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T h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l P a p e r f o r S e v e n t h - d a y A d v e n t i s t s
W E E K O F P R A Y E R I S S U E
Heart
A
for
Mission
North American Division | na d
W E E K O F P R A Y E R 2 0 1 6
Missionary
“Everyone a ”
The Great Commission is one of the most well-known passages in the
Bible: “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has
been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 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’ ”
W E E K O F P R A Y E R
(Matt. 28:18-20).
3 FIRST SABBATH In this commission Christ urges His followers to become missionaries and
reach the world for Him. But is this command, given 2,000 years ago, still rel-
6 SUNDAY
evant for us today? What is our mission, and what does it mean to be a mis-
8 MONDAY
sionary in today’s culture?
During this special Week of Prayer we will be focusing on mission. Each day
10 TUESDAY
will bring some new aspect to this important question: What is God’s mission?
12 WEDNESDAY
How can everyone be a missionary? We’ll look at the significance of encounter-
32 THURSDAY ing Jesus and walking with Him in mission.
Love is the foundation for mission—love to God, and love for others. Con-
34 FRIDAY
viction in what we believe and integrating new believers into the church com-
36 SECOND SABBATH munity are two more important topics that will be covered. Finally, we’ll look
to the time the mission is accomplished! You won’t want to miss a single day of
40 WORLD VIEW
these inspiring, uplifting, biblically based readings.
42 CHILDREN’S READINGS I invite you to join me as we prayerfully consider these important topics,
and—no matter who you are, where you live, or what you do—to commit to
being a missionary for Him.
16-31
May the Lord bless us as we come together as a world church family to study
N O R T H A M E R I C A N
and pray during this special Week of Prayer.
D I V I S I O N
Ted N. C. Wilson, president
ON THE COVER: Jesus always Seventh-day Adventist Church
had a heart for mission, whether
it was reaching out to the
Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well,
Roman officers, tax collectors, or The Adventist World® (ISSN 1557-5519), one of the Adventist Review® family of publications, is printed monthly by the Pacific Press®
Publishing Association. Copyright © 2016. Send address changes to your local conference membership clerk. Contact information
mothers with their children. should be available through your local church. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. Vol. 12, No. 9, September 2016.
2 Adventist World - nad | September 2016
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W E E K O F P R A Y E R
FIRST SABBATH
Gods
’
By
Ted N. C. Wilson needed a third phase of missionary
training, that which God provided in
Mission
the wilderness.
Ellen White wrote, “He had yet to
learn the same lesson of faith that
Abraham and Jacob had been
taught—not to rely upon human
strength or wisdom, but upon the
power of God for the fulfillment of
His promises. . . . In the school of self-
The idea of being a missionary might repent before it would be too denial and hardship he was to learn
started in heaven. Even late. God gave them probationary patience, to temper his passions.
before sin entered the world, time before their destruction (Gen. Before he could govern wisely, he
the Trinity designed a plan to save 12:1-3; 15:15, 16). must be trained to obey.”3 Only then
humanity should Satan succeed in As a teen, Joseph found himself in was Moses ready to serve as one of
causing them to fall. God the Father a foreign country against his will. God’s greatest missionaries.
would send His Son on a mission to Nevertheless, he chose to be God’s
save lost souls. missionary, bringing light and integ- To Seek and Save
It would be a costly mission. rity into a heathen household. In spite Rahab, a woman from Jericho,
Emmanuel—God with us. “Christ of the most trying circumstances, he helped save her entire family when she
would take upon Himself the guilt and continued to let his light shine even shared with them her encounter with
shame of sin—sin so offensive to a through the bars of an Egyptian the Israelite spies and her faith in their
holy God that it must separate the prison. Later God chose to use this God (Joshua 2:12-14; 6:17).
Father and His Son. Christ would faithful missionary to save the entire Daniel and his three friends were
reach to the depths of misery to rescue land of Egypt and beyond during sent as missionaries to the powerful
the ruined race.”1 years of terrible famine (Gen. 37:25- kingdom of Babylon. Over the years
Christ—the adored of heaven—left 28; 39:8, 9, 21-23; 41:37-41). they faithfully carried out God’s mis-
the purity, peace, and joy of Paradise sion in the court of the king. Through
to go on God’s mission to this dark, Extensive “Missionary Training” their witness Nebuchadnezzar eventu-
sin-filled world. His mission was Moses went through extensive ally surrendered his heart to the only
clear—to seek and save the lost. “missionary training”—first at the feet true God. You can read the king’s tes-
Since the beginning, God’s mission of his mother, who “endeavored to timony in Daniel 4:34-37.
has remained the same, and through imbue his mind with the fear of God A young Israelite girl served as
the centuries He has sent missionaries and the love of truth and justice, and God’s faithful missionary in the
to accomplish His purposes. earnestly prayed that he might be pre- household of her Syrian captors, lead-
served from every corrupting influ- ing Naaman, commander of the king’s
Going on God’s Mission ence. She showed him the folly and sin army, to declare: “Indeed, now I know
For 120 years Noah pleaded with of idolatry, and early taught him to that there is no God in all the earth,
the antediluvians to prepare for a com- bow down and pray to the living God, except in Israel” (2 Kings 5:15).4
ing flood (Gen. 6:3; 1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter who alone could hear him and help Even Jonah, the reluctant mission-
2:5). And for 120 years Noah clung him in every emergency.”2 ary, helped save his enemies by
tenaciously to the promises of God as In the court of Pharaoh, Moses preaching the Word of God to the
he endured taunts and ridicule from received the highest civil and military Ninevites (Jonah 3:4-10).
the very people he was trying to save. training, providing logistical training
God sent Abraham on a mission: that would serve him well in leading a God’s Mission in the New
to go to the land that He would show vast throng out of Egypt and through Testament
him and to be a godly influence for the wilderness (Acts 7:22). Yet before God’s mission in the New Testa-
the Canaanites in order that they he was ready to do this work, Moses ment was the same as in the old, to
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W E E K O F P R A Y E R
FIRST SABBATH
seek and save the lost.
Jesus, of course, is the ultimate
missionary. He who “was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. . . . And the Word
became flesh and dwelt among us, and
we beheld His glory, the glory as of
the only begotten of the Father, full of
grace and truth” (John 1:1-14). He is
the one who revealed God’s mission of
love and mercy in all of its fullness.
While on earth, Jesus provided
hands-on missionary training for the
apostles. Ellen White observed: “As
Jesus ministered to the vast multi-
tudes that gathered about Him, His
disciples were in attendance, eager to
do His bidding and to lighten His
labor. They assisted in arranging the
people, bringing the afflicted ones to
the Savior, and promoting the com-
fort of all. They watched for inter-
ested hearers, explained the Scrip-
tures to them, and in various ways
worked for their spiritual benefit.
They taught what they had learned of
Jesus, and were every day obtaining a
rich experience.”5
When Jesus sent out the apostles
two by two (and later the “seventy”
[see Luke 10]), He instructed them to
carry out God’s mission by preaching,
saying, “The kingdom of heaven is at
hand” (Matt. 10:7). In addition, the you will see Him, as He said to you” went out and preached everywhere,
apostles were to “heal the sick, cleanse (Mark 16:7). the Lord working with them and con-
the lepers, raise the dead, cast out On that same day two other fol- firming the word through the accom-
demons. Freely you have received, lowers of Jesus—Cleopas and his panying signs” (Mark 16:15-20).
freely give” (verse 8), He told them, friend—became missionaries as their When we think of missionaries we
reminding His disciples that the hearts “burned” within them when remember Philip, who was sent to give
power to do these things came from Jesus explained the Scriptures on the a Bible study and baptize an Ethiopian
above, and not from themselves. road to Emmaus. Unable to contain official of the royal court (Acts 8:26-
their joy, they hurried on their God- 40). We also think of Stephen, who so
After the Resurrection given mission to tell the disciples that bravely witnessed to the Jewish Sanhe-
Shortly after Christ’s resurrection Christ was risen (see Luke 24:13-35). drin, although it cost him his life. But
the women at the tomb were given a Just before His ascension Christ from the blood of his martyrdom
very special mission to “go, tell His again commanded His disciples to sprang up one of the greatest mission-
disciples—and Peter—that He [Jesus] “ ‘go into all the world and preach the aries: Saul, who later became known as
is going before you into Galilee; there gospel to every creature.’ . . . And they Paul (Acts 7:58; 9:1-22). We must also
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IMAGE: INTELLECTUAL RESERVES LDS MEDIA
No matter part, to the sacrifice of the many who ways, pointing those around you to
answered God’s call to go to foreign the One who has given us salvation
lands—more than 19 million people and who has promised to take us
your age,
in more than 200 countries have home soon. Working together, let’s
accepted the truth as it is in Jesus accomplish our God-given mission
nationality, or and have joined this God- through His wisdom and strength. By
ordained movement. God’s grace, everyone a missionary,
producing Total Member Involvement
gender, God is
God’s Mission Today to hasten Christ’s soon return! ■
Today, in a world teeming
(cid:70)(cid:68)(cid:79)(cid:79)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:74)(cid:3)(cid:92)(cid:82)(cid:88)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:82)(cid:3) with more than 7 billion people, 1 Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets (Mountain View, Calif.:
Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1890), p. 63.
there is still much work to do in 2 Ibid., pp. 243, 244.
3 Ibid., p. 247.
carrying out God’s mission. God 4 Bible texts in this article are taken from the New King James
be part of His
is calling each of us to play a part. Version. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
No matter your age, nationality, or 5 Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages (Mountain View, Calif.:
Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1898), p. 349.
mission. gender, God is calling you to be part 6 Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church (Mountain View,
of His mission. He may be calling you Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1948), vol. 9, pp. 32, 33.
to be His missionary in your neigh-
borhood, at your school, in your
Q U E S T I O N S F O R
workplace, within your circle of influ-
(cid:53)(cid:72)(cid:229)(cid:72)(cid:70)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:82)(cid:81)
remember Barnabas, Silas, John Mark, ence. Wherever you are, He needs you
and Timothy, who all played important in His mission of seeking and saving
roles in carrying out God’s mission. the lost.
Daily life interactions with others
What is your local church
1
Other Missionaries is the easiest way to witness. Let the
congregation doing to serve as
In the powerful book The Great Holy Spirit lead you to the right peo-
missionaries to the community?
Controversy we see how throughout ple, then calmly and naturally share
To the world field?
history God has always had people your witness and encouragement in
willing to carry out His mission, even an appropriate manner under the
Even if you have served as a
2
if it meant losing their lives. Holy Spirit’s leading. Witnessing
missionary in another country,
In 1874 the Seventh-day Adventist should be a joy and a natural out-
do you also see yourself as
Church sent out its first official mis- growth of our relationship with the
a missionary in your own
sionaries: John N. Andrews, with his Lord. God will open the way.
neighborhood and community?
teenage children, Mary and Charles, to Everyone is to be a part of God’s
Basel, Switzerland. Andrews’ wife, mission! In carrying out this mission, If so, in what ways?
Angeline, had died two years before. it is so important that we stay close to
Do you find it challenging to talk
Sadly, in 1878 Mary caught tuberculo- the Lord through Bible study, study of 3
with others about Jesus? If so,
sis and died. Five years later, while still the Spirit of Prophecy, and constant
in Europe, J. N. Andrews also died from prayer. why? Is there something you
tuberculosis and is buried in Basel. can do to change that?
Since that time many thousands of Everyone a Missionary
Seventh-day Adventists have gone as Inspiration tells us that “if every
missionaries, and like J. N. Andrews church member were a living mis-
and Mary Andrews, many young and sionary, the gospel would speedily
old have given their lives while faith- be proclaimed in all countries, to all Ted N. C. Wilson
is
fully carrying out God’s mission. peoples, nations, and tongues.”6 president of the Seventh-
Nevertheless, God’s mission has Jesus is coming soon! Lift that day Adventist Church.
carried on, and today—thanks, in banner high and share it in practical
September 2016 | Adventist World - nad 5
W E E K O F P R A Y E R
SUNDAY
All
By Cheryl Doss
Believers
This story was on the news a few
years ago. Unfortunately, it is
an all too common occurrence
today. The story begins with a trip out
to buy cigarettes at 2:00 a.m—not a Mission
in
healthy craving or a holy errand—that
sent Ashley Smith into the arms of
accused rapist and murderer Brian
Nichols. He forced her back into her
apartment, tied her up, put her in the See God at work in
bathtub, and told her, “I won’t hurt
you if you just do what I say.”1 the world, and join Him
What would you do in such cir-
cumstances? Would you beg, scream, in His work.
pray? Smith, in that terrible moment, she would
blessed by a grace we all can access, become God’s
saw an opportunity to serve. By her missionary to a
account, she talked to Nichols, made whole town. Jesus, travel-
breakfast, told him her story, listened. ing from Judea to Galilee
She revealed her own openness to through Samaria, stopped to rest by
grace, revealed her own wounds that Jacob’s well. “When a Samaritan came to Jesus because of her testi-
God was healing, and the moment was woman came to draw water, Jesus mony (verse 39). Ellen White
transformed. said to her, ‘Will you give me a observed, “This woman represents the
Here was a woman whose life was drink?’ ” (John 4:7). It was a simple working of a practical faith in Christ.
barely afloat. She couldn’t look after request that led to a life-transforming Every true disciple is born into the
her own child, and she was out at 2:00 conversation. kingdom of God as a missionary.”3
a.m. looking for cigarettes. Here was a In that conversation Jesus awak- Jesus said, “As you sent me into the
man wanted for rape and murder. But ened the woman’s interest, patiently world, I have sent them into the
in that instant something miraculous answered her questions, and lovingly world” (John 17:18). God’s call to us is
happened. Smith joined God at work, confronted her life choices. When her to share His good news with everyone
and Nichols encountered God. He saw heart was ready, the Messiah revealed we encounter. Paul puts it this way: “I
that even though his life was saturated Himself to her. “Then Jesus declared, consider my life worth nothing to me;
in the blood and pain of others, he ‘I, the one speaking to you—I am he.’ . my only aim is to finish the race and
could change course, free Smith, and . . Then, leaving her water jar, the complete the task the Lord Jesus has
serve God in prison. Ashley Smith’s woman went back to the town and given me—the task of testifying to the
life was also transformed by the expe- said to the people, ‘Come, see a man good news of God’s grace” (Acts
rience. She was able to discard the who told me everything I ever did. 20:24). After all, Paul tells us, we are
drugs that had ruled her life. She real- Could this be the Messiah?’ They all ambassadors—missionaries—who
ized, through sharing with Nichols, came out of the town and made their have been sent on a mission to share
that God had changed her and given way toward him” (verses 26-30). the grace we have received in the min-
her life a purpose.2 Once the Samaritan woman found istry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:19).
the Messiah, she immediately shared
A Transforming Conversation her experience with others, her urgent A Message of Reconciliation
On another day, another woman, errand forgotten. People knew her From the very beginning, when
broken, ashamed, living in sin, left broken life. They must have seen a our great missionary God came in
home on an urgent errand. Going to change in her demeanor, the healing search of broken humanity in the
Jacob’s well for water at noon, she had of her shame and fear through her Garden of Eden, He brought a mes-
no idea that before the day was over encounter with the Savior, and they sage of reconciliation for this world.
6 Adventist World - nad | September 2016
our self-centeredness. Yet God needs Ashley Smith realized, God gives us an
all of us, working together, because opportunity to share His message of
each of us encounters people we are grace and reconciliation that we
especially qualified to reach. ignore at our own peril. After all, the
God brought into Brian Nichols’ Great Commission (Matt. 28:19, 20) is
life someone whose testimony was not the Great Suggestion. It is every
peculiarly suited to touch his life. Christian’s duty and privilege to join
God wants to do the same for us if we God in His work in the world. And the
are willing to be used by Him. We can best place to start is by sharing the
God wants
all share lessons learned from a life story of God’s work in our own lives,
with Jesus. Have you failed, been wherever we live, with whomever we
to use all you wounded, found comfort and healing meet. God is at work in the world.
in Jesus? How has God worked in Will you join Him in His work?■
your life? That is the message He
are in His
wants you to give. What are your 1 Time, Mar. 20, 2005.
2 Interview with Katie Couric, Yahoo News, Sept. 15, 2015.
interests, your passions, your calling? 3 Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages (Mountain View, Calif.:
Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1898), p. 195.
mission to God wants to use all you are in His 4 Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Healing (Mountain View,
mission to the world. Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1905), p. 99.
God has given each of us a unique
the world.
testimony, a unique life experience,
and a unique calling. Even though we
may not feel we have anything to
Q U E S T I O N S F O R
share, we may lack education or posi-
(cid:53)(cid:72)(cid:229)(cid:72)(cid:70)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:82)(cid:81)
tion or status, we can tell others what
Throughout biblical history God con- God has done for us. I love Ellen
Sharing:
and
stantly asked His people to cross every White’s comments on the story of the
barrier—cultural, religious, social— two demoniacs (Matt. 8:28-34; see
with that message of grace. He used also Mark 5:1-20): “The two restored
the unlikeliest people as His witnesses: demoniacs were the first missionaries Why do we often feel that we
1
lying Abraham, unbelieving Sarah, whom Christ sent to teach the gospel have nothing to share with
dreaming Joseph, fearful Esther, mur- in the region of Decapolis. For a people around us?
der-plotting David, angry James and short time only, these men had lis-
John, doubting Thomas, denying tened to His words. Not one sermon Can you think of other biblical
2
Peter, weeping Mary, persecuting Paul. from His lips had ever fallen upon stories in which God used
Transformed by the message of grace their ears. They could not instruct the unlikely messengers?
and reconciliation, they turned the people as the disciples who had been
world upside down for God, and the daily with Christ were able to do. But How can we meet people
3
stories of their lives continue to they could tell what they knew; what who need to hear our
inspire us today. they themselves had seen, and heard, testimony?
God has called all of us, as mem- and felt of the Savior’s power. This is
bers of His body, to join His mission what everyone can do whose heart
to this world. What a privilege to has been touched by the grace of
work with God, to do something of God. This is the witness for which
eternal significance, to bring reconcili- our Lord calls, and for want of which Cheryl Doss, Ph.D.,

ation, to prepare people for Jesus’ the world is perishing.”4
serves as director of the
soon return! Such work takes com- God will place in our lives those
Institute of World Mission
mitment and intentionality in the people we can serve best. Even in the of the General Confer-
midst of distraction, busyness, and most unlikely people and places, as ence of Seventh-day Adventists.
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W E E K O F P R A Y E R
MONDAY
esus’ call is a call to mission.
“Come, follow me,” He By Gavin Anthony
says, “and I will send you
out to fish for people” (Matt.
Transforming
4:19). His goal in calling disciples
was to teach them how to
become missionaries. But how
are fishermen transformed into
divinely empowered witnesses? Mission
From my earliest memories, I
have longed to serve God with all my
heart. But through our time together
God has taken me on an unexpected
and often challenging journey as I
have become increasingly aware of my
many weaknesses and my great capac-
ity for sin. Why would God take my
desire for transformation and witness
and permit me to encounter what
appears to be the very opposite? sary space for God to
It’s because when Jesus calls us to reveal Himself.
join Him in His mission, He leads us We should nevertheless
into a journey of transformation that remember that “Jesus did not receive
begins by causing us to feel our deep- baptism as a confession of guilt on quently, Jesus may lead me along some
est need of Him. His own account. He identified Him- unexpected and humanly unpleasant
self with sinners, taking the steps that paths that create a deeper sense of
Three Steps to Transformation we are to take, and doing the work weakness and sinfulness, encouraging
Jesus’ baptism illustrates a process that we must do. His life of suffering me to yield everything I have and am,
at the core of all spiritual transforma- and patient endurance after His bap- to Him.
tion that provides the foundation of tism was also an example to us.”1 Second, prayer for preparation: Rec-
our response to “go and make dis- Jesus described death as a prereq- ognizing there is nothing naturally
ciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:19). uisite to discipleship when He good in me drives me to my knees
His baptism ushered Him into a min- declared, “Whoever wants to be my with urgent prayers for God to reveal
istry that turned the world upside disciple must deny themselves and Himself through me. I need the prepa-
down. Luke records that as Jesus take up their cross daily and follow ration that Jesus prayed for on the
prayed, following His baptism, me” (Luke 9:23). Jesus’ call to follow bank of the Jordan River: “The Sav-
“heaven was opened and the Holy Him with a cross is not a call to carry ior’s glance seems to penetrate heaven
Spirit descended on him in bodily a heavy object that makes life miser- as He pours out His soul in prayer.
form like a dove” (Luke 3:21, 22). We able. It is a call to die, to say with Paul, Well He knows how sin has hardened
shall note how three sequential steps “I have been crucified with Christ” the hearts of men, and how difficult it
in this verse—death, prayer, and the (Gal. 2:20). As Ellen White said: “We will be for them to discern His mis-
coming of the Holy Spirit—result in must depend wholly upon Christ for sion, and accept the gift of salvation.
supernaturally empowered mission. our strength. Self must die.”2 He pleads with the Father for power to
Let us unpack them. We cannot follow Jesus in life until overcome their unbelief, to break the
First, death of the sinful self, as illus- we follow Him to the place of daily fetters with which Satan has
trated by Jesus’ water burial. Death is death. Our lives thereafter are “living enthralled them, and in their behalf to
always the beginning of transforma- sacrifices” (see Rom. 12:1). But I don’t conquer the destroyer.”3
tion, because death creates the neces- do this naturally or eagerly. Conse- Only supernatural power from
8 Adventist World - nad | September 2016
explains that “Jesus returned to Gali- What is true for me physically is true
lee in the power of the Spirit. . . . He for us all spiritually. We cannot
was teaching in their synagogues, and become transformed disciples, and
everyone praised him” (verses 14, 15). therefore we cannot authentically be
Jesus then explains His own bap- heralds of God’s character and pur-
tism of the Spirit to the synagogue, poses without a divine power from
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, outside ourselves.
because he has anointed me to But as God takes us on a journey
proclaim good news to the to show us that without Him we can
When Jesus
poor. He has sent me to do nothing (John 15:5), teaching us to
proclaim freedom for the die daily to our own agendas, and
(cid:70)(cid:68)(cid:79)(cid:79)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:88)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:82)(cid:3)(cid:77)(cid:82)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:3) prisoners and recovery deepening our desire for Him to equip
of sight for the blind, to us for mission, Jesus will baptize us
set the oppressed free, daily with the Holy Spirit. Then we
Him in His mission,
to proclaim the year of will be able to launch into our neigh-
the Lord’s favor” borhoods with a power that will con-
He leads us into (verses 18, 19). The found Satan and result in countless
baptism of the Holy transformed lives. ■
Spirit enabled Jesus to
(cid:68)(cid:3)(cid:77)(cid:82)(cid:88)(cid:85)(cid:81)(cid:72)(cid:92)(cid:3)(cid:82)(cid:73)(cid:3)
overcome Satan and 1 Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages (Mountain View, Calif.:
Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1898), p. 111.
proclaim the gospel with 2 Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church (Mountain View,
Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1948), vol. 5, p. 219.
transformation. divine power. 3 E. G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 111, 112.
This baptism of the Holy 4 Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles (Mountain View, Calif.:
Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1911), p. 50.
Spirit is also for us. Matthew,
Mark, and Luke all report John
the Baptist proclaiming that Jesus
Q U E S T I O N S F O R
“will baptize you with the Holy
(cid:53)(cid:72)(cid:229)(cid:72)(cid:70)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:82)(cid:81)
Spirit” (Luke 3:16; Matt. 3:11; Mark
heaven can make a broken human 1:8) As John the Baptist identifies
being useful for God’s cosmic pur- him: “the man on whom you see the
poses. That power comes in response Spirit come down and remain is the
What difference is there
to earnest prayer. “For the daily bap- one who will baptize with the Holy 1
between the apostles’ call and
tism of the Spirit every worker should Spirit” (John 1:33).
offer his petition to God.”4 And this is ours today?
exactly what is illustrated next as Jesus Only by Divine Power 2
What is “baptism by fire”?
receives the Holy Spirit. As a disciple called to be a mis-
Third, the coming, or baptism, of sionary, I am utterly dependent on
Has God been leading you
the Holy Spirit for mission: What was this baptism of the Holy Spirit. It is a 3
through the three steps our
the result of the coming of the Holy truth God has reinforced throughout
reading outlines? In what way?
Spirit on Jesus? Note two clues that my life. For 20 years now, my heart
Luke presents. First he writes that has literally been dependent on
Jesus, “full of the Holy Spirit, left the external power—that of a pace-
Jordan and was led by the Spirit into maker—because it does not have
the wilderness, where for forty days he enough power by itself. Unfortu-
was tempted by the devil” (Luke 4:1, nately, even as a pastor, I can find Gavin Anthony
is a
2). Jesus overcame Satan because He myself doing God’s work with my
pastor serving in Dublin,
was “full of the Holy Spirit.” Our sec- own power for a considerable time Ireland.
ond clue is the next story. Luke before I feel something is wrong.
September 2016 | Adventist World - nad 9
W E E K O F P R A Y E R
TUESDAY
Mission
Engaging in mission with
understanding and empathy is
to tell people what their soul
needs to hear in the way they can best With
understand it.
“Excuse me, sir. Are you saved?” I Understanding
turned from my quick sprint into the
grocery store to face an earnest young
man in his early 20s. Empathy
and
“I beg your pardon?” I responded,
not quite sure that I had heard his
question correctly.
“Are you washed in the blood of
the Lamb?” was his follow-up ques- By Ean Nugent
tion. Before I could answer yes, the those we seek to
eager evangelist gave a two-minute reach, our message
summary of the gospel, replete with will be foreign to them.
theological jargon. I finally managed We must seek to understand
to convince the young man that I was their personal likes and dislikes,
already a Christian. their personal experiences, and their
While I did my shopping, I personal needs. Then, based on these, Beyond groups of people, Jesus
reflected on that encounter. I admired we must seek to communicate the labored to understand the individual
the man’s courage and boldness—he message in a way they can understand. Syrophoenician (Mark 7:24-30), the
seemed to be without fear of rejec- This approach can be summarized individual Pharisee (Luke 11:37-44),
tion or disapproval—yet I felt disqui- by the words of Paul: “To the Jews I the individual tax collector (Luke 19:1-
eted, even sad. I wondered how many became like a Jew. . . . To those under 10), the individual paralytic (John 5:1-
people would be turned off by his the law I became like one under the 15), and the individual adulterous
approach. Who but born-again law. . . . To those not having the law I woman (John 8:1-11), among others.
Christians would even know what it became like one not having the law. . . . Then, having understood them, Jesus
meant to be “washed in the blood of I have become all things to all people communicated to them from their
the Lamb”? so that by all possible means I might individual perspective.
Unfortunately, what the young save some” (1 Cor. 9:20-22). If we are to have success in our
man possessed in zeal he lacked in Paul first labored to understand mission, we must follow this
sensitivity to his intended audience. I his intended audiences: the Jews, method. We must first labor to
feared that his chosen manner of those under the law, those without the understand the family member, the
communication, though it might have law, and “all people.” Then he labored neighbor, the coworker, the friend,
reached a few people, would perplex to communicate from the perspectives the enemy, and “all people” individu-
or even alienate the vast majority of of these groups. Jesus’ example takes ally. Then we must labor to com-
potential converts. us even a step further. Whereas Paul, municate the message from their
in this passage, identifies groups of individual perspective.
Speaking the Language people, Jesus applied this method to While we can never fully under-
As we seek to fulfill our mission to individuals. stand the perspective of other
proclaim God’s last message of mercy The Lord desires that His word of persons, we can make meaningful
to the world, it’s most natural for us to grace shall be brought home to every progress toward this goal using the
attempt to communicate this message soul. To a great degree, this must be following questions: What are their
from the perspective of our personal accomplished by personal labor. This strongest likes and dislikes? What
likes and dislikes, our personal experi- was Christ’s method. His work was have been and are presently their
ences, and our personal needs. How- made up largely of personal inter- most impactful life experiences? What
ever, if we fail to understand and com- views. He had a faithful regard for the are their most significant needs? After
municate from the perspectives of one-soul audience. patiently laboring to find answers to
10 Adventist World - nad | September 2016