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Pastor Scott L. Harris
Grace Bible Church, NY
October 3, 2019
How to Make Disciples: Evangelism
Selected Scriptures
Introduction
Matthew concludes his gospel account in Matthew 28:18-20 with Jesus saying to His followers, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Going therefore, make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (See: The Great Commission: Overview). This morning I want to continue to consider how to fulfill this command in practical ways by following the example Jesus and the Apostles left for us.
This passage is usually referred to as The Great Commission, and it is a command from Jesus to those who believe in Him. It is not an optional suggestion. Everyone who is a follower of Jesus should and can carry out this command because of who Jesus is and not because of your own ability. Jesus has all authority, so He has both the right to issue this command and the power to work through us to accomplish it. You may not be capable, but He is able and will enable if you will make yourself available.
The command itself is to make disciples, and that is done by 1) going to all nations, 2) baptizing in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and 3) teaching them to observe / obey all things whatsoever He has commanded. Last week I only began to scratch the surface of how to do this in practical terms. The command and the ideas of how to fulfill it are simple enough, but actually carrying out the ideas and fulfilling the command can be difficult.
The first difficulty is making sure you understand the difference between the cultural idea of getting someone saved and the Biblical command to make disciples. I pointed out last week that the professing church in the United States had for the most part failed in going out to make disciples because its message has become distorted. Evangelism in America has been understood and practiced for a long time as the means to save people from hell rather than the starting point of making a disciple of Christ. American pragmatism along with the desire for quick success has resulted in an emaciated gospel that focuses on getting a person to respond and say a prayer than in a Gospel that radically changes the person’s belief resulting in them becoming a new creation in Christ. Evangelists who have a greater concern about getting another spiritual scalp on their belt than in truly introducing a person to the Lord Jesus Christ have inoculated many people against the true gospel. That is why there are so many people who claim to be Christians still continue to live flagrantly sinful lives without any demonstration of a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. They have a different Jesus.
I will be direct. Neither walking an aisle, nor raising your hand, nor praying the “sinner’s prayer,” nor getting baptized or any combination of these saves you. Salvation only comes when you are regenerated by the Holy Spirit so that you who were dead in your transgressions were made alive with Christ by the Holy Spirit as explained in Ephesians 2:1-10. Salvation is not an emotional feel good trip to give you positive self-esteem and introduce you to a cosmic grandpa who will give you whatever your heart desires. Salvation is from sin and its consequences to righteousness and its blessings. Salvation is being delivered from the domain of darkness to the kingdom of Christ (Col. 1:13). Your masters are no longer sin, Satan and self, and instead are now the Lord Jesus Christ and righteousness (Rom. 6, etc.).
The starting point of making a disciple is evangelism and evangelism is simply introducing people to Jesus Christ. Evangelism leads to salvation but does not itself save people. Neither you nor I can save people, but God can and does. Evangelism is proclaiming the good news of who Jesus is (God in human flesh, born of the virgin and sinless) and what He has done to bring about forgiveness and reconciliation between God and man (died as the substitute sacrifice for the sin of man, risen from the dead, and ascended to heaven to make intercession and prepare a place for His followers). We tell people the good news about Jesus Christ, but it is God that does the work of salvation in changing a sinner into a saint.
Last week I examined the invitations Jesus gave in John 1 to those who would become his first followers. Andrew, John, Peter, Philip & Nathanael were all disciples of John the Baptist who were looking for the coming of Messiah. They were perfect prospects, yet even with these men, Jesus was careful that they had time to learn of Him and believe before He would call them to follow Him, and even with that it was in incremental steps. Jesus began by using the interest they already had in finding the Messiah to invite them to “come and see” and learn more about Him. Andrew told Peter He found the Messiah and brought him to Jesus. After Philip met Jesus, he found and told Nathanael and brought him to Jesus. Those who met Jesus told others and brought them to meet Jesus. That is evangelism. They told others the good news about finding the Messiah and they then brought them to meet Jesus themselves. That is what we are to do. You tell others what you have found in Jesus Christ and invite them to learn about Him too. (See: How to Make Disciples: Jesus’ Example)
Jesus and Nicodemus – John 3:1-21
Jesus follows this same pattern throughout His ministry. John 3 records that Nicodemus, a Pharisee and ruler of the Jews, came to talk with Jesus one night. The signs that Jesus did had already convinced Nicodemus that Jesus was a teacher from God. From that point on Jesus pointed out to him things such as the need for a spiritual birth that he should have already known as a ruler in Israel (vs 10). There is no emotional appeal, but a simple declaration of the truth with both its positive and negative aspects. Jesus recounted Old Testament history that Nicodemus would understand to explain the nature and basis of this spiritual birth.
John 3:14-21, 14 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 15 that whoever believes may in Him have eternal life. 16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. 17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. 18 “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 “And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil. 20 “For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 “But he who practices the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”
Nicodemus would have understood the main point of all of this. Numbers 21 records that God had sent poisonous snakes among the Israelites in the wilderness as punishment for their rebellion. If one of these fiery serpents bit you, you would die. There was no medical cure. God provided a means of salvation from death caused by the snake bite that was based in faith. God directed Moses to make a statue of a bronze serpent and put it on a pole. God then said that anyone who was bit by a snake that would go look at that bronze serpent would live. The action or lack of action taken by those bit by a snake revealed their belief and trust in God. Those who believed God would act upon that belief and would go look at the bronze serpent and live. Those that did not believe would not do so and would die. (See: Born Again)
The reference to the Son of Man being lifted up is to Jesus’ crucifixion. Spiritual life begins with believing and trusting God. Eternal life will be given to those that come and believe on the person and work of Jesus. Belief is not intellectual assent. It is a life changing understanding of what is true. Belief encompasses knowledge, faith and trust. Notice how Jesus correlates belief with coming to the light and practicing the truth. All three are elements that exist in a person who is given eternal life. Those who manifest the opposite – disbelief, loving the darkness and practicing evil – are condemned. (See: The Love of God)
No where in this passage does Jesus try and push Nicodemus into any decision. Jesus simply lays out the truth and then lets Nicodemus wrestle with the ramifications in his own life. There is no coercion, no intimidation, no forcing and no manipulation of Nicodemus into a decision he is not ready to make. From the beginning of their conversation in verse 2, Jesus simply brings Nicodemus to an ever greater understanding of the truth. In John 7:50 Nicodemus demonstrates that he is a man of integrity as he argues with the other Pharisees that they are not following the Law of Moses in their evaluation of Jesus, but it not until John 20 that we find out that Nicodemus did indeed become of one of Jesus’ followers
Jesus and the Woman at the Well – John 4:1-42
We see this same sort of approach in John 4 when Jesus’ meets the Samaritan woman at the well in Sychar. Jesus gains this woman’s interest by breaking the prejudicial social norms and asking her for a drink. He then turned the conversation to spiritual things in order to both expose her heart and declare to her the truth. He speaks of the living water that He could give her, but she is confused. Jesus then explains it was related to eternal life. She wants that water and Jesus tells her to go and get her husband and come back. She responds that she does not have a husband and Jesus reveals His omniscience telling she has spoken truly since she has had five husbands and the current man was not her husband. She perceives that Jesus is a prophet and expresses her own expectation for the coming Messiah. Jesus corrects her wrong theology about worship and then tells her that He is the Messiah. She is convinced and then goes and invites the rest of the town to come and see Jesus for themselves. At their request Jesus stayed two days and many came to believe because of His word (4:41). Note again that Jesus does not use any coercion, intimidation or manipulation trying to force anyone into decisions they were not ready to make. He gained their interest and responded to their desire to know more. (See: Witnessing to Strangers)
Jesus and the Multitudes
I also want to point out that Jesus also did not market Himself or make emotional appeals in the effort to sway people to follow Him even when there multitudes present. His many miracles would attract people to follow Him and have an initial belief in Him, but invariably Jesus would teach something that would result in many of those people leaving. Jesus not only made it easy for someone to say no to Him, He also would make it more difficult to say yes.
John 2:23-25 states that “many believed in His name, beholding His signs which He was doing. 24 But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, 25 and because He did not need anyone to bear witness concerning man for He Himself knew what was in man.” Jesus knew that their “belief” was shallow and would soon dry up. (See: Zeal for the Lord)
In John 6 there were many that followed Jesus because He had just fed more than 5,000 with 5 loaves of bread and two fish. (See: Ministering to the Multitude). In response to Jesus’ teaching, the people asked Him, “what shall we do, so that we may work the works of God” (John 6:28). Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him who He has sent.” That would be a great start for an evangelistic message to get them all “saved,” but that is not how Jesus directed it. Instead, the people wanted to know what sign Jesus would give pointing out that under Moses their forefathers ate manna in the wilderness. Jesus could have pointed out that He had miraculously fed multitudes the day before and then had some of those present who had experienced it testify about it. Remember, some had wanted to make Jesus king because of that miracle. It would not have been hard to get everyone emotionally excited about it, but that is not what Jesus does. Instead, He points out that the manna came from heaven came from God and that the bread of God gives life to the world. They were excited about that idea until Jesus declared that He was the bread that came down from heaven and they began to grumble about His teaching. (See: Doing the Work of God). It only got worse as He explained it further and they found His teaching difficult. Jesus was also conscious that “his disciples grumbled at this” (vs. 61). Jesus responded to their grumbling by explaining His teaching further and then stating directly in verse 64, “there are some of you who do not believe.” Jesus then added in verse 65, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me, unless it has been granted him from the Father.” That was too far for many with verse 66 commenting, “As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew, and were not walking with Him anymore.” The twelve stuck by Jesus, but He lost a multitude of “disciples” (vs. 67f). (See: Responding to Difficult Doctrine). Was Jesus a lousy evangelist or is the process it takes to “make disciples” something different than the American evangelical concept of getting people “saved”?
John 8:30 records that the result of Jesus speaking about being the “light of the world” was that many came to “believe in Him.” (See: The Light of the World). In modern times that would result in shouts of hallelujahs and reports of multitudes being “saved,” but Jesus quickly rains on this parade. The very next verse records Jesus saying to “those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’” (See: The Truth that Sets You Free). These same Jews took this as a challenge. In the course of the dialogue that resulted, Jesus twice declared that they were seeking to kill Him (vs. 37,40) and that they were doing the deeds of their father the devil (44). They in turn lied (33), accused Jesus of being illegitimate (41,48) and demon possessed (48), and then they picked up stones to stone Him for blasphemy (59). Obviously from this incident we must conclude that there must be some more substance to the belief that brings salvation than the kind of belief these people had. Those are not the actions of people who are truly saved from sin. (See: Children of God and Children of the Devil)
John 10:1-21 records Jesus teaching about being the good shepherd. It is a passage often used by evangelists to call people to become Christians. (See: The Good Shepherd). However, the rest of the chapter is about the division that had occurred then among the Jews because of this teaching and the confrontation that occurred at a later time when the Jews demanded to know if Jesus was or was not the Christ (vs. 24). By the time the conversation ended they had again picked up rocks to stone Jesus (31). Jesus told them that even if they did not believe what He said, they should believe the works He did (38), yet they were still seeking to seize him (39). Jesus then left and went beyond the Jordan to where John had been baptizing. Some that had been in Jerusalem went there to hear more from Jesus and “many believed in Him there” (42). (See: Safe in the Shepherd’s Hands)
Jesus invited people to come to Him, to learn of Him and to believe in Him. He did not market Himself, appeal to the desires and emotions of the crowds, or try to manipulate them. He sought to clearly explain who He was and what God wanted and gave people plenty of room to say “no” to Him and what He offered. To those that responded positively, He sought to make sure they gained a greater understanding and gave them room to leave.
The first step of making a disciple is evangelism and evangelism is proclaiming the good news about Jesus to others. It includes telling them who He is and what He has done with an invitation to follow and learn more. The goal is fidelity to the truth about Jesus so that people can understand and respond. It is not selective story telling or manipulation of emotions to get people to respond and get “saved.” Jesus caught the interest of people and invited them to learn more. He revealed the more difficult doctrines as his disciples were ready for them, but Jesus did not hide things either.
I am greatly disturbed that so often information about Jesus is purposely withheld so that it will be easier to get people to make a “decision for Christ.” What kind of decisions can people make if they are not told the truth about the depravity of man, the necessity of confession and repentance (a change of mind about self, sin, salvation and the Savior), that Jesus is Lord, and the consequences of being a Christian which includes being hated and persecuted by this sinful world? No wonder so many people end up with false professions of faith when they have a false understanding of Jesus, His work, His teachings, and what it means to be saved in the Biblical sense.
Jesus would catch people’s interest, invite them to learn of Him, teach them spiritual truths and allowed them plenty of room to say no. Those who would begin to follow found that Jesus would make it harder to continue to follow as He explained more about who He was and what God expected. In some cases, Jesus made it very difficult to say yes and follow Him.
Jesus and the Rich Young Ruler – Matt. 19:16-26; Mark 10:17-27
Matthew, Mark and Luke all record the story of the rich young ruler who came to Jesus. His opening question is what any evangelist would love to hear. Mark 10:17, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” What an opportunity! He already even acknowledges Jesus is a good teacher and that he lacks something in order to inherit eternal life. It should be easy to get him to also believe Jesus’ claims about Himself, acknowledge his sinfulness and ask for God’s forgiveness based on faith in Jesus. I dare say most modern evangelists could probably get this guy to say the sinner’s prayer fairly quickly. But what does Jesus do? He challenges him and makes it very difficult for him to say yes.
18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 “You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20 And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.” 21 And looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But at these words his face fell, and he went away grieved, for he was one who owned much property. 23 And Jesus, looking around, ^said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!”
I have preached through this story several times, so I only want to point out the major elements instead of the many details. (See: How To Obtain Eternal Life). The problem this man had is that his heart was attached to his wealth as is common for many rich people. Jesus was not being mean. The text even states that Jesus felt a love for the man, but salvation is a matter of the heart and this man’s heart was not set on God. He foolishly believed and claimed that he had kept the whole law, but even with that he knew something was missing. Jesus gave him the opportunity to add what was missing which was the answer to his initial question. Jesus invited him to come and follow Him, but he could not do that if his heart was still set on his wealth. That is why Jesus told him to give his wealth away. If God can give you eternal life, He can certainly also provide you with what you need for this life. However, this man’s wealth was more important to him than a relationship with the living God. He wanted salvation, but only on his terms, not on God’s.
I believe that this is the truth behind so many that profess to be Christians but have no evidence of it being a reality. They wanted salvation on their own terms and someone told them they could have it that way. The reality is that their hearts are still far from God and they do not know Jesus as Lord or Savior.
The Example of the Apostles
The apostles did not “market salvation” or “sell Jesus” either, but they did boldly proclaim the truth about Jesus and salvation. Peter’s first two sermons in Acts 2 & Acts 3 would not qualify as good evangelistic messages by today’s standards, but the first sermon resulted in 3,000 being saved and the second about 5,000. The second also resulted in him and John being thrown in prison where they gave another sermon. (See: Peter’s Sermon, Part 2 – Proclaiming Christ & Proofs of Apostleship)
What did Peter do? He boldly proclaimed Jesus as Lord and Christ showing that He fulfilled God’s prophecies. He boldly laid the guilt of sin upon his audience including Jesus’ death. They cried out to know how to be saved and he said, “Repent.” The same thing Jesus had preached at the beginning of His ministry. Then Peter called on them to identify themselves with Christ by being baptized in Jesus’ name for the forgiveness of sins.
Stephen preached the same way in Acts 7. It brought such conviction on the rulers that they were “cut to the quick” and ended up stoning him. (See: Stephen, The First Martyr). Philip, called the evangelist (Acts 21:8), went to Samaria and was “proclaiming Christ to them” (Acts 8:5) with the result that many believed and were baptized. (See: Persecution’s Failure, Part 1) . When Philip meets the Ethiopian eunuch later in the chapter, he “preached Jesus to him” (Acts 8:35) with the result that the man believed and was baptized. (See: Persecution’s Failure, Part 2)
Paul’s messages are no different than these. In Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13) Paul’s sermon is similar in nature to Peter’s and Stephen’s. He gives an account of God’s dealings with Israel throughout history. He shows by the Old Testament and by what Jesus taught and did that Jesus is the Christ. He warns them about neglecting what he was preaching. After his sermon he spent the rest of the time “urging them to continue in the grace of God” (13:43). The result? Some believed and some did not and fought against him and his message. The same thing occurs throughout the rest of his missionary travels. (See: The Gospel Accepted & Rejected).
It does not appear that Paul ever had a short message. He preached so late at Troas that a fellow named Eutychus who had been sitting on a window sill on the third floor fell asleep and then fell out the window and died. Paul had to go down and raise him from the dead before he could continue preaching until daybreak (Acts 20). (See: Encouraging Churches). Even in Acts 16, where one of Paul’s shortest responses is recorded, Paul makes a full presentation of Christ. The Philippian jailer came to him fearful and desperate and cried out, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Paul answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household.” But Paul did not stop there. “And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house.” (See: Expanding Ministry)
Conclusions
Look through all the scriptures and see if you can find some short cut to salvation. You can’t because salvation has to do with a relationship with God that has been broken by sin. The sinner must be reconciled to God by the Savior. That is why we must proclaim the Lord Jesus Christ and not market salvation. One leads to the bondage of sin being broken while the other leads to people feeling good but still bound for hell, and the deception of a false gospel can go very deep. Those Jesus refers to in Matthew 7 thought they were serving Christ and doing miracles in His name, but Jesus said to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”
The first step in making a disciple is evangelism, but we must be careful not to bring people into a false profession of faith or give them false assurance. Be resourceful to find the point of interest that can open the door for you to proclaim the gospel. Invite them to come learn more. Entreat them to respond and be reconciled to God. But also make it easy for them to say no. It is much more important that they understand who Jesus is, what He has done and what it means to believe in Him along with the consequences of that. They do not have to pray with us to get saved.
Salvation comes as the Holy Spirit regenerates the sinner to believe and begin to walk with Christ. Those dead in trespasses and sin are made alive in Him to walk in fellowship with Him (Ephesians 2; 1 John 1). (See: Dead Men Given Life). It does not matter if you pray alone or with someone because prayer is only to be an expression of your belief, and it is that faith in Christ that God reckon as righteousness to you and save you. It is the God to whom you pray that saves, not the prayer itself.
The church would be much healthier if it stopped using the techniques of evangelists to “win souls” and instead followed the model of Jesus and the Apostles in calling people to know Jesus, repent and place their faith in Him for salvation. The focus of evangelism must be upon calling people to become disciples of Jesus, not in intimidating or manipulating people for a response.
Every true Christian is to be involved in this first step of making a disciple. You do not need to be an accomplished theologian able to answer everyone’s objections. You only need to want to know Jesus yourself, for you simply tell people what you do know about Him and invite them to come learn more about Him. That is all Andrew did with Peter. That is all that Philip did with Nathanael. That is really all that Peter, John, Paul and the other apostles did. The more they knew, the more they could then tell.
Telling others about Jesus may not be easy for you. It might scare you since some people might make fun of you and others might reject you. Jesus warned us that because the world hated Him, the world will hate us if we follow Him. Yet the love of God within us constrains us to tell others who Jesus Christ is and what He has done for them so they might also turn from sin to walk in newness of life and know the joy of true salvation.
May each of us become bold as we step out in obedient faith to fulfill this first aspect of making disciples – go into all the world and proclaim Jesus. Introduce others to your Savior, and then invite them to come and learn more of Him.
Sermon Notes – November 3, 2019
How to Make Disciples: Evangelism
Introduction – Matthew 28:18-20
The Great Commission is a ______________to all Christians which Jesus enables His disciples to fulfill
It is fulfilled by 1) ______into all the world. 2) Baptizing those who believe. 3) Teaching them to obey Jesus
There is a huge difference between the cultural idea of getting ______and Jesus’ command to make disciples
Human action does not save. The Holy Spirit must _____________the sinner to repent & have faith in Jesus
Making a disciple begins with ______________which introduces people to Jesus, but it does not itself save
Jesus _______disciples of John the Baptist to spend time with Him, and they in turn brought others to Jesus
Jesus and Nicodemus – John 3:1-21
Nicodemus believed Jesus was from God, so Jesus explained to him the nature & basis of ___________birth
The historical healing by looking at the Bronze serpent (Num. 21) illustrates the nature of _____& salvation
__________(knowledge, faith & trust) in Jesus results in salvation from sin and in practicing the truth
Jesus is forthright in presenting the truth to Nicodemus, but ________coercion, intimidation or manipulation
Jesus and the Woman at the Well – John 4:1-42
Jesus gains the woman’s interest, then turns the conversation to spiritual things to declare __________to her
Jesus reveals Himself incrementally until she believes He is the Messiah – and she goes & _________others
Jesus gained their interest and responded to their desire to know more – _________coercion or manipulation
Jesus and the Multitudes
Jesus attracted people & _________ them, but He did not market Himself or make emotional appeals
John 2:23-25 – Jesus knew that their “__________” was shallow and would soon dry up
John 6 – the people want to do the works of God so Jesus tells them to ________in Him whom God has sent
The people want a sign, but Jesus teaches __________instead of either giving them one or pointing one out
Jesus’ teaching was _________& even “his disciples grumbled” – and Jesus points out some did not believe
“many of His disciples _______” (the twelve remained). Making a disciple is different from getting “saved”
John 8:30-31: many came to “believe in Him,” but ______disciples would abide in His word & know truth
In the dialogue that followed, those who had “believed in Him” proved to be children of the _________
Their “belief” in Jesus was _____________ to bring salvation – they were not true disciples
John 10:1-21 – Jesus is the Good Shepherd – a good evangelistic passage – but this teaching _________them
John 10:22-41 – Jesus pointed to the evidence that He was the Messiah – and they sought to _________Him
Jesus ______people to come to Him, to learn of Him & to believe in Him – He did not market or manipulate
He made it easy to __________His offer, while giving more teaching to those interested and room to leave
Evangelism is the first step in making a disciple. Tell people about _________& invite them to learn more
______________to the whole truth is critical, for partial or false information results in false professions
Those who began to follow Jesus found it _________over time as they learned more difficult spiritual truths
Jesus and the Rich Young Ruler
– Matt. 19:16-26; Mark 10:17-27; Luke 18:18-27
The rich young ruler’s opening question was an evangelist’s dream – but Jesus made it ___________instead
The man’s heart was set on his riches, & Jesus ________the deficit that kept him from inheriting eternal life
True salvation is on _________ terms, but a false gospel presents salvation on the terms people desire
The Example of the Apostles
The apostles boldly proclaimed the ________about Jesus and salvation without marketing or manipulation
Acts 2 & 3 – Peter’s first two sermons proclaimed Jesus to be Lord & Messiah & called the people to _____
Stephen and Philip both preached Christ without _____________- and Stephen was stoned for it
Paul consistently _____proclaimed Jesus to Jew and Gentile alike – some would believe, many would reject
Paul was careful to give ________explanations of the Gospel – he never sought a quick profession of faith
Conclusions
There is no short cut to salvation because it demands the sinner be ___________to God through Jesus Christ
Be resourceful in evangelism but the goal is to _________present Christ that they may understand & believe
Salvation is the result of _____________by the Holy Spirit – God to whom you pray saves, not prayer itself
Every Christian is to evangelize – _____________what you know about Jesus and invite them to learn more
Evangelism can be __________ for the world hates Jesus & will hate those that follow Him
_______of God & others should compel you to introduce others to your Savior – & invite them to learn more
KIDS KORNER
– Parents, you are responsible to apply God’s Word to your children’s lives. Here is some help. Young Children – draw a picture about something you hear during the sermon. Explain your picture(s) to your parents at lunch. Older Children – Do one or more of the following:1) Count how many times are reference is made to the gospel. 2) Talk with your parents the message of the gospel and nature & basis of saving faith.
THINK ABOUT IT
– Questions to consider in understanding the sermon and its application. What is the command in the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20)? What are the three elements of fulfilling it? What effect has American pragmatism had on the proclamation of the Gospel? What did Jesus invite the disciples of John to do (John 1)? What spiritual truths did Jesus seek to impart to Nicodemus (John 3)? What does it mean to be “born again”? What is the meaning of John 3:14-15? What is its relationship to spiritual birth? Why doesn’t Jesus push Nicodemus to make some sort of response? How did Jesus spark the interest of the woman at the well (John 4)? How did He turn the conversation to spiritual matters? What steps did He take in revealing He was the messiah? What was the woman’s response after talking with Jesus? Why didn’t Jesus trust men (John 2:23-25)? In John 6, why didn’t Jesus give a sign as requested or point to one He had already done? Why did He instead give them a difficult teaching? What does it mean to be a “disciple” if many of them withdrew from Jesus? In John 8, how could those who “believe in Him” also be children of the devil who were seeking to murder Jesus? In John 10, why would the people seek to stone the Good Shepherd? Why did Jesus make it difficult to continue to believe and follow Him? In Mark 10:17-27, how did Jesus expose what the rich young ruler was lacking? Why didn’t he accept Jesus invitation to follow Him? What was the message of Peter’s sermons in Acts 2 & 3? What was the result of Stephen’s preaching in Acts 7 & 8? What was Paul’s method in proclaiming Christ as he traveled? From what is a person saved? What are they saved to? How is a person saved? What is the relationship of prayer and salvation? What is the difference between the cultural idea of getting “soul winning” and the Biblical command to make disciples? How will you evangelize others?
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