Evangelism 2 (2)
Notes
Transcript
Handout
A while back we began talking about evangelism. I want to go ahead and continue that discussion for the next couple of weeks!
Before we dive in this morning, I am going to have two of my boys come up and share a story about evangelism
Y’all know Harlan, with him is Landon. Landon has been attending here for a couple months. He’s out here working on the pipeline
Both of these guys have formed a pretty tight bond in Jesus!
I know they said that they talked with a few guys at the gym about Jesus, but didn’t hear the full story until after church last week
I asked them if they would be willing to share the story with the church
This week we are going to finish with what the gospel is and then next week we will talk a little more about how to share the gospel
As a recap we started with the message John the baptist preached
1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
And, likewise, Jesus preached:
17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
And then
23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.
When Jesus sent out His disciples
7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’
So, the message of Jesus and the disciples is to repent that the kingdom has come - in other words, the king has come!
We talked about repentance and the greek word, metanoa which means to literally change your mind resulting in a change of direction
Not just change your mind or direction to anything, but in the Jewish mind, to return home!
To return back to your creator!
And return to your creator as He has come!
Jesus brought the kingdom!
And, the kingdom is still breaking through!
So, now we are going to look at the gospel according to the apostles
Which begins on the day of pentecost. 120 followers were together waiting for the coming HS.
Suddenly, there is a great sound like a rushing wind that filled where they were. Then tongues of fire appeared and rested on them
4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
As they are speaking in tongues, those who are there heard them in their native languages
12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” 13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
Peter stands up and begins to speak. He quotes Joel chapter 2 the promise of the outpouring of the HS
We pick up in verse 21
21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
So, Peter’s first message is this is what was prophesied! That the Holy Spirit would be poured out in the last days and all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.
So, what is the name of the Lord?
22 “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.
24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.
We will see this here in a bit, but Peter is proclaiming the gospel right here
25 David said about him: “ ‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope, 27 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, you will not let your holy one see decay. 28 You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’
29 “Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay.
So, what have we seen so far?
Jesus of Nazareth
Jesus crucified
Jesus rose from the grave
36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” 37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” 40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
Peter proclaims the gospel and 3,000 people were saved that day!
So, the heart of the gospel is to:
Repent! The Kingdom has Come - turn from your sin and turn back towards God!
Through Jesus comes salvation - believe in Him!
He Lived
He Died
He Resurrected
So, this is the gospel message that Peter preached
Let’s look at a few other instances of the gospel being preached
Down in chapter 3 after the blind beggar was healed
12 When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go.
14 You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.
19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,
Peter again
11 Jesus is “ ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
Philip
12 But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
Stephen in Acts 7.
Paul in Acts 13, 14, 17, 20.
Depending on differing specifics, there are over 20 gospel presentations in the book of acts!
Key Points in Gospel Presentations:
Repent and Believe in Jesus
The Life, Teachings, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus
Salvation and Turning From Sin
Kingdom has Come
Use of Scripture
We are going to jump over the Romans road this week, but will dive into it next week as we talk about how to share the gospel
He is the summary of the gospel that Paul preached:
1 Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve.
The gospel is Jesus centered!
When Pastor Bob and I were meeting this week He made a really good point.
Often times when we talk about the gospel, we start with us and who we are….
But,
The Gospel Always Starts with God!
Genesis 1.
Genesis 1:1 (NIV)
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Response Time
