You can view an in-depth discussion of The Everlasting Gospel in the Hope Sabbath School class led by Pastor Derek Morris. Click on the image to view: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-3aXwmzx6c&w=560&h=315]

With thanks to

Hope Channel – Television that will change your life.

Amen!(0)

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I always did what was best for you. I told you the Good News about Jesus in public before the people and also taught in your homes. Acts 20:20 ERV

We are all encouraged, like Paul, to share Jesus in the homes of our friends and loved ones. This is something we all can do. 

Among the members of our churches there should be more house-to-house labor in giving Bible readings and distributing literature…. As we sow beside all waters we shall realize that “he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.” –Ellen White, Maranatha Page 104 

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

As we study the three angels’ message, we must remember we are the angels who give this last message to the world. In the book of Revelation, angels are messengers, and the Seventh-day Adventist Church members are the messengers giving the message in Revelation 14:6-12. Of course there are many ways this message can be shared, but both the Bible and the writings of Ellen White talk about the importance of giving Bible studies in small groups, as well as personal Bible studies. Some think they are not skilled enough to give simple Bible studies or  Bible readings in people’s homes, but it really is not that hard. Without any formal training, I have given Bible studies leading to well over 500 baptisms over a 30-year period. If God can use me, He can use anyone! After all, in Numbers 22 God spoke through a donkey. If God can speak through a donkey, he can speak through me too. He can speak through anyone, and that includes you.

If you feel the Holy Spirit impressing you to give a Bible study, but you need some encouragement, here are 5 quick and easy tips I have found for giving effective Bible studies over the years. 

1. Don’t pretend to know it all. Many people tell me they are afraid to give Bible studies because they don’t know enough. That’s okay, No one wants to learn from a know-it-all anyway. The fact that you don’t know it all will make others more comfortable studying with you. I actually began my Bible worker career by telling my friends and co-workers that I needed to practice giving Bible studies, and asked if I could practice giving Bible studies to them. Many agreed, some attended church with me, and one still does attend church with me whenever I return to visit his area. If you’re not a know-it-all, you will be great at giving Bible studies. 
2. Stick with the study guides or chain referencing format. Don’t adlib or try to philosophize. Many tell me they are afraid to try and give Bible studies because they don’t know what to say. That’s perfect. The study guides ask questions, and then share Bible verses that give the answer. The answers are provided in the Bible passages provided by the study guide or chain referencing format you are following. When I train people to give Bible studies, I find that one of the common mistakes many make is feeling they have to adlib and add to what is already in the guide or Bible text. When they adlib, they get distracted and wander from the thought process already provided in the format. Each question and Bible answer in the Bible study guide,builds upon the next in a logical sequence. Simply point out the answer in the text. Don’t adlib. That only distracts from the logical sequence. See? You can do this! 
3. Don’t quote authors outside the Bible. This is a Bible study. A while back, I took a lay member with me to a Bible study I had just started. The man I had just begun studying with knew nothing about the Bible or the church, much less Ellen White. He asked if there was life on other planets. I told him we could study about that in the future, when the lay member with me blurted out. “Oh! Ellen White talks about visiting people on other planets!” The man we were studying with knew nothing about Ellen White and wondered why the lay member even said that. I quickly changed the subject back to our topic for the Bible study. Of course I believe in Ellen White, but I also believe a Bible study should be a Bible study. 
4.  Get a decision. After every Bible study, ask for a decision on the topic. When I was a literature evangelist, after telling my customer all about the books, I never made a sale until I asked them to buy them. It is not enough to just share information. Ask your Bible student to make a decision based on what you studied. If studying about salvation, ask them to accept Jesus as their Savior. If studying about clean and unclean foods, ask them to follow the Bible counsel you both just read. 
5. After the decision, have a prayer regarding their decision, and then leave! Do all your small talk before the Bible study. Get that pie recipe or discuss that ball game before the Bible study, not afterwards. At the end of the Bible study, you want to pray and then politely and quickly leave, so that you leave them with that prayer marinating in their mind and heart. Don’t distract them with small talk after the prayer. After the prayer, politely excuse yourself. 

Of course you will want to be praying before, during and after your Bible studies. With God’s help, you can do this! You will make mistakes, just like the rest of us. If you don’t make a mistake, you will be the first person ever to give a perfect Bible study. Then you will become a know-it-all, and no one will want to study with you. Be humble. Be human, so people will feel comfortable studying with you. God will use you with all of your mistakes and shortcomings. Remember, I have studied with over 500 people who were baptized as a result, and I made some big mistakes while studying with over 500 of them. I have never given a perfect Bible study — ever! But I don’t let that discourage me. I seriously doubt that the talking donkey in Numbers 22 was perfect, but God surely used it to get Balaam back on the right track. You and I are not perfect either, but God will use us to take the Gospel into all the world.

Now, in the Words of Jesus,

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. ” Amen.” Matthew 28:19-20 NKJV

Amen!(2)

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Read Revelation 14:6 again. What is the extent of the proclamation of the everlasting gospel, and why is the answer important to us and our mission and calling as a church?

According to the urgent, end-time message of the first of these three angels, the “everlasting gospel” is to be proclaimed to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people. Here is a mission so grand, so large, so great, and so comprehensive that it is all-consuming. It demands our best efforts and requires our total commitment.

Image © Philippians McKay at Goodsalt.com

It leads us from a preoccupation with our own self-interest to a passion for Christ’s service. It inspires us with something larger than ourselves and leads us out of the narrow confines of our own minds to a grander vision.

Read Matthew 28:19-20. How do these verses dovetail with the first angel’s message?

In his book, A Quest for More: Living for Something Bigger Than You, Paul David Tripp discusses the psychological need of every human being to be part of something larger than themselves: “Human beings were created to be part of something bigger than their own lives. Sin causes us to shrink our lives down to the size of our lives. The grace of Christ is given to rescue us from the claustrophobic confines of our own little self-focused kingdom and frees us to live for the eternal purposes and satisfying delights of the kingdom of God.“ — B&B Media Group, ”Living for Something Bigger Than Yourself,” n.d.,

There is nothing more inspiring, more fulfilling, more rewarding than being part of a divine movement, providentially raised up by God to accomplish a task far bigger, far larger, than any one human being could ever accomplish on their own. The commission given by God described in Revelation 14:1-20 is the greatest task ever committed to His church. It is an earnest appeal to give our lives to heaven’s grandest task to reveal God’s incomprehensible love just before Jesus’ return.

<–Tuesday Thursday–>

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The three angels’ messages are a story of grace. They are the story of a Savior’s love beyond measure &mdash a story of Jesus who loves us so much that He would rather experience hell itself than have one of us lost. They are the story of a boundless, unfathomable, incomprehensible, undying, unending infinite love.

God is never caught by surprise. He is not subject to the changing winds of humanity’s choices. As we have already seen, His plan to deliver us from the domain of sin was not some afterthought after sin reared its ugly head. God was not caught off guard by the awful drama of sin.

Read Revelation 13:8 and 1 Peter 1:18-20. What do these verses teach us about the plan of salvation?

Image © Philippians McKay from GoodSalt.com

The phrase “everlasting gospel” in Revelation 14:6 speaks of the past, the present, and the future. When God created humanity with the capacity to make moral choices, He anticipated that they would make errant choices. Once His creatures had the capacity to choose, they had the capacity to rebel against His loving nature. The only way to avoid this reality would be to create robot beings controlled and manipulated by some divine cosmic plan. Forced allegiance is contrary to God’s very nature. Love requires choice, and once beings are given the power of choice, the possibility of making the wrong choices exists. Therefore, the plan of salvation was conceived in the mind of God before our first parents’ rebellion in Eden.

“The plan for our redemption was not an afterthought, a plan formulated after the fall of Adam. It was a revelation of ’the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal.‘ Romans 16:25, R.V. It was an unfolding of the principles that from eternal ages have been the foundation of God’s throne.” — Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 22.

The “eternal gospel” speaks not only of the past and present — it is the basis of a future with hope. It speaks of living eternally with the One whose heart is aching to be with us forever.

<–Monday Wednesday–>

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“Three Cosmic Messages” encourages us to 
Watch, Ye Saints – Hymn 598 as we near the end of this old world’s history to witness the Second Coming of our Lord, and Saviour, Jesus Christ. This is a wonderful hymn to give courage, dear people, and is our theme for this quarter.

 We will be noting at times throughout the quarter that 
“Tis Almost Time For The Lord To Come – Hymn 212 and we should be proclaiming the message that
Jesus Is Coming Again – Hymn 213.

Sabbath afternoon commences our study this week by encouraging us to 
Go, Preach My Gospel – Hymn 378 and 
Hymn 368 – Watchman, Blow The Gospel Trumpet.

The encouragement continues on Sunday with 
Marvelous Grace – Hymn 109 and that 
We Have This Hope – Hymn 214.

Today we need, more than ever to be 
Leaning On The Everlasting Arms – Hymn 469 in our quest to spread the “Everlasting” Gospel to all the world.

Tuesday presents again the 
Amazing Grace – Hymn 108 that our Lord has given for each of us.

The commission is repeated on Wednesday to 
Tell It To Every Kindred And Nation – Hymn 202.

We are challenged on Friday to request 
Live Out Thy Live Within Me – Hymn 316.

So, dear people, be encouraged to go forward and
“Lift up the trumpet and loud let it ring, Jesus IS coming again” – Hymn 213.

To learn unknown hymns, you will find the accompaniment music for each one at: https://sdahymnals.com/Hymnal/

Another great resource is for when there is a hymn you wish to sing but can’t find it in your hymnal. Go to https://www.sdahymnal.org/Search and in the search bar type a special word in that is in the hymn. I am sure you will be amazed at the help you will be given.

 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Amen!(0)

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