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.
C. Motive and attitude relates to how we will or will not act.
• It will help us not to be obnoxious
• It will help us not to be hostile
• It will help us to not share out of obligation.
• It will help us to not share to exalt self.
• It will help us to be judgmental.
• It will help us not to be judgmental
• It will help us to be fearful.
• It will help us not to be fearful.
• It will help us to remember our limitations. (1 cor 3:6)
• It will help us not to be discouraged with God’s timetable.
• It will help us to be tactful.
• It will help us to be prepared. 1PE 3:15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;
• It will help us not to be lazy.
• It will help us not to be guilty of direct disobedience to Christ’s direct command.
For Evangelism to be successful we must….
II. NEEDS MUST BE MET.
A. How many people want to hear a sermon when they are hungry or sick?
• In Psychology class we learned about this thing called Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Basically it says that we have different levels of needs and until one level is satisfied, we cannot get past that level.
• He draws it as a pyramid.
• At the bottom are the physiological needs (air, food, water, sleep, etc basic human needs)
• then you have safety and security
• followed by loving and belonging,
• Esteem and self-esteem
• Self-actualization (self fulfillment)
• A person is concerned with the level they are. If your safety is threatened, you cannot worry about feeling loved, or if you are starving, you are not worried about self-esteem.
• I am not promoting Maslow, but I do think there is some truth in what he says. Jesus knew this principle also.
• What did Jesus do for people before He taught them? He took care of needs. He found out what their needs were and addressed them. Jesus earned the right to be heard!
• When you look at the ministry of Jesus and the Apostles, you will see that they did not try to cram a message down people’s throat without regard for their needs.
• MAT 15:30-32 And large crowds came to Him, bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and He healed them. So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel. And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, "I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way."
• LUKE 6:18 who had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were being cured.
• JOHN 6:2 A large crowd followed Him, because they saw the signs which He was performing on those who were sick.
B. Jesus did not make people feel bad because they had a need, He did not judge some needs as being more legitimate than others
C. Jesus often met a felt need in order to establish a beachhead for evangelism in a person’s life.
D. A hungry hurting person does not want to hear a message unless you earn the right to share it with them.
E. Studies have shown that 70%-90% of all people who come to Church because a friend or relative invites them. This happens because a friend or family member has the respect of a person because they have been there for the good times and the bad.
F. READ JAMES 2:14-17
G. A young boy, on an errand for his mother, had just bought a dozen eggs. Walking out of the store, he tripped and dropped the sack. All the eggs broke, and the sidewalk was a mess. The boy tried not to cry. A few people gathered to see if he was OK and to tell him how sorry they were. In the midst of the words of pity, one man handed the boy a quarter. Then he turned to the group and said, "I care 25 cents worth. How much do the rest of you care?" James 2:16 points out that words don’t mean much if we have the ability to do more.
For Evangelism to be successful we must….
III. THE PRESENTATION OF THE GOSPEL MUST BE PRACTICAL AND INTERESTING.
A. Jesus attracted crowds by teaching in an interesting practical way.
• MAT 7:28 When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching;
• MAT 22:33 When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.
• MAR 11:18 The chief priests and the scribes heard this, and began seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching.
• MAR 12:37 "David himself calls Him ’Lord’; so in what sense is He his son?" And the large crowd enjoyed listening to Him.
B. Jesus preached the TRUTH.
• Today truth is relative. Too many preachers have let themselves be sucked into this thinking. Truth is truth. We can attract people with the truth that is preached in love.
• Jesus accepted people, but He did not accept their actions. Jesus always confronted their sin in a loving way.
C. Jesus related to truth to life.
• Jesus used everyday language. He was understood by the common people, He did not break into some jargon that no one could understand without a dictionary.
• Jesus used everyday situations to relay the truth to people.
• A parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.
CONCLUSION
• Let us be a church that loves people, a church that is willing to meet people’s needs and a church that presents the Word of God in an interesting and relevant way.
• We do not have an option when it comes to reaching out to the lost.
• If we are not making the effort to evangelize. Each one of us has a responsibility to reach out to the lost.
• I bet the most every one of us has a neighbor that does not belong to Jesus. We can start with our neighbor, if we all did that, then at best we will make more disciples. At worst, at least when a person dies outside of Jesus, they will not be able to say that no one cared enough to share.
• Let us be a church that loves people so much that we hurt when we know someone is lost.
• LUKE 15:7 "I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
