Evangelism Articles – GROW magazine

06 Jan

He Who Wins Souls Is Wise

EVANGELISM ARTICLE | Ken Weliever | Beverly Hills, Florida

In the comic strip “Peanuts,” Lucy tells her brother, Linus, that she has “converted” a school classmate to her way of thinking religiously. Linus is surprised, especially knowing how Lucy operates.

“How did you do it?” Linus asked.

“I told him everything I believe and asked him if he believed it , too.” Lucy explained. “Then when we came to something he didn’t see my way, I just hit him over the head with my lunch box until he believed it!”

I suppose we’ve all witnessed that kind of evangelism. Oh, not literally hitting someone over the head with a lunch box, or anything else. But evangelism that is aggressive. Belligerent. And even insulting. Read More →

15 Oct

Take Every Opportunity

EVANGELISM ARTICLE | Jeff Carr | Lakeland, Florida

“Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Your speech must always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.” – Col 4:5-6

This passage of Scripture is a marvelous passage where Paul talks about how we should teach the Gospel to those who are outsiders and how we should interact with others. This verse presupposes that we will be interacting with non-Christians about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Are we praying and looking for such opportunities? Are we praying to “make the most” of each opportunity that comes our way? Since we are to “conduct ourselves with wisdom” we need to prepare for this and make sure our speech and actions are full of Godly wisdom. The Apostle Paul is telling each of us that we need to think about our opportunities and that we need to make sure we are doing the best we can in trying to reach out to others who are not Christians. Read More →

20 Jul

Evangelism Lessons From the Seventy

EVANGELISM ARTICLE | Joshua Welch | Anderson, Indiana

Luke 10:1-16 contains an account where Jesus had sent out “seventy” of His disciples “into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.” This evangelistic method has some simple pointers that may help us as we try to reach lost souls in our own communities emulating the methods and marching orders of Jesus. Consider a few points to help you in your own evangelistic efforts. Read More →

17 Apr

The Sustainability and Repeatability of Western Evangelism

EVANGELISM ARTICLE | Chadwick Brewer | South Chesterfield, Virginia

It was a hot and sunny Tuesday morning when we climbed into the back of the bakkie (pickup truck) to finish our trip to Chikuku. My traveling companion and I had been traveling since Sunday afternoon to get to this rural village in Zimbabwe, and we were excited to meet brethren that we had never met before. We had a day of lectures arranged for Chikuku and four days of lectures planned for Mashindi. While we had been to South Africa several times, and we were traveling with our good friends from South Africa, this was our first time in Zim, and we were looking forward to the work. Read More →

01 Jan

The Furtherance of the Gospel

EVANGELISM ARTICLE | Jim Mickells | Lewisburg, Tennessee

When Paul wrote his second epistle to Timothy, he told this young evangelist to commit what he had heard from this great apostle to faithful men who would be able to teach others (2 Timothy 2:2). All who are faithful to the Lord should be concerned with fulfilling the great commission, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). In the next verse of the commission, the ones who had made disciples were told “teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20). What had Jesus just told the eleven disciples (Matthew 28:16) which those who were converted were to imitate? Go make disciples. Each member of the body of Christ should be busy trying to teach the gospel of Christ to the lost, which when obeyed will save their souls by the grace of God (Romans 1:16). Read More →

10 Oct

The Great Commission

EVANGELISM ARTICLE | Wayne Goff | Kansas City, Missouri

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the 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.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

Contextually speaking, the great commission of Matthew 28 was given to the eleven apostles (v. 16) shortly before Jesus ascended into heaven. It was not given to every Christian, but every Christian should feel the obligation to share the gospel with friends, family, acquaintances, and even foes, if they will listen. We say this because after the apostles began preaching the great commission in Acts 2, those three thousand plus who were converted “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine” (Acts 2:42). Read More →

28 Jul

Being Salt And Light In The World

EVANGELISM ARTICLE | John Maddocks | Toronto, Ontario

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavour, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:13-16) Read More →

17 Apr

Practical Tips for Conducting a Bible Study

EVANGELISM ARTICLE | Ken McDaniel | Springfield, Illinois

It was May of 2010. I was on my second evangelistic trip to Fiji working to establish a faithful congregation on the main island of Viti Levu. My youngest son, Colton, had just graduated high school and was accompanying me on the trip. We were riding in an old rickety bus to the village of Viseisei where a recent contact had gathered a few people in her home for a Bible study I was to lead. As the warm wind whistled through the old bus and the loose metal rattled over every pothole and crack in the road, Colton leaned over and asked, “What do you plan to teach?” I will never forget the look on his face when I replied, “I don’t know.” His expression of astonishment and disbelief said all he needed to say without speaking a word. “Dad! I can’t believe you’re not prepared. I’ve never known you to do something like this before. How could you not know what you are going to teach?” After a brief moment of savoring his reaction, I assured him that all would be OK. This situation was a little different than most. This time we had to visit the group first, find out where they were in their knowledge and understanding, and determine from there where would be the best place to start and at what level we would need to teach. The study went very well, and after a few more, we converted the lady of the house and her husband. Read More →

28 Jan

25 Ways to Get Busy Doing the Work of Evangelism

EVANGELISM ARTICLE | William Stewart & Sean Cavender

Before ascending to heaven, our Lord instructed the apostles to be busy preaching the gospel. Mark’s account of the great commission begins, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). However, this mission was not exclusive to the apostles. In Matthew’s record of the mandate, Jesus told the apostles to “…make disciples of all the nations … teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you…” (Matthew 28:19-20). In this, Jesus instituted a perpetual continuation of teaching the gospel to lost souls. We see the apostle Paul applying this in 2 Timothy 2:2, “…the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” Read More →

08 Oct

Sharing the Gospel of King Jesus

EVANGELISM ARTICLE | Sean Cavender | Wichita, Kansas

Introduction
After His resurrection, Jesus told His apostles that “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). Jesus soon ascended into heaven and was exalted to sit on David’s throne, reigning as king over His kingdom (Acts 2:33; Philippians 2:9-11). Following this claim to kingly authority, Jesus then told His apostles to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I command you…” (Matthew 28:19-20). Throughout the book of Acts, we see the apostles work in fulfilling Jesus’ words. As the church grew and more and more people were converted to Christ, all disciples began to share the word of God with those who were not disciples of KIng Jesus (Acts 8:4). Read More →