Evangelism Session 1

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Evangelism Session 1

• Missio Dei
• What is the Gospel?

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• The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbours
  glory should be laid on my backIt is a serious
  thing to remember that the dullest and most
  uninteresting person you can talk to may one day
  be a creature which, if you say it now, you would
  be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror
  and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all,
  only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in
  some degree, helping each other to one or other
  of these destinations. It is in the light of
  these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the
  awe and the circumspection proper to them, that
  we should conduct all our dealings with one
  another, all friendships, all loves, all play,
  all politics. There are no ordinary people.
  (C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory)

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Opening Question

• How would you describe the differences between
  mission and missions?

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Missio Dei Mission

• Gods mission
• Gods self-revelation as the One who loves the
  world
• Gods involvement in and with the world
• The nature and activity of God, which embraces
  both the church and the world, and in which the
  church is privileged to participate.

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Missio Dei, cont.

• The concept of Missio Dei is that mission is not
  a program of the church, but rather it is
• 1-) Mission comes first from the heart of God and
  we are caught up in it rather than initiating it.
• 2-) Mission is primarily the work of God and we
  participate with God in what He is already doing.
• 3-)The church changed from being the sender to
  being the one sent.
• 4-)Our mission has no life of its own only in
  the hands of the sending God can it truly be
  called mission.

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Missions

• The missionary ventures of the church, referring
  to particular forms, related to specific times,
  places, or needs, of participation in the mission
  Dei.
• (David J. Bosch, Transforming Mission, 1991, 2004)

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• Missio Dei sees our mission as stemming from the
  Triune God
• The Father sends the Son,
• The Father and the Son send the Spirit
• The Father and the Son and the Spirit send the
  church into the world.
• As the Father sent me, so I send you. (John
  2021)

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Discussion Question

• What is the Gospel?
• Preach the Gospel at all times, if necessary,
  use words.
• St Francis of Assissi

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Definitions of the Gospel
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Misconceptions

• The Gospel is often reduced to mere proclamation
• Many still define mission in terms of the
  addressees, not in terms of its nature, and
  suggest that mission is accomplished once the
  gospel has been (re)introduced to a group of
  people.

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With the previous definition of the Gospel
what elements are missing?

• Read Matthew 2818-20 aloud
• Make disciples
• Baptize them
• Teach the new disciples to obey all the commands
  that Jesus gave us

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• If evangelism is spreading the Gospel, what does
  that look like?

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Proclamation

• The focus of our message should be the Kingdom of
  God, not just the plan of salvation. In recent
  years, NT scholars have reminded us that Jesus
  preaching centered on the Kindgom of God and he
  issued a call for response.
• Mark 114-15
• Illustrates Jesus announcement The time has
  come, the Kingdom of God is near. Repent and
  believe the Good News.
• We lift up a new worldview, a view of the world
  under God
• Calling hearers to participate in the community
  of God
• God has intervened in history to bring about our
  salvation
• Evangelism announces the liberating work of God
  as in Christ, he fashions a new humanity.
  (Harvie Conn, Evangelism Doing Justice and
  Preaching Grace)

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Presence of the Community

• Truly being the presence of the community of
  Christ in the world is central to our
  evangelistic mission
• Personal reception of the gospel includes
  becoming aware of ones need and discovering that
  Christ is the answer to that need.
• The gospel must be credibly demonstrated if
  others are to see and acknowledge the truth of
  the gospel.
• We draw others to the crucial awareness of
  personal need as well as of Gods provision.
• - Stanley J. Grenz, Theology for the Community
  of God

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The Presence of God

• We need to provide opportunities for people to
  experience Gods presence His light. The
  challenge is getting people to see spiritually.
  
• (Ephesians 115-18) I pray for you constantly,
  asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus
  Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and
  understanding, so that you might grow in your
  knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will
  be flooded with light so that you can understand
  the wonderful future he has promised to those he
  called.

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• That is why Satan does not much mind men hearing
  about the purpose of God and understanding it
  mentally. His great fear is lest they should
  have inward illumination concerning that purpose.
  He knows that if they do they will have a new
  access of strength and power, and that the
  Church, the work, the warfare everything will
  be seen by them in a fresh light. (Watchman Nee,
  What Shall This Man Do?)

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Evangelism Session 2

• Being Born of the Spirit
• Using some helpful tools (Engels Scale)
• Leading someone to Christ

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• Walk in the power of the Truth that the name of
  the Lord God may be glorified among you, his
  renown may be seen in you and among you, and all
  te world may be stonished, and the Lord admired
  in the ordering of his people who are guded by
  his wisdom. - George Fox, The Letters of George
  Fox

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How does a person become saved?

• What is Gods role?
• What is my role?
• What is the other persons role?

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The Engel Scale

• Engel and Sogaard analyzed the nature of the
  decision process and its implications for
  evangelism and discipleship.
• Everyone is somewhere on this scale and the
  challenge is, with a spirit of discernment, to
  start where they are.
• Avoid motivating decisions.

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What did we learn?

• Intentional questions
• Listen deeply before answering or asking the next
  question
• Dont be afraid of a pause
• Hidden meanings

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Gods Threefold Provision for every person in the
hour of crisis

• 1. Jesus has come as the friend of sinners
  there is no condemnation
• 2. It is He personally, and no intermediary whom
  we are called to meet
• 3. The Holy Spirit has been given to bring
  conviction of sin, repentance, and faith and
  all that follows
• - Watchman Nee, What Shall This Man Do?

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My Contribution

• Explain Gods part, introduce them to Jesus
  (which includes allowing a response from the
  Lord) and encourage them to be honest when they
  talk to Him

Their Contribution

• Bring an honest heart as you approach God, reach
  out your hand and touch him. Tell Him exactly
  how you are feeling at this moment.

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• Gods vision is to reach the world. His method
  for accomplishing this vision, however, is
  valuing the individual. Christ said so in Luke
  153-10. He spoke of the lost coin, the lost
  sheep., and ultimately the lost son. If we value
  the one, the world will be won. Tim Elmore,
  Leveraging Your Influence Impacting College
  Students for Christ, 2003

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Evangelism Session 3

• Numerical growth, if it occurs at all, is an
  outcome brought by a sovereign God who activates
  conviction, regeneration and sanctification. God
  often calls the best people to work in places
  where results, humanly speaking, are meager. -
  Engel Dyrness, Changing the Mind of Missions

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Four Strategies and Counting

• 1 Pray!
• 2 Connect evangelism with social change
• 3 Focus on meet real needs
• 4 Focus on building relationships

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Strategic Evangelism

• Strategy 1 Pray!
• The most difficult aspect in the kingdom paradigm
  of world missions is to discern Gods voice in
  directing and guiding our actions
• Secular strategic planning has its place
  however, it is not always helpful in discerning
  where God is already at work.
• Make a hit list

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Strategic Evangelism

• Strategy 2 Connect evangelism with social
  change.
• There has been almost total silence from most
  evangelists in response to Gods call for
  social justice.
• Os Guinness prophetically observed that the
  outcome of this silence is a church that has lost
  its impact by becoming privately engaging,
  socially irrelevant. (The Gravedigger File, p.
  80)
• - Connect with social action groups
• - Build relationships with Activist groups
• - Work on projects in the community
• - Volunteer with Youth For Christ or Big
  Brother/Big Sister programs

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Strategic Evangelism

• Strategy 3 Focus on meeting real needs of the
  students
• Find out what the primary needs are
• Work with members of the community (your team) to
  find strategic ways to meet those needs.
• Job opportunities
• Transportation
• Friendship
• Academic tutoring

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Strategic Evangelism

• Strategy 4 Focus on building relationships, not
  just proclaiming the salvation message.
• Students today need to watch your life first,
  before they will adopt your values.
• Evangelism is community based!
• Live together (saved not yet saved)
• Eat together
• Serve together in the community
• Join student activities government together

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• The great weakness of the present preaching of
  the gospel is that we try to make people
  understand the plan of salvationWherein have we
  failed? I am sure it is in this, that our
  hearers do not see himThey only see sin or
  salvation, whereas their need is to see the
  Lord Jesus himself, and to meet him and touch
  him. Watchman Nee