2. REVIEW 3 weeks in 60 seconds A new identity: Ambassadors for Christ
Not just 1, but at least 6 different evangelism styles in Bible
God’s sovereign over salvation (the end), we’re responsible to present his gospel in word & deed (the means)
Talk with God about friends before talking with friends about God
7 Principles of Evangelism
“Listening to Hear”

3. The Pathway to Faith – Where are our friends?
THE 5 THRESHOLDS
The Pathway to Faith – Where are our friends?
Distrust to Trust
Complacent to Curious
Closed to Change to Open to Change
Meandering to Seeking
Out of the Kingdom to Entering the Kingdom

4. THE 5 THRESHOLDS Trust What is Trust? How is it built? How is it lost?
Think, Pair, Share
Think of someone you trust (or have trusted). How did they build that trust? Discuss.
Think of someone you distrust (or distrusted). How did they build that distrust (or lose that trust)? Discuss.

5. THE 5 THRESHOLDS Trust Reasons people distrust Christians:
Bad (even traumatic) personal experiences (Fear)
Seen as anti- what they value (anti-intellectual, -reason, women, -gay, etc.), rather than pro- what they value
Struggle with understanding of it spills over to those who believe it (=political stance, narrow, angry, self-righteous, etc.)
Highly publicized moral failures
“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” – Mahatma Gandhi

6. THE 5 THRESHOLDS Trust 5 Kingdom Habits to Build Trust:
Pray (When tempted to become defensive)
When someone defends actions that hurt you, or invalidates your grievances, how do you feel?
Don’t add to their reasons to distrust
What does Jesus feel for them given what they’ve experienced? How would he respond? What if they heard his heart in your response? [examples]

7. THE 5 THRESHOLDS Trust 5 Kingdom Habits to Build Trust: Learn
Listening to Hear, not just respond
Be a student of those you love / ask good questions
Leads to genuine sympathy / empathy [e.g. hurt church kids]
People can smell a fake a mile away – give your heart

8. THE 5 THRESHOLDS Trust 5 Kingdom Habits to Build Trust:
Bond (choose to be with people where they are)
Combats tendency to avoid (our default is talking about people who are different, not with them)
Best conversations rarely occur in churches
People more comfortable on own turf
“They’re a lot different than what you see on TV”

9. THE 5 THRESHOLDS Trust 5 Kingdom Habits to Build Trust:
Affirm (when tempted to judge)
Look for real good and affirm it
Paul on Mars Hill: “very religious” & “seeking God”
Building bridges
Aloofness can come across as judgment, not neutral

10. THE 5 THRESHOLDS Trust 5 Kingdom Habits to Build Trust:
Welcome (as Jesus did)
“Come and See” (Philip to a skeptical Nathanael)
The Early church know for hospitality, generosity, and service – and great evangelistic fruit
The Chapel mission statement
Other modern examples…

11. THE 5 THRESHOLDS Trust Don’t hear what I’m not saying…
Don’t have to agree with everything they say (e.g. moral relativism)
Know your own boundaries (e.g. Cupcake Girls)
Be you, not who you think they want you to be

12. THE 5 THRESHOLDS Trust Inventory
Have they ever called me when they had a problem?
Have I ever called them for help in anything?
Have they ever been real with me when angry or sad?
Do I hide my honest emotions or moods from them?
Have they ever asked me for advice?
Do we ever just have fun together?
When do I feel most connected with them & what were we doing then?

13. THE 5 THRESHOLDS The Pathway to Jesus
Think of non-Christians God has placed in your life
What threshold would be the next for them to cross?
Ask, “Have I been treating them as if in a different place than they actually are?”
Write their name on a sticky note and place on the wall where they are at now
Spend this next week praying for God to lead you in ways to help them cross over that next threshold

14. THE 5 THRESHOLDS Next week 2nd and 3rd thresholds
Complacent to Curious
Closed to Change to Open to Change
Address the questions: “What do they look like and how can we encourage them at these stages?”
Guest speaker: Elizabeth Walsh