Giving Jesus Away
Mat 5:13 "You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.
Mat 5:14 "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
Mat 5:15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.
Mat 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
I. You are the Light of the Word
a. Light conquers darkness
b. Light provides renewed sight
c. Light shows the reality of a situation
d. Light shows the way to freedom
II. You are the Salt of the earth
a. Salt adds flavor to something dull
b. Salt helps to preserve what it is put on
c. Salt without flavor is worthless
III. Principles for Evangelism
a. Before Salvation
i. People live for themselves
ii. People do not want to be told what to do
iii. People have their own ideas about what is good for them
iv. People don’t spend much time searching for God
v. People spend their lives running hard and fast in the wrong direction
b. During Salvation
i. People acknowledge that there is something missing
ii. People look towards God in hope of what He will add to their lives
iii. People are scared of what this will mean for their lifestyle and friends
iv. People have no idea what to expect from the Church.
v. People believe that their problems will go away
vi. People have no idea what is about to happen to their lives
c. After Salvation
i. 80% of people backslide because of inadequate followup
ii. 20% remain in the church, trying to keep their faith alive
iii. 2% become help to build the kingdom by serving their church and community
iv. The #1 reason for staying in the church is usually relationships
v. The #1 reason for leaving the church is lack of relationships
vi. Do we see a pattern
IV. True Effective Evangelism – Building Relationships
a. Step One: Identify your friends and family
i. Make A List
ii. Add relationships by making friends
iii. This is your assigned evangelism territory
b. Step Two: Build your relationships
i. Express a desire to know about peope and be known by them
ii. Accept the people with unconditional love and compassion
iii. Be vulnerable, not self-righteous
iv. Be a good host – invite people to eat with you
c. Step Three: Make your faith obvious
i. Talk about God naturally
ii. Get rid of “christianese” – they don’t understand it
iii. Get rid of things that are contrary to what you are saying
iv. Remember – LOVE, not judgement, is the sign of a true disciple of Christ
d. Step Four: Extend Invitations
i. Invite your friends and family to church functions
1. Wednesday service is very effective
ii. Send your people to the church website
1. Add the church website to your email signature
2. Put a link on your MySpace profile
3. Send people there for the daily devotional
iii. Ask them to pray
1. In times of trouble
2. In times of victory
3. In times of help
4. In times of need
iv. Give them godly answers that will point them to Christ
1. Reasons to consider Christ
2. Reasons to believe that there is hope in Christ
3. Reasons that it makes sense to believe in Christ
4. Reasons to give things over to Christ
e. Step Five: Be An Example
i. Once they come to faith, be the example
ii. They are as important as the unbeliever
iii. Continue to be vulnerable and grow WITH them
iv. Encourage them to evangelize
v. Commit together to continue the work with the rest of your friends and family
V. Prayer for Friends and Family
