a different emphasis in evangelism. 31:18 The hand would do something different than the foot. 31:20 It's all connected to the same body. 31:22 So you could have different groups focusing 31:24 on outreach in different ways. 31:26 Doug: Yeah, you know, I think this is the beauty, 31:28 and the key to understanding the success of small groups 31:31 is that you're going to have-- 31:33 every small group is going to be different 31:35 and it's going to be made up of people, and people are unique. 31:39 And the key for Christians is learning to love and grow 31:42 everybody regardless of what their different temperaments 31:46 and personalities are, and those differences are usually 31:50 because God made them different. 31:52 And so learning to love people and say, "All right. 31:54 Well, this person may not be an ear, but maybe 31:57 they're an eyeball, maybe they're a nose, 31:59 maybe they are a foot or a hand." 32:01 And just find out where is their spiritual gift? 32:03 Where do they fit into the body, and help them to flourish, help 32:06 them to be affirmed in what their role is in the body. 32:10 And when spiritual-- 32:12 when small groups get together and they recognize, 32:14 "We're going to use everybody's different gifts--" 32:16 Just a famous quote from history-- 32:19 I don't know who said it first, 32:20 but if you want to go fast, you go alone. 32:22 But if you want to go far, you go together. 32:25 And I've just read several stories. 32:27 I've talked many times about the Lewis and Clark Expedition. 32:30 And when Captains Lewis and Clark were getting their team 32:34 together, about 38 or 40 different guys, 32:37 they deliberately picked very different people. 32:39 They had one guy who was an expert blacksmith. 32:42 They had someone else who was an expert hunter. 32:45 They had someone else that could-- 32:47 an expert on the water with rowing, 32:49 then they had a carpenter. 32:51 They had all these that were so different, but they worked 32:54 together as a unit to do something remarkable. 32:57 I'll tell you another quick story most people don't know. 33:00 That the reason we have an interstate highway system in 33:04 North America is because there was a young captain who was 33:08 given the commission, I think in the 1920s, to travel all the way 33:12 from Washington to California with a group of soldiers. 33:16 There were no roads back then. 33:18 Automobiles were still in their infancy. 33:20 And they took these primitive vehicles and they had to build 33:23 the road as they went, forging deserts and crossing creeks. 33:29 Well, the captain was Dwight D. Eisenhower. 33:32 And then when he went to Europe during World War II and he saw 33:35 the autobahns, he came back, he became president, 33:38 and he said, "We need to fix our roads." 33:40 But the only way he made it across the country 33:42 is he had people all different gifts. 33:44 Some of them were on primitive motorcycles. 33:47 He had mechanics, a lot of mechanics. 33:49 He had welders and blacksmiths and engineers. 33:52 But using the different gifts, they were able to build roads 33:55 and get all the way across the country with no roads. 33:58 And so you go far together. 34:01 You can go fast alone, but you go a lot farther 34:04 if you can work together. 34:06 That's the way it is as a group. 34:08 You support each other and use our different gifts. 34:10 Jean: Absolutely, and I think we have spent 34:12 some time in our study talking about different gifts 34:14 that God has given different people 34:15 and how we can utilize our gifts. 34:17 Now, Pastor Doug, we have a question that's come in. 34:19 And it's not exactly on our topic, but it's a-- 34:22 I don't think we've ever seen this question before. 34:24 So we want to ask it. 34:26 It's kind of an interesting-- not a hard question, 34:27 but it's an interesting one. 34:29 It says, "Dear pastors, this isn't on the Bible topic, 34:32 but it's on tithe." 34:34 And here's the question. 34:36 "If you saving tithe during time or during this time, a large sum 34:39 of tithe, and somebody steals that, are you still to come up 34:44 with the tithe again?" 34:46 So you've been setting aside your tithe, somebody stole 34:48 the tithe before you were able to turn it in. 34:51 Do you have to come up with that tithe again? 34:55 Doug: Well, I would say that if you have a debt that you owe, 35:00 if someone steals the money you were going to use to pay 35:04 that debt, does the debt go away? 35:06 So I know that that's a difficult answer. 35:08 I would just say God's going to show you mercy. 35:11 So it's not--God is not going to be looking saying-- 35:13 you know, folding his arms and tapping his foot and saying, 35:15 "Where's my money?" 35:17 But I would say, "All right, Lord, maybe it was stolen 35:20 because I was responsible and I misplaced it or whatever. 35:25 I pray you can get it back and--" 35:28 But in the meantime, I'd make a mental note and say, you know, 35:30 "As time goes by, I want to pay some extra tithe 35:32 and cover what was stolen." 35:34 Jean: Maybe you won't be able to come up with enough to pay 35:36 all of it, but it would be nice if you could at least try 35:38 to do as much as you can to contribute to that. 35:42 And of course, I think you've learned from that experience. 35:45 You won't be leaving the money out for somebody else 35:46 to take it. 35:48 Another question that we have is, 35:50 "What is the best way to discover your spiritual gift?" 35:53 Doug: That's a good question. 35:56 One of the things--we actually have a spiritual gift survey, 35:58 and some of you might want to email the Granite Bay church 36:02 and we'll try to share with-- 36:04 that with you if there's a way to do that online, 36:06 but there's spiritual gifts surveys. 36:07 You can probably find them online 'cause a lot of churches 36:09 use the same information to--you don't have to be a Seventh-day 36:13 Adventist to find out what--how do we evaluate spiritual gifts. 36:17 Sometimes it's things that you gravitate towards. 36:20 God puts certain desires in your heart. 36:22 You can counsel with other people. 36:25 The Bible tells us in the multitude of counselors 36:27 there is safety. 36:29 Talk to those who know you and say, 36:30 "What do you think my spiritual gifts are?" 36:32 There's actually a test you can take 36:33 where you answer these questions, 36:35 and at the end it says, 36:37 "Based on how you answered these questions, 36:38 you probably have spiritual gifts in A, B, C." 36:40 It's like an inventory. 36:42 You know, when students go to college and they're trying 36:44 to figure out, "What am I supposed to do with my life?" 36:46 They have these tests they take. 36:48 And they get evaluated by kind of placement counselors and say, 36:50 "You know, you really have strong gifts 36:52 in mechanical areas. 36:54 You should do engineering," or whatever. 36:56 Or "You got real strong spiritual gifts in education." 36:59 And they have some good tests that help you evaluate that. 37:02 They have those online for Christians too. 37:04 They'll say, "Your spiritual gifts are really strong 37:06 in these areas." 37:08 It doesn't mean it's the only place, but that's some 37:10 of the things you can do. 37:11 Jean: Absolutely. It's a good place to start. 37:13 And then also you might want to talk to some of the other 37:15 believers in the church and say, "Do you recognize a particular 37:18 gift that I have?" 37:20 They might be something that you might not realize 37:22 that you're really good at. 37:23 It might correspond with your personality or your talents, 37:26 your abilities. 37:28 Maybe you're good with music, and that might be a talent. 37:30 One of the other areas to discover your spiritual gift is 37:33 look at the needs of the church. 37:35 You know, we've had situations in some of the churches I've 37:37 pastored where there was a particular position that needed 37:39 to be filled and the church members all said, 37:41 "Well, that's not my gift. 37:43 That's not my gift." 37:45 And it took somebody to say, "All right, it might not be my 37:46 perfect gift, but I know there's a need. 37:48 I'm going to step in and do my best." 37:50 And sure enough, they really enjoyed it and they discovered, 37:53 "You know what? 37:54 This is a gift that God has given me in this particular 37:56 area of service." 37:58 So sometimes if there's a need, that might be the Lord leading 38:00 you to step in there and do the best you can 38:03 and then He can multiply or bless your efforts. 38:06 Doug: Yeah, I just talked to somebody this week that has been 38:08 a Christian for years, and there was a desperate need 38:11 in the adventure program. 38:13 And this person is in their 50s and they thought, 38:15 "Well, if no one's going to do it, I'll step in." 38:17 And then they said, "Voila this is my gift. 38:20 I love it." 38:22 And now they're just really loving working 38:24 with the adventures group. 38:26 They did not know they had that spiritual gift. 38:28 Let me read a quote, Pastor Ross, 38:30 'cause this is a good one. 38:31 I don't want to run out of time. 38:32 It's in your lesson, but it's from the seventh volume 38:35 of the "Testimonies for the Church," page 21 and 22. 38:39 "The formation of small companies as a basis of 38:42 Christian effort has been presented to me by one 38:45 who cannot err. 38:47 If there is a large number in the church, let the members be 38:50 formed into small companies to work not only for the church 38:54 members, but for unbelievers. 38:56 If one place--if in one place there are only two or three 39:00 who know the truth, let them form themselves 39:03 into a band of workers. 39:04 Let them keep their bond, even if it's only two or three," 39:06 she said. 39:08 "Let them keep their bond of union unbroken, pressing 39:11 together in love and unity; encouraging one another 39:13 to advance, each gaining courage and strength 39:16 from the insistence of the-- 39:19 or from the assistance of the other." 39:20 And so yeah, even in spirit of prophecy, strong advocate of, 39:25 you need to have, even in a bigger church, small groups 39:27 that can nurture, do home Bible studies, 39:30 and be part of a support team. 39:32 Jean: Well, that brings us to our next section in the lesson. 39:34 It's entitled "New Testament Small Groups." 39:37 And I think this is where it really comes into sharp focus 39:40 the importance of small groups. 39:42 The first small group, of course, 39:44 we find is Jesus picking the 12 disciples. 39:46 Not only did he have 12 disciples, but you read 39:49 elsewhere in the gospel there was a group of 70 39:51 that Jesus sent out preaching and teaching. 39:53 But they were a larger group. 39:55 So he had the 12 disciples and then--even amongst 39:57 the 12 disciples, he had an inner circle of Peter, James, 40:00 John, or even a smaller group that got to share 40:03 some very special experiences with Christ. 40:06 So right at the beginning of the Christian church, 40:08 established by Christ, you begin to see the importance 40:10 of organizing into different smaller teams, 40:14 smaller groups in doing the work of evangelism. 40:17 Doug: Yeah, in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus, 40:19 he calls Peter, James, John, "Come pray with me." 40:22 And Christ felt the need for his support group, you might say. 40:26 And it's so important that you have people who 40:29 are close to you that know you. 40:31 There should be people that you can be honest with, 40:33 that there's accountability and there's intimacy. 40:36 And we all need friends. 40:38 What does it say? 40:39 A threefold cord cannot easily be broken. 40:42 Then you look at--all through the New Testament, especially in 40:45 the Book of Acts says, "After these things, Paul departed from 40:49 Athens and went to Corinth, and he found a certain Jew named 40:52 Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy 40:54 with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded 40:57 all the Jews to depart from Rome, and he came to them. 41:00 So it was they were of the same trade. 41:02 He stayed with them and worked." 41:04 Now, that's something to notice about a small group. 41:06 You got Paul, Priscilla, Aquila. 41:09 They had some things in common. 41:11 And so while they were so intense, they could be giving 41:14 Bible studies and supporting each other. 41:17 And then you also see here--you might want to read Acts 20, 41:20 verses 1 through 3, another sample of this. 41:22 Jean: Yes, it says, "And there was an uproar that ceased. 41:24 Paul called disciples to himself, 41:26 embraced them, departed to Macedonia." 41:29 And so we find Paul calling disciples or leaders together. 41:32 "Now when they had gone over that region and encouraged them 41:35 with many words, he came to Greece 41:36 and stayed there 3 months. 41:39 And when the Jews plotted against him as he was about to 41:42 sail to Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia." 41:45 So again, we find Paul connecting with smaller groups 41:48 of believers on his missionary endeavors as he traveled 41:52 throughout Asia Minor. 41:54 Doug: First thing Paul would do, he'd go into a new community 41:56 and he would automatically go to the synagogue, where there were 41:59 small groups of Jews scattered all through the Greek 42:03 and the Roman Empires-- or Greek and Roman cities. 42:06 And he realized that, "This is the places where I should go to 42:10 have a support group and also a good place for evangelism." 42:14 And then you can also notice how Luke in the Book of Acts, 42:16 he often mentions Paul's co-workers. 42:19 In Acts 12, verse 11, "And when Peter came to himself, he said, 42:24 'I know for certain the Lord has sent His angel and has delivered 42:27 me from the hand of Herod and all the expectation 42:30 of the Jewish people. 42:32 So when he considered this, he came to the house of Mary, 42:35 the mother of John, whose surname was Mark, 42:37 where many were gathered together praying." 42:40 He knocks at the door. 42:42 A girl named Rhoda comes to the door. 42:44 So you got Mary, John, Mark, Rhoda, and it says that 42:47 the church was gathered in this upper room. 42:49 Now, this is not necessarily the same number you saw 42:52 at Pentecost where there's 120. 42:54 It may have been only 20. 42:56 And so he--as soon as he was delivered from prison, 42:59 he realized, "I need a support group." 43:01 First thing he did, he said, "I've got to go find the church. 43:04 I got to find where they're gathered together praying." 43:06 It wasn't a Sabbath morning necessarily. 43:10 They just went to where they were gathered in God's name. 43:13 Jean: And you know, there's three things that we find almost 43:16 in every small group that we discover 43:17 in the New Testament, especially. 43:19 Three things they did. 43:21 They prayed together, they studied together, 43:25 and they ate together, which is kind of interesting. 43:28 You've got that social element. 43:29 It talks about how they broke bread from house to house 43:32 and rejoiced and prayed and studied and did evangelism. 43:35 So we don't want to neglect that social aspect of a group 43:39 of people connecting. 43:40 The most effective evangelists are evangelists that are working 43:44 together; they are friends, they love one another, 43:47 they are connected, they have the same call, 43:49 they know each other, they know their strengths, 43:51 they know their weaknesses. 43:53 And so when it comes to a small group in the church 43:55 to be effective, it requires us spending some time getting 43:58 to know people, praying with them, fellowshipping with them, 44:01 and that makes the most effective team. 44:03 Doug: Yeah, you know, probably the most effective 44:05 small group is the group that has a good cook in the group. 44:10 Jean: Everybody wants to go to those small group meetings. 44:13 Absolutely, now, this kind of leads 44:16 us to our next section talking about small group dynamics. 44:19 But Pastor Doug, just before we go there, a question has come in 44:22 it that says, "What is self-denial? 44:25 How can you give an example of giving up one's own will to God? 44:29 What is self-denial?" 44:31 Doug: I think when it talks about taking up our cross and 44:33 denying our self, anytime we know something is out of God's 44:38 will, though we may want it--when we deny ourselves what 44:42 it is that we may want, whether it's something you want to say 44:46 that might glorify yourself and you hold your tongue because you 44:48 think, "That won't glorify God," that's self-denial. 44:51 If it's that extra cookie after dinner, we just talked about 44:54 cooking, and you think, "I've had enough," 44:56 and it's board--it's going from satisfaction to gluttony now, 44:59 you say no, that's self-denial. 45:02 Saying, "Oh, I can take that job and it would pay so much better, 45:05 but I'd have to break the Sabbath 45:07 or I wouldn't have enough time with my family," 45:09 and you say no even though you want it. 45:11 So whenever you deny yourself anything for the sake of being 45:15 a Christian, for serving Christ, that's self-denial. 45:18 When you get up at night when you're tired and you go visit 45:21 a friend who's struggling 'cause they need prayer 45:23 and you really would rather stay in bed, that's self-denial. 45:27 Jean: You know, I've been reading some great testimonies 45:29 and stories of early missionaries not only of our 45:33 denomination, but early Protestant missionaries that 45:37 were truly self-sacrificing; where they would say farewell 45:41 to their family, good chance of never seeing them again, 45:45 and they would travel to places they had never been before, 45:48 very primitive conditions. 45:50 They could have stayed home, lived a much more comfortable 45:53 life, but they denied themselves so that somebody else can hear 45:56 the gospel and have an opportunity to be saved. 45:58 So there's an aspect of self-denial. 46:00 Now, we might not be called to go to some distant land 46:02 to preach the gospel, but sometimes we got to deny 46:05 our self to get involved in evangelism at the church. 46:08 You know, driving out an evangelistic series every night. 46:11 Well, we've heard these messages before, but, you know, 46:14 that's part of self-denial, by doing your part to reach 46:17 somebody else with the gospel. 46:19 Doug: Yeah, you know, before we run out of time-- 46:21 I see we've just got a few minutes left. 46:23 We can back up to section five there. 46:26 I just want to talk about what are some of the reasons 46:29 that we need small groups. 46:31 And I borrowed some of this, I'll admit, from online because 46:34 the principles are truth--are true in any church denomination. 46:38 They all flourish when they use the small groups. 46:41 Personal growth is one. 46:44 You grow personally. 46:46 When you're in another group, you're getting new information, 46:47 you're studying new subjects. 46:49 When you're by yourself, you might come up with some 46:51 eccentric ideas; but as you bounce those off other people, 46:55 it guides and it shapes and it helps form you to have a healthy 46:59 character and healthy theology. 47:02 Another reason is smaller communities are more cohesive. 47:07 It's important for us-- in a big church, 47:10 you can kind of get lost. 47:12 People slip in the back. 47:14 They slip out and you don't have the accountability, 47:16 and it's not very cohesive. 47:19 You're not connecting with other people. 47:21 So that's another very important reason. 47:23 Deeper friendships. 47:25 In a big church, you can have acquaintances. 47:27 I've got millions of acquaintances. 47:29 Maybe not millions, but thousands. 47:31 People--I know them. I shake their hands. 47:32 "Hi, how are you doing?" 47:34 Slap each other on the back. There's no intimacy there. 47:36 It's not a real friend, it's an acquaintance. 47:38 You know, in the church, you need people 47:40 that you're intimate with. 47:42 And then the fourth part is maximum participation. 47:46 It is so much easier to mobilize people if you know who 47:49 the people are, you know what their gifts are. 47:51 And group leaders know who the people are in their group 47:55 that have the different gifts. 47:56 And so you get your maximum participation in a church when 47:59 you say, "Okay, we're going to have our mission planning group 48:02 take charge of this project." 48:04 You've got your gifted people. 48:05 They do it. 48:07 Our children's ministry group or whatever it is, 48:09 they're formed into trained groups like an army. 48:12 Jean: We just encourage wherever you are, whatever 48:14 church you might be involved with, get involved 48:17 in a small group. 48:18 If you don't have a small group, well, it's a good opportunity 48:20 to try and organize and start a small group. 48:23 And again, not only is it for inreach, for fellowship, 48:25 which is important, but the goal of every small group 48:28 should be outreach focus, reaching out to others, 48:31 sharing the gospel with them. 48:33 So a small group is an important part not only 48:36 for a healthy church but for a healthy individual, 48:38 for a healthy Christian. 48:40 We would like to just remind those of you who are joining us 48:42 about our free offer that we have today, a book entitled 48:45 "Is It Easy to be Saved or to be Lost?" 48:48 And this is our free gift to you. 48:50 All you have to do is call the number 866-788-3966 48:54 and ask for offer number 124, 48:57 and we'll be happy to get it in the mail. 48:59 Again, that's 866-788-3966. 49:02 Ask for offer 124, or you can get a digital download 49:06 of the book by texting the code SH039 to the number 40544. 49:14 Doug: Also, Pastor Ross, before we say goodbye 49:16 for today's lesson, I want to remind everybody something 49:18 we mentioned earlier. 49:20 Very important event coming, a major international evangelistic 49:23 program between Amazing Facts and 3ABN called 49:26 "Revelation Now." 49:28 Starts October goes through November 14. 49:31 Going to be a full-scale evangelistic program. 49:34 Go to the website, revelationnow.com. 49:36 Join us. Register. 49:38 You'll get all the information on how you and your church 49:41 or your small group can participate in reaching souls. 49:46 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's 49:48 life-changing free resource. 49:50 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, 49:52 you can download a digital copy straight to your computer 49:55 or mobile device. 49:57 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, 49:59 simply text the keyword on your screen to 40544 50:03 or visit the web address shown on your screen 50:06 and be sure to select the digital download 50:08 option on the request page. 50:10 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word 50:13 with Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want, 50:16 and most important to share it with others. 50:23 announcer: Amazing Facts: Changed Lives. 50:30 Christine Fenonder: I was born into a family of criminals. 50:33 When I got older and I started breaking the rules, 50:36 no one ever taught me about "Thou shalt not steal. 50:38 Thou shalt not lie. 50:40 Thou shalt not commit adultery." 50:42 Anything like that. 50:44 When I became a runaway at 14, 50:46 I was just a wild and lost child. 50:50 I had somebody tell me, "Hey, you want to earn some money 50:52 cleaning this guy's kitchen?" 50:54 So I went to this house on a different side of town 50:56 than I was used to. 50:58 Someone kept giving me alcoholic drinks, and being 115 pounds 51:03 and 14 years old it really didn't take much time 51:06 before I was so inebriated that I had no control over 51:10 what was going on around me. 51:12 He took me to another location, another town, 51:15 and I was put in isolation. 51:17 I would come out to be abused between three 51:19 and eight times a day. 51:21 I was degraded. I was humiliated. 51:23 I had no value as a human being, and I learned very quickly that 51:28 what I felt and what I thought and how this made me 51:31 feel did not matter to him at all. 51:33 If I even thought about not doing what he wanted me to do, 51:39 I would have a gun to my head, a knife to my throat. 51:44 There was one time in particular where he had been tormenting me 51:50 psychologically, and one day he said, 51:53 "Oh, you'll never kill yourself. 51:55 You'll never do it." 51:57 And almost defiantly I would say, "I guess I will." 52:00 And he handed me a big old handful of pills 52:02 and I took them. 52:04 While I was overdosing, and I had been overdosing all night, 52:07 I cried out to a God that I didn't even believe in. 52:10 And at that very moment, in the most powerful way, God shone his 52:14 light on me and he gave me peace of mind like I never had and he 52:19 let me know right then and there while I was on that bathroom 52:22 floor that he was real and that he was love. 52:25 And that I did not know how at that time, 52:27 but he was going to help me. 52:29 A little less than a year later, I became pregnant at 15. 52:33 I loved my son with my whole heart. 52:36 He also became something that my abuser could use against me 52:39 in order to pump more fear and coercion. 52:44 I had finally got away from my abuser and I had finally built 52:48 up a support system to help me stay on the move 52:51 and stay on the run. 52:53 And I was at my grandmother's house, 52:55 and on my son's third birthday he took my son. 53:02 And when I called the police, said, 53:04 "My son's just been kidnapped," they said, "He's the father. 53:06 We can't do anything about it." 53:08 After my son was gone, I lost my mind. 53:11 I started doing drugs. 53:13 And within a month of it and a half, 53:15 I robbed a convenience store. 53:17 So I was sentenced to 70 months; 5 years, 10 months in prison, 53:22 and it was the best thing that ever happened to me. 53:27 I started attending the church services in prison 53:30 7 days a week. 53:32 It blew my mind. I was hooked. 53:34 And then we went through--it was "Millennium of Prophecy" 53:38 and "Net '99" that just solidified my faith 53:43 in such a powerful way, and I knew God-- 53:46 that God was leading me. 53:48 Even the guards there commented on how much I had changed. 53:52 And since I started doing the studies on Amazing Facts, 53:56 I was so excited about what I was learning 53:58 that I was coming back from there 54:01 and trying to convert my hardened criminal friends 54:04 with the circles of prophecy. 54:06 Every question I ever had, every worry, everything that I ever 54:11 wondered about--the Bible answered everything, and 54:14 it was so clear and so easy to understand. 54:18 It's been 11 years since I've been out of prison. 54:20 I am married to an amazing, wonderful man; my first 54:24 non-abusive relationship in my whole entire life. 54:27 Before we got married, we watched 54:29 the "Millennium of Prophecy" series together, 54:32 and it was just such a blessing to be able 54:35 to see him learn and see him grow. 54:39 And I feel like my life now is just a gift, that every single 54:42 thing that happened to me bad in the past is nothing compared 54:46 to the joy and the happiness and the stability that I have now. 54:52 My name is Christine Fenonder, and my life has been changed by 54:55 Jesus Christ and Amazing Facts. 54:58 ♪♪♪ 55:06 ♪♪♪ 55:16 Doug: Today's smartphones are a virtual universe of 55:18 information that fits in the palm of your hand. 55:21 It's good thing we have opposable thumbs. 55:23 With it, you can buy your groceries, 55:26 take care of your exercise regime, 55:28 watch a video, listen to music. 55:31 You can surf the international World Wide Web, 55:33 which may not always be a good thing. 55:36 And you know, there is more computer processing technology 55:39 and power in a little smartphone today than was used by NASA 55:43 to put a man on the moon. 55:45 And I almost forgot. 55:47 You can also use these to make a phone call, 55:49 but who does that anymore? 55:50 Today communication is not in complete sentences, 55:53 it's all about short message servicing or SMS texting. 55:58 That's right. 56:00 There are about 2.5 billion people in the world today that 56:03 are communicating with their fellow humans 56:05 in short bytes called texting. 56:07 That's more data that is being used than those 56:10 who are surfing the web or even playing video games. 56:12 And friends, nowhere is this more true than right here 56:15 in the Philippines. 56:16 Even though the Philippines has about 100 million people, 56:19 they are responsible for the largest number 56:21 of text messages of anywhere in the world. 56:24 They're the 12th largest country, 56:26 but they send 400 million text messages every day. 56:31 Wow, that's a lot of finger fatigue. 56:34 Even though the greatest number of texters is here in the 56:36 Philippines, the record for the fastest texter in the world is 56:39 from Brazil; a young man by the name of Marcel Fernandez Filho. 56:43 He was able to text 25 very complicated words 56:46 in a little more than 18 seconds. 56:48 Wow, it takes me longer than that 56:51 to just say I love you to my wife and press send. 56:54 All thumbs. 56:56 One of the neat things about texting is you can text 56:58 just about anywhere. 57:00 If you're surrounded with people and you want to send 57:02 a personal message, you text. 57:03 You're in a crowded subway or an airport, you can text. 57:06 If you're surrounded by noise or nosy people, you can text. 57:10 Just don't text while you're driving. 57:12 That's what's so wonderful, friends. 57:14 You can always text God a message of prayer 57:16 from your heart. 57:18 When you're wondering, "What school do I go to? 57:20 What job do I take? 57:22 Who am I supposed to date that may be a future life partner?" 57:24 Your prayers don't have to be long. 57:26 The shortest prayer in the Bible is three words: 57:28 when Peter prayed, "Lord, save me." 57:31 Jesus answered his prayer. 57:32 And it doesn't matter how fast you can text 57:34 when you're talking to God. 57:36 He'll know what you're asking for and hear your prayer before 57:39 you have a chance to say amen and press the send button. 57:41 In fact, friends, you'll bring joy to God when you send Him 57:44 regular messages from your heart to His. 57:47 So why don't you talk to Him right now? 57:51 ♪♪♪ 58:00 ♪♪♪ 58:10 ♪♪♪ 58:20 ♪♪♪ |
Revised 2020-08-28