Sharing Your God Story & Being Socially Aware
Icebreaker: If you had the necessary resources and could meet any need in the world, what would it be and why?
Share your thoughts
n what ways do you think God is at work in our world? Why do you think He’d want to include us in that work (and not just do it Himself)?
Sharing Your God Story
We each have examples of the way God works in our lives and the things that He has done -- both when we first come to faith and throughout our daily lives -- and we learn how to put words to those experiences so we can share them with others.
Romans 10:13-15 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
This mission begins with knowing our own story of how God has rescued us and then learning to tell it through our words and our actions. The more often you share what God has done in you and for you, the easier it is to share His awesome love with others. You have a unique story to tell. Get good at it!
Then God calls us to be aware of people and their needs, and learn to see others how God sees them. Missiologist, practitioner, and author Hugh Halter says it like this in his book Flesh: Bringing the Incarnation Down to Earth: “People are not pagans to be converted, projects to be preached at, or demographics to be reprogrammed. Humans should never be generalized, categorized, dismissed, judged, or underestimated. Every person is a story, rich with history, experiences, creative potential, strengths and weaknesses, clarity and blindness.”
So in this week’s study, let’s learn together how to get really good at joining Jesus in His mission!
Being Socially Aware
By listening to, engaging with, and learning about what is going on in the communities in which we live, and around the world, we can direct our efforts to serve the needs of others.
Luke 4:18-19 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,becausehe has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free,19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
God is up to something in our world. He’s on a mission, and He has been since human beings first fell away from Him in the Genesis story. God is on a mission to put our world back together, to heal the brokenness, to lead every person who would ever live back “home” into a loving eternal relationship with their Creator, their Heavenly Father. The Apostle Peter summed it up beautifully:
“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
Jesus reiterated God’s mission (not in John 3:16 only), when He read from the prophet Isaiah in Luke 4:17-18. He proclaimed freedom for the prisoners, offered sight to the blind, and set the oppressed free.
And this is a mission that Jesus called all of His followers to join Him in--not just the pastors, missionaries, church staff, etc. We all get to be a part of His life-changing, world-changing mission to bring the Good News of the Gospel and God’s amazing grace to our world. God will change us while we live out this mission, and will lead us to find purpose, fulfillment, and joy that we never knew possible! It’s a huge part of our Newbreak mission (“Connecting people to God through authentic relationships to serve communities”) and it’s one of the key parts of our strategy (“Be the church”).