Sometimes in business, it is all about the presentation. We often joke in our office that it doesn't matter what the content of a presentation is as long as it is presented well. While that is not completely true, by any means, and especially is not true with respect to the gospel, the presentation does matter. While God doesn't need a great presentation from us to convict and save a non-believer, the ability to deliver a clear gospel presentation can give us the confidence to step out and do what he has commanded us to do, share the good news with the Lost.
Session 3 in the www.act111.org series addresses the presentation of the gospel. Session 2 teaches us what the gospel is and Session 3 tells us how to present it. Session 3 outlines a presentation of the gospel using the old concept of "Good News/Bad News" or better yet "Bad News/Good News" that is very easy to understand and remember. I think it will open your eyes to how simple the gospel is to share and yet how powerful it can be.
On Sunday, we will be finishing up Session 2 with the six statements that are often used by believers that may cause confusion for the non-believer. Many of these sayings are commonly used and may even cause you to bristle a little and that is not at all bad. It is good to be challenged. We will then head into Session 3 and will make every effort to finish that lesson Sunday as well.
The Wednesday class will head into Session 2 as we just finished Session 1 this week.
Come prepared as it makes the material so much more meaningful for you. Also, I would love to hear any testimonies on how you have been able to share your faith the last couple of weeks based on learning this material.
See you Sunday.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Bible in a Year Program Update
I have often recommended the Bible in a Year Program presented by www.Crosswalk.com. I have just found out that the program I have been referring to has been moved to www.christianity.com and is under Bible in a Year. The two sites are created by the same people. Crosswalk has a new program that is the Online Bible in a Year that I have not tried. I realy like the program on Christianity.com because of the clecklist option (for you checklisters)but both are great options.
So I Shouldn't Say That?
In the second session of the evangelism training program at www.act111.org, we learn what the gospel is. If you were in class on Sunday and then were in the middle service, I felt your eyes as Jeff asked you to go to 1 Corinthians 15. God is in the details as Deeann says to me quite often. For those of you in the Wednesday night class you will learn soon enough if you have not already. I love how simple the gospel is presented in the training. It makes complete since and is easy to articulate.
However, the life long Baptists among us are or will be shocked to learn the six statements that we often make that can confuse the gospel message. I have made all of those statements, many times. It does make sense though how our misunderstanding of the gospel, in minor ways, could cause confusion for the non-believer.
So if you have not, please complete Session 2 in the training. I will be back shortly with a preview of Session 3.
Have a Great Day.
Curtis
However, the life long Baptists among us are or will be shocked to learn the six statements that we often make that can confuse the gospel message. I have made all of those statements, many times. It does make sense though how our misunderstanding of the gospel, in minor ways, could cause confusion for the non-believer.
So if you have not, please complete Session 2 in the training. I will be back shortly with a preview of Session 3.
Have a Great Day.
Curtis
Monday, August 10, 2009
"It's On"
One of my favorite marketing campaigns is the Southwest Airlines' "It's On" program. I like what it says. I like what it means. I like the spirit behind it. It says we are not going sit back and let this economy get the best of us. It says we are going to take it on. It says we are going to fight and claw our way to success no matter what it takes. Rather than whining about the situation, we are going to do something about it.
What if we did the same thing as Christians? What if we said to the world, which appears to be falling apart all around us, "It's On". I think for too long now, we as believers have sat around whining about how bad things are getting from a spiritual and moral perspective, feeling helpless, rather than making a decision to do something about it. We trade emails and forward news stories regarding the latest moral failure, pro-evolution "discovery", terrorist threat, or religious freedom violation and lament together as to how "bad" it is getting. While sharing of that information with each other is actually good, we need to go beyond just commiserating together in our holy huddles and engage the world around us to make difference for Christ and the Kingdom. We need to make a difference.
So many times we think the only way to change the direction of the world, country or our community is through our government officials. While that is important to let our government officials know what we think, the real way to change the direction of a society is not from the top (gov't) down but from the bottom (people) up. Change the hearts of the people and you will change the government and the society as a whole.
That being said, there is no greater way to "change the hearts of the people" than to share the good news of the gospel with them. I recently had a chance to meet Larry Moyer, founder of EvanTell, a not for profit dedicated to sharing the gospel with the world. I was so impressed with Larry and what he (rather God) has built over the last 36 years. Part of their ministry is a evangelism training program which is available on-line at www.act111.org. It is excellent. I am the process of doing the training myself and I want to challenge you to do the same. It is four sessions of approximately 20 minutes. It is simple, straight forward and theologically sound.
I like the program so much we are going to spend the next four weeks studying the training materials in class so we can all be equipped to share our faith. We started the series this Sunday for the Cornerstone (Sunday BFG) class and we will be starting the series this Wednesday for the Wednesday night BFG. The training has four sessions so we will be covering a session per week. For Cornerstone members (Sunday BFG) you will need to do at least sessions 1 and 2 before Sunday the 16th to get caught up. For Wednesday BFG members, you will need to do session 1 to be prepared for this Wednesday the 12th. There are materials (worksheets) to print out from the website and complete. If you don't get the homework done before class, please do not let that prevent you from coming. We will covering all of the material so you will not be lost. You will just get more out of it if you do it before hand.
I am looking forward to this program and getting back to a regular blogging process.
Please join me on this evangelism for life journey.
What if we did the same thing as Christians? What if we said to the world, which appears to be falling apart all around us, "It's On". I think for too long now, we as believers have sat around whining about how bad things are getting from a spiritual and moral perspective, feeling helpless, rather than making a decision to do something about it. We trade emails and forward news stories regarding the latest moral failure, pro-evolution "discovery", terrorist threat, or religious freedom violation and lament together as to how "bad" it is getting. While sharing of that information with each other is actually good, we need to go beyond just commiserating together in our holy huddles and engage the world around us to make difference for Christ and the Kingdom. We need to make a difference.
So many times we think the only way to change the direction of the world, country or our community is through our government officials. While that is important to let our government officials know what we think, the real way to change the direction of a society is not from the top (gov't) down but from the bottom (people) up. Change the hearts of the people and you will change the government and the society as a whole.
That being said, there is no greater way to "change the hearts of the people" than to share the good news of the gospel with them. I recently had a chance to meet Larry Moyer, founder of EvanTell, a not for profit dedicated to sharing the gospel with the world. I was so impressed with Larry and what he (rather God) has built over the last 36 years. Part of their ministry is a evangelism training program which is available on-line at www.act111.org. It is excellent. I am the process of doing the training myself and I want to challenge you to do the same. It is four sessions of approximately 20 minutes. It is simple, straight forward and theologically sound.
I like the program so much we are going to spend the next four weeks studying the training materials in class so we can all be equipped to share our faith. We started the series this Sunday for the Cornerstone (Sunday BFG) class and we will be starting the series this Wednesday for the Wednesday night BFG. The training has four sessions so we will be covering a session per week. For Cornerstone members (Sunday BFG) you will need to do at least sessions 1 and 2 before Sunday the 16th to get caught up. For Wednesday BFG members, you will need to do session 1 to be prepared for this Wednesday the 12th. There are materials (worksheets) to print out from the website and complete. If you don't get the homework done before class, please do not let that prevent you from coming. We will covering all of the material so you will not be lost. You will just get more out of it if you do it before hand.
I am looking forward to this program and getting back to a regular blogging process.
Please join me on this evangelism for life journey.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)