(For link to audio & video recording on SermonAudio.com, click here )
(If you would like to receive Pastor Harris’ weekly sermons via e-mail, Click Here)
(If you would like to download the PowerPoint presentation for this sermon, Click here: Evangelism – Methods
(To see video of the worship service, click here to go to our youtube link
Pastor Scott L. Harris
Grace Bible Church, NY
May 17, 2026
* The Purpose of the Church: Evangelism – Methods
Selected Scriptures
Introduction
We continue this morning in our short series on the nature and ministries of the church which begins with the Great Commission in Matthew 28:16-20. Please turn there again. I will be expanding on the two earlier sermons by examining Jesus’ example in making disciples. Remember, Jesus did not leave the glories of heaven, become a man, and die at Calvary just so that man could avoid eternal punishment in Hell. He came to break the bonds of sin and restore man back to the purpose for which he was created which is to glorify God and do His will. Jesus’ command to make disciples of all nations would ensure that each generation would hear the gospel message and be instructed in how to live for Christ. (See: The Identity & Commission of the Church, and Evangelism: The Church Goes Out)
Follow along as I read Matthew 28:18-20. Jesus said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 “Going therefore, make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. “
*The imperative verb is the command is to make disciples which is accomplished by the three participles of going, baptizing and teaching. It is our responsibility to go out to non-believers and tell them about Jesus – who He is, what He has done for them and how He wants them to live. Those who repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are to be baptized as an act of obedience by which they personally identify as a disciple of Jesus and proclaim to the world that they are trusting Him alone for salvation from sin. Believers will then spend the rest of their lives being molded by the Holy Spirit into the image of Christ as they learn His commandments and obey them. *Jesus has all authority over all creation, so He has the right to command you and you have the obligation to obey. It also means that even if you don’t think you are capable, He is able and will enable if you make yourself available.
*The responsibility of making disciples belongs to all believers and actually is to be a normal part of healthy church life as each individual Christian uses their spiritual gifts within the body. As Paul explains in Ephesians 4:12-16, it is as each individual part within the body works together that the whole body is built up and matures.
How can you carry out the Great Commission in practical terms? It is one thing to say go and do it and another to actually accomplish it. Where do you start? How do you get the process going?
*Remember that a “disciple” is simply a “learner,” a “follower of a teacher,” and being a disciple of Jesus is not an option for a Christian. The term “Christian” itself means “little Christ” or “Christ one,” and as Acts 11:26 states, it was the “disciples [who] were first called Christians in Antioch.” The Bible does not present people as being saved and becoming Christians and then later becoming disciples of Christ. In fact, it presents the opposite. You become a disciple when you begin to learn and follow Jesus after which you believe and place your faith in Him to be forgiven of your sins because of His atonement at Calvary and are saved. In other words, you become a disciple before you become a Christian. Or to put it another way, all true Christians are disciples, but not all disciples are true Christians (see John 8).
*Jesus did not command us to go and save people – we cannot do that anyway – but He did commanded us to make disciples. The first part of that is going out to all nations to proclaim the gospel. J.I. Packer defined evangelism very well in his book, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, – “Evangelism is to so present Christ Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit, in order that men may put their trust in God through Him, to accept Him as their Saviour, and serve Him as their King in the fellowship of His church.” This is the crucial first step, yet it is also commonly the first area of failure in making a disciple.
*The Failure of American Evangelism
Evangelism in America changed radically after the early 1900’s as the preaching of the gospel became increasingly man centered. At about the same time the mainline denominations were becoming theologically liberal and substitute a social gospel for the true gospel, many evangelical churches began to shift to pragmatism. Even churches that were doctrinally Calvinistic became Arminian in their evangelism as the goal changed to getting people “saved” from hell through decisions for Christ. And in true American style, the quest was to do this as quickly and as efficiently as possible.
*The result was distortion of the gospel message as it became modified to appeal to man’s self centered nature. Humans naturally want to get what is good and avoid what is bad. Marketing strategies presented the gospel as either the means to escape hell or something else that is not wanted, and / or as the means to gain what is wanted – a “wonderful life,” however the individual defines that. There became a bent toward presenting the minimum information needed for salvation instead of giving a clear presentation of Jesus’ identity, atonement and demands on His disciples. Another soul could be counted as saved if you could get them to pray some form of the “sinner’s prayer” and “accept Jesus” or “ask Him into their heart.” Gospel tracts would include such a prayer at the end which could then be signed and dated as evidence of being saved.
*The American bent toward pragmatism resulted in a tendency to do whatever seemed to get results, but that is constantly modified as society changes or some new technique is developed to manipulate people’s emotions. *The old hellfire and brimstone preachers were able to use fear effectively into scaring people into a profession of faith. Charles Finney found ways to play on people’s emotions so that they would go forward and to make a profession of faith of some sort. Walking the aisle could be intimidating, so raising your hand while everyone’s head was bowed and eyes were closed became a substitute. At the end of the Twentieth Century, what became known as the “church growth movement” developed techniques to market Jesus and salvation. This was a Madison Avenue approach in getting the person to make the purchase before they fully realized what they were getting. In evangelism, this meant gospel presentations would not talk about repentance from sin, a changed life or the lordship of Christ until after the person has prayed to receive Christ. Why? Because talking about such things might scare the person away.
*At the beginning of this century, the marketing approach morphed into the emergent church movement because what interested people changed as post-modern thought became dominate. The absolute truths of the gospel had to be softened or removed so that people could still claim to be Christians while believing and doing what they felt like at the moment. Many of the churches in that movement became blatantly heretical. Others backed away from it as they saw where it was going. And others have continued to morph with the continuing changes in society.
*More recently there was a shift to try to make the gospel cater to the changing whims of society as the politically correct values of the progressives, such as social justice, critical race theory and intersectionality, were pushed upon us. In the effort to be thought of as relevant by these sinners, churches changed their doctrine and practice to accept what God calls abominations and espouse the utterly foolish idea that the amount of melanin in your skin is deterministic of your level of victimization. In short, the greater the melanin count, the greater the need for government intervention to assist, while those not so melanin blessed are automatically the oppressors who must be perpetually condemned as racists and oppressors regardless of personal or actual family history. *The salvation they proclaim is no longer forgiveness and freedom from sin, but rather freedom from oppression and freedom to be perverse.
What have been the consequences of this type of evangelism? First, it contributes solidly to a drop in the percentage of professing Christians, the exact opposite of the supposed purpose of modifying the gospel. Pew Research Center reports the percentage of self-proclaimed Christians (broadly defined) in the United States has dropped from 90% in the 1990’s to 77% in 2007 to 62% in 2024, but only 36% are evangelical protestant, with only about 20% being in denominations that proclaim a Biblical gospel. *A perverted gospel cannot convert a sinner to a saint nor can it stem the tide of increasing immorality and perversity in our nation. It was not that many years ago that many of the sinful values and activities that are now celebrated by the press, social elites and in some churches were still illegal. Some of these things could not have even been imagined when my sons were young.
This story is from 1990 when I was in Los Angeles, but the reality of it is even worse today. I was privileged to know a young man that had developed a great desire to reach the street people for Christ. Garrett developed a whole ministry to them. He would talk with them on the streets, preach in parks and even bring them to a special service we would hold for them that might be more “culturally relevant” by having more contemporary music and trying to use language more understandable to them. Garrett was able to talk with many street people and the alternative service was growing. For the most part, these folks seemed to pay attention to what he said. However, as time went on, he began to become discouraged and even a little angry. He consistently found that most of these street people – drug addicts, alcoholics, prostitutes and bums – had already heard the gospel with most professing to have “made a decision for,” “received,” or “accepted” Christ at some point, but it had made no difference in their lives. *They claimed to already be saved, but there was no visible evidence of them following Christ.
Garrett wanted to know why the gospel seemed to lack power in their lives? What had gone wrong? He soon realized that these people would need more than he could offer by himself, but they were unwilling to come to any of the regular church ministries precisely because they did not want to change.
What had gone wrong? Simply put, these people were led to believe that they were “saved,” but they were never converted. Jesus was marketed to them in some way that it brought an initial response, but when the whole truth about the gospel started to come through, they did not want anything to do with it. *They were inoculated against the true gospel. A vaccine works because it is similar enough to the disease without being the disease itself that the body develops antibodies to fight the actual disease. The gospel they were given was close to but not the truth resulting in a rejection of the truth when they were told it because they thought they already had it.
Someone, probably well meaning, had come to these people and in a great desire to see them saved from hell had persuaded them to respond to his invitation to receive Christ. That evangelist probably went away thinking things were wonderful and he had saved another soul. I have found too many evangelists who love to boast about how many people were saved during their meetings. The tragic reality is that most of those supposedly saved were not. There was nothing to indicate a new relationship with God, a desire to learn of God and how to live for Him, or a desire to be with God’s people. They were led to believe they had a fire insurance policy against Hell, but there was no change in their lives. They were not converted. I know because I grew up seeing plenty of these kinds of revival and evangelistic meetings and rarely saw any lasting results from them. *These people were trusting something they did – walked the aisle, raised their hand, prayed the magic prayer, got baptized, etc., – but they were not trusting Jesus Christ whom they did not really know. Believing they would escape hell and go to Heaven, they continued to do whatever they wanted instead of following Jesus to glorify God.
*The Truth about Salvation
It is crucial that you know the Biblical gospel yourself in order to be saved and to proclaim the message of salvation to others. How tragic it will be for those who lived their lives believing a false gospel. They will not hear from Jesus, ” Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25:34). They will tragically hear instead, “Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels ” (Matt. 25:41) and “I never knew you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” (Matt. 7:23). That is why I spent so much time in the last sermon in this series in on defining the Biblical gospel.
*The gospel is the good news that God Himself by His grace alone has provided a way through faith alone in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone for the sinner to be forgiven and made righteous and adopted as a child of God. Salvation is from sin and its bondage to righteousness (Rom. 6). Being saved from Hell is simply a benefit of being saved from sin. Condemnation to Hell is the consequence of being estranged from God due to your sin (2 Thess.1:8-9). Heaven is the consequence of having the bondage to sin broken and being made righteous before God through Jesus Christ (Rom. 4,6 & 8). The gospel message is about reconciliation to God and becoming a new creation because of Jesus (2 Cor. 5:17-18).
*The gospel is an invitation to become a disciple of Jesus Christ (Matthew 16:24). It is in following after Jesus that a person learns about their own sinfulness, who Jesus is, what He has done and how that is appropriated to their own life through faith in Him. That is why Jesus’ command is for us to make disciples by going to all nations, baptizing them, and teaching them to observe whatsoever He has commanded. We invite men and women to Jesus, but He is the one that saves them. They identify with Him, and we teach them what He has said and train them to obey Him.
*Jesus’ Invitations
As disciples of Jesus, we should strive to follow His example, and His pattern of calling people to Himself which is quite different from much of what occurs throughout American churches today. Jesus made it easy to say no, and on occasion He even made it hard to say yes. Jesus did not market Himself, in fact, He usually did the opposite of that. He did not come with a quick fix for sin or an easy way to heaven. He did come inviting people to come know and follow Him. The pattern of the apostles was the same. I want to spend the rest of this sermon showing this pattern to you in the Scriptures.
*One of the first things we notice is that Jesus used the interests that people already had to invite them to come and learn more about Him. Jesus’ public ministry opens along the banks of the Jordan River near its southern end. John 1:35-39 records, “Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked upon Jesus as He walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 And Jesus turned, and saw them following, and said to them, “What do you seek?” And they said to Him, “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” They came therefore and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.”
* We find out in verses 40-41 that one of these two men is Andrew and the other, not specifically named in the text, is John, as indicated by other evidence in the book. Both of these men had been looking for the Messiah to come. Now Jesus did not come up to Andrew and John and say, “I am the Messiah, follow Me.” Instead, when He found they were following Him, He asked what they were looking for and then invited them to “Come and see.” He used their interest in finding the Messiah as the basis for inviting them to spend the rest of the day with Him with the result that they would come to their own conclusions. Andrew became convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, so he went and got his brother, Simon, whom Jesus named Cephas or Peter after He had met Him. The next day, Jesus found Philip and told him to “Follow Me,” and Philip then went and told Nathanael. All of them then went with Jesus back to Galilee on the third day.
When people are already interested in what you are offering, your task is easy, but note what Jesus did not do. *He did not manipulate them or pressure them to “sign up” for anything much less a lifetime commitment. Jesus simply invited them to come and spend time with Him. Any of them could easily have said no for a variety of reasons. Many would be disciples did find excuses (Luke 9:57-62). Jesus let their interest be the basis for inviting them to learn more about Him. It was the start of a relationship between them.
Peter, Andrew, John, Philip and Nathanael were all from Galilee, so it was easy for them to agree to return there with Him. On the way back, they stopped with Jesus for a wedding in Cana which was Nathanael’s home town. It is there that they see Jesus’ first recorded miracle when He turned the water into wine. When Passover came, they went to Jerusalem for its celebration as they normally would have done in keeping the Law, but this time they made the journey with Jesus. *As they traveled with Him, they learned more of Him, became more confident in Him, and more willing to do what He would ask. Jesus called them to greater commitment only as they learned more about Him and were ready. They all returned to their normal jobs for a period of time before Jesus invited them to follow Him again and become fishers of men.
*Following Jesus’ Examples
What I want to stress today is that this first level of discipleship is about sparking an interest in a person to learn of Jesus for the purpose that they might know Him and become followers of Him. Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:1), so He took advantage of a person’s natural interest to point to truth and invite those who would listen to learn of more of Him. We need to do the same.
*Jesus would go to the synagogues where there were people who were interested in spiritual things and teach the Scriptures. His teaching prompted some to want to know more about Him and His teachings. Religious people are good people to invite to learn more about Jesus. Paul did the same thing in Acts 17 when in Athens. The Greeks were pagan, but they were also religious. Paul used that interest to tell them about the God who created them. Out of that came a few who wanted to know more about Jesus. Talk about religion with people. You will find some that will want to know more, and if they won’t to come to church service, have a personal Bible study with them. The gospel of John is a great place to start.
*Jesus often used the various festivals and ceremonies of Judaism to proclaim to the people how He fulfilled it and invite them to come and learn more of Him (John 7, etc). We can certainly use the Christian religious holidays to tell people about Jesus and invite them to learn more. A major reason for special holiday services is because it takes advantage of natural interest in a holiday to invite people to come and learn more. You can talk about God’s blessing on this nation on any national holiday. You can even use holidays you may not like as an opportunity. Put gospel tracts in the bags of those kids that come around on Halloween, or be more bold by having your kids (or you) dress up as some Bible character and go out door to door giving tracts and gifts to your neighbors – reverse trick or treat.
*Probably the area of people’s lives that gave Jesus the most opportunity to spark an interest in them to learn more about Him was His personal ministry of compassion to the sick and hurting. When people know you care, they will care about what you say. People are most inclined to change when they are facing a crisis in their life. Some people will never look up to heaven until they are on their back. Many people are reluctant to trust God until they have no other choice. Nursing homes, jails and community service present great opportunities to those available to show the compassion of Christ to others.
*What was it in Jesus that attracted people to want to know more about Him? He was different. He had something others wanted. He was calm, peaceful and confident about the future. He was wise, gentle and kind. He was trustworthy, consistent and uncompromising. He was encouraging even when rebuking and correcting an errant disciple. Jesus’ relationship with God the Father is intimate, and He want that kind of relationship with His followers. “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him.” (John 14:23)
Do people see Jesus Christ in you? If they do, that will spark an interest in some to know more about Christ. You will be different from everyone else and they will want to know why.
*Overcoming Spiritual Lockjaw
There are two reasons that I believe are the major causes of “spiritual lockjaw” being a common malady among Christians. 1) Fear of what other people will think about you. 2) Your personal relationship with God is so feeble that you are not sure you have anything to tell them.
*It is hard to tell someone about the “peace that passes all understanding” that comes from trusting God when you are fearful yourself. You cannot point out the wonder of God’s creation when you do not recognize His handiwork yourself. It is hard to bring comfort to a hurting person when you unsure about what it means to be comforted in Christ yourself. It’s impossible to tell someone about the joy of being in a personal relationship with the God of the universe when you lack that joy yourself because you do not spend time in His word, prayer and personal worship.
*We naturally talk to people about the things that are important to us, so talking to others about Jesus should be a normal activity for those who have a personal relationship with Him. *Your relationship to God should not be a separate subject to talk about, but one that intertwines with everything you do. If you talk about the weather, then talk about God’s power and control of what happens. When you talk about your job, you can also talk about God’s provision. If you talk about your family, then there is also opportunity to talk about God’s design for husbands, wives, parents, children. Talking about science is a perfect segue to talking about God’s creation and intricate design of things. Anything related to your senses can bring up God because He enabled us to perceive smell, taste, sight, hearing and touch, but he also gave us minds to interpret and appreciate them. Each sense contributes enjoyment in life: aromas, food, beauty, music, a hug and a kiss. Talking about history should bring up God’s providence for history is in all reality His-story.
Politics is a common topic, but so should be God’s sovereignty and moral directives to all nations. A major reason for our current political turmoil is that about 28% of our population state they do not have any religious affiliation, 10% or more are following a false god(s), and the vast majority of the rest give little to no thought about God’s perspective on issues. The result is that politics is about power plays gain control and enforce personal preferences instead of statesmen in submission to God humbly serving in government for the best interest of the people. When you talk about the political news, try to include a godly perspective on it including both warnings about God’s wrath on sin and thankfulness for His mercy to mankind. There is no subject you can talk about that God does not somehow figure into it, but do you talk about Him?
*You do not have to have everything together in order to begin the process of making disciples of Jesus Christ. You simply have to tell others what you do know and invite them to learn more. That is what Andrew did to Peter, and then they did that to Philip, and then Philip did that Nathanael. All of them then grew together. You may not know Chronicles from Corinthians, but you can do that much. Invite people to come learn about Jesus with you.
*If you recognize that you do have spiritual lockjaw because of one of the reasons I talked about, then you have some growing in Christ to do and it is time to start working at it. My challenge to you this morning is as follows:
*1) Make sure that your trust is in Jesus Christ and not something else. How will you answer the question, Why should God let you into heaven? If it is because of anything other than by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, then you have a problem. It won’t be by your own righteous, because none are righteous apart from Christ (Romans 3:10). It wont’ be by good works because they are as filthy rags before our holy God (Isaiah 64:6). It won’t be because of your heritage or lineage or self will because becoming a child of God is not by blood nor the will of the flesh nor the will of man (John 1:13). If there is any doubt that you will be with Christ when you die, then there is a deficiency in your faith. Talk with any of our church leaders, or pick up the paper On Being a Christian from the literature rack and then talk to one of us.
*2) Evaluate your personal devotional life with God. What is the nature of the time you spend in God’s word, in prayer and personal worship? If that is not happening, then it needs to start or be renewed. There are plenty of devotional guides that will direct you to read a Scripture passage, give you an application thought related to it and seek to prompt you to pray. Something like Daily Bread or Days of Praise are good places to start, but you should also press on to something like Daily Walk which will take you through the whole Bible. Eventually you want to get to the point you are reading and studying the scripture for yourself and being prompted by that to worship God and make changes in your life. That is the reason that on a rotating schedule I taught classes such as Bible survey and how to study the Bible (hermeneutics). Those classes and more are online.
*3) If you are afraid of talking to others about Jesus, then join one of our evangelism classes or talk with Dominic, our Minister of Evangelism, about how to overcome those fears. Part of it is learning the gospel well in order to be confident in telling it to others, and part of it is going out with others to evangelize and become confident as you put into practice what you have learned and see God work.
*4) Evaluate your level of fellowship with other believers. We grow best when we are being encouraged by other believers, and that happens in the context of fellowship. Be involved in any of our Bible studies or prayer groups. Get involved in a ministry with others.
*5) Evaluate your service to the Lord. Do you know what your spiritual gifts might be? Are you using them? If you don’t know, start with something that interests you and see what the Lord does through you. When you serve the Lord, you help others grow in Christ, and you will find that the rest of the body will in turn help you grow.
*6) Last, but certainly not least. Consider being personally discipled if you have not already. This is the opportunity to be mentored by someone more mature in Christ on the basics of walking with Jesus. This includes knowledge about the Lord, development of good devotional habits, and have a personal relationship with someone who will care about you, pray with and for you, and help you apply the principles and precepts of God’s word to your life directly as you share your lives together. Talk with either Ed Colón who is our coordinator for the men, or Diane Harris who is our coordinator for the women.
*Conclusions
Jesus commands us to make disciples. The first step in that is going out to proclaim the gospel. Tell people about Jesus and invite them to learn more about Him. Pray for opportunities and open hearts of those you talk with. *The more God is central in your life and thinking, the more natural and easy it will be for you to talk about Him whatever the subject might be.
Next week I am going to expand on the examples set by Jesus and the apostles in evangelism and making disciples.
Sermon Notes – May 17, 2026
Evangelism – Methods. Selected Scriptures
Introduction – Matthew 28:16-20
The commandment to ___________________is fulfilled by in three steps: going, baptizing and teaching
Jesus has authority over _____________- He is able to enable the incapable who make themselves available
The commandment applies to all Christians – ______member of the body is needed to be healthy and whole
A “disciple” is a _______, a follower of a teacher: Being a disciple of Jesus comes before belief & salvation
Making a disciple begins by going and proclaiming the __________so that others may believe and be saved
The Failure of American Evangelism
American evangelism seeks to provide quick & efficient means of ________from the bad and gain the good
American pragmatism further ______________ the gospel to gain visible results / popularity
Hellfire and brimstone preaching gave way to ______________ approaches to meet people’s felt needs
The emergent church movement sought to accommodate ______________ thought
Even “evangelicals” are now being ________________ by politically correct progressive values
Salvation is no longer forgiveness & freedom from sin, but rather from oppression & freedom to be _______
A perverted gospel can neither ___________ nor stem the tide of immorality – and even adds to it
The ministry to street people could not progress because most already ____________ to be saved
A gospel that does not convert ___________against the truth since such people think they are already saved
A perverted gospel leaves people trusting in something ______ ______Jesus Christ, and therefore unsaved
The Truth about Salvation
The gospel is that salvation from _____comes by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone
The gospel is an invitation to learn of Jesus and ________Him that the individual may believe and be saved
Jesus’ Invitations
As followers of Jesus Christ, we should obey His commands and follow His __________ in doing so
Jesus used the interests of people to ____________ them to come and learn more about Him – John 1:35-41
Jesus used the interest of Andrew & John to find the Messiah to “come and see” to ___________ more
Jesus did not _______________ or pressure them
Jesus called them to greater _________________ only as they learned more about Him and were ready
Following Jesus’ Examples
Talk with others about their religious ______, & invite those who ask about yours to learn more about Jesus Use festivals and ___________ (secular and sacred) to point people to God’s character and work
Ministries of _______________ often open doors of opportunity to talk about Jesus’ compassion
Jesus’ character attracted people to Him, and the more you are like _________ , you will do the same
Overcoming Spiritual Lockjaw
The top reasons are: 1) ________ of what others think. 2) Your personal relationship with God is feeble
It is hard to tell others about the benefits knowing & walking with God when you _______ that yourself
We naturally talk to others about what is ___________to us – so Christians should naturally talk about Jesus
God intertwines in everything in life, so you can talk about Him in _________subject: weather; job; family, science, senses, history (His Story), politics, etc.
Even new Christians can begin the process of making disciples of Jesus Christ by ________ others
Overcoming Spiritual Lockjaw:
1) Make sure that your trust is in __________________ and not something else
2) Evaluate your personal ______________ life with God
3) Overcome _________ – take an evangelism class or talk with our Minister of Evangelism
4) Evaluate your level of ____________ with other believers – and be involved
5) Evaluate your ___________ to the Lord and be active
6) Find a __________ to personally disciple you
KIDS KORNER
– Parents, you are responsible to apply God’s Word to your children’s lives. Here is some help. Young Children – draw a picture about something you hear during the sermon. Explain your picture(s) to your parents at lunch. Older Children – Do one or more of the following:1) Count how many times are reference is made to evangelism. 2) Talk with your parents about how you can be involved in telling others about Jesus.
THINK ABOUT IT
– Questions to consider in understanding the sermon and its application. What is the basis for being able to carry out the Great Commission? What is the command in the Great Commission? What are the three steps in carrying out that command? What is the individual Christian’s responsibility in each of these? What is a “disciple”? How has the gospel message changed in American since the beginning of the 20th Century? What effect has each of the following had on the evangelical message: Modernism; Marketing; Post-modernism; Progressive political correctness? How have these changes affected the percentage of self-proclaimed Christians in the United States? The moral character of society? How could a perversion of the Gospel make it more difficult for someone to believe the true gospel? What is the Biblical Gospel? What is the relationship of the Gospel to making disciples of Jesus Christ? In John 1:35-41, how did Jesus use the interests of Andrew and John as an initial step in making them His disciples? How did the time traveling with Jesus prepare them for His later invitation to follow Him and become fishers of men? How did Jesus use each of the following in telling others something about Himself and inviting them to learn more: Religion; Ceremonies & Festivals; acts of Compassion? How can you use those same things to talk about Jesus and invite them to learn more? Give examples in each category. How important is being like Jesus in sparking the interest of others in Jesus? What are the two man reasons Christians are hesitant to tell others about Jesus? What could you tell others about God in each of the following subjects that might come up in a conversation: Weather; Work; Family; Science; Senses – smell, taste, sight, hearing and touch (aromas; food, beauty, music, a hug); History; Politics? Why should God let you into heaven? What would happen to your soul if you died today? If do not believe you would go to heaven or you are uncertain about the answer to either of these last two questions, talk your pastor or ministry leader as soon as possible! How can you overcome fear in talking to others about Jesus? How would you rate your devotional life? If it is not what you would like, what needs to change? What is your level of fellowship within the church? How well do other believers know you? If that needs to improve, what should you do? How are you serving the Lord currently? How would you like to serve Him? What do you need to do to serve Him as you would desire? Do you have a spiritual mentor in your life?
If you would like to receive Pastor Harris’ weekly sermons via e-mail, Click Here)
Grace Bible Church Home Page || Sermon Archives
For comments, please e-mail Church office