Michigan Camp Meeting 2018: As a Witness, Matthew 24:14

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Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

Amazing Disciples

Mark Howard

4. It’s Not My Gift

Kameron DeVasher

1. Orientation

2. What is a Disciple?

3. Your Gift or Mine?

5. As a Witness

Marshall McKenzie

7. Friendship Evangelism, Part 1

8. Friendship Evangelism, Part 2

Wes Peppers

9. How to Reach the Atheistic Mind, Part 1

10. How to Reach the Atheistic Mind, Part 2

Jean Ross

11. Divine Commission

12. Cycle of Evangelism

Jim Howard

13. Grow Your Church, Part 1

14. Grow Your Church, Part 2

15. Giving Bible Studies

16. Missing Members

Doug Batchelor

17. Christ-Centered Doctrine, Part 1

18. Preparing for Baptism

19. Discipleship

20. Gospel Presentation, Part 1

21. Gospel Presentation, Part 2

22. Christ-Centered Doctrine, Part 2

23. Outreach Lab

24. Keys to Success!

25. Nurturing New Believers

26. Fishnet Demonstration

27. Caveman Theology

6. Christ’s Method Alone

The members you're trying to get going out who are real nervous about going out will feel better if they feel comfortable about their approach.

See, if I'm going to the door and it's like, what do I do?

But if you could tell them and say, look, we're going like this, and like, hey, that sounds legitimate.

And they're not going to shoo me off their porch.

Then you're going to get further with your own people.

Now, the next point here, we're on page 200, letter D.

Furthermore, it may be helpful not to associate yourself with the Seventh-day Adventist Church right from the outset.

I'm not saying not to, I'll explain it in a minute.

This is not because we are ashamed of our name, but because of the growing prejudices that exist regarding Adventists.

You'll notice that when we do, listen I'll put it this way, when somebody who's experienced in evangelism does an evangelistic meeting, he's not going to advertise it as Adventist.

I've fought this in every church that I've been in.

I've learned that the people who do the least active evangelism seem to know the most about it.

I've been doing this for 20 years, but every church member who came out 1 afternoon knows more than I know about it.

It's like, well, we ought to do this, and don't misunderstand me, but there's a reason that we don't do an evangelistic meeting as a rule in some places.

Now, some places we do, but we'll get a neutral hall.

That means it's not Adventist, it's not Baptist, it's not something else, and it may be.

I've ran into churches of other, but when I put the flyer out, the flyer doesn't have any denomination on it.

Because I want people from all denominations to feel free to come to it.

I can't tell you how many people I've been, in fact, I remember the fire chief when I was in Coldwater, Michigan, retired fire chief came out to the meetings and he said to me at 1 point in the meeting I it was probably two-thirds of the way done he said as I was visiting him with him and his wife he said I just really appreciate we did it in a neutral location we didn't do it in our church he was commenting on that and he said you know I know that it's Adventist I know the members of your church.

But he said, I really appreciate you doing this in a neutral place because it just, it communicated to us that you weren't just about making us members, but you really cared enough about the message that we know it.

And I can just tell you story after story.

So I'm not going to tell you, here's what I'd say.

I guess I'm saying this for the benefit of you're going to work with evangelists, you're going to work with pastors.

Don't give your pastor a hard time and he's like, we're not going to go out and identify ourselves as Seventh-day Adventists.

I'm going to tell you that most pastors are not going to tell you that you have to do it that way.

I'll tell people, somebody says, for example, when I go to a door I'm just going to say I'm with Amazing Facts Ministry.

We're following up on this side or the other.

And if they ask me, what denomination is this with?

My first answer is always, oh, we serve all denominations.

Because the reason, here's the thing though, most people that will ask that are probably a little contentious anyway.

But I'll give that answer, and if they say, but what denomination are you?

And then I'll say, personally, I'm a Seventh-day Adventist.

So, I mean, it's not like I wanna hide it, but I don't want that to be the focal point.

Now that's, my experience has said that that is an avenue.

I've had more people than I can count tell me, man if I knew these meetings had been Seventh Day Adventists I never would have come.

I mean I just, that's, you know, But I've had members who said, I just, I feel like I'm being dishonest.

And I said, then you say you're a Seventh-day Adventist.

I mean, I'm not going to tell you not to, but I'm going to tell you that you will be in training places.

You'll be in where that's, where you're not, the explanation and this is how we're going to do it is not going to be, hey, we're Seventh-day Adventists.

And part of that, I didn't include the whole statement again for sake of space and time, but from Gospel Workers 119 and 120 there's a great statement, I'd encourage you to read the whole thing, but she says there under, right before you get to letter E, in laboring in a new field, do not think it your duty to say at once to the people we're Seventh-day Adventists.

She says it's going to put a prejudice up in front of the people.

It's going to put a barrier there that doesn't need to be there in some places.

Now in some places, they'd be like, you're like I'm a Seventh-day Adventist, they're going to be like, what?

But I've had situations happen where I start studies with somebody, and this has happened with friends and students too, where they're like, oh, that's fine, you know, I'm fine with that, but then they tell their parents, and their parents are like, what?

So, I mean, when you're doing studies, it's going to be evident and it's not like you're going to hide it forever.

I'm talking about generally initial approach.

But there are times, it depends on the different approach I'm using, when we went with the community wellness logo, the survey that we used when we went out on outreach was a needs survey.

If our church put on this would you be interested, this would you be interested, this is a list of things that we can do, then I would approach them and I'd say, I'm, you know, Mark with the community wellness service of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Westerville here, and we are just out serving people to see what the community would be interested in.

So again, I'm just telling you that there are times when it may be helpful not to identify yourself right up front or be the first thing you say that you're seventh day Adventist.

But I would not be hiding it and I would not be working in a manner that is at all uncomfortable.

Like the last thing you want to do is do something where you're like, and you're acting all nervous and uncomfortable.

You want to just do what's comfortable for you.

And the Lord will be able to work you through that.

Now I've got a little sample map there, but find an area that you're going to work in.

Maybe it's near your church, maybe it's just around your church, Maybe there's another area your church is targeting where you're trying to find interest.

Maybe there's a couple of places in town.

Maybe it's the whole city of Detroit, you know, and you're just, you've got all kinds of places.

And so what you're doing is you're gonna have to find, you're gonna have to zone out your areas, big or small, like where are we gonna target?

If you don't do that, you got people going out, you don't know where you went last week, where are we going this week?

You got people, and this has happened to me before, where they're like, we had some of you guys come here just yesterday.

We had some of you, you guys here were 5 minutes ago because you didn't know what streets you were on because people got mixed up.

I've got this 1 here on the map in quadrants.

And I may, So I've got 4 little sections.

Let's just say I'm gonna start my little ministry in my church, I just have a handful of people.

We're gonna work this area first before we go into something else.

Now I may have 4 teams and I put a team in each 1 of those blocks.

And I say, you guys do this 1, you guys do this 1, each zone.

Now, something else when it comes to mapping out your area, there are areas in cities, you might want to work back and forth in different areas.

There are some areas that are going to be, every area, the responsiveness of an area is going to be different.

All up the coast of South Haven are vacation homes.

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Series

Amazing Disciples

23. Outreach Lab

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

Look a Little Higher

34m

The Altar of Intimacy

All In

43m

Lifted Up

11m

Medical Missionary Workshop

01 Medical Missionary Work and the Cycle of Evangelism

37m

Accountability and the Judgment

52m

Division In the Home- A Divided House Is Not Able to Stand

23m

How to Deal with Loneliness

23m

Intensive: Gardening 101

6. Gardening 101: Winter Salads

49m

2019: Evening and Sabbath Meetings

The Privilege of Prayer

1h 8m

The Prodigal Son

Not Enough to Be Religious

44m

Plenary

The Seed Has Germinated, But What Will Be the Fruit?

55m

I Will

30m

Sound Doctrine