By: Ty Williams

With the Chapel’s Evangelism Group beginning March 21st (6:30-8:30 pm @ CBC) and the Missions Conference this weekend, we thought we’d share a few words (or about 600 of them) on the topic of evangelism.

In Matthew 28:18-20 we find some of Jesus’ last words, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.” Then in Revelation 7:9 we see a picture of a people from every tribe, tongue, and nation worshiping God. This is Christ’s mission: to see a people from every tribe, tongue, and nation worshiping God as His pure, holy, and blameless bride. The beautiful thing about this mission is that Christ has called all of his followers to take part in it. The sad part, however, is that many of us fail to ever tell anyone about the love and forgiveness that Christ has shown us. If Christ has shown us this love and forgiveness, then we ought to show this love and forgiveness to the people around us. However, many of us do not for many reasons: fearing what others might think of us, not knowing how to start conversations, being unsure of how to share the Gospel, and so on. Despite these reasons, it is important that we cling to Jesus’ own words in Matthew 28. He promises that as we are going out and making disciples, He is with us. “And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.” This simple statement makes all the difference in the world. If Jesus is with us, then we can trust and know that not only will he lead us and guide us, but that He also will have his hand on us in a powerful way as we are telling people about Him. Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean everyone we share Jesus with will come to saving faith in Christ, but what it does mean, is that by telling others about Christ, we are being obedient to Him, and that however difficult a conversation may be, Christ is with us in every moment of the conversation.

Another compelling aspect of sharing the Gospel is that many people desire for the powerful workings of the Holy Spirit. However, it is clear in the book of Acts that if we desire for more of the Holy Spirit then we must be actively sharing the Gospel. In Acts 4 we see this, the early believers pray for boldness from the Father, and then the Lord shakes the house they are in and “they go out and continue to speak the word of God with all boldness.” From this verse it is clear that it is the Lord’s will that we spread His name to those around us, and that when we pray about doing these things, the Lord will answer our prayers in a mighty way. As believers, when we align our lives with God’s purposes and God’s heartbeat, we are able to experience God in a mighty and powerful way.

As we launch this Evangelism Group, aimed at equipping for and taking part in this great work of sharing Christ, here is my prayer:

Father God, I pray Lord, that you would align our lives with your desires, and that by Your grace and mercy, You would use our lives for Your glory and Your purposes. We trust and know that you are bigger than any of our greatest fears, and so I pray Lord that as we go out and share You with others, that You would be with us in all that we do. Father God, we love You and we need you in all of these things, in Christ name, Amen.