Share Life Today

Means of Growth: Fellowship

Hi, I’m John Sorensen, President of Evangelism Explosion International, and you’re listening to Share Life Today.
Did you realize there are five different means to help you grow spiritually? I want to talk about fellowship today. How do you define it? Well, you know, I heard someone say, “two or more fellows in the same ship.” You know, when I first heard it, I thought it a bit corny. But…it does get to the heart of the matter of spiritual fellowship. Here, I think, is the main point. Through calm seas or crashing waves, these people are in the same ship together. They need each other…depend on each other...encourage each other…challenge…support each other. Christian fellowship is all of these plus praying for one another, caring for one another and developing friendships with one another. Perhaps this is behind the promise of the Gospel that where two or three believers are gathered together, Jesus is in their midst. Visit www.sharelife.today for more tips and resources to help you share the Gospel and grow in your faith. That's www.sharelife.today.

Means of Growth: Worship

Hi, I’m John Sorensen, President of Evangelism Explosion International, and you’re listening to Share Life Today.
Worship – it is easier to describe than define. There are five means of growth that help us growth spiritually. Bible…Prayer…Worship…Fellowship.…Witness. Today, I want to talk about what it means to worship. To worship God is to honor, reverence and adore Him - giving Him the supreme place in our lives. Worship deepens our relationship with our Lord. Let me emphasize two important avenues of worship. Personal, private worship is a daily investment of time that pays an amazing dividend. With your Bible and your prayer list, this one-on-one encounter with Jesus is rich and rewarding. It’s the place where His grace and strength comes into our lives every day. Corporate worship is a gathering together of God’s people at church to engage in prayer, music and teaching of God’s Word. Taken together, these two provide for a necessity of spiritual growth. To help you in your spiritual walk with the Lord, we have plenty of resources online at share life dot today. That's www.sharelife.today.

Means of Growth: Prayer

Hi, I’m John Sorensen, President of Evangelism Explosion International, and you’re listening to Share Life Today.
This week on Share Life Today we are looking at how we can grow deeper spiritually. There are five means to spiritual growth – so five words – Bible, Prayer, Worship, Fellowship, Witness. I want to focus on the significance of prayer right now. Prayer is one of the greatest privileges of having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The Bible is God speaking to us, but prayer is us speaking to God. The simple ACTS acrostic provides a useful guideline:  Adoration – praising God for who He is. Confession – admitting our sin and receiving His forgiveness. Thanksgiving – thanking God for all that He does. And supplication – bringing our needs and requests to Him in simple faith. A–C–T–S. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to pray without ceasing. If we'll do that, we'll be more aware of our great need for the Lord at all times. For more practical tips on becoming an active witness and resources to help you do that, visit share life dot today. That's www.sharelife.today.

Means of Growth: Bible

Hi, I’m John Sorensen, President of Evangelism Explosion International, and you’re listening to Share Life Today.
Have you tried to read any product labels recently? Talk about complicated! You may have noticed that the more advancement we make in life, the more complicated things become? Unfortunately, the same complicated approach is infiltrating our spiritual lives too. So, it’s time to get back to the basics. The product label on the Spiritual Growth package contains five words:  Bible, Prayer, Worship Fellowship, Witness. First, we want to focus on the Word of God – the Bible - The place to begin is your commitment to read the Bible. The Bible describes itself as “God-breathed, useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. It’s indispensable for our growth in the Lord. Start in the Gospel of John. Read a chapter a day. Read more if you want to, but just get in the habit. Move next to Acts. Then keep going from there. We would count it a privilege to become your partner in growing. For more means of growth, visit www.sharelife.today.

The Gospel Crosses All Generations

Hi, I’m John Sorensen, President of Evangelism Explosion International, and you’re listening to Share Life Today.
We hear so much today about the gaps that exist between the generations. While we, as Christians, recognize that people respond to the Gospel in a variety of ways, what I’ve experienced is that the simple message of the Gospel crosses all of those generational gaps. When children learn to share their faith, they often become so excited that they can’t wait to share it with their siblings, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and great-grandparents. And many of those children have led their family members to Christ. Likewise, I have also witnessed teenagers drop what they are doing to listen as someone from my generation as we share the Gospel. When we share our faith, we become part of a spiritual chain that keeps the Gospel moving forward from generation to generation. And our contribution, no matter how big or small, will continue to impact lives for eternity long after we’re gone. That is the ultimate legacy that God has called every believer to. To learn more, visit www.sharelife.today.

Seventy Years Old

Hi, I’m John Sorensen, President of Evangelism Explosion International, and you’re listening to Share Life Today.
One of the beautiful things about the church is that it is a very diverse group of people. In heaven, there will be every tribe, every tongue, every nation represented. And here on earth, the church not only spans every continent and country, but also every age group. And this is a good thing. Those who are more developed in their spiritual walk are called to mentor and disciple those younger than them — just like Paul did with Timothy. For Chong Sok Nah from Malaysia, he caught this vision and attended the very first Mandarin online training to disciple generations X and Y in how to share the Gospel. At seventy years old, he faithfully followed God's calling and learned how to teach and disciple young people over the internet. And during that training alone, they led seventeen people to Christ. Nothing can hinder discipleship or the preaching of the Gospel! To learn how you too can share your faith and disciple others, visit www.sharelife.today.

Asta’s Discipleship

Hi, I’m John Sorensen, President of Evangelism Explosion International, and you’re listening to Share Life Today.
"One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.” This powerful verse from the Psalms imparts to us an important truth: we are to tell generations younger than us about God's power. Whether it's reading the Scriptures with them or sharing testimonies of what God has done in our lives, we can pour into Christians younger than us. And in a case like Asta's, this can be life-changing. Asta is a teenager in Indonesia who was encouraged by his mentor to be a part of a Hope For Kid's training, so that he could disciple a child younger than him in how to share the Gospel. Asta said, "I [...] am now able to share the Good News, and I was very blessed to practice it in the field. I will continue to develop!" This is a beautiful example of discipleship over three generations. Learn how you too can be part of sharing your faith at our website at www.sharelife.today.

Discipled and Discipling

Hi, I’m John Sorensen, President of Evangelism Explosion International, and you’re listening to Share Life Today.
Mark Dever says, "The Christian life is the discipled life and the discipling life.” We need both to grow a healthy, full walk with Christ. So let's take our time to study the Word, pray without ceasing, fellowship with other Christians, worship our amazing, Living God, and share our faith with others. And even better if these things happen under a mentor who has walked with God longer than us! This will set us on a path of being discipled. And then, we ourselves are called to reach out and disciple someone else. This could look like us sharing the Gospel, seeing someone give their life to Christ, and then walking with them in spiritual growth as a new believer. I can personally tell you — experiencing this lights a fire in the soul and an excitement and joy in your walk with Christ! This is a picture of what the church should be—discipleship reaching across the generations. For more resources to get you started, visit www.sharelife.today.

The Great Commission’s Focus

Hi, I’m John Sorensen, President of Evangelism Explosion International, and you’re listening to Share Life Today.
The focus of Jesus’ Great Commission is not in making converts, but rather in making disciples. This was the mark of His ministry on earth, and this is the mark of the mentors we need in the Church today. So, please don't hear me wrong. It is absolutely vital that we share our faith and that everyone gets an opportunity to hear the Gospel. But once they do make a decision to give their life to Christ, we want to equip and disciple them as a new believer. We can't just leave them were they're at and carry on with our lives! It's important for us to give the new believer a track to run on — as Paul modeled for us throughout the New Testament when he encourages believers to run the race and keep the faith. We have the privilege of being disciple-makers across the generations. And it starts with our willingness to share the Gospel. For more resources to help you get started in sharing your faith, visit our website at www.sharelife.today. That’s www.sharelife.today.

Pray To Save

Hi, I’m John Sorensen, President of Evangelism Explosion International, and you’re listening to Share Life Today.
Who do you want to see come to know Jesus? Do you have a name? Are you praying for that person? Have you gotten another believer to pray for them with you? A few years ago, the youth pastor at my church became intentional in discipling teenagers to pray for their lost friends. The ministry started praying just for over 140 people; and in just the first two months, eighteen of those friends came to a saving faith in Jesus! That’s the power of praying together for the lost! Can you imagine what would happen in the lives of the lost ones that you love if you would get together with other believers to pray for them? A praying heart is also a heart open to sharing the Gospel, so do both as the Lord leads you and watch as He moves mountains to save the lost and hurting. For resources to get you started in sharing your faith, visit our website at www.sharelife.today, for tips, tools and resources to help you: www.sharelife.today.