Just walk across the room resources

Highlights

From Brickhill preaching series, 7 - 21 June 2009.

Principles:

1. It is God who saves.
2. What we do, we do for love’s sake.
3. It is normal life.
4. It requires faith, not a personality transplant.

Jesus made the ultimate walk across the room and calls us to do likewise: John 1:9-14, 20:21.

Many people go on a journey to faith (described by the Engel scale). To play a part in helping someone move from one step to another on this journey is hugely important.

We need to be filled with the Spirit and follow His promptings.

Develop friendships: be yourself, walk across rooms, find common ground. Share life: a two-way process. Discern next steps: ask questions and pray for wisdom to work out what you can do to help someone see that Jesus is the answer to everything.

Let’s carry the fragrance of God everywhere we go: doing good; sharing lives, love and stories.

Telling tales

Think of moments in your life when God has shown His goodness and how you can share these effectively through a story that is short, to the point, comprehensible and true.

The simple structure to follow is: problem, solution, outcome.

Sharing the gospel

We need to know the key elements of the gospel in order to share it appropriately:

• God is our loving creator,
• We are rebellious creatures,
• Jesus came to rescue us from the consequences of our sins and give us new life,
• Every person has to respond to this news.

The idea of ‘do’ versus ‘done’ is very important as it teaches us about grace.

A good step-by-step guide is Knowing God personally.

Recommended reading

Just walk across the room, by Bill Hybels.

Evangelism and the sovereignty of God, by J.I. Packer.

Apologetics resources

The purpose of apologetics is to provide good answers to important questions that people ask about Christianity (from 2 Peter 3:15).

Two books I’ve found particularly helpful are The reason for God by Tim Keller, and The case for Christ by Lee Strobel.

The Zacharias Trust is an organisation committed to training people in apologetics.

Apologetics.com and BeThinking.org

Quotes

“My life is in Your hands, God. Use me to point someone toward You today – I promise to cooperate in any way I can. If you want me to say a word for You today, I’ll do that. If you want me to keep quiet but demonstrate love and servanthood, by Your Spirit’s power I will. I’m fully available to you today, so guide me by Your Spirit.” (Bill Hybels, Just walk across the room)

“Major events have a role to play in church life, but the bedrock of gospel ministry is low-key, ordinary, day-to-day work which often goes unseen. Most gospel ministry involves ordinary people doing ordinary things with gospel intentionality.” (Tim Chester and Steve Timmis, Total church)

"We're all called to be witnesses for Jesus - but there's a difference between a witness and a lawyer. A witness simply tells the courtroom what they have experienced. A lawyer, on the other hand, has to plead the case. An 'evangelist' is a bit like a lawyer - but not all of us are called to this specific task. However, we are all called to give an account of what we have seen, heard and experienced of God." (J. John, Breaking news)

“We may not trust in our methods of personal dealing or running evangelistic services, however excellent we may think them. There is no magic in methods, not even in theologically impeccable methods. When we evangelise, our trust must be in God who raises the dead. He is the almighty Lord who turns men’s hearts, and He will give conversions in His own time. Meanwhile, our part is to be faithful in making the gospel known, sure that such labour will never be in vain.” (J.I. Packer, Evangelism and the sovereignty of God)