TODAY’S WORD FOR WEDNESDAY APRIL 29, 2015.
EVANGELISM
The preaching or promulgation of the Christian gospel; the work of an evangelist.
But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. II Timothy 4:5.
Jesus’ last words of instruction to His disciples were that they were to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matthew 28: 19-20.
This is known as the Great Commission. Soon after this Jesus ascended to heaven because His work on earth was done. He gave His disciples the responsibility of carrying on His ministry and He commissioned them to be His evangelists. The disciples, long ago, completed their work on earth and their commission of evangelism has been passed on to each one of us who are believers in Jesus.
In this verse (above) from II Timothy we are told by Paul to “do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”
The word “ministry” here does not refer to any special group or class of people like pastors, teachers, or those that call themselves evangelists. The word “ministry” means “service” and all believers are called to be active in a service of some kind as it says in Ephesians 4:11-12, “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” YES, part of the believer’s ministry is to “do the work of an evangelist.”
Evangelism, New Testament style, is personal evangelism. Jesus set an example for us when He talked to individuals who came to Him or when He met an individual and “ministered” to him or her one on one.
In Luke 19 we find Jesus ministering one on one to Zacchaeus. He had climbed up in a Sycamore tree to see Jesus over the crowd. Jesus saw him in the tree and said to him, “Zacchaeus make haste and come down, for tonight I must stay at your house.” Zacchaeus welcomed Him gladly into his home and then into his life. Jesus said to him: “Today salvation has come to this house.” And Zacchaeus gave clear indications of his new found life in Christ. He welcomed Jesus joyfully; he determined to give half of his wealth to the poor and then promised to return four-fold all the taxes that he had collected dishonestly. Zacchaeus found Jesus and accepted Him as Savior in a one to one situation.
We think of evangelism as being the work of only those who are good at speaking. Jesus wants all of us that believe in Him to be His evangelists. The way we live our life before others speaks volumes, when we are living as Christ wants us to live. We can all minister one to one with those we meet daily.
Jesus was the master soul winner. One by one He witnessed to John and Andrew and they accepted Jesus as their Savior. He witnessed to Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman. Jesus gives us this call: “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
There is no more of an important place to be an evangelist than in your home. We taught our children about our commitment to Jesus by our example, first, and then by our words. We consistently encouraged our children to share their faith by their actions and their words.
There is nothing more rewarding for us as Christian parents than to see our children put into practice in their own lives the Biblical principles we tried to instill in them. Remembering back to those years when we had the challenge of raising teenagers, one of our children received an invitation to a birthday party. Other than the day the invitation came, nothing was said about the party. The day of the party came and we asked if he was planning to go. He said “NO” without any explanation. Being curious about this decision we asked, “Why?” His answer was, “I don’t think it will be the kind of party I should go to.” We were so thankful that he saw the necessity of keeping his commitment to Christ as well as keeping his standards high by not only what he said but by what he did.
Often we do not think our children hear a word we say, but more gets through to them than what we think at the time it is said. We just have to keep on keeping on teaching them with consistency God’s commandments by our words and deeds and clearly show them their responsibility to obey them.
Our memory verse for this week is found in James 4:7.
Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Help me, dear Lord, to determine this very day to be an “evangelist’ to my own family and then one by one to those I meet. Keep me faithful in living according to the teaching of Your Word so that my life is an example to my family and my walk is consistent with my talk. Work in the hearts of my family to make them receptive to Your Word so they can be an evangelist to their friends.
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