#GOFAMINTDailyDevotion Sun. 22/4/2018
LESSON 8 22/4/2018
EXPANDED THROUGH EVANGELISM
Suggested Hymns: G.H.B. 322, 325
Devotional Readings: Acts 2:37-40
Topic for Adults: Evangelism & Church Growth
Topic for Youths: Populate God’s Kingdom
Topic for Intermediates: Invite Others to Christ
Lesson Scriptures: Acts: 2:40-47; 4:4; 6:7; 11:19-24
MEMORY VERSE: “Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. As many as had been appointed to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48) NKJV
DAILY DEVOTION READING
Sun. 22/4/2018
Evangelise With Great Assurance
Matt. 28:18-20
A church must disciple, and small groups are the best means to do this. Arrange, train, and lead your small group leaders to teach the Bible clearly. Going beyond just discussing passages, encourage them to applying it to their daily lives. Make sure that these groups focus on prayer, allowing healthy interaction, so that people will feel free to express issues, ask questions, and discuss their concerns of life, as the leadership encourages as well as teaches. Teach and be a model Disciple. Always believe and trust in the efficacy of Jesus’ promise in the passage read today. He promised that His authority and power would be with all believers who will obey His command to go to “teach all nations”. It is a promise that can never fail. Hold on to it.
Point of Emphasis: A church must disciple, and small groups are the best means to do this.
Prayer Point: O Lord! Make me an effective tool for signs and wonders as I obey the “go ye” command.
BACKGROUND
The New Testament paints a picture in which every disciple of Christ is normally and naturally involved in evangelism as much as in Bible study, prayer, and corporate worship. Many of us have heard and even preached sermons that rightly focused on the Great Commission’s theme of “make disciples” (Matt. 28:18-20), and we’ve taught those around us that they should be disciple-makers themselves. But we also need to be clear that “making disciples” necessarily involved helping people who are not yet disciples to become disciples—that is, evangelism. Jesus modelled it (Mk. 1:14, 15; Matt. 9:35) and trained His apostles to do the same (Mk. 6:7-13; Lk. 10:1-12). Jesus said that they would be His “witnesses…to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
Part of the apostles’ teaching that the Spirit-filled church devoted themselves was to preach the word (Acts 2:42). This must have been the normal and regular sharing of the gospel with family, friends, and strangers. From the very first weeks and months after the Pentecost, people were being saved every day (Acts 2:47). Evangelism was immediately a part of their new life of discipleship to the risen Lord Jesus.
NOTES ON THE TEXT
PART 1: HOLISTIC FRUITFUL EVANGELISM (ACTS 2:40-47; 4:4 & 6:7)
The community of those baptized by the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus gathered around for prayer, meals, fellowship, and apostolic teaching. They shared goods to meet one another’s needs and experience signs and wonders.
This passage is key to the book’s understanding of Christian community. The community is a haven of strength for those who gathered as forgiven and baptized believers. They experienced a “time of refreshing” (3:20) as they gathered around for teaching, fellowship and breaking of bread, and prayers—activities that mark the church of this day. These activities are twice described in these few verses with insignificant variations of expressions. Between the two repetitions, at the heart of the passage and the community, are the wonders and signs done by the apostles and the sharing that prevents anyone from being in need. The holistic fruitful evangelism is all encompassing. No one lacks anything. It is God’s will that every church grows. The Early Church is our example. If a church does not experience growth, it has a fundamental problem. No church can move forward without two convictions: that God wants the church to grow and that people in the church want it to grow. People should understand that a static church is a struggling church, and God delights in partnering with us to solve the problem. Evangelism is the responsibility of every believer. There is no such thing as the “gift of evangelism,” rather; all Christians have the obligation to share the gospel. It is, and should be, on the heart of every believer to look for opportunities to share the love of Jesus—personally—to a broken and lost world.
It is a sad reality today that some churches are simply not teaching many people to follow the great commission, because they have not created a culture of evangelism. There are at least 5 things that must be done to create the culture of evangelism:
- Leaders should Model Evangelism. Leaders cannot expect their people to do something that they are not doing. You can only lead people as far as you have done yourself. If you are not actively seeking evangelistic opportunities, followers won’t either.
- Preach Evangelism. It is surprising how many churches desire to grow but never preach a sermon about how important it is for Christians to actually reach out to rescue those headed for eternal separation from God.
- Create Enabling Environment Where Non-Believers Are Welcomed And Expected. In our preaching, don’t just address Christians. Always assume that there are sceptics, non-believers, or people who don’t know what to believe, if you regularly address those in the church who are not Christians or are on the fence, you accomplish two things:
- You communicate that people who aren’t Christians yet are welcome in your church.
- Create a place where people can feel comfortable inviting their non-Christian friend.
- Encourage Your Members to Invite Others to Church. Create a good avenue for people to invite people. It could be as simple as having love feast after the services, or set special programs for Christmas and Easter holidays. Tell your people that you want them to invite people that day. Give them simple tools like invitation cards to hand out. You will be surprised at how much this works to introduce new people to your church.
- Celebrate Evangelism. When someone comes to your church and gives his or her life to Christ, celebrate it. If angels in Heaven celebrate a lost soul that is restored back to the Kingdom, we must celebrate everything that adds value to the kingdom.
PART 2: PERSISTENCY IN EVANGELISM (ACTS 4:4, 6:2-7; 8:1)
Peter and John preached the gospel in the temple in the midst of the chief priest, Sadducees, Pharisees and others despite the hostility against them. About 5,000 souls believed excluding women and children.
Despite the opposition coming against the gospel, the number of Christians kept increasing. Acts 4:4 shows that the power plays, the threats, the intimidation were all ineffective. More people started following Jesus, not less.
In the world today, Christians rarely face persecution. Satan instead has attacked us with worldliness, selfish pride, a need for acceptance, and status. This makes Christians to be passive towards evangelism.
The early disciples felt that prayer and the ministry of the word were the highest work of their ministry. They gave themselves to it and did it with their utmost heart. When persecution arose, the disciples still preached the gospel persistently. Through their unparallel passion for evangelism, the kingdom of God increased.
PART 3: EVIDENCE OF GENUINE EVANGELISM (ACTS 11:19-24)
To understand our text, there is need to know about Antioch. It was located 300 miles north of Jerusalem and was the third largest city in the Roman Empire, behind Rome and Alexandria, having more than 500,000 residents. It was a centre for commerce and a crossroads for travel and trade between Europe and the Orient. This made the city a meeting point of various races, including the Romans, the local Syrians, Jews, and others.
The city was proverbial for sexual immorality. Antioch was so corrupt that it was impacting Rome, more than 1,300 miles away. In the midst of this immorality, the church in Antioch distinguished herself by remaining true to the Lord.
One remarkable feature of this church was how it started. It was not founded by apostles or pastors or trained missionaries. Rather, some unnamed men who were scattered because of the persecution that arose in connection with Stephen came to Antioch and preached the good news about the Lord Jesus (11:20) to the people.
The people who brought the gospel to Antioch were able to do so because they had the mind to work for God.
Every Christian who trusts Christ as Saviour and Lord should oblige to serve Him and tell others about Him. The gospel will spread and the church will be built up. Every Christian should be ready to serve Christ and bear witness of Him.
One remarkable proof that the gospel is from God is that wherever it goes, it has the same powerful effect. The message does not need to be changed. Whatever may be the culture or background of people they are all sinners who need to know how to be reconciled to God before they face Him in judgment. We should tell the simple gospel message to the people.
CONCLUSION
Kingdom Growth is our true goal. When new souls are added to the Kingdom of God through evangelism the angels rejoice (Lk. 15:10). Our goal as Christians, is to lead lost souls into a relationship with Jesus Christ. Church Growth should be the same as Kingdom Growth. The Bible does not tell us to market ourselves, but to lead people to Jesus. Church growth is a by-product of winning souls and making disciples.
Believers should know that the only means through which a glorious church can be expanded is evangelism.
QUESTIONS
- Why should Christians focus on evangelism?
- What is the will of God for His glorious church?
- What are the five things that Christians should do to create culture of evangelism?
- Why are Christians passive towards evangelism in the present day church?
- People who brought Christianity to Antioch succeeded because of what?
- What is the remarkable proof that evangelism is from God?
