Being a witness for Jesus for Jesus involves speaking for him and having conversations about faith with people, asking questions and telling stories. When Jesus was preparing the 72 disciples to go out, he talked to them through the different reactions that people will have. The really good news from Luke 10: v 1-20 is that Jesus says that we only have to stay and share with people who are open to this. Because the passage describes the disciples bringing a blessing of peace to this house and people receiving this peace ( v5-6) we can call these receptive people a person of peace or more simply a God prepared person. The problem is that we don't know how people will respond before we start to share with them and whether they are a person of peace. So this session is designed to help us think about how we connect with people spiritually in a simple way that is our equivalent of saying peace be upon you. When we have done this we can see whether they are open to taking the conversation further and beginning a journey of faith with them. Isn't it liberating to remember we don't have to keep sharing the gospel with people who don’t welcome it.

Breakout room questions -

How are you?
Has anyone had a reply to their text messages that they would like to share?
How did you get on taking the opportunity to bless, serve or pray for someone?

Celebrate any stories of people taking steps forward in witnessing.

If people haven't made any steps consider why this was?

Lack of opportunity
Lack of time
Lack of motivation ( if so, have we let God give us his heart for these people who are lost?)

What is your favourite rescue story from a book or a film? Why do we find it inspiring? Has anyone had a time when you intentionally made a sacrifice or worked hard to help or even rescue someone you love from a difficult situation?

Bible reading Luke 15: v 1-7. Teaching on how sometimes people think that sharing God's love should only happen naturally and spontaneously. In this passage Jesus says that God is like a shepherd who pursues his lost sheep and is active in rescuing it. His love is shown in the joy of finding his sheep and in heaven when people are saved. It is his love that makes him determined to reach them. This is what God is continuing to do today through you and me. We are Christ's hands and feet on earth and so we should reflect his love for his lost sheep and intentionally seek them out.

Read Luke 10: v 1-11. There are different responses to us sharing God's love with people. Some receive it and some reject it, but the good news is that Jesus says we only have to stay and share with people who are open.

Because the passage describes the peace of God staying on people who are ready to serve Jesus, we can call these people a person of peace or more simply a God prepared person.

What does this passage tell us about what Jesus says we can do in his name?
What might the equivalent today be of saying peace be with you or the kingdom of God is here?

Thoughts on this (please unmute and comment).

The strategy of Jesus is really helpful. It can be summarised as

Speak a blessing of peace on someone
If they reject it, walk away
If they accept it, stay with them

It's that simple! While some people will reject the blessing, there will be lots of others who are open to God and are ready to receive his peace. Our job is to find the person of peace or God prepared person by saying the words of the kingdom or doing the works of the kingdom and seeing what happens. So if we continue to pray for the 5 people we chose and then witness about Jesus to them, we can see who is a God prepared person. This is what we mean by pray for 5 find the one.

Here is a list of what saying peace be on this house can look like today. (We call this “asking questions and telling stories”).

Ask them questions about where they are spiritually. Eg Can I pray for you? Do you feel close or far away from God? What has been your spiritual experience in the past?
Invite them to a christian event such as Alpha / Christianity Explored.
Tell stories of what God has done in your life.
Tell the gospel story.

Breakout room questions -

Do you know if any of the 5 people you are praying for are God prepared people?
How do you know?

Feedback (please unmute and comment)

It’s key to understanding that not all of the people we are praying for may be ready or seeking to know God. If they do respond well, we will continue to journey with them, which we will look at next week. The key is doing something very simple but clearly spiritual with different people that shows where they are spiritually. Remember in Matthew 13 v 1-23, the sower in the parable of the sower kept on sowing, not worrying if the seed fell on rocky ground but trusting that when the seed fell on good soil it would start to grow. Let's encourage one another to simply keep sharing with people until we find good soil.

Jesus continually asked questions and told stories. We will look at different aspects of this in the coming weeks, but today we will look at “telling your story”.

Reading - Luke 8 v 38-39. Sharing your story can help family, friends and people you meet understand the difference Jesus has made to your life and that he can do the same for them. It can be your “big” story of coming to faith but also a testimony of what God has done in your life recently.

The best way to be ready to do this is to practise telling your story in 3 simple sections

What was your life like before you encountered Jesus?
How did you encounter Jesus?
How has your life changed since?

Guidance on your story

Keep it simple, don't include lots of unnecessary detail
Keep it focused on Jesus and not just on you
Avoid religious jargon that people won't understand
Be honest - real stories connect with people, so tell the truth about yourself
Keep it short - ideally less than 2 minutes

Your story

Begin with the phrase “ There was a time in my life when....” (Explain a time when you didn't follow Jeus or if you were brought up a christian when your faith was not as personal or alive as it is now.
“Then ......” (Explain how you came to faith in Jesus or how your faith came alive)
“And now....” (Explain the difference Jesus has made to your life).

Breakout rooms (in 2’s) - practise telling your story in no more than 2 minutes. Give each other encouragement and honest feedback.

Takeaway in the week
- Keep practising your story ( keep saying it to yourself).
- Prayer for courage and opportunity to share over the next week.
- Make a plan who you can tell your story to in the next week (to a non
Christian friend - but if unavailable then tell it to a Christian friend). You could say it to one of the 5 or to a long standing friend by telling them your story.
- Daily prayer plan.
- Continue to share / be accountable with another