How many of you know how to fish?

How many of you learned to fish by taking a class?

How did you learn?

Evangelism is the same way.

We are fishing for people.

The best way to learn is by going along with someone else who has a little experience and doing it.

Enjoy fishing, not just catching.

Most people I meet struggle to see…

How they can get into evangelistic conversations.

They think they need to be gifted in a certain way.

With a little training, and someone to take them along to do it and show them how; they pick it up.

People often say, “Wow, that wasn’t nearly as intimidating as I thought it would be.”

People need a team:

When I look back at the times I was most effective.

Missions team

Discipleship group

Room mate

DMT

As I’m thinking about the future of Evangelism and Disciple Making at MTC

We will absolutely reach people for Christ if we live evangelistically . The only way we won’t is if we quit. Gal. 6:9, Eccl. 11:6, Matt. 9:38.

Team up: Probably Discipleship Groups

Invite people to share

S.A.L.T.Y Evangelism

This framework can be used for both “Discovery” evangelism and “Relational” Evangelism.

Discovery - Trying to meet lots of people and discover those who are open to the gospel.

Relational - Sharing the gospel in the context of ongoing relationships.

Why? Sharing the gospel takes practice.

S - Start a conversation.

If you are doing “Discovery Evangelism,” you can go right into something like this: “Hi, my name is ________ and this is _______. We’re going around and asking people to share their beliefs with us. Would you be interested in sharing your thoughts for a few minutes?”

If with a friend, you will naturally start the conversation.

A - Ask Questions

What is your spiritual background?

What did that look like growing up?

What does it look like now?

What do you think is the meaning of life or what is most important in life?

Do you believe in God and how do you think we should relate to God?

What do you think happens when we die?

What do you think is on the other side?

What does it take to go to heaven?

How sure are you, on a scale of 1-10 that you’ll go to heaven?

Suppose you were to stand before God today and he asked you, why should I let you into heaven? What would you think to say?

L - Listen to Answers

Be a curious, active listener. Sincerely, seek to understand their views.

Ask clarifying questions like “ tell me what you mean by that.” “Can you tell me more about…?”

“it sounds like what you mean is… Is that right?”

Remember, the goal at this point is not to correct them, but to diagnose where they are at.

Practice

Take a minute to review the questions. Make sure to focus in especially on the last two questions.

Find a partner

Take turns role playing, asking questions and actively listening.

T - Tell them the good news about Jesus.

Ask, “Thank you so much for sharing. Can I show you an illustration that helped me understand how to have a relationship with God? It will take about five minutes.

Share the Gospel with them.

Tract

1 Verse Bridge illustration (Rom. 6:23)

Y - Yes or No? - What is their decision?

Lost people don’t know how to be saved. We must help them know how to respond to the Gospel.

Acts 2:37–38 ESV

Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

If using a tract, the tract will have this as a part of it. So just don’t skip over it.

If not using a tract, do something like this: Share the two circles with them, explaining the two kinds of lives. One with Self on the throne, and the other with Christ on the throne.

Ask, “Which of these best represents your life right now?”

Ask, “Which of these would you like to represent your life?”

Ask, “Do you want to pray today and tell Jesus that you want to follow him? I can help you.”

If they say, yes, lead them in a sample prayer of surrender to Christ:

Admit

Believe

Commit

Get a fishing buddy.

If you really want to learn to fish, you need to get out there and try it.

If you haven’t gone fishing that much, partner up with someone who has.

Those who have some experience, offer yourself to partner up with someone who is less confident.

Set a time and a date to go out before our next meeting.