Marks of a Healthy Church #5: "A Biblical Understanding of Evangelism”

Sermon Scripture:  Romans 10:13-17

Sermon Notes are available for you to follow along below or for download here.

Sermon Notes:

What Is Evangelism?
Evangelism is simply telling non-Christians the good news about what Jesus Christ has done to save sinners and urging them to repent and believe. In order to biblically evangelize you must:

• Preach the whole gospel, even the hard news about God’s wrath against our sin.
• Call people to repent of their sins and trust in Christ.
• Make it clear that believing in Christ is costly, but worth it.

Where Is It in the Bible?
Scripture contains both teaching on evangelism (Matt. 28:19-20; Rom. 10:14-17; 1 Pet. 3:15-16) and examples of evangelistic preaching (see Acts 2:14-41, 3:12-26, 13:16-49, 17:22-31). Moreover, any time Scripture speaks of the gospel, it is teaching us what we are to share in evangelism (Romans 1-4 and 1 Cor. 15:1-4).
Why Is It Important?

• When a church has an unbiblical understanding of the gospel, they don’t evangelize, they evangelize in misleading or manipulative ways, or they share a message that’s not the gospel.
• On the other hand, a biblical understanding of evangelism clarifies our role in the mission God has given to the church: we are to preach the good news about what Christ has done and pray that God would bring people to believe it.

Evangelism is NOT…

• Imposing your beliefs on others.
• Your ______________
• Apologetics
• Social Justice
• The ____________ of evangelism

How Should We Evangelize?

•  Be clear.
  • Trust the ___________ of the gospel.
• Be Christ-centered.
  • Point people to an encounter with Jesus.
• Be confident.
  • Trust the __________ of the Spirit.
• Be careful.
  • Remember the goal is NOT ____________; the goal is ______________.
  • We want to convey three things:
    • The decision is _____________, so consider it carefully. (Luke 9:62)
    • The decision is _____________, so make it soon. (Luke 12:20)
    • The decision is _____________, so you want to make it. (John 10:10)

Riverview and the Urgency of Eternity...

• Do we realize people’s ______________?
• Do we possess the heart of ____________?
• Do we want our lives to ___________?

The Ultimate Question for Personal Evangelism…

• Will the gospel ___________ with you or ___________ through you?