Evangelistic Verses In John
Most churches have constitutions one part of which is a statement of faith. It provides a list of important beliefs along with a brief description and several Bible references supporting the belief.
What they don’t often have but should is a statement of activities, things they do regularly as an expression of their faith. And at the top of the “do” list should be evangelism.
Although the word is not actually an English word – anglicized (transliterated) form of the Greek euangelion – it is clearly the most important issue in the New Testament.
It refers to the good news of the Gospel and the activity associated with evangelism is anything we do to spread that message. This was very prevalent in the ministry of Jesus.
Without question, one of the most important lessons we learn from Jesus is how to evangelize. This intention was so obvious that the writers of the Gospels have been referred to as the four “evangelists” and of all the Gospels, John’s emphasizes evangelism the most.
Proof of this emphasis is the number of verses in John which are evangelistic stand outs. The purpose of this post is to provide a list of these verses. Read more
Evangelize Intentionally
We don’t easily get it. We study the Gospel of John digging out the useful bits of evangelistic information and then refer to it as the Gospel of “Belief” rather than the Gospel of “Evangelism.” We fall short of the right conclusion and then fail to follow through on any meaningful application.
And we do this because we are more content just studying the Bible than we are doing what it says. We scour John’s Gospel locating all the powerful evangelistic verses, making other pertinent observations as well and then, instead of evangelizing, we study it some more.
That is one reason I think Bible study has become an insidious and pervasive evil. It is now the cover up for inaction and ineffectiveness. All over the world, in churches everywhere, spiritual action has been constipated by the idea that once you have studied your Bible you have done your due. Read more
“Communication” Key To Evangelism
If Jesus was modeling evangelism in the Gospel of John He was emphasizing the art of communication in chapter 9. He heals a man born blind in the chapter and models a very novel approach when He did.
Culturally, those with disabilities were considered pariahs.
We know better today but in Bible times disabilities were considered evidence of God’s judgment. Actually that has been true of most of human history. It is only recently that we have learned to appreciate those with disabilities.
But, in New Testament days, and for a long time since, if a person was blind, lame, deaf, dumb, leprous or inflicted with any other malady they were looked down on spiritually not too mention abused. They received no education. Braille wasn’t even developed until 1821 and, incidentally, was developed by a blind man. The disabled were born to beg and in most cases were blamed by close relatives for bringing a bad name on the family. Read more
Evangelizing the Religiously Hardened
Filed under: Bible Study, Charity, Evangelism, Ministry Methods of Jesus, Religion
Jesus Breaks Sabbath Law
John 5
Jesus was not a religionist!
His spiritual devotions never involved habitual ceremony. He prescribed no rituals and there was nothing routine with His words or actions. Some responded to Him angrily, none yawned.
Any rituals He may have followed are not recorded for us. If anything, Jesus was religiously unpredictable.
- He traveled to Jerusalem on many occasions but not once are we told He offered any sacrifices. He did, on the very odd occasion, tell someone to offer an appropriate sacrifice (Matthew 8:4) but not once did He bless those ceremonies with His presence.
- Many of the things Jesus did and much of what He said was religiously disruptive: cleansing the Temple (once in John 2, a second time in Matthew 21*), claiming to be Messiah in the synagogue of Nazareth (Luke 4) and healing on the Sabbath (John 5).
- The people about whom He spoke His harshest words, the Pharisees, were excessively religious (Matthew 23).
- It was the ultra religious who were the most instrumental in his execution (Mark 15:1-15).
- Jesus rarely encouraged anyone to be religious. He spoke of disciples as sacrificial not ritualistic.
- Jesus evangelized the religiously hardened and did so by being religiously agitating.
I wouldn’t say that Jesus was anti-religion but I would say that He had no tolerance for religious nonsense. Read more
Evangelizing The Antagonistic
Lessons From Samaria – John 4
Christians talk a lot about evangelism. It is a primary topic. You aren’t living Christian if you aren’t evangelizing but popular efforts to evangelize don’t compare closely to Jesus’ results or His words. According to Him numbers do count (no pun intended).
Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear MUCH fruit; so shall you be my disciples. John 15:8
No fruit, little fruit or occasional fruit equals no discipleship. Fruit is the acid test of your discipleship and lip service brings no glory to God.
By the way, personal growth and character development, which are types of fruit, are not what Jesus had in mind here. A few verses later He said…
I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit… (v. 16)
Very similar to:
- Go and make disciples… Matt. 28:19
- Go into all the world… Mark 16:15
- Preach in every nation… Luke 24:47
- I send you to remit sins… John 20:21 & 23
- Be witnesses to the uttermost… Acts 1:8
And you don’t have to be sophisticated to be effective. Knowledgeable disciples are NOT more likely to bear fruit than beginners. The fact is God can use anyone anywhere to reach souls. I got saved when a lost person – my best friend – shared just a piece of salvation truth – all he knew. One thing he mentioned was hell. I was so concerned I had to learn more.
God used a lost man to bring me to salvation. Go figure. The most important qualities for an evangelist are humility and vulnerability. Jesus modeled both.
Besides, personal growth should happen concurrently while bringing others to Christ. Evangelism and growth catalyze each other. If one is NOT happening neither is the other. If one IS happening so is the other. Read more
Tim Pepper - Beautiful Frustration