A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to speak before the church on Sunday.  We were in the middle of a series on sharing the Gospel.  Our Evanglelist, Jeff Schachinger was recovering from an operation, and I decided to stick to the theme.  I essentially pulled from my personal studies in recent weeks primarily about drawing near to God.

Below are my notes and the “mind map” I used to put together my message.  I am not sure what anyone will be able to draw from this, since these were just the bullet points aroud which I spoke.  Leave comments if you have any questions or would like more information regarding this message.

Sharing the Gospel Message Outline. Click for full-sized picture.

I use a freeware program called FreeMind.  I think it is excellent.  The above mind map produces the following outline (minus the formatting, I copied and pasted the outline into Word and then did the formatting…)

Sharing the Gospel

• Begins and Ends with the Greatness of God
• Greatness of God
  • Scientific
    • Creation
      • Singularity (explaining what a singularity is)
      • Hydrogen and Helium big bang only
      • Heavier metals in stars
      • The sun the right age to produce a lot of carbon
      • Just the right place in the galaxy
      • Just the right place in universe
      • Moon, just the right orbit
      • Orbit - just right for seasons
    • Precision
      • Angle of water molecule
      • Rate of expansion
    • Biological
      • DNA Information
      • Protein folding
      • Motor Proteins
  • Character
    • Loving Father
  • Story - Foreshadow
    • Cain & Abel
    • Abraham & Isaac
    • Joshua and Jesus
• In creation
  • What doesn’t last
    • All creation
      • Matt 24:35
        Heaven and earth will pass away,
        but my words will never pass away.
    • Men
      • Psalm 103:14-16
        ..for he knows how we are formed,
        he remembers that we are dust. As
        for man, his days are like grass, he
        flourishes like a flower of the field;
        the wind blows over it and it is gone,
        and its place remembers it no more.
    • Our jobs
      • Ecclesiastes 2:21
        For a man may do his work with wisdom,
        knowledge and skill, and then he must
        leave all he owns to someone who has
        not worked for it. This too is meaningless
        and a great misfortune.
  • What lasts
    • God
      Hebrews 13:8: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
    • God’s Word
      • John 1:1
        In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.   Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life,
        and that life was the light of men.
    • Souls
      • Eph 1:3-10
        • Chosen in Him before creation
        • In Love adopted through Jesus
        • Grace through Jesus
        • In Him have redemption
        • Wisdom and knowledge purposed in Christ
        • All things in heaven and earth under Christ
          • Revelation 22:13
            I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
          • How could we ever presume to do anything then without Him?
    • Treasure
      • Matt 6:19
        Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
        • In context of doing “religious” acts
        • God is the sole focus
          • Giving
          • Praying
          • Fasting
          • Evangelism
          • Stewardship
• Draw Near To God
  • John 15:5
    “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Psalm 18:29
With your help I can advance against a troop ; with my God I can scale a wall.

James 4:8
Come near to God and he will come near to you.

Psalm 1

Summary:

• The Greatness of God
  When you focus on the greatness of God, you always have something to share
• What lasts and what does not last
  Realizing what lasts and what does not last puts things in the proper perspective
• Draw Near to God
  Drawing near to God enables you to do anything good at all.
• Begins and Ends with the Greatness of God?
  Begins in our lives every day with our focused time of devotion with God, and it ends and begins in someone else’s life with whom we share the Word and our lives with.