140 Characters or Less
“The Church”
1 Peter 3:15; Acts 2:22-24; 42-47

Be ready to give the reason for your faith!

1 Peter 3:15
“…Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have…”

Reason = the motive
	Why Jesus?
	Why the Bible?
	Why the Church?

We need to keep it simple…140 characters or less
	Conversation starters to pique curiosity

Why have I chosen to put my hope in Jesus?
“I believe that Jesus died for my sins and rose from the dead.”

Why do I believe the Bible is so important?
“I believe the Bible is so important because Jesus took it seriously and Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, James and Paul said so.”

Why is the Church the only hope of the world?

Why are people giving up on the Church?
	Disappointed in Christians
	Failed expectations
	Failed leadership
	“Not meeting my needs”
	Boring, impractical, irrelevant 
	Other aspects of life have taken priority

Acts 2:22-24; 42-47

It wasn’t about:
	Church attendance
A spectator event
	Being a consumer
	Being motivated by religious activity

Believers were passionate about:
	Listening and learning to be changed
	Meeting together for affirmation, correction, and motivation
	Remembering and keeping Jesus at the center
	Praying bold prayers
	Helping each other in practical ways
	Praising God together

Faith is developed by the work of the Holy Spirit in the context of community!

Here’s why:
	We were created for relationship
	Sin fragments us to solitary confinement
	Faith is personal, but never merely individual
	Jesus pulls us into community
	Love, grace, hope, and faith can’t exist and won’t develop in isolation
	Listening and learning decays when we isolate ourselves
Being committed to Jesus is becoming part of “a body”

Why is the Church the only hope of the world?
It’s a community of people where I’m affirmed, corrected, and motivated by the love of Jesus to a changed life, which never happens alone.