You Y’all will be my witnesses.

FOUNDATIONS

OVERVIEW

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

  2. Watch - Madison and Chandler (Welcome)    1 min

  3. Read - Looking at three ways we share the gospel  2 min

  4. Read and Discuss- Evangelism in Acts 2 5 min

  5. Read - Biblical foundations  2 min

  6. Read And Watch - From me and Jesus to we and Jesus  5 min

  7. Read And Discuss - Let’s talk more about family,   10 min

Today’s Practice

Foundations

▼ 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 begin.

How are people currently encountering the gospel on our campus?

▼Discuss together

3-4 min discussion

God reaches people through relationships.

Let’s look at three relational contexts— or modes, through which people came to Christ in the ministry of Jesus and his disciples.

▼Read and Reflect

ministry mode

  • “MINISTRY MODE” - A planned ministry outreach.

    JESUS’ EXAMPLE

    In Luke 10:1-24, people hear and believe the gospel as a result of an intentional outreach of Jesus’ disciples to strangers in nearby towns.

    EXAMPLES ON CAMPUS

    • spiritual interest surveys

    • tabling on campus

    • Follow-up meetings with people who surface through social media outreach

    • any plan to go and share the gospel with someone available to talk— whether it’s a stranger or someone you know

natural mode

  • “Natural mode” -a gospel conversation that surface through the natural interactions of everyday life.

    JESUS EXAMPLE

    In John 4:5-30, Jesus turns a natural encounter with a woman at a well into a gospel conversation that results in her and several people in her village believing in Christ.

    EXAMPLES ON CAMPUS

    An exploring question that turns a natural conversation into a spiritual or gospel conversation. . .

    • over dinner in the dining hall.

    • while walking to class.

    • while studying together.

body mode

  • “Body mode” - The shared life and witness of a Christ-centered community.

    JESUS’ DISCIPLES EXAMPLE

    In Acts 2:42-47 people are being saved daily as they hear, see, and experience the gospel being lived out—embodied— by a community of Christ followers.

    Let’s take a closer look at what this looked like for Jesus’ disciples.

▼Let’s take a closer look at what this looked like for Jesus’ disciples.

Read and Discuss Acts 2 together

The Fellowship of the Believers

42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

  1. What jumps out as you read this passage?

  2. Describe how the gospel spread.

  3. How might this community’s shared life have helped people hear, see, and respond to the gospel?

  4. Think back to the three modes of evangelism:

    Ministry Mode | Natural Mode | Body Mode

    Which way of sharing the gospel do we most intentionally practice within our movement?

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 ‍

“BODY LIFE WITNESS is happening 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.”

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.

From the formation of the family of Israel

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

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

to the formation of a new people

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

— Ephesians 2:13

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household,  built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.

— Ephesians 2:19-20

to the formation of the church by the Holy Spirit.

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

This one unifying theme—the salvation and formation of God’s family—knits together 1,600 years and 66 books of the Bible into one continuous narrative.

▼ Choose another reader and keep reading below.

Let’s now think about God’s salvation

story more personally.

SALVATION

Through his death and resurrection, Jesus saves us from sin and gives us new life.

We receive this gift by turning to Jesus and trusting him.

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

This is good and true.

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

Something like this.

▼ Watch this 1m video

University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee student Kate Seymour put her animation skills to use with this cool interpretation of Body Life Witness. You can see more of Kate’s work here.

▼ Watch this 1m video

▼ Reflect and Discuss

Think back to what you just read and watched.

What feels compelling, challenging, or unfamiliar about describing salvation as an invitation into God’s family?

Let’s talk a bit more about family

▼ read and discuss together.

Our families form and shape us. Think about your own family. What is a tradition, a value, or a family story that has shaped you?

REMEMBER: Through Jesus, God saves people and brings them into his family. As his family lives out and shares the gospel together, others are invited to trust and follow Jesus.

Consider the “family practices” of the Body of Christ that we’ve already read today:

  • Living according to Biblical teaching

  • generous giving and hospitality

  • praying and worshipping together

  • doing life together regularly

Which of these family practices played a role in your salvation story of coming to know Christ?

Let’s talk our movement here on campus.

  • What are the family practices of our movement?

  • What practices might be missing?

  • How might these practices affect our witness for Christ?

FOUNDATIONS:

BIG IDEA

BIG IDEA (original)

God's plan to rescue and heal the world involves the formation of a family, the body of Christ.

When the Body of Christ lives out God’s family practices, it becomes a powerful witness for the Gospel.

THE BIG IDEA

FOUNDATIONS (eric)

Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God saves us from sin and brings us into his family— the body of Christ.

As we live out his love and grace together, our shared life helps others see and hear the good news that Jesus saves, gives new life, and invites them to trust and follow him with us.

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

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 new life.

  • 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.