Effective Evangelism through the Local Church

If the church does not use today to reach non-Christians, we are missing a prime opportunity. The one word written across the faces of many non-Christians is the word insecurity. They are insecure about their jobs, investments, health, safety and their marriages. This is the day to tell them of the One in whom a relationship is so secure no one or nothing can change it.

To impact non-Christians in 2008 through the local church, every message a pastor gives cannot be directed to non-Christians. If it were, he would have a church full of infant Christians – people who know how to enter the Christian life but have never learned how to live it. But at the same time, if believers have genuine relationships with non-Christians, unbelievers should be frequenting church services on a regular basis.

How does one appeal to lost people in a non-evangelistic setting such as a Sunday morning service where the message is directed towards believers, not unbelievers? Articles two through five in this series on “Effective Evangelism through the Local Church” offer several suggestions that pastors throughout the nation have found beneficial understanding that the sermon is not the only place to make the appeal to the lost.

Don’t Give an Offering, Receive an Offering

Sometimes we need what Winston Churchill called “The genius for recognizing the obvious.” We overlook some of the simplest and most natural ways to make an appeal to lost people. For example, it can be done the way one takes up the morning offering.

One time a pastor said, “In a moment we are going to take up the offering. If you are visiting with us this morning, we request that as the offering plate is passed that you not place anything in it. Instead of giving a gift to the church, we would like you to receive a gift Christ has for you. Jesus Christ paid for our sins on a cross by dying as our substitute, taking our punishment and rising again the third day. Therefore, through personal trust in Christ we can receive His free gift of eternal life. Instead of giving, just sit there and meditate upon what God would like to give you. Right here this morning you could receive that free gift. Would the ushers please come to take up the offering?” Be creative. Try this approach. Try your own.

Reference the Gospel During the Reading of Scripture

It can even be done the way one introduces a paragraph of the Scriptures he’s about to explain. For example, suppose one were speaking from 1 Corinthians. It would be most natural and effective to say:

“I enjoy speaking from the book of 1 Corinthians because the person God used to write this portion of Scripture was a man named Paul who, prior to coming to know Christ, called himself a blasphemer, a persecutor and a violently arrogant man. He had every reason to think, I am too big a sinner for God to save. But he recognized that on the cross Christ did not die for some people, He died for everybody. Because He paid the price for our sins by dying in our place and rising again, God can now extend the free gift of eternal life to anyone who will simply put their trust in Christ. So if you think you are too big a sinner for God to save, rest assured that as we study this paragraph in 1 Corinthians, that is most certainly not true.”

Have someone else read the passage of Scripture. Represent every generation in those that read the Scripture and coach them on referencing the gospel during the reading of Scripture. It is a very effective way to share the gospel.

Share the Gospel Through the Conclusion of Your Message

A conclusion of a message has to appeal for action. God wants everyone there to act upon what has been said. Suppose you have been preaching on John 13:1-17 where Christ washed the feet of the disciples. That has absolutely nothing to do with how to get to heaven, does it? But what would be more appropriate than at the end of the message to encourage believers that a mark of greatness in God’s eyes is not how many servants you have but how many people you serve?

Then in a most effective way you can say to lost people in the audience, “My message this morning has been to believers. But maybe you are here today and you do not know for sure if you were to die you’d go to heaven. Before you think about how you can serve the Lord, may I encourage you to think of how the Lord has served you? Two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ, the perfect Son of God, died on a cross to take the punishment for your sins and rose again the third day. Because the price for sin has been paid, you can receive eternal life as a free gift. If you have not received that free gift, I would love to talk with you and help you arrive at that point where you know beyond the shadow of any doubt that if you were to die, you’d go to heaven. But do not even think about you can do for Him until you have first received what He has done for you.” Now that is a powerful message!