Prayer and Evangelism
Notes
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Thank you from all the pastors.
Introduction
Introduction
(40min - 3)
Methods of evangelism
Gospel tracts
Hundred dollar bill gospel tract
Trick-or-treat tracts - ‘Are Zombies Real?’
Four Spiritual Laws
Door-to-door evangelism
Lifestyle evangelism
Law 1: God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life.
Law 2: Man is sinful and separated from God.
Law 3: Jesus Christ is God's only provision for man's sin. Through Him you can know and experience God's love and plan for your life.
Law 4: We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know and experience God's love and plan for our lives.
Door-to-door evangelism
Just plain dangerous today
EvangeCube
Rubik’s cube for Christians
Wordless book bracelet
Evangecube
Yellow = God wants you in heaven, Black = sin, Red = Jesus’ blood, White =purity of salvation, Green = Growth, Blue = Rapture?
Lifestyle evangelism
“Preach the gospel; use words if necessary.”
“The Gospel Blimp (AndOther Parables)” by Joseph Bayly
Group of evangelicals attempt to evangelize their neighbors by flying a blimp over their suburban homes with a gospel message.
Form a committee then a company — Begin to drop gospel tracts from blimp, then blast music from loudspeakers.
Eventually, the neighbors become Christians and the Gospel Blimp Christians are ecstatic then disappointed to learn it was not the blimp that led them to Christ but the love of another Christian couple who had spent time with them and showed them the love ofJesus.
So, what is the most effective method to reach people forJesus? I imagine there are many different stories here about how we first heard the gospel, but what if there was ONE method that ALWAYS worked?
The beauty of the gospel is that God can use any one of these tools as a method for effective evangelism, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, but the truth of Scripture is that not one of these tools is the MOST effective method for evangelism.
The passage we are going to look at today will address this very thing, and as we are currently in our PRAYER series, you may just have a clue as to what the most effective method may be.
*However, it may be that the prayer itself might surprise you.*
Exposition
Exposition
(37min - 5)
(ESV)
35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.
Jesus’ Ministry
Jesus’ Ministry
“throughout all the cities and villages”
According to the ancient historian Josephus, there were probably at least 3 million
Teaching, proclaiming, healing
Just like Jesus, the church gathers to teach and scatters to proclaim.
36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
laborers are few = the problem
pray earnestly = the solution
We must see the crowd with compassion.
Jesus is the only one who truly had a right to see the crowd with anger, judgment, yet he had compassion.
why is earnest prayer necessary for the harvest?
why is ‘send’ = expel?
we work as we pray
the disciples were not to simply pray from afar, they were to be part of the action
cf
See with gospel empathy. (36a)
See with gospel empathy. (36a)
(32min - 6)
36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, v
14 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
32 Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”
Matt
34 And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.
Matt 18
27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.
John MacArthur Sermon Archive The Harvest and the Laborers
In Matthew 14:14, “Jesus went forth and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion.” Chapter 15:32, “Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, ‘I have compassion on the multitude.’ ” In Matthew 18:27, He gives a parable and says, “The lord of that servant was moved with compassion and loosed him and forgave him the debt,” and He, of course, is the Lord in the parable. In 20:34, “Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes, and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.”
And it isn’t just Matthew. Mark 1:41, “Jesus was moved with compassion, put forth His hand and touched a leper.” Chapter 5 of Mark verse 19, again, it says, “Go home to your friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and hath had compassion on you.”
Word for “compassion” lit = ‘feeling in your bowels’
Similar to “Love with all my heart.”
Jesus saw the effects of sin and he was twisted inside.
Jesus still cares!
John MacArthur Sermon Archive The Harvest and the Laborers
Thomas Watson said this. “We may force our Lord to punish us, but we will never have to force Him to love us. That’s His nature.”
“We may force our Lord to punish us, but we will never have to force Him to love us. That’s His nature.”
— Thomas Watson
This is the way Jesus loved. He was different from all the other religious teachers. He touched the dirty and diseased. He loved the unlovable.
Jesus is the only one who truly had a right to see the crowd with anger, judgment, yet he had compassion.
Jesus likely healed more than actually followed him. Yet he had compassion on them.
When you go to work, school, store, do you see people around you as souls with a story or do you see them merely as cogs in the machinery of your life?
I can’t help but think of the Gospel Blimp where the group of friends were more concerned about methods by which to bring people to Jesus than they were about the people themselves
>Name one in your circle of influence who needs Jesus.
Feel the gospel urgency. (36b)
Feel the gospel urgency. (36b)
(26min - 6)
because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd
Did you ever stop to think about what your life might be like if you didn’t know Jesus?
How would you have had peace?
Made it through the cancer, depression, the breakup?
How could you live knowing you could die any second and NOT know what would happen next?
I know I’d be dead.
Jesus could see what the effects of sin were doing to people.
Harassed - troubled, bothered
35 While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?”
Question is, who were the people being harassed by? Who is troubling them? Satan and everything he can throw at them — sickness, disease, demon-possession. Jesus had just been healing each of these problems.
Helpless - lit., “being thrown down”
They had no hope.
Like sheep without a shepherd
Ever seen a sheep? Not the brightest of God’s creatures.
They are defenseless. Their only defense is their cuteness.
Without a shepherd they are vulnerable to attack.
Without a shepherd they might have a hard time finding food. They need a shepherd to lead them “to green pastures and beside still waters.” () Goats are good at this, but not sheep.
They need the shepherd for protection and provision.
This was actually a spiritual indictment against Israel’s religious leaders.
1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? 3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep.
Ezekiel 34:
10 Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them.
Ezekiel 34:10-
Jesus understood the plight of those who were not following him as a good shepherd. Maybe they were following another leader.
Without Jesus they will be helpless or worse — devoured.
>Think about hell.
>Write down two ways your life would be different without Jesus.
Recognize the kingdom opportunity. (37)
Recognize the kingdom opportunity. (37)
(20min - 6)
Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;
Harvest are those who need Jesus
It is ripe and ready.
What’s the problem? No one to bring in the harvest.
There are people who are ready to respond to Jesus — If you share the gospel with them they will say yes toJesus.
BUT, laborers are few.
Why? — What would possibly be the reason why people who would be willing to trust in Jesus not?
The Gospel and Personal Evangelism by Mark Dever
Reasons why we don’t evangelize:
I don’t know their language
Evangelism is illegal
Evangelism could cause problems at work.
Other things seem more urgent.
I don’t know any non-Christians
The number of U.S. Christians who feel they have a personal responsibility to share their faith has declined over the past 25 years, according to a Barna Group report published on May 15.
The number of Christians who believe “converting people to Christianity is the job of the local church” has risen 19 points, from 10 percent to 29 percent.Those who affirm the statement, “every Christian has a responsibility to share their faith,” has declined 25 points, moving from 89 percent in 1993 to 64 percent today.
- Word and Way, (https://wordandway.org/2018/05/22/barna-personal-evangelism-wanes-among-u-s-christians/)
Ninety-five percent of all Christians have never won a soul to Christ.
Eighty percent of all Christians do not consistently witness for Christ.
Less than two percent are involved in the ministry of evangelism.
Seventy-one percent do not give toward the financing of the great Commission.
- “Street Level Evangelism, Where is the Space for the Local Evangelist,” by Michael Parrott, Acts Evangelism, Spokane, WA, 1993, pp. 9-11.
The problem is not that we do not live in a place where there are no unbelievers. The problem is that we live in a place where very few are doing anything about going to the unbelievers.
How does this sound like the early Church?
>Position yourself near the field.
Respond by praying earnestly. (38a)
Respond by praying earnestly. (38a)
(14min - 6)
You would think Jesus’ response would be “Get up and go do the mission.”
Get more tracts!
knock on more doors!
Be louder! Speak more!
Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers
This prayer is not a simple information statement about the lack of workers:
Sermons from John Piper (1980–1989) Prayer at Harvest Time: Now!
The strangeness of this command points to something very important. It is strange that the farm hands should be told to beg the owner of the farm to send out more workers into his harvest. Surely Jesus doesn’t mean to imply that God doesn’t know there is a shortage of reapers!
‘pray earnestly’ -
When was the last time you truly prayed about the lost.
harvest is plentiful = the need
laborers are few = the problem
pray earnestly = the solution
1 And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. 2 The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. 5 These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans,
Matt 10:1
>Pray for workers and be ready to work.
(ESV)
5 These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay.
Trust in God’s sovereignty. (38b)
Trust in God’s sovereignty. (38b)
(8min - 6)
pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Evangelism is not your work — It’s your preparation for God’s work
This was a difficult lesson for me to learn. I used to feel no confession of faith was MY fault.
Salvation is ALWAYS God’s work
6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
>Plant, water and let God grow.
Conclusion
Conclusion
(2min - 2)
“The most important human factor in effective evangelism is PRAYER, Every great awakening in the history of the Church from the time of the Apostles until today has been the result of prayer. There have been great awakenings without much preaching, and there have been great awakenings with absolutely no organization, but there has never been a true awakening without much prayer.”
— R. A. Torrey
‘The single greatest tool for evangelism is prayer.’
(A heart aimed at the lost and knees bent in prayer)
What is the most effective thing we can do in evangelism? PRAY. Pray not for the lost but for God to send people to the lost (you and me).
we must have J eyes
>Name one in your circle of influence who needs Jesus.
See with gospel empathy. (36a)
>Name one in your circle of influence who needs Jesus.
Feel the gospel urgency. (36b)
>Think about hell.
>Think about where would you be if you did not know Jesus.
Recognize the kingdom opportunity. (37)
>Position yourself near the field.
Respond by praying earnestly. (38a)
>Pray for workers and be ready to work.
Trust in God’s sovereignty. (38b)
>Plant, water and let God grow.
>Write down two ways your life would be different without Jesus.
>Position yourself near the field.
>Pray for workers and be ready to work.
>Plant, water and let God grow.
