Evangelism Explosion
Evangelism - General Outline
(Yellow highlighted parts are to be memorized word-for -word. These are
mostly the transitions, Bible verses, and key phrases. The remaining parts
need to have all the content but may be in your own words.)
I.
Introduction
- 2 questions
II.
The Gospel
A. Grace
1. Heaven is a free gift.
2. It is not earned or deserved.
B. Man
1. Man is a sinner.
2. Man can not save himself.
C. God
1. God is merciful - therefore He doesn't want to punish us.
2. God is just - therefore He must punish sin.
D. Christ
1. Who He is
- the infinite God-man.
2. What He did
- He died on the cross and rose from the dead to pay the
penalty for our sins and to purchase a place in heaven for us.
E. Faith
1. What it is not a. Trusting in head knowledge
b. Trusting in temporary things
2. What it is
- Trusting Jesus alone for eternal life.
III.
Commitment
IV.
Immediate follow up
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(Introduction)
Introduce yourself.
Make conversation and start a relationship.
May I ask you a question?
Have you come to a place in your thinking where you would know for sure that if you
were to die today, you would go to heaven or is that something you would say you're still
working on?
(Listen to answer)
The Bible tells us that we can know that we are going to heaven.
I John 5: 13
"I write these things to you... that you may know that you have eternal life. "
May I share with you how I came to know for certain that I have eternal life and how you
can know it too?
Before I do, Let me ask you a second question.
Suppose you were to die today and stand before God and He were to say to you, "Name,
Why should I let you into My heaven?" What would you say?
(Repeat and clarify their answer aloud.)
(Good News)
When we started talking, I thought I might have some good news to share with you, but
now that I've heard your answer to this question, I know I have the best news you will
ever hear.
That news is...
(Transition)
Heaven is a free gift.
The Bible tells us...
Romans 6:23
It is not earned or deserved
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord." ESV
Ephesians 2:8-9
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is
the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. ESV
(Friend's Gift)
Because we have to work for good grades, or to get paid for our jobs, we might feel it's
wrong to receive anything without working for it or paying for it. Maybe that's why
some people think eternal life can be earned if we work hard enough at doing good
things. But that's not how God describes it.
Suppose my best friend (parent, grandparent, etc.) were to surprise me with an
expensive gift and let's suppose my response would be that of immediately digging into
my pocket for a couple of dollars to help pay for the gift. What an insult that would
be! Gifts must be accepted freely. If even a dollar is paid, it is no longer a
gift. It is the same with eternal life.
(Transition)
This can be seen more clearly when we understand what the Bible says about man.
(The Gospel - Man)
This can be seen more clearly when we understand what the Bible says about man.
Man is a sinner:
Romans 3:23
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." ESV
When we think of sin, many times we think only of robbery, murder, adultery, etc. The
Bible tells us that sin is anything that doesn't please God or is a transgression of His law.
a.
Anything we do that we shouldn't, like losing our temper or stealing - these
are sins of commission.
b.
Anything we should do but don't like failing to pray or read the Bible, or to
truly love our neighbor - these are sins of omission.
c.
There are not only sins in deed but also sins in word and thought like
lying, cursing, lust, pride, and hatred. The Bible says these are all sins.
10 5 3
Suppose a person sinned only ten times a day or even just five, Imagine if no more often
than three times a day did he think unkind thoughts, or lose his temper, or fail to do
what he ought towards God and man - he would be a pretty fine person, wouldn't he?
 Even if he were this good, he would still have over 1,000 transgressions a year!
Now I'm ___ years old, so that would mean ___,000 sins!
Now, If God were like a traffic court judge, and those sins were like driving tickets, I
would hate to think of what would happen if I appeared in a traffic court with ___,000
tickets against me.
(Omelet illustration)
If you were to prepare an omelet with 5 good eggs and one rotten egg, you couldn't serve
it to company and expect it to be acceptable. Even less can we serve up our lives to God,
which may have many things in them that men would call good, and yet are filled with
deeds and thoughts that are rotten, and expect them to be acceptable to God.
Scripture says,
James 2:10
"For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all
of it.." ESV
If we want to get to heaven by our good works, then all we have to do is be
perfect. God's standard is complete obedience to Him for all time.
Matthew 5:48
"You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." ESV
We all fall short of this. Do you see how impossible it is for man to save himself?
Man cannot save himself:
(Transition)
This comes into sharper focus when we look at what the Bible says about God.
People have many different ideas of who God is and what He is like. Some common
misconceptions about God are that
 He is like a Grandfather who loves everyone and punishes no one. This view of God
emphasizes love, but ignores any concept of justice.
 Another misconception explains God as if He were a Policeman - just looking to
catch us doing something wrong. This exaggerates His justice, but ignores His love.
 Yet another view of God is that he's like an Old Scrooge - out to make us unhappy,
and our lives miserable, drab, and dull. God is actually just the opposite.
He says, "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.." (John 10:10b)
Actually, God is loving and just.
God loves us, not because of who we are, but because of who He is.
God is merciful - Therefore He doesn't want to punish us.
I John 4:8b
"God is love."
God is just - Therefore He must punish sin.
Exodus 34:7b
"who will by no means clear the guilty,"
Suppose I were to rob a bank of $5,000. A hidden camera takes movies of me in the
act. The teller and other eyewitnesses identify me as the robber. When brought before
the judge, the evidence is undeniable, so I respond, "I am guilty, your Honor. I am very
sorry I robbed the bank. You have the money back and no one was hurt. I promise you
I will never rob another bank if you will just let me go." Would the judge be just if he let
me go? No, he has a standard of justice that must be satisfied. If he were to let me go,
there wouldn't be a safe bank in the country. In the same way, God, who is much more
just than any human judge, can't simply excuse sin.
Do you see the problem? On one hand God loves us and He doesn't want to punish us,
but on the other hand, He is just and must punish sin.
Optional: extra credit story about Garcia
A few years ago there was a man named Garcia who lived in a communist country. He
was the leader of a group of people who were trying to overthrow the dictator. His
group lived in tents out in the country and was constantly on the move. One night,
Garcia's lieutenant came and told him that someone had stolen food from the supply
tent. Garcia was outraged at this act because food was in such short supply. He
summoned everyone and told them that from then on, anyone caught stealing food
would be whipped. Not long after that, the lieutenant came to Garcia and told him that
more food had been stolen. The thief had been caught, but there was just one
problem. The thief was Garcia's mother. What a predicament! If Garcia whipped his
mother, she would die; but he would lose his authority if he failed to carry out the
sentence. Everyone assembled to see what would happen. Garcia pronounced the crime
and punishment. Then, he began to remove his shirt and ordered his lieutenant to whip
him instead of his mother. In this way Garcia's need for justice was satisfied, and at the
same time, he proved his love for his mother.
This is just how God chose to solve the situation with us. We are in the position of
Garcia's mother, and God is like Garcia. He could neither stop loving us, nor deny His
own justice.
How did God satisfy both His love and justice at the same time?
(Transition)
God solved this problem in the Person of Jesus Christ.
(Transition)
God solved this problem in the Person of Jesus Christ…
(Christ - Who He is)
Who would you say Jesus Christ is? (Listen to the answer.)
John 1:1, 14
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of
the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."
When Jesus Christ, after His death rose from the grave, one of His followers named
Thomas was so amazed at His victory over death that he cried out,
John 20:28
"Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” (Here, Jesus’ disciple called Him God,
and He did not deny it.)
What He did:
He died on the cross and rose from the dead to pay the penalty for our sins and to
purchase a place in heaven for us.
2 Corinthians 5:21
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become
the righteousness of God.
Record Book of Sin:
Let’s imagine this book in my right hand contains a detailed account of my life. Each
page has the details of all my sins; every word I have spoken, every thought that ever
crossed my mind, every wrong deed I’ve ever done.
Here then (hold up book) is the problem - my sin. (Place book in palm of left
hand.) God loves me (point to your left hand) but He hates my sin (point at the book on
top of your hand) and must punish it. My sin separates me from God. There are times I
have tried to take care of this problem. I would try to turn my life around. Sometimes I
tried to turn over a new leaf. But the problem was still there. By my own efforts I
cannot make things right with God.
To solve this problem, He sent His beloved Son into the world (lift up right hand parallel
to left hand). The Scripture says,
Is. 53:6
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
(As you say the words, "laid on Him" transfer the book in one distinct motion from your
left hand to the palm of your right and leave it in the right hand.)
All of my sin, which God hates, has been placed on His beloved Son.
I Peter 2:24a
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree.…
Finally, when the last sin had been paid for, Jesus said, "It is finished!" This is an
interesting word in the original text. It is Tetelestai, a commercial word which means,
"It is paid; the debt is paid."
When He died, He was buried in a grave for 3 days (put the book in your lap); but He
rose from the dead and went to heaven to prepare a place for you and me. Now He
offers heaven - eternal life - to you and me as a gift.
(Transition:)
"This gift is received by faith…"
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This gift is received by faith.
Faith is the key that opens the door to heaven.
You could have a key ring with many keys on it like this. (Hold up key ring) They may
even look somewhat alike. You could go to the front door of my house and try all of
these keys except the right one and they would not open that door. It does not matter
how sincere you are in exercising belief that a different key will open the door. The fact
is that only the right key will open the door.
The right key to heaven is called faith, “saving faith.” That is what will open the door to
heaven. There is nothing else in the world that will open that door no matter how
sincere you are in exercising the practice or belief of something other than saving faith
to open the door to heaven.
You might ask, "What is saving faith?"
Some people believe in Jesus Christ the same way they believe in Napoleon or George
Washington. They believe that He actually lived. He was a real person in history, but
they do not trust Him to do anything for them now.
The Bible says the Devil believes in God. Did you know that?
The Bible says in
James 2;19,
You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
So believing in God's existence is not what the Bible means by saving faith. That is mere
intellectual assent.
Let me share with you one other thing that people mistake for saving faith. When you
have trusted in the Lord for your finances, you could call that financial-faith.
You may have prayed and trusted that Lord to take care of your family, you could call
that family-faith.
You may have prayed and trusted the Lord to give you a safe trip, you could call this
traveling-faith.
There is one thing all these have in common. They are of a temporary nature. They are
temporal. Once your financial needs are met, you no longer need to trust the
Lord. Once you have safely reached your destination, you don't need to trust the Lord
for traveling-faith.
All the things of this world shall pass away. They are temporary. Now many people
trust the Lord for all these temporary matters. Well, what is faith?
Acts 16:31
And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your
household.”
Faith is trusting Jesus Christ alone for our eternal life.
Chair illustration:
You do believe this chair exists don't you? (point to empty chair)
Do you believe this chair would support me if I were to sit on it? Yes.
For the sake of making my point, let the chair where I'm sitting represent me, and this
empty chair represent Jesus Christ. For a long time, I believe He existed and could help
me. I did not have eternal life because I was trusting in my own good works to support
me into Heaven.
Remember what you said you would say to God if He asked why He should let you into
Heaven? You said, (repeat what they said) Who is the only person referred to in your
answer? "I"
Who were you trusting to get you into Heaven when you said that? “Yourself”
To receive eternal life, you must transfer your trust from yourself to Jesus Christ alone
for eternal life (sit in empty chair)
Beggar's Hand Illustration:
The motive for Christian living is gratitude for the gift of eternal life and faith is the
hand of a beggar reaching out to accept the gift of a King. (If possible, use a handy
ornate object in the home as "the gift." Hold it in your right hand and when you say,
"Faith is the hand of a beggar reaching out…" reach with the left hand and take the "gift"
in it as you complete the Illustration.)
(____) years/months ago this beggar reached out an unworthy hand and received the
gift of eternal life. I didn't deserve it then. I don't deserve it now - but I have it. The rest
of my life will be like a P.S. to say thank you.
Commitment:
Does this make sense to you?
Would you like to receive the gift of eternal life?
Let me review.
1.
You must transfer your trust
2.
You must receive the resurrected and living Christ as Savior
Revelation 3:20
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I
will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
3.
You must receive Christ as Lord
4.
You must repent.
If that is what you really want, I can lead us in prayer and we can tell God what you have
just now told me.
1.
Pray for him to
a.
Understand
b.
Repent
c.
Believe
2
Pray with him
-
Short phrases of the Gospel
3.
Pray for him
- For assurance
Assurance
I would like for you to read something that Jesus says about what you have just done.
(Have them read from Bible)
John 6:47
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.
Let me ask you two questions.
1. Have you come to a place in your thinking where you would know for sure that if you
were to die today, you would go to heaven or is that something you would say you’re still
working on?
2. Suppose you were to die today and stand before God and He were to say to you,
“Name, Why should I let you into My heaven?” What would you say?
Welcome to the family of God!