Listening To Hope

Evangelism: Loving God In Front Of Others

Hope Chapel, 3-7-10

by Mark Proeger

Notes by Tim Margheim

Lesson: Worship is loving God, and part of evangelism is loving God in front of others.  Spiritual conversations can flow naturally from the way we speak about God.

Texts: Luke 7:36-50

Ice-Breakers:

1. Share your most encouraging story of past evangelism.

2. Share your most painfully embarrassing and/or funniest story of past evangelism.

Background:

Kris Vallaton said “Who God is to you is who God can be through you.”  How we see God will be the way we show God to others—the God of patient kindness, or an absent, uncaring god who is eager to condemn.  The sinful woman of Luke 7 loved Jesus with extravagant gratefulness for his mercy and kindness.  What about us?  Do we live in pride & self-righteousness, or present that image?  Or do we show love & gratitude to God for his grace & mercy in the midst of our struggles & sorrow?

We should seek to fall in love with Jesus again (Rev 2:4-5), by asking God to restore the joy of our salvation (Psalm 51:12), and by remembering what we were saved from & what we were saved for, and by engaging both mind & Spirit when reading the Scriptures by talking to God, and by telling others what He is doing in our lives.

We can get into more spiritual conversations by being natural & casual in how we mention God—dropping into our conversations comments that give credit to God for what is or has happened in our lives, taking every opportunity to offer prayer, and working with excellence & giving the credit.

As we speak, we should be honest about our struggles, failures, & frustrations.  Be natural.  We shouldn’t pretend to have it all together, or be afraid to say “I don’t know”.  Nor should we be offended by their sin—don’t be surprised that they’re dead in trespasses & sin!  Instead, we love them where they are, and point them to Christ.

Digging Deeper:

1. Consider the quote from Kris Vallaton, “Who God is to you is who God can be through you.”  Also consider a related quote from John Piper, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.”  What does this mean?

2. Discuss how (or if) you have seen this principle play out in your relationships.

3. Read the story of the sinful woman in Luke 7:36-50.  How do your attitudes compare?  Do you connect with her attitude, or does it seem distant?

4. What can you do if you wrestle with loving God, or truly seeing him as you know in your head that he is?

5. Discuss good or bad experiences with efforts to have more spiritual conversations.  What has seemed artificial?  Compare this with Mark’s suggestions.

6. Read Mark’s suggestions for: (1) Falling in love with Jesus, (2) getting into spiritual conversations, and/or (3) carrying them out.  Does anything seem new to you?  What seems most helpful?  What seems least helpful? (Discuss why.)

7. Discuss any of the stories Mark shared that you remember, about his & others’ experience with evangelism.

Wrap Up:

• Pray for God to help us to know peace and trust that He will work through us, and is already working in the lives of our friends & family & the people we meet.

• Go around, and have each person mention a “takeaway” that they want to remember in the coming weeks.

Outreach/Mission:

• Pray for God to turn our hearts toward sharing Christ with people in our lives—that it would not be a burden or an anxiety, but that it would be a joy.  Pray for God to prepare opportunities, and pray that we would see them as opportunities.

• Each should take time to pray (silently or aloud) for a friend or acquaintance who doesn’t know Christ.  Pray for God to show you how to love him in front of them—naturally, without putting on a show.