Thought for the Week 5th March 2017

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1.      How do I share the gospel?

This is a key question! How do I reach a place in a conversation where I can tell people what the gospel is?  This is critical and much missed part of conversations that we have. Lets look again at Jesus conversation with the woman at the well to see the importance of this.  At the end of the conversation:

 

25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

Put simply – Jesus told her who He was!  If we are going to share the gospel with people it is necessary that we tell people who Jesus is!  Again we are often far more afraid of doing this than we need to be!  We are so concerned about offending a person that we would rather say nothing, here are some things that I hope will help you:

1.      When you have built a relationship with a person who has become interested in your life then it is a natural thing to explain who Jesus is and what he has done in your life. 

2.      Most people are not as against the Christian faith as we think – they just don’t know what we believe.

3.      Using stories and speaking about your own experiences is helpful.

4.      You know enough about the gospel to be able to explain it to a person who wants to know what it is all about.  Don’t become over-anxious and convince yourself, before you even start, that you will get it all wrong!  Remember – you are not alone!  Jesus said ‘I will be with you!’

This week ask God to give you the opportunity to share the gospel message with one person.

Thought for the Week 26th February 2017

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How do I bring Jesus into a conversation?

 

As I mentioned previously, conversations with people can begin so easily and if we show genuine interest and concern for the person we are in conversation with then the talk can continue for a long time.   In many cases this can lead to ongoing conversations at different times and in different places, especially if we  talk about things that matter!

 

I have often found myself saying, ‘let’s chat some more next time you are in the gym’.  Or ‘Let’s have a coffee and talk some more…..’ 

 

A question that I am frequently asked is ‘How do I bring Jesus into a conversation’.

 

For Jesus, in His conversation with the woman at the well, it was not difficult for Him to talk about Jesus, because He is Jesus, he talked about Himself!

 

11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? And them in v13

13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

15 The 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.”

 Jesus drew her deeper into the conversation by arousing her curiosity about who He was and what He could do in her life.  We can’t do it exactly as Jesus did but we can arouse curiosity by talking about how Jesus is working in our lives.  We can talk about the ways that our faith is a real help to us as we face the same challenges that are being faced by the person that we are in conversation with.  We can mention such things as: answers to prayer, ways that we have felt God with us in times of challenge, how priorities in our life have changed as a result of our faith, specific ways that God is changing me, support and love of other Christians. 

I am convinced that people are far more interested to hear about our experiences of God working in our lives than we think.  If we want to bring Jesus into the conversation then we can naturally and in a non-preachy way just share the ways that we have known Jesus in the midst of the things that life throws at us. 

The person may not believe it straight away, or ever, but it will lead to the possibility of more conversations about faith!

This week ask the Lord to help you to talk about your faith more openly as you engage in conversation.

Thought for the Week 19th February 2017

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How do I continue a conversation?

 

Jesus met the woman at the well and began a conversation by asking her a simple question.  Ok, it’s one thing to start a conversation but how do you continue one?

 

I find that the best answer to this it to listen to the person’s response and then talk with them openly, honestly and sensitively about what they ask and let the conversation continue without feeling the need to ‘jump in about Jesus’. 

 

Jesus had to respond to a very direct response to his request for a drink.  The 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.) John 4:9

 

Her response was filled with concerns about prejudice!  That might have been a conversation ender for a lot of us!  I have to say that I have never been faced with such a challenging question so quickly! In fact, most often, it takes a long time for the conversation to become about things related to my faith.  People seem to talk firstly about things that are happening in their lives, and are often glad that somebody has the time and interest to listen to them.

 

 Jesus response is honest, very appropriate and would help the woman to know who it was that she was talking to!

 

 Jesus 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.”  John 4:10

 

Clearly this is not an answer that any of us could give because we are not God!    What each of us can do by being honest is to talk openly about our faith in God at the point in the conversation that people ask us things that create this opportunity.

 

As you meet people this week and begin a conversation…How could you continue these conversations and talk about things that matter?

Thought for the Week 12th February 2017

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1.      How do I start a conversation?

As we seek to Join Jesus in His mission one thing that is essential is that we talk to people as well as live lives that help people to see Jesus.  Many of us are far happier ‘living a Jesus life and hoping that people will just see Jesus in us and somehow come to know Him’.  The reality is that whilst living the Jesus life is a critical part of joining Jesus in His Mission it will, if effective, lead to opportunities for us to speak with people.  It is just as critical that we take the opportunities to speak if we are to help people find out the truth about Jesus.

With this in mind, one of the questions I am most frequently asked is ‘How do I start a conversation?’

To help you think about this I want to refer to the story in John chapter 4 of ‘the woman at the well’.  Look at how Jesus started a conversation!

 

 ‘When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (John 4:7)

 

She had come to a well, a place to get water, and Jesus asked her for a drink – an incredibly natural question that would lead to a deeper conversation.  Jesus started a conversation by asking a simple question that was appropriate to where he was and what he was doing at the time.

 

Often, when I am at the gym I begin a conversation by asking a person who is lifting weights if they would like me to ‘spot them’  (support the weight as they lift it).  This frequently leads to much deeper conversations!

 

In your life there are many people that you are among and sharing in similar activities to what you are doing – a simple question could lead to a much deeper conversation!  The question could just be ‘How are you doing?’  and then listening to the response!

 

This week, why not start a conversation with a person that you know, who doesn’t know Jesus?

Thought for the Week – 5th February 2017

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Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. John 5:19

Over the past few weeks I have shared some stories of deep things that Christians saw as they gathered on a rooftop and looked across the city of London.

Where is your ‘rooftop?’

As you read this question you may already be thinking of a high place in the city/town village where you live. Let me suggest somewhere a little more convenient.

In your home I am sure that there is a room with a view. A window through which you can see out into the street, and within sight are other homes, maybe shops, a school, ……. Each of these places is filled with people that God sent Jesus to save.

As you spend time, perhaps each day, with the Lord reading the bible and praying you could make this ‘room with a view’ the place where you do this. You could ask Him to help you to see what He sees and what He is doing. You could ask Him to work in your heart in such a way that He will be able to use you to join Him in reaching the people.

This week, I encourage you to find your rooftop and then be ready to join Jesus in His Mission.

Thought for the Week 29th January 2017

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29th January
Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. John 5:19

I have mentioned, over the past couple of weeks, some of the experiences of God that leaders had as we looked across the vast expanse of London from the terrace of the Alexander Palace.

It wasn’t only the other leaders, God also spoke to me in a way that was very simple but enormously powerful.

Having looked across the city from the edge of the terrace I stepped back inside a small covered area to pray and reflect upon what I had seen. Then, after a few minutes, I looked out again to remind myself of the view and there, just a few feet in front of me, there was a young man standing directly in my sight line and talking loudly into his phone.

My first and instinctive thought was ‘what is he doing standing in the way of my view!?’ He was speaking so loudly into his phone that I couldn’t help hearing what he was saying. It was pretty clear after listening for just a few seconds that he was having a very heated argument with his girl friend, or maybe wife. Without realizing it, I had forgotten about ‘the view’ and my focus was on this young man. Then, very abruptly, he walked away, still yelling down the phone.

I found myself praying! I didn’t know much about his circumstances but it was clear that all was not well.
I believe that sometimes we don’t have to look too far to see the needs that people have and to join with Jesus in His mission to reach these people.

As you go through this week, consider ‘Who has the Lord put in my way? and then, be ready to Join Jesus in His Mission.

Thought for the Week 22nd January 2017

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22nd January

Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. John 5:19

What do you see the Father doing as you go through your daily life? 

This is a question that I have asked many Christians and most frequently the answer that I receive is that it doesn’t occur to them to even be looking! 

It is so easy to just see all that is around us and not look to see what God is doing, things become very familiar and we have no expectation of Gods supernatural activity.

While we were on the rooftop in Haringey one of the leaders shared that as he looked across the city what he immediately saw literally thousands of buildings.  He continued to say that as he asked to see what God sees he began to realize that the buildings were filled with people that Jesus came to seek and to save.   He realized that it is people that God is interested in!

What he said next was a powerful challenge, he said that we often think of the church as a building that we are trying to get people into rather than people who are on mission with God!

 How differently might you see things if you saw people both within, and outside of the church as the thing that God is most passionate about?

Thought for the Week – 6th August 2016 – Dennis Pethers

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After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.  Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.  Luke 10:1-3

Jesus sent the seventy-two to go out two-by-two into the harvest field.  I have spoken about this previously but want to remind you, as you go about your daily life this week, that wherever you go, you are in God’s harvest field.

A few weeks ago I was at a church just to the South of London speaking with a group who are being taken through a short course that is helping them to ‘Join Jesus in His Mission’.

As a part of the evening people were placed into small groups and were asked to consider a number of questions.  The first question was ‘where do you go?’

I listened in on one group and heard a man say, ‘I don’t really go anywhere!  I come to church and I go home, that’s about it!’

The person leading the small group said to him, ‘Don’t you go anywhere else?’  The man thought about this for a moment and continued ‘Well I suppose I do go the park most days to walk the dog, and I do go to the shops fairly regularly’.  He paused and then continued ‘And when I walk the dog I see a lot of the same people walking their dogs, and now that I am thinking about it, it has never occurred to me that God might be in the park, that the park is part of His mission field.’

Interestingly, his comments very quickly got the other people in the group talking about the places where they go – work, the gym, visiting friends and family…….  What was fascinating was that each of them admitted that they had never thought about the places they go as part of God’s harvest field.  They believed that God was in the church and with them when they are at home but had little expectation of God being in the places where they go.

So how about you?  What difference might it make to your witness if you recognized that God is already at work in the places you go?

Thought for the Week – 31st July 2016 – Dennis Pethers

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After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.  Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.  Luke 10:1-3

Sometimes being part of a church can discourage people who want to share their faith. 

Not long after I became a Christian I was so excited about Jesus and the changes that were taking place in my life.  I remember enthusiastically sharing with people in the church that ‘I want to tell everybody about Jesus’.  The response I received from most of the people I told was, ‘It is often like that when you first become a Christian but, don’t worry, it will wear off’.

The people that said this to me were not seeking to be unhelpful, they were simply speaking out of what they had experienced, that often, the longer a person has been a Christian, the less passion they have about sharing their faith and the less people they are connected with who don’t know Jesus.

What can so easily happen in church is that we become accustomed to meeting in the place where we come together and run all kinds of activities and programmes.  As we busy ourselves with ‘church life’ we can slowly forget the people who are outside, we can forget that we are ‘sent to go’!

Jesus sent the disciples out two-by-two and I am utterly convinced that encouraging one another in faith sharing must become woven into what we mean when we say the word ‘church’.  This encouragement will only take place when each of us in church has at least one other person that I am encouraging and who is encouraging me

I urge you, this week, to identify a Christian that you know, go out for a coffee together, and talk with each other about how you can be an encouragement to one another as you seek to share Jesus with people.

Thought for the Week – 24th July 2016 – Dennis Pethers

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After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.  Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.  Luke 10:1-3

Over the past few weeks we have been thinking about how we can more effectively join Jesus in His mission if we are supported rather than left to ‘do it alone’.

It is interesting that when Jesus sent out the 72, he sent them out two-by-two – not alone! There are many ways that ‘not being left alone’ can help as we seek to share our faith in Jesus.  

One of these is motivation, helping each other to carry on and do things that we think we can’t do.

A few days ago I was at the gym and there were two reasonably elderly men who were working out together.  I heard one of the men say, ‘There is no way I can lift that’, his friend said ‘Yes you can, just forget about the weight and focus on lifting’.  He then stood behind the man and said ‘any problems, don’t worry I’m right behind you’. 

The man then proceeded to lift the weight and he completed one ‘rep’.  The friend then said, ‘Come on let’s do four more’.  Slowly, but with determination, the man completed three more and said ‘I can’t do any more’.  His friend said, ‘Come on, last one, you can do this’.  HE DID!

After he had finished the two men ‘high-fived’ each other.  The friend said ‘Excellent, you did it, it was all you’.  The man said ‘Thanks, I could never have done it without you’.

Clearly the man could lift the weight, he just didn’t believe that he could and needed the motivation and support to see it through.

I meet so many Christians who don’t believe that they can share their faith.  They have convinced themselves that it is too difficult for them.  The truth is that they can do it!

How about we make it a priority to find ways of motivating each other when we meet?