Establishing Neighborhood Bible Studies

Driving home: The primary purpose is not the feeding of the sheep, but rather the effort to gather those other sheep whom Christ says he must bring to himself.

Martin uses the example of asking for a show of hands for members residing in Pequonic, Montville, or Boonton to illustrate the concept of 'clusters' of church members in various communities.

Okay. I'll keep the strength. There are clusters of members in various communities. In other words, sitting here this morning, if I were to ask a raise of hands for those who are in, in Pequonic, we would have a number of hands raised.

7:36 - 7:54 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin outlines practical guidelines for the proposed Bible studies, including meeting twice a month on Friday evenings, a 45-minute instruction time, elder-appointed leaders, and…

He uses the metaphor of a 'pilot project' and whether 'this thing will float' to describe the initial trial period of the Bible studies and the need to assess their effectiveness.

There are excellent guide questions at the back for each of the chapters so that the person leading the Bible study would not feel that he was out to sea without a chart and a compass in guiding the direction of the Bible study. And then the time frame to discern the effectiveness of each Bible study would be our initial pilot project beginning in March, the middle of March, or the end of March, and going through to the 1st of July. And then we would make an assessment if we find that, well, floating. In other words, we don't know how this thing will float. And we want to be sensitive to what ...

14:18 - 15:32 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin emphasizes that pursuing this vision will come at a significant cost, requiring self-denial and cross-bearing, drawing parallels to Christ's call to discipleship and Paul's…

Paul's example in 1 Corinthians 9 is used to illustrate a 'fisherman' who denies his liberties for the higher concern of winning men to Christ, demonstrating the self-denying dimension of evangelism.

Paul has been dealing with the subject of Christian liberty, and having set forth some very vital principles, he now sets forth himself as an example of a man who is a fisherman. Who does not use his liberties to the full, but that there are higher concerns than either on the one hand the enjoyment of the full extent of his liberties, or manifesting to men those liberties. And that great passion is the winning of men to Christ, and seeking so to walk that he never becomes a stumbling block to weak believers. And so in this chapter he talks about what his rights are. Am I not free? Am I not an ...

22:48 - 23:39 Read in full sermon

The point: Attend the next two prayer meetings where this matter will be prominently featured.

Martin recounts how the 'Operation Gone Fishing' proposal originated from younger elders, expressing his thrill at their initiative and the organic development of the vision, rather than it being elder-driven from the top down.

We are going to assign a prominent place this Wednesday and the following Wednesday to this endeavor, pleading with God that if this is something more than just a pipe dream of your elders. And I have to say, as the old man on the block, I was thrilled when a week ago Thursday, this was not on the agenda as I made up the agenda. We had gone through the agenda as I had made up the agenda. Then one of the other elders said, Pastor, the three of us, Pastor Jay, Pastor Carlson, and Pastor Smith, they had gotten together and they had come up with this proposal.

30:23 - 31:00 Read in full sermon

The point: Attend the initial assessment meeting on February 25th if you are interested in being involved in a Bible study in your community.

He uses the metaphor of God making the endeavor 'float' and 'filling the sails' to emphasize that the success of the Bible studies depends entirely on God's blessing and power, not human effort alone.

Sink it. We just don't want to waste time for the sake of doing something or feeling that we'll have a better conscience if people ask us, what are you doing in evangelism? And we can say, oh, we're having home Bibles. My friends, life is too short for that kind of nonsense.

32:23 - 32:40 Read in full sermon

The point: Show genuine interest in your neighbors as people, looking for natural bridges of conversation and concern.

Martin shares a personal anecdote about helping a neighbor plant shrubs, which led to a deeper relationship and an opportunity to pray with the neighbor's family during a time of grief, illustrating how genuine interest and practical help can open doors for gospel witness.

Yeah. And then you never know. You see, I mean, I think back a couple of years ago and there's a knock on my door and my neighbor comes in and tears and tells me, your husband just died on the table where he was supposed to have some radiation. And I ended up right up in the living room with all the relatives, all devout Roman Catholics and praying with them.

47:08 - 47:31 Read in full sermon