First of all, Pastor Chris with Evangelism Coach has posted a simple yet thoughtful article that reminds me that God is sovereign in evangelism. It is entitled: God - the Evangelist. It is worth reading - especially if you think that your the one doing the evangelizing!
now for my post...
I had the privilege of leading the Wednesday Bible study at my church the other night in the absence of our pastor. God had laid upon my heart to teach on the Great Commission. I believe that it is very important to remind ourselves of the basics every great now and then - as we have a tendency to complicate things.
I found myself drawn to verse 18 in Matthew 28 and taught primarily from that verse and the first few words of verse 19. "And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore...""
When Jesus talks about authority in this verse, he is not referring to His authority as King of kings and Lord of lords. (See. Colossians 1:15-17, Ephesians 1:20-23, Philippians 2:9-11) Rather, He is referring to his authority as the mediator between God and man for salvation. (See 1 Timothy 2:5 and John 5:22-27)
Keep in mind, this was not too long after His death, burial and resurrection.
After reminding his disciples of this authority, he said to them, "Go therefore..."
“Jesus came close to them… and made this astounding claim. He spoke as one already in heaven with a world-wide outlook and with the resources of heaven at his command.” (Robertson’s Word Pictures)
Do we recognize the authority that Jesus has passed on to us as his followers - to go and spread the good news? Do we recognize - and draw upon - all the resources of Heaven that he has passed on to us as his witnesses?
I like to think of it this way...
My dad used to love to watch western movies and TV shows. I remember the plot line sometimes involving the local sheriff rounding up a posse of men (white hats) to go and catch the bad guys (black hats). After the sheriff had gathered the men together, there was a solemn swearing in ceremony.
It was then that the sheriff would deputize these men therby passing his authority on to them. In so doing, he made these men equal to himself in the eyes of the law. They would then tear out of town on horseback, ride to the bad guy's lair, shoot it out and arrest the bad guy. They would ride back to town, turn him over to the sheriff and justice would be served.
As witnesses for Him, Jesus has made us a part of his posse! He has deputized us with his authority to go out and round up sinners. Our Job is to bring them to Sheriff Jesus. But instead of justice, they find in Him infinite mercy.
Jesus told the disciples (and us): "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Every time we announce the good news of Jesus Christ, we are using the keys to the kingdom. Not that we have any authority to remit the sins of those that we witness to. But, we open the doors to the kingdom so that Jesus can welcome them into his salvation by faith. Knowing that you have been given the authority of Jesus and all the resources of heaven, shouldn't it be easier to spread the good news of Jesus Christ? I'll let you decide...
Showing posts with label sharing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sharing. Show all posts
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Who is in Your Circle?
Who is in your circle?I remember going to visit a couple once to share with them how they could be involved with supporting our evangelism ministry. They were faithful members of our church and upstanding people in the community.
As I was sitting in their living room, I asked the question, "What do you think keeps people from coming to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?"
The wife responded by saying that people were generally apathetic. As she continued to talk, she admitted that she really didn't know any lost people - that is people who have never trusted Christ as their personal savior. She said, "when I was working, I was around them all the time. Now I am around church people. in fact, I don't feel comfortable around lost people."
Here lies the problem with the average believer: they only know churched people. Modern Christians have no close personal relationships with lost people.
We have insulated ourselves in a cocoon of casual Christianity and therefore isolated ourselves from the lost world.
We must begin to build relationships with people around us in order to win them to Christ, build them in faith and send them back into the world to influence others.
Start by looking at the people that God has placed in your circle. They could be family, friends, co-workers or casual acquaintances. Ask God to give you ways to begin building friendships with them and use those friendships to share the good news. You won't regret it...
3 Commandments of Friendfluence - Pt. 3
“I've become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life.” 1 Corinthians 9:22 The Message*
In my previous post, I talked about what it means to “see” people. That is, to acknowledge their existence, to enter into their world and understand them. In this post, I want to talk about sharing the good news with them.
Ultimately, Paul was concerned with sharing the message of Jesus Christ with everyone. By serving them and seeing them as people, he had earned the right to be heard. We are living in a day when people will listen to you if you earn the right from them to be heard. That means treating them with respect; not treating them as another notch in your evangelism belt.
In an article written by Dr. Thom Rainer entitled Ten Surprises About the Unchurched, Dr. Rainer talks about the importance of relationships in sharing the gospel. A team was commissioned by Dr. Rainer to research the attitudes of unchurched people – i.e. those that did not maintain an ongoing relationship with any local church. One of his researchers wrote the following in a memo to Dr. Rainer:
“Most of the unchurched that the team is interviewing would respond positively to a 'genuine' Christian who would spend time with them in a gentle, non-judgmental relationship…”
I realize that I have just made a whole bunch of people practice confrontational evangelism madder than a wet hornet. First of all, I am not against confrontational evangelism. In fact, I often practice it. I preach evangelistic crusades, I share with people one-on-one, I give out bible tracts and everything else you can imagine to reach people with the gospel. So hold the angry e-mails.
I just know that most people come to faith in Christ as a result of the influence of their family members or friends. (Hence the term FriendFluence.) In fact, a survey quoted by Elmer Towns in Church Growth, State of the Art stated that 86% of the people who came to faith in Christ did so due to the influence of friends or relatives…
HOW PEOPLE ARE BROUGHT INTO THE CHURCH
By Advertisement 2%
By the Pastor 6%
By Organized Evangelistic Outreach 6%
By Friends and Relatives 86%
From: Church Growth, State of the Art
However, there is a very real danger that we will focus on building the relationship with the person, and never getting around to sharing the good news. We must never forget that our task is to bring others into a personal relationship with Jesus. We cannot automatically assume that they are going to see how we live and be attracted to Jesus. Beside all that, I don’t ever recall seeing a believer who lived such a holy life that people fell at their feet begging to come to Jesus.
Paul made sure that the people he encountered heard a clear presentation of the gospel. In fact he said, “woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Cor. 9:16 HCSB) I believe that everyone deserves to hear a clear presentation of God’s message of salvation alone through Jesus Christ. As we build our relationships with people, we must ask God to give us opportunities to share the good news with our friends. It is not our job to save them – we cannot; it is our job to share with them.
Who in your circle of influence have you shared the good news with?
*I used the Message paraphrase due to the clarity of the passage.
In my previous post, I talked about what it means to “see” people. That is, to acknowledge their existence, to enter into their world and understand them. In this post, I want to talk about sharing the good news with them.
Ultimately, Paul was concerned with sharing the message of Jesus Christ with everyone. By serving them and seeing them as people, he had earned the right to be heard. We are living in a day when people will listen to you if you earn the right from them to be heard. That means treating them with respect; not treating them as another notch in your evangelism belt.
In an article written by Dr. Thom Rainer entitled Ten Surprises About the Unchurched, Dr. Rainer talks about the importance of relationships in sharing the gospel. A team was commissioned by Dr. Rainer to research the attitudes of unchurched people – i.e. those that did not maintain an ongoing relationship with any local church. One of his researchers wrote the following in a memo to Dr. Rainer:
“Most of the unchurched that the team is interviewing would respond positively to a 'genuine' Christian who would spend time with them in a gentle, non-judgmental relationship…”
I realize that I have just made a whole bunch of people practice confrontational evangelism madder than a wet hornet. First of all, I am not against confrontational evangelism. In fact, I often practice it. I preach evangelistic crusades, I share with people one-on-one, I give out bible tracts and everything else you can imagine to reach people with the gospel. So hold the angry e-mails.
I just know that most people come to faith in Christ as a result of the influence of their family members or friends. (Hence the term FriendFluence.) In fact, a survey quoted by Elmer Towns in Church Growth, State of the Art stated that 86% of the people who came to faith in Christ did so due to the influence of friends or relatives…
HOW PEOPLE ARE BROUGHT INTO THE CHURCH
By Advertisement 2%
By the Pastor 6%
By Organized Evangelistic Outreach 6%
By Friends and Relatives 86%
From: Church Growth, State of the Art
However, there is a very real danger that we will focus on building the relationship with the person, and never getting around to sharing the good news. We must never forget that our task is to bring others into a personal relationship with Jesus. We cannot automatically assume that they are going to see how we live and be attracted to Jesus. Beside all that, I don’t ever recall seeing a believer who lived such a holy life that people fell at their feet begging to come to Jesus.
Paul made sure that the people he encountered heard a clear presentation of the gospel. In fact he said, “woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Cor. 9:16 HCSB) I believe that everyone deserves to hear a clear presentation of God’s message of salvation alone through Jesus Christ. As we build our relationships with people, we must ask God to give us opportunities to share the good news with our friends. It is not our job to save them – we cannot; it is our job to share with them.
Who in your circle of influence have you shared the good news with?
*I used the Message paraphrase due to the clarity of the passage.
Monday, March 5, 2007
Building Friendships for Eternity
FriendFluence: actively pursuing relationships with people in order to win them to Christ, build them in faith and send them back into the world to influence others.
One of the most distressing things I have seen in modern Christianity - at least in the western world - is our apathy toward sharing the greatest message of all - the good news of Jesus Christ. Jesus said in the gospel of John that He "came so that people might have life and have it in abundance."
According to the teaching of the Bible, Jesus died on the cross, was buried, rose from the dead on the third day and ascended to the father in heaven so that the sins of the world could be forgiven. By faith, anyone who turns from their sins (repents) and believes in Him can find that abundant life which is for now and forever more. In my book, that qualifies as good - no...GREAT news!
Yet, I am baffled when I meet Christians who say that they have met Jesus, yet have no desire to see other people experience the joy of knowing Jesus personally. Could it be as Billy Graham once said: "the greatest hindrance to evangelism today is the poverty of our own experience." In other words, Christians don't tell others about Jesus because they never met Him in the first place. God forbid...
FriendFluence is about teaching believers to look for ways to build relationships with people who have never met Jesus Christ in order to introduce them to Him, build them in their faith, and teach them to influence others in the same way.
This Blog is dedicated to the development and teaching of a Bible based curriculum called FriendFluence which was created by Evangelist Darrel Davis of Foundation Ministries. The goal of this curriculum is to change the mindset of believers when it comes to spreading the message of Jesus Christ and equip them to take an active role in reaching people.
I welcome your constructive input through comments and suggestions. Keep checking back for more posts and updates on the development of this curriculum. My desire is to equip Christians to build Friendships for eternity.
One of the most distressing things I have seen in modern Christianity - at least in the western world - is our apathy toward sharing the greatest message of all - the good news of Jesus Christ. Jesus said in the gospel of John that He "came so that people might have life and have it in abundance."
According to the teaching of the Bible, Jesus died on the cross, was buried, rose from the dead on the third day and ascended to the father in heaven so that the sins of the world could be forgiven. By faith, anyone who turns from their sins (repents) and believes in Him can find that abundant life which is for now and forever more. In my book, that qualifies as good - no...GREAT news!
Yet, I am baffled when I meet Christians who say that they have met Jesus, yet have no desire to see other people experience the joy of knowing Jesus personally. Could it be as Billy Graham once said: "the greatest hindrance to evangelism today is the poverty of our own experience." In other words, Christians don't tell others about Jesus because they never met Him in the first place. God forbid...
FriendFluence is about teaching believers to look for ways to build relationships with people who have never met Jesus Christ in order to introduce them to Him, build them in their faith, and teach them to influence others in the same way.
This Blog is dedicated to the development and teaching of a Bible based curriculum called FriendFluence which was created by Evangelist Darrel Davis of Foundation Ministries. The goal of this curriculum is to change the mindset of believers when it comes to spreading the message of Jesus Christ and equip them to take an active role in reaching people.
I welcome your constructive input through comments and suggestions. Keep checking back for more posts and updates on the development of this curriculum. My desire is to equip Christians to build Friendships for eternity.
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