To Boldly Go

By Chris Chorlton

(Copied verbatim from old site. Needs formatting and links adding)

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Top Twelve* Tips for Evangelism

• Please note, some settling of contents may occur during transit.

Reading: Acts 4: 23-31

23 On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. "Sovereign Lord," they said, "you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. 25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: "`Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 26 The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One. 27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people^[3] of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. 29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus." 31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

We have it so easy. They are arrested, beaten up, suffer tremendously and ultimately are killed. But they still evangelise! If you had just been ordered by Parliament not to talk about Jesus would you?

It is no good me telling you to be bold, be strong, for the lord your God is with you because although you may know that intellectually and in your heart. It does not help when an evangelism moment arises and you totally lose all powers of reason and your courage is off like a shot and your knees turn to jelly.

Today's question is: Can you boldy evangelise? What is your answer? No?

Then practice. Start small, any of you can do these 11 things.

1. Love

The greatest evangelistic tool is love; nothing brings people into God's kingdom more effectively than building loving relationships. Building relationships allows us to get to know people, builds our credibility with them and then enables us to speak into their lives. If you are walking closely with the Lord, people will see this and be attracted to Jesus.

2. Testimony

The Bible says people will be saved "by the word of your testimony". Prepare a simple testimony you can share of something special God has done for you.

3. Know relevant Bible verses

Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Romans 5:8, Acts 4:12, Revelation 3:20, John 1:12, Romans 10:13. Write them in back of your Bible, highlight them inside your Bible, memorize them and they will help you lead someone to Christ. Link with testimony to make them relevant

4. Be everything to all men

1Cor 9 I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.

We need to tailor the message to the audience. A prime example being God becoming a man in Jesus, it is a bit of a disguise! Of course if he had come down in his ordinary form we would have all dropped dead.

So, when you approach others with God's message make sure it is tailored in a way to stop them dropping dead in their tracks!

5. Try different approaches (OHP)

6. Always be prepared

1 Pet 3:15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.(NIV)

The main problem in our modern world of mish mash belief is that Christians sometimes don't know what they believe.

7. Have a simple statement of faith.

God MADE you and LOVES you and has a wonderful PLAN for your life

We are all SINFUL and SEPARATED from God. Therefore, we cannot know and experience God's love and plan for our lives.

Jesus Christ is God's ONLY provision for our sin. Through Him we can know and experience God's love and plan for our lives.

We must individually RECEIVE Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord; then we can know and experience God's love and plan for our lives.

8. Don't be hypocrites.

WE like to help when someone is in trouble. But if we really believe this message of Jesus then most of the world is in trouble but we do nothing about it. We say this is the most important message in the world. Do we act like it is

An 18-year-old girl attended a worship service. For the first time in her life she heard a gospel sermon. The following Tuesday the vicar of the church received a letter from her. It read:

Dear Vicar

Last Sunday I came to your church, and I heard you preach. In your sermon you said that all men have sinned and rebelled against God. Because of their rebellion and disobedience they all face eternal damnation and separation from God.

But then you also said God loved men and sent his Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to redeem men from their sins and that all those who believe in him would go to heaven and live with God eternally.

My parents recently died in rapid succession. I know they did not believe in Jesus Christ, whom you call the Saviour of the world. If what you preach is true, they are damned.

You compel me to believe that either the message is true, or that you yourself don't believe this message, or that you don't care. We live only three minutes walk from your church, and no one ever told us. You hypocrites!

9. Be confident, it will happen

Acts 4:28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.

Lets not get into predestination. But we do believe that God has already decided to draw everyone to himself. It is going to happen. They question for you is do you want to be a part of it. Do you want to put yourself on the line for God? Here is your chance. We are going out to BBQ now. We will pray like the apostles did and then we will boldly go!

10. Be on fire

Eg of Lighting a candle with an unlit match. It is easy to see when something is on fire. It ignites other material. Any fire that does not spread will eventually go out.

We must be on fire, if we are not we will not spread the message

A church without evangelism is a contradiction in terms, just as a fire that does not burn is a contradiction.

11. Prayer

Prayer softens people and makes them open to the Word of God and allows you to know who to speak to. Look at the disciples in verse 24 onwards, they praise God, then they tell him their problem and rather than give God the work to do they ask for help in dealing with it.

12. I tried to think of 12 points about boldly going out, but couldn't. I thought it would be nice and symbolic of the 12 apostles. Then I remembered that after Judas' death there were only 11 and that they needed a twelfth. St Matthias!! Since we are St Matthias it seems fitting that our church is neede to complete the picture we are point 12. We need to act.

Now we'll pray, then we will boldly go!

Next: Dealing With The Devil (10th June 2001)

Previous: Barbecue Evangelism (4th Mar 2001)

(by Chris Chorlton)