The Purpose Of The Church- Evangelism Series

INTRODUCTION

• 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 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, or we hired someone to do it, someone else will do it.

• I us want to 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, or outreach efforts more effective?

For Evangelism to be successful we must….

SERMON

I. WE MUST HAVE LOVE FOR THE PEOPLE.

A. When you study the ministry of Jesus, He attracted crowds because of His love for them. (PLAY ON ATTITUDE)

• MATTHEW 14:13-14 Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities. When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick.

• Jesus and the Rich young ruler. MARK 10:21 Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, "One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."

• MATTHEW 9:36-38 Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. "Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest."

• When Jesus looked at the people, He loved them so much that He wanted more people to be reached with the Gospel.

• 1TIMOTHY 2:4 who desires all men 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.

B. Correct motives flow from a correct attitude.

• Compassion. This was God’s motive for sending Jesus. Compassion is the ability to put yourself in the other person’s shoes.

• 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. READ ROMANS 9:1-3. PAUL’S BURDEN.

• 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. 2CO 5:14 For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;

• Love for the lost should motivate us.

• Appreciation that someone shared with us should motivate us also.