 Hey, good morning everyone. I'll come to another week. Hope you have been having a good week All right before we begin today's class, let's just start with a word of prayer One of us, please lead us in prayer said Kano Okay, go ahead John go ahead John That's great father. We thank you for this morning We pray that even as we going to learn from your word regarding evangelism We pray that we would be able to Understand open the eyes of our understanding on God that you'll be able to find out the mysteries of your word and help us to walk in It Lord Jesus and help us the pole to deliver your message In its full potential God We thank you for all of us. We thank you for your grace in Jesus name. We pray Amen. Thank you, John. Okay, so Let's just do quickly look at what we did last week, right? We looked at some important points last week We looked at how you know John the Baptist pointed out to Jesus and just by that, you know Plus that they had the disciples are willing to you know Believe in what John the Baptist said and they went to Jesus. They followed Jesus and Andrew was one of them We also looked about sharing the gospel through common interests, right? So Especially when you know even in this situation Andrew finds his brother Peter and he says hey We have found the Messiah the common interest there was they were waiting for the Messiah and so even as we You know look out and evangelize with people get opportunities. God opens divine encounters Look for common interests, right? For example, if somebody likes leading books, right? So you look for common interests in them and and so for example, you are Somebody who is into music so you can you know through music you can Share the gospel and I know it's you know, it's easy to say But you know, there's a saying easier said than done But no if we you know really try if we really come out of that You know that comfort zone or if we come out of that feeling that okay, you know the gospel is you know it's only for Christians or you know, what if I get persecuted? What if they get angry if we come out of all of those inhibitions really it you know evangelism becomes a lifestyle now There will be times people reject us people will not agree to us and we studied about that, right? Just move on now go on to the next person or Don't have to stay in that feeling. Oh, he rejected me and he rejected the gospel You don't have to feel anything and you can just move on So we also look at how you know in John the book of John again Extending the invitation to a friend who is doubtful same thing happened after Philip Meets Jesus Philip goes and finds his friend Nathaniel and Nathaniel is skeptical. He's like, okay Messiah and could anything come anything good come out of Galilee Doesn't sound like the Messiah where was he what was he doing all this while? It was he did not disbelief, but there was you know some sense of Skepticism in him. Okay, doesn't sound right But until he you know Philip himself said come and see we have found the Messiah and then later on there was a divine encounter the Lord Jesus revealed himself to Nathaniel and so we also looked at the power of a single invitation right a Single invitation is very powerful even if one person Right accepts the Lord You never know what that one person can do great exploits for the kingdom of God right even when we look through the book of acts when you know Aquila and Priscilla they Find Apollo's and they you know Apollo's is preaching about repentance and the baptism of repentance and then they go to him and says hey Apollo's How many heard about the baptism of the Holy Spirit and he's like I don't know I haven't heard of it and Aquila and Priscilla Begin to sit with him and teach him what the baptism of the Holy Spirit is and later on in The book of Corinthians remember Paul says Who are we whose Paul who is see first who is Apollo's because later on Apollo's became a powerful Powerful preacher in the whole of Asia. So current Ephesus everyone knew Apollo's because you had a powerful Ministry going on there. So so you never know what one In a seed that you we saw in people's heart A single invitation can do to the body of Christ at a single invitation and so Keep be open. We looked at this as well You know sharing and count sharing messages sharing sermons inviting to Sundays where there are special Sundays big Sundays and Easter Christmas and all of that right. So let's move on from there before that Did anyone get an opportunity to share the gospel? Anyone of us Did you get an opportunity it's okay if you didn't try it's not like a homework you have to do But did anyone get an opportunity to probably present the gospel to Maybe a friend or even to an unknown person Go ahead. Justina Yeah, basically I got an opportunity to share the gospel with the girl and Uttar Pradesh She texted me on Instagram and she was like just she was sending a high and I came to know her from someone else and She was speaking and she was telling all the troubles in her life And she was like I have hemoclebin deficiency in my there's a financial struggle that's going on And she was a Sikh she told of your Sikhism and Worship our Guru Nanak and okay You were just talking as we were like good friends and I told her about Jesus. I told her about How my life has been changed when I came to know about Jesus and she was like oh We can have a relationship with God. It's not a religion So that she was touched by that and I told her yes, they're having a relationship and We prayed and I and I asked her you want me to pray for you and she was like yes She was she immediately called me on Instagram through a video call and we prayed together and It was good for some time and and then she was confused, you know, she's a teenager She's confused again like There is this we worship someone too and I believe on him so she was like she was like I have known him all my life my parents have told about Guru Nanak and I believe on him And I was still talking about Jesus telling her all the things that he did all the Christ And she was she was in the state of confusion, but she did Told me that there is something with Christianity. I believe on that. There is something that I felt when you prayed There is something that is more than a vibe and I told her keep praying and you will know that this is the truth And she was like, okay I hope so somehow I planted the seed and I believe God will be growing that into a tree Yes, that's nice. Thank you for sharing Jafina. Yes, as he said you've planted the seed It may not be something that they believe immediately at times, right? It may take a series of you know conversations and You know series of you know, maybe presenting scriptures and presenting prayer requests presenting prayers for them and That's that's great. Thank you Jafina for sharing. Yeah, anybody else got enough Rosalind. Yes, go ahead Rosalind Praise the Lord Pastor Yeah, I too got an opportunity this week to share the gospel with this auntie of mine like I don't know how much but recently she visited me at my place and she was Just telling me about her mother who was admitted in the hospital And she was worried about her. So, you know, that's how like I thought let me just Pray for her mother and also share the gospel with her and I shared the gospel with her and she She was from a Buddhist community. So while I was sharing She said, yeah, we don't do any of these idol worship and all So I said, yeah, that's that's that's good But I want you to know about you know, Lord Jesus and she said I know about Jesus Yeah, I know I've seen science said but you you may not have heard about him Like, you know why he came and what he did. So let me just tell you about him and I praise God I got to tell I shared with her the gospel and She had this Android phone and I just told her you can also listen to this. She's using Mara Maharashtrin So I told her that you can also listen to the gospel If you want to listen to listen to it in your own native language So I showed her the link I sent her the link and I downloaded the Marathi Bible app in her mobile and I showed her how she can you know, just listen and I told her to listen to John and I also shared about Jesus and she was very excited and she said like Like I didn't know like, you know, Jesus came for this reason and he died for for the sin you know, not only for Christians, but for the whole world, right, you know, so she was very excited happy at the same time and I was so glad and I could do this and She went She went back and now I'm in touch with her like and I pray to God like yes I said definitely said that the seed has been sown so yeah, so I Praise God for this Yeah, that's nice. Thank you so much Rosalind for sharing. Yes, it's wonderful that you know, we all can get these opportunities to minister, maybe one last one anybody else got an opportunity Usually what we do is for the lifestyle evangelism classes during the in-person classes. We have role plays So role plays we will what we do is during the class We we call one student in front and you know, we just do a role play So we will try and do one of some of those as well Because studying it is good, right? The theory is good But we also know how to do it practically, right? How to minister practically So we will also do that anybody else wants to share if not, we can just carry on with the class anyone else Okay Okay, then let's move on Let's look at I know a lot of these things may be known to us But it's good to refresh ourselves. It's good to you know remind ourselves of Why we are doing ministry, right? so Just a few points. I'm on page 21 if you're following now Inviting people to church or in There are many ways to invite people or extend an invitation For people to come to church, right now one of the most strongest motivating factor That you know that we can say To invite people to church is is through a church member or a friend, right now, for example, you've got friends Or you have family friends If you are a member of a church, right and you invite them it most likely Okay, eight out of ten times They would like to come right Most most like this is a survey that is done More than you know street evangelism and all of that when a family or a friend invites another friend to church Most likely they will come Right now. I'm not saying that street evangelism people won't come, right? But survey say that when it's somebody who is within the church family and they're inviting somebody known Most likely they will come so let's look at a few reasons What holds us back? from extending an invitation to explore Jesus or extending an invitation to come to church now I'm sure all of us most of us at least have thought of somebody Right. Hey, I this guy. I know him for so long. I wish I could invite him to church I wish I could invite her to church But Something has stopped us right now if it's not happened to anyone it's happened to me plenty of times So, let's look at a few things The reason we are learning this is so that Going ahead we can avoid this like we can come out of that shell, right? So let's look at a few of them first one sometimes we are too self-conscious and So we don't invite people It was self-conscious. Oh, what what would people think? So don't let lack of experience or your personal challenges or your personal flaws Your limitations are our weaknesses are imperfections You know hold us back from inviting people Many a times, right? This has happened where maybe we've got up in a bad mood we got upset And you know, we're angry with somebody and then we get an opportunity We feel like hey, I need to call this person inviting the church and then the enemy says Why do you want to you're gonna invite somebody else to church first? Look at yourself? Right first look at you What you have done You were angry you shouted at this person or you you did this sinful thing and now you want to invite somebody else to church now remember The Bible teaches us that this that Satan is an accuser of the brethren Right the word Satan means accuser, right? He he does all he can to accuse us of our wrongdoings Right Maybe he says look at the challenges you are going through you don't have a job for so long or you don't have Financial stability. It's been so many years Look at you. Look at the limitations that you have Imperfections that you have why are you trying to invite somebody else? When you yourself are not blessed Right? We may have got those thoughts and listen here's the important thing you are not you and I are not inviting people To ourselves. We're not saying come and come with me and you experience what I I have we're not saying that We are inviting them to explore Jesus We're inviting them to experience Jesus And Jesus is perfect Right, so no matter how many imperfections we have no matter where we have failed right We are inviting people to Jesus now Many of us may get into ministry or maybe stepping into ministry Now even as you know, when I entered ministry it was very young Very zealous for God very young I was 23 when I started off preaching in places 22 23 Got into joined the bible college when I was 24 joined apc bible college. I was 24 years old. I was very zealous, you know But here's the thing. There are times even you know under great leadership We make mistakes Right as as we grow we will make mistakes whether we are pastors, whether we're prophets, whatever we are We will make mistakes, but here's the thing. We learn from our mistakes right, so Just because I've made a mistake that should not stop us from inviting people to come to christ right I've had my share of mistakes right even during being a pastor even during being Serving in the church leading a church. We've all had our mistakes. We've all had our challenges Here's the thing that that does not stop us from inviting people to experience Jesus We don't drop the hat and say, okay. I've made a mistake. I've done. I don't want to be in ministry anymore We go back to God and say God Forgive me. This is the wrong. We've done you stand back again and continue what God has called us to do The enemy is the accuser of the brethren. He wants to Destroy he wants to bring down Because he knows that through you and me he can we can bring people to christ now. He wants to destroy that He wants to break that right so always remember that you are and I are inviting people not to ourselves We share our experience. That's different. This is what happened again. We are not perfect But we are directing you. We're we're leading you to somebody who's perfect. That's Jesus So that should not stop us From or hinder us from sharing the gospel for many years You know, uh, you know you as a young boy, I remember If I get angry or there's some wrong something wrong that has happened in my life I wouldn't go out for ministry for maybe a week until I said things right And I began to you know, the more I read God's word the more I pondered on God's word I'm not coming to God's presence by works The bible teaches us that we're coming to God's presence By faith in Jesus Christ Right so that whole mindset changed. Hey I must say no, I should not I need to be right only then I can We all fade. We all make mistakes. Here's the thing. Christ cleanses us of our sins And we continue to share the gospel leading people to Christ. So remember this We are leading people to Jesus and not to ourselves to Sometimes we are afraid to face rejections or they say no so we don't invite people now remember that We cannot control people's responses. That is out of our control, right? All we can do is we can invite people They can either say yes or they can say no Right one of those two They say yes good. Hey, great. Uh, you know, uh, I I can help you with the directions Give them the details of the church Give them a heads up what happens in the church all of that if they say no say hey, it's all right No worries Uh, and just let it be right now the wrong thing. I'm sure none of us will do this But the wrong thing to do is You know to say, hey, you know what you need to mend your life Your life is like this your life is like that If you don't come how long will you be like this? Uh, you know, these are the wrong ways of Putting across an invitation I remember a friend of mine I had I had invited him to uh You know in apc we have something called as big sundays where you know These sundays we get to invite people and the message is more geared towards the evangelistic message and Um, and so we would invite people so I remember inviting a friend of mine and he said Please don't in don't call me to a church And I said why what happened, you know, he was a Unbelievable I said why did you have a bad experience? He said, yeah last time this other guy called me to church And I told him I won't come he said you'll go straight to hell And uh, you know, anyway, you're in sin, you know, if you die today, you'll go straight to hell And he he put full of fear into him. He said he said, okay. I don't want to come to that place All right. And so that's the wrong thing to do It's okay if people reject But what if they accept? It could be that, you know, they come they can experience God could be a divine encounter in their lives Right. So come out of that Only negative feeling of what if they don't what if they face reject, you know, what if they reject me? That's outside our control right, uh three Sometimes we are afraid others may perceive us differently And when they perceive us differently, they may end friendship with us Uh, and or they may say, okay, they may, you know, keep distance from us Right. Uh And if we invite them to church, they may feel that we are radicals Now this is a very important point that I learned right Do not compartmentalize Your life and your world Do not do that It's one of the things we see is Monday to Friday right We are just like everyone else Right. You know doing all the things And then Saturday comes you got worship team practice Right. And then we put on our worship team mask Then Saturday Sunday is a different mask and then Sunday. Okay. You got to be a church. Don't do that That is the last thing we should do because Who we are in Christ? It's who we really are Whether it's in the workplace Monday to Friday Right or whether it's a Saturday Sunday We know who we are Right never compartmentalize imagine this picture this right, uh, imagine Monday to Friday you have with your friends and uh, you know, uh, maybe they're into all these bad habits And we get involved in that this picture this right and then suddenly on Saturday you feel hey I have to go to church on Sunday And then you say hey, why don't you come to church with us? You try to invite a friend and in church who is saying hey, thank you Go praise the Lord and all of that and this friend is looking at you and thinking hey There's something wrong Monday to Friday You know, you're doing something and I know you in office But Saturday and Sunday or somebody else Now that that would be a wrong thing to do, right? Always remember that we We are we need to be who we are wherever we are remember working when I was working in the it sector I worked in Dell and then an IBM a couple of years I remember it was very difficult Right everyone in the office are like hey, let's do this. Let's do that. Let's go out on this You know on this what are you called camping trip or We'll go out and have a party. We'll do this. We'll do that And I was Like a team leader for a team of about 17 people So they would say hey Paul, you're the team leader. We should plan something We should go to this place or that place So yeah, okay, we can plan but most probably I will not be able to come Because most of their plans would be in you know in some resort and all kinds of things And so they would say hey, come on Paul you're the team leader So I realized that one day I was crazy God Very put it in my heart. You can go But you don't have to do what they're doing. You can be a witness even there Right. Uh, and so they knew that I'm a Christian. They knew that I don't smoke. I don't ring They knew that you know most of the time, you know I'm only reading something or you know after work. I'm doing something We had our you know bible study early in the morning before class They knew that they had one fanatic as a team leader. They knew that but I remember the lord very clearly ministering to me and I started going with them for these camps and You know these outings that they do And they used to offer me all kinds of things and I say no, you know, no, I don't do And then that's when they truly the team my team folks. They would come and speak to me. I was surprised These are guys hardcore guys. They will come and speak to me. They say Paul I you know, these are the things that are happening in my life And all this while I never knew I thought okay, everything's fine, but they would say, you know, my marriage is breaking I don't want my marriage to break. Uh, this is what's happening It's it's been five years and these are guys who are 35 40 years old in the ID sector for many years and my marriage is breaking or I feel like committing suicide I realized that my whole team almost everyone Are going through huge problems And they were saying they were saying, you know, uh Paul I want what you have Right the same Person Monday to Sunday. So very important Do not Do not compartmentalize your life. Just be who you are Just be just the way you are right if you feel that there's something that is a fake Or you feel that you're putting on a mask take it off break it off Ask god to break it off. Ask the holy spirit to break it off you Don't wear a mask Right be who you are from monday to sunday Right fourth point We are afraid we don't have the answers all the answers and won't be able to answer the question We looked at this in overcoming inhibitions, right? We invite friends We who are just regular people And and remember that we also We we can tell them. Hey, I don't know all the answers You may have studied all your you know great Higher theological studies what I know I will give to you I am reminded of that The blind man. What a powerful testimony It says, uh, tell me who did this to you And he says A man named jesus came he said he put Of sand in my eyes. He said go wash it after I washed it. Uh, I could see no tell us the truth That's what I'm saying. I'm saying this is what it is. Who is he? I don't know who is he? I don't know what he's done. I don't know whether you He's a messiah. He's not the messiah one thing. I know I was blind now. I see I what a powerful testimony so we can say that hey, I don't know all the answers I don't know, you know, all the Mysteries of the word of god, but one thing I know that I was a sinner, but now christ set me free Right, so all the time remember that we may not know all the answers Yet, uh, we can let them know and invite them See you explore you experience you see what it is and there is you know later on we look at The chapter on discipleship also how to disciple people There will come a time when you will have to disciple mentor people Teach them provide, uh, you know, uh training for them A time will come but in the initial stage of inviting people Don't be afraid that you don't know the answers Right and secondly also don't Don't you know pretend that you know all the answers. That's also another wrong thing to do Right. Just be normal Just just be a normal person invite people fifth one Sometimes we are too worried about the church service. What if it's too irrelevant? Uh, or what if they feel out of place? What if they don't fit in so why to invite people now? Remember this is always a risk, right? What if they don't Like the service what if it's irrelevant? What if they feel out of place? It's a risk, right? But remember that we are looking for the holy spirit to do something deep in their heart Right from time to time we have these special services There'll be these special sermons evangelistic meetings worship times Now we can invite them Now there will be times when they may feel we may feel hey, it's not What if they feel it's irrelevant? Don't worry about that Just just invite them Uh, come out of that feeling. Oh, what if they don't like it? What if they don't meet anybody? Right. Uh, it's all right It's it's not only about you know meeting people or uh, you know Uh meeting their particular needs what god wants to do is to minister to their heart Right Like I always we also looked at in the last chapter the holy spirit does the conviction It's basically like we're bringing somebody And placing them before the lord and the lord will deal with them in their own way Like so he may speak to them through the worship. He may speak to them through the word He may speak to them through uh, what is happening in fellowship in any way He may speak to them I remember this one time I'd invited a Friend to one of our locations. It was an early morning service. So we have at 8 a.m Our location started at 8 a.m. And so I told him why don't you come you just stay very close by and it was towards the south of Bangalore and I said, why don't you come you just stay close by And he was new to Bangalore. He came from another city just to study there and He said no, I have to go to the temple. I have some work also. So he he didn't come But after a couple of Sundays, I I encouraged him. I said, why don't you come? So he came he came only because I I told him like, you know, you can come There are youth and all of that. So he came The entire service went on he service got over And I saw him talking to the youth in the church Right and I was really happy. I said, okay He's you know, he's mingling with the youth and he was talking to all of them. They were having a good time and I just waited and uh entire service got they all finished talking and And then I dropped him home Uh, and then later on I asked him how how how is the service? He said, uh, I don't know about all this songs and the word and whoever was talking There but one thing I liked was the youth Did not even question me About whether I'm a Hindu whether I'm a Muslim. They did not even you know, the same way they were talked to their other friends They spoke to me the same way Right. So this boy was not touched by the worship. He was not touched by the prayer. He was not touched by the uh sermon Right. He was touched by the youth of our church Who did not judge him for the way he came or did not you know say, okay You know, they didn't look badly at him That was amazing and he said I've never seen this. I always thought that Christians are you know like this He said they treated me so well. They knew I was a Hindu. They knew that you know, uh, I was not interested Yet they were so kind and so generous and so loving. They spoke to me as if you know, they knew me for You know for a long time and I felt just so comfortable He said I am going to come next week also. He said right, so so He may have felt out of place during the service During the worship during the word That's out of our control. He may have felt. Uh, what is this? It's not making sense felt irrelevant But what happened after the service The way he the the youth of the church was talking to him. They were touched. He was touched And he started coming to church. He finished, you know, he came those three years Uh of his study time he came to the same church He gave his life to christ in that church and then he's gone back to his hometown So it was all you know, not the word it was not the worship It was just the way that our youth, you know Ministered and just that just being normal with him none of our youth said, you know Oh, you have to give your life to christ. This is what uh, you know, jesus did for me nothing just be normal Right and god ministered to him So we can come out of that inhibition saying oh, what if they Don't like the service. What if it's irrelevant? It's all right. God can use anything Uh Give you this example. I remind you. I just remember this that was this time we had a We had a worship evening and uh, this was in bangalore And forget what year I think it was 2013 2013, I guess We had a worship Evening now we were uh, you know, uh, we would go out and you know do these outreaches and You know, just go to colleges give out invites people on the streets and we did all of that and this Uh young man said I'll come and all of that and he was a hindu guy I said, okay, I took down his number. I said, I'll call you on that day remind you if you need directions you come And and so he he came Right. I don't know him too well too and uh, he came for the whole thing and it was a you know worship evening We have a very good worship team Nikki who's here was part of that team. I guess on that day And the worship everything went on right pastor came and we shared a small five minute word And then the thing got over the whole it was like a concert and got over and After the concert I called him I said hey, how did you like it? He said yeah, I wanted to call you and talk to you So I met with him and he said this I was really surprised He's I was expecting him to say wow, you know, I enjoy the word or the he said during the worship during the concert time On the ppt right where we showed the lyrics There was a cross that you know Now we have these new ppt's which where you can have these images moving about Uh at the background and it projects the lyrics um And so the cross was like a you know, it was a Kind of a red cross or something and that cross was like piercing his eyes You know, so all he did that entire time of the concert was look at that cross Right, that's all he he didn't understand the songs. Of course he uh, he understood english and all of it But the songs didn't mean anything to him The sermon didn't mean anything to him, but his eyes was only fixed on that ppt on the cross Right, uh, it was just a normal auditorium. So it's not a church. It's just an auditorium But his eyes was fixed on the cross. Is he looking at the ppt? And he said what is that cross it spoke to me that whole night that cross is coming into my mind and it's in my Mind's eye. I'm in college. I see that cross. I'm in Supermarket. I see the cross. What is that cross? I was an open door And I told him what the cross was I told him what jesus did on the cross so you see God can use Something as simple as a ppt presentation across on the ppt To convict a person. So who are we to say this can be irrelevant Nobody when we were, you know, preparing for the concert. Nobody's thought, okay We'll have the ppt like this. There should be a cross. Nobody cares about all that You know said, okay, we have a ppt team. Okay, you give him the songs. They project the lyrics. That's all Right, they didn't decide. Okay. We'll put the cross It was just some you know some of those things that you choose and So who are we To limit what god can do right So overcome overcome that feeling of you know, uh, it may not be relevant It they may feel out of place. They won't fit in now god can use the simplest of things to minister to people Right. Okay. We've got a question here from ribbica What is the difference between? inviting people and chosen people from god There's a difference between inviting people and chosen people from god So, uh, I'm not sure what you're trying to ask ribbica, but is it uh Yeah, maybe your question is what is the difference between us evangelizing and God choosing people To be in his fold. Is that what your question is? Can you give me some clarity? Yes, sir Okay Okay, so ribbica see the bible teaches us jesus himself said Right, uh to go out and evangelize even when he was uh, you know in this world. He made a team of 70 and he divided them into two. He said go and evangelize, right? So evangelism is a responsibility, right? We are fulfilling the big commission now as we evangelize What we are doing is like in the parable of the soar Again, jesus is explaining to his disciples. He's saying it's like a seed being planted Right, uh, it some are planted on stony ground some are planted on thorns some are planted on good ground and and so The more the word goes in And the more they are able to accept this They are you know into god's kingdom Whom god chooses is Those who accept the gospel Right, and that is why john 3 16 says god so loved the world Right, so there is no Where god says okay, this guy He cannot come under the cross or this person It's too much. He cannot come so whoever is Called or whoever has received the gospel and they and they receive it and they accept it They're part of god's kingdom They're part of they're chosen from god god begins to work in them now There will be times when who god calls There will be different callings upon people's life, right? Once we are in god's kingdom, there are different callings and we I'm sure you're learning about that right the ministry of an evangelist pastor and Prophet and teacher and all of that so there's a five-fold ministry and and and so whoever Believes in this gospel will be saved and once we are saved God chooses us for different purposes and that is A calling that we have on our lives and and are usually our gifts and our callings go together Right now if we don't know anything about singing we can't say god helped me to become a worship leader, right? It just doesn't It's just you know god uses our gifts and And and and the gifts that we have now calling always goes together. So So yes, so that's I hope that answers your question rebecca Okay Yeah, thank you. So anybody else have any question any thoughts? Okay, now another important point Very important point Do not invite friends who are already Christians Now that will be instead of building god's kingdom will be ending up dividing god's kingdom, right? Do not invite Friends who are already part of another church Right now that's going to cause a lot of trouble Right, let's let them be If you feel that hey their doctrine is wrong Present the gospel to them ask them. Hey, why don't you read this? Why don't you read the scripture now? There are a lot of denominations A lot of different kinds of teachings But don't go to a place of saying you come to my church, then you will know what Christianity is No, don't do that, right if you're already part of a church And and you feel even though they that may not be the right teaching. It's okay Present Jesus to them present the truth of the God of the word of God And and the truth will set them free if they want to come on their own Then it's all right Right, and then again, there is a it's important to be Do it in an honorable way they can inform their leadership and then come be part of the other church, but do not Say, okay, you know, this is all wrong. You why don't you come here and you see what we do? No, don't do that, right? We are here to build God's kingdom Right, so when God sees us he sees us as one body Saved by the blood of Christ. He doesn't care about denominations Right. God does not look at denominations. He looks at us as one body, right? So how do you make a invitation to someone to come to church be simple? Right, don't Don't say, okay You know, don't over exaggerate Right. Um, oh, you should come and see the worship. We have the best worship team in the entire city And then we have the best guitarists and we have the best singers don't exaggerate, right? Just be simple. Hey, why don't you come? See for yourself We have a good worship team word is going to be preached Be truthful now I've I've heard of many cases where A christian has invited an unbelieving friend or somebody else and has told them It's an inspirational talk that will help you for your new business Right, and so this person comes to church and then he realizes that hey, this is no inspirational talk They're talking about somebody from the bible and all of it and he was highly offended Right, so be truthful do not say it's an inspirational talk in all of it Right, just say it is the word of God We are be teaching from the bible. I'll be singing christian songs be truthful Right Three be inviting and not coercing which means Uh, don't force them. Uh, just invite them Right. Uh, so these three simple points be simple be truthful Be inviting without coercing right, uh Okay, uh, any other questions anyone has? Uh, or we can just continue what I thought was uh Oh, we have just three minutes left. Okay, uh, maybe next week. What we'll do is We'll do a few role plays, right? So basically we'll We'll have one person act as if he or she is a Hindu or a muslim And we'll do a few role plays. I know online. It's going to be a little bit For challenge, but let's do it so that we also even as we learn the theory we also learn The practical things right Now just a few points on what we should do after their first visit to a church or a cell group Okay, first one help them process what they've heard or what they saw what they experienced, right? So if you've invited somebody they finished just they gone back home call them Hey, did you like the church service? Right, uh, have the process what they saw. Okay, usually we have worship. We sing songs It's a it's an act of worship to god. We're praising god. We're thanking him Uh, so you're helping them process it then what you saw was a man came in front He preached man or a woman came in front And they began to preach and say thing that is the word of god. That's what the bible. That's what we believe in And and and especially times of communion. They will not understand what it is. So explain to them. So this is something Uh, that we do where we believe that this is the body the blood of jesus and This is to remember what he did on the cross. So you're explaining to them. You're helping them process Very important point here is don't be on the defensive They say, uh, um, you know, uh, hey Paul for example, so somebody I invited says hey paul. I I didn't really like the service now Don't get offended and don't go on the defense and say that's because you didn't you don't know anything about christianity Don't do that. All right. Oh, that's because you were maybe sleeping during the service now Okay, you didn't like the service. It's all right. Maybe I can invite you to another service where there is You know a youth meeting where there are more people of your age and Right. So you you deal with it the right way Now Secondly once they like this if they like the service if they want to continue help them connect with the church community right Find out people who can you know be friends with them Have a personal invitation of you know, just having a friendship now friendships are very important very very important, right? Uh, even in our church in banglore. We have something called as the vip banquet But what we used to do is we would get all of them who are new to church probably Three months who are new to church now. They don't know anybody in church, right? So we would get them we would have a lunch with the pastoral team and a few of the leaders. So what is happening? Uh, they are new to church, but immediately after this whole VIP banquet, they they know the leaders of the so even when they come to church, they say, hey, I know this person They're able to you know relate to and bring some sort of conversation to To get them to be okay, right? So an important welcoming new people is very important uh, a smile To say hello to them is important imagine you got one uh, you know an invite in the Entrance of the church with a grumpy face Now that person will want to turn back and go back home So it's very important to have you know, all these things count all these things. We may think oh, it's okay Just put somebody there. No, no, no God can use just a smile To touch people's heart. They may be coming with such a burden in their heart and that smile could just you know Bring something in their life. So uh, it's important to Be welcoming help them to connect with the church community Thirdly continue to invite them back if they are open right Fourthly if they've made a decision For Christ work with them help them to grow You know again teach them the importance of reading the word prayer And then even through the end of this course, we will talk about discipleship and how important discipleship is so So let's end today's class I hope you've been able to take a few points from this and Again before I close I want to encourage each one of us If you get opportunities whether it's by phone whether it's by You know meeting somebody Do try and you know present the gospel. You never know what the Lord can do Amen. So uh, could one of us please close in prayer Divya, can you please close in prayer? Sure sure. Thank you Thank you father. Thank you for this wonderful opportunity father where we are learning uh lord, uh the Uh many concepts father lord regarding evangelism. We know father that it is not only for uh lord Being a knowledge for us father lord, but you help us father that we be able to Apply it father lord that we will be able to uh lord explore it father lord We know father. It is not uh that we who are changing or we who are father lord Lord Ministering father it is by the holy spirit lord. Yes lord. It is not by might or By power but by the spirit. Yes lord. So we pray that you enable us father to Obey lord the nudging of the holy spirit father lord Whenever lord we get opportunities help us look out for those opportunities father lord That we will share the gospel lord let our lives become testimonies father lord That people around this father Will come to know of this loving father that we have the mighty god that We serve lord. I pray lord your blessing over pastor paul lord Thank you and praise you father for all the testimonies all the experiences father lord all the Lord all these things that uh he teaches father lord. I pray that you um Continue father to shovel your grace your mercy lord your wisdom father lord uh into his life father I pray for each and every one present here father may your grace Be with each one of his father lord and as we go lord get out of the class father lord Let us not forget father what we have learned but let it take root father in our hearts lord and let it become a Light style for us lord and jesus precious me we pray amen amen. Amen. Thank you so much. Divya. Thank you everyone Have a wonderful week ahead. God bless you all