JESUS SETS AN AGENDA FOR MISSIONS
KEY VERSE: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8.
SCRIPTURE LESSON: ACTS 1:3-11
ACTS 1:3 After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
4On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command:
“Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.
5For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit”.
6So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”?
9After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going. When suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.
11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
For the teacher…
BACKGROUND
The Gospel records end with the instruction given by Jesus to all Christians to carry the Gospel message to all nations. (Mt. 28:18-20) This is commonly referred to as the Great Commission. The Book of Acts gives us an account of how the Early Church carried out this mission. They followed an agenda set by Jesus for the advance of the gospel.
The account given here is the agenda Jesus set for the advance of the Gospel. We can only be effective in our missionary effort if we can understand and follow the agenda set by the Lord himself.
IN DEPTH
ACTS 1:3 The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the basis for missions. Without these facts, we have no message to tell the world. It is therefore significant that the Book of Acts begins the account of the missionary advance by establishing that Jesus died and rose and gave “convincing proofs that he was alive”.
VERSES 4-5. In Ro. 10:14-15, Paul argues that unless anyone is called and sent, he/she cannot go out and become a missionary. But who calls and sends missionaries? It is the Holy Spirit. At that time Pentecost had not yet taken place so Jesus instructed them to wait for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
VERSE6: The apostles had their own agenda. They still thought of Jesus as the “political Messiah” who would deliver the Israelite nation from Roman bondage, especially as he had demonstrated his power over death.
VERSE 7: The time when all things shall be put under the feet of Jesus is not yet here even though he has overcome all things (see Heb. 2:7-9).
VERSE 8A: Pentecost was to be the birth of the Church. The out pouring of the Holy Spirit was to give the apostles and us the Power for witnessing or missions.
“Power” is defined in many ways by the Advanced Learners Dictionary, but what may suit our context is: “ability – a natural skill or an ability to do something; strength” Any missionary enterprise that is not led and empowered by the Holy Spirit therefore is bound to fail or be ineffective.
VERSE 8B: The Agenda or the schedule for missions is now given by Jesus as follows:-
Jerusalem – (i) The events of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ took place in
Jerusalem. Therefore, their first task was to convince the inhabitants of
Jerusalem of what God had done. (ii) Many of the apostles were Galileans, but
Strategically they could spread the message to a greater cross-section of the
People, in Jerusalem, which was the religious capital, than in their own Galilean
villages. This is confirmed by the fact that, on the Day of Pentecost alone.
“God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven… visitors from Rome, both
Jews and converts to Judaism. Cretans and Arabs” who had come to Jerusalem
all heard “them declaring the wonders of God in their own tongues”. (Ac 2:1-
13). This confirms ethnic groups and different classes of people at the same
time. Urbanization is increasing at a very fast rate. It is therefore important
that we take our urban missions seriously.
Judea - The rest of the Jewish population was also to be reached. Jesus had preached
and taught in synagogues of Judea and they also needed to know that Jesus
had overcome death. This may be likened to rural ministry – the approach
here may be different from that of Jerusalem, so rural mission must be
properly planned for.
Samaria - Anytime Jesus moved form Galilee in the north to Judea in the south, he
Had to go through Samaritan villages (see Jn. 4:3-6). They lived with the Jews
in the same country, but they were a different ethnic group. In Samaria, then,
the disciples would have to embark on cross-cultural missions.
Ends of the world – Missionary work led by the Holy Spirit must go beyond national, racial,
Political, social and other boundaries. Effective missionary outlook must be
Global, as the Early Church did.
VERSE 9: Once Jesus completed defining the task for the apostles, he was taken away. The implementation was left to his followers under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
VERSE 10-11. The apostles had enjoyed the company of their resurrected Master, after going through the trauma of his death. Therefore, there was naturally some surprise and disappointment when he was suddenly taken away from them into the skies. The angels were therefore sent to re-assure them that, Jesus will come again. This is the blessed hope and while we wait his appearing we must commit ourselves to carrying out the Great Commission.
THE WORD IN OUR LIVES
The word “mission” has several meanings, but they all revolve around getting something done. The definitions include the following:
· An important job especially a military one, that someone is sent somewhere to do.
· Any work that someone believes it is their duty to do.
· A group of people whose job is to increase what is known about their country, organization or religions in another country or area or the place where such people are based.
· Missionary – a person who has been sent to a foreign country to teach their religion to the people who live there.
· Missionary zeal – extreme enthusiasm.
Our God is a missionary God. He chose Abraham and his descendants and told him, “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Ge.12:1-3).
In the Old Testament, Israel is seen as taking up the responsibility of proclaiming to the world that there is only one true God who alone must be worshipped. The Prophet Amos for example, began his prophecy by first addressing God’s word to Nineveh, the capital city of the Assyrians.
Jesus’ instructions to the apostles before his departure mean that the New Testament Church must also be a missionary church. It means that we must take our urban, rural, cross-cultural and foreign missions very seriously. We in Africa have benefited in the past from the missionary efforts of the Church in Europe and time for us to seriously embark on our missionary advance to other ethnic groups within our cities, villages, in other parts of Africa and to Europe, America, Asia and other parts of the world?
Remember; “A Great Commitment, to the Great Commission makes a Great church.”
TEST YOURSELF
How many days were there between the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ?
(Verse 3)
What did Jesus ask his disciples to do before Pentecost came (verse 4)
Fill in the blanks:- “You will be my _____ in ______. And in all _____and_____ to the ends of the _______” (verse 8b)
What assurance did the angels give to the disciples at the Ascension? (verses 10,11)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
What has been your understanding of missions and what do you consider to have been deficient in it?
When the Church at Antioch was praying, it was the Holy Spirit who said; “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have call them” (Ac. 13:2). They were consequently, sent on missions. How does this confirm the leadership of the Holy Spirit in missions and evangelism, which Jesus said the disciples were to wait for?
What do you know about the Division of Evangelism, Missions and evangelism, which (EMR) in the Methodist Church Ghana? What are its programmes and how do these work out in your local congregation.
Recount the missionary work that brought Christianity/Methodism to Ghana and which eventually led to the establishment of your Church.
Discuss and review the missionary strategy of your church/congregation. If there is none, then draw up one and implement it.
BIBLE LESSON APPLICATION
Read Romans 10:11-15. Meditate upon it and see if you feel called to be an evangelist a missionary or an active supporter of these activities in your church. Act on your decision by informing your minister and/or the EMR Division.
DAILY BIBLE READINGS
Monday Isaiah 43:9-12 you are Chosen to Witness
Tuesday Acts 18:5-8 Paul Witnesses to Gentiles
Wednesday Acts 18:9-17 the Lord Stands by His Witnesses
Thursday Matthew 28:16-20 the Great Commission
Friday Luke 24:45-49 Preach in His Name
Saturday 2 Peter 1:16-21 Witnesses of His Majesty.
Monday, October 13, 2008
WK 38-JESUS SETS AN AGENDA FOR EVANGELISM
WEEK 38
JESUS SETS AN AGENDA FOR EVANGELISM
KEY VERSE: When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. MATHEW 9:36
SCRIPTURE LESSON: MATTHEW 9:35-38; 10:1, 5-16
MATTHEW 9:35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.
36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
37Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.
38Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send outworkers into his harvest field,”
MATTHEW10:5-16 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions:
“Do not go among the gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans.
6Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.
7As you go, preach this message: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is near.’
8Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.
Freely you have received, freely give.
9Do not take along ay gold or silver or copper in your belts;
10Take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep.
11 “Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave.
12As you enter the home, give it your greeting.
13If the home is deserves, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you.
14If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town.
15I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.
16I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
INTRODUCTION
Success or effectiveness in any venture depends on the leader’s ability to sense when there is a need for change in strategy in order to achieve a vision. Such a change in circumstances is described as a paradigm shift, and is important that such a change is quickly recognized to avoid stagnation and failure.
The Methodist Church Ghana is facing a number of challenges in the areas of evangelism, missions and church growth. Since the last two or three years, the Church has set itself the target of doubling its membership in five years. How is this going to be achieved in the face of the many ‘competitors’ who are in the field? The ‘competitors’ include: increasing secularism and materialism among Ghanaians, increasing numbers of other religions and false Christian sect and the many Christian denominations that are now on the market.
What can the Church do in the face of these competitors? We can learn a lot from the way Jesus handled a similar situation.
EXPOSITION
It Cannot Be Business As Usual (Matt. 9:35-36)
Until this time in his ministry, Jesus was following a routine. He had been moving through towns and villages teaching, preaching and healing the people. Was Jesus reaching enough people by this strategy? He was made more sensitive to the enormity of the task facing him when he saw the crowds. There were still more people to be reached with Gospel. He had fed the five thousand, but additional relief services had to be provided; poverty, disease, famine and other calamities were still rampant and many needs had to be met. Could it continue to be business as usual? New strategies had to be put in place and that is precisely what Jesus did. What were these strategies?
STRATEGY I: Recognize the nature of the task-it’s a harvest (Matt 9:37-38)
Jesus described the work of evangelism as a harvest. We often do not recognize that there are lots of people who are waiting to be told the good News and who are indeed ready to accept it. It is a harvest, for the Lord has already planted ‘eternity in the hearts of men’ (Eccl.3:11b). There is a longing in the heart of man which only the Gospel can satisfy. It is not as if we are starting a new farm and sowing new crops; the crops are fully grown and ready for harvest.
STRATEGYII: Pray for more workers (Matt.9:38)
We also need to recognize that the one in charge of the whole enterprise of evangelism is God himself. It is God’s desire that none be lost (11 Pet. 3:9) The implication is that any evangelistic effort that is not backed by serious prayer to the Lord of the harvest is bound to fail. What did Jesus ask us to pray for? Workers!
Paul argues that unless one is sent or called or feels compelled to tell unbelievers about the Gospel, they will not be effective workers for the Lord (Rom. 10:12-15) Therefore, it is not every church member who would be a willing and faithful witness for Christ. Otherwise, the Methodist Church Ghana could double its membership in a year if every member went out and brought a new convert in. That is why Jesus asked that we should pray for God to call and send his workers to the harvest field; in other words we should pray for Methodist to have a passion to win lost souls for Christ.
STRATEGY III: The workers must be spiritually empowered (Matt. 10:1)
Before Jesus sent out twelve on the evangelistic exercise, he gave them ‘authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.’ According to Mark’s account of the Great Commission, miraculous signs, healing of the sick, driving out demons, etc., could not be separated from the spread of the Gospel far advanced and the effect of scientific advancement is seen everywhere, people cannot fail to recognize the reality and the power of God when miracles accompany the preaching of the Gospel. Some refer to this as ‘Power Evangelism’ and it is important that we recognize the place it has in our effort to spread the Gospel. So we should prepare ourselves and not be afraid to pray for people with needs and believe God for answers.
STRATEGY IV: Targeting (Matt. 10:5-6)
Jesus taught the important principle of targeting in evangelism when he instructed the Twelve as follows, ‘Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel ….’ It is not as if Jesus did not care about non-Jewish groups, for he gave instructions about them just before his ascension, but for now the unbelieving Jews were his target.
Congregations need to define who their targets are in their evangelism as this will define the most effective method to adopt. Is it the teenagers, the youth, adult males or females, some ethnic group we are targeting or what? Targeting also helps us to evaluate the effectiveness of our evangelistic efforts.
STRATEGY V: Identify the most receptive group (Matt. 10:11-15)
Jesus further taught that within the targeted group, the apostles were to identify the most receptive people. Sometimes, in our church planting and evangelism, we waste too much time bringing up churches in some unresponsive localities and evangelizing unresponsive individuals. Jesus taught that, it is better to move on and identify those who are ready to receive the gospel.
STRATEGY VI: Trust God to provide the resources (Matt. 10:9-19)
We often use the unavailability of money and other resources as an excuse for not embarking on evangelistic campaigns. Jesus taught his apostles to move on and trust God to provide the needed resources. This is not to say we should not plan or budget for evangelism, but we can never have enough for our evangelism before we set off. When Abraham obeyed God’s command and set off to offer a sacrifice without having a sheep but only a son, he learnt that, ‘On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided’ (Gen. 22:14). God will always provide the needed resources if we obey the Great Commission and set off.
STRATEGY VII: Remember that you are in enemy territory (Matt. 10:16-25)
Any evangelistic effort is an attack on enemy territory. Therefore, it will be naïve for Christians or churches to think that Satan will easily give up his hold on unbelievers.
Jesus therefore warned his apostles to be aware of the fact that they go out as sheep among wolves and so they must be as shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves. This calls for discernment so that we can identify the schemes of the Evil one and nullify them in the power of Christ.
Our innocence as doves will ensure that the world does not have the opportunity to point fingers at us and thus discredit our witness.
STRATEGY VIII: Don’t be afraid (Matt. 10:16ff)
Paul described the Church as ‘the pillar and foundation of the truth’ this is the mystery of godliness, which is the Gospel (I Tim. 3:14-16). The church therefore has a duty to hold this truth up as a pillar, but in a pluralistic society, the church has often been cowed to either keep its mouth shut or water down its message.
To be effective and successful in our evangelism, we must shed off fear of individuals, groups of people, other religions, humanist groups, atheists etc, and proclaim the unadulterated truth of the Gospel. It is only then that the world will respond to the Gospel.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
The most recent census showed that about 70% of Ghana’s 22 million people claim to be Christians. Do you think these are all committed Christians? Why or why not?
What factors show that even in the Church, there are a lot of uncommitted Christians?
a. What strategies have your church or congregation been using to gain new converts?
b. Do you consider the strategies effective? Why or why not?
4. What aspects of the strategy outlined by Jesus must be seriously adopted by your
Church/congregation if you are to succeed in your evangelism?
BIBLE LESSON APPLICATION
At you next Society Meeting/Quarterly Meeting, discuss thoroughly the evangelism strategy you have so far adopted. Assess its effectiveness.
Review your Church’s evangelism strategy taking into consideration the issues raised by Jesus.
Implement your new strategy and monitor and evaluate its progress from time to time.
DAILY BIBLE READINGS
Monday Acts 13:4-12 Paul and Barnabas in Cyprus
Tuesday Acts 13:13-17 Paul and Barnabas in Perga
Wednesday Acts 14: 1-7 Paul and Barnabas in Iconuim
Thursday Acts 14:8-15 Paul and Barnabas in Lystra
Friday Acts 14:21-25 Paul and Barnabas in Derbe
Saturday Acts 14:26-28 Paul and Barnabas Reports to the Disciples in Antioch
Sunday Matthew 10:1-23 Jesus sets an Agenda for Evangelism
JESUS SETS AN AGENDA FOR EVANGELISM
KEY VERSE: When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. MATHEW 9:36
SCRIPTURE LESSON: MATTHEW 9:35-38; 10:1, 5-16
MATTHEW 9:35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.
36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
37Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.
38Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send outworkers into his harvest field,”
MATTHEW10:5-16 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions:
“Do not go among the gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans.
6Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.
7As you go, preach this message: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is near.’
8Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.
Freely you have received, freely give.
9Do not take along ay gold or silver or copper in your belts;
10Take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep.
11 “Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave.
12As you enter the home, give it your greeting.
13If the home is deserves, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you.
14If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town.
15I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.
16I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
INTRODUCTION
Success or effectiveness in any venture depends on the leader’s ability to sense when there is a need for change in strategy in order to achieve a vision. Such a change in circumstances is described as a paradigm shift, and is important that such a change is quickly recognized to avoid stagnation and failure.
The Methodist Church Ghana is facing a number of challenges in the areas of evangelism, missions and church growth. Since the last two or three years, the Church has set itself the target of doubling its membership in five years. How is this going to be achieved in the face of the many ‘competitors’ who are in the field? The ‘competitors’ include: increasing secularism and materialism among Ghanaians, increasing numbers of other religions and false Christian sect and the many Christian denominations that are now on the market.
What can the Church do in the face of these competitors? We can learn a lot from the way Jesus handled a similar situation.
EXPOSITION
It Cannot Be Business As Usual (Matt. 9:35-36)
Until this time in his ministry, Jesus was following a routine. He had been moving through towns and villages teaching, preaching and healing the people. Was Jesus reaching enough people by this strategy? He was made more sensitive to the enormity of the task facing him when he saw the crowds. There were still more people to be reached with Gospel. He had fed the five thousand, but additional relief services had to be provided; poverty, disease, famine and other calamities were still rampant and many needs had to be met. Could it continue to be business as usual? New strategies had to be put in place and that is precisely what Jesus did. What were these strategies?
STRATEGY I: Recognize the nature of the task-it’s a harvest (Matt 9:37-38)
Jesus described the work of evangelism as a harvest. We often do not recognize that there are lots of people who are waiting to be told the good News and who are indeed ready to accept it. It is a harvest, for the Lord has already planted ‘eternity in the hearts of men’ (Eccl.3:11b). There is a longing in the heart of man which only the Gospel can satisfy. It is not as if we are starting a new farm and sowing new crops; the crops are fully grown and ready for harvest.
STRATEGYII: Pray for more workers (Matt.9:38)
We also need to recognize that the one in charge of the whole enterprise of evangelism is God himself. It is God’s desire that none be lost (11 Pet. 3:9) The implication is that any evangelistic effort that is not backed by serious prayer to the Lord of the harvest is bound to fail. What did Jesus ask us to pray for? Workers!
Paul argues that unless one is sent or called or feels compelled to tell unbelievers about the Gospel, they will not be effective workers for the Lord (Rom. 10:12-15) Therefore, it is not every church member who would be a willing and faithful witness for Christ. Otherwise, the Methodist Church Ghana could double its membership in a year if every member went out and brought a new convert in. That is why Jesus asked that we should pray for God to call and send his workers to the harvest field; in other words we should pray for Methodist to have a passion to win lost souls for Christ.
STRATEGY III: The workers must be spiritually empowered (Matt. 10:1)
Before Jesus sent out twelve on the evangelistic exercise, he gave them ‘authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.’ According to Mark’s account of the Great Commission, miraculous signs, healing of the sick, driving out demons, etc., could not be separated from the spread of the Gospel far advanced and the effect of scientific advancement is seen everywhere, people cannot fail to recognize the reality and the power of God when miracles accompany the preaching of the Gospel. Some refer to this as ‘Power Evangelism’ and it is important that we recognize the place it has in our effort to spread the Gospel. So we should prepare ourselves and not be afraid to pray for people with needs and believe God for answers.
STRATEGY IV: Targeting (Matt. 10:5-6)
Jesus taught the important principle of targeting in evangelism when he instructed the Twelve as follows, ‘Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel ….’ It is not as if Jesus did not care about non-Jewish groups, for he gave instructions about them just before his ascension, but for now the unbelieving Jews were his target.
Congregations need to define who their targets are in their evangelism as this will define the most effective method to adopt. Is it the teenagers, the youth, adult males or females, some ethnic group we are targeting or what? Targeting also helps us to evaluate the effectiveness of our evangelistic efforts.
STRATEGY V: Identify the most receptive group (Matt. 10:11-15)
Jesus further taught that within the targeted group, the apostles were to identify the most receptive people. Sometimes, in our church planting and evangelism, we waste too much time bringing up churches in some unresponsive localities and evangelizing unresponsive individuals. Jesus taught that, it is better to move on and identify those who are ready to receive the gospel.
STRATEGY VI: Trust God to provide the resources (Matt. 10:9-19)
We often use the unavailability of money and other resources as an excuse for not embarking on evangelistic campaigns. Jesus taught his apostles to move on and trust God to provide the needed resources. This is not to say we should not plan or budget for evangelism, but we can never have enough for our evangelism before we set off. When Abraham obeyed God’s command and set off to offer a sacrifice without having a sheep but only a son, he learnt that, ‘On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided’ (Gen. 22:14). God will always provide the needed resources if we obey the Great Commission and set off.
STRATEGY VII: Remember that you are in enemy territory (Matt. 10:16-25)
Any evangelistic effort is an attack on enemy territory. Therefore, it will be naïve for Christians or churches to think that Satan will easily give up his hold on unbelievers.
Jesus therefore warned his apostles to be aware of the fact that they go out as sheep among wolves and so they must be as shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves. This calls for discernment so that we can identify the schemes of the Evil one and nullify them in the power of Christ.
Our innocence as doves will ensure that the world does not have the opportunity to point fingers at us and thus discredit our witness.
STRATEGY VIII: Don’t be afraid (Matt. 10:16ff)
Paul described the Church as ‘the pillar and foundation of the truth’ this is the mystery of godliness, which is the Gospel (I Tim. 3:14-16). The church therefore has a duty to hold this truth up as a pillar, but in a pluralistic society, the church has often been cowed to either keep its mouth shut or water down its message.
To be effective and successful in our evangelism, we must shed off fear of individuals, groups of people, other religions, humanist groups, atheists etc, and proclaim the unadulterated truth of the Gospel. It is only then that the world will respond to the Gospel.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
The most recent census showed that about 70% of Ghana’s 22 million people claim to be Christians. Do you think these are all committed Christians? Why or why not?
What factors show that even in the Church, there are a lot of uncommitted Christians?
a. What strategies have your church or congregation been using to gain new converts?
b. Do you consider the strategies effective? Why or why not?
4. What aspects of the strategy outlined by Jesus must be seriously adopted by your
Church/congregation if you are to succeed in your evangelism?
BIBLE LESSON APPLICATION
At you next Society Meeting/Quarterly Meeting, discuss thoroughly the evangelism strategy you have so far adopted. Assess its effectiveness.
Review your Church’s evangelism strategy taking into consideration the issues raised by Jesus.
Implement your new strategy and monitor and evaluate its progress from time to time.
DAILY BIBLE READINGS
Monday Acts 13:4-12 Paul and Barnabas in Cyprus
Tuesday Acts 13:13-17 Paul and Barnabas in Perga
Wednesday Acts 14: 1-7 Paul and Barnabas in Iconuim
Thursday Acts 14:8-15 Paul and Barnabas in Lystra
Friday Acts 14:21-25 Paul and Barnabas in Derbe
Saturday Acts 14:26-28 Paul and Barnabas Reports to the Disciples in Antioch
Sunday Matthew 10:1-23 Jesus sets an Agenda for Evangelism
A CALL TO MISSIONS
A CALL TO MISSIONS
While evangelism may concentrate on
winning souls among our own people,
missions always involves moving to other
ethnic or people groups, or foreign
country etc. to win souls for Christ.
The church has always been a missionary
church. Indeed the Methodist Church
Ghana is a product of a missionary
effort by the British Church. Therefore
we need to take Missions more seriously
than we have done in the past
Many factors impede the missionary
advance, but the strongest among them
is the attitude of the missionary
In the next series of studies, Johah and
other characters are used to illustrate
how our attitude can help advance or
impede the missionary effort.
While evangelism may concentrate on
winning souls among our own people,
missions always involves moving to other
ethnic or people groups, or foreign
country etc. to win souls for Christ.
The church has always been a missionary
church. Indeed the Methodist Church
Ghana is a product of a missionary
effort by the British Church. Therefore
we need to take Missions more seriously
than we have done in the past
Many factors impede the missionary
advance, but the strongest among them
is the attitude of the missionary
In the next series of studies, Johah and
other characters are used to illustrate
how our attitude can help advance or
impede the missionary effort.
PHILIP & THE ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH – A PATTERN FOR RELATIONAL EVANGELISM
WEEK 37
PHILIP & THE ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH – A PATTERN FOR RELATIONAL EVANGELISM
KEY VERSE: Do you understand what you are reading?” ACTS8:30B
SCRIPTURE LESSON: 8:26-38
ACTS 8:26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road-the desert road- that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”
27So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian (a) eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship,
28and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet.
29The spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
30Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet.
“Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
31How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
32The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
33In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.”(b)
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?”
35Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
36As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t be baptized?”(c)
38And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.
INTRODUCTION
Last week we saw how Jesus overcame cultural and social barriers to interact with the Samaritan woman. That interaction led the woman to a saving knowledge of Jesus. The result was that the woman on her own, went back to the village to proclaim Jesus as the long awaited Messiah. The response to that proclamation was that most of the people in the village came to confirm the woman’s testimony after their interaction with Jesus. That pattern of evangelism, it must be recalled, was described as relational or personal.
This week’s lesson is another example of relational/personal evangelism in which Philip helps the Ethiopian Eunuch to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus. Another similarity of this week’s lesson with last week’s is that it was also on Samaritan soil.
EXPOSITION
The commission given by Jesus to his disciples after his resurrection was to take the gospel to all nations (Matt.28:18-20, Mark 16:15-18, Luke 24:45-49, John20:21-23) In Acts1:8 Jesus instructed them to be his witnesses “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost thus launched the witness in Jerusalem (Acts 2:1ff). The persecution of the Church at Jerusalem following the stoning of Stephen seems to have prompted the spread of the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria (Acts8:1,4). Philip, one of the Seven chosen to overlook the distribution of food to the widows (Acts 6:1-5, found himself in a successful mass outreach in Samaria (Acts8:5-8). Philip was also directed by an angel of the Lord to a Gentile God-fearer, an Ethiopian eunuch returning from worship at Jerusalem (Acts 8:26-28). Directed by the Holy Spirit to the eunuch’s chariot, Philip found him reading from Isaiah the prophet. Beginning with a question, Philip engaged the eunuch in a conversation (8:29-30). The response was an invitation to Philip to come up into the chariot. This gave him an opportunity to explain the passage taken from Isaiah 53:7-8 to the eunuch. Philip, thus used the same method Jesus used with the Samaritan woman to draw the Eunuch into a conversation. The starter question was, “Do you understand what you are reading?” (Verse 30b) Relational/personal evangelism thus began. Again, like Jesus, Philip used that question to focus on a need of the Eunuch. The response, “How can I… unless someone explains to me: (verse 31) shows that the Eunuch needed someone to provide a spiritual service to him.
The personal/relational nature of this pattern of evangelism gives opportunity for the enquirer to be educated at his/her level of understanding such that issues are thoroughly clarified. The eunuch was thus given the opportunity to ask questions on issues he did not understand. He asked; “Who is the prophet talking about….?” (verse 34), it gave Philip the opportunity to show him that the suffering servant was the Davidic Messiah of Isaiah 11 or the Son of Man (Daniel 7:13-14). By that opportunity, Philip “told him the good news about Jesus” (verse 35). This implies that Philip thoroughly explained the necessity for Jesus to be crucified for the salvation of mankind. Philip also brought him to a realization of his need for Christ.
Having well understood the scripture he committed his life to Jesus on that basis and, requested to be baptized as a public expression of his repentance and faith in Christ (verses 36-38)
This shows that when the gospel is well presented and thoroughly explained, and applied to the needs of inquirers/would be converts, there will be those who will sincerely commit their lives to Jesus and submit themselves voluntarily and sincerely for baptism. Thoroughly explaining, illustrating and applying the gospel to the lives of enquirers’ means making them understand the following facts of the way of salvation.
That God gave life to man (Gen.2:7)
That man rejected life (Rom. 3:23)
That God has provided New Life in Jesus Christ (Rom. 6:23)
That man must accept New Life in Jesus (Jn. 1:12)
That New Life is seen in man’s behaviour (1Cor. 5:17)
These should be supported by relevant scriptures, explained, illustrated and applied to the lives of the converts sought.
Relational/Personal evangelism always leads to a demand for a verdict. It challenges and encourages the would be convert to accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour or to reject him.
There are a lot of opportunities for relational/personal evangelism.
You will find it most effective to use relational evangelism to witness to the following categories of people
· Nominal Christians in your church. – These are people in your church who have never understood or experienced the personal application of the Gospel in their own lives.
· Inactive church members and people with some contact with your Church. – By virtue of the existing connection with your church, a visit from
· New residents in your town or neighbourhood. –If you show them some kindness and concern and welcome them, they are likely to respond.
· Friends, relatives, fellow workers and neighbours.
DISCUSSION / WORKSHOP
Use the rest of your class/group meeting to set up personal evangelism situation.
Take turns to use the principles learnt to practice the art of relational/personal evangelism.
BIBLE LESSON APPLICATION
Create opportunities this week also for personal/relational evangelism. Share the results with you group.
DAILY BIBLE READINGS
Monday Acts 18:24-26 Priscilla and Aquila experience the Gospel to Apollos
Tuesday Titus 2:3-5 Ministry to the Older Women
Wednesday Titus 2:6-8 Ministry to Young Men
Thursday Titus 2:9-10 Ministry to Workers
Friday Acts 8:9-12 Philip in Samaria
Saturday Acts 8:9-12 Philip Converts the Samarians
Sunday Acts 8:26-38 Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch.
PHILIP & THE ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH – A PATTERN FOR RELATIONAL EVANGELISM
KEY VERSE: Do you understand what you are reading?” ACTS8:30B
SCRIPTURE LESSON: 8:26-38
ACTS 8:26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road-the desert road- that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”
27So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian (a) eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship,
28and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet.
29The spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
30Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet.
“Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
31How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
32The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
33In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.”(b)
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?”
35Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
36As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t be baptized?”(c)
38And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.
INTRODUCTION
Last week we saw how Jesus overcame cultural and social barriers to interact with the Samaritan woman. That interaction led the woman to a saving knowledge of Jesus. The result was that the woman on her own, went back to the village to proclaim Jesus as the long awaited Messiah. The response to that proclamation was that most of the people in the village came to confirm the woman’s testimony after their interaction with Jesus. That pattern of evangelism, it must be recalled, was described as relational or personal.
This week’s lesson is another example of relational/personal evangelism in which Philip helps the Ethiopian Eunuch to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus. Another similarity of this week’s lesson with last week’s is that it was also on Samaritan soil.
EXPOSITION
The commission given by Jesus to his disciples after his resurrection was to take the gospel to all nations (Matt.28:18-20, Mark 16:15-18, Luke 24:45-49, John20:21-23) In Acts1:8 Jesus instructed them to be his witnesses “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost thus launched the witness in Jerusalem (Acts 2:1ff). The persecution of the Church at Jerusalem following the stoning of Stephen seems to have prompted the spread of the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria (Acts8:1,4). Philip, one of the Seven chosen to overlook the distribution of food to the widows (Acts 6:1-5, found himself in a successful mass outreach in Samaria (Acts8:5-8). Philip was also directed by an angel of the Lord to a Gentile God-fearer, an Ethiopian eunuch returning from worship at Jerusalem (Acts 8:26-28). Directed by the Holy Spirit to the eunuch’s chariot, Philip found him reading from Isaiah the prophet. Beginning with a question, Philip engaged the eunuch in a conversation (8:29-30). The response was an invitation to Philip to come up into the chariot. This gave him an opportunity to explain the passage taken from Isaiah 53:7-8 to the eunuch. Philip, thus used the same method Jesus used with the Samaritan woman to draw the Eunuch into a conversation. The starter question was, “Do you understand what you are reading?” (Verse 30b) Relational/personal evangelism thus began. Again, like Jesus, Philip used that question to focus on a need of the Eunuch. The response, “How can I… unless someone explains to me: (verse 31) shows that the Eunuch needed someone to provide a spiritual service to him.
The personal/relational nature of this pattern of evangelism gives opportunity for the enquirer to be educated at his/her level of understanding such that issues are thoroughly clarified. The eunuch was thus given the opportunity to ask questions on issues he did not understand. He asked; “Who is the prophet talking about….?” (verse 34), it gave Philip the opportunity to show him that the suffering servant was the Davidic Messiah of Isaiah 11 or the Son of Man (Daniel 7:13-14). By that opportunity, Philip “told him the good news about Jesus” (verse 35). This implies that Philip thoroughly explained the necessity for Jesus to be crucified for the salvation of mankind. Philip also brought him to a realization of his need for Christ.
Having well understood the scripture he committed his life to Jesus on that basis and, requested to be baptized as a public expression of his repentance and faith in Christ (verses 36-38)
This shows that when the gospel is well presented and thoroughly explained, and applied to the needs of inquirers/would be converts, there will be those who will sincerely commit their lives to Jesus and submit themselves voluntarily and sincerely for baptism. Thoroughly explaining, illustrating and applying the gospel to the lives of enquirers’ means making them understand the following facts of the way of salvation.
That God gave life to man (Gen.2:7)
That man rejected life (Rom. 3:23)
That God has provided New Life in Jesus Christ (Rom. 6:23)
That man must accept New Life in Jesus (Jn. 1:12)
That New Life is seen in man’s behaviour (1Cor. 5:17)
These should be supported by relevant scriptures, explained, illustrated and applied to the lives of the converts sought.
Relational/Personal evangelism always leads to a demand for a verdict. It challenges and encourages the would be convert to accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour or to reject him.
There are a lot of opportunities for relational/personal evangelism.
You will find it most effective to use relational evangelism to witness to the following categories of people
· Nominal Christians in your church. – These are people in your church who have never understood or experienced the personal application of the Gospel in their own lives.
· Inactive church members and people with some contact with your Church. – By virtue of the existing connection with your church, a visit from
· New residents in your town or neighbourhood. –If you show them some kindness and concern and welcome them, they are likely to respond.
· Friends, relatives, fellow workers and neighbours.
DISCUSSION / WORKSHOP
Use the rest of your class/group meeting to set up personal evangelism situation.
Take turns to use the principles learnt to practice the art of relational/personal evangelism.
BIBLE LESSON APPLICATION
Create opportunities this week also for personal/relational evangelism. Share the results with you group.
DAILY BIBLE READINGS
Monday Acts 18:24-26 Priscilla and Aquila experience the Gospel to Apollos
Tuesday Titus 2:3-5 Ministry to the Older Women
Wednesday Titus 2:6-8 Ministry to Young Men
Thursday Titus 2:9-10 Ministry to Workers
Friday Acts 8:9-12 Philip in Samaria
Saturday Acts 8:9-12 Philip Converts the Samarians
Sunday Acts 8:26-38 Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch.
JESUS GIVES A PATTERN FOR WITNESSING
WEEK 36
JESUS GIVES A PATTERN FOR WITNESSING
KEY VERSE: When a Samaritan woman came to draw water. Jesus said to her. “Will you give me a drink?” JOHN 4:7
SCRIPTURE LESSON: JOHN 4:4-26, 39-49.
JOHN 4:4 Now he had to go through Samaria.
So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
6Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus tired as he was from the journey sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”
8( His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9The Samaritan woman said to him. “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.(a)
10Jesus answered her. “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
11”Sir.” The woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?
12Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?”
13Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,
14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
15The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
17 “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband.
18The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
91 “Sir. “the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.
20Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
21Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
22You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.
23Yet a time is coming and has now com when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”
25The woman said, “I know the Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.”
28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people,
29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ (b)?”
30They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
JOHN 4:39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”
40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days.
41And because of his words many more became believers.
42They said to the woman, “we no longer believe just because of what you said: now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
INTRODUCTION
Jesus’ interaction with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well is a pattern of evangelism described as relational. This is because it involves a personal interaction with the individual sought to be won. Consequently it is also called Personal Evangelism. Many examples of Personal Evangelism are recorded in Scripture (eg. 2Ki 1:1-5,14-17; Jn. 1:25-42; Ac.8:26-38) and Jesus used that same pattern in his call of his disciples. Today’s lesson presents a classic example.
EXPOSITION
Jesus used the following steps in relational evangelism to carry the Good News to the Samaritan woman.
Establish a Common Interest.
The interaction began with a normal conversation between two people who had met for the first time. The woman had come to fetch water and Jesus requested for water from her. So there was established between them a subject of common interest – water.
Don’t be deterred by an initial opposition.
The Jews were prejudiced against the Samaritans and did not treat them with respect. Therefore the woman was surprised that a Jew would ask her for a drink. She was diverting the conversation to an argument about Jewish-Samaritan relationships. Jesus refused to be drawn into that argument, not because he thought it was unimportant, but that it was not the woman’s most important need. Tribal, cultural, social, religious and denominational barriers may be raised against our witnessing, but we must not be deterred.
Stay on Track
While Jesus continued to talk about the subject of common interest – water – he directed the conversation to spiritual issues. The woman did not understand the spiritual issues that Jesus was bringing into the conversation and spoke proudly about the Samaritan cultural heritage. She wondered if Jesus had anything superior to what they had. With the rise in nationalism in Africa, one is likely to hear an argument that Christianity is the whiteman’s religion and that Africans have their own religion. Others may raise issues about the missionary church in Africa and the slave trade. Jesus was not necessarily ignoring the woman’s questions, but knowing what the woman really needed, he kept talking about the living water which he could offer the woman. Jesus was able to get the woman sufficiently interested in what he had to offer. She asked him to give her of this special water.
The challenge
Many people become “still born” into the kingdom of God because in our evangelism, we sometimes fail to challenge them to take the first step of repentance. In order to lead the woman to repentance, Jesus challenged her about her marital life. Jesus told her; “Go and call your husband and come back”. The women tried to fight back. These days, the woman would have accused Jesus of intrusion into her private life. But Jesus did not budge and continued to press home to her that she had sinned against God and needed God’s forgiveness.
Press for a decision from the convicted person
The woman could not run away from the true picture of her life that had been laid bare before her. However, she wanted an escape route and resorted to religion.
The woman was saying: “I admit that I am a sinner but we have our won religion. We have always been instructed that it is on this mountain that we can worship God. Are you trying to offer me something new? Is what we already have not good enough?”
Jesus then took time to explain to her that Christianity is not a religion. It is a personal relationship with God. Being restored to a personal relationship with God is neither the religion of the Samaritans nor that of the Jews, neither is it traditional African religion nor adhering to the tenets of a denomination.
At this point, the woman wanted to postpone her division to the future. She said, “I know that Messiah is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us”. Jesus declared “I who speak to you am he (the Messiah)” The woman had no more defences, she surrendered her life to Jesus.
Do not allow a convicted sinner to go away with his or her load of sin clinging to them. Pray with him or her and trust the Holy Spirit to give birth to such a person into the Kingdom of God. The person will experience the new birth and it would seem as if a heavy burden has been lifted off him or her. You can see a new joy and peace envelope the. Then thank God for the salvation he has brought into the person’s life.
Public Confession of Faith
The Samaritan woman could not keep her joy to herself. She left her water pot behind and went back to her own people shouting in the streets her new joy. This woman witnessed of her new found faith to her own people.
When the people of Sychar listened to the woman’s testimony and saw the change that had taken place in her, and her joy, many of them also put their faith in Jesus. They invited him to stay with them for two days, after which they all confessed faith in him.
The relational evangelism embarked on by Jesus had led to the conversion of a whole townsfolk.
(culled from: Who is Jesus – An analysis of the uniqueness of Jesus Christ based on John 1-12; by Rev. Prof. O. Safo-Kantanka, 1997)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. a. What were the objections raised by the Samaritan woman in Jesus interaction with her?
b. How did Jesus overcome those objections?
2. a. What obstacles, prejudices and objections can we face in our relational/personal
Evangelism?
b. How can we overcome these obstacles, prejudices and objections?
3. What are some of the issues of common interest that can be used for personal
evangelism? Explain your answers
4. Is relational/personal evangelism still effective today? Why?
5. Give examples of how personal evangelism was used to convert people for Christ.
BIBLE LESSON APPLICATION
This week make an effort at personal evangelism and report the outcome to your group.
DAILY BIBLE READINGS
Monday Luke 9: 51-55 Samaritan Opposition.
Tuesday Luke 6:1-3 Jesus Sets Evangelism Example.
Wednesday Luke 9: 1-6 The twelve follow Jesus’ Example.
Thursday Luke10:1-12 The Seventy-Two follow the Example.
Friday Luke10:25-37 Overcoming Racial Prejudices.
Saturday Acts 10:1-23 The Peter Experience in Racial Prejudices.
Sunday Acts 10:24-48 Peter led to overcome Racial Prejudices.
JESUS GIVES A PATTERN FOR WITNESSING
KEY VERSE: When a Samaritan woman came to draw water. Jesus said to her. “Will you give me a drink?” JOHN 4:7
SCRIPTURE LESSON: JOHN 4:4-26, 39-49.
JOHN 4:4 Now he had to go through Samaria.
So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
6Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus tired as he was from the journey sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”
8( His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9The Samaritan woman said to him. “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.(a)
10Jesus answered her. “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
11”Sir.” The woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?
12Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?”
13Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,
14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
15The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
17 “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband.
18The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
91 “Sir. “the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.
20Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
21Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
22You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.
23Yet a time is coming and has now com when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”
25The woman said, “I know the Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.”
28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people,
29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ (b)?”
30They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
JOHN 4:39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”
40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days.
41And because of his words many more became believers.
42They said to the woman, “we no longer believe just because of what you said: now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
INTRODUCTION
Jesus’ interaction with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well is a pattern of evangelism described as relational. This is because it involves a personal interaction with the individual sought to be won. Consequently it is also called Personal Evangelism. Many examples of Personal Evangelism are recorded in Scripture (eg. 2Ki 1:1-5,14-17; Jn. 1:25-42; Ac.8:26-38) and Jesus used that same pattern in his call of his disciples. Today’s lesson presents a classic example.
EXPOSITION
Jesus used the following steps in relational evangelism to carry the Good News to the Samaritan woman.
Establish a Common Interest.
The interaction began with a normal conversation between two people who had met for the first time. The woman had come to fetch water and Jesus requested for water from her. So there was established between them a subject of common interest – water.
Don’t be deterred by an initial opposition.
The Jews were prejudiced against the Samaritans and did not treat them with respect. Therefore the woman was surprised that a Jew would ask her for a drink. She was diverting the conversation to an argument about Jewish-Samaritan relationships. Jesus refused to be drawn into that argument, not because he thought it was unimportant, but that it was not the woman’s most important need. Tribal, cultural, social, religious and denominational barriers may be raised against our witnessing, but we must not be deterred.
Stay on Track
While Jesus continued to talk about the subject of common interest – water – he directed the conversation to spiritual issues. The woman did not understand the spiritual issues that Jesus was bringing into the conversation and spoke proudly about the Samaritan cultural heritage. She wondered if Jesus had anything superior to what they had. With the rise in nationalism in Africa, one is likely to hear an argument that Christianity is the whiteman’s religion and that Africans have their own religion. Others may raise issues about the missionary church in Africa and the slave trade. Jesus was not necessarily ignoring the woman’s questions, but knowing what the woman really needed, he kept talking about the living water which he could offer the woman. Jesus was able to get the woman sufficiently interested in what he had to offer. She asked him to give her of this special water.
The challenge
Many people become “still born” into the kingdom of God because in our evangelism, we sometimes fail to challenge them to take the first step of repentance. In order to lead the woman to repentance, Jesus challenged her about her marital life. Jesus told her; “Go and call your husband and come back”. The women tried to fight back. These days, the woman would have accused Jesus of intrusion into her private life. But Jesus did not budge and continued to press home to her that she had sinned against God and needed God’s forgiveness.
Press for a decision from the convicted person
The woman could not run away from the true picture of her life that had been laid bare before her. However, she wanted an escape route and resorted to religion.
The woman was saying: “I admit that I am a sinner but we have our won religion. We have always been instructed that it is on this mountain that we can worship God. Are you trying to offer me something new? Is what we already have not good enough?”
Jesus then took time to explain to her that Christianity is not a religion. It is a personal relationship with God. Being restored to a personal relationship with God is neither the religion of the Samaritans nor that of the Jews, neither is it traditional African religion nor adhering to the tenets of a denomination.
At this point, the woman wanted to postpone her division to the future. She said, “I know that Messiah is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us”. Jesus declared “I who speak to you am he (the Messiah)” The woman had no more defences, she surrendered her life to Jesus.
Do not allow a convicted sinner to go away with his or her load of sin clinging to them. Pray with him or her and trust the Holy Spirit to give birth to such a person into the Kingdom of God. The person will experience the new birth and it would seem as if a heavy burden has been lifted off him or her. You can see a new joy and peace envelope the. Then thank God for the salvation he has brought into the person’s life.
Public Confession of Faith
The Samaritan woman could not keep her joy to herself. She left her water pot behind and went back to her own people shouting in the streets her new joy. This woman witnessed of her new found faith to her own people.
When the people of Sychar listened to the woman’s testimony and saw the change that had taken place in her, and her joy, many of them also put their faith in Jesus. They invited him to stay with them for two days, after which they all confessed faith in him.
The relational evangelism embarked on by Jesus had led to the conversion of a whole townsfolk.
(culled from: Who is Jesus – An analysis of the uniqueness of Jesus Christ based on John 1-12; by Rev. Prof. O. Safo-Kantanka, 1997)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. a. What were the objections raised by the Samaritan woman in Jesus interaction with her?
b. How did Jesus overcome those objections?
2. a. What obstacles, prejudices and objections can we face in our relational/personal
Evangelism?
b. How can we overcome these obstacles, prejudices and objections?
3. What are some of the issues of common interest that can be used for personal
evangelism? Explain your answers
4. Is relational/personal evangelism still effective today? Why?
5. Give examples of how personal evangelism was used to convert people for Christ.
BIBLE LESSON APPLICATION
This week make an effort at personal evangelism and report the outcome to your group.
DAILY BIBLE READINGS
Monday Luke 9: 51-55 Samaritan Opposition.
Tuesday Luke 6:1-3 Jesus Sets Evangelism Example.
Wednesday Luke 9: 1-6 The twelve follow Jesus’ Example.
Thursday Luke10:1-12 The Seventy-Two follow the Example.
Friday Luke10:25-37 Overcoming Racial Prejudices.
Saturday Acts 10:1-23 The Peter Experience in Racial Prejudices.
Sunday Acts 10:24-48 Peter led to overcome Racial Prejudices.
PAUL SETS A MISSIONNARY AGENDA
WEEK 41
PAUL SETS A MISSIONNARY AGENDA
KEY VERSE: “It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on some else’s foundation.
ROMANS 15:20
SCRIPTURE LESSON: ROMANS 15:14-29; ACTS 19: 21
ROMANS 15:14 I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another.
15I have written you quiet boldly on some points, as if to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me.
16To be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my services to God.
18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done -19 by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel where Christ. 20 It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.
21 Rather, as it is written:” Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.
22 This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you
ACTS 19:21 After all this had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem. Passing through Macedonia and Achaia. “ After I have been there,” he said,” I must visit Rome also.”
INTRODUCTION
Numerical church growth arises from the following:-
Transfer growth which involves individual Christians changing their denominations or changing their congregations because they may have changed their place of abode.
Biological growth takes place when children of Christian parents are raised in the church and they grow to become part of the congregation.
Conversion growth occurs when unbelievers come to accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour and remains in the Church of the three, conversion growth is the only one which brings new converts into kingdom of God.
Of the three, conversion growth is the only one which brings new converts into the kingdom of God. However, in Ghana, the churches appear to concentrate largely on transfer growth. Some denominations including The Methodist Church, Ghana churches especially the charismatic ones.
The end results of these accusations and counter accusations about “stealing:” of members is that the Church in Ghana as a whole does not grow. The majority of unbelievers have generally not been reached. There are large areas of the country which are UN churched, and there are fertile soils for church planning in the surrounding countries and beyond, where the gospel seed can be planted.
What can the church in Ghana including The Methodist Church, Ghana learn from Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles?
EXPOSITION
Paul’s Missionary Agenda
The Focus:
It did not take much time after his conversion for Paul to demonstrate that his missionary activity had a clear focus. In Ro. 11:13, he wrote; “I am talking to you Gentiles, Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry”. The Early Church also came to recognize that Paul’s missionary activity had a clear focus distinct from that of Peter. He stated it as follows; “They saw that I had been given the task of preaching the Gospel to the Jews. For God who was at work in the ministry of Peter as an apostle to the Jews was also at work in my ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles” (Gal.2:7-8) A purpose-driven church must therefore know where its strengths are and which groups of people and what arrears it wants to evangelize. We cannot spread ourselves thinly everywhere. Having a focus leads to effectiveness in evaluation. You may recall that in giving the Church an agenda for evangelism and missions, Jesus taught the principle of targeting, and so Paul was not doing differently. (see Lessons for Weeks 38 and 39)
Paul’s Missionary Advances.
Paul missionary work began when the Holy Spirit told the Church in Antioch; “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” (Acts 13:2). The Acts of Apostle record that, from that time. Paul land his associates embarked on three missionary advances.
These are described below:
a. Paul’s first Missionary Journey:-
This took them to Cyprus and many important gentile cities. They knew that they had to return to their home church in Antioch and give an account of what God had done through them. They were not just planning churches, but they disciplined them and appointed leaders for them.
b. Paul’s Second Missionary Journey:-
In this second missionary advance, Paul and his team moved in a different direction and went further than the first. By the time he came back, he had moved as far as Greece and other parts of Eastern Europe. Again, he saw the need to report back to his home Church.
c. Paul’s Third Missionary Journey:-
This is a journey which Paul and his team undertook to consolidate the gains that had been made in his first two journeys. It is often sad when churches which have been planted through SICE programmes by GHAMSU are often abandoned and allowed to die, because we fail to nurture them.
d. Sensitivity to the leading of the Holy Spirit:-
Even though Paul had an agenda in his missionary advance, he was very sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. A good example of this is given in Acts 16:6-10, where Paul had to abandon his own plans and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit to go to Macedonia.
My ambition is not to build on someone else’ foundation.
In Ro 15:20-21, Paul opens our eyes to what guided him in his missionary work. On the face-value, it would appear that Paul was not a good team player and wanted to have the credit for himself alone. But that is not what guided Paul in his missionary work at all. He was guided by the fact that there are large tracts of fertile soils to plant the Gospel seed, and therefore there was no need to compete with other. He quoted Isaiah 52:15 as justification for this attitude.
“Thos who were not told about him will see and those who have not heard will understand”
The question then is why are the Christian Churches in Ghana fighting over transfer growth or “stealing of members” when many communities of the country do not have active, worshipping congregations?
THE WORD IN OUR LIVES
The Church in Africa has greatly benefited from the missionary advance of the Church in Europe some 200 to 300 years ago.
Even now, our concept of missions is to have some whiteman to come into our country as medical personnel and others and to help spread the world of God. As has been stated in other parts of this material, many of our Churches in some parts of the country and outside the country are chaplaincies. As much as these chaplaincies are important, we need to find out what our missionary agendas are in these areas. In many parts of West Africa, especially in the northern sectors, the Christian influence is minimal and churches are not as prevalent as in the southern sector. There is also the question of the language barrier as many of the surrounding countries?
There are many well-endowed congregations in the southern parts of our country. How many of such churches have budgets for missions. The church of Antioch was not a big church, but it must have taken pride in the fact that it was the home church of the great apostle to the Gentiles, Paul and he always reported back to them. They supported Paul not only materially, but more importantly with their prayers.
A church without any serious missionary agenda cannot be a serious New Testament Church which is following the example of Jesus and the apostle Paul.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What justification has Paul to declare that he would not build on the foundation of others?
2. Of what significance is missions to the fulfillment of God’s purpose of saving all humanity?
3. If missions is empowered and directed by God, why is there a need to set an agenda or plan for it?
4. Formulate a missionary agenda (plan) to reach people of your ethnic group or other ethnic groups (near yours) or an identifiable social group (eg. Bankers, tomato farmers) who have not been effectively touched by the gospel.
5. In what sense is every conversion a power encounter in which the Holy Spirit overpowers Satan to rescue and regenerate a sinner?
BIBLE LESSON APPLICATION
1. Make some time this week to reflect on your role in the church’s mandate for missions. Suppose the mandate was given by you and all believers were doing it the way you are, will you be pleased?
2. What can you do personally to promote the work of missions?
DAILY BIBLE READINGS
Monday Acts 19:8-14 The Courage of Paul
Tuesday Acts 19:13-20 Paul turned Many Hearers to the Lord
Wednesday Act 19:23-27 Ephesus becomes a Missionary Centre
Thursday 1 Corinthians 1:18-23 Preach Christ to the Nations
Friday 2 Corinthians 4:1-6 Our Mission
Saturday Ephesians 2:14-17 The Message of Peace
PAUL SETS A MISSIONNARY AGENDA
KEY VERSE: “It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on some else’s foundation.
ROMANS 15:20
SCRIPTURE LESSON: ROMANS 15:14-29; ACTS 19: 21
ROMANS 15:14 I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another.
15I have written you quiet boldly on some points, as if to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me.
16To be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my services to God.
18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done -19 by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel where Christ. 20 It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.
21 Rather, as it is written:” Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.
22 This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you
ACTS 19:21 After all this had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem. Passing through Macedonia and Achaia. “ After I have been there,” he said,” I must visit Rome also.”
INTRODUCTION
Numerical church growth arises from the following:-
Transfer growth which involves individual Christians changing their denominations or changing their congregations because they may have changed their place of abode.
Biological growth takes place when children of Christian parents are raised in the church and they grow to become part of the congregation.
Conversion growth occurs when unbelievers come to accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour and remains in the Church of the three, conversion growth is the only one which brings new converts into kingdom of God.
Of the three, conversion growth is the only one which brings new converts into the kingdom of God. However, in Ghana, the churches appear to concentrate largely on transfer growth. Some denominations including The Methodist Church, Ghana churches especially the charismatic ones.
The end results of these accusations and counter accusations about “stealing:” of members is that the Church in Ghana as a whole does not grow. The majority of unbelievers have generally not been reached. There are large areas of the country which are UN churched, and there are fertile soils for church planning in the surrounding countries and beyond, where the gospel seed can be planted.
What can the church in Ghana including The Methodist Church, Ghana learn from Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles?
EXPOSITION
Paul’s Missionary Agenda
The Focus:
It did not take much time after his conversion for Paul to demonstrate that his missionary activity had a clear focus. In Ro. 11:13, he wrote; “I am talking to you Gentiles, Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry”. The Early Church also came to recognize that Paul’s missionary activity had a clear focus distinct from that of Peter. He stated it as follows; “They saw that I had been given the task of preaching the Gospel to the Jews. For God who was at work in the ministry of Peter as an apostle to the Jews was also at work in my ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles” (Gal.2:7-8) A purpose-driven church must therefore know where its strengths are and which groups of people and what arrears it wants to evangelize. We cannot spread ourselves thinly everywhere. Having a focus leads to effectiveness in evaluation. You may recall that in giving the Church an agenda for evangelism and missions, Jesus taught the principle of targeting, and so Paul was not doing differently. (see Lessons for Weeks 38 and 39)
Paul’s Missionary Advances.
Paul missionary work began when the Holy Spirit told the Church in Antioch; “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” (Acts 13:2). The Acts of Apostle record that, from that time. Paul land his associates embarked on three missionary advances.
These are described below:
a. Paul’s first Missionary Journey:-
This took them to Cyprus and many important gentile cities. They knew that they had to return to their home church in Antioch and give an account of what God had done through them. They were not just planning churches, but they disciplined them and appointed leaders for them.
b. Paul’s Second Missionary Journey:-
In this second missionary advance, Paul and his team moved in a different direction and went further than the first. By the time he came back, he had moved as far as Greece and other parts of Eastern Europe. Again, he saw the need to report back to his home Church.
c. Paul’s Third Missionary Journey:-
This is a journey which Paul and his team undertook to consolidate the gains that had been made in his first two journeys. It is often sad when churches which have been planted through SICE programmes by GHAMSU are often abandoned and allowed to die, because we fail to nurture them.
d. Sensitivity to the leading of the Holy Spirit:-
Even though Paul had an agenda in his missionary advance, he was very sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. A good example of this is given in Acts 16:6-10, where Paul had to abandon his own plans and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit to go to Macedonia.
My ambition is not to build on someone else’ foundation.
In Ro 15:20-21, Paul opens our eyes to what guided him in his missionary work. On the face-value, it would appear that Paul was not a good team player and wanted to have the credit for himself alone. But that is not what guided Paul in his missionary work at all. He was guided by the fact that there are large tracts of fertile soils to plant the Gospel seed, and therefore there was no need to compete with other. He quoted Isaiah 52:15 as justification for this attitude.
“Thos who were not told about him will see and those who have not heard will understand”
The question then is why are the Christian Churches in Ghana fighting over transfer growth or “stealing of members” when many communities of the country do not have active, worshipping congregations?
THE WORD IN OUR LIVES
The Church in Africa has greatly benefited from the missionary advance of the Church in Europe some 200 to 300 years ago.
Even now, our concept of missions is to have some whiteman to come into our country as medical personnel and others and to help spread the world of God. As has been stated in other parts of this material, many of our Churches in some parts of the country and outside the country are chaplaincies. As much as these chaplaincies are important, we need to find out what our missionary agendas are in these areas. In many parts of West Africa, especially in the northern sectors, the Christian influence is minimal and churches are not as prevalent as in the southern sector. There is also the question of the language barrier as many of the surrounding countries?
There are many well-endowed congregations in the southern parts of our country. How many of such churches have budgets for missions. The church of Antioch was not a big church, but it must have taken pride in the fact that it was the home church of the great apostle to the Gentiles, Paul and he always reported back to them. They supported Paul not only materially, but more importantly with their prayers.
A church without any serious missionary agenda cannot be a serious New Testament Church which is following the example of Jesus and the apostle Paul.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What justification has Paul to declare that he would not build on the foundation of others?
2. Of what significance is missions to the fulfillment of God’s purpose of saving all humanity?
3. If missions is empowered and directed by God, why is there a need to set an agenda or plan for it?
4. Formulate a missionary agenda (plan) to reach people of your ethnic group or other ethnic groups (near yours) or an identifiable social group (eg. Bankers, tomato farmers) who have not been effectively touched by the gospel.
5. In what sense is every conversion a power encounter in which the Holy Spirit overpowers Satan to rescue and regenerate a sinner?
BIBLE LESSON APPLICATION
1. Make some time this week to reflect on your role in the church’s mandate for missions. Suppose the mandate was given by you and all believers were doing it the way you are, will you be pleased?
2. What can you do personally to promote the work of missions?
DAILY BIBLE READINGS
Monday Acts 19:8-14 The Courage of Paul
Tuesday Acts 19:13-20 Paul turned Many Hearers to the Lord
Wednesday Act 19:23-27 Ephesus becomes a Missionary Centre
Thursday 1 Corinthians 1:18-23 Preach Christ to the Nations
Friday 2 Corinthians 4:1-6 Our Mission
Saturday Ephesians 2:14-17 The Message of Peace
Monday, October 6, 2008
PETER'S RESISTANCE TO MISSION IS BROKEN
PETER’S RESISTANCE TO MISSIONS IS BROKEN
KEY VERSE: I now realize how true it is that God does not show favouritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right. Acts 10:34-35.
SCRIPTURE LESSON: ACTS 10:1-2, 5,9-20,24-35
ACTS 10:1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. 2He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.
ACTS10:9 about noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray
10He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance.
11He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners.
12It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air.
13Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter, Kill and eat.”
14 “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
15The voice spoke to him a second time. “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
16This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.
17While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate.
18They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.
19While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him. “Simon, three men are looking for you.
20So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them for I have sent them.
ACTS 10:24The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends.
25As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence.
26But Peter made him get up “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.”
27Talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people.
28He said to them: “You are –well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean.
29So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me? 30Cornelius answered. “Four days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shinning clothes stood before me
31and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor.
32Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.’
33So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to com. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.”
34Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favouritism
35but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.
BACKGROUND
In the early church, converts were coming in from different backgrounds. Both Jews like Saul (Paul) and non-Jews like the Roman centurion, Cornelius responded positively to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Because of frequent outbreaks of violence, Roman soldiers were stationed at vantage points to keep peace throughout Israel since the Romans as conquerors were hated by the Jew. As an army officer in charge of a hundred soldiers. Cornelius represented Rome in his home in Caesarea.
Four significant aspects of Cornelius character are noted in Acts:
He actively sought God
He revered God
He was generous in meeting other people’s needs
He prayed.
These aspects of his character earned him the approval of God. “If you seek him (God), he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.” (1Chron. 28:9b). He and all his family were devout, their godliness being expressed both in generosity to the needy and in regular prayer to God. However, he and the rest of his family needed God’s salvation in Jesus Christ. Peter was chosen as the vessel to transmit the good news of salvation to them, but he had a cultural resistance to ministry. God had to work on Peter’s resistance to missions among Gentiles. As events unfolded Peter became convinced that the Jews as well as the Gentiles needed God’s salvation.
EXPOSITION
THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION
Israel was elected by God, “Out of all the people’s on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession” (Deut 14:2) By the doctrine of election, that is, God choosing and blessing one family, Israel, God intended to bless all the families of the earth. “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you… I will bless those who bless you …. And all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Gen.12:2-3). Scripture taught that when God’s Messiah came, he would inherit the nations, and be their light, land all nations would ‘flow’ to the Lord’s house, I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” (Isa. 49:6)
The tragedy was that Israel twisted this doctrine of election into one of favouritism, became filled with racial pride, hatred, and despised Gentiles as ‘dogs’ and developed traditions which kept them apart. No orthodox Jew would ever enter the home of a Gentile, even a God-fearer, or invite such into his home. Edelstein states that, ‘all familiar intercourse with Gentiles was forbidden and no pious Jew would of course have sat down at the table of a Gentile.’
This then was the entrenched position which had to be overcome before Cornelius could be admitted into the Christian Community on equal terms with Jews, and before the Church could become a truly multi-racial society. Peter was to be God’s instrument in this development, for Cornelius was instructed to send for him from Joppa.
NEW STAGE IN PETER’S MISSIONARY CAREER
Events in the passage clearly show that God was moving Peter’s missionary career towards a new stage of bringing the Gentiles into the Church. On three occasions, Peter resisted the voice that came in the trance. The vision left Peter confused. He however gave in when the spirit told him about the visit of the three men sent to him by Cornelius. After hearing their message, Peter became convinced that God was opening a new door for the Gentiles to go in. Not only was he convinced but he also went further by hosting them for the night even though they were uncircumcised Gentiles.
When Peter entered the residence of Cornelius, he started his address by saying; “It is against our law…” (Verse 28). Not only was it against their law to host Gentiles but also to enter the house of a Gentiles and to talk with him was prohibited. The obstacle to the mission to the Gentiles was that, it would bring law-abiding Jews like Peter into contact with people who were reckoned unclean. It is this obstacle which was overcome by the vision of Peter. He was overwhelmed and became more convinced when in the course of his message, the Gentiles received the Holy Spirit as the Jewish disciples experienced on the day of Pentecost. Peter realized that, if God accepted the Gentiles in this way, he should be prepared to accept and defend their entry into the church by baptism.
THE WORD IN OUR LIVES
Some years ago, a foreign missionary and an indigenous missionary went to the northern part of Ghana to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and establish churches. The foreign missionary pegged his tent among the people, ate their food, wore their dresses, learnt their language and sometimes went to farm with them. The indigenous missionary lodged at a hotel and spoke through an interpreter. He mounted crusades and tried to present the Gospel to the people in the clearest and simplest method he could. Within two years, the foreign missionary had succeeded in establishing many churches and had got some of the natives to help him run those churches. On the contrary, the indigenous missionary had established only one church with most of the members being southerners who had traveled to the north to work.
For the Church to become universal God had to break the traditional taboo that served as a barrier between the Jews and the Gentiles in the Cornelius-Peter episode. Peter now felt at liberty to enter Cornelius house. God had shown him that no human being is unclean in his sight and that all people every where needed the saving grace of God through Jesus Christ. God did this through Peter because Jesus had given him the keys of the kingdom’ (Matt. 16:19) to open the door for the Gentiles to go in.
Modern day Christians need to learn from today’s lesson. All people everywhere are equal before God and equally need his grace in the salvation of their souls. We should prepared therefore to cast away all cultural prejudices and “become all things to all people “so that we may win some for Christ (1 Cor. 9:19-23).
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
The foreign missionary was able to establish many churches in Northern Ghana (see The Word in Our Lives). What do you think made this possible?
2. a Discuss why (i) the Methodist Church (ii)other churches you can identify by name, are not expanding as fast as they should in certain parts of the country?
(b) How can the trend be reversed?
3. What lessons does the Peter-Cornelius ‘episode teaches us in relation to ethnocentrism (regarding one’s ethnic group as superior over others) in our evangelism?
4. How can Methodist and other African ministers in Europe and America establish churches made up of indigenous Europeans and Americans?
BIBLE LESSON APPLICATION
Make an effort to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to somebody who is not a member of your ethnic group this week. Share your experience with your group members.
DAILY BIBLE READINGS
Monday Acts 10: 1-8 Cornelius is directed to call Peter
Tuesday Acts 10:9-19 Peter’s Vision
Wednesday Acts 10:19-23 Peter is convinced
Thursday Acts 10:24-35 Peter at Cornelius’ house
Friday Acts 10:36-48 Peter’s Message
Saturday Acts 11:1-18 Peter explains his actions
Sunday Acts 15:5-11 the yoke is finally broken
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