1
Corinthians 15:1-4, 1
John 4:8-10, Romans 5:8
Finally, we can't talk about the 'what' of the
Gospel without talking about the message of Jesus. If our friends are genuinely
interested or ask us about Christ, we need to be willing and ready to explain
what we believe. These Bible verses would be helpful to memorize or have handy
in the back of our heads for conversations like this.
Really, we should explain it as simply as possible.
Humans are sinful (no argument there), and because God is perfect, He can't be
around sin. That creates a problem: we're separated from God and our sin has
earned us eternity apart from Him (the Bible describes this as agony). But the
Good News is found in Jesus. He lived the perfect life that we couldn't live
and died the death we should have died so that we could hide behind Him.
Now when God looks at us, He doesn't see our
mistakes, but instead, He sees the perfection of Jesus. Jesus took our punishment
and our sin on the cross so that we didn't have to. We believe that because of
this, not only do we get to spend eternity with God, but we also are free to
live whole and powerful lives while we're still here on earth. We don't have to
be slaves to our sin any longer - Christ has set us free!
Practical Steps // Take time to rehearse and
understand how to explain the Gospel to someone who's never been to church
before. Try to use clear language and don't be afraid to say what you believe!
Adapted From: Next Steps: Bring - You Version
1
DAY
2
Acts 17:24-27, Acts 8:26-40, Romans 5:6
We've talked about why we should share our faith
and we've talked about what it is exactly that we're sharing. Now we're going
to talk about where to share our faith.
The key idea behind this is that we start to
believe and see every situation in our life as being put there WITH reason FULL
OF opportunity. Instead of assuming everything is random and putting little
value on potentially life-changing events, you view every event as having the
potential to be a miracle. When you run into an old friend from high school in
the supermarket, don't let that opportunity pass you by. For all you know, God
set that meeting up, right there in that moment so that you could share Christ
with them and invite them to church.
Albert Einstein has said you can live life one of
two ways: viewing nothing as a miracle, or viewing everything as a miracle. The
WHERE of sharing our faith can be anywhere, if we don't let the opportunity
pass us by. This only comes from a constant state of thinking about what God
could be setting up next: our minds are aware and set on a move of God.
Practical Steps // Over the next week, really think
about the situations you end up in - even the seemingly annoying or frustrating
ones. Ask yourself, "What could God be setting up for right now?"
Adapted From: Next Steps: Bring - You Version
dAY 3
John 5:1-14
As you'll read in a second in this story, Jesus clearly saw every
situation as an opportunity, even when making the most of that opportunity
would cast Him out of the social graces of those in charge. Jesus was, and
still is, far more interested in making the most of opportunities than
following rules.
He couldn't care less if things got awkward (and they definitely did) -
He saw the chance to change a man's life and He took it! We need to act the
same way. Whenever we see a chance to connect a situation or event to an
invitation to church or a conversation about Christ's love, we should take it!
Again, we're learning that the WHERE of sharing our faith & inviting
friends to church is as broad as we make it.
Getting a haircut could turn into an invitation which could turn into a
man's life being changed, which could change his family's life and generations
to come. All of that could hinge on us taking a chance on an opportunity in a
moment - let's not miss these!
Practical Steps //
Pray that God would set up scenarios which would give you the chance to invite
someone to church and share your story with them. Don't be reactive, be
proactive and ASK God specifically for these moments.
