Guide a Study – Page 5 – The GoodSeed Blog

Reaching out in the halls of public schools

This is the first installment of a two-part story. Read part two.

A tale of two brothers: Benjamin’s Story

Recently I had a phone conversation with Benjamin.* I had heard through the grapevine that he had been very active in reaching out to fellow students in public school, using one of our books, The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus. Benjamin graciously agreed to share his story and how God used those years in his life and in the lives of others.

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The simple, unassuming and authoritative nature of the book changed my life

A while ago, we received an email from Hayden* who lives Down Under in Australia. His story was a good reminder of two important factors in our outreach with others. First, our testimony in a community really does have an impact—for better or for worse. Second, we were reminded that simply giving a book away can also make a big difference in a person’s life.

Hayden shared how he had grown up attending church with his family, one of the few in his small community. While he was taught a lot about the Bible, he found himself ultimately rejecting God’s Word based upon what he saw in the lives of his fellow church members.

“I didn’t see the face of Christ in that place and the fruitlessness—in both numbers and maturity—was very confusing.”

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Friendship with neighbours blossoms into opportunities

When the Lord brings unsaved people into our lives, it is sometimes difficult to know when is the right time to share the gospel. This is when we must be prayerfully sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s direction. At times, it seems the Lord asks us to wait, patiently attuned to his timing. This is what the Martins* learned as they desired to minister to their new neighbours.

Bob* remembers clearly when Jessica and Chris moved in across the street a few years ago. The young couple had invited their friends and new neighbours to an open house. Bob and his wife, Martha, who view every relationship as a potential for blessing others with Christ, saw this occasion as a good opportunity to establish a relationship with these newcomers to their community.

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Time was running out

time running out Recently, Nora* sent us an email. It began with:

“Hi there. One of your staff members visited us some time ago and left behind some of the GoodSeed resources so we could purchase them. I bought a copy of The Lamb to help me minister to my sister-in-law.”

Nora’s sister-in-law, Lucy,* knew very little about the Bible’s message because of a mental disability. At 63 years of age, without the ability to read or learn most things for herself, her childlike mind had kept her seemingly isolated from this most essential message. Nora had struggled to think of a way to reach out to this precious family member.

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Sunday school: Teach live or watch the DVD?

Classroom Our resources have been creatively used in a wide variety of settings ranging from self-studies to camps and small small groups. Here is one lady’s email to us with a question regarding the use of The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus in Sunday school.

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I confess… I cut up “The Lamb”!

Cutting up The Lamb It’s the end of summer in the northern hemisphere. While school was out and the weather warm, summer camps were in full swing. Many children attended Christian camps, backyard Bible clubs, or Vacation Bible Schools (VBS) where, in the midst of fun activities, they also got to learn the message of the Bible. For many of these children, it was the first time they heard the gospel message.

We received an email from Julia,* who taught at a VBS. She said she had to confess something to us. She wrote:

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A pint of frozen custard

Here is an email from our archives. We received this back in 2010 and it has not ceased to be a source of encouragement for us. Here is the story of one young person leading another to faith in Christ through the use of By This Name and frozen custard! We pray it might encourage you to do the same with someone in your life (well, except for the frozen custard). Here is Timothy’s* story.

I was putting away chairs and clearing up the hall after our youth group meeting. I’d been teaching the group and it had been a very good time of learning and fellowship. One of the new members of the group approached me. His name was Jake,* and without any preamble, he started talking. Though this was our first conversation, he wasn’t bashful or reserved. He spoke to me as if we were old friends.

As Jake shared bits and pieces about himself, I was able to piece together his life. Jake had started attending our youth group because he had fathered a child with one of the girls in the group. At age 16 and still in junior high, he was already a father. But it didn’t seem to trouble him at all.

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Stitching together the story of hope

Quilt Story Stacy* looked around the room. It was filled with women who were recovering addicts. Behind the expectant faces were stories of poor choices, wrong turns and heartaches of every kind. Stacy wasn’t sure why each of them had ended up in this room with her. But each lady had before her scraps of cloth, thread, and other materials. Today, they were gathered to learn quilting. As well, they were about to learn what God had to say about life, death, and life after death.

About four years earlier, Stacy had attended a GoodSeed TERM Seminar. There, she had been thrilled to learn a simple, clear and effective way to share the gospel. She had journeyed through By This Name and, since then, had been waiting for God to show her how she could share the good news with others.

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Can I stretch the teaching of By This Name over a year?

Question:
I have a youth group that meets weekly. Can I use By This Name to teach over the course of a year?

Answer:
By This Name works very well with youths and young adults. It addresses many questions that they may have arising from New Age thinking, postmodernism and secularism.

In our teaching experience, and based on feedback from others who have taught it, we believe that By This Name works best when it is taught in as short a time as possible. This doesn’t mean you rush through the book but we would not encourage you to extend the study over a long period. This is because the gospel message is, in reality, a story—God’s Story. When it becomes stretched out—say over a year—the Story of God becomes a series of disjointed narratives.

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Lord, where would you have me use these tools?

Praying hands The warm spring sunshine lit the windows of the church fellowship hall. Nestled among a group of 50 or more TERM Seminar participants, Marie* felt a growing sense of anticipation. She had spent three days learning how to share the gospel, concluding with hands-on experience in guiding a course. Now, she had been won over by how simple it was to use the Worldview Rethink curriculum to lead someone through a clear presentation of the gospel message. Along with her fellow participants, Marie had been asked to think of people in her life with whom she could invite to a course. She started to make a mental list.

Back at home, Marie prayed, “Lord, where would you use me? Where would you have me use these tools?” She took her responsibility as an ambassador for Christ seriously and started with a neighbour. She invited Laura* to sit with her through a study of the Bible.

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