What Is A Disciple?
In Christianity, disciple primarily refers to a dedicated follower of Jesus. This term is found in the New Testament only in the Gospels and Acts. In the ancient world, a disciple is a follower or adherent of a teacher. It is not the same as being a student in the modern sense.
Discipleship is a form Of Evangelism
How to Evangelize - The Master Plan.
Sourced from missionstraining.org
The overall plan of evangelism is to conduct evangelistic training, pray, rely on the Holy Spirit, go and witness, and leave the results to God.
Leaders Must Train People to Evangelize.
Missionaries and pastors should prompt their congregations to evangelize. Leaders set an example by evangelizing. Someone wrote, “Evangelism is more caught than taught.” In other words, disciples catch onto evangelism by going to evangelize with more experienced witnesses. It is good to learn the basics of evangelism in a classroom, but most evangelistic skill is learned through practice. When an experienced witness evangelizes together with a less experienced disciple, the disciple participates in witnessing when he feels comfortable in doing so. The disciple will learn more with each household visited.
In many places, door-to-door personal evangelism produces many converts. In other places, other forms of evangelism may be more effective.
Churches that have strong outreach and discipleship programs often are the churches that grow. If a church has an insufficient number of people to support the work of the church, and to support the pastor, that church may be weak in evangelism. So the pastor may need to concentrate on outreach.
Pray.
As with all ministry, the work should be preceded by prayer. Pray before going, while evangelizing, and after evangelizing. The Apostle Paul said that we should put on the whole armor of God to combat spiritual enemies. A key part of that armor is prayer.
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. (Ephesians 6:12,18-20 NIV).
One of the greatest needs in evangelism is willing workers. The harvest is plenty, but the workers are few. Before Jesus sent out the seventy-two disciples to evangelize, he told them to ask the Lord of the Harvest to send workers (see Luke 10:2).
Rely on the Power of the Holy Spirit.
If we believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we have received the Holy Spirit. So we now rely on the Spirit to go ahead of us and provide opportunities for us to share the Gospel. We rely on the Holy Spirit to convict people of their sin, and to lead them to the truth of Jesus Christ (see John 16:7-11).
One of the ways that the Spirit leads people to Christ is by performing miraculous signs such as healing. I have read of a group of Christians who share Christ among Muslims. According to the Muslim faith, Jesus was a prophet. The Muslim Scripture--the Qur’an--teaches that Muslims should study the Gospels in the Bible. The Bible teaches that Jesus miraculously healed many people. So this group of Christians simply goes to the Muslims and prays in the name of Jesus that their sick people be healed. When the sick are healed, some of the Muslims believe in Christ. The Muslims have seen the power of Christ working through the Holy Spirit.
Jesus ministered in power.
37 You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached-- 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. (Acts 10:37-38).
The Apostle Paul spread the Gospel by the power of the Holy Spirit.
4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power. (1 Corinthians. 2:4,5 NIV).
I have seen and heard of people being miraculously healed by the power of the Holy Spirit. But not all people are physically healed. It is not God’s purpose that people be continually healed so they live forever in this world. So we pray in the name of Jesus for healing according to the will of God.
Take the Gospel to the People.
Evangelism generally is not bringing people to the church. Rather, evangelism is taking the church to the people. Evangelism involves going out and presenting the Gospel, and winning converts. Once the people are believers, they will want to meet with other Christians of the church.
Leave the Results to God.
We pray and evangelize in the power of the Holy Spirit. We follow evangelism with discipleship. Then we leave the results to God. We can’t save the lost. We can only present the Good News, and rely upon God to save sinners.
Personal Evangelism
Mass evangelism occurs among large numbers of people, but personal evangelism involves sharing the Gospel with one person or a small group of people.
When Christians intentionally go out to evangelize, they should go in pairs (see Luke 10:1). Two men may go together. Two women may go together. Or a husband and wife may go together. Going in pairs is more secure and effective in evangelizing strangers. Generally, it is not recommended that a single man and a single woman go together to evangelize. Christians should avoid even the appearance of impropriety.
In addition to planned evangelism, personal evangelism may occur on a daily basis, as we go about our routine activities. The Great Commission as given in Matthew 28:19 says, “Go and make disciples.” But the Greek word translated as “go” implies that we are also to make disciples as we go. We should pray that God opens our minds for opportunities in witnessing to anyone that we encounter.
In order to evangelize as we go about our daily activities, we need to know how to turn a conversation toward spiritual things. Following are some examples:
If you are talking with someone on a beautiful day, you might remark, “God certainly provided a lovely day for us to enjoy, didn’t he?”
If a person complains of their sickness, you may say, “I’m sorry that you are sick, and I want you to feel better. Jesus has healed many people.”
If a person is worried, you might say, “Most of us worry about things, but I’ve found a way to relieve my stress. I ask Jesus to remove my anxiety, and he certainly helps me. Could I share some Scripture that explains this? (Then share Scripture such as Luke 12:22-31).
If the listener seems responsive to spiritual things, you should proceed to share more. It is generally better to proceed slowly when sharing the Gospel. The evangelist speaks and allows the listener to respond. Then the evangelist speaks again, in response to what was said. Someone compared evangelism to feeding pigeons in a city park. A young boy took a loaf of bread and threw the whole loaf to the pigeons, scaring them so they flew away. Then an old man picked up the loaf of bread, and asked the young boy to sit together quietly with him on a park bench. The old man proceeded to break off a few crumbs of bread from the loaf and tossed them out onto the ground. Soon a pigeon flew down and began to eat the bread. The man tossed a few more crumbs out, and more pigeons came and began to eat. Within a few minutes the whole flock of pigeons was eating. In the same way, we can offer a little spiritual truth to a person, and see if that person is interested in receiving more.
The acronym FIRE is a useful tool to remember in opening a conversation and proceeding to evangelize. FIRE stands for the following terms.
Family. Begin by asking, “Do you have a family?” Most people like to talk about their family—especially their children and grandchildren. But it is not good to pressure someone if they don’t wish to talk about a divorce or some other family issue. After talking with them about their family, you may then briefly talk about your own family.
Interests. Ask, “What do you do when you have free time?” Notice the person’s household or surroundings. Does the person appear to have a hobby? Talk about what interests the person.
Religion. Ask, “What is your religion?” Or, “Have you thought much about spiritual things?”
Evangelism. If the listener is not a Christian, you may have an opportunity to share the Gospel. You can judge this by the listener’s responses.
Evangelism Explosion.
If you are not sure that a listener is a Christian, you may wish to ask two diagnostic questions. Dr. James Kennedy offers these questions as part of an evangelistic method known as Evangelism Explosion. The questions follow.
1. Do you know for sure that you are going to be with God in Heaven? Depending on how the person answers this question, you may need to ask question 2.
2. If God were to ask you, “Why should I let you into My Heaven?” what would you say?
These questions and the evangelistic methods that accompany them are available in five languages. Click on “Do you know?” at the following link: http://www.eeinternational.org/
The evangelism explosion tract is available online in an easier-to-follow format at:
The two diagnostic questions help you to know whether or not the listener is a professing Christian with at least a basic understanding of Christian theology. And they give you an opportunity to share the Gospel.
Personal Testimony.
Instead of going directly to Scripture when a listener responds to the two diagnostic questions, you may sometimes share your personal testimony. If the listener is unsure that he would go to be with God when he dies, you can say, “May I share how I received assurance that I will go to heaven when I die?” Generally the listener will allow you to give your testimony. Your testimony should be organized as follows.
a. What my Life was like before I became a Christian.
b. How I became a Christian.
c. How my life has changed as a result of my trusting Jesus
as my Lord and Savior.
as my Lord and Savior.
d.How you can become a Christian.
In order to be more organized, I recommend that you write out your testimony. Develop a written testimony that you can present in about three minutes. Also develop a version of your testimony that you can present in about five or six minutes. If you have a lot to say, you may also want to develop a longer version of your testimony. The longer version might be useful when you speak to groups of people who are prepared to listen. Practice giving your testimony to other Christians, and ask for suggestions to improve your delivery. In evangelism, it is important to communicate essential information, and avoid boring a listener with irrelevant information. Your written testimony is primarily for your own use, since you will generally give your testimony orally. Sometimes, however, it is helpful to have your written testimony available to give to people who may speak another language. The testimony can be translated in advance into their language.
At the close of your testimony, you may ask the listener if he would like to have the assurance of eternal life with God. If he says, “Yes,” you can then lead him through the Scriptural plan of salvation. There are various Scriptures that can be used to present the plan of salvation. The evangelism explosion tract is referenced above.
Four Spiritual Laws.
Another tract is “Four Spiritual Laws,” which is available online in many languages.
Click on the appropriate language to see the complete Four Spiritual Laws tract. Also, click on “more” to watch the Jesus film. This film tells the story of Jesus in more than 800 languages. You may want to order one or more copies of the Jesus film prior to going to a mission field.
A summary of the four spiritual laws follows.
1. God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life.
(See John 3:16; John 10:10).
(See John 3:16; John 10:10).
2. Man is sinful and separated from God.
Therefore, he cannot know and experience God's love and plan for his life.
(See Romans 3:23; 6:23 ).
Therefore, he cannot know and experience God's love and plan for his life.
(See Romans 3:23; 6:23 ).
3. Jesus Christ is God's only provision for man's sin.
Through Him you can know and experience God's love and plan for your life. (See Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:3-6; John 14:6 ).
Through Him you can know and experience God's love and plan for your life. (See Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:3-6; John 14:6 ).
4. We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord;
then we can know and experience God's love and plan for our lives.
then we can know and experience God's love and plan for our lives.
(See John 1:12; Ephesians 2:8,9; John 3:1-8; Revelation 3:20 ).
The Four Spiritual Laws Tract then explains that receiving Jesus means allowing him to take charge of one’s life—to allow Jesus to sit on the “throne” governing one’s life, rather than a person being in charge of their own life.
If a listener is willing, the evangelist leads the listener to pray to receive Christ. A suggested prayer from the Four Spiritual Laws tract is:
"Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be."
The Four Spiritual Laws show the elements generally presented in various tracts showing the plan of salvation.
Romans Road to Salvation.
Another way to present the plan of salvation is the Romans Road. This tract is available in various languages at the following website.
A summary of the Romans Road to salvation using Scripture from the New International Version of the Bible follows.
Romans 3:23. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 6:23. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 5:8. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 10:9,10,13. 9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. . . . 13 for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
An easy way to remember the location of these verses of the Romans Road is to memorize the first reference: Romans 3:23. Double the chapter number 3 and you have Romans 6:23. Then memorize the reference: Romans 5:8. Double the chapter number and you have Romans 10. This helps you to remember Romans 10:9,10,13. Know these four Scripture references and you can use the Bible to lead a person to salvation.
After sharing Romans 10:13 with a listener, ask him if he would like to pray with you to receive eternal life with Christ. If he agrees, you may choose to allow the listener to repeat a prayer after you—one sentence or one phrase at a time. Then say the prayer, keeping the sentences short and simple.
The Romans Road also includes some Scripture showing the results of salvation—having peace with God and having the security of a believer
(see Romans 5:1; 8:1,38,39).
(see Romans 5:1; 8:1,38,39).
The New Birth—John 3.
My favorite way method of leading people to Christ is using Scripture in John 3. This chapter explains that in order to enter heaven, a person must be born again.
I first get to know a person, following the process outlined by the acronym FIRE. I may share my testimony. I explain that I have received assurance that when I die, I will go to be with God. Then I may ask, “Would you like to receive the assurance of eternal life today?” If the person agrees, I then open my Bible to John 3.
I explain, “It says in John 3 that a religious leader named Nicodemus came to Jesus and said that because of the miracles that Jesus performed, God must be with him. Jesus replied,
“I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” (John 3:3 NIV).
I then paraphrase the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus.
“How can that be?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely a person can’t be physically born a second time.”
Jesus replied, “In order receive eternal life, you must be born of the Spirit. Consider this: you know that the wind is real, because you can feel it. You can see the leaves on trees move as the wind blows. But you don’t know where the wind comes from or where it is going. In the same way, when you receive the Holy Spirit of God, you know that the Spirit is real. (You will experience his guidance. The Spirit will teach you spiritual truth, opening your mind to truths taught in the Bible.)
I then read the following verses.
16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, [a] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. [b]
[a] John 3:16 Or his only begotten Son
[b] John 3:18 Or God's only begotten Son
“The Scripture teaches that in the beginning, the first man and the first woman had fellowship with God. The Lord explained that if they disobeyed him, they would lose that fellowship and die. The first man and woman disobeyed—they sinned—and so they died. Everyone since that time has inherited the tendency to disobey God. We all sin and we all physically die.”
“We have nothing except our lives to offer God to pay for sin. But God loves us so much that he sent his only Son to die in our place. Jesus was without sin, so he offered his sinless life as payment for our sins. Jesus was crucified on a cross 2,000 years ago. On the third day, he arose from the grave. He is now with God, his Father. If you trust in Jesus, you will receive eternal life today; so that when you die your spirit will go to be with God. Would you like to receive eternal life now?”
If the listener agrees, I then say, “I’m going to pray, and I ask that you repeat each sentence after me.”
“Father God, I have disobeyed you. Forgive my sins. I believe that Jesus died to pay for my sins. I believe that he was raised from the grave. Give me eternal life today. I now receive Jesus as my Lord and Savior. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.”
The Bible teaches that in order to be saved, we must be willing to confess Christ before men (see Matthew 10:32,33). So I like to have the convert confirm that he believes in Christ. I may ask him this, “If you truly believe the words that you just prayed, shake my hand.” Then the convert shakes my hand, showing that he believes in Christ. This is a sign—a confession of faith--to anyone else in our presence that the convert means what he says. And it is a confirmation for the convert to remember.
I then explain some things to the convert. “When we are born again, we are spiritual babies. God wants us to grow to maturity in the faith. As we grow, we learn spiritual truth and experience the joy of knowing God. There are five things that we need to do to grow in faith.”
a. Love God and love your neighbor as you love yourself. These are God’s two greatest commandments.
b. Study the Bible. Begin by reading the Gospel of John. (I show the convert where to find the Gospel of John in the Bible. If the convert does not have a Bible, I provide a way for him to study—by giving him some Scripture or by inviting him to a church. If the convert does not read, I explain that the church can teach the Scripture.)
c. Pray daily in the name of Jesus.
d. Meet together each week with other Christians that teach the Bible.
e. Tell others about salvation in Jesus.
(These five ways of growing in faith are shown in the video presentation of an evangecube below.)
I then try to follow up with the convert or see that someone from a church quickly follows up with the convert. It is best if someone visits the convert within a day, or at least within a week. As explained previously, we don’t leave physical babies alone, and we don’t want to leave spiritual babies alone. The convert has much to think about. He may have questions regarding the Scripture that was shared with him. Perhaps some key Scripture was omitted in the presentation. He needs to be reminded of Scripture assuring him of salvation. In time, as he matures, he will experience the Holy Spirit guiding and assuring him. In the meantime, he needs help from other Christians. The convert needs encouragement to meet with other Christians for worship and study. If he is unable to come to church, someone from the church should go and meet regularly with him for discipleship.
Evangecube.
An evangelistic method using a tool called an evangecube is shown on the website below. I recommend that you watch the video presentation.
The presentation of an evangecube shows that a Christian matures by:
1. Loving God and one’s neighbor
2. Reading the Bible
3. Praying and listening to God
4. Meet together regularly with other Christians for worship, prayer, Bible study, and helping each other
5. Evangelizing
An evangecube is a useful tool in presenting the Gospel across cultures and language barriers. It shows the way to salvation using pictures. It holds peoples’ attention—especially children’s attention. It is a useful aid in guiding an evangelist in his presentation.
Additional Information on Personal Evangelism.
The following website offers online training materials in personal evangelism, and has videos of witnessing in the USA.
Objections to the Gospel.
When presenting the plan of salvation, listeners may raise various objections. Sometimes a listener is sincerely seeking the truth, and needs an answer. Sometimes a listener is merely trying to divert the conversation because he is not interested in knowing Jesus. Often, listeners want to divert us from the plan of salvation because they don’t want to admit they are sinners and change their lifestyles. We need to be able to address objections, and return to presenting the Gospel. Having a good knowledge of Scripture and where to find Scripture in the Bible is the way to answer most objections. It is important to memorize key Scripture.
Then pray that the Holy Spirit will guide you to answer people’s questions.
Speak the truth in love (see Ephesians 4:15).
Alex Strauch teaches that we are to love those that we witness to. Consider the quotes below from the following web page.
Evangelist Bob Smith says, “Ninety percent of evangelism is love.” Evangelism involves loving people, wanting to reach out to them, being friendly and open to them, and serving them. We must not be argumentative in witnessing—conveying the impression that we have all the answers. We must not be obnoxious and proud, dominating every conversation. We must learn to relax—to simply give people the gospel and let the Holy Spirit unleash its power. If the Holy Spirit does not work in a person’s heart, all of our arguing is not going to help. Answer questions the best you can, and if you do not have an answer tell the person to whom you are speaking that you will try to find it.
Paul says, “Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt” (Colossians. 4:6). When you know that you’re to be gracious and seasoned with salt, then you don’t get so frightened and think, “I’ve got to argue them into Heaven. I’ve got to show them I’m right. I’ve got to show them I’m orthodox and not in one of the cults.” It is an amazing thing when you seek to be gracious and winsome. You don’t get concerned when the unbeliever argues and calls you names. You can quietly respond,“I understand your perspective, but I want you to know my sins have been forgiven. I have a new hope because I know that God’s new life is in me.
2 With this attitude of love, let us consider how to answer some objections.
Good Works.
Most people feel that they must do good works in order to earn favor with God. Every major religion of the world except Christianity encourages good works in order to earn one’s way into heaven or to advance to a higher spiritual state. Christianity is unique. Christianity holds that Christ has already done the good work. Christ died to save us from the penalty of sin. To be saved, we simply need to believe in Jesus. When we have such Biblical faith, we repent of our sin (turn away from our sin) and follow the teaching of Jesus. We are saved by the grace of God through faith in order to do good works.
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10 NIV)
When a person thinks that his good works will get him into heaven, I say, “God is perfect and he expects that anyone who enters his Kingdom will be completely without sin. But we are all sinners. None of us are perfect. Trying to be perfect is like trying to swim across an ocean. All of us fail at some point. Only Christ lived a perfectly sinless life. By trusting in Christ, we are saved. And as we love Christ, we then want to do good works.
Christianity is more of a relationship than it is a religion. A religion typically presents a set of rules to follow in order to be holy. Christianity is about a relationship of faith with God through his Son. Christ is the unique Son of God. He is always superior to us. But believers are adopted children of God (see John 1:12; Romans 8:14-16). Christ is our Elder Brother, and we are joint heirs of eternal life with Christ (see Romans 8:17). We are children of God through faith, so good works do not make us more of a child or less of a child. I explain it this way, “A child is born to a father. If the child does not do good deeds, is the child not his child? The child is still his own. If the child does good deeds, is the child his in some greater way? No, the child is his child without regard to good deeds.” But if the child loves the father, the child wants to do things pleasing to the father. Christianity is about a relationship of love between God and his children. When a person believes in Christ, that person is adopted into the family of God. This adoption is more than a legal adoption. When a child is adopted into God’s family, the child is born anew—he is spiritually born again.
Even though we can't earn salvation, we must still repent of our sins. We repent by turning away from a sinful lifestyle. While we are in the body, we always will sin, but we can mature so that we sin less and less. Three words that summarize coming to Christ are repent, believe, and confess. We repent of sin, believe in the sacrifice of Christ, and confess that Jesus is Lord.
Other Ways to Salvation.
A person may believe in pluralism--saying that there are many religions and many ways to salvation. I explain that Jesus claimed to be the one way to salvation.
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6 NIV).
I explain that Jesus was God in flesh (see John 5:18; 10:30; Col. 1:15-20; 2:9). No other major religion has a founder who claimed to be God. If Christ is who he claimed to be, he is Lord and Christianity is the one way to salvation. If Christ is not who he claimed to be, he is a liar or a lunatic and Christianity is not the way to salvation. But there is no middle ground; Christianity and other major world religions disagree so they cannot all lead to salvation. The Christian writer, C. S. Lewis, made this argument that Christ is Lord, liar, or lunatic.
Relationship Evangelism
Relationship Evangelism or Relational Evangelism is sharing the Gospel with people that you have a relationship with. Often people come to Christ through friends or family. In the United States, historical data suggests that more than 75 percent of people who come to Christ do so through the influence of friends or family. 3
The Bible gives examples of relationship evangelism. John the Baptizer introduced two of his disciples to Jesus, and they in turn each introduced a brother or friend to Jesus (see John 1:35-51).
We can use our knowledge of personal evangelism to witness to friends and family. We should pray for opportunities to witness. Since we already have a relationship established with friends and family, at appropriate times we can go directly to sharing our testimony and sharing the plan of salvation. Or we may be able to go directly to praying together with a friend. The preliminary work of establishing a relationship has already been done.
Relationship evangelism is effective in reaching people of other faiths who resist other methods of evangelism. For more information, search the internet for “relationship evangelism.”
Evangelistic Sermons.
Preaching is an excellent way to make converts. On the day the church began, the Apostle Peter preached and 3,000 people became Christians (Acts 2:41). Down through the centuries, preachers have led countless numbers to become Christians. In the twentieth century, the evangelist Billy Graham led many thousands to receive Jesus throughout the world. In churches around the globe, pastors today preach and millions are baptized.
In order to reach converts through preaching, sermons need to be evangelistic. Pastors do not always preach evangelistic sermons. Evangelism is directed to those who have not come to faith in Christ. So pastors may choose when to preach evangelistic sermons and when to focus more on discipleship.
An evangelistic sermon is designed to bring people to a decision to receive Christ as Lord and Savior. So the selection of a Biblical text should be appropriate for evangelism. Many passages in the Gospels or Acts, for example may inspire people to come to Christ.
Evangelistic sermons should address the concerns of people in a congregation. The evangelist Billy Graham often presented the world’s problems that are reported in the headlines of newspapers, and then he presented the Good News that Jesus can solve such problems. Jesus can overcome loneliness, crime, broken relationships, hopelessness, and any other problem.
An evangelistic sermon closes with an invitation to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior. That decision should be immediate. The Scripture teaches that today is the day of salvation (see 2 Cor. 6:2). One of Satan’s great deceptions is to make people think that there is no hurry in becoming a Christian. So people put off the decision to receive Christ and their hearts grow cold as they grow old. Today may the last time some people have to receive Christ. When they turn away from an invitation, they may not have the opportunity again. They can die. They may not be open to evangelism in the future. A preacher should admonish people to consider the brevity of time.
Mass Evangelism.
In contrast with personal evangelism, mass evangelism targets many people in open-air meetings or in other large gatherings. This type of evangelism can be effective if much preparation is made. It may require substantial funds to secure meeting places and advertising. The website below has a chapter on mass evangelism. Click on “ Course Download Center,” then choose the course “Leaven Like Evangelism.”
http://www.amesbible.org/virtualcampus.html
Street Preaching —preaching in open-air meetings on a relatively small scale may not require funds or extensive preparation. This method of preaching is highly effective in some places.
Saturation Evangelism.
Saturation evangelism seeks to present the Gospel to every person within an area or country. The following website suggests various tools for saturation evangelism.
The tools suggested at the above website for saturation evangelism are:
Radio and Television Broadcasting.
Bible and Christian Literature Distribution
Itinerant Evangelists, Special Speakers, and Group Evangelism
United Campaigns of Personal Evangelism
Film Evangelism Using the "JESUS" Film
Leadership Training Available.
Saturation evangelism follows the command to preach to all creation (see Mark 16:15). And it follows the principle of sowing generously in order to reap generously (see 2 Cor. 9:6).
Intentional Evangelism.
Whatever methods of evangelism are used, they must be intentional—that is, we must develop a plan to evangelize. If personal evangelism is practiced, then it may include a daily pattern of looking for opportunities to share Jesus. But a church should also set aside special times in which its members go out to share Christ. Relational evangelism includes intentionally thinking of people that do not know Christ, and planning ways to share Christ with them. Mass evangelism and saturation evangelism require much planning.
Overcoming Hindrances
Fear.
One of the greatest hindrances to evangelism is fear. People are afraid of evangelizing because they don’t want to be rejected. They don’t want to look foolish. Or in some countries, they may fear persecution by authorities or by the culture around them.
Scripture teaches Christians to expect some rejection (see John 15:20; Matthew 24:9). What appears as foolishness to the natural man is wisdom to God (see 1 Cor. 2:14). So we should obey the Great Commission. As we obey, we become more comfortable in evangelizing.
While in prison, the Apostle Paul asked that the Ephesian church pray for him so that he would fearlessly proclaim the Gospel (see Ephesians 6:19,20). We should pray that each of us boldly shares Christ.
Other Priorities.
Unless we give priority to evangelism, other priorities will quickly take up our time. There is a tendency for churches to focus on their own needs and become a social club. Church members have many needs, and they can easily forget that the world is dying around them. When a local church forgets about the dying world, the local church dies.
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