The Patient & Confident Love Needed in Evangelism
The Truth About Most of Our Testimonies
For those of us who grew up in the church… I want you to think about all the years of love, Bible reading, Christian “modeling” (not runway “modeling”, but “living as an example”...hehe), fellowship, sermons, prayer meetings, mission trips, etc. that you have experienced in your life.
I was thinking about this in my own life. I’ve been going to church consistently since I was 6 years old, but I surrendered my life to Christ when I was 16 years old.
So, if I average 3 hours/Sunday x 52 weeks/year x 10 years. That number is 1,560 hours!!!!!
Think about that! From ages 6-16, I received about 1,500 hours of Bible teaching, prayers, fellowship, church, etc. (This doesn’t account for the Christian parents I had that modeled far MORE hours of Christian witness to me while at home).
I didn’t fully “get it” until 1,500+ hours of people loving, teaching, and praying for me.
Most of you who “grew up in the church” didn’t “get it” right away either, right?
Most of you went to church for many years because your parents brought you and you were young and this is all you’ve basically known. But if you are a Christian there had to have been a moment/phase where you better understood the gospel truth. You understood that you, too, were a sinner in need of Jesus to save you.
Think about how many hours of sermons you listened to, Bible you read, prayers that you said and prayers that were said for you, events, fellowship, etc.
How many hours was it for you before the “lightbulb” turned on in your heart?
The Heart of Family Church
What is Family Church in a nutshell? Family Church is simply the unleashing of you, the Christians, to be THC’s evangelistic “program”.
Family Church is our model for how we get back to the Great Commission that Jesus gave to all His followers: winning the lost and making disciples!
Family Church is us not relying solely on the Pastor’s preaching, church programs, outreach events, Christian books, YouTube videos, etc. to see the “lost” become “found”. Don’t get me wrong, those are all good things that God uses to bring lost people to Himself, but please understand…
The primary catalyst that God wants to use to reach the “lost”, that He has placed in your life, is not me, your Pastor… Not a Christian book you can give someone… Not a church service you can bring someone to… Not a YouTube video of a Christian debating an Atheist…
It’s you.
(Pretend we are at church and I make you say, “It’s me!” out loud)
(Do it… Now…)
;)
Paul told the Corinthian church:
2 Corinthians 5:20 –
“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”
You are Christ’s “ambassador”. What is an “ambassador”?
An ambassador is someone who represents a country while in a foreign land.
As a follow of Jesus. You represent Him. His Kingdom. His truth. His word. His love. His gospel.
Your true citizenship is in Heaven (Philippians 3:20). You represent Christ and His Kingdom in a foreign land:
Earth. The United States. California. And whatever city He has placed you in, any job He has placed you at, or any school He has placed you at. To the family He has placed you in. With the personality package that He has made you with. With the passions and gifts that He has blessed you with.
You are to take all He has given you… to all the places He has you in… and you represent Him. This is what it means to be “Christ’s Ambassador”.
The heart of Family Church isn’t about what we actually do on Fridays (eat a meal, ice breaker, praise, word time, sharing time, prayers, etc.). It’s not that those things, in and of themselves, are the secret to bringing the lost to Christ. Not at all! What Family Church does is provide the opportunity for something called…
love.
Love for one another. Love for the lost.
That’s all this FC thing is about.
What do We “Need” to See the Lost Come to Christ?
The Early Church in the book of Acts had this:
1. Power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8)
2. Tight-Knit Community (Acts 2:42)
3. Apostles Giving Teaching and Guidance (Acts 2:42)
Understand, they didn’t have “Evangelism training”. They didn’t have Christian books, conferences, or evangelistic events. Heck, they didn’t have the completed Bible that we have. But they had the Holy Spirit in them and they had one another. And they had love. Intense love for Jesus. And for the mission He gave them in Acts 1:8 –
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Maybe you are thinking… well, they must have had a special Holy Spirit or something. Maybe they had a “Super-Holy-Spirit-Turbo-2000”?
Nope. In fact, Paul says something very interesting to the Christians in Rome about the Holy Spirit in each believer.
Romans 8:11 –
“The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.”
Did you catch that?! The same Holy Spirit that rose Jesus from death to life, lives in YOUUUUUUU, child of God! That’s also the same Holy Spirit that empowered Jesus. That’s the same Holy Spirit that empowered the Apostles. That’s the same Holy Spirit who empowered the Early Church in the book of Acts.
The same Holy Spirit that gave “power” to the Early Church to be effective “witnesses” is the SAME Holy Spirit who lives within each true follower of Jesus.
We have the Holy Spirit. We have a community (THC & FC). I’m not an “Apostle” in the biblical sense, but I am your “Pastor” (Leader) that God has placed here at THC to teach and guide us all.
What We Really Need to See the “Lost” “Found”?
Why am I saying all of this? And how is this connected to Family Church?
If we want to be a Church that is aiming to “reach the lost” and “make disciples” than we need to understand a couple of things:
1. We need love.
Special love. We need the 1 Corinthians 13 love that Jesus gave us/still gives us. We need other-worldly love. We need love that is strange to this world. And guess what?! God can give you that love for others if you simply ask for the Holy Spirit’s help and then respond by acting upon the “promptings” of the Holy Spirit.
Remember what Jesus said on this issue? (Read Luke 11:5-13).
God LOVES… Let me repeat… God LOVESSSS to give “good gifts” to His children. God LOVESSSSS to give the Holy Spirit to “those who ask Him”.
And we know that the “fruit” (singular word) of the Holy Spirit… the primary work of one who has the Holy Spirit working in their heart is….. (*DRUMROLL*)…
L-O-V-E
Galatians 5:22 –
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love…”
We need love.
2. We need to be patient.
For me it was 1,500+ hours of Pastors, Sunday School Teachers, parents, etc. loving me, teaching me, praying with and for me, etc.
For many of our “VIPs” we need to understand that this may take some time before one comes to Christ. Don’t grow impatient in the progress of the “VIPs” at our church. Keep loving. Keep praying. Keep serving. Be patient.
Many “seekers” didn’t have the luxury of growing up in church, of being familiar with Bible stories, Christian practices, etc. Try to put yourself in their shoes. Checking out a religion is stressful. Remember that.
3. We need to be confident.
Evangelism ain’t all on your shoulders Christ-follower! The beauty of all of this is that God is already working in people’s hearts before you ever invite them to THC or FC. God has already been working His “woo-game” on those He loves. Wooing them to Himself. God’s job is to convict hearts, draw them to Himself, & ultimately save souls. Our job is to love and to speak the truth/Gospel/Word.
So, you can love with confidence. You can invite people to FC with a humble confidence that God’s got your back. He loves these precious people more than you and I can. He proved it (John 3:16).
Adjustments & Expectations to Accommodate for “VIPs”
If we are going to be a church that is aiming to “reach the unreached” then we need to adjust… we should expect things to be “messy” on a frequent basis. What I mean by that is that we have to have a realistic understanding of “Family Church”. This is not some super-Holy-group of people all singing “Cumba-ya”. No, that just isn’t a realistic picture.
Expect non-Christians to not have the same values and behavior. Expect feelings to be hurt from time to time. Expect misunderstandings. Expect messiness.
If God truly works through His imperfect people to express His love, then we should expect:
1. Interest/Intrigue/Curiosity to Christianity.
2. God to lead us invite people with very different values than us.
3. People receiving Christ, wanting what the joy and love we have.
Understand, we don’t compromise the message of the Gospel. Ever. Ever.
But we do love the lost. With our best effort.
Patiently. Confidently. With the help of the Holy Spirit.
Because the King Loved Us… We Love Those the King Loves,
Pastor Mitchell
For those of us who grew up in the church… I want you to think about all the years of love, Bible reading, Christian “modeling” (not runway “modeling”, but “living as an example”...hehe), fellowship, sermons, prayer meetings, mission trips, etc. that you have experienced in your life.
I was thinking about this in my own life. I’ve been going to church consistently since I was 6 years old, but I surrendered my life to Christ when I was 16 years old.
So, if I average 3 hours/Sunday x 52 weeks/year x 10 years. That number is 1,560 hours!!!!!
Think about that! From ages 6-16, I received about 1,500 hours of Bible teaching, prayers, fellowship, church, etc. (This doesn’t account for the Christian parents I had that modeled far MORE hours of Christian witness to me while at home).
I didn’t fully “get it” until 1,500+ hours of people loving, teaching, and praying for me.
Most of you who “grew up in the church” didn’t “get it” right away either, right?
Most of you went to church for many years because your parents brought you and you were young and this is all you’ve basically known. But if you are a Christian there had to have been a moment/phase where you better understood the gospel truth. You understood that you, too, were a sinner in need of Jesus to save you.
Think about how many hours of sermons you listened to, Bible you read, prayers that you said and prayers that were said for you, events, fellowship, etc.
How many hours was it for you before the “lightbulb” turned on in your heart?
The Heart of Family Church
What is Family Church in a nutshell? Family Church is simply the unleashing of you, the Christians, to be THC’s evangelistic “program”.
Family Church is our model for how we get back to the Great Commission that Jesus gave to all His followers: winning the lost and making disciples!
Family Church is us not relying solely on the Pastor’s preaching, church programs, outreach events, Christian books, YouTube videos, etc. to see the “lost” become “found”. Don’t get me wrong, those are all good things that God uses to bring lost people to Himself, but please understand…
The primary catalyst that God wants to use to reach the “lost”, that He has placed in your life, is not me, your Pastor… Not a Christian book you can give someone… Not a church service you can bring someone to… Not a YouTube video of a Christian debating an Atheist…
It’s you.
(Pretend we are at church and I make you say, “It’s me!” out loud)
(Do it… Now…)
;)
Paul told the Corinthian church:
2 Corinthians 5:20 –
“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”
You are Christ’s “ambassador”. What is an “ambassador”?
An ambassador is someone who represents a country while in a foreign land.
As a follow of Jesus. You represent Him. His Kingdom. His truth. His word. His love. His gospel.
Your true citizenship is in Heaven (Philippians 3:20). You represent Christ and His Kingdom in a foreign land:
Earth. The United States. California. And whatever city He has placed you in, any job He has placed you at, or any school He has placed you at. To the family He has placed you in. With the personality package that He has made you with. With the passions and gifts that He has blessed you with.
You are to take all He has given you… to all the places He has you in… and you represent Him. This is what it means to be “Christ’s Ambassador”.
The heart of Family Church isn’t about what we actually do on Fridays (eat a meal, ice breaker, praise, word time, sharing time, prayers, etc.). It’s not that those things, in and of themselves, are the secret to bringing the lost to Christ. Not at all! What Family Church does is provide the opportunity for something called…
love.
Love for one another. Love for the lost.
That’s all this FC thing is about.
What do We “Need” to See the Lost Come to Christ?
The Early Church in the book of Acts had this:
1. Power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8)
2. Tight-Knit Community (Acts 2:42)
3. Apostles Giving Teaching and Guidance (Acts 2:42)
Understand, they didn’t have “Evangelism training”. They didn’t have Christian books, conferences, or evangelistic events. Heck, they didn’t have the completed Bible that we have. But they had the Holy Spirit in them and they had one another. And they had love. Intense love for Jesus. And for the mission He gave them in Acts 1:8 –
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Maybe you are thinking… well, they must have had a special Holy Spirit or something. Maybe they had a “Super-Holy-Spirit-Turbo-2000”?
Nope. In fact, Paul says something very interesting to the Christians in Rome about the Holy Spirit in each believer.
Romans 8:11 –
“The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.”
Did you catch that?! The same Holy Spirit that rose Jesus from death to life, lives in YOUUUUUUU, child of God! That’s also the same Holy Spirit that empowered Jesus. That’s the same Holy Spirit that empowered the Apostles. That’s the same Holy Spirit who empowered the Early Church in the book of Acts.
The same Holy Spirit that gave “power” to the Early Church to be effective “witnesses” is the SAME Holy Spirit who lives within each true follower of Jesus.
We have the Holy Spirit. We have a community (THC & FC). I’m not an “Apostle” in the biblical sense, but I am your “Pastor” (Leader) that God has placed here at THC to teach and guide us all.
What We Really Need to See the “Lost” “Found”?
Why am I saying all of this? And how is this connected to Family Church?
If we want to be a Church that is aiming to “reach the lost” and “make disciples” than we need to understand a couple of things:
1. We need love.
Special love. We need the 1 Corinthians 13 love that Jesus gave us/still gives us. We need other-worldly love. We need love that is strange to this world. And guess what?! God can give you that love for others if you simply ask for the Holy Spirit’s help and then respond by acting upon the “promptings” of the Holy Spirit.
Remember what Jesus said on this issue? (Read Luke 11:5-13).
God LOVES… Let me repeat… God LOVESSSS to give “good gifts” to His children. God LOVESSSSS to give the Holy Spirit to “those who ask Him”.
And we know that the “fruit” (singular word) of the Holy Spirit… the primary work of one who has the Holy Spirit working in their heart is….. (*DRUMROLL*)…
L-O-V-E
Galatians 5:22 –
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love…”
We need love.
2. We need to be patient.
For me it was 1,500+ hours of Pastors, Sunday School Teachers, parents, etc. loving me, teaching me, praying with and for me, etc.
For many of our “VIPs” we need to understand that this may take some time before one comes to Christ. Don’t grow impatient in the progress of the “VIPs” at our church. Keep loving. Keep praying. Keep serving. Be patient.
Many “seekers” didn’t have the luxury of growing up in church, of being familiar with Bible stories, Christian practices, etc. Try to put yourself in their shoes. Checking out a religion is stressful. Remember that.
3. We need to be confident.
Evangelism ain’t all on your shoulders Christ-follower! The beauty of all of this is that God is already working in people’s hearts before you ever invite them to THC or FC. God has already been working His “woo-game” on those He loves. Wooing them to Himself. God’s job is to convict hearts, draw them to Himself, & ultimately save souls. Our job is to love and to speak the truth/Gospel/Word.
So, you can love with confidence. You can invite people to FC with a humble confidence that God’s got your back. He loves these precious people more than you and I can. He proved it (John 3:16).
Adjustments & Expectations to Accommodate for “VIPs”
If we are going to be a church that is aiming to “reach the unreached” then we need to adjust… we should expect things to be “messy” on a frequent basis. What I mean by that is that we have to have a realistic understanding of “Family Church”. This is not some super-Holy-group of people all singing “Cumba-ya”. No, that just isn’t a realistic picture.
Expect non-Christians to not have the same values and behavior. Expect feelings to be hurt from time to time. Expect misunderstandings. Expect messiness.
If God truly works through His imperfect people to express His love, then we should expect:
1. Interest/Intrigue/Curiosity to Christianity.
2. God to lead us invite people with very different values than us.
3. People receiving Christ, wanting what the joy and love we have.
Understand, we don’t compromise the message of the Gospel. Ever. Ever.
But we do love the lost. With our best effort.
Patiently. Confidently. With the help of the Holy Spirit.
Because the King Loved Us… We Love Those the King Loves,
Pastor Mitchell
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