Why Our Church?
Why the Seventh-day Adventist Church? What's our purpose? What relevance do we have?
The answer is simple: God raised up this church to proclaim "present truth," the Three Angels' Messages of Revelation 14:6–12. Though many churches exist, there's only one specifically proclaiming the Three Angels' Messages of Revelation 14. Thus, whatever else our church is doing, first and foremost, we should purposefully attempt to lead as many people as we can into God's eternal kingdom.
While evangelism and witnessing is the personal responsibility of each believer, the whole body of Seventh-day Adventist believers (the church) has a corporate responsibility, as well. As each member contributes to the evangelistic goals and strategies of his or her local church, precious people are won to Christ. And here's a point that can't be overemphasized: if it's not done at the local church level, it just won't get done.
In the context of outreach, understanding spiritual gifts also is important. It is vital, however, to not only encourage members to discover how they are spiritually gifted, but to also present them with opportunities to exercise those gifts.
An understanding of the gospel story coupled with a personal connection to Jesus Christ will enable people to work with the right motivation for saving souls. Evangelism and witnessing should be motivated by a love response, not by fear or guilt.
As with any study, this quarter's lessons will help to increase to a person's store of biblical knowledge. That's fine, but the goal is not just to gain knowledge, no matter how wonderful the knowledge. The goal is for us to use that knowledge for good, and in this context the greatest good is to give those who face eternal destruction the opportunity for eternal life.
That's the reason for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. What better one could there be?
For important corrections to First quarter 2012 guide, please visit:
http://www.absg.adventist.org/Correction.htm
* Please note that the remaining lessons for first quarter 2012 are still on the ABSG Web site. Click on the purple button below for the edition in which you are interested. Scroll down the page to locate them posted beneath the new quarter's lessons.
