NT Narratives

Group Activity: New Testament Narratives

No unread replies.No replies.

Forum Question and Instructions

A short study of "what happened” in New Testament stories of conversion and coming to faith in Christ can be enlightening. Look at the narratives below from the New Testament to see what happened. Answer the following questions:

• What happened?
• How did it happen? - Method? Witness etc..
• Was it instantaneous? Was it a process?
• What did they "do?”
• What things are missing? (that we might think normal in our experience)

Group 1

• The Samaritans, John 4:28-42.
• The thief on the cross, Luke 23:39-43.
• At Pentecost, three thousand, Acts 2:41.

Group 2

• Post-Pentecost, Acts 4:4.
• The Eunuch, Acts 8:35-38.
• Saul of Tarsus, Acts 9:3-18.

Group 3

• Sergius Paulus, Acts 13:7, 12; 26:12-23.
• Cornelius, Acts 10.
• Jews and Greeks at Antioch, Acts 13:43.

Group 4

• Lydia, Acts 16:14, 15.
• Jailer, Acts 16:27-34.
• Greeks, Acts 17:4, 12.

Signature Assignment - 3/30/18

7) Gateway Evangelism “Signature Assignment” (50 pts)

The most important learning outcome for this class is that students are equipped to share the gospel with lost people.  The only way to truly exhibit that outcome is to actually share the gospel.  So, during this course students will be making opportunities to tell others they can be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ.  Whether through a planned ministry activity, building relationships with unbelievers or a spur-of-the-moment opportunity they will be sharing the gospel with family, friends, or new acquaintances.  The goal is to share with at least 4 different people/groups the gospel and invite them to believe.   Students may have to make several attempts in order to fully share the gospel even once, so this is likely to be more than just 4 encounters.  It is not our responsibility to convert anyone, but it is the responsibility of every disciple to be a witness.  Students will summarize their experiences in an 8-page paper titled “My Evangelism Experiences.” 

The paper should include brief descriptions of the following:

a.    The personal challenge you faced when joining this class.  For instance, this is the first time you will be sharing the gospel, or you are learning a new way to do evangelism. 

b.    How you prepared to share your faith.  This might include studying a gospel presentation, prayer for yourself and the person you witness to, spending time building a deeper relationship with someone or out in the area where you can casually meet unbelievers.

c.    How you connected with the persons you shared with.

d.    A brief summary of the actual gospel presentations you shared and their response.

e.    Any next steps or follow up that you are doing.

f.     Reflections and lessons learned.

The paper will be graded according to the following rubric:

Section quality	Poor	Good	Excellent
Preparation	Student did little preparation in prayer and relationships	Student shows adequate preparation in prayer and relationships	Student did serious personal preparation for this assignment
Presentations 1-4	The gospel presentation was incomplete or not focused	The student adequately shared the gospel, but could have done so more effectively.	The gospel presentation was clear and effective.
Personal growth	Student has largely neglected or resisted growth in their evangelism.	Student is taking evangelism seriously and has shown good growth.	There is significant affective and skill growth in evangelism during this course.

Bibliography

Bibliography

Akins, Wade. Pioneer Evangelism. Rio de Janeiro: Brazil, 1991.

Aldrich, Joe. Lifestyle Evangelism. Sisters, OR: Questar Publishers, 1993.

Beougher, Timothy K. and Alvin L. Reid, eds. Evangelism for a Changing

World. Wheaton: Harold Shaw Publishers, 1995.

Blue, Ron. Evangelism and Mission. Nashville: Word Publishers, 2001.

Cameron, Kirk, Comfort, Ray Conquer Your Fear, Share Your Faith:  Evangelism Made Easy, Ventura: Regal, 2009. 

________.  The School of Biblical Evangelism. Orlando: Bridge-Logos, 2004.

Coleman, Robert. The Master Plan of Evangelism. Grand Rapids: Baker Book

House, 1996.

Drummond, Lewis A. The Word of the Cross. Nashville: Broadman & Holman,

1992.

________. Eight Keys to Biblical Revival. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1994.

________. Equipping for Evangelism. Minneapolis: World Wide Publishers, 1994.

________. Reaching Generation Next. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2002.

Henderson, Jim, Casper, Matt. Jim and Casper Go to Church, Carol Stream: Barna Books, 2007.

Hesselgrave, David J. Communicating Christ Cross Culturally. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1991,

_______. Planting Churches Cross Culturally. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2000.

Hunter III, George, G. The Celtic Way of Evangelism, Nashville: Abingdon, 2000.

Hybels, Bill. Just Walk Across the Room. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006.

Hybels, Bill and Mark Mittelberg. Becoming a Contagious Christian. Grand

Rapids: Zondervan, 1994.

Kennedy, D. James. Evangelism Explosion, fourth edition. Wheaton: Tyndale House, 1996.

Kimball, Dan. The Like Jesus but not the Church. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2007.

Little, Paul. How to Give Away Your Faith. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press,

1988.

Pippert, Rebecca Manley. Out of the Saltshaker and Into the World. Downers

Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1979.

Pollard, Nick. Evangelism Made Slightly Less Difficult. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1997.

McDow, Malcolm and Alvin L. Reid. Firefall. Nashville: Broadman & Holman,

1997.

McManus, Erwin Raphael. An Unstoppable Force. Loveland: Group Publishing 2001.

McRaney Jr. The Art of Personal Evangelism. Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 2003.

Miles, Delas. Introduction to Evangelism. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1983.

Mittelberg, Mark. Building a Contagious Church. Grand Rapids: Zondervan,

2000.

Rainer, Thom S. The Unchurched Next Door. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003.

Reid, Alvin L. Introduction to Evangelism. Nashville: Broadman &Holman, 1998.

Richardson, Rick. Evangelism Outside the Box. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2000.

Robinson, Darrell W. Total Church Life. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1997.

Stetzer, Ed. Comeback Churches. Nashville:  Broadman and Holman, 2007.

Stetzer, Ed and Putman, David. Breaking the Missional Code. Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 2006.

Terry, John Mark. Evangelism: A Concise History. Nashville: Broadman &

Holman, 1994.

Thompson, Oscar with Thompson, Carolyn. Concentric Circles of Concern. Nashville: Broadman, 1981.

Best Practices - Due 3/30/18

5) Best Practices Project (100 pts)

“Best Evangelism Practices in Your Church”

Take an internal survey of your church and evaluate your church with regard to evangelism.

Part 1- Describe your church and community setting (2-3 pages) What’s the community like? What is the church like? History? What kind of people go there? How many people are in the church and how many people “joined” or were baptized last year?

Part 2- Think about and comment on the following and add additional questions. (3-4 pages)

1) How do guests feel and what do they experience when they come to your church meeting? (You may even want to use a “secret” shopper to visit and then get their reaction after the service.)

2) Does your church have ongoing evangelism training programs?

3) Does your church use small groups? Kids programs? Youth? Camps? Seniors?  Anything that creates space where people hear the Gospel and study the Word?

4) What events are used at your church to reach people with the Gospel?

5) Does your church use the Internet or any other media based tool for evangelism?

6) Is there an invitation given during the worship services? What does the pastor want people to do after the message?

Part 3- (2-3 pages) End your paper with a summary of what is working well that you would recommend others doing and a summary of what is not working? Where are gaps in evangelism where you can improve?

Your will be graded by the following rubric-

Form and Format	Paper lacked form and format. No page numbers. (0-9 points)	Paper was clean and neat but missing clear outline or title page. (10-14 points)	Paper was in great form- style, clean and neat. (15 points)
Part 1 Description of community and church	Need to improve description of church and community. (0-14 points)	Good, but needed to strengthen church or community description. (15-24 points)	Great job – paper highlighted demographic data in the community and the history and present status of the church. (25 points)
Part 2 – Internal survey of evangelism in the church	Paper needs improvement to evaluate the present evangelism efforts of the  church. (0-14 points)	Paper answered the suggested questions from the “paper and presentation” description of the syllabus. (15-24)	Paper answered all and more of the suggested question to evaluate the present evangelism efforts in the church. (25 points)
Part 3 - Summary of what is  working well “best practices” and areas where the church can improve	Paper needs to improve the description and identification of best practices in evangelism and  where the church has gaps that could be improved. (0-23 points)	Good effort but paper could have expanded description of effective evangelism practices and or identified gaps or areas that could be improved. (24-34 points)	Paper clearly identified a variety of “effective” ways  being used by the church and identified areas of improvement. Identified “best practices” that other churches might adopt. (35 points)
Totals
Grade

Evangelism Class Due Dates

Week	Description	Due Date		Total Points
1	Introduce yourself Record a short video introduction of yourself to the online forum. Upload your information and a photo to your profile (25) __________________ Week 1 Discussion Question Comment on your past experiences in Evangelism (10) Respond to the postings of at least two of your classmates (10)	2-4-2018 _________ 2-1-2018 2-4-2018	25 ________ 20
2	Quiz 1 over assigned reading and lecture notes (10) __________________ Week 2 Discussion Question – Comment on your evangelism style (10) Respond to the postings of at least two of your classmates (10) __________________ Complete your “personal testimony” in 100 words or less. Upload the document and read or say your testimony in the forum link provided. (20)	2-11-2018 ___________ 2-8- 2018 2-11-2018 ___________ 2-11-2018	10 ________ 20 ________ 20
3	Quiz 2 over assigned reading and lecture notes (10) __________________ Week 3 Discussion Question – Of the methods and ways discussed, which was most influential in you coming to faith? (10) Respond to the postings of at least two of your classmates (10) __________________ Verbatim 1 due- Upload to the link provided when you see the assignment name. (25)	2-18-2018 ___________ 2-15-2018 2-18-2018 ________ 2-18-2018	10 ________ 20 ________ 25
4	Week 4 Discussion Question New Testament Narratives (10) Respond to the postings of at least two of your classmates (10) ___________________ Assignment due—Book Summary -Upload to the link provided when you complete the assignment Conversational Evangelism (50)	2-22-2018 2-25-2018 _________ 2-25-2018	20 ________ 50
5	Quiz 3 over reading and lecture notes (10) ______________________ Week 5 Discussion Question – The biggest issue you face when entering into a spiritual conversation (10) Respond to the postings of two of your classmates (10) ______________________ Verbatim 2 due- Upload to the link provided when you see the assignment name. (25)	3-4-2018 _________ 3-1-2018 3-4-2018 _______ 3-4-2018	10 ________ 20 ________ 25
6	Quiz 4 over reading and lecture notes (10) ______________________ Week 6 Discussion Question – Compare the community that is inside your church with that outside in the surrounding neighborhood (10) Respond to the postings of at least two other students (10) ______________________ Verbatim 3 due- Upload to the link provided when you see the assignment name. (25)	3-11-2018 _________ 3-8-2018 3-11-2018 _________ 3-11-2018	10 _______ 20 ________ 25
7	Quiz 5 over reading and lecture notes (10) _______________________ Week 7 Discussion Question – Special issues – which age or group would you want to focus on and why? (10) Respond to the postings of at least two other students (10) ________________________ Group Activity – 50 Ways in Evangelism. (25)	3-18-2018 ________ 3-15-2018 3-18-2018 _________ 3-18-2018	10 ________ 20 _______ 25
	Gateway Spring Break March 19-23
8	Week 8 Discussion Question- What are two things your church is doing well in evangelism that you think others might try? (10) Respond to the postings of at least two other students (10) __________________________ Assignment due- Gateway Evangelism Signature Assignment (50) Assignment due- Paper due of the “Best Practices” evangelistic climate of your church (100)	3-28-2018 3-30-2018 _________ 3-30-2018 3-30-2018	20 ________ 50 100
	Total Points possible		555