¤
00:00:02.16\00:00:12.07
¤
00:00:12.17\00:00:17.11
>> Happy Sabbath, everyone.
00:00:20.75\00:00:21.92
>> Happy Sabbath.
00:00:22.02\00:00:23.62
>> I'm going to teach you
00:00:23.72\00:00:24.29
a new song today.
00:00:24.39\00:00:25.75
It's a church that talks about
00:00:25.85\00:00:28.29
what we are and what we do.
00:00:28.39\00:00:30.43
We're going to sing it.
00:00:30.53\00:00:32.09
We're going to sing the first
00:00:32.19\00:00:32.89
verse first, and then
00:00:32.99\00:00:34.46
you will repeat with us.
00:00:34.56\00:00:35.73
Okay?
00:00:35.83\00:00:38.53
Can we clap?
00:00:38.63\00:00:40.77
[ Rhythmic clapping ]
00:00:40.87\00:00:42.27
>> We would like to invite you
00:09:42.74\00:09:43.95
to experience the event
00:09:44.05\00:09:45.28
described in this piece
00:09:45.38\00:09:46.75
we are about to sing,
00:09:46.85\00:09:47.88
"Crown Him" by Dan Forrest,
00:09:47.98\00:09:49.88
in a very personal way today.
00:09:49.98\00:09:51.95
Imagine, if you will,
00:09:52.05\00:09:53.66
that it is the very end of time.
00:09:53.76\00:09:56.19
You are in an isolated place
00:09:56.29\00:09:57.36
because now
00:09:57.46\00:09:58.09
no other place is safe.
00:09:58.19\00:09:59.69
You are outside
00:09:59.79\00:10:01.10
and you hear something distant,
00:10:01.20\00:10:04.10
rhythmic, not a natural sound.
00:10:04.20\00:10:07.30
You strain to listen,
00:10:07.40\00:10:08.54
to identify the source,
00:10:08.64\00:10:09.80
and you hear music.
00:10:09.90\00:10:12.64
Trumpets.
00:10:12.74\00:10:14.38
Then voices, faint,
00:10:14.48\00:10:15.61
but you catch a word --
00:10:15.71\00:10:16.64
"Alleluia."
00:10:16.75\00:10:18.18
Then more voices,
00:10:18.28\00:10:19.41
deeper, stronger.
00:10:19.51\00:10:20.72
More words --
00:10:20.82\00:10:21.72
"Crown Him with many crowns,
00:10:21.82\00:10:24.15
the Lamb upon His throne."
00:10:24.25\00:10:26.76
Hope leaps to life within you.
00:10:26.86\00:10:28.32
You realize the sound
00:10:28.42\00:10:29.42
is coming from above you.
00:10:29.52\00:10:31.36
You scan the sky.
00:10:31.46\00:10:32.83
And there it is --
00:10:32.93\00:10:34.10
a little cloud,
00:10:34.20\00:10:35.03
like a man's hand,
00:10:35.13\00:10:36.77
the sign of the Son of Man.
00:10:36.87\00:10:39.47
You watch in wonder
00:10:39.57\00:10:40.64
as the cloud grows bigger
00:10:40.74\00:10:41.60
and brighter,
00:10:41.70\00:10:42.24
the music stronger,
00:10:42.34\00:10:43.67
until the sky is full
00:10:43.77\00:10:44.97
of beating angel wings
00:10:45.07\00:10:46.34
and the music swells
00:10:46.44\00:10:47.48
to thunderous praise.
00:10:47.58\00:10:49.61
In the midst of it all,
00:10:49.71\00:10:50.78
your gaze is fixed on one face
00:10:50.88\00:10:53.65
and your heart nearly bursts
00:10:53.75\00:10:54.98
within you because He is here,
00:10:55.08\00:10:58.15
this Lord you have loved
00:10:58.25\00:10:59.35
and who has so loved you.
00:10:59.45\00:11:01.59
He is finally here,
00:11:01.69\00:11:03.89
and we are going home.
00:11:03.99\00:11:05.59
"Crown Him."
00:11:05.69\00:11:06.90
¤
00:11:24.28\00:11:34.19
¤
00:11:34.29\00:11:44.17
¤
00:11:44.27\00:11:48.67
>> ¤ Alleluia
00:11:48.77\00:11:54.01
>> ¤ Crown Him with many
00:11:54.11\00:11:56.28
crowns ¤
00:11:56.38\00:11:58.51
¤ The Lamb upon His throne
00:11:58.61\00:12:03.89
¤ Hark, how the heavenly anthem
00:12:03.99\00:12:08.09
drowns ¤
00:12:08.19\00:12:09.19
¤ All music but its own
00:12:09.29\00:12:14.46
¤ Awake, my soul, and sing
00:12:14.56\00:12:19.73
¤ Of Him who died for thee
00:12:19.83\00:12:24.81
¤ And hail Him as thy
00:12:24.91\00:12:28.11
matchless King ¤
00:12:28.21\00:12:30.15
¤ Through all eternity
00:12:30.25\00:12:33.58
>> ¤ Alleluia
00:12:33.68\00:12:36.69
>> ¤ Alleluia
00:12:36.79\00:12:38.72
¤ Alleluia
00:12:38.82\00:12:41.79
>> ¤ Crown Him the Lord
00:12:41.89\00:12:43.29
of love ¤
00:12:43.39\00:12:46.09
¤ Behold His hands and side
00:12:46.19\00:12:50.97
¤ Rich wounds, yet visible
00:12:51.07\00:12:54.70
above ¤
00:12:54.80\00:12:56.34
¤ In beauty glorified
00:12:56.44\00:13:01.44
¤ No angel in the sky
00:13:01.54\00:13:06.75
¤ Can fully bear that sight
00:13:06.85\00:13:11.62
¤ But downward bends
00:13:11.72\00:13:14.46
his wondering eye ¤
00:13:14.56\00:13:17.33
¤ At mysteries so bright
00:13:17.43\00:13:20.86
>> ¤ Alleluia
00:13:20.96\00:13:23.10
¤ Alleluia
00:13:23.20\00:13:25.77
> ¤ Alleluia
00:13:25.87\00:13:28.40
¤ Alleluia
00:13:28.50\00:13:36.41
¤ Crown Him the Lord of life
00:13:36.51\00:13:41.25
¤ Who triumphed o'er the grave
00:13:41.35\00:13:46.49
¤ Who rose victorious
00:13:46.59\00:13:49.76
in the strife ¤
00:13:49.86\00:13:51.99
¤ For those He came to save
00:13:52.09\00:13:57.17
¤ His glories now we sing
00:13:57.27\00:14:02.64
¤ Who died and rose on high
00:14:02.74\00:14:07.64
¤ Who died, eternal life
00:14:07.74\00:14:11.51
to bring ¤
00:14:11.61\00:14:13.25
¤ And lives that death may die
00:14:13.35\00:14:16.92
¤ Alleluia
00:14:17.02\00:14:18.85
¤ Alleluia
00:14:18.95\00:14:21.72
¤ Alleluia
00:14:21.82\00:14:24.26
¤ Alleluia
00:14:24.36\00:14:28.16
¤ Alleluia
00:14:28.26\00:14:30.80
¤ Alleluia
00:14:30.90\00:14:34.10
¤ Alleluia
00:14:34.20\00:14:43.95
¤
00:14:44.05\00:14:49.55
¤ Crown Him the Lord of heaven
00:14:49.65\00:14:54.19
¤ One with the Father known
00:14:54.29\00:14:59.43
¤ One with the Spirit through
00:14:59.53\00:15:03.37
Him given ¤
00:15:03.47\00:15:05.17
¤ From yonder glorious throne
00:15:05.27\00:15:10.37
¤ To Thee be endless praise
00:15:10.47\00:15:15.88
¤ For Thou for us hast died
00:15:15.98\00:15:20.62
¤ Be Thou, O Lord, through
00:15:20.72\00:15:24.65
endless days ¤
00:15:24.75\00:15:26.92
¤ Adored and magnified
00:15:27.02\00:15:32.39
¤ Alleluia
00:15:32.49\00:15:36.36
¤ Alleluia
00:15:36.46\00:15:39.27
¤ Alleluia
00:15:39.37\00:15:42.07
¤
00:15:42.17\00:15:48.31
¤ Alleluia
00:15:48.41\00:15:57.92
[ Applause ]
00:15:58.02\00:16:00.89
>> Welcome to Part 6.
00:16:06.43\00:16:09.00
Can you believe it?
00:16:09.10\00:16:10.00
Part 6.
00:16:10.10\00:16:10.87
It's only taken us four months,
00:16:10.97\00:16:11.87
five months, I guess,
00:16:11.97\00:16:12.47
to get to Part 6
00:16:12.57\00:16:13.97
of our continuing series
00:16:14.07\00:16:15.17
entitled "ChurchWorks."
00:16:15.27\00:16:16.34
The premise of the series
00:16:16.44\00:16:17.44
is, what does it look like
00:16:17.54\00:16:19.37
for the work of sharing
00:16:19.47\00:16:20.48
Jesus Christ in
00:16:20.58\00:16:21.68
the context of the three angels'
00:16:21.78\00:16:22.78
messages with the world?
00:16:22.88\00:16:23.98
How do you finish?
00:16:24.08\00:16:25.28
How do you finish the work?
00:16:25.38\00:16:27.35
And the premise
00:16:27.45\00:16:28.98
is that it's finished
00:16:29.08\00:16:30.65
with a church that works,
00:16:30.75\00:16:32.02
thus the title of the series.
00:16:32.12\00:16:34.02
We have been looking at a number
00:16:34.12\00:16:35.02
of things
00:16:35.12\00:16:35.76
over these many months,
00:16:35.86\00:16:36.66
and today
00:16:36.76\00:16:37.73
we are going to resolve
00:16:37.83\00:16:39.19
a cliffhanger that I
00:16:39.29\00:16:41.10
cruelly left you with again
00:16:41.20\00:16:42.53
two weeks ago in Part 5.
00:16:42.63\00:16:44.80
If you weren't here for Part 5,
00:16:44.90\00:16:45.83
let me briefly tell you
00:16:45.93\00:16:47.04
where we went in Part 5.
00:16:47.14\00:16:49.27
In Part 5, we began to look
00:16:49.37\00:16:51.01
all the way back at
00:16:51.11\00:16:51.71
the beginning.
00:16:51.81\00:16:52.97
The fact that we are made
00:16:53.07\00:16:54.41
in the image of God
00:16:54.51\00:16:56.04
took a great bit of our time,
00:16:56.14\00:16:57.95
and we learned that,
00:16:58.05\00:16:58.58
among other things,
00:16:58.68\00:16:59.35
to be made in the image
00:16:59.45\00:17:00.12
of God means
00:17:00.22\00:17:01.05
that we are made for community.
00:17:01.15\00:17:02.92
God has community within Himself
00:17:03.02\00:17:04.32
via the Trinity,
00:17:04.42\00:17:05.62
and to be made in His image
00:17:05.72\00:17:06.79
means that we are made for
00:17:06.89\00:17:07.89
community with God
00:17:07.99\00:17:09.19
and with other believers.
00:17:09.29\00:17:10.73
In other words,
00:17:10.83\00:17:11.63
to be in community is to,
00:17:11.73\00:17:13.03
in a very real sense,
00:17:13.13\00:17:14.40
fulfill your purpose for being.
00:17:14.50\00:17:17.20
We also looked at what it means
00:17:17.30\00:17:19.10
to have genuine
00:17:19.20\00:17:20.54
Christian community.
00:17:20.64\00:17:22.40
We looked at the New Testament
00:17:22.50\00:17:23.51
church, and how astonishing it
00:17:23.61\00:17:25.11
was that right there after
00:17:25.21\00:17:26.78
Pentecost, the Holy Spirit
00:17:26.88\00:17:28.24
falls, 3,000-plus people
00:17:28.34\00:17:29.34
are baptized.
00:17:29.44\00:17:30.15
It was astonishing to people
00:17:30.25\00:17:32.15
to look and see people
00:17:32.25\00:17:33.21
from all over the world,
00:17:33.31\00:17:34.22
different cultures, backgrounds,
00:17:34.32\00:17:36.22
demographics, wealth, status,
00:17:36.32\00:17:37.69
all of these things
00:17:37.79\00:17:38.92
that would have divided
00:17:39.02\00:17:40.16
people elsewhere, in the church
00:17:40.26\00:17:41.82
in Jerusalem,
00:17:41.92\00:17:42.76
that first Christian church,
00:17:42.86\00:17:43.76
everyone was
00:17:43.86\00:17:44.49
unified in Jesus Christ.
00:17:44.59\00:17:45.63
It was astonishing to see
00:17:45.73\00:17:47.13
that kind of unity.
00:17:47.23\00:17:49.03
We looked at the characteristics
00:17:49.13\00:17:50.47
of genuine Christian community.
00:17:50.57\00:17:52.57
We said it has
00:17:52.67\00:17:53.50
Christ at its center --
00:17:53.60\00:17:54.70
nothing, no one else.
00:17:54.80\00:17:55.80
Jesus is at its center.
00:17:55.90\00:17:57.17
It is where members
00:17:57.27\00:17:58.27
sacrificially care for one
00:17:58.37\00:17:59.87
another, as Jesus would
00:18:00.04\00:18:01.28
if He were there in their place.
00:18:01.38\00:18:02.68
It's where members thrive
00:18:02.78\00:18:03.88
through appropriate
00:18:03.98\00:18:04.65
accountability.
00:18:04.75\00:18:05.68
We talked about accountability,
00:18:05.78\00:18:06.85
90% of which is encouragement.
00:18:06.95\00:18:08.85
And lastly, we said true,
00:18:08.95\00:18:09.92
genuine Christian
00:18:10.02\00:18:10.79
community is to be home.
00:18:10.89\00:18:12.25
It's to be a foretaste
00:18:12.35\00:18:13.72
of what is to come into heaven.
00:18:13.82\00:18:15.72
Someone say "Amen."
00:18:15.82\00:18:17.49
Yes, this is what
00:18:17.59\00:18:18.59
we are called to, tremendously,
00:18:18.69\00:18:20.56
which brings us squarely
00:18:20.66\00:18:21.86
to today, Part 6,
00:18:21.96\00:18:24.23
where we're going to begin by
00:18:24.33\00:18:25.20
answering an important question.
00:18:25.30\00:18:27.10
How did the New Testament church
00:18:27.20\00:18:28.84
do this?
00:18:28.94\00:18:30.67
How did the New Testament
00:18:30.77\00:18:31.61
church -- I mean,
00:18:31.71\00:18:32.87
just to be very practical,
00:18:32.97\00:18:33.91
what methods did they use
00:18:34.01\00:18:36.54
so that the Holy Spirit
00:18:36.64\00:18:37.51
could work in such a way
00:18:37.61\00:18:38.71
that this was the kind of
00:18:38.81\00:18:40.88
community that they experienced?
00:18:40.98\00:18:43.08
Well, I'll tell you.
00:18:43.18\00:18:43.95
The answer is simple.
00:18:44.05\00:18:44.92
The early Christian church
00:18:45.02\00:18:46.19
achieved this kind of community
00:18:46.29\00:18:48.26
by thinking small.
00:18:48.36\00:18:52.89
Turn in your Bibles, please,
00:18:52.99\00:18:54.56
to Acts 2:44.
00:18:54.63\00:18:57.07
Acts 2:44.
00:18:57.17\00:18:58.77
It's on page 734
00:18:58.87\00:19:00.30
in the red pew Bible
00:19:00.40\00:19:01.27
somewhere nearby
00:19:01.37\00:19:02.17
where you're at -- page 734.
00:19:02.27\00:19:04.17
Acts chapter 2,
00:19:04.27\00:19:05.04
beginning with verse 44.
00:19:05.14\00:19:06.24
We have been in this segment
00:19:06.34\00:19:07.94
of Scripture many times,
00:19:08.04\00:19:09.41
and for good reason.
00:19:09.51\00:19:10.51
This section, verse 42 to 47,
00:19:10.61\00:19:12.91
is the quintessential
00:19:13.01\00:19:14.72
synopsis of so many
00:19:14.82\00:19:17.32
of the golden attributes
00:19:17.42\00:19:18.69
that Jesus imbued His church
00:19:18.79\00:19:20.36
with, including here,
00:19:20.46\00:19:21.72
beginning with verse 44.
00:19:21.82\00:19:23.29
My Bible, it says this --
00:19:23.39\00:19:24.39
"All the believers were together
00:19:24.49\00:19:25.53
and had everything in common.
00:19:25.63\00:19:27.13
Selling their possessions
00:19:27.23\00:19:27.96
and goods, they gave
00:19:28.06\00:19:28.86
to anyone as he had need.
00:19:28.96\00:19:30.73
Every day they continued
00:19:30.83\00:19:31.93
to meet together
00:19:32.03\00:19:32.83
in the temple courts.
00:19:32.93\00:19:34.70
They broke bread in their homes
00:19:34.80\00:19:36.24
and ate together with glad
00:19:36.34\00:19:37.74
and sincere hearts,
00:19:37.84\00:19:38.44
praising God
00:19:38.54\00:19:39.31
and enjoying the favor
00:19:39.41\00:19:40.18
of all the people.
00:19:40.28\00:19:41.24
And the Lord added to
00:19:41.34\00:19:42.38
their number daily those
00:19:42.48\00:19:44.05
who were being saved."
00:19:44.15\00:19:46.08
Now, been there many times.
00:19:46.18\00:19:48.48
Let's focus on something
00:19:48.58\00:19:49.28
different this time.
00:19:49.38\00:19:51.05
Where did the New Testament
00:19:51.15\00:19:53.15
Christian church meet?
00:19:53.25\00:19:55.56
Okay, the first place
00:19:55.66\00:19:56.46
that they met in this --
00:19:56.56\00:19:57.39
in this verse was where?
00:19:57.49\00:19:59.43
Temple courts, yes, okay.
00:19:59.53\00:20:00.46
How big was that?
00:20:00.56\00:20:01.63
Alright, big.
00:20:01.73\00:20:02.70
There's a lot of square footage
00:20:02.80\00:20:03.73
up there in the Temple Mount,
00:20:03.83\00:20:04.43
right?
00:20:04.53\00:20:05.43
In other words,
00:20:05.53\00:20:06.10
the first meeting of
00:20:06.20\00:20:07.90
the Christian church was large.
00:20:08.00\00:20:09.24
It was large by any estimation,
00:20:09.34\00:20:10.47
3,000-plus people
00:20:10.57\00:20:11.91
They met there in
00:20:12.01\00:20:12.71
this large group.
00:20:12.81\00:20:13.78
And it says they broke
00:20:13.88\00:20:15.64
bread in their homes.
00:20:15.74\00:20:17.98
Now, breaking bread,
00:20:18.08\00:20:18.88
you know, scholars debate,
00:20:18.98\00:20:19.58
is that just talking
00:20:19.68\00:20:20.45
about, you know,
00:20:20.55\00:20:21.55
having a bite to eat together?
00:20:21.65\00:20:22.85
Is it the Lord's Supper?
00:20:22.95\00:20:23.85
Could be both, right?
00:20:23.95\00:20:25.02
Whatever the case is,
00:20:25.12\00:20:25.82
there were two
00:20:25.92\00:20:26.72
distinct locations
00:20:26.82\00:20:28.82
at which the church met --
00:20:28.92\00:20:31.09
in the big group at the temple,
00:20:31.19\00:20:32.66
in the small group
00:20:32.76\00:20:33.76
in people's houses.
00:20:33.86\00:20:35.46
So we must ask, what was that,
00:20:35.56\00:20:36.73
just like a happenstance type
00:20:36.83\00:20:38.00
of thing, or was there
00:20:38.10\00:20:39.13
a trend that developed?
00:20:39.23\00:20:40.07
Well, let's do
00:20:40.17\00:20:40.74
a little journey here.
00:20:40.84\00:20:41.87
Acts 12:12.
00:20:41.97\00:20:44.24
Peter is put into jail.
00:20:44.34\00:20:45.47
He's miraculously set free.
00:20:45.57\00:20:47.31
As he's walking down the street
00:20:47.41\00:20:48.58
after being miraculously set
00:20:48.68\00:20:49.91
free, he suddenly realizes
00:20:50.01\00:20:51.55
what's just happened to him.
00:20:51.65\00:20:52.38
He thought it was a dream.
00:20:52.48\00:20:53.18
It turns out it's reality.
00:20:53.28\00:20:54.85
Verse 12...
00:20:54.95\00:20:56.08
Now, let's be careful.
00:21:04.19\00:21:05.39
Let's not make too much of this.
00:21:05.49\00:21:07.13
This, at the very least,
00:21:07.23\00:21:08.33
is saying that in times
00:21:08.43\00:21:09.90
of difficulty,
00:21:10.00\00:21:11.13
the church was not meeting
00:21:11.23\00:21:12.47
in the temple courts.
00:21:12.57\00:21:13.37
They were instead here
00:21:13.47\00:21:14.77
in a local house,
00:21:14.87\00:21:16.24
perhaps for cover.
00:21:16.34\00:21:17.41
I mean, the temple's
00:21:17.51\00:21:18.04
pretty public, right?
00:21:18.14\00:21:18.87
If people are getting arrested,
00:21:18.97\00:21:19.87
may not be so good to be there,
00:21:19.97\00:21:20.94
but they are at a house,
00:21:21.04\00:21:22.18
a smaller group gathering,
00:21:22.28\00:21:23.51
undoubtedly
00:21:23.61\00:21:24.81
because no one back then had
00:21:24.91\00:21:25.98
houses with living rooms
00:21:26.08\00:21:27.22
that seated 3,000 people.
00:21:27.32\00:21:28.72
So we know it's
00:21:28.82\00:21:29.32
a smaller gathering.
00:21:29.42\00:21:30.72
Let's proceed on here.
00:21:30.82\00:21:31.69
Acts 16:40, "After Paul and
00:21:31.79\00:21:33.96
Silas came out of the prison,
00:21:34.06\00:21:35.62
they went to Lydia's..."
00:21:35.72\00:21:36.62
What's the next word?
00:21:36.73\00:21:38.26
"House." There it is again.
00:21:38.36\00:21:38.76
Okay.
00:21:38.86\00:21:39.76
..."house, where they met with
00:21:39.86\00:21:40.83
the brothers and sisters
00:21:40.93\00:21:41.96
and encouraged them."
00:21:42.06\00:21:43.57
The implication here
00:21:43.67\00:21:44.33
is getting deeper.
00:21:44.43\00:21:45.60
It appears
00:21:45.70\00:21:46.87
that there were a number
00:21:46.97\00:21:47.67
of meetings
00:21:47.77\00:21:48.60
in the early Christian church
00:21:48.70\00:21:49.70
at people's houses
00:21:49.80\00:21:51.01
with smaller groups.
00:21:51.11\00:21:54.54
Some years later,
00:21:54.64\00:21:55.48
many years later, in fact,
00:21:55.58\00:21:56.54
Paul here writing
00:21:56.64\00:21:57.38
to the church plant
00:21:57.48\00:21:58.45
in Rome, at the very end
00:21:58.55\00:21:59.68
of the book, has this to say.
00:21:59.78\00:22:00.65
Romans 16:3-5.
00:22:00.75\00:22:02.68
Paul says...
00:22:02.78\00:22:03.75
Now, that's getting
00:22:15.13\00:22:16.03
pretty specific, isn't it?
00:22:16.13\00:22:17.80
It is specifically referred
00:22:17.90\00:22:19.00
to as "the church."
00:22:19.10\00:22:20.57
The church meets
00:22:20.67\00:22:22.17
in someone's house.
00:22:22.27\00:22:24.24
Now, how big the house was,
00:22:24.34\00:22:25.11
how big the group was,
00:22:25.21\00:22:25.71
we don't know.
00:22:25.81\00:22:26.51
But obviously it must have been
00:22:26.61\00:22:27.88
a smaller group than what
00:22:27.98\00:22:29.34
there had been gathered
00:22:29.44\00:22:30.05
years ago,
00:22:30.15\00:22:30.85
years earlier in Jerusalem.
00:22:30.95\00:22:32.81
The church is often meeting now
00:22:32.91\00:22:34.42
in people's houses.
00:22:34.52\00:22:36.28
Colossians chapter four.
00:22:36.38\00:22:37.99
And I believe that should
00:22:38.09\00:22:38.65
actually be verse 15...
00:22:38.75\00:22:39.72
Okay, there it is again.
00:22:45.46\00:22:46.16
How about this?
00:22:46.26\00:22:46.96
Philemon verses one and two...
00:22:47.03\00:22:48.53
Now, if we take this
00:23:01.44\00:23:02.28
and combine it with evidence
00:23:02.38\00:23:03.58
that we have from outside
00:23:03.68\00:23:04.65
of the Scriptures, archaeology,
00:23:04.75\00:23:05.88
et cetera, it becomes quite
00:23:05.98\00:23:06.78
clear.
00:23:06.88\00:23:07.78
There were
00:23:07.88\00:23:08.62
two gatherings of the church.
00:23:08.72\00:23:10.25
There were the larger gatherings
00:23:10.35\00:23:11.22
when they could,
00:23:11.32\00:23:12.05
when the law would allow it,
00:23:12.15\00:23:13.09
when persecution would --
00:23:13.19\00:23:14.59
wasn't stopping it.
00:23:14.69\00:23:16.12
And most of the time,
00:23:16.22\00:23:17.96
they met in smaller groups
00:23:18.06\00:23:19.46
in people's houses.
00:23:19.56\00:23:22.66
And if we take this
00:23:22.76\00:23:23.63
and some good old common sense,
00:23:23.73\00:23:25.17
we can begin to come
00:23:25.27\00:23:25.97
to some conclusions as
00:23:26.07\00:23:27.00
to its significance for today.
00:23:27.10\00:23:29.60
Large group gatherings
00:23:29.70\00:23:32.94
have always been a crucial part
00:23:33.04\00:23:34.64
of the lives of God's people.
00:23:34.74\00:23:35.81
I know there are some people
00:23:35.91\00:23:36.48
who say, "No, no, no.
00:23:36.58\00:23:36.98
Everything was
00:23:37.08\00:23:37.65
always small groups."
00:23:37.75\00:23:38.18
I don't think
00:23:38.28\00:23:38.81
you can support that.
00:23:38.91\00:23:39.58
I think there were some
00:23:39.68\00:23:40.12
very significant
00:23:40.22\00:23:41.02
large group gatherings.
00:23:41.12\00:23:42.55
We do large group gatherings
00:23:42.65\00:23:43.85
pretty well here.
00:23:43.95\00:23:45.35
I think this qualifies
00:23:45.45\00:23:46.29
as a large group.
00:23:46.39\00:23:47.56
Two or three are gathered here,
00:23:47.66\00:23:48.29
I think, right?
00:23:48.39\00:23:49.36
And we do this well.
00:23:49.46\00:23:50.49
We sing praises.
00:23:50.59\00:23:51.79
I mean, you heard some
00:23:51.89\00:23:52.59
really good music this morning,
00:23:52.69\00:23:53.73
lifting our hearts to heaven.
00:23:53.83\00:23:55.56
Large group gatherings can be
00:23:55.66\00:23:56.70
inspiring
00:23:56.80\00:23:57.93
and draw us closer to the Lord.
00:23:58.03\00:23:59.17
There's good things
00:23:59.27\00:23:59.83
that happen there.
00:23:59.93\00:24:01.17
However...
00:24:01.27\00:24:02.60
However, we must be honest
00:24:02.70\00:24:05.31
and also admit that
00:24:05.41\00:24:06.51
large gatherings have some
00:24:06.61\00:24:08.11
real limitations to them.
00:24:08.21\00:24:09.58
For instance,
00:24:09.68\00:24:10.38
let's compare the two together,
00:24:10.48\00:24:11.15
large and small
00:24:11.25\00:24:11.71
group gatherings.
00:24:11.81\00:24:12.65
Large gatherings are often
00:24:12.75\00:24:14.08
expensive to accommodate.
00:24:14.18\00:24:16.25
Anybody want to argue
00:24:16.35\00:24:17.15
that -- against that?
00:24:17.25\00:24:19.62
This building, for instance,
00:24:19.72\00:24:20.56
it needs some pipes.
00:24:20.66\00:24:21.42
It's going to cost us
00:24:21.52\00:24:22.09
a little coin
00:24:22.19\00:24:22.92
to make that happen, right?
00:24:23.02\00:24:24.19
It can be expensive to have
00:24:24.29\00:24:25.66
large gatherings,
00:24:25.76\00:24:26.93
but small groups are usually
00:24:27.03\00:24:28.56
far cheaper, okay,
00:24:28.66\00:24:30.27
unless you're serving caviar
00:24:30.37\00:24:31.40
and champagne, in which case
00:24:31.50\00:24:32.20
you shouldn't be doing that,
00:24:32.30\00:24:32.60
okay?
00:24:32.70\00:24:34.14
That's expensive, right?
00:24:34.24\00:24:35.00
But in small groups,
00:24:35.10\00:24:35.80
most of the time,
00:24:35.90\00:24:36.60
it's far less expensive meeting
00:24:36.71\00:24:39.11
in a small group.
00:24:39.21\00:24:40.34
No special building is required.
00:24:40.44\00:24:41.84
You can do it in your dorm room,
00:24:41.94\00:24:42.64
your living room.
00:24:42.74\00:24:44.45
Large gatherings,
00:24:44.55\00:24:45.35
furthermore, are not only
00:24:45.45\00:24:46.58
expensive, but they are
00:24:46.68\00:24:47.78
thoroughly complex to host.
00:24:47.88\00:24:50.02
Now, silly question,
00:24:50.12\00:24:51.09
given the environment
00:24:51.19\00:24:52.22
that we are in here at Pioneer,
00:24:52.32\00:24:53.72
how many of you have ever been
00:24:53.82\00:24:54.79
on the planning committee
00:24:54.89\00:24:55.86
for a large group gathering?
00:24:55.96\00:24:58.36
Okay, there's all kinds of you.
00:24:58.46\00:25:00.40
If the group is large enough,
00:25:00.50\00:25:01.73
if you're into the hundreds
00:25:01.83\00:25:02.46
or thousands,
00:25:02.56\00:25:03.26
it can literally take years
00:25:03.37\00:25:04.93
to work through the logistics,
00:25:05.03\00:25:06.17
getting ready for that event,
00:25:06.27\00:25:06.84
right?
00:25:06.94\00:25:08.30
But almost anyone can plan
00:25:08.40\00:25:10.57
a small group event.
00:25:10.67\00:25:11.54
They're far simpler.
00:25:11.64\00:25:12.31
They require relatively
00:25:12.41\00:25:13.27
little preparation.
00:25:13.38\00:25:14.21
Anyone can prepare
00:25:14.31\00:25:15.38
a small gathering place
00:25:15.48\00:25:17.18
for a few people to gather.
00:25:17.28\00:25:18.88
And as far
00:25:18.98\00:25:19.61
as personal participation
00:25:19.71\00:25:20.78
is concerned,
00:25:20.88\00:25:21.38
large groups
00:25:21.48\00:25:22.45
can be intimidating like this.
00:25:22.55\00:25:24.72
I mean, there's very few people
00:25:24.82\00:25:25.35
that want my job.
00:25:25.45\00:25:27.59
I mean, one of the number-one
00:25:27.69\00:25:28.79
fears that comes up regularly
00:25:28.89\00:25:30.19
on surveys,
00:25:30.29\00:25:30.93
at least for Americans,
00:25:31.03\00:25:31.99
is fear of speaking publicly.
00:25:32.09\00:25:33.90
Right, nobody wants to do that.
00:25:34.00\00:25:35.86
But in a small group,
00:25:35.96\00:25:37.43
people are much more
00:25:37.53\00:25:38.13
likely to speak up.
00:25:38.23\00:25:40.90
And how about this?
00:25:41.00\00:25:43.20
Conversation.
00:25:43.30\00:25:45.44
How easy is it for, say,
00:25:45.54\00:25:46.54
a thousand people
00:25:46.64\00:25:47.41
to engage
00:25:47.51\00:25:48.18
in personal conversation
00:25:48.28\00:25:49.31
with everybody being involved?
00:25:49.41\00:25:51.58
It can't happen.
00:25:51.68\00:25:52.91
It's just not going to happen.
00:25:53.01\00:25:54.38
We're not wired
00:25:54.48\00:25:55.28
this way as human beings.
00:25:55.38\00:25:56.45
Maybe in heaven, when our brains
00:25:56.55\00:25:57.29
are finally using all
00:25:57.39\00:25:58.19
the gray matter
00:25:58.29\00:25:59.19
that's up there, we will.
00:25:59.29\00:25:59.95
But not here.
00:26:00.12\00:26:01.22
It's impossible to do that,
00:26:01.32\00:26:02.86
but in a small group --
00:26:02.96\00:26:04.09
And this is extremely important.
00:26:04.19\00:26:05.69
In a small group,
00:26:05.79\00:26:07.40
conversation
00:26:07.50\00:26:08.60
can happen in real time.
00:26:08.70\00:26:11.40
And that means
00:26:11.50\00:26:12.37
that discipleship to maturity
00:26:12.47\00:26:15.47
can take place much better
00:26:15.57\00:26:17.44
in the smaller group
00:26:17.54\00:26:18.67
than it can the larger one.
00:26:18.77\00:26:20.84
This is really important
00:26:20.94\00:26:22.11
because sometimes I think --
00:26:22.21\00:26:23.58
I don't know if anybody would
00:26:23.68\00:26:24.45
ever just come out and say this,
00:26:24.55\00:26:25.48
but there's a default that says,
00:26:25.58\00:26:26.41
"You know what?
00:26:26.51\00:26:27.22
If I go to church, I'm going to
00:26:27.32\00:26:28.68
become a mature Christian.
00:26:28.78\00:26:30.59
If I sit
00:26:30.69\00:26:31.42
and listen to the preacher,
00:26:31.52\00:26:32.19
I'm going to become
00:26:32.29\00:26:32.92
a mature Christian."
00:26:33.02\00:26:34.56
I'm just going to tell you,
00:26:34.66\00:26:35.46
30 years pastoral experience,
00:26:35.56\00:26:36.36
that's not true.
00:26:36.46\00:26:37.89
That's not true.
00:26:37.99\00:26:39.73
It takes more than that.
00:26:39.83\00:26:41.16
It takes also Christian with
00:26:41.26\00:26:44.33
Christian speaking to one
00:26:44.43\00:26:45.47
another.
00:26:45.57\00:26:46.40
And small groups excel at this.
00:26:46.50\00:26:48.20
You can hear someone else's
00:26:48.30\00:26:49.40
experience in real time there.
00:26:49.50\00:26:51.04
You can ask questions about it.
00:26:51.14\00:26:52.54
In a sermon time,
00:26:52.64\00:26:53.48
if you ask a question,
00:26:53.58\00:26:54.51
we all get a little nervous.
00:26:54.61\00:26:56.44
Right, if somebody shouts out,
00:26:56.54\00:26:57.51
"Oh, Pastor, what about --"
00:26:57.61\00:26:58.45
Well, okay, hold on.
00:26:58.55\00:26:59.65
You know, we're
00:26:59.75\00:27:00.65
not quite equipped for that.
00:27:00.75\00:27:01.58
You know, deacons begin
00:27:01.68\00:27:02.18
to converge.
00:27:02.28\00:27:02.65
I mean, it's
00:27:02.75\00:27:03.75
an interesting dynamic, right?
00:27:03.85\00:27:05.45
Big groups don't facilitate
00:27:05.55\00:27:07.19
this, but small ones do.
00:27:07.29\00:27:10.19
And pity the baby Christian
00:27:10.29\00:27:12.43
who only gets large gatherings.
00:27:12.53\00:27:16.56
It's going to be tough
00:27:16.67\00:27:17.33
for them to grow to maturity.
00:27:17.43\00:27:18.73
It's going to be tough.
00:27:18.83\00:27:19.90
But in a small group,
00:27:20.00\00:27:20.90
they can do it.
00:27:21.00\00:27:24.14
No wonder, then,
00:27:24.24\00:27:26.47
that the early Christian church
00:27:26.57\00:27:27.68
strongly and consistently
00:27:27.78\00:27:28.98
included group gatherings,
00:27:29.08\00:27:30.55
small group gatherings
00:27:30.65\00:27:31.55
as a major pathway
00:27:31.65\00:27:32.68
for discipleship.
00:27:32.78\00:27:33.95
And no wonder that early
00:27:34.05\00:27:35.42
Adventism did the same thing,
00:27:35.52\00:27:37.59
which means, at last,
00:27:37.69\00:27:38.62
I'm ready to answer the question
00:27:38.72\00:27:40.02
that I left
00:27:40.12\00:27:40.76
you on a cliff hanging off
00:27:40.86\00:27:41.86
of there in Part 5.
00:27:41.96\00:27:43.19
The question was this...
00:27:43.29\00:27:44.43
Remember, settled pastors is
00:27:50.93\00:27:52.13
what we generally have
00:27:52.23\00:27:53.00
in Christendom today, a pastor
00:27:53.10\00:27:54.47
that stays,
00:27:54.57\00:27:55.40
he or she, three to seven years,
00:27:55.50\00:27:56.54
usually, at most churches
00:27:56.64\00:27:57.27
and then moves on.
00:27:57.37\00:27:58.07
They're the primary caregiver,
00:27:58.17\00:27:59.14
primary speaker, primary
00:27:59.24\00:28:00.91
this, that, and the other.
00:28:01.01\00:28:01.58
And then they move on
00:28:01.68\00:28:02.11
and do it again
00:28:02.21\00:28:02.74
in some other place.
00:28:02.84\00:28:03.61
The New Testament
00:28:03.71\00:28:04.41
has none of that.
00:28:04.51\00:28:05.61
The early Adventist Church,
00:28:05.71\00:28:06.85
for the first 67 years,
00:28:06.95\00:28:08.28
did not have settled pastors,
00:28:08.38\00:28:09.45
except in a handful
00:28:09.55\00:28:10.49
of very small situations.
00:28:10.59\00:28:12.89
How did they still,
00:28:12.99\00:28:15.16
by the grace of God
00:28:15.26\00:28:16.06
and hard work,
00:28:16.16\00:28:16.73
manage to become
00:28:16.83\00:28:17.63
the fastest-growing
00:28:17.73\00:28:18.73
Protestant movement
00:28:18.83\00:28:19.79
that the world had ever seen?
00:28:19.89\00:28:22.70
I mean, we look back
00:28:22.80\00:28:23.43
by today's standards
00:28:23.53\00:28:24.47
and we shake our heads and say,
00:28:24.57\00:28:25.33
"Well, that must be impossible."
00:28:25.43\00:28:26.17
And yet it happened.
00:28:26.27\00:28:27.70
How did they manage to
00:28:27.80\00:28:30.27
not merely survive, but thrive?
00:28:30.37\00:28:33.11
And the answer is that
00:28:33.21\00:28:36.08
they started thinking small.
00:28:36.18\00:28:41.12
They thought large -- "We're
00:28:41.22\00:28:42.45
a worldwide movement
00:28:42.55\00:28:43.28
with a worldwide calling
00:28:43.39\00:28:44.19
to share Jesus Christ
00:28:44.29\00:28:44.82
with the world
00:28:44.92\00:28:45.62
and the three angels' messages."
00:28:45.72\00:28:46.39
And they began
00:28:46.49\00:28:47.59
by thinking small, as well.
00:28:47.69\00:28:50.09
The early Adventist Church,
00:28:50.19\00:28:51.29
using the New Testament
00:28:51.39\00:28:52.39
and a knowledge of
00:28:52.49\00:28:53.03
how God had led
00:28:53.13\00:28:54.10
in other movements in the past,
00:28:54.20\00:28:55.33
utilized a simple,
00:28:55.43\00:28:56.56
time-proven method
00:28:56.67\00:28:57.60
to create genuine
00:28:57.70\00:28:58.67
Christian community
00:28:58.77\00:29:00.14
that had the characteristics
00:29:00.24\00:29:01.67
that we talked about in Part 5.
00:29:01.77\00:29:03.14
Let me just remind
00:29:03.24\00:29:03.97
you what those were.
00:29:04.07\00:29:05.31
Early Adventist community was
00:29:05.41\00:29:07.08
where Christ's presence was
00:29:07.18\00:29:08.21
most fully revealed.
00:29:08.31\00:29:09.81
It was how evangelism happened
00:29:09.91\00:29:11.31
best, and it was
00:29:11.41\00:29:12.48
where maturity in Christ
00:29:12.58\00:29:13.75
developed best.
00:29:13.85\00:29:15.12
The presence of Christ,
00:29:15.22\00:29:16.28
evangelism,
00:29:16.38\00:29:17.25
discipleship, community.
00:29:17.35\00:29:19.39
They found a simple method
00:29:19.49\00:29:21.02
to make it happen,
00:29:21.12\00:29:21.89
and it was called
00:29:21.99\00:29:23.89
the social meeting.
00:29:23.99\00:29:26.16
How many of you know what
00:29:26.26\00:29:27.03
the social meeting was
00:29:27.13\00:29:28.10
in the early Adventist Church?
00:29:28.20\00:29:31.13
Wow. Alright.
00:29:31.23\00:29:33.30
That's even less
00:29:33.40\00:29:33.97
than first service.
00:29:34.07\00:29:34.77
And I think there's three times
00:29:34.87\00:29:35.57
as many people here, right?
00:29:35.67\00:29:36.91
It's not your fault.
00:29:37.01\00:29:37.81
We didn't tell you.
00:29:37.91\00:29:38.87
Okay?
00:29:38.97\00:29:39.97
The social meeting was
00:29:40.08\00:29:41.48
a meeting --
00:29:41.58\00:29:42.78
Don't think birthday party.
00:29:42.88\00:29:43.68
Don't think vege-cue.
00:29:43.78\00:29:44.38
I mean, this is not
00:29:44.48\00:29:45.75
like a social gathering
00:29:45.85\00:29:47.25
by today's standards, okay?
00:29:47.35\00:29:48.82
The social meeting was
00:29:48.92\00:29:49.88
a technical term
00:29:49.98\00:29:51.19
used to describe a specific form
00:29:51.29\00:29:53.12
of meeting that was,
00:29:53.22\00:29:54.59
quite simply,
00:29:54.69\00:29:55.49
the most important meeting
00:29:55.59\00:29:56.96
that any local
00:29:57.06\00:29:57.99
Adventist Church had.
00:29:58.09\00:29:59.09
And they had it regularly.
00:29:59.19\00:30:00.60
Remember, no settled
00:30:00.70\00:30:01.73
pastors in those days.
00:30:01.83\00:30:02.73
So they probably didn't have
00:30:02.83\00:30:03.73
a sermon most of the time.
00:30:03.83\00:30:04.97
But they always,
00:30:05.07\00:30:06.27
always had a social meeting.
00:30:06.37\00:30:08.57
And I can tell by
00:30:08.67\00:30:09.57
the blank looks on your face,
00:30:09.67\00:30:10.31
I need to start
00:30:10.41\00:30:11.01
filling in that blank.
00:30:11.11\00:30:12.01
Let me tell you
00:30:12.11\00:30:13.01
a little bit here of what
00:30:13.11\00:30:14.38
those meetings were like.
00:30:14.48\00:30:16.31
Let's go to Adventist history
00:30:16.41\00:30:17.21
here.
00:30:17.31\00:30:18.11
"Testimonies" volume two,
00:30:18.21\00:30:18.91
page 578,
00:30:19.01\00:30:20.35
in the chapter
00:30:20.45\00:30:21.25
entitled "Social Meetings."
00:30:21.35\00:30:22.45
So if you're looking
00:30:22.55\00:30:23.15
to do some research,
00:30:23.25\00:30:23.89
great place to start.
00:30:23.99\00:30:25.25
She says, "We meet together to
00:30:25.35\00:30:27.12
edify one another by an
00:30:27.22\00:30:28.69
interchange of thoughts and
00:30:28.79\00:30:30.06
feelings, to gather strength,
00:30:30.16\00:30:31.66
and light, and courage
00:30:31.76\00:30:33.43
by becoming acquainted
00:30:33.53\00:30:34.46
with one another's
00:30:34.56\00:30:35.30
hopes and aspirations."
00:30:35.40\00:30:36.56
Pause right there.
00:30:36.67\00:30:37.27
Does that sound good?
00:30:37.37\00:30:39.20
Yeah, that's a good thing.
00:30:39.30\00:30:41.04
You remember we took the survey
00:30:41.14\00:30:41.94
here a number of weeks ago
00:30:42.04\00:30:43.14
at the More conference,
00:30:43.24\00:30:44.14
and one of the big things
00:30:44.24\00:30:45.04
that came out was that we need
00:30:45.14\00:30:46.01
more of this, okay?
00:30:46.11\00:30:47.44
And here she said,
00:30:47.54\00:30:48.38
"Well, this is what it does.
00:30:48.48\00:30:50.05
We meet together.
00:30:50.15\00:30:50.91
The social meeting,
00:30:51.01\00:30:51.71
we meet together to edify
00:30:51.81\00:30:53.05
one another by an interchange
00:30:53.15\00:30:54.18
of thoughts and feelings."
00:30:54.28\00:30:55.72
So it's not a Sabbath school
00:30:55.82\00:30:56.45
class.
00:30:56.55\00:30:57.12
It's not a Bible study.
00:30:57.22\00:30:58.79
People may use the Bible
00:30:58.89\00:30:59.72
occasionally, but this is
00:30:59.82\00:31:00.89
about applying the Word
00:31:00.99\00:31:02.36
in real life,
00:31:02.46\00:31:03.29
not about studying it.
00:31:03.39\00:31:04.33
There's other times for that.
00:31:04.43\00:31:06.23
"To gather strength, and light,
00:31:06.33\00:31:07.30
and courage
00:31:07.40\00:31:08.06
by becoming acquainted
00:31:08.16\00:31:09.50
with one another's hopes and
00:31:09.60\00:31:10.50
aspirations; and by our
00:31:10.60\00:31:12.30
earnest, heartfelt prayers,
00:31:12.40\00:31:13.67
offered up in faith,
00:31:13.77\00:31:15.04
we receive refreshments and
00:31:15.14\00:31:16.60
vigor from the Source --"
00:31:16.71\00:31:17.77
capital "S" -- "of our strength.
00:31:17.87\00:31:19.37
These meetings should be
00:31:19.47\00:31:20.21
most precious seasons
00:31:20.31\00:31:21.31
and should be made interesting
00:31:21.41\00:31:22.44
to all who have any relish
00:31:22.54\00:31:23.98
for religious things."
00:31:24.08\00:31:26.08
Now, that's great.
00:31:26.18\00:31:27.08
That is excellent.
00:31:27.18\00:31:28.45
I mean, if you told somebody,
00:31:28.55\00:31:31.05
"Hey, I'm a part of a group
00:31:31.15\00:31:32.32
where we know each other's
00:31:32.42\00:31:33.09
hopes and dreams,
00:31:33.19\00:31:34.46
we share regularly about what
00:31:34.56\00:31:36.76
the Lord is doing in our lives.
00:31:36.86\00:31:38.06
When I get discouraged,
00:31:38.16\00:31:38.76
they lift me up.
00:31:38.86\00:31:39.49
When they get discouraged,
00:31:39.59\00:31:40.50
I lift them up.
00:31:40.60\00:31:41.26
We pray for one another.
00:31:41.36\00:31:42.63
We are this Christian community
00:31:42.73\00:31:44.77
in which I find my anchor
00:31:44.87\00:31:46.60
deeply rooted in Jesus Christ.
00:31:46.70\00:31:48.40
I'm learning each week
00:31:48.50\00:31:49.37
to know Him better."
00:31:49.47\00:31:50.47
Don't you think that
00:31:50.57\00:31:51.31
would be a good thing?
00:31:51.41\00:31:53.07
Yeah, that's an awesome thing.
00:31:53.17\00:31:55.01
Uriah Smith,
00:31:55.11\00:31:56.14
another early Adventist pioneer.
00:31:56.24\00:31:57.48
He said...
00:31:57.58\00:31:58.71
Now, be careful here.
00:32:12.36\00:32:13.93
If I say, "Hey,
00:32:14.00\00:32:15.06
we're going to have a testimony
00:32:15.16\00:32:16.06
service this afternoon,"
00:32:16.16\00:32:17.47
some of you
00:32:17.57\00:32:18.43
will find something else
00:32:18.53\00:32:19.67
to do quickly,
00:32:19.77\00:32:22.07
because sometimes
00:32:22.17\00:32:23.17
when we think of a testimony
00:32:23.27\00:32:24.14
service, some of you
00:32:24.24\00:32:24.94
may have positive associations.
00:32:25.04\00:32:26.01
Many people don't
00:32:26.11\00:32:26.84
because they think about
00:32:26.94\00:32:27.71
people standing for 20 minutes
00:32:27.81\00:32:29.14
and going through
00:32:29.24\00:32:29.81
various maladies
00:32:29.91\00:32:30.85
that they're experiencing
00:32:30.95\00:32:31.55
at the moment.
00:32:31.65\00:32:32.38
And they go on and on and on,
00:32:32.48\00:32:33.52
and then maybe somebody else
00:32:33.62\00:32:34.28
has a chance to share,
00:32:34.38\00:32:34.95
and then you're done.
00:32:35.05\00:32:35.85
That's not what
00:32:35.95\00:32:36.82
the social meeting was about.
00:32:36.92\00:32:38.75
The social meeting was
00:32:38.85\00:32:40.06
a fairly crisp,
00:32:40.16\00:32:41.42
fast-moving thing.
00:32:41.52\00:32:43.22
Testimonies, maybe two to three
00:32:43.32\00:32:44.43
minutes per person.
00:32:44.53\00:32:45.63
You might be able to share
00:32:45.73\00:32:46.56
again, okay, during the
00:32:46.66\00:32:47.73
social meeting.
00:32:47.83\00:32:48.73
In fact, you were encouraged to
00:32:48.83\00:32:49.50
if there was time.
00:32:49.60\00:32:50.80
But these were things
00:32:50.90\00:32:51.63
where people shared, uh,
00:32:51.73\00:32:53.27
in a brief way,
00:32:53.37\00:32:55.60
things that were real,
00:32:55.70\00:32:57.04
that were going on right now.
00:32:57.14\00:32:58.31
In fact,
00:32:58.41\00:32:59.81
the spirit of prophecy
00:32:59.91\00:33:00.61
is quite clear
00:33:00.71\00:33:01.71
that people were to prepare
00:33:01.81\00:33:03.71
for the social meeting.
00:33:03.81\00:33:05.61
In other words,
00:33:05.71\00:33:06.31
they were to be thinking
00:33:06.41\00:33:07.08
throughout the week,
00:33:07.18\00:33:07.88
"What is it that I need to share
00:33:07.98\00:33:09.48
so that I will be
00:33:09.58\00:33:10.42
appropriately accountable
00:33:10.52\00:33:11.69
to the body of Christ?
00:33:11.79\00:33:13.36
What do I need to share
00:33:13.46\00:33:14.82
that will be an encouragement
00:33:14.92\00:33:16.12
to my brothers and sisters
00:33:16.22\00:33:17.06
that are also part
00:33:17.16\00:33:17.93
of this social meeting?
00:33:18.03\00:33:19.03
What is it that I need to
00:33:19.13\00:33:20.10
be listening for through
00:33:20.20\00:33:22.30
the testimony of other people
00:33:22.40\00:33:23.47
in that group
00:33:23.57\00:33:24.20
so that I can be built up
00:33:24.30\00:33:25.53
in my faith in Jesus Christ?"
00:33:25.63\00:33:27.07
Preparation was required.
00:33:27.17\00:33:28.30
This is not just off-the-cuff
00:33:28.40\00:33:29.24
kind of stuff.
00:33:29.34\00:33:30.37
And so the social meeting,
00:33:30.47\00:33:31.44
it was fast-paced.
00:33:31.54\00:33:33.74
It was something
00:33:33.84\00:33:34.74
which everybody had a chance
00:33:34.84\00:33:35.98
to be able to share,
00:33:36.08\00:33:37.38
if the group was small enough,
00:33:37.48\00:33:38.95
and the ability
00:33:39.05\00:33:40.28
to be able to discern
00:33:40.38\00:33:41.82
the fingerprints of Jesus Christ
00:33:41.92\00:33:43.35
in those people's lives.
00:33:43.45\00:33:44.59
That was the order of the day --
00:33:44.69\00:33:46.15
Christianity lived
00:33:46.25\00:33:47.52
out in real life.
00:33:47.62\00:33:49.92
Now, the social meeting was
00:33:50.03\00:33:51.16
something that was very, very
00:33:51.26\00:33:52.46
important, and it was so
00:33:52.56\00:33:53.73
important that it became a part
00:33:53.83\00:33:55.56
of the missionary strategy
00:33:55.66\00:33:56.46
of the
00:33:56.56\00:33:57.43
Seventh-Day Adventist Church.
00:33:57.53\00:33:58.40
1885 to 1887,
00:33:58.50\00:34:00.14
Ellen White went to Europe.
00:34:00.24\00:34:01.60
You recall, you know,
00:34:01.70\00:34:02.34
John Andrews,
00:34:02.44\00:34:03.30
first officially sent
00:34:03.41\00:34:04.11
missionary to go to Europe.
00:34:04.21\00:34:06.11
Elder Conradi came
00:34:06.21\00:34:07.94
and followed up.
00:34:08.04\00:34:08.44
He was one
00:34:08.54\00:34:09.24
of the leaders there in Europe.
00:34:09.34\00:34:10.38
This is what
00:34:10.48\00:34:11.05
Ellen White had to say.
00:34:11.15\00:34:12.25
"I spoke in the forenoon --"
00:34:12.35\00:34:13.48
this is in Europe --
00:34:13.58\00:34:14.42
"and then Elder Conradi said
00:34:14.52\00:34:16.05
that they had never had
00:34:16.15\00:34:17.19
a social meeting."
00:34:17.29\00:34:18.25
Okay, and little bells and
00:34:18.35\00:34:19.19
alarms went off in
00:34:19.29\00:34:20.06
Ellen White's head.
00:34:20.16\00:34:20.56
So she said,
00:34:20.66\00:34:21.46
"I told him now was the time
00:34:21.56\00:34:23.19
to break them in.
00:34:23.29\00:34:24.43
We had a very good social
00:34:24.53\00:34:25.09
meeting.
00:34:25.19\00:34:25.93
The meeting did not close until
00:34:26.03\00:34:26.93
one o'clock.
00:34:27.03\00:34:27.83
It commenced at ten."
00:34:27.93\00:34:29.93
Now, that's three hours.
00:34:30.03\00:34:31.13
And I can tell you from
00:34:31.23\00:34:31.93
personal experience,
00:34:32.03\00:34:32.87
most social meetings don't last
00:34:32.97\00:34:33.87
for three hours,
00:34:33.97\00:34:34.94
but my guess is,
00:34:35.04\00:34:35.84
particularly out of the gate,
00:34:35.94\00:34:36.81
these people were excited.
00:34:36.91\00:34:38.34
They're new to their faith.
00:34:38.44\00:34:39.24
There's a handful
00:34:39.34\00:34:40.11
of experienced believers.
00:34:40.21\00:34:41.04
Most of them are new.
00:34:41.14\00:34:42.14
They have this social meeting.
00:34:42.24\00:34:43.08
It was a powerful experience.
00:34:43.18\00:34:44.48
More about that
00:34:44.58\00:34:45.45
in just a moment.
00:34:45.55\00:34:47.12
The social meeting was so
00:34:47.22\00:34:48.62
important that if you were
00:34:48.72\00:34:50.22
a minister,
00:34:50.32\00:34:51.12
if you were going to be trained
00:34:51.22\00:34:51.82
to be a church planter
00:34:51.92\00:34:52.75
in the Adventist Church,
00:34:52.85\00:34:53.62
'cause we didn't have settled
00:34:53.72\00:34:54.49
pastors, this was to be part
00:34:54.59\00:34:56.36
of your training --
00:34:56.46\00:34:57.19
how to conduct
00:34:57.29\00:34:58.19
the social meeting.
00:34:58.29\00:34:59.43
"Signs of the Times,"
00:34:59.53\00:35:00.43
May 17, 1883.
00:35:00.53\00:35:01.86
Now, I emphasize
00:35:27.76\00:35:28.49
that last sentence for
00:35:28.59\00:35:29.26
a very specific reason.
00:35:29.36\00:35:30.56
We've talked a lot about revival
00:35:30.66\00:35:31.89
and reformation in this series,
00:35:31.99\00:35:33.43
and personally,
00:35:33.53\00:35:35.13
you can experience that today.
00:35:35.23\00:35:37.60
You can start right now.
00:35:37.70\00:35:38.87
You don't have to wait.
00:35:38.97\00:35:40.00
But for the work,
00:35:40.10\00:35:41.90
the global work of Jesus Christ
00:35:42.00\00:35:44.37
being proclaimed in the three
00:35:44.47\00:35:45.41
angels' messages to the world,
00:35:45.51\00:35:46.88
if that is going to be revived,
00:35:46.98\00:35:48.71
something else has to happen.
00:35:48.81\00:35:50.08
There has to be
00:35:50.18\00:35:50.65
a wider movement.
00:35:50.75\00:35:51.88
And she includes
00:35:51.98\00:35:52.95
the social meeting in this,
00:35:53.05\00:35:54.22
not because of, you know, magic
00:35:54.32\00:35:55.45
of this title of social meeting
00:35:55.55\00:35:56.58
or something, but of what
00:35:56.69\00:35:57.62
happened there.
00:35:57.72\00:35:58.65
People in the social meeting
00:35:58.75\00:36:00.06
are engaged.
00:36:00.16\00:36:02.09
They are no longer spectators.
00:36:02.19\00:36:04.93
And she says ministers
00:36:05.03\00:36:05.86
have to know how to do this
00:36:05.96\00:36:06.63
if they are going to
00:36:06.73\00:36:07.50
be equipped for their work.
00:36:07.60\00:36:10.30
Now, some of the strongest
00:36:10.40\00:36:11.27
statements that Ellen White had
00:36:11.37\00:36:12.20
about the social meeting
00:36:12.30\00:36:13.27
came just as the first whispers
00:36:13.37\00:36:14.70
of doing away with them
00:36:14.80\00:36:16.30
began to circulate.
00:36:16.40\00:36:17.74
And in the 1890s,
00:36:17.84\00:36:18.87
the early 1900s,
00:36:18.97\00:36:20.31
people were saying, "Hey,
00:36:20.41\00:36:21.31
you know, we'd like to have
00:36:21.41\00:36:21.98
some settled pastors.
00:36:22.08\00:36:22.88
We want to have sermons
00:36:22.98\00:36:24.01
instead of social meetings
00:36:24.11\00:36:24.98
so we can be like
00:36:25.08\00:36:25.78
the other churches out there.
00:36:25.88\00:36:26.58
That seems
00:36:26.68\00:36:27.28
to be a better way to us."
00:36:27.38\00:36:28.42
And this was her response.
00:36:28.52\00:36:30.49
"Advent Review
00:36:30.59\00:36:31.32
and Sabbath Herald,"
00:36:31.42\00:36:31.92
September 10, 1895.
00:36:32.02\00:36:33.96
"Let everyone consider the value
00:36:34.06\00:36:35.29
of the social meetings,
00:36:35.39\00:36:36.32
and let not large
00:36:36.42\00:36:37.59
or small companies of believers
00:36:37.69\00:36:39.43
think that they cannot have
00:36:39.53\00:36:40.80
an enjoyable season unless they
00:36:40.90\00:36:42.56
are entertained by a preacher.
00:36:42.66\00:36:45.07
Where this dependence exists,
00:36:45.17\00:36:46.57
the people fail to obtain
00:36:46.67\00:36:47.90
that vigorous religious
00:36:48.00\00:36:48.77
experience
00:36:48.87\00:36:49.67
which they so much need
00:36:49.77\00:36:51.07
wherever their lot may be cast.
00:36:51.17\00:36:52.91
If the minister alone
00:36:53.01\00:36:54.68
does all the witnessing --"
00:36:54.78\00:36:56.31
Time-out.
00:36:56.41\00:36:59.48
What I am doing right now
00:36:59.58\00:37:00.55
is witnessing.
00:37:00.65\00:37:02.52
Most pastors
00:37:02.62\00:37:04.09
on a Sabbath morning,
00:37:04.19\00:37:05.62
if they're preaching,
00:37:05.72\00:37:06.42
they are witnessing.
00:37:06.52\00:37:07.79
I am seeking here to witness
00:37:07.89\00:37:08.89
about Jesus Christ and
00:37:08.99\00:37:10.09
about how His body, the church,
00:37:10.19\00:37:11.06
is to work best.
00:37:11.16\00:37:12.56
That's what I'm doing right now.
00:37:12.66\00:37:13.86
And in many churches,
00:37:13.96\00:37:15.43
that's the only witnessing
00:37:15.53\00:37:16.97
that takes place on
00:37:17.07\00:37:17.63
a Sabbath morning.
00:37:17.73\00:37:19.73
The preacher does it.
00:37:19.83\00:37:21.57
And as we said previously,
00:37:21.67\00:37:23.07
if you don't use
00:37:23.17\00:37:24.91
your spiritual muscle,
00:37:25.01\00:37:26.07
you will lose it.
00:37:26.17\00:37:27.84
Exactly.
00:37:27.94\00:37:29.44
In other words,
00:37:29.54\00:37:30.11
there's nothing wrong
00:37:30.21\00:37:30.98
with hearing a sermon.
00:37:31.08\00:37:32.05
I like to listen to sermons,
00:37:32.15\00:37:33.38
too -- not particularly my own,
00:37:33.48\00:37:34.25
but I like to listen to
00:37:34.35\00:37:35.15
other people's sermons, right?
00:37:35.25\00:37:35.72
Okay.
00:37:35.82\00:37:37.15
And nothing wrong with that.
00:37:37.25\00:37:38.82
But if we are to grow
00:37:38.92\00:37:40.19
spiritually to maturity
00:37:40.29\00:37:41.12
in Jesus Christ,
00:37:41.22\00:37:42.06
we also now must in turn
00:37:42.16\00:37:43.32
witness.
00:37:43.43\00:37:44.06
We must testify in a variety
00:37:44.16\00:37:45.83
of different ways
00:37:45.93\00:37:46.80
about our relationship
00:37:46.90\00:37:47.76
with Jesus Christ.
00:37:47.86\00:37:48.56
That's how we grow.
00:37:48.66\00:37:49.50
And she says,
00:37:49.60\00:37:50.20
if that's not the case,
00:37:50.30\00:37:51.27
well, let's see.
00:37:51.37\00:37:52.57
"If the minister alone
00:37:52.67\00:37:53.54
does all the witnessing,
00:37:53.64\00:37:54.44
then those
00:37:54.54\00:37:55.24
who have newly come to the faith
00:37:55.34\00:37:56.84
become dwarfed and sickly."
00:37:56.94\00:37:58.47
Some of you may remember
00:37:58.57\00:37:59.81
those same terms previously
00:37:59.91\00:38:01.54
when talking about dependence
00:38:01.64\00:38:02.51
on settled pastors.
00:38:02.61\00:38:03.71
"Dwarfed and sickly
00:38:03.81\00:38:04.71
for a lack of opportunity
00:38:04.81\00:38:06.65
to use their spiritual muscle.
00:38:06.75\00:38:08.45
They have need to learn
00:38:08.55\00:38:09.38
how to testify, how to pray,
00:38:09.48\00:38:11.22
how to sing, to the glory of
00:38:11.32\00:38:12.79
God; but failing to do this,
00:38:12.89\00:38:14.06
they have only a
00:38:14.16\00:38:15.16
one-sided experience."
00:38:15.26\00:38:18.16
You see, here's the thing.
00:38:18.26\00:38:19.39
Too often, too often,
00:38:19.49\00:38:21.50
a new person joins the church.
00:38:21.60\00:38:23.30
They're baptized and they're
00:38:23.40\00:38:25.07
excited about Jesus Christ.
00:38:25.17\00:38:26.77
And then churches will
00:38:26.87\00:38:29.07
just kind of wish them well.
00:38:29.17\00:38:30.54
"Hope you make it.
00:38:30.64\00:38:31.51
So glad you're here.
00:38:31.61\00:38:32.27
Good luck." Okay.
00:38:32.37\00:38:34.38
In the early Adventist Church,
00:38:34.48\00:38:35.38
they didn't do that.
00:38:35.48\00:38:36.54
They were instead -- immediately
00:38:36.64\00:38:37.75
new believers were
00:38:37.85\00:38:38.55
immediately placed
00:38:38.65\00:38:39.38
into a social meeting.
00:38:39.48\00:38:41.02
And in that social meeting,
00:38:41.12\00:38:41.98
you got to picture
00:38:42.08\00:38:42.58
this dynamic.
00:38:42.68\00:38:43.28
There's a circle of people
00:38:43.39\00:38:44.52
there, experienced believers
00:38:44.62\00:38:45.79
around the circle.
00:38:45.89\00:38:46.86
And the newbie doesn't know
00:38:46.96\00:38:48.19
his ear from a doughnut, right?
00:38:48.29\00:38:48.86
Doesn't know what
00:38:48.96\00:38:49.52
to do with Jesus Christ.
00:38:49.62\00:38:50.39
He's excited,
00:38:50.49\00:38:51.06
but he's not sure what
00:38:51.16\00:38:51.66
the next steps are.
00:38:51.76\00:38:52.79
Every single week,
00:38:52.89\00:38:54.20
he gets to hear,
00:38:54.30\00:38:55.00
she gets to hear
00:38:55.10\00:38:56.33
the good news coming from
00:38:56.43\00:38:57.13
the lips
00:38:57.23\00:38:57.83
of experienced believers.
00:38:57.93\00:38:59.43
"Here's how I dealt with
00:38:59.53\00:39:01.14
this victory in Jesus Christ.
00:39:01.24\00:39:02.44
Here's how I dealt with
00:39:02.54\00:39:03.67
when I failed.
00:39:03.77\00:39:05.14
And I may have even felt
00:39:05.24\00:39:06.01
like God failed me.
00:39:06.11\00:39:06.88
Here's what I did
00:39:06.98\00:39:08.01
in that situation."
00:39:08.11\00:39:09.81
The new believer sees
00:39:09.91\00:39:11.05
experienced believers pray.
00:39:11.15\00:39:12.45
They see the new --
00:39:12.55\00:39:13.21
the experienced
00:39:13.31\00:39:14.05
believers praise the Lord.
00:39:14.15\00:39:15.82
They learn all of these skills.
00:39:15.92\00:39:17.42
And it happened week after week
00:39:17.52\00:39:18.75
after week, and it worked
00:39:18.85\00:39:19.69
like dynamite -- again,
00:39:19.79\00:39:21.06
the fastest-growing
00:39:21.16\00:39:21.82
Protestant movement
00:39:21.92\00:39:22.86
that the world had ever seen.
00:39:22.96\00:39:24.39
And it was largely fueled
00:39:24.49\00:39:25.39
by what happened in
00:39:25.49\00:39:26.09
the social meeting.
00:39:26.19\00:39:28.16
Ellen White was pretty clear
00:39:28.26\00:39:29.13
in the universality of this.
00:39:29.23\00:39:30.07
She says...
00:39:30.17\00:39:30.97
She could not picture anybody
00:39:34.40\00:39:35.67
excluding themselves
00:39:35.77\00:39:36.87
from this important
00:39:36.97\00:39:37.74
discipleship experience.
00:39:37.84\00:39:39.44
For our early Adventist
00:39:39.54\00:39:40.58
pioneers, the social meeting was
00:39:40.68\00:39:41.74
a powerful,
00:39:41.84\00:39:42.61
powerful experience not
00:39:42.71\00:39:44.08
to be neglected at any price.
00:39:44.18\00:39:45.61
Again, it was
00:39:45.71\00:39:47.05
the most important meeting
00:39:47.15\00:39:48.28
that any local
00:39:48.38\00:39:49.35
Adventist church had, period.
00:39:49.45\00:39:53.15
But it wasn't
00:39:53.25\00:39:53.79
just for believers.
00:39:53.89\00:39:56.22
Evangelism turns out to be one
00:39:56.32\00:39:57.66
of the strongest suits
00:39:57.76\00:39:58.89
of the social meeting.
00:39:58.99\00:39:59.89
I've seen this with my own eyes.
00:40:00.00\00:40:00.80
I'll tell you about that
00:40:00.90\00:40:01.33
in just a moment.
00:40:01.43\00:40:02.40
It was a great fuel
00:40:02.50\00:40:04.60
for evangelism
00:40:04.70\00:40:06.00
in the early Adventist Church,
00:40:06.10\00:40:07.34
and that in at least two ways.
00:40:07.44\00:40:08.47
First of all,
00:40:08.57\00:40:09.30
the social meeting taught
00:40:09.40\00:40:10.11
that most basic
00:40:10.21\00:40:11.07
of evangelistic skills --
00:40:11.17\00:40:12.47
how to talk about Jesus
00:40:12.57\00:40:13.61
in front of others.
00:40:13.71\00:40:15.08
Ellen White,
00:40:15.18\00:40:15.74
when she was talking to
00:40:15.84\00:40:16.61
the believers in Australia,
00:40:16.71\00:40:18.35
the social meeting was getting
00:40:18.45\00:40:19.28
implemented in Australia.
00:40:19.38\00:40:20.58
Here's what she had to say.
00:40:20.68\00:40:21.65
She said...
00:40:21.75\00:40:22.58
The biggest reasons
00:40:30.36\00:40:31.56
why Christians don't share
00:40:31.66\00:40:32.96
their faith, in my experience,
00:40:33.06\00:40:34.13
is that they have
00:40:34.23\00:40:34.76
fear and trembling.
00:40:34.86\00:40:36.63
They're not sure what to say.
00:40:36.73\00:40:37.77
They don't know how to say it.
00:40:37.87\00:40:38.43
They're afraid they're
00:40:38.53\00:40:39.17
going to say the wrong thing
00:40:39.27\00:40:40.00
and offend somebody, right?
00:40:40.10\00:40:41.37
And so she's addressing that.
00:40:41.47\00:40:42.30
"They are learning
00:40:42.40\00:40:43.20
in the school of Christ
00:40:43.30\00:40:44.07
and are overcoming
00:40:44.17\00:40:45.34
fear and trembling."
00:40:45.44\00:40:46.24
Well, what is that school
00:40:46.34\00:40:46.98
of Christ?
00:40:47.08\00:40:47.61
She's clear...
00:40:47.71\00:40:48.58
I mean, this is basic logic
00:40:58.32\00:40:59.45
here.
00:40:59.55\00:41:00.46
By week after week
00:41:00.56\00:41:02.76
talking about Jesus in front of
00:41:02.86\00:41:05.06
mostly probably believers,
00:41:05.16\00:41:07.10
they became equipped to speak
00:41:07.20\00:41:08.56
about Jesus with those
00:41:08.66\00:41:09.73
that were not yet ready
00:41:09.83\00:41:10.83
for the second coming of Jesus.
00:41:10.93\00:41:12.43
I mean, just a basic training
00:41:12.53\00:41:13.94
school that was in session
00:41:14.04\00:41:15.17
every single Sabbath,
00:41:15.27\00:41:16.10
at least once a week.
00:41:16.20\00:41:18.74
Secondly, the social meeting
00:41:18.84\00:41:20.44
was used as a finishing tool
00:41:20.54\00:41:22.11
in public evangelistic efforts.
00:41:22.21\00:41:24.81
The plan was very simple.
00:41:24.91\00:41:25.95
The church planter,
00:41:26.05\00:41:26.65
the evangelist,
00:41:26.75\00:41:27.82
the minister, Adventist minister
00:41:27.92\00:41:29.72
would go to a new place
00:41:29.82\00:41:31.19
and would begin to preach
00:41:31.29\00:41:32.12
a series of meetings.
00:41:32.22\00:41:32.85
Crowds would come.
00:41:32.95\00:41:33.86
He would bring
00:41:33.96\00:41:34.66
in experienced
00:41:34.76\00:41:35.72
Adventist believers
00:41:35.82\00:41:36.62
from other places,
00:41:36.73\00:41:37.96
and when testing truths
00:41:38.06\00:41:39.59
were preached, for instance,
00:41:39.69\00:41:40.80
the Sabbath,
00:41:40.90\00:41:42.63
they would have a presentation
00:41:42.73\00:41:43.77
on the Sabbath,
00:41:43.87\00:41:44.67
followed by a social meeting,
00:41:44.77\00:41:46.80
and at the social meeting --
00:41:46.90\00:41:47.90
So let's say it's the Sabbath.
00:41:48.00\00:41:49.04
The preacher
00:41:49.14\00:41:49.77
preaches about that.
00:41:49.87\00:41:50.71
Those of you
00:41:50.81\00:41:51.51
that are converts to Adventism,
00:41:51.61\00:41:52.87
my guess is you probably had
00:41:52.97\00:41:54.18
some struggles with
00:41:54.28\00:41:55.04
accommodating
00:41:55.14\00:41:56.24
Sabbath into your life.
00:41:56.34\00:41:57.91
Not working on Sabbath
00:41:58.01\00:41:59.85
from Friday sundown
00:41:59.95\00:42:00.68
to Saturday sundown,
00:42:00.78\00:42:01.45
that can make
00:42:01.55\00:42:02.08
some major changes.
00:42:02.18\00:42:03.12
Some of you probably had to quit
00:42:03.22\00:42:04.62
profitable jobs, right?
00:42:04.72\00:42:06.25
Well, the same
00:42:06.35\00:42:06.89
was true back then.
00:42:06.99\00:42:08.52
And so to help people
00:42:08.62\00:42:09.86
that were wondering,
00:42:09.96\00:42:10.83
"Should I do this,"
00:42:10.93\00:42:12.49
the preacher held
00:42:12.59\00:42:13.36
a social meeting,
00:42:13.46\00:42:14.40
and in that meeting,
00:42:14.50\00:42:15.63
he would say -- he would start
00:42:15.73\00:42:16.16
the meeting,
00:42:16.26\00:42:16.93
and then various Adventists
00:42:17.03\00:42:18.50
would stand,
00:42:18.60\00:42:19.27
and they would testify about
00:42:19.37\00:42:20.34
how they made their decision
00:42:20.44\00:42:22.10
to follow Jesus,
00:42:22.20\00:42:23.34
including keeping
00:42:23.44\00:42:24.54
the Sabbath day holy.
00:42:24.64\00:42:25.57
It was powerful.
00:42:25.67\00:42:27.44
You see, the preacher, people
00:42:27.54\00:42:29.38
figure, is paid to say
00:42:29.48\00:42:32.21
these truths, right?
00:42:32.31\00:42:34.18
There's an ulterior motive
00:42:34.28\00:42:35.28
that sometimes skeptics
00:42:35.38\00:42:36.15
wonder about, right?
00:42:36.25\00:42:37.62
But when just the average
00:42:37.72\00:42:39.05
church member stands up
00:42:39.15\00:42:40.29
and says, "You know what?
00:42:40.39\00:42:41.69
My experience with the Sabbath,
00:42:41.79\00:42:42.86
it was a challenge at first.
00:42:42.96\00:42:43.86
I wasn't sure if I could
00:42:43.96\00:42:44.49
make it work.
00:42:44.59\00:42:45.63
It would cut right into what
00:42:45.73\00:42:47.13
I thought was my rising career.
00:42:47.23\00:42:48.63
But I wanted to follow Jesus.
00:42:48.73\00:42:49.53
And so I did,
00:42:49.63\00:42:50.90
and I've never looked back.
00:42:51.00\00:42:52.33
There's been some challenging
00:42:52.43\00:42:53.27
times, but the Lord has made
00:42:53.37\00:42:54.34
it worth every agony
00:42:54.44\00:42:55.97
along the way,
00:42:56.07\00:42:57.51
and Jesus is sweeter besides."
00:42:57.61\00:42:59.77
I'll tell you what.
00:42:59.87\00:43:00.58
When you hear somebody who's
00:43:00.68\00:43:01.71
not paid to do that, it matters.
00:43:01.81\00:43:03.28
It makes a difference.
00:43:03.38\00:43:04.65
And it worked wonderfully in
00:43:04.75\00:43:05.91
Adventist evangelistic circles.
00:43:06.01\00:43:07.18
I've had similar testimonies
00:43:07.28\00:43:08.32
when I've preached public
00:43:08.42\00:43:09.22
evangelistic series.
00:43:09.32\00:43:10.25
It just makes
00:43:10.35\00:43:11.75
a great difference to hear
00:43:11.85\00:43:14.06
the average person's testimony
00:43:14.16\00:43:15.32
in bringing these things on.
00:43:15.42\00:43:17.83
The use of social meetings
00:43:17.93\00:43:18.79
for evangelism
00:43:18.89\00:43:19.79
was sufficiently powerful that
00:43:19.89\00:43:21.13
it led to an inevitable
00:43:21.23\00:43:22.16
conclusion.
00:43:22.26\00:43:22.73
She says...
00:43:22.83\00:43:23.80
Now, I don't know
00:43:26.07\00:43:26.67
if preachers felt insulted
00:43:26.77\00:43:27.80
at that time or not.
00:43:27.90\00:43:28.64
"What do you mean
00:43:28.74\00:43:29.37
my sermon didn't do it all?"
00:43:29.47\00:43:30.54
She said, "No, no,
00:43:30.64\00:43:31.21
preaching's fine.
00:43:31.31\00:43:32.71
You need to have preaching,
00:43:32.81\00:43:34.08
but the social meeting ripens it
00:43:34.18\00:43:35.61
off better than preaching does."
00:43:35.71\00:43:38.41
You know, so important
00:43:38.51\00:43:39.18
were these small groups
00:43:39.28\00:43:40.15
to the ministry of the church
00:43:40.25\00:43:41.42
that Ellen White eventually made
00:43:41.52\00:43:42.62
a famous statement.
00:43:42.72\00:43:43.69
If you've ever studied
00:43:43.79\00:43:44.42
small group ministry
00:43:44.52\00:43:45.29
in the Adventist Church,
00:43:45.39\00:43:46.12
you have seen this before.
00:43:46.22\00:43:47.89
"Testimonies" volume seven,
00:43:47.99\00:43:48.86
page 21 and 22.
00:43:48.96\00:43:50.89
She says, "The formation
00:43:50.99\00:43:51.96
of small companies
00:43:52.06\00:43:53.56
as a basis of Christian effort
00:43:53.66\00:43:55.23
has been presented to me
00:43:55.33\00:43:56.43
by One --" capital "O" --
00:43:56.53\00:43:57.53
"who cannot err."
00:43:57.63\00:43:58.57
In other words,
00:43:58.67\00:43:59.13
this is God's idea
00:43:59.23\00:44:00.27
she's going to share here
00:44:00.37\00:44:01.07
about this, not hers.
00:44:01.17\00:44:02.07
She didn't make it up.
00:44:02.17\00:44:04.11
"If there is a large number
00:44:04.21\00:44:05.47
in the church --" Is there
00:44:05.57\00:44:06.27
a large number in this church?
00:44:06.37\00:44:08.01
Yes. Okay. Safe to say.
00:44:08.11\00:44:09.48
"Let the members be formed
00:44:09.58\00:44:10.68
into small companies
00:44:10.78\00:44:11.75
to work not only
00:44:11.85\00:44:12.91
for the church members,
00:44:13.01\00:44:14.22
but for unbelievers.
00:44:14.32\00:44:15.88
If in one place there are only
00:44:15.98\00:44:17.15
two or three who know the truth,
00:44:17.25\00:44:18.12
let them form themselves
00:44:18.22\00:44:19.15
into a band of workers.
00:44:19.25\00:44:20.66
Let them keep their bond
00:44:20.76\00:44:21.52
of union unbroken,
00:44:21.62\00:44:22.56
pressing together
00:44:22.66\00:44:23.36
in love and unity,
00:44:23.46\00:44:24.66
encouraging one another
00:44:24.76\00:44:25.59
to advance,
00:44:25.69\00:44:26.73
and gaining courage and strength
00:44:26.83\00:44:28.16
from the assistance
00:44:28.26\00:44:28.76
of the others.
00:44:28.86\00:44:30.00
Let them reveal Christ-like
00:44:30.10\00:44:30.97
forbearance and patience,
00:44:31.07\00:44:32.27
speaking no hasty words,
00:44:32.37\00:44:33.84
using the talent of speech
00:44:33.94\00:44:35.17
to build one another up
00:44:35.27\00:44:36.17
in the most holy faith.
00:44:36.27\00:44:37.67
Let them labor in Christ-like
00:44:37.77\00:44:38.67
love for those outside
00:44:38.77\00:44:40.21
the fold, forgetting self
00:44:40.31\00:44:41.54
in their endeavor
00:44:41.64\00:44:42.18
to help others.
00:44:42.28\00:44:43.08
As they work
00:44:43.18\00:44:43.98
and pray in Christ's name,
00:44:44.08\00:44:45.55
their numbers will increase,
00:44:45.65\00:44:47.02
for the Savior says --"
00:44:47.12\00:44:48.72
and then she quotes
00:44:48.82\00:44:49.75
from the Shekinah verses
00:44:49.85\00:44:50.69
that we looked at
00:44:50.79\00:44:51.35
a couple parts ago --
00:44:51.45\00:44:52.75
"'If two of you,'" Jesus says,
00:44:52.85\00:44:54.19
"'shall agree on earth
00:44:54.29\00:44:55.19
as touching anything
00:44:55.29\00:44:56.02
that they shall ask,
00:44:56.12\00:44:57.03
it shall be done for them of my
00:44:57.13\00:44:58.33
Father which is in heaven.'"
00:44:58.43\00:45:01.43
Ladies and gentlemen,
00:45:01.53\00:45:02.30
small groups played a key,
00:45:02.40\00:45:04.10
key role
00:45:04.20\00:45:05.30
in the Adventist Church's
00:45:05.40\00:45:06.43
evangelism and discipleship
00:45:06.53\00:45:07.70
efforts.
00:45:07.80\00:45:08.40
And the social meeting was
00:45:08.50\00:45:09.64
very often the fulcrum
00:45:09.74\00:45:11.11
from which those efforts
00:45:11.21\00:45:12.24
gained their leverage.
00:45:12.34\00:45:15.14
All of which
00:45:15.24\00:45:18.28
leads us to the important
00:45:18.38\00:45:19.08
question.
00:45:19.18\00:45:20.28
If the social meeting was
00:45:20.38\00:45:21.68
such great stuff, where'd it go?
00:45:21.78\00:45:25.12
Why'd we quit it?
00:45:25.22\00:45:28.09
That's certainly come up
00:45:28.19\00:45:28.82
in my mind, right?
00:45:28.92\00:45:29.66
I mean, if it did all these
00:45:29.76\00:45:30.46
great things, and
00:45:30.56\00:45:31.13
certainly the testimony
00:45:31.23\00:45:32.09
from Adventist history
00:45:32.19\00:45:32.83
is crystal clear,
00:45:32.93\00:45:33.66
this was a big deal, right,
00:45:33.76\00:45:35.26
how come it went away?
00:45:35.36\00:45:37.57
Well, this was
00:45:37.67\00:45:39.23
a self-inflicted wound.
00:45:39.33\00:45:41.84
I'm going to defer to the words
00:45:41.94\00:45:43.17
of Dr. Russell Burrill.
00:45:43.27\00:45:45.51
Dr. Burrill at one point
00:45:45.61\00:45:46.78
was the head elder here,
00:45:46.88\00:45:47.68
still a valued member
00:45:47.78\00:45:48.88
of our church here.
00:45:48.98\00:45:50.15
And at the time
00:45:50.25\00:45:51.85
when I first learned about this,
00:45:51.95\00:45:53.05
he was one of my professors
00:45:53.15\00:45:54.45
at the Adventist
00:45:54.55\00:45:55.25
Theological Seminary.
00:45:55.35\00:45:56.79
He is one
00:45:56.89\00:45:58.02
of the foremost researchers
00:45:58.12\00:45:59.05
in this area,
00:45:59.15\00:46:00.19
and I owe him a great debt for
00:46:00.29\00:46:01.66
his leadership in these things.
00:46:01.76\00:46:03.46
Here's what he had to say
00:46:03.56\00:46:04.59
a number of years ago.
00:46:04.69\00:46:06.29
He said, "After the death
00:46:06.39\00:46:07.30
of Ellen White in 1915,
00:46:07.40\00:46:09.36
social meetings gradually faded
00:46:09.46\00:46:10.93
from practice and were replaced
00:46:11.03\00:46:12.33
by the prayer meeting.
00:46:12.43\00:46:13.94
Eventually Adventist churches
00:46:14.04\00:46:15.20
began to pattern their services
00:46:15.30\00:46:16.30
after those of other
00:46:16.40\00:46:17.17
Protestant churches and clergy
00:46:17.27\00:46:18.91
were appointed over
00:46:19.01\00:46:19.74
the congregation."
00:46:19.84\00:46:20.81
These were settled pastors now.
00:46:20.91\00:46:22.54
"Soon the prayer
00:46:22.64\00:46:23.45
meeting degenerated.
00:46:23.55\00:46:24.91
Instead of a time
00:46:25.01\00:46:25.61
for people to pray
00:46:25.71\00:46:26.41
and share testimonies,
00:46:26.51\00:46:27.32
it became another time
00:46:27.42\00:46:28.48
for the pastor to preach
00:46:28.58\00:46:29.92
or give a cognitive Bible study,
00:46:30.02\00:46:31.52
followed by a season of prayer.
00:46:31.62\00:46:33.42
In most churches
00:46:33.52\00:46:34.29
the relational element
00:46:34.39\00:46:35.19
was entirely lost.
00:46:35.29\00:46:36.99
An unbalanced emphasis
00:46:37.09\00:46:38.09
on the cognitive
00:46:38.19\00:46:39.19
and eventually even a fear
00:46:39.29\00:46:40.66
of the relational
00:46:40.76\00:46:42.20
replaced the beautiful balance
00:46:42.30\00:46:43.57
of early Adventism.
00:46:43.67\00:46:45.30
The biblical plan for
00:46:45.40\00:46:46.17
both member care
00:46:46.27\00:46:47.14
and the role of clergy
00:46:47.24\00:46:48.10
were lost.
00:46:48.20\00:46:49.30
But these two concepts go
00:46:49.40\00:46:51.04
together.
00:46:51.14\00:46:52.37
With a primary-care pastor
00:46:52.47\00:46:53.61
over churches,
00:46:53.71\00:46:54.54
the relational small group
00:46:54.64\00:46:55.61
became unnecessary
00:46:55.71\00:46:56.91
and even a hindrance
00:46:57.01\00:46:58.68
to the work of the clergy."
00:46:58.78\00:47:01.28
In other words,
00:47:01.38\00:47:02.12
we came to value believing
00:47:02.22\00:47:05.02
something more than living it.
00:47:05.12\00:47:09.02
Which leads me to the first
00:47:09.12\00:47:10.86
of three conclusions.
00:47:10.96\00:47:11.69
My words now.
00:47:11.79\00:47:12.99
Number one...
00:47:13.09\00:47:14.03
The devil knows all kinds
00:47:21.14\00:47:21.94
of facts and figures.
00:47:22.04\00:47:22.67
He know which day is
00:47:22.77\00:47:23.30
the Sabbath.
00:47:23.41\00:47:23.97
He knows about
00:47:24.07\00:47:24.64
the state of the dead.
00:47:24.74\00:47:25.67
He knows the truth about
00:47:25.77\00:47:26.31
the sanctuary,
00:47:26.41\00:47:27.48
and he's not going to heaven
00:47:27.58\00:47:28.28
last I checked,
00:47:28.38\00:47:30.35
because he doesn't have a living
00:47:30.45\00:47:31.35
relationship with the author
00:47:31.45\00:47:32.45
of all those things.
00:47:32.55\00:47:33.98
It's not enough
00:47:34.08\00:47:34.75
just to know stuff,
00:47:34.85\00:47:35.62
ladies and gentlemen,
00:47:35.72\00:47:36.79
are Adventists right
00:47:36.89\00:47:37.82
in their theology.
00:47:37.92\00:47:38.59
You know what?
00:47:38.69\00:47:39.29
A whole bunch of the time.
00:47:39.39\00:47:40.09
That's one of the reasons
00:47:40.19\00:47:40.66
I'm here.
00:47:40.76\00:47:41.16
Absolutely.
00:47:41.26\00:47:42.02
I make no bones about that.
00:47:42.12\00:47:43.53
But if all we're doing
00:47:43.63\00:47:44.46
is believing right stuff
00:47:44.56\00:47:45.36
and we're not living it,
00:47:45.46\00:47:46.63
what's the point?
00:47:46.73\00:47:48.46
Jesus says we are
00:47:48.56\00:47:49.50
to be His body, His living,
00:47:49.60\00:47:50.83
breathing body
00:47:50.93\00:47:51.90
in which these principles are
00:47:52.00\00:47:52.83
not just proclaimed,
00:47:52.93\00:47:54.27
but in which we live out
00:47:54.37\00:47:55.87
in community with one another
00:47:55.97\00:47:57.04
and regularly invite those
00:47:57.14\00:47:58.37
on the outside to come on in.
00:47:58.47\00:48:02.41
Number two...
00:48:02.51\00:48:03.28
We need to put in
00:48:24.40\00:48:25.03
the rearview mirror
00:48:25.13\00:48:26.23
as much as we possibly
00:48:26.33\00:48:27.74
can this side of heaven
00:48:27.84\00:48:29.54
the phone call that you --
00:48:29.64\00:48:31.54
Maybe you've gotten it.
00:48:31.64\00:48:32.47
I know I've gotten it.
00:48:32.57\00:48:33.34
Most every pastor does.
00:48:33.44\00:48:34.51
"Pastor, I've been gone for
00:48:34.61\00:48:36.14
nine months, and not
00:48:36.24\00:48:37.41
a single person contacted me."
00:48:37.51\00:48:40.15
Now, nobody even knew about it,
00:48:40.25\00:48:40.92
right?
00:48:41.02\00:48:42.62
That's got to be put to bed.
00:48:42.72\00:48:43.99
It's got to be left behind.
00:48:44.09\00:48:45.79
And the way to do that
00:48:45.89\00:48:47.22
is by doing what Jesus asked us
00:48:47.32\00:48:48.59
to do, by developing genuine
00:48:48.69\00:48:50.26
Christian community.
00:48:50.36\00:48:51.53
There is such a blessing waiting
00:48:51.63\00:48:52.89
to be obtained here.
00:48:52.99\00:48:55.23
In conclusion, number three...
00:48:55.33\00:48:56.13
You know, we look back too often
00:49:16.52\00:49:18.59
at the black-and-white
00:49:18.69\00:49:19.45
photographs of our
00:49:19.55\00:49:20.82
early Adventist pioneers,
00:49:20.92\00:49:22.49
and we immediately
00:49:22.59\00:49:23.46
think they were starched
00:49:23.56\00:49:24.79
and stiff and stodgy, right?
00:49:24.89\00:49:26.86
I mean, I used to think
00:49:26.96\00:49:27.46
that EGW stood for
00:49:27.56\00:49:28.73
extra grumpy woman, right?
00:49:28.83\00:49:31.17
Because you look at
00:49:31.27\00:49:31.80
the pictures, right?
00:49:31.90\00:49:32.90
I mean, these are lifeless
00:49:33.00\00:49:34.04
bunch, right?
00:49:34.14\00:49:35.54
What a danger it would
00:49:35.64\00:49:36.71
have been to be transported
00:49:36.81\00:49:37.94
in time back to be with them.
00:49:38.04\00:49:38.91
Not so.
00:49:39.01\00:49:40.18
These were a passionate bunch.
00:49:40.28\00:49:42.11
They knew what it meant
00:49:42.21\00:49:43.08
to feel a relationship
00:49:43.18\00:49:44.38
with Jesus, not just
00:49:44.48\00:49:45.58
to know the truth about it.
00:49:45.68\00:49:46.85
And they intentionally,
00:49:46.95\00:49:47.95
regularly, for decade
00:49:48.05\00:49:48.85
after decade,
00:49:48.95\00:49:49.85
put these things together.
00:49:49.95\00:49:51.62
Did we have our flaws?
00:49:51.72\00:49:52.55
Oh, yes, we did,
00:49:52.65\00:49:53.62
but we were passionate
00:49:53.72\00:49:54.49
about those, too, right?
00:49:54.59\00:49:56.19
We lived out our faith
00:49:56.29\00:49:57.56
on a daily basis,
00:49:57.66\00:49:58.66
and the social meeting --
00:49:58.76\00:49:59.56
Again, never mind the name.
00:49:59.66\00:50:00.96
Look what happened in that
00:50:01.03\00:50:02.26
meeting.
00:50:02.36\00:50:03.40
This was the methodological
00:50:03.50\00:50:06.07
fuel that enabled them
00:50:06.17\00:50:07.84
to continually deepen
00:50:07.94\00:50:09.60
their relationship with Jesus
00:50:09.70\00:50:10.91
and bring new people
00:50:11.01\00:50:11.74
to the faith,
00:50:11.84\00:50:12.67
and not just bring new people
00:50:12.77\00:50:13.68
to the faith,
00:50:13.78\00:50:14.58
but then help them mature to now
00:50:14.68\00:50:16.01
where they are bringing
00:50:16.11\00:50:17.11
new people into the faith.
00:50:17.21\00:50:18.25
And they did it over
00:50:18.35\00:50:19.58
and over every single Sabbath.
00:50:19.68\00:50:23.28
It was awesome.
00:50:23.39\00:50:25.65
So I leave you with a challenge.
00:50:25.75\00:50:29.02
To be clear,
00:50:29.12\00:50:31.16
we do large group
00:50:31.26\00:50:32.33
gatherings very well.
00:50:32.43\00:50:35.00
We are experts in this.
00:50:35.10\00:50:36.30
We do it well.
00:50:36.40\00:50:37.60
Long may it live.
00:50:37.70\00:50:38.93
Praise the Lord. Amen.
00:50:39.03\00:50:41.37
And -- And since I'm so careful
00:50:41.47\00:50:44.84
about my conjunctions,
00:50:44.94\00:50:45.84
I really should change that.
00:50:45.94\00:50:46.81
But --
00:50:46.91\00:50:48.81
But when it comes
00:50:48.91\00:50:50.81
to genuine Christian community
00:50:50.91\00:50:52.11
and smaller group settings,
00:50:52.21\00:50:53.08
we in the West
00:50:53.18\00:50:54.15
have our work cut out for us.
00:50:54.25\00:50:57.02
So here's my challenge to you,
00:50:57.12\00:50:58.45
and I'm just going to put this
00:50:58.55\00:50:59.19
out here, alright?
00:50:59.29\00:51:00.36
And this is not the only time
00:51:00.46\00:51:01.29
that you'll have opportunity
00:51:01.39\00:51:02.12
to take advantage of it,
00:51:02.22\00:51:02.99
but I'll just put it out there.
00:51:03.09\00:51:03.76
In the next six months,
00:51:03.86\00:51:05.33
I want to challenge you to start
00:51:05.43\00:51:06.83
or join a social meeting.
00:51:06.93\00:51:09.86
Start or join a social meeting.
00:51:09.96\00:51:12.30
And some of you think, "Well,
00:51:12.40\00:51:13.13
I don't know how to do that."
00:51:13.23\00:51:13.97
Good news -- I do.
00:51:14.07\00:51:15.97
I know how to start
00:51:16.07\00:51:16.67
social meetings.
00:51:16.77\00:51:17.94
I have been to well over 100
00:51:18.04\00:51:19.34
social meetings in my time.
00:51:19.44\00:51:20.71
I've started
00:51:20.81\00:51:21.68
dozens of them myself.
00:51:21.78\00:51:23.24
I know how to do this,
00:51:23.35\00:51:23.95
and it's not because I'm
00:51:24.05\00:51:24.78
a genius, it's because it's
00:51:24.88\00:51:25.55
really simple, right?
00:51:25.65\00:51:26.95
So there's two things.
00:51:27.05\00:51:27.65
If you don't know
00:51:27.75\00:51:28.42
how to start a social meeting
00:51:28.52\00:51:29.35
but you're intrigued by this,
00:51:29.45\00:51:30.32
you're like, "Oh, maybe, maybe,
00:51:30.42\00:51:31.55
maybe I could do this,"
00:51:31.65\00:51:33.22
okay, you probably can.
00:51:33.32\00:51:34.52
Two things that I would
00:51:34.62\00:51:35.16
encourage you to do.
00:51:35.26\00:51:35.72
Number one, study.
00:51:35.82\00:51:37.39
You've had a little primer
00:51:37.49\00:51:38.69
right here this morning,
00:51:38.79\00:51:40.16
this afternoon, okay?
00:51:40.26\00:51:42.13
So study now for yourself.
00:51:42.23\00:51:43.77
For instance,
00:51:43.87\00:51:44.57
go to the Ellen White Estate
00:51:44.67\00:51:46.07
online and look there.
00:51:46.17\00:51:47.97
Do a search in the works of
00:51:48.07\00:51:49.90
Ellen White for social meeting.
00:51:50.01\00:51:51.67
Put it in quotation marks, okay?
00:51:51.77\00:51:53.07
"Social meeting" right together,
00:51:53.17\00:51:54.24
quotation marks on either end.
00:51:54.34\00:51:56.08
You need the quotation marks
00:51:56.18\00:51:56.95
so your Boolean logic
00:51:57.05\00:51:58.21
will look for the right thing.
00:51:58.31\00:51:59.65
Those of you that don't know
00:51:59.75\00:52:00.65
what that is, you can ask
00:52:00.75\00:52:01.32
somebody at potluck,
00:52:01.42\00:52:02.38
and it'll be fun
00:52:02.48\00:52:03.15
to see what they say, okay?
00:52:03.25\00:52:04.42
But that will bring up
00:52:04.52\00:52:05.12
social meeting.
00:52:05.22\00:52:05.92
You'll find somewhere between
00:52:06.02\00:52:06.86
100 and 200 references to
00:52:06.96\00:52:08.02
the social meeting.
00:52:08.12\00:52:08.86
That will be very enlightening.
00:52:08.96\00:52:09.96
Read that chapter in
00:52:10.06\00:52:11.33
"Testimonies" about this called
00:52:11.43\00:52:12.76
"The Social Meeting" there
00:52:12.86\00:52:13.70
so that you understand
00:52:13.80\00:52:14.86
the dynamics of what
00:52:14.96\00:52:15.60
was happening
00:52:15.70\00:52:16.43
in early Adventism.
00:52:16.53\00:52:18.33
Secondly, you can download
00:52:18.43\00:52:21.07
a four-page starter kit
00:52:21.17\00:52:23.14
that I have put together.
00:52:23.24\00:52:24.17
Okay, just hold
00:52:24.27\00:52:24.81
your phone up there.
00:52:24.91\00:52:25.57
For those of you
00:52:25.67\00:52:26.34
that are unfamiliar with
00:52:26.44\00:52:27.44
how to capture a QR code,
00:52:27.54\00:52:28.94
just open your picture-taking
00:52:29.04\00:52:31.35
stuff so you're, like,
00:52:31.45\00:52:32.08
ready to take a photo, okay?
00:52:32.18\00:52:33.65
And point it at the screen,
00:52:33.75\00:52:35.22
and it will grasp that QR code.
00:52:35.32\00:52:37.22
Something that will appear
00:52:37.32\00:52:37.85
just below it, a URL,
00:52:37.95\00:52:39.62
press that, and it will take
00:52:39.72\00:52:41.06
you to where this
00:52:41.16\00:52:42.19
four-page handout is.
00:52:42.29\00:52:43.29
Now, the four-page handout is
00:52:43.39\00:52:44.63
not perfect.
00:52:44.73\00:52:45.56
I've developed it more and more
00:52:45.66\00:52:46.66
over the years, and maybe
00:52:46.76\00:52:47.73
next week it will be different
00:52:47.83\00:52:48.60
as we learn more and more
00:52:48.70\00:52:49.50
about implementing things here.
00:52:49.60\00:52:50.77
But this will give
00:52:50.87\00:52:51.57
you a good start.
00:52:51.67\00:52:52.43
If you're watching at home
00:52:52.53\00:52:53.17
right now,
00:52:53.27\00:52:54.04
you, too, can get this
00:52:54.14\00:52:55.40
and you can use it
00:52:55.50\00:52:56.57
in your setting there.
00:52:56.67\00:52:58.47
It is straightforward to do.
00:52:58.57\00:53:01.31
It has powerful results.
00:53:01.41\00:53:03.18
And let me leave you briefly
00:53:03.28\00:53:04.28
with my testimony in this area.
00:53:04.38\00:53:07.02
As I said,
00:53:07.12\00:53:07.72
I've been well over 100.
00:53:07.82\00:53:08.88
I don't know what
00:53:08.98\00:53:09.52
the actual number is,
00:53:09.62\00:53:10.15
but it's well over 100
00:53:10.25\00:53:11.25
social meetings in my ministry
00:53:11.35\00:53:12.39
thus far,
00:53:12.49\00:53:13.86
and overwhelmingly the ones
00:53:13.96\00:53:15.76
that I have personally attended
00:53:15.86\00:53:17.13
were almost all very good.
00:53:17.23\00:53:19.89
How many things in life
00:53:20.00\00:53:20.76
can you say that about, that
00:53:20.86\00:53:22.63
almost all of it's very good?
00:53:22.73\00:53:23.67
With this social, I can.
00:53:23.77\00:53:24.63
I can say it.
00:53:24.73\00:53:25.63
I have been to a few duds.
00:53:25.73\00:53:26.87
Yes, okay, that's true.
00:53:26.97\00:53:28.50
But most of them,
00:53:28.60\00:53:29.24
the overwhelming
00:53:29.34\00:53:29.97
majority were very good.
00:53:30.07\00:53:32.01
The social meeting's
00:53:32.11\00:53:32.57
very simple.
00:53:32.67\00:53:33.27
I'll just give you
00:53:33.38\00:53:33.94
a brief overview here.
00:53:34.04\00:53:34.94
There's a leader.
00:53:35.04\00:53:35.78
Usually there's a reading
00:53:35.88\00:53:36.78
that is read, and the
00:53:36.88\00:53:37.58
opening reading is
00:53:37.68\00:53:38.65
in that four-page pack
00:53:38.75\00:53:39.78
that you can get through
00:53:39.88\00:53:40.52
the QR code, and the leader
00:53:40.62\00:53:42.35
reads that so the people are
00:53:42.45\00:53:43.22
on the same page.
00:53:43.32\00:53:43.82
If there's a guest
00:53:43.92\00:53:44.59
who's never experienced it,
00:53:44.69\00:53:45.45
they'll get a primer
00:53:45.55\00:53:46.82
on how that works.
00:53:46.92\00:53:47.92
And then the guest --
00:53:48.02\00:53:48.66
the leader
00:53:48.76\00:53:49.86
will usually start the sharing.
00:53:49.96\00:53:51.09
And the sharing is
00:53:51.19\00:53:51.93
on one of two topics.
00:53:52.03\00:53:52.93
Number one,
00:53:53.03\00:53:53.96
how is it with you and Jesus
00:53:54.03\00:53:54.96
today?
00:53:55.06\00:53:55.86
This is real stuff.
00:53:55.96\00:53:56.93
It's not a Bible study.
00:53:57.03\00:53:58.23
This is application of the Bible
00:53:58.33\00:53:59.60
to real life,
00:53:59.70\00:54:00.50
Jesus in real life.
00:54:00.60\00:54:01.87
How is it with you and Jesus
00:54:01.97\00:54:02.70
today?
00:54:02.80\00:54:03.71
The second topic is one
00:54:03.81\00:54:05.27
that the group can choose.
00:54:05.37\00:54:06.21
Maybe the group says,
00:54:06.31\00:54:07.21
"We're going
00:54:07.31\00:54:08.21
to testify about prayer,
00:54:08.31\00:54:09.84
about developing a prayer life.
00:54:09.94\00:54:10.98
We're going to testify
00:54:11.08\00:54:12.18
about the blessing that the
00:54:12.28\00:54:13.31
Sabbath has been to us," okay?
00:54:13.42\00:54:14.72
So you can choose a topic
00:54:14.82\00:54:15.98
for your social meeting.
00:54:16.08\00:54:17.72
Preparation needs to take place
00:54:17.82\00:54:19.09
in the week ahead.
00:54:19.19\00:54:19.85
As I mentioned earlier,
00:54:19.95\00:54:20.79
this is not just off the cuff.
00:54:20.89\00:54:21.79
Certainly there is an
00:54:21.89\00:54:22.52
off-the-cuff element here,
00:54:22.62\00:54:23.79
but you need to be thinking
00:54:23.89\00:54:24.73
ahead to be able to share
00:54:24.83\00:54:26.16
what needs to be shared,
00:54:26.26\00:54:27.23
what the Spirit puts on
00:54:27.30\00:54:28.13
your heart to share
00:54:28.23\00:54:29.00
in that social meeting.
00:54:29.10\00:54:30.13
The leader begins,
00:54:30.23\00:54:31.33
two to three minutes max,
00:54:31.43\00:54:32.60
probably, for his testimony,
00:54:32.70\00:54:33.77
her testimony.
00:54:33.87\00:54:34.97
And then you don't go around the
00:54:35.07\00:54:37.04
circle, 'cause you'll intimidate
00:54:37.14\00:54:38.11
a guest that's there.
00:54:38.21\00:54:39.04
Just let people begin to share
00:54:39.14\00:54:40.14
across the circle,.
00:54:40.24\00:54:40.74
just popcorn like,
00:54:40.84\00:54:42.04
and they'll begin to share
00:54:42.14\00:54:43.04
their experience there.
00:54:43.14\00:54:44.85
The first time that I used
00:54:44.95\00:54:45.98
the social meeting was in
00:54:46.08\00:54:47.18
a church-planting environment.
00:54:47.28\00:54:48.58
This is years ago.
00:54:48.68\00:54:49.58
Dr. Burrill was presenting
00:54:49.68\00:54:50.19
about it.
00:54:50.29\00:54:50.85
I was absolutely elated.
00:54:50.95\00:54:51.95
I'd never heard of such a thing
00:54:52.05\00:54:52.92
before and I wanted to do this.
00:54:53.02\00:54:54.56
And so in my first church plant,
00:54:54.66\00:54:56.29
the way we structured
00:54:56.39\00:54:57.13
Sabbath mornings is
00:54:57.23\00:54:58.26
I preached first in the morning,
00:54:58.36\00:55:00.20
we had a break,
00:55:00.30\00:55:01.70
and then we had a social
00:55:01.80\00:55:02.60
meeting, and we didn't call
00:55:02.70\00:55:03.63
it a social meeting.
00:55:03.73\00:55:04.13
We called it
00:55:04.23\00:55:04.80
Community Growth Group,
00:55:04.90\00:55:05.50
'cause nobody knows what
00:55:05.60\00:55:06.53
a social meeting is.
00:55:06.63\00:55:07.57
So we -- But we'd break up
00:55:07.67\00:55:09.24
into our social meetings there,
00:55:09.34\00:55:10.57
and we primed the pump.
00:55:10.67\00:55:11.84
We had experienced believers
00:55:11.94\00:55:13.07
there with guests,
00:55:13.17\00:55:14.28
and particularly
00:55:14.38\00:55:15.21
as the church plant went on,
00:55:15.31\00:55:16.28
those were some
00:55:16.38\00:55:16.95
of the sweetest times,
00:55:17.05\00:55:18.68
honestly, in my ministry life,
00:55:18.78\00:55:21.18
because looking back
00:55:21.28\00:55:22.28
on those conversations,
00:55:22.38\00:55:23.69
there would be, you know,
00:55:23.79\00:55:25.05
people many times weeping tears
00:55:25.15\00:55:26.86
of joy as they began
00:55:26.96\00:55:28.52
to experience genuine
00:55:28.62\00:55:29.86
Christian community,
00:55:29.96\00:55:30.46
some of them
00:55:30.56\00:55:31.13
for the very first time.
00:55:31.23\00:55:32.96
And to see -- this was
00:55:33.06\00:55:34.36
astonishing to me -- to see
00:55:34.46\00:55:35.80
guests, people that were not --
00:55:35.90\00:55:38.70
people that were not members
00:55:38.80\00:55:40.87
of any church, coming
00:55:40.97\00:55:42.37
to our church plant
00:55:42.47\00:55:43.37
there, and for the first time,
00:55:43.47\00:55:44.51
they're exploring spiritual
00:55:44.61\00:55:45.57
things, and you could see
00:55:45.67\00:55:47.08
the tears coming from their eyes
00:55:47.18\00:55:50.68
as they realized
00:55:50.78\00:55:53.08
that what they hoped was true
00:55:53.18\00:55:55.52
about Christians really is,
00:55:55.62\00:55:58.55
that they care for one another,
00:55:58.65\00:56:00.39
that Jesus really makes
00:56:00.49\00:56:02.22
a difference in their lives.
00:56:02.32\00:56:04.33
It was powerful,
00:56:04.43\00:56:06.19
powerful, and over the years,
00:56:06.29\00:56:08.13
going to dozens and dozens
00:56:08.23\00:56:09.10
of these things,
00:56:09.20\00:56:09.83
I am completely convinced
00:56:09.93\00:56:11.10
that this simple little thing --
00:56:11.20\00:56:12.33
I don't care what you call it,
00:56:12.43\00:56:13.34
but what happens
00:56:13.44\00:56:14.64
in that meeting is the church.
00:56:14.74\00:56:18.31
It's Jesus
00:56:18.41\00:56:19.41
in the midst of His people.
00:56:19.51\00:56:22.21
Ladies and gentlemen,
00:56:22.31\00:56:23.58
we have a world to reach.
00:56:23.68\00:56:25.61
Time is short.
00:56:25.71\00:56:27.82
We must think big, it's true.
00:56:27.92\00:56:29.78
We have to reach the planet.
00:56:29.88\00:56:31.89
But if we're going to think big,
00:56:31.99\00:56:33.69
we must also think small.
00:56:33.79\00:56:36.42
Would you please carefully
00:56:36.52\00:56:37.76
consider what the Spirit
00:56:37.86\00:56:39.93
would have you do with
00:56:40.03\00:56:42.40
this kind of
00:56:42.50\00:56:43.80
small-group ministry?
00:56:43.90\00:56:45.37
>> I'm Shane Anderson,
00:56:52.24\00:56:53.21
the lead pastor here
00:56:53.31\00:56:54.48
at Pioneer Memorial Church.
00:56:54.58\00:56:56.61
At Pioneer Media,
00:56:56.71\00:56:57.78
we have been blessed
00:56:57.88\00:56:58.71
by the financial support
00:56:58.81\00:57:00.45
that comes from our viewers like
00:57:00.55\00:57:01.82
you that enable us
00:57:01.92\00:57:03.35
to continue this ministry.
00:57:03.45\00:57:05.82
We've made a conscious decision
00:57:05.92\00:57:07.26
not to continually appeal to you
00:57:07.36\00:57:08.69
for that support.
00:57:08.79\00:57:10.33
However, keeping this ministry
00:57:10.43\00:57:11.53
going takes money
00:57:11.63\00:57:12.76
to support our staff and
00:57:12.86\00:57:14.20
technology needs.
00:57:14.30\00:57:15.96
If God has blessed you
00:57:16.06\00:57:17.57
and you would like to further
00:57:17.67\00:57:18.57
the work of this ministry,
00:57:18.67\00:57:20.00
we invite you
00:57:20.10\00:57:20.90
to partner with us.
00:57:21.00\00:57:22.77
You can donate on our website,
00:57:22.87\00:57:24.24
pmchurch.org.
00:57:24.34\00:57:26.61
Then click "giving" at the top.
00:57:26.71\00:57:28.91
Then select "media ministry."
00:57:29.01\00:57:31.71
Or call the number
00:57:31.81\00:57:33.01
877-HIS-WILL.
00:57:33.11\00:57:35.72
Again, that number is
00:57:35.82\00:57:36.72
877 the two words HIS-WILL.
00:57:36.82\00:57:40.72
My prayer is that the God
00:57:40.82\00:57:42.36
who has blessed
00:57:42.46\00:57:43.22
you will continue to pour
00:57:43.32\00:57:44.93
into your life the gifts
00:57:45.03\00:57:45.99
of His joy and His hope.
00:57:46.09\00:57:48.30
Thank you, and
00:57:48.40\00:57:49.83
I'm looking forward to seeing
00:57:49.93\00:57:50.93
you right here again next time.
00:57:51.03\00:57:52.87
¤
00:57:59.54\00:58:09.52
¤
00:58:09.62\00:58:19.53
¤
00:58:19.63\00:58:27.87