EVANGELISM* SESSION3…€¦ · EVANGELISM* SESSION3:HOLY*SPIRIT,*SENIORPARTNER[PART*1]* *...
Transcript of EVANGELISM* SESSION3…€¦ · EVANGELISM* SESSION3:HOLY*SPIRIT,*SENIORPARTNER[PART*1]* *...
EVANGELISM SESSION 3: HOLY SPIRIT, SENIOR PARTNER [PART 1] IN THIS SESSION The Holy Spirit plays an incalculable and essential role in evangelism. We will introduce and explain the first of five (5) ways the Holy Spirit empowers believers to reach people for Christ. KEY PASSAGES
• John 20:21-‐23 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
• Acts 1:8 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
• John 16:7-‐8 7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment….
DISCUSS
• With another person or in your group, take a piece of paper or a whiteboard and, in a left-‐hand column, list the common fears or reservations you have with doing evangelism. In addition, write down some observations from the Session video and the Bible passages above about the Holy Spirit’s role in evangelism. How do some of the observations in the right column change the way you think about those in the left? If the Holy Spirit is the Senior Partner in evangelism, what fears of yours are genuinely legitimate? Why?
• Brainstorm what evangelism might look like when a Christian views himself/herself as the Senior Partner (i.e. the heavier weight of responsibility for success is with the individual). What possibly changes in these hypothetical situations if the Holy Spirit takes on that role? Now, make it personal. Where or when in your experience have you assumed the role of the Senior Partner? Where or when have you allowed the Holy Spirit to take that role? Highlight the differences as you discuss.
• Read the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:28-‐40. What are some things that you observe about the three (3) characters in this story? Philip? The eunuch? The Holy Spirit? Based on the video teaching, how is this story a prime example of the fact that the Holy Spirit guides us to receptive people and creates opportunities for witness?
PRAY The Session video content stated that the “job” of a Christ-‐follower is to be receptive, in-‐tune, perceptive and open to the Holy Spirit’s direction in evangelism. Pray that Spirit would begin to cultivate the kind of relationship between the two of you that makes such a posture second-‐nature. Ask God to send you (and make you very aware of) a person in your path of life this week that is open or receptive to the gospel.