• Jesus’ instruction to the 72 was that when their blessing of peace was received they were to stay in the home where they were welcomed. They were to eat the food offered, declare that God’s kingdom was coming to the household, and heal the sick. Jesus was explaining his strategy. We are to keep searching for and blessing people until we find the one who is ready to receive him. Then we stay with them and help them in their journey of coming to faith in him. This requires spiritual discernment and lots of practical steps, persistent prayer, and patience. Jesus is the good shepherd who knows how to lead people back to the Father. We need to learn what our part in that journey is.

In

• Breakout room questions -

• How are you?

• Is anyone grateful for something from the past week?

• How did you get on sharing your story with someone?

• Do you have any other stories to share?

• Feedback - feel free to unmute and comment

• Breakout room - Practice telling our stories to each there ( remember 2 mins max each)

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).

• Volunteers to unmute and tell their testimony in under two minutes

• Jesus says “ come follow me… and I will send you out to fish for people (Mark 1 v17).

If we look at a coin on one side it has the Queens head - that represents authority. On the other side is the value of the coin which is its purpose - to be exchanged for goods or services to the value stated. In this verse Jesus says “follow me”, which is about his authority and him being Lord of our lives, and then he says “I will send you out to fish for people” which is the purpose for which he called us. Authority and purpose are core aspects of our discipleship. We have often accepted Jesus’ authority and been willing to follow him but rejected his call to reach others for him - our missional purpose. Just as we would never try to cut one side of the coin off from the other as it would destroy its value, so we mustn’t separate mission from discipleship. The good news is that Jesus promises to train and prepare us as he sends us to reach other people for him.

• Recap on what we have looked at so far

• Confidence - praying that each day we would be sent as Christ’s ambassador to share his love.

• Courage and compassion - seeking to bless, share, serve and love others in need, and praying for 5 people we know that they would come to faith in Jesus

• Connection - telling our story, asking questions, making an invitation, offering to pray.

• The next step in mission is “continuing”. In Luke 10, Jesus tells the 72 that when they have found their person of peace to stay with them and share food with them. The work of evangelism is a long term process that involves sharing our lives with people and helping them to take steps towards faith in Jesus. We can think of it like stepping stones across a stream. We are offering ourselves to God to help encourage our “person of peace” to take another step forward.

When someone responds positively to our steps to bless them, and we discover their openness to God, we know they are a person of peace.  We now have to “stay” with them and help them take the next step.

Up

• Bible reading  Luke 19: v 1-10 

• Jesus was renowned for attending meals and parties with people who weren’t law-abiding Jews. Jesus shared a meal with Zachaeus.

Discussion -

• Why did Jesus have a meal with Zachaeus?

• What do you think Zachaeus and Jesus talked about that could have made such a dramatic impact on him?

• What can we learn from Jesus’ example?

• The key to “staying” with your person of peace is regular time with them in which you share life and enjoy deep friendship. This may be doing fun things together, but also talking about life (its joys and struggles) and talking spiritually, inviting them to actively pursue faith on an Alpha / Christianity Explored course or by reading the bible alone or with you.

Discussion -

• Have you ever invited a friend to a church event / evangelistic course? How did that go?

• What helps people to be ready to accept such invitations?

• What do you understand by the phrase “Don't say people’s “Nos” for them?”

• Why can we be tempted to do this?

Out

• The key in this session is getting people to pray and plan what their next step is in helping their friends to come closer to knowing Jesus.

Take some time to pray over 1 / 2 names on your list and ask God to show you what he is leading you to do next. It may not be a great revelation; it may simply be common sense, such as “I haven't met up with them recently so i'll give them a call and arrange it”. Or it might be an idea to lend them a book or send them a link to an appropriate talk on YouTube. It could be baking them a cake or offering to bring them some shopping. Or it could be time to invite them to a church event or Alpha / Christianity Explored course. 

• Individual reflective prayer asking “what next?” and “is there anything you want to show me Lord”? Prayer whilst we listen to some worship music.

• Any feedback on this that people want to raise? Unmute and comment

• What we are learning is that Jesus' command to “stay” with people (eating, praying, healing and sharing) involves us being proactive and intentional. This is an attitude of the mind and it takes courage and obedience to take the initiative in mission.

When we love people, we act intentionally to show our care for them. The way we show our desire to help someone come to faith in Jesus is to reflect on where they are on this journey and to pray “ What can I do next Lord?” You're asking God to guide you in what you can do proactively to encourage them on their journey of faith. People’s journey to faith in Jesus is always personal and unique and so your job is not to force them through a process but to intuitively sense what the next thing is that you could do to help them. Sometimes it is simply to wait and love them; sometimes it is right to bring a clear challenge to them to take the next step of faith. How do we know? We ask God.

• To give us a shared experience of being proactive and intentional, today we are going to contact one of our 5 people whilst we are together. It can be the same person as you contacted a couple of weeks ago or a different one. 

Either

• Text with the invitation to meet up or the offer of help you sensed God prompt you to make when we prayed earlier

• Ask them if they would like to meet up and suggest how to do this eg would you like to meet in the park next week

• Say that you were thinking of them and wondering how they are and if there is anything you could pray for them specifically

• This may feel risky and awkward, but we want to learn and grow in this together. When we step across social boundaries and introduce spirituality into our friendship, it can be difficult but it can open people up to God so it's worth the risk!

• Reflective prayer and stillness whilst people that wish to, send their texts.

Follow up work in week 

• Spiritual assessment exercise. Write down the names of your 5 people, write an arrow beside the each name to indicate any sense of movement that God is at work in them (Up arrow means they are showing signs of opening up to God / Down arrow means they have reacted negatively to something spiritual that you did o that they’ve stepped back / horizontal arrow means no change). If someone has responded positively then you need to ask God “what next?”. A bit like traffic lights. Pray for each of them each day.

• Keep practising your story ( keep saying it to yourself)

• Continue to share how you are getting on with the lent course /  be accountable with another