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[silence] ...the preacher who will address us now. He's not new because he has been with us several years, but I think that many of the young people ought to be inspired by the life of this young man.

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And I don't think that a speaker like Dr. Griffin ought mind telling the young people about his background, how he came up as a young man in a poverty community.

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And today stands at the head of one of our nation's great churches. And is not only a great pastor, a writer, a preacher, but is a person who is respected in his community as a citizen, as a leader among citizens.

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He not only serves the pastor to the great Ebenezer Baptist Church in Austin, Texas, he is the president of the Board of Education for that city. And for those of you from other states, you may not know that Austin is the capital of Texas and the home of the University of Texas,

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and much of Texas education gets its start around the university, which means that he is president of a school board that influences education in Texas. Because of his ability, this board asked him to bring the message at this time every year,

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And we're grateful that you've given him your support and I ask for him your prayers now as Dr. Marvin C. Griffin of Austin, Texas will come and bring this message. Thank You Dr. Rowe to the offices,

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publishing board members, and members of the National Baptist Sunday School and BTU Congress. It's been my privilege to serve for 11 years now

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as the head of the teacher training department. And I would like to take a moment to recognize those who have labored with that department and those who are members of it.

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I have one section, and Dr. T.T. Newman has the other section. and we have several persons who have been on that staff even long before I came.

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So we would like for the members of the teacher training department to stand for a moment wherever you are. All the members of the teacher training department.

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Brother Mitchell who's been in that department and several others. Thank you very much. Each year I have been speaking on a particular theme and for the last three years I have been

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speaking on the theme, "The Training of the Twelve." Copies of this message will be available after I have delivered it. My wife will have some and she has my daughter and others of the teacher training department that you may get. Training of the Twelve. Matthew will be the character that we will consider today in the training of the Twelve.

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And the subject of the message, teaching techniques for outreach. teaching techniques for outreach Luke the fifth chapter and the 27th verse

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We have these words and after these things He went forth and

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saw a publican named Levi In Matthew the ninth chapter in the ninth and tenth verses And as Jesus

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passed forth from fence He saw a man named leap Matthew

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Sitting at the tax office And he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him. And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at at meet in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples."

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of the Master Teacher have a divine mandate to reach out. Holy orders from headquarters clearly state without reservation, "Go and teach all nations, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. Jesus calls disciples that they might learn from him, that they might know him and share

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with others the fellowship of his spirit. Disciples may come from all social ranks. The call comes to persons of all sorts and conditions. It matters not what may be one's position, prestige, or power. It matters not whether one is high up or low down

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on the social ladder. The call is to all. Jesus says, "Whosoever will, let him come." The net is cast and all fish caught in the net are taken.

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Going is essential to growing in the kingdom of God. If a class or department or church is to increase in size, There must be additions. The kingdom grows.

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It begins like a tiny mustard seed and develops into a mighty plant on which birds build their nests. Churches in America at this present time

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are suffering from a membership decline. decline. The population is growing, but the church membership is not growing in keeping with the percentage of the growth of the population. And this decline is due to a lack of outreach. In a A year's time, every class ought to double its size.

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Jesus himself sets the example for outreach. He calls disciples that he might send them forth, that they might reach others. Let us walk with the Master in the busy streets of Caponium, a city strategically situated near the shore of the beautiful blue waters of the Sea of Galilee.

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He approaches the business area not as a tourist or casual observer, but as a man with a mission. He enters the office of Levi, who is sitting at his desk, surrounded by receipt books and a cash register. Levi is a customs official.

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His duty is to collect taxes for Rome. He is the tax assessor and collector. The synagogue is located nearby. But Levi does not belong to the congregation.

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He is not enrolled in the Sabbath school. He is not even considered as a good prospect because he is an outcast. He is despised and rejected by his countrymen. He is a lonely man.

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Crowds all around him, streams of humanity go in and out of his office daily, but he's an outcast. They do not accept him as one of them. is located at a point where across the crowded ways of life the Roman government controls

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Palestine. Roads are important in promoting commerce. Well you see traffic is the lifeblood of good business. Good highways, soldiers, and public buildings require taxes to maintain. Levi is a tax assessor and collector. Now his job is unpopular. He has a spacious and attractive office but he sits in the seat of the scoundrel. Taxes were just as unpopular

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then as they are now. There was a ground tax by which a man had to pay one-tenth of his grain and one-fifth of his fruit and vine to the government either in cash or in kind. There was an income tax which was 1% of a man's income. There was a poll tax which had to be paid by every male from the age of 14 to 65 and by

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every female from the age of 12 to 65 and there was a duty ranging from two and a half to twelve and a half percent on all goods imported and exported. There was a tax to be paid to travel on main roads, to cross bridges, to enter marketplaces and towns or harbors. There was a tax on pack animals and a tax on wheels and axles of carts. It was true

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then as it is now. If there is anything certain in this world it is death and taxes. Now Levi was the tax assessor and collector. Now it's bad enough to be a tax collector but to be a Jewish tax collector serving as an agent of the Roman government made bad matters worse. It was like pouring fuel on the flames

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and that made Levi not only unpopular but hated and despised. Now Levi is a a man of authority. His word is law. Men obey his orders promptly and yet he's despised. He's considered a collaborator, a traitor. He's looked upon as one who sells his people for personal gain. He is viewed with contempt. He has the sanction of the government, but

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the people consider Levi as a licensed robber. He's an outcast. He is despised and hated. He is ostracized by respectable people. He's not included on the social register of Kapunian. He is wealthy and occupies a prominent position with the government, but he is considered

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a thug by his own people. has money, but he discovers to his surprise that there are some things that money cannot buy. He is snubbed by his neighbors and deserted by lifelong friends. He is a victim of human estrangement. He is bruised and broken by the circumstances of human existence. Levi is at his

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desk when Jesus enters his office. Now Levi had heard about Jesus. It was noised about in Capernaum how Jesus had cast an unclean spirit out of a man in the synagogue services. Levi had heard how Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law who was suffering with a terrible fever. Levi had heard about how Jesus reached out his hand and touched a leper. Levi had heard that Jesus was

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a friend of sinners. He'd heard. Now the teaching ministry ought to be people-oriented. Jesus was dedicated to reaching people. And we in our own time as followers of the master must not be possessed by a numerical neurosis. Reaching people primarily for the purpose of increasing our roles so that we can boast of our size. We need to see people as precious possessions, as sacred

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personalities, and as children of God. We suffer from blurred vision when we see others as trees in the forest rather than as individuals with peculiar problems and potentialities. Jesus sought Levi not only for what he was but for what he could become. You see Levi was not living up to his name. The name Levi is associated with the priestly tribe. It means one who is

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attached. But Levi had attached himself to material matters and had lost sight of the spiritual. He was lost, meandering in a wilderness of meaninglessness. His office was a beehive of activity, but Levi was lost in the crowd. But Jesus saw Levi as a sheep having no shepherd. He knew he was suffering from the agony of

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loneliness. He knew he was suffering from greed. He knew he was suffering from guilt. And Jesus saw him and was moved with compassion. If we would engage in outreach, we must have a vision for the unreached multitudes. Oh, many of our church schools suffer from declining enrollments because of a lack of concern for people.

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We can and we must reach more people in teaching the biblical revelation for the fields are widened to harvest but the laborers are few. So let us commit ourselves to enlarging our organization. Let us not only provide the facilities but utilize them. Let us provide all of the necessary resources. Oh yes, I said

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earlier that we can double our enrollment if we work at it, and we can do it if we have the right concept. We can do it if we have divine compassion We can do it if we are genuinely committed to the task. Oh yes, we can reach people when we seek them.

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Jesus found Levi in his office. He knew that Levi was there doing business as usual. Jesus went where he was. We must go where the people are.

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We must not wait for the people to come to us, but go where the people are. We must seek the lost sheep, newborn babes, children playing in the streets on Sunday, adults at home sleeping late, the group of persons that we call

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the shut-in and the shut-out, the nominal church members who feel that somehow they have graduated from the church school. All of these offer opportunities of outreach

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and we must seek them. We must engage in a people search. To reach people we must understand their predicament. And let's look at the situation here a little more closely.

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Here is a tax collector, one who's viewed with contempt. He's ostracized, he's penalized. He's debarred from being a witness or a judge. He's not permitted to attend the regular worship service.

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He's considered a chronic sinner. He's the kind of sinner that is passed over during the revival. People have given up on him, no need of going to him.

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In his case, it's hopeless. But Jesus saw this tax collector. And he focused attention on Levi. He saw the hidden possibilities that were there for the kingdom. Sometimes we fail to see what is in our midst. Diavese failed to see Lazarus,

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that poor man that was lying at his gate right there in his midst and yet he failed to see him. Jesus saw Levi, he saw a man whom others overlooked, saw one that was ignored, he saw one that had been bypassed. Now there are numerous opportunities for outreach that are missed because we don't have eyes to see. First it's necessary for

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us to lift up our eyes and see people as they are and what they may become. Jesus saw Levi not as a a prisoner of greed but as a prospect for the kingdom. Jesus saw this despised and rejected tax collector as a prospect for Christian discipleship. And he saw in this man one who was engaged in writing tax receipts but Jesus saw hidden in

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this man one who could write the gospel that would become the first gospel in our New Testament. Jesus saw that. And he saw not only one who could become a Christian disciple, but he saw one who could become an apostle. And you see we we follow Jesus we go from discipleship to apostleship. We become learners of him and in

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becoming learners of him we become learners of him that he might send us forth to reach others. Now seeing comes through visitation. You know when we say come up to see me, come see me, that's visitation. And outreach requires visitation. Jesus had been to the synagogue, He, but now we find him down in the business district walking into an office and touching a man who's sitting at his desk.

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We find him there. He visits Levi in his office and it's not an accident that he met Levi. You see Jesus knew where he was going and he knew what he would do when he got there. And plans planned visitation is essential to reaching people and And if we would follow Jesus if we would walk in his steps

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We must visit We must visit Well, there is a story that is told Of a man who was on a train

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going Into a city called everywhere And he saw signs

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all around shoes shoes Shoes we make the best shoes in the world

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But as he looked At the feet of those who were sitting on the train he noticed that they were barefoot They had no shoes And as he went on into the city, he went into a factory that had the signs there,

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"We manufacture the best shoes." But he noticed those that were standing there engaging in the making of shoes with all of their skills and all of their workmanship, but when he looked down at their feet, they had on no shoes. No shoes. and then he went and he inquired of the man who was the director of that plant.

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He said what's wrong here in this city as I walked about the streets and and I walked into your factory and I've heard about shoes and all of that but I noticed that that you have on no shoes don't you all believe in shoes? He said yes we believe in shoes. He said we are authorities on shoes. We in fact we have

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men who can deliver the most eloquent messages on shoes and we have many beautiful anthems written about shoes but we just don't wear them. We just don't wear them. Oh one day by and by we will probably wear them. We hope to wear but not right now, not right now. But we we must translate into action, we must

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somehow walk where Jesus walked. See Levi was waiting for something wonderful to happen? There's somebody somewhere right now waiting for someone to knock on the door. Levi had been waiting a long time for something wonderful to happen in his life and Jesus comes. Oh how wonderful, Jesus comes and he extends the invitation for Levi to be different, to

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be a new man, to be a man with hope. And Jesus says to him, "Come be my disciple, Come join my company. Leave the tax collectors association of Rome and come join my company. My company is the company of the committed. Come join my company. I will make your life beautiful and righteous. Come join my company and I

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want you to be a worker in my company." Well he shut the desk drawer, closed the receipt book, locked the cash register for the last time and he just took a pen and the ink bottle. That's all he took out of that office. That's all. And put up the sign that they're out of business. And he began a new walk. A new walk. And he went out on the streets

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and he began to contact those that he had been associated with. They were the thugs of the community. Nobody respected them, nobody cared about them, so he just got with them. These were the Russians so to speak, these were the ones who were ostracized and he said come home I want to have dinner. In fact I don't know

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what Jesus made him but he must have made him the director of outreach. And he got on the job right away. He knew where the prospects were. He already had a list of prospects and the best prospects are those who are closest you. And he said to him I want you to come to dinner. And they came, they came, they

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were there. His wife prepared a delicious meal. The house had a different atmosphere because Jesus was invited there and Jesus came with his disciples. But there, there were some Pharisees there. These were the so-called righteous ones, these were the holier than thou. These were the ones who claimed to be so

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righteous and yet they would not go across the street to help someone that was really in need of help. And he began to murmur, this man is not what he ought to be. He claims to be so righteous but look who he's associating with. These people are ostracized and you see there's a difference here about how they treated the publicans and sinners and how

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Jesus treated them. They ostracized them, they wrote them off and Jesus did not ostracize them because of their sin, he apologized for their sin. And so Jesus said you see the the the sick have need for a physician but the whole have no need for a physician. And so he reaches out, he reaches out to the comfortable and to the proud, he reaches out to the rich and to the poor, he reaches out to the

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young and to the old he reaches out to all. And so we've just got to do more brothers and sisters than talk about outreach in order to have a successful outreach ministry. We must not only talk the talk but we've got to walk the walk. Officers and teachers must set the example. There's something radically wrong

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Doesn't matter how good that lesson is prepared. Doesn't matter how we read the Bible and how we get on our knees, there's something radically wrong in a growing city when the church and the class and the department remain the same size.

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There's something radically wrong. Radically wrong. Oh, the invitation is extended to Levi to be a disciple of Jesus and Levi would have remained at his desk if Jesus hadn't come into that office.

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Oh, how warm, how gracious is the invitation. Oh, how compassionate, how the divine concern is showered upon that man who is considered an outcast. they drew a circle that shut me out, heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But love and I had the

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wind to win. We drew a circle that took them in. Oh, Levi decides to follow Jesus wherever he goes, And that's what a disciple does. Truancy and absenteeism are costly because valuable lessons are taught and wonderful experiences are shared and it's important for the student to be present with the teacher. Oh there's a wonderful change that occurred in the life of this man because he

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decided to follow Jesus. His name is changed from Levi to Matthew. Changed from being one who was attached to Matthew which means gift of God. Changed from being one who is attached to the things of this world to being recognized as God's gift to humanity. Name is changed. Matthew must have been a good

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student of the teacher because he took such copious notes. You really want to understand and get a good view of the teachings of Jesus. You read Matthew, he has more about the teachings of Jesus than any other, so he must have been a good student. And so he wrote that Gospel of Matthew to the Jewish community, but I

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think the thing that must have impressed him that he could never forget was how Jesus reached out to him. And so when he got ready to write his gospel he introduces the story by telling how the wise men were going and when he gets ready to close it he closes that gospel with the last word of the master being

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go, go ye and teach all nations. You see because he met the master he wanted others to meet him too and because Jesus engaged in outreach that saved his life because somehow Jesus followed him where he was now he follows Jesus wherever he goes. That's what makes the difference. That's what Jesus does in the ministry

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of outreach in our lives and in our churches. Francis Thompson, a medical student in England, began to drift away from the godly righteous and sober life and he became hooked on drugs. He became hooked on the opium habit and he found himself sleeping out on benches and parks on the archways, sleeping down by

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the riverbank. People looked at him and finally he contracted the deadly disease of tuberculosis and they said there was no help for it. But somehow there were those who reached out to him and something happened in his life that changed his life and in later years he wrote the poem the Hound of Heaven and he

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thought of Jesus Christ as being like the Hound of Heaven. You know a hound just tracks, the good hound just tracks down the prey. Wherever it goes the good hound is there and that's what Christ does. He's like the hound of heaven, tracking down the souls of men and converting them to his saving truth, the hound of heaven. And he said well he followed me. Oh I was

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running here and there but he followed me, followed me all down the winding ways of my life, he followed me when I was running with laughter, he followed me, he found me and now I follow him. So the Lord says go. That's what he says. I'll leave this word with you. If you would be followers of the master, you must reach out to people. We must reach out to where people are. The Lord says go. He equips us and gives us the green light for outreach.

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The Lord says go. He said Abraham, get out from thy kindred and go to a country that I will show you. The Lord says go. He said to Moses, "Go and tell Pharaoh to let my people go."

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The Lord says, "Go." He says to Joshua, "Arise and go over this Jordan." The Lord says, "Go." Says to Elijah, "Go and stand before Ahab."

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The Lord says, "Go." Besides, he says to Jonah, "Arise, Jonah, "and go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it." The Lord says go.

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If we would move at his command, we must go. If we would possess the land, we must go. But before we go, we must be ready. We can't go when our feet are stuck in the mud.

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You can't go when your feet are stuck in the mud of doubt. Can't go when your feet are stuck in the mud of indifference. You can't go. Can't go when your feet are stuck in the mud of complacency. You can't go. But the Lord says go. He gets us ready. He gets us ready to go. In fact, he lifts us up from the muck and mire, places

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our feet on a solid rock, puts a new thong in our mouth, and establishes our going, gets us going. That's what he does. Gets us going. And then, oh, oh how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel, who proclaim the glad tidings of peace. Oh, how beautiful are the feet of those who go into highways and hedges, into the byways,

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into the alley. Oh, how beautiful are the feet of those who go. Oh, it's wonderful. It's wonderful to hear and to accept his word. Well, since Jesus said go, I'm going.

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Are you going? I'm going. Oh, where shall I go? Well, wherever Jesus leads. Wherever Jesus leads.

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he leads I'll go. Oh it may be in the valley where countless dangers hide. It may be in the sunshine where I in peace abide. But that's one thing I know. If it be dark or fair, if Jesus goes with me I'll go anywhere. Go, go, oh it may be that I must carry the blessed word of life across the burning deserts to those in sinful strife and though it be my lot to bear his colors there. If Jesus goes with me, I'll go anywhere. Yes, if Jesus goes. If Jesus goes with me, I'll go anywhere. If Jesus goes with me, I'll go anywhere.

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Ah, says heaven to me, where I be? If Jesus goes with me, I'll go anywhere. And that's enough. That's enough. You don't need anything else.

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If Jesus goes with me, that's enough. You don't have to worry about being propped up on a leaning side. If Jesus is there, that's enough. He's the only prop we need.

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If Jesus goes with me, storms may rage, winds may blow, waves may beat against us, but if Jesus is there, that's enough. That's enough. Go wherever he leads.

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Would everybody just stand where you are? Everybody just stand, nobody moving, just stand. Would you stand wherever you are? Everybody.

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One of the tragedies of our church life is that we leave before we do the business we came for. You have received what you wanted, but you needed to help somebody else

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receive what they need. Just one moment. [ Silence ]