Pastor's Corner
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
During our last Circuit Pastor’s Meeting, January 17, 2012, we spent considerable time talking about how to reach lost sinners. We all agreed that it is more difficult today to reach people with the Gospel of Christ. Today there are so many activities and voices (think about the internet for instance) that bye for the attention of people’s time and life. Sometimes it seems that our Christian voice has become just one of the many voices that promise happiness, hope and salvation. But as frustrating as this can be, we must remember that there is only one message that leads to eternal life, “Jesus is the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:11-13) As you continue to read remember the comment about the courage of Peter and John and the response of the people.
Throughout the years there have been many different evangelism programs used by the Christian Church and all produced results. Today it seems that even these proven programs are less effective because of the change in people’s lives. Our frustration, how then do we reach people with the Gospel of Christ? But remember, this is the same frustration Christians have felt in every generation. We are constantly looking for ways and new programs to bring the Gospel to lost sinners. There is one other thing you need to remember, all these programs were effective because of the people involved. As people learned some of the skills the programs taught, and used them to share the Gospel, people were saved. So in every generation what matters “is” people reaching people with the Gospel. It is true today. To reach people we must become more intentional in our day to day contact with people. When we are with people we must look for opportunities to witness the Gospel of Christ both in our words and our lives.
Witnessing does involve some knowledge and skill on our part as we interact with the people around us. Remember the response of the people in Acts 4 to Peter’s witness? He spoke with confidence, from the heart, with conviction of what was his hope in Jesus Christ. The people saw Peter as a man who truly believed what he was saying. The following passage from Acts 17 shares some additional lessons for us concerning our witness. “Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, ‘This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.’ And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.” (Acts 17:1-4)
After the Apostle Paul had came to Thessalonica, this passage tells us, as his custom was, he went to the people in the synagogue and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures. First, we learn that that Paul went to where the people were. In this case, he went to the synagogue where they gathered for worship. Are we going to the people or do we expect the people to come to us?
Secondly, Paul spent time with them. He was there for three Sabbaths, or three weeks. He did not approach evangelism with a “get in and get out” mentality.
Thirdly, he reasoned with them from the Scriptures. Paul did not share his opinion or the prevailing philosophy of the day. He presented the Scriptures to them and Scripture was the basis of his dialogue and discussion with the people in Thessalonica.
Finally, we see that he was methodical in his approach. The verbs in verse 3 are interesting – “explaining” and “proving” (demonstrating). What is the significance of each of these verbs? Was this more than a mere verbal recitation? It gives us the distinct impression that this was more than a quick presentation of the Gospel, but rather was a patient approach from the heart; he took time in his presentation.
And the end result we see in verse 4, some of them were persuaded.
What we learn from this passage is that evangelism is a process that takes time, and even more so today. Reaching others with the Gospel of Christ is relational, it involves one on one contact, it involves developing a relationship. But the rewards are great as we make the effort to witness our faith, because as people hear the Gospel their hearts will come alive in Jesus. We will be talking more about this in the months to come. For now pray that God will use each of us as witnesses in the lives of the people we know and meet.
God Bless,
Pastor Kriete