LEAD THE WAY
The Core
4. MISSION (Part 2)

CONNECT

• Connect through care, prayer and loving accountability for previous leadership assignments.

DISCOVER

MISSION - Our Relationship with Others

Join Jesus in discipling others toward Him by living a Prayer > Care > Share > Dare lifestyle.

• JOIN JESUS - Join Jesus because it’s His mission

• PRAYER — Pray for others to encounter Jesus

• CARE — Care for others’ needs

• SHARE —Share each others’ stories and Jesus’ Story

• DARE — Dare others to be disciples of Jesus

• Watch the 5 Parts / 4 Fields video again.

Once again, we’re dividing our consideration of the church’s Mission into three parts.

1. MISSION (Part 1) looked at ENTRY

2. MISSION (Part 2) looks at GOSPEL

3. MISSION (Part 3) looks at DISCIPLESHIP

MISSION (Part 2)

Our mission is to Join Jesus in discipling others toward Him by living a Prayer > Care > Share > Dare lifestyle.

Share

1. Share Each Other’s Stories

a. Draw Out Their Story

As you share life, share stories—because everyone has a story worth hearing. Draw out someone’s story by asking good questions. When you ask them to SHARE, you’re showing that you CARE.

Colossians 4:5-6 (NLT)

5 Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.

The best conversations begin with good questions—and grow through even better listening. Here are a few ways to start:

• How are you today? You seem frustrated. Are you okay?

• You have a son or a daughter, right? How are they doing? How’s parenting going for you?

Or as we saw last week on CARE, here’s a good question:

• How can I pray for you?

You’ll be surprised by how many people will let you pray for them—and how deeply they’ll appreciate your offer. Listen to their request and then pray right there and then for them.

How do you get others to share their story? Here are some good conversation starters to draw out their stories:

• What’s your spiritual background?

• What have you embraced from your spiritual background?

• What have you rejected?

• What do you think of Jesus?

How about you?

• What questions have you used to start spiritual conversations with people?

By asking good questions and being a good listener, you just might find that your good question gets a good question in return like, “What’s YOUR spiritual background?” or “What do YOU think of Jesus?” When you truly listen to someone’s story, you earn the privilege of sharing your own.

b. Share Your Story

Acts 1:8 (NIV)

You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

The words “witness,” “testimony” and “testify” in the New Testament all come from the same Greek root. In Scripture, a witness isn’t an expert witness who gives specialized knowledge in a courtroom, but a fact witness who simply tells what they saw, heard, and experienced—“Here’s my story.” And that’s good news: Jesus hasn’t called us to be EXPERT witnesses, but FACT witnesses.

John 4:39 (NIV)

Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in [Jesus] because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”

• Why did the Samaritan woman’s testimony have such an amazing impact on people of her village?

John 4:40-42 (NIV)

40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.

42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

• How did the Samaritan woman’s story lead the village to hear Jesus’ Story?

• Why is the combination of both our stories and Jesus’ Story important?

• Watch this video.

Give it a try.

• Take some time to prayerfully fill in the 6 blanks in the graphic. Don’t worry about getting the exact words. Just go with first impressions. You can hone your thoughts later. You can make this your salvation testimony (how you came to Jesus) or your sanctification testimony (how you overcame some difficulty or fear or addiction or weakness through Jesus).

• The 15 Second Testimony handout printable PDF.

• Then have each person share their 15 Second Testimony. Once again, don’t worry about being polished. Just break the sound barrier and share from your heart.

• Keep things short and sweet. Try to keep your testimony to 15 of 30 seconds.

• Give each other feedback. Keep it positive and constructive.

Sharing each other’s stories opens hearts.
Sharing Jesus’ Story changes hearts.

2. Share Jesus’ Story

After sharing your story, share Jesus’ Story. Here’s a question to get you started. It’s both direct and disarming.

“Has anyone ever explained to you the Good News of Jesus?”

People may just respond, “Actually, no. No one has really explained that to me. I have some ideas, but I would like to know.”

• When you have shared Jesus’ Story (or shared the Good News), how have you done it?

THE FOUR

There are many good ways of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ using both Scripture and presentations. We recommend learning THE FOUR because it’s 1) easy to remember and 2) easy to teach others. Other options will be given below.

THE FOUR is a simple presentation of Jesus’ Story using four common symbols. It's based on The Four Spiritual Laws of Campus Crusade for Christ, now called CRU. Check out TheFour.com for explanations and videos in all the world languages.

Has anyone ever shared with you the Good News of Jesus? Here’s a passage on how much God loves you and wants a relationship with you.

1 John 4:10

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a saving sacrifice for our sins.

Let me show you what that means with four common symbols.

Here’s a passage on how to respond. Maybe you have seen it at a sporting event.

John 3:16

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.

You don't have to perish—that is, be eternally separated from God because of your sin. Instead, you can have eternal life that starts now and lasts forever. It all comes down to how you respond. Will you believe in Jesus?

Let me ask you: Is there anything that would keep you from receiving God's love personally and committing your life to Jesus?

(Listen carefully. Engage with their response. Answer their questions. Encourage them to respond in faith.)

If you’re ready to respond in faith, here’s a prayer you could pray:

God, thank You so much for Your love for me. And I’m so sorry for my sin against You. I now believe in Jesus and receive Your forgiveness. Help me from now on to follow Jesus and Your way of life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

You can get some wristbands with THE FOUR on it. It’s a good reminder to you to share your faith. And it would be a good reminder to the people you share your faith with of God’s love for them. THE FOUR Wristbands.

• Take turns practicing THE FOUR.

• Begin by asking, “Has anyone ever shared with you the Good News of Jesus?" Then just start. Don’t worry about getting things just right or getting lost in the details. Just break the sound barrier and give it a try.

• How did the sharing go?

Share a Passage

Share a Presentation

3. Share Your Community

Another way to share both your story and Jesus’ Story is by sharing your Christian community. Invite people to join some of your Christian friends for a coffee, meal, games night, campfire, hike or ballgame. Invite them to your church, small group or Contact4Impact Team. As they get to know your brothers and sisters in Christ, they’ll get to know Jesus through them. This is community contact for impact. So again, how are your Matthew Party plans and invitations coming along?

Matthew Party

Matthew Parties are an effective way to SHARE your story with those around you. Matthew Parties are named for the party Matthew threw for his tax collector and sinner friends on the evening he met Jesus. Matthew held this party so his friends could meet the Lord in a safe, hospitable setting (Matthew 9:9-13). Matthew Parties give your group an opportunity to invite your friends to a social gathering. That way, unbelievers and spiritual seekers can discover that Christians are “normal” and this networking could lead to further connections, conversations and invitations to other group activities. The sky’s the limit on what a Matthew Party could be. How about hosting a Thanksgiving dinner, going to a football game together, having a karaoke night or organizing a weekend camping trip? If that’s too complicated, how about hosting a games night or a backyard campfire? The key, of course, isn’t what you do but that you foster missional relationships. (Adapted from The Effective Church Group.)

• What Matthew Party could your group organize and whom could you invite?

Dare

Dare others to be disciples of Jesus..

Luke 9:23-24 (NIV)

23 Then [Jesus] said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.”

• Why does it take courage to follow Jesus?

• Why does Jesus tells us to count the cost of following Him (Luke 14:28).

• Why is the cost of being a disciple of Jesus so high, but the cost of not being a disciple even higher?

1. Dare Others to Become Disciples

• Here’s a question that you could ask:

“Is there anything that would keep you from trusting in Jesus and following His leadership for your life?”

2. Dare Others to Mature as Disciples

• In our next session we’ll look at Discipleship - MISSION (Part 2) - DISCIPLESHIP.

Mission and Kids

Get your kids involved in mission. For example, encourage them to practice a Prayer > Care > Share > Dare lifestyle with their friends and at school. Also, take them with you when you go out for prayer outreach. Kids have a way of making people feel comfortable so it’s often easier to start conversations with people when a kid is present. And, of course, bring them along when you do other mission activities like park cookouts or work days.

 Gathering Guide

• Note the Gathering Guide on Mission.

LIVE / LEAD

• What did you discover in this training session?

Assignment

• Continue joining Jesus in discipling others toward Him by living a Prayer > Care > Share > Dare lifestyle in your mission field.

• Practice your 15 Second Testimony and The Four.

• Work through BE THE WAY - Week 6 - MISSION (Part 2).

• Read chapter 2 of DISCIPLE: The Noun and The Verb (THE VERB - HOW TO DISCIPLE?).