Developing a Heart for Evangelism

Called to witness

Intro: How many of you have had an opportunity to share your faith with someone but didn’t? Many of us have. Many times in our life we have had chances to share our faith but we shy away from it or we don’t want to have an awkward conversation. But we are commanded and called to share the gospel with others.

God has called every Christian to be a witness—

by the way we live

by our attitude toward others

by the choices we make

by our commitment to live for Christ at any cost

Ask: What are some of your fears about witnessing?

God gives us opportunities to share His Good News but we step back and stand in silence we say no don’t do it. When say no to an opportunity to witness we are saying no to God and that is a sin. We are to be following God’s command of going out into the world and sharing the gospel.

The first step for us to become a witnessing Christian is a change in our heart.

There are times we say no to an opportunity but also there are times where we just sit in silence. In our reading we saw the sin of silence. We do the sin of silence because we do not want to be embarrassed or say the wrong things so we choose to be silent.

Our heart is our number one priority when it comes to sharing Christ. We are going to go through on what it takes to develop a heart for evangelism and to avoid these sins of saying no and the sin of silence.

1. Passion

God wants every Christian to have a heart for lost people. If we are going to have this heart we need to have a love for God and also a love for people. This is what drives us to witness.

We see this example of passion through Christ how He had for the people and cared about them.

Are we seeking these opportunities to show love to other people show them the love of Christ and what He has done for us.

If you remember in our reading an average person hears the gospel 7.6 times before they fully surrender to Christ. You do not know how many times a person you talk to about Christ has heard about the gospel and what it means. You could be that 7th person who tells him or her what the gospel is and they might respond. But that doesn’t matter because

Our success is found in obedience of sharing the gospel.

Remember when the person you witness to does not result in the immediate surrender of a person’s life to Christ you are likely to be one of several touches of God in that persons life.

A passion for witnessing is more like a love than a determination. Jesus had a passion that drove Him to make the way of Salvation known in spite of rejection, suffering and ultimately the cross. Christ proclaimed His desire for us to share His heart for lost people when He said “As the Father has sent me, I also send you” in John 20:21.

As we build a heart for evangelism our first attitude is we need to have passion not just determination but showing love like Christ did as we interact with a lost person.

2. Prayer

Why is prayer so important when it comes to witnessing?

Witnessing doesn’t require intense training but it is supernatural work of God. Prayer connects you with the supernatural power of God.

People have their different ways they witness to someone and know what script to go off of. Yes is preparation important yes and we will look at that here in the next couple weeks but what could prepare the heart of a successful witness more than the power of prayer.

Consistent prayer prepares your heart for encounter

Prayer is one of the biggest ways we build our relationship with God. The more and more we pray to our God the closer of a relationship we have with Him. The close relationship a person has with God through prayer remains the key to developing a heart of compassion.

Prayer is very important when it comes to witnessing. Because once you start witnessing and you do not have a good consistent prayer life you are going to struggle.

Prayer is also important because as we pray we are to be praying for the lost. We are to pray for lost people but we are to also pray that God would touch our hearts and burden us to share what He has done for us.

We are also commanded to pray for those who will be willing to reach the lost.

Read: Matthew 9:37-38

What are the things you are praying for?

Are you praying to have a close relationship with God? Are you praying that God will give you a burden for the lost. Are you praying that more will have a passion for the lost.

When we share our faith our relationship with Christ grows.

Look at what Paul said to Philemon in Philemon 6

Philemon 6 (NKJV) — 6 that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.

Paul knew Philemon would grow in his relationship with Christ as he shared his faith. Witnessing always deepens your personal faith. God reaches lost people through your obedience but He also transforms your life and deepens your relationship with Him.

3. Partnership

Sharing our faith is not a solo thing it is a partnership with Christ. One of the essential ingredients when it comes to partnering with someone is trust and commitment. When you witness you must trust witness with trust in the power of God. You also must be commited to do your part.

We are not alone when we share our faith we have the Holy Spirit within us who gives us the power and the confidence to share our faith.

We see this relationship between God and His witness throughout Scripture.

One example we see is Moses. God asked Moses to go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses would take the lead in making God’s message known. His reaction to the call was to give reasons why he shouldn’t go to tell Pharaoh God’s message. These are the same reasons that echo in our minds as we think about witnessing to someone.

Exodus 3:11-12

Moses’ excuse:

Today’s excuse:

Exodus 3:13-17

Moses’ excuse:

Today’s excuse:

Exodus 4:1-9

Moses’ excuse:

Today’s excuse:

Exodus 4:10-12

Moses’ excuse:

Today’s excuse:

Exodus 4:13

Moses’ excuse:

Today’s excuse:

First, Moses told God that he didn’t have the position or stature to approach a powerful pharaoh. Today we might say well my pastor is more qualified or I am not old enough.

Second, Moses told God that the people wouldn’t have a way to know that He was speaking to the true God. Moses basically didn’t know much about God. So today we make an excuse like I don’t know enough about God to share Him. Or people won’t understand what I am saying.

Third, Moses told God that many people won’t believe his story. Today we might say a person might not see any reason to believe my witness of God’s saving grace.

Fourth, Moses told God that because he wasn’t a good speaker he couldn’t say the right things. Today we might say. I don’t know what to say or am I even going to say the right things?

Finally, Moses expressed that he wanted God to call someone else.