Sequential Evangelism and Witnessing

Is it unfair to the unsuspecting public for an evangelist to use psychology and strategies to lead them to the church?

Sequential Evangelism and Felt Needs

1. Did Jesus heal and feed people just to win them, or out of compassion?
2. Did people come to Jesus for physical needs or for spiritual?  What difference does it make?
3. How can we determine the needs of the community we wish to take the gospel to?

Milk and Solid Food

1. Is it wrong to live forever on milk, or is it just inappropriate?
2. Does a growing child naturally want solid foods or must we force the child to transfer to solids?
3. Is it enough to just understand the simple grace, or do we need to comprehend all the doctrines and deeper theology?

Testing Truths

1. Why do you think that attendance at evangelistic meetings drops drastically when the topic of Sabbath is presented?  What other doctrines might cause people to stop coming to our meetings?  Why would this be so?
2. What topics should be covered before we present “the Sabbath” in order to help them to keep coming?

Measuring Spiritual Growth

1. Is it enough just to preach and give Bible studies or do we need to find out how the messages are being accepted?
2. Are we interested in the salvation of an individual or are we content with just doing our “duty” to sow the seed?

Preparing a Harvest

1. In a garden or orchard are we interested in harvesting grains and fruits or just in planting seeds?  What else must be done after we plant the seeds in order to ensure a good crop?  Is the sequence important or not?
2. So are we more interested in the harvest or in the individual? What was Jesus interested in?

Evangelism and Witnessing as a Lifestyle

Should we practice what we preach or preach what we practice?

Silent Sermons

1. What are some ways in which we can identify a person (we do not know yet) as a Christian? What are some ways in which we can identify a person as an Adventist?
2. Are we justified in labeling some persons as a hypocrites, or can we only judge ourselves?
3. Are we justified in rejecting a message not practiced by the preacher, or should we overlook the life of the preacher and accept the message?

Having Compassion for People

1. How do we define “need” in I John 3:17 (“But if anyone has this world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?”)?  Is it something necessary for good health or only to save life; to alleviate hunger, or only to prevent starvation?  What kinds of clothes and education are "needs?"
2. Is compassion an action or an attitude?

Walking in Their Shoes

1. Should we attempt to give people (1) what they want?  (2) what they think they need? or (3) What we know they need?
2. How far should we “do in Rome as the Romans do?”  Would the church of today approve of Paul’s “compromising” principle? 

A Hospitable Lifestyle

1. Do people listen more to a caring person than to an uncaring one? If so, is this justified?
2. Can we expect better responses to our witnessing from friends and family or from strangers?  Give reasons for your answer.

Widening Your Friendship Circle

1. Why do we have to go out in search of lost sheep?  Why don’t the lost come in search of truth?
2. Should Adventists have more non-Adventist friends than they do at present? If so, how can this be done?
3. What does it mean to be in the world but not of the world?

Spiritual Gifts for Evangelism and Witness

Are some spiritual gifts more valuable than others? Could one, for example, rank the following (from the memory text in Eph 4) in order of importance -- apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers?

Gifted Believers

1. Are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers to be (1) within the group of ordained ministers (2) spread out among all church employees, or (3) present in all church members?
2. Are the lists of gifts mentioned in the Bible for spreading the gospel a comprehensive list of gifts, or could there be many more unlisted gifts?  Does every member have at least one gift?  Could mastery of technology be a gift for evangelism?  Can you think of other possibilities?
3. Why do we call these abilities gifts?

The Spirit and His Gifts

1. What will happen if a member attempts to serve in a capacity for which he/she has not been given a gift?
2. Whom would you normally select to witness (and why):  (1) an obviously gifted person who  may or may not be willing to witness, or (2)  a person who does not seem to possess any qualities for witnessing, but who is eager to try?
3. Which is easier for the Holy Spirit: (1) to make a person who is unwilling, willing to witness, or (2) to equip a person who is eager to witness but may not have the abilities?

Discovering Our Gifts

1. Why does it seem easier to identify another person’s gifts than our own?
2. Do we need to take an aptitude test, or see a counselor to determine our gifts?  What are some ways in which we can identify our spiritual gifts?

Other Gifts

1. Why do we have deacons?  Why can’t the pastors do that work?  Does it imply that pastoral work is more important than what the deacons do?
2. What kind of "ministry" is required to nurture new members?

Gifts and Christian Responsibility

1. Which gifts (if any) may be used independently of the church and which (if any) should be used under the authority of the church?
2. Under what circumstances (if any) might the Holy Spirit attempt to dissuade a person from witnessing to a particular person or community at a particular time?
3. In what ways can we lose a gift that is not used properly?

Every Member Ministry

A shepherd does not produce more sheep, only sheep can do that.  Does this apply to increasing the number in our flock?  Why or why not?
What do we mean by the “priesthood of all believers?”

Every Member Ministry
1. Are there any specific abilities one must possess in order to witness?  What talents, if any, are compulsory in order to minister to others?
2. What qualities or characteristics, if any, might disqualify a person from serving as s pastor?
3. Do we need to go out of our way to witness?

The Need for Labourers
1. Who is more important, the one who sows, the one who nurtures, or the one who harvests; The one who takes the ball near the goal, or the one who shoots it in?
2. Normally do we need more sowers or more reapers?  Give reasons for your answer.

Individuals but Together
1. Are the members of your church bound together into a single body like Paul describes the church?  If not, what needs to be done in order to achieve this?
2. Are some parts of your church body not functioning?  What can be done to get members active?
3. Have you experienced personally the joy of leading one to Christ?  What’s keeping people from doing this and how can that be addressed?

Working Together with God
1. Why would God want to involve us in evangelism when He could do it so much better and faster?
2. Is it possible that I could be more effective in reaching my friends than God?
3. Would you be willing to ask God to send honest seekers to you?
4. Would you be willing to ask God to equip you?

Reporting to the Church
1. How does one feel when presenting a good report to his/her boss? How can we keep reporting from becoming boastful?
2. How do you feel when you hear someone else present a good report (a) when you also have a good report to give? (b) when you do not have a good report to give?
3. Does “not letting the left hand know what the right hand” mean that one should not report to others what one has accomplished?

Defining Evangelism and Witness

Is everyone expected to engage in evangelism or is evangelism for pastors and “witnessing” enough for ordinary members?  Is active witnessing expected or is living a good Christian life enough witness?

Evangelism is . . . ?

1.       Why do we like to be bearers of good news?

2.       Does our reluctance to witness say anything about how good we really consider the gospel news to be?

Witnessing is  . . . ?

1.       (Considering that witness means to testify about something we have experienced), is it possible to witness about Christ if we have not experienced Him?

2.       What factors lead a witness to share what he or she knows or experienced?

The Biblical Evidence

1.       If we examine the examples of persons in the New Testament can we really say that if one does not feel like witnessing, it means he or she is not converted?  Did all the early Christians engage in witnessing?

2.       How much does one need to know of the Bible in order to begin witnessing?

Telling Our Stories

1.       If you had to hear the gospel for the first time would you rather hear the Biblical “doctrine” or would you prefer to listen to a personal testimony of how it has changed life for the person witnessing to you?

2.        If one has not had a dramatic life-changing conversion experience (because one was born into a good Christian family and never strayed), in what ways can we still minister to the spiritual needs of a contact?

Our Job Description

1.       I Peter 3:15 says that we should always be ready to “give reasons for our hope:” What are some things we can we do to make ourselves ready?

2.       Is it enough to testify of our faith and hope or are we expected to try and get a decision from our contact? Can my attempts at getting a person to make a decision make a difference to whether or not that person decides to follow Christ?

3.       Is it okay to be satisfied with a simple crown in heaven, or must we have stars in it?  In other words, is getting to heaven enough or must I have helped others get there?