Main questions from last week:
What is the purpose of the church? To send people out.
Who’s job is it to evangelize? Every Christian is called to Evangelize.
What is the point of evangelism? To glorify God and lift Him up.
Do I need some kind of specialized training to be able to share my faith? No! Acts 4 (They were uneducated men)
Scripture Reference: John 4:1-38 (Jesus speaking to the woman at the well)
Questions for tonight:
· What is successful evangelism? Opening your mouth and letting the Gospel out.
· What do we need to do to be effective for the spreading of the Gospel?
o To not wait for opportunities to arise, but to create them and be active in bringing it up.
o To be in the Word of God so that there is a difference to talk about! It is the Word of God that convicts people, not our reasoning. It is the Word of God that is sharper than a two edge sword. We need to know it!
· What style of evangelism fits you? There are no styles. There is simply the Gospel.
What is successful evangelism?
Was Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well a successful time of evangelism? Why? Is it only successful when the person you are witnessing to comes to Christ? No. It is successful when you are opening your mouth and telling others about Him. If it was our business to make sure people were saved I would not be able to sleep at night! We would have to get our words just right, our sales pitch would have to be perfect! If we screw it up that person is doomed to hell for it. No, this is not the way that God operates. It is our job to be His mouthpiece for evangelism. He uses us to get His message to people, then He uses His Word and His Spirit to draw those people to Himself. We cannot save people. Only God can save people.
What do we need to do to be effective for the spreading of the Gospel?
We can’t wait for opportunities:
How did Jesus approach the woman at the well? He didn’t wait around for her to ask about Him and how she could receive eternal life did He? Nope. We have to look to Jesus as our example in everything, even evangelism. We can’t wait for opportunities to present themselves. We should be active in creating opportunities for the Gospel. The woman at the well didn’t even know the Gospel existed!
How did Jesus bring it up? Did He have a tract? Did He start off with telling her that she was a sinner? He simply asked for a drink and looked for opportunities to bring the Gospel into their conversation. He created the opportunity.
Jesus pointed to her need (John 4:10). She was there for water, but Jesus went even deeper to point to a spiritual need for living water. That is what sparks her interest. (Vs. 11) You don’t have anything to draw with. Where do you get this living water?
Show “Bringing Jesus up in Conversations”
· What did Bryan say about talking to people about your faith? You can’t just start off by saying, “You are going to Hell!”
· You have to listen to them, show that you care
· Then just share with them how Jesus has impacted your life and how He could impact theirs.
What Style of Evangelism Fits You?
What kind of evangelism was it that Jesus used? Relational evangelism. Ever heard the saying, “People won’t care about what you say, until they know you care.”? It is all about relationships. We do not listen to people we don’t know, or don’t respect. Jesus started a conversation with this woman, showed his concern for her needs, then He provided above and beyond what she expected.
Have you ever heard of “Lifestyle Evangelism”? What is it? Just building friendships and when they ask you about the difference in your life you tell them about Christ? We have to realize that lifestyle evangelism is effective… to a point. However, a person’s lifestyle cannot convey the Gospel. They will just think, “Oh, what a nice guy/gal. They sure have a difference in their life.” There are plenty of “good” people out there. There lots of teenagers that do say no to drugs. There are some out there that do not get into the party scene. You can be different and not make a difference if you keep your mouth shut! Our goal should not be only “lifestyle” evangelism, or only some other kind of evangelism. It should be following Christ so closely that even when we are not talking about Him people will ask about the difference in our life.
Matthew 5:16, “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
This verse could really be taken as the “Lifestyle evangelism” key verse. But that is why we need the entire Bible in its context to understand how to evangelize. How effective do you think the disciples, or even Jesus would have been if they only focused on lifestyle evangelism? They would have been seen as really nice guys. But if the Word of God never came out of their mouth, they would have not made an impact beyond being nice to people.
Here is what I really want you to focus on. We are here to plant seeds. It is not always the right time to harvest them. Evangelism is about telling people who God is and how He has changed your life. You can do that just by telling people what God did in your life today. Something as simple as, “Wow, God has just blessed me with a peaceful, joyful heart today.” The more you talk about Him, the easier and less awkward it is to tell people about the Gospel.
The Gospel is the central piece to evangelism. If you are not communicating it, you are not being faithful to what God has called you to. How can we be more effective in accomplishing the great commission? We have to have more purpose behind what we do and say! Guys, is it really effective to just hand someone a tract and walk away? Is it even effective to just walk up to someone and talk them through a tract cold turkey? What part of cold turkey sounds good? We need to show people that we care about them and their needs. We need to be concerned about their lives and get Jesus out in front as the answer to their issues. By following Jesus’ example of evangelism we will be able to have meaningful conversations about what God has done and about how they can join us and be changed as well.
In Review:
· What is successful evangelism? Opening your mouth and letting the Gospel out.
· What do we need to do to be effective for the spreading of the Gospel?
o To not wait for opportunities to arise, but to create them and be active in bringing it up.
o To be in the Word of God so that there is a difference to talk about! It is the Word of God that convicts people, not our reasoning. It is the Word of God that is sharper than a two edge sword. We need to know it!
· What style of evangelism fits you? There are no styles. There is simply the Gospel.
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