Evangelism Re-Explored

Today I attended a conference on Evangelism – sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with a lost world. The conference was sponsored by our church, and led by the creators of the Christianity Explored course.

Here are some highlights of the conference:

Our application of Evangelism depends on our view of the following three points:
God’s Sovereignty – God is in charge of results, not us (thank God!) – II. Corinthians 4:1, 4, 6.
Gospel Integrity – we preach Christ as Lord – II Corinthians 4:5.
Our Creativity – we set forth the truth plainly - II Corinthians 4:1-2.

The course consists of a 10 week study of the gospel of Mark. According to Rico Tice, by studying the gospel, rather than us speaking for Jesus, “we let Jesus’ words speak for themselves.” Essentially, the gospel of Mark is summarized in Mark 8:30-37.

It addresses the following three questions:
Who is Jesus? (Identity) – Mark 8:27-30. Jesus is the Christ; the Holy One predicted by the prophets, sent by the Father.
Why did he come? (Mission) – Mark 8:31-33. Jesus came to suffer, be rejected, be killed, and rise again. This, in order to bridge the separation caused by our sin against God. This, in order to reconcile the created order to the creator.
What does this mean for us? (Call) – Mark 8:34-38. Deny ourselves and take up our cross, so that when we stand in the Father’s glory, Christ will not be ashamed of us.

Overall I was impressed with the conference. Often times we get quite preoccupied with the finer details of our faith, and while that is good and necessary, it ought not to happen at the expense of Evangelism. Our raison d’etre is Evangelism: God the Father was the first Evangelist, by sending his Son. Godliness, therefore, implies Evangelism.

My favourite quote of the day: “God’s wrath is proof of his love.” This was quoted in reference to someone who doubts God’s goodness. We know that God will one day judge all evil, and that, is a good thing. To do otherwise would be evil.

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PS - I did encounter the pitbull again. She was a very good speaker, and I did not encounter any more personality battles.