Establishing Neighborhood Bible Studies

Introduction: The Vision to Reach Our Jerusalem

0:02 Now, I do welcome any who may be visiting with us today. Ordinarily, in this class, we would be in our study in the shorter catechism, the Baptist version, led by Pastor Carlson. However, for this one class today, I have been asked by my fellow elders to lead you in considering a matter related to our life as a church. Those of you who are members of this church and regular attenders for any period of time have no doubt heard the phrase, reaching our own Jerusalem, or penetrating our own Jerusalem with the gospel. This phrase has been repeated in prayer meetings, in the prayers as brethren have led us to the throne of grace. It has been used in comments. And challenges from various of your pastors.

1:05 And the basis for this phrase, reaching our own Jerusalem, or penetrating our own Jerusalem, is based upon Acts chapter 1 and verse 8. And I would invite you to turn to that passage in the Word of God with me. In the upper room discourse in John 14-16, which is the most dense section. The primary emphasis is upon the Spirit's ministry, establishing communion with the absent, risen, exalted Christ.

1:47 A communion with Him and with the Father, established and maintained by the indwelling Spirit, whom the risen Lord would send to His people. Furthermore, the...

2:00 The emphasis in those chapters falls upon the ministry of the Spirit as the Spirit of truth, who will testify of Christ, who will reveal the things of Christ. But here in Acts chapter 1, as at the end of the gospel of Luke, and remember Luke is the human author of both that gospel and the book of Acts, the emphasis on the coming of the Spirit falls rather upon endowment with power. For witness and for service. And so, as the Lord is about to be received back into heaven, He says in Acts 1-8, But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses, or witnesses of me. Now notice the little particle, both. Not first in Jerusalem, then in Judea, then in Samaria. Then to the uttermost part of the earth, as though there is a sequential witness alone, but both.

3:10 In other words, there will be simultaneous witness of Christ, beginning at Jerusalem, continuing in Jerusalem, but then extending to Judea and Samaria. And while continuing in Judea and Samaria, as well as in Jerusalem, then extending. To the uttermost part of the earth. And we have sought as a church to be sensitive to this text throughout our life together.

3:41 And our privilege and responsibility in the power of the Spirit to bear simultaneous witness to Christ in these, we might regard them as concentric circles of ever-widening influence. And we are thankful to God for this. And we are thankful to God for this. And we are thankful to God for this.

4:01 For the many ways in which, right now, there is a witnessing to Jerusalem. I am amazed as more and more in pastoral interaction, as I have been able to increase the level of my pastoral interaction since the death of my wife, at how many of the Lord's people in this place are carrying on sustained, prayerful, wise, friendship-based evangelistic endeavors in their own Jerusalem. Neighbors, people that have come into their lives in the providence of God. Several Bible studies in various workplaces.

4:44 And we might then regard our Samaria and Judea as our ongoing witness in our various nursing homes. And the uttermost part of the earth, of course, the planting of churches as far away as Pakistan. And...

5:01 And the Philippines. However, in our pastoral interaction, we have also sensed what we called in our elders' meeting two weeks ago a back pressure from some of you desiring to do more, particularly in the area of evangelistic, home-based Bible studies as a concentrated effort to be more effective in reaching our Jerusalem. Some of you would not know this, but we have attempted such home-based Bible studies in the past with little success. But now, we are purposing to launch a new, more extensive, more organized effort in this area of home-based evangelistic Bible studies as an attempt, with God's blessing, to be more effective in reaching Jerusalem. Thank you.

Defining the Vision: Evangelistic Bible Studies in Member Clusters

6:01 Thank you. Now, when I say the vision, I don't mean that one or more of the elders in the middle of his sleep have the Lord come to us and reveal something by direct revelation. You know the sense in which I use the term vision. The vision of this endeavor. Simply stated, it is this. To establish evangelistic Bible studies in all the communities in which there are clusters of Trinity Baptist Church members. Perhaps.

7:03 I can give you a visual conceptualization of this. To establish evangelistic Bible studies in all of the communities in which there are clusters of Trinity Baptist Church members. A gathered assembly of God's people. Are we still getting enough, Harry, to come into that?

7:36 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.

7:55 That's a cluster of our members who in the providence of God reside in the community of Pequonic. If I were to ask how many of you reside in Montville, we would have a cluster of our members who in the providence of God have their domiciles in Montville. If we were to ask how many of you are in Boonton, we have a cluster of the members. So the vision is this, that with the blessing of God and with the self-denying cooperation and vision and involvement of the Lord's people, there would be established in each of these areas where we have such a cluster of members of this church, an evangelistic Bible study that would be conducted along the lines that I will articulate later on. So that's the vision. Of this endeavor. Establishing evangelistic Bible studies in all the communities in which there are clusters of Trinity Baptist Church members.

9:04 Now let me break down into some specifics what we mean by the various terms, the various phrases and words. Evangelistic Bible studies. That is, Bible studies that are calculated, not primarily to feed the church members who are found in a cluster in these various communities. 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.

9:43 In other words, these Bible studies would be aimed at communicating central, basic gospel truths, to unsaved men and women. Now, obviously, in the course of doing that, the people of God will be edified — who are sitting in those Bible studies. They will be instructed, but the primary goal is not the instruction, another teaching framework, for the people of God, such as the adult class, such as our services, Lord's day morning and evening, but rather this, focused, laser-point passion to communicate the gospel to those who are strangers to the grace of God. And then I've used the term communities in which there are clusters of our members. I've already sought to demonstrate on the whiteboard what I mean by that. Now, if there is a community in which we have only two of our members, obviously it would not be practical to Bible study in that smaller group. And what we will seek to do then is to see

10:58 what community is closest to what community is this smaller group of members most adjacent and encourage them to be incorporated into that community so that there will be, with God's blessing, at least a half a dozen of us. Half a dozen of our members gathered so that if unconverted people are brought in, they don't feel nervous that they are just one of three, but in that larger group setting would have a greater sense of feeling at ease and comfortable. So this is what I mean on behalf of your elders sharing the vision of what is upon our hearts by evangelistic Bible studies in communities where there are clusters of our members. 演 Book of trinitybaptistchurchmembers. And furthermore, it would be our desire that all of the members in that area would be urged to invite and accompany friends and neighbors from that particular area. Now the exception would be if in your place of work you begin to invite someone to a Bible study, and they live in Montville and you live in Pequonic, well obviously in your place of work, there you would want to see them incorporated into the Bible study that is there in Montville

12:21 so that they would get acquainted with, until they would get integrated into that Bible study, though you live in Pequot, you would go to the Bible study there in Montville. But otherwise, no switching around that the Montville people are going to the Pequot Bible study and the Pequot people going to the Boonton Bible study. The whole purpose of this vision is that there would be this concentrated effort to exert an influence for the gospel in the community in which God has providentially placed us. And those Bible studies would have some non-negotiable guidelines.

Non-Negotiable Guidelines for Bible Studies

13:06 The Bible study meetings that we are proposing would be held twice a month on Friday evenings, twice a month, and for this reason. If you tried to have it every single Friday, that could really cut into what is quality family time for many of you, Friday nights when the kids have no school the next day. If we have it just monthly, you lose a sense of continuity. So as we wrestled with this matter, we felt that every other Friday night struck a good balance between sustaining some measure of continuity without placing, without putting an undue burden upon the stability of family life.

13:51 The leader of that study will be determined by the elders. The time of instruction would be approximately no longer than 45 minutes, not including opening with a hymn and opportunity for social interaction afterwards. The studies would be guided by a book. At this juncture, we think what we will use is Sinclair First, and then we will have a book.

14:15 We will have a book. We will have a book. We will have a book. Let's study Mark.

14:18 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 the Spirit of God may do in one place that he may not be doing in another. That way we won't be just beating a dead horse but seeking to feed a light one. All right?

The Goal of the Vision: Conversion and Church Integration

15:32 So that's something of the vision that we have with respect to this matter that I am laying before you, the vision of this endeavor. Now, secondly, what is the goal of this vision? What's the goal of this vision? What do we desire to see accomplished with the blessing of God?

15:56 Well, obviously, we want to see sinners converted. We want to see unconverted. Converted people who are ignorant of the gospel or perhaps acquainted with a very deficient gospel brought into contact with a full-orbed, vigorous, biblical presentation of the gospel in the context of people whose lives manifest the transforming power of the gospel. The Bible does not envision evangelism in isolation from, the validation of the message in the lives of the messengers.

16:37 And so our goal would be that sinners would be confronted with the content of the gospel in these Bible studies and also with lives that manifest the transforming power of the gospel and perhaps right in the Bible studies themselves be converted. But more likely, it is our goal that, in those Bible studies of Trinity Baptist Church, so that in that context they come under preaching from God's proven servants and God has ordained a peculiar place for the preaching of the word with respect to the calling out of His elect and also that they would see the community of God's people as the larger validation of the gospel to come into a context, of a multi-racial, multi-ethnic context of redeemed people beholding our love for one another, exposed to the care and the genuine outgoing friendliness of the people of God and all that we seek to be by the Lord's people.

17:59 That would be the goal that some, as they begin to something of the sweet, of the pure word of God would say, look, how can I get some more of this? Well, come along with us and we taste it every Lord's day. And then, of course, if they are converted, whether in the Bible study or from the Bible study as they become involved in the life of the church, to see saved sinners baptized and incorporated into the total life and ministry of the church. According to the New Testament, successful God-owned evangelism issues in the growth of the church, not independent of the church. The reading of the book of Acts draws us inevitably to this conclusion. When God owns the proclamation of the gospel, it is evident in the growth of the church. And so, that's the goal of this vision.

The Cost of the Vision: Self-Denial and Cross-Bearing

19:14 Then we come thirdly to where the cruncher is. The cause.

19:23 Here I want you to turn with me. To several passages in the word of God. Mark chapter 1. Mark chapter 1.

19:34 What is the cost of pursuing this vision? The cost to you. The cost to me. In Mark chapter 1, we have the record of our Lord calling to himself into a relationship of intimate discipleship.

19:53 Peter, Simon, Andrew, James, and John. Verse 16. And passing along by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea, for they were fishers. And Jesus said unto them, Come after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.

20:18 And straightway they left the nets and followed him. In this context, though there are things absolutely unique and peculiar, to this call for these were to become not just ordinary disciples, ordinary learners, ordinary followers of Christ, excuse me, but they were to become apostles with unique authority and with unique foundation building places in the church in its new covenant configuration. Nonetheless, there is a great principle here. Follow after me.

20:56 And in that relationship, in that relationship of intimate connection with me, I will make you to become fishers of men. They were to be made fishers of men in the context of attachment to the Lord Jesus. Come after me. Not come to some place where you get some principles and some gimmicks as to how to be a fisher of men.

21:28 But it will be in attachment to me. Come after me. And out of that attachment, I will make you to become fishers of men. Well, when we ask what are the terms, the changeless terms of being attached to Jesus, the answer of Scripture is clear.

21:51 Luke 9 in verse 23, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. Attachment to Christ is always at the cost of self-denial and cross-bearing. And when we think of the relationship of self-denial and cross-bearing to this matter of being fishers of men, there is no better example apart from our Lord than the appointment of Christ. And perhaps no passage in which the self-denying dimension of being a fisher of men is set forth more vividly than 1 Corinthians chapter 9. And I'd like you to turn to that passage with me for a few moments.

22:48 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 apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?

23:40 Are you not my work in the Lord? If to others I'm not an apostle, yet at least I am to you. Verse 4, Have we no right to eat and drink? Have we no right to lead about a wife?

23:52 And then he goes on to say, Yes, I have all of these rights, however, however, I relinquish the youth, use of these rights for what purpose and for what reason? Well, he makes that abundantly clear later on in the chapter. Verse 19, For though I was free from all men, I brought myself under bondage to all that I might gain the more. And to the Jews I became as a Jew that I might gain Jews.

24:25 To them that are under the law as under the law, not being myself under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law. To them that are without law as without law, not being without law to God, but under law to Christ, that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak I became weak, that I might gain the weak. I am become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some.

24:54 And the apostle's great passion was the winning of men to his salvation. And the apostle's great passion was the winning of men to his salvation. And the apostle's great passion was the winning of men to his salvation. And then seeing them established as stable believers, and if that meant self-denial wherever he turned, he said, I am prepared, as he says in another passage, to endure all things for the elect's sake, that they might obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

25:24 And if this vision is to be pursued and to eventuate in the world, in Bible studies, in a number of the communities which God has... You mark it down.

25:40 It will be in the path of self-denial.

25:45 If you're not prepared to deny yourself, and each one of us will have a different litany of the things that will enter into the specifics of self-denial, forget it. Souls are not one to Christ in the context of convenience.

26:05 This doesn't happen. It doesn't happen. It just doesn't happen. And so, in all honesty, we feel as elders, we must set before you not just the vision and what we mean by the words in that vision, but the cost of pursuing that vision.

Specific Costs: Prayer and Practical Involvement

26:24 Let me give you some of the specifics. Number one, the cost of self-denying earnest prayer. The cost of self-denying earnest prayer. Setting apart specific time to pray for God's blessing upon this endeavor in general.

26:46 For wisdom for your elders as we seek to give direction. For the Spirit of God to brood over the hearts of those whom He would have take the lead. This thing is not going to be generated by us standing behind you and pushing. And we have never done that in our 43 years of ministry.

27:08 In this place. If you have to push to get it done, it won't get done. But the Spirit of God can draw and pull and constrain. And He does that in answer to prayer.

27:21 And so the cost will be self-denying earnest prayer in general for this enterprise. But then, more specifically, prayer for your neighbors by name. Let me ask you. I'm not going to ask you to raise your hands.

27:36 How many of you ever pray for your neighbors by name?

27:42 That leads to another question. Do you know their names?

27:47 What efforts have you made to establish genuine, open-faced relationships with your neighbors that you can pray for them by name?

28:02 For some of us, that's a searching question, I'm sure. And it will be a self-denying endeavor to determine, all right, if it's only five minutes, I am going to determine to start praying, praying for my neighbors by name that God would give the opportunity and bless that opportunity to invite them to our area Bible study. The cost will be self-denying earnest prayer. Then secondly, self-denying practical involvement.

28:38 Self-denying practical involvement. If we are going to have these Bible studies in homes, in these various, that means somebody who has the kind of a home that would be suitable for such a gathering is going to be willing to open his, her home with the inconveniences that that will bring. Self-denying. For others, volunteers not only to use suitable homes, but to provide refreshments.

29:09 Volunteers to help with set up and clean up. Conscious efforts to connect with visitors with gospel grace and confidence and kindness. And that's self-denying. Others of your brothers and sisters will be there.

29:24 And the temptation will be to make them your priority rather than to cross over the barriers of awkwardness and perhaps some social reticence and seek to get to know those who are there that are not part of our church family. So there will be a cost from beginning to end and all across the spectrum. Well, having considered together the vision of this endeavor, the goal of this endeavor, the cost of pursuing this vision, fourth heading is this. The steps in pursuing the vision.

Steps in Pursuing the Vision: Prayer Meetings and Assessment

30:02 What steps do we as your elders envision taking? Well, number one is attendance. If you're at all constrained to be involved in this, here's step number one. You will be present at the next two prayer meetings when this matter will have a prominent place in our prayer time.

30:23 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.

31:01 And they put in my hands this three-page thing with a rather small font called Operation Gone Fishing. And that's the first time I heard of it or saw it. And as I looked down through it, I was thrilled. Standing here talking to you right now, I got the goosebumps.

31:18 That these younger brethren would have taken the bull by the horns, as it were, and having sensed in their pastoral interaction this back pressure of desire on the part of not a few of you to do something in this way. And that this thing was laid out and then we worked around it and over it and through it. And then at our elders' meeting this past Thursday, we did more work on it. And when it was clear that I was going to be assigned to bring this presentation, I asked them, and what is it that you want me to say?

31:51 And took profuse notes. And then yesterday, I ran my basic outline and the bones of it by each of the elders so that I could be confident that I was speaking their mind. So, steps in pursuing this will begin with laying hold of God as a church family at the next two prayer meetings, giving, as I have said, a prominent place to this matter, pleading with God, the Lord, if this is of you, then you make it float. If it's not, blow upon it.

32:23 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.

32:41 If God is in the thing and we're persuaded He is and God makes it float and God fills the sails and God makes it float, and God fills the sails and God makes it float, and God fills the sails and God makes it float, and God blows it so that it moves, then that's what we want. If not, we don't want it. So this will be the first step in pursuing the vision that there will be a good attendance at the next two prayer meetings when this matter will be given a prominent place in our prayers. Then secondly, attendance at the initial assessment meeting scheduled for February 25.

33:14 We have scheduled our initial assessment meeting for February 25. And what do we mean by assessment? Well, to see how many are interested. So if you are one who's sitting here this morning, or for those who are teaching Sunday school and hopefully will listen to the tape, and if you've listened to the tape, I'm talking to you Sunday school teachers right now.

33:36 You see? I'm talking to you. I can't see you, but I'm talking to you. All right.

33:40 They've been talked to. Then you will come to that February 25 meeting. Now you say, why February 25? Why not this?

33:48 Why not this Friday? Well, next weekend is the long weekend with school off. And we felt there might be families who are doing things over that long weekend and we might not get as accurate a readout. So we've scheduled the first assessment meeting for February 25.

34:07 And if you are interested, that doesn't mean that you're volunteering to lead the Bible study, but you're saying, I want to be in any such Bible study, that may get floated in my community. All right? So that's what that is. Well, let's see, what are we dealing with?

34:24 Ten people? Or 50? Or 60? Or 80?

34:28 We don't know. And so that meeting will be one that will give us some sense of what we're dealing with in terms of the personnel in the church family. If for some reason you would like to be there and cannot be, we're going to have Ann make up some kind of a little form that will say, I so and so with my wife and whatever you have, am unable to be there, but I am definitely interested in being involved in any such Bible study that gets started in my area. All right?

35:01 So that's February 25. Mark that down. That's the second step. We're going to cry to God over the next two prayer meetings and then urge you to attend the initial assessment meeting for February 25.

Steps in Pursuing the Vision: Organization and Advertising

35:15 And then in the next place, if this thing is going to float, then we would like your attendance at the initial organizational meeting on March the 4th. Growing out of what we get in that initial assessment meeting, we as elders then will seek to determine whether we have enough people for a home Bible study here, a home Bible study there, and in that setting, who most likely would be competent to lead the Bible study, et cetera. And then at that second meeting, that will be our initial organizational meeting at which time we hope to identify the homes, the leaders, backup leaders, volunteers for preparing refreshments, et cetera. And then the fourth step will be the prayerful distribution of the advertising cards that we will have printed and made available after we've established how many studies and where. Similar to this little card, Trinity Baptist Church invites you to join us in worshiping the one true God. This is a card that some have used in house-to-house invitations to invite people to the church.

36:33 It's a similar size and format to the card that was made up when some of the men and women went to the theaters to invite people to hear me preach on the passion of Christ, what the movie doesn't tell you. So we will put a tool in your hands that will say, you are cordially invited to join me in a home Bible study to be held, such and such. And we hope to have some catchy things. Peter Jennings wants to tell you who Jesus Christ is on a PBS series.

37:10 The Da Vinci Code wants to tell you what the Gospels really should say. What do the Scriptures teach? Come and study the Gospels. Something like that that hopefully will be a bridge to contemporary thinking and give you a tool that when you invite people, you can put this card in their hands.

Clarifications and Encouragement for Participation

37:31 Well, I think I have done what I was charged to do by my fellow elders. Pastor Jay, any PS's? I don't really need it.

38:37 No, you could actually be an instrument in the sense of separating the community in three different groups with a lot of people. Yeah. Did you all get what Pastor Jay was saying? That we would like for this period of time to disband the special gathering of the college and career so that there would be that age element included.

39:03 And if in a given community we have more people than it would be expedient to have in the more intimate home Bible study, then we can have two. And that we won't know until we have our organizational meeting and find out how many are interested and willing to make a commitment. And it's going to be a serious commitment. We don't want to have enough people to establish a Bible study and after the second week, half the people, well, I had this, I had that.

39:34 It's going to mean self-denial. It's going to mean making commitments for the sake of the gospel and sticking to those commitments. And that's never easy. There are always things to do.

39:46 Good things. But this is what we believe is a very vital thing to be done at this time. And whether God will bless it, we don't know. When we say this is a vision, this is not something that we're saying that we believe this is the answer and we're going to see revival.

40:05 On the other hand, on the other hand, God may be pleased to use this to draw out people to Himself and become then a more permanent ministry by which we could continue to impact our own Jerusalem. All right. Other questions? Any other elder here?

40:26 Yes. Pastor Smith is with his class and Pastor Carlson's away ministering elsewhere today. All right. We had a question over here.

40:33 Yes. Barb?

40:46 That's right.

40:48 Yeah. Volunteering the use of your home is not assignment to leadership. The leadership will be assigned by the elders. We will try to make a judgment as to those men that we feel have both the spiritual maturity and the social grace to lead that kind of a Bible study because though it's not going to be what's typically called an inductive Bible study, most inductive Bible studies people sit around and tell you what they, what the passage says to them.

41:22 No, this will be a Bible study where Dr. Sinclair Ferguson will be the teacher. A recognized, ordained, competent servant of God who can open up the Word of God and his teaching is embalmed in printer's ink and the questions to lead you into the text of Scripture and into the understanding of that text that he has set forth. So there's going to be a very definite direction to the Bible study.

41:51 And so, as I said, we as elders will have to make a judgment. And if we find in a given, an area that we don't judge that there's a man in that area competent to do this, we talked about this the other day, we may have to import someone from another area. But we won't know. So much of this is up in the air.

42:12 And with regard to you college students, obviously you may have people that would come to a Bible study who are not in any of these areas. So you bring them to what would be your area and integrate that person into the people from your particular area. In other words, we're not saying unless someone lives in Montville or Pequonic, they can't come to the Bible study. Again, we don't know how God may use this to go beyond our immediate geographical 10-mile radius, Jerusalem.

Elder Involvement and Building Relationships

42:44 There are just so many variables that we're only going to find out as we get into the matter. Yes, we have another. Yes, Pastor Jay.

43:23 Yeah. And that's a vital point because as Pastor Jay has said, and this was something that came up in our discussion as elders, we would like to circulate among the Bible studies for several reasons to be able to meet people that may be there in this informal way so that should they come out to church, we're not just this official cleric who stands up here and preaches and leads. And then secondly, it will give us an opportunity to assess how the leader is doing. This will be, in that sense, a training situation and take the leader aside after we've been there. And say, look, Henry, this was great. You did this great, but over here, we think you could do better.

44:22 So, those that accept the responsibility of leading a Bible study have got to be mature enough that they're not going to go off and cry in a blanket if they get some constructive criticism that's going to make them better leaders of the Bible study. I hope we're beyond that kind of infantile response to constructive criticism that will make us better. Did you think of the second thing, Pastor Jay? It's gone.

44:50 All right. Other questions? Yes. Mr. Davies.

45:06 Yeah. Yes, I think here again, being able naturally to invite someone is often predicated upon a previous relationship of some degree of established friendship. And for some of us, that may be a call to do that. And if I understand your question correctly, Chuck, it's how do we do that?

45:34 Well, I don't know that there's any formula as I have sought to establish relationships with my neighbors and with the medical community. It's just being me in showing an interest in them. And I think that's the bottom line, showing an interest in them, looking for those things that would be a bridge of natural interest and concern. Yeah.

46:01 You know, you see your neighbors show up with a new car, you go out and just make a point to be there when he drives up and say, hey, John, I see you've got a new car. Any reason why you bought a Mercury and not a Chevy, you know? And just work at seeking to find little touchstones of ordinary conversation that then often go in all kinds of different directions that establish some level of friendship. And this is what, what people mean in the books that they've written on the subject of friendship evangelism.

46:36 It's establishing those things that show you have a genuine interest in these people as people. You're not looking at them as a potential attendee at the Bible study. You're looking at them as image bearers fallen in Adam, but potentially redeemed in Christ and that you want to show yourself genuinely interested in them as people. Am I giving anything, Chuck, that is more than just fluff?

47:08 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.

47:32 Well, that's because, when that neighbor was digging shrubs, it was evident he didn't have a clue how to put his shrubs in, so Saturday is quality time for me. But I blocked out time for the next Saturday to help him put his shrubs in. Well, putting in shrubs is not part of a method of evangelism. I mean, yet it is.

47:54 You see, it was showing genuine interest where he was. And that to me is the key. And this is where, again, the matter of praying for them by name, it's amazing. If you start praying for someone by name, how it's much more natural to look for that bridge that might get you into a relationship that would then lead to being able to invite them to a Bible study.

48:21 Yes, Pastor Jay. It may not be what applies to the A&P and the shop rights and the thing that's implied that you may not have to make that contact. But there are ways in which you can try in your community to get some more contact. And sometimes, if I may carry on from that, there are sometimes when, much to our shock, there are people with whom we may not have much of a relationship in whom God has preveniently worked. That just saying, John, I know we don't know one another too well, but this is a shot in the dark.

49:40 We're having a Bible study in our home. And we're actually going to study the Gospel of Mark to see who Jesus is and why He came. And it would be a delight for me to come. We might be shocked at someone saying, you know, I've just longed to find somewhere where people would help me understand the Bible.

49:56 And we might be shocked. So that it may not be necessary to feel that, you know, we've got to wait for six months in building up this or that relationship. And in all of those things, you take risks. And to this day, as much as I'm a people person, I find myself having to say, okay, it's time to take a risk.

50:18 It's time to take a risk in this relationship. And so we all need one another. And this is where, again, if this thing begins to float, then more and more, when we are together as the Lord's people, we'll find ourselves spontaneously sharing our experiences and sharing what we've learned and helping one another in these matters.

Addressing Practicalities and Concluding Prayer

50:43 All right. We've got two more minutes.

50:47 Yes, Mr. Gergelis.

51:10 Yeah.

51:12 Yeah.

51:19 Yeah.

51:32 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

51:38 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

51:55 Well, in answer to your question, George, we really didn't. We were working with a one-week or one-month model. And we felt neither of those was acceptable. So our compromise was a two-week.

52:10 And we hadn't thought of, of the other compromise. And it may be something to be brought into consideration. And so in all honesty, it didn't even enter into our discussion. Our discussion was focusing on the advantages of a white weekly in terms of continuity.

52:29 But then the pressure that that puts upon families for whom Friday is a very key time. Well, then we said, well, what about once a month? And we said, well, that could really lose continuity. And it would, we'd only get about halfway through Sinclair's book in this timeframe.

52:46 That is our pilot project. So we were working with the pilot project from mid-March to July and seeking to see how much we could cover in there. So in all of that, we just worked with the one week or the four week model. George.

53:02 Yes.

53:11 Yeah.

53:24 Pray that God will guide us in all of these particulars because we're going down the road. We haven't been before. Well, it's, half past. It's time to bring the class to a close.

53:37 Our father, we thank you for the privilege of meeting in this way and opening our hearts to one another in the prospect of seeking to be more effective and structured in reaching our own Jerusalem. And our father, if these plans are of you, we pray that you would lay constraint upon your people in this place, that none would feel. They're being driven and pushed, but drawn by the Holy Spirit into a shared vision and a shared commitment. So we just lovingly commend ourselves and your people and this proposed endeavor to you asking for the blessing of your Holy Spirit upon it. If it is indeed your will, if not blow upon it and bring it to naught. We thank you for one another. We thank you for our shared.

54:31 Desire to see sinners brought to the knowledge of Christ. And we pray that in that shared vision and shared desire, we may yet see a mighty working of your spirit in many turning from darkness to light. Hear our prayer and receive our thanks. We pray in Jesus name.