Week 12 – Day 1: The Greatest Invitation – The Gospel
As we wrap up our final week in the series, I want to remind you of something: This isn’t a program. This isn’t something we are doing for a short period of time or even for a season. This is about us becoming the kind of people who naturally do this—who wake up every day thinking about God’s mission—the ministry of reconciliation.
It’s about us becoming people who regularly ask God to use us, open our eyes to see the lost around us. People who regularly ask Him to make divine appointments so that we can share the gospel, and invite others closer to Jesus.
As we wrap up our time together, I want to equip you in two practical ways. Each day this week will highlight one of five essential gospel truths to include when sharing your faith. Alongside that, you’ll also find a brief overview of a gospel-sharing method, with a link to learn how to use it effectively.
Remember, our relational evangelism strategy has 3 phases: 1. Invitation. 2. Witness (sharing your story) 3. Sharing the Gospel. This week’s focus is on that final phase – sharing the Gospel (Good News).
Essential Gospel Truth #1: We were made by God, for God, and we were made to be with God.
God made everything, including us. The Bible says that He created us in His own image (Genesis 1:27). We are not some cosmic accident. We were designed and intentionally formed by a Creator who desired a relationship with us. Adam and Eve walked with God in the garden (Genesis 3:8). It’s a picture of God’s desire and design. We are meant to live in His presence. That’s who God made us to be.
Colossians 1:16 states that “all things have been created through Him and for Him… and by Him all things hold together.” Psalm 100:3 proclaims, “He made us, and we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.” Recognizing that we are created by God, for God, and to live with God is the first foundational piece of sharing the Gospel. When we realize this, we see that our greatest problem is that we can never be truly satisfied with anything less than belonging to God again. Nothing else can mend what’s truly broken inside us. The story of redemption begins with the truth that we belong to God—that we were made to live with Him forever.
Gospel Method #1: The Romans Road
The Romans Road is a straightforward, step-by-step method for sharing the gospel using key verses from the book of Romans to explain humanity’s need for salvation, God’s provision through Jesus Christ, and how to respond in faith. It starts with the declaration that we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). That God demonstrates His love for us through Christ’s death for sinners (Romans 5:8). Then that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:23). Finally, it invites a response of faith—confessing Jesus as Lord and believing that God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9–10).
Here’s a quick video explaining how to use this method to share the gospel.
Prayer: Father, thank you for creating me. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for setting me apart for the ministry of reconciliation. Help me learn how to confidently share the gospel and give me opportunities to do so. Amen.
Reflection:
1. When you think about being created by God, for God, and to be with God, how does that truth shape your sense of identity and purpose? How might that understanding change the way you invite others to know their Creator?(MULTILINE)
2. The Romans Road starts with the truth that everyone has sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. How does recognizing our shared need for grace make you more compassionate toward people who don’t yet know Jesus? In what ways can that compassion motivate you to invite them into a relationship with Him?(MULTILINE)
3. Since God created us to live in His presence, why do you think so many people still search for meaning elsewhere? How could you lovingly point someone in your life back to the truth that only belonging to God can bring lasting satisfaction?(MULTILINE)
Application:
Recognize today that you were made by God, for God, and to be with God—and that others were too. As you go about your day, intentionally start one conversation that helps someone else take a step toward knowing their Creator. Invite them to consider that life’s deepest fulfillment is found only in a relationship with Him.
Week 12 – Day 2: The Greatest Invitation – The Gospel
Essential Gospel Truth #2: We have all sinned against God, and because He is perfect, we can no longer dwell in His presence.
Sin has damaged our relationship with God. It is more than just mistakes or bad choices; it’s rebellion against the God who created us and has the right to rule over us. The Bible makes this clear: we have all done this (Romans 3:23). From the very first act of disobedience—Adam and Eve’s sin in the garden—mankind has been separated from God (Genesis 3). God is Holy, perfect, and cannot have anyone in His relational presence who doesn’t meet His standard. As Isaiah 59:2 says, “But your iniquities are separating you from your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not listen.”
And it gets worse. Because we are separated from God, we no longer have access to His eternal life—we are destined to die. That’s why Romans 6:23 states, “the wages of sin is death.” If we can’t dwell in God’s presence, we can’t have His eternal life. This is terrible news. But it’s necessary to set the stage for restoring this broken relationship.
Gospel Method #2: The Four Spiritual Laws
The Four Spiritual Laws is a simple, clear framework for sharing the gospel that presents the essentials of the Christian faith in a logical, easy-to-understand way. It outlines four key truths: first, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life; second, humanity is separated from God because of sin; third, Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for our sin, and by trusting Him, we can be reconciled to God; and fourth, we must individually receive Jesus as Savior and Lord through faith. This approach encourages open conversations, highlighting both the struggle with sin and the hopeful message found in Christ. It gently emphasizes that each person has a personal choice to follow Him. It’s a popular method because it’s friendly, flexible, and centers on the powerful, life-changing message of the gospel.
Here is a video from Got Questions explaining the 4 Spiritual Laws.
This method has recently been updated and has become known simply as The Four: 1. God loves you. (God loves you unconditionally. He knows you and wants to be close to you He wants the best for you and offers you a fulfilled life that goes beyond death.) 2. We live apart from God (By nature, we do not ask about God. We mistrust Him and go our own ways: that is what the Bible calls sin. Sin separates us forever from God and the life He has in store for us.) 3. Jesus gave everything for us. (God’s son, Jesus Christ, took our place on the cross, taking the consequences of sin upon Himself. He died, but rose from the dead. In doing so, He bridged the separation between ourselves and God.) 4. Will you choose to follow Jesus? (Jesus has restored the relationship between us and God. We can choose to live with God by accepting this gift through faith and by trusting Him. Would you like to do that today?)
Here is a short video explaining how to share the Four.
Prayer: Father, thank you for loving me unconditionally. Jesus, thank you dying the death I deserve and for bridging the gap that sin created. Help me live for you and tell others about you. Here I am. Send me. Amen.
Reflection:
1. Read Romans 3:23 and Isaiah 59:2. How does understanding that all of us are separated from God because of sin affect the way you view people who don’t know Him yet? How can this motivate you to invite them into a relationship with Jesus?(MULTILINE)
2. Consider the consequences of sin (Romans 6:23). How does this truth make the gift of salvation through Jesus feel more urgent? Who in your life needs to hear this invitation today?(MULTILINE)
3. The Four Spiritual Laws emphasize personal choice in accepting Christ. How can you help someone see that they have a real opportunity to restore their relationship with God? How might you extend that invitation in a loving, relational way?(MULTILINE)
Application:
Today, identify one person in your life who hasn’t experienced a restored relationship with God. Pray for them and then take a step to invite them into that relationship—whether through conversation, sharing your story, or walking them through the Four Spiritual Laws. Make it clear that this invitation is personal, relational, and life-changing.
Week 12 – Day 3: The Greatest Invitation – The Gospel
Essential Gospel Truth #3: There is nothing we can do to fix what our sin has broken and meet God’s standard of righteousness.
God is not just good. He is Holy, Holy, Holy. He is perfect, perfect, perfect. That means that no amount of work on our part can fix what our sin has broken. There is nothing we can do to make ourselves perfect – to make ourselves acceptable to God again. Isaiah 64:6 (NIV) says that “all of our righteous acts are like filthy rags” to God. There is literally nothing we can do to please God and make ourselves acceptable to Him and His standard of righteousness. That’s what Paul means when he writes in Romans 3:10 that “there is no one righteous, not even one.”
The only way for us to be made right with God is if God Himself provides a solution. This is the core of the gospel story. From the moment sin entered the world through Adam and Eve, a promise was also made: God would do something to fix this. He would send someone to crush the head of the serpent and undo all that sin had brought about. As we read through the Bible, we learn that this person will be a substitute for us—the lamb of God whose blood will be shed so our sins can be atoned for.
Gospel Method #3: One-Verse Evangelism
One Verse Evangelism is a way of sharing the gospel that focuses on a single, carefully chosen Scripture verse to communicate the main truth of God’s plan of salvation. By centering a conversation around one clear verse—often something like John 3:16 or Romans 3:23—this method makes the gospel easy to access, remember, and understand. It helps the listener see both the reality of sin and God’s solution in Christ without feeling overwhelmed by many passages, creating a natural starting point for spiritual talks and personal reflection. The approach is especially useful for starting conversations, planting seeds of faith, and helping people remember God’s truth in their daily lives.
Here is a short video from Cru explaining how to use one verse evangelism.
Prayer: Father, thank you for doing for me what I couldn’t do for myself. Thank you for sending Jesus to save me. Jesus, thank you for dying for me. Thank you for saving me and making me a child of God. Use me now to tell others how they can put their faith in you too. Amen.
Reflection:
1. Why is it important for people to understand that they can’t earn their way to God? How does this truth make the message of grace even more powerful when you invite someone to trust Jesus?(MULTILINE)
2. Think about your own story. When did you first realize you couldn’t fix yourself or make yourself “good enough” for God? How could sharing that moment help someone else understand their need for a Savior?(MULTILINE)
3. One Verse Evangelism uses a single verse to explain the gospel. Which verse would you choose to share with someone, and how could you use it to invite them into a conversation about faith?(MULTILINE)
Application:
Today, look for a natural opportunity to bring up one verse that clearly points to Jesus—something as simple as John 3:16 or Romans 6:23. Use that verse to start a short, genuine conversation about God’s grace, helping someone see that only Jesus can make them right with God.
Week 12 – Day 4: The Greatest Invitation – The Gospel
Essential Gospel Truth #4: God loves us so much that He sent Jesus to be our substitute: to live the perfect life we couldn’t and to pay the penalty for our sins by dying on the cross.
If you want to understand how God feels about you, just look to Jesus. The love of God isn’t some abstract or distant idea; it’s personal. Romans 5:8 states, “But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” This is the Good News! Because we can’t meet God’s perfect standard on our own, He sent His one and only Son to be our substitute. Jesus lived a sinless life (1 Peter 2:22) and perfectly fulfilled the righteous requirements of God’s law on our behalf.
When Jesus died on the cross, He paid the penalty for our sins, fully satisfying God’s justice and opening the way for us to be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:21). As the prophet Isaiah said, “He was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds.” Jesus took our place. He bore the punishment we deserve for our sins and, instead, offered us God’s free gift—forgiveness and eternal life.
Gospel Method #4: Three Circles Method
The Three Circles method is a gospel-sharing tool that uses a simple visual diagram of three overlapping circles to explain God’s plan for our lives. Each circle represents a key truth: one shows God’s design for life, another highlights the reality of human brokenness and sin, and the third reveals the hope and restoration found in Jesus Christ. By illustrating how sin separates us from God’s design and how Jesus bridges that gap, this method helps people understand both the problem and God’s solution in a clear way. It’s especially effective in one-on-one conversations, small groups, or even casual settings because the visual makes the gospel easy to understand and encourages personal reflection and decision.
Here’s a short video on how to use the Three Circles method.
The North American Mission Board has made this easy by creating an app called Life On Mission that guides you through this presentation on your phone. You can download it from the Apple Store here or Android here.
Prayer: God, thank you for loving me so much that you sent Jesus to die in my place. Jesus, thank you for being my substitute. Without you, I’m nothing. You died for me. I want to live for you. Help me do that. Help me live for your mission. Put people in my path who need to know about you. Use me, oh God, to bring others to life! Amen.
Reflection:
1. How does understanding that Jesus took your place deepen your gratitude for what He’s done? How might that truth motivate you to invite others into this same grace?(MULTILINE)
2. Think about someone you know who still believes they need to “be good enough” to earn God’s favor. How could you use the Three Circles method to help them see that Jesus already did the work for them?(MULTILINE)
3. The cross shows both the seriousness of sin and the depth of God’s love. How can remembering that balance shape the way you talk about Jesus with others?(MULTILINE)
Application:
Download the Life on Mission app today and explore the Three Circles tool. Then ask God to show you one person you can share it with—whether by walking through it together, showing them the app, or simply using it to guide a gospel conversation. Let this be a practical step toward inviting someone to experience the love of Jesus for themselves.
Week 12 – Day 5: The Greatest Invitation – The Gospel
Essential Gospel Truth #5: To be reconciled to God and become His child, you must personally receive Jesus and trust Him as your Savior.
The Bible is clear—Jesus is God’s gift to the world. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” That means God’s gift of salvation is personal. It’s not automatic. It can’t be inherited or earned. Like all gifts, it must be received.
And here’s the good news – it’s available to anyone who believes. Romans 10:13 says, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” But that act of calling on the Lord in faith must be done personally. No one else can do it for us. We each must accept Jesus as God’s gift of salvation.
Ephesians 2:8-9 states, “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— not from works, so that no one can boast.” Romans 10:9-10 explains how this occurs. It says, “If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.”
Receiving Jesus means that we personally trust in Him instead of ourselves. It involves everything we’ve discussed so far. We realize we’ve sinned and can’t fix the separation caused by our sin. On our own, we’ll never meet God’s standard of righteousness. So, we confess our sins to God, cry out to Jesus, and ask Him to save us – and guess what? He does! In that moment, through faith, we become children of God. God removes all our sin once and for all, and He deposits (imputes) all of Jesus’s righteousness into our spiritual account, so when God looks at us, He sees the perfect record of His one and only Son.
Gospel Method #5: Two Ways to Live
Two Ways to Live is a more comprehensive gospel presentation that walks through the overarching story of the Bible and the choice every person faces in response to it. Unlike simpler tools, it provides a fuller theological framework by beginning with God as the loving Creator and ruler of all, showing humanity’s rebellion and sin, explaining Jesus’ death and resurrection as the only way to restore our relationship with God, and concluding with the two possible responses—continuing in rebellion or submitting to Jesus as Lord. While it’s slightly more complex than other methods, its strength lies in how it connects the entire biblical narrative to the gospel message, helping people understand not just what Jesus did, but why it was necessary and what it means to follow Him.
Here’s a video of how to draw and use the Two Ways to Live method.
Prayer: God, make me this kind of person—a person who longs to share your life with others. I don’t want this to be just a program or a phase; I want it to become part of who I am. Please use me in this ministry of reconciliation. Amen.
Reflection:
1. How does understanding that God gave His Son for everyone change the way you view the people around you who don’t yet know Jesus?(MULTILINE)
2. How can your personal story of trusting Jesus be used to help someone else take that step of faith?(MULTILINE)
3. Knowing that salvation is a gift and not earned, how can you encourage others to experience that same grace instead of relying on their own efforts?(MULTILINE)
Application:
Watch the Two Ways to Live video and practice walking through the method yourself. Then ask God to bring someone to mind who needs to hear the gospel. When the opportunity arises, share what you’ve learned with a friend—using your story and the method to clearly explain the Good News of Jesus and invite them to respond personally.