Explores advanced principles and best practices of “Relational Evangelism” and provides opportunities and learning experiences needed to develop a cultural competency among Jewish friends that allows for effective sharing of the Gospel. The two greatest objections Jewish people have to believing in Jesus are, first, that belief in Jesus “is not a Jewish thing to believe” and, second, they may feel fearful of the social consequences of becoming a Christian. What is needed is a Jewish frame of reference through which the Gospel can be shared. Through reading select resources, reflection and discussion, students will demonstrate: how the Gospel can be shared from the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible); how to explain key Messianic prophecies; the use of correct terminology that is sensitive to a Jewish hearer; how to discern when a friend’s faith and receptivity may be open to learning new ideas about Jesus; how to share a testimony effectively.
Romans 1:16 says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.” This course addresses the need for students to answer the call to faithfulness in sharing the Gospel with friends who are Jewish. Topics include “relational evangelism,” as well as “cultural competency” and social sensitivity to the particular needs of Jewish people and the objections they may have to believing in Jesus as the Messiah.
at the graduate level students will demonstrate relationship evangelism with their Jewish friends
Key Old Testament prophecies that point to Jesus as the Messiah as well as communicating the Gospel from the Old Testament will be examined.
The starting point for this course is Jesus’ Missional Mandate to His church to preach the Gospel to “Jerusalem and Judea” then “to the ends of the earth” but, as Romans 1:16 states, “First to the Jew.”
Students will develop a uniquely Christ-like model for sharing the Gospel and carry the MU mission, vision and core values into their community’s marketplace of ideas through friendships and purposeful, intentional relationship-building.
Students will discover ways to establish, build and maintain relationships that are godly, meaningful and enriching among Jewish neighbors, co-workers and acquaintances, in order to share the Gospel across cultural boundaries, within a Jewish framework.
Students will prayerfully look for opportunities to meet, befriend, and grow in their relationships with Jewish people as missionally-minded Christians who deeply care about and love their neighbors as they love themselves.
At the undergraduate level students in this course will be introduced to ways they may connect interpersonally with Jewish friends as missional Christians
