Evangelism

The People out there – what do they need? What is the good news they long to hear? Who is actually being prepared by the Holy Spirit for an encounter with YOU?

Deep down inside, most people have fears and doubts. Many feel they are not loved or carrying guilt about things they have done or failed to do. Many feel unfulfilled and “there must be more to life than this” Some are without hope.

In our materialist society there is often a great spiritual hunger – people turn to spiritualism, psychic fairs, drugs, cults anything that holds out answers to the great questions of human life.

The gospel is good news to all these.

In his book “Sowing, Reaping, Keeping”, Laurence Singlehurst identifies a number of ways in which people may be thinking about Jesus and the outcomes we might hope (and pray) for in our encounters with them:

• Hostile/negative
• God is good and Christians are OK
• “Is there any hope?”
• God may have the answer I need
• Interested
• Understanding the gospel
• Wanting to be saved
• Believing and receiving Christ.
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Some definitions of Evangelism:

• Those who know Jesus telling those who don’t;
• One beggar telling another where to get bread;
• Giving good news to people who are lost or searching;
• Co-operating with the Spirit in bringing people into the Kingdom;
• Perhaps the most important thing we can do for people is to pray for them to come to know Jesus.
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Evangelism is a process that can be compared to the activity of a farmer growing crops:

Ploughing: Preparing the ground. Sparking interest;

 Sowing: Drip feeding the good news. Telling what God has done and is doing in your life. Loving and respecting them;

 Growing: Keeping in touch. Letting them see that God knows where they are coming from, loves them and wants to meet their needs. Telling them about God’s promises;

 Reaping: When they are ready to ask “What must I do to be saved?”, tell them, pray with them or introduce them to someone who will do this and start them along the road.

 These processes may happen almost instantaneously or may take weeks or months or years. God may want to use you to take them right through or it may be a case of “one sows, another reaps”.