You Y’all will be my witnesses.

1 FOUNDATIONS

We will help you share your faith— together as a community.

Our witness for Jesus is often stronger when it’s spoken and lived out as a family— the body of Christ.

    • This series highlights 4 key practices.

    • Each practice is deeply rooted in the life and ministry of Jesus.

    • These practices move the gospel deeper into our communal life. They also provide a magnetic, life-changing witness to the world around us.

OVERVIEW

  1. Share and Explore - How do people hear the good news? 6-7min

  2. Watch - Madison and Chandler (Welcome)   4 min

  3. Discuss - Let’s talk about family  5-7 min

  4. Read - Biblical foundations  2 min

  5. Read And Discuss - Let’s talk about Salvation  5 min

  6. Watch and Discuss - Addie’s Story,   10 min

Today’s Practice

1. Foundations

Let’s begin.

Let’s brainstrom together. How are people currently encountering the gospel on our campus?

▼Discuss together

3-4 min discussion

God reaches people through relationships.

Explore the three
relational contexts,
or modes, of our gospel witness.

God reaches people through relationships — and it usually happens in three main ways:

  • the relationship between a Chistian and a total stranger.

  • the relationship between a Christian and a non-Christian friend.

  • the relationship between a non-Christian and a Christian community.

Each one involves Spirit-driven initiative — and God uses all three.

▼Read

ministry mode

  • We pass by people we don’t know every day. What if God is whispering to us to stop and lovingly share some good news?

    “Ministry mode” involves the intentional outreach of a Christian to a person with whom there is no pre-existing relationship.

  • In Acts 8:26–40, the Holy Spirit sends Philip to a place and a person he’s never met before. He approaches an Ethiopian official who’s reading the scroll of Isaiah but doesn’t yet understand what it means. Philip asks a simple, bold question:

    “Do you understand what you are reading?”
    The eunuch replies, “How can I, unless someone explains it to me?”

    Philip climbs into the chariot and walks through the Scripture, showing him how it points to Jesus. And right then, the eunuch believes and is baptized.

    This is Ministry Mode — when we step outside our normal circle to share the gospel with someone we don’t yet know. It might happen through surveys, tabling, or a Spirit-led conversation on the quad. Like Philip, we listen to the Spirit, take initiative, and trust that God is already preparing hearts.

natural mode

  • You are naturally connected to certain people in your life. You have common interests, you come from the same place. You might be friends or family together. Sharing the most important parts of our life draws us closer together.

    “Natural mode” involves the intentional outreach of a Christian to a person with whom there is a pre-existing relationship.

  • In John 1:40–42, we’re told that Andrew, one of the first to follow Jesus, immediately goes to find his brother, Simon Peter, and says:

    “We have found the Messiah!”
    Then he brought him to Jesus.

    This is Natural Mode evangelism at its heart. Andrew simply turned to someone he already knew and loved and said, “Come and see.” He brought Peter to Jesus and Peter’s life was forever changed.

body life mode

  • Christianity is more than a set of propositions or true claims. It is incarnational— God coming and being among us.

    “Body mode” focuses on the relationship between “a non-Christian” and “the body of Christ” and occurs whenever a non-Christian encounters the gospel as it is spoken and lived out in the communal life of a group of Christians.

  • Acts 2:42-47 portrays the first Christian community:

    “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer… They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need… And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

    This is Body Mode in action. People were drawn not just to a message, but to a community shaped by the gospel.

    The way Christians loved each other and shared life together made their community both distinctive and compelling. Body Mode draws others into our fellowship — so they can personally experience the family of Jesus.

Which mode of evangelism do we practice most within our movement?

▼Discuss together

3-4 min discussion

Our gospel witness is healthiest

when all three ways

are present, growing, and working

together within our community.

Our training focus for this series:

BODY LIFE WITNESS

“Whenever someone who is not a Christian encounters the gospel as it is spoken and lived out in the communal life of a group of Christians.”

▼ Watch together.

Meet your hosts

Madison and Chandler

Madison and Chandler are college students in Boston with roots in Texas, Arkansas, and Germany. They will get us started at the beginning of each practice we are learning together.

Let’s talk about family.

5-7min discussion

▼Discuss together

Our families form and shape us. What is one way your family has shaped you?

IDEAS FOR SHARING:

  • a cherished value

  • a tradition you follow

  • a life lesson that guides you

  • an important geographic location

  • a story your family has passed down over the generations

We begin by looking at how the Bible describes God’s plan to rescue and heal the world.

We need to understand the bigger story and our role in that story.

It begins and ends with family.

BIBLICAL FOUNDATIONS

▼ Read aloud.

▼ Choose someone to read the following section for your whole group.

One of the Bible's foundational themes is God's formation of a people—a family

in this world, for this world.

I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. . . and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.

— Genesis 12:2-4

From the formation of the family of Israel

to the formation of Jesus' band of disciples

“Father, I pray that all who believe in me can be one. You are in me and I am in you. I pray that they can also be one in us. Then the world will believe that you sent me. ”

— John 17:21

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

— 1 Peter 2:9-10

to the formation of the church by the Holy Spirit.

This one unifying theme of the salvation and formation of a family of God knits 1600 years and 66 books of the Bible in one continuous narrative.

▼ Choose another reader and keep reading below.

let’s talk about salvation

from me and Jesus to we and Jesus.

SALVATION

We often think of salvation as "inviting Christ into my life."

But what if salvation is also an invitation from Jesus into something much greater?

▲ How would you describe what is happening in the illustration above?

▼ read and discuss together.

Practically speaking, what does it mean that your salvation includes being part of the body of Christ— the family of God?

How might a shift from:

  • individualistic “me and Jesus” mindset

  • to a communal “we and Jesus” mindset change how we think about sharing the good news of the gospel?

▼ Watch Addie’s story below and discuss together.

Meet Addie

Addie’s world began to change when she felt like she belonged to something bigger.

▼Share Together

  • Where do you see body life witness show up in Addie’s story?

  • What about you? How has body-life witness played a role in your relationship with Christ?

  • Would you be willing to share a bit of this story?

Next time we meet…

A GREAT FAMILY PARADOX

Ever notice that we, as a Christian community, often want to put our best foot forward? We want to look perfect and put together.

The truth is, we still struggle with sin, doubt, addiction, anxiety, loneliness, and depression. What can we do to turn these examples of brokenness into a magnetic witness to the world?

Next Time: CONFESSION

Last, but not least

YOUR VOICE MATTERS

A diverse group of students and Cru staff designed what you just experienced. We need your help to continue making it even better.

Will you take just a few minutes to evaluate THIS PRACTICE?

Thank you!

What is the Gospel?

the essence of the good news story we share

  • God loves us and made us for life with Him

    • We were created to know God personally and live in His love as part of His family.

  • Our Sin Separates Us from God

    • By choosing our own way, we’ve broken our relationship with God and can’t fix it ourselves. Sin infects all of our key relationships.

  • Jesus Brings Us Back to God

    • Through His death and resurrection, Jesus paid for our sin and offers forgiveness and a new life in His family.

  • We Respond by Faith and Join His Family

    • We receive Jesus by faith. We begin by turning from our old ways, admitting that we need Jesus to forgive us and bring us into his new way.

      He gives us His Spirit, makes us part of His people, and calls us to share His love with others.