Invitation and Evangelism

Luke 10 has been a great place for us this month to see Jesus send out 72 others into the harvest as laborers of the kingdom.

Our goal is to be united in evangelism.....

There is a great opportunity

Fully Devoted Disciples

Prayer and Evangelism

Invitation and Evangelism

Luke 10:1–12 ESV

1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. 2 And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. 7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

How is the Gospel shared as we go?......

Romans 10:14–17 ESV

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

We are commanded to GO, but as we go, we must TEACH, MAKE, SHARE!..... the Gospel...

So this morning, I want to unpack a few ways that we share the Gospel.......

1 The Gospel Shared Through Invitation

Jesus used two phrases for us to follow in his example.

Follow me and Come and See

a. Follow Me

Luke 9:23–24 ESV

23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

Luke 9:57–62 ESV

57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Matthew 4:19–20 ESV

19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

Matthew 9:9 ESV

9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

This follow me is not the simple follow the leader in the elementary school hallway..... this is a full…all in… following and commitment to believe and follow Jesus down the narrow road that leads to eternal life!

“To be called to a life of extraordinary quality is indeed a narrow way. To confess and testify to the truth as it is in Jesus, and at the same time to love the enemies of that truth...is indeed a narrow way. To believe the promise of Jesus that his followers shall possess the earth, and at the same time to face our enemies unarmed and defenceless... is indeed a narrow way. To see the weakness and wrong in others, and at the same time refrain from judging them; to deliver the gospel message without casting pearls before swine... is indeed a narrow way. The way is unutterably hard, and at every moment we are in danger of straying from it. If we regard this way as one we follow in obedience to an external command, if we are afraid of ourselves all the time, it is indeed an impossible way. But if we behold Jesus Christ going on before step by step, we shall not go astray.” ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

Follow Jesus - thats the command, but he was with us every step of the way! HE has gone where we desire to go!......

Like Jonas on the playground!

b. Come and See - The natural tendency to be intrigued about something new and something that our hearts long for

Dishawasher ?!

TV?!

INTERNET?!

New Phones!

New Stores! Hello Kroger! right!...... man the metroplex we missed the ability to go into stores that we specific to DFW!

New is always intriguing..... learning it may not be..... but here is what Jesus is leaning into with the first disciples..... what are you seeking? Come and See! Experience the life that Jesus has to offer!

John 1:35–42 ESV

35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).

John 1:43–46 ESV

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

This is not just an invitation to CHURCH to hear the pastor! This is not an invitation to Sunday School to hear the teacher.... This is not an invitation to a time of fellowship...... THE GOSPEL IS SHARED THROUGH INVITATION TO COME AND SEE..... FOLLOW JESUS!

Jesus should be the underlying foundation of the local church.... of sunday school.... of the outreach.... of ______ .... but don’t miss this..... you are not just an inviter to an activity...... The Gospel is shared when we see that we are inviting others to JESUS himself..... to encounter him, to know him, to BELIEVE in HIM for the forgiveness of their sins....... So yes, invite to church, your Bible Study group, your fellowship, your friends at church..... but most importantly, the GOSPEL is shared when Jesus is the foundation and the prize to which you want them to come and see!

2. The Gospel Shared Through Relationships

- Oikos - not just Greek yogurt.... it describes the household.... not just who is under your house.... but who you interacted with..... family, friends, servants, etc.....

When I said last week, who is in your sphere of influence? This is the reality of the oikos..... I saw one pastor break it down to the closests 8-15 people in your life. Family, Friends, neighbors, job…etc.

The Gospel is shared through relationships

Luke 8:39 The demoniac was told to return to his household and described the great things done for him. His household first and then into the whole city!

Luke 19:9 Zacchaeus was told salvation was on his household.

John 4:53 The centurion's entire household was saved following the healing of his son.

Acts 18:8 Luke describes how Crispus, leader of the synagogue at Corinth, believed in the Lord with all his household.

Cornelius in Acts 10

Acts 10:2 ESV

2 a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God.

Acts 10:24 ESV

24 And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends.

Krystle Coming to know Jesus - through a friendship of her brother..... in 2nd grade classmates.... 4 years later!

But from that phone call, a whole family came to believe in Jesus.

Who is in your household? The gospel is SHARED through these relationships....... mailers on doors, facebook posts, tik toks....... twitter.... newspaper ads..... television ads...... the GOSPEL Spreads through obedient disciples in the oikos that they are in!

We do not need to get creative on how we SHARE the Gospel, we need to be obedient to share the Gospel where God has planted us!

3. The Gospel Shared Through Persons of Peace

- Luke 10:1-12

- Persons of Peace - Son of Peace - a gateway relationship into a family, neighborhood, or community. Consider prayerfully seeking them out as you go about living more intentionally.

Luke 7:1–10 (The Centurion)

John 4:1–30 (The Samaritan Woman)

Acts 8:26–40 (The Ethiopian Eunuch) the Gospel spreading to Africa

Acts 10:9–11:1 (Cornelius)

Acts 16:13–15 (Lydia) ladies bible study and church eventually meets in her home

Acts 16:22–38 (The Philippian Jailer)

Walking a beagle..... Kelly and Sylvia.... persons of peace!

Skaff apartments… the open door for our church to meet for almost nothing.....

The owner of the land of our church!

We must seek out these persons of peace....

1. welcome you

2. receive you

3. be open to you and your friendship

4. be open to what you have to say about Jesus

5. be interested in and open to the life you live as a follower of Jesus

6. assist or serve you in some ways

Watch to see where God is working and join Him in His work.

Henry Blackaby

Our task as laborers in the harvest.... Pray, Go, and acknowledge where God is working as we share the Gospel!

In Focus

The Gospel Spreads with intentionality

When was the last time you shared the Gospel with someone?

or taking a step back from full out Gospel presentation.....

When was the last time you personally invited someone to come to church with you? (Not Facebook to the public), but specifically by name and request.....?

Almost 30% of people have never invited someone to their church in the last year!..... I know everyone is not a hermit in their house! You go places and you know people!

Thom Rainer put the number more like 2% of the church has invited someone in the last year!?

My role in evangelism for you is to be an equippper..... to help share, motivate, and equip you to go into your sphere of influence and share the Gospel......

So I have 1 question for you!....

- Who is your 1?

Luke 15 In the three parables about a lost coin, a lost sheep, and a lost son, all tell of the rejoicing when the lost was found. In all three cases they told their friends and family. The message of hope was passed on through the oikos.

1. Find your one

Not sure how to answer the question, “Who’s your one?” yet? Here are a few suggestions to help.

Family: Who could love your family members more than you do? • Close friends: Who do you want to tell when you have news (good or bad)? • Neighbor: Who lives right next door to you? • Coworkers: Who works across from you, or who do you run into in the break room? • Cashier or server: Who are the people you see at your regular shopping and dining spots?

• Classmate: Who do you see in class, the library or lab? • Teammate: Who plays in the same league as you? • Online friend: With whom do you engage on social media? • Fellow parent: Who are the parents of your child’s friends? • Workout buddy: With whom do you go to the gym or run?

Zion and reaching his neighbors for Jesus...... Quiet time...... and then asked to pray for the other brother! be faithful to pray!

Conclusion:

Begin praying for your streets regularly..... 1 regularly with the prayer guide.

Confess faith in Jesus.... Following him for the first time!..... Baptism

Joining our church.

In this time of invitation and response, I ask for you to be obedient to how the Holy Spirit is leading you.