[0:01] Today, I felt it need to preach on evangelism. And so the title of this sermon is A Brief Overview of Evangelism, Semicolon, Theology and Missiology.
[0:17] Theology is just a study of God, and missiology is just a practice within mission. I think that evangelism is really important in every believer's life, but especially in the life of a new church plant.
[0:34] One of our values, our mission is the kingdom of God and all of life together. Evangelism encompasses all three of those things. We need evangelism to preach God's word for his kingdom.
[0:48] He allows us to do that within his kingdom. We do that in all of our life, right? In different seasons, we must preach God's word.
[1:00] And we do it together because it's a glorious and joyful thing that we should do together. So I just want to start with kind of a definition of evangelism, which evangelism is obeying the command to preach the good news or share the good news of God to reconcile depraved, sinful men and women to the triune God.
[1:29] And the goal of this is for us to have a balanced view of evangelism, like a seesaw. We don't want to be too high on either side. What we believe about it, how we ought to think about it and applying it to our lives.
[1:46] So I just want to start with biblical commands and evangelism. What are biblical commands, right? What Webster's Dictionary defines it as command as someone giving order or orders to exercise dominating influence over blame.
[2:09] Right. So a great image of this is our children. Within our homes, that is a father and mother's dominion.
[2:20] We are to dominate over our children, take dominion over them and to rule over our households. Biblical commands are commands that are given by God.
[2:32] He is dominating over all creation. It is his dominion. And if God commands it, we do it. It's God who commands it.
[2:42] So that's a little overview of biblical commands, what they are. So the Ten Commandments is what we typically go to whenever we hear commands, right?
[2:55] And, you know, you have a lot of commands. Do not have any other idols before God. Honor your mother and father. Do not lie. Do not steal.
[3:06] Do not commit adultery. And in these commands, I want to focus on language of negative commands versus positive commands.
[3:17] So negative commands are do not, right? Do not. Do not have any gods. Do not have any other gods before Yahweh. Do not lie.
[3:29] Do not steal. Do not commit adultery. Positive commands are commands such as obey your mother and father, right? Physically speaking, positive commands are more difficult sometimes to follow because there's not a line that's drawn in the sand, right?
[3:48] You're like, physically, I know not to bow down before an idol. I know not to steal. I know not to commit adultery. But in the nuances of obeying your mother and father, that's harder, right?
[4:05] And here's an example, right, of a famous story of command to forgive, right? Peter is talking to Jesus. He says, how often must I forgive my brother who sins against me?
[4:20] And Jesus responds, you must forgive seven times, 77 times, right? A positive command, right? You must do it repeatedly as many times as it takes.
[4:32] Another example of a positive command or something in this is your kids, right? You tell your kids, do the dishes.
[4:43] They're in the other room. They pretend like they don't hear you. And then, you know, Max, Max, do the dishes. Max, playing video games or something, right?
[4:55] Right? Not doing it, right? Or something like that. Another example is if you're really hungry after church and you turn to your wife and say, honey, you should pick a place for us to go because I really want you to pick the place.
[5:10] And 30 minutes later, you're still hungry with no destination in mind. But there's so much things, right?
[5:22] So much things that you could do. It's like, what place should we go to? I don't know. Like, how do I obey my mom and dad? There's no line drawn in the sand, right? What does this have to do with evangelism, right?
[5:35] What do positive commands have to do with evangelism? All right. I'll start by reading Matthew 28, 16 to 20. I'm going to be in a ton of different scripture verses.
[5:49] So I'll just read for you guys. The 11 disciples traveled to Galilee to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped, but some doubted. Jesus came near and said to them, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.
[6:04] Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I've commanded you. And remember, I am with you always to the end of the age.
[6:18] So this is a command, right? It's a positive command. It's not a negative command. And so there's so many nuances. It's just like forgiveness.
[6:29] You're supposed to do it over and over again, right? A lot of people would say, like reading this, that go would be the command here.
[6:44] But unfortunately, that's not the command. Go is like what's first, but it really should be translated as a passive or descriptive word, meaning as you have gone or since you have gone or going, right?
[7:06] Since you have gone, since you are going, make disciples. The command here is make disciples. That's the imperative. It's not a passive. It's not a descriptive.
[7:16] It's a command from our Lord to make disciples, right? And making disciples commanded by our Lord Jesus first begins with repenting, believing in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, that he's the only way that we could be saved from our sins.
[7:40] And that often happens through evangelism. Now, in Matthew 28, verses 19, one says all nations.
[7:58] It's not talking necessarily about countries. It's talking about ethnicities, right? People groups. There are millions of different ethnicities within the world, right?
[8:13] There's hundreds of thousands of people. Just go to India, right? There's about 200 plus countries, and I'm pretty sure most of them have the gospel, right?
[8:26] Matthew 24, 14 says, The good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. If that word is meaning nations, I'm pretty sure there are believers in every nation.
[8:40] But there is not every ethnicity that has believed and heard the gospels. Does that make sense? And so Jesus here, talking about the end times, says this, right?
[8:57] We must go proclaim the gospel to every ethnicity, right? But with this command, there can be a bolstering of evangelism, evangelism, evangelism everywhere, right?
[9:09] Let's just make converts out of everyone while there's no support of the church, right? I've seen missionaries in different countries who will just make a convert, leave the village, and then keep going without coming back.
[9:24] That's wrong. That's a distortion of God's word. And this is how God expects us to do it, right?
[9:35] So what is God's role in evangelism, right? We know that we must do it. But in that definition, evangelism is obeying the command to preach the good news of God, to reconcile depraved sinful man to the triune God, right?
[9:54] So that definition, the good news of God, God has to do with everything with evangelism. So I have kind of two sections that I want to focus on.
[10:07] One is the triune God. And then the second is our duty in evangelism. Then I'll conclude with some application points, right?
[10:18] My main focus will be on the triune God. Then going into duty and then going into duty and then try to end with some application and land this plane nicely. Right?
[10:30] The triune God, if you ever think of evangelism, the triune God is the means and the ends of evangelism. I can say that again for those who are taking notes.
[10:41] The triune God is the means and the ends of evangelism, right? And so I'm going to go into each person of the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, right?
[10:57] Their means and ends of evangelism, right? There are many things in which I could talk about the Father, the Son, and the Spirit and how they influence evangelism and all these different things.
[11:09] But there's only, and I'm not doing an entire overview of all that. There's only a few things that I want to hone in on. The first is John 6, 44. Jesus says, No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day.
[11:30] Right? So the first thing is the Father's role in that verse. It says, The Father who sent me draws him, right? The Father's role in evangelism is one, drawing people, right?
[11:47] It's not that the focus, whenever we preach the gospel, there should be no pressure on us if we're preaching the gospel to a non-religious.
[11:58] Because we don't draw people by our eloquence. Paul says to the Corinthians, I came with you without human eloquence, but by the weakness of the gospel, right?
[12:12] Our presentation is not what draws people. You can have the most glorious gospel presentation, and this man or woman still be damned. The Father is who draws people, right?
[12:25] In verse John 6, 65, Jesus says again, This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted to him by the Father.
[12:39] Again, nothing that we do say can bring someone to be saved. It is the work, the mystery, the only thing that changes that and that allows that is the Father, right?
[12:57] Romans 8, 28 to 30, the golden chain, beloved chain by me. We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.
[13:10] For those he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called.
[13:21] And those he called, he also justified. And those he justified, he also glorified. This gives us an even deeper inner working of the election of the Father, which is so secure because it's already happened.
[13:38] Does that make sense? It's so secure in our election because it's already happened.
[13:53] Paul says we're seeded, past tense, in the heavenly places, right? God is outside of the boundaries of time. There's nothing that can change man's election because it's already happened.
[14:05] And that's why there's no human eloquence that can influence someone being saved. Because it's already happened. Because God has already saved him. But nonetheless, Spurgeon still prays and says, Lord, save your elect and save even more, right?
[14:26] Now, that is the means of the Father within evangelism. He draws those who are his, right? As the means by it.
[14:37] The ends of the Father in evangelism is that we are brought into his glorious kingdom to be face to face with the Father. To ponder the depth and the breath of his glory, his majesty.
[14:54] To cry out, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty as the cherubim and seraphim do. To dwell in eternal bliss with our adopted Father.
[15:07] Our Father who saw us naked. Our Father who gives us righteousness. Our Father who predestined us to bring us into his kingdom.
[15:20] He predestined us to come as the means. And he brings us in for himself as the ends. He is the means and the ends of election and of evangelism and of salvation.
[15:34] Now, the son, John 5, 36. But I have a greater testimony than John's because of the works that my Father has given me to accomplish.
[15:47] These very works I'm doing to set, I'm doing to testify about me that the Father has sent me, right? So there's works that Jesus is doing while he's here on the earth.
[15:59] But he's sent with a mission from the Father, right? He's sent from the Father to do a specific mission, right? What is that though?
[16:13] What is that specific work, specific task? John 10, 11. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
[16:23] The hired hand, since he is not the shepherd, does not own the sheep, leaves them and runs away when he sees a wolf coming. Then the wolf snatches and scatters them.
[16:35] This happens because he is hired, doesn't care about the sheep. Jesus' mission, his work, sent by the Father, is to be one of the good shepherd, right?
[16:47] Prophesied. He is the good shepherd that has come to nurture Israel and to bring Gentiles into the kingdom. Right? But not only that, he's the good shepherd that lays down his life for his sheep.
[17:03] Right? And we all know the story of Jesus' crucifixion. But I want to read it really quickly. In Mark 15, 20 to 32.
[17:15] They let him out to crucify him. They forced a man coming in from the country who was passing by to carry Jesus' cross. He was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus.
[17:31] They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha, which means place of skull. They tried to give him wine mixed with myrrh, which he did not take. Then they crucified him, divided his clothes, casting lots for him.
[17:45] They decided what each would get. Now it was nine in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge written against him was the king of the Jews. They crucified two criminals with him, one on the right and one on the left.
[18:01] Those who passed by were yelling insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, Ha! Ah! The one who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days. Save yourself.
[18:14] Come down from the cross. In the same way the chief priests and scribes were mocking him among themselves and saying, He saves others, but he cannot save himself. Let the Messiah, the king of Israel, come down from the cross so that we may see and believe.
[18:32] Even those who were crucified with them taunted him. How awful, how brutal, right? Like nowadays we wear a cross, but imagine in Roman culture on a hill, right?
[18:48] Let's just say Briarcliff, right? We just have people who die there, right? They torture people and throw them up on Briarcliff. There's no one who would want to go up there, right?
[18:58] Let's go smell the stench and people who are dying there, right? Let's go see the Romans, crucify them. This is not something that's good.
[19:09] That you want to talk about in a normal everyday life experience. It's like talking about the electric chair in like normal conversation. Like crucifixion then was awful.
[19:23] It was brutal. 39 times was our Savior whipped. That usually tears skin. It usually tears muscles.
[19:36] Carried our cross. The Father predestined that he would come. He predestined that we would be saved by this man. By the Son of God.
[19:51] Our Good Shepherd laid his life down for us because the Father sent him to provide a means by which we could save. Be saved. The Father predestines us as the means.
[20:07] And the Son lays his life down and is raised three days later as a means that we might be saved. The Son is the end of evangelism as the Father is.
[20:23] Revelation 5, 11 and 14. 11 to 14. I'm just going to read. Verse 12. They said with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and blessing.
[20:44] Right? We will worship the Lamb as we worship the Father. The ends of evangelism with the Son is to worship him.
[20:56] It's to say, Praise be our older brother, the firstborn of all creation, who was raised from the dead. Praise be that Lamb. Do you not long to dwell with the Son?
[21:16] For him to come? He ascended the cross that the blind would see, that we would see, that the deaf would hear, that the prisoner in bondage and sin would be set free.
[21:33] The one who says, I am with you, to the end of the age, our Savior and champion, who can sympathize and empathize with our pain, died because he loved us.
[21:52] Right? He died as a means so that we could be saved. And he's the end of our evangelism, of why we're here. Right?
[22:03] Like, we're not waiting. Like, if our hope is just, like, let's just sit around and wait for something to happen, I'll keep going to church, do my religious duties, then what's the point of it all?
[22:16] We have a hope that's reserved for us in heaven. The Father longing to glorify him, the Son longing to glorify and worship him. And that brings us to the third person of the Trinity, the Spirit.
[22:31] John 16, 7-11, Nevertheless, I'm telling you the truth, for it is for your benefit that I go away. Because if I don't go away, the Counselor will not come.
[22:45] If I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment. About sin, because they do not believe in me.
[22:56] About righteousness, because I'm going to the Father, you will no longer see me. And about judgment, because the ruler of this world, has been judged. The Father has sent the Son, and now the Son, as he ascends, sends the Spirit.
[23:14] And says, it is better. It is for your benefit that I go away. Right? I long to dwell with Jesus, but Jesus, God himself, says that it is better.
[23:26] It is a benefit to you. That I should go away, and I should send the Spirit. Now, those who believe in Jesus' work on the cross, who have repented and believed, are saved for the day, are sealed and saved for the day of judgment by the Spirit.
[23:47] And about sin, that we are lost sinners, and cannot be in a relationship with God. About righteousness, that we have none, but need Jesus. And about judgment, that Christ has defeated sin, and death, and was raised from the dead.
[24:02] That is the Spirit's work. Right? The biggest one is to seal us, to sanctify us, to keep us for the day of reckoning. Right? And not only that, but he convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.
[24:21] Right? The Spirit of God, triune God, the most powerful being in the universe, Paul writes in Ephesians, God is more powerful beyond what we can think.
[24:34] Right? Like, think about a hundred million burning suns. God is more powerful than that. Right? Beyond what we can think, it's given to us as a gift.
[24:48] And he dwells within us. 2 Timothy 1, 7, tells us God has given us, not a, not a, has given us, not a spirit of fear, but of one of power and love and sound judgment.
[25:03] We have access to God's power. If we are in Christ, the, the Spirit is already convicting the world. But how will they hear?
[25:14] You know, Spirit's convicting the world, but how will they hear if a preacher is not sent? How will they see if evangelism is not happening?
[25:26] The Spirit gives us the power to preach, to share the gospel. Right? The Father has sent the Son to die and be raised again for sinful men.
[25:41] Those who believe in the Son's sacrifice become sons themselves. Daughters are given the inheritance of sons. And he, he's called the helper, the comforter.
[25:55] We live in evil days so that we would not lose heart. Our foe is powerful. Right? Satan is powerful. He, he's an angel.
[26:07] Magnificent being created by the Lord and evil, depraved, sinful, tactful enemy who loves to dwell and cause men to sin.
[26:20] that's why the helper was sent so that we would fight against them. The Spirit is the means of evangelism as the Son and the Father is, that men and women would dwell in the holy dwellings of the Spirit of God is something awesome to behold.
[26:39] The Spirit hovering over the chaotic waters at creation that helped bring order then, now, bring orders to our lives and even greater order whenever we are in heaven with God sealing us for that day of reckoning.
[26:59] Great are the works of the Spirit and wondrous are the works that we would be brought in the glory with the triune God for the work of the Spirit.
[27:11] So, that's the Father, that's the Son, and that's the Spirit. The triune God is the means and the ends of evangelism. We cannot have redemption without the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.
[27:27] They have different roles, they are all saints, that's into God. And now, at the end of all this, there's one question that I want to focus on a little bit, right?
[27:39] Why is God the ends of evangelism? Right? Why is God the ends of evangelism? He provided the means. Why is He the ends? Why aren't the ends just meant to be saved?
[27:53] Isn't that enough? Doesn't it make God seem a bit needy? If the ends of evangelism is just that we have to worship Him in heaven?
[28:07] Short answer is, because it wouldn't complete salvation. salvation because we're created as beings that are meant to praise, to worship, to glorify.
[28:19] Salvation would be incomplete if we didn't have an object to worship. And I think C.S. Lewis says it best. I think we, C.S. Lewis talking, I think we delight in praising what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment.
[28:39] It is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep telling one another how beautiful they are. The delight is incomplete till it is expressed.
[28:52] It is frustrating to have discovered a new author and not be able to tell anyone how good he is to come suddenly at the turn of the road upon some mountain valley of unexpected grandeur and then have to keep silent because the people you care for care no more for a tin can in the ditch.
[29:12] To hear a good joke and find no one to share it with the Scotch catechism says that man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.
[29:24] But we shall know, but we shall then know that these are the same thing. Fully to enjoy is to glorify. In commanding us to glorify him, God is inviting us to enjoy him.
[29:37] Right? The reason why God is the end is because we are meant to enjoy. We are meant to glorify him. At the beginning of creation, we were created to worship, glorify God.
[29:50] Right? That is God's original intent and purpose for us, and that has not changed. So, that's the first part. We're going to the second half, which is the joyful duty of evangelism.
[30:04] I love evangelism. Many have said that I have the gift of evangelism, but evangelism is a command.
[30:15] Praise God for the Spirit. Right? Faith is a gift, but faith is something that we need. Right? We need faith.
[30:26] We need to believe it. Right? But we are commanded to believe in God, and we are commanded to evangelize. Right? From the intro, I've established that evangelism is a command, and something that we must do, like the worship service of the Levites, they're commanded by God to do things within the service, within the temple, and if they don't do those certain things, then they're breaking the law, breaking God's commands.
[30:56] And so one thing that I want to hit on with positive commands, and especially the command to evangelize, is the sin of commission, and the sin of omission.
[31:10] Right? The sin of commission is really easy to see. Right? It is, examples of this is lying. Right? It's actively doing it.
[31:23] Lying is a sin of commission. Stealing. Committing adultery. Right? You can see it. It's tangible. Sin of omission can be a little trickier to detect.
[31:35] Right? Because it's admitting something. Matthew 25, verse 40 to 46, says, Jesus talking, And the king will answer them, Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.
[31:53] Then he will also say to those on the left, Depart from me, who are cursed into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat.
[32:05] I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink. I was a stranger, and you didn't take me in. I was naked, and you didn't clothe me sick, and in prison, and you didn't care for me.
[32:17] Then they too will answer, Lord, we did not see you, hungry, thirsty, or a stranger, without clothes, or sick, or in prison, and not help you. Then he will answer, Truly, I tell you, whatever you did not do for the least of these, did not do for me.
[32:35] Then they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. There's a great example of the sin of omission, right? Not seeing, not doing, right?
[32:48] Like Jesus, we never saw you out there begging, right? I mean, we saw a beggar, but we didn't see you. We chose to ignore him. Another example of the sin of omission is the parable of the Good Samaritan, right?
[33:04] There's a man who's beaten, right? Laying there, not like so weak, can't do anything. A Levitical priest goes by, right?
[33:17] walks away, and then a Good Samaritan comes, right? Takes care of this man, bandages his wound, takes him to an inn, and have the innkeeper look after him.
[33:30] That Levitical priest is showing a sin of omission, not loving his neighbor, not taking care of him as he shouldn't. And then another example of this is not forgiving when we should.
[33:49] Right? Talked about earlier, Jesus and Peter, like we're commanded to forgive, but sometimes we withhold them, right? It's within our hearts, can't really see it, but we're not doing it, we're admitting it, and it's a sin.
[34:05] And yet another example of this is not evangelizing, sin of omission, because evangelism is a command, something that we must do, and not doing it is sinning, it's a sin of omission.
[34:27] Now some might think, hey Zemir, sounds like you're bordering legalism here, talking about Levitical priests and everything. Well let's go there.
[34:40] What is legalism, right? I put, it's a practice of working within a set moral code of commands in order to do good for yourself to get to God, right?
[34:56] In other words, legalism is focused on the self. The object of one's worship is directed towards how well or how much he can obey a set of commands, right?
[35:08] It's set on him. He's the object of his worship so that he can get somewhere, right? I totally disagree with legalism. Don't practice legalism.
[35:22] The object of our affection within evangelism must be God. God. Whether we are evangelizing someone or offering forgiveness as we're commanded, like, we don't forgive someone so that they would see how well we are, right?
[35:40] If we're forgiving someone so that they can see how good we are, it's not true forgiveness, right? If we're fasting so that other people would see, like, our piety, like, Jesus says, your reward has already been given to you by men.
[35:58] Our evangelism must be God-centered and God-focused, right? Now, what I do want to note in legalism and evangelism and the command to evangelize is that it doesn't have a limit, right?
[36:17] It's not evangelize 10 times and you're good, right? Or forgive 77 people and you don't have to do it again. it's lifelong.
[36:28] It's lifelong God-centered obedience, just like there isn't an amount to how many people you should forgive. Right?
[36:41] So, some conclusions. So, landing the plane, coming to an end, is, if you guys want to turn with me to Ephesians 6, verse 10 to 19.
[37:02] Paul writes, finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of Satan.
[37:13] For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil spiritual forces in the heaven.
[37:24] For this reason, take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to resist in the evil day. And having prepared everything, take your stand. Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, and feet sandaled with the readiness for the gospel of peace.
[37:46] In every situation, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.
[37:59] Pray at all times in the spirit with every prayer and request. Stay alert with perseverance and intercessions for all the saints. Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known the boldness, the mystery, boldness, with boldness, the mystery of the gospel.
[38:18] For this, I'm an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might also. Pray that I might be bold enough to speak about it. I shouldn't. Right? So, I have seven application points.
[38:34] The first is pray. Prayer is the first thing. Paul says it three times. Pray at all times. Then in verse 18, then 19, pray also for me.
[38:47] Then in 20, pray that I might be bold. Three times in the same section. If we're not praying towards being bold, toward saying, God, I am so weak.
[39:00] I need your help to go out and preach the gospel. A man like Paul who's asking the Ephesians for prayer, then we'll always be weak.
[39:11] Right? The beginning of that is we're against our struggle is not against flesh and blood. It's against the cosmic rulers. Right? Satan wants to suppress that desire, that urge to go and preach the gospel.
[39:26] If we're not actively fighting against that, we won't do it. Truly, prayer is our greatest weapon and defense by saying, Satan, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.
[39:37] And then the second one is go evangelist. Do it. Right? It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter like where you go, what specific thing you're doing, do it.
[39:53] I love going door to door and evangelize. I love taking people with me because they're so squirmy. But it takes away so much fear. Right?
[40:05] People who are like have so much pent up fear within them because like Satan is coming against them saying, why are you doing this?
[40:16] Puts them out of their comfort zone. They don't want to do it. It's so squirmy. Right? If you're not equipped with prayer, right, you will not do it. You truly will not.
[40:27] Whether you have the gift of evangelism or not. Right? We must depend and rely solely on the power of God to preach the gospel because we're not against flesh and blood.
[40:41] When we are preaching the gospel, when we are evangelizing to that person, we're also like preaching against all the demons that are whispering lies to them saying, why do you want to believe this?
[40:55] Like you are doing good yourself. Like you're trying to get them to believe and you yourself must gird your loins prayer.
[41:10] One of the biggest stoppers for people going and evangelizing is fear, guys. It's what people, whether they can think about me, like I don't want to do it.
[41:22] Like it's fear. People are pent up with fear. They don't want to do it. And so you need to pray. That fear is not from yourself. That fear really is from cosmic powers.
[41:35] That's ungodly fear. Right? As I've said earlier, the spirit, the most powerful being in the universe is given to us. Right? And it's given to us with power, not a fear.
[41:52] Right? If we're fearful of doing something spiritual, it means that that is not from God, not even from us. either from our flesh or from Satan. Right? Pray against that. A word for men, single and married.
[42:07] Right? How is your evangelism? Right? How is your evangelism? How are you leading your family in evangelizing?
[42:19] How are your practices now to teach your sons and daughter that evangelism is important? Single men who have more time on their hand than married men?
[42:30] What does your time look like? Right? Is this a priority for you? Truly. Word of God, our life is but a breath, but a vapor. Like, what are you doing?
[42:45] That's not to condemn, that's truly for you to reevaluate. Like, what is most important to you? a word for women, single and married.
[42:57] I know that women mainly take care of kids, right? And my wife does as well. But let that not be an excuse. Take opportunities to go and preach the gospel.
[43:13] Like, everyone here goes to the grocery store. I love talking to clerks or just random people who are grabbing the same can as me. Oh, you get that also? Then strike up a conversation.
[43:26] You can. You, women, you do not have to go door to door and preach the gospel. That's not for everyone. But you can, in your day-to-day routine, be intentionally trying to preach the gospel, going to the same store, trying to preach to the same grocery store clerk, trying to bring someone from your ballet class to hang out with them, or your soccer team, trying to get to know those parents and family.
[43:56] At Bellico's, there was a family who was saved because of soccer practice. Right? Women, you can do this. Single women, especially, more time on your hands.
[44:10] Again, don't be foolish, don't go door-to-door knocking, maybe do if the Lord's leading you that way, but you have more time on your hands. Word for kids, you kids who are saved, who believe that Christ is the only way, preach the gospel to your friends who are not saved.
[44:35] Let them repent and believe, to your siblings as well, because it's life and death. Though your kids, our life is but a vapor, right? We're here for a second.
[44:46] Do you guys remember when you were three years old? Now you're like 10? Like, life goes by super fast. Preach the gospel to your friends.
[44:58] Second thing, put it on your calendar. If you do not plan a time to go and actually go out and evangelize, you will never do it. I say that from experience because if there is fear, that fear will suppress what you're doing, right?
[45:16] What you want to do. Do it with someone. Put it on your calendar. Put it on your calendars together. Don't just say, I really want to evangelize. Be a man of your word, a woman of your word, and go out.
[45:27] Set it on your calendar. If you don't do that, it won't happen, right? It'll be spontaneous, and if you're not already spontaneous preaching the gospel, you're not praying for that, actively seeking that, then it'll be hard if it's not on your calendar.
[45:43] It's my encouraging, put it on your calendars. And then number seven is have your feet ready to preach the gospel, gospel of peace. Always be aware of who you can preach the gospel to, especially around Christmas season, around family members who are caught in sins, who don't believe the gospel, amongst, like, it's time where you don't talk to family members that you can't talk to, because it's not weird to call them out of the blue, right?
[46:11] Merry Christmas, how are you doing? How's your life going? Can I pray for you? It's not weird. And so, I want to end really quickly by I think a song that sums up evangelism, gospel, and praising God at the end of our days.
[46:35] Well, this is Amazing Grace. Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, has saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found, was blind, but now I see.
[46:50] So it's grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed. The Lord has promised good to me.
[47:02] His words my hope secures. He will my shield and portion be as long as life endures. When we've been there 10,000 years bright, shining as the sun, we've no less to sing God's praise than the day we first begun.
[47:22] Amen. Lord, I thank you for this day, O Lord. I pray for this church plant. I pray for your hands to be upon it, O Lord. I pray that we would not be a people who are fearful, but a people of power.
[47:36] I pray that your spirit would truly, O Lord, bless us, fill us, O God. I pray that we'd be people of prayer, O Lord. I pray that we would be people who act, O Lord, not only talk, O Lord, that as James says, that we would be people of faith and of works, O Lord, that we would actively go out and evangelize.
[47:57] I pray for our kids as well. We pray for their salvation. Please save them, O Lord, from the damnation of hell, O Lord, and our family members. Amen. through the