Michigan Camp Meeting 2025: He Must Increase

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Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

Presenting Persuasive Appeals During Keys to Revelation

Daniel Towar

01 Why Appeals Are Crucial for Success

You're about to enjoy a presentation recorded at the 2025 Michigan Conference Camp, held at Cedar Lake, Michigan.

We pray that the Lord will bless you as you listen.

Father in heaven, I want to thank you today for the opportunity to learn more about the giving of appeals for decision.

We know that in some way or another, all the world about us is asking us for our opinions, for decision, the mailers we get, the phone calls that come to our house, but yet sometimes in church we're not actually invited to participate in such a way as to make a decision.

And that's a loss for us and for anyone else, as we may ourselves be presenting from time to time.

And we pray that you would help us to understand today how important giving the appeal is, how crucial it is.

And we thank You that You've promised to be with us.

So first of all, why is the giving of an appeal so very crucial?

If you want to learn more about this, this seminar of 5 meetings, I think will really be helpful for you.

But I have a doctoral dissertation that's online at Andrews University.

All you have to do is go into andrews.edu and go to, what do they call it, Digital Commons.

I think it's andrews.edu slash digital commons.

And you know my last name, and you just find my name, and it will open up for you, and you'll have the full presentation of my doctoral dissertation, which was called Persuasive Appeals for Decision, Preaching the distinctive Seventh-day Adventist beliefs in the Michigan Conference.

And just recently, the book that I have promised some to write on the subject is pretty much complete.

It's edited, and I'm looking now next for a publisher and I hope that won't be long that I'll actually have a book on this, not just a dissertation, but a book that has even more material on the subject than the dissertation does.

I don't know who all of them are, but they've downloaded it.

Let me go to the book of Matthew chapter 28.

We have a special guest coming a little later.

I've asked if he will give us a sample appeal.

I think you'll really enjoy hearing in a more intimate session, Elder John Bradshaw, when he arrives.

But Matthew 28, verses 18 through 20, it says, and Jesus came and spoke to them saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and earth.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.

And lo, I'm with you always, even to the end of the age.

Now those are some of the very last words of Jesus.

And it's after the cross, after the resurrection, and He's promising to each of us that He has all authority.

He's the King of kings, the Lord of lords.

And His authority extends through all of heaven and all of earth." So He says, I have every good reason to be able to say to you, go.

Go to all the world baptizing in My name, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." And He says, teaching them how many things?

All things whatsoever I have commanded you.

So if you want to know what to teach, just go to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and the full gospel will be there.

That's the divine template of the New Testament.

Paul and James and Jude and all the rest of them are going to agree with what Jesus said and what's written in the Gospel account.

And the Gospel account is the fulfillment of the complete Old Testament.

And Jesus said you can go in my name teaching, and I will be with you, and I'm gonna send my Holy Spirit, Luke 24, verse 49.

And so it's not just teaching them what is truth, but teaching them to observe all things.

We're saved by grace through faith, But when we receive Jesus into our heart, we learn to obey because it's a relationship with Christ that we're called to, a relationship with Jesus that is a life changing.

And so go and go and I will always be where I will always be with you.

So the Lord promises to be with his people.

All the way to the end of the age, all the way to the very end.

And think of what Jesus paid so we would have the privilege of sharing his story with others.

And there's 1 character in the Bible that just recently impressed me a whole lot.

It was Mary Magdalene, and she came to the point, as did the disciples of Christ, where they thought, that's the end.

I mean, they really, what else would anybody, what other conclusion would you come to?

But to see that Jesus had suffered such a gruesome and horrible death, the pain and the suffering worse than anyone's ever experienced.

I mean, he was raw and bleeding and he had been struck to the point of just fainting and losing his life, loss of blood, the flagellum had ripped him, torn him, lacerated.

His skin was ripped off of his back and he was like filleted muscle.

His brow was swollen, blood was streaming freely, and the crown-shaped wreath of thorns, pierced and cut, and caused the tender nerves to scream in agony.

And they threw him down on the rugged board of the cross, and then they lifted it up and struck it down into the ground so that every fiber and every nerve ending reeked with pain.

And there he was, the God of heaven and earth, the 1 who created all things, the 1 who made us, the 1 who's made each and every 1 of us.

And he was spiked to that tree, that cross for you and for me.

The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed.

And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Jesus hung there.

He was at the mercy of the annoying and ravaging insects, brutal, swearing, mocking language.

The blasphemy that came up to his ears was wrenching and made his heart that was already fighting for another beat literally break.

Every sin we've ever committed, every sin we're guilty of, He became guilty in your place and mine.

This was the weight that He bore for you so that we could...

So that we, by His grace, could receive life.

So that's why, that is why the preaching of appeals is crucial because Jesus went through all that for you and for me and without him doing that, there would be.

There'd be no reason to live, we would have nothing to live for.

Now, in the handout that I've given you, we talk about prophetic preaching, and prophetic preaching recognizes that there is an urgency.

Every time that the gospel is preached or you're sharing personally, there's an urgency about it.

And a number of years back, there was a mother in her pool at home.

Tragic things can happen even in a home situation.

And she was in her pool swimming and she had little Johnny boy or whatever his name was there on the edge and mommy's swimming over to the other side and so he gets this idea you know that looks like fun I want to be where she is.

I want to be able to enjoy the water as well.

And you can see what's happening as it actually took place.

Probably have 1 of these home cameras and there he goes.

All of a sudden, fortunately, dad was there.

02 How to Give Persuasive Appeals

Okay, today I welcome you, and this is persuasive appeals for decision, and today's topic, how you can give an effective appeal.

It's not just if you're a preacher or a teacher.

This is something that would be valuable to you if you're a Bible student, if you're studying with another individual, because a lot of my time now is more in Bible study work than it is in preaching work, but I still do preaching even in retirement.

But I know you're going to enjoy this class today, and 1 of the reasons I know that for sure is that my son-in-law, Christian Martin, who is pastor of the Living Hope Church in Virginia, is here.

But I want to begin with prayer, and that will be the note to those of who are recording this to start the recording.

Father in heaven we want to thank you today for the love of Jesus.

Thank you that you have spoken to each of our hearts and I want to give thanks that we we are here today that you brought us here for this very important study.

I pray that your Holy Spirit will be with us, be with Christian as he speaks, and with me as I teach, and thank you in Jesus' name.

So Christian, I'm going to give it right over to you.

He has just a few moments, and then he's going to be going down to Grand Rapids.

So here you go, if you can touch, attach that.

And then remember to give it back like I said.

Camini, it's a time to be able to come together and just learn all sorts of things, and evangelism I know is at the heart of the Michigan Conference leadership.

They believe in evangelism, and you should be thankful that you're a part of a conference that truly believes in it.

And I'm honored to be asked and invited to just share with you for a few minutes just some thoughts that have come to my mind as I think about evangelism and your topic appeals for decisions.

And, you know, it was in 1871, I don't know if that date rings a bell, 1871, that the Great Chicago Fire took place.

And a famous evangelist was well known during that time by the name of Dwight L.

Moody was an evangelist there in Chicago.

And in 1871 there was a fire, tremendous fire, that devastated most of the city of Chicago.

Of course at that time 1871, you know, Chicago wasn't as big as it is today, but nonetheless it devastated most of the city.

Moody's church, his home, and several of the homes of his congregation.

But this is what was even more devastating than the fire itself.

Moody had preached a sermon that Sunday and he had introduced Christ.

But the way he introduced it was by giving an outline, identifying Christ, speaking of Christ.

And then he sent his congregation with an assignment, homework, so to speak.

And he said, I want you to take examine these texts.

This is what he said, because when you come back next Sunday, I'm going to invite you to accept Christ as your personal Savior.

As soon as he finished his sermon, soon after is when the great Chicago fire took place.

And needless to say, that next meeting never happened.

Moody later is recorded, is quoted as saying, in fact, I took some of his words I found online.

He said, many times, he said, I prayed to God, God, forgive me.

Conclude a sermon without an appeal to accept Christ.

And he called it the greatest mistake in his life.

You know, what a humbling, sobering lesson I think that we all can learn.

Because if there's 1 thing about appeals, it's 1 thing.

And I would even rephrase that saying it's 1 person.

You know, the theme here at cat meeting, what's your theme?

And this is what I take away from that Dwight L.

Because at the end of the day, let me ask you a question.

Are there gonna be people that quote, keep the Sabbath, but they're lost when Jesus returns.

Okay, are there gonna be people that believe or can give a detailed chart of the 2300 days and be lost when Jesus comes for sure.

There's going to be people that have a lot of knowledge of scripture, but they're going to be lost.

And if there's 1 thing that I have learned as a preacher, as an evangelist, about appeals, and that is this, that ultimately, the appeal is nothing more, nothing less, but to receive Christ as your personal Savior.

I even go as far as to say this, that I would say regardless of your topic, let's say you do an Evangelistic series and it's 28 topics, so to speak, right?

28 different topics, that I would spend 45 minutes to 50 minutes preaching an Evangelistic sermon on that topic, okay?

Opening scripture, going here a little, there a little, going through the whole scripture, you know, 20, 30 references, being able to give a clear presentation of the topic.

So much so that people would be fully convinced that the 7 days is Sabbath, fully convinced that when you die, you don't go straight to heaven or straight to hell, but you sleep until the resurrection.

Even if I could preach sermons that would lead people to be fully convinced about the judgment and what happened in 1844 and the investigative judgment and all the above, that if I don't appeal for Christ, I could still be missing the greatest, the greatest purpose for an appeal.

And so this is what I've practiced in my own personal evangelistic ministry.

And I'll share this with you for you to ponder and think about it.

That when you have the opportunity, because you will, God will give you opportunity to preach evangelistic sermons, if not an upcoming series during this Pentecost 26, that I would challenge you to do this.

Take any sermon and craft your appeal, okay, to focus in on Christ and lead people to accept Christ regardless of the topic.

So for example, let's say I preach about the Sabbath and I present the Sabbath, okay?

The appeal at the end of my Sabbath presentation, you know what it's gonna be?

There is a Savior that wants to fill the void of your life.

He's the creator God, and He created the heavens and the earth.

And there is a God who has given you the Sabbath as a memorial of His ability and power to fill the voids of your life.

He wants you to experience rest that is much more than physical rest.

He wants to hold you in His everlasting arms.

And He wants to give you rest from having to work out your own salvation.

And he wants you to have that joy and that peace.

03 The Holy Spirit Makes Appeals Appealing

Father in heaven, we want to thank you so much that we can be here.

Each of us are here because you have given us life and breath today.

We thank you for this gift and we would pray that your Holy Spirit would be with us as we meet together.

We realize that without Him, we could not even breathe.

And because of you and the life-giving Spirit, we pray that you would please inform our hearts, Help us to be open to your will.

Help us to understand from the word of God that we also can make appeals to win people's hearts for your kingdom.

So today, you can pick this up as you pass by, Pastor Tariq, that's all right, thank you.

I've asked my son-in-law, Michael Goetz, to share with you on appeals for the first 10 or 15 minutes.

Michael is the pastor of the Centerville, Ohio Church.

He's been there for the last couple years.

He has a wonderful, strong church on the move, growing, planning a major addition to their church.

And Centerville is aptly named between Dayton and Cincinnati, pretty much smack dab in the middle.

In fact, they live at Middletown, so I mean, they're in the center of it all, they're in the middle of it all, and a lot of good things going on there.

Prior to that, he pastored the Campion Academy Church for 9 years, and prior to that, his assignment was at Pioneer Memorial Church as the youth pastor.

So a lot of variety in his pastoral experience so far.

She's a dental hygienist, and we have 2 wonderful grandchildren from them, Kena and Micah.

So Michael, thank you for sharing what the Lord has put on your mind about giving appeals.

We may even have a chance to ask a couple questions of him.

We'll see how our time goes, but since he's my son-in-law, I'll give you special...

You guys have already visited the fact that making appeals is important or you wouldn't be here.

So I use the term preaching as anything that has to do with the verbal proclamation of the good news, which could be a Sabbath school or a Bible study.

If you trace the journey of preaching, that is the verbal proclamation, you can start at least as early as the flood and culminate in of course the 3 angels messages.

But what it has to do in common all through the then the prophets and of course the early church, The common theme is that God will hold people eternally responsible for what they do in response to your verbal proclamation of His gospel.

Now, I want to distinguish between what our part is and what His part is.

It's His gospel, but it's our verbal, He uses our mouths.

That is, if you can just bear the weight of that for just a moment, think there will be people eternally lost or saved based on their response to what you said, right?

It's all of a sudden like, well, wait a minute, maybe we should have a few more classes on this kind of stuff because God views the verbal proclamation of the gospel with such, with such weight, and you can know this, that we're not going to get to heaven and people are going to say, you didn't give a fair chance.

That is, God sees you and I as the fairest, maybe even we could say the best opportunity for people to experience or to hear the gospel, just feel that.

Some people say I'm too young and then we say we're too old.

Like there's this sweet spot that apparently is like about 24 months long that we're the right age because everything before that we're too young, everything after that we're too old, right?

Let me tell you 1 of the inspirations of Christianity.

I'm gonna spare you his name until the very end, alright, because you're gonna recognize his name, but he as a young man became a Christian and wanted to be involved in sharing Jesus.

And so his little church gave him an opportunity to speak.

And after he spoke, they said, the elders got together and said, yeah, no, no, no, no, let's not do that mistake again, right?

He used terrible grammar and he spoke too fast and his physical presence was just, it was just grating, you know, the whole chalkboard and fingernail, kind of like, ah, it just was, So they scrapped him.

Another church gave him an opportunity because he just wanted to share.

And the next church is like, nope, let's not do that again.

Eventually he ends up birthing his own little Bible study group, a Sunday school group in Chicago and then it becomes attractive and galvanizing, it grows.

Lincoln, future president, at 1 point visits it.

And now maybe you've put the pieces together.

The man that maybe influenced modern Christianity arguably the most was tipping the scales at over 400 pounds, used terrible grammar, and spoke too fast, but we know his name as Dwight L.

Moody, the man who just wouldn't quit trying to share Jesus.

I mean he was a bright mind and weight is not a deterrent, but the way he carried himself was not attractive.

But here was a man who was very large, spoke too fast, and couldn't communicate well.

And now he became the voice of Christianity and an impactor of preachers and others.

Our arguments pale pretty fast when we talk about, well, I can't, I can't.

I want to tell you about a preacher that I've never met.

I imagine like many preachers, a preacher mentor of mine that has spent 4 decades in this state, Dwight Nelson, when I early on in ministry told me about the Sunday blues for Adventist preachers.

It's the Monday blues for Sunday preachers.

You preach your heart out or you share your heart, you make an appeal, and then the next morning you wake up with this kind of this blue sense of like, oh my God, you should fire me.

The devil wants to try to make sure that happens, that you don't share.

The morning after you give a Bible study, you'll be like, I shouldn't do this anymore.

I didn't say what I should have said or said too much or didn't do it right.

But I'm, so I'm imagining this preacher that I've never met had the blues after he preached.

He'd go back and say, maybe I shouldn't do this anymore.

But what he doesn't know is that, well, what he does know is that he preached a series, an evangelistic series that won my uncle.

Well, the part that he knows about that is that my uncle, a very short time later, decided that the law was nailed to the cross and that this was not for him.

So here's a preacher that says, I preached my heart out, they accepted it, and then they rejected it.

He could have thought, but the rest of the story he didn't know was that that uncle then shared the gospel with my mother before he left, his commitment, and then My mother became a committed Seventh-day Adventist, and that's how Christianity and Adventism was introduced to me.

If this preacher had given up, because tragically people like my uncle said, I'm not going to make invitations anymore.

Remember, I'm using preaching, not in the professional sense, but in the opportunity for us to share the gospel with 1 person or with 10 people in a Sabbath school or with 50 people in a church service.

But if we give up making the invitations, I would be at a place where I wouldn't know Jesus.

So if whatever it is, if the devil is dogging you and saying, don't make the appeal, you're not the right person, you're too old, you're too young, you don't speak well enough, you got that stutter, you got that thing where you just can't catch that word, then you're in perfect company, you're in great company.

I mean, we don't have to talk much about the disciples.

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Series

Presenting Persuasive Appeals During Keys to Revelation

04 Persuasive Questions that Appeal to the Heart

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

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Recorded

Parts

01 Why Appeals Are Crucial for Success

50m

02 How to Give Persuasive Appeals

59m

03 The Holy Spirit Makes Appeals Appealing

58m

04 Persuasive Questions that Appeal to the Heart

1h 1m

05 Presenting Christ Centered Appeals with Confidence

1h 1m

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