Relational Evangelism Training - Dare 2 Share Ministries
Helping youth leaders empower
students to reach their world.
Helping youth leaders empower
students to reach their world.

Gospel Advancing Ministry - Relational Evangelism Drives It

In this month’s episode of the Gospelize with Greg Stier podcast, Greg begins the second part of a seven part series on how to build a Gospel Advancing Ministry. Part 2 focuses on relational evangelism, what it looks like, and how to implement it into your youth ministry. Check out the video and podcast resources below!

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Today I want to talk to you about relational evangelism.

When I was in 7th grade I experienced a mini-revival in my neighborhood (Mike and his two brothers….Benji….Carl/his sister Renee….Vince who reached Rodney…Raymond was the only one definitely not interested. We had a neighborhood Bible study. I trained them how to grow in their faith and how to share their faith…and it all started with relational evangelism.

Today I want to talk to you about relational evangelism.

When I was in 7th grade I experienced a mini-revival in my neighborhood (Mike and his two brothers….Benji….Carl/his sister Renee….Vince who reached Rodney…Raymond was the only one definitely not interested. We had a neighborhood Bible study. I trained them how to grow in their faith and how to share their faith…and it all started with relational evangelism.

Do you know what I love about relational evangelism is that it seeks to build a bridge first…and it’s a myth that this bridge has got to take weeks or months or years…Jesus was super relational with the woman at the well and, within minutes he had turned the conversation spiritual.

Introducing value #2relational evangelism drives it…(Remind them of the research project…7 values and book of Acts)

In our first podcast on this we talked about intercessory prayer fueling the Gospel Advancing Movement…now we’ll talk about the second value…

What is relational evangelism? It is sharing the Gospel in the midst of an already existing relationship or building a relationship with the hopeful intent of sharing the Gospel.

  • Relational evangelism opens the door for effective discipleship.
  • Relational evangelism risks social equity (core call of discipleship is death to self)
  • Relational evangelism is the key to exponential growth (It was the movement underneath the movement in the early church…oikos…household…8-15…not just family but close friends, neighbors and co-workers) We see it in…
    • Luke 8:39 The demoniac was told to return to his household and described the great things done for him
    • Luke 19:9 Zacchaeus was told salvation had come to his household
    • John 4:53 The centurion’s whole household was saved following the healing of his son
    • Acts 10:2  This records that Cornelius was a righteous man who feared God with all his household.  When Peter arrived to preach the gospel, we see that Cornelius had a broader understanding of oikos than simply his relatives. 
    • Acts 10:24 When Peter arrived Cornelius had invited his relatives and close friends
    • Acts 18:8   Luke describes how Crispus, leader of the synagogue at Corinth, believed in the Lord with all his household
    • 1 Corinthians 1:16Paul baptized the household of Stephanas
    • I saw this in my entire family’s salvation…uncle Jack, Uncle Bob….

And this almost always flows out of relational evangelism…someone gets saved and then they spread that message to those they have relationships with…That’s why Colossians 4:2-6 is a powerful example of how to do that…

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of the very opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.  Colossians 4:2-6

I love this passage because in it are three keys to accelerating the Good News: Pray, Care and Share! Here Paul lays out this process that was so natural to him. I believe that these three keys helps us become super effective relational evangelists.

  1. Pray

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.” Colossians 4:2-4

    1. Pray that God will open up opportunities for natural Gospel conversations.

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” Colossians 4:2

Are you praying in a watchful way?

In Ezekiel 33:1-11 the Lord calls Ezekiel The Watchman. He was to blow the trumpet of truth when he saw the enemy approaching and rescue the people of the city. In the same way this passage calls us to be Watchmen on the wall? We are to be praying in a watchful way…looking for any and every opportunity to blow the trumpet of truth to those in our world and rescue them.

What if we prayed the prayer that God would open up the door every day for us to share the Gospel with someone? Someone I know who does that is Dave Gibson. He’s a mission’s pastor in Eden Prairie Minnesota and one of the godliest men and most relational evangelist I have ever met.

Every day he prays the prayer of “One more sheep Lord. God give me the opportunity to share Jesus with someone today.” He calls this the prayer that God loves to answer. And, more often than not, God answers that prayer.

One day I was with Dave when God answered his prayer!

      • Picture of me and him and Sandra
      • Tell story of her sharing Jesus with other server.
    1. Pray that God will provide me with the wisdom to be as clear as possible.

“Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.” Colossians 4:4

  • Napoleon’s three directives to his war time messengers:
    • Be clear! Be clear! Be clear!
  • My son and I heard a sermon, “Dad, that guy didn’t give a clear Gospel.” I said, “He didn’t mention the cross so he didn’t give the Gospel.”
    • Every sermon can be boiled down, as one preacher said, “to the ladder or the cross.” (picture of ladder &  cross)
  1. Care

“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of the very opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt….”  Colossians 4:5,6

My wife so helped me in this part of the process. To be honest, I was the kind of guy who wanted to just jump right in.

Rachel in Gospel Journey Maui…her personal struggle…forced to go to church…prayed for wisdom to reach her…the conversation on the boat on the way to Molakai….

    1. Be strategic in how you care for them.

“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders: make the most of every opportunity.”  Colossians 4:5

Taking care of physical needs (Care day at Lead THE Cause with Dream Center)

William Booth Quote: “While women weep as they do now, I’ll fight. While little children go hungry, as they do now, I’ll fight. While men go to prison, in and out, in and out, I’ll fight. While there is a drunkard left, while there is a poor lost girl upon the streets, While there remains one dark soul without the light of God, I’ll fight. I’ll fight to the very end!
William Booth

Taking care of emotional needs

  • Listening to others is a powerful way to care for people…
  • Covey Quote, “Seek first to understand then to be understood.”
  • Tells story of kids gone wild on a train…

Taking care of spiritual needs

  • Asking someone how you can pray for them The power of “How may I pray for you…” Tell story of LTC this last summer…
    • Emily the Barista…God answered my prayer!
  • Prayer, for whatever reason, opens the floodgates…even atheists sometimes want prayer…
    1. Be gracious in how you reach out to them.

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt….” Colossians 4:6

Vince the Satanist…the Denny’s conversation

  1. Share

“…so that you may know how to answer everyone.”  Colossians 4:6

    1. Gospel fluency is assumed.

“…know how to answer everyone….”

Your teens knowing “how to answer everyone”

“Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!” Illustration

Do your teenagers know the Gospel?

  • The Microphone Test
  • Go over GOSPEL (spell out full acrostic)
    1. Words are assumed.

“Use your words….” 

When you share the Gospel you share a message. When you share a message you use words.

There’s something powerful about the words of the Gospel.

Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes….”

I don’t know how God infused divine power into a stick, a stick the Moses used to open up the Red Sea, but he did.

I don’t know how God infused divine power into a message, the message that Jesus and his followers have used for 2,000 years to open up closed hearts, but he did.

-“Preach the Gospel. If necessary use words.”  St. Francis of Assisi

-“Preach the Gospel. It’s necessary. Use words.” 

Closing illustration

Closing application: The Cause Circle (show new Cause Circle from Li6W update app)

Nobody illustrated this more than Jesus! This characterized the entire ministry of Jesus throughout the Gospels

  • He prayed (Luke 5:16)…He prayed for the lost…My good friend pointed out to me that Jesus prayed for the lost in his high priestly prayer in John 17:20, “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message….”  Here he is praying for unbelievers.
  • He cared (miracles, miracles, miracles)…why because he cared! He wept over Jerusalem…his heart broke for the crowds that were harassed and helpless…he fed the hungry with loaves and a few fishes because he cared about their physical as well as their spiritual conditions.
  • He shared (out loud with words he shared the message of grace)…He used words to share the Gospel with the woman at the well and Nicodemus…he used his words to share the truth with the rich young ruler and countless others.

Story of Riley, Starbucks barista…how it incorporated Prayer, Care, Share

Closing prayer

KEEP in touch

Subscribe to monthly podcasts plus weekly tips and inspiration that will help you build a Gospel Advancing Ministry.