Six Steps to Talking about Jesus Workbook

excellent practical resource for mission and evangelism

 We use this for our small groups in Wellington Presbyterian. We have found the study challenging and the questions at the end of each section about telling "your story" are doing what they are designed for, hearing each others story and giving confidence to tell it, some for the first time. We had some reservations about this at the start but all our groups have tackled it in different ways. One piece of advice is to ignore the timings at the back as each study really takes much longer a minimum of three hours. We decided on this study because we have a mission planned and "Talking about Jesus" is central to the mission. We are praying that after going through the book we as christians and as a church will be better equipped and more confident in ourselves, the gospel message and the God who saves! Only one criticism, the video could be better, but we have just finished Discipleship Explored where the Video is brilliant. Otherwise study excellent! 

No more excuses!

(Review written for 'Six Steps to talking about Jesus - Starter Pack')

 I have used this course for two small groups over the past twelve months and found it extremely helpful and challenging. The six step process is useful, although it may seem a little painstaking to go over 'old ground' in the first three sessions. The first three sessions remind us of some basic Christian fundamentals - WHY we tell people about Jesus (love), WHAT we tell people (understanding the gospel), and WHO saves (God saves, giving us the privilege of praying for those we care about).

The second three sessions are more practical - the rubber really hits the road! - and it is through these sessions that we get many helpful hints on how to talk about Jesus in the most natural way, without causing any offence, yet drawing people into hearing the Good News.

Throughout the six weeks, each person is able to practice telling their own story, firstly within the group itself, then they are encouraged to tell someone outside the group as 'homework'. All of this is designed to build confidence in telling our own story, and in telling the gospel truth, which everyone needs to hear.

Other reviewers have commented on Simon Manchester, the main speaker on the DVD. He is quite 'dead pan' in his manner of speaking, but what he says is really important, and most times there is so much great stuff in his talks that it is impossible to digest at first viewing. Be aware that you may not appreciate his style of presentation, but ignore that to focus on what he is saying.

This series has been produced by Australians, so the accents are Australian. This was no problem for me, as I am an Aussie ex-pat - but that's not why I give this series a great review! I think this is a marvellous series and I highly recommend it to any small group who is really keen to develop skills in talking about Jesus. 

Good, helpful material

(Review written for 'Six Steps to talking about Jesus - Starter Pack')

 We used this material adapting it to our own situation. Some liked the straightforward delivery from Simon Manchester ( 'no gimmicks') Others thought it a bit pedestrian. But everyone took something from it. One comment was 'I didn't realise how helpful it was until I found myself in situations where I was able to witness.' People generally appreciated the practical exercises that made them think about their own concrete situations.
The video/study/exercise combination provided a good mix. 

A really useful adn provocative course

 Talking about Jesus forms a very helpful course of six interactive sessions. The video slots provide a brief and down to earth guidance. Bible based discussions and practical applications provided an opportunity for a good deal of enjoyable discussion. Unlike some courses, this one provides ample material and a good set of questions that allowed the course to be tailor made to our particular needs and experiences 

Good, concise, clear, memorable presentation.

 This series has been very well planned and thought through by the authors - there are no wasted words and the presentation of the Gospel is clear as is the call to go out and tell others. We ran this series over 6/7 fortnightly meetings and most of our people were favourably impressed. Some found the delivery rather monotonal but I felt that this enabled us to concentrate on the words rather than the speaker. I would certainly recommend it to others. 

excellent

 I used this course with 3 new-Christians groups and found it very accessible and easy for them to understand and relate to. The mix of short Bible studies and DVD clips was good at keeping interest and focus. Simon Manchester is a gifted communicator who can convey a lot of information simply and clearly with an economy of words, avoiding jargon.Participants felt it was full of practical help which inspired and enthused them regarding personal evangelism.The only problem we found with it was that sometimes 2 or even 3 passages of Scripture in the same session was too much for people new to the Bible - this was particularly the case with the session on prayer. Overall an excellent course which does what it says on the box - we will certainly try and persuade our whole church to use it. 

A useful tool for stimulating study & discussion

 The fact that it's only 6 steps is useful - 6 weeks of thinking specifically about personal evangelism - not too long, yet enough time to see some benefits. Some of the Bible passages used are not clearly relevant to that 'week's' session - only the use of the accompanying DVD clarifies the relevancy. Definitely worth buying!