TOPIC: REACHING EVERY COMMUNITY WITH THE GOSPEL

MEMORY VERSE: “Jesus saith unto them, my meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish His work” (John 4:34)

TEXT: Matthew28:18-20; Mark 1:35-39; Luke 4:42-44

INTRODUCTION

The Great Commission is concerned with reaching EVERY creature with the gospel of Christ. Since people are geographically located in cities and communities, reaching every city and community offers the best way of reaching the world with the gospel.God expects us to reach EVERY creature, class, clan, community, city, country, culture and continent with the gospel.

During the earthly ministry of Christ, He went from city to city in Galilee, Judea, etc. We discern this pattern in the spread of the early church as they moved from city to city– Samaria, Corinth, Ephesus, Philippi, Berea, Athens,Thessalonica, Iconium, etc. – spreading the gospel.

The peculiarity of our community, environment and exposure contribute immensely to our behavioral patterns. The community is replete with individuals given to business, investment, learning, research, inventions and is full of the arrogant but ignorant, atheists, agnostics, prognostics, lawlessness, lewdness, loose living, liberty,argumentative, antagonistic, analytical,indifferent and the unconcerned.All these classes of people and more demand different approach and method of reaching out to them. The need for wisdom in communicating the gospel message to this people is of utmost importance.

Q1. What is Great Commission? and what pattern did Christ employ to spread the gospel?

Every soul winner must be (i) studious (ii) sensitive (iii) selective (iv) sympathetic (v) sociable (vi) saintly (vii) selfless. We must watch our presentation and make the facts plain; watch our program, the place, the people to minister to and watch the period for effective gospel communication.

Christ was bent on giving other people in other cities the opportunity of hearing the gospel and being blessed by God.One of the problems of modern churches is that we so settle down in one place possibly because of acceptance, ease, people’s subtle request and forget to reach out. We can learn from Christ’s attitude and disposition.

The people in this city in our textsought to MONOPOLIZE Christ’s time and to LOCALIZE Christ’s works.However, Christ knew that His mission was to go about His Father’s business reaching as many as possible, to seek and to save the lost wherever He could find them.Monopolization and localization constitute two great obstacles to the spread of the gospel and the growth of the church. We must not allow these to stop us in our tracks. We must not succumb to people’s pressure to stay with them, that we should not depart from them. We must not allow them to eat up all our time in a spot.

As believers, we must heed the command to preach the gospel

The command to preach the Gospel came from the Lord Himself. Since the command came from Him, the priority to preach the Gospel is very high for all believers. Our obedience is a mark of true respect and discipleship. The command is also urgent because of the predicament of sinners).The preaching of the Gospel must be a life purpose for every genuine believer and failure results to a wastedlifetime with grave consequence. May we not be found guilty of anyone’s blood!

Q2. What is the consequence of delaying to spread the gospel message?

  1. LEADING COLLEAGUES AND OTHERS TO CHRIST - Mark 16:15,16; 1Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9; Mark 5:18-19; Luke 5:4-11; Proverb 11:30

The expressed will of God is that all, including our colleagues be saved and come to the knowledge of salvation.

The believer is God’s instrument for achieving this divine will of leading all men to salvation experience. The believer is Christ’s ambassador in work and business places and must do everything possible to present Christ to those sinners before they leave this world. Faithfulness in doing this will lead to salvation of souls for sinners and eternal joy for the soul winner.

The unchanging revealed will of God is to ‘Have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of Christ. This revealed will of God places on the believer a compelling obligation of reaching every sinner around him for Christ. The believer’s close relationship with sinners either at office or business level therefore should not be mistaken as co-incidence but a divine arrangement to enable him reach such for Christ.

Q3. What are the common features that should be present in every simple Salvation message shared?

A simple gospel message whichever approach adopted, should include a minimum content like: The Love of God – mercy and compassion (John3:16); the lost state of Sinners without God (Job 14:4); Christ Redemption and sacrificial death for man (Isaiah 53:4-7); Faith in Christ, atonement and persuasion to believe in Him for eternal life (John 1:12); finally, the ultimate judgement of God on the unbelieving and obstinate (Luke13:3; Psalms 9:17).

There are man-made and Satan induced obstacles that if allowed could cripple God’s will and willingness to save sinners through the believer at work and business places.

Prominent among those obstacles are (i) Conflicting Christian character and conversation (ii) Unending Procrastination (iii) Shallow Understanding of Eternal Realities (iv) Thought of falling out of favour with co-workers (v) Office politics and Offensive Business Practices(vi) Money and Materials Pre-occupation

(vii) Elusive Assumption that someone else will reach those sinners(viii) Relying on fleshly wisdom to lead men to Christ (ix) Shyness and other social consideration. The believer must overcome the above-mentioned obstacles by(i) Demonstrating practical holiness in lifestyle and dealings(ii) Developing Christ-like passion and compassion to lead associates to Christ (iii) Dedicating more time to their eternal needs than social and business needs(iv) sympathetic (v) Displaying prompt response to the Spirit’s prompting to preach to them (vi) Depending on God’s Spirit and Power to save sinners

Christ’s personal evangelism methods of leading souls to salvation should be a perfect model for every believer whose goal is to get a sinner saved.Like Christ, the believer could begin the process of leading their colleagues and business associates to salvation experience by:(i) Cultivating their friendship(ii) Caring for their physical, social and emotional needs through counseling, prayers and giving(iii) Constant and Consistent intersession for their salvation(iv) Creatively initiating conversation that could reach them with the message of salvation(v) Carving out time for discussion with the aim of leading him to Christ.

  1. PERSISTENCE AND PRAYER IN SOULWINNING - John 4:5-10; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 6:12; Romans 12:1; Mark 16:15-20

Soul winning is a clarion call, a divine mandate to all believers who are saved to serve and bring others to salvation and knowledge of Christ. The call to soul-winning is a task that must be carried out through persistency because of some satanic challenges. These challenges therefore call for persistent and constant prayers.The mission to save the lost and sinful world from the power of sin is an onerous task yet it must be done. Powerless gospel does no good to the dying world. Paul had only one definition for the gospel which is “power of God”. This power comes from above and can only be obtained by prayer. The preaching of Peter was so powerful at Pentecost because he tarried in ceaseless prayers in obedience to the command of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Q4. How can we achieve and experience the same results the early church had in soul winning today?

If the church wants the same result that the early church had, she must be ready to pay the price. God has not changed. Unless the church realizes the apathy in the powerlessness of a prayer less preacher and his message, she will never win the world. The Lord told His disciples that they need Him to succeed in the gospel campaign. Not to pray unto him for empowerment, enablement, inspiration, vision and direction is to fix a date with failure, fruitlessness and frustration. A prayer less preacher may spend hours preaching an entertaining message which will appeal to the head but lead his audience to being more hardened, dead and ardent in their sin. A prayer less preacher will raise a prayer less congregation. The gospel is not just talking but it is a complete package of God’s provision for mans’ redemption. The prayer less preacher will lack power to cast out devils, heal the sick and raise the dead. Prayerlessness is a sign of unpreparedness to take the gospel to a dying world. The gospel that saves the world is received on the knees. A prayer less preaching comes from the head but preaching borne out compassion and prayer comes from the heart and the throne room of heaven.

Jesus did not resort to mount Olives to play but to pray and when He came down He was filled with God’s glory and power. Prayer pulls down the stronghold of the devil in the hearts of the people and enforces obedience to the faith. Prayer binds the strong man and plunders his goods. Prayer gives us the heathen in uttermost part of the earth for our inheritance. Prayer gives us boldness, grace and authority in preaching. Prayer sets the captives of the mighty free. Prayer makes our words irresistibly powerful. Prayer makes God to be involved in our outreach. To go without prayer is to say that we are self-sufficient. He gives us direction on where to cast the net for a draught. To leave the Lord of the harvest out of the ministry of soul winning is to embark on an adventure in futility.

Q5. Whereis the place of persistence prayer in winning souls for Christ?

A great burden for souls births the spirit of earnest prayer. “Where there is no vision (there cannot be prayer) …the people perish.” Examples abound of men who prayed their generation into the kingdom of God. They include, Paul the Apostle, Epaphroditus, Father Nash, David Brainerd, Charles Finney, John Wesley, John Knox, George Muller, and so on.

Our principal and first business as a disciple of Christ is to give the gospel to those who have it not. He who is not a missionary Christian will be a missing Christian when the day of reckoning for the faithful service comes.

Soul winning is a battle to liberate sinful soul from the bondage of sin to salvation in Christ. Persistence in soul winning simply means hard work, carefulness and thoroughness in the soul winning mandate. Christ Himself was persistent in soul winning, even while on the cross. Jesus manifested persistence in reaching the Samaritan woman despite her argument and display of religion.

  1. PREPARATION FOR POWER EVANGELISM - Matthew 4:23-25; Luke 4:16-22;1 Corinthians 2:4-5; Titus 2:7-8;Acts1: 8, 2:1-4, 4:23-33; Micah 3:8

Power Evangelism is the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom of God with the power of the Holy Spirit. The gospel of the kingdom is associated with the message of repentance and faith in Christ for the salvation of sinners, the healing of the sick, deliverance for the oppressed and the destruction of satanic works and power. Power evangelism publicizes the gospel of the kingdom and draw souls to Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ carried out His earthly ministry with power evangelism. The promised signs are for those who obey and go preach the gospel to every creature. “These signs shall follow….” (Mark 16:17)

Q6. What is power evangelism and what should constitute our preparation for it?

The Apostles of Christ and believers in the early church followed the pattern of (i) Personal purity,(ii) Diligent study of the word; (iii) Prevailing prayer and (iv) Persuasive preaching. The gospel preaching is for every believer and we need the power of the Holy Spirit to do the work of soul winning. The Holy Spirit is responsible for power evangelism. He needs faithful men to use, not methodologies. Spiritual power comes through prevailing prayer. Prayer is the key that opens that door to the supernatural out pouring of the Holy Spirit power. The power, boldness and courage to witness effectively and be fruitful in the work of the Lord is by the Holy Spirit.

Power evangelism is the persuasive preaching with the demonstration of the Spirit and power of God. It is the preaching that convicts and convert the soul by bearing witness of the saving power of the risen Christ. It transforms life and effect holiness in believers. Every believer should pray that through their preaching souls will be saved, believers will be sanctified and fill with the Holy Spirit. The sick will be healed, the oppressed delivered and evil spirit cast out.

Q7. Taking the cue from the early Church, what should we do to attract the supernatural dimension in evangelism today?

The reason for signs and wonders in power evangelism is to confirm that the gospel message is genuine and that the kingdom of God has come to earth in power. It is to affirm that the risen Christ is working through His people. Signs and wonders are not special gift for a few but were given to all believers who will consecrate their life to persistent purity and study of God’s word, prevailing prayer and Holy Spirit infilling, and persuasive preaching of the gospel of the kingdom with power of the Holy Spirit.

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