“The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him,
‘We have found the Messiah’ (that is, the Christ).
And he brought him to Jesus.”
(John 1:41-42)
I was 25 when we had our first child. I remember it vividly. It was a Saturday night. My uncle was spending the night. But after he went to bed, we went to the hospital. Joanna was born on Sunday morning – I believe around 6:00 am. I was an Associate Pastor at the time, and I was supposed to teach our youth Sunday School class that morning and lead our worship service in church. I’m sure everyone would have understood if I skipped, but I wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to announce the birth of my first child. I was so excited, you couldn’t shut me up. I had to tell everyone the good news!
Does the word “evangelism” scare you? Does it make you want to run and hide? It doesn’t have to. Think of it as simply sharing the “good news” of Jesus Christ. When Andrew first met Jesus, he was so excited he ran and told his brother, Peter; and brought him to meet Jesus. A couple verses later, when Philip met Jesus, he was so excited that he brought his friend, Nate, to meet Jesus. That’s evangelism. You don’t have to be a “Billy Graham” or a “preacher” or a “salesman.” Just invite people to meet Jesus.
Here’s a simple two-fold strategy for outreach we can all practice: (1) Be a friend, and (2) Bring a friend. We simply encourage you to invite your friends to come with you to church where they can meet Jesus. It’s really quite simple…
- Invite them to come
- Invite them to come back
- Invite them to come to Christ
But, it all starts with prayer. Most of the cell phone companies have a “My Circle” plan or a “Fave Five” plan. You can call 5 or 10 of your “faves” free, no matter what company they use for their own cell phones. I encourage you to have a “My Circle” Prayer plan. You should have at least 5 unchurched friends, family-members, neighbors, co-workers, or acquaintances that you pray for regularly. Then, look for the right opportunity to invite them to come. Bring a friend with you to meet Jesus.
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for your gracious gift of eternal life.
Thank you for Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for my sin.
Give me a burden for my circle of unchurched friends
that I might invite them to meet Jesus, too.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
