EVANGELISM or EXCITING CHRISTIANITY?
INTRODUCTION
The ‘E’ word – Evangelism?
Guilt – condemnation – knowing I should but haven’t – tension in evangelistic meetings – trying to learn the 27 points to salvation – squeeze your whole testimony into 2 minutes etc???
Another ‘E’ word – Exciting Christianity!
When we begin to share the love of God with people in different ways, we begin to discover just how exciting, enjoyable, and fulfilling, Christianity really is!
January 2015 – B/A reminded of prophetic word from 1984 about becoming Pastors to the World
Gospel Feet – the destiny of Northampton
Lifestyle Evangelism – as we go about our daily business – not an organised church programme – but this also allows for a group of people with the same thing on their hearts to work together
Isa 61v1-4/Luke 4v18-19
‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me (Brian Nish)
Because He has anointed me (why?)
To preach the gospel to the poor
He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted
To proclaim liberty to the captives
To set at liberty those who are oppressed
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord…
And we will rebuild the ancient ruins of Northampton
And restore the places long devastated
And we will revive Northampton
Though it’s been deserted for many generations…’
TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR
‘Preach/share/tell’ – St Francis of Assissi “Preach the Gospel, and if necessary use words” (Can become an excuse?) - At some point we need to use words - in one way or another (Mark 4; 1 Pet 1v23 – The word of God is seed)
‘The Gospel’– The Gospel means good news and is good news! We can bring fresh hope to individuals and nations through the good news of the Gospel. People need to hear some good news (Media discussion about reporting bad news). We can share how the good news about Jesus has changed our lives for the better. We can connect the relevant part of our testimony to where people are.
‘To The Poor’ – To be poor means to be deficient or lacking in something – money, health, relationships, peace, satisfaction, identity, purpose, self-worth etc. But the greatest poverty of all is not to have a relationship with God!
TO HEAL THE BROKENHEARTED
Jesus is the Healer and Restorer of our souls (Psalm 23v3)
The world is filled with hurting people. Some hide their hurts better than others but they’re still hurting. Some try to escape through drink, drugs, and others forms of escapism.
Hurting people hurt others. Hurts cause people to wear masks. Hurts cause blocked emotions. Hurts can lead to demonic oppression. Hurts cause lies to become established.
The good news is Jesus loves people and came to heal the hurting and brokenhearted!
TO PROCLAIM LIBERTY & FREEDOM TO THE CAPTIVES & PRISONERS
This is to the spiritual, emotional, and physical captives and prisoners. Jesus won the victory for the whole person on the Cross, not just for our spirits.
‘The Voice’ – And to declare to those who are held captive and bound in prison “Be free from your imprisonment!”
We can be held captive and bound by some of the following:
Addictions (Drugs, alcohol, television, computer, hobby, food etc)
Lies that we believe (A bad experience doesn’t hold us captive but the lies we believe about that experience do)
Bad habits
Worries and fears
Sickness (Can affect our freedom to live life fully)
Opinions of others
Rejection and low self-esteem
Past experiences etc
TO PROCLAIM THE YEAR OF THE LORD’S FAVOUR
‘MSG’ – God sent Me to announce the year of His grace (This year)
‘CEB’ – To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour (This year)
‘ERV’ – He has sent Me to announce that the time has come for the Lord to show His kindness (This year)
2 Cor 6v2 AMP – Behold, now is truly the time for a gracious welcome and acceptance of you from God; behold now is the day of salvation
2 Cor 6v2 TLB - …Right now God is ready to welcome you. Today He is ready to save you
We must believe, and let people know, the good news that God wants to show His grace, favour, and loving kindness towards them TODAY/THIS YEAR - and not put it off to some time in the distant future!
We must believe that God has already prepared the hearts of some of the people we meet on a daily basis, and that they are ready for salvation.
On the other hand we must continually sow seed, as opportunities arise, to prepare for future harvests.
As we draw nearer to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ seedtime and harvest will be taking place on the same day!
PRACTICAL HELPS
Acts 1v8 – And you shall be My witnesses (Every Christian)
Being a good witness isn’t about a church programme. It’s about living a godly (and attractive) life and sharing the love of Jesus with others as opportunities arise on a daily basis. The Holy Spirit loves to honour Jesus and point people to Him, and therefore loves to empower us to do the same thing!
• Ask God for opportunities
• All that we do must be motivated by our love for God and people. We are sharing the Gospel with people because we want them to know how much God loves them and that He has a plan for their lives
• Make people curious (John 4 – Jesus and lady at the well)
• Only share a little at a time – unless the person is drawing more out of you
• Be sensitive to Holy Spirit and the thoughts and promptings He gives you
• Be sensitive to the timing – it’s not always the right time to speak to a particular person
• Share the particular part of your testimony that is relevant to the person you are speaking to
• Mother Teresa used to say “Little things done with great love can change the world”
An act of kindness – A word of encouragement – Being a good listener – Offering to pray for the sick – Sharing a relevant part of your testimony about God’s love and goodness to you – Being on the alert for opportunities on a daily basis
• Finally, don’t get all intense and heavy about it, but enjoy yourself and keep it lighthearted (unless of course you are dealing with a serious situation).
IN SUMMARY
You could say:
Life really begins at the end of our comfort zone!
That being a good witness is living a godly (and attractive) life, and having a close walk with the Holy Spirit!
That this is an exciting journey of discovery – to discover what God is doing in people’s lives - and to co-operate with Him.
That this is an opportunity to experiment – to try different things –and see what happens when we express God’s love through an act of kindness, or pray for the sick etc
That this is an opportunity to discover how exciting, enjoyable, and fulfilling Christianity really is
