3 p's of Evangelism

93# Sermon @ Camden Ave. 9/2/2018 p.m. Mark T. Tonkery 3 P’s of Evangelism Text: Acts 1:8 Introduction A. “Every person will spend eternity in one of two destinations, Heaven or Hell. Yet? B. 90% of all Christians in America will never share their faith with anyone in their life- time! C. Only 21% will invite anyone to church in a year. D. Only 2% will invite an unchurched person to the church in a year. E. 95% of all believers in America have NEVER led anybody to Christ! F. Yet - 160 million people in America are open and receptive to the Gospel and ready to accept the message of Christ – if someone would show them how. G. The last words Jesus spoke to his follower before he left this earth. H. Are found in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." I. By Jesus stating these words last He was trying to stress to all His followers for all time the urgency of sharing His gospel. J. There are at three words that sum up evangelism and they all start with the letter “P.” Body I. Purpose – Evangelism has a purpose. A. There are at least three reasons we are to evangelize: 1. It is commanded. Mt. 28:18-20, Mark 16:15-16, and Luke 24:46-47 a. Disregarding the commandments of God is just as wrong as committing things forbidden. 1) James 4:17- "Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin." 2) 1 Corinthians 9:16- "For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!" b. Soul winning is the highest and best work that a Christian can be engaged in for it is following the example of our Savior. 1) Luke 19:10- ""for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."" 2) Mt. 18:11-14 ““For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? “And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. “Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” 3) It is the will of the Father in Heaven to reach out to those who are lost. 2. It is the only way sinners will be rescued. a. 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 Tells we must obey the Gospel or the vengeance of the Lord will be upon us. b. Mark 16:15-16 reminds that proclaiming the Gospel and obeying it is how we come to be in a saved relationship with Jesus. 1) The Gospel is the only way sinners can enter into a relationship with God. Acts 4:12 2) Romans 1:16 Gospel has the power of Salvation. c. Humans cannot obey the Gospel unless they hear it. 1) Romans 10:14-17 "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? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!' But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our report?" So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." 2) In the book of Acts the Gospel was proclaimed, and reached the ears of lost people. 3) The only way to reach the lost is to teach them. 3. It is the only way to keep our local congregation alive. a. It is true that Mt. 16:18 the gates of Hades will not prevail against the church. But this is not to say that a local congregation will die out and lose its influence in a community. b. How urgent is the need for evangelism in this local congregation. Churches of Christ are closing their doors almost weekly c. In my time at Laings I personally knew of 3 congregation which closed their doors permanently and two congregations merged together to form one. d. Christians will be lost if they will not bear fruit. 1) John 15:1-2 ""I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit." 2) If a Christian can be lost for not bearing fruit, so will a congregation which does not bear fruit. II. Places- To evangelize we must go somewhere, places. A. Where are we to preach the gospel? Answer: everywhere. 1. In Mark, we are given a variation of the Great Commission: “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature’ ” (Mark 16:15). Go into all your world and preach the gospel—into your family, into your workplace, into your campus, into your sphere of influence. 2. Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." a. Our Jerusalem is our local area. Friends, family, and our city. b. Our Judea and Samaria is our region, state, and nation. c. Then into the ends of the earth is our international mission field. 3. Notice how this is seen in the book of Acts. We see the gospel spread from Jerusalem and into all the world. Acts 11 the mission field is Antioch, but then Antioch becomes a local work and starts sending out missionaries (Acts 13). 4. As J.M. McCaleb wrote, "Where sin has gone, must go His grace ..." Accordingly, "From Greenland's icy mountains to India's coral shores" we must be busy about the Master's business in preaching the gospel of Christ. III. People – Evangelism is about helping people get to Heaven. A. A young boy’s father took him to a Dallas Cowboys Football game. As they were sitting in their seats, the boy noticed a funny looking man who was wearing a cowboy suit and whistling at the top of his lungs. So the boy decided to leave his seat and track him down. After he met the man, who’s name was whistling Ray (Cowboys Mascot), he could not find his way back to his seat. The boy was lost! So after twenty minutes of searching for his Dad, he did the most logical thing. He started crying. Finally a policeman took him to the lost and found and called his Father over the intercom system who at that time was diligently searching for his boy. Fortunately, his father heard his name being announced and finally found the boy. The boy was so happy to see his father. 1. Just as this boy’s father cared about him when he was lost God also cares about the lost. 2. God says to every person deformed by sin which is all of us Rom. 3:23, "I am looking for my son" or "I am looking for my daughter." 3. God cares about the lost. 4. (2 Pet. 3:9) "God is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." a. Our heavenly Father earnestly hopes that sinners and lost people will come to Him. He cares about lost souls. b. In (Lk. 15), Luke recorded 3 parables that Jesus taught. The Parable of the (a) Lost Sheep; (b) Lost Coin; & (c) Lost Son. c. From these parables, there is a word that is common in all three parables-- The word "one". The shepherd lost "one" sheep from his flock of 100. A woman had 10 silver coins and lost "one" of them. A father had two sons and "one" of them took his inheritance and left the family. d. Do you know what Jesus is trying to teach us from these parables. He is trying to tell us that "one" lost person is important to God and God cares for them. B. If one lost soul is important to God, then one lost soul should be important to us. 1. Some has asked me “preacher how big do you want the church?” I say like the old preacher Ira North, just one more. 2. Just one more friend, relative, associate, or co-workers. 3. And after we bring one person to Christ, then let's bring another and another. C. We can make a difference in the Kingdom of God--one person at a time. If one person goes to hell; heaven will not be full enough! 1. What would God's reaction be if we were to bring at least one person to the Lord? 2. (Lk. 15:7) "I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent." 3. If we can bring at least one person to the Lord, then heaven will throw a party. They will celebrate. Since God cares about each lost soul, we should as well. Finally, A. There’s an old legend which says when Jesus had ascended into heaven and Gabriel asked him, “Lord what plans have you made for carrying on your ministry in the world? How will people learn of what you have done for them?” B. Jesus responded, "I left that to Peter, James and John, Martha and Mary. They are to tell their friends and their friends will tell other friends until the whole world has heard the good news." C. Gabriel then asked, "What if Peter is so busy with his nets and Martha so full of her housework and the friends so preoccupied that they all forget to tell their friends? Don’t you think you should make a ‘Plan B’ in case this doesn’t work?” D. And Jesus answered, "I have no Plan B” E. In other words: the Church (that Jesus died to establish) was only going to succeed because His followers (you and I) step up and do our part. And the story says: “There is no plan B”. We’re It!!! F. Christianity is a taught religion. 1. On the day of Pentecost, Peter and the Apostle taught and preached the message of Christ, and then souls were added. 2. In Acts 8, we find the story of the Ethiopia who had gone to Jerusalem. He obtains a scroll containing Isaiah 53. As he was reading the words, “He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent....” Philip approached him on the road and asked if he understood what he was reading. The dignitary replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” (Acts 8:31). That is what people need and what many want: someone to show them the way—someone like you. 3. Throughout the rest of the books of Acts the primary way God reached people is through people—people like you and me teaching the Gospel. G. Matthew 28:20 defines it as “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” Simply put, it means to teach them to observe what He has commanded. It is to live our faith in this world and to also share it with others. It is to teach it by word and model it by example. So the full concept of going into all the world and making disciples is to share our faith, to seek to lead people to Christ, and then, to the best of our ability, help them mature spiritually. Colossians 1:28 (niv) sums it up well: “He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.” H. My goal as a minister is not only to teach the lost but to present Christians fully mature in Christ. This also takes some responsibility on our part it maybe you have not obeyed the Gospel of Christ we invite you to do so tonight as we stand and sing.