•It's said that the last words of General John Sedgwick (1813-1864) were "They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist..." - praise God that he has given us a bit more material to work with!

 

On Sunday we were looking at just some of the farewell words spoken by Jesus to his disciples (as recorded by John) to help us unpack one of HT's core values - the 'what-we-hope-you-will-find-on-the-inside-wherever-you-break-open-the-stick-of-rock'.  After 'All involved', 'Being disciples' and 'Creating Community'......we've got to 'Doing Evangelism'......

 

Now I bet more than few of us smiled in agreement with the 11 o'clocker who called out 'freaky' as an immediate response to the 'e' word.  But as we saw, this value is at the heart of being true to God's word and to the leading of the Holy Spirit.  So I pray that in our small groups and individual reflections this week we will grow in our understanding, be embraced by God's love and know his peace to live out this value just as enthusiastically as the others......here are the notes for group and individual studies:      

  
Word
Reading John 14: 23-29
Jesus is giving his last instructions to the disciples.  He calls them to obey his teaching and receive all the benefits of relationship with God - to be embraced by His love and experience his saving presence in their lives.  He wants them to be ready to receive and be guided by the Holy Spirit in serving his continuing mission to the world.
* Do you think it’s true that we are tempted to regard evangelism as a separate activity from basic Christian discipleship and/or something to fear?
* Do you think it's true that we can have a selfish, almost consumerist, understanding of our salvation?
* "Jesus explains what it is like to live as a Christian - we too often focus on trying to tell people how to become a Christian" - do you agree?
Reading Acts 16: 6-15
We see the Holy Spirit leading the disciples out in the mission…..Paul and his companions are guided in a variety ways, over a period of time and with both some ‘don’t go’ and ‘go’ leading.
* How does this match up to your own experience of the Holy Spirit guiding you?  What lessons can we share?
Eventually we see that Paul and Luke finding an opportunity to share their story with Lydia in a natural and relevant way – and that God does the saving work...
* How does this match up to your own experience of engaging in or being on the receiving end of 'evangelism' – personally and as a church?!
Witness
The baton is passed on as Lydia shares her story with her own household and brings them to faith – in her culture this meant a wider network of people than her immediate family….
* "Evangelism in the Bible is all about relationship building and story sharing, rather than a one-off preaching ‘hits’" – do you agree and if so, how do we follow this pattern?
* Who are your ‘household’ and can the group help you in reaching out to them?
Have fun!