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Hello my brother; hello my sister, my name is Dean Davis, and this is a word of encouragement for village church planters.

If you are a village church planter you have probably learned to share the Good News of Jesus by drawing three circles and telling a story that all people everywhere need to hear. We call the story “The Three Circles.”  I believe that it is one of the most powerful Gospel presentations you can ever share.  Here’s why:  It starts out with six simple but powerful words, “The world we live in is broken.”  There are many biblical truths that unbelievers like to contradict.  But this truth is hard to contradict, “The world we live in is broken.”  We see brokenness all around us.  If you ask your friend who is watching you draw three circles, “How have you seen brokenness in the world?” they will probably answer you easily.  Some will even shed tears when they think about the pain and suffering they have experienced or that their loved ones have experienced.  The world we live in is broken and we don’t know how to get back to the perfect world that God created.

When you draw the first of the three circles in the sand or on a piece of paper you draw that circle with a crack in it that looks like the crack on a broken eggshell. After you draw the second circle with a heart in it to represent the world as God originally designed it, you draw a person who has turned his back on God and say, “The reason we live in a broken world is because we have turned our back on God.  Because there is so much brokenness in the world, people try to escape. Some try to escape by earning a lot of money. Others try to escape by gaining fame. Other’s try to escape through spiritual practices and religion.  Others try to ease the pain that comes from brokenness with drugs and alcohol.”

It seem a little strange that the Good News of Jesus starts with the bad news that we live in a broken world.  It can be painful to talk about this.  But resist the temptation to rush to the third circle that tells about how Jesus came into our world to restore us to God. Don’t be afraid to reflect on the brokenness you have seen.  This is a good time to express compassion for those who suffer the most.  God is love and we want to reflect his love in our words and in the way we express ourselves.

If you clearly describe the broken world we live in, and if you help your friend describe how he or she has seen brokenness in the world, you will be ready to share the hope of the world, Jesus.

Learn to use the 3 circles.  Learn to tell the story of Jesus as you draw the three circles one by one.  Tell the Gospel story with patience, with clarity and with compassion.  Yes, the world we live in is broken, But Jesus came to restore us to God and make us new people.  That is good news indeed!

This has been a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

 

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