L1 - Introduction

1) 5-18-08…PM…SBC  2)

Personal Evangelism

Introduction

I used to ask God to help me. Then I asked if I might help him. I ended up asking him to do his work through me.

—Hudson Taylor[1]

Introduction: [2]

Ø      As a church we will fail if we tries to assimilate today’s unchurched person only through events and programs. The effective glue is relationships—friends bringing friends and including them in church life.[3]

Ø      Evangelism is a development of communication, it's usually an area where we "keep our peace" when we ought to be speaking many times Ø      Every Sunday Churches across the world are filled with people desiring to worship God -          that is appropriate because when the HS dwells within us it is not hard for us to desire to worship our God-          “It is as natural for Christians to worship the Lord as it is for flowers to open their petals to the sun.” John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. [4]

 Ø      demonstrating our love for God through being obedient to His revealed will doesn’t always come so naturally -          Fulfilling the Great Commission (Matthew 27:19-20) takes a concentrated effort Ø      It has been estimated that only 2% (Dr Bill Bright survey in 1995) of American churchgoers share their faith with others -          If the love of God dwells in us we must be horrified by the destiny of the lost – Revelation 20:15 Ø      many of us might be praying for a revival in our world in general and more specifically for SBC -          praying for revival is good-          if all we do is pray, and not share our faith, when how will they hear with a preacher?-          We must be as willing to talk to people about God as we are to talk to God about people Quote:    A. W. Pink (Pastor and Bible Scholar during the mid 1900’s) “It is true that many are praying for world-wide revival.  But…it would be more timely and more scriptural, for prayer to be made to the Lord of the Harvest that He would raise up and thrust forth laborers who would fearlessly and faithfully preach those truths which are calculated to bring about a revival.” Ø      the purpose of this study is NOT to invoke guilt week after week for a lack of personal evangelism Ø      we're not going to go into the "ditch" of saying that this is the only issue in the Christian life Ø      the purpose is multi-faceted          1- obedience                         2- to provide us with tools and encouragement to complete the taskPRAYER – for vision of opportunities, faith, boldness, passion, vision of the reality of hell, God’s Glory1)      People matter to God Ø      I am no science professor but I’m told that… A-    Scientifically §         if carbon to oxygen ratio was just a fraction off we would die§         if the axis of the earth was changed we would die§         if we changed the distance from the sun we would die§         if we changed the speed of the earth’s rotation we would die Ø      Science point to the fact that we matter to GodØ      He went through a lot on purpose for us B-    Biblically ·         Psalm 8 2)      The Lost matter to God A-    Our tendency is to drift away from genuinely valuing the spiritually confused.  We sometimes are quick to forget how much they matter to God Illustration:[5]            Ø      A warning sign from Bob Gilliam Ø      (In the mid- to late 1990s, Gilliam, a church growth consultant who works with churches from coast to coast)Ø      surveyed more than 500 evangelical churches in 40 denominations over a 10-year period, including more than 130,000 members ·         His survey revealed that each year the average evangelical church led 1.7 people to Christ for each 100 people in attendance.·         If you owned an insurance company, and your salesperson sold a total of 1.7 policies per year, you would be out of business!.  Luke 15 – The lost matter dearly to God!  Do they matter to us? v3-7:       When sinners are saved it makes all of heaven rejoice v10:        more rejoicing in heaven and before the angels of God – God is rejoicing in their presence Ø      all three of these parables show us God’s heart for the lost and what our heart for the lost should be Counting the Cost Advantages of Evangelism: Spiritual growth, spiritual confidence, enduring investments, obedience, gaining of life, adventure, purpose Costs of Evangelism:Time, energy, reading, study, money, risk of embarrassment, rejection, persecution, complications to your life 3) A Formula for Impacting our World High Potency         +             Close Proximity                    +             Clear Communication                                                                                                                                         =                                                              Maximum Impact  Maximum Impact – This is the goal that we are shooting for.  How do we obtain this goal?   Acts 1:8  High Potency   Matthew 5:13 / Luke 14:34-35 – salt as a anticeptic, preventing decay, heightens taste and flavor  What are the purposes of salt?             Preserves, seasons, brings thirst -          Christians are not to reflect the world but they are to influence the world; they are to be in it but not of it.[6]

-          How can we develop “high potency” in our Christian life?

·         reading, feeding, fellowshipping, prayer, serving

-          What Characteristics would we want to radiate to the world?

·         love, concern, cordial spirit, speak the truth in love, understanding, listening ear

Close Proximity

“Unless salt gets poured out of the shaker, it remains a mere table ornament.”  - Becky Pippert (author)

Where do we evangelism through close Proximity in the Bible?  c with publicans and sinners, Nicodemus

What implications does “Close Proximity” have on our life? (close proximity to Christ and others)

Clear Communication

2 Corinthians 4:5-6

What does clear Gospel communication demand?  Christology, Sotieriology,

This “light” expels darkness – Matthew 5:14, Acts 13:47, Isaiah 49:6, Ephesians 5:8, Philippians 2:14-15

Ø      some push evangelism being motivated by numerical growth – we should evangelize out of obedience and let God take care of the numerical growth

Ø      Let’s begin to raise our level of impact by increasing our potency and proximity and communicating clearly

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[1]Growing Your Church Through Evangelism and Outreach., 1st ed., Library of Christian leadership (Nashville. Tenn.: Moorings, 1996), 1.

[2] Ideas and Thoughts taken from Chapter 1 of “The Way of the Master – Dereliction of Duty”

[3]Growing Your Church Through Evangelism and Outreach., 1st ed., Library of Christian leadership (Nashville. Tenn.: Moorings, 1996), 6.

[4]The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 14:15.

[5] From Personal Evangelism notes – Week 2 Study notes

[6]John MacArthur, Matthew (Chicago: Moody Press, 1989), 236.