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REACHING THE WORLD: BIBLE STUDY-SABBATH
SCHOOL AND BIBLE CORRESPONDENCE COURSES
June 3, 2016
Sabbath School Program:
Ways Sabbath School Can Witness
Jim Zackrison
Preparation
You can organize this program several ways. (1) You can use several people to present
thoughts for each of the ways Sabbath School can witness. (2) You can use a “What if…”
format. Present each of the ways Jesus witnessed and then ask the question “What if we did that
as a Sabbath School?” (3) You can use a panel discussion format to generate answers, or have
the entire Sabbath School participate in developing ideas. (4) You can format the program as
conversations between people that illustrates each of the steps in Jesus’ process of witnessing.
Moderator: Introduction
Our Sabbath School and Sabbath School classes can tell people about the plan of salvation
and the Advent message in many ways. We are going to look at some of these ways in our
program.
Personal contact with friends, relatives, work associates and people in general is an important
one. A secret to success in this kind of witnessing is to keep it simple. The tendency is to think of
witnessing as giving a series of Bible studies, or debating with someone about doctrinal
understandings, or trying to convince someone about a particular Adventist belief. (Explain how
the program will be presented).
Moderator: The Method of Jesus
Jesus left us a model of simple witnessing. Ellen G. White counsels that “Christ’s method
alone will give true success in reaching the people." ― Ministry of Healing, p. 143. His model
consists of five activities that can be used one at a time or in any combination. The final step is
chronological ―it happens after the first four have been utilized.
Participant No. 1 - Method 1: He mingled with people as One who desired their good.
“Mingling” means doing things together. It’s more or less what young people in many places
call “hanging out.” This may be visiting, working, playing, or just sitting together and talking.
By mingling you discover people’s needs. Believe it or not, there is a hotel pub (a bar) in one
place with this motto above the entrance: “Everyone here is a friend ― they just haven’t met
yet.” Not bad!
What do you talk about if you are just hanging out and “mingling?” If you are already with a
group of friends or acquaintances, you can steer the conversation into religious ideas. For
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instance, if the conversation is about getting along with some difficult personalities, you can say
something like, “I remember that the Bible says that we are supposed to get along with people
even if they seem like enemies. How would we make that work?” That kind of simple comment
opens the door to further conversation about religion.
Participant No. 2 - Method 2: He showed sympathy.
Sympathy is an attitude of personal concern. Sympathy does not wait until the person asks
for help, but it is always expressed by action that communicates an honest, unselfish concern for
someone who has a need. You can then move the conversation to mingling and showing
sympathy at the same time. “What if we invite them to go with us to . . . . Maybe that would give
us a chance to get better acquainted? Could slow down those nasty things they say sometimes.”
That opens the door to finding and dealing with personal needs. “Maybe they just need some
friends. I remember this person who was really hard to get along with, but when we invited
him/her to hang out with us, they turned out to be OK. Just needed some friends.”
Participant No. 3 - Method 3: He ministered to their needs.
Ministering to needs means meeting the needs of people whether they be physical, mental,
or spiritual. This is done by serving, waiting on, or attending another. Real needs are not always
easily recognized, so while the method is simple, it might take some careful observation and
investigation to pinpoint the real need.
Participant No. 4 - Method 4: He won their confidence.
This will be the result of meeting people’s needs, showing sympathy, and just hanging out
making friends. Once you win someone’s confidence, talking about the Lord and discussing
biblical beliefs is easy. Once you start to “mingle,” and these problematic people become part of
the group, they will develop a sense of personal confidence in their new group of friends. So one
day, this former difficult person says, “How come you go to church all the time?”
Participant No. 5 - Final result: He bade them, “Follow Me.”
This appeal for a decision came after Jesus met people’s needs and won their confidence.
When that person says, “How come you go to church all the time?” that’s the cue to apply
“Follow Me.” Invite them to church, give a personal testimony, have a prayer, say something
like: “OK, it’s that Jesus is the hero of the day. You follow Him and you will be amazed at what
happens.”
Simple witnessing is always effective. It’s natural, spontaneous, and for the most part
unrehearsed. You will be amazed at how it works.
Suggested Songs
Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal No. 426 “I Shall See the King.”
Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal No. 457 “I Love to Tell the Story.”
Church Hymnal No. 362 “Lead on O King Eternal.”
Church Hymnal No. 518 “I Love to Tell the Story.”
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Morning Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 20:9
