Before we start:
On your phone, please download these apps:
Life On Mission (3 Circles, Romans Road)
Share Your Faith (Bridge Illustration)
Optional, a Bible app like: Bible
Review:
We are focusing on each of us reaching just one person for Jesus this year.
So far we’ve covered:
Identifying our one.
Praying for our one – why and how.
The value of your one.
Cultivating the heart of your one.
Planting the gospel in the mind and heart of your one.
Today: Look at the last of the three steps we’ll need to take on the way to reaching our one for Jesus: reaping/harvesting.
C = Cultivate
P = Plant/Sow
R = Reap/Harvest
Understanding the Reaping Step
What is reaping?
Reaping is all we do to invite our one to .
Biblical teaching:
John 4:35–38 (NASB95)
“Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.
“Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.
“For in this case the saying is true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’
“I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor.”
Matthew 9:36–38 (NASB95)
Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.
Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
“Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”
Observations:
More people are ready to believe in and receive Jesus .
All the reapers must do is the work that God and others have already started.
There are workers involved in harvesting.
Praying for harvesters may be as important as praying for .
Reaping the Harvest with Your One
I. with Your One
When should we share?
What should we share?
Last week: Good seed
All of us have sinned
All of us deserve eternal separation from God because of our sin
Jesus came and took the punishment we deserved for our sin, dying on the cross in our place and then rising again.
Eternal life is a now free gift received by faith.
How can we share?
Tracts.
Invitation to an evangelistic event.
Verbally.
Three examples of ways to present the gospel verbally:
Best News (Life on Mission app)
The 3 Circles (Life on Mission app)
The Bridge Illustration (Share Your Faith app)
The Best News
:
Our sin has separated us from God.
Romans 3:23 (NASB95)
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 6:23a (NASB95)
…the wages of sin is death
:
We can do nothing to remove our sin.
Ephesians 2:8 (NASB95)
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
:
On the cross Jesus did for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves. He dies on the cross and shed his blood to pay for our sins.
1 John 1:7 (NASB95)
…the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
:
Through faith we freely receive forgiveness and eternal life.
Romans 6:23b (NASB95)
but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
What Now?
Romans 10:9 (NASB95)
that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
Pray:
I am a sinner and want to be forgiven. I believe Jesus Christ your Son died for my sins and is alive right now. I turn away from by sin and now confess Jesus as Lord and receive Him into my life. I ask you, Lord Jesus, to control my life and I thank you for giving me eternal life.
The 3 Circles (Life on Mission app)
God’s design – sin – Brokenness – Gospel – repent and believe – recover and pursue God’s design
The Bridge Illustration
Great chasm exists between us and God caused by our sin.
We try but can’t bridge the gap.
God loves us and wants us to enjoy him and have eternal life.
God sent Jesus to do what we could never do. The cross of Jesus bridges the gap.
We cross over on the cross of Christ by repenting of sin and trusting Jesus alone to be our savior.
2. Lead your one to a definite decision to .
Ask:
Transition question: Does this to you?
Decision question: Are you to receive Jesus as your Savior?
If ready:
Read Revelation 3:20
‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.
Ask them to pray after you. Remind them it isn’t words but what is in the heart that counts.
“Jesus I know I have sinned and not always done what you’ve wanted. I’ve put me and my desires before you too many times. I know I can’t change that or fix my relationship with you. Thank you for sending Jesus to do just that. Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open my heart to you right now and ask you to come in. I trust in you alone to take me to heaven when I die. Help me to live for you from this point on. Amen.”
3. Give and instruction to your one if he/she received Jesus as Savior
Welcome him/her into the .
Explain: every born-again believer in Christ becomes part of God’s family (John 1:12). God is our Father, Jesus is our older brother, other Christians are our brothers and sisters.
In God’s family we are to:
Love one another, encourage one another, and help one another.
We are also to gather together regularly to Connect with God through worship and with our Christian family, to Grow in our knowledge of God and his word, to Serve God and others, and to Reach other people for Jesus.
Provide of salvation.
Reread Rev 3:20.
Ask: Did you open your heart’s door and invite Jesus to come it? Then where is he right now?
Read Hebrews 13:5b.
Ask: What does God promise in this verse?
Read John 5:24.
Ask: What does Jesus tell us those who’ve believed?
This means that we have eternal life already. We have already passed from death to life.
Encourage their
A new Christian is likened to a newborn baby in the New Testament. Parents don’t want their babies to remain babies, but to grow up healthy and strong.
The way you grow is through reading the Bible every day. It’s called the milk of the Word.
You also grow by being around older Christians who show you how to live and act in ways that God approves, and help you to learn more about God.
You also grow by developing your personal relationship with God through prayer.
Tell them about
We get a very special gift when we invite Jesus into our life to be our Savior: the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is God’s spirit who comes to live within us. He gives us special abilities to use for God, helps us understand the Bible, convicts us of sin, helps us pray, creates new character qualities in us, and helps us share our new faith with others.
As you grow in Christ you will probably sense the Holy Spirit quietly guiding you, convicting you of sin, helping you understand the Bible, and changing how you think, act, and speak.
You will also discover him producing the Fruit of the Spirit in you (Galatians 5:22-23): love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Tell them about and the church
The first thing Jesus wants us to do after we are saved is experience believers’ baptism. Believers’ baptism is distinct in three ways:
It is for believers only. It is not for babies or others who are not yet saved.
It comes after salvation, not before.
It is done by immersion, by being fully submersed under water like Jesus was.
Jesus then wants us to start attending a Bible believing and teaching church.
The people there are our new family in God. They are there to help us
grow, serve God, and reach others for Jesus. Church is also a primary
place to connect with God through worship.
If your one lives near you, invite him/her to your church. If not, see if you can help him/her find a Bible-believing and teaching church to attend.
CONCLUSION
If you get this far, you’ve completed the three steps in evangelism and your one is now a believer in Jesus.
Heaven is rejoicing (Luke 15:7, 10)
You’ll keep following up with him/her and encouraging his/her growth in Christ.
You’ll encourage them to share their newfound faith with others. Show them the apps we downloaded or a tract they can use to do this.