Evangelism.

What comes to mind when you see this word? A great calling? Something you’d never do? People holding signs and yelling from street corners? Fear? Excitement? A big sigh of apathy? If you said yes to any of those things, I’ve probably empathized at one time or another, but let me tell you that this week has really impacted my life and the way that evangelism can be part of it.

Our class this week started out with looking at what the Gospel actually is and how to share it, so that when people ask, we can tell them. Here’s the (basic) summary of what we talked about: God is/was/will be. He created man to know Him and glorify Him…this also means we are accountable to Him. God is also holy, and because of that holiness He cannot look on evil or tolerate wrong…it must be punished. We are created in His image but we are rebellious sinners (myself included) and the laws put in place reveal this. If we were set before a good judge here on earth, would he forgive us for everything we have done wrong just because? ….. If not even a good judge here would do that, should we believe that we can sin freely in the sight of a holy God? Thankfully He sent Jesus, His son, who as a sinless man & fully God would offer His life as a spotless sacrifice to cover the payment needed for the sins of the world. He brings salvation, justification, reconciliation, sanctification, glorification, adoption & regeneration for ALL of those who believe in Him, and trust in Him as their Savior so that when God looks at us, He sees now sees Christ and Christ’s sacrifice (not our own dirty, sinful lives)! Do you know this to be true? Do you want this? THIS is the God we serve!! Amen! ……okay, so back to the class. 😉

After a few days in class, we spent an entire morning in prayer and reading the Bible, asking God to give us a heart for those who don’t know Him. Then……we went out. We knocked on a door, and simply said…..”Hey, we are so and so, and want to know if there’s something we can pray with you about?” It was that simple. No big frills or songs or dances, no flannel-graph or powerpoint presentations, no megaphones or picket signs. It was just prayer. There were a few “no’s” or doors where no one was home, but there were a few doors that were opened more than I ever imagined.

One door we knocked on and a lady opened up about grief she was feeling, and a big burden she had to carry for a time. When I prayed for her, she began to cry and told us how touched she’d been that someone would pray. Another door we knocked on opened and we were invited in to pray with a little girl and her grandma. Then one more door we knocked on and a woman with two young kids came out, curiously wondering what we were on her step for, and when we asked if we could pray for her about anything she broke down in tears. After simply asking if we could pray, this woman opened up some very deep parts of her life to us, and kept saying….”it’s so funny that you came today, of all days, you came today, isn’t that funny? today.” We got to remind her right then that God was watching her and knew she needed to hear from Him today and that He loved her.

With each of these people, we have open doors to come back and have already returned to some and kept contact. It was that easy. Praying with people, and telling them that God loves them. Maybe we didn’t share the Gospel story with them this time, but the door has been opened and when there’s an opportunity, we can tell them about the God in whom our faith is founded upon.

**If you have questions about this or want to talk more, I’d love to have a conversation or email with you. God loves you SO much!