As we move into this Year of Faith and the New Evangelization the folks at InternetEvangelismDay have posted an article on “Jesus, the Communicator – His sermon method: meeting felt needs first“.
“If Jesus had anything like a standard approach it was more likely to be a question such as the following: “What do you want me to do for you?” or “Do you want to be made whole?” or “What is your deepest need?”
The post examines the needs of Bartimaeus, the woman at the well, Zachaeus, the man at the pool in Bethesda, and woman caught in adultery, Nicodemus and the Thief on the Cross.
This article is Chapter 9 in Dick Innes’ book I Hate Witnessing and is carried here in grateful partnership with him. You may reproduce this article without permission in print publications, or incorporate it into your website, subject to the condictions shown in the footer.
Chapter 8, Needs-based evangelism is also online.
See also our shorter introduction to felt needs.An excellent 70-minute talk by Dick, taking up many of the themes of the book, is available here:
Part 1 | Part 2
They also provide other insights into evangelism we can profitably consider.
- Part 1: Needs-based Evangelism – a biblical way of opening closed minds
- Felt Needs – a short introduction
Tags: Jesus, New Evangelization, Year of Faith
