WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.599 Let me read for us just very briefly from 1 Peter chapter 3 verses 13 to 17. 00:00:09.599 --> 00:00:14.120 That's where we started this series back a good while ago. 00:00:14.120 --> 00:00:17.039 So this is God's word from 1 Peter 3. 00:00:17.039 --> 00:00:22.480 Now, who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:27.039 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. 00:00:27.039 --> 00:00:29.800 Have no fear of them nor be troubled. 00:00:29.800 --> 00:00:35.000 But in your heart's honor, Christ the Lord is holy, always being prepared to make a defense 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:39.399 to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. 00:00:39.399 --> 00:00:44.399 Yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that when you are slandered, 00:00:44.399 --> 00:00:47.920 those who revalue your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:52.239 For it is better to suffer for doing good if that should be God's will than for doing 00:00:52.239 --> 00:00:53.239 evil. 00:00:53.239 --> 00:00:55.439 This is God's word. 00:00:55.439 --> 00:01:02.439 Let me try to do this in five minutes, and overview very quickly of everything we've 00:01:02.439 --> 00:01:05.759 said so far in this Gospel Conversation series. 00:01:05.759 --> 00:01:11.400 It occurred to me last week as we were going to Citigroup that we've focused on a different 00:01:11.400 --> 00:01:17.439 aspect of getting into Gospel conversations, but we've done it over so many weeks that 00:01:17.439 --> 00:01:22.159 it's pretty difficult to keep it all in your head in a way that you can actually move in 00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:27.280 the moment from start to finish from what we've said. 00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:33.719 So I just jotted down a few things of really what the big ideas of what we said each time. 00:01:33.719 --> 00:01:40.199 So I'll just give one minute and less really on each of the five or six of them now before 00:01:40.199 --> 00:01:42.159 we look at some questions. 00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:50.479 Number one, we began the series by asking, step one, do you clearly understand the Gospel 00:01:50.480 --> 00:01:54.200 in such a way that you can speak the Gospel? 00:01:54.200 --> 00:02:02.320 And underneath that question, we talked about how there's an art, but also an aspect of 00:02:02.320 --> 00:02:11.000 passion in being able to share your testimony and embed your own personal testimony within 00:02:11.000 --> 00:02:19.159 the structure of Christianity, which is creation, fall, redemption in Christ, and new creation. 00:02:19.159 --> 00:02:24.799 So being able to have a focus on Jesus' work in your own life, but doing that that helps 00:02:24.799 --> 00:02:29.840 somebody see creation, fall, redemption in Christ, new creation. 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:32.139 So that was week one. 00:02:32.139 --> 00:02:38.840 Are you clearly grasping the Gospel yourself in such a way that you're able and ready 00:02:38.840 --> 00:02:42.639 to give a defense, to speak the Gospel to somebody that asks for hope that's within 00:02:42.639 --> 00:02:43.639 you? 00:02:43.639 --> 00:02:44.639 Okay? 00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:48.919 Secondly, we said, Hunter, I think you told on this, do you know your context? 00:02:48.919 --> 00:02:49.919 Did you teach on that? 00:02:49.919 --> 00:02:50.919 Yeah? 00:02:50.919 --> 00:02:52.519 I know it. 00:02:52.519 --> 00:02:54.019 Do you know your context? 00:02:54.019 --> 00:03:01.799 So when we go to speak with people in the world that aren't Christians, are you able 00:03:01.799 --> 00:03:07.639 to discern with wisdom, has this person been churched? 00:03:07.639 --> 00:03:11.319 Do they know the language of Christianity or not? 00:03:11.319 --> 00:03:13.679 Can they handle religious jargon? 00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:19.879 What might offend them in a particular way prior to giving them the offense of the cross 00:03:19.879 --> 00:03:20.879 of Christ? 00:03:20.879 --> 00:03:22.640 Unnecessarily, right? 00:03:22.640 --> 00:03:23.640 Questions like that. 00:03:23.640 --> 00:03:30.080 In what ways do I predict or imagine that they might have suffered in their past that 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:35.960 might lead me to talk to them in certain ways leading up to presenting the Gospel? 00:03:35.960 --> 00:03:40.040 So these are all the kind of contextual questions that we have to keep in mind, and there's 00:03:40.040 --> 00:03:41.719 a thousand more than that. 00:03:41.719 --> 00:03:43.200 But that was what we did. 00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:47.639 So do you grasp the Gospel clearly? 00:03:47.639 --> 00:03:53.399 And do you understand or you consider it of the context of the person that you're walking 00:03:53.399 --> 00:03:56.919 alongside and trying to bring towards faith in Christ? 00:03:56.919 --> 00:04:02.799 Thirdly, O5, are you ready to face your fears? 00:04:02.799 --> 00:04:08.000 So we talked a lot in this series about what we're afraid of when it comes to sharing our 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:10.159 faith and having Gospel conversations. 00:04:10.159 --> 00:04:15.560 We all struggle with fear in this area for different reasons, fear of rejection, the 00:04:15.560 --> 00:04:26.079 fear of breaking relationships, the embarrassment and shame of simply spending oneself in such 00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:33.159 a way in a public context as to share the Christian faith with somebody. 00:04:33.159 --> 00:04:34.839 Are you ready to face your fears? 00:04:34.839 --> 00:04:43.399 We talked about courage, but the second subordinate question we asked was, is this a love issue? 00:04:43.399 --> 00:04:49.519 So perfect fear, perfect love, not perfect fear, perfect love cast out fear, we should 00:04:49.519 --> 00:04:51.439 say. 00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:59.479 To what degree are we praying and asking God to help us to love people in a way that that 00:04:59.480 --> 00:05:05.600 love would overwhelm fear when it comes to Gospel conversations? 00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:08.800 So is it a love issue in my heart? 00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:13.240 And I think just like this past Sunday when we were talking about money and how we, if 00:05:13.240 --> 00:05:17.200 we're sinners and we handle money at all, we've got to be willing to say I may be struggling 00:05:17.200 --> 00:05:19.120 with greed to some degree. 00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:24.759 And in the same way I think, because we're sinners, we've got to say I may be struggling 00:05:24.759 --> 00:05:28.920 with a love issue here to some degree. 00:05:28.920 --> 00:05:35.040 And so perfect love cast out fear, pray that God would help us to love people more than 00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:36.280 we're afraid of them. 00:05:36.280 --> 00:05:37.879 All right, that was number three. 00:05:37.879 --> 00:05:41.920 Number four, are you a public Christian? 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:46.879 So this is when we transition from kind of the pre-Avangelism questions to getting to 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:50.759 it and that's number one, are you a public Christian? 00:05:50.759 --> 00:06:00.879 Meaning, do you, is there nothing hidden in any way in your public life at work, in your 00:06:00.879 --> 00:06:02.719 neighborhood? 00:06:02.719 --> 00:06:07.519 Are people very aware that this person is a Christian and goes to church without you 00:06:07.519 --> 00:06:10.800 ever having to give him a Gospel presentation? 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:15.279 I think that's a huge important step is living a public faith. 00:06:15.279 --> 00:06:23.479 So in the workplace, amongst chat, in the flat you live in or wherever it may be, that 00:06:23.479 --> 00:06:30.679 there's an awareness from the people around you in a subtle way that you are a Christian 00:06:30.679 --> 00:06:34.839 and that actually tills the ground a little bit for a future conversation. 00:06:34.839 --> 00:06:38.839 So are you living life as a public Christian? 00:06:38.839 --> 00:06:48.119 In other words, do you lay seeds, little seeds that might be picked up later for Gospel conversation? 00:06:48.119 --> 00:06:52.839 Simple one would be the question we've all been asked a thousand times. 00:06:52.839 --> 00:06:54.799 What do you have going on the weekend? 00:06:54.799 --> 00:07:00.239 You know, and you say, well, on Saturday this and on Sunday I'll be at church on Sunday 00:07:00.239 --> 00:07:03.159 morning. 00:07:03.159 --> 00:07:06.559 That's a little seed actually that can get picked up later on. 00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:13.839 And then finally, fifth and lastly, start to speak. 00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:19.360 Pursuing relationships, I think, in moving them towards Gospel conversations, as all 00:07:19.360 --> 00:07:25.560 of you know, we prize relational evangelism here more than street preaching and other 00:07:25.560 --> 00:07:32.240 things, though God absolutely uses those means sometimes, powerfully. 00:07:32.240 --> 00:07:38.680 But here, I think for 21st century people, the overall ethos we try to imbibe is relational 00:07:38.680 --> 00:07:40.960 evangelism. 00:07:40.960 --> 00:07:45.840 And one of the real dangers in relational evangelism is that you have a whole lot of 00:07:45.840 --> 00:07:48.879 relationship and zero evangelism. 00:07:48.879 --> 00:07:54.199 And that is often the critique of relational evangelism, is that friendship keeps getting 00:07:54.199 --> 00:07:57.560 better but there's never a Gospel conversation. 00:07:57.560 --> 00:08:06.560 And so the ultimate goal here is that we do start to speak words of Gospel about the cross 00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:07.560 at some point. 00:08:07.560 --> 00:08:12.800 You know, I think ways to get at that, we looked at this a couple times, are asking 00:08:12.800 --> 00:08:19.480 a lot of value questions, a lot of listening, asking a lot of story-based questions, looking 00:08:19.480 --> 00:08:25.680 for personal narratives to come out from people and being able to ask questions specific within 00:08:25.680 --> 00:08:30.319 those personal narratives that are value questions, questions about happiness, questions about 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:37.480 freedom, fulfillment, questions about pain and suffering eventually that might lead 00:08:37.480 --> 00:08:40.159 towards a Gospel conversation. 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:45.639 We talked about the concept of subversive fulfillment, which is taking what a modern 00:08:45.639 --> 00:08:50.879 person is desperately looking for and trying to show them how Christ actually fulfills 00:08:50.879 --> 00:08:56.320 that thing, whether that is freedom, identity, happiness, whatever it might be, subversive 00:08:56.320 --> 00:08:57.799 fulfillment. 00:08:57.799 --> 00:09:00.960 One thing I mentioned to our city group last week, and we'll finish with this and move 00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:05.240 on, is offering prayer. 00:09:05.240 --> 00:09:08.360 So I used to do this in the States a little bit. 00:09:08.360 --> 00:09:16.080 I think it does weird people out, but just saying, I'm going to be praying for you about 00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:17.200 that. 00:09:17.200 --> 00:09:23.400 And then maybe seeing how that goes and next time saying, can I pray for you? 00:09:23.400 --> 00:09:25.280 And seeing how they receive it. 00:09:25.280 --> 00:09:27.320 So that can be a pathway. 00:09:27.320 --> 00:09:29.160 You have to again understand your context. 00:09:29.160 --> 00:09:31.800 Is that going to break a relationship, things like that? 00:09:31.800 --> 00:09:33.879 But that might be a pathway. 00:09:33.879 --> 00:09:36.960 I'll just list one or two more. 00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:39.000 Inviting people into our Christian community. 00:09:39.000 --> 00:09:44.520 Maybe that's dinner with a few other Christians that are part of St. C's at your place. 00:09:44.519 --> 00:09:48.240 Let people belong in order to believe. 00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:54.279 So let people see the beauty of the Christian community in order that they might walk in 00:09:54.279 --> 00:09:57.720 it for a while towards faith, belonging in order to believe. 00:09:57.720 --> 00:10:03.159 A lot of modern people really need that pathway. 00:10:03.159 --> 00:10:10.799 And lastly, at some point we're called to share the hope of Jesus Christ through our 00:10:10.799 --> 00:10:14.159 personal testimony with a Jesus simplicity. 00:10:14.159 --> 00:10:19.120 So Jesus simplicity means simply this. 00:10:19.120 --> 00:10:21.799 Did Jesus Christ rise from the dead or not? 00:10:21.799 --> 00:10:24.279 That's Jesus simplicity. 00:10:24.279 --> 00:10:28.120 That's the kind of question you're trying to get towards with a person. 00:10:28.120 --> 00:10:34.679 And if he did, then we've got to deal with everything else he said and believe it. 00:10:34.679 --> 00:10:39.959 And if he didn't, then all the difficult Old Testament questions don't matter anymore. 00:10:39.960 --> 00:10:47.200 So sometimes getting bogged down in things, difficulties people have with faith, you might 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:53.160 be able to cut through that, diagonalize it as it's been put by Jesus simplicity. 00:10:53.160 --> 00:10:56.280 I think a man rose from the dead in the middle of history. 00:10:56.280 --> 00:10:59.160 And if he did, then he is what he says he is. 00:10:59.160 --> 00:11:00.160 He's God. 00:11:00.160 --> 00:11:05.639 And so everything else I can then come back to later and ask, yeah, well, let's talk about 00:11:05.639 --> 00:11:08.240 the Joshua conquest. 00:11:08.240 --> 00:11:12.759 I know that's hard, but did he rise from the dead? 00:11:12.759 --> 00:11:16.200 And so Jesus simplicity is a real tool, I think, in gospel conversation. 00:11:16.200 --> 00:11:18.799 All right, that's what we've done all semester. 00:11:18.799 --> 00:11:20.799 Yeah. 00:11:20.799 --> 00:11:23.879 And I think now we're going to answer a few questions that we've received. 00:11:23.879 --> 00:11:27.440 Please, I'll just stay where you are. 00:11:27.440 --> 00:11:30.320 So thanks, Corey. 00:11:30.320 --> 00:11:32.399 That was a great summary. 00:11:32.399 --> 00:11:41.399 And we got one or two questions mainly related to the subject, thankfully. 00:11:41.399 --> 00:11:43.079 One kind of slightly broader. 00:11:43.079 --> 00:11:50.480 So just going to give just brief answers each and feel free to come in with answers with 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:53.199 secondary questions or anything. 00:11:53.199 --> 00:11:57.799 So it's informal this evening. 00:11:57.799 --> 00:12:02.159 First question is what would St. Columbus look like if a culture of faith sharing was 00:12:02.159 --> 00:12:04.279 more significantly established? 00:12:04.279 --> 00:12:05.279 Okay. 00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:08.159 I'm not sure if there's a subtext there. 00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:14.919 There may be that it's not established and that's fine. 00:12:14.919 --> 00:12:15.919 It's a very difficult question. 00:12:15.919 --> 00:12:17.599 Can I repeat the question? 00:12:17.599 --> 00:12:24.279 What would St. Columbus look like if a culture of faith sharing was more significantly established? 00:12:24.279 --> 00:12:29.919 I think from my point of view, that's a great question because it's a constant aim for us, 00:12:29.919 --> 00:12:39.519 always an aim for us to establish faith sharing more as a church. 00:12:39.519 --> 00:12:41.519 What would it look like? 00:12:41.519 --> 00:12:42.519 That's a great question. 00:12:42.519 --> 00:12:45.120 It would be quite good to get your answers of what you think about that. 00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:50.959 For me, I think it would be, and it kind of links in with what Corey's just been saying, 00:12:50.960 --> 00:12:58.960 an ever-increasing deepening of love for Christ and for one another. 00:12:58.960 --> 00:13:07.000 Now that might seem like a cop-out, but it's not because it's got to be. 00:13:07.000 --> 00:13:12.160 If the love for Christ, if we don't desire Christ, we're going to be rotten evangelists 00:13:12.160 --> 00:13:13.160 anyway. 00:13:13.160 --> 00:13:20.120 So it's our desire for Christ, an ever-increasing desire for worship, for prayer, and for experiencing 00:13:20.120 --> 00:13:24.240 Christ in our lives and with others. 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:26.799 To me, that's what it looks like. 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:30.759 When we're in prayer times together, you're not just praying for your granny's corns, 00:13:30.759 --> 00:13:39.799 but you're praying for courage and faith to share the gospel with your neighbors tomorrow, 00:13:39.799 --> 00:13:47.360 to disciple and be discipled, to be open with our faith together, and being thrilled to introduce 00:13:47.360 --> 00:13:51.600 your friends, not just to Jesus, but to your Christian friends as well. 00:13:51.600 --> 00:13:58.759 And I think that would all be significant, the belonging before believing kind of concept. 00:13:58.759 --> 00:14:00.480 I think that's important. 00:14:00.480 --> 00:14:05.440 And that means that we will come out of our comfort zones a little bit, we'll not be inward-looking. 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:07.600 There will be an outward-looking face to us. 00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:09.639 That would be just some of the things I would say. 00:14:09.639 --> 00:14:10.639 Corey, what would you... 00:14:10.639 --> 00:14:12.759 Yeah, that was good. 00:14:12.759 --> 00:14:19.200 In Psalm 27 tonight that we sang is basically that prayer that I would desire to see Jesus' 00:14:19.200 --> 00:14:25.399 face more than anything and then let that be the heartbeat of evangelism. 00:14:25.399 --> 00:14:28.799 I mean, some of the practical things too, in addition to that, we would see more adult 00:14:28.799 --> 00:14:29.799 baptisms. 00:14:29.799 --> 00:14:37.360 And I think people tell stories about how when adult baptisms start happening a whole lot 00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:41.200 in places, that the whole church just gets really fired up and a lot more evangelism 00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:43.400 kind of comes out of that. 00:14:43.400 --> 00:14:46.120 And so I think that would be one of the practical things. 00:14:46.120 --> 00:14:50.280 I read an article about this from Max Stiles last week, since you were talking about it 00:14:50.280 --> 00:14:52.720 in the last one of these. 00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:59.680 And it was pretty convicting because one of the big things he said was cultivating that 00:14:59.680 --> 00:15:05.400 culture of increasing evangelistic faithfulness and fruit. 00:15:05.399 --> 00:15:15.480 He, Mac, was saying, is first the job of the ministers and the leaders. 00:15:15.480 --> 00:15:21.799 So he was talking about just how when the leaders are doing this, it can also help 00:15:21.799 --> 00:15:22.799 develop. 00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:25.799 So it was a convicting read, obviously. 00:15:25.799 --> 00:15:29.679 But the other thing that he said, and this was the last thing I'll say about it because 00:15:29.679 --> 00:15:37.959 I know we've got to move on, is he said that developing evangelistic cultures in terms 00:15:37.959 --> 00:15:46.639 of the teaching ministry of the church is helping everybody to not only see but embrace 00:15:46.639 --> 00:15:53.719 the idea, which is a much older Christian idea, that evangelism is a spiritual discipline 00:15:53.719 --> 00:15:56.839 like Bible reading. 00:15:56.840 --> 00:16:04.440 So he claimed looking at early church and medieval church concepts of spiritual disciplines, 00:16:04.440 --> 00:16:12.040 that sharing faith, persuasion, Christian persuasion was like prayer. 00:16:12.040 --> 00:16:16.120 It's a discipline that you have to actually say, I'm going to read my Bible, I'm going 00:16:16.120 --> 00:16:18.360 to pray, and I'm going to share the gospel. 00:16:18.360 --> 00:16:19.360 Those are my disciplines. 00:16:19.360 --> 00:16:33.000 Are you meeting people that have never been baptized at all and are being baptized because 00:16:33.000 --> 00:16:38.680 they're coming to faith for the first time, unchurched, completely unchurched, coming 00:16:38.680 --> 00:16:46.080 into the body, never having been a part of the church. 00:16:46.080 --> 00:16:49.520 And she's always thrilling to see. 00:16:49.520 --> 00:16:52.440 Yeah, absolutely. 00:16:52.440 --> 00:16:54.440 Yeah. 00:16:54.440 --> 00:17:10.160 Sharing, so Jean's just saying, if we talk about the gospel together, it becomes easier 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:11.160 to talk about it with others. 00:17:11.160 --> 00:17:12.720 And I think that's absolutely key. 00:17:12.720 --> 00:17:13.720 Yeah. 00:17:13.720 --> 00:17:17.640 Because we were relaxed and it matters to us to share. 00:17:17.640 --> 00:17:20.160 That's good. 00:17:20.160 --> 00:17:28.720 Any other thoughts about what would be what St. Columbus would look like if a gospel faith 00:17:28.720 --> 00:17:31.720 sharing was more significantly established? 00:17:31.720 --> 00:17:37.200 Bill, you can think about it. 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:47.200 Chris, second question, this one, Nathaniel, I mean, there he had his comment. 00:17:47.200 --> 00:18:08.200 I know something, my brother and I used to do with students back in the class when it 00:18:08.200 --> 00:18:18.200 came to the Easter and Christmas, we would take the gospel and then last time we did 00:18:18.200 --> 00:18:23.200 the Catholic and then we'd go to one second where each student would read a different 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:24.200 chapter and they would take it away. 00:18:24.200 --> 00:18:25.200 Full day because we would take it. 00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:26.200 It's hard to be true. 00:18:26.200 --> 00:18:27.200 But it was amazing how positive everyone was afterwards and how many stories he did 00:18:27.200 --> 00:18:42.200 get in the following weeks after that, when people have an adventurous thought and you 00:18:42.200 --> 00:18:47.200 saw how actually doing that, especially as a student, had believed in the gospel and 00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:57.200 how easily you could get the gospel and when you read what he wants in the Bible, I forgot 00:18:57.200 --> 00:18:59.200 that, still made about Jesus. 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:04.200 And I want to especially remind you to share that story, especially with these students. 00:19:04.200 --> 00:19:09.200 Yeah, I think sharing, I think actually if you're concerned and if you worry about how 00:19:09.200 --> 00:19:12.200 you're going to share the gospel with someone who you think is quite interested, I do think 00:19:12.200 --> 00:19:19.200 not in a winner, but just reading a gospel with them, maybe send them away, say, read 00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:23.200 the first three chapters, write down any questions you have and we'll discuss them. 00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:27.200 I don't think you can get much better than that because you're just going straight to 00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:28.200 the gospel. 00:19:28.200 --> 00:19:29.200 Great. 00:19:29.200 --> 00:19:30.200 Nathaniel. 00:19:30.200 --> 00:19:35.200 Nathaniel is a cold, blooded individual by the way. 00:19:35.200 --> 00:19:42.200 He comes in tonight in the hottest day of the year with a shirt, a jumper, a jacket and 00:19:42.200 --> 00:19:43.200 a scarf. 00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:44.200 Okay. 00:19:44.200 --> 00:19:48.200 Second question, would it be possible to have a series of sermons? 00:19:48.200 --> 00:19:49.200 That's a very short answer. 00:19:49.200 --> 00:19:53.200 Would it be possible to have a series of sermons in the work of the Holy Spirit in our personal 00:19:53.200 --> 00:19:55.200 and church life? 00:19:55.200 --> 00:19:56.200 Yes. 00:19:56.200 --> 00:19:58.200 You don't need to answer anything. 00:19:58.200 --> 00:19:59.200 We will. 00:19:59.200 --> 00:20:00.200 We'll program that in. 00:20:00.200 --> 00:20:01.200 That'll be good to do. 00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:08.400 Third question, how do we appropriately use apologetics in our evangelism? 00:20:08.400 --> 00:20:15.799 So very quickly, all I would say on that is apologetics, the defense of our faith, I 00:20:15.799 --> 00:20:18.319 would use sensitively. 00:20:18.319 --> 00:20:27.900 I think it's easy for intelligent people particularly to be tempted into one upmanship 00:20:27.900 --> 00:20:30.200 to beat someone in an argument, apologetically. 00:20:30.200 --> 00:20:32.440 I know things. 00:20:32.440 --> 00:20:38.160 That's a terrible argument you've got and I can defeat it, which can be significant but 00:20:38.160 --> 00:20:41.279 I think you've got to be aware that it's not about winning the argument, it's about winning 00:20:41.279 --> 00:20:45.120 their soul. 00:20:45.120 --> 00:20:48.640 But on the other hand, it's important for people to see that we have a reasonable faith, a 00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:56.440 faith that's worked out, it's rational or at some point, so it's above rational. 00:20:56.440 --> 00:21:03.440 But we believe with intellectual integrity so that there's a defense of what we believe. 00:21:03.440 --> 00:21:05.080 So that's what I would say. 00:21:05.080 --> 00:21:07.799 That's good. 00:21:07.799 --> 00:21:10.080 I feel a lot different about this now than I used to. 00:21:10.080 --> 00:21:16.000 I used to be a person who wanted to be very apologetic. 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:21.880 I feel like that's kind of a younger, you do that when you're younger and you want to 00:21:21.880 --> 00:21:25.799 do apologetics all the time. 00:21:25.799 --> 00:21:32.240 But now I think apologetics needs to be situated within Jesus' simplicity. 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:41.919 So I had two times last week a nice sit down with a person and we did a lot of apologetic 00:21:41.919 --> 00:21:51.240 talk, this person wrestling with whether or not they were going to believe in Christ. 00:21:51.240 --> 00:21:58.319 But what I wanted to do was just to say, look, here's the preposterous claim that I'm claiming 00:21:58.319 --> 00:22:03.680 is true and historical, and that's that Jesus Christ is God and He rose from the dead. 00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:09.480 And I put it out very quickly in the conversation and just said, that's the claim. 00:22:09.480 --> 00:22:11.400 That's what we've got to wrestle with. 00:22:11.400 --> 00:22:17.519 And we did come around to historical questions, we came back to Old Testament issues, the 00:22:17.519 --> 00:22:18.640 problem of evil. 00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:25.120 We talked through a lot of that kind of stuff, but I kept just kind of saying, but the real 00:22:25.120 --> 00:22:30.240 issue is Christ and whether or not He is God. 00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:36.759 So I just think, yeah, I think the big thing here is you don't need to be that well-schooled 00:22:36.759 --> 00:22:40.840 in apologetics because of Jesus' simplicity. 00:22:40.840 --> 00:22:48.280 I think that that releases you from the necessity of being able to talk about, you know, Greco 00:22:48.279 --> 00:22:53.399 Roman accounts of what constitutes history relative to post-enlightenment accounts 00:22:53.399 --> 00:22:55.200 of what constitutes history or whatever. 00:22:55.200 --> 00:23:00.160 I mean, yeah, I'm just saying exactly, exactly, right? 00:23:00.160 --> 00:23:01.319 Like you don't need that. 00:23:01.319 --> 00:23:06.920 You can just keep coming back to the question. 00:23:06.920 --> 00:23:09.559 Now I know we're running out of time. 00:23:09.559 --> 00:23:11.200 One more thing. 00:23:11.200 --> 00:23:21.120 It is worth, I think, having apologetic chops surrounding that question, the Jesus question, 00:23:21.120 --> 00:23:24.319 the resurrection of Christ. 00:23:24.319 --> 00:23:29.759 Because immediately if you put that claim out there, that enormous claim that for a secular 00:23:29.759 --> 00:23:37.160 humanist is very difficult to accept, that Jesus Christ, the man is God, come from heaven 00:23:37.160 --> 00:23:38.880 to earth and that He rose from the dead. 00:23:38.880 --> 00:23:42.920 I do think that that is where you want to focus your apologetic training. 00:23:42.920 --> 00:23:49.000 So questions of why is the resurrection so compelling as a historical narrative? 00:23:49.000 --> 00:23:51.600 That kind of a question. 00:23:51.600 --> 00:23:58.800 Why did the gospel transform the Roman world so quickly within a century in ways that no 00:23:58.800 --> 00:24:01.040 other religion had ever done? 00:24:01.040 --> 00:24:07.600 So I do think if you're going to focus on apologetics, that is the place to go. 00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:09.279 Yeah, so. 00:24:09.279 --> 00:24:10.279 Good. 00:24:10.279 --> 00:24:16.279 Okay, last question and then we'll invite the occurs up. 00:24:16.279 --> 00:24:23.480 Is evangelism a gift that is especially given to some as in Ephesians 4 verse 11? 00:24:23.480 --> 00:24:27.000 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, shepherds, teachers to equip 00:24:27.000 --> 00:24:30.519 the saints for the works of ministry. 00:24:30.519 --> 00:24:34.879 And what does that mean for the rest of us? 00:24:34.880 --> 00:24:42.400 I would argue, yes, there is a gift of evangelism and it's a gift from God and some people 00:24:42.400 --> 00:24:44.960 have it. 00:24:44.960 --> 00:24:49.680 But I don't think that excuses everyone else from not being evangelist just as hospitality 00:24:49.680 --> 00:24:57.160 is a gift and generosity and giving is a gift, but for some, but all of us are commanded 00:24:57.160 --> 00:25:00.040 to do these things. 00:25:00.039 --> 00:25:04.960 So I think, yes, it is, there is a specific gift of evangelism, which we know some people 00:25:04.960 --> 00:25:06.200 have, clearly. 00:25:06.200 --> 00:25:11.799 But if it's a gift, you can ask for it. 00:25:11.799 --> 00:25:14.639 There's no reason why God can't give you it. 00:25:14.639 --> 00:25:17.319 And so we can ask for the gift of evangelism. 00:25:17.319 --> 00:25:21.440 God might not give you it, but we're still commanded then to be evangelists. 00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:28.279 But clearly, my understanding of scripture and of reality is that that would be the case. 00:25:28.279 --> 00:25:29.279 Yeah, I agree. 00:25:29.279 --> 00:25:31.039 I think people go wrong on this. 00:25:31.039 --> 00:25:35.960 I've heard this defended, especially in the States a lot, but where the only people that 00:25:35.960 --> 00:25:39.160 need to do evangelism are those who have been gifted by the Holy Spirit to do it in 00:25:39.160 --> 00:25:43.680 obvious particular ways and then have been set apart by the church. 00:25:43.680 --> 00:25:48.920 But that, I think that there are those people, yes, but that the Holy Spirit does give specific 00:25:48.920 --> 00:25:50.319 gifts to Christians. 00:25:50.319 --> 00:25:57.720 However, like you said exactly, however, we know that every single gift while each of 00:25:57.720 --> 00:26:03.039 us has a particular gift from the Holy Spirit, we also know that the whole ministry is for 00:26:03.039 --> 00:26:04.039 everyone. 00:26:04.039 --> 00:26:08.000 So next to evangelism, like you said, he lists generosity. 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:13.039 And there are people who God has blessed with the gift of generosity, and yet every Christian 00:26:13.039 --> 00:26:14.839 is commanded to give. 00:26:14.839 --> 00:26:21.160 And so in the same way that God gives some men to teach and therefore should be ordained 00:26:21.160 --> 00:26:25.759 to be a teaching elder of the church, God calls everybody to teach the scriptures in 00:26:25.759 --> 00:26:28.799 some capacity in their life to somebody, right? 00:26:28.799 --> 00:26:32.960 And so every person, the whole ministry is for everybody. 00:26:32.960 --> 00:26:35.960 And at the same time, there are particular gifts. 00:26:35.960 --> 00:26:40.440 I think, I hope you won't mind me saying this, I think Robin Sillson has the gift of evangelism. 00:26:40.440 --> 00:26:43.440 That's just from my personal observation. 00:26:43.440 --> 00:26:46.039 But Robin is an incredible evangelist, I've noticed. 00:26:46.039 --> 00:26:52.119 He just drops little evangelism bombs with random people all the time and walks away 00:26:52.119 --> 00:26:53.960 and I've watched it in person. 00:26:53.960 --> 00:26:57.720 And I've been like, I can't believe you just did that. 00:26:57.720 --> 00:27:01.920 But then felt guilty because of how he did it. 00:27:01.920 --> 00:27:05.000 So yeah, I think he's won. 00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:06.480 So he'll find out I said that. 00:27:06.480 --> 00:27:07.480 I hope he's not upset. 00:27:07.480 --> 00:27:08.480 I'm sure he's not. 00:27:08.480 --> 00:27:13.480 What do you think that asks us going to all the world until people? 00:27:13.480 --> 00:27:18.279 Is everyone around you that are being that and doing it? 00:27:18.279 --> 00:27:19.279 Absolutely. 00:27:19.279 --> 00:27:20.920 So you're agreeing with us? 00:27:20.920 --> 00:27:21.920 We're agreeing with you? 00:27:21.920 --> 00:27:22.920 Yeah, I agree. 00:27:22.920 --> 00:27:26.400 So because I think it's a special gift, I think it's a responsibility. 00:27:26.400 --> 00:27:27.400 Every Christian. 00:27:27.400 --> 00:27:33.039 Oh, it is, but it does give some to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers. 00:27:33.039 --> 00:27:34.800 We're not all these things, all of us. 00:27:34.800 --> 00:27:35.800 It's both and. 00:27:35.800 --> 00:27:36.800 It's both and. 00:27:36.800 --> 00:27:37.800 Yeah, it's both and. 00:27:37.800 --> 00:27:40.600 It's everybody's job and God does, I think. 00:27:40.600 --> 00:27:46.200 I think the New Testament does say that God blesses particular individuals with a particular 00:27:46.200 --> 00:27:47.840 ability. 00:27:47.840 --> 00:27:50.440 So that they're going to be better at it than me. 00:27:50.440 --> 00:27:52.560 Like I think Robin is. 00:27:52.559 --> 00:27:58.039 But at the same time, it's my job to write so I can absolutely never say no. 00:27:58.039 --> 00:27:59.039 Yeah, so. 00:27:59.039 --> 00:28:01.240 But we will all have gifts that come from each other. 00:28:01.240 --> 00:28:04.159 So someone might be better at it actually evangelizing. 00:28:04.159 --> 00:28:09.279 Someone might be better at opening their home where the evangelist is beside them for dinner 00:28:09.279 --> 00:28:10.279 and they do that bit. 00:28:10.279 --> 00:28:12.879 And so that's why it's good to do together. 00:28:12.879 --> 00:28:13.879 Yeah, but absolutely. 00:28:13.879 --> 00:28:15.679 I mean, complete agreement. 00:28:15.680 --> 00:28:25.580 I'm just going to go. 00:28:25.580 --> 00:28:34.680 I want it done.