Evangelism: What it is, and what it is not

HisManySongs

Passed on, February 28, 2022
Evangelism: What it is, and what it is not

What it IS:

Evangelism is basically reaching out to a lost soul with the life saving message that Jesus Loves them.

This is a simple message best expressed by John 3:16
KJV - For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
NLT - For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.
What it is NOT:

Evangelism is NOT beating a person over the head with your Bible (literally or figuratively) and telling them they're going to hell.

They may very well be headed there (and remember ONLY God knows the answer to that question!), but this is not an effective way to preach the Gospel.

Discussion?
 
What it IS:

Evangelism is basically reaching out to a lost soul with the life saving message that Jesus Loves them.

This is a simple message best expressed by John 3:16
What it is NOT:

Evangelism is NOT beating a person over the head with your Bible (literally or figuratively) and telling them they're going to hell.

They may very well be headed there (and remember ONLY God knows the answer to that question!), but this is not an effective way to preach the Gospel.

Discussion?

I bolded what you said it is not and that is exactly it . In the past it was thought that was the approach but I am afraid that does not work in our society now and just turns people off or into an arguement

Evangelism in our day needs to be used as a tool in a general sense to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and can be in many creative ways . Evangelism can be even in your own neibourhood extending as helping hand , loving your neibour and showing God's love in tangible ways , getting to know your neibour and making him or her feel special , befriending your neibour. .

Evangelism can be going with a group or in twos to an area of town that you would not go and just having a prayer walk around that area.

Evangelism can be extended in so many ways in our daily living , just smiling at a cashier and saying a God Bless you or the man on the street who asks for money , sharing first Jesus with him and then giving him money .

Evangelism can be knocking on doors and asking people if they need prayer .

I guess what I am saying is that we all can share in evangelism . We don't have to be pastors or evangelists but we do need to be missionaries and that does not mean we go to foreign lands . OUr mission field is right where we live.

 
I guess what I am saying is that we all can share in evangelism . We don't have to be pastors or evangelists but we do need to be missionaries and that does not mean we go to foreign lands . OUr mission field is right where we live.

I agree Dusty...

We can share God's love in so many ways and as you said, it can be a simple smile or a hug. I have had people get tears in their eyes by just saying, "God loves you." You just don't know how much a simple act of kindness impact others. Those acts are very small but huge to those who are in need of it. It is then that God may open up that door for us to introduce our Lord and Savior. When evangelizing, it involves patience, understanding, and being lead by the Holy Spirit.

However, beating a person up or putting fear in a person is not good evangelism. You also don't want to overwhelm a person with a lot of scripture especially if they don't have bible knowledge. The time to introduce scripture will come but we must move slowly and we must allow the Holy Spirit to guide us in instances like this. If we don't allow the Holy Spirit to guide us in what we do and say and move ahead on our own, we may will loose that individual. So, we must all pray and ask the Holy Spirit to guide us in all that we do and say when evangelizing.

God bless,

Godbe4me
 
Evangelism - A work of "Patience"

In the spring of 1992 fourth-grade students in Portland, Maine, carried out a novel experiment. Their teacher, Pamela Trieu, was teaching the kids about the ocean, specifically about the Gulf Stream that flows along the East Coast and then turns toward Europe. According to Reuters, she had the kids put messages with their addresses in empty wine bottles, and then a fisherman took the twenty-one bottles away from shore and threw them into the ocean. They hoped that some of the bottles might drift to England.

Three months later, two bottles washed up in Canada. The class heard nothing else and assumed that the rest of the bottles were lost at sea. Two years passed. Then one of the students, Geoff Hight, received a surprise letter from a girl in Pornichet, France. She found one of their bottles while walking with her father on the beach.

Our efforts at evangelism are often like tossing a bottle with a message into the ocean. We share the gospel with others however we can--giving a piece of literature, a personal testimony, a prayer with someone in need. We see no response and think our message is forgotten, "lost at sea." But years later we learn that the Spirit of God---like the mighty Gulf Stream---has carried our message to its destination.

Isa.55:10-11
10 "For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there,
But water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater,
11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.



Romans 1:16
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.


God bless,

Godbe4me
 
''Gospel'' means ''good news''. So if it's not something good we are preaching then it's not the gospel.

I do believe they have to know they need a Savior and they are lost, or they would not feel the need to get saved. But we can have a compassionate attitude about it, not condemning. We just show them the way and the Holy Spirit is the one who convicts of sin.
 
Evangelism helps people come to Christ or return to Christ.

How is that done?

By loving them. By showing compassion. By remembering that "If not for the grace of God; there go I."

Great responses in this thread, and I agree that bullying tactics don't last very long if they work at all.

God never bullies me. He simply loves me; no matter where I am or what I am doing.

His love is UNCONDITIONAL, and that's what evangelism is . . . UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.

love17.gif
 
Evangelism helps people come to Christ or return to Christ.

How is that done?

By loving them. By showing compassion. By remembering that "If not for the grace of God; there go I."

Great responses in this thread, and I agree that bullying tactics don't last very long if they work at all.

God never bullies me. He simply loves me; no matter where I am or what I am doing.

His love is UNCONDITIONAL, and that's what evangelism is . . . UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.

love17.gif

Good points sis ..... Blessings .
 
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