North Side’s entire mission strategy is only as strong as how active its members are in the area of personal evangelism. Since we know that everyone will not come to the doors of North Side to pursue Christ, North Side must go to the people of this community and beyond. Christ’s command was to go and tell, not come and see (Matt. 28:18-20). North Side is present in almost every workplace, school, and neighborhood in this community. If the mission team can adequately equip North Side’s members to the task of personal evangelism, countless numbers of people will be impacted for Christ. Since this strategy point is so vital to the mission strategy, here’s how the mission team will seek to accomplish this task:
The first point in our personal evangelism strategy is:
Intercede for someone’s conversion.
God is at work around every one of our members. When we pray concerning evangelism, we are not asking God to start doing anything. He is already at work around us. He has been preparing hearts, establishing relationships, and arranging divine appointments. When we pray, we are simply joining God in what He is doing in the lives around us.
As we join God, we should ask that God enlighten the hearts of those people who don’t know Him (Eph. 1:18). As God is working in hearts, we should also pray that God open doors for us to share the gospel with others (Col. 4:3). While we share the gospel with people, Paul showed us that we should also pray that we share it clearly so that the person can comprehend what we are saying (Col. 4:6). Paul also showed numerous times the need to collectively pray for one another in the area of personal evangelism. As eloquent as Paul was, he asked fellow Christians to pray for him that whenever he opened his mouth, that he would be able to fearlessly proclaim the gospel (Eph. 6:19). A main focus in our C-Groups will be to pray for one another concerning personal evangelism.
As North Side begins to corporately and individually pray for the lost, our hearts will become more burdened for their spiritual state, and we will become more urgent for sharing the gospel. Moses had such a burden for the people of Israel, that he pleaded with God to remove him from grace if it meant giving the Israelites another chance (Ex. 32:-31-32). Paul’s prayers became so fervent that he desired for himself to be cut off from Christ for the sake of those close to him outside of a relationship with Jesus (Rom. 9:2-3). As Jesus looked out at all the people who needed peace with God, he prayed that God send more workers out into the field for the task of personal evangelism (Matt. 9:36-38). Make no mistake, personal evangelism must not only start with prayer, but it must be carried through with prayer.
The next two points to come…
Travis Agnew serves as the Lead Pastor of Rocky Creek Church in Greenville, SC. His most recent book is Just (About) Married.
