Service Meetings for June
Week Starting June 7
10 min: Local announcements. Selected Announcements from Our Kingdom Ministry. Theocratic News.
15 min: “We Are Taught by Jehovah.” Limit introductory comments to less than a minute, and follow with a question-and-answer discussion. Invite audience to relate some of the benefits they have received from the Theocratic Ministry School, Pioneer Service School, Kingdom Ministry School, and so forth. Stress how these have helped Jehovah’s people to become more effective in the ministry.
20 min: “Make Your Time Count.” Discussion between a Congregation Book Study conductor and one or two experienced publishers who relate how they manage their time to share as fully as possible in the field service. They explain the importance of a workable schedule and stress the need for one. They tell how they avoid such time wasters as getting a late start, poor advance planning, or too much socializing during the ministry. Considering local circumstances, offer practical suggestions on how to make time count.
Song 48 and concluding prayer.
Week Starting June 14
10 min: Local announcements. Accounts report.
15 min: Local needs.
20 min: “Can You Give a Helping Hand?” Audience discussion conducted by an elder. Include the suggestions given in the October 8, 1995, Awake!, pages 8-9, for helping single parents. Invite some to express their appreciation for the loving assistance that they have received from others in the congregation.
Song 53 and concluding prayer.
Week Starting June 21
10 min: Local announcements. If the congregation has copies of the Young People Ask or Youth books in stock, show how they can be used to good advantage in the ministry during the summer months, when we are more likely to find teenagers at home.
17 min: Make Good Use of Videos and Sound Dramas. Could the 10 videos and 11 sound drama audiocassettes provided by the Society be put to better use? Have you and your family watched or listened to every one of them? Review several titles, pointing out how they can enhance our reading of the Bible, strengthen our spirituality, and give a fine witness to the truth. Play brief excerpts from two or three audiocassettes. Ask the audience to comment on which video or sound drama they found especially effective in encouraging their own family or in directing new ones to the organization. Relate some experiences showing good results. (See the 1999 Yearbook, pages 51-2.) Encourage all to make good use of the videos and sound dramas.
18 min: “Do You See Only the Outward Appearance?” Talk and audience discussion. Stress the reasons why we should not hastily form opinions about the people we meet. Briefly review the lesson Jehovah taught Jonah, who wrongly judged those whom he viewed as unworthy. (See the August 15, 1997, Watchtower, pages 21-2, paragraphs 17-19.) Invite audience to comment on the variety of people they have encountered in the territory, telling how they maintain a positive attitude toward them and leave judgment in Jehovah’s hands.
Song 77 and concluding prayer.
Week Starting June 28
12 min: Local announcements. Remind all to turn in field service reports for June. Review literature offer for July. Show the brochures that are locally available in good supply, and suggest one or two features that we can highlight in our presentations. Include a well-rehearsed demonstration.
13 min: Why Does Jehovah Permit Persecution of His People? Talk by an elder, based on Jehovah’s Witnesses—Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom, pages 676-7. As Jesus foretold, we are ‘hated by all the nations.’ (Matt. 24:9) We may face opposition when we share in the ministry, associate with worldly relatives, or deal with non-Witnesses in the workplace or at school. In a positive way, speaker explains why Jehovah permits such persecution or opposition and how our enduring it will ultimately lead to blessings.
20 min: Go Where the People Are! A talk based on the 1997 Yearbook, pages 42-8. While we should continue sharing regularly in house-to-house witnessing, we eagerly look for opportunities to do informal witnessing—anytime, anywhere. Relate experiences from the Yearbook showing how others have done so with good success while riding a bus, walking on the street or beach, approaching parked cars, going to truck stops, using the telephone, and writing letters. As time permits, invite audience to relate some experiences of their own. Encourage all to take advantage of every opportunity to give a witness wherever the people are.
Song 75 and concluding prayer.