Looking at a believer's readiness to share the reason for their faith in Christ.

1. SHARING YOUR FAITH IN A
SKEPTICAL CULTURE
ACF Adult Sunday School
2019
Session 3: Am I Prepared
to Give a Reason For My
Hope?

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 explored:
How are people saved anyway? (Really believing, and persisting)
What kind of culture do we find ourselves in? (Diverse, biased
against Christianity)
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. (Knowing them and Communicating:
speaking truth, in friendship, and example/deeds, and other
communication methods as God leads.)

5. SESSION 2: CAN MANKIND LIVE
WITHOUT GOD?
This session we explore:
What do people want out of life?
What four elements define a person’s worldview?
What is the message of the Gospel and how does it answer our
needs?
This session’s takeaway:
Understanding God’s design for human fulfillment and how
the Gospel answers this. (Humans are incomplete without God,
as well as separate and rebels by nature. The Gospel shows that
there can be reconciliation with God and true fulfillment in a life
with Him.)

6. SESSION 3: AM I PREPARED TO GIVE
A REASON FOR MY HOPE IN
CHRIST?
This session we explore:
What are the reasons that you have for being a Christian?
How many areas of supporting evidence for the faith are there?
How can we increase our preparedness to give our reasons?
This session’s takeaway:
Understanding what has contributed to your faith and
increasing in your ability/readiness to express it.

7. HOW SHOULD I PREPARE?
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. 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
When this happens, are you ready for it?
Before we look at our reasons, what is this verse guiding us in?

8. HOW SHOULD I PREPARE?
What are the three instructions present in this verse?
1. Revere/honour Christ in your heart
2. Be prepared to give an answer/defense
3. Communicate this in gentleness and respect

9. HOW SHOULD I PREPARE?
What are the three instructions present in this verse?
1. Revere/honour Christ in your heart
a. Jesus replied, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.
My Father will love them, and we will come to them and
make our home with them. John 14:23
b. But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
1 Cor. 6:17
c. Do not quench the Spirit. 1 Thes. 5:19
d. There is never a point in Christian life or service that we “go
it alone”. He is the Life.

10. HOW SHOULD I PREPARE?
What are the three instructions present in this verse?
2. Be prepared to give an answer/defense
a. Paul’s testimony of his conversion. Acts 22:1-
21(Homework: What do you notice about Paul’s testimony
that could help you in preparing your own testimony?)
b. Experience is a defense.
c. The Magi’s testimony. “Magi from the east came to
Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born
king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have
come to worship him.” Matthew 2:1-2.
d. Pursuit/discovery is a defense.

11. HOW SHOULD I PREPARE?
What are the three instructions present in this verse?
3. Communicate this in gentleness and respect
a. Gentleness reflects what God is like.
b. Respect is due those who are made in the image of God.
c. See the person (answering a questioner not a question).
d. Recognize when an apologetic of action is needed,
something felt, not just heard. Bless and serve people, so
that people see the Love of God in action in you.
e. Be changed. Know the Love of God and you will emit the
scent of it.

12. HOW SHOULD I PREPARE?
What are three ways to be prepared to give an answer for our
hope in Christ?
1. Know your own account of coming to Christ.
2. Be familiar with the other evidence/support that exists for our
faith.
3. Observe, listen, and prayerfully take the opportunities God
supplies.
Note: This is not the same as preparedness for knowing/studying
God’s word, the Gospel, and growing close to God personally,
which are all things that we should be doing already as general

13. WHAT IS MY STORY?
Table Discussion
What were the causes that lead/convinced you to become a
Christian? (Summarized list)
What are the common elements?
A sense of God getting through to your heart.
God’s consistency and ongoing support.
Homework: Write out your testimony.

14. WHAT OTHER EVIDENCE IS THERE?
Often heard: “There’s just no evidence for Christianity”
Certainly we live by faith, but is the statement true?
There are many independent lines of evidence for the God of the
Bible. (I’ve found 33, other resources such as
https://theologetics.org/witnessing-tools/)
As we look at these, keep in mind:
 We can’t trust in our arguments to save someone.
 Not everyone needs the same explanations. Some people may just
need to hear the Gospel presented to them.
 People have many kinds of barriers – some are due to believing in
things that are false. If we can demonstrate the truth in such an
area, it may remove a barrier and open them further to God.
(Preparing the way. Preparing soil.)
Paul became all things to all people.

15. WHAT OTHER EVIDENCE IS THERE?
How many support areas to our faith are there?
Evidence for a God:
1. Fine tuning of the universe
2. Objective moral absolutes/moral law
3. Evil
4. Invisible non-physical realities (i.e. Math, Beauty, Quality, Justice,
etc.)
5. Consciousness (human uniqueness: free will, moral, creative -
different from animals)
6. Human individual-ness (faces, voices, fingerprints, consciousnesses)
7. Beauty (colours, nature, art, humour, tastes, music, romance, etc.)
8. Fulfilment of needs (i.e. food for hunger, companionship for this
desire, Deep fulfilment..)

16. WHAT OTHER EVIDENCE IS THERE?
How many support areas to our faith are there?
Evidence for a God of intended religious structure:
1. Ancient scripture carried through to modern day
2. Wisdom (guidance for living) offered that proves
successful/consistent
3. Convincing to many people (number of genuine adherents)
4. Evidence of secondary spiritual powers (angels, demons,
possession)
5. Other deceptive frameworks (evidence of an enemy at work)
6. Lack of cohesive answer from alternative (things science should
know but doesn’t i.e. origin of life, origin of universe)

17. WHAT OTHER EVIDENCE IS THERE?
How many support areas to our faith are there?
Evidence for the God of the Bible – External:
1. Cohesive Biblical framework (the quality of the claim, OT/NT
agreement)
2. Accuracy of transmission of scriptures
3. Biblical accuracy (historical, archeological, names
(https://youtu.be/r5Ylt1pBMm8))
4. Biblical agreement (and non-contradiction) with science
5. Secular historical attestation (eg. Tacitus - Annals, book 15, chapter
44)
6. Fulfilled prophecy (eg. Daniel 11 – Daniel’s prophecy of empires
(https://bit.ly/2ThlJUz))
7. Miracles (historical)

18. WHAT OTHER EVIDENCE IS THERE?
How many support areas to our faith are there?
Evidence for the God of the Bible – External:
9. Empty tomb
10.Response of the disciples to their claimed experience (martyrdom at
onset)
11.Jesus Christ

19. WHAT OTHER EVIDENCE IS THERE?
How many support areas to our faith are there?
Evidence for the God of the Bible – Internal:
1. Lasting adherence effects (peace, joy, patience, self-control,
etc.)
2. Prophecy (modern)
3. Miracles (personal)
4. Answers to prayer
5. Conversion (personal testimony of experience/journey to
Christ)
6. Celebrity conversions
7. Ongoing interaction (leading, conviction,

20. WHAT OTHER EVIDENCE IS THERE?
How many support areas to our faith are there?
Evidence for the God of the Bible – Amount of Evidence:
1. Evidence from many lines of evidence. What is the likelihood
of an abundance of supporting reasons being all
independently wrong?
Remember: “Evidence” does not mean “proof”, evidence means
something that supports a claim, “supporting evidence”.

21. PREPARATION THROUGH
FOLLOWING
Observe, listen, and prayerfully take the opportunities God
supplies.
1. Observe what God is doing around you.
a. 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
b. God prepares opportunities ahead of time. (Eph. 2:10)
2. Listen to the Holy Spirit’s leading voice.
a. Not everything is your responsibility. (Elisha syndrome 1 Kings
19:10,18)
b. Do not quench the Spirit.
3. Take action with the opportunities you have discerned.
a. Respond with eager trust. (1 Samuel 14:6-7)

22. PREPARATION THROUGH
FOLLOWING
Table Discussion
Share about experiences you’ve had taking opportunities to
share the Gospel.
How did you feel lead?
How did it go?

23. CONCLUSION
Am I prepared to give an answer for the hope I have in Christ?
How does God remind us that we can prepare for this?
1. Acknowledge God’s presence with you in the Holy Spirit.
2. Know your own account of coming to Christ.
3. Be familiar with the other evidence/support that exists for our
faith.
4. Observe, listen, and prayerfully take the opportunities God
supplies.
5. Remember to do this all with gentleness and respect.