Personal Evangelism Fall 2013

A letter from Montana…

Open Doors Expression peculiar to Paul Says it about Ephesus: 1 Corinthians 16:9 Asks for the Colossians to pray for it: 4:3 Not every opportunity can/should be seized: 2 Corinthians 2:12 Thessalonica as an example Acts 16:9 Acts 17:1-4 1 Thessalonians 1:5 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

Study Spiritual ?’s Confess your faith Christian Living

Our Task Think of 1-2 individuals Where is your relationship with your friend(s)? Where are you “at” on the pyramid? Take the next step

Confess your faith

Gracious Speech Matthew 10:32-33 Ephesians 4:29, 5:4 Colossians 4:5-6 Titus 2:7-8

Add a pinch of salt… Turn opportunities for complaints into opportunities to express thankfulness Think of a spiritual way to answer greetings Couch plans for the future with phrases like, “Lord willing.” When something is said or occurs that is reminiscent of scripture, say so. Find a new way to say “I’m proud of __________________.”

How do you work the Lord into your daily dialogues?

Humble-bragging Someone uses false modesty to tell you how great they are 16 year old admitted to Yale Law: “I think I am the type of lawyer that is probably a failed doctor. I saw organic chemistry, and I was like, ‘nope, going to law school,'” “When I bought this Ferrari no one warned me I’d get pulled over all the time.” “Humbled that my album hit the Billboard Top 100.”

The Christian Humble-Brag “Blessed to be …, Honored to be included in …, So grateful for …., #Blessed” “We American Christians have our own version of the humble brag. Instead of prefacing our brag with phony humility, we sometimes soften it with expressions of blessing and gratitude. We want, like everyone else, to show that our life is good, happy, and exciting, but we also don't want to seem self-important. So we append our posts with praise to God. This is not to say that all online praise is unauthentic—some is, absolutely. But I suspect that some of our expressions of praise are also motivated by a desire to display our life in only a positive light.”

“ ” calling myself blessed because of material good fortune is just plain wrong. For starters, it can be offensive to the hundreds of millions of Christians in the world who live on less than $10 per day. You read that right. Hundreds of millions who receive a single-digit dollar ‘blessing’ per day. ~Scott Dannemiller, “The One Thing Christians Should Stop Saying”

“ ” True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less. ~ C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

“ ” love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil ~ 1 Corinthians 13:4-5