Dropping Hooks Into the Water

Last week in my Supervised Ministry Class, which is a class on personal evangelism, I addressed the topic: Dropping Hooks into the Water.  The subject simply includes ways to communicate the Gospel in any and every situation.

During the introduction, I challenged the students accordingly:

The importance of sharing the gospel of Christ with those who are lost cannot be over-emphasized.  We cannot share the Gospel of Jesus Christ to enough people, enough times.

Of the many principles that may inspire us to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, there are two OVERRIDING principles that guide me in sharing the Gospel.

First, Jesus wants everyone to hear the good news of salvation.

Mark 16:15-16 says,

And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Second, Jesus has provided His gospel as God’s power to save all who believe it.

Romans 1:16-17 says,

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Since Jesus wants us to everyone to hear the Good News of salvation and has provided God’s power to save all who believe it, what are some of the most effective ways to reach people today?

Then I challenged my students to find a way to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the following settings:

1. The Preaching/Teaching Hook – use every preaching and teaching situation to communicate the Gospel
2. The Ministry/Pastoral Hook – use every ministerial and pastoral situation to communicate the Gospel
3. The Guest/Visitor Hook – use every contact with a guest or visitor to communicate the Gospel
4. The Personal Relationship Hook – use every personal relationship and contact to communicate the Gospel
5. The Professional Career Hook – use every professional or career opportunity to communicate the Gospel
6. The Counselor/Adviser Hook – use very counseling or guidance situation to communicate the Gospel
7. The Spontaneous Encounter Hook – use every spontaneous encounter to communicate the Gospel

Since starting this class I have been praying for my students to learn the critical importance of sharing the Gospel.  At least one student learned something last week.  Amy sent me an email at the close of the week.  I asked her permission to share this email:

I’m in your supervised ministry class.
So my boss emailed me today and asked if I wanted to write a short article for our company’s newsletter about a church women’s retreat I went on last weekend [I work for an engineering company...lots of lost people]
I wrote him back (grinning) and said, “Well, if I did one I would be putting very specific things about the Gospel in it. If that’s ok with everybody then I’ll do one.” He said it was fine just not to put “somehell fire and brimstonebent on it” This would go out to my entire company in like 6 or 7 different states. And I am wondering a good way to word what I want to say. All he knows is that I went on a lady’s retreat with my church. I told him I’d talk about the purpse in going and what was talked about…

Here’s what I’ve got so far:

“Get a bunch of women together for an event and there is bound to be a lot of hair products, laughter, and a lot of chocolate.  I went on a lady’s retreat with my church last weekend in Desoto State Park. Despite the constant rain, we had a great time. Our speaker was Jo Carwile, a very godly pastor’s wife from Kentucky. She spoke about the loneliness and stress women sometimes feel and encouraged us to be satisfied in God. She spoke about how even though life is hard we were created for a greater purpose than we sometimes realize. God created us to be in relationship with Him. When mankind sinned against God that relationship was fractured. But God loves us despite our sin and sent His Son Jesus to die for the sins of the world. If we repent and believe in Him that then we are made right with Him. To me, Christianity is far more than church events and religion. It’s about abundant, joyful living found in Christ. Romans 6:23 talks about how, “the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” To me, this means I deserve spiritual death because of my sin. But if I accept it, the gift that God offers is eternal life. For a long time I wondered what was missing in my life. But accepting Christ is something that has changed my life and I will talk about it any chance I get! I’m not perfect and don’t pretend to be. I still need help from Him every day. But He’s always there for me and always guiding me. I had a lot of fun last weekend. I was reminded of how much He loves us, how I need to love and serve others… and I ate a lot of chocolate!”

Amy gets it.  She gets it big time.

I encourage the students to ask permission to communicate the Gospel when given the opportunity in a secular meeting, event or newsletter.  I challenged them to use every situation or any opportunity to communicate the Gospel, even a company newsletter.

Amy did just that.

Have you shared the Gospel this week?  If not, get busy and communicate it more and more.