GYC 2014: At The Cross

A Call To Arms: How to Fully Engage In God's Church

Carissa Vitorovic

Generation. Youth. Christ. (GYC)

5. Commission Possible: Giving Christ-centered and Dynamic Bible Studies!

This message was presented at the GYC 2014 conference at the Cross in Phoenix, Arizona.

For other resources like this, visit us online at www.gycweb.org.

As much as you can possibly get at a GYC.

They keep us running, but it's good stuff.

I want to just share with you this morning, again, we're finishing up our series, A Call to Arms, How to Fully Engage in God's Church.

We're looking at how to give Christ-centered Bible studies.

This morning, what I'm aiming for is just very practical, hands-on information.

I want you to be able to leave this seminar and feel comfortable giving a Bible study, asking questions.

On Sabbath afternoon, we're gonna be looking at how to make appeals, how to call someone to a decision for Jesus Christ.

And for many of us, that's the most terrifying part.

I can share a glow track, I can do call portering, but then when you have to get to the end of the lesson and say, do you want to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, what are they going to say?

How do I know if they're ready to make that decision?

That's what we're going to be looking at Sabbath afternoon.

Before we begin this presentation, please bow your heads with me for a word of prayer.

Heavenly Father, Lord, I am so thankful today because we are assured that it is not by might nor by power, but by your Spirit.

God, we come to you today and we are pleading for and claiming your Spirit in the name of Jesus Christ, Lord.

And Father, as we learn these principles, may you bring the names of our family and friends to mind, people that you would have us to reach for your kingdom, Lord.

May you soften their hearts and guide us in your way as our prayer.

I have often dreamt of having an experience like Philip.

Imagine you're in your house and God says, I want you to go.

So you go on your way to the desert, and as you're going, you see a man that's studying the scriptures.

You stop over and you say, do you understand what you're reading?

But often in life, we're just praying and searching for those divine appointments.

Recently, I was traveling back from Missouri, and I was on a flight, sat down next to an older gentleman, And as soon as I sat down, I look over, wanting to greet him, and he turned away, looking at the window.

Immediately, I realized, all right, this isn't going to work.

I won't be able to share with this individual.

I was hoping to be able to build that spiritual connection.

And so I pulled out the tray table, and I pulled out my Bible, and I start to read my morning devotions.

And as I'm going through the book of Ephesians, it's not long before the flight attendant comes by with soda, and she offers some to him.

And he reaches out for a soda and accidentally spills it on my Bible.

My Bible is now drenched, and I'm fumbling around with napkins trying to get it all cleaned up.

And after I get it cleaned up, he looks over at me and he says awkwardly, I guess I'm definitely going to hell now.

Spilling soda on someone's Bible, I guess that would merit hell, huh?

And I look at him and have you had those moments where you say something without thinking?

I look at him and I said, well, actually, I don't believe in such a place.

You would not believe the look of shock that he gave me.

Here I am, a Christian, reading the Bible, and you're saying you don't believe in this eternal hellfire.

And he looked back at the window, conversation over.

A few minutes later, he turned back and he said, you know, I used to believe in God, too.

He began to tell me the story of when he and his wife were working down, and I believe it was Panama, and his little daughter became very, very sick.

The doctors told her she wasn't going to make it through the night.

The father, of course, went to God and he cried out and said, if there is a God, save my daughter, don't let her die.

And over 30 years later, she is still living today.

And I told this man after listening to his story, you know there's a God that still answers prayer today.

There's a God that still wants to have a relationship with us today.

By God's grace that opened up a beautiful spiritual conversation and I was able to leave a little Bible study track with him before I got off the plane that day.

A man looking out a window but God using a spilled soda to open up the door to his heart.

You never know how God will use you to reach others for his kingdom.

You see, there are people all around us that are asking questions.

They're asking questions such as, if God is a God of love, then why am I going through this suffering?

If God is a God of love, then why did my parent die?

If God is a God of love, then why am I going through this suffering?

If God is a God of love, then where was he when I went through that divorce?

And by the grace of God, we have the answers in his word.

What a beautiful opportunity we have to share it with others.

Today, as we emphasize giving Bible studies, what is the biblical rationale for doing so?

Isn't it more effective just to get in front of a whole city and just start preaching the word?

Why the one-on-one in-home Bible studies?

I want to share with you something called the Soul Winner's Time Chart.

Now for a soul winner, our goal is to reach 1 person for Christ every year.

And by God's grace, do we not only reach that 1 person, but we teach that person to reach another 1.

This evangelist is winning 1, 000 people per day.

Would you say that's a gifted evangelist?

1, 000 people per day, and here I am, the lowly Bible worker, and all I can win to Christ in a year is 1 person.

After 1 year, the evangelist has 365, 000 converts, And there I am with my 1 convert.

Going on 3 years later, we see that he has 1000000, And there I am with 8.

After 8 years, nearly 3000000, and I just have my 256.

4. How the Lost Get Found: Finding the Berries within the Briars

We're going to be looking now at not my but Christ's reaching hearts in today's culture.

Recently I was down in the country of Costa Rica.

How many of you have been to Costa Rica before?

And I remember working with a small church there.

Now When I first arrived at Costa Rica and I was doing the prophecy seminar, they took us around to various churches and they were letting our group know where we're going to be.

And I remember praying to God, God, I don't want to have just the typical nice church experience.

I want to have the missionary experience.

And the Lord gave me the desires of my heart.

And every night, my attendance included dogs, roosters.

There was a toad that liked to swim in our baptismal tank.

I remember meeting 1 church member by the name of Freddy.

Freddy had these bright blue eyes that you just could not miss.

And he was the church member that you loved to have.

The 1 that was there early every night and setting up the chairs.

The 1 that was helping with the audio equipment.

The 1 that was greeting guests as they arrived.

But I noticed every night he would come with his young daughter about 10 years old, but never with a wife.

And I remember asking someone, isn't Freddie married?

Oh, she will never step foot in an Adventist church.

No, she will not even attend social events.

Again, now picture this man who loves the Lord with all his heart, this man who is actively involved in evangelism, and yet his own home is split.

His own wife knocks nothing to do with what he holds most dear.

The church members have been praying some time for Rosa and trying to connect with her.

And I remember 1 night during the seminar, I'm preaching from up front and I see a woman walk into the seminar holding a little baby in her arms.

And she goes and sits down next to Freddie.

That night as I'm greeting guests as they leave, Freddy came up to me and introduced his wife, Rosa.

You see their baby was sick, and they didn't know what to do and the baby wasn't getting better, and so she brought the baby to receive healing.

We prayed for her child, but beyond that, the church members reached out and embraced Rosa.

They were all coming by and building that relationship and just encouraging her.

In fact, 1 person was helping to get the medical needs met for her little baby.

The next night of the Prophecy Seminar, guess Who was there?

And from then on out, every night of the seminar, Rosa was there with her family.

The very last night of the seminar, Rosa came to me and she said, Carissa, I've decided I want to be baptized.

How beautiful it is to know that this family of 4 is now united in Jesus Christ.

No longer split and yet now they can be passionate together about sharing the gospel that they love.

Coming close to people in their time of need, meeting that need and sharing Christ.

Please bow your heads with me as we pray.

Father, today we are seeking to know your method.

Lord, we want to reach hearts in our community.

Father, soften our own hearts first and teach us how to reach others is our prayer.

What is the role of relationships in witnessing?

We read in Desire of Ages, page 151 to 152, it says, Jesus reached the hearts of people by going among them as 1 who desired their good.

In order for us to reach all classes we must meet them where they are.

They will seldom seek us of their own accord.

We are told that Christ's method alone will give true success in reaching the people.

It will only come as we apply Christ's method.

We are told that the Savior mingled with men as 1 who desired their good.

He ministered their needs, thus winning their confidence.

Give me some examples of when Jesus mingled with men.

The man at the pool with Bethesda, absolutely.

Good, OK, so connecting with Peter, I'm going to now make you a fisher of men.

Whereas the Pharisees didn't even want their shadow to come across them.

And he says, no, I'm gonna eat your food.

3. Not Might, But Christ: Reaching Hearts in Today’s Culture

I'm hoping that no 1 enjoyed lunch too much.

We're going to have that afternoon slumber going on here, but it's a blessing to have you all here.

As you know we're gonna be talking about a call to arms, how to fully engage in God's church.

This first hour we're gonna be looking more at the grand scheme.

How can we implement the things that we are learning into our church?

How do we get our church on an evangelism cycle?

How can we get every member involved in the work?

And then in the next hour, we're going to make it a little more practical application.

How do we implement friendship evangelism in our community?

If I'm shy, if I am a very introvert person, how can I possibly reach out and minister to people for Christ?

I don't know about you, but I can fit into that category.

How do I step out and reach hearts for Jesus Christ?

Before we begin, if you would just bow your heads with me for a word of prayer.

Heavenly Father, Lord, we come to you today and we are seeking your guidance and your grace, Lord.

Father, we come to you as your children, Lord.

May you guide us, Lord, as we learn from your word.

May you help us to know how to implement these things for your people, we pray.

And typically when I travel to these seminars, I'm asked the same 3 questions over and over again.

So I prefer just to get it out of the way from the get-go.

So if you were wondering, your questions are now answered and you can think about the rest of the presentation.

I am from Sacramento, California area, born, raised, and stuck.

And I've been working full time with Amazing Facts since 2011.

I work primarily with their AAFCO department.

How many of you have heard of AAFCO before?

Awesome, okay, the Amazing Facts Center of evangelism.

So we're traveling around doing evangelism training weekends and then we also have our four-month program every fall.

Back in 2006, I actually attended AFCO myself as a student And I remember twice a week going out and knocking on doors and doing outreach.

Have you ever gone out and knocked on doors in your community?

It can be a little terrifying at first, right?

You're not sure what to expect and you're there and you're knocking on doors.

And I remember meeting a woman by the name of Betsy.

Now, I loved the outreach territory that I was given.

I was in those areas where the cops are constantly circling.

Where you're walking through the apartment complex and you see the guys out front and they're smoking dope.

I soon became known as the Christian girl.

As I go door to door in that community sharing Christ.

But you know I loved it because the people were real.

They felt their need And it was such a blessing and minister to them, particularly as I mentioned, to Betsy.

Betsy was the Bible study contact of your dreams.

The 1 who was always excited about the Bible study lessons, that sharing what she was learning with others.

And I remember every single week going to her house, and she just was thrilled at what God was teaching her through His Word.

When the prophecy seminar came to town, I invited Betsy to come, and she said, absolutely, I'm there.

So Every night I would pick her up at her apartment and I would take her to this prophecy seminar.

1 night I was traveling around in my outreach territory and I was visiting some of my Bible study friends who hadn't come to the seminar.

And as I'm visiting with them, I had this very strong impression, you need to go visit Betsy.

Have you ever argued with the Lord before?

I certainly have and I was in that moment.

She's going to be coming to the prophecy seminar tonight.

If I go to her house constantly, what is she going to think?

And so I said, Lord, I don't need to visit her.

And yet that impression kept coming and I kept pushing it away.

All right, Lord, I'll drop by really quick.

And so I remember parking the car and I drove on over to her apartment, knocked on that door, and there was silence, no answer.

I knocked again because I knew that the Lord wanted me there for a reason, and yet again, no answer.

And so I knocked a third time, and the person who answered the door was not the Betsy I was expecting to see.

You could see this look of complete despair and depression on her face, and I said, Betsy, what's wrong?

I went into her living room, and she said, Carissa, I was just sitting on the couch trying to determine the best way to take my life.

What if I had not finally given up and listened to the voice of God?

What if I had not gone to her house that day?

There may be people here at GYC, but I know certainly there are people in our community that are at that same level of despair.

They're looking for it in all the wrong places.

And God has called us to be the ones to reach their heart.

Could there possibly be a greater calling for our life?

Justin Kim

2. Bored to Board Meetings: Your Unique Participation in the Local Adventist Church

This message was presented at the GYC 2014 conference at La Crosse in Phoenix, Arizona.

We're going to start with our second seminar.

It's 2 minutes after 10, according to my watch.

Seminar is entitled Board to Board Meetings and I wondered if this was a good seminar title because people might think it would be boring and seeing how- oh hey, hey Dale, what's going on?

Seeing how a lot of people left, it was a boring topic.

I'm going to ask you, how many of you are part of a board in some capacity 1 way or another?

Let's have a word of Prayer and we'll get started here for today.

Father in heaven, we ask that you use this time, Lord, use my bumbling words to convey the passion you have placed in my heart.

Father, there are boards that are happening all over the world, Lord.

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