Xenos Christian Fellowship
Christian
Ministry Unit 3
Missions and Evangelism
Week 3 – Evangelism, Part 1
Evangelism and missions: central to the purpose of the church
(Matt. 28:18-20) “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. (19) ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, (20) teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’”
(Acts 1:8) “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
(2 Cor. 5:18-20) “Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”
1 Tim. 2:3; 2 Pet. 3:9
Other things that commonly usurp and evangelism focus:
What happens if the church loses an evangelism focus?
(Eph. 2:12) “Remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.”
Three participants in evangelism
God’s role
(John 16:8-10) “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment; (9) concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; (10) and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you no longer behold Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.”
(John 12:32) “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”
(Col. 4:2,3-6**) “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; 3 praying at the same time for us as well, that God may open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; 4 in order that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak. 5 Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. 6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned, as it were, with salt, so that you may know how you should respond to each person.”
God empowers those who share their faith.
(Eph. 6:19) “And pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”
(1 Cor. 2:2-4) “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. 4 And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.”
A practical way to rely on God’s role:
What happens if we lose sight of God’s role?
The role of the hearer:
(Mt. 23: 37) “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.
Luke 8:5-15 (The Parable of Soils)
(John 7:17) “If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from Myself.”
What
happens if we lose sight of the hearer’s part?
Our role:
(Rom. 10:14) “How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?”
(2 Cor. 5: 18-20) “Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, (19) namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. (20) Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”
Five practical ways to enhance our role in evangelism:
(Titus 2:9,10) “Urge bondslaves to be subject to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect.”
Harvest vs. Search Theology
Search Theology
Definition: Searches for people through the faithful proclamation of the Gospel, leaving results between God and the hearer.
Examples:
Search theology is flawed because:
Harvest
Theology
Definition: Finding and winning receptive people (harvesting) through faithful proclamation of an understandable Gospel, keeping an eye on results to determine effectiveness and future methods.
Examples:
Harvest theology is biblical because:
Dangers
in Harvest Theology:
(1 Cor. 3:5-7) What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. (6) I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. (7) So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.
Bill Hybels: Walk Across the Room
Memory Verses
2 Cor. 5:18-20* - We are ambassadors for Christ.
Col. 4:3-6** - Pray for open doors for the Gospel.
Assignment
Talk to a non-Christian and record their answers to the following questions:
Do all religions basically teach the same thing? Why do you think that?
What does it mean to be a tolerant person?
Write at least one paragraph response to each of these common objections to Christianity:
1. “Why should I regard the Bible as God's Word? What about all of the other scriptures?”
2. "How can your religion consign people to hell if they have never even heard about Christ?" Hint: There are really two distinct issues in this objection--God's judgment and whether he judges all people who didn’t have access to the Bible.