Texas Baptists Evangelism debuts evangelism curriculum for a new generation

“This culture is very much different from your parents’ culture or your grandparents’ culture … And this curriculum is written to engage this culture with evangelism,” said Director of Evangelism Leighton Flowers during his workshop titled “Can I Ask You a Question? Sharing Christ Effectively” at the 2022 Texas Baptists Annual Meeting.

Flowers co-led the workshop with Eric Hernandez, apologetics lead & millennial specialist for Texas Baptists. It centered on the new five-book evangelism curriculum bundle by the same name — available through GC2 Press.

“When you look at how Jesus did ministry a lot of times He asked questions … You don’t necessarily have to have all the right answers; you just have to know how to ask the right questions,” Hernandez said. “The goal of this curriculum is to equip you to do this.”

Equipping believers to share the gospel

Flowers and Hernandez shared three main reasons why people do not share their faith — the first is uncertainty about how to share the gospel.

“This curriculum does start with the basics of how to share the gospel, but it doesn’t stop with the basics,” Flowers said.

Second, people do not share their faith because they fear offending someone.

“In our culture, the desire not to offend is so predominant that people will not speak out about what they believe is true in the Bible,” Flowers said. “But when you say, ‘Can I ask you a question?’ and are willing to listen to their perspective first, you’re moving people into a spiritual conversation without automatically setting them against you.”

“When you ask a pointed question, this allows someone to come to their own conclusion,” Hernandez expanded. “They can ignore anything you say, but they can’t ignore what they have come to find themselves.”

Lastly, people are hesitant to share their faith because they feel ill-equipped to provide an answer to objections.

“We are not the only ones asking questions,” Flowers said. “Many people are turning that back around on us as believers to answer for our faith. How do we answer the tough questions and objections that people have? This curriculum works to identify those objections and equip you to respond to them.”

The curriculum bundle consists of the main handbook, which addresses some of the most common objections by skeptics; two study guide books, one for students and one for facilitators; an answer book, which is written directly to unbelievers to answer important questions; and a set of tracts to help people guide someone through the gospel.

The goal of the curriculum is to equip facilitators in churches lead a group in studying evangelism.

More opportunities for training

Texas Baptists have several upcoming opportunities to receive further instruction in evangelism and apologetics.

A Statewide Evangelism Conference is taking place in San Antonio on Jan. 23, 2023. Here ministers will gather to learn about new evangelism resources available to assist churches to equip their congregation and reach their community with the gospel.

Also, an [Un]Apologetic Evangelism Conference is taking place at First Baptist Church San Marcos on Feb. 25, 2023. This event is meant to equip church staff and members to persuade our generation with the truth of the gospel using apologetic techniques.

To learn more about these events and other Texas Baptists Evangelism resources, visit txb.org/evangelism.