Devotions with Pastor Glenn
Thoughts and insights to enliven you to God and His word!
Evangelism - The story of your life!
October 29, 2021 • Pastor Glenn Moore • John 9
Today we are going to look at two more styles of evangelism - testimonial and interpersonal. Testimonial evangelism is simply telling your story. The story of how you came to know Jesus. This is one type of evangelism that no one can refute because it's your story. Take a moment right now and think about your life before Jesus, the circumstances in which you gave your heart to Him, and what your life has been like since then. We see this in the life of the blind man as pastor Jeremy shared on Sunday. In John 9, Jesus meets up with a man who has been blind since birth and heals him, on the Sabbath of all days. The religious leaders question the man about his healing, and this where we pick up the story in verse fifteen, "Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he received his sight. He said to them, 'He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.'" How can anyone argue with that? This man knew he had been blind all his life, he met Jesus, and now he can see. Testimonial evangelism is exactly like that. We don't need to share our whole life with someone. Usually it only takes a few minutes to share because most people are too busy to hear a long story. Then in verse ten, it says, "The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, 'It is the Sabbath, it's not lawful for you to carry your bed.' He answered them, 'He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'" I don't know about you, but if I was healed instantly of problem I had all my life, I would most assuredly share the great news, wouldn't you? You see, testimonies can be the easiest to share because we don't have to memorize any speeches or special ways to talk. However, it is good to memorize some scriptures to be able to share with the person with whom you are talking. Let's turn our attention to the interpersonal style of sharing the gospel. Two specific examples from my own life come to mind in which I built relationships with guys who were not believers. With one guy, I shared many an evening with and developed a friendship with him over the course of a couple years. We would talk about a lot of things from the mundane to the personal struggles and even discussed why I believed in God. I felt no need to push. Then after a couple of years, we went our own ways, and about a year later I received a phone call from him in which he told me that he had received Christ and was thankful that I had shared my life and the gospel with him. The other is a man who comes to mind had bad church experiences in the past, which has created quite the obstacle for sharing Jesus - but I don't let that stop me! As I spend time with him and share my life with him, we go through the ups and downs of life together. We laugh and cry together. We encourage each other and we also correct each other. My faith has not changed, but my life has because of our relationship. I don't know if he will ever become a believer but only God knows that. My responsibility is not to get him saved but to love him like Jesus loves him. Jesus said in John 15: 12-13, "This in my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no on than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends." So that's what I'll do, and leave the rest in God's hands. Remember our Key for this week: Whatever you win people with, you win them to. So if you want to win them to Jesus, then the best way is to use his story, his words, and his gospel! May God give you opportunities to share the gospel today. God bless you!
Evangelism - Logical and to the point!
October 27, 2021 • Pastor Glenn Moore • Matthew 28:18–20, Acts 2:3, Acts 17:17, Colossians 2:8
Pastor Jeremy has taught us for the last few weeks about living for Jesus, loving like Jesus, and leading others to Jesus. For the past two weeks we have looked at leading others to Jesus. Before Jesus ascended to heaven he gave us the greatest commandment in Matthew chapter 28:18-20, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples to all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age. Amen.” When Jesus commands us to reach people, as we looked at on Sunday, there are six types of evangelism styles that we can consider using. We’re going to look at two of them - the direct and the intellectual styles. As we look at evangelism this week, we want to remember a key point when it comes to evangelism - "Whatever you win people with, you will win people to." Today we’re going to see how the disciples shared the gospel to many people on the day of Pentecost. In Acts 2:3, they used a direct style of evangelism when it says, “And then went when they were filled with the Holy Spirit they began to speak with other languages as a Holy Spirit gave them utterances.” On the day of Pentecost, there were so many people there from different lands and who spoke different languages, and so the only way that the gospel could get out was for it to be proclaimed in those other languages. It wasn’t gibberish, they weren’t made-up languages. They were languages that people understood. The Holy Spirit gave the disciples the ability to speak other language so that everyone there could hear the good news of the gospel that Jesus did come and he rose again so that they could be saved. As a result, there were 3000 who were saved on that day - what a great experience of evangelism! We may not be able to speak like Billy Graham or Greg Laurie or Luis Palau or other great evangelistic leaders of our time. But God gives us the ability to speak with strength and wisdom to speak to people one by one. So don’t be afraid to talk to just one person at a time, and to speak directly to their needs in a way that speaks to them. The other way of sharing Christ and sharing the gospel is the intellectual side, which we see often in the apostle Paul. As we see in Acts 17:17, it says, “There he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the Gentile worshipers and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there.” When Paul shared the gospel, it says that he reasoned with them - he used reason and logic and showed how the gospel of Jesus made sense while using the Scriptures to support his claims. He didn't waste his time getting into fruitless and empty philosophical arguments (Colossians 2:8). We need to make sure that when we share the gospel with someone, that we don’t get into empty arguments that just go around in circles, but that don’t accomplish anything. So today, as you go through your day, think about those who are in need and those who need Jesus; who need to hear the gospel. Pray that God would send you someone to share the gospel with today!