This document outlines a 6-session course on sharing one's faith in a skeptical culture. Session 1 discusses how people are saved through faith, not arguments, and examines the secular culture's common barriers to faith like suffering, hypocrisy, and misinformation. It encourages Christians to go out equipped to remove barriers, partnering with God's Spirit to lead people to salvation.

1. SHARING YOUR FAITH IN A
SKEPTICAL CULTURE
ACF Adult Sunday School
2019
Session 1: Can I Argue
Someone into Heaven?

2. COURSE OUTLINE
Session 1 – Jan 13, 2019: Can I Argue Someone into Heaven?
Session 2 – Jan. 20, 2019: Can Mankind Live Without God?
Session 3 – Jan. 27, 2019: Am I Prepared to Give the Reason for My
Hope in Christ?
Session 4 – Feb. 3, 2019: Can We Trust the Biblical Accounts of Jesus?
Session 5 – Feb. 10, 2019: How Do We Know What We Know?
Session 6 – Feb. 17, 2019: Does Christianity Have Convincing Answers
to Today’s Most Pressing Issues?

3. COURSE OBJECTIVE
The goal of this course is to:
Help us become more responsive, confident, and capable labourers
in the Harvest.
Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the
workers are few.” Matthew 9:37
Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the
harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields,
that they are white for harvest.
John 4:35

4. SESSION 1: CAN I ARGUE SOMEONE
INTO HEAVEN?
This session we explore:
How are people saved anyway?
What kind of culture do we find ourselves in?
What are the most common barriers to being open to God in our
culture?
This session’s takeaway:
Understanding God’s design for the church’s part in saving the lost
and how that looks today.

5. HOW ARE PEOPLE SAVED?
What does the Bible say about how people get saved?
John 3:16, Mark 16:16, Acts 16:30-31, John 5:24, Revelation 22:17, Phil
3:8-11
For God so loved the world, that He gave His [a]only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16
He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has
disbelieved shall be condemned. Mark 16:16
and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your
household.” Acts 16:30-31
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

6. HOW ARE PEOPLE SAVED?
What does the Bible say about how people get saved?
John 3:16, Mark 16:16, Acts 16:30-31, John 5:24, Revelation 22:17,
Phil 3:8-11
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say,
“Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes
take the water of life without cost. Rev. 22:17
More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing
value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the
loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,
and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own
derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the
righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may
know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His
sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to
the resurrection from the dead. Phil. 3:8-11

7. HOW ARE PEOPLE SAVED?
What does the Bible say about how people get saved?
A person is presented with something to trust, and he/she choose to
really trust it.
So faith comes from hearing.. Romans 10:17a
Salvation depends on Communication.

8. HOW ARE PEOPLE SAVED?
What are the Biblical mechanisms for bringing about salvation to
individuals?
1. Christians are told to share the truth
And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to
all creation.”
Mark 16:15
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
Matthew 5:14
2. But God plays a part
..and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He
called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also
glorified. Rom. 8:30

9. HOW ARE PEOPLE SAVED?
What is my part in bringing about salvation to individuals?
1. Going
Be in the world and not of it.
..I do not ask that you take them out of the world.. John 17:14-19
Jesus ate and drank with sinners.
On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a
doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but
sinners. Mark 2:17

10. HOW ARE PEOPLE SAVED?
What is my part in bringing about salvation to individuals?
2. Depending on God
We do not go it alone in the work – we are in a yoke.
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in
heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew 11:29
Have understanding but don’t trust in it to do the job, rather depend on God
for direction as you go. (With an attitude of?)
..lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he
will make your paths straight. Prov. 3:5-6
Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing. Jesus is our model.
..Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what
he sees his Father doing.. John 5:19

11. HOW ARE PEOPLE SAVED?
What is God’s part in bringing about salvation to individuals?
1. His desire
God wants all people to be saved.
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. 1 Timothy 2:3-4
Romans 9:18 (..shows mercy ..hardens ..whom He desires) Big picture
perspective.
No hardening until someone hardens their own heart (i.e. Pharaoh –
Exodus 8)

12. HOW ARE PEOPLE SAVED?
What is God’s part?
2. His action internally
Both general and specific.
God works to save people through the work of the Holy Spirit.
“And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and
righteousness and judgment.” John 16:8
Example from OT: For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My
vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah. I
acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, "I will
confess my transgressions to the LORD"; And You forgave the guilt of my
sin. Selah. Psalm 32:4-5
Examples from experience/testimonies (Muslims receiving dreams of Jesus;
https://vimeo.com/105940277)

13. HOW ARE PEOPLE SAVED?
Table Discussion
Why do we have a part if God is a better worker than us?

14. TODAY’S CULTURE
What kind of culture do we find ourselves in?
Multicultural
Multi-faith
Secular
 Popularization of “the death of God” and a willingness to accept the ramifications
Seeing is believing (only natural explanations)
Religious pluralism (all paths lead to God)
Antagonistic towards Christianity
 Jesus is a myth
Eye-oriented (listens with its eyes..)
Emotion driven (..believes with its feelings)
Others?

15. TODAY’S CULTURE
Table Discussion
In what ways does a disciple go out into this context differently? In
what ways the same?

16. TODAY’S CULTURE
How are we to go out into the world?
1. Responsive to opportunities
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the
reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. 1
Peter 3:15
2. Desiring the salvation of the lost
Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God,
did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own
advantage. Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking
on the likeness of men. And when He had come as a man in His external form,
He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death
on a cross. Phil. 2:5-8
3. Equipped to share (equipped in the Word, and in knowing our culture)
..that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 2 Tim.
3:17
..To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews..1 Corinthians 9:19-23

17. TODAY’S CULTURE
How are we to go out into the world?
Ready, Willing, and Able
How do we grow in each of these areas?
Session 3

18. TODAY’S CULTURE
What are the most common barriers to being open to Christ in our culture?
Pain and suffering
Hypocritical Christians
Lack of understanding
Misinformation
 About Christianity
 False alternatives
1 Jn 2:16 (— the desires of the flesh,
the desires of the eyes,
and the pride of life— is not from the Father but from the world. )
Others?
More on these in Lessons 2, 4

19. TODAY’S CULTURE
Table Discussion
In what ways have you encountered these or other barriers in the
people you come in contact with?
How did you approach these barriers? What did you learn?

20. CONCLUSION
Can I Argue Someone into Heaven?
No.
Why not?
The Holy Spirit must do His internal work.
But I can partner with God in leading people to Jesus.
What is my part?
I am told to go work in the harvest, so I must go (with the proper
understanding and orientation)
• Being ready, willing, and able to share
• Mindful of the culture you’re in, including being mindful of the barriers people in our
culture have. (Apologetics doesn’t save, but it can be a powerful tool that removes
barriers so that a person is more open to God’s Holy Spirit.)
• Depending on the Holy Spirit who is with you