UNDERSTANDING EVANGELISM PART 2
Evangelism and your Personality
Look at all the different people God has used throughout history
Let’s look at the the 12 Apostles -
Many were Fisherman - Peter, James, John, Andrew
A Tax collector - Levi called Matthew
Brothers like Peter and Andrew / James and John
Different strengths, Different personalities, Different ages - but God used them all
God wants to use you to build the Kingdom of God for His Glory by His Amazing Grace
Every Christian is an Evangelist
Evangelism - is speaking about the person and finished work of Jesus Christ alone
The most powerful words that you will ever hear or speak will be about the person and work of Jesus Christ
Just to be prepared: There are only 2 kinds of people on earth and only 2 responses to the message of Jesus Christ
Those who are perishing and those who are being saved
1 Corinthians 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Did everyone Believe Jesus when He taught? No - But just because they rejected Him then does not mean they will not Believe in Him later.
We are just called to tell the story in our own way and with the right heart and to love them where they are at in life.
Does anyone go to the Doctor when they are well, or a Hospital when they are strong and healthy? No just when they are sick and weak and in need.
The difference is the Believer comes to the ones in need to speak and help and to serve them by telling them about the Greatest person, the Greatest news, the Greatest love that has power to forgive and save by His Grace
Now Questions are great a way to interact when speaking with people because you get to listen and understand there heart - Jesus asked over 150 questions in the gospels so Jesus could get to know and understand the people he was teaching
Here is a question to ask someone: Has anyone ever told you or shared with you what Jesus has done for you personally?
They might say yes or they might say no, But if yes, then you can ask them what did they tell you and what did you hear? Then listen to them explain to you what they have heard or know.
If they say no then ask them if you can share with them what Jesus did for them on a cross 2,000 years ago
So if they have heard what did they hear, and did they understand what was said
In The Book of Acts Chapter 8 Philip helps someone who was reading the scriptures but did not understand what he was reading. So Philip explained to them the Gospel and then they understood, Believed and was Baptized in a stream
Depending on what is going on in someone’s life the Gospel is foolishness and to some it is the Power of God to save
Think about when someone met you and shared with you the Glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ - Your life was probably all messed up in sin and debt and shame and struggles - but the Gospel is more than enough for all situations that life brings and make them new.
1. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
2. Galatians 6:14 May I never boast except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ..
3. John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He Gave his One and Only Son.... v.17 For God did not send his Son to Condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him
4. 1 Corinthians 2:4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s Power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, But on God’s Power!!!!!!!!
The Gospel presentation has power because of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ every time it is shared.
To some we are the smell of death but to others we are the fragrance of life 2 Corinthians 2:16
An Evangelist is a person authorized to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Mark 9:38 Teacher said John we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us, Do not stop him Jesus said, no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me......
Do not be critical of others who are sharing truth about Jesus - Christians are the only ones who seem to devour their own kind
To be an Evangelist is to be a Story Teller, and to be a Great Story teller - We tell stories everyday of our lives
The Gospel will meet all 3 situations that any human will encounter
1. The Unbeliever to repent of sin
2. The weak Believer to remember and keep fighting the good fight (What have you Believed?)
3. The strong Believer to keep pushing on to win the Goal for which Christ has called you Heavenward
2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourself to see if you are in the Faith unless you failed the test
The Gospel is always Encouragement in a life of discouragement and always Hope where there is no hope and always Deliverance for the captive and always New Life from the old life and always Truth from all the lies and always Great news in a world filled with bad news.
Isaiah 61 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me to preach good news to the poor, bind up the broken hearted, freedom from the captives, release from the darkness, free the prisoner, recovery sight to the blind and release for the oppressed
A Believer has 3 great foundations is Jesus Christ - Faith in Jesus, Hope in Jesus and the Love from Jesus
An unbeliever is missing 3 things in life which are no Faith, No Hope and No Love
What 3 things remain - Faith, Hope and Love but the Greatest of these is Love 13:8 Love never fails
The power of perfect love - 1 John 4:18 But perfect love drives out fear….. V.19 we love because God first loved us v.20 how can you say you love God who you cannot see and cannot love your brother who you can see
The message of the Cross is Power with a Purpose and a Plan for any life
Philemon v.6 I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing that we have in Christ.
We are changed every time we share and explain or defend the message of the Gospel - Grace is there
Who is a Doctor? Who is a Lawyer? A Christian is both - Help for the Hurting and the Truth for Defense
The Gospel is an instantaneous work when someone Believes John 5:24 they go from Death unto Life... I tell you the Truth, whoever hears my Word and Believes him who sent me has Eternal life and cross over from Death unto Life
Grace working within us drives us to be Passionately Curious about The person of Jesus Christ who gave us Grace
1 Peter 1:8 Though you have not seen Him, You Love Him, You don’t see Him now, but You Believe in Him and are filled with an Inexpressible and Glorious Joy.
This is the Inner Witness of the Holy Spirit in Grace
What Evangelism is not - Everything else
Evangelism is just 1 thing - Jesus Christ and Him Crucified for you
Let’s look at a couple of Transformations of people turned into Christian Evangelists
1. John 4 - The Women at the Well - reached a town
2. Mark 5 - The Demon possessed man - Preached to 10 cities
3. Mary Magdalene - 1st Evangelist from the tomb and eyewitness of Jesus Christ
What a sight she must have seen
Mark 4:1-20 will always be your way to see salvation at work - Grace abounding = 4 soils - 1st, 2nd, 3rd soils produced no fruit / but the 4th soil produced 30,60,100 fold what was sown in the Word
1. Love one for another 2. Love His Commands 3. Obedient to the Calling - Ephesians 4:1 for the Calling which I have received....
We want to become all things to all men so that some would be saved 1 Cor. 9:22
We want to be like our Savior in pursuing the lost - Luke 19:1-10 Jesus came to seek and save the lost
Romans 10:9-14 How can they Believe if they have not Heard, How can they hear without someone Preaching, how can they preach unless they are Sent, How Beautiful are the feet of those who bring the Gospel
Sinners are seeking out everyday to get answers to these questions:
1. Why am I here?
2. Who Created me?
3. What is life about?
4. What can I do with my sin?
5. Jesus is the only one who deals with all those categories?
To share the Gospel is to understand our own sin - That people are trapped and cannot get out - they have built a custom cage by our own choices and decisions made overtime.
Mankind is looking for something that will satisfy and give them peace or fulfillment and accomplishment. So everyone plays with fire and thinks that they will not get burned when they try and do things which come down to physical relationships, drugs, parties - trying to buy themselves happiness which do not deliver as advertised.
All self destructing habits come at a cost of time, money and depression- Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay and will cost you more than you want to pay.
Questions for all people - Have you found anything that the longer you have it the more you love it? - Husband? Wife? Job? Money? Relationship? House? Car? Place to live? etc. The Gospel is that only thing - Jesus is the only giver of peace and fulfillment in the heart.
When a car gets into an accident does someone fix the car before the insurance company assesses the damage? No, they look and determine what needs to be done to fix the car.
All of peoples lives are like a crashed car, but people try to fix themselves before they come to Christ, what is damaged you cannot fix, only Jesus can fix that.
Every person without Christ is a wrecked car inside and out, but Jesus is calling you to himself and is willing to fix you by forgiving you and making you a new creation in Christ, the old has gone and the new has come.
Jesus is the adjuster , the fixer and the Savior.
After meeting Jesus you will remember back when you met Him. Titus 3:3-5 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
That is why we are forever grateful for His Grace to us even while we were in sin, so we want to love Him with all of our Heart, Soul, Mind and Strength.
What God has done to you He will do through you to others. 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation….
GOD is like a Xerox machine, making people who come to him just like His Son all over the world.
Listen to the Heart of the Savior calling out to everyone and anyone- Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
To understand yourself is to know the Power of Grace and be amazed at Grace / Humble and can speak to others
You have Power over Sin because of Grace - They do not - Trapped by there own desires James 1:14-15 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
What Questions help people understand God????? - The same questions you had before you heard and believed.
What did you struggle with and maybe still do now - Helps others see you are human - you can relate - You are Free and they want to be Free - How? The Gospel
Quote from D. L. Moody - What would God do with a totally surrendered person who was totally surrendered to God?
D. L. Moody’s life answered that question over his life in how God used him to reach millions of people with the Gospel.
What if the future of the Gospel depended on your labor for Jesus Christ? Just think about that for a minute, The future of people who will believe can be traced back to your faithfulness and work by Grace to go and tell and reach and serve those who have not been reached.
Think about people you will see in heaven and when they see you and thank you for sharing Jesus Christ Eternal work over sin, death and the grave for them.
1. How would your life change?
2. How would your prayers change?
3. How bold would you become?
4. How would your serving change?
5. How would you becoming like Him change?
6. How would your bible reading change to know the Word more?
7. How much would you suffer for his name sake - Acts 9:15 I will show him how much he will suffer for my name sake…
The Gospel life is not an easy life but it is a very fulfilling life - Our kingdom is in heaven and not on this earth. 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 No eye has seen, no ear has heard and mind had imagined what God has planned for those who love Him…
UPS Spends millions of dollar each year doing the same job day in and day out, to be faster and faster, more efficient, always looking for a better way to deliver packages with the same results over and over again.
Packages delivered successfully - yesterday, today and tomorrow
UPS is 1 on the greatest mail delivery systems in history.
They move millions of packages all over the world everyday with success, the same way, one of the most efficient companies on earth.
Followers of Jesus Christ want to do the same with the message of the Gospel
The Christian is the same way
1. Same Word - Truth
2. Same Message - That sets men and women free
3. Same Questions - How do I receive salvation
4. Same Need - We are all sinners from birth
5. Same Grace - That forgives all sins ever committed
6. Same person Jesus Christ - Who is Lord and God over all and has Power to forgive sins
2. The Word is your weapon - The Sword out of the 6 pieces of armor is offensive and a defensive weapon - Ephesians 6:10-18
The Helmet of salvation
The Breast plate of righteousness
The Belt of Truth
The shoes with the readiness of the Gospel of peace
The Shield of Faith - That extinguishes all the arrows of the enemy
The Sword of the Spirit
The Gospel message is like worship - it invades the heart without permission
People have opinions abut God who have never read the Bible - And some Christians also have opinions without studying the Word of God. 2 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
Do you try to defend the Word of God? Anyone?
Spurgeon said never try to defend the Word of God because it is like a Lion in a cage - all you have to do is open up the cage and it will take care of it self
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
Psalm 19 - the Word of God converting the Soul
1. Making wise the simple 2. Giving joy to the heart 3. Giving light to the eyes 4. Enduring forever
Luke 11:28 Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and obey it
Matthew 6:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Things you can bring up to prove Jesus is the Christ - Peter said where can we go you have the Words of Eternal Life….
1. Jesus never said Thus saith The Lord - He is the Lord - He said I tell you the truth or Truly, Truly I say, 7 - The 7 - “I Am” statements / Only God can forgive sin calling Himself God / forgiving sin Mark 2:1-12, Rebuked the Wind and Waves Mark 4:41, Walked on water with Peter/ Could have called 12 Legions of Angels at His beckon call to destroy the earth / Healed every disease possible/ Those who would touch Him were healed Mark 6:56 / Never asked anyone there name in the Bible, Cast out Demons Mark 5:1:20 - They called Him Son of the Most High God which Gabriel told Mary He would be called Luke 1:32 He will be Great and be called Son of the Most High God. He knew what people had said without saying it. Just thoughts etc.
Some might say I am an introvert
Some say I do not like talking
Some say I am shy
Some might be very outgoing
It does not matter - all will be effective
What if someone asks you to share your testimony - What would you share? You would tell your story your way
1 Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
Look at all that you know, you need to get it out of you, it will change others and you as you tell the great story of Jesus
Philemon v.6 that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing we have in Christ Jesus.
God will use people to deepen your faith and knowledge of the Gospel and His Word by Questions you will be asked to answer.
It is like working out your Spiritual man, with the helper of course - The Holy Spirit
You are 1 of a kind, there is no one like you
Do not try to be like anyone else! But to think like and love like and talk like Jesus in your own personality
You learn in a certain way, talk a certain way, teach a certain way, tell stories in a certain way, know in a certain way, so you use your way to tell the greatest story ever told with power from on high
You are you - Be you and tell all about Jesus so it will just flow out of your heart that you are in Love with one you have never seen but that you know very well
This way you are totally comfortable in what you are telling others because it is how you have come to understand it
Anything you do well you have done it many times over a long period of time
So we can speak to all the lost because we to were lost and just never forget that - so we understand the effects of sin, desires for sin, the cage of sin and the power of Grace through Jesus Christ to have power over sin.
John 8:31-32 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Nothing else in this world will set you free except the finished work of Jesus Christ!
We can share the Gospel of Jesus Christ because we do not save, but by Believing anyone can be saved no matter what condition they come, just come as you are and let Jesus love on you by forgiving you washing you, renewing you, keeping you, holding you, walking with you and sending you to others.
Your Personality does not hinder you because the Holy Spirit uses your words and your testimony and your life to share about Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
Matthew 28:19-20 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of God the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
You want to hear these 6 Great words from the One who is Eternal when you pass from this life into the other side from Jesus Christ himself
‘Well done, good and faithful servant!