hey guys,
here's the tentative outline for this Friday.
Focus: It is our identity and purpose to be the salt and light of the world
Function: To encourage the youth to be bold in their evangelism, specifically to go out and be involved and chase away darkness
Scripture is Matthew 5.13-17
13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 15 No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
The Holy Bible : New Revised Standard Version. Nashville : Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989, S. Mt 5:13-16
The idea is that salt and light are in the world. Evangelism takes relationship and being outside the church walls. There they can let their light shine for God whether or not we get people into church
1. Salt of the Earth
a. Purpose of the Christian life
b. Making the world a saltier place
i. Called to be different
c. Salt goes out
i. Saltiness works better over time and effort
ii. Steak and marinate
d. Invests and spends time with
e. Acts church
2. Light
a. Inviting people with hope
b. Light Destroying the darkness
c. Essenes
d. Hiding light vs light that goes out
i. Hide and Go seek in the dark
e. Philip
f. These are our identities. God gave us these identities and God is with us. We can’t fail. Therefore be bold
3. Let your good deeds shine
4. Being bold in evangelism
a. Here at Friday Night
i. Inviting is good, we always want to welcome
ii. But even if not, we are called to be…
b. Out there
i. Spending time
ii. Being present
iii. Dark times and good times
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we should really find something that is outline friendly, haha.
ReplyDeletethat being said, i like the passage you are using also the idea in function about "chasing away darkness." be sure to really draw that imagery out. from your outline it looks like you're going to be engaging the text well.
one thing to maybe be careful about is not to discount or downplay the church, i.e. inside the walls. i think the point you are making is a good one that is often overlooked. it's clear where your heart is. but just be cautious in how you say things and finding that balance because the kids could get the idea that the church (what goes on inside) isn't as important.
along those lines, you could hit the point also where being bold and being outside is also one of the distinctives of the church. part of what makes the church the church is reaching out and being bold.
also, what do you think about using matthew 5:13-16 for meditation before worship and the message? it seems like a good text with a lot to think about. out of curiosity, are you planning on having small groups after?
hmmm... that's true, the church as a group does need to be identified with it. I think I will focus on the idea that there can be some awesome ministry that takes place, but it isn't all there is and they shouldn't feel like they failed if people aren't coming with them to church. Rather they can see the opportunity that they haave.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to do small groups and I was thinking doing meditation after. Is that cool?
Brett...
ReplyDeleteI like what you have here. The salt and light metaphors are perfect for the idea we want to communicate. I especially like the idea that these are our identities. That's a great point and something I think the kids will respond to. It's encouraging to know that this thing that can be so difficult is actually a part of who we were created to be.
I also agree with Eugene, though I see your point. I know your lens for evangelism is very "out there" focused, and I don't have a problem with that. Keep in mind though, this isn't Evangelism 101. It's Straightforward evangelism - it's meant to tap into the strengths of our staff and students.
With that said, this is a message that is meant to call kids to be out there, to be salty and bright. But... don't de-emphasize the inviting aspect of evangelism. We want kids to be bringing kids out, because realistically that can be the most effective place to for their non believing friends to experience Christ.
Small groups sounds good. I would just say to be thoughtful about how intense the questions are. Be mindful (even on an evangelism message), that there might be new kids. Until we get our post-meeting small groups started, we'll just have to keep that in mind.
Hey Brett,
ReplyDeleteit sounds good. I like the passage you are using and think it is a good idea to talk about evangelism in this manner. I like the way you have a focus and a function. I feel like those really help you stay on top of your main point.