It was a joy to preach a series on “Fishing for Souls” for the last 3 Sunday mornings at New Life Community Church in Lake Tapps: Fishing 101 – Love is the Bait; Fishing 201 – Prayer is the Priority; Fishing 301 – Telling People (about God’s saving grace) is the Command.
The Word of God clearly gives many reasons why the followers of Jesus Christ are to “evangelize” (fulfilling the commission of Jesus Christ [Matthew 28:19] in the power of the Holy Spirit [Acts 1:8] ) . . .
Ø It is His desire – Isaiah 45: 22, 1 Timothy 2: 4
Ø It was the disciples first job description – Matthew 4:19
Ø It is our responsibility - 1 Corinthians 9: 16
Ø It is an act of obedience - Matthew. 28: 19
Ø It is an act of Love - John 21: 15
Ø It is an act of compassion - Mark 6: 34
Ø It is the believers call - Acts 1:8
Ø Because we cherish Christ Love (God’s love) - 2 Corinthians 5: 14
Ø Because it is the reason God sent His only Son, Jesus, to die – John 3:16
Ø Because Jesus is the Only Way, the Only Answer and the Only Truth – John 14:6
Ø Because men and women, boys and girls will die and go to hell unless they are born again – Luke 13:3
Ø Because those who believe will never die – John 4:1-15
I firmly and passionately believe that evangelism IS the church’s number one priority!
Here is what Evangelist Luis Palau said in an interview in 1996 -
“If there is no evangelism, there is no church to deal with the other priorities. Discipleship is obviously a strong, ongoing church priority; but there's no one to disciple if you haven't evangelized in the first place. When Jesus went to heaven, the uppermost command on his mind was "Go into all the world and make disciples." Yes, the church exists for the glory of God. But in practice, evangelism should never leave a Christian's mind. The church is always one generation away from extinction. Why are you able to worship? Because God rescued you through the work of someone who evangelized you!”
In general, the passion for evangelism has been lost in America (as well as most western nations) but evangelism is ‘fired up’ in many nations including Africa where our granddaughter and her Kenyan Evangelist husband are seeing literally multitudes of conversions every time they preach/teach the simple gospel of Jesus Christ!!!
The Word of God clearly gives many reasons why the followers of Jesus Christ are to “evangelize” (fulfilling the commission of Jesus Christ [Matthew 28:19] in the power of the Holy Spirit [Acts 1:8] ) . . .
Ø It is His desire – Isaiah 45: 22, 1 Timothy 2: 4
Ø It was the disciples first job description – Matthew 4:19
Ø It is our responsibility - 1 Corinthians 9: 16
Ø It is an act of obedience - Matthew. 28: 19
Ø It is an act of Love - John 21: 15
Ø It is an act of compassion - Mark 6: 34
Ø It is the believers call - Acts 1:8
Ø Because we cherish Christ Love (God’s love) - 2 Corinthians 5: 14
Ø Because it is the reason God sent His only Son, Jesus, to die – John 3:16
Ø Because Jesus is the Only Way, the Only Answer and the Only Truth – John 14:6
Ø Because men and women, boys and girls will die and go to hell unless they are born again – Luke 13:3
Ø Because those who believe will never die – John 4:1-15
I firmly and passionately believe that evangelism IS the church’s number one priority!
Here is what Evangelist Luis Palau said in an interview in 1996 -
“If there is no evangelism, there is no church to deal with the other priorities. Discipleship is obviously a strong, ongoing church priority; but there's no one to disciple if you haven't evangelized in the first place. When Jesus went to heaven, the uppermost command on his mind was "Go into all the world and make disciples." Yes, the church exists for the glory of God. But in practice, evangelism should never leave a Christian's mind. The church is always one generation away from extinction. Why are you able to worship? Because God rescued you through the work of someone who evangelized you!”
In general, the passion for evangelism has been lost in America (as well as most western nations) but evangelism is ‘fired up’ in many nations including Africa where our granddaughter and her Kenyan Evangelist husband are seeing literally multitudes of conversions every time they preach/teach the simple gospel of Jesus Christ!!!
Though there certainly are some pastors and churches that are committed to reaching their community and world with the message of the gospel, for the most part our churches have become ‘Bible knowledge centers’ and weak in Biblical evangelism.
If a co-worker or neighbor came to you tomorrow and said, “I want to become a Christian. Will you please show me from the Bible right now exactly what God says about what a Christian is and what I need to do to have eternal life?” Would you be ready that moment to take your Bible and walk that seeker through the verses that will answer his/her questions? Yes, that is the ‘best-case-scenario’ and is probably least likely to happen … but, are you ready? “… faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Romans 10:17
Oh Pastor!!! Oh Church!!! Oh Christian!!! What has happened???
When was the last time you actually sat with someone and opened your Bible and walked him or her through God’s simple plan of salvation? I, sadly, feel that many pastors and most ‘lay people’ have not done it for a long time … or maybe ever! I also believe that most Christians don’t even know what verses to walk the seeker through if he/she asked, “Please show me from the Bible how to become a Christian.”
O God, bring a revival of evangelism back to your pastors and back to your church!
The mission and vision of God on my life and the passion of my heart is to call pastors and churches back to the ministry of evangelism.
Please pray with us for open doors and open hearts. Pray that local church pastors will not be afraid to allow me to help them and join them in ministry with the gifts God has given me. It seems that local church pastors are fearful of many things (it is their responsibility to protect their sheep) but please ask the Lord to open their hearts to the need and the ministry potential (as well as growth) that evangelistic ministry can bring to their church.
Member of NGA (Next Generation Alliance)
www.palau.org/nga
Luis Palau Evangelistic Association
Thanks for writing to us:
www.palau.org/nga
Luis Palau Evangelistic Association
Thanks for writing to us:
Evangelist Ken and Diane Ramey
14400 SE 270th Pl
Kent, WA 98042
email: kenramey1@gmail.com
Thanks for supporting us:
RCCF (River City Christian Fellowship)
2740 Bedford Ave.
Placerville, CA 95667
Thanks for supporting us:
RCCF (River City Christian Fellowship)
2740 Bedford Ave.
Placerville, CA 95667
