2. Video

3. Discussion notes

‘Starter for Ten’ Question – to introduce the holy habit and get everyone talking

• Share briefly how you came to know Jesus. Were there any key people along the way who shared the gospel with you?

Looking at the Bible – to see what God says about this holy habit

• Read John 4:1-30 in the Bible.

• Look at the example of evangelism in the life of Jesus. How does Jesus see the woman as an individual and meet her where she’s at?

• Jesus doesn’t preach at the woman but has a conversation with her. What can we learn from the words of Jesus in this story as we try to share the gospel with others?

Discussion Questions – to dig a bit deeper into the holy habit

• When it came to evangelism, Jesus was driven by compassion, but it’s very easy for us to become driven by a sense of duty. How do you feel about evangelism and how can you shift your perspective to one of compassion?

• Duncan gave 5 simple steps, which included ‘be prepared to give an account for the hope that you have’. How would you share your story of how Jesus has changed your life?

Getting Practical – to put the holy habit into practice in our lives

Each pick a couple of people who don’t yet know Jesus who you will commit to pray and fast for. You might want to first spend time in prayer to help identify these names.

Encourage each other to make contact with one or two people this week (and every week) who don’t know Jesus and be ready to come back next time with stories of new people you’ve met.

For many of us, if we’re being honest, we kind of see evangelism as this thing that we somehow know and feel we ought to be doing as followers of Jesus, yet we end up shying away from or busying ourselves with other church activity in order to avoid it. And to stop ourselves from feeling overly guilty about it, we try and convince ourselves by saying, ‘I just don’t think I have the gift of evangelism - I’m gifted in other ways.’

But if we take a moment to pause and reflect on what it means to be a disciple, a follower of Jesus, we quickly discover that it’s not something we can sidestep.

In this journey into the holy habits, we’ve been reminded repeatedly that the invitation to become a disciple of Jesus is an invitation to:

• Be with Jesus

• Become like Jesus

• Do the things Jesus does

First of all, it’s probably helpful to make clear that evangelism isn’t something that Jesus ‘did,’ nor is it something that His followers ‘do’! Not once do we find Jesus telling His followers to ‘do evangelism’; nor do we find such a command throughout the rest of the Bible.

What we do find, however, is Jesus sharing His life with, loving, and serving those who are far away from God, and in that context unashamedly extending the call and invitation to come home to God, to find life in Him and with Him.

If we want to be disciples and followers of Jesus, if we want to be with Him, then it means going where He goes. And where is it we so often find Him? Amongst the very normal people all around…amongst the broken, the poor, the sinners, the lost, the outcasts, the demonised, the misunderstood, the children, the confused, the rejected, the disappointed. We see lists of people like that and we’re tempted to create an ‘us and them’ scenario. But if we’re honest, most of us fit into one of those categories, or have done at one time or another. There are huge parts of who Jesus is that we will never encounter or truly get to know until we meet Him amongst the hurting people of the world. There’s significant elements of His love that we will only discover with greater revelation as we share ourselves and our lives unreservedly with these people, as we seek to love and serve those around us. It’s in the place of getting involved in the mess and brokenness and confusion of other people’s lives who are far from God that we realise we’re utterly powerless to offer anything of real significance apart from God showing up! And it’s in that place that we’ll see the face of Jesus as we look into the face of the one in front of us that we’ve taken time to stop for, to share life with, to love and to serve without any expectation of anything in return.

A friend recently told me how he’d been challenged by God to go and offer homeless guys ice-lollies on a really hot day. No agenda of having to pray for them or share a set piece on the gospel. Just give an ice-lolly to them. He recounted to me that as he did so, one guy in particular was super touched. He found himself in an unusual scenario where he and this touched homeless chap just gazed into each other’s eyes for 20 or so seconds…what would normally be the most socially awkward and bizarre of interactions became the most profound moment for my friend as he said it was as if he was looking into the eyes of Jesus. Wow!

I guess we all want to see our communities, our neighbourhoods, our families, our schools, our workplaces transformed by the same love that we ourselves have been transformed by. It can seem a little daunting to know where to begin. But the best place is to begin with the one in front of us. Whoever God brings across our path each day.

Here’s some practical pointers I’ve personally found helpful in seeking to become more like Jesus in sharing true Life with those in front of me.

1. Make it a habit to connect with people wherever you go and allow yourself to be interruptible

2. Make space to involve those who don’t know Jesus in your life - not token gestures, but actually doing life with them where they see you in all your brokenness too but with the hope you carry of Christ in you

3. Commit to pray and fast regularly for a couple of people who don’t yet know Jesus. It can increase your compassion for them, as well as your prayers impacting those you’re praying for.

4. Discover how best to tell your story and how to speak about what Christ has done in you. Your story won’t connect with everyone, but there are some for whom your story is precisely what they’re in need of. Be prepared and unashamed in boasting of God in your life. 

5. Be ready to pray with people and lead them into an encounter with Jesus. We all get to be a part of leading people into encounter with Jesus - don’t leave it up to the ‘professionals’.

We’d encourage you to watch the video together online, discuss the questions, and read the blog post in order to go deeper.

It might look something like this:

• 7:30pm: Saying hi and catching up

• 7:45pm: Watch the teaching video

• 8:00pm: ‘Starter for Ten’ question

• 8:10pm: Look up the Bible passage and discuss

• 8:30pm: Discussion questions

• 8:45pm: Practice the holy habit and/or make plans for how you can do that this week

• 9:00pm: Say your goodbyes – see you next week!

• Don’t forget to begin by debriefing next week!

We know that every group is different, so feel free to do this in a way that works for you.

Not part of a community but want to join the journey? We’d love to hear from you and help you be part of the family! Email Charlotte on charlotte.henard@wellsheffield.com.

If you’re a community leader and have questions or need technological help, get in touch and we’ll see what we can do!

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