Evangelism 101

Why we should spread the Gospel

A. It Is God’s Will That All Come To Christ

Turn to Ephesians 1:9 (ESV), “Making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”

Do you know what the will of God is? To unite all things in Christ. That means to bring everything in creation into unity with Christ.

This has been the one thing on God’s mind since the fall of man. When He set Israel up as its own nation, He told them that He wanted Israel to bring all nations to Himself. When He called the disciples; He sent them out and said, “Go compel them.” He wanted His disciples to bring all nations to Himself.

The one thing that has been on God’s heart and mind is this right here. Yes He wants to bless us, yes He desires relationship with us, but He also wants us to help with this mission here.

How do we help fulfill the will of God in this verse?

B. Preaching The Gospel Is How We Fulfilling God’s Will.

Mark 16:15 (ESV), “And he said to the, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.’”

This is how we fulfill the will of God. By preaching the Gospel to all of creation!

Since the beginning of this whole COVID crisis I have struggled with my job as outreach coordinator. I don’t feel like there is much that I can do right now, and that has really burdened me.

Here is what I have realized though. That right now is the perfect time to do two things:

1.) Help this church body as individuals grow in evangelism as a lifestyle. This means that you don’t just do evangelism whenever there is an event, but you are actually equipped to do Evangelism while going throughout your daily business.

2.) To prod you and push you to actually get out and do it.

How do we become effective in evangelism?

1. Be Prepared Before you Go

The key to being effective at anything in life is first in preparation.

If you want to do something right you must spend what ever time is necessary learning how to do it, gathering the tools to do it, preparing your mind and body for the task, and many other things.

If you look in the book of Acts you see the the men and women of God spent time devoted to the word of God, praying for the hearts of men to be turned, and asking God to grant them signs and wonders. This was part of their preparation before they went out and did anything.

With all that being said; preparation is very important before you do something, but you can’t spend so long trying to prepare that you don’t ever get out and do it.

I think that is where many in the church are at today. I want to spend hours studying something, and maybe when I feel good and prepared, I can go out and do it.

Just like Pastor Kenny said last week, that is not the pattern found in the Bible. Jesus sat down with His disciples, showed them what to do, and then said now go. He let them struggle through and find the answers themselves. When they needed help; they called on Him and He was there. That is what they needed then and that is what we need now. To learn by going not learning to go.

So how do we get prepared to spread the Gospel?

A. Know the Gospel

Know what it is you are supposed to tell people.

Knowing what you need to communicate to people helps you stay on task. You know what it is you are supposed to do and how you are going to do it.

This makes the process easier because in the midst of evangelism you will find spiritual warfare. You will sometimes struggle to stay focused, you will be intimidated, and sometimes you are just going to lose your train of thought.

When you know what you are supposed to say and communicate then it is easier for you to prevent things like freezing up, anxiety, and even looking foolish from happening.

As you learn how to communicate the Gospel to people you are going to grown in a deeper understanding of what the Gospel means to you as well! so not only does it mean that you will lead others to Christ, but that you will grow in your relationship with Christ.

So what is a part of an effective Gospel presentation?

A. The Fall of Man- Talk about sin. What it has done. Explain how this applies to the person.

B. The Salvation of Man- This is the coming of Jesus. Why He came. How that applies to us.

C. The Soon Return- Here explain about the Second Coming and how this applies to us as individuals.

If you need help please come and talk to me! I will be glad to help.

B. The Second Part Of Preparation Is To Be Full of The Spirit

This shouldn’t be something that I have to take too much time to explain!

This is something that should come as a natural aspect of the Christian life. As you read your word, Sit in the presence, pray, etc. The fullness of the Spirit will come naturally! You won’t have to work for it!

John 6:44 (ESV), “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.”

The Holy Spirit is the presence of Father God on Earth today. He is the one who draws men to God.

This is why being full of the Spirit is important. If you aren’t full of the Spirit and aren’t carrying Him into your situations; how in the world do you expect Him to draw people to Himself through you?

You must be full of the Spirit to meet whatever needs the people around you have. When this happens you will see that people will be open and receptive to whatever you have to say!

You must also be full of the Spirit so that you can stand against the Warfare that you will be in.

I am not trying to freak you out, but you will experience opposition from the enemy whenever you try to reach the lost. You must be full of the Spirit to reach the lost and to overcome the struggles that will come your way.

2. Look for Opportunities

A. To Talk to People

Your first order of business in spreading the Gospel with those around you is to look for opportunities to talk to people.

This isn’t hard, but it requires a heart for people.

You must have a heart that cares for the people around you. This is where the true test of our personal relationship with Jesus is. The way that we love Jesus comes out in every area of our lives and especially when it comes to reaching the lost.

Pray that God will give you a heart for the lost.

Here is what you do. Look for ways to start a conversation with somebody. Even in the midst of a Pandemic you can talk to people.

It is as simple as, “Hey man! How are you doing?” This is the perfect conversation starter because people love to talk about themselves.

This also communicates to the person that you are someone who genuinely cares about them. You are not approaching them by getting all in their face and saying, “Do you have a moment to talk about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?”

You are actually meeting them on their turf and reaching them. Too often what we try to do is get the person to come to us rather than trying to reach them where they are at.

I remember this one time I was walking through Walmart, and I just stopped this random guy and I said, “Hey man! How’s it going?” He just started telling me all about his day, what he was going through, and we talked for a good 5 or 10 minutes through Walmart. Now This was an unusual encounter, but I can always get someone to talk to me for at least 3-5 minutes. All I do is ask them about themselves.

This is simply the first part of a witnessing encounter with someone. Just stop the person in conversation, ask them about themselves, and really listen. I promise you will not have an issue with conversations at this point.

Right now the only thing that makes this harder is the masks. Listen to me though. I have followed this completely and I have not had a single person get angry at me one time. Just follow basic sanitary practices and if you can tell the person is following social distancing guidelines, you do the same.

B. To make the Gospel Relevant to Where They Are.

While you are talking to people I want you to really listen to them.

Don’t listen to figure out how you are going to respond to them, but listen to the word choices they use. Listen to what their eyes, tone of voice, and physical expressions are telling you.

If you listen to what the person is communicating both consciously and subconsciously; then you will be picking up on certain things going on in that persons life.

When you recognize these things you will start to learn what areas of the persons life you can apply the Gospel to.

Let me give you an example of this in my personal life:

I was witnessing to this guy one time, and I stopped him the same way I am telling you. I simply asked, “Hey man! How are you doing?” He looked at me and told me that he was good. Here is what I noticed though. He had on the same pants that a soldier wears, he had a beer in his hand, and his eyes were purple from lack of sleep. So I looked at him and I said, “Don’t lie to me.” I told him, “I can tell that you are in the military, I see that your drinking, and your eyes tell me that you haven’t been sleeping well. From what I see I believe that you are depressed.” He told me I was right. He informed me that he was in the Marine Corp and just got back to the States. He didn’t tell me about anything that happened, but he told me that something was tormenting him badly. So here is what I said, “Jesus died to bring the Kingdom of God to you. The Kingdom of God is Righteousness, Love, and Peace. Jesus wants to give that to you today! Can I pray for you?” He let me pray for him, he ended up weeping his eyes out, gave his life to the Lord, and told me that he had planned to commit suicide later that evening. God intercepted Him because someone knew how to make the Gospel Relevant to his situation!

When you speak the Gospel directly to the persons situation you are going to begin to see miracles take place. You will see the Holy Spirit move on people in a way that you can not possibly begin to imagine

3. Always Give Holy Spirit An Opening

This is something that is easy, but I believe that we have neglected it as Christians.

This is the most important thing to do when it comes to evangelism. We must give the Holy Spirit a chance to move and operate in the middle of our situation.

When I was in Bible College we had a class on Evangelism.

That class taught me how to witness to somebody greatly, but it didn’t teach me how to give the Holy Spirit an opening to intervene. As a result I could witness to people, but for awhile I saw no demonstrations of power.

This is what I see in people who do Evangelism. They are so focused on witnessing that the Holy Spirit doesn’t have a chance to do something. So they don’t see any fruit.

With my example of the marine from a minute ago. I spoke directly to where he was at, but if I hadn’t prayed for him and given the Holy Spirit a chance, then he would have never been saved. He probably would have went home and stayed depressed.

He didn’t stay trapped in bondage because I gave the Holy Spirit a platform to move.

A. The Holy Spirit Confirms Our Message

Mark 16:20 (ESV) says, “And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.”

The Holy Spirit confirms your message!

This is what happened with this marine. I talked to him, preached the Gospel, and then when I allowed the Holy Spirit to move, He confirmed my message by showing that man His Presence.

If you do not give the Holy Spirit a chance to move; then you will never see the message that you preach confirmed in the Hearts of man. You must give Him the opportunity to do something in them!

Never let someone walk away without giving the Holy Spirit a chance to work in their life at that moment.

B. The Holy Spirit Opens Hearts To Receive the Gospel

In Luke 10:8-9 (ESV) Jesus said, “Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The Kingdom of God has come near to you.’”

You know why Jesus told them to let the Holy Spirit move first in this passage? I believe that it is because Jesus knew that people would not listen until they saw that what the disciples were preaching was true.

Jesus knew that the hearts of man are hardened and calloused.

I believe that this is true today. I believe that there are some people who it doesn’t matter how much they hear the Gospel, until they come into contact with the Holy Spirit they will never fully surrender.

You will come across people who don’t care and just want you out of their face. When you let the Holy Spirit work first; then they will listen to whatever you have to say.

Let me illustrate this for you:

A couple of weeks ago, I was on my way home for lunch from work. Well my battery died and I ended up broken down at Autozone. Pastor Kenny took me to get a battery and we were getting out of his car to put the new battery in my truck. As we got out there was a man sitting on the sidewalk. I said, “Hey man! How’s it going?” Immediately he started cussing and telling us how certain drugs mess you up and all kinds of things. So I just sit down beside him and I start talking to him. I listened and I said, “I use to be addicted to drugs too.” Then he went on this long tirade asking me if I have ever tried this or that. I waited for another opening and then I said, “You know Jesus set me free of that and he can do it for you too.” He started trying to tell me that he went to church and everything, but I could also see the kind of fruit that he was bearing. Anyway, I just cut him off and I said, “Have you ever felt the power of God?” He said, “No.” So I said, “Would you like to?” He said yeah. I held my hand out and asked if I could pray for him. When I got done all he said was, “Wow” and he was smiling from ear to ear. Just cheesing. I gave him a card from the church and we invited him here.

Here is what I am trying to tell you. The man didn’t care anything about what I had to say. I tried to witness to him. I tried to make the Gospel relevant to him, but at the end of the day it didn’t work. The only thing I could do next was to let the Holy Spirit do something.

It worked!

The man had an encounter with God. His whole attitude and demeanor changed.

When its all said and done that is all you can do when it comes to reaching the lost.

Be prepared before you go!

Look for Opportunities!

Always give the Holy Spirit a chance to move!

If you follow these three things then I promise you that with time, you will develop into effectively reaching men and women for God.