Rooted
Life ON MISSION | week 3

As we think about Life on Mission, we talked last time about God’s heart for the Lost and how we are to share his passion if we are to live a missional life. Today, we want to give you a tool for missional living—and that is learning to Speak about Jesus.

Learning objective: to engage people who don’t know Jesus in conversation in such a way that you begin to speak of Jesus naturally in the context of your life and theirs.

Prior to meeting with your mentor or small group, please do the following:

WATCH:

READ:

• Read John 4:1-26 (verses 1-10 included here)
  “Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John—although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”” (John 4:1–10, NIV)
• The really neat thing about accepting Jesus as a person is that it makes our experience with Him real. Living with a real person forces us to live honestly. Like a friendship. Instead of living by some moral code, or conjuring up some spiritual state of mind, all we have to do is make our life about a relationship with a person. God has shortened the distance between us by coming here, and He has made the kingdom of heaven available in friendship form. By accepting God as a man, we are accepting the invitation of heaven as it is offered. It actually takes more trust in God to step back from our understanding of Him so that He may explain Himself. We have, for so many years in the West, used every logical tool in our box to define and explain God. To make Him palatable to our sense of reason. We have apologetics and creation science; we have arguments and doctrines, but all of these things exist to explain God to us. We have religion as a substitute, God by proxy. Jesus changes all of this. Jesus is our God. Jesus can be our folk hero. He can be our leader, and our friend. We must allow Him to be a man. 
  —Carl Medearis, Speaking of Jesus, pg. 141

WRITE AND REFLECT:
Rooted Content

• When hearing the idea of Bounded versus Centered set, how do you see this in the Scriptures as the way Jesus related to people? What resistance, if any, do you have to this way of seeing people in their journey of faith?
• How have you experienced a “bounded set” approach to church life in the past? When or with whom have you created an in/out boundary in an unhealthy way?
• In your opinion, how is speaking about Jesus vastly different than asking people (or trying to get them) to become Christians?
• What is your favorite parable of Jesus? What is your favorite story of Jesus? How have these stories intersected with your life personally?
• What do you love about Jesus?

The Bible Project Content

• The partnership between God and humanity is called a ___________. A covenant is a combination of God’s ___________ of blessing and people’s ___________ to obey God.
• The first man and woman break their partnership with God, which Scriptures explains is why we have suffering, tragedy, corruption and death. In response, God initiates a covenant partnership four times throughout the Old Testament. With whom does God make these covenants?
• At every point, God’s people break their commitment to God and therefore break their covenant with Him. How does Jesus relate to these covenant promises of God, which Israel failed to fulfill? What is so remarkable about this?
• Jesus call us back into partnership with God. Though we continue to fail, what commitment does he make to us?

TAKE ACTION:

• This week, pray and ask God to give you an opportunity to speak about Jesus naturally in a conversation with someone outside the faith—preferably someone with whom you’ve been building relationship already. Consider sharing one of your favorite stories of Jesus or what you love about Jesus. How did they respond? How did you feel? Journal about your experience.

As we think about Life on Mission, we talked last time about God’s heart for the Lost and how we are to share his passion if we are to live a missional life. Today, we want to give you a tool for missional living—and that is learning to Speak about Jesus.
Learning objective: to engage people who don’t know Jesus in conversation in such a way that you begin to speak of Jesus naturally in the context of your life and theirs.
Coaching objective: to move people toward action around actually speaking the name “Jesus” to those around them who don’t have life with God.
INTRODUCTION AND REVIEW

• Thanks so much for being here today. This is our final session of Rooted. I hope you’ve had some time to engage the material from this week.
• Can I have 2-3 people share from their homework? How did it go trying to engage your neighbors? Where did you see God show up? How did it impact you?
• This week you should have covered the week ten in your Participant Guide and Biblical Study Guide and sent me your homework. The Participant Guide, introduces you the second tangible practice to foster Life on Mission—and that is the practice of Speaking of Jesus.

COACHING: 10-15 MINUTES

• Preferably, prior to your coaching session you’ve read the participants homework. As you do so, pray for God to highlight a few people from what they’ve written in the homework. This will give you a jumping off point for coaching.
• I’d love to do some coaching around the topic of Speaking of Jesus. Ask if you can coach a specific person (whom you identified from the homework).
• Ideas to coach around: someone who has never shared Jesus; someone who has tried it and wants to grow more in doing so; someone who feels evangelism is “not for me”.
• Potential questions to ask:
  • What has your experience been in Speaking of Jesus to others?
  • What has God been doing in your life lately? Where can you see his transformation at work in you?
  • What is a need you are present to in someone else’s life you have relationship with?
  • What way does God’s activity in your life intersect with their story?
  • What do you imagine happening if you shared this with them?
  • For someone who has never shared Jesus: where do you find yourself stuck? Is it emotional (I’m afraid), intellectual (I don’t know what to say), or spiritual (I just don’t think of it or have passion for it). What about Speaking of Jesus challenges you most?
  • For someone who feels evangelism is “not for me”: what does your prayer life look like? Could you imagine praying for your neighbors? What effect might that have on your willingness to Speak of Jesus with your neighbors??

WRAPPING UP

• Thanks so much for engaging today. I’m excited for the journey each of you are on in your Life with God. 
• Let me pray to close us out for the night…alternatively, you can do prayer ministry for an individual or break the group up and have them pray for one another