Do You Seek the Lord's Guidance?
Gregory T. Pouncey
Genesis 24:34-48
Before the Session
For teaching plans and full explanations of all the verses in today’s lessons,
consult the Explore the Bible leader guide or commentary.
Make sure each learner has his or her own Explore the Bible learner
guide.
Identify Your Tasks (Gen. 24:34-41)
Introduce the lesson by providing background information
about Genesis 24:1-67. Explain that Abraham’s servant was seeking the Lord’s
guidance in finding a wife for Isaac.
Read the follow excerpt about arranged marriages:
Because Mom Said So: Are Arranged Marriages the
Next Big Trend?
The best way to find your partner
for life could very well be the oldest: the arranged marriage, according to
one trend expert.
“Today is the era of the arranged couple who fall into
love around the birth of the first child," said Marian Salzman, co-author of
"Next Now: Trends for the Future."
"It sounds traditional, but in some ways so much of the
future is back to the past, turbo-charged,” she said.
Arranged marriages have been part of many cultures for
thousands of years, primarily born out of the desire and/or need for a
financial, political or property-based partnership. As America expanded
multi-culturally, this custom filtered through as certain ethnic groups
sought to preserve cultural and class traditions.
But, contrary to the "old" arranged marriage, in which
children are forbidden from choosing their own partners, the modern arranged
marriage is not about being forced into federation. It’s about relying on
the matchmaking mastery of Mom and Dad.
If you were
called to arrange a marriage for your son or daughter, what steps would
you take to ensure success?
What steps did
Abraham’s servant take to find Isaac’s wife in Genesis 24:34-41?
What are other
current life tasks that would benefit from a thorough defining of the
tasks involved?
Rely on the Lord (Gen. 24:42-44)
Read Genesis 24:42-44 and an excerpt of the testimony of
Jerry Bridges:
Choosing to Trust
Last summer, doctors discovered a large, malignant
tumor in my wife's abdominal cavity. After eight weeks of radiation therapy
and another month of waiting, she underwent a CAT scan to determine if the
tumor had been successfully resolved. The day before she was to learn the
results of the CAT scan, my wife found herself apprehensive and anxious over
the news she would hear the next day.
For some days she had been turning to Ps. 42:11 for
assurance during this difficult time. The verse says, "Why are you downcast,
O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet
praise him, my Savior and my God."
Turning to Ps. 42:11 that day, she said, "Lord, I
choose not to be downcast, I choose not to be disturbed, I choose to put my
hope in You." Her feelings did not change immediately. But after a while her
heart was calmed as she deliberately chose to trust God.
David, in his times of distress, also chose to trust
God. Despite the fact that he was a warrior of great skill and courage,
David admitted in Ps. 56:3–4 that he was afraid. The heading of Psalm 56
indicates the occasion of David's writing: "When the Philistines had seized
him in Gath." The historical narrative of that incident says that he "was
very much afraid of Achish king of Gath" (1 Sam. 21:12).
But despite David's fear, he said to God, "I will
trust in you . . .. I will not be afraid." Repeatedly in the psalms we find
the determination to trust God—choosing to trust Him despite all
appearances. David's declaration in Ps. 23:4, "I will fear no evil," is
equivalent to "I will trust in God in the face of evil." In Ps. 16:8 he
says, "I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken." To set the Lord before me is to recognize His
presence and His constant help, but this is something we must choose to do.
How did the
servant express his trust in this passage?
How did
Bridges' wife express her trust?
Why is prayer a
valuable tool for recieving clear guidance from the Lord and for
carrying out life’s tasks?
Praise the Lord (Gen. 24:45-48)
Read Genesis 24:45-48 and list the ways the servant praised the Lord for
answering his prayer.
Summarize the story of missionary, Mendy Nantz. Emphasize the paragraph
in bold print at the end of the article.
Missionary's Tale testament to Power of Prayer
RICHMOND, Va.
(BP)--Mendy Nantz was on the way to a funeral when it happened.
“Don’t scream or
do anything stupid or I will kill you,” a well-dressed man commanded the
33-year-old Southern Baptist missionary.
Idling outside the Africa Inland
Mission counseling center in Nairobi, Kenya, Nantz had spent the past few
minutes honking the horn of her red Toyota RAV-4. She was waiting for
someone to open the steel gate that protected the compound’s entrance. But
instead of a friendly wave, Nantz was greeted by the barrel of a gun. She
was being kidnapped.
As the man shoved her into the
RAV’s passenger seat, she managed to hit the horn one last time.
“That was stupid,” he snarled,
throwing the Toyota into reverse.
Immediately, Nantz began to pray.
“Lord, do not let that honk be in
vain,” she cried out, silently.
Within seconds, the RAV’s back
doors flew open and two more men jumped in, both carrying guns.
“I was trembling,” Nantz recalled.
“I started thinking, ‘This is the end -- how do I want to end my life? Do I
want to end my life praising God? Or do I want to end my life in fear?’
“I had guns on me all the time. I
couldn’t cry, I couldn’t scream for fear they would shoot, but I could
pray,” she said.
As the SUV sped away from the
compound, the gunmen demanded money and began to rifle through Nantz’s
belongings. One of the men was ordered to get rid of more than a dozen blue
balloons that filled the RAV’s backseat.
“Those were for my friend; he died
and his funeral is today,” Nantz pleaded.
The man pushed the balloons out the
window.
Minutes later, the Toyota pulled
off the main road, and Nantz started to panic.
“I began to imagine all the
horrific things these men could do to me,” she said. “I had nothing else to
give them. I began to pray specifically, ‘Lord, You are my King and my God.
You are in control of all situations. Please do not let them touch my body
in any way.’”
Nantz considered what she would do
if the men tried to rape her. She was ready to kill them -- or herself -- to
prevent it.
“It was right then that an
overwhelming peace came over my soul,” Nantz said. “Even though I think I
know what I can and can’t live through, God knows better than I do.”
Abruptly the RAV came to a stop.
Nantz knew they were near the Langata cemetery, an isolated area of Nairobi.
If her kidnappers were going hurt her, it would be here. The Toyota’s doors
opened, but no one got out. Seconds passed sluggishly, and the uncertainty
was agonizing. What were her kidnappers waiting for? She continued to pray.
Suddenly the doors slammed shut,
and the RAV rumbled to life. They were heading back to the main road.
“I really believe the Lord
convicted their hearts of their wicked ways and spoke to them,” Nantz said.
“I don’t know if it was a vision. I don’t know if it was angels. I don’t
know if He spoke words to them that they heard. But it was the Lord.”
Her thoughts now turned to the
prospect of escape.
“I knew the Lord was in control --
I just needed to be aware of when He was going to allow me an exit from the
situation,” she said. “I’ve always heard that if you try to befriend them
(kidnappers), they react more nicely to you.”
The gunman in the RAV’s backseat
gave Nantz her first opportunity. Still rummaging through her things, he
found a pack of gum.
“You can have it,” Nantz remembers
telling him. “I want to give it to you as a gift.”
He smiled at her, quizzically.
“When he took all that stuff out of
my bag, I decided, ‘I don’t want him to steal from me, so I’m just going to
give it to him,’” Nantz said. “I just felt much better. Maybe it was more of
a mental thing.”
She even felt confident enough to
crack several jokes with her assailants, at one point asking if they were
taking her to the beach, which was a seven-hour drive.
“They didn’t respond. I laughed
though,” Nantz said.
But any rapport she managed to
build was quickly shot down by what had become her kidnappers’ standard
response: “Shut up, or we’ll kill you.”
Though her words didn’t seem to be
making much of a difference, Nantz knew there was one that would.
Remembering a devotional about the power of Jesus’ name, she began to
whisper it aloud.
“I decided that if nothing else I
could at least fill the entire RAV with the name of Jesus,” Nantz said. “I’m
a believer that if you speak it out and you speak it boldly, His name is
powerful enough to change any situation, any circumstance.... Because the
enemy cannot stand the name of Jesus. He hates it.”
“We are Islam,” the driver
responded.
Once again Nantz was overwhelmed
with calmness. Noticing her Bible stuck between the seats, she grabbed it
and held it tightly against her heart.
The RAV was now rolling down a
long, dirt alley, heading toward a large, red gate. Another wave of fear
began to grip her.
“Once I’m in there, I’m lost
forever,” Nantz remembers thinking. “I thought this was the end of my life.”
Stopping short of the gate, the
gunmen exited the Toyota and forced Nantz behind the wheel. All three guns
were trained on her.
“Drive!” the group’s leader
ordered.
This was her chance. The kidnappers
were letting her go. And then something happened that Nantz said she will
remember for the rest of her life.
Reaching out, the man gently
touched his hand to the side of her head.
“Good job,” he said.
She punched the gas and the RAV
shot down the road. She was safe, and for the first time during the
terrifying 45-minute nightmare, tears streamed down her face.
Nantz said she has no idea what the
kidnapper meant by his final words but believes God was speaking through
him.
“I don’t know that he knows he even
said it,” Nantz said. “I think it was the Lord’s words saying, ‘Good job,
Mendy. You did what I wanted you to do. You praised Me through the whole
situation. You trusted Me, and you allowed Me to work things according to My
will.’ In my heart, that’s what I believe. Others may think I’m crazy.”
Evidence of God's Hand Months after her kidnapping, Nantz said it’s evident the Lord was
at work throughout her ordeal, beginning the moment she was taken.
Remember that final, defiant honk
she prayed wouldn’t be in vain? It wasn’t. A neighbor heard the RAV’s horn
and came to the window just in time to see the gunmen jump in and speed
away. The neighbor immediately informed Nantz’s friends, who put out the
alert she had been kidnapped.
And the blue balloons the gunmen
pushed out the window? They were seen floating through the air by an AIM AIR
pilot returning from the Congo. Putting two and two together, Nantz’s
friends used the balloons’ location over the city to direct a search plane
to look for her red RAV-4.
But perhaps the most remarkable
demonstration of God’s provision and protection that day was Nantz’s
personal safety. She said it’s taught her the true power of prayer.
Within 10 minutes of the
kidnapping, a prayer chain was mobilized. Literally hundreds of people, some
scattered around the world, were on their knees, interceding on Nantz’s
behalf. She credits those prayers for saving her life -- and her purity --
during those terrifying moments near the Langata cemetery.
“I believe that’s why I had the
overwhelming peace; I believe that’s why they started the car and shut the
doors,” Nantz said. “I don’t know what these gunmen saw or felt at that very
moment, but I do know they had evil intentions and were stopped by the power
of intercessory prayer.
“I didn’t realize that when I
prayed for them not to touch my body, they didn’t touch anything on my body
-- nothing. When we pray, ‘Lord, keep me from a situation,’ or, ‘Lord, bless
me in this way,’ He’s literal about it.
“I was thinking purity-wise, ‘Keep
them from harming me.’ And He answered, ‘Mendy, I can do so much better. I
can keep them from touching you anywhere -- from laying a finger on you.’
That’s amazing to me.”
Aspiring Prayer Warrior
The experience has galvanized Nantz to bolster her own prayer life, moving
past what she calls “half-hearted praying” to become a true prayer warrior
-- and she’s got the perfect role model in mind.
“When you think of Southern Baptist
women, the faithful ones, they’re prayer warriors,” she said. “They get down
on their knees, and they pray daily for their missionaries, their families,
their church, their pastors.
“That’s something I’ve always
wanted to be. I used to think, ‘I’m too young to be who they are now. When I
get older, when I retire, that’s when I’ll become this missionary prayer
warrior.’ But through this experience, I know I can be that lady right now,”
she added. “And now I have an insight to what drives them to prayer -- they
know how to pray specifically.”
Although the kidnapping has forced
her to make some lifestyle changes, Nantz said it hasn’t shaken the Lord’s
calling on her life as a Southern Baptist missionary.
“I don’t get in my car and just
drive off to anywhere now,” she said. “I am more aware and more cautious.
I’m a little bit more jumpy. But that doesn’t stop me from continuing on.
... If the Lord can take me through that, He can take me through anything.
“There’s nothing scarier than being
out of the will of God. And there is nothing more calming, more peaceful
than being in a terrifying situation but right in the middle of His will.”
Above all, Nantz said the
kidnapping has also strengthened her relationship with the Lord.
“My perspective has
changed. I want more than anything [to have] a true, intimate, worshipful
relationship with God,” she said. “And I do praise Him for every day. I
praise Him for everything. Even for the hardships, because they make us
stronger.
“This could have happened to any
other woman here. However, they have children and they have husbands, and I
don’t know that their reaction would have been the same as mine. And I give
Him praise for allowing it to be me. For allowing me to go through it and be
the example and allowing others to learn through my experience.”
Hopeful Witness
Kenyan authorities have told Nantz it’s unlikely they will ever catch her
kidnappers. But whether or not they are brought to justice in this world,
Nantz hopes she will see them again in the next.
“I do pray that they come to know
the Lord; that this experience wouldn’t be in vain, but something for the
Kingdom would come of this,” she said. “I’d love to see them in heaven and
hear them say, ‘You’re the girl that spoke the name of Jesus into our
lives.’ I would love to see that. I would love to hear that someday.”
Source: Graham,
Don. Missionary's Tale Testament to Power of Prayer. Available at
www.lifeway.com.
Ask:
How did Mendy’s
answered prayer result in praise?
What recent
victories in your life have resulted in praise to the Lord?
Make a list of life tasks that you need to define and lift up in prayer. Praise
the Lord for those tasks you have completed thus far.
EXTRA! is a supplement designed
to enhance and expand the effectiveness of printed curriculum provided by
LifeWay Church Resources.
EXTRA! is produced by Publishing
Services and Multimedia, LifeWay Church Resources, Copyright 2007, LifeWay
Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.
SPECIAL NOTE: Some Internet
addresses given in EXTRA! are outside the LifeWay Internet domain. Because of
the changing nature of the Web, EXTRA! editors cannot be held responsible for
content on pages outside their control. At the time of this posting, the
specific pages mentioned have been viewed and approved by the EXTRA! editorial
staff. However, at the time of your viewing, the information on these pages may
have changed. Links from the specific page addresses referenced in this material
possibly could link to inappropriate material.
EXTRA! Weekly Supplemental Teaching Plans
Adult
Bible Studies for Life
Bible Studies for Life EXTRA
February 17, 2008
The Messenger
Dana Armstrong
Luke 10:1-12,16
Before the Session
For teaching plans and full explanations of all the verses in today’s lesson,
consult any of the Bible Studies for Life leader guides or
commentaries.
Make sure each learner has his or her own learner guide.
Luke 10:1-2
Enlist a volunteer to read Luke 10:1-2.
Ask:
Who were the
seventy?
Where did Jesus
tell them to go?
What did He
tell them to pray for?
Paraphrase the following article, which emphasizes
the number of people answering the call to missions:
82 missionaries answer God's personal call
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (BP)--Her face is etched in Michael’s*
mind. Ten years ago, the Texas-born businessman remembers knocking on the
door of a quiet, thatched-roof home in a small Russian town. It was his
first mission trip. An elderly woman answered and Michael offered her a
Bible. That’s when his life changed forever.
“She fell on her knees, crying, thanking me,” he said.
Her eyes glistening with tears, the woman explained she had lost her husband
during World War II and didn’t have money to buy a Bible. For years, she
prayed someone would bring her one.
“[That] will be with me until the day I die,” Michael
said. “I never thought in a million years God would use me to touch
someone’s life in another country, but He did.”
Michael believes the Lord used the encounter to call him
to the mission field. Now, he and his wife are headed to Asia.
The couple were among 82 new missionaries appointed by
the International Mission Board Nov. 7 in Springfield, Ill., during the
annual meeting and 100th anniversary celebration of the Illinois Baptist
State Association.
“You are here tonight because you’ve recognized God’s
call as a personal call,” IMB President Jerry Rankin told the missionaries
before a gathering of more than 1,500 people at Springfield’s Prairie
Capital Convention Center.
“You’ve felt God’s call in diverse ways. … He took your
background and your experience and said, ‘I’ve got a place for you.’”
Rankin’s point was made evident as the missionaries
shared stories of their personal call to missions.
Michael’s wife, Jennifer, knew the Lord was asking her to
go overseas when she was suddenly overwhelmed by an urge to write a $500
check for a cow.
At church one Sunday, Jennifer remembers her pastor
talking about the needs of a missionary in South Asia. Cows were valuable to
the missionaries there, the pastor explained, but too expensive to buy. He
asked the church if they would donate the money for the cow.
“I remember being so excited when I put ‘for a cow’ on
the memo line of that check that I felt like I could cry,” Jennifer said.
PERSONAL CALLINGS
--“It began with one cup of coffee on the very last
day of a vision trip to [Northern Africa],” said Jason*, a member of First
Baptist Church in Jonesboro, Ark. “The missionaries said, ‘We need college
students,’ and as a collegiate minister, I promised I would send them. Five
years and over 70 student summer missionaries later, God has called me to go
back.” Jason will return to Northern Africa with his wife, Amanda.
--“I was a teacher desiring to do more for God. He
showed me the need as I served as a journeyman in South Asia. I went, I
smelled the poverty, I saw the masses, and I heard their emptiness,” said
Erick,* who will now return to South Asia with his wife, Colleen.
--“I came to Christ as a child through a missionary’s
testimony,” said Heidi.* “As a short-term missionary in Western Europe, I
saw the look of wonder and hope on a refugee woman’s face as I shared God’s
amazing love. God called me to stay.”
--“One day God spoke, telling me I had run out of reasons
to not go overseas. Terrified, I waited a week before telling my wife,”
recalled Jason.*
“Finally, he confessed his calling to me, only to
discover what God had confirmed in my heart a week earlier through the Book
of Jeremiah,” Jason’s wife, Kelli, explained. “We are obeying God’s call and
moving to Central Asia.”
--“We were told that you don’t have to be a seminary
graduate to be a missionary. You can be a treasurer, a teacher or in music.
Turns out, we are all three,” said Tracy Delac, a member of McGregor Baptist
Church in Fort Myers, Fla. Tracy and her husband, David, will serve in South
Africa.
--“I was Jonah ... a financially successful project
manager who felt God’s call to missions. I ran. After a whale incident, God
opened my eyes to His true treasure –people,” said Philip,* who, along with
his wife, Alisa, will soon be sharing Christ in the Middle East.
--“As a preschooler … I gave my mom a note while skating
on our driveway: ‘God’s sending me to the mission field.’ Now 48 years
later, God’s sending us to Guatemala,” said Glynis Miller. Glynis and her
husband, David, are members of Abilene Baptist Church in Martinez, Ga.
--“While homeschooling our four children, God used the
missionary biographies we read around the family dinner table to lead us to
a forgotten people group,” shared Becky.* She and her husband, Scott, are
headed to East Africa.
--“As an ISC couple, basketball opened the doors to a
closed Buddhist village. Softball got us into a Muslim school. Today, God
continues to use my passion for sports to share Christ’s love,” said Clint,*
who will serve in the Middle East with his wife, Natalie.
--“Ten years ago, a scarred temple servant in Taiwan
grabbed my hand. Hopelessly lost, he was begging me for help. Right then, I
asked God to use me to penetrate this darkness,” said Rob,* who will
minister among the people of Asia with his wife, Alicia.
--“In Asia in 1999, I played guitar all night long
with a local rock band. One week later I was able to share Jesus with the
bass player, my friend Shaddad. God used his resistance to the Gospel to
increase my passion for reaching Muslims,” said Tanner,* who is leaving for
Western Europe with his wife, Audrey.
Jerry Rankin compared the missionaries’ call to that of
Moses – one of providence, purpose and empowerment. He admonished them not
to lose focus and reminded the missionaries that just as the Lord promised
to go with Moses, He would go with them, too.
“The purpose for which you’re going is to deliver a lost
world from bondage and sin and set them free by the power of Jesus Christ,”
Rankin stressed.
“Why would Jesus tell us to be His witnesses, even to the
ends of the earth? Because it’s predicated on the fact that we have received
the power of God’s Holy Spirit.”
NO ONE EXEMPT
Rankin also commended the missionaries for their
obedience to God’s call, while lamenting the number of Southern Baptists who
don’t understand the Great Commission.
“It’s not unusual that after an appointment service or a
missions conference someone will come up to me and say, ‘Dr. Rankin, I would
be willing to go as a missionary, but God has not called me,’” Rankin said.
“I’ve never figured out how to respond to that tactfully.
What I want to say is, ‘Excuse me? You’re a child of God? To whom do you
think the Great Commission was given –just a handful of disciples on a
hillside in Galilee?’
“We reason that if we haven’t had a burning bush or a
Damascus Road experience, we’re exempt,” he explained.
The 82 missionaries join the ranks of more than 5,300
other Southern Baptist missionaries already serving around the world. Rankin
pointed out the number represents only .03 percent of all Southern Baptists,
less than one out of every 3,000.
“We need to examine our hearts and our willingness to
bring our lives into alignment with the heart of God,” Rankin said. “If God
is calling you to go, it’s not enough to say, ‘I’ll pray more; I’ll give
more generously; I’ll go on an occasional short-term mission trip.’ You
don’t argue with God.
“A lost world is waiting for someone who’s willing to
say, ‘I’ll go.’”
Source: Graham, Don (2007, November 9).
82 Missionaries answer God's personal call. Retrieved February 6,
2008 from www.imb.org.
Ask:
Why do most
people think the work of missions and evangelism is primarily the
responsibility of pastors and teachers?
What must be
done to change this?
Say: Just as Jesus chose 70 (72 in the NIV) ordinary people to
go out and share the good news, God still calls ordinary people today to go out
into the world and share the gospel!
Luke 10:3-4
Read Luke 10:3-4.
Use the following article to emphasize to your class
members that they must rely on God’s power and not their own resources to share
Christ with others:
3 Ways to Overcome Your Fear of Sharing Christ
For many of us, the idea of "evangelism" can make us panicky - even
though we're ministry leaders. Sometimes it feels like surely the Great
Commission was written with someone else in mind!
Maybe you don't feel like you have the "gift" of conversing with
unbelievers, although Christ is clearly the most important Person in your
life. Let's look at ways leaders like us can overcome our fears and the
intimidation factor associated with sharing our faith.
As a woman in ministry leadership, when you don't feel like you're
"called to evangelism," ask God to bring the following to mind:
1. Remember your call to Christ.
Remember Who you are following! Decide that no matter what you are doing,
you will share Christ when you have the opportunity.
Make a commitment to your ministry that in every event you plan, you will
include ways to reach unbelievers.
2. Remember your call to multiply yourself.
Evaluate how you spend your time. Are you taking time to mentor at least
one person, to model Christ and the Great Commission?
Realign your priorities to include time to influence another's life. It
may not mean you have to create another time slot. It may just mean that you
bring another alongside.
Whether it's planning an event or making a necessary visit, take someone
in training with you.
3. Remember your call to multiply His power.
Reflect on Who provides your power. Set aside a time each day to tap into
God's power. Spend as much time and energy on your spiritual nurturing as
you do your physical nurturing.
Give your ministry to God and commit to follow Him in every area. Spend
time praying in your council meetings.
Encourage your leadership to pray for unsaved women on a daily basis.
Identify and discuss ways God has spoken and moved in your meetings and
events. Share these results with others.
How can we tap into God’s power to accomplish this
calling?
Luke 10:5-9
Read Luke 10:5-9. Explain that the
disciples were to remain in one household when they entered a city. Their
mission was to heal and to preach.
Challenge learners to list some ways we can meet the needs
of the lost in an effort to reach them for Christ.
Read the following article. When you get to the list of evidences of an
evangelistic Sunday School, allow time for learners to discuss each. When you
finish, ask your class to list ways to make your class into an evangelist class.
Marks of an Evangelistic Sunday School
The Great Commission was the last command that Jesus gave
His disciples as He ascended into heaven. "Going into all the world to make
disciples" soon became a priority for every New Testament apostle,
especially Paul. He not only labored to be obedient to this command of the
Lord, but charged fellow believers to take up the same ministry (2 Cor.
5:18).
How is your church doing? Do you have an evangelistic
strategy, like FAITH established? Has your Sunday School taken steps to
minister to the lost? Is your Sunday School evangelistic? Not sure? Here are
the marks of an evangelistic Sunday School to help you determine if you are
moving in the right direction, evangelistically.
An evangelistic Sunday School:
Recognizes
evangelism as the number one priority of the church.
Functions
as the evangelistic arm of the church.
Continually
seeks the lost.
Seeks to
enroll the lost in Sunday School.
Works to
win the lost.
Knows the
importance of witnessing.
Trains
workers to witness and leads them to do so.
Has a
definite evangelistic training visitation.
Provides
calendar and budget for evangelistic activities.
Participates / supports revivals and other outreach efforts of the
church.
Realizes
that discipleship of new Christians is necessary.
Explain that sharing the gospel is a matter of life and
death. Judgment comes on those who reject the gospel. When our witness is
rejected, we must move on to others whom God desires to reach. We are not held
accountable for those who hear and reject the gospel.
Lead learners in a prayer of commitment to see the
need unbelievers have for salvation, to make a commitment to evangelism,
to engage in the work of evangelism, and to recognize the consequences those
who reject Jesus will face.
EXTRA! is a supplement designed
to enhance and expand the effectiveness of printed curriculum provided by
LifeWay Church Resources.
EXTRA! is produced by Publishing
Services and Multimedia, LifeWay Church Resources, Copyright 2007, LifeWay
Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.
SPECIAL NOTE: Some Internet
addresses given in EXTRA! are outside the LifeWay Internet domain. Because of
the changing nature of the Web, EXTRA! editors cannot be held responsible for
content on pages outside their control. At the time of this posting, the
specific pages mentioned have been viewed and approved by the EXTRA! editorial
staff. However, at the time of your viewing, the information on these pages may
have changed. Links from the specific page addresses referenced in this material
possibly could link to inappropriate material.
