I was teaching a class on evangelism and faith where I walked people through, three phases of their faith journey as pictured as a tree. The center you'll notice a cross shape, Jesus said if you remain in me you'll bear much fruit. So the bottom is our natural birth, the middle is our spiritual birth in Christ and the top is our fruit made possible by God's grace. This is fun interactive way to share the gospel and it's repercussions on our lives. The pdf can be downloaded and used freely with my blessing.
We start at the bottom 1/3 of the page (you can fold it into 3rds so the students are not distracted). The bottom third of the page are experiences that led them to Christ both negative (left) and positive (right).
Objective Fill in the boxes, however some of them may be more difficult than others, this will get deeply personal, especially for older students.
Begin with prayer, invite God in to reveal his word and his purpose of faith, hope and love in your life. Thank him for drawing you near to him and your desire to draw near.
Phase 1 the Bottom of the page
Bottom Center box, write "Mom and Dad" and at the foot of the Cross, write "[your name]"
Left box (below the rocks and next to the toxic waste) write "Satan"
In the bottom right box write, "Holy Spirit"
We start at the bottom 1/3 of the page (you can fold it into 3rds so the students are not distracted). The bottom third of the page are experiences that led them to Christ both negative (left) and positive (right).
Objective Fill in the boxes, however some of them may be more difficult than others, this will get deeply personal, especially for older students.
Begin with prayer, invite God in to reveal his word and his purpose of faith, hope and love in your life. Thank him for drawing you near to him and your desire to draw near.
Phase 1 the Bottom of the page
Bottom Center box, write "Mom and Dad" and at the foot of the Cross, write "[your name]"
- God made mankind, male and female - he blessed them saying "be fruitful and multiply" and this is where your parents came from and you came from your parents Genesis 2-3:1
- The first people, God breathed life into there nostrils. "take a deep breath" - God is the giver of life and sustains life by the power of his word.
Left box (below the rocks and next to the toxic waste) write "Satan"
- He deceived mankind, telling a lie that led them to sin, death, despair and eternal separation from God - Gen 3.
- He is the father of lies and aims to kill, steal and destroy - John 8:44, 10:10
- He is doomed with all who follow his blasphemous ways - Rev 20:10-15 (Read this whole passage)
In the lines above Satan's toxic waste, write the experience in your life that caused you pain, made you angry or makes you sad - negative actions that you or someone you know has done that have shaped who you are.
- Depending on the people could be deep like; Parents Divorce, abortion, loosing everything in gambling/addictions, child abuse or murder
- The first family (not the president and his wife and kids) but the first family had murder (Cain killed Able Genesis 4:1-16)
- or milder like Betrayal of friends and family treating you poorly
- Joseph was thrown in hole, sold into slavery by his own brothers, falsely accused and put in prison (Genesis 37:18-32;39:1-23)
- These negative things are hurtful and impact us for along time after they happen - they impact how we view God, ourselves and other people
In the bottom right box write, "Holy Spirit"
- He is God, He is holy (separate from creation, pure in every way). He is the third member of the Trinity. He is sent by Jesus and precedes from the Father. (who is the Holy Spirit)
- He authored the Bible (2 Peter 1:21-22) and his words will never fail to produce good prosperous fruit. ( Isaiah 55:10-14)
- He is our comforter and I know that you have many questions right now and the great news is that he is our counselor, master teacher and he opens our hearts and minds to the good news of Jesus Christ. Everything from the Holy Spirit points to Jesus and brings glory to the Father. (Holy Spirit in the Bible)
- (Take this moment to pray in the Spirit, Ephesians 6:10-20)
- When we believe in Jesus life, death and resurrection and commit our lives to Jesus in faith, we are born again by the power of the Holy Spirit, who comes to live inside our hearts.
In lines above the Holy Spirit write times when you've felt God's love and presents in your heart. These are the positive experiences that someone has done for you that are the benevolence of people being made in the image of God, or regeneration of the Holy Spirit in and through another person.
- Pause and pray that God would reveal these experiences in the heart and minds of the students
Phase 2, the middle section
In the middle of page, write vertically "Jesus loves Me"
- Read 1 John 4:9-13, "God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. "
In the left box write "Mercy"
- ASK: What does it mean to have mercy? Let's take a look at Matthew 18:21-35 where Jesus explains it
- Since we have been forgiven, we must forgive those who have hurt us, even if they continue to do so
- This brings us to liars, thieves, murders: write down the names of people you will pray mercy over in the name of Jesus right now
- Mercy from God is taking on himself the punishment we deserve. Open your arm to the right and say "mercy is on one side of the cross and grace is on the other" as you open your left arm, by Grace and mercy we are made right with God (2 Corinthians 5:21).
In the right box write "Grace"
- ASK: What is grace?
- We are saved by God's Grace, not anything we did (Ephesians 2:8-10)
- We are redeemed (Romans 3:22-24) - what a great promise! Some people would be happy if God would allow there great grand children to have a future. But by Grace he redeems us, right now his grace is available to redeem you in accordance with the riches of God's grace (Ephesians 1:7).
- The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17)
- By the trespass of one man (Adam from Genesis 3), death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who received God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! (Romans 5:27)
- This brings us Geysers, planters and pruners; write down the names of people you'll thank God for who have given you grace when you needed it most
- Geysers: Jesus said the water he gives will become in us a spring of water welling up to eternal life (John 4:14) and whoever believes in Jesus as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water" (John 7:38;Isaiah 44:3; Jeremiah 2:13). In both John 7:37 and Revelation 21:6 "to the thirsty I will give from the spring of water of life without payment" We are like a spring of water whose waters do not fail (Isaiah 58:11).
- As the church we say Come to all who hear, to the one who is thirst come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price! (Revelation 22:1)
- Planters: Jesus said the word of God is like seed (Luke 8:4-15). 1 Peter 1:23 says we a born again by the word of God, the incorruptible seed. Jesus said the words he speaks are spirit and they are life (John 6:63). God's word is alive and active (Hebrews 4:12). Galatians 6:7 whatever a man sows, that is what he will reap. Seed takes time to produce and will stop growing without nourishment given through the living water.
- Pruners: God's discipline cuts off anything that no longer is bearing fruit giving room for new branches to grow (Hebrews 12:5-11). This is done by the holy Spirit who convicts the world of righteousness and judgement (John 16:8).
Phase 3, the top section - this is the results of your faith
In the top left section write the names of family members who you are uncertain if they know Jesus
- Jesus said go out to world, preach the gospel (Mark 16:15-16) and make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20), however the first place to start is our close family. Provide for the physical needs and spiritual needs of your family. (1 Timothy 5:8)
- Jesus first disciples invited their family to be disciples (John 1:42)
In the middle top section write the names of your friends, people you'd like to be friends with and acquaintances
- We are to put our faith in action as God's ambassadors (James 2:14-26; 2:17; 2 Corinthians 5:11-21)
- Jesus said Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, I'll be ashamed of them when I come in the glory of the Father and his holy angels (Luke 9:26; Mark 8:38; Matthew 10:32)
In the right hand side write the names of people that might look up to you, these are the people who want and need you as their friend
- What do they look like? Who are people you know that are overlooked? Who may need help and kindness - who may not be able to repay you. Let's read Luke 10:25-37 (read out loud passage)
- Notice these are the people closest to the sun, these are your "ripe" fruit. These people only know you as God has shown his mercy and grace. You are the geyser or the planter here but God is the one who makes it grow (the sun). 1 Corinthians 3:6
#lifeChange
Evidence of life change is when we go public with our faith. This is the first step obedience to God. This is the water baptism. This is were you share what you believe in public and openly commit your life to him. Have you taken this step? If not why not?
Close in prayer:
"Dear God, thank you for showing me your plan for my life. Give me your grace to be your light in the world I live in - with the people you have entrusted around me. Help me to be your merciful, gracious ambassador - sharing the good news of salvation from sin, death to eternal life. In Jesus name. Amen"
