Outreach: Burden for the Lost

Bonus Sermon Outline

 
Text: Romans 9:1–5
Topic: Burden

Objective: This lesson introduces students to what it means to develop a genuine

burden for those who don’t know Christ.

I. Opening questions
● How would you define the word “burden”? What does it mean to be “burdened for
someone” or to “carry a person’s burdens”?
● Have you ever felt “burdened” by a situation or a circumstance? When?

II. Teaching
A. Discovering a burden for the lost.

● Burden can be buried. Fear, apathy, and busyness can cloud our concern for
non-believers, especially those we’ve never met. Our care for other’s eternal
hope can get buried. Although It’s more natural to hope a friend or family
member might be saved, even then there are often excuses that stop us from
sharing the gospel.

● See people as God sees them. One way to overcome this apathy is to remember
that God created each one of us in his image. He loves us and wants every
person to follow him as Lord. Imagine how he must feel when his precious
children are separated from him. Now imagine how greatly he desires his
followers to share his redemption story with those who are lost.

Optional Illustration: Your church is full of people who know Christ because someone saw them
as God did. Someone reached out, took a risk, and shared the story of Christ with them. Have a
person share a short testimony of their faith and talk about who it was that reached out to them
and saw them from God’s perspective. This would be a great encouragement/challenge to have
a student share in this way. Keep in mind, you may have to plan ahead to do this. If you can’t
schedule someone to share, consider sharing your own story, or even searching on the internet
for a short video testimony (there are tons!).

● Find something in common. In Romans 9:1–5 Paul shares that he has anguish
and sorrow for his brothers, the Jews, wishing he could trade his salvation for
theirs. The Jews were his people, his family. They shared a culture and a
religion. Try looking at people for the similarities they have with you.

B. What stops you from sharing the gospel?

● I’m scared of rejection. Maybe you think that if you share Jesus with someone
they will laugh or mock you. Remind yourself that they are actually rejecting
Christ and his saving grace. At the end of the day, a person’s relationship with

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 Bonus Sermon Outline: Burden for the Lost

God is ultimately between God and them. And no matter how difficult their
rejection may feel to you, it’s more devastating to God.

● I don’t know enough. Perhaps you feel like you don’t know enough about the
Bible or faith to tell someone about Christ. What if they ask questions you can’t
answer? Remember that the Holy Spirit is responsible for changing someone’s
heart. He will be with you, offering you the right words to say when the time
comes (Luke 12:12). That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take the opportunity to
learn more every day. But we’ll never have all the answers. Just stay honest. The
example of a life changed is far more powerful than a slick response.

● I haven’t thought about the consequences. Remember that Hell is an eternal

separation from God, and Heaven is a free gift that connects us to a loving God
who deeply cares about us…forever! We get to share this gift with the world.
The more you learn to love other people, the more your concern for them will
overcome your fears.

Optional illustration. Imagine that you are walking down the road, and you see a young child
drowning in a stream. You don’t know him, and you have no idea how he got there, but it is clear
he will die without your help. What would you do? Undoubtedly, you would do everything you
could to save him. Now think about that friend in your class or family member who isn’t a Christ-
follower. Without Jesus, that person will remain separated from God forever in Hell (Acts 4:10–
12). If we truly believe they are “drowning” in their sins, shouldn’t we be running to share the
gospel of salvation with them?

C. So now what?

● Pray for the Lost. Ask God to help you see people as he sees them. Pray that
God would remove any fears or feelings of inadequacy that might be stopping
you from sharing Christ with the lost. Create a list of specific people to pray for.
Ask God to prepare their hearts to hear his story and to create opportunities for
you to speak to them.

Optional Exercise. Take the above point a step further. Pass out index cards and pens to
students. Have them right down the names of five to ten people in their life who don’t know
Christ. Challenge them to think beyond just friends and family. They should include people they
don’t know (and even people they don’t like very much). Now ask them to put this card in a place
that will remind them to pray for this list every day for the next week. Prayer is often the starting
point for sharing the story of Christ.

● Ask God for a burden. Ask God to make you care deeply about people who don’t
know him. Think of what it will be like to have to spend an eternity away from
God’s presence, how painful and lonely that would be. Pray that God would
break your heart on behalf of those who don’t know him.

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Bonus Sermon Outline: Burden for the Lost

● Show that you care. People don’t care how much you know until they know how
much you care. If you want someone to hear the truth of the gospel, they have to
believe that you actually care about them as an individual. Spend time getting to
know theirs hurts, fears, and needs. If they see that you care about them as
people and want what is best for them, they are much more likely to listen to
what you have to say.

III. Additional Resources

● Stephen J. Cole has a helpful blog post on Romans 9:1–5
(https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-57-burden-lost-romans-91-5). In it he
discusses how Christ’s love and God’s truth compel us to share the gospel with
the lost. There are numerous points that will likely resonate with each of your
students.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by
Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

**LeaderTreks recommends previewing all video clips and websites in this lesson before showing them to students.
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***Any reference within this piece to Internet addresses of websites not under the administration of LeaderTreks is not to
be taken as an endorsement of these websites by LeaderTreks; neither does LeaderTreks vouch for their content.

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