Believers are called to God’s hope into our everyday lives BiG Idea: story can open doors for others Evangelism is not something you do until you get involved with people, you do it through involving yourself with people Rebecca Manley Pippert (Out of the Saltshaker) Evangelism isn’t something we do to people, it’s something we do them John 4:1–6 4 When Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard he was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (though Jesus himself was not baptizing, but his disciples were), 3 he left Judea and went again to Galilee. 4 He had to travel through Samaria; 5 so he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar near the property that Jacob had given his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, worn out from his journey, sat down at the well. It was about noon. John 4:7 7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. “Give me a drink,” Jesus said to her, Isaiah 65:1 65 “I was sought by those who did not ask; I was found by those who did not seek me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’ to a nation that did not call on my name. Philippians 1:6 6 I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 2 Thessalonians 2:14 14 He called you to this through our gospel, so that you might obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. John 4:9 9 “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” she asked him. For Jews do not associate with Samaritans. John 4:10 10 Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would ask him, and he would give you living water.” John 4:28–29 28 Then the woman left her water jar, went into town, and told the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” It is God who saves. Man cannot save himself, nor can other men save him. The work of salvation is God’s from first to last, and not man’s. He alone quickens the souls dead in sin (Eph. 2:1); He alone gives spiritual sight to the blind (Luke 4:18); He alone opens the heart to the gospel (Acts 16:14); and it is He alone who gives faith in Christ (Phil. 1:29). So we do not save anyone by evangelizing; God saves them, and we can only be His instruments for reaching them. J.I.Packer (Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God) When Christians talk openly and honestly about what God has done in their lives, people tend to listen. Personal stories go places arguments can't. Randy Newman: Questioning Evangelism The more we Jesus the easier it becomes to to Him John 4:39–42 39 Now many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of what the woman said when she testified, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of what he said. 42 And they told the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you said, since we have heard for ourselves and know that this really is the Savior of the world.” Writing your story What was your life like you met Jesus? did God open the door? What’s because of Jesus? Our Challenge Start . God Tell . This Week I Will: Pursue Jesus By: Point to Jesus By: Memorize: John 4:42 Next Sunday: Luke 19