Christians & Evangelism
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Children’s Sports
Children’s Sports
When children are very young, the whole team can be carried along by one very good sports person...
As you get older, it is clear that to be successful you need to play as a team, each person fulfilling a specific role.
Last week…
Evangelism is communicating the gospel to nonbelievers to urge them to believe in Jesus.
Evangelism is communicating the gospel to nonbelievers to urge them to believe in Jesus.
Today we think about the part that we play in evangelism. As we are part of God’s great plans, what is our role… our role in evangelism.
Roles in Evangelism
Roles in Evangelism
4 For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
4 For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you,
God - Chooses (v. 5) - Election
10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
Jesus - Saves (v. 10) - Atonement
5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.
Paul (the evangelist) - Brings the gospel (v. 5) - External call
Holy Spirit - Power, suffering, joy (vv. 5–6) - Internal call
8 The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,
Thessalonians (hearers) - Faith and repentance (vv. 8–9) - Conversion
Gospel message - Story of Jesus (v. 8) - Instrument
Chan, Sam. Evangelism in a Skeptical World (p. 21). Zondervan Academic. Kindle Edition.
<IMAGE: orchestra>
EXAMPLE: Team sport; orchestra; workplace;
The Sovereignty of God and our Responsibility
The Sovereignty of God and our Responsibility
God’s Sovereignty in Evangelism…
37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
Our responsibility in evangelism
5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
If we emphasize only God’s sovereignty and remove our responsibility, we become lazy fatalists: “God will do something if he wants to.” But if we emphasize only our responsibility and remove God’s sovereignty, we become overburdened with guilt for not evangelizing enough, despairing that not enough are responding to our message, and disappointed with our inadequate gifts. We might even feel the need to coerce or manipulate people into belief. Even worse, we might become proud when our efforts are rewarded by people responding to our message. But if we get the tension right, we will praise God when people respond to the gospel, because it’s God who chooses people for salvation. We will also pray to God to open the hearts of the hearers, because that is something only God can do. We will also be encouraged to do the work of an evangelist no matter how unrewarding it is, because we know that God is in control. At any moment, he might use our gospel message, no matter how poorly gifted we are, as the natural means to bring someone to salvation. For our part, we should do everything within our strength, gifting, and circumstances to communicate the gospel clearly, frequently, and persuasively.
Chan, Sam. Evangelism in a Skeptical World (p. 22). Zondervan Academic. Kindle Edition.
The External and Internal Call of the Gospel
The External and Internal Call of the Gospel
When an evangelist communicates the gospel, this is the external call of the gospel. It is open, public, and resistible.
At youth group, if we have an evangelistic talk…
open
public
resistable
14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
The internal call of the gospel occurs if God effectively uses the gospel to open the heart of the nonbeliever, moving that person from unbelief to belief.
In the same situation at Youth Group, if God has moved in the heart of the hearer, then they will believe the message and repent
27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
Chan, Sam. Evangelism in a Skeptical World (p. 22). Zondervan Academic. Kindle Edition.
For us then…
We need to communicate the gospel message regularly and clearly.
We need to pray that God would use the gospel message, our message, as an instrument to change peoples hearts.
If we ever keep tabs on the statistics of evangelism, we need to keep tabs on how often we have communicated the gospel to people, not how many people have been converted! We have power over when and how often we communicate the gospel, we do not have power to convert people.
God takes our natural human efforts and uses them as his instrument to bring change in peoples lives.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.
Sam Chan uses the illustration of the parting of the Red Sea as Israel flees from Egypt…
<IMAGE: parting the red sea>
For example, when we read in Exodus 14:21–22 that God parted the Red Sea, we can ask, “What caused the Red Sea to part?” On the one hand, we have a supernatural explanation: God parted the sea. But on the other, we also have a natural explanation: a wind blew back the sea. And we have an instrumental explanation: Moses stretched out his hand! What’s really going on here? We have God’s supernatural personal agency performing a miracle with the natural means of the wind, which is orchestrated by the instrumental means of Moses’ stretching out his hand. And it’s the same with evangelism.
Chan, Sam. Evangelism in a Skeptical World (p. 24). Zondervan Academic. Kindle Edition.
In evangelism, it is God’s supernatural personal agency working to change peoples hearts and minds while we naturally speak the gospel message of Jesus Christ.
Evangelism is our human effort of proclaiming the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ [which necessarily involves using our human communication, language, idioms, metaphors, stories, experiences, personality, emotions, context, culture, locatedness] and trusting and praying that God, in his sovereign will, will supernaturally use our human and natural means to effect his divine purposes.
Evangelism is our human effort of proclaiming the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and trusting and praying that God, will supernaturally use our human and natural means to effect his divine purposes.
Evangelism is our human effort of proclaiming the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and trusting and praying that God, will supernaturally use our human and natural means to effect his divine purposes.
What does this mean for us then?
Be faithful in communicating the gospel
Be faithful in communicating the gospel
No, evangelism is speaking words. It’s sharing news. It’s being faithful to God by presenting the good news—that Christ, by his death and resurrection, has secured a way for a holy God and sinful people to be reconciled. God will produce true conversions when we present this good news (see John 1:13; Acts 18:9–10). In short, evangelism is presenting the good news freely and trusting God to convert people (see Acts 16:14). “Salvation comes from the Lord” (Jonah 2:9; cf. John 1:12–13).
When I evangelize, I attempt to convey three things to people about the decision that must be made about the gospel:
The decision is costly, so it must be carefully considered (see Luke 9:62).
62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
The decision is urgent, so make it soon (see Luke 12:20).
20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
The decision is worth it, so you want to make it (see John 10:10).
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
This is the message we need to communicate personally to family and friends. This is the message we need to communicate corporately as a whole church.