Evangelism

Lord, we're coming together this afternoon and considering the

Ewangelion, the gospel which was given, and the Great Commission which is proclaimed, and our privilege to be salt, light, and to the earth, and to spreading your truth into a dark world.

It can be scary because if we don't do it, or we're concerned about being ridiculed or pushed aside, we may be too busy, but Lord, this is a privilege,

I pray, Father, as Pastor Jeff teaches us on this topic of evangelism, speak through him, and that his words would touch our hearts and motivate us,

Lord, to step out for your kingdom. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. Amen. I have a relative who, very close to us, part of our family, who has a worldview based on the secular world in which we live, doesn't believe in the inerrancy of scripture, doesn't understand the gospel, and for more than a decade,

I have been looking for a chance to sit down with her and share the fullness of what the gospel is, and why we ought to believe in it, and the ground upon which it stands, and all of those things, and for ten years or more, for longer than that,

I haven't found the opportunity, and I won't push the issue because that relationship is so important.

I know a guy who I met for the first time last fall. He is the father of a kid that my kid plays soccer with,

Timmy plays soccer, and for the first time, I met him, and I asked him, so, you go to church, and he's like, no,

I'm Jewish. So I launched in and explained to him that Christ is the

Jewish Messiah, and how all the scriptures point to him, and how he died on the cross, and rose from the dead, and got the full gospel in, in the course of one soccer practice, the first time

I met him. Now my kids later said they overheard some of that, like, man, you came on strong, you sure that was not too strong?

Here's a principle of evangelism. The closer the relationship, the more careful you need to be in coming on too strong.

There is an inverse relationship between the closeness of a relationship and how aggressive you ought to be.

If you're on a subway in Philadelphia, this was often the case with mission teams,

I would give this teaching, and you have tracks in your pocket, you might only have three minutes with a human being that you'll never see again.

Be as aggressive as you possibly can be in three minutes. Approach a stranger, hey,

I've got a track for you. When you're in the inner city, to come out aggressively with the gospel is the smartest and safest thing that you can do.

If I walk up to a group of young men standing on a corner and begin to beat around the bush asking weird questions, trying to, you know, build rapport with them and build a relationship because you've got to have a relationship first,

I will be a threat to them far more than if I came in as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And I come, hey, you know anything about Jesus, I want to tell you about my Lord. It's actually better for the relationship if I come stating my intentions when

I walk up to this random group. So it is in a park when you're walking around to share the gospel, or at the mall.

When you're aggressively there for the purpose of the gospel, don't hide why you are there.

If you have a family gathering and somebody that you love dearly that you don't want to push away is there, be careful to not come on too strong.

Understand the principle? All of us desire to share the gospel. Now listen, evangelism is not the specialized work of a pastor.

We're going to get into the gift of evangelism today and what that's for, but it's not a specialized work.

It is a labor of love for all of us. So evangelism is the key today. John, thank you for opening a prayer.

I'm going to need some readers and the first one I would like to call on would read Galatians 1, 6 -9.

Barbara, could you do that? Rick, could you read Jude 3, which is

Jude chapter 1, 3. It's only one chapter. It's only one chapter. Exactly. And then

Bob, would you mind reading 1 Corinthians 15, 3 -4. First principle of evangelism, and the most important thing you're going to hear me say is the content of the

Ewangelion. Ewangelion, gospel. The word evangelize derives from the word gospel.

If you come preaching a gospel that's not a gospel at all, you're not the bearer of good news. You are a worker of Satan masquerading as an angel of light.

The gospel is good news insofar as you rightly divide the word of truth and deliver the true pure gospel of Jesus Christ.

If you come with the Mormon gospel of a created Jesus who's the spirit brother of Lucifer, you have no gospel.

You have a lie. You have deceit. So it is with any other cult or so -called teaching.

So we need to have the gospel, but not only so that we don't say something heretical.

We need to have a firm grip on the gospel so we know what to say and what are the most important elements of the gospel.

I have broken it down into five points and I don't, when I go to share the gospel,

I don't have words planned to say, but I have an outline in my mind that I know

I need to say these five things. I need to tell them these five things. We're going to get it. First of all, it's here.

Galatians one, six to nine. I'm astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel, which is really no gospel at all.

Evidently, some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.

But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preach to you, let him be eternally condemned.

As we have already said, so now I say again, if anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned.

How high are the stakes for getting this right? Eternally condemned, anathema, curse, sent to hell.

This is strong language from the apostle. Jude three, right?

If you would. But notice, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation,

I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

There is a message which is once for all delivered here.

Jude had hoped to write some things about common salvation, but he instead needed to refute false prophets.

It was necessary because there were some that were perverting the gospel that was once for all delivered to the saints.

So it raises the question, what is the core content of the gospel?

I would say this is very important. The clearest expression of the gospel is in first Corinthians 15, three and four.

The reason I say that it's the clearest, most precise is because Paul intentionally reminds the

Corinthians of what is of most importance, namely the gospel. So here we have a passage of scripture which is devoted to the express purpose of summarizing and reminding what matters most, catching the full core content of the gospel, and it contains five elements.

So first Corinthians 15, three and four, Bob. Okay. For what

I received, I passed on to you as of first importance, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter and then to the twelfth.

Amen. So what are the elements of the gospel? What are the five -fold elements? We begin,

I deliver to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ.

The gospel is the revelation of Christ, the good news of him, the person of Christ, who he is.

He is the Christ, the son of the living God. Peter's confession in Matthew 16.

It is the message that God came, took on flesh, born to a virgin, dwelt among men, lived a sinless, perfect life.

It is about who he is, the Lord of all. He is Yahweh. Yahweh is salvation.

So let me have somebody turn to Acts 2, 22 to 41. I have an unusual call that keeps repeating, so I'm going to take that for just a second.

John, would you mind reading to the group? Acts 2, 22, you'll have a lot of reading here.

We'll stop at 41, but that'll give me three minutes to find out what the emergency is.

Go for it. All right, thanks. Men of Israel, men and women of Cornisco, listen to these words.

Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which

God performed through him in your midst just as you yourselves know. This man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put him to death.

And God raised him up, putting an end to the agony of death since it is impossible for him to be held in his power.

John, I've got an emergency. Can you go ahead and take over? Just follow the notes as best you can. You got it. Thank you.

For David says of him, I was always beholding the Lord in my presence, for he is at my right hand that it may not be shaken.

Therefore, my heart was glad and my tongue exalted. Moreover, my flesh also will abide in hope, because thou wilt not abandon my soul to Hades nor allow the

Holy One to undergo decay. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life. Thou wilt make me full of gladness with thy presence.

Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried and his tomb is with us to this day.

And so, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seek one of his descendants upon his throne, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the

Christ, that he was neither abandoned to Hades nor did his flesh suffer decay.

This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore, having been exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the

Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured forth this which you both see and hear.

For it was not David who descended into heaven, but he himself says, The Lord said to my

Lord, sit at my right hand until I make thine enemies a footstool for thy feet.

Therefore, let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made both him

Lord and Christ this Jesus, whom you crucified. Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles,

Brethren, what shall we do? Peter said to them, Repent. Let each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the

Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the

Lord our God shall call to himself. And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying,

Be saved from this perverse generation. So then, those who had received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about 3 ,000 souls.

It's an instant megachurch. Instant megachurch, you're absolutely right. John, can

I say a brief prayer? I think we ought to do that, so please do that. Heavenly Father, we hate to hear that word, emergency, and we hate to see any of our pastors or brothers and sisters in that situation.

So Lord, I just pray now that you'll just be with Jeff and protect him as he's going to where he's going and help him just get there safely.

And we pray, Lord, that this emergency may be more of a broken bone than a car accident or anything else, because we know

Jeff has children and we know that he has a sick mother -in -law. So Lord, I just pray that you'll just be all over this situation.

We ask that now in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you, John. Well done, sir.

Thank you. Jeff has identified five of what he believes are essential elements for witnessing and proclaiming truth.

Coming out of 1 Corinthians 15, 3 and 4, For I have delivered unto you for first importance that which

I also received. Christ died, he was buried, he was raised again on the third day. And as he starts out with his emphasis, it begins with the reality that this is

Christ. This is the Son of God. There is a powerful verse in John 17, verse 18, as Jesus is praying to the

Father, So as you sent me into the world, so send I them.

The focus starts out with the reality that it's about Christ. This transitive property, so as you sent me, so I send

I them, has to start out with a foundation of Jesus.

It says at the end of Ephesians 2, Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself has the chief cornerstone.

What he has here is, in verse 22, Men of Israel, listen to these words.

Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God, with miracles and wonders and signs, which

God performed in your midst, just as you yourself know. This man delivered up by a predestined plan and foreknowledge of God.

I'm surprised he didn't say we, rather than you crucified him, since he was complicit.

That's an interesting phrase. Well, I mean, that would be Paul, not...

That would be Paul. Not we, but writing it. No, you know you're right, but this is a quote from Paul speaking.

Why do you think he would have done that? He's speaking at this point in time to the

Jews, okay? And he's speaking this time to the Jews who should have had full knowledge of things like Isaiah 53, should have had full knowledge of this.

Who is it? Was it you that mentioned, somebody mentioned a few weeks ago that in the cycle of readings in the synagogues,

Isaiah 53 is... They just skip it. They just ignore it.

To get somebody's attention that the message that I'm giving you is actually

Christ, the Son of the living God. Now, the strength in verse 23 is that this

Jesus who's going to be coming, and if you can get the focus on this is Jesus, he is the

Son of God, and the fact that he came was something that was planned before the foundations of the earth, that Jesus would send his

Son. And in reality, because he died on the cross for our sins, we're responsible for his death as well.

Yes. And that's the key point. That becomes now the second point. It is the work of Christ.

But that is really interesting. I was talking to a friend about this concept.

Imagine that you were hiring a new pastor. I have a friend who was the chairman of a selection process committee for a church.

The pastor's retired. They're going to be hiring a new pastor. Imagine that you found a man and you told the selection committee that what we're going to do is we're going to give a call to this man because he's going to screw up really, really bad, but then he's going to confess, and then everything will be right.

Well, this is what God the Father did before the foundation of the world. I'm going to make man, and they're going to screw up really, really, really bad, but I'll send my

Son so that he can die on the cross in their stead. This is the

Christ that needs to be emphasized when you're talking and when you're expressing in a testimony.

Get the concept of Christ out there. And then, Rick, your second point is important. Why did he send his

Son? So that he could go on a fishing trip and do things like walk on...

No, that's not why he sent his Son. He sent his Son to be rejected by man, and then he sent his

Son to go to the cross so that he could proclaim to Telestai. This man was delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God.

You nailed him to a cross by the hands of godless men and put him to death.

And then God raised him up again, putting an end to the agony of death because it's impossible for him.

I deliver to you first and foremost that which I also receive, that Christ died for my sins, and that he was buried true death, and that he was raised again on the third day.

Having an ability, a knowledge of the basic gospel message to be able to describe it in words.

I recently heard a description of missionaries that were,

I believe in Africa, in the midst of warring tribes, and that these warring tribes were never going to come to terms, except that one tribe sent their

Son. Do you know that story, Ivan? It's the Peace Child, it's called. I have it in my

Bible somewhere, but I can't find it right now. This is the reality.

I have another friend who is very, very, very skeptical. It's interesting, they named their son

Christian. I said, so George, here's the deal.

Our entire town is going to be put to death. It's been proclaimed because we've been found to be guilty, and so we're all going to be judged, and we're all going to be put to death.

But there is an opportunity for you to save everybody in town, and to allow your son

Christian to be put to death in our place so that the entire town would be relieved and be found a way out.

And so you say, okay, I'll do it. And then you allow your son to be put to death.

And then I come up and you say, you know George, I didn't tell you the whole story. If everybody would just behave, they won't be put to death.

You really didn't have to kill your son. How ludicrous would that be? And so if there was another way for man to establish a relationship with God the

Father, to have the guilt of their sins paid for, other than his son dying on the cross, if there was another way, why on earth would

Jesus go to the cross and be put to death? That is so true.

His standard is perfection because there's nothing we're going to do that's adequate. Getting to the reality of this

Jesus who from before the foundation of the world, who is God, who was brought to earth in the form of God and the man, and then he obediently went to the cross.

What did he say in the garden as he anguished? What were his words? If there could be another way, take this from me.

But your will be done, not mine. You're absolutely right.

Jesus, knowing the agony that he was going to go through, and I believe that there were two phases to that agony.

One was physical. That was the man, Jesus. This was going to be the most horrific death ever devised by man at that point in time that the

Romans used for the worst of all to be hung on a cross. His was going to be even more horrific than that.

The scourging and the nails and everything else. Yes, and I think his greater fear was a separation from the

Father which he had never been separated from before in all eternity past. And that's the second agony.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? If there was another way for it to be done, but yet Jesus said, yet not my will, but thine be done.

So this work had to be done. It had to be done. To be able to take somebody to this event which is documented in history.

The fact that he went into the tomb and had a stone rolled in front of that tomb with the

Roman seal placed on that stone and a guard in front of that stone attests to the veracity of that phrase that Jesus was dead.

The concept that he was just a spoon is not true.

Even the Roman Empire proved that his death was real.

And so he is dead. All of this, as true as it is and as provable as it is, you go into the prophecies that were written.

Isaiah was written, I don't know the date, at least 600 years before Christ. 700 years before Christ.

And the details of what was going to transpire, Jeff has an approach that he uses where he has

Isaiah 53 printed out on a piece of paper without an address identification that it's

Isaiah 53 and no verse numbers, it's just printed out and gives it predominantly to somebody of Jewish faith and says, would you read this and tell me what this is all about?

And they don't get halfway through the page and they turn it back and say, that's your Jesus. Because it is so obvious.

And then the message is, do you understand that your prophet Isaiah wrote this 700 years before Jesus even came to earth?

And you recognize this as Jesus. And the more you're equipped with these kinds of understandings and the ability to go into especially the book of Isaiah, but other places and say, this was all foretold.

He's born in Bethlehem. He's going to come in on a donkey. It's over and over and over again, the acts of Christ are foretold and 100 % fulfilled in the person of Christ.

And the validity of that message. For I delivered unto you first reports that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins and that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures.

So the message, which is easily validated by history, was foretold centuries before Christ and fulfilled.

And there's really only one answer to that. And that's the truth of the message.

And he goes on in this passage and in this section here and he talks about things that David had to say.

And when Jesus walks on the earth he has the audacity to use the words,

I am. There's no other way to take that than to go all the way back into the burning bush.

Who shall I say is sending me? I am that I am. Jesus self -proclaims himself to be

God. And it's all according to the scriptures. 37 to 39.

Ivan, would you read 37 all the way to 41 for us again, please?

Okay. Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles,

Brethren, what shall we do? And Peter said to them, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sin and you will receive the gift of the

Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off as many as the

Lord our God will call to himself. And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them saying be saved from this reverse generation so then those who had received his work were baptized and that day there was added about 3 ,000 souls.

As you approach somebody and you are able to express the truth of Christ, the

Son of God, that he's not just a good man, he's not just a teacher, he wasn't just a rabbi.

He is actually God, he is actually man and to be able to express that truth and then to express the fact of what

Jesus did when he came to earth with the express purpose of saying to tell us that at the end because the payment for sin is completely done, be able to express the reality that this is all verified in history.

Jesus truly died, it was prophesied according to scripture and it all culminates in this person of Jesus who for 33 years was here.

Why is that important is then the question. Why is that important? In fact they asked that in 37.

It says when they heard that they were pierced to the heart. To any extent that you're able to present the gospel message and as Jeff said there are approaches depending on the closeness of your relationship.

As Jeff spoke of his relation, I have a brother. I've known him all of his life.

He's my younger brother. We were both raised in the Catholic Church which does not bring salvation but it did at least bring an understanding of there is a

God and there is a Jesus. For me that led to somebody sharing the true message of the gospel and my surrendering and repenting and confessing and finding salvation.

For my brother it went to the lawyer side of him and seeing individuals even the priests in the church not practicing what they preach and he became overwhelmed by hypocrisy and he went completely to the other side.

He's an atheist and so over the years it's not my approach to go up to him and pound on him these truths.

Actually I have a sister who tried that and my brother pushed her away. She backed off.

I never went that way and I just sought for God to give me the opportunity and over the years

I've had a handful of opportunities to share Christ with him. It hasn't worked yet.

Why not? It's in God's timing. Thank you. It's in his timing.

And then what happens in God's timing? I think one of the important passages here is everyone whom the

Lord our God calls to himself. Thank you. And that's the timing. That's the timing.

And the mechanism for by grace are you saved through faith.

Not out of yourself. It's the gift of God. At his appointed timing and for his purpose, it says here when they heard this they were pierced to the heart.

I believe that that is an expression of God's grace opening the eyes of their heart to this true message.

And if God's grace doesn't open their hearts this piercing of the heart is really an annoying wound which only drives away but when

God's grace, this piercing of the heart leads them to say, what shall we do?

And so then be ready to say that what shall you do? You shall turn to him because through him this problem that you got is solved and through him forgiveness of sins one on the cross and then eternal life promised forever.

And you give them the reality of Tetelestai. Tetelestai with all the hope and everything else.

And so what are they to do? And it says in verse 38 Peter said to them, and when you give somebody the gospel message it has to be at this point, repent.

It isn't just accept the free gift, that is true.

But the message is you're a sinner, because you're a sinner repent, acknowledge those sins.

To have somebody realize that God before the foundation of the world knew how bad

I would be forever, for my entire life. But specifically until I was 19 years old and these words were given and for me the punchline was

Revelations 3 20, the old, I stand at the door and knock if anyone opens the door

I'll come in and die with him and he with me. Now I understand there is context around that passage, but there is definitely true application that once that grace is hitting and that door is knocking and I'm pierced with that,

I've got to open the door I've got to allow Jesus in. What's he going to do when he gets in there? He's going to cleanse me from my sins.

Repentance and faith are the messages. So you get somebody through these five elements to the point where you actually put it out there and this is the moment of decision.

Is this message true for you personally? This is the moment of decision. Jesus is knocking at that door.

It's up to you now. By grace are you saved? Through faith are you ready to take that step?

Faith. I believe what Jeff intended in this first section is for us to be equipped, not with the words that have to be spoken, but with the message that has to be delivered.

I like talking to my care group. I like talking to different individuals.

I don't care how new you are in your faith, how recent it is that you have accepted the

Lord and been saved. You have something to give to a world that's lost that they don't have and it can be your testimony

I've gotten all the way through paragraph one. So you have a challenge now to either finish it or to continue next week on it.

I'll go about five minutes extra. I think we can finish. Go for it. So what point are you at? I just finished 1 .5.

Beautiful. Alright, well that's the elements of the gospel. Go for it. What's interesting about what happened in verse 37 -41,

Jesus says I'm going to build a church through you, Peter. And this is the construct of the church.

And you cannot get away from that. And when you're talking to people about the church this is the actual church.

This is the church right there. What you're reading there from 37 -41 is what Jesus promised the church was going to be.

Read verse 39 for me because it's the crux of what you're also saying. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off as many as the

Lord our God will call to himself. Throughout the ages. That's the church.

Absolutely. So everything's fine with that emergency situation. It worked out.

God resolved it. So we're okay. Praise God. So anybody who's praying in their spirit, thank you for that. Moving on to part two.

Part one is the content. You have to preach who Christ is, what he's done. The death, burial, resurrection of Christ.

For the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. To those who repent and believe. That repentance element is often missing in many gospel presentations.

We need to preach repentance and faith. And the basis of this is according to the scriptures.

You notice how in Acts Peter will appeal to what God foretold.

That David was a prophet and said such and such. So part two, we don't need to spend much time on two and three.

I think the big idea here is that God will give to the body evangelists.

In Ephesians 4, it says he gives some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and then some pastor teachers.

And evangelists is someone that God often uses to bring other people to faith that will share the gospel.

But the salient point here is that the evangelist isn't given for his own glory or any such thing, but for the building up of the church.

To equip others to do the work of evangelism. So I think of somebody like Tim Robinson.

Where everywhere he goes he evangelizes. He's at the gas station, he's at the gym. Just sharing the gospel all the time.

But as we see Tim operating in that gift, the whole church is stirred up to evangelize.

We all think, I should be looking for these opportunities. And we begin to pray and it stirs us up to the work of evangelism.

Just look at Joey and Jack and the rest of them. Absolutely. Tim came to faith and then he led

Kyle and then Jack and then Joey and then Billy. And it just keeps going. And that's the building up of the body.

Now the work of evangelism separate from the gift of evangelism is something we're all commissioned to do.

So in Acts chapter 8, persecution hits. The church is scattered.

But this is the best thing that could happen. Because in Acts chapter 8 verse 4 it says, wherever they went, they began to proclaim

Christ. So it wasn't just the apostles anymore. It was all of the church out sharing the gospel.

And the gospel has all of these mouths speaking it. In 2

Timothy 4 verse 5, Timothy is told to do the work of the evangelist.

Doesn't mean that he is necessarily an evangelist. We know he's a pastor, teacher. He's a co -worker.

He's God's co -worker according to 1 Thessalonians. But the work is something that we're called to do.

There's work to be done. And all of us are called to do it. So now, this is where I wanted to spend the time. So I'm glad the

Lord in his providence brought me back in time for point 4. Here's what

I've seen about evangelistic effort and even success in evangelism.

Seeing people come to faith. It is connected to the baptism of the

Spirit. Now that might sound a little Pentecostal.

Right? The baptism of the

Spirit according to the Pentecostal charismatic view is a separate event from conversion.

Subsequent to conversion, the baptism of the Spirit takes place according to the

Pentecostals. And from that moment on, there are the gifts operating, whether it be speaking in tongues or other manifestations of the

Spirit. So there's two tiers of Christians. Those who have merely been converted and those who are the super spiritual, who have reached the higher plane, they've had the baptism of the

Spirit. I reject that view. But, there is a reason why 200 million out of the 800 million

Protestants you know, evangelicals around the world think that way.

And here's what the reason is. The sanctification path that we're called to is constantly being conformed to the image of Christ.

We're growing in likeness to Christ. But that growth and development is not always like this.

Okay? Very often there's bumps, but there's also in the

Christian life what I call sanctificational leaps. It's a little term that I've coined because I've noticed this.

I know it's true for me. I know I was born again going into college. But it was only

June of 1999 and after that I began sharing the gospel with anybody and everybody on campus and began to see people coming to faith.

What happened in June of 1999? Was I baptized in the Spirit? Is that what that was?

No. The baptism of the Spirit is the regenerating work at conversion.

All of us who are in Christ have been baptized in the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12 13. We're all baptized in the

Spirit. But there comes times, and it could be multiple times in any one believer's life, where we have encounters with the

Lord, where we're in prayer, where we've been studying the Scripture, where something happens that God providentially brings in our life that results in a sanctificational leap.

And one of those sanctificational leaps that we all need is to become active as evangelists.

For me, the impetus to that was letting go of some idols. Basketball had been my obsession.

And then after June of 1999, Christ was my obsession, and it became natural for me to share the gospel.

I had shared the gospel before then. Our high school basketball coach, Jim Anderson, came to Saving Faith.

So we had my brothers, and we had shared, but it was a sanctificational leap that just happened.

So listen, in Luke 3 .16, we are promised baptism, not of water, but of fire.

In that imagery, we have a promise that's for you and for all your children, for all of us, that the

Spirit is like a fire. And we, like Timothy, need to fan into flame the gift that is already in us.

We need a sanctificational leap. We need to come to the point of surrender in our

Christian life where we say, I'm casting down idols, and I don't care if people think I'm goofy.

I don't care if my neighbors mock me after I've come through. If they talk about me in the neighborhood as that religious fanatic.

If I'm on the soccer field, and a father of my kid's teammate walks away thinking that I'm an extremist,

I'm okay with that. We must become of no reputation.

Does this require a second work of grace, as the Pentecostals say? No, I think that's bad theology. It might require a third, fourth, fifth, or sixth work of grace in our lives.

We just need to constantly be coming back to the Scriptures to be conformed to the image of Christ. And here today, we can pray,

Lord, I need more boldness. That's what Paul prayed. Pray for me that boldness will be given to me.

That I would preach the gospel as I ought. Now, part one was clarity. He also prayed for clarity with the gospel.

That he would rightly express. That he would stay focused on the person of Christ. The work of Christ. The Scripture calling people to repentance and faith with the promise of forgiveness of sin and eternal life.

That's his gospel. 1 Corinthians 15. That's clarity. But we also need this boldness, and that comes by the

Spirit of the Living God. When He's stirring us up. That's when we want to go pass out tracts in our neighborhood, rather than watch the football game with those three hours of a

Sunday afternoon. What a waste. And we all waste time. But it's the baptism of the

Spirit that is the fire that's already in us. It just needs to be fanned into flame.

We need that sanctification. So I want you to see this connection. Would somebody read Acts 1, 4 -8, and then

I'll close with five minutes of practical evangelism. John, do you have that?

So when they had come together, they asked him, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom of Israel?

He said to them, it is not for you to know times or seasons that the

Father has fixed by His authority. But you will receive power when the

Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and to the end of the earth.

So we do know that 1 Corinthians 12 -13 says we're all baptized into the body.

The baptism of the Spirit involves being brought into the church, united in the church as members of one body.

But there is this element of power associated with the baptism. You see that?

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.

And the result of this is witnessing, to actually speak the gospel and witness to who

Christ is and what He's done. Amen? So this is a prayer that we need to leave with today, just asking

God to give us this power. Now, lastly, we live at a time of unprecedented resourcing to do the work of evangelism.

Radio stations all day long. Our friend Bill Leukerman is broadcasting gospel on 90 .5

all day long and 94 .9. What are some practical ways that we can get out and evangelize?

I'm going to give you five quick ones. Number one, I want you all to go to a website called

Living Waters. Google Ray Comfort Living Waters. They're doing a one million

Gospel of John giveaway. They're footing the cost. Now, you could order a case of Gospel of John and maybe make a donation so they could do this kind of thing again.

But for right now, they have these for free. I've ordered a case. When it gets to my office, my goal will be to give those

Gospels of John to my neighbors and maybe put some of them here at the church for you guys to give out.

You can order a case and what do you do with it? You go give it to a neighbor.

Maybe bake some cookies if you're a baker and wait for a holiday or something.

Fourth of July. I don't know. But you may be creative in how you get those out. But it's just a matter of do the work of an evangelist.

Bring the Gospel. We have a young guy that just got saved in January. He started attending with a friend.

He's probably 20. Army guy. He's been listening, hearing the word every week.

Finally, he began to read the Gospel of John on his own and he was regenerated. The power of God's word to bring salvation.

Just less than a month ago, somebody getting saved by hearing the word, but then himself opening the Gospel of John and God granted him salvation, repentance and faith.

And he's just a new person. It's amazing. Praise God. So I want you all to consider doing that.

Number two, use media, social media, emails if you don't have

Facebook or anything. My wife posts Bible verses on Facebook almost every day under the cornerstone heading.

Been doing that for years. I look for little ways to put the Gospel out on the Internet.

We've used radio. We have our Gospel in 60 seconds on the radio. Just constantly look for ways.

Stan is great about this. He'll send emails to his friends with things for people to read. Be willing to do that.

Even if most people will click delete. What have you lost? You would have wasted that time on something else.

Use media of various kinds. Tracks, conversations and invitations are still allowed at parks.

Do you know that in 2016 Putin outlawed evangelism in parks outside of personal private conversations?

You cannot proselytize in Russia. Our friends Petra and Angela Edding, who we've supported as missionaries, they had to leave

Russia to the Ukraine because of Putin. It's outlawed there.

So they went to a slightly more free country in order to be able to do their Gospel outreach. Where do we live?

The freest country in the history of the world. And of course Bill C -4 in Canada.

There's going to be more and more intrusion upon the church. But we're still the freest country. Are we taking advantage of that?

On Sunday after I was preaching, Tina in the wheelchair she came up and said she wants to get out to the parks when it warms up.

I said, count me in. Who wants to go with us to Laurel Acres Park? Let's go!

When it warms up, let's shoot some emails around. Hey, after church on Sunday let's take those Gospels of John, walk around hand them out.

It's work. But it's Gospel work. It's worth doing. The most effective way that I've personally seen evangelism recently is at the gym.

That's where I got to first meet Tim Robinson You just play basketball with guys you lift weights with guys.

You hang out afterwards at what we call the discipleship table. What I've been doing now at the

YMCA is I bring my book, Faith Is Not Blind I can get those for cheap. I have some in my office and it shows how all of the

Old Testament points to Christ and I just gave one a couple days ago to Layla who's at the front table there maybe you've seen her before.

Muslim girl with the full head thing. So she's reading Faith Is Not Blind just handing out books.

You use those kind of resources. You can use that book to share the Gospel. Lastly, this is an encouragement to some people

I've recently shared I do so much evangelism and I never see any fruit and they're discouraged and I tell one guy who's been here from the beginning very discouraged.

So much evangelism and so little fruit I say to him look around on a

Sunday morning that young guy who came to faith less than a month ago

Tim and Kyle and Joey and Jack and Billy and Ian all these people coming to faith you are a part of that the church does the work of evangelism there should not be this mindset that I lead someone to Christ before you the evangelist got there

God has sent many people in their path to sow seed they've heard so much since they were a child of the

Gospel story. Maybe you were the final one that led them to really understand and that's great but whenever people come to faith it's a team effort so recognize this as Christ builds his church and we do what we can in the church every person that gets saved we're all a part of it so the guy that helped found the church that wants to see more fruit in his ministry every person that's got,

I think we had 13 baptisms last year of new believers, every one of them was the full work of all of us together in the faith so be encouraged that when you send out a sermon or send a link or you invite someone to church, hey come check out

Cornerstone that's a team effort at bringing people to saving faith we're all, in a true way, we're all in this together and it's a trite trope that's used for lesser important things nowadays but it's true in the church it's a team effort to bring people to faith and all the credit and glory doesn't go to anyone

I was really frustrated by a mission team that came to Kensington one time and they talked about how they saved people, they did a testimony night at the end we saved 24 people at this, you know because people raised their hands and such, and they kept using this language of we saved, no you didn't save anyone, first of all let's wait and see how many of those conversions were genuine conversions, but it's

Christ who saves, only Christ who saves we're just messengers and we work together to get this gospel we're that Matthew 13 sower we're throwing seed everywhere and God will make it grow let's close in prayer brother

Father we are encouraged with these words and challenged with these words that we're blessed to be part of your kingdom's work with the message, the true gospel

I ask Lord that we would take seriously having in our hearts these points of what the gospel message really is, that you would give us your guidance and your wisdom, when to speak aggressively when to speak with care, that the world definitely needs to hear because Satan is preaching his falsehoods

Lord we do thank you as we step out that sanctificational leap that we can feel when with boldness we step out, when we fan the flames of the baptism that you have already worked within us,

Lord in all of these things let us use these recommendations and creativity but at the end of the day we should always give credit to God, He brings the increase we thank you in Jesus name,