BIBLE 104

MY PROFESSION, MY MISSION

Prefinal lessons
Learning guide

◦Module 8
◦Topics:
◦ RELATIONAL EVANGELISM
◦ PRACTICAL GUIDELINES OF SHARING THE GOSPEL
◦Time frame: March 25 – April 1, 2020
◦Output (Online Quiz) : April 1, 2020
Intended Learning Outcomes:
At the end of this module, the learners are expected to:

▪Define and understand the concept of personal and

relational evangelism
▪Discuss some practical guidelines for sharing the gospel
▪Understand and demonstrate knowledge of the basic
truths about the gospel
▪Integrate biblical truths about evangelism to action
Pre-lesson activity

◦Watch the video on the link given below:

◦ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyHrWBYXRP0

◦ Answer these questions:

◦ What is the speaker’s main point?
◦ Why does he say that we should not love evangelism?
RELATIONAL
EVANGELISM
RELATIONAL EVANGELISM
◦ What is relational evangelism?

◦ You’ve likely heard the similar terms for relational

evangelism:

◦ Incarnational evangelism
◦ Friendship evangelism
◦ Lifestyle evangelism
RELATIONAL EVANGELISM

◦Friendship evangelism is often defined

around “earning the right to be heard.”
Build an intentional relationship, earn
credibility, and wait for spiritual
conversation to come about. When the
topic of faith comes up, you’ve earned
the right to share your faith in Christ.
◦ There is significant overlap between these terms, but
some nuances of distinctions as well, which is beyond
my scope for today.

◦ I look at relational evangelism this way:

◦ Living in such a way that your faith is obvious AND
◦ Being intentional in talking about the gospel
◦ In the context of intentional relationships

◦ The gospel spreads through credible witnesses in the

context of personal relationships over time, with
intentionality on the part of the Christian believer.
When You Cannot Preach: A Case for
Relational Evangelism
By: Dion Forster
What can you do when you cannot preach or openly evangelize?
Two challenges when preaching is prohibited:
1. Some contexts are hostile to proclamation evangelism. Many
Christians live in nations (e.g., Turkey and China) that forbid Christian
evangelism; others simply work in environments that discourage
evangelism (e.g., workplace, university, or school).
2. The effects of postmodernism are a threat to proclamation
evangelism. Traditional evangelistic methods are based on
“propositional evangelism.” In its basic form evangelism by
proclamation relies on a Christian making “truth statements” about
God and God’s love for the world, and then challenging his or her
hearers to respond to those propositions.
For example, someone may say, “God loves you and
wants to forgive your sins and give you everlasting life.”
The person being evangelized to would then have to
respond to this proposition: “Do I believe what I’m being
told? Does it make sense? Will I choose forgiveness in
Christ, or continue life without him?”
The problem with propositions is that they are very
difficult to understand if they have no context. For
example, if I tell someone that God loves him or her and
he or she has never experienced God’s love, it is difficult
for that person to make an informed decision based only
on a statement.
What further complicates the matter is that
Western media has begun to convince the world
that the Church and Christians are not to be
trusted. There have been many scandals and
struggles in the Church in recent decades. Ed
Silvoso sums up the problem as follows:
“Preaching the good news without love is like
giving someone a good kiss when you have bad
breath. No matter how good your kiss, all the
recipient will remember is your bad breath.”
These realities, however, don’t mean that
we should stop evangelizing. Not at all! They
simply mean that we must find more
creative ways of presenting the unchanging
gospel of Christ in an ever-changing world.
It is in this context that relationship
evangelism makes so much sense. The
biggest changes come through love.
Introducing a Seemingly Upside-down
Model
◦ It is a mistake to think that the majority of people come
to faith in Jesus through crusades and evangelistic
outreaches. Of course, these events are effective. But
they are less effective than we imagine. For instance,
when did you last attend an event like this? How often
do they happen in your town or city? More importantly,
when did you last invite someone to go with you to a
church service or an evangelistic outreach?
Introducing a Seemingly Upside-down
Model
◦ Ask ten of your Christian family or friends who introduced
them to Jesus. Likely, the majority will tell you they came to
know of Christ’s love through a close friend or family
member. Most people come to experience the truth of the
gospel through loving people and acts of blessing and
service long before they’re convinced by theological truths
such as the divinity of Jesus and the concepts of salvation
and forgiveness through faith.
◦ In my experience, faith is most often caught before it is
taught.
Coming to Grips with Relational
Evangelism
◦ What do you think of when you hear the words evangelism
and evangelist? Most of us tend to think of evangelism as a
form of preaching in which one shares truths about God’s
love for people and the world with individuals or groups.
When we think of an evangelist, we tend to think of people
like Billy Graham preaching to massive crowds of eager
listeners. As incredible a gift as persons such as this are to
the Christian faith, they are the exception rather than the
norm. I am convinced that God’s evangelistic desire
involves far more than just a few gifted preachers.
Coming to Grips with Relational
Evangelism
◦I encourage you to read one of the clearest and
most accessible images of evangelism in the
Bible. It is the one Jesus himself taught his
disciples when he sent them out into the world to
witness to his love for the first time. You’ll find this
remarkable model of evangelism in Luke 10:5-9.
Coming to Grips with Relational
Evangelism
◦ You may be surprised to see how simple, yet different,
Jesus’ model of evangelism is when you compare it to
many of the more popular models used today.
◦ The Greek word used in the Bible, from which we get our
English word evangelism is the verb euangelizo, which
means to bring “good news.” The more popular
understanding of ”preaching the good news” comes from
another Greek word, kerusso, which means “to proclaim”
or “to preach.”
Coming to Grips with Relational
Evangelism
◦So, what is the solution? I’d like to introduce
a method of bringing the love of Jesus to
people that have had powerful and lasting
results in our context. I first learned about
this approach when I read one of Silvoso’s
books.
Luke 10 Transformation:
A Model of Friendship Evangelism
◦ First, Jesus says we should start by blessing people: “When you
enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house’” (10:5). Everybody
longs to experience blessing, acceptance, and love. This is simple
and easy to do—sometimes it is just a sincere compliment or a
practical act of caring (like helping a co-worker to reach a
deadline). Very few people resist genuine and sincere blessings
from others. You can also bless a person by offering to pray for
him or her. I have even blessed people by praying for them
without them knowing it.
Luke 10 Transformation:
A Model of Friendship Evangelism
◦ Next, Jesus encourages us to build relationships with people:
“Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give
you…” (10:7). I have made a habit of cultivating friendships with
people who don’t know the Lord. I belong to a cycling club. I
also engage in M.B.W.A at work each day (I say it is better than
an M.B.A, it is Management By Walking Around
Luke 10 Transformation:
A Model of Friendship Evangelism
◦ Third, Jesus says that once we’ve blessed people and built friendships
with them, we should minister to their needs: “…heal the sick who are
there…” (10:9). This is the most amazing step in this simple process.
◦ One further encouragement is to try and respond to people’s “felt
needs” first. Hardship, struggle, stress, and pain tend to cause people to
adopt a narrow focus. For example, the Salvation Army had the
approach of offering people soup, soap, and then salvation.
◦ They knew that a person who was hungry and dirty would be less likely
to respond to an invitation to salvation than someone who felt fed and
cared for.
Luke 10 Transformation:
A Model of Friendship Evangelism
◦ Finally, Jesus ends up where we most often start—preaching and
teaching: “…tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you’” (10:9). In 1
Peter 3:15 we read, “Always be prepared to give an answer to
everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.
But do this with gentleness and respect.”
◦ When a person’s need is met, you will have a golden opportunity to share the
good news. When a prayer is answered, or a person finds the help he or she
needs, you can gently tell him or her about God’s power and provision. My
experience is that the most effective preaching you can do is to either give
testimony of something God has done for you or help the person to recognize
what God is doing for him or her.
Conclusion

◦Relationship evangelism cannot replace the

proclamation of the truth of Christ’s love.
However, it can function as another wonderful
resource for evangelizing in places where
preaching is not possible, or among people who
struggle to relate to the propositions of the
Christian faith.
PRACTICAL GUIDELINES
OF SHARING THE
GOSPEL
Maybe you’re afraid to share your faith because you don’t know
what to say. Or maybe you’re sharing the Gospel but nothing is
happening; people aren’t committing their lives to Christ. Are you
doing something wrong?

You can’t open someone’s heart to the truth of the Gospel—but

God can, by His Spirit. The Apostle Paul wasn’t eloquent, but God
used him because he depended on the Holy Spirit to guide him
(see 1 Corinthians 2:1-5). God guided many others in the Bible as
well—like Moses, who at first asked God to get someone else to
lead the Israelites to the Promised Land, or Jonah, who didn’t
think the wicked Ninevites deserved God’s mercy and tried to run
the other way.
Remember that God does not call the
equipped; He equips the called—and as
Christians, we are all called to share what
Christ has done. Some of Christ’s last words on
earth were, “Go and make disciples of all
nations” (Matthew 28:19). Sharing our faith isn’t
just a suggestion, it’s a command. And God is
with us when we obey Him.
What do I do?
One of the best ways to share your faith is to live a godly life. Non-
Christians often look at Christians as hypocritical because we say one
thing but do another. Show those close to you that you care—spend
time with them, help meet their needs and offer to listen when they have
problems. You might not be able to answer all of their questions, but they
can’t deny the reality of what Christ has done in your life. If you find this is
hard to do, perhaps God is speaking to you about your own need to
walk more closely with Him every day.

Another important part of sharing your faith is to pray for those you
interact with. If you can’t think of anyone who isn’t a Christian, pray for
God to place someone in your life who needs Him.
What do I do?
Also make a habit of reading the Bible, praying and going to
church. (Read more about diving into your walk with God through
prayer, Scripture, and relationships.) These things shouldn’t be
done for attention or for the sake of doing them, but to help you
grow in your faith. Being passionate about Christ will help others
see that there’s something different about you, and they will want
to know what it is. You can also reflect Christ through kind words,
patience, a gentle temperament, choosing to love even difficult
people, carefully monitoring what you watch or listen to, and
treating others with respect.
What do I do?
At the same time, we must do more than live godly lives. People
need to hear the Gospel—to hear that God loves them, Christ
died for them and that they can have eternal life. Romans 10:13-
14 says, “‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be
saved.’ How, then, can they call on the one they have not
believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they
have not heard? And how can they hear without someone
preaching to them?”
 4 SIMPLE STEPS
To share the Gospel, you can follow
these 4 simple steps:
1. Tell them about God’s plan—
peace and life.
God loves you and wants you to experience the
peace and life He offers. The Bible says, “For God
so loved the world that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whoever believes in Him should not
perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). He
has a plan for you.
2. Share our problem—separation
from God.
Being at peace with God is not automatic. By
nature, we are all separated from Him. The Bible
says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory
of God” (Romans 3:23). God is holy, but we are
human and don’t measure up to His perfect
standard. We are sinful, and “the wages of sin is
death” (Romans 6:23).
3. Talk about God’s remedy—the
cross.
God’s love bridges the gap of separation
between you and Him. When Jesus Christ died on
the cross and rose from the grave, He paid the
penalty for your sins. The Bible says, “‘He Himself
bore our sins’ in His body on the cross, so that we
might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by His
wounds you have been healed’” (1 Peter 2:24).
4. Our response—receive Christ.
You cross the bridge into God’s family when you
accept Christ’s free gift of salvation. The Bible
says, “But as many as received Him, to them He
gave the right to become children of God” (John
1:12).
To receive Christ,
a person needs to do 4 things:
1. Admit you’re a sinner.
2. Ask forgiveness and be willing to turn
away from your sins.
3. Believe that Christ died for you on the
cross.
4. Receive Christ into your heart and life.
Romans 10:13 says, “Whoever calls upon the
name of the Lord will be saved.” Here’s a prayer
you can pray to receive Christ:

“Dear Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner, and I ask

for your forgiveness. I believe you died for my
sins and rose from the dead. I trust and follow
you as my Lord and Savior. Guide my life and
help me to do your will. In your name, amen.”
5 things to remember:

1. Understand that your own life is a great part of

your witness. If my relationship with Christ isn’t
vital, then I don’t have a lot to share. People not
only listen to your words, but they also look at
your life. We still fail and aren’t always a good
example, so our only hope is to come to God
and surrender to Him. It’s nothing that we can
do. It’s God’s work.
5 things to remember:

2. Realize that we earn the right to be heard by

sincerely listening to others. Everyone has a
story. You can’t just blunder into a situation and
callously share without listening. The Bible says
that Jesus was a friend of sinners. That’s our
example—to be a friend, to listen to people, see
where they are, and then take them where they
need to go.
5 things to remember:
3. Recognize that people are looking for a cure. When you go to the
doctor, you don’t say, “I have cancer.” Instead, you describe your
symptoms. That’s where most people live. They only see the symptoms.
“I’m lonely. I’m suffering from a broken relationship. I’m stressed. There’s
darkness within me that I don’t know what to do with.” How do we share
Christ with someone who is overwhelmed with their symptoms? We know
the ultimate cure. It’s Jesus Christ. Jesus didn’t die for their symptoms. He
died for their sins. Yet, people don’t wake up in the morning and think,
“You know, I need to accept Jesus.” They wake up with the symptoms,
and so as people who are attempting to rescue those who are lost, we
need to start with their symptoms, show them the disease (sin), and take
them to the ultimate cure (Jesus).
5 things to remember:
4. Keep it simple. The Gospel is already simple. Christ died for our
sins. He was buried. He rose again. We need to turn away from the
things that are wrong in our lives, and accept what Jesus did on
the cross for us and receive Him as Lord. Don’t complicate it. So
many times we throw in things like our denomination or other
doctrines or we use religious terms that a lot of people don’t
understand. We end up confusing them and creating barriers.
Explain the Gospel in a way that people can understand.
5 things to remember:
5. Stress the love of God. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the
world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in
him shall not perish but have eternal life” (NIV). It starts with love,
and that’s where we need to start. Ultimately, we have to explain
that we’re all sinners and have violated God’s standards, and,
because of that, there is a judgment. “The wages of sin is death”
(Romans 6:23, NIV). But don’t start with that. People know they’ve
done a lot of wrong things, but they first need to hear that God is
still open to forgiving them.
Video Summary
Click on the link below and watch the full clip:
Listening points:

1. What is his main point?

2. How do we share the gospel in the context of relationships?
3. What are the benefits of relational evangelism?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoJm0SWdoqI
Evaluation

◦A link will be posted on the group chat

with instructions on how you will be
tested.
◦Evaluation of learning points will be
done and graded individually.