Critics complain that lifestyle evangelism is not biblical. But I can clearly see evangelism as a lifestyle in the actions of the early disciples in the book of Acts.
Acts 5:42 describes a lifestyle of evangelism in the early days of the church:
[Read more…] about How to Live The Lifestyle Evangelism of the Early DisciplesDay after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah. (Acts 5:42, NIV)
Recently, I was asked via Ask EvangelismCoach about ways to increase the number of invitations to church that members give to their network of friends.
Review these posts to get on board with some of the answers
Today, I want to add number 4.
The preached sermon is the focus of our worship gatherings.
If you are the pastor, take a review of your sermons.
In other words, will my friend understand the sermon?
Have you explained theological terms in plain language?
Are you keeping the theology in the textbook, but making theology accessible to people who may not understand?
I think some modern preachers do this well. I listen to podcasts from Andy Stanley, David Jeremiah, Tim Keller. These men explain theological terms and concepts in words that are easy to understand.
In the church we are currently visiting, the preaching pastor does this well as he has been teaching on core doctrines of the church.
In the church we are helping plant, our teaching pastor does this as well as he connects theology with real life.
I’ve also listened to some sermons that felt like doctoral dissertations, full of seminary language, full of theological language, and full of concepts that really don’t make sense outside of Christian circles.
My preaching professor once said something to the effect that sermon preparation is digging in the mine, but the sermon is the cleaned up jewel that is easy to see. I’ve always kept that in mind as I strive to keep my sermons simple to understand.
Jesus taught with simple illustrations that were grounded in real life. His stories were simple, but left the listener with profound stirrings and thoughts.
If your members find that your sermons are simple to understand, you make those sermons accessible to their friends.
You want your church members to say “My friend needs to hear this.”
In other words, will my friend get something out of the sermon that applies to their life?
Or are your sermons so disconnected from real life, it’s just a black hole of information that serves little purpose?
I’ve been in churches where tight theology is more important than relevance.
I’ve visited churches where sermons were educational exercises in university level thinking about economics.
I’ve heard sermons that were running commentary on current events and arguments over which presidential candidate should be elected.
I’ve heard sermons on spiritual warfare that would freak-out a non-Christian who is exploring faith.
Is your sermon applicable to real life situations that my friend might benefit from?
This is where sermon series on personal finance, marriage, relationships, and other life topics are a good source of a preaching material.
Even for those who favor expository verse by verse preaching need to make the effort to connect their sermon points to real life, either in application or illustration.
If your members find that your preaching connects the word of God to real life situations, you’ll find your church members regularly thinking “My friend needs to hear this too.”
It used to be that sermons were recorded to cassettes and cds, copied, and then passed around.
In today’s technology enviornment, there is no reason you cannot put your sermons on your church website for easy sharing.
If you are still using cassettes or not recording them at all, consider this video:
Resources for easy sermon capture:
There are plenty of benefits of recording and putting your sermons as an MP3 at your website.
With sermon recording now this easy and inexpensive, perhaps it’s time to start getting the Word back out there with some low cost recorders.
As you prepare your sermons, think about the unchurched person who will be visiting this Sunday and ask yourself, what might you need to explain better for them.
Find ways to start getting your sermons online and accessible in other ways than just showing up on Sundays.
The story of the prostitute who crashed the Pharisee’s party has often captured my attention.
I’ve often wondered what triggered such an emotional response in her that she’d break all protocol and wipe the feet of Jesus with her tears. (Read more about the prostitute of Luke 7 in my sermon notes: Who do you see?)
In my evangelism teaching, I often ask
How can I find that same passion that leads to the spontaneous worship of Jesus?
What triggered that passion in this prostitute?
In an earlier post on a wrestling with a definition of evangelism, I noted:
I see Jesus asking questions of the heart as in the story of the Good Samaritan, or talking with the woman at the well.
I see Jesus forgiving people.
A prostitute who hears “come unto me all ye who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest” finds forgiveness and anoints the feet of Jesus with perfume and her tears. She was forgiven much, she loves much. So much that she breaks all sorts of social protocol and wrecks someone’s dinner.
To a woman caught in adultery – “Who condemns you, neither do I.” To a teenager broken over sex outside of marriage – there is hope in that story that she or he can be restored to God.
I see Jesus seeking after people, Zacchaeus in a tree. With a little sanctified imagination, I can imagine that Matthew was at that dinner as well, a life transformed as a witness to Zacchaeus.
The four points we typically scripted outline are not recorded in any whole outline in the teachings of Jesus. He invites well known sinners to come and see, come and follow. . . .
I wonder how we as Christians can recapture that sense of invitation: “come and see this man” (Samaritan), “Come and see” (Nathaniel), “Come unto Me” (Jesus). How as a church can we create that place where people can investigate, explore, and discover?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
I’ve interacted with many of you who have declared that this year will be the “Year of Evangelism” within your church.
One aspect of developing that vision is giving sermons on Evangelism, or developing a sermon series.
Abraham Lincoln is reported to have said
“It wasn’t a great sermon because the preacher didn’t ask me to do anything great.”
In your preaching on evangelism — call people to do great things.
If you were to touch on each of these themes just briefly, all of them would take at least 2 months of Sundays, and likewise, there are plenty more.
Each one could be a 3-4 part sermon series on evangelism.
One suggestion is to print out this list and use it to brainstorm your own sermon series on evangelism.
Another idea is to simply do a mind map to brainstorming evangelism topics:
I once did a mind map of evangelism and discovered that I could do evangelism sermon series for more than one year of Sundays.
What is in your sermon series on evangelism?
Feel free to share in the comments below.
One of the questions that I have received frequently via “Ask Evangelism Coach” has been on the role of the Holy Spirit in Evangelism.
That as a topic is broad, so I’ll begin a series of posts on that topic. Here is an older post I wrote: Role Of The Holy Spirit In Evangelism that speaks of the actual conversation moment.
The focus of this post will be on the work of the Holy Spirit in your life before you came to faith in Jesus Christ.
Jesus makes this claim: “No one comes unto me unless the Father draws him.”
That drawing, that wooing is accomplished by the activity of the Holy Spirit.
To use the cultivation imagery as found the in the New Testament, one might say the Holy Spirit prepares the soil, waters the seed, and prepares the seed for harvest.
Think about your own conversion journey. Or if you don’t have a season in time where you know you became a Christian, think about the early influences upon your life that shaped your faith.
As I have coached people in developing their personal faith story or testimony, I have seen a few common tools that the Holy Spirit uses to draw people to Jesus.
These conversations between friends, and sometimes between strangers, add up over the course of time.
Some people can point to specific conversations that set them on a journey to find the truth about Jesus, or presented plausible explanations for their questions.
Some people can point to several conversations that had a cumulative effect of helping them deciding to follow Jesus.
Individually, these conversations may not cover all topics related to a faith journey, but over a period of time, they gather the collective weight to help one examine the Christian faith and make an intelligent and informed choice to follow Jesus.
I think of causal conversations over a bar-b-que at a picnic, friendly chatter at a stay at home dad’s group, or casual chit-chat while playing golf.
In your life, you might be able to recall several individual conversations that eventually pointed you to faith in Christ.
God sometimes will reveal Himself in some way to the person seeking to find Him.
This might come in the form of an answered prayer, a clear act of guidance, or an encounter in worship. This might come while reading the Bible for the first or second time, or while admiring the beauty of nature.
In my journey to faith, there were two distinct moments where I was aware of God’s self-revelation. One was an answered prayer, and the other was the night I decided to follow Jesus with my life.
I have coached people (see: Do you Need Evangelism coaching?) who have similar stories, where a self-revelation of God is part of their journey to faith, often helping the individual discover that God is not only real, but wants to be involved in their life.
I am convinced that many go through times in their life when their brain mulls over spiritual things.
These life questions pop into our minds from time to time. Sometimes during major life transitions, other times when things seem the be falling apart. They come when one is backpacking up a mountain and takes in the vista from the peak. They come when on a small boat, out in the middle of the Pacific ocean under the star light sky when the moon is not out.
These questions burden our soul and sometimes keep us awake at 2 in the morning. Other times, they dance in our brain as when we feel the need to think about life at that level.
I am convinced that the Holy Spirit uses these contemplations to point out our spiritual yearnings, our desire to connect with God, and our desire to participate in God’s plan for our life.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t include the proclamation of the Word of God.
I have met many people that started going to church because of the first three tools here. A small diet of excellent preaching is often used by the Holy Spirit to help people discover their faith. The Holy Spirit empowers the preaching to communicate to the deep areas of the human heart.
What would you add to this list? What helped you come to faith in Christ?
Share it with us in the comment section below. I’d like to come up with a list of 10 and could use your help.
Today’s guest post is from Robert Shaw, Pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Winfield Indiana. I’ve met Robert at the Evangelism Conference for the PCUSA last year, and ran into him again at the transformation pastors conference that just ended in St. Pete’s Beach in FL.
He shares with us some of the things that he does as pastor in a local church to help folks with evangelism.
___________________________________
by the Reverend Robert Shaw
Sharing the gospel is as easy as breathing. But then I also find swimming just as easy.
For many mainline Christians being asked to share the good news of Jesus Christ is as scary as being thrown off the end of a pier without the benefit of swimming lessons. But like swimming, once one knows when and how to breath sharing the gospel is easy and the end of the pier becomes an a place to enjoy and dive into the water.
I remember the lifeguard teaching my classmates and I to blow bubbles at my first swimming lesson. “Take a breath of air, put your face into the water, blow bubbles, turn your head to the side, take another breath, and repeat.” This is a lesson I mastered as a six year-old.
Similarly the first lesson when sharing the gospel is learning to blow bubbles. Take a deep breath of the Holy Spirit, then while out in the world slowly exhale. Return to the community of faith and take another deep breath of the Holy Spirit.
This lesson applies not only to sharing the gospel, but to life itself. During the week we face numerous challenges and make our share of mistakes. Some of these feel like getting punched and having your breath knocked out. Knowing where to get a refreshing and life restoring breath of the Holy Spirit helps Christians flourish from one Sunday to the next.
To help Presbyterian congregations “provide opportunities for evangelism,” I have, as part of morning worship, encouraged those present to talk about why they come to church in small groups. During the passing of the peace, which in my order for worship comes before the Scripture readings and the sermon, I ask those present to re-seat themselves into groups of three. I encourage people from the same household, or usual circle of friends, to sit in different groups.
After a brief introduction, as illustrated in above paragraphs, the sermon is presented as three segments. Each segment is comprised of a Scripture reading, a minute or two of exposition, then three minutes for participants to answer the related question within their triad. I have found using a verse of a hymn an effective and necessary transition between segments. Typically I have had the three questions (the section headings below) printed in the bulletin.
Before the introduction to the sermon, I invite all of the children to come forward for an object lesson. I hand each child a paper cup saying pretend this is your heart. Then I place a chocolate Kiss® in each cup saying that love is like having a kiss in your heart. Then while pouring more candies from an opaque pitcher into their hands, I say, “But God’s love is heaped up, tamped down, and over flowing.” After the children finish scrambling for the chocolates that have spilled onto the floor, I tell them that with so much love they can could give one to everyone in the congregation and still have more than enough. If pressed for time, the sermon introduction could begin while the children distribute the candy.
The psalmist was excited about what God had done in creation. He wanted everyone to sing God’s praises with him. Consider the glorious creation that God has placed us in; the majestic beauty of the Grand Canyon, the scent of spring flowers, the song of a wren. Breath deeply to shout about what God is doing now!
Scripture Lesson: John 20.
The disciples had retreated to the upper room following the Crucifixion. Stain glass windows help separate a congregation from the noise of life, creating a place for quiet reflection. Even the white spaces between the words of Scripture is sacred, for they help us to see the words more clearly. Teach others where to find rest from the storm, to breathe in the Spirit, and receive grace.
The Apostle Paul recorded several ways that people contribute to being church together. In addition to teaching, preaching, and healing, we contribute to bringing God’s Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven when we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless, and loose the bonds of injustice. Invite people outside the church to work alongside us so we might see God’s future together.
While gathering joys and concerns in preparation for the Pastoral Prayer, following the Sermon, I ask people to name one thing heard in their triad, that someone outside the church should know.
Before the charge and benediction I ask if participants had enough time to discuss each question. I have always received a resounding “NO!” Then I charge everyone to continue the conversation during the coffee hour with people from other groups, over lunch with family, and during the week with co-workers and neighbors.
________________________________________________
Robert Shaw received a Masters in Divinity from the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, is an ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), has served as the chair of church development committees for the Synod of Trinity and for the Synod of Lincoln Trails.
Currently he is the Designated Pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church, Winfield, Indiana, which is in the midst of a Transformation project. This article is refined by experiences with six congregations including rural, suburban, and urban settings.
