Bethlehem Bible Study SeriesApril, 2020

Things Every Christian Should KnowEvangelism: How to Talk About Jesus

“We believe; therefore, we speak.” Theology leads to proclamation. That’s a fancy way of saying, “When you know who Jesus is, who he really is, you want to tell people about it.” Telling people about Jesus is awesome. Truly awesome. It may scare you. It may intimidate you, but you know you want to do it. Well, here’s the good news: you can! Yes, you!

This course will give you the basic things you need to go out confidently and share the good news about Jesus with people you know. There is no more important news out there.

Introduction

What is Evangelism and Why Do it?

“We believe – Therefore, We Speak.”

13It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, 14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. 15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

2 Corinthians 4:13

1. “We Believe…” — our Theology (What we believe about [the real] God)…

Geo-logy (Study of Rocks)

Theo-logy (Study of God)

2. “…Therefore, we speak.” — … affects our Practice (How we live our lives, what we do & how we do it)…

“What we believe provides a solid foundation (it gives us the knowledge we need and the content we speak) and a compelling motivation (it creates in us a desire to share the good news with others) for speaking.” – Pastor David Valleskey

How Our Study is Set Up

1. Theology (What we believe) – Summarized in the Apostles’ Creed

a. I believe in God the Father …

· Natural knowledge of God >>> Implications

· Revealed Knowledge of God

b. I believe in God the Son …

· The Person of Christ >>> Implications

· The Work of Christ

· The Result of Christ’s Work

c. I believe in God the Holy Spirit…

· Justification by faith >>> Implications

· The Means of grace

· The Church

· The Ministry

· Preservation

2. Practice (What our beliefs lead us to do)

a. congregationally (as a church) and personally (in our individual lives)

What is Evangelism?

1. Where does the word come from?

· ευαγγελιον – euangelion – eu (good, glad) + angelion (news, message)

· Gospel – God (Old English for ‘good’) + spell (news, message)

· Evangelism means announcing good news.

2. How does the Bible talk about “Evangelism”?

· Old Testament

<<< Evangelism means announcing the good news about the Messiah (Messiah means “Anointed One”)

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,because the Lord has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,to proclaim freedom for the captivesand release from darkness for the prisoners.Isaiah 61:1

· New Testament

<<< Evangelism means announcing the good news about the Messiah (Messiah means “Anointed One”)

Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.Acts 5:42

3. How would you define evangelism?

Announcing the good news about Jesus to those who haven’t heard or don’t believe it (non-Christians).

4. Which of the following activities would you characterize as “evangelism”?

· Purchasing groceries for an elderly, unchurched neighbor. > Yes or No

No. This is a loving thing to do, and it could lead to opportunities to share the gospel (Evangelism). You might call it pre-evangelism, but it’s not in itself evangelism.

· Being friends with your co-worker who you know is a Lesbian and has left the Christian faith. > Yes or No

No. The answer would be the same as the last question. Your friendship with this co-worker is pre-evangelism, it could very well lead to opportunities to evangelize her (to share the good news with her)

· A teacher reading Bible stories to toddlers at the ELC. > Yes or No

Yes/No. This goes back to the definition of evangelism and the fact that evangelism is directed at non-Christians. If the child in the ELC is unchurched, this would be evangelism. If they’re already a Christian, it’s discipleship (growing in faith)

· Inviting the community to a church event. > Yes or No

No. Events like the Dash Down Nash and Winter Fest are awesome opportunities for Christian fellowship. They are also great opportunities to bring in members of the community who aren’t churched, and present a positive image to the community. But it’s important to recognize that bringing people to an event isn’t evangelism in itself. It could be considered pre-evangelism if we use these events as opportunities to follow up with guests and share the gospel with them. It depends what our goal for the event is. If the goal is fellowship, that’s great! If it’s getting to know our community, that’s awesome! If the goal is to evangelize, then finding a way to get the gospel to visitors would be a top priority (since this is what evangelism is).

· Having a nice, welcoming atmosphere at church. > Yes or No

No. It’s good pre-evangelism to make people feel comfortable and ready to listen. But a nice building and friendly people can’t convert (only the Holy Spirit can do that).

· Speaking to your non-Christian cousin about why the world’s so messed up and how Jesus came to fix things. > Yes or No

Yes! This is the heart of what evangelism is. It’s sharing the gospel with people who don’t know or believe it.

· Inviting the community to come to a church service. > Yes or No

Yes. This is called “come and see” evangelism, where the goal is to get people to a church service where they will hear the gospel announced during the service. The most effective way to do this is for members to invite people they know.

· Teaching God’s word in school to Catholic, non-denominational, and kids from other churches. > Yes or No

No. Evangelism means sharing the gospel with non-Christians. Even though these church bodies have unbiblical teachings, they still have the means of grace (gospel in Word and Sacrament). By all outward accounts, they are Christians. Therefore, this is not a form of evangelism. It would be different if they were unchurched.

5. How do you personally feel when you think about going out and sharing the gospel? How will understanding the theology behind evangelism help you evangelize more confidently?

Evangelism is intimidating. It might make you feel nervous. It’s one thing to talk about your faith to other Christians. It’s another to talk to non-Christians! But the more you know what you believe, the more you’ll want to share the gospel and know how you’re going to present it. This will help you overcome those fears. Ultimately, it’ll also take real-life experience to grow your confidence. Find a friend, relative, associate, or neighbor (FRAN) you can share Jesus with!

Lesson One – Theology, Part 1

“I believe in God the Father, maker of heaven and earth.”

Natural vs. Revealed Knowledge of God

I went to high school at Shoreland Lutheran High School in Somers, Wisconsin (Go Pacers! Also, yes, I know you’re wondering, “What is a Pacer?” … It’s a sore subject). I rode the bus for the first couple years…

· Natural knowledge of God is Knowing about God from nature (everybody has this)

· Revealed knowledge of God is Knowing about God from Him speaking to us (only those who’ve got the Bible have this)

Natural knowledge and Evangelism

1. What are the two sources of natural knowledge of God?

· External - Creation (Acts 14:15-17)

· Internal – Conscience (Romans 2:14-15)

2. What questions does natural knowledge of God not answer?

· What does God Think of me?

· How do I deal with sin?

· Who is the real God who can really answer these questions?

When I was growing up, my dad had a mustache…

A lot of people (including many Christians) love the idea of being “interfaith”. This means believing that whatever god you worship, it’s all ultimately the same. The Bible doesn’t teach that at all, anywhere. The first commandment is “You shall have no other gods.” Jesus says, “I am the way… no one comes to the Father except through me.”

When I was little, my dad had a mustache, so I thought anybody with a mustache was my dad. Turns out, I just didn’t know my dad very well. The thought that anybody with a mustache was my dad is ridiculous, but it’s basically what happens when people convince themselves that anybody that looks remotely like the God is just as good. The more you get to know the real God through the Bible, the more you see how different he is.

3. How does understanding the natural knowledge of God serve evangelism?

Everybody knows instinctively that there’s a God from creation and conscience. This gives you a point of contact with anybody you could possibly meet. “You believe in God, right? What do you think God is like?” … “Can I tell you what the Bible says God is like?” or “Everybody in the world has a built-in sense of right and wrong. Why do you think that is?” “Can I tell you what the Bible says about that?” You don’t have to memorize a bunch of Bible passages to do this (not that it’s not helpful to have some in the back of your mind). You just need to know the basics of the what you believe, which we’re reviewing through this study.

Revealed Knowledge of God

The Holy Bible

1. What is the key purpose of the natural knowledge of God (Acts 17:27)?

To make us realize there’s a god & look for him. We shouldn’t stop looking until we’ve found the real thing.

2. The Holy Scriptures are Inspired and inerrant

God reveals himself in the Bible. He wants us to know him and so he did this in a special way. The Holy Spirit inspired the authors of the Bible (He gave them the words to say and message to write). The Bible is ‘inerrant’: it has no errors. That means we can have complete confidence in the message we have to share.

Implications for evangelism? Confidence

The Holy Scriptures are powerful

“How do you defend a lion? You let it go. It will defend itself.” The Holy Spirit not only inspired the Bible, he works where the gospel is preached (and the law). It’s not up to us to produce the results and make someone believe. We’re like a farmer sowing seed. We share the Gospel wherever we can, and God promises to work results.

Implications for evangelism? Un-sheath the Word

The Holy Scriptures are Sufficient

The Bible gives us everything we need (to be saved). If you know the basic message of sin and grace, law and gospel, you’ve got all you need to evangelize. You don’t need to add anything to this message.

Implications for evangelism? Sin & Grace is enough.

The Holy Scriptures are Clear

The Bible isn’t a philosophy textbook. It’s not hard to master the basic message of sin & grace, which means it doesn’t take an advanced degree to be able to evangelize. You know this! You’ve got this!

Implications for evangelism? The message is accessible to every Christian; doesn’t mean it’s going to instantly understood.

3. What are the three basic things required for evangelism to happen?

a. Gospel

b. Someone to communicate the Gospel

c. Someone to be communicated to

4. Agree/Disagree – The place to begin in evangelism is to convince a person that the Bible is the inspired Word of God.

Disagree! No one who isn’t already a believer could ever believe that a God they don’t believe in inspired the Bible. Start with the Gospel. Confidence in the words of Scripture will follow.

This doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for some “Apologetics” (apologetics is all about defending what the Bible teaches). To get an audience with someone to even listen to the Gospel, you might have to have an answer to their objections about misconceptions they have about the Bible’s origins. We’ll talk about that later.

Triune God

1. Four things to keep in mind about the God revealed in the Bible. How does each truth motivate us to evangelize?

a. The Triune God is the only saving God (Isaiah 44:9-20) > People need to know about this God.

b. To be saved people must hear about the one true God (Romans 10:13-15) > People need to hear the Gospel

c. People hear about the Triune God through the preaching of sin & grace, law & gospel. > Show them the Trinity by explaining what God has done.

d. The Triune God wants all people to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4) > We’re doing a God-pleasing thing when we evangelize.

Creation – “I Believe in God the Father almighty…”

1. The Image of God –

God is: Holy, righteous, perfect

Humanity: Intellect (How we think), Emotions (How we feel), Will (what we want)

Image of God = harmony with God

“Adam had a son in his own image…”

2. How could you use the concept of the “image of God” to share the basic message of the gospel?

Image of God: Given in creation -> lost in the Fall -> Restored in Christ

3. What problem do we run into if we try to argue a non-Christian into believing in Creation rather than Evolution? How can we solve this dilemma?

At the heart of it, a non-Christian will never believe in a six-day creation. Solve it by getting back to the gospel. Our first priority is to share Jesus with that person and let the Spirit work. Once the Spirit has created faith in that person’s heart, we will have a starting point for discussing creation/evolution.

Fall

1. What three dimensions of death did Adam & Eve bring into the world as a result of the Fall into Sin?

a. physical (separation of body & soul)

c. eternal (separation from God eternally)

b. spiritual (separation of person from God, “You’re dead to me

2. What are the consequences of the Fall for all descendants of Adam & Eve (Original sin)?

a. BLIND (to spiritual things)_John 9-10_________

b. _ENEMIES (of God)_Romans 8______________

c. _DEAD (spiritually)_Ephesians 2__________

d. _call God’s message foolishness_(1 Cor 1)__

e. _helpless and unwilling to change_Romans 8__

These consequences are the real reason we’re condemned before God. Our “actual sin”, our sins of thought, word, and deed, are just symptoms of a deeper disease. Our first goal must be to fix the heart, treat the disease and the symptoms will follow.

3. What are two major implications of the Fall for Evangelism?

a. the spiritual mindset of the unbeliever is the literal opposite of what it should be.

b. when we try to convert someone, we’re entering a cosmic spiritual battle (Eph 6:12-18).

A congregation is deciding whether to conduct a vacation Bible school, and, if so, what its emphasis should be. Someone suggests, “I think we should use it, at least in part, as an outreach tool. There are a lot of unchurched families around our church who may be willing to send their kids to a VBS.”

Someone responds, “I don’t think we should do that. All these parents are looking for is some free babysitting.”

How might you respond?

An unbeliever will never come to church/a church event for the right reasons, but if we get them there, we will have an opportunity to share the gospel with them.

4. What is your role as an evangelist in the cosmic battle between God & Satan?

Our role is not to convert or to rescue (that’s the Holy Spirit’s job). Our role is to be God’s agents using the good news to let him do the work of rescuing souls.

There are a lot of ways to do this. One great way is “friendship evangelism”. Friendship in itself doesn’t make a Christian out of someone, but it does give a lot of opportunities to share what we believe. We can be a model (by showing our faith by the way we live) and then a messenger (explaining why we live the way we do).

One great way to do friendship evangelism even with someone you’ve just met is to ask a question like, “What’s your spiritual background?” We’re not in this to win arguments or to show how much we know. We are spiritual beggars like anyone else. We’re here to rescue this person from Satan’s clutches. If we’re willing to listen to them, they’ll naturally be willing to listen to us present what the Bible teaches. We can plant or water the seed, and we never know what might come of it later on. Even if we never see that person again, the Holy Spirit may work through that seed we planted to call a soul to faith in Jesus. We need not be embarrassed to talk openly about Jesus. Unbelievers won’t generally want to hear about him. It might make things awkward. But there is no more important message and you never know what might happen. The gospel is the “power of God for the salvation of all who believe.”

Lesson Two – Theology, Part 2

“I believe in Jesus Christ...”

By grace God’s Son, our Only Savior,

Came down to earth to bear our sin.

Was it because of your own merit

That Jesus died, your soul to win?

No, it was grace, and grace alone.

That brought him from his heavenly throne.

“By Grace I’m Saved” by Christian Scheidt

CW 384:2

How did Martin Luther define “grace”?

“God’s favor, or the good will which in himself he bears toward us, by which he is disposed to give us Christ and to pour into us the Holy Spirit with his gifts.”

The Person of Christ

1. What “dilemma” did God face as a result of the Fall?

God loves the sinner and wants them to turn away from sin and live (Ez 33:11), God is just and must punish evil (Ez 18:4)

2. How do human beings attempt to resolve this dilemma?

They emphasize either his love or his justice. If they emphasize love, God becomes like a nice old grandpa, who indulges his grandkids. If they emphasize justice, God becomes a stern judge.

Which do you think is more commonly emphasized in our culture?

3. How does the doctrine of the person of Christ solve this dilemma?

Jesus Christ is true man. He lived the life we were supposed to live and died the death we deserved in our place (as our substitute). Jesus Christ is true God. His payment was enough to pay for the sins of all humanity.

4. How does the doctrine of the person of Christ impact Evangelism?

We can have confidence in our message because we are sharing a clearly defined person, and we’ve got the content we need (start with who Jesus was and then go to what he did (His person and work).

Passive

Active

The Work of Christ

1. How would you explain simply and briefly what the “vicarious atonement” is to a non-Christian? (Understanding Christ’s “active” and “passive” obedience will help!)

Vicarious atonement – “vicarious” means “in our place” or “as a substitute. Atonement means becoming “at one” with God. Jesus is our substitute who restores our relationship with God. He did that by his active and passive obedience (don’t use these terms in evangelism, but understand them). You can think of it like an active and a passive verb. Active: He threw the ball. Passive: the ball was thrown. Active: Christ obeyed God’s law in our place. Passive: Christ was punished in our place. Christ not only took on our guilt, he also gives us his perfect life.

2. Why is it helpful to review the vicarious atonement when thinking about Evangelism?

1) It strengthens our own faith

2) It reminds us where we stand and where we don’t stand (What the gospel is)

3. Why is it a good idea to talk about the resurrection when talking about sin and grace?

1 Cor 15:1,3,4 – The resurrection is part of the gospel. The apostles who went out to share Jesus with the world are primarily presented in Acts as the witnesses to the resurrection. The resurrection proves that what Jesus did works. Death, sin, hell is conquered.

4. How does knowing the offices of Christ benefit an evangelist?

· The Christ is a prophet – Christ speaks from God through the Church (Luke 4:18-22; Is 55:10-11). When we speak God’s Word, Christ speaks through us.

· The Christ is a king – Christ reigns over everything (Eph 1:20-23). We can’t lose this battle.

· The Christ is a priest – He makes “intercession” for us, meaning that when we fail and mess up and sin, he is there by God’s throne countering Satan’s accusations against us. We are forgiven and at peace with God and we get to live in that peace no matter what.

5. Agree/Disagree: Knowing that the Last Day is coming quickly is what motivates Christians to do evangelism.

Agree. It is one of the major motivations behind evangelism. You could say disagree in that it is not the only motivation to evangelize.

The Result of Christ’s Work – “Justification”

1. What does “justification” mean?

Objective

S

Subjective

2. How do the following impact evangelism?

· Sola gratia justification –

· Universal justification –

· Objective justification –

3. Why is it crucially important that a church has the teaching of justification as its main focus?

Lesson Three – Theology, Part 3

“I believe in the Holy Spirit...”

Justification by faith

1. Biblical faith involves:

2.

1.

3.

2. Agree or Disagree: Some people are more receptive to the gospel than others?

3. What does it mean when we say we are justified by faith alone?

faith

The Means of Grace

1. What are the means of grace?

Grace

Visible

Invisible

2. How do you use the law in evangelism?

The law is a means of …

3. Reflect on this quote from Martin Luther: “There is no need of climbing into heaven to obtain remission of sins. God has put the forgiveness of sins into Holy Baptism, into the Lord’s Supper, and into the Word. Yes, he has put it into the mouth of every Christian when he comforts you and assures you of the grace of God through the merit of Jesus Christ, so that you should accept and believe it just as if Christ himself had with his own mouth assured you of it.”

4. How do these Christian traditions distort the means of grace?

· Catholicism – “Justification is “

· Calvinism (Presbyterian, Congregationalist, Reformed)– “Justification is“

· Arminianism (Baptists, Methodists, Pentecostals, etc.) – “Justification is“

5. What role does prayer have in Evangelism (Consider 1 Tim 2:1-4; Col 4:2-4; 2 Thes 3:1; Eph 6:19; Rom 10:1; Luke 10:2)?

6. What role do “Apologetics” have in evangelism?

7. How might community service by our congregation benefit evangelism?

The Church

1. How does the Bible define the “Church”?

2. What are the “Marks of the Church”?

3. How do visible Christian churches differ from the Church?

4. The Church’s mission is the “Great Commission”. What does that mean (read Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-18; Luke 24:46-49)?

· Author

· Commissioned

· Commission

· Scope

· Method

· Result

· Promise

The Ministry

1. How would you sum up the “ministry” the Church exists to do?

2. Who serves as ministers in the Church? (Read 1 Peter 2:9; Matt. 18:20)

3. How does this type of ministry happen? (Read Matt. 5:13-16; Mark 5:19)

4. What is the purpose of the public ministry?

5. What role does a pastor play in public ministry?

Preservation

1. Why is it important not to stop at evangelizing when someone becomes a Christian? (Read Rev. 2:10)

2