When we think of pastors and evangelism, we generally think about two things: either the pastor doing evangelistic preaching on Sunday, or the pastor trying to get the rest of the church to be more evangelistic. But the pastor himself ought to be leading the way with personal evangelism. Pastors are to be examples to the flock under their care and this includes their evangelizing.

The National Center for Family Integrated Churches presents The Pastor and Personal Evangelism, a message given by Craig Houston at the Power of the Gospel Conference. Well good morning everyone. Delighted to have you here and it's always a privilege to be able to teach and preach the word of God no matter where it is. And I am particularly blessed to be here this morning. I've been given the topic of the pastor and personal evangelism.

And somebody approached me last night and said, could you tell me what your message is going to be about? I thought, well, that's what the purpose of coming to the sessions about. And his question was in regards to, is it really just about the pastor and personal evangelism? I think that the title maybe is a little misleading. I think originally it might have been for the pastors seminar beforehand and moved into this session.

But the reality is the pastor and personal evangelism is important because Pastors are supposed to set an example to the flock and in this regard, with regards to personal evangelism, something that is essential and vital to every believer, it is indeed an important area. So I want to ask the Lord's blessing and his help on this morning and then we'll dive in. Father we pray that you bless this morning. Lord I am a weak and fallible. I'm in need of your help this morning to guide my lips, to give me clarity of thought and mind and speech, to be able to communicate truth about personal evangelism, an area that, much like prayer, Lord, There's none of us that believe we have arrived, that we're doing all that we can.

And I pray, Lord, that you would bring conviction to my own heart to be more fervent, to be more diligent about personal evangelism, and that we would all see the need to be sowers of the seed of the Word of God daily, intentionally, in the lives of others. We pray in Jesus name, amen. So this morning as I have the task of speaking on the responsibility of personal evangelism for both the pastor as well as the Christians in the congregation, and I believe it's important for many reasons. I believe that personal evangelism is important because the gospel is preeminently important and it must be shared. We're at a conference about the power of the gospel And every session is about the work of God in the redemption of man and boy we have been challenged thus far and We still have the rest of the day left to be challenged and encouraged and yet I would look at this great truth of the gospel and it has a public declaration.

It's to be preached and proclaimed from the pulpit and in assemblies, whether they be out of doors or indoors, it does not matter. It needs to be proclaimed. But there's also importance to understand that personal evangelism is the vehicle in which the Gospel goes forth. We believe in the sovereignty of God and salvation, but we also believe that God has called us in His word to go everywhere sharing the message of the gospel, to go everywhere planting the seed of his word. Secondly, I believe personal evangelism is important to teach on because it's the responsibility of every Christian.

It's the responsibility of every Christian. I believe that there are those who are particularly gifted and called as evangelists, and I believe those people are called to equip and lead the church in evangelism. But it does not negate the responsibility that all of us have as believers to be his witnesses, to be his messengers of grace on a one-on-one basis. Number three, I believe that this subject is important because as pastors we are called to set an example in life and doctrine and this is a very practical area of our lives that needs to be encouraged. So I wanna begin with that perspective.

This is titled The Pastor and Personal Evangelism. So I wanna go on to the scriptures and look at what God requires of the pastors with regards to this responsibility to evangelize. And even though the preaching of the gospel, whether it's to a congregation or to an individual, is in essence, it is the same thing. I'm gonna bifurcate the two this morning and show that there is a personal approach to evangelism that needs to be in the daily life of the believer. In 2 Timothy chapter 4 Paul is given this tremendous exhortation.

It says in 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 1, I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom, preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. And this is a life verse, this is a passion of mine to preach and teach the Word of God. It says, For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but they shall after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables. The next sentence begins with this admonition to Timothy the pastor, but watch thou in all things be on guard. Watch in all things endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist.

Now notice these next few words, make full proof of thy ministry. It's a powerful exhortation. We, we, we, You rarely meet a pastor who doesn't have that love for verse number two. Preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. But when it comes to verse number five, and it's Paul is telling Timothy as a pastor, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry, maybe sometimes we step back and say That's not quite as high on the list of our passions as it ought to be.

I believe that God wants us to always have a hand at work in personal evangelism as pastors because it keeps us near people who are lost, loving people who are in need of Jesus, and setting an example to the believers to see that there are people who are also in need of Christ. We get very busy as Christian families living our Christian lives, don't we? I have a wife and the bio is wrong. I have 12 children, not 11, so we gotta give credit where credit is due. My bride's on the second row here.

There is a lot to do in raising a Christian family, isn't there? There's a lot of discipleship that goes on. There's evangelism that takes place within your home, with your own children. And yet we cannot close up the bowels of compassion towards those who are right next door to us, towards those who are in our city, who are without Christ and without God in this world. They need us to have enough time to go beyond just living our Christian lives and building our Christian families to share the gospel with them on a personal basis.

This charge is given to all and I know there are many in this room who are shepherds in God's churches and this is for us so that we might set an example to the flock. This is not just in the work of evangelism that we set an example, it's in all that we do. We must remember God has called those who lead his church to set an example in the flock in a two-fold manner. In our life and in our doctrine. In 1st Timothy chapter 4 and verse number 16 the scripture says, take heed unto thyself and under the doctrine continue in them for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee.

This is an admonition again from Paul to Timothy. Watch your life. Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine that you're supposed to teach. How important is it as pastors that we set an example? It is preeminently important.

That example includes the equipping of the saints. It includes the responsibility of training up men and women, boys and girls, that they might be faithful at the work of the ministry. In Ephesians chapter 4 it says, and he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints. The word perfecting is rightly translated equipping. For the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.

So we are for the perfecting of the Saints. We want to build up the Saints and we build them up so that they might fulfill the work of the ministry. So what is the primary work of the ministry of the believer? I believe right on the top of the list is the ministry of sharing the gospel, of sharing the truth of Jesus that has transformed our lives. That's how the body is edified.

That's how the body is built up. To edify the body of Christ is talking about the ability to build up the body. It comes from the same word that we get edifice from. We're to edify the body of Christ, we're to build up the body of Christ, and we do that by obviously seeing a church body matured, but we also see it as the body is actually added to. That we have addition, that we have people coming to faith in Christ, and that the body is growing by, not just by birth, but by the new birth.

In our church family, We say that we celebrate two births. We celebrate the birth of Children and we celebrate people who have been born again and we celebrate them differently in our church. We celebrate the birth of new children with a dedication and we pray over those children and we pray over the parents and we pray for God to work in them, salvation to the young age and we dedicate them to the Lord. And for those who come to new birth in Christ, we baptize. And we celebrate that, we rejoice in that.

And that's something that encourages the congregation when you see people come to faith and when you see them baptized it encourages you to say I want to go by the grace of God and share the gospel again I want to see more people coming to know the Lord so that the body might be built up in the faith. If you read down to the rest of Ephesians 4 you find that it gives us an end time of this work. And that is when the Lord returns. Till the fullness of Christ, the stature of the fullness of Christ is complete. Until then, we continue to fulfill the work of the ministry.

For pastors, that means equipping the Saints in every area and in particular as we look at this morning in evangelism and for the Saints that means to be growing in Christ and to continue to to seek to live a life of obedience to the Lord. Watch your life as a pastor. Some of you young men who may desire to serve in the ministry as a shepherd one day, watch your life even now. Let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers in word and what you say and in your conversation. And this means in your life conduct and in your charity and in your spirit, in your faith and in your purity.

Be diligent about the life that you live. And I think this is really important. This last January I was in Africa and I was teaching an evangelism training course for pastors as well as for the church body and one of the things that I focused on is not just the gospel is not just about giving a good message the gospel is about living a life that is a demonstration of that message The gospel needs to be made manifest. The gospel needs to be incarnated in a life that's been changed by the glory of God. With regards to setting an example in your life, with regards to the Gospel, it must be remembered that it is to be demonstrated in your life as ultimately The gospel is not just a message, it's a person.

Jesus Christ is the gospel. Jesus Christ is the good news. And Jesus Christ is God manifest in the flesh. Jesus Christ is deity wrapped in humanity and when you present the gospel, when you are seeking to share the gospel, you're not just sharing a message with good execution. Point number one, point number two, point number three, you're sharing a person.

I think it's really important to see the value in that with regards to personal evangelism. Sometimes we, many of you maybe like me, have at times in your life had some kind of evangelism training and I'm not opposed to all of that. Some of them can be good and helpful to give you, you know, effective memorization of scriptures that would be helpful in presenting the gospel, but ultimately it becomes mechanical and cumbersome if you're not focused on, I'm sharing Christ. Personal evangelism is about sharing what Jesus has done in your life and what He will do in theirs. We need to, as the scripture says, we need to adorn the gospel with a life saturated with Jesus.

1 Thessalonians chapter one. 1 Thessalonians chapter number 1 and verse number 5. I'll begin to actually up a few verses. The Apostle Paul writing the church at Thessalonica says, we give thanks to God always for you all making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope in the Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of God and our Father knowing brethren beloved your election of God." You've been chosen by God. He says, "...for our gospel, " now he's talking about the witness that was brought to them.

They have been saved, they were the called. He says, for our gospel came not unto you in word only. That doesn't mean it didn't come in word. The gospel is a message. It's a message of the death burial and resurrection of Christ.

We'll look at that in just a minute. The gospel is a message but it is also a demonstration of power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance as you know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost, so that you were in samples to all the believed in Macedonia and Achaia. So here the gospel, Paul says, that was presented to the church at Thessalonica was a message that came not only in word but also in a demonstration of the life of Christ in those who were the messengers. Don't miss that.

Evangelism is not slick salesmanship. Evangelism is the life of Christ being proclaimed and being demonstrated. And by the way, when it comes to personal evangelism, sometimes that takes a long, long time. You have neighbors on both sides of you. If you live in a neighborhood, you have neighbors on two sides, you have neighbors directly across and on each side of that house.

There's five houses. There's five neighbors. And I know we talk about Loving your neighbor as yourself and that speaks about all of mankind. I want to bring it to the place where it really matters. I mean, it matters to love all mankind.

It's a different story to have to love the people that you actually live by. Start there, work outwards. Do you have a heart for them? This doesn't mean you go over one day and knock on the door and say, do you know Jesus? Well, repent if you don't.

It means building a relationship with those people so that you might be able to share Christ with them. Recognize that they're going to be your neighbors for the long haul. And you want to develop the kind of relationship that you can reach out to them with the good news of the gospel. And they, above all people, like co-workers and others that are intimately going to be aware of your life, they're going to be watching to see if the life of Christ is in you, not just the words of Christ. So this demonstration needs to be a demonstration of a life lived before others that demonstrates the power of the gospel.

The fruit of the gospel is going to come as a result of that. Philippians chapter 1. Philippians 1 in verse number 27. The scripture says, only let your conversation, or in the King James the word conversation means life conduct. Only let your life conduct be as it become-eth the gospel of Christ.

What is becoming of the gospel of Christ? What is the Christ life? It literally is talking about adorning your life with the gospel. That whether I come to see you or else be absent I may hear of your affairs that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel." Your life needs to be saturated with the gospel of Christ. Your life needs to be adorned with Jesus.

This is part of the effective work of personal evangelism. Another passage I would point you to is the book of Galatians. When we talk about the life of Christ being made manifest, it's being made manifest through the Holy Spirit of God. You know a powerful witness in personal evangelism is the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit that is born of Christ in you, the hope of glory.

These are the things that have great impact in your witness. But the fruit of the Spirit is love. Personal evangelism requires love. Loving your neighbor, loving your co-worker, loving your enemy. It requires loving people of every tribe and nation and kindred.

It requires love. If you think effective evangelism is just a bold voice, you're gonna be fruitless. If you're seeking personally, going down, let's say for instance, going down to the abortion clinic on a Saturday. If you're just there because you hate abortion, It's not enough. You've got to be there because you love people.

Evangelism requires love in every context. The gospel is born of love. The gospel is spread through love. Continuing along with the rest of the fruit of the Spirit, it says the fruit of the Spirit is joy. Christian people evangelizing Should be joyful.

I've seen video clips of street preachers and different things like that. You think if that's what a Christian is I don't want it. It's not bold witness. It's not effective evangelism and I'm saying street many many of them are. But it's filled with love and joy and self-forgetfulness.

There's others that are caustic and mean-spirited and nasty and I think if that's what Christianity is, who in their right mind would want that? Peace, long-suffering, these are things that are involved in personal evangelism. If you think that everybody that you talk to is just gonna say what must I do to be saved, you have another thing coming. Some of the seeds you plant somebody else is gonna water and it's God that always brings the increase and your job is to be a faithful, caring, long-suffering witness with gentleness and goodness and faith, meekness. Doesn't the scripture say in the Old Testament it's the kindness of God that leadeth to repentance?

And in our approach to personal evangelism, it needs to be patient and kind and long-suffering. Some of you have probably, let's just broaden it. All of us have unsaved family members at some extended distance. How long-suffering are we going to be? How gentle and kind are we going to be wanting them to come to know the Lord Jesus?

I pray that our life would be adorned with the kind of fruit of the Spirit that makes for effective personal evangelism. Secondly, he is called as a pastor to watch his doctrine. In this regards, with regards to personal evangelism, this means, pastors, we need to know what the gospel is so that we can share it with our people, share it with the Lord's people so that they can share it with others. Now that sounds elementary, but the reality is, there are many who have a truncated view and understanding of what the gospel is. The gospel is something we need to have a sound grasp of.

The gospel is first a person. It's a person. I mentioned this as we began. It's the person Jesus Christ. He is the good news made manifest.

I find that encouraging. I find it a blessing when it comes to personal evangelism that I don't just have to share the right verses, I have to share the right person. I have to share Jesus Christ and him crucified. But the message of the gospel, It includes truths about that person and what he has come to do. In 1st Corinthians chapter 15, we find just the gospel in a nutshell.

We find with Christmas, with clarity, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the good news. It says, moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel, which I preached unto you, which also ye have received and wherein ye stand, by which also you are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you unless you have believed in vain for I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. The gospel in a nutshell is the death burial and resurrection of Christ. That is the gospel. The death of Christ reveals that it was required because of why?

Because of the sins of mankind. Christ died for our sins according to scripture. So therefore from from the work of Christ's side he died for our sins but on the evangelism side We have to bring people to bear with the fact that they are dead in their trespasses and sins The gospel is not just a message of presenting hey, don't you want your life to be better? Don't you just want a ticket to heaven? You don't want to die and go to hell, do you?

I mean, that's a part of the message of the gospel, but it's truncated without the realization that they're going to die and go to hell without Christ because of their sin and the only way to have their sin forgiven is through receiving Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior of their life. So the message of the gospel is important to proclaim the death of Christ and the reality of that death being necessitated because of the sinfulness of man, the exceeding sinfulness of man. So much of modern-day evangelism and evangelical churches is just really more of a sales pitch for a happier life. That's not the gospel. You're a good person, but God will make you better.

That's not the gospel. No, you're wretched, sinful, fallen, dead in trespasses and sins, and unless you receive Christ, you will remain dead in your sins and you will perish. You say that's a hard message. It is but it's a true message and it needs to be spoken in love. That's why I go back to that life being lived and the long suffering and the patience and the kindness.

That's why that important of the relationship that there is love demonstrated in personal evangelism so that when you present these difficult and hard truths, there's already been a building of a relationship that they know you care. The gospel is about the burial of Christ, that he paid our penalty, he experienced death on our behalf, but it also includes the glorious victory that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures and that he was seen of Cephas and then of the twelve and after that of a five hundred brethren and that we too, though we have the penalty of death in our life without Christ, when we receive Christ as our Lord and Savior, when we repent of our sins and when we call upon the Lord Jesus Christ, Guess what we have? We have that same life that is the resurrection of Christ promised to us. Acts chapter 20 puts it so succinctly. Paul says, serving the Lord with all humility of mind and with many tears and temptations which befell me by the lying and weight of the Jews and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you but I've showed you and taught you show and tell I have showed you and I have taught you publicly and from house to house The ministry of Paul was not just preaching in a pulpit somewhere, it was a ministry that went from house to house testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, to put it simply to all people.

Repentance toward God. Why do we need to repent towards God? Because we are sinful and fallen and we're separated from God. We need to turn back to God and we need to believe by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ with repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. It's the essential of the gospel.

There is no salvation without repentance, without turning from sin to Christ. It needs to be remembered that though the gospel deals with difficult things, it's ultimately good news. I love the Old Testament scripture that says, like cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. You know what the gospel is to the thirsty fallen man whose eyes are open? It is like water to a parched soul.

But it's good news, not bad news. In personal evangelism, it's really important. Our approach should not be, you know, I got something I got to talk to you about. You're not gonna want to hear this. It deals with bad news, but it's good news because it shows how we can have the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Um, we don't mind sharing good news. Something good happens. Maybe there was a blessing in your family, a new child. And we share the good news. The Lord's blessed us with a child.

Some young man finally finds some young woman who's blinded by the realities and says yes. He takes her hand in marriage and he has good news. He doesn't hide. He doesn't hide his wife. He's like, this is my new wife.

It's good news. Maybe you're a sports fan. Your team loses, you hide. It's bad news. Your team wins, Everybody's got to know it.

Even if that's not you, you know the reality of that fact with people who are sports fanatics. How about Jesus fanatics? How about those who are passionate about sharing the good news of Jesus? It's contagious. Some of you might submit and say well it's all in the hands of God.

Well the work of redemption is in the hands of God, but the call to evangelize is the responsibility of man, of the responsibility of the, specifically, the responsibility of the believer. And there is a reason, I believe, why some are more effective than others is because they go bearing the good news and God blesses that. Bible says he that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoicing bringing his sheaves with him. I know in the Old Testament in Psalm 126 verse 5 and 6 that says he that goeth forth in joy bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoicing bringing his sheaves with him. That passage of Scripture is first and foremost talking about something for Israel and yet Jesus uses the same illustration of the sower and the seed in the New Testament and there is that principle of going out like a farmer and casting the seed.

We're gonna expect a harvest. We want to see people pass from death into life. We want to give them the message of the gospel which is able to make them wise into salvation. We want to proclaim liberty to the captives. We want to share the wonderful truth of Christ.

I take you to Romans chapter 10 in verse number 9 it says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth verses 1 through 9 deal with the fact that it's it's a the gospel is for both the Jew as well as the Gentile says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved this is what we desire people to do to confess Christ Jesus as Lord and to believe in their heart. Then the next verse switches the order. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed for there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." When we go and do the work of evangelism, our job is not to determine who might be saved. Our job is to call all men to be saved.

How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him in whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher, without somebody to share the message of the gospel? And how shall they preach except they be sent as it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. I'm trying to drive this point home because personal evangelism causes fear in lots of people And you need to focus on presenting a person, Jesus Christ.

You need to focus that he is good news for your life and others. And it can change your perspective. But they have not all obeyed the gospel. And they won't. That's not your job.

Does it mean you don't seek to persuade? We know that Paul tried to persuade. King Agrippa said, almost thou persuadest me to become a Christian. What does that mean? It means that Paul wasn't just saying, you know, if you might think about this, you know, possibly.

No, he was seeking to persuade him to believe. Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian, so then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. What we share, what we spread is the Word of God. The words that you have to bring, The words that bring life are not your words. They are the words of God.

They are the words that open blind eyes. They are the words that unstopped deaf ears. They are the words that take the dead and quicken them to life through the power of the Holy Spirit. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Acts chapter 5 verse 31 says, Him hath God exalted, speaking of Christ, with his right hand to be a prince and a savior, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

This is a beautiful reality that Jesus Christ is the one who gives repentance to mankind and the forgiveness of sins. He is working in people even before you ever arrive. Some plant, some water, but God gives the increase. It doesn't mean he doesn't use those who plant and it doesn't mean he doesn't use those who water. He has chosen you.

He has chosen me to fulfill that task. We need, as Christians and you who are shepherds, need to have a robust understanding of the sovereignty of God in the work of redemption by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ but we also need to have a robust conviction and understanding in the responsibility of man both as believers to proclaim the gospel. God's vehicle for the message of the good news is you, is me. He hasn't chosen angels for this task. He hasn't created some other being for this task.

He's called you and me. We cannot use as an excuse, well God's gonna save whoever he wills. He's called you to proclaim the message. He's called you to call all men everywhere to respond in repentance and faith, both things of which man, apart from the work of the Spirit, cannot do, but he's responsible for. Now I want to give you some practical steps to effective evangelism.

I first wanted to lay the groundwork of why a pastor needs to focus his life and his doctrine largely on setting an example in personal evangelism because it is about representing the person of Christ. Let me give you some steps for effective evangelism. First, diligence in prayer. In preparation for this, I've been reading and looking through some books, but reading in particular a book on evangelism, the English theologian who lives in Canada. And it's Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, is the name of the book.

He talks about man's responsibility and God's sovereignty and how they blend perfectly together and he also brings some convicting truth that all believers truly believe that God is sovereign and salvation and the very fact that they all pray as they go to witness that God might change people's hearts and minds. So we need to be diligent in prayer, praying as we go, praying as we witness, knowing it's not us. We're merely just the instruments. We're just tools that the Lord has chosen to use and we want to be faithful in that work, but we need God's power. 2 Thessalonians 3 and verse 1 it says, Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified even as it is with you.

We need to pray with diligence for for power to do the work of evangelism. Don't go out on your own strength, don't go on your own power, go with the power of God. Some of the things that I would encourage you to pray for. One is boldness. We get Chicken Little pretty quick.

Even though we have good news, we know that it brings a confrontation in dealing with men's sinfulness. Pray for boldness. Ephesians chapter 6, this glorious passage that deals with the armor of God. I'm always mindful of these last few verses after taking the helmet of the salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. He says, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit and watching there into with all perseverance and supplication for all Saints and for me that utterance may be given unto me that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in bonds that therein I may speak boldly as I ought to speak.

What are the things we should pray for? For boldness and for utterance, literally the words to speak. I don't think the right training for evangelism is just a canned message. Because guess what? The elderly woman that you meet at the rest home doing visitation isn't at the same place that the young man who's 14 down at the basketball court.

You need to ask the Lord to give you the right words. The gospel doesn't change, but how you approach it is gonna be different. Sometimes you're approached by people and you have to start where their entry point is. This happened at the airport on the way here in Atlanta. One person moved from this chair and another young lady came and sat down in that chair.

She heard me and brother Casey who's traveling with talking about the Lord and she just said what denomination are you and that was the lead in and I said well you know I'm just a Bible believing Christian and she said oh yeah I said well what about you and she says well I'm more of a Unitarian and immediately I said well why are you Unitarian? What does that mean to you? And she immediately began to talk about the things that she doesn't like about churches, Christian churches and their perspectives about women and about homosexuality. And so the entry point was started by her and I had to pray for wisdom in that instant to say how am I going to approach her at her place of need and share the gospel of Christ with her? You need to pray that God would give you boldness and utterance the words to speak.

Colossians 4-3 speaks of the same need for utterance. 1 John chapter 2 verse 20 speaks about praying for unction. It's an old word. Holy Spirit, unction, power. Diligence and prayer is an effective necessary step of evangelism.

There's also a necessity for obedience to God's Word. So well that seems elementary, This is all about obedience to God's Word. Yes, and I mean in particular with regards to evangelism. Acts 5 20 says simply, go stand and speak. Go stand and speak.

It's one thing to talk about evangelism. A lot of Christians like to do that. Let's get together and talk about personal evangelism. Proverbs says the talk of the lips leads to penury, poverty. We can't just sit around talking about spiritual things.

We need to be engaged in them. We must be faithfully seeking to personally witness, preach, share, teach the gospel, the friends and neighbors and co-workers and loved ones and strangers and if, I will say this, if the only people you know and are ever around are all professing believers, repent. Repent and be obedient to the call of God on your life to share the gospel. Yes, Jesus was friends with publicans and sinners, people who needed him. And there are people in your community who need you to reach out in love to Share the gospel of Jesus the task of personal evangelism was modeled by the Lord himself and he uses two different illustrations and I I will share with these with you this morning.

The first is that of being a fisher of men. In Mark chapter one and verse 17, he said, "'Come ye after me and I will make you "'to become fishers of men.'" Now he's speaking to fishermen, the sons of thunder. And he calls them to be fishers of men. What do fishermen do? They go out in boats, they cast out the nets, and they bring it in.

What happens when they catch no fish? They go out in boats, they cast out the net, and they bring it in. What happens when they didn't catch anything? They keep going out. Because if they don't, they won't eat.

You know what in the labors of evangelism, a lot of times what happens is we kind of have the attitude of, I tried that once. Honestly. I cast the net out, I didn't catch any fish, so I realized that's not my gift. Well, if you're a fisherman, that just means you starve. And if you're a Christian, it just means you're content with disobedience.

God's called us to be evangelists. He's called us to evangelize those who are lost. He's called us to be fishers of men. The second illustration is that He's called us to be sowers of seed. The parable of the soils and the gospels, there's different accounts in the different gospels, they all have the same principle.

There's different kinds of soil, but the one who is broadcasting the seed, literally broadcasting means to spread the seed, the seed, the Gospel of Luke says very clearly, is the Word of God. And the seed spreading is to be liberal. You're not going around looking for good soil to say, oh, I think I'll put a seed there. The seed spreading of the gospel is to be broadcast everywhere. Your job, my job in personal evangelism is not to determine who we think are going to be ready to receive the gospel.

It's to share with everybody. And sometimes you will be surprised what the true good soil is or who it is. Be faithful in that. Luke 8 4 through 15. It shares this beautiful picture of the spreading of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ as a sower sowing the seed.

Any farmer knows he wants the best crop. He's going to sow ample seed so that he has he or she has a crop to bring forth. In Luke chapter 8 and verse number 4 The scripture says, and when the people were gathered together and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable. A sower went out to sow his seed and as he sowed, some fell by the wayside and it was trodden down into the fowls of the air, devoured it up. And some fell upon a rock and soon it was sprung up it withered away because it lacked moisture and some fell upon among thorns and the thorns sprung up with it and choked it and other fell on good ground and sprang up and bear fruit and a hundredfold and when he had said these things he cried, he that hath ears to hear let him hear.

And his disciples asked him saying, what might this parable be? And he said unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to others in parables that seeing they may not see and hearing they may not understand. Now the parable is this, the seed is the word of God. We know very clearly what we need to share, the gospel, the word of God. Those by the wayside are they that hear then cometh the devil and taketh away the word out of their ears Out of their hearts lest they should believe and be saved so they've heard it with their ears but they didn't hear it with their heart the devil took it away And they on the rock are they which when they hear, receive the word with joy.

But these have no root which for a while believe and after a time of temptation fall away. They don't persevere. They don't endure. It's not a rooted salvation. It's just an intellectual belief.

And that which fell among thorns are they which when they have heard go forth and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good ground are they which an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it and bring forth fruit with patience. Your job is not to be a soil inspector. Your job in personal evangelism is to be a seed spreader. It's to share the gospel with everyone.

Desire In this practical application, desire and expect fruitfulness. Desire people to be saved. Desire people to come to the knowledge of the truth. Hunger and thirst for it and have an expectation that God is going to bring forth fruit and you will doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing your sheaves with you. In closing, our time is gone with just some thoughts of practical application.

Number one, start now. Start now sharing Christ. Start local. Evangelism, please hear me, is always local. People talk about I want to be a missionary, I want to go to the other uttermost parts of the earth.

And when you're there, there you are. And guess what? It's local, it's real people. If you are unwilling to evangelize here, don't expect that you will be willing to evangelize over there. Start local, love your neighbors, and I mean literally love your neighbors, the ones who live near you.

And then love others. Thirdly, go global, which is still local. When you were there, there you are. Ways and means of evangelism. Hospitality.

It's good news. Why not share it over good food? Does that not bring warmth? You know what's said in this culture, this Facebook culture, this social media culture, that people who have personal contact with coworkers, if they've ever been invited to their home for a meal, they immediately consider them dear friends. Like the level of friendship exponentially goes up because it's so foreign to have that kind of contact.

Use your home for hospitality and evangelism and by that please hear me. I'm not saying have them come over and then during the middle of the meal stand up get the pulpit out and say now beloved hear me no just love them share Christ with them Evangelistic Bible studies can be used with the purposefulness of sharing the basics of Christianity and having a heart for evangelism. Going door to door, house to house, say well that's just not really well received. Maybe it's not well received because people who do it sometimes are not loving or kind and they're forceful, but politicians still believe in going door to door. Why?

Because it's effective. Say, well, we're not just using the means of man I'm not the Bible says go house to house share the gospel take it to the streets go where they are visit people in homes visit people who visit your church visit hospitals every time we go that we've spent a lot of time in the hospitals. I've always visited hospitals as a pastor and we spent, we lived in the hospital with our daughter. She went through her bone marrow transplant And literally the opportunities to evangelize in a hospital, you may be going to visit one family and you get to minister to another. It happened just last week for me.

Going to visit somebody who met my daughter who is back in the hospital with cancer again and three doors down we met another family and ended up talking with them and encouraging them. Witness in counseling sessions if you're a pastor, if you're discipling somebody, witness to people. After worship services, with your own children, make purposeful attempts to frequent the same restaurants and stores to build relationships. Simple things like knowing the barista's names. What is that?

Caring. How many times do people like, give me that, and they're used to that, and then you're like, how are you Jim? How's your day going? And every time you come in you talk to Jim or Sue or whoever it is and they know you care. And you have opportunity to share Christ with them.

Proverbs 11 30 says, the fruit of the righteous is the tree of life and he that win his souls is wise. I think that has a lot to do with winning people in a loving way so that you could have an opportunity to share the gospel of Christ. I pray that we would go stand and speak the wonderful gospel of Jesus. And that we would realize that as pastors, personal evangelism is our personal responsibility. And it's our job to set an example to the believers that they would realize that their responsibility is the same.

To go everywhere sharing Jesus with everybody. Believing God is going to work in and through you and through his word to bring forth life and you will come forth with rejoicing, bringing your sheaves with you. Thank you for listening today. Father I pray that you bless the rest of this day and the session that is to come. I pray you bless this people.

May they be a mighty force for you sharing the gospel of Christ in Jesus name amen amen and amen You're on a little bit of a tight schedule now. Technically according to the schedule the next session is supposed to be beginning now. Main Hall, Joel Beekie on his second part of Perseverance the Spirit. So just encourage you to move briefly. Thank you.

God bless For more messages articles and videos on the subject of Conforming the church and the family to the Word of God and for more information about the National Center for family integrated churches Network to find family-integrated churches in your area, log on to our website, ncfic.org. You