God-centered, Holy-Spirit Regeneration Evangelism

               

  • “The sovereignty of God's love, the sufficiency of Christ's saving work, and the hopelessness of man apart from the gracious work of the Spirit, are key truths in an approach that keeps the focus of our hearts upon the great worth and glory of God!”
  •  This means that we can eliminate two common pitfalls in evangelism—On the one hand we can eliminate guilt and pressure tactics from our preaching and evangelism (hopelessness of man apart from the gracious work of the Spirit). On the other hand we can eliminate laziness and carelessness in our preaching and evangelism (God uses the gospel, the foolishness of preaching, and the testimonies of the saints to save the lost).
  • God help us to preach the Gospel to every creature and to implore all people to repent and believe wholeheartedly upon Christ!
  • At the same time, we recognize that neither repentance nor faith can be produced by manipulating emotions or coercing the will. They are the result of the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. Thus we preach, teach, and witness with great dependence upon the Holy Spirit to open hearts, remove scales from the eyes, change minds, bring spiritual life and light to those who are dead in their sins and in darkness, and grant the grace gifts of faith and repentance.

Why does God command us to spread the gospel of His beloved Son, Jesus?

1.      BECAUSE GOD LOVES HIS GLORY!

  •  Ephesians 1:5-6--He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 

  • Ephesians 1:12-- to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.  
  • Ephesians 1:14--who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.  
  • Revelation 5:9--And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.  

2.      BECAUSE GOD LOVES HIS PEOPLE! 

  • Matthew 1:21--“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”  John 3:16; Romans 5:8 

3.      TRUE GROWTH IS GOD’S DOING. (Depth and width). 

  • "And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.”   Acts 2:47  
  • "(Jesus) I will build my church."   Matthew 16:18 

HOW WE WILL REACH THEM

Reaching: Our three-part strategy to reach people for Christ:

1.     Prayer: We will pray individually and corporately for those lost souls God has placed in our path. “Ask and it shall be given to you, Seek and you shall find, Knock and the door shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, it shall be opened.” Luke 11:9-10 

2.     Care: We will care for people by showing them the love of Jesus in word and deed. This will occur through relationships with unbelievers, T.O.U.C.H. groups, servanthood evangelism, and being sensitive to the needs of our "neighbor".

3.     Share: Sharing involves giving our testimonies and sharing the gospel one on one as well as from the pulpit. This can/must happen throughout the week, in our neighborhoods, in T.O.U.C.H. groups, in corporate worship, and in a variety of other settings. “Always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you.” I Peter 3:15