Week 3 - Evangelism and loving the broken

This week's topic was "Evangelism and loving the broken". Our speaker was Sam Hoffman from the YWAM Matamata base. On Justice Friday we had Denise Ritchie again speaking on the Sex Trade industry.

Sam was really bold and inspiritional. He's a really radical believer. He has spent a lot of time in India and was really good. We also found out on the Monday we would be going to India so we had a meeting with Sam to talk about it.

Sam’s key point was conveying the fact that we have the keys to eternal life and we need to share them. We need to break the mould and get out there and share something we are all passionate about.

See, Feel, Compassion and then Miracle. This is how Jesus heart worked. Jesus is really connected to the miracles that he works. He doesn’t just snap the magic fingers. He sees a need, then he really identifies with it and there is a flow out of compassion for the person in need. Then he does the miracle.

We need to go for a treasure hunt to find God’s call on our life. It’s often easy to lay back and expect God to work everything out for else. But we need to really seek him for what he wants for us. Persevering in the hunt also develops character.

Fear is what is holding us back from completing the great commission. We are too afraid to share with our friends, colleagues etc. On one hand we have the creator of the universe who happens to have befriended us, the people of the world. On the other we have the freaky idea that they are going to be labelled a Jesus freak and persecuted forever. I think if we think about the consequences of the first are going to be greater although delayed. Fear is so little in comparison to God and it’s time to share.

The currency of the kingdom is love. Who can resist truly selfless love! Ask for wisdom show us the people you want us to reach. To reject selfless love is somewhat foolish. We all desire to be loved and to reject love without conditions certainly would be a bit sad. To give selfless love is hard, because we have to deny ourselves. However I think it is definitely the best way to serve and reach others.

The disciples were so effective because they were bold. They got this boldness from the Holy Spirit. The disciples were no super humans. They were often absolutely foolish at times. But the Holy Spirit helped them to act in good ways. When Jesus ascends to heaven they are suddenly bold and equipped, this was by the Holy Spirit. Just like the disciples we need to be equipped with the Holy Spirit.

Faith is not alone enough. We need faith with works. Faith by itself does not share and does not help. It is important to share our faith as well as act upon it. If Jesus spent his time only with God then we would still be sitting here with the bullet of sin straight to our heads. Actions speak louder than words. It’s so cliché but it is so important to act out of our faith otherwise we are but a hermit. This was a really interesting point especially with the previous week's speaker who although very in touch with God didn't seem to be so much with the world.

Life has become very cosy and very easy. We can become very ignorant of the hurting around us. We need to break out from this self absorption of what we want and need. We need to break out to serve the people that have a real want and need. We are so concerned with our lives that we can fall into a state of ignorance just so we can focus more on ourselves. Life is very cosy we are so free now days. Now that I have finished school I can do whatever I want I’m only expected to look for a full time job or to study. Even if I don’t get a job I am looked after. We don’t have absolutely everything provided for us but we have a lot. It is very sad to consider what we have and what others need because they are often related. I don’t want to be another selfish statistic. I want to break out and serve people with selfless love. Putting more of me into others is better than putting all of me into myself. It is time to do something meaningful.

I have realised that we don’t need to be guided by the Holy Spirit to act. I have been denying doing things because I wasn’t lead by the Holy Spirit to do so. I realised in the parable of the Good Samaritan that you do not need to be guided to do something that you know is good. Also in Matthew 25 God notices what we do for even the least and he doesn’t necessarily guide us into doing it every time. I let myself into this complacency especially after Aaron’s lectures that we should seek intimacy before impact. Although I think he’s right we do need to seek intimacy before impact. We shouldn’t deny the impact that is right in front of us so that we can work on our intimacy.

Denise Ritchie’s key point was that we need to make it clear that this industry is not acceptable to those around us that are taking advantage of it. Otherwise they will continue to use it.

During the week we did some personal evangelism. I got partnered with Sam and he immediately set off to find the Indian he had pictured during our preparation. We found him immediately. His name was Danesh and Sam spoke to him in Hindi initially. He explained about the work he had done in India. He then proceeded to share about who we are. While I was praying I was watching him, he seemed a little apprehensive but I think that was because later we realised that his class was actually on whilst we spoke to him. He wasn’t convincing with his agreements with Sam which may have been due to this also. We prayed for him and then that lead on to my turn.

I talked to Javi from Spain. I share a bit about my testimony on deciding what to do with my life. He was quite interested although not entirely convinced. He was happy that he had been lead up to be a nice guy. Sam tried to convince him otherwise of the ways he had sinned. But eventually he had to go and I offered prayer and he accepted.