Evangelism

This week we had the topic of Evangelism and our speaker was David Pierce.  David has a ministry called Steiger Ministries and they go into the cities and clubs that are dark and demonized.  They have a band called No Longer Music and with that band they are able to get into these places in Amsterdam, Brazil, and several other places that are possessed by evil spirits.  David uses the music and atmosphere to bring the gospel to these people in very up front and convicting ways.  He uses the Cross and crucifixions of Jesus as well as the resurrection to show them how amazing and powerful God is and then he speaks about it through singing and then has ministry time at the end of his sessions that see hundreds come to the Lord each performance.

To start off the week he set our foundation and convicted us right away of being stagnant in the Lord and His plans for us.  He explained how God’s power is amazing and as it says in Eph 1:18 the power is available to all who believe.  In the book of Acts we see the account of the numerous miracles that Jesus performed when He was here on Earth and that is the Jesus that is alive today.  God wants to use each and every one of us and it isn’t about our abilities or gifts, we need to realize that through God anything is possible.  In the Bible we learn of the power of God after the Disciples feed the 3,000 and then are going across the lake and are met by a storm and Peter walks on water because he called for God to show His power.

We know that God is all powerful and trustworthy and all that stuff, but are we willing to go into battle for Jesus.  This is where we are unsure because weather it is being a missionary, sharing the gospel, or met with challenges in everyday life we seem to limit ourselves because stepping out of our comfort zone is too risky.  Faith is a choice and not a feeling and we choice to be obedient or not.  Faith without risk isn’t true faith because it allows you to rely on your own ability rather than God’s.  Yes, risks are a part of faith and in John 16:33 God promises us adventures, but he also promises trouble.  Wayne Gretzky, one of the greatest hockey players of all times said, “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”  So we need to take our shots to share the gospel when we have a chance or else we may fail to do God’s perfect will and bring that person to the Lord.  We need to be warriors in our faith because when we are in Spiritual Warfare praying and sharing the gospel with people we are in war.  The enemy, Satan, wants to kill and destroy us and our purpose.  So what I am saying is that we need to put on our Shield of Faith and we need to have supernatural and unreasonable faith that God will give us radical dreams and His boldness and power through the Holy Spirit.  That is what is honoring to God and allows Him to work through us.

So we have to have faith to be warriors for God and that is what He calls us to do.  However, God wants us to be equipped to go into battle so before we share His word we have to know Him and have a personal intimate relationship with Him.  In the Bible we know that God can and will destroy the antichrist with His breath.  So when we know God we can have Gods power working through us and that is the only way people will listen, when they see God’s Power.  Many of us try to do works for God and change the world, but we fail because we are casual about it and don’t do it through God but on our own.  That isn’t God’s will; He wants us to do all works through Him and out of our relationship with Him.  So get desperate for God to move in your life and be honest in your prayers and you will see breakthroughs because you came to Him with an earnest heart.

God has a heart for the lost, Luke 15: 1-7 talks about the parable of the lost sheep.  God has a heart for those who are lost and in darkness and wants to bring them to light, God’s love is unconditional and He wants all people to come to Him and receive His kingdom.  This is what God calls each and every one of us as believers to do, make disciples of all nations.  So how do we do that?  The Cross is powerful and if we take the cross out of our message then we have failed to give people an accurate picture of Jesus.  The Cross needs to be portrayed as more than a piece of jewelry; it is the passion of Jesus and shows how Jesus isn’t happy or passive about injustice.  It shows how God cares for us and wants us to be clean and is the basis of all God’s purpose.  The only way we come to Jesus is on our face at the foot of the cross.  How great is that to humble ourselves and give over all our transgressions, infirmities, and inequities to Jesus and be healed and pure again.  So we need to get a real revelation of the cross and let it pierce our hearts so we can answers the calls of Jesus and find the lost and bring them to the kingdom.

As a Christian and in missions at this moment I was really convicted this week as I realized I wasn’t living in fear of God rather I was living in fear of man.  I made the step in obedience in coming here to go into all the world and make disciples yet I had failed to let God move freely in my life as I worried about finances, reputation, and embarrassment.  This was fear of man as I didn’t want to take risks in being up front with people because our culture tells us to accept people.  Well, God also tells us to do that but He also tells us to bring the truth to those who live in sin and do it in a loving way.  Our culture today is making exceptions to all kinds of sins and we are asked to accept that culture, but Jesus offended culture He went against it by helping the Samaritan and tax collectors.  The cultural values were to hate these people yet Jesus didn’t do that He offended the status quo, yet did in a loving way.  So we need to go into these places and be humble in our attitudes and find all our pride in God, we need not to condemn other but to convict them and bring them to the kingdom through love.  Be challenged everyday as I am with being obedient to God and stepping out of the boat.  The most important thing we can do outside of the boat is doing the next thing God asks you to do.