THE SEARCH
Mission & Evangelism Refresh 2.
Reminder for leaders: We are meeting on the 9th of October at 2:30 to discuss the final term and resources for ‘Deuteronomy’
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
-This coming Sunday is on ‘The Search for Connection”
-Chat to your groups about the break over the School holidays, and the first week back being the week beginning 9th October.
Before starting:
Explain that while we are doing ‘The search’ and preparing for ‘Alpha’ We are reminding ourselves of our role as missionaries. This is so that we can be making the most of these weeks if we have people to invite, but even more, that we can be taking the Gospel out to people in our workplaces/ families/ social groups. This week’s study is looking at a couple of passages that remind us what it looks like to be watching for opportunities around us that we can speak the Gospel into.
Start by praying:
-Thank God for those who have been invited, and who have come so far to ‘The Search’ series. (We’ve had a number of visitors both weeks)
-Pray that God would continue working in those who have heard the gospel over this series.
Read Colossians 4:2-6
2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. 5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
Read Acts 17:16-34
16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. 18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. 19 Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.” 21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)
22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.
24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’[a] As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’[b]
29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
32 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” 33 At that, Paul left the Council. 34 Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.
Discuss:
1) Looking firstly at the Colossians passage: What does it say about God’s role in sharing the Gospel? What does it say about our role?
2) What might it look like for God to ‘open a door to our message’?
3) In what ways is Acts 17 a model of what Paul lays out in Colossians?
4) In what ways does Paul’s understanding of the Athenians shape his message?
Apply:
Like Paul, we should seek to be people who are asking for, and watching for opportunities to share the Gospel, and like Paul we should see to do so with wisdom, helping show how the Gospel is relevant to a person’s unique experience. To do this we need to be apt in listening to those we care about. But often ‘spiritual’ things rarely enter our conversations. One way to do this is to ask good questions.
5) Look at the following list of questions:
Have you ever felt close to God?
What was your religious background as a child?
What words would you use to describe yourself spiritually?
Do you have a spiritual belief of any kind?
What don’t you believe?
What do you think life is about?
Have you ever experienced God, if so how?
If you were to die tonight, where do you think you would go?
Have you ever had a bad experience of Christianity?
What barriers stop you from believing in God?
Who is Jesus to you?
On a scale of 1 - 10, how would you rate your desire to know God personally?
a) What are some possible answers people you know would give to these questions
b) Are any of these usable for you?
c) Are any of these questions intimidating?
6) Are there any other questions you find helpful to ask people to learn more about their spiritual life.
Pray.
For opportunities with those you know and care about to share the Gospel.