Evangelism articles

One of our big areas of focus in 2011 at First Southern Baptist will be evangelism. God has been giving me a greater burden for the lost, and I pray this coming year will find our people better equipped and excited to share their faith.

We will not be doing much by way of events or programs, other than our annual Vacation Bible School and Grubstake Days booth. Instead, we'll be focusing on training and equipping our people to share the gospel in their own circle of influence.

At this point, I'm leaning toward using the book Share Jesus Without Fear as our main training manual. It gives confidence and a sound theology of evangelism, good transition questions, a concise gospel outline with key Scriptures, and answers to common objections. There's also a video series that goes with it, but I haven't had a chance to review that yet. I have a few qualms with some of the finer details in the book, but believe its strengths far outweigh its weaknesses, and that any problems can be addressed while teaching through the material.

I spent some time this morning looking back through my old blog posts on evangelism, and thought perhaps some of them would interest you as well...

• We are called to "Go" - Jesus did not call us to draw people into our settings, but to go where people already are. 
• Why we don't obey Christ's call to "Go" - Fear and overcommitment are among the top reasons we fail to tell others the good news
• Is door-to-door evangelism still effective? How your neighbor perceives a stranger knocking on their door.
• Praying for the lost - A heartfelt prayer for our unsaved friends.
• Do you love lost people? You won't evangelize those you don't love. But be warned: it can be messy business.
• The American mission field - A reminder that America is more religiously diverse than ever before.
• How to witness to your waitress - Seizing those little opportunities God gives us everyday to tell others the good news.
• Talking practically about evangelism - A candid interview with several of our church members to hear about their struggles and victories in evangelism.
• Steering a conversation toward the gospel - There are many casual, non-threatening ways to take an interest in others and move a conversation toward spiritual things.
• How to live in the world - Eight great ideas for living "salty" lives and engaging our culture with the gospel.