EVANGELISM: What were we told to do? 10-8-23

EVANGELISM: What were we told to do? 10-8-23

 

INTRODUCTION

 

More to this life

               Identity

               Integrity

       Intentionality

 

The Great Commission

The Great Commission for the world

The Great Commission for the disciples of Jesus

 

“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.””

              Matthew 28:18-20 NIV

 

The Most Popular Methods Of Evangelizing, according to a new Barna study, are praying for others’ salvation (43%), living in such a way as to encourage questions about their faith (40% engaged in “lifestyle evangelism”) and interactive conversations about moral and life issues that hopefully lead to spiritual conclusions (38%). Less common approaches included bringing non-Christians to church services (27%), challenging a non-believers’ behavior on biblical grounds and suggesting alternatives (27%), bringing non-believers to evangelistic events (24%) and handing out evangelistic literature (19%). The least used forms of outreach included sending letters or e-mail that encourage readers to accept Christ (11%) and public preaching (6%). (Barna Online 10/11/04)

 

I.  THE COMMISSION OF EVANGELISM

 

“Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

               John 20:21-22 NIV

 

               A.  As the Father has sent me

                 1.  Incarnational

                         2.  Powerful

                     3.  Vulnerable

                            4.  Serving

               B.  I am sending you

                 1.  Incarnational

                         2.  Powerful

                     3.  Vulnerable

                            4.  Serving

               C.  Holy Spirit fueled

                   1.  Empowered

                      2.  Supported

                       3.  Defended

 

Charles Finney is a name known to everyone who has studied the mighty movements of God in country. A former lawyer turned preacher by the call of God, Charles Finney was one of the key figures during the Second Great Awakening in 19th Century America, which touched virtually every aspect of life in this country. Finney is sometimes called "America’s foremost revivalist," and there’s no doubt that God had His hand on him. In the seven years in which Finney was an evangelist, there were an estimated 500,000 conversions. His ministry in Rochester, NY from 1830-1831 has been called the greatest year of spiritual awakening in American history. Someone did a follow-up study of those reportedly converted under Finney’s preaching, and found that, years later, 80% of those who made professions of faith gave evidence of true life change.

 

What is more, there were immediate effects felt in the social structures of entire cities and townships. By every standard we know, that is extraordinary. How do you account for the effectiveness that visited this man and his ministry? To what can we attribute the amazing harvest God accomplished from his preaching? If you ask Charles Finney, he will point to one man who partnered with him in his crusades: Daniel Nash. Daniel Nash joined himself to Finney for the purpose of prayer. When Finney was invited to speak in a city, Nash would arrive 3 or 4 weeks early, rent a room, find a small group of like-minded Christians to join him, and start a prayer meeting to plead with God for souls. Once the public meetings began, Nash usually did not attend. He and his group would stay hidden away, agonizing in prayer for the conviction of the Holy Spirit to melt the crowd.

 

On one occasion, Finney himself noted in his journal that when he arrived in a particular town for a revival, he was met by a lady who ran a boarding house. "Brother Finney," she asked, "do you know Mr. Nash? He and two other men have been at my boarding house for the last three days, but they haven’t eaten a bite of food. I opened the door and peeped in at them because I could hear them groaning and I saw them down on their faces. They have been this way for three days, lying prostrate on the floor and groaning. I thought something awful must have happened to them. I was afraid to go in and I didn’t know what to do. Would you please come and see about them?" And Charles Finney replied, "No, it isn’t necessary. They just have a spirit of travail in prayer."

 

Finney and Nash traveled thousands of miles together, in prayer and proclamation of the Gospel. Then in the winter of 1831, Nash took ill. On December 20 of that year, while he was on his knees in prayer, he died at age 56. Charles Finney said this of his dear friend and partner in ministry: "Said a good man to me: 'Oh, I am dying for the want of strength to pray! My body is crushed, the world is on me, and how can I forbear praying?' I have known that man to go to bed absolutely sick, for weakness and faintness, under the pressure. And I have known him to pray as if he would do violence to Heaven, and then have seen the blessing come as plainly in answer to his prayer as if it were revealed, so that no person could doubt it any more than if God had spoken from heaven.

 

"Shall I tell you how he died? He prayed more and more; he used to take the map of the world before him, and pray, and look over the different countries and pray for them, till he expired in his room, praying. Blessed man! He was the reproach of the ungodly, and of carnal, unbelieving professors; but he was the favorite of Heaven, and a prevailing prince of prayer." Today, there is a marker on a neglected grave in a cemetery near the Canadian border that reads, "Daniel Nash, Pastor, Laborer with Finney, Mighty in Prayer." He never had the limelight, the stage, or the accolades. But he shook heaven and hell because he believed in the power of praying together.

               Fred Markes, Principles of Praying for the Lost (sermon), 8/30/2011.

 

II.  THE OBJECT OF EVANGELISM

 

 “He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

               Mark 16:15-16 NIV

 

               A.  Go into all the world

              B.  Preach the gospel to all creation

          C.  Believers

            D.  Baptize

 

We fear rejection - 1 in 25 repent and believe. It takes 24 no’s to get a YES. But all 25 are important, and we shouldn’t take it personally. Look at the rejection Jesus faced. He didn’t give up and neither should we.

               Timothy Grayless

 

III.  THE MESSAGE OF EVANGELISM

 

“He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.””

               Luke 24:46-49 NIV

 

               A.  The story of the Messiah

   B.  “Repentance for the forgiveness of sins”

              C.  Preach in his name

 

We must know who Jesus is.

 

When men stop worshipping God, they promptly start worshipping man, with disastrous results.                George Orwell

 

IV. THE SCOPE OF EVANGELISM

 

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.””

               Acts 1:8 NIV

 

"It is our privilege to have world evangelism as a passion, not our responsibility to have as a burden." 

               Mary Nordstrom

 

               A.  At home

       B.  Regionally

             C.  Abroad

 

"Jesus . . . wants us to see that the neighbor next door or the people sitting next to us on a plane or in a classroom are not interruptions to our schedule. They are there by divine appointment. Jesus wants us to see their needs, their loneliness, their longings, and he wants to give us the courage to reach out to them." 

               Rebecca Manley Pippert

V.  THE GOAL OF EVANGELISM

 

“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.””

              Matthew 28:18-20 NIV

 

    A.  Empowered disciples

         B.  Informed disciples

         C.  Obedient disciples

 

If you say that Jesus is waiting on the Church to get the Gospel out before His return, let me give you a few statistics on the challenge the Church faces.

 

We have almost 8 billion people on our planet right now. There are almost 2.4 billion Christians in the world today.

 

If 500,000 people were converted to saving faith in Jesus Christ every single day, it would still take 30 years to see 5.6 billion people brought to Christ just to catch up with 2022.

Another Problem: world population is expected to grow to nine billion by 2050.

 

When Jesus ascended and went back to Heaven, He left a strategy and a game-plan for the Dicsiples that could have reached every person in the known world with the Gospel in 25 years through spiritual multiplication and obedience to the Great Commission.

 

The Savior's heart must break knowing that there are over a billion people and over 2000 languages today who have never had His Gospel presented to them in their native tongue.

               Dr. Larry Petton

 

INVITATION

 

It is our custom to offer an "invitation" following the preaching of the Word.  You may want to follow Jesus.  You may want to proclaim your faith.  You may want to repent (stop doing ungodly things and start doing Godly things).  Perhaps you want to be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Possibly, if you have already responded to God’s call in these ways, you would like to become a member of Kenwood Church.  If you have been moved by the Holy Spirit to make a decision in your life, you can come forward now.  If you would like, I would be honored to speak with you following the service about what God is doing in your life.