The Reach Podcast

Have a question about sharing your faith? Submit it at https://reachothers.org/podcast

“That might be true for you, but it’s not true for me.” Or maybe you’ve heard it as “faith is personal,” “keep your beliefs to yourself,” or “live your truth.” It sounds humble and reasonable, and that’s exactly why it leaves so many Christians unsure what to say. In this episode, apologist Mary Jo Sharp, John Hopper, and Blaine Larsen explain why this objection is actually a truth claim, the difference between subjective and objective statements, and why Paul staked everything on the resurrection being a real event in history. Mary Jo also shares how she once tried to prove Christianity false, and what she found instead.

In this episode:

• What does someone really mean when they say faith is “just personal”?
• Why does “you can’t argue about faith” end up contradicting itself?
• What’s the difference between a subjective and an objective statement?
• What did Paul mean when he wrote, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is in vain”?
• How do you respond without launching into a counterargument?
• What if your friend doesn’t want to talk about it at all?

Want to go deeper? Explore the Reach video series at https://reachothers.org and learn how to share your faith naturally in everyday relationships.

Subscribe for a new episode every other Monday.

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Have a question about sharing your faith? Submit it at https://reachothers.org/podcast

“Christians are hypocrites.” Talk about your faith long enough and you’ll hear it, and for a lot of people it’s the unspoken reason they keep their distance. In the latest episode, John Hopper, Mary Jo Sharp, and Blaine Larsen walk through how to respond without getting defensive. They start by agreeing where the objection is right, then separate falling short of a standard from refusing to be held to it, and uncover the hidden “should” inside the claim itself. Then they bring it back to Jesus, who had harder words for hypocrites than anyone, and a line worth borrowing: don’t let something you and Jesus agree on keep you from him.

Want to go deeper? The Reach Video Series walks you through relational evangelism one step at a time, free at https://reachothers.org

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Sharing your faith as an introvert can feel like being asked to become someone else: outgoing, bold, always ready with the right words. In this episode, Mary Jo, a fellow introvert, talks through what she's learned over the years about sharing Jesus as the person God made her to be.

Have a question about sharing your faith? Submit it at reachothers.org/podcast

John, Mary Jo, and Blaine get into why the loudest kind of evangelism isn't the only kind you see in the Bible, and why the things quiet people already do well, like listening closely and going deep with one person, might be what someone in your life needs. Mary Jo also tells the story of a three-hour conversation on a plane that started with her fumbling an answer about the book she was reading. If you've ever counted yourself out because you're shy or just not wired to be bold, this one's for you.

BOOKS MENTIONED
Giving Jesus Away by John Hopper
The Six Conversations by Heather Holleman
I Beg to Differ by Tim Muehlhoff

SCRIPTURE
1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, Colossians 4:2-6,

Want to keep going? Check out the Reach Video Series at reachothers.org

New episodes every other Monday. Subscribe so you don't miss the next one.

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Have a question about sharing your faith? Submit it at reachothers.org/podcast

What about the people who've never even heard of the Gospel? Are they just out of luck? John, Mary Jo, and Blaine dig into what the Bible actually says (and doesn't say) about this, starting with what every person already knows about God just by being alive in his world. They walk through Old Testament examples and modern stories of dreams and visions reaching people in places missionaries haven't yet gone. It's a question every Christian gets asked eventually, and this episode gives you a real, honest place to stand.

- What happens to people who never hear the gospel?
- Does everyone already have some knowledge of God?
- Can someone be saved without ever hearing about Jesus?
- How is God reaching people in places missionaries can't go?
- What can we actually know for certain, and where does the mystery start?

If this episode helped you think through a hard question, subscribe for a new one every other week and keep sending yours to reachothers.org/podcast

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Read the gospels straight through, and Jesus's conversations don't look much like the evangelism most of us were trained to do. He didn't use a script or an opener about where you'd spend eternity if you died tonight. So did Jesus evangelize at all? John Hopper, Mary Jo Sharp, and Blaine Larsen work through what Jesus actually did with the woman at the well, Zacchaeus, Matthew, and the rich young ruler who walked away without saying yes. What emerges is a pattern any Christian can follow: personal, question-driven, and built around the person in front of you instead of the presentation in your head.

Search Ministries has been doing relational evangelism in the United States for almost 50 years. Everything we've learned is available to you in the Reach Video Series at https://reachothers.org

New episodes every other Monday. Subscribe so you don't miss the next one.

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If God already knows who will be saved, why does sharing Jesus matter? It's one of the oldest tensions believers run into, and it sits underneath questions about God's sovereignty, free will, and what the Great Commission actually asks of ordinary people. Some resolve it by deciding God has it handled. Others resolve it by carrying the weight of every conversation they didn't have. Blaine Larsen, John Hopper, and Mary Jo Sharp work through why both of those break down, what Romans 10 says about how the gospel actually travels, and what it looks like to share Jesus without knowing how any of it works behind the scenes.

Hosted by John Hopper, Mary Jo Sharp, and Blaine Larsen. The Reach Podcast is produced by Search Ministries, which has been doing relational evangelism for almost 50 years.

Have a question about sharing your faith? Submit it at https://reachothers.org/podcast

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Have a question about sharing your faith? Submit it at https://reachothers.org/podcast

Most of us could pick the gospel out of a lineup, but when we say it out loud, we often feel stuck. In this episode, John Hopper walks through four ideas to help you in gospel conversations: what God is like, what we're like, what Jesus has done, and how a person responds. It isn't a script or a diagram to memorize, and it doesn't have to happen in one sitting. 

Hosted by John Hopper, Mary Jo Sharp, and Blaine Larsen. The Reach Podcast is produced by Search Ministries, which has been doing relational evangelism for almost 50 years.

Want to get better at these four? The Reach Video Series walks you through them: https://reachothers.org

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Have a question about sharing your faith? Submit it at https://reachothers.org/podcast 

A listener’s brother walked away from faith over one thing: he can’t reconcile a good God with the suffering he sees. In this episode, John, Mary Jo, and Blaine unpack why our instinct to answer with an argument is usually the wrong first move, and what to do instead. They dig into the difference between the intellectual question and the emotional one, why getting them mixed up shuts a conversation down, and what it looks like to be present with someone who is hurting before you ever get to the answers.

Want to grow in sharing your faith? Check out the Reach Video Series at https://reachothers.org

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Have a question about sharing your faith? Submit it at https://reachothers.org/podcast 

A listener's friend told her the Bible is full of myths, and all she could say back was "no, it isn't." In this episode, John, Mary Jo, and Blaine walk through a better response, starting with a question that puts the claim back on the skeptic. Then they get specific: a tunnel carved through solid rock under Jerusalem that John has personally walked through, a six-sided clay prism where an Assyrian king brags about trapping Hezekiah "like a bird in a cage," and a list of facts about Jesus recorded by ancient writers who were openly hostile to Christianity. The evidence for the Bible's historical reliability is more concrete than most believers realize, and this conversation gives you the pieces to use it.

Want to grow in sharing your faith through everyday relationships? Check out the free Reach Video Series at https://reachothers.org

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We all know someone who isn't hostile to Jesus, but they're just not in a hurry. They'll get around to it. Maybe someday. In this episode, John, Mary Jo, and Blaine talk about what's actually going on underneath that mindset: the quiet belief that following Jesus would be less satisfying than just living life on their own terms, and the assumption that there's plenty of time to deal with eternity later. They get into how to share what Jesus has genuinely done in your own life, why your behavior is often the thing that wins people over, and what scripture says to people who think they're in control of the timeline.

Submit a listener question at reachothers.org/podcast

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