October 19, 2008

We have been hearing a series of sermons on the importance of evangelism. I am behind on entering the notes so the following is an overview of several sermons to bring us up to date. The first message I'll recap is entitled "Invited to the Party". It is taken from Luke 14:16-24. Verses 1-11 is a teaching in humility. Be careful about trying to get the best for yourself. Verses 12-14 instruct us to do good things for those that can't do them back to us. In Isaiah 25:6 we answer the question, "Who is going to be at the great dinner?" The answer is only the saved. We have all been invited to the dinner. Everyone is invited to take part in salvation. We see that all of the people accepted the invitation to come to the feast. Each person that accepted the invitation has now found an excuse not to go. In verse 18 wealth and property has been put first. In Luke 21 and 34 we see that one person says that there is somewhere else he would rather be. In verse 19 experience takes precidence. The person is just too busy to fit God into his day. There is only one day, one morning, dedicated to God and yet that's too much to ask of some. In verse 20 we see that affection has taken first priority. Putting others first. Why didn't he just ask his wife to come to the feast with him? He was saying there is someone else I love more than God. In verse 21 these are people that recoginize that they have no one else to turn to than God. Verse 22 tells us to go out away from our city. We aren't to just stay close to home. Also check out Ez 33:11, II Peter 3:9, John 3:16. We should all want to come to the party! Invite everyone! We see in verse 24 that there was no second chance for these people.

Our next sermon took place in Matthew 28:16-20. Of the five accounts of the great commission evangelism seems to receive the greatest emphesis. Go and Teach! Who? All Nations. I Cor 15:1-4 gives us the Biblical definition of the gospel of Jesus. It tells us of the death, burial, and resurrection. People need to understand the gospel. More frequently today you will find more people that no longer have a knowledge of scripture. The goal of Islam is to make everyone a Muslim. Our vision as Christians should be to see that every creature hears the gospel and has the opportunity to accept it. Luke 24:46-48. The root of the word witness is the same as the word martyr. How much does that hint to the suffering that Christians would endure down through the years? In order to go out we need to wait for the Holy Spirit to empower us. John 20:21.Even as Christ was sent in obedience to God, we are sent in obedience to Christ. Acts 1:8.We are on a specific methodology. We are to begin at home and move out in concentric circles until we have gone out to the uttermost parts of the earth. We are a sent people on a specific mission. The scope of the mission is international. Our target group is every creature. Our orders are to preach and teach repentance and remission of sin through Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. Our aim is the conversion of every lost man, woman, boy, and girl on the face of the earth. Our power comes from God. Our strategy is to start in our home and work out until we have covered the entire world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is our evengelistic mandate that is given to the local New Testament church. What factors are causing the Crisis in Evangelism? I. Externally- Multi-Culturalism and Post-Modernism. To deny the absolute truth claims. The view that various cultures and religions deserve equal respect and treatment. II. Extreme Wickedness in Our Time that Makes Evangelism More Difficult. II Tim 3:13. There are 10,000 new porn sites created every day on the internet. Brothers and Sisters are falling into this. TV, movies, music, and other popular things are desensitizing people. Matt 24:12. III. Materialism of Our Day. It's hard to get people's attention today. People crave privacy when they get to their homes. They hide behind answering machines. IV. Internally. God has blessed our country. A trend today is the marketing of the church. The great commission tells us to go to them but, so many churches are marketing themselves to bring people to them by whatever means necessary. Churches today are crossing the line to allow everyone in. We can't expect the lost world to come to us. We have to go to them. V. Credibility of Christianity has Been Damaged by the Mixed Message of Today's Pop Culture. Mixed messages make evangelism difficult. If you are a believer and you are not living the way you should don't tell people. You are making it harder for the rest of us. A popular artist can sing songs filled with obscene lyrics and when accepting an award thank their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. What about the lyrics, the news accounts of sinful activity? Possibly hundreds of thousands of kids will come away from that with a confused view of what christianity is all about. Churches are no longer preaching salvation through grace by faith, The Word of God, or that Jesus is The Way, The Truth, and The Life. We are becoming like the pagan nations that we send our missionaries too. We are in an evangelistic crisis. It is real. What are we doing about it?

Our next sermon was entitled "A Philosophy of Evangelism". Acts 5:12-42. I. We are to Accomplish Evangelism in and Through the Local New Testament Church". Look through the lense of scripture. What does it say? The lense of history fills in the blanks. Look at the methods our forefathers used. The things that were effective to evangelism then may not work today. We need the awarness that every soul is someone that needs Christ. Every church should be a center of evangelism. Regardless of the size. it should be bringing people into the fold and baptizing them. II. Evangelism should be the priority. Jesus began His ministry preaching the gospel. He ended His ministry preaching the gospel. II Cor 5:11. Someone will respond if we make the effort. III. Our Goal. Our goal is one on one personal witness. The Pastor is not the only one that should be filling this role. Eph 4:11. Our job is to share our faith with all people at all times. II Tim 2:2. IV. Use Every Legitimate Means at Our Disposal. There is a world of influence that each of us has. We will answer to God for how we took the gospel to our circle. Any New Testament church should develope a strategy..Visitation, Door Knocking, Passing out Literature. We have to go outside the walls of the church.Our goal should be that every church member is witnessing. V. Be Systematic in Your Harvest. Plow, Plant, Irrigate, and Harvest each year. Our field changes every year. Make the required effort to tend to your field. VI. Let Evangelism be an Identifiable Process. There is a world we are to touch. Reach people at their deepest point of need. Our job is for us to go to them. Not for them to come to us. Patience is required. Sow the seed. VII. Once we see a soul saved we are to nurture them. Not just leave them to try to make it on their own.

Romans 1:8-16. Our message requires the power of God. Ro 1:16. I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ:for it is the Power of God! We need the supernatural power of the spirit. Nicodemus came to Jesus and asked about the new birth. The physical verses the spiritual. A house that has been renovated when finished is not the same inside as it was before. The same is true when a person becomes a new creature in Christ. We are not the same on the inside anymore. II Cor 5:15.How can God do this? In John 3 when Jesus was asked He didn't even explain it. He refered to the wind. I've seen the effects of conversion but, I can't explain it. It's of God. The true source of power comes from Him. Be aware of man-centered evangelism. It has nothing to do with what we can do. It's what God can do through us. Be careful not to boast. In baseball a bat can do nothing without a batter. In the hands of a skilled batter a bat can do great things. We are the same in that without God working through us we can do nothing. We sow the seed but it is the Spirit of God that grows the tree. We can trim the branches but it is the Spirit of God that brings forth the fruit. We can throw out a net but it is the Spirit of God that fills it. We can not evangelise without the Spirit of God. John 16:7-11. The sin of unbelief. We can't convince them of their need it is dependent on the Holy Spirit of God. Luke 24, Mark 16. Emphesis is placed on the Spirit of God. We have inadvertantly taken the spirit out of the great commission. Acts 1:4.They waited on the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus ministry began after the Holy Spirit came to Him at His baptism. There is only one indwelling of the spirit but many fillings. D.L. Moody was asked why he always talked about the filling of the Holy Spirit. He said it's because he leaks and is need of filling. Discouragement and sin will drain us of teh spirit. Go to the Lord in prayer. There doesn't seem to be a need anymore for the power of the Holy Spirit. How would you recognize the Holy Spirit in your life? 1. Boldness (Acts 4) 2. Special Unity (Acts 2) 3. A Difference in Us (Gal 5) 4. A New Openness... Submit to God. Resist the devil. You can't do the second step without the power of the first step.

These are an individual's notes of the sermon.