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Door to Door Ministry
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Church Growth and Visitation
Sharing God’s Love
Evangelism
Using Your Hand to Share Your Faith
Cults
Caring & Sharing
I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.
— Philemon 1:6
USING YOUR HAND TO SHARE YOUR FAITH
YOUR 5 FINGERS REPRESENT THE 5 POINTS OF THE GOSPEL
Regardless of what strategy you will have in place for outreach in your church, you need to have an effective way to teach members how to share their faith in Christ. This method of learning how to share the gospel by using your hand is one of the most simple ways to learn and to share the gospel. As well as learning the five points of the gospel, it is important to memorize the scriptures because true faith comes from conviction of the truth, which is the word of God.
John 5:24
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
THUMB—HEAVEN IS A FREE GIFT
Your thumb symbolizes hitching a free ride to heaven, we cannot get there on our own. Use your thumb to make a thumbs up such as someone who is hitchhiking would do. This is an easy way to remember you need to get a ride to heaven, you cannot get there on your own.
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
INDEX FINGER—MAN IS A SINNER AND CANNOT SAVE HIMSELF
Your index finger is the first finger and symbolizes that man usually puts himself first. Using your index finger, or “first finger” is a good way to remember that we tend to put ourselves first. That is because we have a selfish and sinful nature. This symbolizes the second point of the gospel.
Romans 3:23
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Ephesians 2:8-
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.
MIDDLE FINGER—GOD LOVES YOU, BUT HATES YOUR SIN
Your middle finger is the tallest finger. This is a good representation of God, since He is the creator and beginning of all things. We add the middle finger as we share about the nature of God.
1 John 4:8b
God is love.
Exodus 34:7b
Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished;
RING FINGER—JESUS IS THE INFINITE GOD-
Your next finger to add to the presentation is the ring finger. This finger represents
the marriage of Christ to the church. If you use your right hand as you talk about
this, it will be on the right side of the great finger. You can then say that Christ
sits at the right hand of the Father. It is very important to share who Jesus Christ
is. Jesus Christ is the infinite God-
John 1:1,14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God ... The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
1 Peter 2:24
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, ...
LITTLE FINGER—THIS GIFT IS RECEIVED BY FAITH
Your little finger is the smallest finger and symbolizes faith. The gift of eternal life is received by faith.
Acts 16:31
... "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household."
PRAYER OF SALVATION
There is no certain prayer that must be used to help someone to receive Christ. The most simple of ways is to pray using the points of the gospel you just shared while personalizing them.
Romans 10:9-
That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
Dear Lord Jesus, I confess that I am a sinner and cannot save myself. I believe you died on the cross to pay for my sin and purchase a place for me in heaven. I receive that gift right now by faith. Lord Jesus come into my heart and be my Lord and my Savior. Amen.
It is a good idea to pray for them at this point to understand and believe what they have just done.
Ephesians 1:13-
In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
To prevent them from praying out loud with you while you are just praying for them, you can say, “Now let me pray for you.” in between to two prayers. This will clarify what you are doing and perhaps save them an embarrassing or uncomfortable situation.
You can see how simple it is to remember what to talk about when you share the gospel
with someone by using your hand.
1 Timothy 2:3-
This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
WHERE THE COMPLEXITY OF CHURCH GROWTH INTERSECTS WITH THE SIMPLICITY OF THE GOSPEL
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…upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
— Matthew 16:18