SERIES: “GOD-GIVEN GUIDELINES FOR GROWING A GREAT CHURCH”
TEXT: MARK 16:15-16
TITLE: Guideline #10: “COMMITTING TO EVANGELISM AS OUR PRIMARY MISSION”
(Material primarily from Bob Russel’s When God Builds A Church)
INTRODUCTION: A. I first read this story called “The Life Saving Station” in Knofel Staton’s Heaven
Bound Living:
On a dangerous sea coast where shipwrecks often occur, there was once a crude
little life-saving station. The building was just a hut and had only one boat, but the few
devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea. With no thought for themselves,
they went out every day and night, tirelessly searching for shipwreck victims. Many
lives were saved by this wonderful little life-saving station, and so it became famous.
Some of those who were saved and various others in the surrounding area wanted to
become associated with the station and give their time, money, and effort for the
support of its work. New lifeboats were bought and new life-saving crews were
trained. The little life-saving station grew.
Some of the members of the life-saving station were unhappy that the building was
so crude and poorly equipped. They felt a little more comfortable place should be
provided as the first refuge of those who were saved from drowning. So they replaced
the emergency cots and the emergency beds and put in better furniture. Now the life-
saving station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they decorated it
beautifully and furnished it exquisitely because they used it as a sort of social club.
Fewer members were now interested in going to sea on life-saving missions so they
hired lifeboat crews to do the work. The life-saving motif still prevailed in the club’s
decoration and there was a liturgical lifeboat in the room where the club met.
About this time a large ship was wrecked off the coast and the hired crews brought
in loads of cold, wet, half-drowned people. They were dirty and sick and some of them
had black skin, and some had yellow skin. The beautiful new clubhouse was
considerably messed up, so the property committee immediately had a shower house
built outside the club where the victims of the shipwrecks could be cleaned up before
coming inside.
At the next meeting there was a split in the club membership. Most of the members
wanted to stop the life-saving activity because it was unpleasant and a hindrance to the
normal social life of the club. Some members insisted on life-saving operations as the
primary purpose and pointed out they were still called a life-saving station. But they
were voted down and told if they wanted to save the lives of shipwreck victims in
those waters, they could begin their own life-saving station down the coast, which they
did.
And as the years went by, the new station experienced the same changes that
occurred in the old and it evolved into a club and yet another life-saving station was
founded. History continued to repeat itself. And if you visit the coast today you find a
number of exclusive clubs along the shore. Shipwrecks are frequent in those waters,
and most of the people drown.
B. We need to pay close attention to what Jesus says about the church’s mission and then
make sure we are being effective in that mission.
I. THE MAIN THING
A. It’s easy for any enterprise to get sidetracked from its main thrust.
1. I heard about a preacher that recently ate at a restaurant called The Pancake Factory.
--Their lunch special that day was a grilled chicken sandwich with spicy Mexican sauce.
2. Don’t you think they’ve lost their focus?
B. The church can get sidetracked and forget its primary mission
1. What is the primary purpose of the church?
a. Jesus said in Lk. 19:10 that His main mission was “to seek and to save what was lost.”
b. He gave His church the same mission just before He ascended to the Father:
(1). Our text this morning: Mk. 16:15 – “15He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the
good news to all creation.”
(2). Mt. 28:19-20a – “19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I
have commanded you.”
(3). Acts 1:8 – “8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be
my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
2. We can be asked to get involved in anti-drug, anti-alcohol, anti-pornography, anti-homosexuality, anti-
abortion, and anti-gambling causes.
3. It is okay to get involved in these causes because the church is called to be a conscience in the
community.
--To be salt and light
4. But we’re not primarily called to stop sin in the world.
--Our primary call is to preach the gospel and bring people to salvation in Jesus Christ
a. It’s not our goal to be a large political-action committee attempting to force legislation concerning
certain issues.
b. We should speak out on moral issues and we should encourage our people to become involved in
our community as good citizens.
c. However, the best thing that could happen to our community is for revival to break out in our
churches.
5. Satan is more intimidated by a church faithfully preaching Christ crucified than by a thousand
demonstrators protesting one facet of the devil’s program on the steps of the state capitol.
a. The best way to change our community is to win one soul at a time to Jesus Christ.
b. Better government and better legislation can’t save anyone.
--Jesus can.
c. Acts 4:4 – “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men
by which we must be saved.”
C. Another distraction is being a social agency trying to meet welfare needs.
1. We SHOULD minister to people’s needs
--First to those in our congregation and then to others.
2. The same Jesus who gave us the command about evangelism also taught us that we need to take care
of widows and children, to feed the hungry, to give water to the thirsty, to give clothing to the needy
and alleviate to the best of our ability the suffering of others.
3. Even if we feed every hungry mouth in our community and don’t give them the Bread of Life that
feeds them for an eternity, we have not fulfilled our mission.
D. We have to remember: “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”
1. In Acts 5, when Peter was imprisoned for preaching the gospel, an angel came and released him.
2. The angel didn’t say to Peter, “Go and tell the people how the government can be better,” or “Go
protest in the street about the Sanhedrin,” or even, “Go feed the poor.”
3. He told Peter in Acts 5:20 – “Go stand in the temple courts, and tell the people the full message of this
new life.”
--He told Peter to get back to the work of being an evangelist.
4. Peter went back to where the local church was meeting, and told them what happened
a. The church prayed for boldness and the Holy Spirit shook the place where they were
b. And the church went out to obey.
5. Acts 5:42 describes the result: “Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they
never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.”
6. D.L. Moody once spoke with a woman who didn’t like his method of evangelism. He responded by
saying, "I don’t really like mine all that much either. What’s yours?" She replied that she didn’t have
one. Moody said, "Then I like mine better than yours.
7. Dr. Ronald Schultz, a preacher in Texas: “We sing "Bringing In The Sheaves," while we’re out
swinging in our Lees©! On the other hand, maybe it is "Bring Them In!" but we never go out to win.
There is no one in the church house to encourage with "Why Not Tonight?" because we never got
around to "Send The Light!" "Redeemed" how we love to proclaim it on Sunday, but we’d rather not
talk about it on Monday. Hmm, we speak with forked tongue, my friends.”
E. Some critics would ask: “Shouldn’t you be building up the people you have now?”
--They don’t understand that one of the primary ways that a person grows as a Christian is through
sharing the gospel with other people.
II. SOME QUALIFIERS
--Although evangelism should be our church’s priority, let me underscore some qualifiers about evangelism.
A. Qualifier #1: Evangelism should not take precedence over truth
1. Noah was an evangelist who saved only eight people
2. I’m sure that he wanted to save more
3. But his desire didn’t cause him to promise a brief cruise or a free ticket to the Ark Zoo.
4. The means for entrance on the ark: You had to believe the message and repent of your sins.
5. Sometimes our desire to grow causes us to sacrifice doctrine to make the message more palatable or
rely on gimmicks to attract people.
6. We are to go into all the world and make DISCIPLES, not just add members
--In fact, I believe that the biggest problem in most churches is that there are too many MEMBERS
and not enough DISCIPLES
B. Qualifier #2: Evangelism is the church’s PRIMARY purpose, but it’s not the ONLY purpose
1. Jesus’ command was to make disciples and teach all of His commandments
2. The church exists to edify Christians and minister to people’s needs as well
3. We cannot totally measure our effectiveness as a congregation by the number of new members.
C. Qualifier #3: Evangelism is not measured by comparative statistics
--We should not compare our degree of success to other congregations
1. Jesus said some seed would fall on hard ground and not grow at all
2. Other seed would fall on fertile soil
a. Even fertile soil will produce different results
b. Some will produce thirty-fold; others sixty-fold; and others a hundred-fold
c. Some fields are more receptive than others
d. Some have more potential because of the size of the surrounding population or different cultural
conditions.
3. The ultimate success of our evangelistic efforts lies in the hands of God
a. 1 Cor. 3:6-8 – “6I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7So neither he who
plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8The man who plants
and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own
labor.”
b. Jesus commands us to commit to evangelism as our primary mission and all He requires is our
faithfulness in keeping our commitment.
--He promises that He will take care of the rest
III. PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS
A. We need to understand that every culture is different
1. Specific things that may work in America may not work in Ireland or Zimbabwe or India
2. Specific things that may work in Indianapolis, Louisville, or Evansville may not work in Washington
B. But there are practical things that should work anywhere
1. Practical Suggestion #1: We need to teach the Christians in our congregation
a. Some people believe that a sermon is not really a sermon unless it’s an evangelistic sermon
b. Now, I will say that preachers should preach evangelistic sermons
(1). The basics of salvation need to be explained regularly
(2). But the primary thrust of most sermons should be directed at those who are already Christians.
c. Growing Christians are much more effective in evangelism than evangelistic sermons
(1). If you are on fire for Jesus Christ and excited about growing spiritually in your church, then
you can’t help but tell your friends about it.
(2). The best evangelism is the kind that comes as a natural outpouring of a believer’s excitement
about what they have discovered.
(a). Like the shepherds who saw the angels and found the baby Jesus
(b). Like the healed leper whom Jesus tried to keep quiet
(c ). Like the two men on the road to Emmaus after they discovered the identity of their
traveling companion.
2. Practical suggestion #2: We need to adopt the “Come-and-See” Method of Evangelism
a. Some people think the only method of evangelism besides the evangelistic sermon is door-to-door
calling.
(1). In most of America, door-to-door calling doesn’t work anymore
(2). It’s no longer acceptable to just “stop in” on people
--especially if you’re a stranger
(3). Americans as a general rule no longer enjoy having unplanned guests
(4). Time is a precious commodity
--So, the last thing people want to do is engage in an hour-long conversation about religion
with a total stranger
(5). People generally distrust anyone coming through the neighborhood “door-to-door”
b. The most effective method of evangelism today is the word-of-mouth method
(1). Some of the greatest evangelists in the New Testament used the “come-and-see” method
(a). There’s no mention of any great sermon by the apostle Andrew
--But he’s the one who said to his brother Peter, “We’ve found the Messiah – come and
see.”
(b). When Nathanael asked if any good thing could possibly come out of Nazareth, Philip
told Nathanael to “come and see”
(c). The Samaritan woman at the well told everyone in the town of Sychar to “come and see”
(2). Let’s say you find a great new restaurant – one that has great food and great service. What do
you do?
(a). You tell your family, you tell your friends, you tell your neighbors.
(b). You can’t wait to take people to this great restaurant.
(c ). Yogi Berra once lamented that his favorite restaurant “is always so crowded that nobody
goes there anymore.”
(3). If we are serving fresh spiritual bread here at our church, people WILL come and they’ll
BRING their friends.
c. One of the great advantages of the come-and-see method is that it doesn’t require any training
before it’s implemented.
--Anyone can invite someone to church
d. Many of you are probably familiar with Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY
(1). The most fascinating thing about their phenomenal growth is that they do not have a planned
evangelistic program.
--At least, a planned program in the traditional sense
(2). They do almost no marketing campaigns or advertise in their community
(3). But an extensive survey of their congregation showed that over 90% of their members invited
someone to come to church with them in the past year.
(4). In their weekend worship services last weekend, they had 17,591 people in attendance and
another 8,502 people at their Sunday evening post-modern service. 26, 093 all together.
3. Practical suggestion #3: We need to make the church experience exciting and uplifting
a. Make the church experience something for which people will want to return
(1). I believe it is sinful when the people of God get together and the event is a big “bore-and-
snore” festival
(2). We have the most important message in the world based on the most important person that has
ever lived that leads to the most important place in eternity
--That, my friends, should never be BORING
b. We need to make a special effort to be the friendliest and most special place in our community
(1). To do that, we need a sense of pride
--A sense of pride in that what we do is important to the cause of Christ and to lost and
hurting people
(2). We also need a sense of excellence
--A sense of excellence in that everything we do should be the best we can do because it’s for
the cause of Christ and for lost and hurting people whose eternity depends on it.
c. I read recently about a local church that caught fire, and a painting of Jesus, which hung in the
building basically unnoticed by visitors, was endangered. Two men rushed into the church and
rescued the painting.
Many people came and watched as the church burnt. After the fire was put out people began to
gather around the picture and admire it. The leaders of the church were amazed that so many
people were interested in the picture that had hung so long unnoticed. Somebody replied, “When
the church caught fire and moved Christ into the street, people become interested.”
4. Practical suggestion #4: We need to be prepared for the Spirit of God to move
a. One preacher I heard about spent a couple of years right out of Bible college ministering to a
small congregation in South Carolina. When he first arrived he had to have the baptistery cleaned
out and filled up because it hadn’t been used for a long time. He had to insist that plans be made
for what they would do should someone respond to the invitation.
That little congregation had become so accustomed to having no responses that they didn’t even
prepare for one. When people began responding to the invitation and being baptized in that
beautiful, clean baptistery, some of the longtime members of the church admitted they had never
witnessed an adult being baptized!
b. A clear principle to recognize is that if you expect that evangelism will not happen, it probably
won’t.
c. And you won’t be prepared for it even if it happens by accident!
CONCLUSION: A. Several years ago the city of Pittsburgh constructed a large, new post office at the cost
of several million dollars. On the day it opened, the Governor made a speech, the
bands played and the people cheered. It was quite a celebration.
But when the first man entered to mail a letter, to the embarrassment of the engineers, it
was discovered that in the rush to meet the deadline, they had omitted the usual letter drop.
Here was a costly new post office, but no place to mail a letter! It was a slight omission,
but it negated the very reason for its existence.
B. Let’s imagine that you’re travelling down I-64. You see a car coming down one of the
exit ramps the wrong way. The driver is now travelling east-bound in the west-bound
lanes. You have your cell phone with you. What do you do?
You do everything you can to warn people about the danger of that driver who is going
the wrong way. You flash your lights and blow your horn to warn the driver. You try to
alert the police with your cell phone. You pray fervently that no one gets hurt. You
agonize over the consequences that might happen in the lives of those effected by that
driver going the wrong way.
C. We have a large amount of people that live around us that are traveling the wrong way.
1. They’re a danger to themselves and sometimes a danger to others
2. How can we sit back complacently when we see someone going the wrong way?
a. Most of us would do all the above and more for a driver on the interstate.
b. I pray that we would do as much or more someone going the wrong way spiritually.
3. We need to make doubly sure that evangelism is our primary mission and then set out
to accomplish that mission through the “come-and-see” method.
D. Maybe you’re the one traveling the wrong way.
--Prov. 14:12 –“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”
1. I want you to know: God cares about what happens to you.
2. He cared so much about your eternal destination that He sent His Son to be the Way
the Truth, and the Life.
--Jesus gave His life so that you can turn yours around
3. What direction are you headed this morning?
