5 The Purpose of The Church- Evangelism

The Purpose of The Church- Evangelism

Adapted from a Jeffery Anselmi sermonhttp://www.sermoncentral.com/print_friendly.asp?

SermonID=60867

Matthew 28:18 ESV And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the

Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

What is one of the most intimidating things God calls us to do as Christians? What is the one thing that we are asked to do that sends

shivers up most of our spines?Evangelism is one of the most intimidating of

the purposes of the church.The command to tell everyone about Jesus.

To evangelize means to share the good news about Jesus with other people.

In Matthew 28:18-20 we are called to evangelize the world.

We are called to reach out to the whole world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In order for us to be able to tell people about Jesus, we must be able to attract people.

This is true of the church and of each of us individually.

As a church we can have all the programs that look good, but if we do not follow the

principles that Jesus used to attract people, we will not get the opportunity to use the

wonderful programs.

I want to focus in on what we need to do in order to attract people so that we can share

the gospel with them.

How do we attract people?Do we compromise the message?

Jesus did not compromise His message to attract people.

Why do churches struggle with growth? Is there something wrong with the message or

messenger?

Too many times, churches that do not attract people wear that as a badge of honor, a

testament to the fact that they do not compromise the Gospel.

What this scenario really paints is a scene of a church that does not care enough for

people to reach out to the lost around them.

Sometimes churches do not reach out because they do not really want to grow, they

are comfortable with the way they are, and they do not want other people rocking the

boat.

Sometimes fear holds us back, fear of rejection, fear of being made fun of, fear of not having ALL of the answers to ALL of the

questions.

Sometimes false views of evangelism have an effect us.

God will do it,

We hired someone to do it,

Someone who is better at it will do it.

Let’s examine three principles that Jesus used to attract people, giving Him the

opportunity to reach the lost sheep that He coveted so much.

What do we need to do in order to make our evangelism, our outreach efforts more

effective?

For Evangelism to be successful….

When you study the ministry of Jesus, He attracted crowds because of His love for

them.Matthew 14:13 ESV Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the

crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went ashore

he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

We Must HaveLove For The People.

Jesus and the Rich young ruler.

Mark 10:21 ESV And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to

the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."

Matthew 9:36 ESV When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they

were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the

laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out

laborers into his harvest." When Jesus looked at the people, He loved

them so much He wanted them to be reached with the Gospel.

1 Timothy 2:3 ESV This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to

come to the knowledge of the truth.

Jesus did not look at the people like they were a bunch of losers, but instead He

looked at them with love.He did not despise them.

He pitied them.

Correct motives flow from a correct attitude, Compassion.

This was God’s motive for sending Jesus.Compassion is sympathy, empathy, concern,

the ability to put yourself in the other person’s shoes, a desire to help.

Burdened.Feeling a heavy heart for the lost.

We see non-Christian’s as victims of the enemy instead of seeing them as the enemy.

Romans 9:1 ESV I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my

conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— 2 that I have great

sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ

for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.

Zeal.Enthusiasm, excited about who Jesus is.

Love.Christian’s should be the most gracious

winsome witnesses the world has ever seen.

Love for Jesus should motivate us the most.

2 Corinthians 5:14 ESV For the love of Christ controls us, because we have

concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died;

Love for the lost should motivate us.

Appreciation that someone shared with us should motivate us also.

Motive and attitude relates to how we will or will not act.

It will help us not to be obnoxiousIt will help us not to be hostile

It will help us to not share out of obligation.It will help us to not share to exalt self.

It will help us to be judgmental.It will help us not to be judgmental

It will help us to be fearful.It will help us not to be fearful.

It will help us to remember our limitations. 1 Corinthians 3:6 ESV I planted, Apollos

watered, but God gave the growth.It will help us not to be discouraged with

God’s timetable.It will help us to be tactful.

It will help us to be prepared.

1 Peter 3:15 ESV but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being

prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

It will help us not to be lazy.It will help us not to be guilty of direct

disobedience to Christ’s direct command.

For Evangelism to be successful ….

How many people want to hear a sermon when they are hungry or sick?

In Psychology there is a theory called Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

Basically it says that we have different levels of needs and until one level is satisfied, we

cannot get past that level.He draws it as a pyramid.

Needs Must Be Met

At the bottom are the physiological needs (air, food, water, sleep, etc basic human

needs)then you have safety and security followed by loving and belonging,

Esteem and self-esteemSelf-actualization (self fulfillment)

A person is concerned with the level they are at.

If your safety is threatened, you cannot worry about feeling loved, or if you are starving,

you are not worried about self-esteem.

I am not promoting Maslow, but I do think there is some truth in what he says.

Jesus knew this principle also.

What did Jesus do for people before He taught them?

He found out what their needs were and addressed them.

Jesus earned the right to be heard!When you look at the ministry of Jesus and

the Apostles, you will see that they did not try to cram a message down people’s throat

without regard for their needs.

Matthew 15:30 ESV And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many

others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them, 31 so that the crowd wondered,

when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of

Israel.

32 Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, "I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three

days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest

they faint on the way."

Luke 6:18 ESV who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who

were troubled with unclean spirits were cured.

John 6:2 ESV And a large crowd was

following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick.

Jesus did not make people feel bad because they had a need.

He did not judge some needs as being more legitimate than others

Jesus often met a felt need in order to establish a beachhead for evangelism in a

person’s life. A hungry hurting person does not want to hear a message unless you deal with the

physical need & earn the right to share it with them.

The majority of people come to Church because a friend or relative invites them.

This happens because a friend or family member has the respect of a person

because they have been there for the good times and the bad.

James 2:14 ESV What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save

him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is

dead.

A young boy, on an errand for his mother, had just bought a dozen eggs.

Walking out of the store, he tripped and dropped the sack.

All the eggs broke, and the sidewalk was a mess.

The boy tried not to cry.A few people gathered to see if he was OK

and to tell him how sorry they were.

In the midst of the words of pity, one man handed the boy a quarter.

Then he turned to the group and said, "I care 25 cents worth.

How much do the rest of you care?"

James 2:16 points out that words don’t mean much if we have the ability to do

more.

James 2:16 ESV and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled,"

without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?

For Evangelism to be successful ….

Jesus attracted crowds by teaching in an interesting practical way.

Matthew 7:28 ESV And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished

at his teaching,

Matthew 22:33 ESV And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his

teaching.

The Presentation Of The Gospel Must Be Practical And Interesting.

Mark 11:18 ESV And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching.

Mark 12:37 ESV David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?" And the

great throng heard him gladly.

Jesus preached the TRUTH.

Today truth is relative.Too many have let themselves be sucked into

this thinking.

Truth is truth.We can attract people with the truth that is

preached in love.Jesus accepted people, but He did not accept

their actions.Jesus always confronted their sin in a loving

way.

Jesus related truth to life.

Jesus used everyday language.He was understood by the common people.He did not break into some jargon that no one could understand without a dictionary.Jesus used everyday situations to relay the

truth to people.A parable is an earthly story with a heavenly

meaning.

Let us be a church that loves people, a church that is willing to meet people’s needs and a church that presents the Word of God

in an interesting and relevant way.We do not have an option when it comes to

reaching out to the lost.Each one of us has a responsibility to reach

out to the lost.

Conclusion

Surely each one of us has a neighbor that does not belong to Jesus.

We can start with our neighbor, if we all did that, then at best we will make more

disciples.

At worst, at least when a person dies outside of Jesus, they will not be able to say that no

one cared enough to share.

Let us be a church that loves people so much that we hurt when we know someone

is lost. Luke 15:7 ESV Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who

repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.