Welcome to the Jesus Is Lord series, a course offered for adults at St. William Catholic Church in Round Rock, Texas.
If this is your first time visiting this series, I encourage you to take a few moments and read through the series introduction that will give a clear picture of the purpose and content of the Jesus Is Lord course. The introduction post not only outlines the course, but goes over the motivation to share in this class on the internet.
Last week’s class was the Prayer Session: Growth. If you would prefer to watch this class, please scroll to the bottom. Keep in mind the recorded classes are not from our current class and can contain testimonies from different people than presented in the text below. Check back next week for the sixth installment which will cover Jesus is Lord of my Time.
TEACHING & SCRIPTURE
With the Year of Faith coming to a close, we at St. William are moving into an era of the New Evangelization. What does that mean and what does that look like for our parish?
The class , Jesus is Lord of My Talent has been revised to fit the New Evangelization.
Noe asked
What is talent?
Attendees responded with
- gifts,
- skill,
- abilities,
- charisms,
- how we share with others what has been given to us.
A Catholic dictionary says talent is currency that we have to build the Kingdom.
When we serve the poor, we are serving the Kingdom. Many people at St. William are already serving the Kingdom. We will focus on allowing Jesus to be the Lord of how {we use our talent when} we serve the Kingdom.
1Cor10:31-33
So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.
Avoid giving offense, whether to Jews or Greeks or the church of God,
just as I try to please everyone in every way, not seeking my own benefit but that of the many, that they may be saved.
If I’m giving, the objective is to someway, somehow bring the Lord into how I serve. I can help others have an encounter with Jesus even while I am serving them.
Tonight, we’re going to help each one of us to learn how to serve – or serve better – become a better tool for Jesus Christ.
Matthew 13:45-46
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls.
When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.
Two weeks ago {at the prayer session}, we asked the Spirit to stir our souls and we bought the pearl. And the pearl is Jesus. We don’t want to give God good stuff…we want to give Him our best.
What is our best?
Jesus.
We don’t just want to help give someone groceries…we want to give them Jesus, too.
EXAMPLE. The laity can use everyday situations to bring Jesus to others. That’s how we go from Maintenance to Mission. That’s how we go from the Year of Faith to the New Evangelization.
Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
We now have the power to talk about Jesus. Noe mentions an example of giving people homework. They were asked to talk about Jesus to three people. This did not come easy for some. A large percentage of people had a hard time doing this homework. However, whenever we proclaim the Kerygma to others, we have to have a plan for prayer. At this point in the class, we have all the tools necessary to talk to others.
EXAMPLE. A young man came to Noe – he was a drug dealer and worn down by his life. Instead of sharing Jesus with the man, Noe simply told him to go to Mass. Even though there was nothing wrong with what he said, the point is that he misread what the man needed to hear at that moment. From that moment, Noe decided to share who Jesus is with others by witnessing. Just witness, no teaching.
Next we will look at Pope Paul VI’s encyclical, Evangelii Nuntiandi, 1975
22 – There is no true evangelization if the name, the teaching, the life, the promises, the kingdom and the mystery of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God are not proclaimed.
25 – In the message which the Church proclaims there are certainly many secondary elements. Their presentation depends greatly on changing circumstances. They themselves also change. But there is the essential content, the living substance, which cannot be modified or ignored without seriously diluting the nature of evangelization itself.
24 – Finally, the person who has been evangelized goes on to evangelize others. Here lies the test of truth, the touchstone of evangelization: it is unthinkable that a person should accept the Word and give himself to the kingdom without becoming a person who bears witness to it and proclaims it in his turn.
41 – “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.”
75 – Evangelization will never be possible without the action of the Holy Spirit…It is the Holy Spirit who, today just as at the beginning of the Church, acts in every evangelizer who allows himself to be possessed and led by Him. The Holy Spirit places on his lips the words which he could not find by himself, and at the same time the Holy Spirit predisposes the soul of the hearer to be open and receptive to the Good News and to the kingdom being proclaimed.
You don’t need convincing or persuasive arguments to bring others to Jesus. You just need to witness and the best way to witness is to share your testimony. People can’t argue with your testimony. Doctrine, people can argue. Testimony, they can’t argue. And it’s personal. You aren’t telling people to do things…you are telling people what Jesus has done for you.
TESTIMONY
Different emphasis:
- “How the Jesus Is Lord course helped me.”
- “My experience of the Love of God” or “How experiencing the Love of God started a change in my life”
- “How Jesus changed my life”
- The difference the Prayer Session made in my life.”
- “A moment of repentance in my life.”
- “How the community helped me to grow spiritually.”
EXAMPLES
Before
1) Before Jesus Is Lord
How was your life:
–your relationship with God
-Family life
What happened
How did you end up at JIL?
How did you feel?
What did the Lord do?
How did you respond?
Changes:
–your relationship with God
–your personal life
–in your family
2) Before I experienced the Love of God:
–I viewed God with fear
–I didn’t trust God
–I was depressed
What happened?
Where?
What did God do?
How did you feel?
Changes:
–Do you still fear God?
–Has your relationship with God changed?
–Are you still depressed?
3) Before I surrendered to Jesus:
–religion was a drag
–I was confused about my faith with others?
What happened?
How did you feel?
What did the Lord do?
How did you respond?
Changes:
–Is religion still a drag?
–Are you still confused?
–Has it helped your relationship?
4) Before I experienced the stirring of the Holy Spirit:
–embarrassed about my faith
–I lacked power in my spiritual
life
What happened?
What did you think?
What did the Lord do?
How did you respond?
Changes:
–Prayer life
–Do you find it easier to witness?
–I can do things for the Lord that I couldn’t do before
5) What was going on in your life before the moment of repentance?
Did you go to confession?
What happened to help you get to that moment?
Changes:
–Experience the mercy of God
–More peaceful
6) Simply tell of an incident in which the community helped you to persevere or grow in your spiritual life.
SMALL GROUP
QUESTIONS
1. Please share your experience of the prayer session. {take time for members to remember}
2. Is there anything about tonight’s talk that you would like to discuss?
3. How do you feel about sharing your testimony?
- HOMEWORK
Topical Bible Study_Testimony homework
SUMMARY
Homework is to be done daily – reflect on Scripture and Jesus Is Lord of My Time through the week. If you are in a group, pair up two or three and commit to pray daily for your prayer partner. Small groups come together for a few minutes of question and answer in the large group. If you have any questions, please leave a comment in the combox below so that we can help in any way possible.
CONCLUSION
Prayer of Abandonment
Father,
I abandon myself into Your hands;
do with me what You will.
Whatever You may do, I thank You:
I am ready for all, I accept all.
Let only Your will be done in me,
and in all Your creatures –
I wish no more than this, O Lord.
Into Your hands I commend my soul:
I offer it to You with all the love of my heart,
for I love You, Lord, and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into Your hands without reserve,
and with boundless confidence,
for You are my Father.
Charles de Foucauld
OPTIONS: To view the class from a previously recorded semester, click on the video below.
