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Welcome to another
edition of Issues and Answers.
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I'm Karen Thomas. We're so glad
that you joined us today. Our
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special guest is Jason
McCracken. He's back with us.
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Came all the way from Maryland
for this program and we're so
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glad that you're
with us today, Jason.
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Thank you. God bless
you. Thank you so much.
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Let me just kind of refresh our
audience a little bit about you.
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Jason has traveled all over
the world. He's lived in Brazil.
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He's fluent in Portuguese,
English and a few other ones.
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Spanish, OK. And he is a
marketing representative for the
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Review and Herald Publishing
Association. He is known to a
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lot of people as the
representative for the Message
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magazine and Insight magazine
publications and he is also a
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youth evangelist and has been
instrumental in bringing over
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2000 souls to the Lord Jesus
Christ. So what is our topic
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today? Well, we're
going to be talking
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about Bible foundations for the
mission of the local church and
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we're going to focus on
how a small church can grow.
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Well that's good.
Normally in North America you
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have a lot of small churches and
I have visited many and pastored
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some and sometimes they're
so small they don't want to grow
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and that's an issue.
We need to help them grow.
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Well you know I imaging too that
in other places around the world
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maybe where there's a work that
is just getting started that the
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congregation is small so
for those that are listening in
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other places, I'm sure that you
will find information that will
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be very helpful today.
Oh, most definitely. First of
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all I think we're going
to start off with the Bible.
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That's a good place to start.
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That's a great place to
start and I'm going to read from
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Matthew chapter 28 and
let's begin with verse 16.
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Matthew 28:16. Yes verse 16. OK
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And it says here: Then the 11
disciples went away into Galilee
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into a mountain where Jesus had
appointed them. And when they
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saw him they worshipped him but
some doubted. And Jesus came and
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spake unto them saying, All
power is given unto me in heaven
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and in earth. Go ye therefore
and teach all nations, baptizing
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them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy
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Ghost, teaching them to observe
all things whatsoever I have
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commanded you and, lo I am with
you always even unto the end of
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the world, Amen. We can see that
Jesus had appeared on a mountain
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in Galilee, you can find this in
Mark chapter 16, verse 15, and
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also through 18. Here Jesus is
with 11 disciples and he's in a
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mountain and he appointed them
to go and to preach. He wanted
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them first of all to teach all
nations, then baptize them in
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the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Ghost.
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After that baptism there's a
continuation of teaching because
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here, the gerund now, teaching
them to observe all things. Now
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Jesus had left a number of
things in the Bible to be taught
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and so that is discipling,
making disciples and in small
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churches we have a problem with
making disciples. One of the
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major reasons is because we feel
we're too comfortable and when
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we're too comfortable we don't
grow ordinarily. So we're going
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get right into our Bible
foundations, but let me show you
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there are seven different
foundations for the Bible.
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And when we look at these seven
different Biblical foundations
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we will see that the small
church can really grow. Let's
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start with the congregation.
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When we look at a congregation
let's say a small congregation
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or a medium size congregation
the congregation has to have a
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mission. That's recorded from
the word of God. Go ye therefore
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unto all the world and preach.
Once they establish that mission
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they're empowered by the
Holy Spirit there are now some
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essentials that they need to
understand. Number 1 the gospel
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message of Jesus Christ which
is the center of their teaching.
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Number 2. The mission to
make disciples. Number 3. The
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ministry of every believer,
every individual in that
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congregation must understand
that they have a mission. They
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just can't sit in a congregation
but they must respond to its
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call. Number 4. The role and
function of the Holy Spirit as
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it plays a very active part
in their lives and also the role
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of the congregation. And the
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church as the body of Christ.
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The entire church the ecclesia,
which is in Greek, which means
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church is the body of Christ.
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Number 5. The growth to maturity
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in Christ. Number 6. The
headship of Jesus Christ and
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then the last, which is very
important, the role and function
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of pastors. That's one of the
key points we're going to talk
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about today. OK. So let's move
on. Let's deal with the outreach
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to the community. One of the
first essentials is the outreach
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to the community. When we look
at outreach in the community,
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most of us have an idea
what are we going to do in the
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community. Are we just going to
go and tell people that Jesus is
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coming or what are we going to
establish. What type of outreach
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Number 1:...
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How can we do that? First of
all when we provide a range of
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services... I'm speaking of
services that, things that are
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happening within our church
structure that we can offer to
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the community such as scouting.
Such as our community service.
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We can feed the homeless or
even having workshops in the
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community talking to people who
do not have fathers. What about
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widows? What about homeless
people. They need words of
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comfort and cheer. There are
so many things that we can do in
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the community that they church
would be sitting around for
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years trying to establish an
organized program, how to make
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these things function. The
church can be very active in the
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community. I think
some churches maybe
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don't know, some congregations,
which ones should they pursue.
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How can they maybe
make that decision?
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OK let's take an inner city.
An inner city has a variety of
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problems because you have a lot
of people concentrated in the
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city. In the countryside, the
problems are not as great. But
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some of them are hidden. For
example, if you have people who
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are divorced in the inner city,
you have people who are divorced
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in the countryside as well.
But they need the same hope and
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comfort as people in the
city. The problems are basically
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the same because sin brought us
that way. The disasters of New
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York and Washington D.C.
have lead us to believe that the
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problems in the inner city are
the same problems in the country
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and that's why we need to
provide a range of services that
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meet the needs of persons in our
community. Let's go in that same
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essential, outreach to the
community and the world let's
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go to essential number 2...
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There are many people that are
hurting within our communities,
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our neighbors, our friends, they
are hurting. They smile but we
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don't even know who they're
hurting. So that's why we need
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to display compassion.
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You know some people, in
traveling, they've talked to me
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and they've said you
know I don't know how to show
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compassion, or I don't know what
to do. Some people maybe if they
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didn't have compassion growing
up or in their families of
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origin or maybe they haven't
seen it demonstrated. What kind
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of things, tangible things,
could a person maybe who's
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branching out into this new area
of actually not necessarily have
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an agenda of
religion but of caring.
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Let me give you an example.
Recently I was on a plane and
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they upgraded me to first class.
I don't know how that happened
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but I was very happy.
That was a real blessing.
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But right behind me this young
lady was crying profusely. She
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was just crying and crying and I
was wondering what was happening
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So I got up and went to the rest
room and I noticed that she had
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a captain's cap that had plastic
around it. So I figured well
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maybe she's taking that some
where or to a different city
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and I just sat there and prayed
and I said Lord tell me, I need
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to have compassion, show it
to this young lady. When we all
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stood up and they couldn't get
the door open because they had
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to wait for the plane to dock
correctly, I turned to her and
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said, you're hurting aren't
you? What happened. She said my
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father was a pilot in this
airline and I'm going to bury
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him and I hugged her. And I said
you know what I'm going to a
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youth retreat and this evening
I will have all the young people
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stand up and we're going to
pray for your entire family.
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She cried again. That's
compassion. I didn't have to say
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guess what church I'm from. Come
to my church tomorrow. We prayed
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for her for two days, Friday
night and then on Sabbath.
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And I called out her name
publically. I expressed to the
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the congregation that she
had a need and we need for the
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presence of the Holy Spirit to
touch her. And when she got off
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the plane she had crowd of
people waiting for her and she
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said do you see that man over
there? Their entire congregation
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is going to pray for us. That's
compassion. That's what we need
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to show to our community.
Because Jesus had compassion and
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his disciples need to
have compassion. When there's
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somebody dying in the
community, we should be there,
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knock on their doors, right
there hugging them caring for
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them, showing them in the Bible
the precious promises that Jesus
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had compassion and that Jesus
will handle it for us. Let's go
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to number 3. This is what I like
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Karen...
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Did you not know that in America
today we have so many different
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cultures. People can look like
they're from Africa and they can
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be from Brazil. People can look
like they're Caucasian and they
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can be from Scandinavia. People
can look like they're brown
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skinned and they can be from
Mexico, all white and they can
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be from Alaska, maybe the
Philippines. People of different
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cultures have grown, born,
reared, gone to school, they
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were educated in this country
and so now they're going to
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church. And when we see people
of different cultures we need to
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make sure that we understand
their culture. Lot of people say
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some of my best friends are from
your culture. That's not what
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I'm talking about. I'm talking
about learning and understanding
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their culture even some of their
language background. Even some
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of their good food. I enjoy
traveling. I just enjoy eating
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certain types of food. Well I
have to be health conscious of
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course at all times. But eating
certain foods and I acquire a
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taste and I say I just love it.
So when I go to their culture
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I say, hey I love this. For
example, I did a campmeeting
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recently and it was all
Philippinos. They came from all
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over the east coast. And the
first thing I said to them when
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I got up in the pulpit, I
said manonangopo and they all
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screamed. And then I said I just
love ponset. Yeah, it is good.
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And you know what, that
afternoon they gave me this type
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of dress, this formal dress
that they use. It's a shirt and
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there's an undershirt underneath
it. It's a formal setting for a
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minister. And I preached in it.
They gave it to me. I enjoyed
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it; it was wonderful. And they
said this, he is a part of our
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culture. Learning to assimilate
and understand cultures. That
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is the key of accepting cultures
into your church. Let's go to
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number 4...
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Now a strong public awareness
means that we need to market our
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church in the community. If we
don't market our church in the
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community, they don't know that
we're in the community, but if
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foster a strong public awareness
of the congregation as a caring
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Christ-centered resource in
the community people will be
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knocking our doors
down to come to church.
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You know, I don't know if you've
seen any church billboards but
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they have some really neat ones
out there. I mean there's one
00:14:59.50\00:15:03.06
that is the Friendly Regional
Church. Big billboard saying
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welcome, come over here. Like
you said, especially newcomers
00:15:07.12\00:15:11.07
coming to the community, they
wouldn't know that your church
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is there or that a church is on
this particular street for some
00:15:14.35\00:15:17.53
time, but it's a way of
welcoming people. I like that
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idea. Also you
can use a website to
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show what you're church looks
like on the inside. I must have
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passed 100's of churches in
my lifetime, literally 1000's of
00:15:27.91\00:15:31.10
churches and I would like to see
well what does that church look
00:15:31.13\00:15:33.86
like inside. I wonder what it
looks like. Well if you put your
00:15:33.90\00:15:36.93
website up and you can show
video clips of certain sermons.
00:15:36.96\00:15:40.77
They will see your church, what
are you doing. They would see
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that you're singing hymns, they
would see that you're praising
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God. A lot of people have a
misconception about what goes on
00:15:47.68\00:15:51.23
inside those doors. And we need
to help them understand what is
00:15:51.27\00:15:54.78
happening inside those doors
by promoting a strong public
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awareness about out church. That
is one of the secrets of sharing
00:15:59.63\00:16:04.10
Christ in the community, letting
people know who you are. Let's
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go to the next one here. This is
good, I like this one, this is
00:16:07.62\00:16:11.90
so good, ooh this is juicy. Urge
members to be actively involved
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in public moral issues as a
Christian witness. That's tough
00:16:18.34\00:16:23.77
Now how do we do that. Urge
members to be actively involved
00:16:23.80\00:16:29.19
in public moral issues?
00:16:29.23\00:16:32.46
Well I'll tell you. You know
this person, Jesse Wilson. Yes.
00:16:32.49\00:16:36.07
Do you want to tell the viewers
about that situation. Remember
00:16:36.11\00:16:39.65
when there was some kind of
controversy in the community
00:16:39.69\00:16:44.18
and he stepped right out and
this is Riverside, California;
00:16:44.21\00:16:48.59
he stepped right out and
immediately, in a very positive
00:16:48.62\00:16:52.60
way to the community, he was
able to calm the community and
00:16:52.63\00:16:56.68
hence they also became aware
of the Campus Adventist Church.
00:16:56.71\00:17:01.30
Yeah. You see when there's a
public issue, for example, if a
00:17:01.34\00:17:05.89
young person was
viciously beaten, mobbed and the
00:17:05.92\00:17:12.50
community happens to be against
that particular family, maybe
00:17:12.54\00:17:16.94
the son in that community caused
this grief and so the community
00:17:16.98\00:17:21.74
retaliates, throws rocks at the
house. Now the church needs to
00:17:21.78\00:17:26.50
step in. Ah, see
this is kind of the
00:17:26.54\00:17:30.74
opposite side. Yeah, we're with
the good guys. We're going to
00:17:30.78\00:17:34.82
minister to that bad
guy, that so called bad guy.
00:17:34.86\00:17:37.56
Let's say how would Christ treat
this person? We have to deal
00:17:37.60\00:17:46.85
with the issues that are
plaguing our community. If not
00:17:46.89\00:17:50.66
what is the function of a church
in a community? If the church is
00:17:50.70\00:17:55.97
just there to be a beautiful
building, the grass is cut, the
00:17:56.01\00:18:01.96
bells may be ringing but if the
members are not involved in the
00:18:02.00\00:18:07.24
community then the people in the
community don't even know that
00:18:07.28\00:18:11.12
the church really exists. They
just think that's there for just
00:18:11.16\00:18:15.13
for one day a week only. We have
to be actively involved in the
00:18:15.16\00:18:19.12
community. We have to make sure
that those moral issues... For
00:18:19.16\00:18:23.09
example, one of the biggest
issues that is taking place
00:18:23.12\00:18:25.74
right now is prayer in schools.
Should I pray in school. Should
00:18:25.77\00:18:29.90
I say a meditative prayer?
Should I pray in school? Is the
00:18:29.93\00:18:33.27
school going to allow me?
Another issue that's happening
00:18:33.30\00:18:36.56
is the American flag. Did you
hear that recently that they are
00:18:36.60\00:18:41.72
not interested in people saying
the pledge of allegiance to the
00:18:41.75\00:18:46.75
flag in some schools because it
has the word God in it and they
00:18:46.79\00:18:51.40
think that will offend somebody.
The Church needs to take a
00:18:51.43\00:18:56.92
stand. We need to defend
God. Even on our bills In God We
00:18:56.95\00:19:00.54
Trust, there are people who are
saying we don't even need the
00:19:00.57\00:19:05.25
word God on our own money.
That's an issue. That's a moral
00:19:05.29\00:19:09.94
issue and we need to
take an active stance.
00:19:09.97\00:19:12.72
OK now what about some of these
other issues like abortion, gay
00:19:12.75\00:19:18.75
rights. These are other
issues that you see people very
00:19:18.78\00:19:23.56
involved in. What
about those kinds of issues?
00:19:23.59\00:19:27.34
Or can a local
church handle that?
00:19:27.37\00:19:28.40
Well I'll give you a great
example. Because I was working
00:19:28.43\00:19:32.22
in a large community in Canada
and I was kind of popular.
00:19:32.25\00:19:37.03
I used to go get my hair cut.
Not now, but at that time I used
00:19:37.06\00:19:39.91
to get my hair cut. And I used
to go to the barber shop and
00:19:39.95\00:19:42.64
they used to cut my hair and we
used to talk about these issues
00:19:42.68\00:19:46.62
in the community and one of them
was about homosexuality and the
00:19:46.66\00:19:49.98
Bible. Well next think I know I
get a phone call. Pastor we want
00:19:50.01\00:19:53.30
you on our radio station
talking about homosexuality and
00:19:53.33\00:19:55.70
the Bible. So I said Uh hum,
really. So McGill University
00:19:55.73\00:20:00.67
in Montreal
00:20:00.70\00:20:01.73
Canada asked me to come to their
radio station and talk about it.
00:20:01.76\00:20:05.58
Well I got all the Bible
texts together and a lot of
00:20:05.61\00:20:08.70
interesting facts and
information and I went to the
00:20:08.73\00:20:11.75
radio station and there were
three people there. One was a
00:20:11.78\00:20:15.87
lesbian, one was homosexual and
the other was in favor. And so
00:20:15.90\00:20:20.03
I'm sitting in the middle and
now they're on the radio station
00:20:20.07\00:20:24.17
promoting it and now after
a brief word from our sponsor
00:20:24.20\00:20:28.45
guess who's on next? I'm on next
and now I'm like in the middle
00:20:28.48\00:20:33.58
of a whole city tuned in to FM
frequency and they want to hear
00:20:33.62\00:20:39.99
what the pastor has to say about
it. My response was Jesus died
00:20:40.02\00:20:48.05
for all. Jesus has compassion.
Jesus does not condone the sin.
00:20:48.09\00:20:55.85
He loves the sinner but hates
the sin. When the sinner comes
00:20:55.89\00:21:02.16
to Christ, Christ will make the
difference in their lives. Amen.
00:21:02.20\00:21:08.02
I didn't have to read those. I
had so many statements from the
00:21:08.06\00:21:11.50
Bible. I didn't have to read
them. And then the people in the
00:21:11.54\00:21:16.08
community started responding on
the telephone. Yeah that's right
00:21:16.11\00:21:18.97
pastor, go ahead, you're doing
the right thing. Jesus loves the
00:21:19.00\00:21:22.01
sinner, he hates the sin, that's
OK. I sat there for the next
00:21:22.05\00:21:25.03
half hour and the whole
community was actually defending
00:21:25.06\00:21:29.07
and so those who were actually
in the radio studio after the
00:21:29.10\00:21:32.74
session they came in and said
hey that was pretty good and
00:21:32.78\00:21:35.39
one of them said you know
what? I used to be a Christian.
00:21:35.43\00:21:37.97
I said it's not too late to give
yourself to Jesus Christ as your
00:21:38.01\00:21:43.92
personal Savior. Be actively
involved. Now when you're
00:21:43.95\00:21:48.60
talking about standing up at
different locations where people
00:21:48.64\00:21:52.97
are about to have abortions
and shooting people, NO, no, no.
00:21:53.00\00:21:58.15
That's not moral issue that's a
behavior that is un-Christ like.
00:21:58.19\00:22:02.54
That's the behavior that we're
not talking about. We're talking
00:22:02.57\00:22:06.89
about issues that touch
Christianity. In a positive way
00:22:06.92\00:22:10.54
let's be there to defend our
cause. That's what I like. That
00:22:10.58\00:22:15.47
was good, I like that. Then the
00:22:15.50\00:22:16.68
last one...
00:22:16.71\00:22:30.50
Now I'm going to back
up. Support global mission,
00:22:30.54\00:22:33.46
everybody says yeah I'm going
to support the mission of the
00:22:33.50\00:22:36.85
church. Most people don't have a
problem with praying. That's not
00:22:36.89\00:22:41.12
a problem. Oh, I'll pray
for you I'll pray for the global
00:22:41.15\00:22:45.35
mission. Money, hmm, could be an
issue. It shouldn't be with the
00:22:45.38\00:22:50.27
Christian, but the last but
not least is most important,
00:22:50.31\00:22:55.13
personnel. God needs you as an
individual to get up out of your
00:22:55.17\00:23:00.70
seat into the street and be
actively involved in the street.
00:23:00.74\00:23:06.24
That's the secret
of being involved.
00:23:06.27\00:23:10.22
You know I like the emphasis
that you place on global mission
00:23:10.26\00:23:13.93
because it also gets rid of
selfishness or a local focus
00:23:13.96\00:23:18.59
on me; I'm only concerned about
my church and my neighborhood
00:23:18.63\00:23:23.59
with my people and it's local.
But when you go global you come
00:23:23.62\00:23:28.41
out of yourself and you give to
someone else or to a country or
00:23:28.45\00:23:32.93
to a location that doesn't have
what you have and you come back
00:23:32.96\00:23:36.04
with something. There are a lot
of people who go on Maranatha
00:23:36.08\00:23:39.61
volunteer trips or Operation
Reach Bag trips. There's a lot
00:23:39.64\00:23:43.10
of different organizations that
are doing good things around the
00:23:43.14\00:23:46.91
world. I know I've seen a lot
of young people who've gone and
00:23:46.94\00:23:50.68
they've deepened their
relationship with the Lord Jesus
00:23:50.71\00:23:53.85
Christ and you're never too
young or too old. Matter of fact
00:23:53.89\00:23:56.37
there was a lady in our church
in Flint, Michigan who was 69
00:23:56.40\00:24:00.18
years old and she got a call to
go to Zimbabwe, Africa and she
00:24:00.21\00:24:03.79
was wondering whether or not she
should go. Well she had no chick
00:24:03.82\00:24:07.46
nor child as they say and she
took a plane and left and stayed
00:24:07.50\00:24:11.11
for a whole year and loved it.
00:24:11.14\00:24:12.59
That's involvement. That's
personnel. There are individuals
00:24:12.63\00:24:17.14
who cannot even go to Zimbabwe
or Latin America or Europe, but
00:24:17.17\00:24:20.77
they can do something right
there in their community. Let's
00:24:20.80\00:24:25.25
say that there's a family living
next door. Interesting word,
00:24:25.28\00:24:32.29
family; mother, daughter. That's
a family. No father, hardly any
00:24:32.32\00:24:39.30
relatives because they live
too far away. The neighbor now
00:24:39.33\00:24:42.79
becomes the aunt to that child.
That's mission. The neighbor now
00:24:42.83\00:24:51.92
can come next door and say
I will babysit for you. I will
00:24:51.95\00:24:57.55
read Bible stories to your child
Your child is growing up. I
00:24:57.59\00:25:03.16
will assist you with
spirituality. I will even assist
00:25:03.19\00:25:08.34
you in helping cleaning
your house. That's personnel.
00:25:08.38\00:25:13.46
That's investing in someone else
That's called home missions. Yes
00:25:13.50\00:25:19.85
My wife and I, we're doing
it right now, helping other
00:25:19.88\00:25:25.65
families where there's a gap.
And so now the phone call is
00:25:25.68\00:25:31.38
can we go to church. Sure. We'll
pick you up. The right time, the
00:25:31.42\00:25:37.13
right day. That is the secret
of outreach to the community and
00:25:37.17\00:25:42.85
the world. That's essential
number one. Let me read a
00:25:42.88\00:25:47.72
statement here. This is from
the book Evangelism. Quite thick
00:25:47.76\00:25:54.22
isn't it. It's page 412 it's
the bottom paragraph. There is a
00:25:54.26\00:26:01.93
great work to be done. It may
seem to move slowly and hard at
00:26:01.96\00:26:08.30
first, but God will work
mightily through you if you will
00:26:08.34\00:26:15.10
only make an entire surrender
to him. Much of the time you
00:26:15.13\00:26:21.86
will have to walk by
faith not by feelings.
00:26:21.89\00:26:25.38
I like that,
that's a great statement.
00:26:25.41\00:26:28.07
Oh, by the way, for those
00:26:28.11\00:26:29.14
who are watching at home let me
give you some resources before
00:26:29.17\00:26:32.55
our program is over. The book
Evangelism that he's reading is
00:26:32.58\00:26:36.28
by a woman by the name of Ellen
White who lived in the 1800's.
00:26:36.31\00:26:39.98
And she has written a lot
of really wonderful things not
00:26:40.01\00:26:43.53
only on evangelism but on health
and some other topics. If you're
00:26:43.57\00:26:47.49
interesting in getting hold
of Jason McCracken or would like
00:26:47.52\00:26:52.30
to know more about these seven
essentials that he has presented
00:26:52.33\00:26:57.08
today go to the 3ABN website,
www.3ABN.org and look for
00:26:57.11\00:27:04.52
Jason McCracken and the Review
and Herald and that website is
00:27:04.56\00:27:10.04
RHPA.org. You can find it on the
3ABN website. And again I want
00:27:10.08\00:27:15.53
say think you so much
for coming to our program and
00:27:15.56\00:27:17.56
watching today and before
we leave Jason will you have a
00:27:17.60\00:27:20.75
prayer with us please.
Sure. Father we're so thankful
00:27:20.78\00:27:23.86
for the gospel of Jesus Christ
throughout the world. We're
00:27:23.90\00:27:27.83
thankful that the mission of the
church is to go and to preach
00:27:27.86\00:27:32.42
to every creature, every nation,
every tongue, every language
00:27:32.45\00:27:36.68
there is and tell the good
news about Jesus Christ. We're
00:27:36.71\00:27:40.26
thankful Lord for Issues and
Answers and we're thankful that
00:27:40.30\00:27:44.15
you've been with us and
help our studio audience as they
00:27:44.18\00:27:47.68
learn from these essentials.
May they be blessed. May we all
00:27:47.72\00:27:51.19
be saved into thy kingdom,
in Jesus name we pray, Amen.
00:27:51.22\00:27:55.36
Amen. Thank you so much and
God bless you until next time.
00:27:55.40\00:27:59.51