1229 009 Church Participant Booklet KJV - media.gideons.org

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NOTES

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CONTENTS

OPENING ACTIVITY – MY TESTIMONY ................. 2

WELCOME ......................................................... 3

WHAT IS THE GOSPEL? ...................................... 4

WHY SHARE THE GOSPEL? ................................. 7

BASICS OF SHARING THE GOSPEL ...................... 8

TOOLS AND RESOURCES .................................... 12

CALL TO COMMITMENT ...................................... 14

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ................................ 15

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OPENING ACTIVITY ̣ MY TESTIMONY

INTRODUCTIONAn important part of personal witnessing is being able to share something personal about being a Christian and the impact Jesus Christ has had in your life. Everyone’s story is diff erent. You may have been a Christian since childhood, accepted Him into your life as a child or young adult, or salvation may have come during an exceptionally challenging moment in your life. Regardless of how you came to know Christ, He has impacted every moment since and brought you here to this workshop today.

Matthew 4:19 — And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fi shers of men.

OPENING ACTIVITY INSTRUCTIONSTake a moment while we’re waiting for the workshop to start to jot down some thoughts that you could share to demonstrate the impact of Christ in your life to someone who has yet to receive Him. Start with your salva-tion story, or how He guided your steps to an encounter where the life or teachings of Jesus impacted you. When you have an encounter with a pre-Christian, you may only have a few minutes to share an impactful personal moment. What do you think you could share in a minute or two?Tip: You may wish to share your brief testimony with the group during group introductions.

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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

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CALL TO COMMITMENT

1 Corinthians 3:6-9 — I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.

I will commit to…

1. Live an _________________ Christian life.

2. Faithfully ______________________ the Gospel.

3. _____________________ God for the results.

ACTIVITY: TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS TRAININGThe main takeaway from this training for me has been…

Closing Thought

____________________ told

_________________.

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GROUP INTRODUCTIONS

When it’s your turn, take a minute or two to share:• Your Name• Impactful Moment of Faith / Brief Testimony• Personal Objective for this Workshop

WELCOME!

INTRODUCTIONCongratulations on taking the next step in your faith journey! It’s inspiring when a Christian decides to share their faith with others. This workshop will help prepare you to take that next step by building on a Biblical foundation. Acts 1:8 states, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me...” The Holy Spirit empowers us to be witnesses. The Holy Spirit also convicts “the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” (John 16:8) In this workshop, we’ll present and practice a suggested approach to conversational evangelism, and then equip you with knowl-edge, tools, and best practices to take away and continue to improve, so that you are better prepared for your next divine encounter.

WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES1. What is the Gospel?2. Why Share the Gospel?3. Basics of Sharing the Gospel4. Tools and Resources5. Call to Commitment

ACTIVITYSpend some time praying that you will have an open heart and mind to what God wants to show you during the workshop.

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WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?

ACTIVITY INSTRUCTIONSTake some time and share with the person next to you the best news you have ever received…

___________________ = GOOD NEWS

The Good News of Jesus Christ

1. ________________ Loves You(John 3:16)

2. ________________ are Sinners(Romans 3:23; Romans 3:10)

3. God’s _______________ for Sin(Romans 6:23; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4)

4. _______________ May Be Saved(Romans 10:9-10; Roman 10:13)

The Good News of Jesus ChristGod loves you. All are sinners. God’s remedy for sin. All may be saved.

ACTIVITYWork with your group to complete the activity described below.

Instructions:1. You are working in groups.2. Each group has been assigned a Bible verse from The Good News of

Jesus Christ.3. Take 5-minutes to write down your team’s verse, and thoughts on the

significance of this verse when used as part of a personal witnessing conversation with non-Christian.

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Observer Feedback:

Start Stop Continue

TOOLS AND RESOURCES

A _______________________, not a __________________________.

Conversation Guide

Acronym Stands for Description

L Listen Let the person do the talking and listen carefully as they share.

E Empathize Look for an opportunity to empathize with the person and make a connection.

A AskAsk for permission to share the Good News using transitional questions that lead to key scripture verses.

P PrayIf the pre-Christian is spiritually ready and willing, pray a prayer of salvation together

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ACTIVITY̞ SHARE THE GOSPEL

FOUR PERSONASUse the fi ve questions to role play one of the following personas. Pair up the room into teams of two. After reviewing the following four personas, ask the attendees to choose a persona to role play and spend a few min-utes sharing the Gospel.

Luca

• Professionally: college graduate, employed in IT support• Personally: 28 years old, agnostic, outgoing, spends lots of time on

social media

Flower

• Professionally: high school graduate, employed as waitress• Personally: 20 years old, adopted, no religious preference, artistic

Zara

• Professionally: accounting degree, employed as fi nancial counselor• Personally: 35 years old, married, practicing Muslim, family driven

Ashton

• Professionally: high school senior, employed part-time at department store, enrolled in state college

• Personally: 17 years old, dating, attends church with family, musical

(Work in teams of two or three as instructed by the facilitator.)

Decide who will play each role in the practice activity.• Pre-Christian: Uses one of the Persona Handouts to portray the role of that particular non-Christian.• Christian: Uses LEAP and the fi ve questions to share the Good News with the non-Christian.• Observer: Optional role to observe and provide objective feedback to the learner in the role of Christian. Feedback will follow the Start – Stop – Continue model as explained by the workshop facilitator.

When done, rotate roles, select another persona and repeat the activity until all personas have been used or time expires.

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4. When called upon, take up to two minutes to share with the class the signifi cance of your assigned verse.

5. Once all groups have presented, discuss the ideal order that the verses would be presented in during a typical personal witnessing discussion.

Work in your team to present the signifi cance of your assigned verse

Notes:

Verse:

Signifi cance in a personal witnessing conversation:

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The Good News of Jesus Christ

Verse Text of the Verse Used to Discuss

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Look for Opportunities to Share the Gospel

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What do you believe _______________________ to us when we _____________________?

How sure are you _________________ would welcome you into _____________________after you die?

Is it okay if I share with you what someone once shared with me that totally changed my life?

Five Simple Questions to Ask When Sharing

1. Will you ___________________ this verse _______________ ______________? (Use John 3:16)

2. What does that _____________________ _____________________ to you?(After Romans 3:23, 3:10, 6:23)

3. Have you _____________ done that before? (After Romans 10:9-10, 13)

4. Would you ________________________ to ___________________ now?

5. Will you ________________________ out loud with me?

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WHY SHARE THE GOSPEL?

Mark 16:15 — And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

What would you say are the two most signifi cant things you accomplished in the last 48 hours?

WHAT THE GOSPEL MEANS TO ME

WHY SHOULD I SHARE THE GOSPEL?

Three reasons to share the Gospel:

1. The __________ thing that matters in life is one’s ______________ with _______.2. _____________ is ______________.3. This ______ ______ changes _____________.

When your _____________ to reach the lost _____________, your _____________ to reach the lost will become _____________.

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BASICS OF SHARING THE GOSPEL

SECTION OBJECTIVESThis section will take attendees through preparing their minds to eff ec-tively share the Gospel.

God’s Role

John 6:44 — No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

We must realize that no one can come to Jesus unless the ________________________ draws them.

Our Responsibility

1. ___isten (Proverbs 18:13)

• Love• Pray

Pray for __________________________ to the Holy Spirit’s ______________________ (1 Samuel 3:8-10 & Acts 11:5-12)

• Pray for alignment with the Word of God and the Holy Spirit’s leading, that you would _____________________ and _____________________ to the call of God.

• Spend 10-15 minutes a day devoted to ________________, __________________, and __________________ the Word of God.

Pray for _________________ ___________________ (Colossians 4:3)

• Pray for God-ordained __________________ to share the Gospel with those that you come in ____________________ with.

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Pray for _________________________ (Ephesians 6:18-20)

• Pray that we would be _________________ in sharing the Good News, trusting God for the words to say, at the right ____________________, and in the right _______________.

• Right before starting a Gospel conversation, pray, “Lord, give me boldness in these next moments, for your glory and for the advancement of your Kingdom.”

2. __mpathize (Acts 17:23)

3. __sk transitional questions that lead to the key verses of the Gospel (Acts 17:24-34)

4. __ray a prayer of salvation if the pre-Christian is ready and willing

Sample Prayer

Dear God, I confess I am a sinner, in need of redemption. I openly confess that Jesus is Lord. I believe in my heart that You raised him from the dead. I do now receive and confess Jesus as my Lord and Savior. In Jesus name, Amen.

Easy Questions to Ask when Sharing the Good News:

Do you attend a _________________________?

What do you know about the man, ____________________ ___________________?