The Cause Circle Friendship Challenge Part 1

Introduction

Attention:

Need:

For the month of January, we are focusing on ministering to our friends and sharing the Gospel with them

The reality is that we all have friends that don’t know the Lord, and the reason that the Lord has put you in their lives is so that you might pour into them and share the Gospel with them.

And let’s not forget the purpose of this ministry: to Build student disciples who build student disciples

And part of that means that we have to be BRIGHT; if we are not being bright to the friends in our lives, what’s the point of us meeting together like this in the first place?

This lies at the very foundation of why this ministry exists, and it lies at the very foundation as to why you exist

God created you to BUILD disciples. You can do that like never before in 2022!

Body:

We all know that we need to share the Gospel

But the question is like, how am I supposed to do that without someone looking at me like I have three heads?

We need to be reminded of some practical ways to do this; we need a pathway

And Prayer, Care, Share (From Dare 2 Share Ministries) helps us to understand the biblical way of seeing things.

*watch video*

I don’t know about you, but when I used to think about sharing the Gospel, I thought about standing in a street corner with a megaphone and yelling “REPENT”

That’s not the sort of thing that we are talking about here! The type of evangelism that we are talking about takes time. You don’t have to be overwhelmed by this. It is about building relationships and naturally sharing Jesus with people

Will you be called to go out of your comfort zone? Absolutely! But you don’t have to do everything all at once

Speaking of that, take a look at your handout really quick

This piece of paper lays out something that we are calling the Cause Circle Friendship Challenge for us; this is something that we are being challenged to participate in throughout this year.

You can see two steps within each movement (prayer, care, share)

Each week for the next three weeks, we are going to focus in on the two steps inside of each of these three main sections

So this morning, we are talking about “Prayer”

When it comes to sharing the Gospel, it is so easy to skip past this one!

Whenever we do a series like this, it is tempting to jump ahead to clear-cut strategies for sharing the Gospel

But without prayer, all of our efforts to minister and share the Gospel with our friends will be pointless.

It always begins with prayer

We see this clearly in the New Testament; there is a clear “pray first” philosophy that the apostles embraced

This is especially evident in 1 Timothy 2:1-4, where Paul writes the following:

1 Timothy 2:1–4 NLT

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.

So who is being prayer for here? All people.

That includes your friends. God wants you to pray for you unsaved friends.

Why is it that he wants you to do this? Because he wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth

You should want that too; especially for your friends!

Prayer has to come first

Which naturally leads to the question… how much have you been praying for your lost friends to accept Christ?

This question isn’t asked to make you feel guilty; quite the opposite! It is actually asked to encourage you for what God wants to do through you this year. Its a brand new year- use it as a brand new opportunity!

And this leads us to the first two steps of the “Prayer/Care/Share” process

These are two steps that you can get started on this week! And these two steps should be an every day thing as well.

PRAYER:

Pray for your friend’s salvation

The exciting thing about the cause circle is that we can start this process here in this room right now; we don’t have to go out on a missions trip. It starts with prayer, and prayer can happen anywhere.

So you need to pray that God will save your friends

It is only by God’s grace that anyone is saved, after all. You were saved by God’s grace, and now you are praying that your friend will receive that same grace.

We already shared that the apostles modeled this for us in the NT, but Jesus is the ultimate example here. Just check this passage out;

Mark 1:35–39 NLT

Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. Later Simon and the others went out to find him. When they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you.” But Jesus replied, “We must go on to other towns as well, and I will preach to them, too. That is why I came.” So he traveled throughout the region of Galilee, preaching in the synagogues and casting out demons.

Before ministering to people, Jesus went away to pray

This should have a HUGE impact on the way that we view the relationship between prayer and evangelism.

Before sharing the Gospel, Jesus prayed first. And while it doesn’t say what he was praying for exactly.... OF COURSE he was praying for salvation! Remember, he desires that none should perish

And I think that there is something that the video said here that is really profound; Jesus did this because he realized that before talking to people about God, he needed to talk to God about people.

And the same is true for is. We need to pray that God will prepare the hearts of our friends to receive the good news.

But what are some practical ways to pray like this? I want to be careful here, because I don’t think that prayers should ever be “robotic,” or sound like you are praying in a way where you are just checking off all of your boxes, but if you have difficulty finding words to pray to begin with, a great place to start is to pray Scripture

So let’s try this out

John 14:6 NLT

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

This is ultimately the truth that want your friend to know

You want your friend to come to the realization that Jesus is the definition of truth and life; he is what gives this world meaning; he is what gives our lives purpose

And you want your friend to know this not only in their heart, but in their mind as well

You want them to see that Jesus is the only method of salvation

This goes against what a lot of your friends believe. A lot of my unsaved friends think things like “all religions are basically the same; it doesn’t matter which one you pick. They all led to heaven.”

Or if they don’t believe something like that, they might think that, if heaven exists at all, maybe they can earn their way there by doing enough good deeds (if they even believe in Heaven at all; they very well may not)

But what we are wanting our friends to see is that Christ is the only way to Heaven; there is salvation in no one else (Acts 4:12)!

So if you are praying for your friend’s salvation, you might pray something like, “Jesus, help my friend to see that you are the way, the truth, and the life, and that no none can come to the father except through you.” Its as simple as that.

Let’s try this with one more verse.

Ezekiel 11:19–20 NLT

And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their stony, stubborn heart and give them a tender, responsive heart, so they will obey my decrees and regulations. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God.

The last verse showed us what it is that we want our unsaved friends to realize, while this verse shows us what is is that we are wanting God to do in their lives

We are praying, “Lord, give them a new heart. Remove from them the hardness of their hard, and help them to see you as you truly are. Enable them to walk in your ways. Jesus, become their personal Savior.”

If you have been saved, you can remember what this process was like

You might not remember the exact day and time that you got saved, but you remember that God took out a heart of stone and put in a heart of flesh

Does that mean you were perfect afterwards? Of course not, but you do remember there being change

This is something incredible that we want our friends to experience, too!

So start doing this. Start talking to God about your friends. Make 2022 the time that you really began to seek the Lord about their salvation

And that’s the first step, so let’s move on to the second one!

PRAYER:

Pray for your friend’s salvation

Pray for your friend’s wellbeing

While the main thing that we should be concerned about with our friends is there spiritual needs, we shouldn’t neglect the other needs that they have in their lives

Part of what we are trying to do is to create a heart inside of us that overflows with Biblical love for our friends

We should want what is best for them; we should want to help them

This points us back to one of the foundational verses for the purpose statement of Enon Student Ministry

Matthew 22:37–40 NLT

Jesus replied, “ ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

Of course, a big part of loving your neighbor is to pray for their salvation. Heck; that’s one of the absolute most loving thing that you can do!

But that sprititual concern should result in an overall concern for their well being

In other words, in the context of someone who isn’t saved, loving your neighbor includes praying for their salvation, but it also includes a general concern for their well being

Simple things like, “I hope they had a good dinner tonight,” or more complicated things like “I hope that they’re less stressed” should be very important to us as their Christian neighbors

So, practically speaking, in addition to praying for their salvation, you should also pray “Lord, help them to have a good day today.”

And again, this prayer is for them, but ultimately what’s happening along with this is that God is taking your heart, and he is transforming your heart into one that is more caring and loving for people

This is where the challenge starts. It starts with prayer. Praying for your friend’s salvation, and for their well being

Conclusion/Small Group Transition

We are about to split into small groups, where you will have an opportunity to talk about the friends that you are going to pray for

But before we do that, we are going to get our Cause Circle Friendship Challenge sheets ready (guard these with your life)

First, make sure to go ahead and put your name on it

Next, go ahead and write the name of three unsaved friends that the Lord is challenging you to minister and share the Gospel with

And if you are having difficulty thinking of anyone right off hand, that is okay; spend some time in prayer asking the Lord to reveal some folks to you; I’m sure that He will!

*take about 5 minutes or so here*

Alright, let’s pray and then split!

PRAY

Small Group Questions

What three friends did you write the names of on your sheet? How do you know them?

What is your strategy going to be for praying for them this school year? When and where will you do it?

1 Timothy 2:1–4 (NLT)

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.

3.