I have been learning a lot about evangelism lately, so I thought I'd share some thoughts. We are granted salvation by grace through faith alone. When a person passes from their old self and becomes a new creation, that new self is made solely by the work of the Holy Spirit. So here's a couple of observations from that. One, our most important aspect of evangelism is prayer. We should beckon the Spirit to intercede in people's lives because it is by the Spirit's power that people are redeemed. Secondly, present the gospel with accuracy and grace. You must learn the gospel in order to tell others about it. Also, if the Holy Spirit is the power by which people are saved then it is not up to you to convert people. Do not try to win them over. Simply testify to the things that you believe to be true and stick to the word of God. After you have prayed and done this, trust God to do the changing. I'm not saying share and then be done with it, but we rely too much on ourselves and not enough on God. Thirdly, trust the timing of the Spirit, but also be bold in witness. God prepares the hearts of the unbelievers. So while we do need to be urgent, there may not be a need to go up to every stranger and give them the news. The Spirit may lead you to do that, but who knows. Some people say that they are relationship builders and others show Christ through their good deeds. Bottom line is that people need to hear the Good News. Those things are great. My advice is to pray and earnestly seek opportunities to share the Gospel. For this to be effective though you need to pray and be ready when the opportunities present themselves. Lastly, love like God loves. God has an amazing compassion for His people. Paul loved people enough to say he wishes he could give them his salvation. We need to love and have a heart for the lost! So pray about it!
My second thought is we need to rid ourselves of judgment and I am talking to myself as much as anybody. We have to realize that we were dead to sin, but saved by the amazing grace of God. So we are no different than the lost except we have received something we didn't deserve. So in order to spread the Good News that people can be saved from their sins, we must hang out with sinners. Now don't put yourself in a position where you might stumble, but at the same time it is dangerous to separate yourself from the rest of the world. Go love sinners like Jesus loved sinners, for we have our hope by grace alone.
This message was a little straightforward, but we all need a little push in sharing our faith. Rejoice in spreading God's kingdom. By the way for all my Alabama friends who are scared of me moving off and changing, it is now my second whole week of being in Dallas and I haven't bought a tank of gas. Today one of my friends said,"You usually serve in everything, but not once have I ever heard you offer to drive." People catch on I guess. Well I love you guys and will be praying that you just get the glorious opportunity to share your faith this week!
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