Evangelism

Front 1

State three conversation starters.

Back 1

1. Hiya, do you mind if I ask you a quick question? I'm Tom, and the question is: have you received any good news this week?

2. Out of interest, do you mind if I tell you some?

3. The good news is that there is...

Front 2

Explain the gospel.

Back 2

1. Gospel literally means 'good news.'

2. The good news of the gospel is that there is a God who loves us and sent His Son, Jesus, to die and pay the penalty that we deserve for our wrongdoings, so that whoever trusts in Him will be forgiven and live with Him in heaven forever.

3. Follow-up: have you ever thought about that before? To have personal relationship with God all you have to do is ask Jesus to forgive...will bring everlasting joy in a world filled with so much conflict at the moment. Don't know if you have any questions about that but thanks.

Front 3

Responses to 'What do you think about the Gospel?'

Back 3

1. Cool (dismissive)/not sure: The important thing is: God doesn't expect you to find Him on your own, He will assure you of all these things so long as you ask Him.

2. Rubbish: What makes you say that?

Front 4

How do you know that God exists and that the Bible is true?

Back 4

1. Through the 'inner witness of the Holy Spirit.'

2. My beliefs about God and the Bible are not based on other beliefs, but on an experience - of the Holy Spirit confirming their truth to me.

3. These beliefs are warranted, so long as they are not shown to be false.

Front 5

Isn't the 'inner witness of the Holy Spirit' just confirmation bias?

Back 5

1. So long as Christianity is not shown to be false, for all we know, it may be true, in which case Christian belief is not irrational.

2. This claim is conditional; it doesn't assume the truth of Christianity.

Front 6

How do you show that God exists and that the Bible is true?

Back 6

1. God's existence evident in nature (e.g., the fact that anything at all exists, and the fine-tuning of the universe for intelligent life) and conscience (e.g., we have knowledge of God's moral law, written on our hearts, so that we are morally accountable before Him).

2. God is the best explanation of the historical facts concerning Jesus (His burial, His empty tomb, His post-mortem appearances, and the origin of the disciples' belief in His resurrection).

Front 7

If God exists, why don't we have more evidence of His existence?

Back 7

1. The absence of evidence is only evidence of absence if we expect that God would leave more evidence of His existence than what we have.

2. God isn't concerned with people merely believing that He exists, but with people being saved.

3. There is no way of knowing that more evidence would lead to more salvation; maybe people would be frustrated by a more intrusive God so that more would reject Him.

Front 8

How can a loving God allow so much pointless evil and suffering?

Back 8

1. There's e/s because we freely reject God, who is the source of all goodness.

2. God permits e/s as His ultimate purpose for humanity is not happiness, but saving the largest number of people. That must require a world filled with e/s (good reason to permit it).

3. So, we can take comfort in knowing that no evil is pointless and that Jesus suffered, too, the punishment that we deserve for our wrongdoings, so that anyone who trusts in Him will be forgiven and live with Him in heaven forever. So, paradoxically, God is the only solution to e/s.

Front 9

How can Jesus be the only way to heaven?

Back 9

1. We have all done wrong.

2. Only Jesus' death can compensate for our wrongdoings to satisfy the demands of justice.

3. So, there is no salvation apart from Jesus.

4. Since this contradicts all other religions, all other religions are false.

Front 10

How can a loving God send people into eternal punishment?

Back 10

1. God wants all to be saved, but He is perfectly just and cannot allow wrong to go unpunished.

2. Jesus' death won the potential for all to be saved, but that potential needs to be actualised by freely accepting God's pardon.

3. People send themselves to Hell by rejecting it; means they have to pay the penalty themselves.

4. As people in Hell continue to reject God, they continue to do wrong and so accumulate more punishment; goes on forever.

Front 11

Why doesn't God create a world where nobody rejects Him?

Back 11

1. It may not be feasible for God to create such a world, given free will.

2. God knew that the happiness of those who would do the right thing and freely accept Him should not be prevented by those who wouldn't.

Front 12

What will happen to people who have never heard of Jesus?

Back 12

1. Plausibly, God has made it so that every person that He knew would trust in Him if they heard the Gospel is born at times and in places where they do hear the Gospel.

2. Even though others may have become nominally Christian if they had heard it, they would not have been saved.

Front 13

Why did God create Satan if He knew He would do wrong?

Back 13

1. All angels were created good originally, but Satan freely chose to reject God.

2. You don't need Satan for evil to exist, you just need free will; to reject God.

*3. Free will is important, because genuine love cannot be forced. If we can't truly reject God, we can't truly love Him either.*

Front 14

Why was God so violent in the Old Testament towards the Canaanites?

Back 14

1. Isolated cases where God judged wicked people to bring about His ultimate purposes.

2. So had good reason to command their killing.

3. He didn't wrong the adults because they deserved judgment, and He didn't wrong the children because they get eternal life.

4. God doesn't have any duties as He doesn't issue commands to Himself, like to not kill. Instead, He just acts out of His good nature.

Front 15

Why associate with a group of sinful hypocrites?

Back 15

1. A lot people believe that God exists, but don't have a true commitment to Him.

2. The fact that many are hypocrites has nothing to do with the truth of Christianity.

3. Christianity isn't a religion, it's a relationship, between you and God. That has nothing to do with anyone else.

Front 16

What do you think about the LGBTQ+ community?

Back 16

1. It doesn't matter what I think; I'm not a moral relativist.

2. We all have desires that we shouldn't act upon; having those desires isn't wrong.

3. The Bible teaches that acting on any desire outside of God's purposes is wrong; that includes any sexual act outside the marriage of a man and a woman.

Front 17

How can you know God personally?

Back 17

1. Commit your life to Jesus by asking Him to forgive you for your wrongdoings and enter into your life as your personal saviour.

2. Knowing God personally is not a matter of feelings or interpersonal communication, but being at peace with God; forgiven.

Front 18

Doesn't the Bible condone slavery?

Back 18

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