A thought: Bible references are essential for mission and evangelism

As Lutherans we seem to have had and still have a lot to say.
In our current climate some of this written material is very helpful, some not so helpful.
Recently when I considered this I realised that the material I am finding more helpful in engaging others is material that have clear references to scripture, and the material I am often questioning or is not so helpful in engaging with others is where there are few scripture references or the references aren't that clear or well explained.
Why?
Put simply church material without clear scripture references is seen as nothing more than personal opinion by others for a particular place and time.

And as a church that says we live by God's Word surely, what we say should be supported by God's Word.....

A Lutheran theses on Evangelism

A Lutheran Theology of Evangelism, Some Theses (Hope Lutheran Church Aurora CO)

It a common misconception that "Lutherans don't do Evangelism". This is not true. What is true is that when Lutheran go about the business of evangelism, they often abandon their Lutheran doctrine. These theses are an attempt to begin with our Lutheran theology and paint a picture of what Evangelism is and is not. Your feed back is welcome. -Pastor Wolfmueller

1. The Scriptures rightly understood give all glory to God and all comfort to terrified consciences. False doctrine does the opposite, either taking glory from God or comfort from the conscience, or both.
2. Natural man is blind, dead, and an enemy of God (Anthropology, Original Sin), and therefore cannot cooperate with God in conversion. It must be stated plainly that the will of man plays no part in conversion. Therefore all attempts to induce an emotional response for God (and other such revival shenanigans) will be carefully avoided. Never would an unbeliever be told that he must “accept Jesus” or “receive Him” or “open his heart” or “pray a prayer.” Such things are impossible. Any discussion of evangelism that speaks or implies man's cooperation takes glory from God and robs consciences of comfort.
3. Morover, A natural man is hostile to God (Original Sin again). Therefore the Lutheran church expects persecution of the Lord's Word and His people.
4. God alone redeems, justifies and converts sinful man (Monergism). Because conversion is God's work, we should pay attention to how He does it (rather than making stuff up).
5. The Holy Spirit creates faith (Sanctification in the broad sense, the Third Article of the Creed). The Lutheran Church therefore lives in the confidence of faith, knowing that the coming of the Lord's kingdom depends not on her own efforts, but on the free work of the Holy Spirit. The evangelism efforts of the Lord's church begin with prayer to God who desires all to be saved, and trusts that He hears and answers this prayer.
6. And more, the Holy Spirit creates faith “when and where it pleases Him”, not when it pleases us. This means, among other things, that it is impossible to judge mission faithfulness through numbers.
7. The Holy Spirit uses means to convert man (what we often call “the means of grace”, but what our confessions call “the means of the Spirit”). The means of the Spirit is the word of God, through which He shows our sin (Law) and promises forgiveness (Gospel). There are no other means of the Spirit, there are therefore no other means of evangelism.
8. Correspondingly, repentance embraces two parts: contrition and faith. Both contrition and faith are the works of the Holy Spirit, meaning that man is passive in this work of the Holy Spirit. (“Repent” is a command kept only by the work of the Holy Spirit.) The distinction between law and Gospel is at the heart of everything the church does, says, etc. We can judge mission faithfulness on the Gospel rightly preached and the sacrament rightly administered. Any wrongly divided law and Gospel is not properly the work of Evangelism.
9. Furthermore, the proper distinction between law and Gospel is a personal and individual distinction. As Luther taught us, the Law is for the proud and puffed-up, the Gospel for the despairing. This means that evangelism cannot be programmatic or scripted, but that the conversation between the church and the unbeliever will include listening and an attempt to discern the condition of the person to apply the proper word of God at the proper time.
10. Even furthermore, this means that “Evangelism Training” will be nothing more than continued study and meditation on the proper distinction between law and Gospel.
11. The Word of God, being the means of the Holy Spirit in creating faith in the heart of sinful man, is effective. It is a false and dangerous tendency to treat the Word of God as mere information that only has benefit when accepted and acted upon (as is the case with American Evangelicalism). The Gospel is the authoritative declaration of sins forgiven (Absolution). In fact, the central act of Evangelism is not asking the unbeliever to come to Jesus, but rather, in the name of Jesus, forgiving their sins. Evangelism is the Church speaking the Absolution to the World.
12. Through the Sacraments, as through the Word, the Holy Spirit creates and sustains faith. The Lutheran Church therefore recognizes the central role of baptism in the evangelism of the world. It is impossible to talk about evangelism Biblically without speaking about the Lord's gift of baptism.
13. The means of grace are resistible. Therefore the Church expects rejection. Furthermore, the Lutheran church resists the temptation to look for “more efficient means” of evangelism, as if we could find something less resistible than the divinely appointed means.
14. A Christian is still a sinner in need of the Lord's mercy. Therefore the church, knowing her own sin and the superabundant grace of God, gladly welcomes sinners into her midst to hear of the Lord's love and mercy. A church/congregation without this hospitality has lost her first love.

Open Bible Info: Internet information about the bible and what's in it.

OPEN BIBLE INFO
offers a range of information including
Locations mentioned in the Bible....mapped using Google maps
A Bible atlas including photos
over 10000 photos of places referred to in the bible
Topical Bible search
Real Time Bible search; what people are saying about whats in the bible on Twitter and Facebook
LAB: Book Browser, Word Locators, Flicr photo links, Bible Sentence paths, popularity of various bible versions based on internet use, personality profiles of English bible translations,
bible cross referencing

Visit Open Bible at www.openbible.info/

Text to ponder: Acts 4:33

Sharing the Good News also has a positive effect on us.....
There is a saying amongst teachers/trainers if you want to know more about something then teach it.
Read Acts 4:33
NIV says: With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.
TNIV says: With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all.
ESV says: And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.
NET Bible says: With 1great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was on them all.
NRSV says: With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.

In short as we share Good's Great News God's grace comes on us...
Why do you think this is so?
What do you think it means?

Surely this is a fantastic reminder that sharing God's Good News is not only a way for others to experience God's grace, but also ourselves as we share it.
What do you think?

Complete Bible Overview: Enter the Bible

At enter the Bible you’ll find a wealth of resources to help you grow in your faith, add depth to your Bible studies and truly discover the people, places and events of the Bible. Think of Enter the Bible as your guide, a helpful reference tool to accompany you in your reading of the Bible.

For each book of the bible there is:

• a summary
• an outline
• background information
• Theological themes
• Introductory Issues
• Resources relating to specific passages
• Further information on people mentioned in that book
• Further information on places mentioned in that book
• Images
• Maps
• Videos

There is also a time line overview and a study program

Visit www.enterthebible.org