Meetings to Help Us Make Disciples
WEEK STARTING SEPTEMBER 1
10 min: Local announcements. Discuss with audience need for a good start in field activity by being out early in the month. Pioneers find it advantageous to build up their activity at the beginning of the year to reach their required 1,000 hours.
15 min: “Demonstrating Faith by Being Content.” Question-and-answer discussion.
20 min: “What Will You Do in School This Year?” After discussing article with audience, have a brief, well-prepared demonstration of parents reviewing with teenager a situation most likely to come up during school year. Call attention to experiences related on pages 20 and 21 of the September 8 issue of Awake! Other similar experiences will be published in The Watchtower for October 1, 1985. In line with suggestions on page 3 of July Our Kingdom Ministry, encourage all to make good use of September 22, 1985, issue of Awake! with cover title “Schools—Do They Pass the Test?”
Song 98 and concluding prayer.
WEEK STARTING SEPTEMBER 8
10 min: Local announcements and accounts report.
20 min: How Can We Strengthen One Another’s Faith? Talk and audience discussion. Elder handling this part should first draw comments from audience on practical ways to apply the following points so as to build up our own faith and strengthen this quality in others. (1) Draw close to Jehovah, Jesus Christ, and to one another within the congregation. (Heb. 11:6) (2) Make the Christian ministry one of the most important things in life and share in it with others. (Jas. 2:26) (3) Let the strong bear “the weaknesses of those not strong.” (Rom. 15:1; Gal. 6:10) (4) Encourage upbuilding conversation, regular Bible reading, and perseverance in prayer. Elder then explains that this takes much time and effort in our day-to-day routine. It may not be easy for some but is necessary. (Jude 3) Why must we strengthen one another’s faith while keeping up our guard? Devil seeks to destroy our relationship with Jehovah by false teaching, loose conduct, disregard for divinely constituted authority, murmuring and complaining, selfishness. How vital is it that we strengthen one another’s faith? “The righteous one will live by reason of faith.”—Gal. 3:11; Rom. 1:16, 17.
15 min: Review and demonstrate use of current Topic for Conversation. Encourage all to share in magazine work this Saturday.
Song 100 and concluding prayer.
WEEK STARTING SEPTEMBER 15
10 min: Local announcements, Theocratic News, and Announcements from Our Kingdom Ministry that apply locally.
15 min: “Presenting the Good News—By Using Published Suggestions.” Question-and-answer discussion. Show by experiences how local congregation has benefited from applying suggestions found in Our Kingdom Ministry.
20 min: Congregation service report for 1985 service year. To be handled by service overseer. Highlight what has been accomplished by the local publishers. Some totals and averages can be given regarding Bible studies, return visits, auxiliary pioneers, and so forth. Have audience comment on what they hope to do during the 1986 service year.
Song 136 and concluding prayer.
WEEK STARTING SEPTEMBER 22
5 min: Local announcements.
15 min: “Peaceable People Are Truly Needed!” based on July 1, 1985, Watchtower, pages 12-15. Elder demonstrates how he would discuss need for peaceableness with a new publisher who has been trained according to the world’s aggressive tactics and still has a tendency to show favoritism to people he thinks are important. Stresses replacing human wisdom with divine wisdom and the need to be a peaceable evangelizer.
15 min: Local needs.
10 min: Suggest and demonstrate several well-prepared 30- to 60-second magazine presentations that publishers can use in Saturday magazine activity. Enthusiastically encourage field activity.
Song 170 and concluding prayer.
WEEK STARTING SEPTEMBER 29
10 min: Local announcements. Encourage all to support field service on the first Sunday of the month.
15 min: “Marvelous New Helps for Our Ministry.” Question-and-answer coverage of article.
10 min: “Walk Worthily . . . With Long-Suffering.” Talk and audience discussion based on article from the August 1, 1985, Watchtower.
10 min: October Subscription Offer. Highlight talking points from October 1 and 8 magazines that can be used in field service and suggest appropriate presentations.
Song 20 and concluding prayer.