NCF Podcast

5/24/09 The Cost and the Call! Luke 19:41-44
Pastor Paul M. Reinhard
WWW.NORTHPOINTSB.COM

Welcome: If somebody said to you right now, “Let’s go out and do some evangelism!” what thoughts would go through your mind?

Worship: Be creative in opening your hearts to God! Take time for a song, poem, video clip, story, or testimony! Spend some moments in prayer. Invite the Holy Spirit to meet with you as your teacher, friend, encourager, and the giver of great gifts!

Word: We tell people about things we like! Go eat at this restaurant! Watch this movie! Check out this store! It is easy to introduce people we love! This is my wife! This is my mom! This is my best friend!

1. Why does the concept of “doing evangelism” create so much stress for so many Christians?

2. Go around your circle and read Mark 5:1-20 aloud!

A. Describe the demon-possessed man! Did this man have issues? What were they?

B. Can you think of contemporary issues that are a parallel to the problems this man had!

C. From the story would you say that this man was a deeply learned spiritual man?

D. What did Jesus tell this man to do? Mark 5:19

E. How did people respond to this man? Mark 5:20

2. Go around your circle and read aloud Paul’s story in Acts 22:1-23.

A. What do we learn about Paul the Apostle in verse 3?

B. Did Paul teach a deep and theological lesson to the people in Acts 22?

C. What did he do? How did he share? What did he share?
3. Paul gives us a wonderful Biblical pattern for telling our story! Take some time at home, fill in the blanks, and ask God for an opportunity to share your story with someone who is eager to hear it! Someone called this his “elevator story!” It’s a story they could tell between floors 1 and 15 in an elevator!

A. My life before Christ!

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B. How I met Christ!

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C. What God saved me from!

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D. The difference Christ has made in my life!

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4. Close your time in prayer for the advance of God’s Kingdom through you!

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A little story for your personal meditation:

One day as a woman was crossing a street at London station, an old man stopped her. He said to her, "Excuse me, ma'am, but I want to thank you." She looked up and exclaimed, "Thank me?" He replied, "Yes'm, I used to be a ticket collector, and whenever you went by you always gave me a cheerful smile and a good morning. I knew that smile must come from inside somewhere. Then one morning I saw a little Bible in your hand. So I bought one, too, and I found Jesus.
--James S. Hewett

Witness: Be praying this week that God will give you His passion for the lost. Ask God for an opportunity to share the ABC’s with someone in your OIKOS! Draw close to Christ, and ask Him to use you, to His glory, in a new and wonderful way!