ICP

GIVING IT AWAY

You shall be my witnesses

Acts 1:8

To evangelise is to present Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, that people may come to put their trust in God through him, to accept him as their Saviour and serve him as their King in the fellowship of the Church. William Temple Evangelism means to hand out invitations to a free party that is out of this world. Greg Downes
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PRAY, KNOW, GO INTRODUCTION

We know as Christians that we should be active in sharing our faith, but the thought of inuencing our nation, our neighbourhood or even our best friend towards a living relationship with Jesus Christ is, for many of us, about as realistic as eating an elephant. So says Ian Coffey, Director of Leadership Training at Moorlands College, UK. This short course aims to help us all eat that elephant one piece at a time! So it isnt about inducing guilt, or about amazing strategies to reach Prague in 3 weeks. It is about what the gospel is and how we can share its reality with others; about how we can pray for people we are in contact with, and how we can act upon what we all know to be true, that salvation is found in no-one else (Acts 4:12) than Jesus Christ. Steven Croft argues that faith is best shared from within a living community and the NT record seems to bear this out. So we are following these studies not as individuals but as members of a community - the community of ICP - but also the community of our small groups. It is these communities that can, God willing, become nurseries for the gospel where new Christians are born and nurtured.

Aims of this study:

To encourage us all in
sharing our faith; To equip us to share our faith more readily; To discover ways in which our small groups can be nurseries for the Gospel.
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Matt 11:28

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WEEK ONE
Jerusalem
Discuss the two comments about evangelism on the cover page of this study? What do you agree and disagree with, and why? How would you dene evangelism?

FOR THOUGHT

Read Acts 1:6-8. What do you think Jerusalem means for us today?

Why do people come to church?

These gures are from the UK, but they give an idea of how people rst come into contact with the church. 1% - through being visited;

What barriers do you think there might be in reaching our Jerusalem for Jesus?

2% because of a church activity; 3% because of a bereavement; 3% because they sent their children to Sunday School; 6% just walked in; 8% because the pastor or other church staff contacted them; 77% because friends or relatives invited them.

Look at the gures in the box on the right. How do you react to these? How have you contributed to the 77%. How might you contribute?

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Prayer
Time and again you will find this is true. When Gods people give themselves to sacrificial, intentional prayer for their friends, things happen. Michael Green

Read John 1:40-50. Why do Andrew and Philip choose to talk to Simon and Nathanael?

What is the content of their conversation?

What can we learn from who they talk to?

Communities
Spend a little time thinking about people you know, whether family, work colleagues or friends, who are not Christians. Consider who you might pray for over the next few weeks and put their names in the boxes below. Pray for them daily this coming week.

What can we learn from what they say?

MY COMMUNITIES

KIN

COLLEAGUES

FRIENDS

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WEEK TWO
Mysterious Ways
The longer we have been a Christian, the easier it is to slip into our own jargon when talking about the gospel. What words or ideas that we use regularly do you think we might have to explain to someone with no church background?

FOR THOUGHT
When did you rst hear the gospel?
Share with the rest of the group your earliest memory of hearing the good news. What was it that attracted you to Jesus?

Read Romans 1:1-6. What do these verses tell us about: The origin of the gospel?

The content of the gospel?

The person of Jesus?

The result of the gospel?

Many popular concepts of God are wrong because they are based on what individuals would like to believe God is like... rather than what he is actually like. To paraphrase the great thinker Blaise Pascal, God created man in his own image and man has been returning the compliment ever since.

How far do you agree with what J. John writes here? How do we tackle this in our evangelism?

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Prayer

Read Ephesians 2:1-10. What does this passage tell us about our state before and after salvation?

How and why does God bring about this great change? Spend some time in pairs or as a group praying for those people you have prayed for this week. Continue to pray for these people over the coming week, but pray I would like to believe but I cant. How would you especially that you will answer this statement from what Paul writes here? have opportunities to share something of the gospel with them.

What is a Christian?
How would you answer this question in a simple, What is the purpose of salvation? brief way were you to be asked it?

The Gospel

In the box on the right, write a brief explanation of the gospel. Try to avoid jargon! You might like to compare this with the explanation of others in your group.
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WEEK THREE
When Love Comes to Town
One of the most important tools on our evangelism is our own, personal testimony. Work through the questions and comments in the box on the right as an introduction to this weeks study.

FOR THOUGHT
What is my testimony?
When we talk about our testimony we often mean the story about how we came to faith in Christ but that is only part of the story. How does being a Christian affect your life, actions and thoughts now?

Read John 9:24-34. What strikes you about the witness of this man to Jesus?

How much did he know about Jesus?

What does the reaction of the synagogue leaders tell us about witnessing to others?

What can we learn about witnessing from this man?

When people hear a friend talking about the joy and fulfilment of [their] relationship with Christ, it usually makes them curious, even wistful. After that it is not hard to lead them to Christ.

How far do you agree with what Michael Green writes here? Where do you nd joy in your relationship with Jesus?

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Prayer

Read Acts 26:2-29. This speech by Paul in his defence takes only about 2 minutes to say. In it, he deals with his past life as a Pharisee, his conversion experience and his continued life of service. What might that teach us about our testimonies?

Spend some time in pairs or as a group praying for those people you have prayed for this week. I f y o u h a v e h a d a n What are the central points in Pauls explanation of his opportunity to speak conversion (:9-18)? What would be the central points about your faith with in your testimony? anyone this week, share this with the rest of the g ro u p . T h e n p r a y, together, for that person.

My Testimony

How does Paul describe his life as a Christian (:19-23)? What is there about your life as a Christian that you would wish to emphasise in your testimony? Testimonies often work best when they are short and to the point, so why not try this: Write your testimony down and then discuss it with one of the other members of the group; shorten it as much as possible, then light a match and see if you can g i v e y o u r t e s t i m o n y If you have time, and an internet connection, you might before the match goes like to watch one of the testimonies on the Christianity Explored website: http://www.christianityexplored.org/ out. real-life-stories.
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WEEK FOUR
Walk On
Over the past three weeks, we have had the opportunity to look briey at who we might share the gospel with; what the gospel is; and what our own experience of the gospel is. We have also been praying, individually and as a group, for people we know in our communities. What, if anything, have you found most encouraging in this short study, and why?

FOR THOUGHT

Gods work and ours.

The work of evangelism is a work which God and his people do together. We are called Gods fellow workers when we engage in it (1 Corinthians 3:9; 2 Corinthians 6:1)

Have you been challenged in any area? If so, how might you respond positively to this?

Why should this statement by John Chapman encourage us? Take a few moments to write down two specic actions you intend to take over the next few weeks to bring about a change in your personal evangelism. If there is anything you feel comfortable sharing with the others in the group, please do so.

In what other ways is evangelism a team effort?

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Prayer

Read Ephesians 6:19-20. Why does Paul ask for prayer?

Why do we need to pray for each other? Continue to pray regularly for the people you wrote down in week one. Pray especially that you would be given opportunities to share your faith and that you will take those opportunities boldly.

We started by being reminded that evangelism works best as an expression of community. Take a few minutes to discuss how you might reach out to others as a small group. What might you do? What do you need to change? What extra help might you need? Write down two or three steps that you will take over the next few months to help make your group a gospel nursery.

Next Step
Yo u m i g h t w a n t t o discuss with others in the group what you can do about taking your personal witnessing further. Perhaps sharing experiences over the past few weeks about conversations you have had. Evangelism doesnt stop when this study is over!

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NOTES

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International Church of Prague

Box 91, IBTS, Nad Habrovkou 3 Jenerlka, 164 00 Praha 6 (420) 296 392 338 ofce@icprague.cz www.icprague.cz