Outreach and Evangelism.
In Christianity, Evangelism is the commitment to or act of publicly preaching of the Gospel with the intention of spreading the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. Wikipedia
Outreach is the activity of providing services to any population that might not otherwise have access to those services. A key component of outreach is that the group providing it is not stationary, but mobile; in other words, it involves meeting someone in need of an outreach service at the location where they are. Wikipedia
Outreach and Evangelism. Tim Challies
Throughout history some Christians and some groups of Christians have placed more emphasis on this than others, but nearly all have agreed on its importance. In the English language we have two terms that are used synonymously to describe the sharing of the Good News, evangelism and outreach. There is a difference between outreach and evangelism. We often feel that we have fulfilled the Lord’s command to preach the gospel through evangelism, when in reality we have been involved in outreach. While both are noble pursuits and bring honor to God, it is evangelism that fulfills his command to take the Good News to all the world.
Outreach and Evangelism. Tim Challies
The root of the word evangelism, evangel, is derived from the Greek word euangelion which is translated good news.
From that same word, we derive the word gospel.
Many words in English are synonymous, evangel(ism), gospel and good news all speak of the same thing and find their root in the same word.
They speak of the act of spreading the gospel and to the content of the message that is given. This is an important point to note they refer both to the method and the message.
Outreach and Evangelism. Tim Challies
The word euangelion is found throughout the New Testament.
The term is often used to express collectively the gospel doctrines; and ‘preaching the gospel’ is often used to include not only the proclaiming of the good tidings, but the teaching men how to avail themselves of the offer of salvation, the declaring of all the truths, precepts, promises, and threatening's of Christianity.
Evangelism is more than telling people that Jesus loves them or that He died for them. It is telling people that they have offended a Holy God and stand before Him as condemned sinners.
It is sharing with them that the good news, the best news of all, is that Jesus died for that very type of person.
Outreach and Evangelism. Tim Challies
Jesus died to reconcile those condemned individuals to this God of justice. It is sharing with people that through faith they can be saved and can avoid an eternity of suffering for their offense to God. The Good News can only be understood in context of the bad news. If people do not understand the bad, if they do not realize that they are repugnant to God, they cannot understand just how good the Good News is!
Franklin Graham Facebook post.
A letter to the LGBTQ community in the UK—
It is said by some that I am coming to the UK to bring hateful speech to your community. This is just not true. I am coming to share the Gospel, which is the Good News that God loves the people of the UK, and that Jesus Christ came to this earth to save us from our sins.
The rub, I think, comes in whether God defines homosexuality as sin. The answer is yes. But God goes even further than that, to say that we are all sinners—myself included. The Bible says that every human being is guilty of sin and in need of forgiveness and cleansing. The penalty of sin is spiritual death—separation from God for eternity.
Franklin Graham Facebook post.
That’s why Jesus Christ came. He became sin for us. He didn’t come to condemn the world, He came to save the world by giving His life on the Cross as a sacrifice for our sins. And if we’re willing to accept Him by faith and turn away from our sins, He will forgive us and give us new life—eternal life—in Him.
My message to all people is that they can be forgiven and they can have a right relationship with God. That’s Good News. That is the hope people on every continent around the world are searching for.
Franklin Graham Facebook post.
In the UK as well as in the United States, we have religious freedom and freedom of speech. I’m not coming to the UK to speak against anybody, I’m coming to speak for everybody. The Gospel is inclusive. I'm not coming out of hate, I'm coming out of love.
I invite everyone in the LGBTQ community to come and hear for yourselves the Gospel messages that I will be bringing from God’s Word, the Bible. You are absolutely welcome. Franklin Graham meetings in the UK were cancelled this week due to the fact that he is not prepared to be politically correct and say that homosexuality is not a sin. He believes in the Biblical method of evangelism IE: There is bad news but don’t give up hope, because there is “GOOD NEWS”
Outreach and Evangelism. Tim Challies
Unlike evangel, the term outreach is not found in the Bible, though the idea certainly is. Outreach implies action more than message. When a church engages in outreach, it is reaching out to the community in order to meet needs or to let people know of its existence.
The Salvation Army is an excellent example. When tragedy strikes, especially in the case of natural disasters, the Salvation Army is often on the scene, providing food, clothing and other necessities. This is outreach. Unbelievers are given a glimpse of the love of Christ through believers. Believers take their love for the lost into the community and allow them to see changed hearts in action. There is usually nothing offensive about outreach, and it is often regarded as noble, even by those who are opposed to Christ.
Outreach and Evangelism. Tim Challies
The “Great Commission” was given by our Lord to direct the actions of His church from the moment of its birth until He comes again to bring it to Himself.
Jesus’ words imply not outreach, but evangelism.
We are to go to all nations and share this awe-inspiring message with people of every nation, race and creed.
We are to share the full truth of the gospel.
Needless to say, we can only share such news with our words.
Our actions are important and should not be underemphasized, but people are not saved by actions, they are saved by this message which holds the power to convict men’s hearts.
Outreach and Evangelism. Tim Challies
1 Corinthians 1:21. tells us
“it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.”
This speaks both of the method, which is preaching, and the message, which is the Gospel.
When we share the Gospel then, we share a message that is offensive to the natural human mind.
No human likes to be told that he has offended God and stands before Him as a condemned man.
No human, in and of himself, would humble himself before this God and seek repentance.
Evangelism. Tim Challies
It is only through the power of God through the message of the Gospel that people can be saved, for God has ordained that he will work through this message to save his people. God uses this seemingly foolish and offensive message to reach people’s hearts and turn them to Him.
When we evangelize, we share this message in all its offense, for in the offense of the Gospel there is power! When we remove the offense, we remove the power.
The foolishness of the Gospel.
1 Corinthians 1:22-25. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
What’s missing in the modern day gospel?
Repentance necessary for forgiveness is not preached.
The teachings of Jesus and the Apostles are full of commands to “Repent and be saved”. Repentance is not just being sorry and it is not merely a change of heart and a change of mind, it is a change of action.
Because there is so little conviction of sin brought about by the preaching of the modern gospel, we can’t truly require repentance anymore, if we did no one would come forward at all. For repentance is easy for him who sees how ugly and horrible sin is, but it is impossible where the Law does not convince the sinner of his wicked heart, compelling him to turn from his sins into the arms of a compassionate God. The “Bad news” is missing from the modern day gospel.
What’s wrong with The Gospel. Keith Green
The “bad news” and the “Good News”.
John 4:14-20.
Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life. The woman said to him, Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water. He told her, Go, call your husband and come back. I have no husband, she replied.
Jesus said to her, You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true. Sir, the woman said, I can see that you are a prophet.
The “bad news” and the “Good News”.
Jesus knows you, he knows your sin, he knows your sinful thoughts.
He knew the woman taken in adultery was guilty and did not try defend her guilt, he just let the crowd know that he knew their sin as well.
He knew the Samaritan woman had been married 5 times and that she was living with another man but he offered her water that would take away her carnal thirst. (He didn’t give her some seminar on self-esteem)
The Samaritan woman becomes a witnesses.
John 4:28-42.
Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?
Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, He told me everything I ever did.
So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers.
They said to the woman, We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Saviour of the world.
The power of a personal testimony.
Jesus sees beyond the façade and pretence we put up for others to see and he offers us water that will satisfy and lead us into abundant life. Living water that will remove the carnal cravings which are so evident in the lives of many who claim to follow him and which the modern apostate gospel promises to satisfy.
The response of the Samaritan women at the well as she drank of the living water was to immediately get involved in Jesus mission and she went back to the village and told them to come to Jesus.
She did not have to go to Bible college, she immediately got involved in Jesus Mission to reach out to the lost. Not with a shallow message of health and wealth and no troubles but with the message of forgiveness and regeneration.
The power of a personal testimony.
Witnessing for the Lord is something that should commence at conversion. Another example of this is in the Decapolis, where they told Jesus to go away and He sent the healed man back to them to tell them what He had done for him.
The power of a personal testimony.
Mark 5:1-20. They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasene's. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain…..
The power of a personal testimony.
Mark 5:1-20 (continued) Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region. As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you. So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.
Evangelism isn’t about winning arguments.
2 Timothy 2:23-26.
But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.
Obstacles to Evangelism.
1. Lack of Gospel Knowledge.
How many times have you heard the gospel in a sermon, book, or conversation? If you’ve been a Christian, even for a short time, you have likely heard the gospel hundreds of times. Yet, many still struggle to articulate the truths of the gospel in a simple, coherent, and intelligible way. Could you share the essential message of the gospel right now?
Obstacles to Evangelism.
2. Fear.
What will others think of me? What if they don’t like me or my family? Some are paralyzed by the thought of being disliked, marginalized, laughed at, or openly mocked. We’re afraid we’ll lose business or get passed up for that promotion.
3. Apathy or Lack of Compassion
Is Paul’s compassion is foreign to us?
Romans 9:3
I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers.
Some of us just don’t care that much about the unsaved. We wouldn’t ever say it, but our priorities and lives reveal it. We make no time in our busy schedules to interact and engage with those who don’t know Christ. We have no non-Christian friends. We lack compassion, we might say we care, but we rarely cry out to God for the salvation of our lost neighbours, co-workers, and classmates.
Six essentials for effective evangelism.
Passion
Prayer.
Power.
Preparation.
Proclamation.
Proximity.
1. Passion.
Romans 9:3
I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers.
Romans 10:1.
My heart’s desire.. For Israel to be saved.
1 Corinthians 9:22.
I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.
Jesus wept over Jerusalem, do we weep over our town?
Do we weep over our unsaved family and colleagues?
1. Passion.
Luke 19:41-44.
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace, but now it is hidden from your eyes.
The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side.
They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.
Evangelism is “Spiritual food.”
John 4:31-36. Meanwhile his disciples urged him, Rabbi, eat something. But he said to them, I have food to eat that you know nothing about. Then his disciples said to each other, Could someone have brought him food?My food, said Jesus, is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Don’t you have a saying, It’s still four months until harvest? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.
2. Proximity.
As you consider the person or persons with which you might share your faith, consider those in closest proximity to you. Think of your spheres of influence – friends, neighbors, co-workers, classmates, those in your social circles, family, etc.
These are the people God has placed in your life, and you in theirs. So consider making some of these the subject of your prayers. Your purpose is not to judge them or argue, the best strategy, is first to begin to sincerely pray for them.
Those with whom you already have some kind of relationship are those most likely to respond as there is some level of trust and familiarity upon which you can build. Don’t isolate yourself from the unsaved.
2. Proximity.
We get comfortable in the “Church culture” and the longer we are saved, the less contact we have with unbelievers.
The most common reason any Christian has found Christ is a friend or family member who did life with them, then shared the gospel with them, and was around to help encourage them in their new walk of faith.
Avoid hit-and-run evangelism and start investing in people without an agenda, allowing them to see the difference Christ makes in our hearts, showing them we are all imperfect and in need of grace, and being led by the Holy Spirit as to when to share the gospel.
Take note that in both cases of the Samaritan woman and the delivered demoniac, they witnessed to those they lived with, people who knew them already.
3. Power.
Acts 1:4-8.
On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
... But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
Power with purpose, not for the sake of curiosity or spectacle, but to validate the message.
3. Power.
Mark 16:15.
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe;
In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following.
4. Preparation.
1 Peter 3:15. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.
One of the purposes of “The Church”, through The Gift Ministries that Jesus Christ has placed in the Church, is to prepare God’s people for works of service.
Ephesians 4:11-13.
So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
4. Preparation.
There is a progression when a sinner is saved, that doesn’t fit in with the mind set of those who respond to the Gospel of “Self Esteem”.
Your goal as a True Christian is to become like Christ, “A Servant”
Sinner
Saint
Student
Servant
John 13:12-14. You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.
4. Preparation.
Many missionaries have spent years preparing to take the Gospel to the unreached.
Often a new language has had to be learned and some times even more than one language.
Adoniram Judson was able to translate the Bible into the Burmese language because he knew Latin and Hebrew and Greek.
Cultures and customs have had to be studied.
5. Proclamation.
Romans 10:14-17.
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?
As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news! But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our message? Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.
Faith comes by hearing and not by observation. We must walk the walk, but we must also talk the talk.
5. Proclamation.
Acts 4:18-20.
Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.
Romans 10:14-15.
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
5. Proclamation.
2 Timothy 4:1-5. (Paul’s charge to his disciple)
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge:
Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage, with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
5. Proclamation.
Francis of Assisi said
“Preach the Gospel at all times, and sometimes use words”.
Although this has an element of truth, the Gospel must still be proclaimed.
So don’t use your poor example and flawed character as an excuse, rather surrender to the sanctifying work of The Holy Spirit and allow The Lord to transform you.
Mark 16:20.
Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.
Proclamation sets the stage for the demonstration of God’s power.
6. Prayer.
Luke 10:1-3. After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.
Matthew 9:35-38. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.Then he said to his disciples, The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.
6. Prayer.
David Wilkerson
In the 1980’s, when our ministry was headquartered in Texas, I spent a year praying that God would send someone to New York City to raise up a church in Times Square. I pledged to help whomever God chose: to raise money, to hold meetings, to build up support. Yet, while I was praying for God to send a labourer into this specific harvest, the Lord put the burden on me. The apostle Paul was sent forth as a missionary through the power of prayer. It happened in Antioch, where leaders of the church were praying over the harvest (see Acts 13:2-6). Paul’s first missionary journey came out of a prayer meeting. It was the direct result of godly men obeying Jesus’ words, to pray for God to send labourers into the harvest.
Pray for the unbelievers in your close circle.
God gave the apostle Paul and his prayer life as an example for Christians of all time. In a similar way, He has given modern day Christians the example of George Mueller as proof to His church that He still always hears prayer.
Pray for the unbelievers in your close circle.
“In November 1844, I began to pray for the conversion of five individuals,” Mr. Mueller said. “I prayed every day without a single intermission….”
Eighteen months passed before the first was saved. Five years lapsed, then the second was converted. Six years passed before the third was converted. The last two remained unconverted.
Pastor Charles R. Parsons, in an hour interview with George Mueller towards the close of his life, asked him if he spent much time on his knees. Mueller replied, “I have been praying every day for fifty-two years for two men, sons of a friend of my youth. They are not converted yet, but they will be! How can it be otherwise?”
Pray for the unbelievers in your close circle.
Mr. Mueller not only prayed for the conversion of lost souls, he prayed in firm faith, confident they would be saved. When he was asked on what ground he so firmly believed this, his answer was,
There are five conditions which I always endeavor to fulfill; in observing which I have the assurance of answer to my prayer:
I have not the least doubt because I am assured that it is the Lord’s will to save them, for he willeth that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth 1 Tim 2.4. and we have the assurance ‘that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us’ 1 John 5.14.
Pray for the unbelievers in your close circle.
I have never pleaded for their salvation in my own name, but in the blessed name of my precious Lord Jesus, and on his merits alone see John 14.14.
I always firmly believed in the willingness of God to hear my prayers Mark 11:24.
I am not conscious of having yielded to any sin, for ‘if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me’ when I call Ps. 66:18.
I have persevered in believing prayer for more than fifty-two years for some, and shall continue till the answer comes: ‘Shall not God avenge his own elect which cry day and night unto him?’ Luke 18.7.
Pray for the unbelievers in your close circle.
Thirty-six years later he wrote that the other two, sons of one of Mueller’s friends, were still not converted.
He wrote, But I hope in God, I pray on, and look for the answer. They are not converted yet, but they will be.
In 1897, fifty-two years after he began to pray daily, without interruption, for these two men, they were finally converted, but after he died!
Mueller understood what Luke meant when he introduced a parable Jesus told about prayer, saying:
Luke 18:1.
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.
Pray for the unbelievers in your close circle.
Mr. Mueller started 117 schools, educated 120,000 children and raised, in today’s terms, the equivalent of a billion pounds without ever expressing a need to a human being or ever being in debt. It was all accomplished through prayer.
Mr. Mueller also believed that more than thirty thousand souls came to know Christ in answer to prayer. These didn’t include only orphans but also many others for whom he prayed faithfully every day, in some cases for more than 50 years.
One by One List.
Tim Tebow video.
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