Relational Evangelism

The Power of the Gospel

Romans 1:16

Romans 1:16 NKJV

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

The Gospel of Christ

What is it?

- The Good News About Christ

What is this good news?

The New Bible Commentary 1:1–7 Prescript

Paul takes this word from the OT, where it sometimes denotes the ‘good news’ about God’s final victory in history (see Is. 40:9; 52:7; 61:1; Joel 2:32). Paul was very fond of the word, using it to denote both the actual events of Jesus’ death and resurrection that constitute the good news, and the communicating of that good news to others (‘preaching’). Here, gospel includes both ideas.

Isaiah 40:9 NLT

O Zion, messenger of good news, shout from the mountaintops! Shout it louder, O Jerusalem. Shout, and do not be afraid. Tell the towns of Judah, “Your God is coming!”

Isaiah 52:7 NLT

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns!

Isaiah 61:1 NLT

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.

Joel 2:32 NLT

But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, for some on Mount Zion in Jerusalem will escape, just as the Lord has said. These will be among the survivors whom the Lord has called.

Saving everyone who Believes

The Gospel has in it the intrinsic value of unification! Thats right, the Gospel unifies!

The Jew first, those to whom the revelation of Salvation had first been entrusted and the Gentile nations secondarily because the Jews were made to be a blessing to the entire world according to the original Abrahamic Covenant found in Genesis 12:2

Genesis 12:2–3 NKJV

I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Look at Acts 21:8

Acts 21:8 NLT

The next day we went on to Caesarea and stayed at the home of Philip the Evangelist, one of the seven men who had been chosen to distribute food.

Share the Gospel through ways that relate to people!

When sharing the Gospel you want to share the gospel through relationship or through ways that relate to people.

Meet a need.

Go to the crisis.

Remain steady where God places you and stay involved in peoples lives.

Random meetings with people.

These random meetings are not random, they are Spirit led encounters, they are set-ups orchestrated by God

We are to be salt and light

Matthew 5:13-14

Matthew 5:13–14 NLT

“You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.

What if the we learn to flavor the meal just right? Don’t over salt it.

What if we learn to add the light where the light needs to shine? In fact, the older I get the more light my eyes need in order to see, in order to read, in order to not strain.

But there are a host of people who love the darkness

John 3:19

John 3:19 NLT

And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.

Next week I want to look the encounter that Jesus had with the woman at the well.