June 2024 Camp Meeting

Summary

This video script emphasizes the importance of church relationships for members of The Gideons International. It highlights the value of integrating church ministry with the organization's mission, focusing on building meaningful relationships with pastors and congregations. The discussion covers personal experiences, the spiritual growth of members, and the benefits of a holistic approach to church engagement. The aim is to strengthen the body of Christ, promote discipleship, and encourage a partnership between Gideons and local churches for the greater mission of spreading the Gospel.

Takeaways

• 😇 The importance of being a member in good standing of one's church is emphasized, as it aligns with the values of Gideon International.
• 🤝 Church relations are vital to Gideon International, and building relationships with pastors is a key aspect of their ministry.
• 🔄 The evolution of church relations from simply securing services to a more holistic approach that includes building partnerships and understanding the pastor's vision.
• 🚫 A reminder that the primary goal of church relations is not just to have a good time with pastors but to secure church services and further the mission of Gideons.
• 📋 The significance of the 202 form in documenting the details of secured church services, reflecting the organization's commitment to detail and follow-through.
• 💼 The role of Gideons as business and professional men who contribute to the church and the community through their integrity and vision.
• 🙏 The value of prayer and spending time in reflection with pastors, which can lead to a deeper understanding and stronger relationships.
• 🌐 The potential for Gideons to offer resources and support to pastors, including opportunities for discipleship, mentoring, and modeling Christian values.
• 🏆 The emphasis on the personal growth of Gideon members through their interactions with pastors and the community, reinforcing their testimony and commitment to faith.
• 👨‍👨‍👧‍👦 The idea that church relations can benefit not only the individual member and the pastor but also the congregation and the broader community.
• 🔑 The concept of 'Go Giving' as a way to approach pastors with a mindset of service and support, rather than focusing solely on securing services for Gideons.

Q & A

What is the primary focus of Gideon International members as discussed in the transcript?

The primary focus of Gideon International members is building relationships with churches and pastors to further the mission of spreading the gospel and distributing Bibles.

Why do Gideon International members place a high value on their relationship with churches?

Gideon International members value their relationship with churches because it is essential for building the kingdom of God, and these relationships help in spreading the gospel and distributing Bibles effectively.

What is a '202' form, and why is it important for Gideon International members?

A '202' form is a document that Gideon International members fill out when they secure a church service. It is important because it helps track the details and organization of church presentations and engagements.

How has the approach to church relations evolved according to the transcript?

The approach to church relations has evolved from simply trying to secure church presentations to building meaningful, holistic relationships with pastors and church communities, focusing on partnership and mutual support.

What are some key activities Gideon International members engage in during Church Relations Days?

During Church Relations Days, Gideon International members engage in activities such as praying with pastors, offering resources, building relationships, and discussing how to partner together for the kingdom of God.

What qualities do pastors appreciate in Gideon International members according to the transcript?

Pastors appreciate qualities such as integrity, a broader vision for the gospel, a desire to see people come to Christ, and a genuine commitment to supporting and partnering with churches.

How do Gideon International members support discipleship and mentoring within churches?

Gideon International members support discipleship and mentoring by providing resources, encouraging men to engage in ministry activities, and offering examples of faith in action through their outreach efforts.

What is the significance of 'iron sharpening iron' as mentioned in the transcript?

The concept of 'iron sharpening iron' signifies the mutual growth and strengthening that occurs when Gideon International members spend time together, share experiences, pray for each other, and hold each other accountable in their spiritual journeys.

Why might some Gideon International members feel intimidated about talking to pastors?

Some members might feel intimidated about talking to pastors due to anxiety about being asked questions they cannot answer or the fear of making a mistake during their first interactions with church leaders.

What is the ultimate mission of Gideon International members as emphasized in the transcript?

The ultimate mission of Gideon International members is to win the lost by focusing on spreading the gospel and being obedient to God's will, trusting that God will provide the necessary resources and results.

Outlines

00:00

😇 The Importance of Church Membership and Relations

This paragraph emphasizes the significance of being a committed member of the church as defined by the church itself, particularly for members of Gideon International. It discusses the value of church relationships, which are likened to a precious and important bond that requires nurturing. The speaker reflects on the evolution of church relations from a focus on securing church presentations to a more holistic approach that includes building partnerships and understanding the pastor's vision for the church. The narrative includes personal anecdotes from a Gideon's experience, highlighting the shift in perspective from a sales-oriented approach to a relationship-building one, ultimately aiming to serve the kingdom of God rather than just securing Bible placements.

05:03

🤝 Building Genuine Relationships Beyond Church Services

The second paragraph delves into the concept of 'Church Relations Days' and the shift from a transactional approach to a more relational one. It discusses the evolution of the Gideons' interaction with pastors, moving from a focus on securing church services to building meaningful relationships that extend beyond the church walls. The speaker talks about the value of understanding what is important to pastors and aligning with God's work in the church. The paragraph also touches on the idea of offering resources to pastors, such as the opportunity for discipleship, mentoring, and modeling Christian values. It highlights the importance of authenticity and the joy of being a man of God in the context of building relationships with pastors and fellow Gideons.

10:05

🙏 Spiritual Growth Through Church and Community Engagement

In this paragraph, the speaker discusses the spiritual benefits of engaging with pastors and the community as part of The Gideons International's mission. It emphasizes the importance of focusing on winning the lost and being obedient to God's will, rather than being preoccupied with the results or outcomes. The paragraph highlights the spiritual growth that can occur through these engagements, as well as the opportunities to strengthen one's own faith and find new avenues for ministry. It also touches on the idea of being a consistent witness for Christ in all aspects of life, whether in private or in public settings. The speaker encourages a commitment to strengthening the church, starting with one's own congregation and extending to the global body of Christ.

Keywords

💡Church Relations

Church relations refer to the interactions and connections that members of The Gideons International maintain with their local churches. These relationships are essential as they help to foster collaboration and support between The Gideons and the church community. The script emphasizes the importance of church relations in building partnerships and supporting the broader mission of spreading the gospel.

💡Gideons International

Gideons International is an association of Christian business and professional men who are dedicated to distributing Bibles and spreading the message of Jesus Christ. The organization values its relationship with local churches and emphasizes the importance of church membership and support in its ministry efforts. The video highlights how Gideons are men of the church first and their commitment to church relations.

💡Membership

Membership in The Gideons International requires individuals to be in good standing with their local church. This means adhering to the church’s definition of membership and actively participating in its activities. The script underlines the significance of being a committed church member as a prerequisite for being a Gideon, emphasizing that Gideons are men of the church before anything else.

💡Church Presentation

A church presentation is an opportunity for Gideons to speak at a church service, share their mission, and seek support for their Bible distribution efforts. The script discusses how church presentations have traditionally been seen as a primary objective of church relations, but it also suggests a more holistic approach that focuses on building relationships rather than just securing presentations.

💡Partnerships

Partnerships in the context of The Gideons International refer to the collaborative efforts between Gideons and local churches to further their mutual goal of spreading the gospel. The script highlights the importance of building meaningful partnerships with pastors and church communities, moving beyond just seeking support for Bible distribution to fostering deeper spiritual connections and collaboration.

💡Resources

Resources mentioned in the script include various materials and support that The Gideons can offer to pastors and churches. These resources can aid in discipleship, mentoring, and strengthening the spiritual lives of church members. The script emphasizes that Gideons provide resources to pastors to help build the kingdom of God and support the church's mission.

💡Discipleship

Discipleship is the process of teaching and nurturing individuals in their Christian faith, helping them grow spiritually. The script mentions that while The Gideons may not have an official discipleship program, their activities and interactions with pastors and church members inherently support discipleship by encouraging men to actively live out their faith and engage in ministry.

💡Integrity

Integrity in the context of The Gideons International refers to the moral and ethical qualities expected of its members. Gideons are seen as men of integrity who exemplify Christian values in their personal and professional lives. The script suggests that pastors value the integrity of Gideons, seeing them as role models for their own congregation members.

💡Obedience

Obedience in the script refers to the willingness of Gideons to follow God's will and commands, especially in their ministry efforts. The video emphasizes that success in their mission is not measured by immediate results but by their obedience to God's call. This concept is linked to the idea that God provides the necessary resources and outcomes when His followers are obedient.

💡One Vision

One Vision is a concept mentioned in the script that focuses on the unified mission and goals of The Gideons International. It emphasizes keeping the focus on winning the lost and being obedient to God's will. The script suggests that by adhering to One Vision, Gideons can build stronger spiritual testimonies and influence within their communities, reinforcing their commitment to spreading the gospel.

Highlights

Gideon members must be in good standing with their churches when joining the association.

The Gideon International places a high value on the church and its relationship with its members.

Church relations should be holistic, focusing on building the kingdom rather than just securing church presentations.

Building relationships with pastors involves understanding what is important to them and their church.

The goal is to foster partnerships that go beyond just requesting church presentations and funding.

Gideons provide resources to pastors, including prayer support and discipleship opportunities.

Church relations help in strengthening the men in the congregation through discipleship and mentoring.

Personal connections and prayer between Gideon members and pastors can have a significant impact.

The process of visiting pastors is valuable, fostering camaraderie and spiritual growth among Gideon members.

Gideons should focus on being men of integrity and vision, showing pastors the value of such traits.

Engaging with pastors and churches is about building spiritual testimony and influence.

The focus should be on winning the lost and being obedient to God's will, rather than solely on results.

God is the ultimate provider of resources, and obedience to His will is key.

Gideons should be intentional in strengthening their own church and the larger body of Christ.

Different denominations and traditions can expand a Gideon member's vision and love for the body of Christ.

Transcripts

[Music]

are you a member in good standing of

your church as your church defines

membership that's a question every

Gideon answered yes to when he joined

this

Association God places a high value on

his church the body of Christ so does

the Gideon International We Are Men of

the church before we're Gideons the

relationship we have with our churches

is very precious and very important and

like all relationships these take time

and attention unfortunately some of us

only think of one thing when they think

of church relations that's trying to get

a church presentation today we're going

to dig into the rich blessings available

to members who choose to take a holistic

approach to church

ministry I'm glad you're here and we're

here today talking about uh an activity

that our members engage in yeah at least

many of them do Church relations days

yeah amen yeah in the in the past the

church relations day approach was look

let's talk to as many pastors as we can

Let's uh make sure you secure service

before you leave the door and uh by the

way while you're there you might even

talk to them about The Gideons yeah I

remember when I joined to Gideon uh yeah

well it's it's been 30 years now used to

be a young guy

and I remember when I first went out uh

with one one of The Gideons and we went

out visiting pastors and keep in mind I

didn't join The Gideons to go contact

pastors and get church services yeah I

joined because I wanted to see people

come to know the Lord Jesus as their

Savior and early on I didn't understand

the connection between Church relations

and seeing people come to Christ but I

was out with this guy and we were out

all day long and we had a great time uh

and we met some pastors and having come

from a sales background I was about

building relationships ultimately to

build into bloom into Partnerships yeah

but we got back at the end of the day

and uh a couple of the veteran Gideons

one of which was about 90 years old at

that time he looked at me and he says um

where's your 202s now you'll recall the

202 is the form that we fill out when we

secure a service yeah yeah get all the

details for get all the details get all

that right and uh I looked at him I said

well we don't have any but we had some

great times with pastors and he looked

at me he says we didn't send you to have

a good time with a pastor we sent you to

go get church services wow and so it was

very clear because at that time

obviously a lot of church relations

focused on the fact that we provide

Bibles yeah and the Bible obviously the

Living Word of God it is integral it is

critical to what we do it it has been

and it continues to be but regrettably

Bibles don't show up on the front porch

or the front lawn like Mana so it takes

dollars it does take dollars because of

that many of our a large percentage of

our membership began to

desire the church presentation as the

most coveted part of that relationship

with the local church um you know we we

spent all of our time just trying to get

in the door go with our hand out saying

this is what we need rather than saying

hey how can we partner together with you

as a as a Gideon to to approach a pastor

on a church relations day to go giving

give us a picture uh for those that

aren't familiar with it sure what does

that look like what are we giving and

what are you said go is a resource what

is that sure what does that mean yeah

the first thing I want to do is is is I

want to find out what's important to the

pastor I want to find out what God's

doing in the church why is that

important that's important because this

isn't about the giddy

and ultimately it's not even about the

church it's about building the kingdom I

think when a pastor sees you or I

come and not as members of his church

but members of another church um and

having been recommended by a pastor

perhaps he knows them perhaps he doesn't

but when we spend that time in prayer

with him there is something that

happens in the heart and the mind of the

pastor that I'm convinced that he looks

at us in a different light and he says

you know what I would love guys in my

church to be men just like this Men of

Integrity right men who care beyond

something beyond their own little Silo

men who have a a a greater Vision if you

will for the gospel and reaching out

into the community ultimately into the

uttermost so I think there's Great Value

in that yeah going back to resources go

giving uh we're going to we're going to

encourage the pastor pray for the pastor

is that it no no there there I'm

grateful we have all kinds of resources

we can offer pastors now uh you know one

of the things that I alluded to earlier

in just building that

relationship by virtue of who we are as

as a ministry that's made up of Business

and Professional men who are members in

good state of the local body of

Believers as an extension of the church

we provide an opportunity for that

Pastor to be thinking about man who who

says you know what um you know Bill or

Joe or Tom they would really benefit

they they could really grow in the Lord

um aligning themselves with guys with

this kind of

Integrity guys of this kind of vision

you know what a great resource to say

because you know listen discipleship is

so critical this day and age and it's

one of the hot buttons in the church so

there's there's a great opportunity for

discipleship and for mentoring and

modeling um

I don't think we have an official

program we call discipleship in fact we

don't even talk about it very much but

there's some component to that when you

when you encourage a man sure right to

put to put feet to his faith oh so to

speak to get out of the Pew and to go

talk to a hotel manager about the value

of the word of God or go stand on a

public sidewalk on a campus and offer

students a copy of the word of God there

is something about that that affects him

man's testimony and we don't I think we

don't do a real good job of presenting

that as an opportunity to a pastor to

strengthen the men in his own

congregation and he and and that extends

to his family oh yeah that extends to

the church itself not to mention you

know the the marketplace oh yeah you

know because the pastor is focused on

the community um but wow tremendous

opportunities to to Really flood those

of a man's life so that he's

consistently the same man whether he's

alone with the Lord or whether he's in

front of a thousand people but as I've

spent time with another Gideon just

driving around calling on pastors

visiting

churches the time that we spend in

between those visits because sometimes

if you're in a phoenix or a Dallas or a

Houston or a big city you got a pretty

good little Drive between these churches

and and what happens in between is just

every bit as important as what happens

with the pastor it's not always about

about it's not always about getting the

church service the objective right

sometimes it's on the process of getting

there where the value EXA you get to

know each other you know you pray

together um you you you you hear each

other's hopes and dreams and

fears um you hear a man's history and

where he's at you hear about his wife

and his kids and the things that he

needs prayer for yeah and then that

helps me to be accountable to him to

pour into him so that we can be Iron

sharpening iron something about uh that

being with other guys that causes you to

be real authentic yeah yeah when you can

just be there's joy if you can just be

real just be a man of God right right

yeah we're we're representing The

Gideons today but I'm going as a man of

God first and and that's exactly right

and and the cool part about it is is

that when you get together with other

men who love the Lord you know what you

talk about yeah the Lord the Lord yeah

and and and that's one of the things

that I Love About The Gideons is that

most of the guys even this past weekend

guys that I was working with I don't

know where most of them go to church

yeah I just know they love the same Lord

Jesus that I do and they have a desire

to see other people come to know him too

yeah we have talked about a lot of value

a lot of benefits to the me Pastor yes a

lot of benefits to the member right uh

for these this activity we call Church

relations days and not only value to the

member but the value to the to the guy

that's being asked to join you right if

you're going to call on pastors and

you're asking somebody to come alongside

you there's value to him too sure um yet

there's still some guys out there

there's some members that are kind of

intimidated by talking to a pastor uh

maybe they're intimidated that there're

some Pastor is going to ask him some

questions that he can't answer right

anytime you do something for the first

time there's there's a high level of

anxiety um there's very few of us

um there's probably a small core of of

our population that are really Trail

Blazers at heart right um particularly

is if I say if we go not being

self-interested but being other

interested right what if we what if we

simply went and agap our pastors

expecting nothing in return MH what if

we did that you know with the Advent of

One Vision

right even even calling on a pastor

isn't so much to get a church service

but it's about building the spiritual

testimony in the influence of our

members right I really believe that we

have been called to win the lost and if

we stay focused on that mission and

we're obedient to be in the center of

God's will for our lives and our

ministry um as we talk about in One

Vision we take our Focus off of the

things we can't control which are the

results yeah and put that Focus back on

the Lord um your father in mind has no

trouble providing the results that's

right he does not sit in heaven ringing

his hands about where dollars or people

are going to come from or any of those

resources that we think the church has

to provide for us right because yes God

uses people and he works through people

but ultimately those resources come from

God that's right now again don't misund

understand me the Lord expects us to go

do certain things but that's called

obedience it's called obedience that's

exactly right he wants us to OB be

obedient he doesn't need our sacrifice

he needs our steadfast love according to

Hosea

66 isn't it encouraging to explore so

many opportunities to strengthen our own

spiritual lives and find new Ministry

opportunities through our membership in

The Gideons International engaging

churches can really expand our vision

and love for the body of Christ

different denominations with different

traditions and styles but all in service

of the lord we are men of the church

let's commit a new to be intentionally

strengthening to the church our own

church first and then to the larger body

of Christ worldwide thanks for joining

us God bless you you

[Music]