 Hey, good morning everyone. Let's just begin this time with a word of prayer So could one of us please lead us what sir? Can you please lead us in prayer? Okay, what's that? Father God we come before your presence in the name of Jesus father. Thank you Lord as we begin our session I pray that Holy Spirit you lead us and guide us you use our pastor as he teaches the word of God and The session and help us to be receptive to your word That we will learn your thing this morning also in Jesus might be Amen. Thank you. What's right? Firstly, I want to apologize For posting the link a little bit late because as I posted it, you know My laptop started hanging and then to reboot the whole system and apologize for that all right, so Last week let's do a quick review of what we did last week last week. We looked at chapter 14 if I'm not wrong. Yes chapter 14 and we looked at Ways that we can evangelize both in urban settings and in rural setting settings Right, so we looked at different strategies that we can use for children for youth young adults married individuals families Young couples so there are different methods But one important point that we focused on was using wholesome methods, which means spirit led Legal ethical methods and I give you a lot of examples where you know, we are not to Offend people even as we minister to people. We use wholesome methods, right? We let people know that hey, this is a Christian event. This is a Christian program Don't do anything Trying to lure people into, you know, coming to the concert or coming to a meeting or a conference Whatever we are doing. Let's be spirit led. Let's be legal. Let's be ethical as well Do not offend people be culturally sensitive the culturally Relevant as well. So for example if you're doing minute, you know, probably plan to do an event in In an urban setting, right? You can think of doing a you know Worship concert or a music concert Followed by just preaching of the word But if it's a rural setting, you know, it's more of a town Look at different methods. I look at different ways that you can reach out to them But as you do all of this be sensitive be relevant, right? So there's no point. So for example, you're going to a rural setting, you know, not many people are interested in You know, electric guitars and all these high-end equipment if we go there and we start, you know plan to have a worship that, you know, like a concert it may not Be relevant to the people there. And so it may end up that, you know, the whole event may May have been very wonderful the planning and all of it, but it since it's not relevant to the culture It won't, you know, really touch people's lives, right? It won't minister to people. So Whichever setting that you are in, whether it's urban or rural setting As you be sensitive be relevant to the people, right? What kind of, you know, culture what kind of Language or what kind of styles that they have try to be relevant to them, right? And as you do that, don't be Don't intentionally offend people, right? Do not, you know, blame people You know, God has commissioned us to preach and so we are not to violate people's, you know Time, money, energy and all of that. So we need to maintain ourselves in that aspect as well Laptops hanging again Right, okay, so we'll get into chapter 15 now from chapter 15 onwards It's if you see in your notes, they're just pointers And so most of the from chapter 15 to chapter 19 are just pointers and so we will quickly complete We just look at those pointers gain some understanding from them practical tips as well And so I hope to just cover all of this in this class and this class this will be the last session for your semester and then We will also put the Assignments up probably put it today or tomorrow. So you have enough time To complete your final assessment as well But today will be your last session for this course as well. So All right, let's get into these few practical tips chapter 15 practical information on a few strategies So if you see your notes, you've got three points there street or mall evangelism Workplace groups and coffee shops now once again Let's just look you pick up each of them first one street or mall evangelism now Wherever we are it gives us an opportunity to minister, you know to evangelize in the street or In malls now as we do that now we need to plan carefully have People in your team to plan with you, right? Of course, you may be the leader Eventually, it is your decision You may be the pastor of a church or pastor of the life pastoring a life group or whatever Role that you are in in the church Have people around you to give you ideas give you strategies, right? So for example street ministry What are the places that are safe? How are you going to reach out now? Street ministry is not something that is very, you know, it's not a church setting, right? You need to be very prayerful. You need to plan well. You need to organize yourself in teams Right and you need to you know, you'll find all kinds of people you should be both Mentally prepared you need to be physically prepared now when I say physically prepared is You know, I remember this one time It's young man in our church Young guy, maybe about 19 years old. He said I want to come with you Buster for street evangelism. I said, okay, let's go. So 11 o'clock. I told him meet me in this place we've met and So we I just gave him a few track gave him from few pointers how you can start off and so we began just you know We had a worship evening on Saturday. So it was probably a Thursday or a Friday We usually go out and so we're giving out these invites and then he comes to me after 10 minutes I think it was 15 minutes and he says pastor, I think I'm really tired I said, what happened? He said no, I'm feeling very tired. My legs are paining So I was really surprised because he's just probably about 20 years old and his legs were paining standing for 15 minutes right He was genuinely he was not lying to me, but he was generally You know telling me that his legs were paining and And so, you know, I said, okay, don't worry. You can just go back home. There's no compulsion But I realized that even as we do ministry we are to look after ourselves Physically, we need to be fit mentally. We need to be strong, right? So malls and street evangelism Practically look at your setting look at where you are. Are you in the city? Are you know Town how you're going to evangelize? I did mention that on Christmas events like Christmas and you know Other times especially, you know, we had the Indian festivals like the valley So you have a lot of people coming to these malls and also gives you an opportunity to Probably, you know, think about doing street evangelism as well. So My whole, you know, my whole this thing, you know, I Tell people that street evangelism is not it's not something that all of us You know me, you know, be very very well equipped with we all are learning but we need to be Wise in the way we do evangelism, right? So If God is leading you to do it go ahead And even as you do it be prayerful pray about pray three four days Think about how you're gonna do it plan with your team and then look at locations, which is more appropriate And then take it forward Then you got workplace groups now many of us may be working Working in call centers id companies businesses, right now. This is a wonderful opportunity to bring the gospel To the people in your sphere of influence. No now for example, oh You know many years back before I joined the Bible college the I used to work in a couple of companies id companies and What we would do is Six o'clock was a login time and our cabs used to reach by 5 30 a.m. And so I just felt in my heart We can do a prayer of 5 30 to 6 o'clock just a song Just pick up a verse quickly just 10 minutes talk about that verse and so So I remember telling my friends and nobody really came initially We were about two people three people they would sit in the lawn outside in the You know these huge id parks there. So let's sit outside. You'd sing a song read a verse Sometimes share a testimony to just do three of us But what happened was people began to speak about that, right? So Many people began to start attending 5 30 at 5 30 in the morning. So from 2 we went up to 10 20 It just you know, many people began to come Finally we were about 30 40 people That's it was a wonderful time Many lives were touched many people you know experienced the presence of God and many people many of our colleagues were also touched and Quite a few of them accepted the Lord as well. So It's a wonderful opportunity workplace groups now even as you do this, right? Be sure to follow all guidelines, right? So for example, if your company says five o'clock six o'clock is login or six o'clock You need to be in the office be there at six o'clock. Don't say, you know Wrong thing to do it say, you know, we were having extended time of worship. So we, you know Oh, we were praying so we couldn't stop Work is work, right? So You know follow guidelines anything that is apart from work time You can you know use it for workplace groups and you know start prayer groups Bible study groups and another Important thing that we need to remember is You know, I noticed that you know, a few of my friends they had started these groups and they Booked the conference hall, right? So every week they would book the conference hall and Somehow, you know that kind of backfire because you know All the other people were like, how can you give it to them? They have to pay for it and all of it. So If you plan to start workplace groups, you can also plan to do it after work timings With only your colleagues or you can plan it in your break time before the work So, you know before work time starts. So plan accordingly that it does not affect your work Nor does it affect your Company in any way, right? So be right in that way Then you got coffee shops where you can, you know Go to coffee shops have coffee together in You know malls we used to do that many many years back where I think last week we discussed about this where youth You know, we would take up maybe it was I think it was six or seven tables We book it pre-book those tables and so our youth would come with pre-book I think it was one coffee each And a snack and so we pre-book it sit there and we would have fellowship time It was a wonderful opportunity to invite People from other faiths now This may not work in rural settings, right? This is mostly in urban settings in cities and You know Metropolitan cities and all these kind of places. So so you look at What can work in your In your setting Then we also look at permeating our sphere The word sphere means our influence, right? Now now if if we are in ministry, right? If you are a pastor or evangelist your sphere is only ministry, right? But you will have people Within your community, maybe some of them are, you know in business Some of them are in the government sector. Some of them are in accounting and you know In teaching and so many other professions, right now We are called to impact our sphere of influence, right? So for example, if you're a teacher, right? You can impact your students lives by being a testimony, right? If you're a businessman, right now, you can impact Bring godly principles into your business. If you're working for a business, you know Uh use godly principles in your business. Uh, and Uh, if there's other Uh, steers of influence, maybe Arts and entertainment government all these spheres God is calling us To reach out to these places Whichever sphere of influence now The reason I'm talking about this is because many times I've noticed that, you know Students or sorry people will be working in the You know, maybe in the IT company in the corporate sector But you know Only on Sundays They would be, you know Okay, let's do this in the church and let's do that now. We understand that, you know, it's Work life is it's hectic got Monday to Friday some places Monday to Saturday as well Uh, we understand that it's hectic. It could be strenuous Yet God is calling us to impact those societies If we are willing To impact societies In a sphere of influence God will open the doors Right. All we need to do is be willing and Let me give you this example We were in in the city of mangrove We have a lot of colleges around And so we have this very very prestigious college. It's it's a college where people come from all across Our nation to study there People come for, you know, they're Masters and they come to do their degree and Medical students nursing students. It's a huge college huge campus And A few of our students had come to our church and we began to speak to them ask them You know, they were saying, you know, this is how the college is. This is how and so we we did go and see the college and I thought to myself How can we Get an opportunity To go and get into this college and minister to the students Right now on the on the flip side. We've already been ministering to nursing students, you know And many colleges we would go and do this one hour session But my heart was how can we permeate this college? All right, so we can't just stand outside keep giving out tracks and all of it. Yeah, we can do that But that's only going to reach a few people. But how can we So seeds Into these young students like we've got thousands of students And so we as a church, we kept it in prayer. We used to think about it And it looked like something that is impossible because it's a very, you know, it's a very prestigious college and You know, we are not some, you know, great teachers or some great Philosophers that people would invite us But we always thought okay god open a door for us And sure enough before the lockdown God was faithful. He through Through other college universities He we got an open door. We went into these colleges. We were able to talk about life skills talk about You know bring in the gospel talk about suicide depression and how How god helps helps us overcome these things and so Though it was generating we were able to bring in the word of god, right? and so No matter what we see you no matter what Sphere of influence we are in we may see a wall right Like the walls of jericho That is stopping us from entering what god has for us Now you look at that wall and you you you can speak to that wall and you say god Make a way through this if You know, we've been teaching and You know the other subject on revivals and One of the things that is very important is god's Here's hearts who are hungry If people are hungry for god God will open a door Right How he opens it that is his way But we need to be hungry for god Now if we are not hungry for god God will not open doors Right, of course in his grace and his favor. He will But if we want bigger opportunities There needs to be a greater hunger for god Right Let me share this. This is young pastor in our city He's got an english church. He started the church in about 2015 2016 I guess could be wrong 2016 Young man very very powerful man of god Very, you know energetic He loves the lord You know, he and his wife have come here. They have a small child as well They started the church. They have about 15 odd people at the church and You know, we were talking. He's a very good friend of mine and And we were talking and he was saying, you know, man glow such a hard city and all of that And then he asked me, where did you you know, we as we were talking? He asked me, where did you come here? I said 2018 And then as we were talking, you know, he's of course come to our church He's visited us as well. And so he's seen about 70 80 people in our church And so he asked me, how did you manage to get so many people Into church, you know get connected to church in just probably one and a half to two years So I told him he knew it was only about 10 people in about two years. It became 70 to 80 people So he asked me, how did you manage to do that? I said, see it's not about me God adds people into the church. We know that that is God's purpose. That is God's plan God wants to build his church. God wants to add people to his church. But There is a practical aspect of each one of us working for it Right. So I gave him the example of, you know Adam, you know, God told Adam you You're here in the garden, you till it you Work on it and I will make it fruitful So I asked him, what do you do during the week? What what kind of ministry do you do? So he said, I just visit a few families. I pray I read the word I spend most of my time praying reading the word. I said, that's wonderful But if we want to see People if we want to see, you know, people being added into the church people getting connected We have the practical. Yes, the spiritual aspect is, you know, studying the word of God Praying fasting, that's wonderful. That is important. That's number one priority But with that We have to do the practical. So I remember telling him, you know See you're doing what is important. That's wonderful. And now I want to encourage you to go out On the streets go out to people and reach out to them Nobody is going to go nobody is going to, you know, find where your churches and come Even if they do, they're going to be two or three of them Right, like for example last week two weeks back. We had a few students. They went to or they went online They searched for churches in Mangalore. They found the church. They just came That's going to be a very few number, but Uh, when we go out, put the word out Okay, there's a church. This is what we are. This is our time. This is what you you can come and be part of it That's when the word is going to go out and people will know Right, uh, and so I told him Instead you can you can plan out, right? So For example, what I do is Mondays and Tuesdays. I stay at home. Just pray read the word don't go out anywhere Wednesday, I go out I, you know, just Call for students if I see families just just go reach out Then on Friday is our fasting prayer. So we fast and pray the whole day and Saturday Again, I go out on outreach. So, you know, we balance We had to balance what we do So I remember telling this faster. You do that you go out No, you know, he also has worship evenings and all of it Uh, and he was telling me, you know, only 10 12 people come sometimes. So I stopped that Said don't stop it. Make invites go out on the street You will see some students, right? And There are wonderful ways that, you know, we can connect with people You never know this one person you call Uh, I think I've shared this one one once I was, you know, with my son and we were in this Uh restaurant He saw this northeast boy Uh, and I went up to him and I said, hey You know, are you a Christian? He said yes I said, see, I gave him a track. I said, this is our Invite our church and why this is where we are He said, oh, that's wonderful. I've just come here. It's been a month Uh, sure enough, he came on Sunday with a friend And this was two years back before much before the lockdown He came with his friend and he brought his friend, he and his friend brought 10 other students And those 10 students, most of them are now graduated, but they are still informing their, you know, their, uh, juniors Hey, you can go to this church. There's a church there and And so I never Knew of the ripple effect, right? I never knew that I just looked at, okay, two of them Maybe they can be part of the church, but They might have many students and so through that gave us an opportunity to get into the whole that university itself They were able to speak to the management. That's how we were able to get into that prestigious university so It's even as we do all of this Don't look at the walls. Don't look at what is the impossible look at what god can do Right, so Think of those walls of Jericho. It looks like an impossibility. Maybe it's your neighbor that you want to minister to Uh, and it's and he or she is a hardcore atheist, right? Don't look at it as a wall. Look at it as an opportunity Ask god to open doors Or maybe there's somebody else who's A hardcore person from another faith, right? Uh, and they know everything Don't look at it as a wall But prayerfully look at it as an opportunity to bring the gospel. So Have focused prayers whatever your wall is That you're looking at this pray and the lord will be able to You know open doors, right and and also chapter 17 talks about the book of acts now in the book of acts that are plenty plenty plenty of You know evangelism Techniques that we have seen ideas that we can get Uh, but the most important thing we see that was they spend time in prayer teaching of the word ministry of the word uh, remember Peter uh, peter and john They were they were commanded not to you know, not to preach the word, but what did they say? How can we listen to you? When we are called to listen to god So, uh, they were willing to do whatever was whatever they wanted to do that, you know, what god called them to do Uh, two there was boldness Very bold Uh, there was no sense of fear Uh, they knew That they you know that the lord is with them They were also empowered by the holy spirit In everything that they did They were empowered by the holy spirit And and so, uh, I'm sure next semester you will have a study on the book of acts. So there's much more That you can learn from that also and I'm sure most of us have been studying the book of acts as well. So Right chapter 18 talks about serving the poor serving the needy Now all of us, uh, you know, love to serve the poor maybe Serve the poor the needy love to be a blessing Some of them have been called to do it Some of them May not have that calling But we all have this ability to serve the poor and serve the needy In some cases people may quit their jobs quit everything look at it as a full-time ministry like so for example You've got people who started children's home home for the destitutes Home for the aged This becomes like a full-time ministry, but maybe god is just not calling us to that full time but Wherever we have whatever we are doing whether we are in the workplace whether we are in ministry God has called us To serve the poor and to serve the needy in whatever capacity that we can Right now there will be times when you know, we understand that, you know as families We have we may have children. We may have monthly expenses We may be going through financial difficulties. We may not be able to provide for them But Do not be discouraged. Do not feel. Oh, I'm not fulfilling what god has called me to do. I don't feel that There will come a time Right where god will give you the ability to be a blessing to others right In the meanwhile what we can do is pray for them Pray for the poor pray for the needy serve them right one of the things that I used to do Many many years back was I knew that I was you know, not financially able to support because I was in bible college Uh, I couldn't really support them financially But what I would do is I would You know go to these home for the aged or children's home few of us We may have my friends we go to these children's home home for the aged Just go there, you know, take my guitar sing a few songs Encourage them Pray with them probably spend some time with some games Uh, you know, there was not much that I could give financially But it was more of a service Where they were very happy, you know, they felt Happy they was joy in their hearts. They were refreshed in their minds in the spirit Because they've been, you know, locked up in that Place for many many years maybe going through sadness depression sometimes their Family members have left them there. Uh, we don't really know what they're going through. So Serving does not mean only financial help, but it can also be ministering to them through the word through worship and being a blessing to them Right. So look at opportunities if you feel that you're able to do it Go ahead, right, especially times when, you know, you got, uh, You know Easter Sunday, you got Christmas These are wonderful times where we can choose to be a blessing To the poor to the needy, you know, sometimes It with all this, you know enjoyment and These programs and all these wonderful Events that we have Celebrations with families all that is important. Sometimes we neglect You know the poor the needy and and so we can do a bit we can do a bit whether they are often children whether they are elderly People in destitute homes home for the aged Uh, look at what you can do if you get an opportunity if you feel that that's something that you can You know share your gifts your talents with them Uh to bless their lives go ahead And do that right and you never know because as you do that They may see Christ through you and you know, they will be that will be a blessing For them as well. So So, uh, yes, so with this we complete Uh our portions Usually when we do the in-person classes, uh, we usually have role plays Uh, uh happening where we could, you know, now put forth different scenarios and You know, uh do role plays so that we can learn But with this setting we really couldn't do that. Uh, but Anybody have any questions any thoughts? Uh, I think john you raised your hand Sorry if I didn't I think I did notice it. Yeah, uh, that was to admit the brother subashish. I think he Right any questions any thoughts, uh, any of you were able to you know minister to Friends or people around, uh Any experiences of late recent ones? All right, no problem. Uh, so So This comes to the end of our sessions. Yes, Divya go ahead Yeah, uh, yes faster. Thank you so much. Uh, uh, not in a way that we could share the gospel But uh, this was to one of our friends. We had been friends with them for a long time. So uh, recently, um, they had uh, you know, kind of An important Thing in their life. So we were invited. Uh, so we were the first ones who were invited to their home. So, um, We wanted to make it special for them. So we tried, you know to You know Make that make that a little special Especially because there are no no one else like there are no other relatives or nobody else for them So, uh and that time, um They were very grateful of because of what we did and because of our presence as well as We tried to, you know, pray for them because it is such a Important time of their life. So Uh earlier, I do not know what they have allowed it. Uh, but God helped us do it and More the more we talk with them, you know, they are opening up Much more to to us and yeah, we are praying about it. Uh, so yeah, I feel like God is opening our door Uh praising God for that Yeah, and uh, yeah and Another is uh, like it is uh, it is so stranger. You know, um, um Uh had a conversation with a stranger. Uh, so I never thought that I could, you know Try to have a Like she began sharing her details. I never thought that she would share like her personal details Uh, but one thing I was I was trying to Bring things of God into the conversation Uh, like asking about a church and came to know like she uh was brought up in a christian home Uh, I mean the mother was a christian But uh, there were so many tragedies along the way So, yeah, it was a little hard to proceed the conversation. But yeah, still, uh, it was a good, you know, um Way that god helped me to yeah, just start Yeah Praise god. Thank you. Thank you. Divya for sharing. Yeah, so Divya Just a suggestion. What you can do is uh, give it some time. So if it's your first or your second conversation um, uh, you don't have to really bring in the church or you know Uh, too much of god into the conversation right because she may be going through a very difficult time. Maybe It's been many years or maybe it's something that's just happened. So She's opening up to you just probably listen to her go through that whole, you know, maybe tiresome, but Uh, you know, just be there listen to her listen Because they need somebody to you know, let go of all their You know, you know hurt that is there in them. So Uh, just be there to listen to her I know that's the tiresome part or that that could be a part where you sometimes because we Really want to just bring in Jesus immediately. Oh Jesus will be able to do it Uh, but it's also important to listen right and we did study about that, right? So listen give it some time Uh, they'll come at time, you know, when she will ask you what do you think? What should I do? Then you you know, prayerfully you can think about, uh, you know, how you're going to present Probably a bible verse or a song Uh, so so give it some time even if you are not able even if the conversation for maybe Three three four You know the next two three times you meet even if you're not able to bring christian. It's all right at At the right time you can god will open a door and you will get an opportunity right because sometimes when we forcefully say things During their painful time. They may just take a step back And so you don't want to lose that so It's all right to take it slow Yeah, yeah, actually it was to uh, uh, that was a stranger. So I'm not sure that you would meet her again Okay. Yeah. Yeah, it was just like a very casual conversation. Yeah Okay. Yeah, okay. That was a stranger. Okay. All right. Good. Thank you for sharing Divya. Yes, uh Zalutoli you want to share something? Go ahead Um, it's been a while like a few years Our family and our church Here we are praying for my youngest brother and You know, like whenever we used to have friendly things I used to invite him, you know, you can be a part of He has nothing to do with church or you know prayer everything, you know, he just got up with so like uh Recently we had a crusade in our uh, our church organized a crusade And I just fell led to ask him to volunteer and hey, why don't you come and help us? You know, like you're good in arranging chairs, you know and we need, you know younger, um Man and all these things to help us out. We are in need of volunteers and like I just give him an invitation. I did not expect him to You know respond and uh, he willingly responded and you know Uh, he started to attend, uh, you know, prayer meetings because before the crusade we used to have Prayer meetings or even for the volunteer. So we were having prayer meetings and after that, you know It's not during the crusade, you know, like uh, pastor was given an altar call who want to Give their life to Jesus and he came forward and he accepted the Lord and I'm so happy for him And we praise God for his life that he accepted Jesus And it's been two weeks. He's just so regularly attending the church services. So I just want to give thanks And give glory to God for that Praise god, that's wonderful. Uh, Zillatoli one thing that you can do since he's your brother Is you can, you know slowly Uh, get him interested into the word Right, uh, get him interested in into, you know, reading the word or you can send him some Uh, you know sermons which Have some good teachings send him that on whatsapp or some videos links email him Uh, give him like, you know, one of the things that happened is see, uh, we did this in discipleship They're still babies in Christ, right? So the initial phase is very important where they, you know, uh, Should be able to look into the word grow in the word, right? So So you slowly, you know, you can put that in maybe you can give them books if he likes to read If it's videos explain about this videos, uh, you know, this is what this person is talking about Why don't you listen to it? Uh, and then send the video, uh, so that way what you're doing is you're building him up, right? So now that salvation has happened, uh, now he needs to become That disciple, right? He needs to grow in the Lord in his spirit. So That's wonderful. Uh, wonderful Yes Everybody else would like to share Okay All right, so we will close Uh This session and we have completed our course. So thank you all so much, uh for Journey with me. It's been a wonderful time. There's lots of learning Uh, and I just pray that each one of us, uh, me too included That will grow strong in the Lord that we'll be able to be Wonderful ministers of God even as you go through the next semester You will have apologetics how to defend the gospel then in the third year you will have world religions Uh, and so you will be able to put everything into context even as you continue with your studies Right. Okay. Uh, so let's just close in prayer John, can you close in prayer, please bless all of them? Yep, sure Gracious Lord, we want to thank you for this time. You've given us to help us to understand Um, the way we should be ministering through evangelism to the people around us God And helping us to remember That how precious it is to serve your kingdom Lord Jesus and we pray our God that Um, even as we have learned, um help us to also apply this in our lives Help us to reach out to people who are in need and share your goodness And thank you for teaching us different strategies different methods that we could use We thank you for possible. Thank you for enabling him to share your word um and also to Help us understand through his practical life scenarios Lord Jesus We want to thank you for um all the lessons that we have learned in this class. We pray oh god that We would be able to apply this and see the results in your kingdom Lord Jesus help all of us to serve Help all of us to um so into your kingdom And and to see the way you're working so wonderfully in our lives. Oh god We thank you. We want praise you Jesus In Jesus most precious name we pray amen amen amen Right before we close one other thing. Uh, I will put the portion. Sorry the final assessment up on the class work tab Uh, so do remember to download them. It's an open book exam. You can just fill in your answers And then uh, please put it before the due date so that uh everything go and smoothly. Thank you so much. Thank you all Uh for this wonderful wonderful, uh, you know this whole semester. God bless you all I'll see you all in the next semester. God bless. Have a wonderful day. Wonderful week ahead God bless