Pulling in the same direction: Evangelism.
Church God's Way • Sermon • Submitted
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· 37 viewsEvery believer has the duty of preaching the gospel.
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The church described in the first chapters of Acts can be described as “a church God’s way”. The unity in love, doctrine, and evangelism was evident.
And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
They were all pulling in the same direction!
The result of this united evangelistic effort was also evident: the church was rapidly growing. Their message was supported by their deeds.
We all must pull in the same direction in the area of Evangelism.
The risen Jesus appeared to His disciples; He reproached them and gave them a commandment:
Read 16:14-15
The risen Jesus appeared to His disciples, reproached them and gave them a commandment:
Afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen.
And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
Mar 16:14-15
The fulfillment of the Great Commission starts with the fulfillment of the command to preach the Gospel to all people. Therefore, we must be ready to share the gospel!
Be ready to share the gospel.
Be ready to share the gospel.
We must be ready at all times to defend our beliefs:
but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;
The gospel is one of our beliefs; it is the basis of our hope. Therefore, we must be ready, no only to defend it, but to share. How can I be ready to share it?
Being trained on how to share it.
Being trained on how to share it.
The gospel is simple, but there are different ways to share it: Roman Road, the Bridge to Life, 4 Spiritual Laws, etc.
We must be able to make a clear and understandable presentation of it. How can we do it if we are not trained?
We should learn and dominate at least one of the different plans. Do you really have a dominion of any specific plan? When was the last time you took a training? Have you used it since the last training?
Practicing regularly.
Practicing regularly.
Be prepared by practicing regularly!
Knowledge is like muscles: If you do not use it, you lose it!
All training include practice in the classroom, but the best practice is real life sharing! Why? Because you learn from your mistakes, from people’s questions or reactions, or theological positions. By the way, even unbelievers have a theological position.
If you share it once a week, at the end of 8-10 weeks you’ll have domain of it. You’ll do it even without thinking!
Who should you share it with?
Seek opportunities to share it.
Seek opportunities to share it.
When you are a new believer, most of your friends are unbelievers; so you have plenty of ground to sow the seed.
The problem is that, the older you become in Christ, lesser the number of your unbelieving friends. Therefore, you have no choice but to start new friendships.
Starting new friendships.
Starting new friendships.
Jesus was accused of being friend to sinners and tax collectors:
“The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’
Those were friendships with purpose!
Those were friendships with purpose!
The purpose was not participating of their sins, but to bring them to God.
Stop sowing in arid soil! “Do not throw your pearls before swine”. Look for new soil!
How? Get involved in your community; become a friend to new employees; get close to the shy people at your job or school; your barber, hairdresser, waiter of your favorite restaurant, etc.
Asking intriguing questions.
Asking intriguing questions.
You must awake the curiosity of people by asking them questions that will force them to think.
Jesus was an expert in asking questions that forced unbelievers to questions their own beliefs:
Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question: “What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?” They said to Him, “The son of David.” He said to them, “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Until I put Your enemies beneath Your feet” ’? “If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?” No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question.
Mat 22
and began saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?” And Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question, and you answer Me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. “Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me.” They began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ “But shall we say, ‘From men’?”—they were afraid of the people, for everyone considered John to have been a real prophet. Answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Nor will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
Another purposes is to awake the desire to know more and open the door for the gospel.
Taking advantage of crisis.
Taking advantage of crisis.
It has been proven that most decisions for Christ happen during a crisis: an illness, a lost, a major change in life (separation or divorce, relocation, etc.)
When everything is going fine in their life, unbelievers do not think about God.
Jairus, the official of the synagogue, came to Jesus when his daughter was dying. The widow of Nain at the funeral of her son. Zaccheus, when he realized that money did not make him happy...
People in crisis are more open to listen and to surrender their life to Jesus. Think about your case...
Be friendly to visitors.
Be friendly to visitors.
Again, why did people continue coming to see Jesus? He did receive them!
Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
Luk 15:1-2
Being willing to leave your relatives or friends for later.
Being willing to leave your relatives or friends for later.
Being willing to leave your relatives or friends for later.
Being willing to leave your relatives or friends for later.
When the needy people came to Jesus, He put His attention on them. At that moment, his brothers and disciples were in second place.
When the fish are hungry, it is not the moment to talk to other fishermen much less to those that are not even fishing.
At the end of the day, Jesus would spend time with the disciples; but when the visitors were in, they were more important.
Making them feel welcome.
Making them feel welcome.
Making personal contact with them is very important to make them feel welcome:
A Chick-fil-a operator was explaining that hospitality is one of the most important keys in the success of the chain. He explained that every employee must learn and do three things to show such hospitality: eye contact, a smile, and speaking with enthusiasm.
Those are three levels of contact that awake the desire to return: visual, emotional, and mental.
When happen when you go to restaurant where you are not treated well? You do not return, even if the food is good!
How were the sinners and tax collectors treated by the leaders of the synagogue? Bad! Did they wanted to attend that “church”? No way!
How did Jesus treat them? Very well! That’s why they kept on coming!
Conclusion: Let’s build a church God’s way. Let’s make her grow by pulling the rope together in the area of evangelism. Let’s make sure we know how to share the gospel, let’s seek opportunities to share it, and let’s be friendly to our visitors.