Kingdom Chat Week #20: Beyond The Pews – Gifting The Gospel To The Unreached
The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him. Psalms 24:1 NLT
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations … Matthew 28:19
God owns the world and everything in it. Though the world is ravaged and distorted by corruption, sin and death, everything finds its existence in God, as the poet alluded to in Acts 17:18, “In Him we live and move and have our being …, For we are His offspring”. The last words of our Lord Jesus before ascending into heaven was to go out into all the world (everywhere, no person, place or culture exempted) and preach the gospel to every creature. He also stated that this gospel of the Kingdom must be preached in all the world before the end comes (Matthew 24:14). This demonstrates the boundlessness of God’s love for every person not willing that any one should perish but should come to the knowledge of God.
As believers in the Lordship of Jesus Christ, we are not called to organized religion but to express the life and love of God to a blind, corrupt and dying world. We are not called to only preach to or love only those who love us. The gospel is not just a message that is passed from the pulpit to the pews but a life giving agent of change to influence and transform our society into God’s image. it is like a yeast meant to spread through the whole dough of this world until it overwhelms the systems.
The whole world was saved by Jesus’ death on the cross, but not everyone knows or acknowledges this. God has ordained us to be His ambassadors – His Salespersons to let the world know that God is not angry with them but is actually seeking them out to give them His life of righteousness, peace and joy. This may seem like a lofty goal but the power and sufficiency is not from us. It is easily made possible when we yield ourselves to be used by God, allowing the Holy Spirit to convict the hearts of the hearers; constraining them to believe the gospel; producing the change and make them change agents (fishers of men). We are the delivery vehicles for the gospel beyond the pews of organized religion. This is how the gospel was spread, it is how it is sustained, and it is how it will continue to exist beyond this age.
Discussion question:
What role do you see for yourself play in the propagation of the gospel in your environment? Feel free to post your comments below. Cheers!
- 7 Replies
Great post @michael ! We are “delivery vehicles for the gospel” – what a candid and powerful statement! It got me thinking about “street evangelism.” Many churches and ministries encourage sharing the gospel in their communities by provide trainings or materials and hosting events… I used to do evangelism on the street a lot, especially in college, but honestly haven’t done it once since the pandemic started. I wonder if it’s been a while for others too? But, on the other hand, I think the pandemic has amplified virtual ministries like KLCC to reach people searching online for truth in challenging times.
In my own life, I try to recognize the opportunities I have to engage people in dialogue that isn’t just surface level – but to learn about how their lives are going and where their faith stands so that I can share about my faith and the gospel of salvation. The people that come to mind are co-workers, parents at my son’s school, my kids and my extended family. Being a “delivery vehicle for the gospel” is definitely something I want to keep at the forefront of my mind!
Quite instructive. The role of one to one evangelism cannot be overstated because it affords the opportunity to directly impact a life. With rapid globalization through technology, a lot of people live more in the virtual spaces than the physical world, making it imperative to have a platform like ours to bridge the gap and flood them with the light of the gospel, permeating beyond the limitations of physical space. Thank God for divine innovation.
I start with myself first. I have to minister to me and allow the Holy Spirit to transform me. I need to know my purpose in the Kingdom. I need to understand the plan of my Creator for my life so that I can will on the Life HE had set for me before I was formed. Now when I get that understanding I can now reach out to my surroundings sharing the good news of the Lord with my own testimonies. I start with those in my house first then slowly spreading it out to family members then friends then strangers. I figured that most of the time, The Lord is actually the one sending people my way to minister to them. That’s the reason why in all conversations I have with people 90 percent of time end with talking about the goodness of our God the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit. I enjoy speaking and talking about God sharing Its word with others… I know I’m not doing this on my own I have the HOLY SPIRIT in me so that’s why I have so much joy when doing this…
Thank you Pastor Michael for this insightful message. Blessings
Wow! Thank you Sandrine for the inspiring and quite achievable strategies you have shared. Sometimes we want to wait to have it all organized to share the gospel. However, like Paul said, that our lives are open books for the world to read. The easiest way to evangelize is to share your own testimonies of how the gospel has changed your life in practical ways. The Holy Spirit can act on and water these seeds to convict the person and win the soul. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you all for sharing your thoughts here. The gospel spread and is still being spread through the personal ministry of ordinary believers like we all as they share their testimony and the good news of Christ with their social network.
At some point, it seemed as though the sharing of gospel was for some trained ministers or full time ministers but God is calling us back to the place of personal evangelism through our lives. So, let’s keep that in mind at all times. @sandrine your strategy is the perfect example of how God wants us to share the Gospel with others 😎
Log in to reply.