On Mission

At my boys preschool there are three girls who work there that have stood out to me. It was as though God was tapping me on the shoulder for these ladies. So I would pray and seek opportunities to share the Gospel with them. 8 months later in a span of 2 weeks God showed off. I love it when He does that!

The first girl, was a teacher in Asher's class. But she had left about a month into the school year. I was bummed and confused. I really thought God wanted to use me to do something in her life. Well, last week she returned and will be one of Asher's teachers again next year!

That same week, I invited one of the others girls that stood out, Uriah's teacher, to come to The Maze (an evangelistic outreach on campus). She ended up giving her life to Christ that night!

     And just Tuesday my husband was on campus with a guy he disciples and  set up a picture survey table to get into spiritual coversations. The student has seen the gospel shared many times and had been through several trainings but wasn't confident in sharing simply because he hadn't done it. Austin encouraged him that he could do it and invited a girl over to the table (who happened to be the third girl at the boys preschool who stood out to me). The student went for it, taking the girl through the picture survey. When he finished the survey he used his transition question that moved the conversation toward discussing the Gospel. He bumbeled his way through, doing a less than perfect job yet having shared. He broke the final sound barrier of asking her if she was ready to make a decision to trust Christ with her life and she said Yes!

People crave to know the God that created them and He gave us the privledged mission of telling them the very thing they crave. Wow! Yet 96% of us will go to the grave NEVER having shared the gospel... never even started the mission God gave us.

The same day this girl put her trust in Christ I got into a conversation with a lady at Bible study. It turns out that some very hard things were going on her life which motivated her to start seeking God. She had been going to 2 churches and some people in her life invited her to Bible study, gave her a Beth Moore bible study, told her to listen to Chritian radio etc... but no one ever got around to sharing the most important thing. The Gospel.

It is easy to think that the people around us already know/understand the gospel since they go to church or Bible study or listen to Christian music, but let's not assume. In fact, the vast majority of students on campus we see put thier trust in Christ have grown up in church but have never heard/understood the gospel.

Who in your life have you never had a spiritual conversation with? Are you assuming they are trusting Christ with thier eternity or have they made that clear? 
Why not ask them today? Use a few transition questions to find out from thier mouths where they are at spiritually.

Who at work or in your circle of friends has God tapped on your shoulder about? How can you make time to get in a conversation with them? Why not take them out to coffee or lunch and take the initative to ask a few transition questions to see where they are at spiritually? If they arnt saying things like "I really don't want to talk about this" or something like that, share the gospel and see what God does.

Let me know how it goes!  :)

PS
Here's a little acronym (SHARE) to help you take steps of faith toward sharing the gospel. (used from my friends blog, www.EternityImpact.com)
Spend time with God. Get in His Word, pray and walk in the power of His Spirit!
Have an expectant attitude! Look for opportunities and expect God to use you!
Ask Questions:
     1. Ask a conversation starting question.
     2. Follow that up with a transition question.
          Ex. What’s been your experience with Christianity?
     3. Transition to the gospel by asking if you can share how they can know God personally. 
Resources. Knowing God Personally booklet, The Bridge Illustration
Encourage those you share with!!! Help them take the next step and help them get plugged in!

“Take the initiative in the power of the Holy Spirit and then trust the results to God.” - Bill Bright