Breakthrough Evangelism

I love the story in Mark chapter 2 about the 4 men carrying the person to Jesus on a stretcher

I used this story recently in a message I gave to highlight five attributes of people that bring others to Jesus. Here are some of my thoughts

Attribute 1# They understand you can't hide the presence of God
Mark 2vs 1

Jesus states our role as Christians is a transformational one Salt and Light
In the same way that salt is not designed to stay in a shaker,the church is never meant to be insular from the world .We are Gods hands and feet on the earth and we need to be seen and felt in the trenches of human experience .

God does not want his church to play hide and seek with the world where we hide and they seek us he wants us to play seek and save with the world where we seek them and he save them .

The unchurched have a deep awareness of God ,especially in a crisis.However they do not have an awareness of the church.When the unchurched think God they don't think church.To them the God of heaven has no earthy address.But the church is gods address on earth

That's why when my mate went through a painful marriage breakup,he went to his Mum for her purse ,his mates for the pub and me for prayer,because to him I am the church.

The truth is we are light ,some days you may feel you are a 30 watt, some days a 60 , or 100 watt bulb,it doesn't matter your light will shine, don't hide it

Attribute 2#They preach the gospel
Mark 2vs 2

In John 1:14 it says Jesus was full of grace and truth
Grace says I will love you no matter what, I call this influence
Truth says I will speak the truth no matter what, I call this evangelism

Jesus was the perfect combination of both and made this clear when he chose the passage of Luke 4:18-19 to describe his mission and his ministry

The Apostle Paul was as "eager to remember the poor" as he was as "eager to preach the gospel" .

By themselves grace and truth are dangerous
Grace without truth or influence without evangelism can be Christianity without a backbone, goodness without God

Likewise truth without grace or evangelism without influence can be Christianity without a heart , God without goodness.

As Christians we can influence many unchurched people but I don’t want to influence all and evangelise none. Influence is good, its necessary ,it’s kingdom, it’s salting, it’s touching people’s lives, but it’s not necessarily evangelism

No doubt there are many people in Hell who were influenced by the church but never evangelised. I don’t want to just influence my community, my work colleagues, school friends or neighbours; I also want to share Christ with them.