Evangelism: Right perspective (attitude)

Evangelism for You and Me!  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  1:13:27
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Attitude matters!

Attitude: The settled way of thinking about someone or something (Oxford)
It is vital for us to have the right perspective and attitude when we engage in evangelism. Many can start off with great enthusiasm but when there is not instant results can be discouraged and even apathetic to press on with this command.
A funny story tells of a man who wore his sunglasses at night, claiming it helped him see the stars better. His friends chuckled, but he insisted, saying, 'It’s all about perspective!' Just like him, we may wear the wrong 'shades' in life, filtering our view with negativity. Yet, through faith, when we allow God's light to shine through, our perspective can change, illuminating the beauty He has in store for us.
Getting apathetic can happen even to the trained person in a field. Today the field and for this series as you know is evangelism, it’s for You and for Me.
So, how do we maintain a good perspective, have a good attitude when it comes to taking the good news to others? Let’s dive in together.
Open your bibles to (Mk4:1-20)
Mark 4:1–20 (NASB95)
1 He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land. 2 And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching, 3 “Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 “Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. 6 “And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 “Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8 “Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” 9 And He was saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” 10 As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. 11 And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, 12 so that while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, otherwise they might return and be forgiven.” 13 And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? 14 “The sower sows the word. 15 “These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. 16 “In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; 17 and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 “And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19 but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 “And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”

First: See the providence of God at work

God’s providence is always at work, even when we do not see it. Like an evangelist preaching in Samaria to crowds, send to a deserted road to one man, an Ethiopian Eunuch ( Act8), or a born again Christian who lived by Jewish law, sent to a Gentile to open the doors to the Gentiles (Peter; Act10). To a Jew of Jews named Paul who after converting a jailer and his family, and an eavesdropping woman named Lydia was led to Macedonia (Act16). Or a undercover Jew named Esther who God used to save His people, or a prisoner named Joseph to do that too.
God wants us to hunger for Him (quote Mt5:6)
Matthew 5:6 NASB95
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
The providence of God is at work for He knows who is receptive to the gospel, the good news, the power of God unto salvation. . He providentially opens doors, how, we will add to this in a few minutes so hold on.
We are not in it alone, but we are in it to win it. Souls to Christ that is. We know the harvest is plentiful (ref: Mt9:37). We can find encouragement in the scripture about being co-laborers; fellow workers, who together. (turn to 1Cor3:5-9)
1 Corinthians 3:5–9 NASB95
5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. 7 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
(Transition) in trying to keep the right perspective, have the right attitude, first we saw that we are to know the providence of God is working out all things in the hearts of men. Your part is to be a part of the harvest, to be a fellow worker with Christ, and this leads to our next point.

Next: God opens doors for the prepared

Scriptures speaks of open doors:
Like a prison door (Act5:23); Or the door to a house of prayer (Act12:16); to the Gentiles (Act14:27)
If we want to have open doors for the lost, we need to be pro-active and be prepared to be useful (turn to 2Tim2:19-21)
2 Timothy 2:19–21 NASB95
19 Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.” 20 Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.
Know you are His, Know your vessel is His for His use. Cleanse your vessel so you can be a vessel used for honor, fully prepared for every good work.
One of the problems that Paul encountered in Corinth is there were too many babes in Christ who were still carnal, fleshy in nature and not prepared. God wants us use us as His vessels to bring the good news to people.
If we prepare ourselves to be useful to the Lord, what does that look like?

Let prayer be a part of our preparation

God heard, answered a gentile named Cornelius prayer (Act10:1-4); and it was a man who was covered in prayer (Act10:9) that God used to reach him.
Pray for open doors, ask others to pray for open doors (quote: Col4:3)
Colossians 4:3 NASB95
3 praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned;
Or (quote) Eph6:18-20)
Ephesians 6:18–20 NASB95
18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, 19 and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
Let prayer be a catalyst in evangelism.
Catalyst: A person or thing that precipitates an event.
Think of the farmer that plants seed, what then does he do? He prays that the seed will germinate and produce a crow. He does not fret or worry about it. He knows he prepared the fields, and scattered the seed; He knows God makes the increase. He did his part, he prepared, he planted.
We read the parable of the sower earlier, when in reality we should call it the parable of the seed or even parable of the soil.

For the power is in the seed

The power of the word is it will accomplish its intended purpose. (quote Isa55:10-11)
Isaiah 55:10–11 NASB95
10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; 11 So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
For the seed is alive and sharper than a two edged sword (ref: Heb4:12). The seed is the power of God unto salvation (Rom1:16)

Right soil, good return.

Is there problem with the seed? No, it is ready to produce the crop.
Is there a problem with the sower? No, if the sower plants the seed.
Is the problem with the soil? Yes, from the parable we saw four soils, only one produced fruit didn’t it? We are responsible for planting (sowing) the seed (turn to Eze3:17-19)
Ezekiel 3:17–19 NASB95
17 “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me. 18 “When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 19 “Yet if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself.
May we understand the warning given to Ezekiel here and the responsibility of man (the soil). Our responsibility is to plant, some the responsibility is to water, others to help harvest. As a seed planter you are successful every time you plant, if the soil rejects the seed, you have not failed the soil has rejected not you.
Perspective, attitude, matter when it comes to evangelism. we need to:
Learn the joy of sharing the good news with others for its own sake. You have good news to share regardless if people (soil) accept it.
Learn that is about the times you share not the responses (baptisms). God causes the increase not you. Be faithful to share the good news. Think of Jeremiah who planted, planted and planted and saw no return, he was not a failure, he succeeded in fulfilling God’s plan for him to be a seed planter.
May we be seed throwers, or maybe even a good waterboy, watering the planted soil. Remember we read (1Cor3:5-7) earlier about one plants, another waters, but God gives the increase.
God can use anyone, one even defective in motive (Php1:15-18) or even in experience.
(Transition) there is another principle to understanding in having the right perspective (attitude) in evangelism.

Principle of sowing and reaping

(Turn to 2Cor9:6)
2 Corinthians 9:6 NASB95
6 Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
This principle can be seen in many ways, in many areas of life.
Successful people in all walks of life knows that the key to success is to increase the number of efforts (seeds) planted. Sow more, reap more. The more we sow, the more we reap. So is the win in the seed producing fruit, or rightly planting the seed creating opportunities for fruit to come?
May we remember the principle we looked at before we are co-workers, laborers, one may plant, another may water, consider Jesus words (have everyone turn to Jn4:35-38)
John 4:35–38 NASB95
35 “Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. 36 “Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37 “For in this case the saying is true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 “I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor.”
If we want to reap a harvest we must plant a lot of seed, sowing in the agriculture world starts with preparing the soil. May we learn to be people to help prepare the soil through our works, our good deeds, so they (the soil) will be receptive to the seed (the word).
(summary to close/invitation)
Harvesting takes
Preparation
Scattering seed
Cover the seed in prayer
Water the seed
and reap the seed.
Attitude, perspective is important. Do not get discouraged if the planted seed does not bear fruit right away, they may later, or in another place, your part, your victory is in the seed planting! Or maybe you are a waterer, when you come along side the planter and water what was planted.
In a time such as this, we can look around and see the fields of plenty, but the fields need germinated seed, you have it, be willing to share the seed on the soil.
Invitation (Arise and be baptized)
First, and most importantly, are you in the kingdom, has the seed been planted in you and is ready to harvest good fruit of salvation? Have you put on Christ? Maybe as soil your soil has been cultivated, watered and now ready to produce, come be harvested today, Arise and be baptized.
(Prayer) (exit)
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