1. building relationships

2. Our Roadmap Session 1: Why Become a Contagious Christian
Lost people matter to God/to us
Relational evangelism
Session 2: Being Yourself
Evangelism Styles
Positives (and cautions) of your styles
Session 3: Building Relationships
Session 4: What’s Your Story?
Session 5: What’s God’s Story?
Session 6: Crossing the Line
Session 7: Putting It Together
Session 8: Objection!

3. Preview Discover how to be more intentional in existing relationships
Identify how to build new friendships
Discover comfortable ways to start spiritual conversations
Write down statements you can use to transition an everyday conversation into a spiritual conversation

4. Prayer, Community Building
Group Leader: The person in your group who laughs the easiest. Lead your group through the following:
Everyone acquainted in your group?
2. Talk about a time when you intentionally made a friend. What was the situation? How did it happen?

5. Building Relationships: Friends and Family
People we ALREADY know
TRY TO DEEPEN your conversations when you’re together
Throw a “MATTHEW PARTY”
HAVE FUN first!

6. Building Relationships: New Friends
People we don’t know well, but would LIKE TO KNOW

7. Four Building Blocks PRAY Build on areas of COMMON GROUND LISTEN
Mention spiritual matters EARLY

8. Three Approaches to start spiritual conversations
Direct Approach
Indirect Approach
Invitational Approach

9. Direct Approach Usually takes the form of a question or statement
Do you ever think about SPIRITUAL QUESTIONS?
Where do you think you are on your spiritual JOURNEY?

10. Video (Lauren and Chelsea)
What do you think of the way Lauren started the conversation?
Other comments about the approach?

11. Indirect Approach
Uses the topic of an everyday conversation as a BRIDGE to a related spiritual topic

12. Video, Nate and Paul How did Nate transition the conversation?
What did Nate say to continue the conversation in a spiritual direction?

13. Invitational Approach
Transition to a spiritual conversation by inviting your friend to a CHRISTIAN EVENT

14. Video, Lindsey and Katie
How did Lindsey use and invitation to start a spiritual conversation?
How did Lindsey continue the conversation?
Tips:
1. Offer to pick them up
2. Remind them day before
3. Pay their way
4. Do something before or after event

15. Activity: Starting Spiritual Conversations
Talking with a non-Christian friend, preferably someone from your Impact List:
Read each situation
Write down a question/statement to move the conversation toward a spiritual topic.
Complete as many as possible in the next ____ minutes

16. Principles for Starting Spiritual Conversations
Focus on your friend’s INTERESTS and CONCERNS
Be willing to take RISKS
Make the most of split-second OPPORTUNITIES

17. Update your Impact List
1. Write the names of three people with whom you believe God is leading you to build relationships.
2. Identify where each person is on the Readiness Scale:
Cynic (hostility)
Skeptic (disbelief)
Spectator (indifference)
Seeker (interest)

18. Update (and pray for) your Impact List
List areas of Common Ground
Write down one or two transition statements you might use in a conversation with your friend
Determine the next step to take with your friend
Relationally
Spiritually

19. Wrap-Up
Discovered how to be more intentional in existing relationships
Identified how to build new friendships
Discovered comfortable ways to start spiritual conversations
Wrote down statements for transitioning from everyday conversations into spiritual conversations

20. Our Roadmap Session 1: Why Become a Contagious Christian
Session 2: Being Yourself
Session 3: Building Relationships
Session 4: What’s Your Story?
Session 5: What’s God’s Story?
Session 6: Crossing the Line
Session 7: Putting It Together
Session 8: Objection!

21. Closing Prayer For the coming week:
Review and practice what you’ve learned, asking God for help, guidance, and opportunities
Read the Lutheran Witness article(s)