In 2008, I began the
year at HillSong preaching about something very specific: evangelism. I challenged myself and everyone in the
church to wrestle with this question. How many times have I shared the Gospel or
developed a relationship with an unchurched person with the intention of
sharing my faith in the past month? The answer will be one indicator of how we
are living as Christ’s followers commissioned to share his love with a lost and
hurting world (Matthew 28:16-20). We are
each called to discipleship and to evangelism.
Here’s a less ‘churchy’ way of saying it.
·
Each
one of us is called to follow Jesus.
·
Each
one of us is called by God to invite people we know who are not Christians to
turn to Jesus and to give their lives to Him.
Of course in our
church we have often emphasized evangelism since 2008. That’s not the last time we discussed
it. I bring it up today simply because
the approach we employed that year is the right one for now. Today it is again the time to ask am I living evangelistically. Are we, as a church family, actively sharing
our faith and inviting people to church?
People in the world
are hurting and they’re looking for hope and looking for answers in all the
wrong places. As followers of Jesus, we
know that faith in Him is what everyone needs.
Our church needs to grow, and the world around us needs the gospel God
has given us to share. So here are today’s
questions.
·
In
the next six months with whom will I share Jesus?
·
Who
will I lift up in prayer?
·
To
whom will I reach out with the Gospel?
·
Who
is a non-Christian I intentionally befriend because I know God has called me to
love that person?
·
What
is my personal evangelism strategy for the next six months?
At the Ash Wednesday
worship service, we were invited to look and see all that God is doing to make
things right in the world. Our church
spiritual discipline for Lent will be to notice, write down, and celebrate the
ways God is at work around us.
In addition, this,
another Lenten practice for HillSong Church for 2017 must be invitation. Invite people who aren’t in a church family
right now to come be a part of HillSong.
And note how you do this. Be
intentional about finding an evangelism approach that fits your personality,
your skills, your spiritual gifting, and your situation in life. That’s our
assignment for Lent 2017. Know your personal
evangelism strategy. Write it
down. Spend time this week prayerfully
thinking about how Jesus will speak through your life from now until Easter
Sunday (4-16-17). Begin writing your own
personal evangelism strategy, and begin this week putting that strategy into
practice.
That’s two spiritual
practices for Lent 2017: Celebrating God’s good works and sharing the Gospel
with people outside God’s church. Spend
the next two months engaged in this practices, celebration and evangelism. And pray for our church. Pray that all who worship at HillSong embrace
these spiritual practices. Through our
efforts to partner with God, we will get to be a part of the wonderful ways He
is bringing the Kingdom to fruition. We’ll
see God at work right in our church’s daily and weekly life.
Here are some previous posts I have written
about evangelism. Check these out for
approaches to evangelism and theology of evangelism. Or just type ‘evangelism’ into the search bar
on my blog.
And please share your ideas with me. You can comment on one of the blog posts or
get in touch with me through twitter (@revtennant), Facebook, or email (tennant.hillsong@gmail.com).
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