by The disciple who loves Jesus
7 October 2022, Innsbruck, Austria
TABLE OF CONTENT:
All Scripture quotations are taken from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version) |5|, unless stated otherwise.
Corresponding author: stefaniecg@icloud.com
This document presents the The Street Bible-Discovery project
, a tool to reach the lost with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it is organized as follows.
Section Introduction presents the topic, rationale/gap, and aim of this work.
Section Methods presents the methodology of our approach.
Section The Street Bible Discovery presents the tool.
Currently our evangelistic ministry is to make outreaches with the aim of sharing the Gospel with the lost (Matthew 28:18-20). Our method is to engage in one-to-one conversations with people (John 4:7-30). The duration of each conversation depends on the leading of the Spirit (Luke 12:12), but it usually takes between 30 minutes to 1 hour. We go two-by-two (Luke 10:1) and our aim is to sow seeds (Matthew 13:3-23) by presenting the Gospel trough 6 threads. In one-on-one conversations with the Lost, the Gospel should always be shared in a dialogue, not a monologue (do not preach). Always ask questions that lead to a dialogue, follow the example of Jesus Christ on one-on-one evangelism (John 4:7-30). The monologue version (a.k.a. preaching) are also encouraged but for big crowds outreach.
There are two main categories of non-believers: atheist and agnostics. The audience (the type of lost) we encounter are in great majority atheist (deny the existence and belief in God), then agnostics (do not know if there is a God, but do not deny nor assert it), followed by muslims, catholics, jews, and Jehovas’ witness.
We present the Gospel through 6 core-Gospel threads (1) (milestones) along the conversation.
The Gospel Threads (original by D. Platt, extended by scg):
At the end of the conversation make a call to action and if the person accepts it:
Figure 1 - The mini Gospel of John (6) and also a mini Gospel of Lukas.
‘How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” ‘ (Romans 10:14-15)
The goal of our ministry has always been to meet people, share the Gospel, and make disciples. We succeed to share the core of the Gospel with the people, but the usual case of our encounters is that after planting the Gospel seed, we never see the them again (with a few exceptions). Our current SoM does not have a clearly outlined method to follow up with the people we talk to. Even though it is undeniable that God will grow that seed if it is His will (1 Corinthians 3:9), we describe now a method to follow up with the people. Through our current method we share the Gospel with the lost and can know: ‘Where is each person at now? (Meet them)’, but it fails to follow up: ‘What is their next step? (Move them)’. We want to close the gap that by devising a clearly outlined method to follow up with the people we encounter: give them further guideline to read by themselves and/or invite them to a follow up encounter.
The Shiftm2M seminar |2| teaches leadership and disciple making Jesus-style. The seminar takes the student through the life of Jesus, detecting milestones in his ministry on building a disciple making movement. Jesus Ministry can be broken down into 6 phases, each phase starts with a milestone. The ministry building process is illustrated in Figure 2. Jesus’ disciple-making process took un-believers (The lost) and turned them into not only disciples, but disciple-makers. The end stage of every human is to turn from being in the status of ‘lost’ to the status of ‘disciple-maker’. For people to move from one stage to another, Jesus Christ used a specific calling. The process through which a lost person goes to become a disciple maker is shown in Figure 3. The two charts previously discussed are related through the diagram shown in Figure 4.
Milestones and Phases of the ministry that results in the Movement: (Figure 2)
Jesus’s callings and people stages while moving through the disciple-maker path: (Figure 3)
‘For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” ‘ (Luke 19:10)
Note: Stage 3 was re-named, the new birth, calling 6 (C6), and Stage 5 were added by the author, in comparison to the original Shiftm2M diagram.
The task is to:
person | by | (focus) so that he/she… | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Evangelism | Connect and win | the lost | evangelizing (fish) | understands the good news of the Gospel (εὐαγγέλιον) . |
Ekklésia (ἐκκλησία) | Build | the believer | edifying (growth) | knows (γινώσκω) Him. |
Discipleship | Train | the disciple | equipping (discipling) | gets practical training for the work of ministry (διακονία). |
Mission | Send | the disciple-maker | multiplying (make more disciples) | works for the expansion of the Kingdom (βασιλεία) of God. |
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” ‘ (Mark 1:15)
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations (ἔθνη), baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
‘And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. ‘ (Acts 2:42)
Figure 2 - The Ramp Chart: Jesus Ministry, the process for building a disciple-makers movement |3|
Figure 3 - The Arrow Chart1: People in the disciple-maker process |3|
Figure 4 - The relationship between the Ramp and Arrow charts (two lenses) |4|
Project characterization: The street bible-discovery is a tool to discover the Bible with unbelievers in the street. We want them to feel comfortable and that no one is forcing ideas on them. Therefore our approach of reading the bible will be to discover it together. There will be no authoritative teaching of the Word of the Lord, rather it will be a joint/shared discovery of scripture. It is done in a group setting, minimum group size is two. This tool intends to take people from the stage of unbelief ‘lost’ to (at the least) the next stage of ‘connected Lost’ (in the arrow_chart Figure 3). The bible discovery will have 5 initial sessions, called the Alef discovery. We assume it is easier for someone to consider going through a small number of sessions, therefore we have proposed 5 initial sessions. Either way the bible discovery can be stoped at any point in time and there are no strings attached, it is just a friendly invitation to know more about God. If we succeed to go through the initial Alef discovery, then we can continue with the next 7 follow-up sessions, called the Bet discovery. Each session will have a topic and a central question we want to answer with the group by reading specific verses of scripture. The bible discovery is an already existing tool used to read the bible with non believers |8|. We will use a slightly modified version of its structure and read specific verses in John’s Gospel to cover a topic. As we target to use this for people mainly reached on the streets we call it street bible discovery. The reason to use John’s gospel is because we already give this material, so there is no need to acquire any different material. Even though, we prepare specific verses and a structure for the meeting, we will rely on the guidance of the Spirit for its execution. Therefore, the structure, topic, and question are only a guide that can be adapted.
Expected Outcome: Take the lost we reach on the streets to (at least) the stage of connected lost. In the long run, we would encourage them to repent, be baptized, and to receive the Holy Spirit, to become believers (Acts 2:38). But the new birth can only be done by God, so prayer and leading of the Spirit is central to our method. There is nothing we can do without the power and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Target audience: The Lost (Luke 19:10), both woman and man of at least 18 years old. We target mostly young people because of the language and the ease of communication. But if the Spirit leads to older people there will be no problem.
Table 1 - Structure of the street bible discovery meetings
id | segment | aim |
---|---|---|
- | Greeting | A short-focused prayer: ask for the Spirit understanding. |
p1 | Exchange & Retrospective | What have you experienced with God this week, implemented/shared from last time’s discovery? |
p2 | Scripture | Read together the Word of God, each read alone, then tell the story with closed bibles. |
p3 | Discovery | Focus: answer the session question. (a) What did you noticed, like/not-like in the text? (b) What can you learn about God & His kingdom? |
p4 | Application | Does it change: how you think about God? how you live your life? see this world? |
- | Farewell | A short-focused prayer: ask for Spirit wisdom & pray for each other (Sangeet-style). |
Figure 5 - The Bible Discovery meeting structure
Dynamic of the Group: The saints are referred to as moderators in this sessions. We as moderators need to remember that we are reading the bible with non-believers. This is a different setting as the normal church setting, for this is NOT a bible study but rather a bible discovery. In these discovery-sessions all participants are invited to share their opinion about scripture without retaliation, but rather with tolerance, humbleness, and kindness we are all called to share our interpretation of scripture. Active involvement of all participants is needed, included the moderators as just participants. Remember in this group setting there is no stablished order, as we are all reading and discovering the Word of the Lord together. We have to tolerate the opinion of the lost, yet always being ready to respectfully, kindly, and gently give a defense for the reason of the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15).
‘Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. ‘(1 Peter 4:12) ‘but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense [Apologia (ἀπολογία)] to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, ‘ (1 Peter 3:15) ‘ “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. ‘ (Matthew 10:16)
‘The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. ‘ (John 17:22-23)
Preparation: There is no need of preparing anything before meeting for the street bible discovery. This is no teaching of scripture, rather it is a sharing of thoughts while discovering the Bible together live & on-sight. The saint has the power of the Holy Spirit of God in Him/Her to be a witness of Christ and proclaim His Gospel (Acts 1:8). No preparation is key of this method: rely on the power of the Spirit!
Project scope:
“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:37-38)
Table 2 - Milestones of the street bible discovery project
id | milestone | date | description |
---|---|---|---|
M0 | project kickoff | 7 Oct 2022 | Launch of the Project |
M1 | project specification | 10 Oct 2022 | Write the project concept |
M2 | design invitation | 29 Oct 2022 | Design an invitation to the bible discovery and set-up a contact email |
M3 | peer-review | 6 Nov 2022 | Ask for feedback from selected peers |
M4 | phase material production | 7 Nov 2022 | Print invitations, order mini John’s Gospel |
M5 | project launch - phase 1 | 11 Nov 2022 | Ask for the blessing of the Lord of the Harvest |
M6 | phase implementation | 1 Dec 2022 | Start the first Alef discovery |
M7 | phase launch - phase 2 | sby | Wait for the Lord of the Harvest |
M8 | phase implementation | sby | Start the first Bet discovery |
M9 | phase material production | sby | Print invitations, order mini John’s Gospel |
… | … | … | … |
The Street Bible Discovery entails of 6 discovery programs, each program focuses on a specific call as instructed by Jesus Christ and described in Figure 3 and Table 3. The project intends to provide a framework to discover God and the Bible with non-believers, through reading together the Gospel of John. For the time being, only the Alef discovery will be launched to the streets and to acquaintances. All other following bible discovery programs are described here, but they will be launched to the streets only if/when the Lord of the Harvest (Matthew 9:37-38) provides growth of the first Alef seeds. Yet we encourage others who have fellow saints who are in other stages of the disciple-maker path, to use this framework to grow together into maturity of disciple-makers by going trough the ב - Bet discovery or the ג - Gimel discovery.
Table 3 - Summary of the street bible discovery project
id | discovery | calling | focus topic | aim stage (Figure 3) |
---|---|---|---|---|
sBD1 | א - Alef discovery | C1 - Come and see (John 1:39,46) | The Gospel | Connected lost |
sBD2 | ב - Bet discovery | C2 - Repent and believe (Mark 1:15) | Turn and look at Him | Believer |
sBD3 | ג - Gimel discovery | C3 - Follow Me (John 1:43) | Abide in Him | Believer |
sBD4 | ד - Dalet discovery | C4 - Follow Me and fish for men (Matthew 4:19) | Discipleship Jesus-style | Disciple |
sBD5 | ה - He discovery | C5 - Go bear much fruit (John 15:16) | Mission in your own town | Disciple-maker |
sBD6 | ו - Waw discovery | C6 - Go make disciples of all Nations (Matthew 28:18) | Mission into the nations | Missionary |
id | session | topic | question | scriptures |
---|---|---|---|---|
A1 | Alef 1 | The character of God | Who is Christ? | John 1:1-18 |
A2 | Alef 2 | The sinfulness of man | Are we sinners? | John 4:1-29 |
A3 | Alef 3 | The sufficiency of Christ: mercy | Why did Jesus die? | John 1:29-36; 3:14-17 |
A4 | Alef 4 | The necessity of repentance, faith, and the new birth | How to become a child of God? | John 3:1-8 |
A5 | Alef 5 | The gift of grace | How to restore a relationship with God and his family? | - |
A6 | Alef 6 | The urgency of eternity | Does everyone go to heaven? | John 3:18-21 |
id | session | topic | question | scriptures |
---|---|---|---|---|
B1 | Bet 1 | The character of God | Why Jesus is the Bread of life? | John 6:1-69 |
B2 | Bet 2 | The character of God | Why Jesus is the Light of the world? | John 8:2-36 |
B3 | Bet 3 | The character of God | Why Jesus is the Door? | John 9:1-10:9 |
B4 | Bet 4 | The character of God | Why Jesus is the Good shepherd | John 10:10-30 |
B5 | Bet 5 | The character of God | Why Jesus is the Resurrection ? | John 11:1-46 |
B6 | Bet 6 | The character of God | Why Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the life? | John 14:1-13 |
B7 | Bet 7 | The character of God | Why Jesus is the Vine? | John 15:1-17 |
id | session | topic | question | scriptures |
---|---|---|---|---|
G1 | Gimel 1 | Elementary doctrines | What is repentance? | |
G2 | Gimel 2 | Elementary doctrines | What is faith? | |
G3 | Gimel 3 | Elementary doctrines | What is baptism? | |
G4 | Gimel 4 | Elementary doctrines | What is lying of hands? | |
G5 | Gimel 5 | Elementary doctrines | What is resurrection of the death? | |
G6 | Gimel 6 | Elementary doctrines | What is eternal judgement? |
[1] Platt, David, “Gospel Threads,” Radical Inc, 2017. |Available online|
[2] Shiftm2M Seminar. Campus für Christus. Saalfelden, Austria. August 2022. |Available online|
[3] Roennfeldt, Peter. “The movement strategy of Jesus in the Early Church,” PowerToChange, Australia, 2016. |Available online|
[4] Hodgson, Bill. “Movements in 3D,” PowerToChange, Australia, 2016. |Available online|
[5] English Standard Version. Crossway. |Available online|
[6] Johannes-Evangelium. Elberfelder Übersetzung. Verbreitung der Heiligen Schrift e.V., D-35713 Eschenburg |Available online|
[7] Johannes-Evangelium. Schlachter 2000 Übersetzung. Christliche Literatur-Verbreitung e.V., 33649 Bielefeld |Available online|
[8] My friends: Bible Discovery. MyFriends Ministry, Campus für Christus Schweiz, CH-8005 Zürich |Available online|
[9] Platt, David, “PRAY and FAST”, 6 January 2019. |Available online|