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- Herausgeber: IVP Bible Studies
- Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
- Serie: LifeGuide Bible Studies
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011
"I don't want to offend people." "I don't know what to say." Most of us can think of at least one hundred reasons not to share the gospel. Evangelism can be intimidating. But it can also be a natural and exciting way of life. These Bible studies will help you discover creative ways to share the gospel in your everyday situations and surroundings. In this twelve-session LifeGuide® Bible Study features questions for starting group discussions and for meeting God in personal reflection. Leader's notes are included with information on study preparation, leading the study and small group components as well as helps for specific Bible passages covered in the study. Presented in a convenient workbook format and featuring the inductive Bible study approach, LifeGuides are thoroughly field-tested prior to publication; they're proven and popular guides for digging into Scripture on your own or with a small group. For over three decades LifeGuide Bible Studies have provided solid biblical content and raised thought-provoking questions—making for a one-of-a-kind Bible study experience for individuals and groups. This series has more than 130 titles on Old and New Testament books, character studies, and topical studies. PDF download with a single-user license; available from InterVarsity Press and other resellers.
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EVANGELISM
A Way of Life
12 STUDIES FOR INDIVIDUALS OR GROUPS
Contents
1
Why Spread the Good News?
Luke 15:1-2, 11-32
2
A Life That Speaks
Colossians 3:5—4:6
3
Getting People Interested
John 4:4-30
4
The Good News
Acts 10:23-48
5
Creative Communication
Luke 10:25-37
6
An Unlikely Seeker
Luke 19:1-11
7
Counting the Cost
Luke 14:25-35
8
Friendship Evangelism
John 1:35-51
9
Talking with Strangers
Acts 8:26-40
10
Crosscultural Evangelism
Acts 17:16-34
11
Balanced Expectations
Mark 4:1-25
12
Facing Opposition
Acts 4:1-31
Getting the Most Out of Evangelism
One day on a plane I happened to sit next to a rather intellectual-looking professor. We leaped into a stimulating conversation, and I intended to tell him about my faith—at the appropriate time. But abruptly he asked me what I did for a living. I said, “Well, I’m in Christian work.” (It’s one thing to be a Christian; another thing to do it for a living.)
A look of amazement spread across his face. He was clearly thinking, Funny—she looked so normal! Immediately his demeanor changed, and he was clearly trying to find the appropriate words to use for a “Christian type.” He asked, with the slightest condescension, “Well, what’s the name of your little organization?”
“InterVarsity Christian Fellowship,” I replied. He looked bewildered. I asked, “Is something wrong?”
He said, “Oh, nothing really. It’s just. . . well. . . you don’t look like a Christian athlete.”
Thinking at that point that he was joking, I said, “Well, yes, I play basketball for Jesus. It’s a living.”
Without a hesitation he said, “Oh, I’m sure it must be very rewarding.” It was a great temptation to play along with his feigned religious behavior and say, “Yes, well, it’s such a little blessing. You know, we never lose a game.” However, with uncommon restraint, I told him, “No, actually that was a joke. We make jokes sometimes. However, you asked me if my work is rewarding. I would prefer to say it is terribly intriguing.”
And almost in spite of himself he asked, “Intriguing? Well, why is that?”
I answered, “Because I work with students. And we constantly face the question ‘How do we know anything is true? How do we know that we aren’t taking our own little world and labeling it reality? Is there any basis for our faith or is it mere wish fulfillment?’”
He answered, “You may not believe this, but those questions were going through my mind as well. Okay. What kind of evidences do you have?” And so we talked about the evidence for Christian faith. Then he said, “You know, besides the evidence I think what impresses me most in this conversation is that you seem to be a person of hope and not despair. Why is that?”
Then I was able to share for the last five minutes of our descent that the reason is Jesus Christ.
My experience with the professor was vastly different from my embarrassment in first sharing the gospel. At that time I was in Spain as an undergraduate student. I knew God had called me to be a witness, but for the first several months I allowed the fears and insecurities of sharing Christ, as well as my discomfort with being a witness in a different culture and a different language, to intimidate me.
For example, one day I was reading the Bible for my devotions when a cynical friend entered my room unexpectedly and said, “¿Que estas leyendo?” (What are you reading?)
I was sure she would think I was a religious fanatic—not only reading my Bible but on a weekday! So I quickly slipped my Bible under other books and tried to look as cool as possible. “Oh, nothing, really.”
“Yes you were. What were you reading?”
“Oh, not much,” I answered.
“Becky, what were you reading?” she demanded.
“All right! It’s the Bible!” I confessed. (And I behaved this way so she would not think I was strange!)
I slowly began to realize that we are called to expose our faith, not impose it or hide it. As I read the Gospels and saw how beautifully Jesus dealt with people, it began to free me up.
It’s a long story, but God gave me an antidote for my fears and timidity about sharing my faith. By the time I left Spain, God used a Bible study that I was leading to win five people (including avowed atheists and one Marxist) to Christ. Until that time I had never seen one person become a Christian. Today I am the godmother of one of the former atheists’ children. If you had asked me at the time if any of those five students seemed open to God, I would have laughed out loud. But I could not see their hearts, nor the power of God’s Spirit to penetrate their hearts.
Since that experience in Spain I have seen many people turn their lives over to God and be changed. And yet the awesome miracle of conversion never fails to move me. What can be more miraculous than seeing a person who was once dead in sin become alive to God?
Even more remarkable is that God invites us to be a part of that process. We not only have the honor of sharing God’s message, but we even have the awesome privilege of inviting a response. It is because of the enormity of this privilege that Ruth Siemens and I have written these Bible studies.
How do we get to the point of discussing Jesus Christ with our friends or with strangers? And how can we overcome our fears and insecurities about evangelism? How do we find the boldness and confident faith that we need? This study guide helps us answer these questions. It consists of twelve studies which look at the example of Jesus and the early evangelists. They teach us how to communicate the gospel clearly and creatively.
I have written these studies with Ruth Siemens, my former housemate in Spain. Ruth helped me get over my initial fears about sharing my faith in Jesus Christ. With great wisdom, encouragement and patience she helped me see that evangelism can be a way of life.
Suggestions for Individual Study
1. As you begin each study, pray that God will speak to you through his Word.
2. Read the introduction to the study and respond to the personal reflection question or exercise. This is designed to help you focus on God and on the theme of the study.
3. Each study deals with a particular passage—so that you can delve into the author’s meaning in that context. Read and reread the passage to be studied. If you are studying a book, it will be helpful to read through the entire book prior to the first study. The questions are written using the language of the New International Version, so you may wish to use that version of the Bible. The New Revised Standard Version is also recommended.
4. This is an inductive Bible study, designed to help you discover for yourself what Scripture is saying. The study includes three types of questions. Observation questions ask about the basic facts: who, what, when, where and how. Interpretation questions delve into the meaning of the passage. Application questions help you discover the implications of the text for growing in Christ. These three keys unlock the treasures of Scripture.
Write your answers to the questions in the spaces provided or in a personal journal. Writing can bring clarity and deeper understanding of yourself and of God’s Word.
5. It might be good to have a Bible dictionary handy. Use it to look up any unfamiliar words, names or places.
6. Use the prayer suggestion to guide you in thanking God for what you have learned and to pray about the applications that have come to mind.
7. You may want to go on to the suggestion under “Now or Later,” or you may want to use that idea for your next study.
Suggestions for Members of a Group Study
1. Come to the study prepared. Follow the suggestions for individual study mentioned above. You will find that careful preparation will greatly enrich your time spent in group discussion.
2. Be willing to participate in the discussion. The leader of your group will not be lecturing. Instead, he or she will be encouraging the members of the group to discuss what they have learned. The leader will be asking the questions that are found in this guide.
3. Stick to the topic being discussed. Your answers should be based on the verses which are the focus of the discussion and not on outside authorities such as commentaries or speakers. These studies focus on a particular passage of Scripture. Only rarely should you refer to other portions of the Bible. This allows for everyone to participate in indepth study on equal ground.
4. Be sensitive to the other members of the group. Listen attentively when they describe what they have learned. You may be surprised by their insights! Each question assumes a variety of answers. Many questions do not have “right” answers, particularly questions that aim at meaning or application. Instead the questions push us to explore the passage more thoroughly.
When possible, link what you say to the comments of others. Also, be affirming whenever you can. This will encourage some of the more hesitant members of the group to participate.
5. Be careful not to dominate the discussion. We are sometimes so eager to express our thoughts that we leave too little opportunity for others to respond. By all means participate! But allow others to also.
6. Expect God to teach you through the passage being discussed and through the other members of the group. Pray that you will have an enjoyable and profitable time together, but also that as a result of the study you will find ways that you can take action individually and/or as a group.
7. Remember that anything said in the group is considered confidential and should not be discussed outside the group unless specific permission is given to do so.
8. If you are the group leader, you will find additional suggestions at the back of the guide.
1
Why Spread the Good News?
Luke 15:1-2, 11-32
I once saw the great Russian ballet dancer Mikael Baryshnikov dance to Ballanchine’s choreographed rendition of “The Prodigal Son.” The most powerful moment of the ballet came when Baryshnikov, playing the prodigal and dressed in a skeletonlike leotard, returns to beg forgiveness from his father. In the closing moments of the ballet as the father cradles his son tenderly in his arms, we watch the son rest his head on his father’s chest in exhausted comfort. He is home at last, and that is all that matters.
Why does this story of Jesus, told to orthodox Jewish believers over two thousand years ago, still pack such a wallop, even today? Because Jesus taps into the deepest, most primal of human emotions: there’s a child in desperate trouble. And as a result, relationships in the family have been broken, parents are grieving, anxiety abounds. Will the lost child find his way home again? Will the parents’ broken hearts be mended? Will the child be restored and become whole?
GROUP DISCUSSION. Think of a time you lost something extremely valuable and precious. How did you feel? Was it returned? If so, describe your feelings.
PERSONAL REFLECTION. How do you regard unbelievers who have messy lives—with compassion or with a judgmental, critical spirit? Why?
The parable we are going to read is set in a context of three stories. First, Jesus tells us that a shepherd has lost one of his one hundred sheep. He goes to great lengths to find that lost sheep and when he finds it he rejoices greatly. Jesus then says, “There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” (Luke 15:7). In other words, God’s desire to find sinners and bring them back into the fold is beyond what we could fathom.
Next, Jesus tells the story of the woman who lost a coin. She searches thoroughly with the aid of a lamp until it turns up. The implication is that disciples should diligently engage in the search for sinners on behalf of the Great Shepherd they serve.
In the parable of the prodigal son we continue to see the seeking-of-sinners theme that helps us understand our proper motive for sharing the good news. Read Luke 15:1-2, 11-32.
1. Why did Jesus feel the need to tell this story?
2. The inheritance was normally given to sons after the death of the father. The younger son’s share would be one-third and the older son’s two-thirds of the father’s wealth (Deuteronomy 21:17). How do you think the Jewish crowd who was listening to the story felt in hearing that the younger son pushed for his share of the inheritance (vv. 11-12)?
3.
