By Jim Coston, Lead Pastor
In mid-May, I attended a presentation by the Phoenix Evangelism Project of survey results from 50 church leaders in the Valley. The Phoenix Evangelism Project [PEP] exists to unite Valley churches in God’s mission by ELEVATING EVANGELISM so that over time our churches become CONVERSION COMMUNITIES! Their interviews covered churches of all sizes, across demographic lines, Protestant and Catholic.
PEP defines evangelism as communicating the Gospel message with words and inviting people to respond. I like that definition. One might quibble that deeds also communicate the Gospel; however, the opportunity to respond is typically implicit. As you read the word evangelism (and its other grammatical formulations), understand that this is the meaning: communicating the Gospel message with words and inviting people to respond.
Survey Result #5: Prayer for those who don’t know Jesus is lacking.
This one hurt to hear. It hurt because I think it is true. We must trust Jesus to intervene in people’s lives. The Holy Spirit makes connections that we cannot. We are messengers to those who don’t know Jesus. We are also messengers to God the Father with names of those who don’t know Jesus. We must pray each day for friends, family, neighbors and co-workers who don’t know Jesus. We have unsaved people in these groups; we must pray for them to come to know Jesus. We will present some ALPHA cards to you later this summer so that you can specify who to pray for daily. Prayer works. Let’s tap into it for the sake of those who don’t know Jesus.
Some questions to consider: How could prayers for non-Christians be incorporated into our services? What would it take for FBCScottsdale to have a prayer team to specifically pray for the lost around our campus?
Survey Result #6: The Holy Spirit was mentioned…rarely.
Again, this one stung. Pentecost is still ongoing, yet I have not emphasized that as a church leader, nor expressed utter dependence upon the Holy Spirit for evangelism to succeed. If God isn’t present, our message will fall flat. We have to call the Holy Spirit to be present, provide us the words and to open hearts. Otherwise, we are spinning wheels.
Some questions to consider: How could our church and you partner with the Holy Spirit? How is the Holy Spirit included or excluded from evangelism teaching and training?
Survey Results #7-8 next week!
