"Wake up, O sleeper" Ephesians 5:14

Rev. Christopher Walker

www.EvangelismCoach.org

My Values

• Complete trust in God’s sovereignty• Work in Cooperation• Intimacy with Christ

• Seed Planter• “A friend of sinners.”• “Leave the 99 to find the 1”

Greatest Fears

• Bad experiences:– Door to Door

– Drive-by Evangelists

– Pushy televangelists

– “My friend was obnoxious with me”

– Clumsy Apologetics

– Complicated Scripts

Greatest Fears

• Emotions– Fear of Rejection

– Losing a friendship

– Fear of offending

– Feeling inadequate

– Embarrassment

– Gag Reflex

Greatest Fears

• Perceptions– Fear of what others will think about you. – Rude– Arrogance– Your own weakness, hypocrisies, and

inadequacies– Personal Doubt

• Guilt – Pastor says so. Jesus says so.– To mess up somebody’s eternity destiny is

your fault

What if . . . .

► It was normal for Christians to evangelize?► It wasn’t a program, didn’t cost money,

didn’t take much time and could be done by ordinary people

► Evangelism was just another spiritual practice like reading the bible or praying?

What if

► You didn’t have to be brave?► Ordinary Christians could evangelize

without being obnoxious?

Evangelism is . . .

► Joyfully sharing the good news of the sovereign love of God, and

► calling people to repentance to personal faith in Jesus Christ as Savior

and Lord to active membership in the church, and to obedient service in the world.

Definition adopted by the 202nd General Assembly, 1990

Our participation

• Listen– Guidance of the Holy Spirit

– Spiritual Thirst of the person

• Discern God’s work

• Cooperate with it.

Result: Fear Free

• Natural– Not aggressive or offensive

– Not forced, or awkward

– Not confrontational

• Normal– Peaceful Conversations

– Relaxed and easy

– Grand Courage not needed

Holy Spirit Works Both Sides

Fear Free Evangelism

► Trust the sovereignty of God to be at work► Be guided by the Holy Spirit.► Recognize the Kairos Moment► Engage in conversation

Phillip

• Successful evangelist

• Intimate Relationship with God– Listened to the voice of the Spirit.

– Guided “to the desert road”

Getting there

• Guided to a particular Road– Beyond Samaria

– In the desert

– Beyond Judea

Obstacles to his obedience

• Find a trustworthy substitute for his ministry

• Personal Safety during his travel– Robbers, Sandstorms

– Wild Beasts, the climate.

• Money change

• Sufficient food

• Adequate transportation

Greatest Obstacle

• No X Marks the spot, or GPS

Phillip

• A particular group caught his attention– Possible other groups on the highway.

• The Spirit said to him– Go and stand next to THAT chariot

– God “underlined” that chariot.

– Go near and stand there.

Phillip

• Heard a stranger reading out loud– From Isaiah– Out loud

• Began a conversation– “Do you understand what you are reading”– Based on the context

Eunuch

• Had gone to Jerusalem to worship God– Perhaps he was a Jew?

– Perhaps he had been converted to Judaism?

– Perhaps he was seeking after God and thought a pilgrimage to Jerusalem would satisfy that thirst.

Obstacles to Overcome

• Treasurer of the Queen of Ethiopia.– In charge of the kingdom’s economy.

– Salaries of the employees and army.

– Knew where all the money was physically stored.

– Like “Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board”

• Needed to find a replacement of great confidence during his absence.

Other Obstacles

• Personal Security

• Group travel with his security detail.

• Give up vacation time if any.

• Foreign language / money.

• Means of transportation / lodging.

The work of God

• His spiritual thirst propelled him to overcome.

Eunuch

• Had been to Jerusalem – he was returning.– Imagine his thirst was not satisfied.

– Perhaps he had heard of Jesus or rumors about his disciples.

• Reading a copy of Isaiah.– His own? Bought at the book table?

– Knew that the Scriptures contained the truth.

Eunuch

• Out loud– Possible foreign language.

– Grammar difficulties.• Pronoun references were confusing.• “Of whom does the prophet speak? Himself,

or another?”

• Imagine a prayer of frustration. . . .

Both Sides of the Equation

• Phillip– Led to the right place.– Noticed the person that God underlined.– Drew near that person (Positioned himself)– Took a risk, began a conversation.

• Eunuch– Had overcome all obstacles– Was found in the same place as Phillip– Reading Isaiah 53 out loud.– Had spiritual thirst, ready to receive.

Kairos Moment

• The Holy Spirit had prepared the moment.– The circumstances are lined up.

– The fruit is ripe and ready to pick.

• The word spoken– “Do you understand what you are reading?”

Normal Conversation

• Began where Eunuch was– “Beginning with that same passage of

Scripture”– Conversation with Q&A– Contextually natural

• He explained the Gospel– “He explained the good news about Jesus”

Steps to Fear Free Evangelism

• Have an intimate prayer life.– Ask God to help you notice those whom he

underlines for you.

– Prayerwalking

Steps to Fear Free Evangelism

• Have desire to be available and be used.– Trust in God’s leadership.

• Recognize the kairos moment– Notice who God underlines

• Position yourself

• Engage in conversation

Fear Free Conversation

• Use questions – Based on the context.

– Jesus used over 150 questions

– Questions help• Personal Discovery• Thought Development

– What’s the question behind the question?

Natural Conversation

• Allow the conversation to unfold naturally.– Listen to the Holy Spirit

– Listen for the person’s spiritual thirst.

Fear Free Conversation

• Be prepared to explain the gospel – If prompted by the Holy Spirit to do so.

• Get familiar with 1 script– EvangelismCoach.org Series on Scripts,

Scripts Category

– Goal: Do it with your eyes closed

• Comfort

Keys to Remember

• Evangelism is a process in God’s sovereignty– Plant a seed

– Water a seed

– Harvest a seed.

• We get to cooperate in kairos moments.– Listen to the Holy Spirit

– Listen to the spiritual thirst of people.

• Contextual conversation, not scripted

Assignment

• Pray to have the ability to– Recognize the kairos moments.

– Recognize when God is underlining someone

Free Mentoring

• Have two or more conversations.– About spiritual things.

– With the people that God underlines.

• I’ll send you an email asking for stories.

• Send me your story and receive 90 minutes free mentoring– Debrief the conversations

– Telephone or Video conference.

Questions and Answers