Stretch 1…2…3… Stretch Out

Please don’t try to do the stretch that is in this picture! Now that I have your attention, let’s continue our discussion on discipleship. Discipling someone includes training on how to spend time with the Lord. Keep in mind that we are learning a four part method of spending time with Jesus. Last blog we focused on the first part which was ‘worship’. Today, we focus on reaching out to others with the gospel. Hence the ‘stretch’ metaphor noted in the title, clever, huh?

Reaching others is an awesome responsibility we have been given by Jesus. Reaching them involves sharing the message of the Gospel. Like Jesus, we must be intentional in our efforts to accomplish this task. There are four questions you can ask to help you be intentional: Who? What? When? Where?

“Who?”

Who do you know who doesn’t have a personal relationship with Jesus? Think through where you live, work/school, and play (extracurricular time), who in those areas are far from God? Write down their names and begin to pray for an opportunity to introduce them to Jesus.

“What?”

What method of sharing the gospel will you seek to use? There are many ways to effectively share the gospel. One way that we have learned at Concord is by using ‘One Verse’. This is not original with me, but has been an easy tool to share Jesus with anyone. For a quick talk on how to do this: Listen to part of a recent message in a series entitled, “Maximizing Moments”.

“When?”

Write down when you plan on sharing the good news of Jesus with at least one person you have identified. I know this sounds crazy, but writing it down and really thinking about when you can do this will help you be more intentional.

“Where?”

This leads you to think through where you will share the Gospel with the person you have identified to reach. Write down the place and trust God to use you.

Bottom line: If we don’t have a plan to reach people with the Gospel, we will seldom find ourselves drifting toward evangelism. So, go ahead…STRETCH!