How do you feel about sharing the gospel?
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of evangelism?
You might love the thought of sharing the good news of Jesus with people. Or if you are like me, the thought of sharing the gospel with friends, work colleagues or family members can be daunting.
When you haven’t talked about Jesus before with someone, bringing up the gospel for the first time might be nerve-wracking because you don’t know how they will react and you might worry that it will damage your relationship.
Maybe you know how someone will react because you have spoken to them about Jesus before. They might have been uninterested or offended previously so you expect that bringing up the gospel again will only cause friction or discomfort.
Or maybe you feel like you just don’t know how to talk about Jesus. You are worried that you might say the wrong thing or not be able to explain the gospel clearly.
Feelings of fear and discomfort might tempt us to give up sharing the gospel, and yet, as Christians, we know that people desperately need Jesus so they can be saved from death. We know that people must hear the gospel to put their faith in Jesus (Romans 10:9-17) and as Christians we are called to share the gospel with the lost (Matthew 28:19-20).
So what can help us share Jesus with friends and family when we are scared or feel inadequate?
Remember how you came to trust Jesus
As Christians, we have received the most precious gift. While we were still dead in sin, God made us alive with Christ. This was only through God’s grace, and not our works (Ephesians 2:1-8). God may have used various people to share the gospel with us, but it was the Holy Spirit who revealed the truth of the gospel to us and enabled us to repent and have faith in Jesus. Remembering this truth can completely revolutionise our approach to evangelism.
As we long for our friends and family to receive the gift of forgiveness and new life in Jesus, we can confidently share the gospel with them, knowing that it doesn’t depend on how eloquently we speak, or how persuasive we are. Instead, we can trust that God can powerfully use our words to impact people’s hearts and bring them to repentance and trust in Jesus through his Holy Spirit.
This means that the most powerful tool we have for evangelism is…. Prayer!
The power of prayer
This might seem like a token Christian response. But hear me out. While learning a new gospel tract or summary might help us explain the gospel more clearly, the most important thing we can do is pray! We can boldly pray that God would give us opportunities to share the gospel with people who are lost. And we must prayerfully depend on God to impact people with the gospel message and bring them to trust Jesus.
Watchman Nee’s testimony
I recently read the testimony of Watchman Nee, an evangelist in China throughout the 20th Century. When he first became a Christian in high school, Watchman Nee tried to convince all his school friends to become Christians. But the problem was that he was relying on his own strength, he was trying to use logic and reason to persuade people to trust Jesus. Following advice from wise older Christian mentors, Watchman Nee changed his approach to evangelism. He wrote down a list of 70 people (many of his school friends, and family members) and committed to praying for them persistently. Watchman Nee stopped relying on himself and started depending on God, praying multiple times a day that God would save these people by bringing them to trust Jesus.
By God’s grace, all but 1 of the 70 people on Watchman Nee’s prayer list ended up putting their trust in Jesus!
Watchman Nee’s testimony is such an encouraging reminder for us. It fuels our desire for our unbelieving friends and family to be saved, and it reminds us to pray persistently for them!
1-2-3 Bookmarks
At St Michael’s, we are using the 1-2-3 bookmarks to commit to praying for two non-Christian friends or family members over three years. So, let’s encourage each other to keep praying persistently for these people on our 123 bookmarks.
Ray Galea recently stated that as Christians we can fall into believing that we trust in “a God who can, but probably won’t.”
God is powerful to save! Let’s pray boldly that God might use us to shine as lights in our city.
Take opportunities to share the gospel
At church, we have two upcoming outreach opportunities to help us engage our loved ones and introduce them to Jesus. The first is ‘Meet Jesus‘ on Sunday 4 August; in essence, it will look like a regular church service, you should come at your regular service time (8am, 9:45am, 10am, 11:30am, 5pm or 7pm), but we’re encouraging you to invite unbelieving friends, colleagues and family so they can meet Jesus in Luke’s gospel. To follow up, our next Explore Jesus course (‘321‘) starts Sunday 11 August in the Bishop’s Office (on the church grounds at 74 Church St, Wollongong) from 10-11:30am. This is a four-week interactive video course (by Glen Scrivener), which presents the gospel from a unique perspective. We think it’s worthwhile for both believers and unbelievers to attend; think of it as great evangelism training, even if you’re unable to bring a friend!
What a privilege it is to take part in God’s work of growing his kingdom here in Wollongong! Let’s continue to prayerfully share the gospel with people, trusting that God can and will bring many more into his kingdom.
Jess Luy
Student Minister | 9.45am & 11:30am
