Part 2: faith over fear
watch
Becoming a Gospel Proclaimer
It is said that the number one barrier to people sharing their faith is fear.
Question: How comfortable are you sharing your faith?
I’d rather get a root canal done
- I’m too scared to do it, so I don’t know
- It depends on the circumstances and the person
- I’m a little scared, but the more I do it, the easier it gets
- I’m not at all scared of sharing my faith
THOUGHTS
Answer the questions below. As before, consider sharing your answers with growth partners. If you’re completing the program solo, write your responses in a journal.
- What is one thing that stood out from the video?
- What one thing do you commit to try in your own life right away?
supplemental resources
Below are some additional resources that can help you overcome the fear of sharing the gospel.
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.
For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
thoughts
Respond to the questions below. As before, consider sharing your answers with a growth partner. If you’re completing the program solo, write your responses in a journal.
- What did you learn from the supplemental resources?
- What specific fear prevents you from sharing your faith?
- Think of someone in your life who doesn’t yet know Jesus. How might love compel you to share your faith with them?
God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control 2 timothy 1:7 ESV
live it!
While Jesus came to restore all the brokenness in the world caused by our sinful nature, we often don’t live in the reality of that restoration. One area in which we still experience a lot of brokenness is with regard to the way we relate to people who are ethnically and culturally different from us.
But what does that have to do with the gospel?
equipped
What is the Gospel? is the first journey of the Equipped Disciples Curriculum from Athletes in Action. Learn about the whole five collection series and how the parts fit together.