ACTS II EVANGELIZATION LEADERSHIP TRAINING GUIDES AVAILABLE HERE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Session One
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Part One: Risk or Renunciation: The Christian Choice
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1
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Session One
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Part Two: The Mistake of Christians
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2
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Session Two
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Believe in God's Love and Go and Bear Fruit
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3
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Session Three
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In Jesus We Have Redemption
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8
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Session Four
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In Christ We Are a New Creation
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15
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Session Five
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Behold, I Am the Handmaid/Servant of the Lord
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22
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Session Six
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Go and Report What You Hear and See
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31
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Session Seven
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Present Your Bodies as a Living Sacrifice--Be Transformed into Jesus
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38
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APPENDIX
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Prayer Services
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46
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Bibliography
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(SAMPLE)
TRAINEE'S
EVANGELIZERS HANDBOOK (EH)
EVANGELIZATION IN THE MODERN WORLD
Introduction
* The numbers on the left correspond to the numbers in the Apostolic Exhortation.
1. Special commitment to evangelization
a. The effort to proclaim the Gospel to the people of today is a service ren
dered to the Christian community, and to the whole of humanity.
b. The Holy Father's duty of confirming the brethren is for him a program of
life and action, a fundamental commitment which is all the more
necessary when it is a matter of encouraging his brethren in their mission
as evangelizers.
2. On the occasion of three events
a. The end of the Holy Year during which the Church had the single aim of
being the messenger of the Good News through two fundamental com
mands: quot;Put on the new self,quot; and, quot;Be reconciled to God.quot;
b. The tenth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council which aimed at
making the 20th century Church better able to proclaim the Gospel in the
20th century.
c. The one year anniversary of the Third General Assembly of the Synod of
bishops which was devoted to evangelization.
3. Theme frequently emphasized in the course of our Pontificate
a. On June 22, 1973, Pope Paul VI told the College of Cardinals that the
conditions of society oblige all of us to revise methods, to study how we
can bring the Christian message to modern man.
4. In the line of the 1974 Synod
a. Fidelity to the message of evangelization and to the people pose three
burning questions: What has happened to the hidden energy of the Good
News? To what extent and in what way is that evangelical force capable
of really transforming the people of this century? What method should be
followed so that the power of the Gospel may have its effect?
5. Invitation to meditation
a. Pope Paul Vi's words in this Exhortation come from the wealth of the
Synod and are meant to be a meditation on evangelization.
b. The presentation of the Gospel message is not an optional contribution for
the Church. It is necessary, unique, cannot be replaced, permits neither
indifference, syncretism or accommodation.
c. Evangelization is a question of people's salvation.
Content Questions
1. Why does Pope Paul VI want to encourage us in our mission as
evangelizers? (n. 1)
2. Why has Pope Paul VI made evangelization a leading theme of his pontifi
cate? (n. 3)
3. What are the quot;three burning questionsquot; about the spread of the Gospel which
the 1974 Synod kept in mind? (n. 4)
4. Pope Paul VI intends the Exhortation to be a meditation on evangelization.
Why does he consider it to be of capital importance to the Church, to you?
(n. 5).
CHAPTER 1
From Christ the Evangelizer to the Evangelizing Church
6. Witness and mission of Jesus
a. Jesus witnessed of Himself:
"I must proclaim the Good News of the kingdom of God" (Luke 4:43).
"The Spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me. He
has sent me to bring the good news to the poor" (Luke 4:18).
b. Jesus declares He is sent by the Father to preach the joyful news of the
fulfillment of the promises and the Covenant offered by God.
c. All the aspects of the mystery of Himself were components of His evange
lizing activity.
7. Jesus, the first evangelizer
a. Jesus Himself, the Good News of God, was the very first and greatest
evangelizer.
b. To evangelize: what meaning did this imperative have for Christ? Will
suffice to recall a few essential aspects.
8. Proclamation of the kingdom of God
a. As an evangelizer, Christ first of all proclaims the kingdom of God which is
so important that all else become "the rest."
9. Proclamation of liberating salvation
a. Christ proclaims salvation as the kernel and center of His Good News.
b. Salvation is liberation from all that oppresses man, especially sin and the
Evil One.
10. At the price of crucifying effort
a. The kingdom and salvation are available to every human being as grace
and mercy, but must be gained by force by each person (See: Matthew
11: 12; Luke 16:16).
b. The effort to gain them requires total interior renewal which is metanoia.
11. Tireless preaching
a. Christ accomplished the preaching of the kingdom through untiring
proclamation of the word with authority.
b. His words reveal the secret, the plan and the promise of God, thereby
changing man's heart and destiny.
12. With evangelical signs
a. Christ's proclamation is accompanied by signs and miracles.
b. Jesus attaches great importance to the evangelization of the humble and
poor.
c. Jesus reveals Himself especially by His death, His resurrection and by the
sending of the Spirit of Truth.
13. For an evangelized and evangelizing community
a. Those who accept the Good News gather together to seek, to build up
and to live the kingdom.
b. This community becomes in its turn evangelizing, communicating and
spreading the Good News.
14. Evangelization: vocation proper to the Church
a. From the close of the Synod of 1974: "We wish to confirm once more that
the task of evangelizing all people constitutes the essential mission of the
Church."
b. The vast and profound changes of present day society make this mission
all the more urgent.
c. Evangelizing is the grace and vocation proper to the Church.
15. Reciprocal links between the Church and evangelization
a. The Church is born of the evangelizing activity of Jesus and the twelve.
b. The Church in her turn receives the mission to evangelize, and the work of
each member is important for the whole.
c. The Church herself has a constant need to be evangelized by conversion
and renewal, in order to evangelize the world with credibility.
d. The Church is the depositary of the Good News, the content of the Gospel
and therefore of evangelization, which she preserves in order to
communicate it, not to keep it hidden.
e. Having been sent and evangelized, the Church herself sends out evange
lizers, to preach not themselves, but the Gospel with fidelity.
16. The Church, inseparable from Christ
a. There is a profound link between Christ, the Church, and evangelization.
b. It is with sorrow that Pope Paul VI hears people claiming to love Christ
without the Church, to listen to Christ but not to the Church, to belong to
Christ but outside the Church (See: Ephesians 5:25).
Content Questions
1. What does Jesus as the first and greatest evangelizer proclaim first, and what
does He say about it? (n. 8)
2. Explain what Jesus proclaims as the center of His Good News. (n. 9)
3. Explain how it is that the kingdom and salvation are grace and mercy while
being also crucifying effort. (n. 10)
4. What five reciprocal links does Pope Paul VI describe between the Church
and evangelization? (n. 15)
Reflective Sharing Questions
1. Jesus proclaimed that the kingdom and salvation belong to the violent, for
they take it by force (Matthew 11:12; Luke 16:16). What does that mean for
you personally?
2. When we ourselves have been evangelized or re evangelized, we have the
command from Jesus to become evangelizers ourselves. How can you, in
your present day, practical life, live out this command?
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ACTS II EVANGELIZATION LEADERSHIP TRAINING GUIDES AVAILABLE HERE