Evangelism Training Course Outline

Here's the 12 week outline for Outgoing. It's based around four questions:

What kind of God?

What kind of gospel?

What kind of people?

What's stopping us?

Introduction

From the overflow of the heart - The first thing I need to do with the gospel is believe it.  When my heart is full, then I will overflow to others (Matthew 12:34).  But the first person who needs the gospel is me!

Part one.  Part two.

What kind of God?

The Jesus-Shaped God – The big question for Christian and non-Christian alike is “Which God?”  Most people believe in God, billions pray to God, trouble is no-one knows who they’re praying to.  And everyone’s God seems different.  Will the real God please stand up?  He has, and His name is Jesus.

Part one.  Part two.

The Surprising God – When we see the God revealed by Jesus, that ought to shock us, because He is very different to the God people talk about in the pub or the philosophy department.  We might find ourselves having to give up the God we grew up with, because Jesus reveals the Surprising God.

Part one and two.

The Triune God – people often think of the Trinity as a problem in evangelism. How do we explain the Trinity?  The Trinity is not the problem.  The Trinity is the solution to all our other problems.

Part one.  Part two.

The Outgoing God – If God is Jesus-shaped, if He’s cross shaped, if He’s Three Persons United, then He is thoroughly outgoing.  His posture to the world is “Arms outstretched.”  And that has huge implications for my Christian life and for evangelism.

Part one and two.

What kind of gospel?

Dead – We need to know who we are as the Outgoing God meets us.  Who are we? We’re under judgement.  We are sinners condemned under a terrible death sentence.

Part one and two.

Buried – More than this, all our solutions are false hopes.  They actually mire us even deeper.  We try to give ourselves life but we find ourselves addicted to all the wrong things.  We try to clean up our act and find ourselves trapped by the law.  We have no hope in ourselves.  All our hope comes from Jesus

Part one.  Part two.

Raised – Christ saves us.  And He does it completely and without assistance from us thank you very much.  Christ alone saves us, out of His own sheer mercy and grace alone.

Part one.  Part two.

What kind of people?

Priestly People – we’ll think of the Priesthood of Christ and the priesthood of all believers.  I find who I am in Jesus and in the family of believers – and both those things are priestly realities.  Priestly means outgoing – a priest is a go-between.  We are a priestly people.

Part one and two.

Proclamation People – We are people of the word.  The gospel Word creates us, sustains us and flows through us to the world.

Part one and two.

What’s stopping us?

Problems of the head? – Do we fail at evangelism because we don’t know the answers?  That might explain some of it.  Certainly we all need to know the gospel better.  But we need to figure out the place of “right thinking” in bringing someone to Christ.

Part one.  Part two.

Problems of the heart – You know why I don’t share my faith?  Because I’m scared, I’m selfish, I feel superior and I’m spiritually dry!  Those are my real problems.  And what’s the answer?  Return to Christ as He’s offered to me in the gospel.

Part one. Part two.