Organizing your Thoughts with the 4 concepts
Note how the 4 concepts interplay with each other:
Concept 1 surfaces our root problem; concept 2 shows how Jesus takes care of it.
Concept 1 surfaces felt needs, concept 4 shows God;’s promises to meet those needs.
Note how the Holy spirit is involved in all 4. he convinces of sin (1). He reveals the truth about Jesus (2). He engenders faith and prompts repentance (3). He create faith in the promises (4).
Uses of the 4 concepts:
As you get a new insight, you can place it mentally in one of the 4 concepts.
NOTE: other insights may be about the relationship-building necessary before you share
the 4 concepts; others may be about answering objections after you have shared them.
You can use the 4 concepts as a guide for conversations.
Your hope is to them in your own words, appropriate for your conversation partner
These 4 help you understand how Christianity is different from other world religions.
For Hinduism, the “Problem” is your misbehavior in your past reincarnation;
Your response is to do good deeds (page 3); YOU are on page 2.
For Buddhism, the “problem” is you don’t realize you are impermanent. The answer is to
meditate until you get that realization. YOU are on page 2.
Only in Christianity does someone else take your place on page 2.
The 4 help you understand the Christian life. Each day, we cycle through the 4 many times. We realize we have sinned (1); We remember that Jesus has paid for that sin (2). We repent and believe (3). We experience forgiveness (4). Later we start over.
The 4 give us clues for starting a faith conversation. This is explained on the next page.
You can tell which of the 4 you are talking about by your first few words: If you say “You should not” you are saying a page (1) sentence. “You should” would be page (1) or (3). “Jesus has already …” is a page (2). God promises to … is a page(4).
See more on how the four parts work together.
Back to Witness Workshop Themes menu go on to Theme Five