Curtis Tumicki

Last week, we started to look at some different evangelists from the Bible.  While looking at different individuals from the Bible is important and it still is, it is also good for us to look at other preachers throughout history who have made an impact when it comes to evangelism and how they have shaped evangelism going forward for us to learn from.  I have mentioned Martin Luther from the Reformation Movement in 1517 who went against the Catholic Church and was letting people know about Jesus from a relational perspective.  Another person that I can think of when it comes to evangelism is Issac Watts (1674-1748).  When it came to Watts, he was really big into worship and how worship was supposed to be.  He was known as “the father of English hymnody.”  He placed heavy emphasis on this idea: “a Christian song should express the thoughts and feelings of those who sang rather than merely relate the experiences and circumstances of the psalm writers of the Old Testament.”  He had a heart dedicated to worship.  Another person I can think of is Dwight L Moody (1837-1899).  He began a different kind of evangelism called “The Gospel Wagon.”  It would be like a Sunday school bus.  He had a passion for making sure that children would know Jesus at an early age and helping them grow.  In 1859, his Sunday school class became the largest class in the entire Chicago area.  In 1860 as a young 23 year old, he was preaching the gospel to Union soldiers during the Civil War.  Eventually, he started The Moody Church in 1871.  When a fire destroyed the building, he decided to travel but it eventually took a toll on him and he actually took a break from ministry in 1872.  He went to England and was preaching at his friend’s church and felt like there was a disconnection between the people and the gospel.  The more that he preached, the more engaged people were getting.  While spending his time in England, Moody started different evangelical campaigns with Ira Sankey in 1873.  The point of this story is not about sharing something about a preacher or how he preached.  The point is to place emphasis on that he went across the sea to spread the word of God to all people.  He was following the Great Commission based in Matthew 28:19-20.  This is just one of the many examples of evangelism in the modern era.  Moody was part of what was called the Laymen’s Prayer Revival from 1857-1890.  

Challenge 

Think about yourselves for a moment: how bold are you to share the gospel?  There have been people throughout the course of history who had the courage and the boldness to stand up for Jesus.  We will examine and view some things in the upcoming weeks, but it’s important to examine some things from the modern era as well.  Paul tells us to “examine ourselves” (2 Corinthians 13:5) as well as not being ashamed of the gospel (Romans 1:16).  When it comes for your opportunity to share the gospel, how do you respond?  Fearful or courageous?  If you are courageous, keep it up.  If you are fearful, don’t be.  In 2 Timothy 1:7, Paul writes “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline.”  If you say you don’t have the spirit of fear, then be bold and strong because God is with you.  I challenge you to put your fears aside and surrender it to God because He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7).  

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I pray for Your continuous strength and wisdom as we continue to do the things that You have called us to.  As we grow Your Kingdom, let us not be ashamed of it.  Instead, let us embrace it and let Your word shine before others so that the darkness will flee and Your light will shine through.  In Jesus name I pray, amen.  

I want to continue to examine different evangelists from Scripture and how we need to be not afraid of what the world might do or respond.  While there were some individuals in the Old Testament who were considered “evangelists,” the term “evangelist” did not come into play until the New Testament because the word has a Greek root to it.  When it comes to the New Testament, some say that the person who was considered an evangelist was John the Baptist.  He was the first to proclaim the good news of Jesus.  While this was an amazing thing to read about, some say that the next evangelist was Peter.  Peter was really big about sharing Jesus, especially when it came to Pentecost (Acts 2).  What was interesting about Peter is that he went from denying Christ (Matthew 26:69-75, Mark 14:66-72, Luke 22:54-65, and John 18:25-27) to proclaiming the good news of Christ (Acts 2:1-47).  He had a change in direction.  How often have we been put in this same position?  Maybe there was a time in our lives where we were heading in one direction and God helped us to get back on track with Him.  He can help us get us back to being in a right state of mind and helping us get back closer to God.  James 4:7-8 says “7. So humble yourselves before God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  8. Come close to God, and God will come closer to you.  Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.”  

Challenge 

Think about where you stand with God.  What I mean is think about how your relationship is with God.  Here’s a question I want to ask you: who are you loyal to, God or the world?  I ask because this is something that Christians wrestle with quite often.  We want to trust God but also want to be accepted by the world.  Romans 12:2 tells us to not be conformed to the patterns of this world, but rather be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  I challenge you to resist the devil.  Resist him and he will flee from you.  Draw closer and closer to God every single day.  As you draw closer towards Him, it will not only help you in your daily living but it will also help you in your relationship with Him.  

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I pray for Your continuous strength and wisdom as we continue to do the things that You have called us to.  As we grow Your Kingdom, let us not be ashamed of it.  Instead, let us embrace it and let Your word shine before others so that the darkness will flee and Your light will shine through.  In Jesus name I pray, amen. 

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted his famous 95 Theses (statements) on the door of a Roman Catholic Church in Wittenberg, Germany which was the spark of the Reformation movement across Europe and beyond.  Luther was a great example about evangelism.  While he was opposed to the Catholic denomination which was the prominent  religion at the time, he discovered the truth of God and how powerful evangelism is.  If he had the courage to defy or resist a dominant religion to share the truth of Jesus, then we should have the same courage to tell others about Jesus as well.  In Romans 1:16-17, Paul says “16. For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ.  It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes-the Jew first and also the Gentile.  17. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight.  This is accomplished from start to finish by faith.  As the Scriptures say, ‘It is through faith that a righteous person has life.’”  Verse 17 refers to what was mentioned in Habakkuk 2:4.  Here’s a question: are we not ashamed of the gospel?  If we are not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, then why don’t we share it as often as we should?  Perhaps it is because we don’t want to be embarrassed when we are among the social presence.  It doesn’t matter what the world says about you.  What matters is what God says about you.  He says that you are loved and accepted.  That is what truly matters.  If you know that you are loved by Jesus, then why don’t we share with other that same love?  

Challenge 

Think about where you stand with God.  What I mean is think about how your relationship is with God.  On most social media platforms like Facebook, would have a relationship status.  When it comes to your relationship with God, how do you sit?  Would you say that its strong?  It’s complicated?  Or single?  In other words, how active is your relationship with God?  If it’s not where it’s supposed to be, I would encourage you to keep building and maintain your relationship with God.  Keep your faith in God strong so that you will be able to withstand the pressures of the world.  

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I pray for Your continuous strength and wisdom as we continue to do the things that You have called us to.  As we grow Your Kingdom, let us not be ashamed of it.  Instead, let us embrace it and let Your word shine before others so that the darkness will flee and Your light will shine through.  In Jesus name I pray, amen. 

What people don’t know about evangelism is that it requires active listening and active participation. Sometimes, people would assume or are under the impression that all you have to do is just show up and expect for things to happen. This is not the case at all. Unfortunately, people today are having this thing called “inattentional blindness” as well as “inattentional deafness.” What this means is that people have the tendency to see what they want to see and hear what they really want to hear. Much like the world today, people are twisting the words out of other’s mouth and I believe that it is one of the many reasons why there is so much propaganda today. People are trying to please other people. Jesus didn’t call to please others. Instead, He has called us to go. Go and share the good news to all people, all nations, all nationalities, etc. In James 1:19, it says “Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.” Notice part A of this passage where it says “You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak…”. In other words, God has given us two ears and one mouth which means that we ought to be listening more than we talk. As of lately, people have two mouths and one ear, which is the indication that we talk more than we listen. When we are evangelizing and declaring the word, it’s important for us to be listening to the Spirit so that we know what to declare to the people.

Challenge
Think about yourselves for a moment: do you see yourself as a talker or a listener? Let me ask it in another way: are you a participant or a spectator? I challenge you to think about where you sit in the Kingdom of God. If you want to be a participant in the Kingdom of God, then I challenge you to examine yourselves and ask yourself: what do you see?

Prayer
Heavenly Father, I pray for Your continuous strength and wisdom as we continue to do the things that You have called us to. As we grow Your Kingdom, let us not be ashamed of it. Instead, let us embrace it and let Your word shine before others so that the darkness will flee and Your light will shine through. In Jesus name I pray, amen.

• As we continue to navigate through the subject, I want to explain that God is the one who does the saving.  What I mean by this statement is that when we are growing the Kingdom of God, we tend to have the mentality that we are the ones who are saving the people.  When that happens, our egos would inflate and we would feel good about ourselves because of what we have done.  While we may feel good about what we did, the reality is that the Holy Spirit is the one who does the saving.  Evangelism is not about us, but rather about us spreading the good news of Jesus.  It is about us helping the Kingdom of God grow and thrive.  One of the first things that we need to do is to put our egos aside.  It is not about ourselves and about what we are doing.  Here is one way of saying this: it is not about me.  It is about He.  In Proverbs. 16:18, it says “Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.”  Another translation says “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling.”  If there is one thing that can get in the way of disciples growing the Kingdom of God, it is pride.  In other words, our egos would inflate when we do something good.  This should not be the reason we tell people about Jesus.  Jesus had the heart to serve as He says in Mark 10:45 where He says that the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.  What we need to doo is have the mentality that says “How can I serve the Kingdom today?”  

Challenge 

Think about your attitude towards evangelism and even ministry as a whole.  Ask yourself: “who am I truly serving?”  Are you serving the Lord or are you serving yourself?  

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I pray for Your continuous strength and wisdom as we continue to do the things that You have called us to.  As we grow Your Kingdom, let us not be ashamed of it.  Instead, let us embrace it and let Your word shine before others so that the darkness will flee and Your light will shine through.  In Jesus name I pray, amen.  

Last week, I spoke about about evangelism and how it is one of those things that we think about in church but we don’t really act on it.  In other words, it is something that we say and not do.  Unfortunately, this is the lifestyle that people tend to live by.  We say one thing but we do the opposite.  This should not be the case when it comes to evangelism.  In both Matthew 28:19 and Mark 16:15, Jesus tells us to not only go and make disciples of all nations, but we also need to share the gospel to all creation.  In Matthew 28:19, it speaks about baptizing people into the name of Jesus.  When you see the word “into” followed by “the name,” that means being in the possession.  In this case when you see the phrase, “into the name of Jesus,” it is talking about being in the possession of Christ.  When it comes to evangelism and Kingdom work, it requires people.  In order for the harvest to produce and grow, it requires farmers to plant the seeds.  As mentioned before last week, it is the church’s responsibility for those seeds to be planted.  We, ourselves, cannot physically save people.  Once the gospel seed is planted, then it is the work of the Holy Spirit to let the seed grow.  In 1 Corinthians 3:6-8, it says “6. I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow.  7. It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering.  What’s important is that God make the seed grow.  8. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose.  And both will be rewarded for their own hard work.”  

Challenge 

Think about people who you know and pray for them.  Reach out to them and let them know that you are thinking about them.  I can tell you that it will make their day.  

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I pray for Your continuous strength and wisdom as we continue to do the things that You have called us to.  As we grow Your Kingdom, let us not be ashamed of it.  Instead, let us embrace it and let Your word shine before others so that the darkness will flee and Your light will shine through.  In Jesus name I pray, amen.  

Evangelism is one of those things that we don’t really think about until we are in church listening to a message about evangelism.  In other words, we hear it in the church but we really don’t do anything outside the building.  Evangelism is something that Jesus called us to do.  In the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus says “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.  And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (NLT Translation).  Mark 16:15 says that we need to go and preach the gospel to all nations.  In order for us to do that, then we need to be prepared to do that.  That’s the responsibility of the church.  How do I know that? In Ephesians 4:12, Paul reminds the church in Ephesus their responsibility for the people.  He says “Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do His work and build up the church, the body of Christ.”  Where there is responsibility, there is also accountability.  The local church is responsible for getting their people equipped with what they need to go and share the gospel to all people.  While we share the gospel with others, we cannot be ashamed of it because it is the gospel of Jesus Christ that brings salvation (Romans 1:16).  

Here’s what we need to do: ask God for strength.  While it may not be an easy thing to do, but it is something that is essential to grow the kingdom of God.  Not only ask Him for strength but also for wisdom and guidance.  He said that He is always going to be with you.  No matter where you go, He is always going to be there by your side because He loves you.  

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I pray for Your continuous strength and wisdom as we continue to do the things that You have called us to.  As we grow Your Kingdom, let us not be ashamed of it.  Instead, let us embrace it and let Your word shine before others so that the darkness will flee and Your light will shine through.  In Jesus name I pray, amen.