R&R blog highlight: 5 Principles of Evangelism

Here’s an excerpt from an article I wrote for Dare 2 Share’s Relational & Relentless blog.

Kelli Mahoney is an experienced youth worker and contributor for About.com’s Christian Teens section.  She regularly posts articles on the site sharing her insights and learnings in the world of Christian teenagers.  I came across an article she had written entitled, “5 Principles of Evangelism for Christian Teens,” (http://christianteens.about.com/od/christianliving/tp/WitnessPrincipl.htm) and needless to say it caught my attention.  The 5 principles she asserts are:

1. Understand your own faith
2. Other religions aren’t all wrong
3. Know why you’re sharing your faith
4. Set limits
5. Be prepared for what you may face

I completely agree that teens need to understand their own faith.  This is one of the main reasons I appreciate Dare 2 Share’s GOSPEL Journey as it lays out the basics beliefs of what it means to be a Christian. In order to clearly communicate the Gospel, students certainly need to understand what it is that they believe.  It’s safe to assume that if students understand the Gospel enough to make their own decision then they understand enough to communicate it.  But it doesn’t hurt to have the Gospel outlined for them.

CLICK HERE to read the rest of the article on Dare 2 Share’s Relational & Relentless blog

LIFE: finding ours in His

We are starting a new Student Ministry sermon series in the New Year called, LIFE: finding ours in His. We will be dedicating the remainder of the school year (5 months) to studying the life of Christ.  The central verse to this series is most likely going to be John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”  The goal of this 5 month study is to focus on the life of Christ and how we, as believers, are called to follow Him and be like Him.  What better way to grow toward that end than studying aspects of the life of Christ?!

I’m planning on working on the outlines for the 17 week series over the Christmas break.  The goal is to have a solid framework in place as we turn the corner into the New Year.  I want it laid out early as I plan on recruiting others to teach different weeks, hopefully somewhere in the range of 6-9 weeks of the study, leaving me with responsibilities of a little more than half of the assignments.

Here is a brainstormed list of the stories and topics we’re contemplating covering next semester.  They are in no particular order at this point. If you see we’ve missed something please share your thoughts.

• Crucifixion
• Resurrection
• Sermon on the Mount
• Lord’s Prayer
• Feeding the 5000
• 12 years old in the Temple
• Jesus’ Baptism
• Jesus’ Temptation
• Transfiguration
• Calling the 12
• Woman at the Well
• Raising Lazarus
• Throwing Tables in the Temple
• Cursing the Fig Tree
• Luke 15
• Predicting His Death
• Conversation with Nicodemus
• Passover / Last Supper
• Sending the 12 / 72
• Entry into Jerusalem
• Why Jesus Came (Luke 3, 19)
• Ascension
• Judas’ Betrayal
• Peter’s Denial
• Healings
• Passion Week
• Prayer in John 17
• Washing Feet

We have several things on the list, but obviously not exhaustive when you consider everything He did in His 3 year ministry on earth.  I’d love your thoughts on this one as we lean into finalizing our plans over the next 2 weeks.

Stations of the Manger

The team and I at Grace Fellowship Church worked on creating a new and fresh way for students to hear and experience the Christmas story this year. We didn’t want students to walk in and out of our ministry this December thinking they had heard it all before and that things were “business as usual” when it came to the Christmas season.  So we developed what we’ve called “Stations of the Manger” which was inspired by, you guessed it, “Stations of the Cross.”  Here’s an overview of how the worship experience went for our students.

We distributed “Stations of the Manger” packets to the student as they walked in.  Once everyone was there we opened by showing a 5 minute clip from The Nativity Story (1hr 16 min – 1 hr 21 min) which is the arrival of Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem through the birth of Jesus.  Our goal with this was to set the stage for what the morning was going to be about.  The students had about 45 minutes to go through each of the following 5 stations.

5 Stations

1. Old Testament prophecies, New Testament fulfillment – there are 4 Old Testament prophecies listed in their handout and we made 4 posters with the New Testament verse or passage that fulfill that prophecy.  Student then matched the verse on the wall to the corresponding verse in their packets, writing out the New Testament fulfillment underneath the correct OT prophecy.
2. The Shepherds – students read the story of the Shepherds in Luke 2 and highlighted the verses in their handout that show how the Shepherds responded to seeing Jesus (v. 17 & 20). Our challenge for them was to identify at least 1 person that they believe God is prompting them to share their faith with and then write it on the wall (green butcher paper cut to look like a hillside).
3. Gifts from the Wise Men – we setup a table with “gold,” frankicense and myrhh for the students to see, touch, and examine.  We explained each of the 3 gifts in their packets so they can understand why the Wise Men gave these particular gifts. They were asked to identify a tangible, modern gift that they would give to Jesus and space in their packets to explain why they chose that gift and what it meant.
4. Following the Star – they read the story of the Wise Men in Matthew 2 to remind them of the journey they took.  They were then instructed to pray about what it is that God may want them to do in the New Year or where they need to be willing to go for Jesus.   They wrote out that commitment on a cut out star and taped it to the wall (black butcher paper to look like a starry night).  They also journaled in their booklets about their commitment.
5. The Manger – we explained the Gospel (using the GOSPEL Journey) and had the students read through it and pray about it. Believing students had the opportunity to write Jesus a Thank You card and place it in the Manger. Students who hadn’t yet made that commitment were challenged to do so. Then they were instructed to take the Thank You card and write their name, email and phone number down so we can follow up with them, as well as the commitment or decision they made.

We ended the morning with a time of sharing, allowing students to talk about the things that had impacted them most about the morning.  We sang a few Christmas favorites as part of the worship experience to conclude.

All in all it was a great experience for our students and we accomplished what we set out to do: create a fresh and interactive way to approach the Christmas story, share the Gospel and give students an opportunity to respond to the Good News, and challenge believing students to share their faith with someone in their life.

New Youth Evangelism Resource

Last month I began working on a new and exciting project with Greg Stier, Tim Schmoyer, and the Dare 2 Share team:

the Relational & Relentless Blog

This project was being discussed and in the works prior to my departure from Dare Share this past summer. It’s pretty cool to see it come to life. I love the opportunity I have to still be a part of advancing the mission of Dare 2 Share Ministries by sharing my thoughts, insights, and experiences as the Student Ministry Pastor at Grace Fellowship Church.  I’m also enjoying the benefit of learning from the other ideas shared on the Relational & Relentless Blog and have incorporated several of them into my ministry context already.

Check it out and join the conversations about evangelism and evangelism training in the world of teenagers. Share your thoughts and ideas by commenting on the different articles you read.  Your ideas and feedback will undoubtedly be of benefit to other Youth Leaders (like me) who frequent the site.