Use your first group meeting as an opportunity to get to know one another and establish the framework for what the group will be. Along with this introduction, you will begin a dialogue about what evangelism is and explore the five characteristics needed to do the work of an evangelist.
Session in a sentence
Through the first twelve sessions of Advance, we will grow together in five evangelistic characteristics, encouraging and equipping each other as we rely on God’s empowerment for the task.
Session background
A good place to welcome people to the Advance journey and to start a discussion about evangelism is to remember that the call to evangelism is personal. Look at how Jesus calls Andrew and Peter to follow him in Mark 1:16–18. He calls to the young fishermen from the shore and asks them to lay down their nets (their trade) and follow him, for he will teach them how to fish for people. Does God call you using those exact same words today? Unless you share the same career path as those two brothers, it is unlikely. Jesus called out to Andrew and Peter personally, using the fishing metaphor as a connection point.
God calls each one of us personally to his mission, by connecting our passions to opportunities to make sense of who God is. Whether you’re a musician, artist, scientist, nurse, business owner… Whatever your vocation or gifting, God can use it to create opportunities for you to proclaim his good news. The goal of evangelism is to connect people to God’s good news. More fully though, the message of evangelism is a call to put our faith in Jesus Christ – to trust and be obedient to him, that we would turn from our rejection of God to an acceptance of his lordship. When we recognise that we are created for him, we understand what worship is, and experience the transforming power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We find wholeness when we turn our lives into living expressions of worship through obedience, sacrifice, faith and love (Galatians 5:13–26).
In Exodus 8:1, God instructs Moses to go to Pharaoh with the message, ‘Let my people go…’ Today, God’s desire is to set captives free from sin. Like Moses, we are asked to go into the world and declare a message of freedom: there is no need to be enslaved any longer, for God has made it possible for us to live in freedom through Jesus and by the power of his Spirit (Romans 8:2). The purpose of evangelism is as it was for Moses and the people of Israel – worship.
‘Let my people go, so that they may worship me.’
Exodus 8:1
We are to be worshippers who witness so that others may come to worship and witness.
Session guide
Catch up (20–30 mins)
Take time to introduce everyone in the group and begin getting to know one another. You could use an ice-breaker activity, or just go round the group and ask people to share some basic information about themselves. After this, present in your own style or read through the Introduction section as a way of explaining what the group will be and how it will run in the coming months.
Prayer
Take some time to commit your whole Advance journey to the Lord, as well as any specific prayer needs that may have arisen during the catch up time.
Teaching (20–30 mins)
Work through the following teaching material in your own way, either by reading it word for word, or by reworking it into your own presentation.
‘However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.’
Exodus 8:1
Put simply, ‘to evangelise’ means to ‘proclaim good news’. The good news is the message of Jesus: that sinful, or rebellious, humanity has been reconciled to God through the saving work of Jesus Christ. We can know eternal life today and forever, and enjoy restored relationship with God because Jesus took on himself the death we deserved.
Look at these two definitions of evangelism:
‘The proclamation of the historical, biblical Christ as Saviour and Lord, with a view to persuading people to come to him personally and so be reconciled to God.’
The Lausanne Covenant
‘Evangelism is the Holy Spirit-empowered proclamation of the Good News of Jesus Christ to a sinful world in the hope that they might accept the forgiveness of God and know his Lordship, love and life today and forevermore’
Discuss: What can we learn about the task of evangelism from these short summaries (some words highlighted for specific discussion)?
Evangelism requires a verbal message, a presentation of the risen Jesus, and an invitation for the listener to receive and accept the good news. But while words are undoubtedly essential to evangelism, we must endeavour to go beyond verbal communication alone.
Evangelism is a spiritual activity, effective only when God moves in power. If evangelism was just about changing people’s minds, we could simply rely on persuasion. But evangelism is about salvation: through our sharing the message, the Spirit of God convicts, gives faith, and begins transformation of hearts. Evangelism without the power of the Spirit is merely marketing.
‘Unless there is a demonstration of the power of the Spirit, the proclamation of the gospel will be in vain. It will not be evangelism.’
David Watson
Conversely, and to paraphrase the evangelist Leonard Ravenhill, we can have confidence that any method of evangelism can work if God is at work in it.
The purpose of evangelism is to form disciples – worshippers who worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:23). Therefore, evangelists must be authentic worshippers themselves. It’s been said that worship and evangelism are two sides of the same coin, and it’s true that our witness to the world is an act of worship – an act of obedience and devotion to our king.
These Advance group sessions will help you to mature as an authentic worshipper and see you grow in five core characteristics of an evangelist.
Bible-teaching evangelists
We must know the message we proclaim as deeply as possible. To do this we must be committed to the reading and study of God’s Word, so that our proclamation is not based on our own ideas and assumptions about the gospel, but on what the Word of God teaches.
Prayerful evangelists
We are to submit to the power of the Holy Spirit for the task of evangelism, for it is not our power but the power of God which brings salvation. We should commit to living prayerfully, asking God to provide opportunities to share our faith and see lives transformed as a result.
Accountable evangelists
Holiness is at the heart of the gospel. Sharing the transforming power of the gospel in an authentic way means living accountable lives, where our life ‘on-stage’ matches our life ‘off-stage’. Cheering each other on in success and standing with one another in failure is crucial as we seek to grow as holy people sharing a holy message.
Committed evangelists
Intentionality is key to evangelism. We must be aware of – and seize – everyday opportunities to share God’s love, not simply telling the Jesus story, but inviting those who hear it into the new life it offers and helping them to start on a journey of discipleship.
Inspirational evangelists
As we share the gospel message with a world who needs it, we must also stir the church to do the same. Evangelism is the business of every Christian, and so encouraging and stirring the church to the task must also be a commitment of any evangelist.
Discuss: Consider these five core characteristics. Where do you identify your own strengths and weaknesses in each area?
Discussion (15 mins)
Explore the following questions and/or the discussion quotation:
What is our role in evangelism and what is God’s role in evangelism?
How do we ensure we are authentic evangelists and authentic worshippers?
How do you hope to grow in the coming months through this Advance group?
‘If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.’
Charles Spurgeon
Application (5 mins)
Come up with your own biblically-sound definition of evangelism (preferably with references to scripture) and send it to the group (see Messages and Dates below). The goal here is not a word-perfect definition, but to express how you now understand evangelism based on this session and some further thought and reflection. If there is time in the next session you could look at a couple of these definitions in more detail together.
Prayer
Give thanks to God for his amazing gospel. Thank him that he chooses to make you part of his saving work in the world. Pray he would empower you to be his messengers in word and action, as you worship him in spirit and truth. Ask him to help you to grow in the five characteristics of an evangelist as you move forward and grow together in this Advance group.
Accountability (15 mins)
Look through the accountability forms together, fill them out and share together in pairs or smaller groups. Finish by praying for one another.
Messages and dates (10 mins)
Close this session by asking everyone to download and log into a messenger system that works for everyone in the group. WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are both free and work well. Create a group that you will use to communicate between sessions, with updates, prayer requests, testimonies and so on. Finally, set the dates for as many of the upcoming sessions as you can. Six months in advance is ideal so that everyone can commit to the dates early and make them a diary priority.
Don’t forget…
Every group member can register themselves as being in an Advance group here and receive a monthly email update with encouraging stories from Advance groups around the world, links to great resources and the latest news from the movement.
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