SPIRITUAL CONNECTION: November 14, 2015 - My introduction: My name is Lois Schaefer. I have had the privilege to serve as a trainer for the The 72 - Witness and Outreach ministry of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, and have trained in congregations since 2003. I moved from St. Louis, MO to The Villages, FL in 2004 to help launch an outreach-oriented church. My training includes studies as a DCO through The Hoffmann Institute at Concordia U, St. Paul, MN, and a BS in Management. My passion includes outreach which extends to untouchable children through a Christian school in India. I have served on Boards for homeless and confined, and am in my second term on the FLGA Board of Directors. My email address is: LSchae8338@aol.com. IT’S ABOUT BRIDGE BUILDING Lois Schaefer

Purpose of this Session Understand the need for receiving permission throughout witnessing Learn from the Jesus model on how to move from asking for a drink of water, to talking about matters of the heart, to spiritual conversation, and possibly spiritual conversion. Listening and questions are the skills you will develop to move from life situations to eternal life results. Encourage you to tell the stories of your spiritual journey

Listen Most people do not listen with the intent to understand. Most people listen with the intent to reply. Stephen R. Covey (author, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People) The most important part of evangelism is first building relationships and in so doing, listen to where someone is in their life. The worst thing we can do is assume we know where someone stands in their spiritual journey and go storming in with a fix message when we have no idea where they are hurting nor have we identified their spiritual needs and longings.

Golden Pause Be sure to give time for a person to process information and/or respond. Whenever you ask a question or make a profound statement, mentally count to 10 seconds at least to give your communication partner time to process the information and respond.

Deb Burma, Living a Chocolate Life - Session 3 What Do People Crave? Physical hunger Emotional hunger Spiritual hunger Before we can understand their spiritual hunger, we need to understand their physical and emotional hunger. Deb Burma, Living a Chocolate Life - Session 3

What are they craving? When people are lonely? INTERACTIVE - Let the group answer this. The next slide identifies “love” although the group may come up with other appropriate responses.

Craving Love

What are they craving? When people are experiencing strife? INTERACTIVE - Let the group answer this. The next slide identifies “peace” although the group may come up with other appropriate responses.

….because the world is full of strife Craving Peace…. ….because the world is full of strife

What are they craving? When people are anxious or afraid, dissatisfied or depressed? INTERACTIVE - Let the group answer this. The next slide identifies “comfort” although the group may come up with other appropriate responses.

Craving Comfort….

On what do people base their hope? Listen On what do people base their hope? Eventually, you will understand when you have permission to ask your communication partner about the basis of their hope. This is the underlying factor in what is missing in our lives without Jesus.

Spiritual Cravings Galatians 5:22 Love Goodness Joy Faithfulness Peace Gentleness Patience Self-control Kindness Listen – what are they saying? More than likely, their deficit is one of these spiritual cravings since these are fruit of the Spirit. Listen to their underlying message. Human kind is truly missing these since they do not have God’s Spirit’s indwelling.

Build Relationships John 4:7-30;39-42 Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” In the essence of time, let’s delve into the interaction between Jesus and the woman at the well to learn some key evangelism steps we can incorporate into our relationship-building experiences. Jesus started with mutually basic needs – water for drinking.

Spiritual Connection Woman at the well, “Where can you get this living water?” Jesus answered her, “…the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” He made the connection between a physical need and a spiritual need.

Personal Connection  Jesus told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”   Woman, “I have no husband.” They got to know each other personally as the relationship-building process continued.

Objections, deflections “Sir,” the woman said, “…Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus answered, “…God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” Be prepared for the conversation to move in the direction of deflections or objections. Through your study of God’s Word and with the help of witnessing resources, you can learn how to carry on the conversation in these instances.

Conversion  The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you— I am he.” Isaiah 55:10-11 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish,     so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Therefore, be ready for the next steps of a spiritual conversation moving to Jesus’ narrative

Testimony Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” (They came out of the town and made their way toward him. . . Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony.) Encourage and support the new believer. They may have a multitude of friends who do not know Jesus. Initially, their testimony can be “come, see!”

What was she craving?   INTERACTIVE - Let the group answer this. The next slide identifies fruits of the Spirit to help aide us in our response to this question. (Go to next slide to decide her cravings.)

Spiritual Cravings Galatians 5:22 Love Goodness Joy Faithfulness Peace Gentleness Patience Self-control Kindness

How did Jesus respond? He listened He treated her deflection with respect He answered questions He gave a message of hope We learn from the style of Jesus on building intentional relationships. So, this is a review of Jesus’ witnessing elements as recorded in John 4 for us to emulate.

#1 Listen Listen to their Desire Discomfort Hurt Needs Conversations will not all happen in the order in which I will present them now. My conversation with Indian Hindu man on the plane. 1) He told me of his businesses, cars, house, wife, son in Toronto.

Listen - Bridge Connect to their need with a similar experience. Lead into how God helped you during that bridge-experience and gave you (peace, joy, hope… whatever you identified as is missing in their life).

#2 Clarifying Where you share a bridge-experience, clarify that you understand what they are saying. For instance, the value of ‘good’ – what does it mean? 2) Good defined by this Indian Hindu man in my experience His wife prepared good food that he desired to eat but not always nutritious His mother prepared good food that was healthy for him Belief VS Faith (use this story if time permits) The amazing story of Charles Blondin, a famous French tightrope walker, is a wonderful illustration of what true faith is. In 1860, he repeatedly crossed Niagara falls on a tight rope by foot, bicycle, stilts, blindfolded, in the dark, and even carried a stove and cooked an omelet in the middle of the rope. Blondin suddenly stopped and addressed his audience: "Do you believe I can carry a person across in this wheelbarrow?“ The crowd enthusiastically yelled, "Yes! You are the greatest tightrope walker in the world. We believe!“ “Okay,” said Blondin, “who wants to get in the wheelbarrow?” As far as the Blondin story goes, no one did at the time! This unique story illustrates a real life picture of what faith actually is. The crowd watched these daring feats. They said they believed. But... their actions proved they truly did not believe. Similarly, it is one thing for us to say we believe in God. However, it's true faith when we believe God and put our faith and trust in His Son, Jesus Christ. http://www.inspire21.com/stories/faithstories/CharlesBlondin

#3 Open Questions Who What When Where Why How Find out where the person is in their spiritual walk by asking these open-ended questions rather than questions that would be answered with a “yes” or “no”.

Common conversation starters can evolve into #4 Spiritual Discovery Common conversation starters can evolve into What are your spiritual beliefs? At times like this, upon what inner resource do you draw? Believe it or not, common conversation starters can evolve into questions of spirituality What are your spiritual beliefs? Do you ever think about spiritual things?

#4 Spiritual Discovery If your conversation is progressing well, consider using spiritual track questions: What part has God played in your life?

Spiritual Discovery Encourage them to think. Other party: “How could Jesus let this happen?” Your response: “What do you know about Jesus?” Questions as a response to your communicator partner’s questions can be very helpful in understanding where they really are on the subject. For indepth discussion on this, please refer to the recommended reading: Questioning Evangelism

#5 Permission Questions Along the way, you might ask: Would it be okay if I were to tell you more … Once someone gives you permission to provide information, and they deem your response valuable or interesting, they will give you more permission.   Trigger words and phrases are effective tools that will either lead you toward the goal of sharing your grace story or shut the door completely - at least for that particular encounter. For example, if someone at work mentions a drunken party the night before, you might say, “I used to do that, too, but about ten years ago I had an experience that changed my perspective.” A statement like this is often a preliminary to further discussion (in a sense, this becomes a “permission question” in that if there is no follow-up on his part to your comment, then he probably doesn’t want to hear any more about why and how you changed. If the person asks for more details, you can lead him closer to the Gospel story as you reveal a little at a time, leaving room for him to “opt out” if he becomes disinterested or feels threatened in any way. In order to leave room for him to “opt out,” we use Permission Questions along the way, such as, Would it be okay if I were to tell you a bit more about ­­­­­­­­­­­­______________________________? If he’s not curious enough about you to want to learn more, then he’s probably not going to listen intently as you present the story of Jesus’s work in your life.

#6 No Means NO If the person says, “no”, then do not proceed. Obviously, if the person is reluctant to go any further in the conversation, perhaps it is time to end it for the day. Another opportunity may open to continue parts of the conversation. However, it may be a closed door. Remember, you are not in this alone. 1 Corinthians 3: 5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 1 Corinthians 9:12 – (we do not want to hinder the Gospel of Christ)

#7 Concluding Encourage a response. Does what I am saying make sense to you? Would you like to know how I finally found (peace, joy, etc.) in my life? End your conversation with a question that encourages a response. Here are some examples – you’ll discover the appropriate one for your conversation when the opportunity is presented. Can you relate to what I am saying? Would you like to know the (love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, etc…whatever it is you focused on as their need), too? For those who begin searching for answers to these thought-provoking questions, the next step is to invite them to a small group or an individual meeting (perhaps at a local coffee shop) to discuss “spiritual and philosophical perspectives.”

Concluding After telling your testimony, follow with, “What do you think?” Probe more to see where they are in their understanding.

#8 Commitment Would you like Jesus to become a part of your life, too? Are there any dangling questions that would prevent you from trusting in Christ right now? I get the idea that you’re ready to make this decision. Is that right?  

#9 Your Testimony What event in your life has caused you to say, “thank you, God!”? How has Jesus changed my life? What does my faith mean to me?

#9 Your testimony Remember, a testimony that emphasizes the daily differences that result from your faith in Christ is more valuable than the “how-I-became-a-Christian” variety.)

9 Your testimony Use the #9 Your testimony questions and/or the graph to develop your testimony. Once you have written it out, read it to friends, and then tell it to friends to get comfortable with your message. Your lead in to sharing your testimony could be something like this: Have I ever told you about what a difference my relationship with God has made in my life? (Or some other introduction in your short testimony. Remember, a testimony that emphasizes the daily differences that result from your faith in Christ is more valuable than the “how-I-became-a-Christian” variety.)

#10 Jesus Narrative Tell about Jesus. Learn how to draw the image of the separation from God and the bridge, Jesus’ cross, back to God. It is what Jesus did for us that makes this relationship possible.

Our Problem: Separation from God Here is an excellent visual example that could be used to help the hearer understand how our relationship with God is broken, but restored by Jesus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmqD5MUQ8LY

Through the ages individuals have tried to bridge this gap in many ways Proverbs 14:12, Isaiah 59:2

God’s Solution: Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ provides the ONLY solution to our problem. He died on a cross and rose from the grave, paying the penalty for our sins and bridging the gap from GOD to MAN. 1 Timothy 2:5, Romans 5:8, John 14:6

Your opportunity: to believe in Jesus Christ! God offers you forgiveness of your sins and new life through faith in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2: 8,9; Romans 10:9 Is there a reason you do not believe in Jesus Christ now? How to believe in Christ: Admit your need: “I have done wrong things and God calls that sin.” Confess your faith: “I believe that Jesus Christ died for me on the cross and rose from the grave. Can you sincerely pray using the words of this prayer? Dear God, I have done wrong things; I am a sinner and need you. I believe that Jesus Christ died for my sins. Thank you for giving me complete forgiveness of my sins and eternal life. Give me Your Holy Spirit to help me follow and obey Jesus Christ as the Lord of my life. Amen. Please consult your “tract” handout. GET A LIFE WITH GOD, 2005, produced by The Rev. Brian Runge, 1515 Hillendahl, Houston, TX 77055 (out of print, but used here with permission).

To tell you my story…. IS TO TELL OF HIM! My Story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8TBoR-GSso To tell you my story…. IS TO TELL OF HIM! Note: When developing our personal testimony of your relationship with God, it should direct the hearer to understand that our triumph is through Jesus. This message, then, is the perfect lead-in to Jesus’ story as your total testimony. Big Daddy Weave has example of “his story” set to music in “My Story.” My story: Hope that wouldn’t let go Love that never gave up Life – but it wasn’t mine The grace that is greater than all my sins Justice that was served where mercy wins The kindness of Jesus that draws me in To tell you my story is to tell of Him. Victory over the enemy Freedom that was won for me How life overcame the grave