January 10, 2011
You Are Here Week 2: Cause
Posted by Michael
Learn:
Matthew 28:16 – 20
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Main Idea:
Jesus gave His disciples quite a job when He left this earth. He commissioned them to go tell everyone the truth about who He was. Everyone. The rich, the poor, the popular, the outcasts, the religious elite, the pagans, the people they thought would believe them, and the people they didn’t think would believe them. Eleven men were tasked with the seemingly impossible job of spreading the Gospel message to all the ends of the earth. They succeeded because God worked through them. Today we are given this same commission. God has people He wants to touch through you. Witnessing to others can be a scary thing, and we often feel inadequate to do it. The truth is, we are. But God will take our meager best (even our mistakes) and use it to accomplish the things He wants to accomplish. God is at work, and no one is too far from Him to be redeemed. We just have to love people enough – and trust God enough – to share the Good News with them, even if we don’t have all the answers.
Know What: You will never lock eyes with a person who does not matter to God.
So What: Sharing the Good News of Jesus is not a job reserved only for certain people who have a gift of evangelism. It is the responsibility of every Christ follower.
Now What: Share the Good News of Jesus with people. Pray for them and share His message of salvation with them through both words and actions.
Discuss…
1. What do you think it must have been like for the eleven disciples who were tasked with spreading the Gospel message? Why do you think they were so successful despite all the challenges they faced?
2. Who are some people you know who seem to have the gift of evangelism? What do you admire the most about how they share their faith? What can you learn from their methods?
3. What are some ineffective evangelism methods you’ve seen practiced? Have you seen people “turned off” by God or religion because the Gospel was presented to them in a manipulative way? What can you learn from that?
4. When was the last time you tried to share your faith with someone? What happened? Did the experience encourage you, or discourage you from doing it again?
5. What fears do you have when it comes to sharing the Gospel message with others? Do you trust that God can reach people through you despite these fears?
6. When you approach others about Jesus, it can be helpful to remember what reservations you had about the Gospel before you were a believer. How did you first come to know and accept the Gospel message? Were you resistant to it at first? What were your biggest arguments against it? How can remembering these things help you talk to others?
7. Does the thought of people dying a Christless death scare you? From a scale of 1 to 10, how strong is your burden for unreached people? How can you increase that burden?
8. List 3 people who you would love to see come to know Jesus. Have you ever tried talking to them about Him? If so, what was the response? If not, what has stopped you? Write down the names of every person listed and pray for them as often as possible. As a group, check in with each other about how these people are doing and how they can be prayed for.
Next Steps…
This week, take some time each day to pray for specific people who you would like to see come to know Jesus. Ask God to give you opportunities to talk to them. If you do not have a burden for people who do not know Christ, pray every day for the next 30 days that God would give you one. If you ask, He will.
