Evangelism Part 2

 

    Evangelism is the word to describe spreading the gospel through preaching or personal testimony.  It is not a program or set defined process.  You can have revivals.  You can go knock on people's doors.  You can stand on street corners.  Those are the typical ideas of evangelism.  However, you can also have coffee with someone, a Bible study in your home, or conversation as it presents itself.

    Evangelism is a role of all believers, but how they fulfill that role will depend on them, their spiritual gifts, and how much time they spend with God.  Jesus commanded those that follow him to go into the world and preach the gospel to everyone.  The whole world can be your community, city, state, country, or foreign location.  We all have different ways to evangelize.  The point is that we step up to do as God commanded.

    The point of evangelism is to make disciples.  That means you lead people to Jesus, get them baptized, stay with them to learn God's commandments, and walk with them as they mature as a Christian.  When they are ready, then they will go out and start making disciples too.  

    Jesus said as it was written it would happen.  It did.  Jesus sacrificed himself for all people and now God's Word needs to be lived out in our everyday lives.  Go tell people how Jesus has impacted your life.  How has he changed it?  What has he shown you?  What is he teaching you in your alone time of devotion and prayer?  That is your testimony.  That is how you evangelize.

    We only love God because He loved us first.  He shows us His love everyday.  You only have to see it and your response will be to evangelize.  Evangelism is a concern of God's.  He wants everyone who is lost to be found.  Jesus came to seek us out and save the lost.  It is your job to tell the world about Jesus.  It is the job of the Holy Spirit to use you to convict the hears of the lost.  The point of evangelism is to save the lost.

Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15-18, Luke 19:9-10, 24:44-49, Acts 22:14-16, 1 Peter 3:13-17, & 1 John 4:1-12

How to Work Spiritual Gifts

 

    What is the point of having spiritual gifts if you don't use them.  There are little quizzes to discover what your spiritual gift(s) are, but you can also pray.  The Holy Spirit wants you to know what your gift is, so He will show it to you.  He has given you different gifts for different things to build up the church.

    If you have prophecy, then you need to speak out faithfully what God has given you.  If your gift is service, then serve the church well.  If it is teaching, then educate the church well.  If your gift is encouragement, then exhort the church.  If your gift is giving, then be generous.  If your gift is leadership, then lead responsibly and diligently.  If your gift is kindness or mercy, then be kind with a cheerful heart.

    It takes time to learn how to use your gifts properly.  You do not want to abuse or take advantage of what the Holy Spirit has given you.  They are gift(s) to you, but not for you.  They are to be used in love to put faith into action.  If you use the gifts for your own benefit, then it will turn people away from the church.

    When you exercise your gifts in love, then they are profitable for the church.  Use your gifts in patience, kindness, rejoicing in truth, bearing all things, believing in God's promises, hope in salvation, and enduring persecution.  Do not allow envy, boasting, arrogance, rudeness, selfishness, demanding, irritability, grudges, or unjust to block you from using what God has given.  Love never gives up.

    Your attitude toward your spiritual gift(s) needs to be what benefits the church.  You need to avoid division by taking care of each other.  Build each other up in Godly love by working together instead of against each other.  Each member of the church is commanded to minister, but how they minister depends on their spiritual gifts.  

    Even if you do not possess the gift of faith, wisdom, knowledge, exhortation, giving, or helping, you can learn the skills.  These are functional skills that can put you in a support role to make the church strong.  It all starts with an obedient heart.  The direction that it leads you will reveal what your spiritual gift(s) are.  

    Look for open doors, pray for opportunities, and seek Godly counsel from mature Christians.  Seek service in missions, administration, or physically being a helper in the church.  Use your gifts to mature as a Christian and help the church as the Holy Spirit directs.  It will all come together perfectly if done in love.  This is how you will receive God's approval.  

Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:22-26, 13:1-7, 2 Corinthians 5:6-10, 9:6-10, Ephesians 4:11-16, 2 Timothy 2:15-18, Hebrews 10:23-25, James 1:5-8, & 1 Peter 4:10-11

Temporary & Permanent Spiritual Gifts

 

    God is good.  He gives us what we need, when we need it.  Security and stability are two of those gifts.  The Holy Spirit works alongside us to give us abilities in the moment and abilities that become a part of us.  

    The temporary spiritual gifts are gifts that come as we need them.  They include miracles, healing, tongues, and interpretations.  They are given to confirm the testimony of Jesus.  They were prevalent in the early church, but ceased to be evident in the established church.  

    Miracles are the gift to have the ability to do "wonders" and "signs".  Christ performed miracles and it was an affirmation of the apostles.  Today, we still have miracles, but not in such a big way.  Healing worked along side miracles.  It is the gift to affirm Jesus' message and help establish the foundation of the church faith.  The healed were a walking testimony.  Tongues and interpretations are gifts that manifested by speaking unknown languages.  Speaking in tongues is only relevant if there is someone to interpret what was being said.  

    Permanent gifts are the gifts that become a part of you and need to be developed as you mature as a Christian.  These are gifts that the Holy Spirit gave to build up the church and need to be used to bring unity and strength.

    Prophecy is the gift to preach or inform the truth of scripture.  It is not necessarily tell what will happen in the future like it prominently was in the old testament.  Teaching is the gift that gives the ability to teach God's Word and help the hearers to understand God's Word as it was intended.

    Faith is a consistent gift that help Christians to face overwhelming obstacles and human impossibilities to achieve great things.   This gift is more than the faith that brought your salvation.  It is can be tied to the gift of prayer because it is normally expressed to God through prayer.  This is powerful prayer because you know God will show up.

    Wisdom is the gift that gives you the ability to gain spiritual insight.  It helps you see right from wrong and how to apply it.  It goes along with discernment and knowledge.  The spiritual gift of knowledge is being able to understand God's Word factually.  It makes you a scholar of the truth in scripture both broadly and the depth.  Discernment is the spiritual gift of being able to tell what is from God and what is evil.  It enables you to distinguish truth from error.  It help protect the church.

    Mercy is the gift that enables a person to display deep compassion to anyone in need: spiritual, physical, or emotional.  Exhortation is the gift of encouraging and motivating.  It can be used to comfort through love, help people to commit spiritually, help spiritual growth, or get people into action.  People with this gift tend to go into counseling.

    The gift of giving is a material ministry.  These people give what they have and encourage others to give: food, clothing, money, property, and more.  They meet the needs of the church.  The gift of helpers is to be present in the time of need.  They help bear each other's burdens as a situation arises.  The gift of service is the calling to work for the church in the physical areas of ministry.  They typically serve food or perform behind the scenes duties that make the church look nice or function.

    The gift of administration or leadership has the ability to oversee the church/  This is the gift of pastors, elders, and missionaries.  This gift contributes to a lot of aspects to the overall church.  These people are called to be the face of the church as they lead people into their growth, maturity, and movement into the community or world.

Acts 2:1-13, 3:4-8, 5:12-16, 1 Corinthians 14:27-28, & 2 Corinthians 12:11-13

Nature of Spiritual Gifts

 

    When you become a Christian you are given gifts from God through the Holy Spirit.  The purpose of these gifts are not for personal gain.  It is to help you serve the church and ministry.  Spiritual Gifts comes from two Greek words: charismata and pneumatika.  Spiritual Gifts used the charis which means grace and pneumatika which means spiritual.  Grace is something that was not earned or deserved to be given, but was.  

    The Holy Spirit is the source of all spiritual gifts.  That is why you cannot obtain them until you are a Christian.  He gives them freely to whom and how he decides.  They are given for the common good and to excel at building Jesus' church.  Spiritual Gifts are meant to serve the people in the church as a good steward an to glorify Jesus in all that we do.

    Spiritual Gifts are prophecy, service, teaching, exhorting, giving, leading, and mercy.  They are used for wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophesying, discernment, speaking in tongues, and interpretation of tongue.  Spiritual Gifts lead to jobs: apostles, prophets, teachers, miracle workers, healers, helpers, administration, and languages.

    Your faith determines how strong and useful the Spiritual Gifts will be.  When you prophecy faithfully, then you speak out as God instructs.  If your gift is serving, then you serve well.  Same with teaching because you are invested in learning as much as you can about God.  Encourage faithfully means you will speak the truth without destroying the spirit of another person.  Giving spiritually is knowing what a person needs and providing it without strings attached.  Leadership is to be taken seriously because you direct people's lives and souls.  Gift of kindness needs to be given gladly because everyone needs it.  They all work together to make the church strong and united as one body.  We all need each other.

Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:4-28, 14:10-12, & 1 Peter 4:10-11

Church Ordinances

 

    Ordinance is a piece of legislation enacted by a municipal authority.  In a church it is baptism done by the pastor.  It is also a decree you sign about your faith to join the church.  To follow Jesus you need to be baptized.  To be a part of a church family, you need to sign the decree of faithfulness.    

    To be a member of a church you must declare your faith in Jesus Christ and be baptized.  Baptism is done as an of obedience.  It declares that your identity is in Jesus's death, burial, and resurrection.  It is putting actions behind your words of faith that you will die to who you were to become like Jesus.  

    Baptism acknowledges that your old self is crucified and the person that rises is a new person.  True baptism is being fully immersed in water..  The word baptism come from the Greek word baptizo which means "make fully whelmed; to dip or to sink".

    You receive the Holy Spirit the moment you accept the gift of salvation.  You are sealed for heaven, even if you never get to be baptized.  However, baptism is important.  It need to happen if it can.  It is a declaration of your identity in Jesus.  The rising of the water represents the Holy Spirit filling you and making you a new person.  

    Along with the ordinance of baptism there is the ordinance of communion.  Communion is the Lords Supper that is acknowledged at a set time in the church.  Like baptism, it was given by Jesus to be observed and obeyed by the church.  Baptism represents a new life.  Communion is done in remembrance of Jesus' death.

    The bread is eaten in remembrance of Jesus.  It represents his body giving us life.  The cup represents Jesus' promise of the new covenant.  He gave all of his blood to anyone who wants to have the gift of salvation.  Every time you partake in communion, you declare your faith that Jesus will return for the united church.  

    Communion is only for believer's.  It comes with warnings.  If you partake in an unworthy manner, then you are committing a sin against Jesus' sacrifice.  It will bring judgment upon you.  It can cause weakness,  illness, or even death.  If you part take and you are not a Christian, then you are only adding burning coals upon your head.  Ordinances are serious and placed by Jesus for a purpose.

Matthew 3:13-16, 28:16-20, John 3:22-30, Acts 2:41, 8:26-40, 10:44-48, 16:31-34, 18:7-8, Romans 6:1-11, & 1 Corinthians 11:23-30

Worship as a Church

    Worship was originally worthship is English.  It means to acknowledge the worth of someone or something.  We worship when we honor God for being who He is.  It happens when we acknowledge His nature, attributes, and work.  It comes from a grateful and submissive heart that gives adoration and devotion in response of what He has done in our lives.

    As a church we come together to worship and be grateful for each other too.  God placed us in each others lives for a reason.  When we come together to worship corporately, then you can really feel the power of God.  That is also why people pray together and for the church as they worship.

    God seek genuine worship that comes from the spirit.  If we are not worshipping God, then we give our worship to Satan.  That only takes away from people.  Worshipping God comes from a place of truth without error.  Worship comes naturally when we seek to know and learn more about God.  He is the only one worthy of our highest devotion.

    When you worship you give glory, honor, and power to God because you acknowledge Him as your creator and the creator of all things.  His power of life comes from His will.  Worship requires praise.  That is why there is usually singing and music at church.  It seems to be easier to praise God corporately when there is music involved.  

    Worship essentially needs reverence.  That is why people bow their heads, kneel down, or lay face down to worship God.  Kneeling is an action of submission to someone's power or authority over them.  It is an attitude of recognition or fear to worship.  Holy fear is the first step of recognizing who God is.  It is not fear as the world sets fear to be.  It is reverence.

Exodus 34:8-9, Psalm 66:1-4, 95:1-7, Luke 7:1-10, John 4:21-24, & Revelations 1:1-3, 4:19-11 

Church Fellowship

 

    Koinonia is the Greek word that gave us fellowship in the Bible.  It represents the body of Christ.  Koinonia means "participation with others in a common purpose".  The Latin word communion is another word for fellowship.  It is about a community of believers that come together to worship God.

    The best form of fellowship is unity within the church.  It is what God desires for all believers.  Christians come together through understanding and conviction. If Christians come together in that manner it promotes unity.  If they come together with their own agenda, this it only causes strife, discord, and division.  

    Christians needs to bare one another in love, humility, gentleness, and patience.  We all have different back grounds, cultures, mind sets, and personalities.  If we work together to understand and unite for God's purpose, then it will make a beautiful picture of strength.  It is the church's responsibility to bond together in peace.  

    The key to maintaining unity within the church is to do nothing out of selfishness or conceit.  Know your worth through God, but consider other people with more importance than your desires.  Being a Christian is not being a door mat or a push over.  It is choosing to love other people in the way that Jesus loved people.  Take care of and serve one another with the attitude that you are serving Jesus and harmony will follow.

    Fellowship with God should bring believers joy.  Time with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is a blessing that should be shared with other believers.  The truth is that unbelievers can come to church, but they are not experiencing true fellowship.  It is spiritual just as much as it is physical.  They are unable to tap into the spiritual side because they do not know Jesus.

    True fellowship as the Body of Christ is sharing your lives and ministering to one another in that intimate way.  Fellowship is pursuing peace while promoting each other.  It is freely serving one another and doing good works.  You share the burdens that each of us carry to make it easier to bare.  You pray healing over each other in earnest unity and it will hold great power and wonderful results. 

    Fellowship includes confessing your sins not for repentance, but so that your church knows how to pray and help you avoid temptation.  We need to be gentle and humble when correcting those in the church because we have our own sin and fall into temptation too.  Confess to God for forgiveness and to be able to stay close to Him. 

Romans 14:14-19, 1 Corinthians 1:10-12, 2 Corinthians 6:14-18, 13:11-14, Galatians 5:13-15, 6:1-4, Ephesians 4:1-4, Philippians 2:1-4, James 5:16-18, 1 Peter 4:10-11, & 1 John 1:1-7