"The Gospel"

These are the scriptures being used by counselors for Riverfest, beyond whatever ones the events will be sharing.

For the children's area they will be using The Wordless Book. This method has been long used by Child Evangelism Fellowship for their booth at the Oregon State Fair and for their backyard Good News Clubs.

For the "Gold Page," John 3:16a. For the "Dark Page," Romans 3:23. For the "Red Page," Hebrews 9:22 and 1 Cor 15:3,4 (which say that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins, and, Jesus died and rose again). For the "Clean Page," John 1:12 and Heb 13:5b (assurance of salvation). And for the "Green Page," 1 John 1:9 (He is faithful to cleanse us).

For the adults, there are three prepared scenarios based on the individual's need. The first scenario is someone who receives Jesus as Savior for the first time, the second is restoration or rededication, and the third is those needing to ask more questions about the gospel--the unsure or confused.

For those receiving Jesus, the scriptures counselors will use are: Rev 3:20 (I stand at the door and knock), John 1:12-13 (He gave them right to be sons of God to everyone who believed), John 3:16, 2 Cor 5:17 (whoever believes is a new creation), and Gal 2:20 (I no longer live but Christ).

For those rededicating, the scriptures are: 1 John 1:9 (He is faithful to cleanse), Psalm 32:5 ("I made my sins known to you, and I did not cover up my guilt. I decided to confess them to you, O LORD. Then you forgave all my sins."), Prov 28:13, 1 John 2:1 (Yet if anyone does sin they have Jesus Christ), 1 Cor 10:13 (not tempted beyond your ability), and Rom 8:1 (whoever is in Christ is not condemned).

For those who need to understand more about the gospel, counselors will use most the scriptures as those for the children in the Wordless Book, except it adds John 14:6 (I am the way, the truth and the life). It also has a prayer sample for this group written like so: "God, I know I am a sinner. Right now I repent and turn from my sins. I believe Jesus Christ died for my sins, rose from the grave, and is alive forever. I open the door of my heart and life, receiving Jesus Christ as my Savior. I want to follow him as Lord of my life. Thank you for saving me. Amen."

These scriptures and prayer scripts have been used for decades by the Luis Palau Evangelistic Association, which began the festival model of "good news great music." The passages listed above are proven to cause people to believe in Jesus and become disciples. Counselors are free to share any other passages of scripture or even "wing it" with whatever they know of the bible and their own testimony if they forget these ones listed.

We were told during our training that It is so important not only to see salvation happen but also to get people plugged into a place where they will grow as believers. Because there is a variety of churches involved counselors have been told to write down what church someone might be comfortable attending or has previously attended. They will be sorted and followed up by that church. Also, counselors have been encouraged to exchange numbers with those they meet (as appropriate), and to call them later in the week to make sure it doesn't end up being a "date and dump" kind of experience.