• abandon their lives to the honour and service of Christ in daily holiness and decision-making
• pray constantly in Christ’s name for the fruitfulness and growth of his gospel
• speak the Bible’s life-changing word whenever and however they can—in the home, in the world and in the fellowship of his people.

We’re not the slightest bit interested in adding to the already monumental pile of Christian books churned out each year by the Christian publishing industry. The world needs more Christian books like it needs more websites.

However, we are passionate about publishing resources that fuel, promote and support gospel growth. So our publishing criteria for any project is threefold:

• Does it meet a gospel ministry need?
• Is the content faithful to the Bible?
• Is the quality of a high standard?”

Matthias Media is one of the few publishers that seeks to offer a wealth of relevant, biblically-based outreach resources, both for the seeker and for the Christian who wants to grow in outreach.  One category of offerings is “Raising Issues,” which includes 19 publications with titles like If I Were God I’d End all the Pain and Jesus for Sceptics.

If you don’t already know Matthias Media, check them out.  And when you order for the first time, if you are ordering from the States, make sure you are on the US-oriented web site.

“If I have learned anything in 35 or 40 years of teaching, it is that students don’t learn everything I teach them. What they learn is what I am excited about, the kinds of things I emphasize again and again and again and again. That had better be the gospel.

If the gospel—even when you are orthodox—becomes something which you primarily assume, but what you are excited about is what you are doing in some sort of social reconstruction, you will be teaching the people that you influence that the gospel really isn’t all that important. You won’t be saying that—you won’t even mean that—but that’s what you will be teaching. And then you are only half a generation away from losing the gospel.

Make sure that in your own practice and excitement, what you talk about, what you think about, what you pray over, what you exude confidence over, joy over, what you are enthusiastic about is Jesus, the gospel, the cross. And out of that framework, by all means, let the transformed life flow.”

A.  Sure, there are a few things I’d suggest.  The Philip Center does not like to hand out “evangelism in a box” solutions that fit all churches.  Each church is different and will have its own set of barriers to evangelism.  But having said that, there are factors common to healthy church outreach.

First, examine the preaching of the Word from the pulpit.  Is it rich, Christ-centered preaching.  This isn’t a sermon that tacks on a gospel invitation, but preaching that points to the human predicament of sin, our inability to overcome our sin, the cross, repentance, forgiveness.   Showing the relationship of a biblical text to the gospel and to the disease of our hearts — and doing that year after year — makes our churches the salutary soul hospitals they are designed to be.  One good resource for this is Brian Chappel’s Christ-Centered Preaching: Redeeming the Expository Sermon. A steady diet of gospel-rich preaching of the Word, when it connects to the heart of the non-Christian is one of the best things a church can do toward fruitful evangelism.  The same preaching will likewise shape the contours of the Christian’s heart as well — helping him to better understand the transformation taking place in his life and enabling him to communicate that to others.

Second, pay attention to individuals.  Keep an eye out for the people in your church and outside of your church (usually those in relationships with people in your church).  Each one is loved by God and precious.  I choose the word “individual” to reflect the language of Henry Trumbull’s book, Individual Work for Individuals (an out-of-print gem from 1901).  It’s easy to overlook individuals in our great desire to reach many.  Slow down and take the time to observe who is spiritually open.  Given our culture’s distaste for church, the fact that a non-Christian is in a church is likely an indication of some degree of openness.  But look beyond who is in the church building and see who is in relationships with your people.  Inspire and equip the Christians to pay attention to their friends, family,  co-workers, neighbors — one at a time.  So many of our outreach initiatives are designed to reach people, but when those individuals express interest, we move on to the next initiative.  Look, listen, listen more, love and respond to who they are and what they are thinking and feeling.  Care for them as individuals patiently.  The story of the lost sheep is a poignant reminder of Jesus’ love for individuals.

Third, evaluate your outreach leadership.  There are two crucial issues here.  One has to do with the pastor.  Is he a champion for evangelism and is he doing it himself?  These are crucial.  If not, humbly begin to pray for him, that God would move his heart for the lost.  While I’m not a big fan of the solo pastor model of church leadership, it is nevertheless crucial for the lead pastor or elder to actively model and champion evangelism. Mark Dever’s book, The Gospel and Personal Evangelism is a great resource for this.  Second, a church that is eager to grow in outreach should seek to identify and train someone who is the Ephesians 4:11 equipping evangelist.  This likely should not be the person who naturally and effortlessly leads many to Christ.  Those in your church who do that are a wonderful gift, but they are rarely good equippers of the rest who are fearful and unequipped to share their faith.  This leader is very important to the long-term outreach health of a church and his role in your church cannot be overlooked.  I have heard church planting pastors say that they would make that the second or third hire the next time they plant.

As he writes this passage to Timothy, Paul is facing the end of his life. He paints a final picture of pastoral ministry for Timothy that he hopes will be enduring.  He focuses on those priorities he knows Timothy will be tempted to drift from and even neglect in the day-to-day pressures of ministry.

Paul calls Timothy to 1) preach the Word, 2) be sober-minded, 3) endure suffering and 4) do the work of an evangelist.  Why did Paul call Timothy to do the work of personal evangelism?  The reason, I believe, is because he knows Timothy’s example in personal evangelism is indispensable to his church’s faithfulness in the work of evangelism.

I wonder what Timothy thought as he read Paul’s letter:

“Don’t I have enough work?  Now I have to do the work of an evangelist too?”

“I just need to find the right guy and then I won’t have to worry about this anymore.”

I have a pastoral gift, not the gift of an evangelist.”

I know I need to change in this area – I’m going to make it happen this time.” (But his guess is that there will be a big push in the beginning and a fizzle at the end.)

Friends: Paul called Timothy to do the work of evangelism because He knows Timothy’s example in personal evangelism is indispensable to his church’s faithfulness in the work of evangelism.

What does this have to do with me? Imagine if on Sunday I told my congregation I hadn’t read the Bible devotionally for a month. How would they feel about the message I was about to share? Or if I confessed I hadn’t prayed to God in over two months? Would their confidence in my pastoral leadership waver? Absolutely! So what happens when I tell them I have not shared the Gospel with a non-believer for a month? Three months? Maybe a year? Would they be as astonished and concerned for my spiritual welfare as they are for the spiritual disciplines of Bible intake and prayer? They should be … God certainly is.

Friends, pastors lead by example. Our example is indispensable when it comes to developing an evangelistic church. Without a consistent example from us, the church will grow complacent in their call to reach the lost. Yet some of the most effective preaching being done today is by pastors who are spending time with non-believers, learning about their lives, hearing their questions and sharing the gospel with non-believers during the week. As these pastors share these conversations with their congregations in their sermons, they are inspiring and equipping the church in how to talk to non-believers about the gospel, and imparting faith for them to do it!

May I suggest to you that what will move evangelism to the front burner in your congregation is often the ‘missing ingredient’ in most churches that aren’t growing in evangelism. What will move personal evangelism to the front burner in your congregation’s ministry is your personal example in personal evangelism. Through your example your church will be equipped and inspired to grow in theirs.

How does a pastor grow in personal evangelism?

First, have a plan. What do date nights, church meetings and soccer games all have in common? Give up. They are all planned ahead of time. Is personal evangelism included? Is it evident from your schedule that this is a priority? If ‘no’, what’s your plan?

What is my plan for personal evangelism?
-    Start small: plan to host non-believers in your home once a month
-    Redeem the time: devote lunch time once a month to go out and share the gospel at the mall or common
-    Make a goal: first, plan to do it on Fridays at the mall, in the evenings.
-    Include others: second, Saturdays during the day do a service project and share.

By transferring these priorities to my calendar, over time I am growing in faithfulness in my daily life. I am slowing down to pursue conversations with others while at the gym, while in Cumby’s, during my son’s baseball games.

Second, practice. Doing evangelism is the best way to grow in evangelism.

“We must expose ourselves to both biblical content and real life context, to knowledge and experience, to training and practice. Too often, there is an overemphasis on content and knowledge at the expense of practical experience. We will do well to pay heed to the words of nineteenth-century English philosopher Herbert Spencer who said, ‘The great aim of our education is not knowledge but action.’ So don’t fall into the trap of thinking that if your conviction level is lagging, you must first work on building your convictions before you go out and do evangelism. No, the best way to build convictions about evangelism is to go out and do it as you are processing the biblical information which fuels your convictions.” (Mark McCloskey, Tell It Often, Tell It Well (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1992))

Third, pursue accountability. “Growth in grace is a community project,” says Tim Lane.

Is there someone in my life who demonstrates faithfulness in personal evangelism? Could I build him into my life to help me to grow? To receive specific encouragement? To be challenged to change? To go witness with?

For me, my friend Todd is that person. Last year, at the conclusion of the Philip Center’s training, my friend Todd suggested we take some time to review what we had heard and come with a plan to ‘just do it’. He suggested we use our lunch times once or twice a month to go out and share the gospel. As time went on, and he continued to grow in faithfulness in personal evangelism during the week, he began to ask if I had the opportunity to share with anyone that week. When I didn’t he would ask what I could do the following week to insure I was spending time with non-believers. What a difference it makes to have a friend who is both inspiring in his example and caring enough to encourage me to keep growing to.

Fourth, pray for a heart for the lost.
Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am an in prison – that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. Colossians 4:2-4

“The Holy Spirit will move them by first moving you. If you can rest without their being saved, they will rest too. But if you are filled with agony for them, if you cannot bear that they should be lost, you will soon find that they are uneasy too. I hope you will get into such a state that you will dream about your child or your hearer perishing for lack of Christ, and start at once and begin to cry, ‘O God, give me converts or I die.’ Then you will have converts.” (Charles Spurgeon, The Sermons of Charles Haddon Spurgeon Vol. 22, (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1876), 143-144)

Paul calls Timothy to do the work of evangelism because He knows Timothy’s example in personal evangelism is indispensable to his church’s faithfulness in the work of evangelism.

Friends, God is patient with us. He knows our frame, that we are weak; and He is poised to give us more of His grace to move us along! Paul’s letter to Timothy ends with this encouragement: “The Lord be with your Spirit – Grace be with you.”

God is going to give us more grace to grow during our time together. He will give us wisdom and faith to implement an evangelistic strategy, beginning with our personal example, that will move evangelism back to the front burner of the church we are privileged to serve.

A Challenge given by Bauer Evans (Crossway Church, Plainville, MA) at the Planning for Outreach Workshop, June11, 2009.

A reverse missions conference puts the emphasis on “Jerusalem” rather than “the uttermost parts of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The desire is not to weaken foreign missions — not at all. After all, the Mission of God involves all venues of the Acts 1:8 mandate. As someone said, “Missions is simply evangelism gone cross-cultural.” But such a conference, if your church holds an annual missions week, can help restore interest in the local part of the Great Commission.

Some time ago, The Philip Center helped lead a church through this kind of conference, and it went very well. Here are some of the details.

Title: Go Local!

Schedule:

* Thursday: Planning meeting for leaders of outreach small groups
* Thursday evening: Focus Group (click here for more)
* Friday: Church and town leaders meeting. The church provided lunch at town hall and asked the town leaders how the church might meet needs in the town.
* Friday evening: Video of on-the-street interviews about God and religion, followed by a discussion on how to reach spiritually lost people.
* Saturday morning: Men’s, Women’s and Youth Breakfast: “Sharing Your Faith”
* Saturday evening: Dinner and main speaker
* Sunday morning: Services with main speaker
* Sunday after the service: “Where Do We Go from Here?”

An essential element: have someone in place to keep the momentum going from the conference. If the conference is inspiring, be sure that you have someone in the church who can champion outreach and keep it moving forward. And then be sure to provide evangelism training so that those who are inspired by the conference are equipped to share their faith.

In Revelation 10, a mighty angel speaks a revelation of God  — most likely from the little scroll open in his hand.  John would expect, at that point to write down what the angel has just said.  But the flow of the plot is interrupted by a voice from heaven telling John NOT to write down what he just heard.  So far, he had been told to do the opposite: “Write on a scroll what you see” (1:11).  Here, however, he is commanded to seal up the words and instead to “eat the scroll.”  When he does, just as with Ezekiel (3:1ff), it tastes sweet to him, but settles in his stomach as something sour.

This John, who walked for three years with Jesus himself, this faithful apostle, this one who with Peter said to the opposition rulers “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.  For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard…,”  this John has been no pushover in the work of the kingdom.  He is a strong apostle and a faithful witness of Jesus Christ.  Surely he has earned the right to simply continue writing down what he sees and hears.  What more could a man of his stature in the first generation of Christian leaders need?

Apparently, he needs courage. God stops John and tells him not to write down what he has heard, but rather to eat it.  The message that he must deliver (whether you interpret that to be to believers or to unrepentant rebels of God), is a hard one.  Like Ezekiel, he must internalize the Word of God so that it gives him courage.  In God’s mind, John needs his backbone reinforced to deliver a hard message.  It’s the final message of God’s end-game upon the world.  For this he will need new courage  — and that can only come from the internalized Word of God.

Only after John eats the scroll, the voice from heaven says “You must prophecy again….”  Now John is ready to continue as a witness and a prophet.

There is a message for all of us who wish to be an effective witness for Christ.  If John needs to eat the scroll, how much more do we need to devour the Word of God.  No we are not great prophets.  And without a doubt, our message often needs to come with years of patience, in the context of loving service, and in the gentleness of humble relationships.  But for all of the ordinary, everyday-ness of our relationships and conversations, we are still ambassadors of Christ, speaking his words of truth and mercy to others.  And so we need God’s word in us deeply.  We need to speak and live the gospel of grace from the inside out.

Jesus taught that, “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart…. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45).  For us to eat the scroll is to continue in a lifetime of reading, meditating on and applying the Word of God.  It is the food of our heart.  Our true hope for bearing fruit and for speaking the gospel effectively to others is that we are first filling our heart with the rich feast of God’s Word. Eat and share.

What is the Gospel? is the first book written by Greg Gilbert, Senior Pastor of Third Avenue Baptist Church in Louisville, KY. Hopefully this will not be his last.  The book is one of a series published by 9 Marks Ministries, and is small, attractive and relatively short — 121 pages.  Its presentation makes it easy to pass on.

The author’s goals are ambitious.  He seeks to enrich worship in response to the grace of Christ and to build the confidence of Christians for communicating the gospel to others.  He is eager to see the gospel pervade all aspects of church life — preaching, worship, prayer, etc.  Gilbert also hopes to bring clarity for Christians caught in “a general fog of confusion that swirls around” this topic (17).  Additionally, he writes to those who “soften some of the edges” of the gospel to make it more “acceptable to the world” (21) — presumably those creating some of the fog.  Finally, he writes to non-Christians, hoping they will give their attention to the good news of Christ’s salvation.

Whether this book accomplishes those aims, we don’t know yet.  Only the gospel itself could hope to do all that.  What we can say is that Gilbert has written in a way that makes those goals possible.  His attachment to Scripture, his avoidance of attention to himself and his firm but humble tone serve his goals well.

As I started to read, I was hoping that he would quote the Scriptures he referenced.  And with just a handful of exceptions, he does.  This makes it more likely that the seeker he is addressing will engage with the Word of God.  Chapter 1 establishes Scripture as the only authority to answer the title’s question and then takes Romans 1- 4 as the pattern for that answer: God the righteous creator, man the sinner, Jesus Christ the Savior and faith and repentance as the response.  This pattern forms the four core chapters of the book (2 – 5).  Three chapters follow on the kingdom, the cross and the power of the gospel.

Some of the high points come from the book’s clarity and connections.  After explaining that Jesus came as a King to inaugurate his kingdom, the author writes:

But here is where the good news of Christianity gets really, really good.  You see, King Jesus came not only to inaugurate the kingdom of God, but also to bring sinners into it by dying in their place [emphasis mine] and for their sin, taking their punishment on himself and securing forgiveness for them, making them righteous in God’s sight, and qualifying them to share in the inheritance of the kingdom (Col. 1:12).

His advocacy of the substitutionary atoning sacrifice of Christ as the center of the gospel is refreshing:

To toss substitutionary atonement aside is to cut out the heart of the gospel.  To be sure there are many pictures in Scripture of what Christ accomplished with his death: example, reconciliation and victory, to name three.  But underneath them all is the reality to which all the other images point — penal substitution.  You simply cannot leave it out, or even downplay it in favor of other images, or else you litter the landscape of Scripture with unanswered questions (68-69).

Though the seeking non-Christian is among those Gilbert writes to, he or she will have to be biblically and theologically literate to benefit from What is the Gospel? The paragraph above is clear to the well-read evangelical, but a mouthful of steak for a non-Christian.  For some, the terms may be difficult to chew.  On the other hand, the sharp-minded seeker may appreciate being spoken up to.  If, as Thom Rainer tells us in Surprising Insights from the Unchurched, seekers care about doctrine and deep teaching, then this book may bear a good deal of fruit.

Perhaps the author could have said a little more about the response of our lives.  As the evangelical pendulum swings away from a distaste for the “social gospel” and toward a biblical view of mercy, justice and care, we need to understand the relationship of Ephesians 2:8-9 to 2:10.  Gilbert seems to have stayed just a short step too far away from the book of James.  A more nuanced section on this may have helped the reader see the balance of salvation by grace alone and the works that necessarily follow.

Why read this (short and small) book?  It is a clear, humble and biblical statement of what lies at the heart of Christianity.  It’s what we Christians continue to live by.  It’s what we need to counsel from.  It’s what we need for leading our churches well.  And it’s what we need to share clearly and graciously with our neighbor.  The time you take to read it will be worth it.

D.A. Carson, in his enthusiastic foreword, suggests that we all read this book and then buy a box of them to hand out.  I will do just that.

Everyone in the Christian world affirms the value of prayer as it relates to evangelism.  But often times when we pray we do not follow any biblical pattern.  We pray more the way we have heard others pray or we pray about the way we think we should.  There is nothing really wrong with that, but there may be a better route.

I have found only one place in the New Testament that give us an example of a believer praying for non-believers to become believers.  In Romans 10:1, Paul says that his desire and prayer for his fellow Israelites is that they would be saved.  This is a great example for us to follow.  And we should follow it!  But there are five other Biblical prayer instructions related to evangelism we should also be practicing.  Our prayers will be more effective if we pray these themes as well.

• Matthew 9:35-38 After seeing the crowds as sheep without a shepherd, in Matthew 9, Jesus tells His followers to pray that the Lord of the harvest would raise up workers.  Our evangelistic prayers should include that the Lord would raise up people who would be willing and able to “work” to present the Gospel.  And notice that the next verses (Matthew 10:1ff) indicate that the ones praying this prayer are also to be the answer to this prayer.

Father, because we see the size and the seriousness of the harvest field, we ask you to raise up workers!  Raise up people who will be willing to work as hard for the sake of Your profit as they would for their own profit.  Also, Lord, make all of us who pray in this way willing and even desirous to be the answer to our prayers.

• Colossians 4:3 – Paul’s primary request of the Colossians was that they would join him in asking God to give him opportunities to present the Gospel.   Are we doing the same?  Are we praying that God would give us open doors and are we asking other to make this request on our behalf?

Father, today as I accomplish the things on my agenda, let me see the doors you are opening for me to walk through.  Bring me to where hungry people are.  Let my steps intersect those who are looking for you.  Open doors.  Let me see those doors.  And let me walk through them in your timing and power.

• Colossians 4:4 – A second part of Paul’s request to the Colossians is that they would pray that Paul would present the Gospel clearly.  What an interesting request from the man who wrote Romans!  If Paul saw his need to always have a clear understanding of how to present the Gospel, how much more should we!

Father we know the Gospel.  We have heard it and responded to it.  But would you please let it be such a glorious message in us that we would see how to present it clearly in each situation we are in.  Keep our thoughts about the Gospel reflect Your Gospel more than “our” gospel”  Make it clear in my head and heart, so that it will be clear through my mouth.

• Ephesians 6:19-20 –The most interesting request to me is the one Paul asks of the Ephesian Church.  He asks them to pray that he would present the Gospel boldly.  Now, please note that this is note the “new convert” Saul.  This is the mature Apostle Paul making this request!  Again, if he saw this need in his life, how much more should we be willing to humble ourselves, recognize that we need boldness, and ask others to be praying for us?

Father, please make me bold to share the good news.  Don’t let me shrink back.  Without being obnoxious or misrepresenting You, let me be bold to share with others the best news of all time.  And also let me follow the example of Paul to ask others to pray in this way for me too.

• Philemon 1:6 – Finally, in Paul’s letter to Philemon, he prays specifically that he would be active in sharing his faith.  And then Paul gives a reason why he is praying in this manner.  He say, “so that you will have a full understanding of everything good we have in Christ.”  Paul knew that when we share our faith, we become more aware of the wonderful things we have in Jesus!

Father, we want to have a fuller understanding of everything good we have in Christ.  So help us to be active in sharing this faith you have given us.  Let us not only wait until someone may ask us about our faith, but also let us be active to see when we may have an opportunity to share.

Are we praying that the Lord would raise up people (especially us) who would be willing to work to present the Gospel?  Do we have people we have asked to pray that God would give us open doors, clarity, and boldness as we share our faith?

Originally from Gig Harbor, Washington, Dennis Fuqua received his Bachelor of Arts and Masters of Divinity degrees from Multnomah University. He served as a pastor of Peninsula Christian Fellowship in Gig Harbor for twenty-four years. Dennis began working as the director of International Renewal Ministries in February 2000. His leadership activities include facilitating prayer summits, equipping others, and developing and maintaining relationship connections with the network of people in IRM. He is also the author of  Living Prayer: The Lord’s Prayer Alive in You. Dennis and his wife, Marilyn, have four grown children and five grandchildren.