Real Evangelism

Good morning. Welcome to Insights with

Pastor John. Today we're going to take a

look at something called real

evangelism.

And to understand what real evangelism

is, first we need to take a look at at

how we interpret that word in

evangelism.

What evangelism is is

when you go out and proclaim the gospel

of Jesus Christ and you bring people to

salvation. When I say the term

evangelism,

a lot of times people will look at that

as evangelist.

And when we say evangelist,

your mind brings up images of Billy

Graham preaching crusades.

But every single

believer

is called to do evangelism, to share the

gospel of Jesus Christ. So that's what

we're going to look at today. Matthew

28:19

is is going to be our our scripture

basis. And uh so this is the heart of an

evangelist is a flame that cannot be

hidden. Jesus said, "And Jesus came and

spake unto them, saying, All power is

given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go

ye therefore and teach all nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father

and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost,

teaching them to observe all things

whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo,

I am with you always, even unto the end

of the world." Amen. So,

let's take a look at that message.

Um,

if you discovered a cure for a deadly

disease,

would you keep it to yourself?

Yet, we know we who know the cure for

sin often keep silent. Evangelism is not

a chore for the few. In other words,

it's not just the evangelist,

but everyone else.

It's the overflow of a grateful heart.

The fire within the evangelist is not

his personality or her personality. It's

the flame of the Holy Ghost. And when

that flame burns, silence becomes

impossible.

And what it means to carry the heart of

an evangelist is one that beats with

Christ's compassion and burns to see

souls saved.

An evangelist is one of the five

ministry gifts that were given to the

church by Christ. that's listed out in u

Philippians 4

11-16 and he says he gave some to be

apostles and some prophets and some

evangelists and some pastors and

teachers all for one purpose which is to

bring saints

to maturity in Christ. So at the great

commission Jesus gave his gave the

church its mission.

Now think about this. These are ordinary

men, fishermen, tax collectors, zealots

were told, "Go ye therefore." And they

went out filled with the spirit, and

they changed the world. In Acts chapter

2, Peter preaches, "And 3,000 people get

saved."

Persecution scattered them, yet they

went everywhere preaching the word. Phil

reached Samaria. than one man in the

desert. Paul, once a persecutor, became

a preacher to the Gentiles. Evangelism

is not the work of the strong, but it's

the work of the surrendered.

The same spirit that filled them fills

us today. So, every believer

is called to be an evangelist.

Evangelis evangelism is heaven's

heartbeat. It's the reason Jesus came.

And I want you to think about something.

When the church first started in Acts

chapter 2 and they reached 3,000 one day

and then they reached uh another 5,000

just counting the men, not the women and

the children in a matter of a few days

and they were bold and they were

preaching and they were in Jerusalem,

but they hadn't yet fulfilled what Jesus

told them to do, which was to go.

And so the church actually launched

itself into real evangelism

because of the stoning of Stephen. Every

major evangelistic

uh outreach, every major revival ever

happened in the country has all been

fueled

by someone getting martyed or some bad

event happening. Um, and it gets people

outside their comfort zone, and that's

what's supposed to happen. The word of

God shouldn't make you sit there

complacent.

It should make you content, your

relationship with God, but it should

also compel you to go out and reach the

lost. That's one of the things Jesus

said, to go into the highways and the

byways and to invite them in. And if the

church isn't doing that, it's not

practicing evangelism.

So,

the things that mark an evangelistic

heart. And anybody can have an

evangelistic heart. You don't have to be

quote unquote an evangelist

according to the ministry gift, but

rather you should have that heart for

evangelism in everything you do.

And and those things that marks an

evangelistic heart is a person whose

life is being transformed by the gospel.

They're moved with compassion. They care

about the people. They see the hurting

people in the world and say, "I must do

something about this.

They're obedient to God's call

and they're empowered by the Holy

Spirit." And we're going to look at

those four things and how they pertain

to us as believers. One of the things

that

a lot of people miss is transformation

doesn't just take place at church.

Transformation takes place everywhere

whenever a person receives the gospel of

Christ.

Transformation takes place

before preaching transformation though

is you have to be transformed. Paul said

if any man be in Christ he is a new

creature. Saul met Jesus on the road to

Damascus and his life and his mission

changed. And a transformed life cannot

hide the Savior who rescued it. Romans

1:16 says, "I am not ashamed of the

gospel of Christ, for it is the power of

God unto salvation."

A drowning man rescued from the waves

will not watch others sink. See, he

dives in to save them. So, one of the

things we need to do is we need to let

the gospel renew us daily through prayer

and through the word. I made this

statement several times over the last

few weeks. The word of God, it h it

serves two purposes in the Christian's

life and in the unbeliever's life as

well. It convicts

sin. It brings you to a place of

understanding that

without Christ, you can't enter into

heaven. So, it convicts sin and then it

converts. What does it convert? It

converts your heart. It converts your

mind and it renews them.

A changed life preaches louder than a

thousand sermons. And this might be

something that you you're not aware of,

but people watch you.

People watch everything you do and your

testimony is your greatest ministry.

Uh I told this to someone one time that

evangelism begins at home. Your first

mission is to evangelize your own

family. And that means that you lead

them spiritually and you lead them in

the way that they should go. And

Proverbs 22 and six says to train up a

child the way he should go and when he

is old he shall not depart from it.

So

we have to realize just how much

uh

God has changed our lives and then we

have to share that uh with someone else.

It begins with a testimony when the

gospel is real in you and it shines

through you. In other words, other

people see the change in you that was

brought by the gospel

actively working in your life.

The second thing I want to bring out is

that for your evangelistic outreach to

be successful, it has to be

your heart has to be moved with

compassion. You have to see the need.

Evangelism without compassion

is sound without soul. When Jesus saw

the multitudes, this is Matthew 9:36.

When Jesus saw the multitudes, he was

moved with compassion. That word means a

deep stirring inside. A pain that moves

to action. Jesus saw thirst behind sin

and potential behind failure. Andrew met

Jesus and immediately told his brother,

"We have found the Messiah.

Ask God to give you eyes for his people.

Pray for tears over the lost. And

compassion moves your feet when doctrine

alone cannot.

True evangelism is loving motion. When

love speaks, hard hearts listen. People

don't want to listen to someone who

doesn't have a message that changes

them.

An evangelist's heart is obedient to the

call. Philip heard the spirit say, "Go

near and join thyself to this chariot."

That's Acts 8:29. He ran and one man

found Christ.

That man carried the gospel to his

nation and obedience opens divine doors.

Uh James 1:22 says, "Be doers of the

word and not hearers only."

You have to put actions behind your

faith. A timid believer offers a track

to a stranger. That stranger becomes a

pastor.

Never underestimate small obedience. God

will ask you to do something simple and

create something great out of that

simple thing.

Obey quickly and completely. Delayed

obedience is obedience is disobedience.

Every soul begins with one obedient

step.

And a heart empowered by the Holy Ghost,

that's another necessity. No evangelist

can work without the spirit. Jesus said,

"Tear you until you be endued with power

from on high." Acts 18, you shall

receive power after that the Holy Ghost

has come you come upon you and you shall

be witnesses. The spirit gives you

courage, courage, clarity, and

conviction. Peter once fearful stood

boldly at Pentecost.

In the Welsh revival, ordinary believers

filled with the spirit changed towns. It

wasn't strategy, it was surrender.

Seek daily infilling through prayer and

fasting. Depend on

don't depend on elephant words but on

his power. And the Holy Ghost is the

engine of evangelism. Without him words

are wind and with him they are fire. So

it's very important for us as believers

to realize that all of us bar none were

called to be evangelists. We're called

to go out and to seek that which is

lost. And you can't do that without

uh power from the Holy Spirit. The

conclusion is that the world is not lost

for lack of power in the g in the gospel

but for lack of passion in the church. I

I want to go back to what we started

with which was

um the stoning of Stephen.

The church was

active in their community.

Uh they were distributing food to the

widows and orphans and the poor, but

they hadn't stepped outside their

comfort zone. They were still setting in

Jerusalem. They were still meeting

daily, which is not a problem. We should

probably meet more often than we do.

But what happened was they hadn't

fulfilled the great commission. They

hadn't went, they hadn't left Jerusalem

yet. And the stoning of Stephven caused

the church to scatter. In fact, they had

to relocate their headquarters outside

of Jerusalem because of persecution.

And uh it it was that event that led to

the conversion of Paul. It was that

event that led Peter

uh to the house of Cornelius. It was

that event that caused the church in

Antioch

to send out Paul and Barnabas

because persecution fans the flame. You

find out if you truly truly believe in

something

when it gets hard. So remember, every

breath we take is borrowed time to share

Christ.

Are you feeling worthy or unafraid? It's

okay. God has you.

Remember his promise to you. Lo, I'm

with you always.

And let the Lord rekindle your fire

inside you.

And be like Isaiah. Say, "Here am I.

Send me."

And let your life shout, "Jesus saves."

Be active. Be the one who's there that

says,

"I will go.

I don't know how, but I will go. And

remember, um Jesus,

he doesn't call the qualified. He

qualifies those he calls. He gives you

the words you need, uh to be able to

reach out into this world that's lost

and broken and going to hell and provide

them with real

answers. your faith,

your testimony,

how you live your life,

the things that you say are important to

you. These are the things that people

look at when they want to see if

something is real. Did you know right

now there are more people flocking back

to church than in

decades? And believe it or not, 43% of

those people are men

and 33% are women. There are more men

going back to church because of the

message that's being sent forth. And

don't sit there and hide your light

under a bushel basket. Let it shine.

Yes, people are going to ridicule you

for what you do. But I want to encourage

you to do what Jesus said to do, which

is to go.

Um,

when people see you,

they should see Jesus.

And you need to make sure that you have

kept that open

dialogue about just how important it is

for Jesus to shine forth out of you. So

I encourage you this week, be the

evangelist God called you to be.

Let your testimony be put out for people

to see because it will draw them to you.

And most of all, trust God

in every situation because he will give

you the words you need and he will help

you say the things you need to say. So

with that, let's pray. Heavenly Father,

we just ask you right now to give us a

burning fire within us, Lord, that we

can go out and do what you've called us

to do. Help us, Lord, to be an example

of you because we know that we may be

the only Jesus someone ever sees uh

before salvation and the only Bible

someone ever reads. So, help us Lord to

do what you've called us to do, which is

to be a witness

in Jesus name. Amen. We'll see you guys

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