Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4: 19 NKJV

-Since you are the Wikipedia generation– Evangelism – Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity.

What does that mean? When we hear the word evangelism we tend to think of big meetings–we think of two people dressed in matching shirts & ties coming to our door—when we hear about evangelism it makes us sick at our stomach–seminars.

Bible teaches opposite—doesn’t’ have to be a grandiose thing—it is simply introducing people to Jesus and telling them what He has done in our lives.

-Look at this verse in John 1:40-42 One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone).

-Here’s another verse…Mark 6: 35-38  When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, “This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late. 36 Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat.”
37 But He answered and said to them, “You give them something to eat.”
And they said to Him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?” 38 But He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.”
And when they found out they said, “Five, and two fish.”

They were expecting Jesus to do it—we just give what we have and he does the rest. It doesn’t have to such an incredible chore…it’s little compared to what He will do in their lives.

Two simple things I want to tell you about this crazy thing Xtians do—2 things about evangelism:

It is automatic – NATURAL What Jesus said in Mt. 4:19 “I will make you, not force you!

-It’s the natural automatic thing to do when we closely follow JC—takes the pressure off.
-Evangelism is a natural outflow of a divine inflow.
-Intimacy with Jesus in – evangelism flow out!
-Means if we are coming up short in our evangelism—what it really means is that we are coming up short in our personal relationship with Jesus.
-We were having incredible worship times, prayer times…so close to Jesus…I just talked to a young man—he was what we call a backslidden Xtian—actually was an Assemblies of God preachers kid from Texas…I am an ordained AG preacher. I just talked to him and God did the rest. For years…

-What if I was not doing what is natural?

2nd thing I want to say about evangelism is thing
It is SHARING

-It is sharing (or speaking) what we have seen & heard.

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Psalm 34:8

Come and hear, all you who fear God, And I will declare what He has done for my soul. Psalm 66: 16
-That is evangelism!

-Evangelism is sharing what you know. Peter and John had been arrested and were told by the authorities not to speak any more in the Name of Jesus.
For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. Acts 4:20

-Don’t worry about complex issues – Jesus healed a blind man and the Jewish authorities were… He answered and said, “Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.” John 9:25
-Good for you to learn how to share your testimony—for me I learned what’s called the Romans Road—it became natural for me and not canned. Methods are always good—4 spiritual laws and steps to peace with God.

-Evangelism is just sharing. -What if we had not been there sharing? Illus: Another time at 31st & Halsted we had been…

Wrap up: Evangelism is not complicated—it is natural and it is just sharing. This is one of the ‘Crazy Things Xtians Do”—we tell people about Jesus. Let’s do it—because now is the time, this is the place and we are the people.

-We just have to be willing to do this crazy thing – and we do it not because I am so great or you are so great but because Jesus is so great and He really loves people! We have to BE THERE.