INFLUENCE PEOPLE THROUGH YOUR FAITH STORY - PART 3
First we covered how like an ET, God came down to us so that we are not left with merely speculation regarding His existence and nature, but have been given revelation of Him. Then we discussed five evidences God has given us for our faith in Him.
1.The Person of Christ- His perfect love and life, His profound messages and miracles and His declarations as to who He was and is. For example, Jesus declared, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but by me." John 14:6. Jesus also said,"I and the Father are one" John 10:30. The Jews knew He was claiming to be God so they sought to kill Him.
2. Prophecies He fulfilled- For example, ask your friend to read Isaiah 53 or Psalm 22. Who do you think this is describing? Yet it was written hundreds of years before Jesus was born! No other book has fulfilled prophecies! This is also clear evidence that the Bible is orchestrated by God, not man.
3. Post resurrection appearances! Jesus spent time with His disciples, even eating with them. He was not some ghost or an hallucination.
4. Powerful testimonies of those who spent lots of time with Him. For example, John the Baptist said, "Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" John 1:29.
5. Your own Personal testimony. Here we talked about the power of bringing in an emotionally descriptive word of how you were feeling before Christ. Perhaps you were feeling- guilty, meaningless, empty, angry, bitter, rejected, trapped, helpless, hopeless. Then I asked you think of an incident in your BC days that would illustrate that feeling. I asked you to call me to share your story, but I realize now that I've already had you write on this a few weeks ago. So here's what I want you to do instead.
1. Share your salvation story with at least one other person this week. (If you even have to pay a homeless person to listen to you, do it : ) See if you can also work in a fitting verse of Scripture, such as Romans 6:23 or John 14:6. Seek to keep your story under three minutes- there's beauty in brevity. So weed out rambling and unnecessary words.
But what do I say after I finish sharing my story? Perhaps you could say, "Thanks for listening. Is there something you're wanting God to do in your life? Have you ever read the good news found in the gospel of John? May I send you a free link to it and a really good minimovie? (Here again is the link to the gospel of John http://www.livingwater.org/booklet/index.htm )
2. Read pages 51-61 in Lifelines which is the section of the book entitled, "For Catholics Only" (Yes, you have my permission to read it even if you weren't raised Catholic :) Now write one thing from your reading that you think would be helpful to share with your lost Catholic friends or relatives.
3. There is power when people share even a brief testimony of how God has changed them. That's why I like the following mini-movie. Hope you do to. Please share it with an unsaved person and your wealth partner, encouraging him/her to pass it along as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uiz_jTpWy3o
Announcements & Reminders
Way to go on memorizing the books of the New Testament! As always, feel free to call me up anytime.
Please review out loud Ephesians 2:1-10. Now call up your mentor and quote it to him/her by this coming Sunday.
This month of June our character quality of the month is thankfulness. How thankful I am for warm weather after our long, cold winter.
Oh Lord, help us cultivate the attitude of gratitude!
Lifelines is such a helpful resource! I greatly enjoyed reading through this section on Catholicism. I have said before that my extended family on my father's side is firmly rooted in Catholicism. What I see that is so dangerous about Catholicism is that it comes so close to the truth. As you explained at the beginning of this section, Dave, we both believe in the Trinity, that Jesus is the Messiah, that He died and rose again and that He will return. We also uphold that the Bible is from God. Yet, Catholics believe that Jesus merely opened the way to heaven and that we must still work our way in to heaven. But as you quoted in John 14:6 Jesus clearly says, "I am the WAY the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father EXCEPT THROUGH ME." I absolutely agree that encouraging people of the Catholic faith to read their Bible is one of the best ways to reach them. I also appreciated the part on page 55, "Isn't the Catholic church the first church founded by Jesus and St. Peter?" I have been confronted with this question at college by professors. It is a good way to turn the conversation, if even for a brief moment, towards Jesus. John 14:6 is an excellent verse during conversations as these, as well as part of our memory verse, Ephesians 2:8-9. This verse clearly explains that our faith in the grace of Christ Jesus is what saves us. It even goes one step further and insists that this gift is, "not by works." Again, pointing back to the Word of God is one of the best way to reach people of the Catholic faith. That is actually how my father, a former Catholic became a Christian.
ReplyDeleteVery good thoughts Sarah. may the Lord open up opportunities for you and the hearts of those you share with.
ReplyDeleteMost of my family grew up Catholic, so I have definitely asked or have been asked most of these questions before. Yesterday at an NGL meeting, we met a man who stopped by the table that we were at and said, "I couldn't help notice your conversation and I think that it is great that you all are talking about the Word of God." We started to get into conversation and talking about the Bible and he introduced himself as a Catholic. He was telling us some of things he has been up to and how we wants to do good things for others and help other people be able to do good things as well. He was basically talking to us about reaping what we sow and how that principle is powerful in any area of life. Regardless, I couldn't help to notice some of the vocabulary and things he was saying, he mentioned paying penance and praying to the virgin Mary because she is "the un-tier of knots." But he kept emphasizing the want to do good and show that to others just stuck out to me. I think a lot of people that grow up Catholic or consider themselves Catholic, have received an idea that if I do everything right, my life will be just right, especially my eternal life. I just thought that it is interesting how you point out "it's good to be good, but we can never be good enough to deserve heaven...all our good deeds are like polluted rags." And as we have been studying, digesting, writing it on the tablets of our hearts, Ephesians 2 says that our salvation comes from Grace not by works... "and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast." I am afraid that this is an area that is highly emphasized in the Catholic church, which doing good isn't necessarily a bad thing, however, doing good isn't going to save you. And quite often you find many Catholics with this distorted view that good works will earn people brownie points in heaven and thus help them earn their way to heaven. It is not by our own doing, because if this were the case we would boast in our accomplishments, but in reality we need to boast in the accomplishments of what Jesus has done for us on the cross and on our behalf. "For it is by grace you have been saved."
ReplyDeleteAll of my family grew up Catholic and over the years some siblings have converted to different religions. Some members have become Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons and praise the Lord some Christians. However, the majority of them are still Catholic. Now the one thing that I enjoyed reading throughout this section is how Dave Garratt challenges believers to get Catholics to read their Bible as he states, "the Catholic Bible declares..." Especially, since many of them do not read their own Bible. I have had many Bible discussions with my Catholic family members, so what I have done is used their own Bible version.
ReplyDeleteI have noticed that two things happen when I use their Bible. First I am respecting their Bible and then they give me attentive ears versus when I have used my own version. Second I am getting them into God's inspired Word. Now I make sure I read from those that are inspired by God and part of the canonized books (66 books). One Bible study that I want to mention was with my mother and we looked at the two people that didn't experience a physical death (Enoch and Elijah) according to the Bible. I left her wondering and asking if Mary the mother of Jesus experienced the same thing. Yet I would tell her it isn't written in God's Word, because there isn't any account for such things. Towards the end of my mom's life she would often quote me by saying, "that isn't written in the Bible." Therefore, I agree with Pastor Dave 100% in saying let's get Catholics and non-believers into God's Word. In doing so they may encounter the living Word that became flesh and dwelt amongst us (John 1:1, 14). I end by saying that my oldest sister is a devout Catholic, but she reads the Bible so much that I truly believe she is a Christian. The reason I believe this is because she has professed Christ as her Lord and Savior, she allows the Word of God to instruct her, she talks like a Christian by sharing her faith. Although, my prayer and hope for her is that the Word of God would open her eyes and reveal the contradicting things that the Catholic church states to be infallible, so she can repent and turn from such things.
I enjoyed the thorough explanation of Mary and why we do not look to her in the same light as Catholics. For me, this is the main question I am asked by those I know who are catholic. In my History of Catholicism class last semester, we read a book on how Mary was seen as the intercessor between Catholics and God. But just as the Bible says, Jesus is the true intercessor because "no one comes to the Father except through me." It was also very informative to see the other misconceptions about Mary and how Catholics believed many false facts that popes had created and instead of being found in the word. I feel more equipped to address the "Do you believe in Mary?" question properly and to lead them away from the misconceptions and towards the truth.
ReplyDeleteExcellent Socorro!
DeleteI like where it talks about how only Jesus can take away our sins and not any amount of penaces. I have been constantly thinking of a great argument for my catholic friends when it comes to this and this book has helped me do that.
ReplyDeleteVery good Lucas. May the Lord use you all the more.
DeleteI grow up in a Catholic home. My sweet little mama loves the Lord and was deeply devoted to Mary. I went to a Catholic grade school and a catholic high school. I can remember year after year as a child walking about a mile in December to attend the Novena to the Virgen de Guadalupe at St Pius. So my roots grew deep in the Catholic church and it’s traditions.
ReplyDeleteAs a young girl, I grew up at Dvorak Park in Pilsen playing sports, softball, basketball, floor hockey, the swim team, gymnastics, volleyball… The gang that hangout at the park at that time was the Ambrose and one if the gang members named Santana, had his affections set on me. He would not leave me alone, he was horrible & made my life miserable for about six months. I did not have a big brother that could kick his butt, so I prayed to the person I prayed to - for so many years. I made a novena for 7 days to the Virgen de Guadalupe and before the seven days were over, he was incarcerated. They locked him up for 2 years and he never bothered me again.
When I first became a Christian, I attended a little Penecostal church that met in a store front on the North Side. It was very legalistic and they tried beating me over my head with the truth in God’s Word about Mary, but I could not receive it. I WOULD NOT RECEIVE IT. It was not until I read the Word of God for myself that he revealed his truth to my heart. I read how God detested the women who made cakes to the Queen of Heaven. Wow, how that pierced my heart, in High School we had a huge mass celebrating the Feast Day of the Queen of Heaven. I can remember crying when I read that. Over and over God confronted my heart and the devotion I had to Mary. Then I read in Jer 51:45 “Come out of her, my people. Run for your lives, run from the fierce anger of the Lord. V47: For the time will surely come when I will punish the idols of Babylon; her whole land will be disgraced and her slain will all lie fallen within her.” By the grace of God, I repented that day for making the Virgen de Guadalupe my idol.
Thanks Brother Dave for all the great scriptures given in this section. I know the Word of God is what opened my eyes and as Brother Jose said, when we can share these scriptures in love from their Catholic Bible, I believe the impact will be great. What is really big though is the reference given to when Pope Pius the IX on Dec 8, 1954 proclaimed Mary to have an immaculate conception. In the Catholic Bible there is a reference page that states all of the dates and the Popes that implemented new doctrines in the Catholic Church that are not based on God’s Word - this is huge.
What a good page in their Catholic Bible to show others Bea. Very good!
DeleteMy entire family was raised Catholic and now we find that it was very hard "unlearning" all the unbiblical beliefs from Catholicism. Personally, for me, I grew up with the complete wrong idea of who God was. I saw him as a cop in the sky who demanded obedience and I never knew or even considered that He loves me and never thought of the sacrifice He made by sacrificing his Son for me. I still find myself discovering lingering beliefs by finding the truth (or more-so not finding the belief) in the Bible. Furthermore, one of the things I would like to highlight from this week's reading of LifeLines is a Catholic's dependence on going to heaven because of Jesus AND good works. The example of the draw bridge with two different types of ropes suspending it was a great visual and perfectly captures the ridiculousness of the idea. (I'll be sure to use this illustration with my Catholic friends when I presented an opportunity) I was a firm believer that in order to get to heaven I needed to know about Jesus and his sacrifice (not accepting him as my Savior) and more importantly complete my good works for the Catholic community. And the real shocker for me when I started attending New Life was similar to what Mr. John Delisi said on page 58: "We found out that the work of Jesus Christ ALONE was sufficient for me to get to heaven." I'm eager to share this to my abundant Catholic peers! Thank you for the illustration!
ReplyDeleteYour welcome Nick! May the Lord open up many doors for you to share. Perhaps ask them to read a portion and ask what they think.
DeleteThe entire "For Catholics Only" section had lots of information about what their doctrines say that I did not know. The parts about what they believe about Mary were especially interesting and confusing because how obviously not biblical they are. The infallibility of the popes doctrine was also really weird. The ban on marriage and how it is mentioned as a doctrine of demons in the Bible is very shocking too. The fact that none of these Catholic beliefs are actually affirmed in the Bible itself (they are actually condemned in many cases), they can be used to show Catholics the flaws of their religion and their need for a true relationship with Christ Jesus. Nevertheless, it must be done in a graceful, loving way of course. :)
ReplyDeleteIt was good to meet with the NGL team on Sunday. Let’s make it a great Summer! Stay strong in the Lord and don’t waste this beautiful time of the year. God has good plans for each of us. I went on a vacation with my family at the beginning of the week so now I am posting on Friday. Sorry to be late but here we go.
ReplyDeleteThe answers to the statements “But I’ve sought to be a good Catholic” and “What do you mean when you say, ‘We must be born again’?” on pages 57 & 61 are very helpful. For years I have talked with people from a Catholic background as they start to visit or attend New Life. Of course I have talked to many people in the neighborhood who are Catholic. Often these folks have a very loose connection with the Catholic Church but still claim that name.
I think it’s best to try and focus on the basics of the gospel. How can we be right with God. Call yourself whatever you want but we have all done wrong things. I try to talk about sin and our need for the Lord. Some people think they don’t really need to be forgiven and they only compare themselves to others and not to God’s standard. Sad to say the conversation often never gets beyond this point. It’s been said that ‘It’s hard for someone to get saved if they don’t think they are lost’.
If someone does admit they are in need of forgiveness I try to focus on the gospel as described on pages 57 & 61. Mark 1:15--Repent (turn, change, admit you are wrong, allow the Lord to be in your life) & Believe (trust, accept the work of Christ in your life). John 3:3—Born Again (experience with a clear starting point). Many, many people from a Church background have never heard a clear message about repentance and faith. The need for an experience with God is foreign to a lot of people.
It’s vital to be ready to discuss Mary, statues, penance, the Pope, etc. but more and more I try to emphasize that we have the same Bible (basically the same, the Catholic church did add some books but they really don’t change the overall message) and the same Jesus.
2.) I wasnt raised Catholic but my older brother and sister were. One thing that's helpful for them to know is in verse Matthew 7:21 Not everyone who says Lord Lord will enter heaven. Just because they prayed to God or Mary once or twice doesn't mean they KNOW or are friends with God. One thing that I loved was when Life lines asked the question "Does Jesus know me?" I'm so used to telling people do you really know God? I gotta get used to telling them to ask themselves "Does Jesus know me?"
ReplyDeleteGood Genesis.
ReplyDelete