Begin with 1-2 Testimonies from those in your group (5 minutes max each)

Today’s Passage: Acts 1:6-11

⁶ Then the disciples gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

⁷ He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

⁹ After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

¹⁰ They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ¹¹ “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

• Context
  • Jerusalem was a city within a region called Judea. The disciples would have been familiar with both of these areas and the people who lived there were all relatively similar from a cultural standpoint. In the same way, the area in which we live is relatively similar from a cultural standpoint. So the first half of this mandate from Jesus is for us to do our part sharing the love of God with those He, in His sovereignty, has placed in our lives.

• Session Activities

  • • Prayer – Make a Prayer Board – Get a whiteboard or large sheet of paper and have each person write the names of 3 people that they encounter regularly and who need Jesus. Pray for each name at the end of the session.
    • Watch this Video:

• • • (The goal of these questions is to be a good listener! It’s not a sales tactic. We’re building relationships with the people we’re asking God to save. Then, let the Holy Spirit steer the conversation):
      • “…my church…”
      • “Do you go to church anywhere?”
      • “…that was one of the areas where my faith really helped me.”
      • “Do you have any spiritual beliefs?”
      • “Is there anything I can keep in prayer for you?”

• Discussion Questions
  • What are some of the challenges you’ve experienced with living on mission?
  • There’s a popular saying (it’s anonymous, not St. Francis, Luther, Calvin or Benjamin Franklin) that goes like this. “Preach the Gospel, when necessary use words.” Author and Professor Dr. Ed Stetzer had this to say recently in response: “A godly life should serve as a witness for the message we proclaim. But without words, what can our actions point to but ourselves? A godly life cannot communicate the incarnation, Jesus’ substitution for sinners, or the hope of redemption by grace alone through faith alone. We can’t be good news, but we can herald it, sing it, speak it, and preach it to all who listen. In fact, verbal communication of the gospel is the only means by which people are brought into a right relationship with God” (Ed Stetzer). How does that impact the way you think about your responsibility to share your faith verbally?
  • What are some small ways we can serve those around us to build a relationship where we can share the Gospel (i.e. texting them an encouraging verse, following up on their prayer request, asking them if they need anything from the grocery store)?
  • In what way(s) does gratitude for God’s grace help us overcome our fear of speaking about it? How have you seen this play out in your own life?
  • Have you ever tried any of the tactics above? How did they go?
• Pray for the people the group wrote down earlier
  • For those who are new to prayer or struggle praying out loud, they can just say the names of a few of the people on their list. Still, you can encourage them to pray even something as simple as “God, please help ____ to come to know You. Amen.”
• Close in Prayer
  • “Lord, from this moment forward, we pray that you will give us a burden and concern for people who do not yet know you. Help us to see them as you do. Help us to care enough to share your Gospel with them. We admit that at times we are afraid to step out. Please give us a new boldness to do that. We thank you in advance. In Jesus’ name, Amen.” – Greg Laurie (How to Share your faith)
• Homework –  Try at least one of these this week and be ready to share with the group: Prayer Walk (pray for all those who live in the houses you pass), Work one of the above quotes into a conversation, Do a service project for someone who’s not a christian, Share your testimony with someone who hasn’t heard it.
• Other Resources
  • • Good article about having faith conversations – https://www.jesusfilm.org/blog-and-stories/conversation-about-gospel.html

• A woman once approached the great evangelist D. L. Moody to air a grievance. (Moody was an international evangelist of great renown in the 19^th Century.)

  The woman said to him, “Mr. Moody, I don’t like the way you do evangelism!”

  “Well, ma’am, let me ask you, how do you do it?” Moody asked.

  She replied, “I don’t!”

  Moody responded, “Well, I like my way of doing it better than your way of not doing it!”

• Read Today’s passages – Acts 1:8
  

  8 you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

  ⁹ After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

  ¹⁰ They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ¹¹ “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

• Matthew 24:14This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come

• Revelation 7:9-11

⁹ After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰ And they cried out in a loud voice:

• Show These Videos (one right after the other)
  

• Discuss Questions
  
  • The verses we read above are representative of a larger Bible theme that God wants people from every nation, tribe and tongue to be a part of His Kingdom. Yet, even after 2,000 years, there exists a place like the the 10/40 window. What do you feel knowing that between 2-3 billion people have no access to the Gospel, no Bibles, no churches and essentially no believers nearby?
  • To what extent would you be willing to get more involved in the solution?
• Applications
  • Pray for these people and for God to raise up missionaries to reach them
  • Pray for the missionaries in these places to be encouraged, protected and to have all their needs met
  • Support The Great Commission Fund or Global Frontier Missions to help fund 10/40 window missionaries
  • Encourage a  missionary with a message
    
    • Taiwan
    • Thailand
    • Cambodia
    • Burkina Faso
    • Balkans (PW: Liss4Kos)
  • Pray about becoming a missionary in one of these areas
• Close in Prayer
• HW
  • Choose one of the above to practice this week
  • Continue to live on mission locally!

• Other

  • Less than 3 cents of every missions dollar goes to people without access to the Gospel (Source: C&MA)

  • Approximately 61% of the individuals in the 10/40 Window live in an unreached people group. The 10/40 Window is home to some of the largest unreached people groups in the world such as the Shaikh, Yadava, Turks, Moroccan Arabs, Pashtun, Jat and Burmese. (https://joshuaproject.net/resources/articles/10_40_window)