Eagles Nest Church
Evangelism - Week 9

      • 2 Timothy 3:16–17ESV

  • When it comes to evangelism,
    Most Christians aren’t confused about whether they should share their faith.
    They’re concerned about about how to actually do that.
    And that’s what we are finally getting to today,
    which is actually at the tail end of our class on evangelism.
    But the reason we saved this for the end,
    is because we first needed to define evangelism, the gospel, and biblical conversion.
    Because without a biblical understanding of those,
    we will not share the gospel correctly.
    So far:
    We’ve rejected programmatic and pragmatic evangelism,
    We’ve laid out the foundation for instead creating a culture of evangelism.
    We’ve seen how the church is God’s great plan for evangelism
    and that developing a culture of evangelism in the context of the church is the best thing we can do for the proclamation of the gospel.
    We’ve also seen how we must strive to be intentional evangelists,
    because the gospel as a way of life.
    We’ve seen how must never assume the gospel,
    And how we must treat evangelism as a spiritual discipline,
    which means means being intentional with evangelism and praying for the lost.
    So with all of this mind, let’s look at how to share the actual gospel.
    2 Corinthians 5:20–21 ESV
    Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
    Here Paul calls us to remember the power behind the message,
    which is Christ Himself.
    He also reminds us what we are.
    We are Christ’s ambassadors.
    That means we learn to see people differently.
    Not through the world’s categories, but through God’s.
    Which leads us to see the lost as sinners who need to be reconciled to Him.
    We have to get the message right.
    Ambassadors do not get to rewrite the message.
    They deliver it.
    We can’t add to it,
    we can’t shave off the sharp edges.
    The pure gospel message is this:
    God is holy,
    He made us,
    He owns us,
    and our sin is real treason against Him.
    But He made a way of salvation.
    He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us,
    and Christ bore the just punishment we deserved at the cross,
    so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
    And sinners are reconciled to God by turning from sin and trusting Christ.
    That is the simple message we carry.
    We must deliver it without shame - even when it costs us discomfort, effort, or embarrassment.
    This is what ambassadors do.
    We look people in the eye and say, “Be reconciled to God.
    2 Corinthians 5:20–21 ESV
    Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
    We may not feel like representatives of Christ, but that’s what we are.
    The only question is, will we be faithful or unfaithful ambassadors of Christ?
    Letter to J Mack Stiles in the book Evangelism:
    Dear Mack,
    I’ve been praying for Candice for a while now—for opportunities to share the gospel. A little background: Candice was raised Catholic but does not go to any church currently. She lives a homosexual lifestyle in the context of a family with four kids. The kids are biologically her partner’s, but she is mostly their primary caregiver. Candice’s mom has cancer, and lives over a thousand miles from her. I’ve known Candice for over twenty-five years and I’ve worked for her for the last two years. She knows I am serious about my faith and generally I would say she holds me in high regard. I’ve offered to pray for her, which she appreciates, and she’s given financial support for me to go on short-term mission trips.
    The other day, while she was telling me about visiting her mom, she broke down crying. I’ve never seen her cry. As I was sitting across from her, in my head I was trying to bring the gospel to bear on her situation and figure out a way to communicate something of eternal value that didn’t sound like I lacked compassion. In the end, I didn’t say anything of obvious eternal value. I merely tried to make her comfortable to cry in my presence and to affirm that I had empathy with her situation. I think I could have done better.
    As I reflected on that situation later, I wished I had said something like: “This pain you are feeling is normal in a broken, sin-sick world. This world is broken and not like it will be when God reconciles all things to himself.” I think I hesitated to say something like that because I didn’t want her to assume, like most people do, that there is nothing required on their part to be included in God’s reconciliation. Should I have said it anyway? Should I have said something else?
    Kim
    Here’s how I replied:
    Dear Kim,
    Well, first off, I think that allowing someone to feel comfortable to cry in your presence is worth quite a bit, but I know how you feel—it’s that sense that we have something so precious to offer and of such consoling power that in the midst of heartache, if we could just break through all the defenses that are set up around people’s hearts against Christ, they could know the one who will one day wipe away all tears. And to make matters worse, we know how close they are to the truth—“It’s in my heart and I’m right next to you”—but they just can’t see it.
    But more to the point about Candice: maybe God is breaking down the barriers against Christ in her heart through your witness. Of course, I’m not sure what the Holy Spirit has in the works, but it may just be that consoling her was the best thing to do at the time in a long string of good things she has seen in you.
    The thing to do now, in my mind, is to have a follow-up conversation. Would it be possible for you to take Candice for a coffee and conversation? I’d say something like, “Candice, I want to have a spiritual conversation with you over coffee; would that offend you?” In my experience, when we reassure people that we know that faith can be offensive, they tend to be more open.
    Over coffee or a meal, I’d say what you said (I love the way you put it): “This pain you are feeling is normal in a broken, sin-sick world.” I would certainly encourage you to say that, but then at that point, I would ask permission, again, to tell her how God reconciles a broken world to himself: “Candice, could I have your permission to tell you about how I think a loving God works in the world that’s broken?” and then, “Candice, your tears really touched me, and as I’ve thought about it, I can’t think of anything that would be more important to know in your situation than the message of Christ,” or “I know that religion can be divisive, but Candice, for the last two thousand years people have found the message of Jesus to be the key to understanding life and death, and I want to tell you about it,” or “Candice, you know that I believe in a God on a cross, that is, a God who has identified with our death. And it has such bearing on your situation that I just want to explain the message of Jesus to you”—something like that, or maybe a combination of all those. You would know better how to say it in your context and Candice’s, but the goal is to give an honest presentation of the gospel that is full of eternal significance and helps her know her greatest need: to repent of sin and respond in faith.
    Question:
    What stood out you about this?
    Give yourself grace when you share. Fear often creeps in because there are so many ways it can go wrong. You can stumble over your words, miss an opportunity, or say something you replay later and regret. But even those moments can shape you into a better ambassador over time. • Meet people where they actually are, not where you wish they were.
    Pay attention to open doors. This is where a culture of evangelism matters. When believers share the opportunities they are seeing, others often discover ways to step in and help.
    Be compassionate. Keep a tender heart. Never forget that you are a sinner too. Humility gives the gospel credibility.
    Remember that we really do have answers to life’s biggest questions. When the thin surface of life cracks and people start asking deeper things, don’t hide the light God has given you.
    Focus on a person’s separation from God, not merely on moral behavior.
    Be intentional. Think ahead about what you might say. That usually leads to words that are clearer, kinder, and more helpful.
    Be honest about what you know and what you don’t. We live in a sin-sick world, and Christians understand why it is this way. At the same time, it’s okay to admit we don’t have every answer, while still trusting the God Who does.
    It can be helpful, though not required, to ask permission before sharing the gospel.
    Ask good questions and listen carefully.
    Finally, if you know a particular issue is likely to come up, take time to learn about it. Read, ask questions, and listen to people who understand it well.
    If I were sitting in jail because I shared the gospel, my first prayer request would probably be, “Please get me out of here.”
    But the apostle Paul’s was different.
    From prison, he asked the church to pray for boldness and clarity,
    that he would speak the gospel plainly
    and without fear (Eph. 6:19; Col. 4:3–4).
    But for many Christians in North America,
    this is where evangelism most often breaks down.
    Not because we don’t know the message,
    but because we hesitate to speak it.
    We fear awkwardness,
    rejection,
    or misunderstanding.
    And yet, around the world, believers who face real cost continue to speak clearly about Christ.
    Like Paul in Philippians 3, they count everything as loss compared to knowing Him,
    and so they keep opening their mouths.
    Scripture calls us to remember examples of faithfulness like that,
    not to admire them from a distance, but to follow them.
    So take courage where God has placed you.
    Be bold.
    Be clear.
    Be faithful, and trust God with the fruit.
    My story of sharing my faith with Abdi.
    As far as I know, he never came to faith,
    but that’s not my responsibility,
    My, and our responsibility, is to simply be faithful.
    2 Corinthians 4:1 ESV
    Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.
    Weariness is real.
    You get tired of talking to tired people about a treasure they don’t seem to want.
    You get tired of fearing rejection.
    And sometimes you get tired of feeling tired,
    thinking you shouldn’t be struggling with feeling tired at all.
    What steadies me is Paul’s prayer in Philemon 6
    Philemon 6 ESV
    and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.
    Here Paul prays that believers would be active in sharing their faith
    so that they would gain a fuller understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.
    That’s surprising.
    The reason isn’t results or response.
    Instead, it’s about what happens in us when we share the gospel.
    The point is, sharing our faith is not only for others.
    It’s also for us.
    God uses it to deepen our grasp of the gospel,
    to train our hearts,
    and to shape how we view life and death.
    But when we only focus on what’s supposed to happen in someone else when share the gospel, we lose heart.
    But when we remember that God is working in us as I speak,
    even when nothing seems to happen,
    our hope in Christ becomes more alive in us!
    Ephesians 2:1–5 ESV
    And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
    Ephesians 2:6–10 ESV
    and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
    When we share the gospel,
    We aren’t just telling others about these glorious truths,
    we are reminding ourselves of these glorious truths.
    Which is we must never grow wearing in the sharing the gospel,
    either with the lost,
    or with each other within our church community.
    This is why evangelism, regardless of visible fruit, is tied directly to spiritual health.
    Yes, we want to grow in wisdom and avoid unnecessary stumbling blocks when we share the gospel.
    But we we NOT wait until we feel ready or effective.
    We MUST speak because God uses that obedience to deepen our love for Christ.
    Remember, God is at work through you, even when you can’t see it.
    Sometimes it’s a brief conversation.
    Sometimes it’s a quiet word.
    Sometimes it’s a seed you’ll never see sprout this side of heaven.
    So don’t quit.
    Take heart as you share the gospel.
    and trust that God is giving you a fuller understanding of the riches of Christ,
    teaching you to see people as He sees them,
    and training you to depend on Him.
    And rejoice knowing, that sometimes, by His grace, He even lets us see weary people made new.
    Question 1:
    Where does evangelism most often breaks down for Christians today. Is it clarity of the message, courage to speak, fear of response, or something else? What’s the solution?
    Question 2:
    How do we often wrongly measure success with evangelism and how does that prevent us from sharing the gospel? How do we fix this?
    Question 3:
    What would it actually look like for our church to strengthen a culture of evangelism rather than relying on programs or personalities? What small, concrete steps could we take together?
    Question 4:
    What have you found to be an effective or ineffective way of sharing the gospel?

      • 2 Corinthians 5:20–21ESV

      • 2 Corinthians 5:20–21ESV

      • 2 Corinthians 4:1ESV

      • Philemon 6ESV

      • Ephesians 2:1–5ESV

      • Ephesians 2:6–10ESV

Eagles Nest Church
pastorzach@eaglesnestmn.org
(218) 562-5252
http://www.eaglesnestmn.org
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