Podcast

Listen to Pastor's Mike and Cole talk about Recognizing Intersections in this weeks podcast.

Matthew 28-18-20

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

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Summary

Intersections. What are we talking about?  

Evangelism. Witnessing. Sharing our faith.  

For many of us these words brings up lots of feelings….

• For some it brings feelings of inadequacy, guilt, I should be doing it, but it’s hard and not comfortable, Am I just an immature Christian???
• Some of us remember eras of evangelism programs that took you door to door to ask questions like:
• Do you know where you are going when you die?
• If you were standing at heaven’s gate, and God said “why should I let you into my heaven?”, what would you say?
• Or the Romans Road.
• Or “Let’s just invite our non-believer friends to church and the pastor will get them saved.”

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Note that none of these are wrong ways to meet Jesus!  Many of us did come to church and have a very real experience meeting Jesus. Or someone shared the gospel with us in an out of the way place and we made him Lord. 

But evangelism has become somewhat stagnant or non-effective for many of us.  It seems when we try to make a formula or program for witnessing, or we simply share information, we often create distance from God and others. 

What did Jesus mean in Matt 28:18-20 when he told his disciples to make disciples? Not converts. Disciples. 

• Relational element
• Paul went places and stayed for a time toestablish people in the faith

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What is the gospel?  We want to share the gospel. If asked to explain the gospel simply, we sometimes stumble to explain it. And if I cannot explain it well, how can I share it with someone else? 

Most of us found Jesus through relationship.  Perhaps we need to rethink our approach. We will be exploring this further in the next couple of weeks.

Discussion Questions

1. How do you feel about sharing the gospel or telling someone about Jesus?  What does the word “evangelism” bring up in you?  
2. Have you ever been in a situation where you shared the gospel with someone? Or wanted to share with someone? Or someone shared the gospel with you? How did it feel?
3. Who is the first person who shared the gospel with you? And how did it happen?

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Challenge

This week keep your eyes open. Ask the Lord “where are the opportunities around me to share Jesus? What would that conversation look like from start to finish?” Where would the conversation go? Don’t do it yet! But think it through. Be aware of the relationships around you. Be prepared next week to share with your group where you saw opportunities.

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