Continous Discipleship - Evangelism

Prayer: God you are constantly calling the world to you. In a world in need of good news, be with us as we hear your call to lift up your hope in the world. Amen.

God sends the church in the power of the Holy Spirit

  • to announce the good news that in Christ Jesus the world is reconciled to God,
  • to tell all nations and peoples of Christ's call to repentance, faith, and obedience,
  • to proclaim in deed and word that Jesus gave himself to set people free,
  • to offer in Christ's name fullness of life now and forever,
  • to call people everywhere to believe in and follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior,
  • to invite them into the community of faith to worship and serve the triune God.                                                     Book of Order  W-7.2001 

The session has the responsibility … to provide opportunities for evangelism to be learned and practiced in and by the church, that members may be better equipped to articulate their faith, to witness in word and deed to the saving grace of Jesus Christ, and to invite persons into a new life in Christ, …                                                 Book of Order G-10-0102a

  • Can you express your faith in 17 seconds? It would take a little work coming up with the words to express your faith. It would take a little work to summarize those words. Maybe you have never felt comfortable expressing your faith, but if you only had to come up with 17 seconds worth about your faith you might be willing to try.

The Church is called to be Christ's faithful evangelist

going into the world, making disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all he has commanded

demonstrating by the love of its members for one another and  by the quality of its common life the new reality in Christ; sharing in worship, fellowship, and nurture, practicing a deepened life of prayer and service under the guidance of the Holy Spirit;

participating in God's activity in the world through its life for others by
 
  • healing and reconciling and binding up wounds,
  • ministering to the needs of the poor, the sick, the lonely, and the  powerless,
  • engaging in the struggle to free people from sin, fear, oppression, hunger, and injustice,
  • giving itself and its substance to the service of those who  suffer,
  • sharing with Christ in the establishing of his just, peaceable, and loving rule in the world.                                  Book of Order G-3.0300c
Each one bring one – do you think that sometime in the next ten years you would be willing to invite someone into the church? You may sense that they could use the fellowship, could connect to God through the worship or could serve in a way that they are called but haven’t yet been able to identify.

Prayer: God give me the courage to claim and share the faith of Christ. Amen.