I know that this activity is the major emphasis in the JW system.
Preaching was a major activity in Jesus’s day, (Matt 10:11-14) and was to continue to be so as Jesus said before his return to heaven…it was the assignment he left for his disciple….not as a recommendation, but as a command. “GO!”…(Matt 28:19-20). It was to be a witness “in all the inhabited earth”. (Matt 24:14)
In my fellowship our major emphasis is the spiritual growth and development of our members. We purchased a small JW Hall many years ago, but as well as enlarging this we built four additional Sunday School rooms. The JWs built another hall in the region, and sold it recently, but it did not have any suitable Sunday School rooms.
We do not divide the congregation up into age groups…all attend each meeting together as a congregation with participation by all ages. Sunday School is a left over from the church system that we left.
We leave the teaching of our children up to their parents, as Israel did, and as the first Christians did.
I attended Sunday School as a child but never really learned much except the stories….never had meaning put to them or why Jesus told them. It wasn’t till I studied the Bible that I learned about his parables and what they meant…..I had many of the puzzle pieces but now I knew where to put them.
In our region we have our own private school, open to others in the region. The Lady who gave me the latest JW booklet stated that her granddaughter attended and was very satisfied. The end result is that we retain the larger number of our young people as members of our meetings after baptism.
A lot of our children are home schooled these days…the school environment (especially High School) is not suitable for Christians in an age where gender issues have gone awry and sexual immorality is condoned….even expected. Bullying is also in unwanted stress for young ones who are only just learning who they are. We find that our children mature more quickly out of that environment.
My assessment of the level of Bible understanding and exposition in the JW environment is that it is very inadequate. An example of this is your understanding of Ezekiel 38 and your understanding of Armageddon. I question whether what you expressed is your own attempt or a general reflection of what the JWs teach on this subject.
We attend 5 meetings a week and all are Bible study related…all require personal study at home in order to participate in the discussions.…..just because we do not agree with your take on the Bible’s prophesies doesn’t make them wrong. Jesus will tell us all who got it right…won’t he?
We are exhorted each week from the Bible before partaking of the bread and wine, but only very few JWs partake, once a year, despite the importance placed upon this by Jesus.
So you partake of the bread and wine weekly, like the churches do…?
The memorial of Christ’s death replaced the Passover, which was the yearly observance of Israel’s salvation from the angel of death in Egypt. Christ is the figurative Passover Lamb whose blood saves those who obediently put faith in it to save them from another angel of death.
The memorial is an annual observance, held on the night which corresponds to Nisan 14 on the Jewish calendar.
Only those taken into the new covenant, partake of the emblems because they alone will rule with Christ in his Kingdom. They alone are spirit anointed for life in heaven because they alone are chosen for a role that requires them to leave their earthly abode to join Christ in heaven, in order to rule over redeemed mankind on earth. (Rev 21:2-4)
When Christ arrives as judge, he will “separate the sheep from the goats” and only the “sheep” will live to enjoy the blessings of the Kingdom. The “goats” will forfeit life, as they are bound for the “lake of fire” reserved for the devil and his hordes. (Matt 25: 31-46)
Later the sheep will be joined by those whom Christ calls from their graves (John 5:28-29)….some to a resurrection of life, having maintained their faith to the death, (as are pre-Cristian men and women of faith) whilst others are raised to a period of judgment where they have an opportunity to prove themselves worthy of life everlasting. They have paid sin’s wages and now through Christ’s sacrifice, can have their lives restored to learn what they could not, through circumstances beyond their control….perhaps being born at a time or in a place where the God of the Bible was unknown to them.
Since this is a yearly observance and only a limited number have “the heavenly calling” (Heb 3:1) we would expect their numbers to diminish as time goes on….but we also remember that being chosen does not mean that they cannot fall away. (2 Peter 2:20-22)
