13.1 NEW SERIES - REVELATIONS ON EVANGELISM
We have finished the series on worship. I hope that you have enjoyed it. Today, we shall start on a new series on the topic of evangelism, a very popular topic among Christians.
When I was a student, a senior told me that I had to evangelize and win souls for God in order to get God’s affirmation – and get to heaven. As an impressionable teen, I was fired up to evangelize and even got one soul saved. But then I realized that I did not know what the Gospel message was all about. And after evangelizing zealously for weeks, trying hard to convert souls, I got burnt out. Have you been through that before?
Let’s launch into our discussion. Some people say that the purpose for our existence and the mission of the Church is to fulfill the great commission. That is only half the truth.
(Matt 28:19)
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…
Jesus said that we are to seek FIRST the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matt 6:33). What is the kingdom of God? What is His righteousness? They are both related. Rom 14:17 defines the kingdom of God.
(Rom 14:17)
…for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
The kingdom of God is within us. It is experiencing righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. To experience God is to walk in relationship with Him. Our relationship with God is first priority for we were created to fellowship with Him. When we have experienced Him, we would be transformed to share His reality with others and to fulfill the great commission.
When we go for evangelism without a relationship, we are trying to expand the kingdom of God without first seeking to experience the kingdom of God. That will not work. We will be trying to get people into a religious system because we can only replicate what we have experienced (or what we have not). When we go through a religious routine, like me, we will soon we will be burnt out.
In this series, we share important revelations pertaining to fulfilling the great commission.
When I was a student, a senior told me that I had to evangelize and win souls for God in order to get God’s affirmation – and get to heaven. As an impressionable teen, I was fired up to evangelize and even got one soul saved. But then I realized that I did not know what the Gospel message was all about. And after evangelizing zealously for weeks, trying hard to convert souls, I got burnt out. Have you been through that before?
Let’s launch into our discussion. Some people say that the purpose for our existence and the mission of the Church is to fulfill the great commission. That is only half the truth.
(Matt 28:19)
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…
Jesus said that we are to seek FIRST the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matt 6:33). What is the kingdom of God? What is His righteousness? They are both related. Rom 14:17 defines the kingdom of God.
(Rom 14:17)
…for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
The kingdom of God is within us. It is experiencing righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. To experience God is to walk in relationship with Him. Our relationship with God is first priority for we were created to fellowship with Him. When we have experienced Him, we would be transformed to share His reality with others and to fulfill the great commission.
When we go for evangelism without a relationship, we are trying to expand the kingdom of God without first seeking to experience the kingdom of God. That will not work. We will be trying to get people into a religious system because we can only replicate what we have experienced (or what we have not). When we go through a religious routine, like me, we will soon we will be burnt out.
In this series, we share important revelations pertaining to fulfilling the great commission.
posted by Joshua Lye @ 1:05 AM
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