2 ENGAGE

Ninety-nine or One?

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit . . .”
MATTHEW 28:19

The first step in the discipleship process is to engage your culture

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and community.

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When Jesus told His disciples to go and make disciples of all nations,

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none of them thought He meant for them to gather up all those who

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already followed Jesus and help them do it better. They were under

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no illusion that they could obey Jesus’ command without actively

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engaging the lost.

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HOW TO ENGAGE CULTURE AND COMMUNITY
In Luke 15, Jesus tells three parables which help us understand what it
looks like to engage the lost. In order to effectively engage the lost, we

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must understand four key concepts:

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1. Be a friend of

1
.
(1)

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing

near to hear him. 2And the Pharisees and the scribes
grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats
with them.”
LUKE 15:1,2

Setting up the context for the parables, Luke describes

a situation that occurred rather frequently in Jesus’ life and
ministry: Jesus was found spending time with religious outsiders—
 tax collectors, prostitutes, Samaritans, and lepers. This intentional
engagement with lost people earned Him the pejorative label
“friend of sinners”.

“The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and

you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a
friend of tax collectors and sinners!’”
LUKE 7:34

2. Leave the .
(2)

3
So he told them this parable: 4”What man of you,

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having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them,

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does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and
go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5And when

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he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

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And when he comes home, he calls together his friends

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and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for

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I have found my sheep that was lost.’”

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LUKE 15:3-6

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Engaging the lost usually involves moving out of our comfort
zones. Why? Because lost people generally don’t hang out in
the same places that Christians do. Hoping that unbelievers will

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randomly walk into our church is naive and lazy.

Jesus gave the greatest demonstration of engaging culture and

community when He left the streets of gold in heaven to walk the
dirt roads of the Roman Empire. Showing up on earth was just the
beginning. While here, He was the expert at engaging all types of
cultures and communities that were traditionally disenfranchised
by the religious elite.

3. Don’t quit (3)

the lost are found.

“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has

lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the

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 open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he
finds it?”
LUKE 15:4

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”Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses
one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house
and seek diligently until she finds it? 9And when
she has found it, she calls together her friends and
neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the
coin that I had lost.’”
LUKE 15:8,9

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Just like the shepherd who went out and searched for the lost

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sheep until he found it, and just like the woman who searched her
house until she found the lost coin, so we should persistently pray

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for and engage the lost until they are found in Christ. This often

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involves building long-term relational bridges with lost people.

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4. Celebrate the lost being .
(4)

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5
”And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders,

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rejoicing. 6And when he comes home, he calls together
his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice
with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’”

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”And when she has found it, she calls together her
friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for
LUKE 15:5,6

I have found the coin that I had lost.’ 10Just so, I

tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one
sinner who repents.”
LUKE 15:9,10

”And he arose and came to his father. But while he

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was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt
compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed
him. . . . 23And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let

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 us eat and celebrate. 24For this my son was dead, and
is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they
began to celebrate.”
LUKE 15:20,23,24

All three parables have this in common—there is great rejoicing

when the lost are found.

The parable of the lost son gives us the fullest insight into how
our Father responds when sinners repent. He throws a party. Do
we respond like our Father when lost sons and daughters come
home or do we respond like the self-righteous elder brother?

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Engaging culture and community will result in the lost being found

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as the gospel is preached.

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HOW TO PREACH THE GOSPEL

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Because people are valuable to God, we must boldly, intentionally,

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and strategically engage our culture and community, in order to have

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an opportunity to preach the gospel.

1.
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a conversation.
(5)
THE SALT PRINCIPLE

Start a conversation.

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Ask questions.

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Preaching the gospel begins by Listen.
starting a conversation and getting Tell the story.
to know someone who doesn’t know (Reference: TheGODTest
Jesus yet. training manual)

2. (6)
questions.

Ask questions about the person that lead to spiritual matters, in

an effort to help inch him or her closer towards God.

3. .
(7)

Listen sincerely and respectfully to the answers.

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4. (8)
the story.

Ultimately, the goal of the asking and listening is to give the good
news of the gospel. Do this by sharing your two-minute miracle
and giving a simple and clear presentation of the gospel.

Your Two-Minute Miracle

Your two-minute miracle, or your testimony, is your personal,
irrefutable account of what Jesus has done for you and how He has
changed your life. It is a verbal declaration of what you have seen,
heard, and experienced. Jesus will use your testimony to make an

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impact on others. Though people can argue about doctrines or
teachings, no one can argue with a changed life.

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38

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The man from whom the demons had gone begged

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that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away,

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saying, 39”Return to your home, and declare how much

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throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done

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for him.

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LUKE 8:38,39

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A GOOD TESTIMONY

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• is biblically accurate
• provides concrete examples of change
• is simple
• avoids Christian jargon
• leads to an easy way for people to respond

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Three Parts of Your Two-Minute Miracle

1. (9)
Christ

What beliefs, actions, and sins characterized your old life? What
were their consequences?
• Briefly describe your life before Christ.
• Be discreet and don’t bring glory to your old life.

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2.

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Christ

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What truths and circumstances brought you to the point of
making Jesus your Lord? How did you respond?

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• Carefully explain how you came to the point of

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submitting your life to Christ.
• Be specific and paint the picture of how you responded
and what repentance looked like.

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3. (11)
Christ

How did God’s love and leadership change your life, and how is it
continually changing you?
• Joyfully describe your life since Jesus became Lord.
• Give practical and specific examples of ongoing benefits
of following Christ (i.e. forgiveness, new life purpose,
victory, etc.).
• Take more time to explain how your life has changed
since you surrendered to Christ.

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S T E S

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Two-Verse Evangelism
Here is one tool for preaching the gospel. You may also use other

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tools, such as the first chapter of ONE 2 ONE. Whichever tool you use,
the goal is to clearly paint a picture of God’s plan for salvation and
redemption, and how we can respond to it.

. . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory

of God . . .
ROMANS 3:23

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
ROMANS 6:23

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1. All have sinned

Everyone has sinned. Sin is any act of disobedience or rebellion

against God and, the truth is, not a single person on earth has
perfectly obeyed God’s commandments. We all fall short of God’s
glorious standard. Because we’ve compiled a long record of sins,
we are utterly incapable of saving ourselves from sin.

2. The wages of sin is death

Since we’ve all sinned, we are sinners, and we have been

separated from God, who is holy and righteous. No matter how

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inconsequential or huge we think our sin is, because of it, we
deserve death and are disqualified from even being in God’s

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presence. Those who refuse to know and believe in God will be

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separated eternally from God’s presence in a place called hell.

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3. God gives the free gift of eternal life

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The good news is salvation is a free gift from God! Our good works

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or religious deeds cannot ever give us eternal life. Otherwise,
people will be boasting in heaven on how they got there through
their righteous acts (Ephesians 2:8,9). The truth is, we can only

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go to heaven because of what God has done for us—and it is
the free gift of eternal life. Eternal life starts by knowing God and
having a personal relationship with Him (John 17:3).

4. In Christ Jesus our Lord

Salvation is found in Christ alone because it was Jesus who died

on the cross for our sins. He took our place on the cross, when we
should have died for our own sins. He died, was buried, and rose
from the dead on the third day to set us right with God. So if you
confess with your mouth that “Jesus is Lord and Master” of your
life, and in your heart you have faith that God raised him from the
dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9).

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 WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?

“The gospel is the good news that God became man in Jesus
Christ. He lived the life we should have lived and died the death
we should have died—in our place. Three days later He rose
from the dead, proving He is the Son of God and offering the gift
of salvation and forgiveness of sins to anyone who repents and
believes in Him.”
—Dr. Rice Broocks

SUMMARY

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Because people are valuable to God, we must intentionally and

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strategically engage our culture and community with the gospel.

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This can start with your two-minute miracle. As we engage, we are

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choosing to be like Christ—leaving the ninety-nine and going after

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the one.

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For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power

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of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the
Jew first and also to the Greek.

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ROMANS 1:16

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

• What is the best engage attempt you’ve ever seen? What is

the worst engage attempt you’ve ever seen?
• Would anyone accuse you of being a friend of sinners? Why or
why not?
• How are you actively and intentionally engaging your culture
and community?
• What’s your two-minute miracle? To whom can you preach
the gospel?

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 DY
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KEY VERSES............Luke 15:1-7 • 1 Corinthians 9:22

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GOAL..........................Preach the Gospel
ENVIRONMENT.......Victory Groups • Weekend Services
Engage Events
TOOL..........................ONE 2 ONE

ONE 2 ONE is a seven-lesson personal discipleship guide to help

facilitate conversations to jumpstart someone’s walk with God. It
is a tool to engage people, communicate the gospel to them, and
help them follow Jesus. The goal of going through ONE 2 ONE with
someone is not to finish the booklet—it’s to help them know and walk
with God.

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