Lesson 11: The GREAT COMMISSION: Crazy Love Chapter 7 and Transcending

THE GREAT COMMISSION

7 TIPS FOR SHARING THE GOSPEL

Taken From www.vergenetwork.org Guest post by Nick Barker

We’ve all felt it. That lingering mixed feeling of anxiety and guilt. It comes from sitting next to someone at work for a year without telling them about Jesus. It comes from wanting to invite our neighbors to Missional Community or Sunday morning, but never actually doing it. Why is it that sharing the gospel and inviting others into community are usually accompanied with so much uneasiness? It is vital that we continue to wrestle with these tensions and resolve them.



As we work through how to go about faithfully sharing the gospel, here are some 6 helpful tips for evangelism:

I . Pray
FOR REAL. Spend time praying that the Holy Spirit would lead us on mission. Jesus instructs his disciples to wait for the sending of the Spirit (Acts 1:4-5) before they go out on mission. The same is true for us today. The reality is that no fruit will come from our missional efforts if they aren’t saturated with prayer and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

We often discuss how the 1st Century church went “into all the world and spread the Gospel” from house to house. But we often forget to mention that they began each day with the power of Spirit-filled, steadfast, continuous prayer.

Acts 1:14 – steadfast in prayer Acts 1:24 – they prayed Acts 2:42- steadfast in prayer Acts 3:1 – went to the temple to pray Acts 4:31 – when they had prayed Acts 6:4 – steadfast in prayer Acts 9:11 – behold he prays Acts 9:40 kneeled down and prayed Acts 10:2, 4 – prayed to God always Acts 10:9 – housetop to pray Acts 10:30-31 – hour of prayer Acts 11:5 – in Joppa praying Acts 12:5 – prayed earnestly

Acts 12:12 – together praying Acts 13:3 – fasted and prayed Acts 14:23 – prayed and fasted Acts 16:13 – place of prayer Acts 16:16 – place of prayer Acts 16:25 –praying and singing Acts 20:36 – kneeled down and prayed Acts 21:5 – we prayed Acts 22:17 – I prayed Acts 28:8 – prayed & laid hands on him

A community of faith should be in continual prayer. The prayers in Acts were Not Punctuation Prayers that open or close a service or start a meal or a function.

To Begin sharing the Light we Need Continual (Steadfast) Prayers for:

·         Community—fellow laborers with God’s Vision (Luke 10:2)

·         Courage,  (Ephesians 3:16)

·         Patience,  (Galatians 6:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:13)

·         Opportunities for doors to open & to KNOW how to respond (Colossians 4:3-6)

·         Creativity,

·         The devil to stay away from your opportunities and from the soil (planting tares, “Get Behind Me Satan”)

·         The harvest  (John 4:35) good soil for God to germinate the Gospel Response

II. See your Missional Community (MC) as a Team

“When we aim for community we get neither community nor mission. When we aim for mission we get both.” Matt Carter

Work together with your MC on ways to share the gospel. It may be easier and less intimidating for someone else to share the gospel with the co-worker you invited over. Furthermore, we believe that God uses his church to reflect the gospel. This can be done as communities work together to intentionally display and declare the good news.

Jesus sent His disciples out 2 by 2…never alone. (Paul & Barnabas,  Paul & Silas, etc.) Do not think that you are in this alone. Strive to build small group relationships with mission-minded brothers and sisters in Christ where you can share your struggles and where you can ask for wisdom, debrief about your encounters, and gain strength from prayers of agreement.

Practice your testimony, your Gospel sharing techniques, and your story with your MC. Ask them to help you hone your testimony. Be ready to ask questions and to find answers together for ways to better share the message of Christ. Study together, pray together, share and communicate regularly. Keep each other encouraged and uplifted for the work of God.

III. Listen

Mission should be done with the posture of humility and compassion. A tangible way of doing this is actively listening to what people are saying. Knowing a person’s story will allow you a more faithful contextualization of the gospel.

Relational evangelism requires listening, loving, compassion, service, and sharing. Don’t over-share! Find out where they are. What 7 things would you need to know about someone so that you might share the Light more effectively?

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IV. Tell the True Story

IS there MORE to life?

So what should we tell people about God? How should we do it? A good place to start is with presenting the overarching story of the Bible. By doing this we’ll be able to proclaim that Jesus is King, that he is working to right every wrong, and that he is restoring every broken part of this earth! Now that is good news!

Can you tell the story? Have you practiced making it meaningful and relevant? Can you express your faith beyond just stating dry facts? Is the “awesomeness” of the Gospel truly believed by you?  Can you express the joy of your salvation? What Scriptures should you know to tell The Story?

Has Christ done a work in your life? Then tell someone! It may be just exactly what they need to hear, to give them faith that God can work in their life, too! God desires our witness, or confession of faith in Him-and that is the greatest Christian testimony of all. God wants you and me to partner with Him in the work He is doing!

“In evangelism, a good place to start is the overarching story of the Bible: creation, fall, redemption, renewal.”

Point 1: IS THERE ANXIETY? The reality, is that most of the anxieties that come from evangelism stem from Christians not believing the gospel themselves. Or even worse, they don’t believe that the gospel is good news. When sharing the gospel, tell of the powerful, all knowing God who is on a rescue mission to redeem His Creation!

Point 2: ARE YOU CONNECTED? Those who are connected to the vine will do the works of Christ and greater works because He went to the father. Those connected to the vine will bear much fruit.

Point 3: IT’S NOT US, IT’S GOD: God’s mission in the world is to raise the dead to life and he has chosen us to do the same.  The Father is working and we cannot sit on the sidelines. He wants us connected and engaged to bring others to Him so that we can help them to find the Father. None of us have an excuse.

We put too much emphasis on human ability instead of believing in the power of the Cross. “Paul I decided to know nothing among you except Christ and Him crucified. Not in eloquent words, because that would empty the power of the cross. Eloquence is not what we need. We need faith in the power of the cross.”  Don’t empty the cross of its power! IT’S NOT ME, IT’S GOD who draws all men to Him.

It's Not About Intellect or Debate Skills. In his letter to the Corinthian Church, Paul addresses the heart of Christian witnessing: 

And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)

Point 4: IT’S A LOVE STORY, NOT COLD FACTS. Resolve to just share the simple truth in love…not the cold facts in pride. Do we really believe that the Gospel is amazing and that God will work through simple, weak, testimony? Do we have confidence in the Father and Christ to draw people to Himself? The Power of our Story Rests in Jesus Alone!

A mission-minded man was asked this question, “How do you know if God is working in your life?  That God has placed this person in your path and prepared the soil in his heart.  The man answered, “Well, if God puts them next to me, then I’m going to assume that God placed them there because I have the Light that this person needs.”

Point 5: GOD KNOWS THE HARVEST. Just because you find that nothing is happening doesn’t mean that God is not working. You may only be the planter and someone else may be the one who gets to harvest. I have often prayed for God to allow me to see the harvest…He has often answered that prayer.

We need to stop judging failure and success through numbers. Jeremiah would have been a failure. Isaiah would have been a failure. Noah, Amos, and Malachi, and even Jesus would have been deemed a failure if we think that numbers are how God will judge us. No, it is our faithfulness in declaring the Gospel and our faith to know that God’s word will not return to Him void. He will judge us by whether we deny Him or whether we speak for Him.

Point 6: YOU ARE FOR ME OR AGAINST ME. We have to believe that there is a cosmic battle and we are either in it for Christ or a servant of Satan. Satan has the ability to detract us from our testimony….to shut our mouths, to keep us from declaring the day of the Lord. God has given you a place in the world that only you can fill. He has put you next to those who need to see the Light. He has placed you in a unique position of influence. All it takes is you to have enough faith to step out and walk in His mission.

V. Preach the Gospel to yourself Daily

We constantly need to be reminded of, and be transformed by the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus. As we are sent into the world with the message of life, we must deeply know, delight, contemplate, and give thanks for the gospel. Remember, it is “out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45).

Point 1: Practice praising God… as you walk day by day and moment by moment. Praise is more powerful than what appears to be “self-righteous preaching”. Say this verse OVER & OVER to yourself, “My Holy GOD ABIDES in the PRAISE of His people.”

Psalms 22:3 “You are Holy, God inhabits (is married to, abides in) the praises of “ His people (Israel). 

You desire God to be near you? In you? Then praise Him!

 Point 2: Practice Telling His Story. How would you relate the story of Christ to others?

Research for Parents

According to recent research completed by Dr. Cheryl Crawford, “Kids who cannot articulate their faith are most likely to walk away from it. “ She recommends that families hold discussions with deeper questions like, “So tell me about your relationship with God…” 

Often as parents we have chatty time or what Dr Crawford calls, “non-relevant junk talk” with our kids. Parents not only need to take time to focus on faith talk, deep questions and listening to answers, but to talk to their children about “being on mission for Christ moment by moment.”  Parents should learn to develop their own testimonies and faith talk to model for their children.

Point 3: What we cannot easily talk about, we really do not know or own.  The ease by which we can witness/testify for Christ is a good benchmark of our faith.

• 1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

• 1 Corinthians 1:6 ⁴ I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, ⁵ that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge, ⁶ even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you,

• 2 Timothy 1:8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord

• 1 John 5:11 And the testimony is this; that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

What is your testimony?

VI. Faithfully Expect God to Work

Do we believe that God is doing something through us? Do we believe that we are his agents here on earth? Do we believe that He is going to use us to transform lives?

Here’s what God has brought me to understand in my Christian walk; He not only prepares the soil (situation, people, events, open doors) so we can sow the seed, but He is the one who germinates the seed that we sow.  If our prayers are not as Paul requested,

Colossians 4:3

“praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned;”

…then we will never know the joy of being in the mission of God.

My experiences have been many, but the most memorable was recently when I was “accidentally” taken to a house and found the woman there reading Acts 8 and asking questions about true conversion, transformation, and baptism. No one, save God, could have opened such a wide door. Just as Peter was brought to Cornelius, Philip to the Eunuch, Paul to Lidia, God still brings people into our lives –strategically-- so that we can share the Light. “Lo, I am with you always….”

VII. Practice Sacrificial Love

It is important that you understand that the Missional Calling of the Lord's people is not a part time calling. It is a full out commission for our every day lives. Matthew 28's commission is correctly translated to mean "AS YOU GO into all the World, preach the Gospel". It is an on-going commission with no retirement system. It will take your time, energy, funds, patience, love, commitment  and submission to the Spirit of God. 

We "go" because we are in love with the One who sent us. We share because we cannot stop from speaking the over-flow of our heart. But in the world's eyes, this will look like it is costing a great price. ...and it is! But we have found the Kingdom, something more precious that gold or silver. We have been given gracious, merciful love and we can only return it with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength because He First Loved Us! Praise God. 

“We constantly need to be reminded of, and be transformed by the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus.”

“Mission should be done with the posture of humility and compassion.”

HOMEWORK: 

(1) Chapter 8 Crazy Love 
(2) Fill in the 7 things you should know about someone you will teach the Gospel to
(3) Practice telling the Amazing Story of Jesus.