OUR KINGDOM M 1

For United States of America km-E Us 11 /07 Vol. 50, No. 11

• ¹ When Jesus asked four fishermen to be his followers, they did not put their decision off but “at once . .. they followed him.” (Matt. 4:18-22) When Saul of Tarsus was converted and then regained his sight, he likewise did not procrastinate but “immediately in the synagogues he began to preach Jesus.” (Acts 9: 20) Time constantly moves forward; once it passes, it is gone forever. That is why it is impor-. tant for us to ‘walk as wise persons’ with regard to how we use our time.—Eph. 5:15, 16.

• ² Unforeseen Occurrence: Opportunities we have today to serve Jehovah may be gone tomorrow. (Jas. 4:14) No one is exempt from “unforeseen occurrence.” (Eccl. 9:11) Additionally, we are all getting older, and the “calamitous days” that accompany advancing age and that limit what we are able to do in Jehovah’s service are inescapable in this present system of things. (Eccl. 12:1) Therefore, it is not wise to put off making a dedication to God or to wait for ideal circumstances before expanding our ministry to the extent presently possible. (Luke 9:59-62) Abraham found peace and serenity in his later years, dying “old and satisfied” because he had used his life wisely, entirely devoted to Jehovah.—Gen. 25:8.

• ³ Time Is Reduced: We also want to spend our time wisely because “the time left is reduced.” (1 Cor. 7:29-31) Very soon now this old system of things will end. Opportunities to participate in the great ingathering of sheeplike ones during the “harvest of the earth” will end. (Rev. 14:15) We must be careful not to allow life’s anxieties and distractions to rob us of time that would be better spent in the ministry. (Luke 21: 34, 35) How satisfying it will be to look back knowing that we had a full share in the harvest!

• ⁴ We must be watchful constantly so as not to miss out on joyous privileges of service that might come our way. Let us be determined to do all that we can to serve Jehovah “as long as it may be called ‘Today.’” (Heb. 3: 13) By doing so, we will show ourselves to be truly wise, because “he that does the will of God remains forever.”—1 John 2:17.

  We Share Our Kingdom Hope

  
  

• ¹ During these critical last days, many in the world are without hope. (Eph. 2:12) Others have unwisely put their confidence in material riches, human rulers, modern science, and so forth. How happy we are to have a real hope for the future, a hope that is “an anchor for the soul, both sure and firm”! —Heb. 6:19.

• ² Under God’s Kingdom rule, the earth will be transformed into a paradise. Dead loved ones will be resurrected. (Acts 24:15) Poverty, injustice, sickness, old age, and death will be no more. (Ps. 9:18; Matt. 12:20, 21; Rev. 21: 3,4) These are some of Jehovah’s promises soon to be fulfilled. Which aspect of our hope do you especially look forward to?

• ³ Declare Good News: We must not keep the Kingdom hope to ourselves. Love for God and neighbor moves us to imitate Jesus and “to declare good news to the poor, ... to preach a release to the captives and a recovery of sight to the blind, to send the crushed ones away with a release.” (Luke 4:18) The apostle Paul shared the good news in the marketplace and wherever people were found. He occupied himself intensely with the ministry. (Acts 18:5) Following his example of sharing zealously in the ministry will prevent “the anxieties of this system of things and the deceptive power of riches” from dimming our Christian hope. —Mark 4:19.

• ⁴ Our Kingdom hope does not fade when we meet people who show indifference, who lightly esteem the Kingdom message, or who outwardly oppose us. We “hold fast the public declaration of our hope without wavering.” (Heb. 10:23) We are not “ashamed of the good news.” (Rom. 1:16) It may be that our evident conviction and perseverance will eventually move some to listen.

• ⁵ Though we properly call attention to deteriorating world conditions that fulfill Bible prophecy, we are not preachers of doom. Rather, our ministry is focused on our Kingdom hope —the good news of God’s Kingdom. May we preach this good news with conviction and zeal “so as to have the full assurance of the hope down to the end.” —Heb. 6:11.

  Service Meeting Schedule

  
  

Week Starting November 12 Song 59

1O min: Local announcements. Using the suggestions on page 4 or other presentations appropriate for your territory, demonstrate how to offer the November 15 Watchtower and the November Awake! In each case, the magazines should be offered as a set, even though only one magazine is featured.

15 min: “The Silver Is Mine, and the Gold Is Mine.” Talk by an elder based on the November 1, 2007, Watchtower, pages 17-21.

20 min: “Walk as Wise Persons.”* As time permits, invite audience to comment on the cited scriptures.

Song 192

Week Starting November 19 Song 109

10 min: Local announcements. Mention the literature offer for December, and have one presentation demonstrated.

15 min: Local needs.

20 min: “Do Not Hold Back!”* When considering paragraph 5, include comments from those who have studied with individuals who have come into the truth. How is conducting a progressive Bible study rewarding and enjoyable? One or two comments may be arranged in advance.

Song 96

Week Starting November 26 Song 172

1O min: Local announcements. Read accounts report and donation acknowledgments. Remind publishers to turn in field service reports for November. Using the suggestions on page 4 or other presentations appropriate for your territory, demonstrate how to offer the December 1 Watchtower and the December Awake!

15 min: Can You Widen Out in Love? A talk by an elder based on the January 1, 2007, Watchtower, pages 9-11.

20 min: Young People —How Can You Praise Jehovah? Discussion of the June 15, 2005, Watchtower, pages 26-8, paragraphs 15-19, using the study questions that are provided. When considering paragraph 18, invite young people in the audience to relate how they have witnessed to students or teachers in school.

Song 5

Week Starting December 3

Song 77

15 min: Local announcements. Selected Announcements from Our Kingdom Ministry. Review Question Box.

15 min: A School Whose Graduates Benefit People Worldwide. Talk based on the November 15, 2006, Watchtower, pages 10-13. Include a brief interview of any elders or ministerial servants in the congregation who attended the Ministerial Training School. How did the school help them to progress as evangelizers, shepherds, and teachers? Encourage brothers who qualify to consider making the Ministerial Training School a goal.

15 min: “We Share Our Kingdom Hope.”* As time permits, invite audience to comment on cited scriptures.

Song 173

* Limit introductory comments to less than a minute, and follow with a question-and-answer discussion.

July Service Report

Av Av. Av. Av.

Number of:               Hrs. Mags. R.V Bi.St.

Sp’l Pios.       350 103.4 63.2 40.6

Pios.      99,943  60.8 33.0 18.1

Aux.Pios.   31,746  50.4 29.0 10.9

Pubs.    912,544  10.0  7.7 3.4

TOTAL 1,044,583        Baptized: 5,058

Announcements

■ Literature offer for November: Learn From the Great Teacher. If individuals say they have no children, offer the brochure Keep on the Watch! December: The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived. As an alternative offer, you may use Draw Close to Jehovah or The Secret of Family Happiness. January: Keep on the Watch! Congregations that do not have a supply of such brochures may offer any 192-page book printed on paper that discolors or any book published prior to 1991 with the exception of Creation, Mankind’s Search for God and Young People Ask. February: Zs There a Creator Who Cares About You? As an alternative offer, you may use The Secret of Family Happiness.

■ Since December has five full weekends, it would be an excellent month to auxiliary pioneer.

■ A number of Bible-based publications are available that have been designed to give a witness to people of various cultural and religious backgrounds. The literature servant has a list of these helpful publications.

■ Donations for the worldwide work that are made by check at district conventions and those sent to the branch office should be made payable to “Watch Tower.” The branch office’s financial address is Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, c/o Treasurer’s Office, 25 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, NY 112012483.

■ If not already prepared, all publishers are urged to complete a durable power of attorney (DPA) card. This DPA card protects your right to refuse blood transfusions. Elders will provide personal assistance as needed.—See the November 2006 Our Kingdom Ministry insert.

■ Publishers no longer need to submit a Study Report (S-3) for each home Bible study conducted during the month. However, they should continue to indicate the number of different Bible studies conducted in the appropriate column of the Field Service Report (S-4). Effective Immediately, the S-3 form will be used exclusively to record congregation meeting attendance.

■ If you are admitted to a hospital and want visiting local elders and, in larger cities, elders serving on a Patient Visitation Group to have access to your name, what must you do? When identifying yourself as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, you should also explain that you are willing to have a minister of Jehovah’s Witnesses visit you. A federal law, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), protects your privacy, but with your consent, the law allows for the elders to learn of your admission and provide spiritual encouragement.

■ The secretary of each congregation holding title to property should review paragraphs 42-4 in the form entitled Information Regarding Oivner-ship of Kingdom Halls (TO-36). Even after real-estate tax exemption has been obtained, an annual filing is required in some states. Check carefully with your local tax assessor’s office to confirm whether any action is required. All taxes and assessments are to be paid within the time provided. If any tax or assessment is questioned, promptly follow through on the matter so that either it is removed or a proper challenge is filed within the applicable time limit.

Question Box

■ Is it appropriate to affix our personal e-mail address to literature that we distribute?

By means of a stamp or a printed label, some publishers have affixed their personal e-mail address to the magazines or tracts that they place with others. Those who accept the literature are then able to contact the publisher to request additional information. Such efforts to help interested ones are well-intentioned. However, our official Web site is already indicated on the back of the magazines and tracts. Therefore, it is best if we do not affix a personal e-mail address to the literature.

Whether a publisher provides people in the territory with contact information on a separate piece of paper, especially when making return visits, is a personal decision. We should take the initiative to call back on those who are interested instead of just leaving it up to them to contact us for more information. Genuine personal interest can be more readily manifested when speaking with the person face to face.

• ¹ By actively participating in proclaiming the good news of God’s Kingdom, we do not “hold back good” from those in our assigned territories. (Prov. 3:27) There is no better message to be shared with mankind than that of the better times to come under God’s rule. Although you may generously share the Kingdom hope by witnessing informally or placing literature, why not make it your goal to conduct a Bible study, if you are not yet doing so?

• ² At times, one of the biggest obstacles to conducting a Bible study is the way we feel about the matter. Some hold back from conducting a Bible study because of feeling inadequate or because of their hectic schedule. The following suggestions may be helpful to you in not holding back from having a share in the Bible study work. —Matt. 28:19; Acts 20:20.

• ³ Lack of Confidence: Perhaps you have limited secular education or for some other reason lack confidence in your ability to conduct a Bible study. Effective Christian ministers in the first century were “unlettered and ordinary.” What enabled them to teach others the truth? “They used to be with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13) They learned from the Great Teacher, Jesus, whose teachings and methods have been preserved for us in the Scriptures. Even if your secular education is limited, you are receiving spiritual education that is unsurpassed.—Isa. 50:4; 2 Cor. 3:5.

• 1. In what way do we “not hold back good"?

• 2. What may hold us back from starting a Bible study?

• 3. Why are we qualified to teach the Bible?

‘‘Jehovah sometimes used prophets to reprove erring rulers or others in high station. Some, such as Amos, had a humble background. Amos admitted: “I was not a prophet, neither was I the son of a prophet; but I was a herdsman and a nipper of figs of sycamore trees.” (Amos 7:14) Nevertheless, Amos did not hold back from delivering Jehovah’s judgment message to the calfworshipping priest Amaziah. (Amos 7:16, 17) We must always remember that we are performing God’s work and he will adequately qualify us for the work at hand.—2 Tim. 3:17.

⁵ Busy Schedule: Even if you have a busy schedule, you have likely already set aside time to share in the ministry regularly. Conducting a Bible study can be one of the most enjoyable aspects of the ministry. It is a privilege to see Jehovah’s Word at work in a person’s life. (Heb. 4:12) Jehovah is pleased when we make personal sacrifices in order to assist someone to “come to an accurate knowledge of truth.” (1 Tim. 2:4) Even the angels experience joy when someone repents of his former course and makes spiritual progress.—Luke 15:10.

⁸ God’s “will is that all sorts of men should be saved and come to an accurate knowledge of truth.” (1 Tim. 2:4) What a privileged role we have to work in harmony with God’s will, not holding back from conducting Bible studies!

• 4. What can we learn from the example of Amos?

• 5. Why should we endeavor to start a Bible study even if we have a busy schedule?

• 6. What privilege do we have in carrying out God’s will?

-Watchtower® Nov. is

ANNOUNCING JEHOVAH'S KINGDOM

“All of us want to have a happy, meaningful life. Do you agree with what Jesus said here about the key to happiness? [Read Matthew 5:3. Then allow for response.] This magazine explains how the satisfying of our inborn, fundamental need to worship God gives meaning to our life."

Awake! Nov.

“In our age of science and skepticism, many people think that the Bible is out-of-date. How do you feel about that? [Allow for response.] Did you know that every statement in the Bible that touches on science is accurate? [Read Job 26:7.] This special issue of Awake! gives compelling reasons why the Bible can be trusted.”

-Watchtower® Dec. i ANNOUNCING JEHOVAH'S KINGDOM

“How would you answer this question? [Read question on cover. Then allow for response.] It is God’s purpose to unify the human race. [Read Psalm 46:8, 9.] This magazine shows what the Bible says about how unity will be achieved.”

Awake! Dec.

“Some feel that death is a passage to an afterlife; others believe that it is the end. Do you personally think that death is something to fear? [Allow for response.] Notice how Job felt about the prospect of his death. [Read Job 14:14, 15.] This magazine gives the Bible’s clear explanation on what happens to us when we die.”

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