Soul winning for the average JoeA personal evangelism course for those who feel incompetent, shy or

intimidated.

Course StructureFriday night:

Session 1: 7.00 p.m. – 8.15 p.m. Session 2: 8.30 p.m. – 9.30 p.m.

Saturday morning: Session 3: 9.00 a.m. – 10.00 a.m. Session 4: 10.30 a.m. – 11.30 a.m. Session 5: 12.00 p.m. – 1.00 p.m.

John Harper was born in a Christian home in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1872. When he was about fourteen years old, he became a Christian himself, and from that time on, he began to tell others about Christ. At seventeen years of age, he began to preach, going down the streets of his village and pouring out his soul in passionate pleading for men to be reconciled to God. After five or six years of toiling on street corners preaching the gospel and working in the mill during the day, Harper was taken in by the Reverend E. A. Carter of Baptist Pioneer Mission in London. This set Harper free to devote his whole time and energy to the work so dear to his heart - evangelism. Soon, in September 1896, Harper started his own church. This church, which he began with just twenty-five members, numbered over five hundred by the time he left thirteen years later. During this time he had been both married and widowed. Before he lost his wife, God blessed Harper with a beautiful little girl named Nana. Harper's life was an eventful one. He almost drowned several times. When he was two-and-a-half years of age, he fell into a well but was resuscitated by his mother. At the age of twenty-six, he was swept out to sea by a reverse current and barely survived. And at thirty-two he faced death on a leaking ship in the Mediterranean. If anything, these brushes with death simply seemed to confirm John Harper in his zeal for evangelism, which marked him out for the rest of the days of his life. While pastoring his church in London, Harper continued his fervent and faithful evangelism. In fact, he was such a zealous evangelist that the Moody Church in Chicago asked him to come over to America for a series of meetings. He did, and they went well. A few years later, Moody Church asked him if he would come back again. And so it was that Harper boarded a ship one day with a second-class ticket at Southampton, England, for the voyage to America. Harper's wife had died just a few years before, and he had with him his only child, Nana, age six. What happened after this we know mainly from two sources. One is Nana, who died in 1986 at the age of eighty. She remembered being woken up by her father a few nights into their journey. It was about midnight, and he said that the ship they were on had struck an iceberg. Harper told Nana that another ship was just about there to rescue them, but, as a precaution, he was going to put her in a lifeboat with an older cousin, who had accompanied them. As for Harper, he would wait until the other ship arrived. The rest of the story is a tragedy well known. Little Nana and her cousin were saved. But the ship they were on was the Titanic. The only way we know what happened to John Harper after is because, in a prayer meeting in Hamilton, Ontario, some months later, a young Scotsman stood up in tears and told the extraordinary story of how he was converted.

“I was on the Titanic the night it struck the iceberg. I clung to a piece of floating debris in the freezing waters. Suddenly a wave brought a man near, John Harper. He, too, was holding a piece of wreckage. He called out, 'Man, are you saved?' "'No, I am not,' I replied. "He shouted back, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.' The waves bore [Harper] away, but a little later, he was washed back beside me again. 'Are you saved now?' he called out. "'No,' I answered. 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.' "Then losing his hold on the wood, [Harper] sank. And there, alone in the night with two miles of water under me, I trusted Christ as my savior. I am John Harper's last convert."

I didn’t share that so you will become like Harper, but to illustrate what is NB.

WHY SHOULD WE BE ACTIVE WITNESSES FOR CHRIST?

1. Love.

“He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16)

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” (John 3:16-21)

“But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” (2 Cor 4:3-7)

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matt 5: 43-48)

2. Obedience.

3. Rewards.

4. Faith/Joy/Curiosity/Zeal/Boldness

“We are called to love others. We share the gospel because we love people. And we don't share the gospel because we don't love people. Instead, we wrongly fear them. We don't want to cause awkwardness. We want their respect, and after all, we figure, if we try to share the gospel with them, we'll look foolish! And so we are quiet. We protect our pride at the cost of their souls. In the name of not wanting to look weird, we are content to be complicit in their being lost. As one friend said, "I don't want to be the stereotypical Christian on a plane." That attitude too often characterizes me. My heart is cold to other people. I have a distorted self-love and a deficient love for others.” – Mark Dever

“And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15)

“For ‘whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.’ How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!’” (Rom 10:13-15)

“For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a stewardship.” (1 Cor 9:16-17)

“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.” (Prov 11:30)

“Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.” (Dan 12:3)

WHY DO MANY OF US STRUGGLE TO BE FRUITFEL WITNESSES FOR CHRIST

Excuse #1: Evangelism could cause problems at work, school or varsity. When we’re at work or school or varsity or a sports club, we’re generally under the authority of someone. Especially in the workplace and school, we have to be sensitive to the environment and we fear that we will do more harm than good by getting evangelistic! We know that people do get offended at the Gospel and we don’t want that to introduce a lingering enmity between you and the person, and cause the authorities to come down on you.Excuse #2: Other things are more urgent. I’m just too busy. Sure, there are the daily pressures of our studies, work and family commitments. But what DO we make time for in life…? You’ll find there are lots of things that you do fit in regardless of your busyness!Excuse #3: I don’t know many non-Christians. If you’ve been a Christian for any length of time you may well find this to be true of yourself. Those of you who work or study together with unbelievers should be thankful for the opportunities that you have daily to reach out to people who do not know the Lord.Excuse #4: This is the wrong moment. Well it might be, but it might not. And even if it is, then have you ever considered what the “right moment” looks like? Would you recognize it when it came? Q: Is it only when someone asks you about your faith, or are there moments when you can take the initiative? The big question is “How do I do that without sounding weird?”Excuse #5: I fear they will not respond well to this! But why would WE respond to the gospel and someone else not. We must be reminded of the power of the message, that God Himself endorses it, and God Himself has commanded us to share it, and He has promised that He will anoint the words. The most unlikely people respond positively to the Gospel because the Holy Spirit applies it to them, sometimes despite how badly it’s communicated!Excuse #6: I don’t know how to share the gospel. Often Christians feel that they will not represent the message well, or they don’t know how to transition the

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” (Rom 1:16)

“For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a stewardship.” (1 Cor 9:16-17)

“Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, ‘Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.’” (Acts 18:9-10)

“Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” (Luke 10:2)

conversation into a presentation of the gospel, and sometimes we fear not being able to answer the inevitable questions that will be asked.

QUESTION: If you found yourself alone with a non-Christian friend or colleague, and the moment presented itself for a spiritual conversation (which I will prove to you does actually happen), if I could teach you a simple way of naturally and powerfully sharing the gospel, would you do it?

How well are you practicing the Great Commission (Matt 28:19-20)?

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WHO CAN I WITNESS TO?

It is helpful to make a rather obvious distinction between two general groups of people we can find ourselves witnessing to:

1. GROUP A: People with whom we have the potential to build an ongoing relationship. a. Examples: family, unsaved friends, fellow students, work

colleagues, teachers, other parents at our children’s schools, etc).2. GROUP B: People with whom there is likely to be no ongoing

relationship and whom we assume we will not meet again.a. Examples: The person next to you on a train or airplane, a waiter

in a restaurant, etc.

One must always be led by the Spirit in these matters but a general rule is that the closer someone is to being in GROUP A, the more patient and sensitive you should be in witnessing to them. Conversely, the closer someone is to being in GROUP B, the more direct and immediate you can be with the gospel. Both approaches are Biblical and can be fruitful.

It is also probably accurate to say that witnessing to GROUP B requires more immediate boldness and evangelistic gifting.

BUT the facts tell us that most people who get saved are in GROUP A, which requires less evangelistic gifting from us. Anyone can be fruitful as a witness in their GROUP A relationships, even the ‘average Joe’ like you and me! Isn’t that great news! So that’s who we are going to focus on. This is not an evangelism training course for potential street preachers. This course is about empowering the average, non-evangelistic Christian to be a more faithful and fruitful witness in the lives of the people they already are building relationships with.

HOW CAN I BEGIN TO BE A WITNESS?

The rest of this course will focus on witnessing to GROUP A people, and yet the skills we will learn in STEP #4 below can be used immediately with GROUP B people as your confidence grows.

Your first step is to make a list of six unsaved “Group A” people or couples with whom you believe you can build an ongoing relationship. We will call this your “A-List”.

In Luke 10 Jesus sent out 70 unnamed disciples to go ahead of Him to preach the gospel, and as we seek to win the people on our “A-List” to Christ we will follow the 70 disciples’ example, just as Jesus instructed them:

What strikes you most about this passage?

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Your “A-List”

1. _________________________________________ 2. _________________________________________

3. _________________________________________ 4. _________________________________________

5. _________________________________________ 6. _________________________________________

After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road. But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’

-- Luke 10:1-9

Four steps can be extracted from Jesus’ commands to these 70 disciples which help the average Christian to begin being a fruitful witness of the gospel particularly to these 6 people on your A-List:

STEP #1: Pray for God’s blessing upon them. STEP #2: Build relationships with them through spending time

together. STEP #3: Identify needs and meet them with acts of kindness. STEP #4: Communicate to them the good news about Jesus Christ.

The beauty of this strategy is that EVERYONE can do it! It does not require a special gift of evangelism because even STEP #4 allows for many different options, which we will discuss below.

STEP #1: Pray for God’s blessing upon them

You should certainly pray for specific needs for the people on your “A-List” that you are aware they have, yet your primary request of the Lord will be to grant them salvation.

A suggested daily prayer for the people on your “A-List”:

“Father I pray for these people on my A-List. Please bless my relationship with them, please use me as You draw them to Christ. Lord, please provide opportunities for me to show them your love and kindness, and show me how best to witness to each one them. And when that time comes, my God, please do what only You can do: please open their hearts to respond the gospel.”

Have you been praying daily for specific unsaved people?

Can you do Step #1? ________________

STEP #2: Build relationships with them through spending time together

There’s no rocket-science here! This step is simply about befriending the people on your “A-List”. Building friendships takes time and it requires your being friendly:

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me… And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” (John 6:44-45; 65)

A great example of evangelistic friendship building is found in Acts 18:

Paul met Aquila and Pricilla at the synagogue in Athens, got their address and he went to visit them. They became Christians through Paul’s friendship and they served mightily in the early church thereafter.

EVANGELISTIC POP-BY TIPS:A short visit to someone’s home or office can be a great way of maintaining meaningful contact with them:

1. Call beforehand.2. Stay no longer that 5 minutes.3. Take a gift that demonstrates care.

Inviting people round for a meal is always a great way to build friendships. Also, listen carefully and make a note of their specific interests and passions. This will help you identify ways in which you can demonstrate personal care. Send an e-mail with an article that you know they’ll be interested in, invite them to a movie or a concert or to play golf or anything that you know they’ll enjoy. So don’t be afraid to take a few notes on the people on your “A-List” when you learn something interesting about them.

OUR NEED FOR PERSONAL HOLINESSAs you seek to build friendships with unbelievers there are two specific things the Bible encourages us to remember:

1. Letting your light shine and being salt requires that they know about your faith. So, early on in the relationship, let people know that you are a Christian, but do it in a low-key way. E.g. mention something you did “after church last Sunday”. Leave it at that for now. Those whom the Lord is drawing will not be turned away by this, as long as you are not ramming Jesus down their throat! The point here is that we must not let the relationship get off on the wrong foot. I have seen Christians delay making a stand for their faith and before long the relationship is entirely on the world’s terms. People must know what you stand for while at the same time you can be patient in your approach to witnessing to them. Jesus never put up with foul language, blasphemy, sexual innuendos, and dirty jokes. When He ate and drank with the tax collectors and sinners they knew exactly what He stood for.

“A man who has friends must himself be friendly.” (Proverbs 18:24a)

“After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade.” (Acts 18:1-3)

2. 1 Peter 2:9-12: Clean and ethical living in your life will prepare unbelievers for a day of visitation from God. Your life must be a model of integrity to the people on your “A-List”.

Can you say that those who know you best would testify to your integrity and holiness? Is there any particular sin or compromise that you need to deal with in order to make your gospel witness effective?

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Have you been proactively seeking to spend time with specific unsaved people?

Can you do Step #2? ________________

STEP #3: Identify a need and meet it with acts of kindness

A demonstration of unselfish Christian love. The more sacrifice the act of kindness requires from you, the more powerful the witness and the more trust it will establish between you.

For the six people/couples on your “A-List” seek opportunities to bless them unselfishly with your:

time (e.g. a meal, babysitting, a lift home, etc – anything that is either unnecessary and unexpected)

talents (what skill do you have that others do not?__________________) money (but don’t overdo it) emotional support prayers

Prayer can be a particularly powerful part of demonstrating your love for unbelievers. In STEP #1 above you pray for the people on your “A-List” without their knowing about it necessarily. But here in STEP #3 you can move to two higher levels:

Ask the person what they would like you to be praying for. Then faithfully pray for this each day and from time-to-time tell them you are doing so and ask them how it’s going.

Ask them for permission to pray with them. This will normally need to be in a private location to avoid making them feel uncomfortable.

You will be amazed how many unbelievers will say yes to a simple offer: “Do you mind if I pray for you?” Bow your head and pray a short heartfelt prayer for them, and pray in Jesus’ Name. This does so much for your relationship and for

their own experience of God’s gracious answer to the prayers. Do it right now with your partner.

IF you bless people and earn their trust and have a genuine relationship with them MOMENTS TO DISCUSS SPIRITUAL THINGS WILL present themselves!

Have you been seeking ways to demonstrate selfless love and kindness to specific unsaved people?

Can you do Step #3? ________________

Let me tell you, if you’ve done the first 3 steps, step 4 is EASY!!

STEP #4: Communicate to them the good news about Jesus Christ

Before we discuss the multitude of ways you can share the gospel with the people on your “A-List”, we need to understand what the Gospel is and what it is not.

EVANGELISM IS NOT… Evangelism is not coaxing believers from another church to join your

own.

Evangelism is not an imposition of our ideas upon others. Like your political views, your views about the media, or corruption, or the state the youth or education system or healthcare in our country, or things of that nature.

Evangelism is not merely personal testimony. Testimony is valuable when it is a mini-step towards a full gospel presentation (in some format) later.

Evangelism is not merely social action. Evangelism is not merely challenging people on their ethics or lifestyle. Evangelism is not inviting someone to a “Biblical wisdom course” (e.g. a

parenting course, an anti-natal course, a divorce workshop, a Biblical stewardship business course, etc). Again, valuable as a mini-step towards a full gospel presentation (in some format) later. If we stop there we have failed to evangelize them.

Evangelism is not apologetics. Evangelism is not pastoral preaching, though it may help the unbeliever

see the church in a new light, and develop respect for a preacher, yet at

“We do not regard it to be soul-winning to steal members out of churches already established, and train them to utter our peculiar Shibboleth: we aim rather at bringing souls to Christ than at making converts to our synagogue.”

-- Charles Spurgeon

some later point they will still need to be confronted with the call to repent and believe, which is why there should regularly be evangelistic gospel appeals in our Sunday meetings.

Evangelism is not the same thing as the results of evangelism. You and I are not responsible for the results. You have been “successful” in evangelism if you have discharged your duty to share Christ with them, whether they receive Him or not.

EVANGELISM IS OFTEN NOT A ONE-OFF EVENT:

EVANGELISM IS… Heralding the Gospel (the good news) of Jesus Christ to those who are

lost.

WHAT IS THE GOSPEL MESSAGE?

THE GOSPEL AS A SET OF HISTORICAL FACTS AND THEIR MEANINGThe Gospel is news – good news to be sure – but it is news. It is the communication of a set of historical facts and how those facts relate to a person’s life today and in eternity.

The need for multiple touchesResearch by Peel and Larimore shows that 75% - 90% of people who come to Christ do so as a result of ongoing interactions with Christian friends or relatives. This research showed that unbelievers move through at least 18 micro-decisions from being anti-Christian to being committed disciples.

“The Gospel is Jesus Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures, and that as the reigning Lord he now offers the forgiveness of sins and the liberating gift of the Spirit to all who repent and believe.” – Mark Dever

“One of the main operations of the processes by which a soul is led to God and to salvation consists in instructing a man that he may know the truth of God. Instruction by the gospel is the commencement of all real work upon men's minds.” – Rev. Charles Spurgeon

The historical facts of the Gospel according to the Apostle Paul

3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. 7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.

-- 1 Cor 15:3-7

“The Christian movement at its inception was not just a way of life in the modern sense, but a way of life founded upon a message. It was based, not upon mere feeling, not upon a mere program of work, but upon an account of facts. In other words it was based upon doctrine… Certainly with regard to the fundamentally doctrinal character of Christianity Paul was no innovator. The fact appears in the whole character of Paul's relationship to the Jerusalem Church as it is attested by the Epistles, and it also appears with startling clearness in the precious passage in 1 Cor 15: 3-7, where Paul summarizes the tradition which he had received from the primitive Church. What is it that forms the content of that primitive teaching? Is it a general principle of the fatherliness of God or the brotherliness of man? Is it a vague admiration for the character of Jesus such as that which prevails in the modern Church? Nothing could be further from the fact. “Christ died for our sins,” said the primitive disciples, “according to the Scriptures; he was buried; he has been raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” From the beginning, the Christian gospel, as indeed the name “gospel” or “good news” implies, consisted in an account of something that had happened. And from the beginning, the meaning of the happening was set forth; and when the meaning of the happening was set forth then there was Christian doctrine. “Christ died”—that is history; “Christ died for our sins”—that is doctrine. Without these two elements, joined in an absolutely indissoluble union, there is no Christianity… Yet those same weak, discouraged men, within a few days after the death of their Master, instituted the most important spiritual movement that the world has ever seen. What had produced the astonishing change? What had transformed the weak and cowardly disciples into the spiritual conquerors of the world? Evidently it was not the mere memory of Jesus' life, for that was a source of sadness rather than of joy. Evidently the disciples of Jesus, within the few days between the crucifixion and the beginning of their work in Jerusalem, had received some new equipment for their task. What that new equipment was, at least the outstanding and external element in it (to say nothing of the endowment which Christian men believe to have been received at Pentecost), is perfectly plain. The great weapon with which the disciples of Jesus set out to conquer the world was not a mere comprehension of eternal principles; it was an historical message, an account of something that had recently happened, it was the message, “He is risen.”… The primitive Church was concerned not merely with what Jesus had said, but also, and primarily, with what Jesus had done. The world was to be redeemed through the proclamation of an event. And with the event went the meaning of the event; and the setting forth of the event with the meaning of the event was doctrine. These two elements are always combined in the Christian message. The narration of the facts is history; the narration of the facts with the meaning of the facts is doctrine. “Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried”—that is history. “He loved me and gave Himself for me”—that is doctrine. Such was the Christianity of the primitive Church.”

-- John Gresham Machen (“Christianity and Liberalism”)

BOLDLY CONFRONTING THE AWKWARD MATTER OF SINIn interpreting the facts of the Gospel we must speak plainly about sin, its total corruption of man and it’s dreadful consequences.

“In many ministries, there is not enough of probing the heart and arousing the conscience by the revelation of man's alienation from God, and by the declaration of the selfishness and the wickedness of such a state. Men need to be told that, except divine grace shall bring them out of their enmity to God, they must eternally perish; and they must be reminded of the sovereignty of God, that He is not obliged to bring them out of this state, that He would be right and just if He left them in such a condition, that they have no merit to plead before Him, and no claims upon Him, but that if they are to be saved, it must be by grace, and by grace alone. The preacher's work is to throw sinners down in utter helplessness, that they may be compelled to look up to Him who alone can help them. To try to win a soul for Christ by keeping that soul in ignorance of any truth, is contrary to the mind of the Spirit; and to endeavour to save men by mere claptrap, or excitement, or oratorical display, is as foolish as to hope to hold an angel with bird-lime, or lure a star with music. The best attraction is the gospel in its purity. The weapon with which the Lord conquers men is the truth as it is in Jesus. The gospel will be found equal to every emergency; an arrow which can pierce the hardest heart, a balm which will heal the deadliest wound. Preach it, and preach nothing else. Rely implicitly upon the old, old gospel. You need no other nets when you fish for men; those your Master has given you are strong enough for the great fishes, and have meshes fine enough to hold the little ones. Spread these nets and no others, and you need not fear the fulfilment of His Word, "I will make you fishers of men." – Rev Charles Spurgeon

George Whitefield, in a sermon entitled “The Seed of the women and the seed of the serpent”, Commenting on Gen 3:13, “Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?" Whitefield said:“What a wonderful concern does God express in this expostulation! "What a deluge of misery hast thou brought upon thyself, thy husband, and thy posterity? What is this that thou has done? Disobeyed thy God, obeyed the devil, and ruined thy husband, for whom I made thee to be an help-meet! What is this that thou hast done?" God would here awaken her to a sense of her crime and danger, and therefore, as it were, thunders in her ears: for the law must be preached to self-righteous sinners. We must take care of healing before we see sinners wounded, lest we should say, Peace, peace, where there is no peace. Secure sinners must hear the thunderings of mount Sinai, before we bring them to mount Zion. They who never preach up the law, it is to be feared, are unskillful in delivering the glad tidings of the gospel. Every minister should be a Boanerges, a son of thunder, as well as a Barnabus, a son of consolation. There was an earthquake and a whirlwind, before the small still voice came to Elijah: We must first show people they are condemned, and then show them how they must be saved. But how and when to preach the law, and when to apply the promises of the gospel, wisdom is profitable to direct.”

WHERE TO BEGIN, AND HOW TO PROCEEDWhen our moment comes to share the gospel with someone our role is to communicate the facts of the gospel to them, explain the meaning of those facts, and then trust the Holy Spirit to open their heart to the message.

This communication of the gospel will normally require repetition involving multiple and diverse exposures to the message. If you simply cannot communicate this yourself, don’t worry, there are countless other ways to do it!

WAYS TO COMMUNICATE THE GOSPEL Share the gospel message with them ourselves (see the “Give Them a Hand”

presentation below for HOW to do this). Tell them your testimony (being sure to include the gospel message). Invite them to church on a Sunday. BE AWARE OF UPCOMING EVANGELISTIC EVENTS AND INVITE YOUR “A-

LIST” WELL IN ADVANCE (7 Sundays from 20th Oct – have people there!). Invite them to study the Bible together with you (one-on-one, or couple-to-

couple). Use a tool like Christianity Explored or Christianity Explained or simply begin going through one of the gospels or Romans with them.

Invite them to join a group (evangelistic) Bible study course (like Alpha or Christianity Explored).

Invite them to your home group. Give them an evangelistic book together with a handwritten note. Examples

of good evangelistic books:______________________________________ ______________________________________

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Give them a CD or DVD of a sermon which clearly presents the gospel. E-mail them a link to a gospel sermon (audio or video) or an article online. Give or e-mail them a gospel tract. “I thought you might find this interesting…” E-mail them a personal message from you with the gospel in it (perhaps your

testimony). Write them a letter. Follow up a couple of weeks after delivering a book/CD/sermon/tract/etc

and see if they have any questions. Combine any number of the above efforts over time. Other ideas:_____________________________________________________________________________________________

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Using at least one of the suggestions above, can you do Step #4? ______________

“GIVE THEM A HAND” – AN EASY WAY TO EXPLAIN THE GOSPELUsing the five fingers and palm of your hand you can very quickly memorize a powerful and Biblical 7-step presentation of the Gospel. It takes about 15 minutes in total. Once you’ve memorized and practiced it, it will be an asset you carry with you 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for the rest of your life.

A COMPLETE SCRIPT FOR THE “GIVE THEM A HAND” PRESENTATIONGET A PARTNER

Mary, may I ask you a question?...

Have you come to a place in your spiritual life where you know for certain that if you were to die tonight you would go to heaven?______

Okay, then let me ask you this, because I find that this question often gets to the heart of the matter: Suppose you were to die tonight (which I really pray doesn’t happen!) and you find yourself standing before God and He were to say to you, ‘Why should I let you into my heaven?’, what would you say?______

Well, I have some incredibly good news for you! Can I share with you how I came to know I have eternal life?

The good news is that eternal life is a free gift. The Bible says, “. . . the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”. It is not earned or deserved in any way. There’s another verse in the Bible that says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

To grasp why this is, we have to understand what the Bible says about man…

Man is a sinner. The Bible says “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. And man cannot save himself. In fact, Jesus said if you want eternal life, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect,” and which of us can say that we have lived up to that?

That becomes clear when we see what the Bible says about God…

The Bible says that God is merciful and does not delight in punishing us. The Bible says that “God is love”, and yet it also says that God is perfectly just, and His justice demands that He punish our sins. The Bible puts it like this: “The LORD God…will by no means clear the guilty…” So we have a problem! God in His love doesn’t delight in punishing us, but in His justice He will do exactly that.

But the good news is that God satisfied His justice and proved His love for us, in the person of His Son Jesus Christ…

Christ is both God and man. One of the most amazing verses in the Bible says that “In the beginning was the Word (speaking of Jesus), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory (said John), glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1,14). And Jesus died to pay the penalty for sin. Then God raised Him from the dead and He gives a place in heaven to all who will receive Him. 700 years before Jesus was born the Jewish prophet Isaiah speaking of our sinfulness, prophesied about the death of Jesus and he said this, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all,” so we can have this gift of forgiveness.

But like any gift, this gift of eternal life must be received, which we do by repentance and faith.

When Jesus began His ministry in Galilee the Bible says He “came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” Later, a certain jailor in Philippi asked the apostles Paul and Silas “What must I do to be saved?” “And they said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’”

So what does it mean to repent and believe? Repentance is admitting your guilt, and asking for forgiveness and turning your back on your life of sin. Then faith is not head-knowledge, nor temporal. The Lord’s half-brother, James, warned people against a simple intellectual belief in the Gospel. He said, “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” So saving faith is believing and trusting in Jesus alone for forgiveness and eternal life. Mary, does this make sense to you…? Well, now that you understand the gracious offer of God in the gospel, and God’s call upon you to repent of your sins and believe in Jesus, would you like to receive this gift of eternal life?

“YES, I WOULD”

Great! Let me read a portion of the Bible to you that talks about how to do that (Romans 10:8-13):

“The word (of the gospel) is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Isn’t it wonderful!

“If this is what you really want, I can lead us in prayer and we can tell God what you just told me. Would you like to do that?” (Pray a simple prayer of repentance and faith with them repeating after you.)

Mary, our first response to having received salvation is to join a local church and be baptized in water. Let me show you that from one last verse from Scripture.Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” (Acts 2:37-42). I’d like to help you do this…

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What do you notice in this passage that could also be a source of encouragement and joy to you and your partner?

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IN SUMMARY…

1. Accept responsibility and decide to stop avoiding it. Faithfulness requires our witness over our sensitivity to people’s responses.

2. Understand the truth of their situation.3. Draft your “A-List” (six people or couples you commit to praying for daily).4. Pray for them daily. Pray for God to bless them. Pray for opportunities to

serve them. Pray for opportunities to share the gospel. Pray for opportunities to invite them to something. Ask God for wisdom regarding how to proceed with them.

5. Seek fellowship. Invite them over for meals. Find out their interests and engage with them on that level.

6. Early on in the relationship, let people know that you are a Christian. This can be done in a low-key way, like mentioning something you did “after church last Sunday”. Leave it at that for now.

7. Look for ways to serve them or to show kindness or meet a need.

‘The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.”’ (Luke 10:17-21)

8. Ask them if there is anything they would like you to pray for, and promise to do so. You can even pray for them while you are with them if the moment is conducive.

9. Take your opportunities to communicate the gospel. This may mean that you actually have a chance to share the good news with them yourself and so this requires you to learn and practice the “Give them a hand” presentation above.

10. Understand your role.11. Don’t be surprised if God adds a name or two to your “A-List”!12. Don’t be surprised if you begin feeling more and more confident to share the

gospel with GROUP B people. This will begin to open a whole new field of harvest for you including home-visitation of visitors to our Sunday services.

13. Hold your partner accountable to feedback in ____ days time. Diarize it now. Then continue to support each other in the following way:

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