Lesson 9 (Aug 22-29, 2020), Developing a Winning Attitude

 Receptivity to the Gospel

1. What makes some people more ready to listen to religious talk than others?
2. If approached correctly is everyone receptive to the gosple?
3. Why did Jesus begin his ministry in Israel rather than Samaria? When entering a new city should Adventists witness to Christians first?

An Attitude Adjustment

1. How important is it to maintain the standards that critics in the church might be striving to uphold? How much should the weaknesses of members be tolerated?
2. Which is preferable, baptizing new members only after lengthy demonstration of interest or letting them join as soon as they desire?
3. How can we develop a sincere interest in the salvation of others?

Presenting the Truth in Love

1. How can we love people we don't know? Or even people whom we might be prejudiced against?
2. Is it all right to make new friends with the intention of converting them eventually?
3. How can we cultivate a habit of giving compliments without seeming fake?

The Foundation of Acceptance

1. How important is it for us to learn that a person we know to be guilty has confessed and been forgiven?
2. How can we know when the time is right to address a friend's wrong actions?
3. Does accepting a person mean tolerating their weaknesses?

Truth Lovingly Presented

1. How can truth be presented lovingly in public evangelism? How can it be presented unlovingly?
2. What is the difference in being a citizen of a Christian country, a member of a Christian denomination, and being a follower of Christ?
3. How should one go about pointing out the faults of others?

Lesson 8 (Aug 15-21, 2020), Ministering Like Jesus

 Jesus' Attitude toward People

1. Why was Jesus not concerned about his reputation, associating with the rejects of society? Do we need to be concerned about our reputation more than Jesus needed to be?
2. Why did the Pharisees and Sadducees avoid certain classes of people? 
3. As "salt of the earth" is it possible to make things too salty? If so, how?

Jesus' Treatment of People

1. Why are people not complimented enough? Do compliments cost anything? 
2. What makes people unconcerned about the feelings of others?
3. Are the qualities of grace and kindness inherited or cultivted?

Jesus Healing Ministry --1

1. Did Jesus discern people's needs through His divinity? How easy is it for us to sense people's emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual needs?
2. How easily do people reveal their needs? How can they be encouraged to do so?
3. Is it possible to meet needs in others that are not fulfilled in our own lives?
4. Why did Jesus heal individuals and not crowds of sick in mass healing services?
5. How did Jesus decide whom to heal and whom to leave unhealed?
6. Among the three teaching, preaching, and healing, what was the priority of Jesus?
7. What is the relationship to healing and preaching? Why do several evangelists and churches engage in both?

What Matters to Jesus

1. Does the parable of the separation of the sheep and goats teach that doctrines are unimportant if we have love and compassion?
2. In real life what is it that the five foolish virgins do not have enough of?
3. How safe/risky is it to be kind to strangers? 

Lesson 7 (Aug 8-14), Sharing the Word

 Symbols of God's Word

1. In what ways is the Bible like a light?
2. Why did Jeremiah liken the Word to a fire and hammer? In what ways do the serve the same function?
3. After narrating His parable when Jesus explained that the seed was the Word of God, what did He mean by "Word of God?"
4. When Jesus said "Man shall not live by bread alone?" what did He mean?

The Creative Power of God's Word

1. Did God have to say "Let there be . . . " or would just thinking have been enough?" What does the psalmist mean when he wrote that the heavens were created by the "word of the Lord?"
2.  In what ways is Jesus like the Bible? Why are they both called the "Word?"
3. How can it be said that God sustains the world in the same way He created it?

The Benefits of Studying God's Word

1. Can a person know enough of God's word for salvation from listening in church?
2. Does the Bible have instruction for each dilemma? Can one open the Bible at "random" with prayer and get an answer?
3. How much time should one spend studying the Bible?

Applying God's Word

1. How does God actually help us overcome temptation? Does He chase the tempter or does he strengthen us?
2. How do promises enable a person to endure?
3. Why does God work through promises rather than immediate help?

Sharing the Word

1. Are sharers born or is that trait cultivated?
2. What characteristics are required for one to be a sharer with strangers?
3. Can one go to heaven without sharing?

Lesson 5 (July 25-31), Spirit Empowered

Jesus and the Promise of the Holy Spirit

Why should we use the pronoun "He" for the Holy Spirit when the term in Hebrew is feminine in form? Why don't we use the neuter "it?"

1. Why did Jesus tell the disciples that it was to their advantage for Him to go to heaven and for the Holy Spirit to be with them?
2. Would the disciples have preferred to have Jesus stay with them?
3. Wasn't the Holy Spirit on earth all along? What would be different now?
4. What is the role of the Holy Spirit in witnessing?

An Empowered Church

1. What would the apostolic period have been like without the Holy Spirit?
2. Is it possible for us to have that same experience today or was that special?
3. Is there any difference or similarity in the thousands who were baptized in a single day in the time of the apostles compared with the thousands who are baptized in one day nowadays?

The Holy Spirit and Witnessing

1. How did the Holy Spirit help Stephen when he was being stoned?
2. How can the Holy Spirit guide the church to people(s) that are specifically searching for truth
3. What is holding back the Holy Spirit from uniting the church?

The Holy Spirit, The Word, and Witnessing

1. Should all sermons be Biblical?
2. Can a non-Adventist have the Holy Spirit and can such be invited to preach in our churches?
3. What is the evidence that the Holy Spirit is at work?

The Life-transforming Power of the Holy Spirit

1. How did the Holy Spirit overcome cultural barriers in the early church?
2. Does the Holy Spirit use women to witness in Bible times and today?
3. Is it possible for a low-class person to reach the higher classes or does it require a high-class person to witness to them?

Lesson 4 (July 18-24), Prayer Power

A Cosmic Struggle

1. How important is any one individual in the battle between good and evil that is going on in the universe?
2. What can one do to ensure he/she is on the right side of the battle going on?
3. How does it help if one prays for an unbelieving relative or friend?

Jesus-The Mighty Intercessor

1. Did Jesus spend most of His time praying for himself or for others?
2. How much difference does it make whether I am good or bad, when I pray on behalf of other people? Will God listen to my prayer more readily if I am a good person?
3. Why might praying on behalf of others every day be more effective than doing it off and on?

Paul's Intercessory Prayers

1. Why did Paul pray for people he had helped convert? Why should a pastor pray for people already in his church?
2.  How might it help if we tell a person we are praying for him/her?
3. What kind of prayer should one pray for a person he/she does not like?

Unseen Powers at Work

1. Did Daniel's prayer help bring about the end of the Babylonian captivity? How did it help for Daniel to pray about that?
2. Why would Satan have wanted the Jews to remain in Babylon?
3. Was Daniel interested in the fulfilment of God's purposes for the salvation of mankind or just for his people to go back to their homeland? 

Prayer Focus

1. Is it a sin to not pray for others?
2. Is it possible that someone might be lost because we did not pray for them?
3. How does it help if I agree to pray for someone because they have an exam or interview coming, or for their new home, or when they are starting out on a journey?

Lesson 3 (July 11-17), Seeing People Through

The Second Touch

1. Why do you think most sick people were brought to Jesus by a friend rather than come on their own alone?
2. Do more people today come to Jesus on their own or are they introduced by a friend?
3. Why do you think Jesus did not heal the blind man immediately? What purpose was served by the delay?

A Lesson in Acceptance

1. What would be the equivalent of "Samaritans"--a group looked down upon, in your area?
2. What in the Samaritan woman could have demonstrated that she needed Jesus?
3. Since there are so many unentered areas how should we prioritise which areas to evangelise first?

Begin Where You Are

1. Why would people prefer to be a missionary in a foreign land rather than in their home town?
2. How much does one need to know about the Bible before witnessing to others?
3. Why does it seem harder to convert family members than strangers? 

Dealing With Difficult People

1. What kind of person would you consider difficult to witness to?
2. How long should we persist with a difficult person before giving up and going to seek another?
3. How can a difficult person be brought to Jesus?

Sensing Providential Opportunities

1. What do you think Paul meant by "a door was opened for him?"
2. Should we wait for doors to open before witnessing?
3. How can we discover open doors?

Lesson 2 (July 4-10), Winsome Witnesses

UnlikelyWitnesses

1. How readily do people tackle a demon possessed person?
2. Can a demon be cast out in any other way other than the name of Jesus?
3. What was accomplished by allowing the demons to enter the herd of swine?

Proclaiming the Risen Christ

1. Why were the guards so terrified of the angel who appeared like lightening to roll away the stone of Jesus tomb, but the women who saw him unimpressed by the same angel?
2. Why did the women fleeing from the tomb trembling and astonished say nothing to anyone except for Mary Magdalene?
3. Why did the mourning disciples not believe Mary?

Changed Lives Make a Difference

1. Was there a difference in recognizing that Peter had been with Jesus the night before the Crucifixion compared with after the resurrection?
2. How can one tell whether a person really believes what he or she is preaching?
3. Can one whose life has not been markedly changed also preach effectively?

Sharing Our Experiences

1. Why is a personal testimony so effective?
2. What are some things can a person tell about as a personal testimony?
3. Is it true that a person shy to witness is a selfish person?

 The Power of a Personal Testimony

1. What made Paul a person in chains and who had suffered so much to be admired?
2. Why did Festus accuse Paul of being mad?
3. What brought Agrippa close to being persuaded and what held him back?