A Course in Mission and Evangelism

This course is interactive and based upon the methods of Unlock

(unlock-urban.org.uk)

Feel free to use this course, but please do not charge for it. I am charging a little, simply to cover my costs and to try to find out if there is a market for this sort of material. Please leave the copyright intact. Karoly Haasz 2006 If you want to ask questions, if you need help with it or cant afford the price, get in touch: (karolyhaasz@googlemail.com)

Karoly Haasz 2006

Mission and Evangelism. Unit 1 The Message: 1 Group Work and Icebreakers: What, apart from the Gospel, is the happiest news you have ever heard? What is the most exciting thing about your faith in Jesus? 2 Discussion: What do you think of when you hear the word Evangelism? Does the idea of Evangelism put you off? What is Evangelism? 3 Bible Study: Answer these questions from your own minds, then read some of the passages and see if you can find anything else? a b How did Jesus do Evangelism? Luke 4:38-44; Luke 7:18-23; (Luke 4:18-19) Luke 5:1-11 Luke 5:17-21 Jesus. What did the Apostles and Early Christians do? Acts 3:1-10; Acts 3:11-19; Acts 4:7-21; Or Acts 5:12-20, 25 & 40-42; Acts 6:110; Acts 8:4-13 & 26-40; Acts 19:8-20; The Apostles. (Clarifying Questions: What did Jesus say and do? What did Peter and John say and do? What did the Christians say and do? What need was met or challenge made? What was the Good News in that situation? What other points or elements would you have expected to be included in a Gospel Presentation?) Did anything surprise you? Is Evangelism just preaching? 4 Personal Stories: The first Christians, like Jesus, often responded to something in their audiences lives or experience. Pray for people you know; What is important in their lives? Does this provide a way in for the Gospel?

Karoly Haasz 2006

Unit 2a The Audience. 1 Brainstorm and Discussion: Brainstorm as many of these questions as possible for about 10-15 minutes: {Answers and Biblical passages are provided for reference only: If you get stuck, you can look one or two up, not all of them!} a To whom was Jesus sent? To the World: 2 Corinthians 5:19; John 3:16; To the Lost sheep of the House of Israel: Matthew 10:5-6; Matthew 15:21-28; To His own who received Him not: John 1:10-11; To those who did receive Him: John 1:10-13; To the poor and needy: Mark 2:15-17; To Nazareth: Luke 1:26-32: John 1:46: To Mary and Josephs home: Luke 2:41-52 b c d Where did Jesus begin His Ministry? In Nazareth and then in Capernaum in Galilee: Luke 4:16; Mark 6:1-6; To whom were the disciples sent? To all nations: Matthew 28:19; Acts 1:8; Where did they begin their ministry & to whom did they go? Israel, in the first instance,: Acts 1:12; and Acts 8:1; See also; Acts 8:25; Acts 10:1-35; Acts 11:19-26; 2 a Personal Stories: What experience of church did you have before becoming a Christian? Did this help or hinder your faith? What were your ideas or beliefs about the church or God before you became a Christian? Were there any beliefs which you had to change or get rid of? b Who helped you to find Jesus? What event, person, or thing brought you to faith?
(continued)

Karoly Haasz 2006

Unit 2b The Audience. (continued) 3 a Bible Study in pairs: (Optional) Share some or all of these passages out, 1 or 2 per pair. To whom did Paul go? Jewish/Gentile God-fearers Acts 9:19-22; Acts 13:1-3, 5, 14-16; Acts 14:1-3; Acts 16:11-15; Acts 17:1-4, & 10-15; Acts 18:1-5; b Where did Paul have his best results? Where did he have his poorest responses? Why? 4 Networks of relationships As a large group: Draw a Network of Relationships of one member of group Acts 17:16-34; Acts 18:6-11; Gentile Pagans Acts 13:44-52; Acts 14:8-18;

Then, Draw your own Tree or Network Discuss how we can reach out to our contacts. Pray for them!

Karoly Haasz 2006

Unit 3 Obstacles to Faith. 1 Group Work and Icebreakers: How did becoming a Christian affect your behaviour? What were the most difficult changes? What was the most difficult thing for you to accept about Christian beliefs? 2 a Discussion: Which of the things in the following list are Biblical and which are part of our culture? Read out the list and only refer to the Bible after question b or in case of a serious dispute! Christians should meet together regularly Hebrews 10:25 Christians should meet once a week before noon Christians should not be friends with non-Christians 1 Corinthians 5:9-14 All Christians should stay out of Pubs, Clubs and Discos Christians should study their Bibles on a regular basis Psalm 119:9-16 The Vicar/Pastor/Minister should run the church, he is the boss The P.C.C/Leadership Team. must elect its members every year Christians should not listen to pop music Women and men should not dress in each others clothes Women should not wear trousers Wives should not work Majority rule is the pattern for church leadership Communion should only be celebrated in church Women should wear hats in church 1 Corinthians 11:5-15 There must be a collection taken at every service Choir members should wear robes Christians should not smoke Church elders should not drink too much wine 1 Timothy 3:1-13 Christians should have no social contact with non-Christians 1 Corinthians 5:9-14 Church leaders must be hospitable to strangers Titus 1:1-9 Christians ought to pray regularly 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Christians ought to attend the mid week prayer meeting What is wrong for one Christian is wrong for all Romans 14 & 15 also 1 Corinthians 8 Wine should never be found in a Christian home Christian women never wear make-up, jewellery or modern hair styles 1 Peter 3:16 b c Can you think of any biblical texts to support your views? How could Church behaviour put people off coming to church? How much is Biblical and how much is just tradition?

Karoly Haasz 2006

What habits do local people have that are different from the way Church people do things? Could these habits make it hard for someone to come to Church or become a Christian? How many of these habits are traditional and how many are actual sins? To think about: How do we make sure that people become more like Jesus and not just like us?

Karoly Haasz 2006

Unit 4 Removing Obstacles. 1 Time for Imagination: Read the Gospel passages and discuss these questions; allow plenty of quiet thinking time. Mark 10:13-16; Matthew 11:28-30; a Imagine that you are in one of these crowds, you are about to meet Jesus, What is it about Jesus that draws people to Him? Why were some people offended by Jesus? b or: c d Who is the person who most reminds you of Jesus? Why? Who is it that makes you feel most comfortable or accepted? Read 1 Corinthians 9:19-22., and discuss: How does Paul reach out to others? How does he overcome the obstacles between himself and others? Can you think of other ways to overcome some of these obstacles? Perhaps you can think of someone who helped you to get over a problem or difficulty when you first came to church? Some ideas for dealing with obstacles are given below; use them as discussion items, to jog thoughts, etc. Identify areas of difficulty Identify whether it is Biblical or Cultural/Traditional Adapt some things to the local culture: eg; music and style Reduce some areas to a minimum: eg; Books and Writing Remove some areas: eg; Difficult language Help the person with the difficulty: Is there a way round it?: eg; Show them where they are in the service Explain why we do things: eg; The Sermon, Prayers, Hymns Give the person time to adapt: Dont expect total change Provide entry points and structures for adaptation: eg; Basics Courses and Nurture Groups. These can explain what the Bible is, how to find the place in a book, chapter, & verse; what worship is; what the services are about.
{Note: The Gospel causes offence, and we cannot expect that there will be no problems for the church or for new believers. Jesus often upset people and we wont be able to avoid offending someone. See Life-Style Evangelism p44}

Karoly Haasz 2006

Unit 5 Primary Qualifications. 1 Group Work and Icebreakers: Tell your partner about a close friend or a member of your family whom they have never met. 2 a b Bible Study: What qualifications were needed to be an Apostle? What qualifies someone to be a witness? John 1:35-51; Luke 5:1-11; Matthew 16:13-17; Acts 1:4-9;Acts 1:21-26. 3 Personal Stories: Tell your partner your story of faith: Either: Before I met Christ, How I met Christ, What my life is like since I met Christ. Or: What Christ has meant in the past What He means to me now. 4 a Further Discussion: (Optional) What else do His witnesses need? Acts 1:8; 1 Thessalonians 1:4-6; 1 Corinthians 2:1-5; Romans 15:18-19; 1 Timothy 1:13, & 2:2; 1 Peter 3:15-16; (Matthew 28:18-20.) Personal experience, a story to tell -Life The power of the Spirit, Something to give -Deeds & Wonders The Story of Jesus, Someone to share -Words An Audience, Someone to Tell -The World b Which Qualities do we have? Which do we lack? How can we improve?

Karoly Haasz 2006

Unit 6 Words, Words, Words. 1 Group Work and Icebreakers: Try to Explain to your partner how to become a Christian without using words like: Saved, Born Again, Blood, or Sanctified, etc. What was it like to do?, What was it like to hear? 2 Discussion: What is the Good News? What are the essential elements? 3 Bible Study: What did the Early Church consider basic to the Gospel? Acts 2:22-38; Material:or 3:11-26; 9:19b-22; 10:34-43; 13:16-41; 14:8-18; or 17:22-33; 24:22-25; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 & 11; 1 Timothy 3:16.
{Note: The content of preaching to the Jews was often very different to that of messages to Gentiles: Jewish evangelism often began from Scripture. Gentile evangelism begins with their awareness of God in creation and their search for Him.}

Presentation: (Optional) Some Simple Gospel Outlines. {These can be found in tracts; "4 Spiritual Laws"; "2 Ways to Live", Based on a True Story etc.; or in books and training courses. This works best if the outlines are on Powerpoint/OHP or on handouts. A more ambitious approach would compare a tract with a study course like Alpha, Christianity Explored, Good News Down theStreet, Emmaus, etc.} What are the advantages and disadvantages of a prepared outline? What are the advantages and disadvantages of these particular outlines?

Karoly Haasz 2006

Unit 7 Tell the Story 1 Group Work and Icebreakers: Using 4 Circles, (Taken from Based on a True Story) explain the Gospel to your partner. Bible Study: Choose pairs of readings from the selection below and study them in pairs or small groups; answer the questions below and report back.
1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) Mark 3:1-6; Acts 8:29-31; Mark 10:17-23; Mark 8:22-25; Mark 10:46-52; John 4:5-15; Acts 13:4-6 & 14-15 Acts 16:12-14 Acts 14:7-10; Acts 16:6-10; Acts 2:1-6; Acts 28:1-9; Acts 3:1-6; (John 4:35-38); Acts 17:1-4 &10-12 Acts 17:16-20

How did Jesus or the disciples come into contact with their audience? How did they know that they were ready to hear the message? {Note: The Gospel is about Jesus the Messiah, the Jewish people had been prepared for His coming by Scripture and History, yet only some of the Jews believed when they heard the Good News, many rejected the message. The Gentiles who believed in pagan gods sometimes misunderstood the message, and yet many of them believed.} 3 a Our Audience Which kinds of people today will be prepared for the message? Is this the same as being ready? How can we tell if someone is ready for the message? {See Gentle Persuasion by Joe Aldrich, pp 160-161} b How can we make contact with people? Think of both Formal methods, Church events and planned outreach; and Informal activities, arising from friendships or from unexpected events. Dont forget the Holy Spirit {See Gentle Persuasion pp98-99} c d What problems do we face in talking to others about Jesus? How can we introduce the Gospel into conversation? {See Gentle Persuasion pp121-7}

Karoly Haasz 2006