Tag Archives: Evangelism

Sermon – Firm Faith: Proclaiming Christ (Colossians 4:2-18)

Read the text – Colossians 4:2-18

Any teaching that wants to suggest that Christians need Jesus PLUS … (anything else) to be a Christian or to live as a Christian is guilty of contradicting the supremacy of Christ. Being told we need more than him (either for salvation or to live as a Christian) means that we are being taught that what he has done is not enough. We need to stand firm in our faith in Jesus as all we need for this life and the next.

In this sermon, Dave Swan encourages us to talk to God about people, and to talk to people about God.

Sermon – The Call and the Commission (Matthew 9:35-38 & 28:16-20)

Read the texts – Matthew 9:35-38 & Matthew 28:16-20

‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few’, Jesus observed as he then called his disciples to prayer. In compassion he shows us a great need. ‘Go out and make disciples of all nations’, Jesus directed as he sent his disciples to work. By commission he gave all disciples a job to do.

In this talk Ken Noakes helps to show that it was by compassion for the lost that drives what disciples of Jesus do, and it is by commission of Jesus that we do it.

Sermon – A Confounded World: Jesus’ Directive (Matthew 9:35-10:15)

Read the text – Matthew 9:35-10:15

In this Bible talk, Gary Haddon, speaks about how Jesus had compassion on those who did not know him, those who were lost. And how Jesus helped his disciples to see the need, pray and then go and show them Jesus. Do as I have said and done – save the lost sheep of Israel. Save those who have long awaited the kingdom of heaven, and waited for their messiah, their good shepherd – for in Jesus, the time had come.

How do disciples today, proclaim the good news, not as an apostle, but as a disciple commissioned by Jesus to go out to the nations.

Bible Talk OutlineDownload

Sermon – Therefore Go…(Matthew 28:16-20)

The resurrected Jesus gathers his disciples together to give them his commission. A timeless commission (at least until he returns). An important job (to go, call, baptism and teach). This sermon looks at the one of the most well known gospel passages (and one of the hardest to apply)

Read the Bible texts – Matthew 28:16-20 Daniel 7:13-14

Bible Talk Outline – Therefore Go… (Matt 28:16-20)Download

Inviting Folk to an Online Easter

Easter Reimagined (LMAP)Easter 2020 worldwide looks different. Not the message, but indeed the form.

The Easter message of death followed by life in Jesus is a glorious message of hope and perhaps as relevant and important for all to hear in the midst of a pandemic. If life matters, as it clearly does given the extraordinary measures that are being taken worldwide to stop the spread of this virus, then now is the time to proclaim the Easter message!

What has changed is the form. The opportunity to physically gather together with others to proclaim that ‘Christ is risen, he is risen indeed’ is not possible. And so we gather online and in many new and creative ways. Never before has there been such an opportunity for folk to connect into Easter without having to put a foot outside their front door. What an opportunity.

Anyone (with an internet connection) can step into church without the fear of having to make small talk, or the worry about what to do or where to sit, or the concern that they might ‘out’ themselves as someone who might just possibly be open to considering Jesus or his message. They can sit hidden behind their screen, undetectable to those who are proclaiming the Easter message.

How can we invite folk to join us online?

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Is Every Christian Called to be an Evangelist? (Part 7 of 7)

Consider Colossians 4:2-6

2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. 5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.                                                                                           (Colossians 4:2-6)

This is a call to do evangelism, that is, to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.

From time to time there is a little bit of discussion among Christian folk about what Paul means here. Is every Christian called to be an ‘evangelist’?

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How to be Bold in Witness? (Part 5 of 7)

Why is it that Christians are often reluctant to be bold in witness? For me that is simple – it is often hard work, or I am too chicken, or I am too distracted, or I am…

I know the excuses, because I have used them all. I am the reluctant evangelist.

It is not uncommon for me to be standing on the sidelines of a soccer pitch watching my sons play football. Alongside, stand the other parents. A perfect opportunity to speak about Jesus?

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Believe and Confess (Part 4 of 7)

The Apostle Paul in Romans argues that a Christian cannot rightly call themselves a disciple unless they both believe and confess that ‘Jesus is Lord’.

9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”                                                                                                    

14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”                     (Romans 10:9-13)

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