Lesson video

Hi everyone, and welcome to today's lesson on Christian practises.

My name is Ms Day and it is great to see you for today's lesson.

So today we're going to look at service and evangelism within Christianity.

So what is service and what is evangelism, and how do Christians carry them out? So what do you need for today's lesson? Please could you go and get a pen or a pencil, and some paper and a different-colored pen.

You can pause the video here and go to get these things and then press resume when you come back.

So what will we be learning about in today's lesson? So firstly, we need to look at the definitions of service and evangelism.

So what do these words mean? Then we will look at service in the local community, and finally, we will look at evangelism in the local community and around the world.

So let's think about what these words mean.

So service and evangelism.

I wonder if you want to pause the video for a few minutes and have a go at coming up with your own definition.

I would suggest that you might be able to work out service easier than evangelism.

So have a think if someone is in service to you, or does something in service or as a service, what does that mean? If someone provides a service, what does that mean? I wonder what you came up with.

Let's have a little look at the definitions now.

So service is the action of helping someone.

So very simple, if you serve someone, you help them.

You might have heard of waiters or waitresses serving you.

That means they are bringing you food, that means they are helping you.

So service is the action of helping someone.

Evangelism, is spreading the Christian message by public preaching or personal witness.

So what does that mean? So spreading the Christian message, that means telling other people about Jesus, about his crucifixion, about his resurrection, about what he has done.

So there are two different ways that Christians do this.

One is public preaching and the other is personal witness.

So public preaching is literally preaching about Jesus.

So standing up in front of people and delivering a talk to tell them who Jesus is, usually this is from the Bible.

So this is an example that churches usually use.

They will do a lot of public preaching.

But personal witness, is also used by Christians.

And this just means someone telling their friends about what Jesus has done.

This means them sitting in a coffee shop, chatting to their friends about their faith.

That is personal witness.

They don't have to deliver a sermon or a talk.

It's just them describing who Jesus is to them.

So let's think about service.

So can you remember the definition of service? Go, well done, so the action of helping someone or helping others.

So let's think about how that might look.

So why do Christians serve others? Let's start there.

So why do they do this? Because they believe in Jesus, we know that, but why do they think it's necessary to help others? If you take a look at this verse, that might help you understand this.

So these are the words of Jesus.

And Jesus says, "Love your neighbour as you love yourself." So he commands people to love others.

And Christians would also say that we see that the whole way through Jesus's life, that he leads a life that loves others all the time.

He always puts other people before himself.

And I want you to notice that this verse is quite striking.

It doesn't just say, love your neighbour or be nice to those around you, it says, love your neighbour as you love yourself.

I don't know about you, but I'm probably quite selfish.

So I want to make sure that I am okay a lot of the time.

And even if you don't realise that, you probably still do it.

Because we prioritise ourselves.

But Jesus is saying here, love others like you love yourself.

So treat other people like you love yourself.

So put others in front of yourself.

That's a big command, okay? And it's quite difficult, but this is what Jesus asks Christians to do.

So how do Christians do this? We're going to look at two examples of how they serve others.

So firstly, they do this in the local community through food banks.

And you might have heard more about food banks recently because during the pandemic of COVID-19, food banks have become really important, because lots of people in society, can't buy food in the way they used to.

If people have lost their jobs, then they need help to get food.

So food banks are so important in society because they offer people that food.

So they will have warehouses, they'll have stores where they keep lots of supplies and then they bring it to those in need.

And the charity that started these is called the Trussell Trust.

So they set up food banks to help those in need.

So this is a practical way that Christian show love to other people.

Sometimes they might talk about Jesus, but that's not the priority.

The priority is to show love through this practical way of giving food to people who need it.

And then we also have another way that Christians serve others in the local community.

And this is through street pastors.

Most street pastors, their job is to serve the community at night.

So you might find them on the streets, helping people get home after they have been out in pubs or bars and they will usually make sure people are safe, they'll get people water, they'll help them get home.

And similarly to food banks, sometimes they might talk about Jesus, but that's not the priority.

The priority is to practically serve people in love.

They're not looking for anything in return, they're doing it just to love other people to make sure people are safe and well.

So we have food banks, and we have street pastors.

Normally you'll see street pastors in cities or big towns at night, especially on the weekend.

So now we are going to to do a little quick fire quiz, to see what you remember from what we have just discussed.

So which act of service helps, those who can't afford food? You can point at the screen or write down, and I will give you five seconds to answer each question.

So food banks or street pastors? Five, four, three, two, and one, the answer is of course, food banks.

Food banks provide a service for people who can't afford food for whatever reason at that time.

Some people use food banks regularly, for others it will be a one-off.

Which act of service is run by the Trussell Trust? Five, four, three, two, and one, it is food banks.

The Trussell Trust set up food banks.

Which act of service involves helping people to get home safely and caring for them on the street? Five, four, three, two and one, it is street pastors.

So what I would like you to do now is to pause the video and have a go at these two questions.

So I want you to think about how do these acts of service show love to people? And secondly, why do Christians do this? So how does it show love, and why do Christians do this? So you can write down your ideas, try to write in full sentences.

So pause the video here, write down your ideas, and when you press restart, then we will go through some answers together.

Clear, I'm sure you have some really interesting points down, and you can use anything that we have learned in Christianity so far.

So let's have a look at what you could have said.

So how do these acts of service show love to people? So these acts are practical expression of love.

They show love through meeting people's greatest need.

They hope that people will see Jesus in them as they do these acts.

So as we can see, they still do this because they follow Jesus.

But they're trying to show Jesus's love through meeting people where they most need help.

And they hope that through living like this, people will say, oh, why do you live differently? Why are you doing this for me? And then they might get an opportunity to talk about Jesus.

But that's not what they lead with, okay.

So really well done on that, and hopefully you got something around this practical expression of God's love.

Christians, believe that because they have been loved by God, because Jesus died for them, that they should love other people.

That they should show his love to others and welcome others into the Christian community.

Now, we are going to think about our second topic today.

And this is the topic of evangelism.

Does anyone remember what evangelism means? Well done, so it is to tell others about their faith, or about Jesus through either public preaching or personal witness.

So there are two main ways that this happens today.

So we have local evangelism, and this means people living in the UK, and just sharing their faith around their community.

So that might be through public preaching, or it might be personal witness, but they don't travel to other places in the world, they're just sharing their faith in their community or where they live.

And the second way that we see evangelism is, global evangelism.

And this is when missionaries, so people that are carrying out mission, travel to other places in the world to tell them about Jesus.

So we're going to consider both of these types of evangelism in today's lesson.

So why do Christians evangelise? Well, you might remember that we looked at the Great Commission.

And this was just before Jesus's Ascension.

And this was the last instructions that Jesus left his disciples.

And he said to them, "Go then to all peoples everywhere "and make them my disciples: baptise them "in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit." So we see, that Jesus instructs people to go everywhere and make people his disciples.

So to tell people about him.

So this is the main reason why Christians do this.

Because it's an instruction by Jesus.

Also, you could talk about how Christians believe in the afterlife.

So they believe that if you have a faith in Jesus, then you will go to heaven.

So they want to share that with everyone else.

They want to tell people about that so that they can join them in heaven.

They believe that they have been told this good news.

So they want to go and tell others.

You might remember we have talked about the example before, where, if your favourite football team, win the premiership, you're so excited and you go and tell everyone, you talk about it to everyone.

So some Christians feel exactly the same.

They believe that Jesus died on the cross for them, and that's really exciting.

So they want to go and tell everyone else the good news.

So they want to share the good news, Jesus commanded it, and they want people to go to heaven.

So there's lots of reasons why evangelism is really important to Christians.

And it's interesting to know that Christianity is probably the religion that evangelises the most.

With other religions, they believe that other people can believe different things and that's fine, but Christianity, is really big on evangelism.

It really believes in welcoming other people into the faith.

So how do they evangelise? Let's start within the local community.

In the local community, one example of how Christians evangelise is through a charity organisation called, Alpha.

And how Alpha works, is it is a programme where people can come and learn about the Christian faith.

And it's been set up in London, by a church in London.

And what they do is welcome people, who have questions about the faith, to come and ask those questions, in an informal setting.

So how does Alpha work? So people will go along to Alpha, usually one night a week, they will have a meal together, and they will hear a little talk from the Bible and then they will get to discuss it.

So Alpha is seen as a very informal, non-confrontational way for people to come and talk about the Christian faith and say what they agree with, what they don't, and explore it for themselves.

So the idea is that it runs over a period of about eight weeks and people go every week and discuss these big questions.

So they might discuss things like, who is Jesus? What happens after we die? So lots of big questions like that.

And then they can decide for themselves what they think of the Christian faith.

And this is really popular in the UK today.

A lot of churches will put on this programme and it's so popular because people like the idea that they can go and discuss things, ask these questions and make the decision for themselves.

So they're not being told what to believe, but information is simply being presented and they can decide what they think of it.

So that is Alpha, and it's a really successful way that people evangelise in the local community.

So people might invite their friends to Alpha, they might go with them.

And then it's just a time of discussion and getting to know people.

So have a go at pausing the video here, and completing these two questions below in full sentences.

So number one, what is the purpose of Alpha? And number two, how does Alpha work? And when you're finished, you can press restart and we will go through the answers together.

Really well done.

Let's go through your answers together.

Great, so you can lift your different-colored pen and mark your own work.

Feel free to write any extra comments around your answers.

So what is the purpose of Alpha? To give people an opportunity to learn about Jesus and explore the Christian faith.

So remember Alpha is all about giving people an opportunity, it is not trying to convince them.

And then number two, how does Alpha work? So people usually have a meal together, someone usually gives a talk on the Bible and then people discuss their views.

So as we said, it's very informal, it's very relaxing, people make friends.

So it's very non-confrontational and people can make their own decision about the Christian faith.

Really well done on that.

So now we are going to consider the second way that Christians evangelise.

And this is globally or across the world.

So the word we could use for that is, mission.

And this means to go into the world and spread the Christian faith.

So the name that is often given to people who do this, is missionaries.

And they go to another place in the world intentionally to spread the Christian faith.

So what might that look like? So here's some images that can give you some ideas of what a missionary might do.

So missionaries will go into the world to spread the Christian faith.

So a lot of them will go and preach and teach the message of Christianity.

They might set up churches in other countries in order to do that, or they might work more with the local community.

So if you look at the images, you can see someone is doing medical work.

So some missionaries will go out and help medically, but then also teach about Jesus.

Some will teach ministers or pastors.

So in one of the pictures in the screen, you can see people in a room.

And this is an example of where someone might go out from the UK as a missionary, and teach other church leaders and train them.

People also might set up churches and they also might just work in local communities.

They might set up health centres, schools, but at the centre of their mission, will be the Christian message.

So they will definitely have times where they might do Bible studies, they might do talks for local people, and they'll try to start a Christian community in that area.

In some places that is really well received, and in some places around the world, that is much harder.

Because Christianity might not be legal and it might not be liked by the government.

So sometimes being a missionary is quite easy, sometimes it's also really tricky.

People will generally be away from their family for a really long time.

A lot of the time missionaries will go out for at least three years, because a lot of them will believe that in order to make an impact, they need to be in the community.

So they'll stay there for a really long time with some missionaries actually living in the places they go to, for the rest of their lives.

So it's a really big commitment.

So what I would like you to do now, is to create a mind map, coming up with lots of different ideas about what missionaries can do.

So spend two minutes, making a mind map of everything you think of when you think of mission.

So when you think of someone going across the world, to spread this Christian faith, write on everything that you can think of.

So what might they do there? What might it be like? So you can pause the video here and when you're finished, you can press resume.

Really well done, let's have a look through some of your ideas.

So these are a range of things that you could talk about and we will go through them together.

So you might have thought of poor countries or LEDC, so lesser economically developed countries.

A lot of the time missionaries will go there to spread the word about Jesus.

You might think of helping others.

A lot of the time they will do practical work as well as teaching about Jesus.

So teaching the Bible is a main thing that will happen on mission.

Medical care, so they might set up health centres, hospitals.

Training ministers, is a really big part because missionaries want to set up a Christian community that will last beyond them being there.

So they will train local ministers and train local people so that they can lead the church.

Practical support, so they might help people who need food, who need practical supplies.

Public preaching, so they might put on lots of public talks for people to listen to.

Bible studies, so smaller Bible studies with local people.

You might also think of countries with little education.

A lot of the time missionaries will go there.

Because in order for people to be able to read the Bible, they need to learn how to read.

So they might work in education.

They might educate young people in order for them to grow up and understand the Christian faith.

And you might think of countries without many Christians.

A lot of missionaries will go to countries without many Christians in order to tell people about Jesus.

Obviously at times this is more difficult, but they believe that Jesus told them to go everywhere and make disciples.

So not just to countries that have lots of Christians, but maybe even more so to countries that don't.

Again, you can pause the video here and write down any of these ideas that you got.

Really well done.

So what I would like you to do now, is to create a table to present everything you have learnt about service and evangelism.

So write down anything that comes to your head.

So what are the two different things about service we learnt? Why do they do it? Evangelism, why do they do it, and what are the two different forms of evangelism? What are the organisations called that we have discussed today? So you can press pause, this should take you about five or 10 minutes and then press resume when you're finished.

And we will go through this together.

Really well done, let's go through your answers together.

Great, so let's have a look at some answers.

You can use another coloured pen, to write down other points and add them to what you have said.

So let's start with service.

Service is all about helping others.

We talked about food banks who gave food to people who need it.

And the organisation that started this charity was called the Trussell Trust.

We also talked about street pastors, so helping people get home at night, making sure they are safe.

And we looked at this verse from the Bible, where Jesus taught, love your neighbour, as you love yourself.

Matthew 22:38.

So we know that service is all about practical ways to show the love of Jesus to others.

And then let's think about evangelism.

So this is simply telling others about the Christian faith.

So about what Jesus did, his crucifixion and his resurrection.

So this happens in the local community, through programmes such as Alpha, where people can come into churches, have a bit of a meal, get to know people and ask questions about the Christian faith.

But it also happens on a global scale.

So in the global community, it is called mission, where missionaries travel around the world, they locate somewhere totally different, all in the aim of telling people about mission.

And finally, we have the Bible verse where Jesus said, "Make them my disciples." So Jesus told people to go all around the world and make disciples.

So to tell people about the Christian faith, you can note anything down here that you didn't get, you should now be an expert on service and evangelism.

Really well done.

So this is the final question that I would like us to consider in this lesson.

So can service and evangelism ever overlap? So what do you think, so do these two stay separate, we've talked about them quite separately in this lesson today, or do they normally overlap? I want you to write down your idea.

I'm going to give you two minutes, so pause the video and write down what you think.

So do you think they ever overlap, or they always stay quite separate? So I wonder what you said.

I would like to suggest that actually, normally they do overlap.

Christians normally will do these together because they will, the aim will either be service or evangelism, but the other part will come into play.

For example, if someone is working at food bank because of their Christian faith, that is an act of service that they're doing to show the love of Jesus.

But there will still be times where people will ask about their faith and they will talk about that.

So they will still carry out evangelism as they do that service.

And same on the other side of things, where we think if someone travels around the world, preaching, sharing their faith, there will still be times where they do practical things for other people.

That might be getting them food, it might be helping them get an education.

So these two things are intertwined.

We can't separate them very easily.

So even as we think about them separately, remember that actually most Christians, even if their aim is to evangelise, they will also serve other people.

Really well done on today's lesson.

If you would like to share any of your work with Oak National, we would love to see it.

So please do ask your parent or carer to share your work on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, and tag @OakNational and #LearnwithOak.

Thank you so much for joining in with today's lesson.

It's been great to have you with us.

As we have learned about service and evangelism, you should now be an expert in service and evangelism.

Remember they are separate, but a lot of the time they actually go together.

So have a go now at our summary quiz to test what you've learned in today's lesson and great to see you today.

And I look forward to seeing you again soon.

Have a lovely day.