Praying for Evangelism

Introduction

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Excited to continue our series on prayer.

Last week we looked at the strength of our prayer. We know that the strength of our prayer is not what we pray but in who we pray to.

And because of who we pray to, we pray big, specific prayers.

Today we are going to look at another prayer of Pauls that can have a big impact if we would join him in praying it.

We are going to talk about praying for Evangelism.

Evangelism is the sharing of our faith in christ.

To be clear, it is the verbal sharing of our faith. There have been words used over the years like “lifestyle evangelism” do describe living as a folloer of jesus and having people ask about it.

This type of life is a great one to live but it is not the sharing of our faith that is spoken of in scritpure.

If you’ve been in church for awhile you have probably heard of the great commission.

Matthew 28:19–20 “19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

Character- follower of Jesus

now i’ve never met a person who says they follow jesus that doesn’t want to to this.

if you are a believer in Jesus and don’t want other people to know about him raise your hand?

Ok, i didn’t think so.

the next obvious question is, since you want people to know about him, are you doing anything to help them know?

Problem-Not Sharing your faith

this is one of the problems in Christianity, too many followers of Jesus won’t share their faith in Jesus.

We send money to missions or missions organizations. We complain about the state of society and the problems in it but when it comes to actually having an impact, well, that’s someone elses problem.

in the bible it speaks of spritual gifts that people have. Gifts given by God to believers to equip them to live for the kingdom. some have mistaken evangelism as a spiritual gift believeing that it is only for certain people.

While you may find that it comes easier to some, it does not mean it can’t become easy for you.

sharing our faith as christians shouldn’t be an option or negotionable. it is literally the thinkg jesus told us to do before he went back to heaven.

Agitated-lives not transformed, personal life negatively impacted

What is the result of this?

Homes are not filled with the love of Jesus. Communities are not impacted by the love they should know.

Lives are not transformed by a gospel they don’t hear

Romans 10:14 “14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?”

don’t misunderstand this verse to think it is calling for more people to serve in the offie of pastor.

paul is saying for every person who follows Jesus to preach, verbally, the gospel.

Paul said how can they believe if they haven’t heard…you don’t hear a lifestyle. you hear words.

Adn when believers refuse to share their faith verbally, we are disobeying the directions of jesus and the admonition of paul.

We rob ourselves of the blessing of being apart of God’s work in the lives of those around us. we end up not living as the follwoers of jesus we are supposed ot be and wonder why we have issues.

Think about it, if you say you believe in Jesus as your savior, and those who don’t are cut off from a relationship with God, the peace of the of the Holy Spirit, and eternal life in Heaven.

What do you truly have to think or feel about a person to not tell them about Jesus?

I hear ya “pastor, it just doesn’t come up. It would be awkward.”

I’m gonna give you some ways to not make it awkard for you later. but are you telling me that you are willing to sacrifice the potential of eternal life transformation in the name of potential awkwardness?

Christian, whats your priority? Your image or your Savoir?

Resolution-Share your faith

Christians, we have to share our faith.

it doesn’t have to be to large crowds liek billy graham. it needs to be 1;1 with your friends, your family, and coworkers.

the public swuare preaching of god’s word can have an impact however the greater impact will be in the small intimate settings of your life where you share who god is to you, who you are becuase of God, and how trusting in Jesus is the first step to make any of that possible.

Guide-Paul

Throughout the New TEstament we have not only the isntruction of Christ and Paul but also the example of Paul and the Apostles sharing their faith with individuals when they were not in front of people.

Paul in fact wrote a letter specifically to an individual an in the first few verses speaks about how he prayed for him to share his faith.

Journey-Philemon

The book of Philemon is a one chapter book addressed to only one person.

It ws written by Paul who had ran into Philemon while beingg imprisoned.

Imagine the conversation: paul meets him, he talks about jesus, onesimus says i’ve heard of that guy, yea from my master philemon, OO I know philemon…, paul leds him to jesus, and then finds out he was a runaway slave from philemon.

and you have ot know the punishment that could have come to him.

so paul writes philemon about onesimus. however, the first thing he approaches is not the issue of the slave but truthgully, it’s his evangelism.

Philemon 4–6 “4 I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers, 5 hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all saints; 6 that the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.”

paul says ‘i’m thanking God for you. I love how you have a chruch in your home, I love to hear of your love for JEsus and the people.

I’m also praying that you will communicayte your faith effectually or actively.

philemon had been doing a lot of other things but he hadn’t been sharing his faith.

it would seem as though this problem is not one of just this generation but of all generations.

philmeon was in a dangerous place. a place i believe we can find ourselves. we can become self seeking, inward looking, and make things all about us and the christians around us.

we can become afraid of those that areound us that aren’t like us.

i’m gonna make some statements in just a moment that may hit home for some of you, may offend you becuas i am going to laugh and joke a bit at something i see as silly. Don’t let your offense to whats being presented keep you from missing the truth.

have you heard the term cancel culture? Most of us laugh at that becuase people were getting cancelled by fans for stupid reasons.

hasbro doesn’t put “Mr.” in the marketing of a potato head anymore althouggh they still sell a boy and girl version.

people talked about banning dr seuss books becuase the fictious charcers protrayed certain races poorly.

the muppet show has a disclaimer now along with a number of disney movies that expresses concern over what was shown at a time when it was considered acceptable.

wheny ou hear of something like that, what do you think of the people that are cancelling these things?

can i tell you, christians have been cancelling things in culture for a long time. and it has caused problems.

i’m not telling you christianity and your life following christ has to reflect the cutlure, i am telling you that when you begin cancelling things and separating yourself from people who may particiapte in things you cancel or express your extremely rude and negative opinion of what you’ve cancelled especially when the logic and reasoning is flawed.

I won’t name any specific things becuase I’m truly not trying to upset you if this is you.

I am going to ask you if in your public rude cancelling and separation of everything if it has lead anyone to jesus?

You don’t have ot have things in your life if the Holy Spirit leads you not to for whatever reason. But your job is not to angrily with vitriol spew negativetiy towards others who do.

it also doesn’t mean you have to separate and never be around people who involve themselves in those things.

they may watch rated r movies, they may listen to music you don’t like, they may enjoy pokemnon cards. for all of that, did you know that instead of telling them what you think about that, you can tell them about Jesus?

How though? How do you share the gospel with them without pushing them away and without affirming sin?

3 ways to do that and i want you to take notes on this.

1. Share your story

Paul used this method in acts 22 to speak to a jewish mob. They had gotten angry with him, had him arrested, and he is now addressing them.

he doesn’t tell them how wrong they are. he doesn’t tell them how they need to repent and turn, he told them about what Jesus did in his life.

He shares who he was before Jesus, how Jesus changed his life, and who he is now after living for Jesus.

folks it’s that simple.

Why don’t we share faith? ——Forget importance, Rejected, Selfish.

—Don’t feel qualified. Don’t know how.

—Explain dinosaurs? Do anything rock so big? Adam belly?

If I understand, then I’ll share. When you share understanding.

Share -> Lives impacted > Understanding

Outward Focused

Share or Don’t share

Not changing lives

Less Appreciation

Inward Focus

you have a story, God is working in your life, it’s time to start talking about it.

Pray for opportunities and then take those opportunities.

2. Share your life

during Paul’s journey he would end up in prison with a man named Silas.

While in prison around midnight, Paul and Silas began to pray and sing praises

Acts 16:25 “25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.”

Do you think this was the first time in difficulty that they had done something like this?

no. They lived their lives as followers of Jesus and in times of stress and trial, they turned to who they knew, God.

Many of us, especially men, have what I call super hero syndrome.

Let me explain, how many of you woudl take a bullet for your family?

You would work 80 hours and flip burgers if you have to provide?

but would oyu stop for a moment and pray with your kids? Would you pause your life and hug your wife? Will you live out your Christianity on a daily basis in such a way others know you are a follower of Jesus without being attacked?

and when you live a life like that, you can invite people into it. Share meals, go do things together, be apart of life groups, and interact with others so that they can see who you are in Christ.

That great commission verse that i shared earlier in matthew. the greek word that go is transalted from means ‘as you are going’ not just a one time thing but as you live your life, teach others about Jesus with actions and words.

Then, what i’m afraid many of us have relegated evangelism too but is also a great thing to do

3. Share your seat

Invite them to church.

but don’t just invite them to a service, invite them to be apart of the community. Invite them to your life group, invite them to special events, invite them to meet your friends.

you know that if you invite someone to Liberty they are going to be welcomed with a smile, loved on by everyone, enjoy wonderful worship, and most importantly they are going to hear the gospel preached.

That’s the point of sharing about Jesus, its the potential that it could be the day they are going to have their present life and eternal life transformed by the message of the gospel of JEsus Christ.

You as a christian had your life transformed by Jesus, don’t you want that for not just the poepl you know but the people you don’t?

It’s not our responsiblity to save them, it’s our responsiblity to introduce them to the one that can.

Resolution: Pray for evangelism opportunity and then evangelize

who do you need to share your story, your life, and your seat with?

woudl your grab that prayer card again?

woudl you write either the name of the person you are praying for to receive Jesus and or, for God to give you boldness by just writing boldness, to share your story, your life, and your seat with someone.

Impact: Negative: less gopsel, not living as God called, Never fully understand Jesus. Positive: Divine story, faith grows, Living as who you are in Christ

What if we don’t do this> What if we don’t pray for evangelism> what if we don’t evangelisze? What if we just keep out faith to our selves hold up in our houses and the safety of people who look like, act like, and talk like us?

then people who need to know Jesus will not hear the message from you and you will not being living as God called you to.

What if you did this though? What coudl happen? What if you lived out what Paul was writing to Philemon about? Could you be apart of the divine story God is weeaving in the lives of others? Could your faith grow? Could you understand Jesus more as you see Him work.

Are you here and don’t know JEsus?

Time of Response