Prayer, Evangelism, & the Gospel Night #5 NOTES September 13, 2009

1. PRAYER:
• Prayed for friends in the community and for family that are still in need of Christ.
• Prayed for those in the church who are reaching out to non-churched people
• Prayed for each other to be bold and creative to share the gospel where we can

2. GOSPEL:
• Made a list of some of the doubts we might have had/still have about Christianity,
recognizing that we need to be able to have biblical answers to our own doubts so we can
answer challenges from others
• Looked at some of the doubts Atheists have (see Laci’s A Christian’s Guide to Atheists on
YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZchvDcgdJA)
• Reminded ourselves of what the true gospel is, by watching two different approaches to its
communication
o Mark Driscoll “The Gospel” (3 min) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFTX80TpZ_4
o John Piper “The Gospel in 6 Minutes” 1 Thess 5:9-10 http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=4qr9_vryE98

3. EVANGELISM:
What is our motivation for evangelism?
• Obedience – We evangelize because we are concerned for ourselves -that we obey Jesus’
commands
• Love – We evangelize because we are concerned for others – we love them and don’t want
them to go to hell
• God’s Glory – We evangelize because we are concerned for God and that he in all his glory
would be worshipped by all those he created. That is the ultimate reason for evangelism.

• “"Any church that is not seriously involved in helping fulfill the Great Commission has
forfeited its biblical right to exist." – Oswald J. Smith
• May we ourselves so know the Gospel that no one can beat us out of it,; may we so
hold it that our faces shall be like flints against the errors of this age; so practice it that
our lives shall be an argument that none can answer, for the power for the Gospel of
Jesus. –Charles Spurgeon
• "The missional church is made up of missionaries who are playing the big game every
day. They live their lives with the idea they are on a mission trip. On a mission trip,
people focus on the work of God around them, alert to the Spirit's prompting, usually
serving people in very tangible ways, often in ways that involve some sacrifice or even
discomfort." – Reggie McNeal, Missional Rennasaince (Jossey-Bass, 2009)

Assignment: Realize that we need to do some training to equip ourselves to be better at sharing
the gospel. Carmela volunteered to make assignments that would challenge us and keep us
growing in our ability to share the gospel:

PEG Training Assignment #1

Spend some time thinking about and writing down a gospel presentation if you were to give the
whole explanation at one time. For an example, watch how Mark Driscoll does this at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFTX80TpZ_4 . (one of the videos we watched at Sept's PEG
meeting)

Here are the main points he includes:

One God, creator, made us in his image
we chose to sin
we are now separated from God
the birth of Christ
Jesus was tempted but sinless
Jesus' death (explain this--why is this central?)
Jesus' resurrection and how he commissioned us
Jesus' ascension and reign
Jesus' eventual return to judge living and dead
Heaven and hell

Writing it out will help you form coherent sentences. Come prepared to read your Gospel
Presentation to a partner and help one another include any missing elements. Use your own
words that feel natural, as if you were verbally explaining it to someone you know.

4. Updates on PEG Events

• Fair Booth/Fair Share/BBQ – excitement that these events went well, and talked about ways
they could be done better next year.
• Recognized that there is a need to have events (like the BBQ) that we could invite our non-
churched friends to
• Small Stuff around Town –
o Cinnamon buns were given to the police station by Olive on behalf of the church. They
were received with a bit of a shock and surprise! On the card was written a thank you for
their service in the community and Micah 6:8 “What does the Lord require of you, but to
do justice and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God”
• Christmas Events: what can we do that is an outreach type event? Babysitting/kids
program event was discussed, as was handing out Bibles and a Christmas tract, and
including an invite to a larger evening outreach (like the BBQ)
• Easy or Hard, Big Win or Little Win – rating our events as to their work level and their gospel
effectiveness

5. Next Meeting and Format:

-Conrad shared a concern that he was doing to much of the planning for the events, and having too
much input in the way PEG was running
-Format of Evening was discussed, and idea was put forth to break up responsibilities
• Prayer time – all contribute
• Gospel Time – Conrad to find videos/training talk
-Carmela to help discover Assignments and lead that part
• Evangelism – Need to have someone help us evaluate the events, guide us into planning
new ones, and keep us on track in this. (No one volunteered on this, though Kendall has
done a great job in the past)

NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, October 6 @ 7:30 pm.

*Don’t forget to do your assignment!

Keep Praying for God to be glorified in Emo and around the world through his work in our lives!