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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Carissa Vitorovic

Giving Effective Bible Studies

We are going to be looking today again at giving effective Bible studies.

How to give Christ-centered and dynamic Bible studies.

You know this is 1 of the things that scares us the most in evangelism.

What if someone comes to you and they want to know more about the Bible and they begin to ask you questions but you don't know the answer.

Or maybe you're comfortable giving Bible studies but at the very end of the Bible study the time comes for you to ask for a decision and suddenly you begin to tremble.

How do you ask someone to make a decision for Jesus Christ?

So that's exactly what we're going to be looking at together this afternoon and again I will be sharing a lot of material with you, and I can give you my email at the end of the program if you would like to receive a copy of these slides, I am happy to do so as well.

As was mentioned this morning, I work for Amazing Facts, and I've been working with their AAFCO program since the end of 2011.

Prior to that, back in 2006, I actually attended their four-month AAFCO training program.

And I had no clue what I was getting myself into.

I did not realize that 2 afternoons a week, I would have to go door to door, knocking on doors and inviting people to have Bible studies, sharing with them about community services.

You know those areas of town where the cops are constantly circling?

Those areas where the guys are out front and they are dealing drugs, they are smoking weed?

In fact, I remember this 1 apartment complex we were working in and soon the guys in the area got to know me and my prayer partner and we would walk into the neighborhood and they would call out, oh, here come the Christian girls as they're smoking their marijuana, right?

That was my outreach territory and I loved it.

The people were open, they were looking for something to fulfill those needs in their lives and it was so beautiful to study the Word of God with them.

I remember meeting 1 woman by the name of Betsy.

You see, Betsy was 1 of those Bible study friends that you dream of.

The 1 that is excited about Bible studies, learning everything she can, grasping it, making great decisions on everything that she learns.

I remember about 5 or 6 weeks into our Bible studies, a prophecy seminar began nearby, and so I invited Betsy to come to that prophecy seminar.

Every single night I would come by, I'd pick her up and I would bring her to that seminar.

1 afternoon I'm traveling around my outreach territory and I'm visiting with people that have not been coming to the seminar.

And I had a very strong impression, you need to go visit Betsy.

Have you ever argued with the Holy Spirit before?

And I remember arguing with God, oh God, I will be picking her up tonight.

God, she's been coming every single night faithfully.

And I remember thinking, I don't need to go and visit her, she's going to think that I am stalking her.

And yet that impression continued to come.

And so finally after some time I thought well I'm in the neighborhood anyways might as well drop by.

So there I was at Betsy's door and I knocked hard on the door and you could almost see the wood splintering.

But you know, I knew that God brought me there for a reason.

But the Betsy that opened the door was not the Betsy that I was expecting to see.

She looked empty, completely depressed and discouraged.

And I looked at her and I said, Betsy, what's wrong?

She invited me into her living room, and we sat down, and she told me, you know, I have been sitting in my house trying to decide the best way to take my life, The best way to commit suicide.

Now of course you know the story, of course you know I was arguing with the Holy Spirit, But I am so thankful that God did not give up.

We embraced 1 another, we cried together, we read Bible promises together, and how beautiful it was to see Betsy surrender her life to Jesus Christ.

Betsy continued to come to that prophecy seminar and at the end of the seminar it was my absolute joy to watch her walk into that watery grave of baptism.

And I remember standing there and telling the Lord, God this is it.

This is what I want to do for the rest of my life.

There is no greater joy than seeing someone you love make a decision for Jesus Christ.

And I believe each of us are here today because we have that same burden.

Because we have the burden to reach our family, to reach our community, to reach our city for Jesus Christ.

How can we gain decisions for Jesus Christ?

Would you bow your heads with me as we pray?

Heavenly Father God, I am so thankful today that it is not by my nor by power, but by your spirit.

Father God, we are here today not because there is anything in us, but Lord, there is everything in you.

May you speak through me that your word may touch our hearts today is our prayer and we thank you in Jesus name amen.

If I was to ask you what is the greatest calling given in the New Testament?

What verse, what passage may come to mind?

The greatest calling in the New Testament.

For many of us, our minds would be driven to Matthew chapter 28, correct?

Go ye therefore unto all the world, and I believe this is crucial, but there is a preceding call, a foundational call that today we are going to consider.

Mark chapter 3 and we'll be looking at verses 13 and 14 today.

In Mark chapter 3, verse 13, we read, and he, speaking of Jesus, went up onto the mountain, and he called to him those he himself wanted.

Then he appointed 12, that they might be with him, and that he might send them out to preach." You see, here Jesus goes and he calls a group of men.

The first great call is to be with Jesus.

He calls this group, and He calls them to be with Him.

In verse 14, When someone comes to Christ, what naturally occurs next?

He called them that they might be with Him and that he might send them out to preach.

You see, what often happens is we call people to come to Jesus, but we have them spend very little time at his feet, and rather we say, all right, get to work.

If we're not spending time with him, if we are not growing in our own relationship, our own experience with Jesus Christ, what do we have to share?

How can we go unless we have first come and spent that time at the feet of Jesus Christ?

You know, sometimes evangelism is something that we Do.

I should interrupt my nice Sabbath afternoon nap because I should go do an evangelism.

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Giving Effective Bible Studies

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