Thank you for time to gather this morning to look at your word and to be reminded of who you are and what it is you've called us to. Lord, I ask for just a blessing on our time this morning that our discussion would be fruitful and honoring to you. In Christ's name, amen. Okay, well, we'll continue with our a topic of evangelism. And we'll see if Kevin tells us again today how much he hates this class. But I hope, yeah, I'm enjoying it. I hope you're enjoying it. I've appreciated all the discussion thus far. But yeah, so far we've talked about what to expect. when we proclaim the gospel that we can expect hostility and we can expect hunger. We've talked through why we should talk about Jesus, what should motivate us, and how we overcome the idols of our heart. And we started to get into last week, okay, now what do we say when we're actually sharing Christ with others? And we'll talk through more of that today. So I know we read it last time, but just to. We're going to go back over a little bit of what we did. We'll read Mark 8, starting in Mark chapter 8 again this morning. And really just reading this text and trying to have a framework to have in mind when we're proclaiming the gospel, when we're sharing Christ. And this framework being identity, mission, and call. Identity, mission, and call. So we'll read Mark chapter eight, starting in verse 27, and just have these ideas in mind. Identity, who Jesus is, mission, why did he come, and call, and so why does it matter, or what's expected, or how does it affect us now? So have those in mind as we read, and we'll discuss those. Let me read it for us, starting Mark eight, verse 27. And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way, he asked his disciples, who do people say that I am? And they told him, John the Baptist, and others say Elijah, and others, one of the prophets. And he asked them, but who do you say that I am? Peter answered him, you are the Christ. And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him. And he began to teach them that the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, get behind me, Satan, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man. And he called to him the crowd with his disciples and said to them, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a man give in return for his life? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. So first, let's consider identity, who Jesus is. And from what we've read here, who do we see that Jesus is? Who are people saying that Jesus is? And he says, who do you see I am? And he shows them that who they say he is is not what their minds are at. Who they say he is is not who he really is in their hearts and their minds at that time. And they rebuke him. So who do they say? Who do you say? What do you really mean? Yeah, yeah, and we talked a little last week about, in our gospel proclamation, that it doesn't need to be a monologue, right? That we can ask questions, and that's what Jesus is doing here. And we see this general, kind of broad question, but then a personal, specific question. Yeah, so that's helpful to point that out, thank you. So when he asked the disciples though, who do people say that I am, what is their response? Who are people saying that Jesus is? This is verse 28. Yes, John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the prophets. all ways of saying he's not an ordinary guy. The prophets, John the Baptist, Elijah, they're all those that are speaking the truth, speaking of God. So at least in the general population, in their minds, Jesus is not an ordinary guy. He's something beyond a common person or ordinary. But then he points the question to the disciples, right? But what about you? Who do you say that I am? And what does Peter say? Yes, you are the Christ. Yes, you are the Christ. And we talked a little bit last week about how this can be a helpful question just to gauge where people are at. And just to say, hey, who do you say that Jesus is? And it's a way that they, rather than me saying, let me tell you, you're a sinner, Jesus is the Savior, but a way of, Yeah, who, you know, just tell, who do you, in this moment, how do you view Jesus? Who do you see him to be? And then it allows us to gauge where they're at, allows us to know how we can move forward in that conversation. Yeah, and by posing that question, Whether it's in that moment or something that sticks with people, we're forcing them to wrestle with a very difficult question, but one that we all have to wrestle with, and one that we have to be able to, who is Jesus? So yes, Peter confesses, you are the Christ. and not necessarily in this text, but we see elsewhere that Jesus is who he claimed to be, that he is the son of God, and that he is the one who suffered these things on behalf of his people. Okay, so that's identity, who Jesus is, and just kind of the first thing to keep in mind as we are speaking and sharing of Christ, Any other thoughts on identity? Okay. So the next being mission, why Jesus came. So from what we've read, what does Jesus say why he came? Starting in verse 31. Lynn, we're in Mark chapter eight. Yes, must suffer, die, and rise again. Yes, and that's why he came. He must suffer, he must be killed. is good news, right, because it provides an answer to guilt. And this is a way we can engage with others as we speak of why Jesus came, that it's an answer to guilt that we all must give an account, that we all one day will give an account for the wrong things we've done, for the good we've left undone. and that we do need a way of forgiveness, but Jesus himself is who he claims to be and did what he said he would do, that he came, that he must suffer and die, and that he is the way of forgiveness, that he grants forgiveness, he takes our guilt, its consequences. And this can speak to the person who's feeling or thinking, I need to get my life together. Something's gotta change. I can't go on living this way. Well, Christ is the answer for that and it speaks to why he came. So yes, he must suffer, he must be killed, but he also must rise again in that he has an answer to death. that Jesus provides hope in the face of death. And because he got through death, he can get us through death. And because he lives beyond death, he can grant us life beyond death. And I know that we all know these things, right? We know the gospel, we know who Jesus is, we know why he came. And this might feel very simple to review and rehearse these things. But I think when that moment arrives, where we have the opportunity to share, we freeze, or we can draw a blank. And so I appreciate. The book just trying to give us helpful reminders and just a simple way to recall these to mind when we're in that moment of, OK, identity, mission, call. How can I speak to who Christ is, why he came, and what he wants from us or what it means for us? Any thoughts on mission? Yeah. Yeah. And he's really telling the disciples right now. Yeah, that very well could have been on his mind. I don't know for sure. It certainly could have been. Anybody else? Kind of like myself, I mean, I can think of times when the real reason why I didn't say something was because I was in a lot of shame. I mean, I believe in Christ, but there are times that my Yeah, yeah, I think certainly a lot of us could identify with that. Okay, well let's consider, we've considered identity, mission, let's consider call. So what Jesus wants from us, or what God wants from us, what his mission, what he has done means for us. Starting in verse 34. So we read of really this counting the cost of what it means to follow Christ, right? To become a Christian is neither convenient or comfortable, for it's a call to no longer live for yourself, but for the one who died for you. And really, speaking to that following Jesus means change. There's gonna be change. There's, like I said, counting the cost. This dying to self, it's a painful process as we seek to lay down the idols of our hearts and trust God for what, that what God has for us is best. But Christ, in offering these words, who's saying, lay down your life, that there is this dying to self, is also the very one who gives life, and the one in whom there's found new life and freedom from the power of sin. And so, yes, there's a... accounting a cost, but there's also really this call to come and live, a call to come and enjoy life in Christ and to walk in the freedom that is found in him. So I know this was brief. I know it was simple and just a rehashing, a remembrance of the gospel as we know it. But I hope it's a helpful framework just to keep in mind as we have opportunities to share Christ, to remember identity, mission, and call. Identity, who he is, mission, why he came, and call, what it means for us. He wasn't ready to press. Yeah, thank you. That's a helpful encouragement, I think. Because I think this is the part we can tend to leave out. And I mean, if we're looking to have success in evangelism, right, we don't want to call people the hard things. hey, you're a sinner, Christ is the Savior, just believe in him, you know? And just to kind of leave it at that. Sorry. But this is an important aspect, an important element, and one that we need to share and include in what we're saying. Fred. Yeah, thank you for that. I think I skipped right over that when I read it. That's helpful. Thanks for pointing that out. Anybody else on identity, mission, and call? Yes. It's an everyday thing to remind yourself to, today, take on the boss. I think it's one of the other boss calls. OK. Yeah, that it's a daily thing, it's a regular part of our lives, absolutely. Okay, so in your evangelism, remember identity that Jesus is the Christ, he is our king. Remember mission that he came to take our punishment, remove our guilt, and grant us eternal life. and call that he calls us to die to self and to follow him as our king. So that's a helpful framework to keep in mind. But how do we engage people with this framework? Again, so evangelism doesn't need to be a monologue. Sometimes it's appropriate for it to be so. But it doesn't need to be. And I think we can take some pressure off of ourselves to think that I have to give this sales pitch, and then hopefully it'll just wow them, and they'll bend the knee to Christ. But that it can be a conversation, that we can engage people with questions. We touched on this a little bit before, but how can we ask questions that get people talking? Or I guess another way, how can we ask questions that cross that pain line? So, how can we ask questions that get people talking and how can we ask questions that get beyond the weather or what'd you do this weekend? Yeah, what are, yeah, Giles. What makes you think your religion is the right one? Because someone told you. Yeah. Yeah, that's great. Thanks for sharing. Any other thoughts on how we ask questions that get people talking or how we can ask questions that go a little deeper? Yeah, that can be helpful. Rather than a direct pointed question right away, start maybe general and allow it to get you there. Yeah. Well, we'll explore this a little more as some of our content this morning is really just an encouragement in your evangelistic efforts to be yourself. And so we'll discuss this a little more of how we engage people and how we can do that. by being ourselves within that and who God has made us to be. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I wanna throw this question out to you. When you're in a gospel conversation with someone, what are your thoughts on pressing for a commitment? What are your thoughts on pressing for a commitment? Being a bit intentionally provocative in my question, but what are your thoughts on pressing for a commitment? Fred. Yeah. OK. Yeah, thanks. Is that a hand, Kevin? It's not how do we get to the question to ask, it is do we listen long enough to be Yeah. Yeah, thanks. Giles. Thank you. Yes. Yeah. Did you have your hand up before? No, okay. Let's consider it this way. So thinking about pressing for a commitment, let's, yeah, first let's consider what would be some maybe the bad or some negative of pushing for a commitment. Yeah, insincerity. That, well, if I commit to this, maybe they'll leave me alone. Yeah. Yeah. There's another one, the circumstances. You've given them a ride home. It's 5 to 12. They're totally exhausted. They want to get out of the car so they'll say anything so they can get into the hospital. Sure. Yeah. Yeah, another. Whatever you need me to say, just leave me alone. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Years ago, I interned at a church and helped with their vacation Bible school, and they had what they called the Salvation Room. So, you know, anybody that wanted to accept Christ would go there, and every night there were 40 to 50 kids that would come to this room. And you had three adults in there trying to talk to 40 kids, pray a prayer with them, and send them on their way. And I appreciate the heart of it, right? There's this, we want everyone to know Christ, and we're pushing like, will you call on Christ? But at the same time, a negative of this is we can also give false assurance to people, right? There, you said a prayer, you now are in Christ, you're good to go. Fred, and then Kevin, yeah. Yeah, I think some of what you're sharing there and what others have said that a negative of it can be, we can think that it depends on us. If we're pushing for a commitment, whether I've posed the question, it depends on us. Any other thoughts on maybe negative aspects of pushing for a commitment? Were you wanting to speak to that? Yeah. They gave you a moment in time when they were in control. I believe that change has to come from that person in their learning soul. And we can do all kinds of things around it and try to help them. I mean, I'm talking about people that have gone clean and have proven it. I hear many, many, many now. And they have come, that's where it's going to be. You don't ever hear the other end of it. All of us, it helps me. Sure. Yeah. Yeah, Fred. you. Yeah, thank you, Fred. Well, we're quickly running out of time. So we've considered maybe the negative side of pressing for a commitment. What would be some positives to pushing for a commitment? Or are there positives to pushing for a commitment? Yes. Thank you. Are there positives for pushing for a commitment, pressing for a commitment? Yes. Yeah, yeah, the most important topic, yeah. Is there a benefit, is there a positive aspect to saying to someone, you know, I offer you Jesus, we're offering you Jesus, will you have him? Is there value in that? I see heads nodding. Yes. Yes. So I think, and what I'm hearing in our discussion this morning, and I'm appreciative, I think we want to be, so careful in our theology and thinking and speaking of, it is the Lord's work, we're not denying that. It is the work of the Lord, it's the Lord who saves. We're simply ones he's allowed us into this privilege of proclaiming his salvation. And he allows us, for whatever reason, to be a mouthpiece, right, to be a part of this. But I believe there is value in asking a very pointed question of will you have Jesus? Will you trust in him? Will you look to him for salvation? Again, as you've all pointed out, that's not necessarily the case of every conversation, right? And we've pointed out the negative things. But whether you mainly see it as negative or positive, I guess let me provide, at least think this about it. And I think this is helpful as we consider how to engage with people, that at the very least in asking our questions, or even if we've had opportunity to share who Christ is, to speak of his identity, his mission, his call, Even just to pose like, is this clear? Do you understand what I'm saying? Do you understand who Jesus is? Is there anything that I've said with which you disagree? Or even, is there anything preventing you from trusting in Jesus for salvation? So maybe that's a safer way to think of pressing for a commitment, right? We're not pushing for it, we're just asking. We're forcing people to engage. Is there anything in this moment that's preventing you from trusting Jesus for salvation? Or to even be a little more specific, what is stopping you from accepting him as your king and looking to him as your savior? So, In Honest Evangelism, the author puts it another way, again, just a helpful way to remember it. He offers understanding, agreement, and impact. Understanding, agreement, and impact. So does the person get it? Understanding, agreement, do they agree with what I've said? Impact, what are they doing about it? So just a helpful, Again, a helpful framework to consider and remember as we're engaging with people and trying to go a little deeper with them and to ask them some of these questions to get them to interact with it, to get them to think about it for themselves. Any thoughts on the at least portion? You're allowed to disagree with me. But any thoughts here? Lynn says it makes sense, so we're in the clear. OK. Again, we're quickly running out of time. Well, what I wanted to do with our last few minutes, with Thanksgiving being this week, we will for many of us will be with relatives, friends, family that may not know Christ. And it's often an opportunity for us to see relatives that we may not see all that often and to be able to have these conversations. So really just want to spend the last few minutes praying with each other. So just to partner up with someone next to you and pray for unsaved friends, relatives, pray for opportunities as we're around the table with them and interacting with them this week. So yeah, take the next few minutes and then I'll close us in prayer. Let me close us in prayer. Lord, we praise you that you are the God who saves. Thank you for your great salvation that you have granted to us in Christ. And Lord, may we sing of your salvation day after day. May we proclaim your salvation day after day. And Lord, as we gather with family and friends this week, ask that you would grant us opportunities to share Christ. Lord, grant us boldness to do so. May we rest in you, knowing that it doesn't depend on us, but it's you who works, it's you who saves, and Lord, may we delight in the privilege that it is that you have invited us into this. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen.