Going Public with Your Faith…
Involves Building Relationships
- Leader Guide-
Week 3, Week of September 6-11
Lesson & Series Overview
Lesson Purpose
The purpose of week 3 is to lead group members to focus on our sharing brief statements of our faith in order to measure and/or create spiritual interest in others.
Here’s the summary from the Learner Notes: Stories speak to the emotions first, often bypassing prejudices. Stories seize the imagination. They are some of the greatest resources we have. Stories give a person an experiential view of the truth through the window of your life. People can argue or disagree with the gospel or the truth of the Bible, but they can’t argue with a personal testimony.
The climax and challenge of the lesson is to challenge group members to begin sharing brief faith statements.
Series Notes
COMMON TO EVERY WEEK, BUT IMPORTANT!
1. The book is specifically written for cultivating relationships and sharing Christ in the work place. Because so many of the Westwood family are students, homemakers or even unemployed, we have tried to broaden the scope of these lessons because many of the principles apply to other environments as well.
2. Key Components - The Westwood Curriculum Team believes that the series will be most effective with the following elements fully utilized:
a. Discussion - A group time that is heavily dependent on discussion and interaction. Our belief is that the lesson is as much (or more) about motivating people to obey God’s word as it is about teaching God’s Word. Believers already know more than we do. Some Biblicalbackground is provided in the Teacher’s Study Section, but please don’t cover all of this at the expense of group member interaction.
b.Daily homework (supplied each week) for continued involvement with the study. This will be delivered
electronically to each person who signs up for the e-list, but also in written form as needed.
c. Individual Reading – Books are available in The Source for $10 to group members.
d.Sermons – Although each lesson doesn’t exactly align with the sermon, overall they are very
complimentary. Please encourage your group members to attend worship.
e. The Big Challenge - We want group members to leave the lesson with a “Big Challenge” of the week. It
isn’t enough just to learn, we want members to do something with each lesson.
f. Your Personal Stories – Nothing brings teaching alive like real life stories experienced by the leader.
Please ask God for wisdom in sharing from your own life experiences to enhance the lesson.
3. This teaching guideand the student handouts will be available online at WestwoodGroups.com at least one week in advance. ABS Teachers will receive a copy in your class box each week as well.
Scripture Focus of the Lesson
Bible Passages
1 John 1:3
We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
Colossians 4:3
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.
1 Peter 3:15b
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,
See also Acts 26:13-14 (Paul’s full story is in Acts 26:1-23)
Important Weekly Leader Notes
1. Read chapters 69 of the book Going Public with Your Faith. Session 3 is based on those chapters.
2. Make sure to bring in your own personal stories. They make the session come to life!
3. For next week, begin learning the gospel presentation found on pages 156-163. You will want to be able to share this in class next week. Also, challenge one or two more to read and master this presentation so that maybe you can do it in small groups on a napkin or piece of scrap paper.
4. We suggest teaching from the Learner Notes. Review this teaching guide and write your personal notes on the side for things you want to cover from the Leader Guide.
5. Get copies of the “Developing Your Story” Worksheet. These will be distributed in class boxes and also available online at WestwoodGroups.com.
Leader Study Section
Key Points from the Text Book
Quotes are from Going Public with Your Faith
In this week’s study, the book overviews two major themes: Sharing Your Faith & Walking Through the Open Door!
Sharing Your Faith
- Sharing “Your Story” with another person gives them an experimental view of the truth through the window of your life.
- Faith Flags are the bare nuggets of your faith story. They provide the briefest glimpse of how faith is working your life.
- Guidelines to raising a faith flag:
- They should occur as a natural part of a conversation.
- They should be no longer than 20 seconds.
- Things to avoid in raising a faith flag:
- Take care not to identify yourself as a member of a particular church or denomination.
- Avoid pointing to your faith as a reason not doing something. It should not come across as a simple list of regulations.
- Faith Stories provide a glimpse of what it is like to be God’s child.
- Guidelines to using a faith story:
- Faith stories should be a natural part of the conversation. They are not contrived or planned with respect to what will be said.
- Faith stories are not faith sermons, so they generally should not take any longer than a minute or two.
- Limit the subject of the story to Jesus, the Bible, or prayer. Brining up specific churches, denominations, or religious leaders puts us at risk of being identified with a person or group that may instigate a barrier.
- Do’s and Don’ts for Stimulating Curiosity
- Trust the Holy Spirit to Do HIS work in HIS timing- tell your story and watch for a response. Again, Christ does the “saving” not us.
- Regulate the Dosage- avoid the temptation of unloading the spiritual dump truck on people as soon as they express even a pinch of spiritual interest.
- Be Honest and Authentic- Being transparent about the good, bad, and ugly will allow the other person to better identify with what Christ has done in your life and will hopefully get them to begin thinking about what He would do in theirs.
- Speak their Language- Avoid the Christianese, don’t use words that only “church people” would understand. Again, developing a relationship with someone will allow you to know how to best communicate with them.
- Watch your Words- Some words can be confusing, others have become either offensive or misleading.
Other Interesting Information to Consider:
There are a number of different learning styles and learning preferences. The most common include Visual Learning Style (the most common), Auditory Learning Style and Tactile (Kinesthetic) Learning Style. Additional learning styles and preferences include Logical (mathematical), Social (interpersonal) and Solitary (intrapersonal). There is no right mix. Nor are your styles fixed. Some people may find that they have a dominant style of learning, with far less use of the other styles. Others may find that they use different styles in different circumstances. The key is to know your audience.
Be sure to explain to your group the importance of knowing your audience. Part of the evangelistic process is to develop a relationship with the person. One great reason is to know how best to share your testimony…
Would you need a quick way to know if you are speaking to one style over another? Consider the chart below:
Visual Learner / Auditory Learner / Tactile Learner- take numerous detailed notes
- tend to sit in the front
- are usually neat and clean
- often close their eyes to visualize or remember something
- find something to watch if they are bored
- like to see what they are learning
- benefit from illustrations and presentations that use color
- are attracted to written or spoken language rich in imagery
- prefer stimuli to be isolated from auditory and kinesthetic distraction
- find passive surroundings ideal
- sit where they can hear but needn't pay attention to what is happening in front
- may not coordinate colors or clothes, but can explain why they are wearing what they are wearing and why
- hum or talk to themselves or others when bored
- acquire knowledge by reading aloud
- Remember by verbalizing lessons to themselves (if they don't they have difficulty reading maps or diagrams or handling conceptual assignments like mathematics).
- need to be active and take frequent breaks, often speak with their hands and with gestures
- remember what was done, but have difficulty recalling what was said or seen
- find reasons to tinker or move when bored
- rely on what they can directly experience or perform
- enjoy field trips and tasks that involve manipulating materials
- sit near the door or someplace else where they can easily get up and move around
- communicate by touching and appreciate physically expressed encouragement, such as a pat on the back
Walking Through the Open Door
- The Soil Analysis and Treatment
- We must keep in mind planting involves far more than a onetime walk through the facts of the Gospel. It entails helping a person address sincere, well-founded, and perhaps long-standing intellectual questions about faith issues. This takes time. So we must continue to cultivate after we plant.
- Although more and more people are becoming “biblically illiterate”, we must present good information in a nonthreatening way to allow the person to investigate what the Bible says about who they are, who Jesus is, and what He has done for them.
- Sometimes, when we speak to people about spiritual things, they sometimes assume we’re talking about additional obligations and oppressive responsibilities to an authoritarian institution.
- BATHE Method-this was taking from a method used to teach physicians how to learn a lot about a patient in a short time.
- Background- ask questions about life in general and continue to ask probing questions to find out more about them, what they’re working on, what they’re dealing with, etc.
- Affect- Instead of quickly giving advice, an answer, or a Bible verse, ask the question, “How does this affect you?” Using your own words of course.
- Trouble- Ask them what is troubles them about that particular subject, conversation, situation, etc. You’re beginning now to get to the problem and to allow the door to open wider.
- Empathy- Pretty self-explanatory, but a must in this process.
- Taking the Walk- refer to pages 140-141 on the principles for walking through the door.
Key Points from the Scripture
1 John 1:3
We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
Colossians 4:3
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.
Notes:“that God may open a door” – A door in the New Testament usually refers to an opportunity. In 1 Corinthians 16:8-9 Paul writes, “I shall remain in Ephesus until Pentecost; for a wide door for effective service has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.” He later wrote to the Corinthians of the door that had been opened for him at Troas (2 Cor. 2:12).
Believers are to pray for open doors because it is God who opens them. At the end of Paul’s first missionary journey, he and Barnabas reported to the church “all things that God has done with them and how He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles” (Acts 14:27).
Paul desired an open door so he could proclaim the mystery of Christ. The term mystery refers to something hidden in the Old Testament but manifest in the New. Here it refers to the Gospel and it’s availability to the Gentiles. Paul asks the Colossians to pray that he would have an open door to speak the full truth of the Gospel.
1 Peter 3:15b
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,
NOTESChristians must be ready to make a defense, or give and answer, for the faith they have. In some translations this verse reads “be prepared to make a defense”. The Greek term for defense is apologia and is the word from which the English term apology and apologetics derive. It often means a formal defense in a courtroom, but Paul used to word informally to indicate his ability to answer those who questioned him.
The hope that you have is the Gospel. The hope of escaping Hell and being united with Christ for eternity in heaven becomes the focal point of any rational explanation believers should be able to provide regarding their salvation.
Acts 26:13-14
About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. 14We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?
Acts 26:1-23
1Then Agrippa said to Paul, "You have permission to speak for yourself." So Paul motioned with his hand and began his defense: 2"King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews, 3and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.
4"The Jews all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child, from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem. 5They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that according to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee. 6And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our fathers that I am on trial today. 7This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. O king, it is because of this hope that the Jews are accusing me. 8Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?
9"I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. 11Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.
12"On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. 14We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'
15"Then I asked, 'Who are you, Lord?'
" 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' the Lord replied. 16'Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. 17I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'
19"So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. 20First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds. 21That is why the Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. 22But I have had God's help to this very day, and so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen— 23that the Christ would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to his own people and to the Gentiles."
Group Session Guide
Review & Accountability
Say:Last week we focused on building relationships. The specific challenge was to develop your relationship with someone on your impact list.
Ask: Has anyone got any updates to share about this assignment?