A Letter from our Chairman
Dear Friends,
The Church exists for Mission, and its fundamental expression is evangelism. Even at our large Summer events which are attended by many Christians we long to see many seekers present, and to see them saved at the event. This month I wanted to say a few things about evangelism, because it's our main purpose and yet we often feel we can't do it. I know many of you will remind me, that our first joy as God's people is to love and worship Him; but surely that is so that we can be equipped to do His Will and see all men and women, and their children brought into Kingdom Life - into the Kingdom of Jesus.
Perhaps there are so many expressions of evangelism that we become confused and then don't really know what we should do. There are big crusades, seeker services in the local church, Alpha, picnics in the Summer, and lots of social gatherings. Then we hope and pray that if some friends come to our Sunday morning worship time with us, they will find the experience friendly, instructive, easy to understand, and even inspiring!
Actually we won't care about evangelism unless we can clearly answer the question "why?" The response to Jesus' love, which you and I have, will be first because of what has happened to us. Everything has changed, everything looks totally different since we said "yes" to Him. We're part of a whole new world, with its peace, joy and activity. Of all people, we are relaxed, and good to be with, because of the Love in us from the Lord. The most fundamental gift is the gift we have of love. Evangelism springs out of that love. We long for others to know Jesus for themselves. So the first answer is the giving away of love, which will often be very demanding in our lives.
There are several biblically based arguments for constant evangelism, to suit every situation and resistance. There is the state of the lost, both their present 'death' in slavery (Ephesians 2) and their eternal destiny. If these do not trigger a powerful response in us, we are nevertheless implicated in their situation. Please read Ezekiel Chapter 3 and verse 18. Then again it's good for a group of Christians to be outward-looking rather than inward-looking. It's enlightening that the great command - "the Lord appointed and sent them on ahead of Him…………. and said to them, 'the harvest is plentiful….' ", was given to the disciples in the context of their in-fighting and bickering about who was the greatest, in Luke 9 and 10.
Jesus is the Lord who leaves heaven for me and in my little life has revealed what He has done for me. He says, "as the Father has sent me , so I send you". When Jesus came for me and you, He was carried by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 4:1), led by the Spirit (Luke 4:1) and driven by the Spirit (Mark 1:12). It is the work and the ministry of the Holy Spirit to catalyse that compassion in us that will carry us towards others. He must and will gently and firmly lead us where we naturally don't want to go.
If we find the constant demand or responsibility of evangelism irksome, we must and can draw more deeply on the resources of the lovely Spirit of Jesus, to change us to be like Him. Joy was set before Him while He kept going for it, and it is for us too.
Let's go for it, more and more.
Love Phil