Evangelism

Wildfire podcast is an extension of Wildfire Ministries, an organization that has a focus of igniting men and women of God into a deeper discipleship with Christ, instilling them with a passion to radically and relentlessly pursue Christ wherever that leads, that God's truth will spread like a wildfire.

Hey everyone, how's it going?

Welcome back to another podcast.

Yeah, we were discussing this.

In fact, we tried to record another one, but that messed up.

We won't get into that about who do we speak to?

Is it the camera?

Is it the mic?

But then I discovered that people don't know whenever they're listening.

So I should just say hello on the camera and then on the podcast, I kill two birds with one stone.

Yeah.

I'm just speaking a lot of crap right now, Peter.

You are because you messed up and you're trying to cover up for it.

So yeah, I know that that that was on me.

That was on me.

But Peter, how are you doing?

How's your week been?

Again, like I said before, pretty tired.

You're not going to be up, don't you?

All these technical issues.

I think you just want the openers for us and you're trying to get us in that way.

Exactly.

I'm doing these on purpose.

But the podcast listeners don't even know the amount of turmoil that has went through to get to this point.

Yeah.

But I just sit and pet Luke's dog while he sets up.

So to be fair, I probably could help with that again.

It's a seamless process.

We have no mistakes.

Anyway, what are we discussing?

We're going to talk about evangelism, something really important for Christian life that hopefully everyone's doing, something I still struggle with.

So I know you're quite good at this.

So hopefully you have some pointers for us, for me in particular.

Yeah.

I mean, people were saying that, that you're better at evangelism.

But the reality is that's the, I think that's very negative thinking in the sense that we're all just called to proclaim the good news of the gospel and there's no real good or bad way to do it.

If you're doing it, the only bad way is if you don't do it.

Yes.

So by just engaging and evangelizing it in God's word, that's good.

We're all in the same level.

So anyway, we're going to split this up into 10 points, 10 main points, but they're probably going to be brief.

You know what I mean?

A minute.

They will be brief.

I'm not staying here any longer.

For context, because that was the last video where you said that.

So these, these podcast watchers don't know.

We're recording this very, very, very late.

Is it late?

I don't know.

Maybe.

It feels late.

Yeah.

Say it in the comments.

Is half 11 late?

Oh wait, you can't.

I switched the comments off.

Anyway, this just get into the podcast.

We're, we're tired.

You can probably tell, but it's okay.

Point number one, Peter, is understanding the gospel message, right?

Because that's where evangelism originates from.

It is all centered on our love for Jesus Christ and the discovery of how we were sent to fall and how we were in need of salvation, which was given to us through Jesus Christ on the cross.

Yeah.

There'd be no salvation without a savior.

And there'd be no evangelism without us being saved in the first place.

Yeah.

And those are their dad and their sin can't proclaim life because they're dead.

So it's only because we've been made alive in Christ that we can then proclaim this good news of this.

That is the gospel.

That like, again, just the whole Bible speaks of Christ and he is the author and finisher of our faith.

And so what you'll see is in all of our podcasts, we do talk about the gospel message, a considerable amount, but that's because it saturates everything.

Jesus is within everything.

So again, we've discussed these scriptures before, but 1st Corinthians 15, Romans 5, Romans 3, Job 31, Psalm 51, all talk about the sinful nature of mankind.

And we can relate to that.

The Bible says, for all have sinned and fall short of God's glory, Romans 3, and Romans 6 talks about, for the wages of sin is death.

So there it is.

That's the sin that is imparing in all of our lives.

And we can look experientially in our own lives.

Okay, I've sinned.

I am a sinner.

So the question is, is salvation there for us?

Well, yes, it is.

Titus 2, 11 talks about, for Christ offered salvation to all men, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us in Romans 5.

So again, the salvation is there.

The hope is there.

And so Romans 10, 9 talks about if we confess our sins.

He is faithful and just to forgive our sins.

That's John 1.

Is that John 1?

Okay.

First John 1.

Yeah, that is John 1.

First John 1.

Romans 10, 9.

Well, I caught you, then you caught me.

Yeah.

Just brothers in Christ here.

Romans 10, 9 talks about if we confess our sins that...

No, you've caught me confused.

If we confess that Jesus is Lord, and that God raised him from the dead, and believe that, then we will be saved.

So it's about recognizing your sin, recognizing salvation offered to us, and then accepting, confessing and believing in that.

That's the gospel message.

You're now filled with the Holy Spirit.

You're now a child of God.

It's a dramatic, a momentous, a joyful occasion.

And that's where all stems from.

Evangelism.

That is, you have this hope that you just want to share with other people.

Like, this is what I've experienced.

And we were trying to think of analogies for this.

Peter's a lifeguard.

Right.

Shout out.

And we were saying, so if you've got someone, a lifeguard, who is then, he's just got that duty and that job, and that's his, and he goes out and saves people.

There's an understanding of that, an obligation, a responsibility.

Yes.

And there is that responsibility and obligation from us to preach the good news of the gospel.

There is that commandment, and that is the responsibility that we're given.

However, then you have the person who becomes a lifeguard because they themselves were drowning at a young age.

They had that incident in their life, and someone came in and saved them.

And so they have this empathy and this understanding and this idea of like, I was saved and I want to have, I want to provide that same help to other people.

There's a passion, there's this love and this uncontainable excitement.

And that's point number one of evangelism.

That's where it starts.

It starts with you and your gospel message.

That's why you can't really go wrong with evangelism.

Yes, it's very personal.

I think it's a lot more personal than people make it out to be.

And it's also the fact that the reason that I do talk about these things so much is because we're doing our best on how to read the Bible daily.

And whenever you look at the Bible through that central point of salvation in the gospel, that's whenever you can actually be more passionate about it.

Because that's the whole thing.

That's what connects you to the Bible is your salvation.

Without that, you wouldn't be interested.

So it's about that connection point.

And that's why we're passionate about it.

Yeah.

So that is point number one.

And that's the gospel.

Point number two is understanding the mission.

Understanding the great commission of...

Understanding the mission of the commission.

Rhythm, sorry, I'm tired.

Matthew 28, that is the commandment that Jesus gave to his disciples.

That is the commandment that was not written to us, or was not said to us, but was written and given for us to day.

That is to go into all nations and preach and baptize.

So that's the mission.

Yeah, and all nations includes their own.

People just think sometimes that's just for missionaries, but if you look at our own nation, there's a great cry out for spiritual renewal and that's salvation.

So all nations, that includes Northern Ireland or whatever country you're in, that includes your home nation.

Yeah, so we are in whatever sphere of influence you're in, your school, your job, your work, your family, that's the mission field.

You're there.

Yeah, and as part of the kingdom of Christ talks about in the Sermon on the Mount is the proclaiming and like seeking first the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God is the sphere of God's reign, which includes us as Christians.

So if we're going to push that boundary and expand the kingdom of heaven, that starts with us.

We're the ones that need to be pushing forward and sharing that faith to expand the kingdom.

So that is point number two, which is understanding the mission.

And point number three is understanding the equipping.

That is, okay, I'm sending you out on a mission.

That is with Jesus ascending to his disciples, but he's not sending us out alone, right?

He's not just saying, okay, go, and just pushing out the door and then all the best.

Yeah.

God is giving us or has given us so, so much.

And that includes the actual Holy Spirit.

That is the personhood of the Trinity.

That is God himself resides within us.

Bible says in first Corinthians six that we are, we are holy temples of the Holy Spirit.

Now, can you think of anything else in that regard?

Well, equipping, equipped with the Bible.

For Sam 1, blesses the man that walks not in the council of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the city of scoffers.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law, he meditates day and night.

So it's something that should consume us and help us to, we should be meditating on God's word day and night, because you can tell people all the answers you want around science.

But the true thing is, and the ultimate truth is the Bible.

That's the thing that will win them over.

You can debate around the science all you want in terms of issues of evolution, for example, that we've talked about before.

But the real, the buck stops with the Bible.

That's where the true truth lies.

So it's up to you to be able to memorize it, and to be able to navigate through it, know the important passages, the passages that talk most about Jesus, and about salvation, about the gospel that looks round off the top of his head there.

So yes, understanding that, equipping, understanding the promises that God has given us.

That is, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives...

Wait, is that right?

Let him ask of God who gives liberally.

You're slipping up in your memory station.

Yeah, so if any of us lacks wisdom, if any of us lacks these things, let's ask God.

And also the Bible says, I think it's Romans 8, I think it's in Romans, is that, my goodness, the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what to say, which I think is just amazing.

We can have that assurance and that confidence that God is with us wherever we go.

We not only have his word, we not only have that which we're meditating on, we not only have these philosophical arguments and all of God's truth, but we have the Holy Spirit that resides within us.

And we have that testimony.

Yeah.

Or take the character of Peter.

He messed up.

He was asked about, did he follow Christ by obviously Peter's denial.

He denied Christ three times and he slipped up and he didn't have an answer at that stage.

But after he's restored, whenever Jesus rises from the dead, he preaches to, well, 3000 people get saved that day.

Is that right?

In Acts 2, I think it is.

So straight after that, he's preaching in front of thousands of people at Pentecost.

And he's just come from this position of failure.

So even if we do fall down in evangelism, we move back up.

And then Peter writes in one of his epistles, he says about always having an answer for your faith as well.

So that's him talking to someone who's fallen.

He's like, you need to have an answer of what you think of Jesus if someone asks you.

I thought you were quoting yourself there.

Peter writes.

I was like, oh wait, no, who's?

Okay, he's not preaching heresy.

Okay, so that's point number three.

So we've got the gospel, understanding the mission, understanding the equipping.

Point number four is understanding the battlefield.

That is, there is a difficulty.

That is that we are going in this spiritual warfare.

So what do you have to say about that?

Yeah, so the three enemies of the Christian are the devil, the flesh and the world.

So in this example of evangelism, the two main ones against you is the devil and the world.

Flesh as well, I guess, but primarily the devil hates you.

If you're evangelizing, if you're just a Christian, he's not evangelizing, you're not much of a threat to the devil.

He can just focus on other people.

But if you're evangelizing, the devil hates you with a passion.

He hates you anyway, but he hates you particularly more if you're wanting to win others to the kingdom.

So it's up to us to equip ourselves and be ready to fight against the devil.

And then also the world.

The world is anti-Christian.

That's, anyone can see that really.

So we need to be prepared to stand against what the world says against Christianity, against Christ.

And again, have those answers of truth.

And then is it Ephesians 6 talks about the armor of God?

Yeah, amazing.

That's part of the equipment as well.

We should have brought that up.

That can be again, a part of, 1 Peter 2 talks about how we have everything we need through the precious promises of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Those promises can be found in the Bible.

So go to those, find those.

One of the promises is the armor of God, but the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the spell of truth, shield of faith, sword of the word, or the spear, and shoes of peace.

I would actually encourage reading that.

I would put that on every morning and night, practically.

And again, you can go through each facet of that armor to understand its significance.

And these are not just whimsical things.

You can actually put that on and it's real, it's tangible.

Also Galatians 5 for it's the spirit.

You can also, that's a good understanding of the equipping.

So understanding the battlefield, there is spiritual darknesses that are, our wars are not against flesh, flesh and blood, but against powers and spiritual principalities.

Yeah, there's a few things that are getting mixed up at the moment because it's so late.

But God willing that you're writing clarity in that.

But yeah, there is an enemy.

1 Peter 5 talks about the devil prowing around like a roaring lion.

There is an enemy.

There is the flesh that wants to reside in this procrastination and this fear and this inability to do anything.

And there is the world where there's hostility.

Jesus talks about how the world loves you because you're of the world, but I've chosen you out of it and the world hates you.

So we should be expectant that the world will hate us and be greatly surprised if they don't whenever it comes to evangelism.

But again, we don't seek after the approval of man.

If we did that, then we would not be followers of God.

That's what Paul writes.

I think it's in Galatians.

So again, it's understanding that there is a battlefield and we need to recognize that, deal with that.

Equip ourselves to fight it.

Yeah, go back to the equipping, go back to the mission and go back to the gospel.

It's all retraceable.

Point number five is prayer.

What do you think of that?

Yeah, prayer is so important because on our own, we can't do this.

We need to rely wholly on God.

And Lord's Prayer, I was speaking on it recently.

I guess I just talked to that.

It's just about give us a stay or dilly-bread.

So again, that's equipping ourselves.

Forgive us our trespasses.

We need to be forgiven of those things first of all, before we can go out and teach others about forgiveness.

At least steps like that.

So you can walk through prayers like that, and also just more specific prayers.

If you know you're about to have a conversation with someone, or you know, it's really multitaskable in your head when you're mid-conversation, or whenever there are certain sentence, you just pray a quick prayer to God, they'll help you.

Because prayer is so important.

And a pastor in America says, if dependence is the goal, then weakness is an advantage.

And evangelism, I think, I'll admit anyway, I'm very weak in that area.

Yeah, so that's an advantage to make.

Sometimes I have been in evangelism situations, I've been praying in my gut side.

Because I know I am weak in that area.

So it's just me putting more faith in God.

So that's where the prayer comes in.

Your weakness forces you to pray more, so you can rely more on God.

Do you have anything to add?

No, I don't think so.

I actually always say that, no, and then I go and I add.

No, you do, you do, yeah.

So yes, I do have something to add.

You still know what that is, yeah?

No, prayer is centrally important.

That is, every good gift comes from the Father.

That includes the Gospel.

That includes anything that I do well, that's all God.

Anything that I do bad, any mistakes, I will take the blame for that.

So if there's that interaction, where I'm talking to that person about God, and they're actually convicted, that's totally down to the Spirit.

The Spirit within me, speaking to the Spirit that is within that person, or God convicting that person.

That is to say that God is the one who gets all the glory.

That is to say that we're all unified in the sense that we're totally underskilled, underprepared, and incapable.

But that's what makes us perfect candidates, because then we can be completely reliant and dependent on Jesus Christ.

And that's what we need to be.

Whenever people say, I just don't think I'm the best person for this, to evangelize and stuff, it's like, you're wrong, because the mission statement is for all to go and to preach the gospel.

And whenever you understand that you're completely incapable and completely empty, then you could be totally filled with the spirit to evangelize.

It's those people who actually think that they're doing something.

They're the people who are actually handicapped whenever it comes to evangelism, because there's pride now entering and self, which is a part of the battlefield.

That is the flesh, which can thwart the evangelizing.

And you being a part of that, because God's sovereign purposes won't be thwarted.

That is, he will always reach who he wants to reach.

Okay, so point number six.

Is this six?

I think it's six.

We'll say six.

Yeah, we'll say six.

You can let us know.

Is the bridge.

What do we mean by bridge, Peter?

So bridge would be the connection point between your normal conversation about football and the actual gospel or the part you evangelize.

Yeah, not just football.

That's an example topic, which I give you.

Because I love football.

Yeah, exactly.

But I have to say, it looks very good at this one.

He'll just be able to bring up the gospel situation.

I guess I just, again, comes from his passion about it.

Any times I've had to use a bridge, haven't worked.

Well, I haven't done it, particularly in the idea that you're talking about something normal and then you just bring up the gospel.

For me, there isn't really a bridge.

I don't really think about that.

It's just the idea you're discussing with someone about morality or worldview.

And then it just that automatically comes up what your worldview is.

So it's not really for me.

I don't really use the bridge tactic.

I don't go out and try to find this bridge.

I just try to bring up the things that are most important to people.

And then for me, that's Christ.

Then that's what comes up.

So what we're giving is, that bridge and that idea of transitioning is not principally found in the Bible.

You can go to John 4 and Jesus is talking to the woman of the well.

Jesus talks about the water.

And then he talks about how he is the living water.

So perhaps that's the bridge of transition.

But we're basically just saying like this isn't an objective.

You have to do this.

This is just something that I have found helpful or we have found helpful at times.

That is to transition the conversation.

So, you know, break the ice a bit and talk about things that are going on and then move towards, always have that aspiration to get to the actual substance of a conversation, which is everything and anything to do with God.

So, yeah, that's what I would say.

Bridge and transitioning, I think, is a good way to approach.

Now, that doesn't mean to say like you're, for example, if, Peter, you ask me a question, just ask me any question about rugby.

I won't say football because you don't know about rugby, but go ahead, ask me a question about rugby.

So we're just talking and we're mates and we're training.

Here, look, did you watch the Six Nations recently?

Yeah, it was good.

So Jesus, that's not what-

I can imagine you doing that as well.

That's not what we mean by a transition or the bridge, but there's nothing inherently wrong with that.

They'll never talk to you again, of course not.

You never know.

The spirit works in amazing ways.

But what we mean by transition is, yeah, talk about the rugby a bit more and that's the ice broken.

And then what you do is, hey, you know what was actually, so there's a few rugby players in my church, okay?

And they were saying these things about also rugby, okay?

Automatically, you've got church in.

And then you can talk a bit more.

It's about like, yeah, like whenever we were at church the other night after talking about rugby, we were talking about like Jesus.

So there's that there.

It could be a few steps, but there's that transition, that bridge, that can happen.

However, it is important.

So this is a metaphor.

Whenever you are walking down this path of evangelism, okay, you want to reach the other side of the water.

That's the aspiration.

And whenever you're looking for that bridge and that transition, what can happen is you lose the opportunity because the only way to get across was to jump in and swim.

There was no bridge in the first place.

So what I'm saying is there is times where there's a bridge and a transition.

Look for that when you can, but sometimes, don't be timid.

Sometimes you have to jump in and, as Peter says, just be quite explicit about it.

Yeah.

And it comes, you'll probably get a prompting from the Holy Spirit, which you don't really know what it feels like until you get it.

But I think that's the times when you feel that prompting.

That's when you go for it.

You just hop in the water and have a paddle.

Yeah.

Go for it.

Yeah.

And then also even just the opportunity to, you may not have to get the gospel in that conversation, but just say, invite them to something where you could.

So, for example, recently, I mean, I invited Luke, but he didn't want to come because he sucks at rugby.

But the way that Tag Rugby tournament for church on the beach, and it was class fun, so even if you were chatting with a friend about rugby, you say, here, do you want to come along to Tag Rugby tournament?

And then that way, they're all the matter.

They're hanging out with more Christians.

And you can just, again, there's an opportunity there to bring up the gospel.

So you just, even if you're not bringing up the gospel in that conversation, you're making steps forward.

Of course.

Like the bridge can be there in a conversation, but the bridge can also be there in a season.

Whenever you're training with your team, you're there for a season.

You can build up on it, but you don't want to be that person who's been a friend for 15 years and hasn't approached the gospel yet, and has been like, I'm just waiting for that right moment.

There is a balance.

Use your discernment and your conviction.

And I think evangelism works best.

Jesus, I think he used 70% more questions than he did answers, something like that.

I've definitely misquoted that statistic.

Jesus always asks people questions.

Even the woman at the well, I think he asked her quite a few questions as he brought that one up earlier.

I could be remembering that wrong, but he definitely asked a lot of questions.

No, he asked a lot of questions.

Yeah, he asked a lot of questions.

So that's a good way to approach evangelism, just to ask the person questions.

So people are more likely to open up.

As opposed to if you're making grand statements like, Jesus is Lord of my life, then ask when they get defensive.

Just ask them questions, just get to know them better and see what they believe.

And then whenever you get down to what they actually believe, if you ask them good enough questions, they'll see that thing is worthless because you have questioned it in such a way.

So even questions like, do you have a faith if you were to die tonight?

And on a scale of one to 10, how likely would you be that you would go to heaven?

Just things like that, where you just get to know where they stand with those important questions.

Yeah, totally.

So that then leads after the bridge is to actually proclaiming the gospel.

There's content to your words that is here's Jesus or here's whatever the approach or the angle you're going to take, but it's orientated around the Bible, sorry, orientated around the gospel and just sharing that, about sharing that with them.

So after that, where I would say another point is depth.

So it doesn't just stop there, but actually you respond to them and you say, I'm here for you.

I'm with you.

You can ask me questions anytime, any place, anywhere.

This isn't just an isolated event where you tick the box.

I've talked to that guy about Jesus, who's next.

That is, you know what I mean?

It's a continual process.

You can, again, what we talked about building up in those conversations and just approaching them when you can.

Then I would say another point is actually reflecting.

So it doesn't just have to be in words.

Matthew 5 talks about, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven.

So it's not just our words that speak, but our actions.

And sometimes actions are louder than words.

So that is, again, I go back to training or your work.

You're constantly exposing them to what a Christian is, to what imitating Jesus Christ is, because that's what you're claiming.

You're claiming that I am a follower of Jesus Christ, and I am called to imitate him.

And they, whenever you go into these places or these contexts, people are looking at you, and they are seeing that imitation of Christ.

You said something.

Yeah, so I've heard it said before as well.

Sometimes the Bible people will read as you.

They're not going to pick up John's gospel.

Every time read what Jesus actually said, they're going to see what Jesus has done through you.

That's their only point of contact for Christ.

So that's a big, large responsibility for us to actually take on board.

And just not even what we say, just as you say in what we do at work, and how we behave, our words.

Sometimes Christians talk about swearing, and should a Christian swear?

It's like, well, do you think Jesus was sworn?

Probably not.

So I think it's safe to say we shouldn't be swearing our heads off either.

That doesn't create a good image for the gospel.

Yeah, that is let our words be seasoned with salt.

Again, that's another topic that we can crack up on.

Again, discernment there.

So it's about our words, words being seasoned with salt, fruits of the spirit, again, just kindness and patience and punctuality and again, loads of stuff.

We can go in another podcast about different environments and practical steps, but depth and reflection.

The last point is again, prayer.

It always comes back.

People always think whenever you are part of advancing God's kingdom and you have an opportunity to share, praise God after, oh my goodness, Jesus just spoke, God just spoke through you, and you get to be a part of advancing God's kingdom.

I like the way you were earlier.

Look, whenever we were kind of just chatting over these notes, Luke said, it's a privilege to share this.

It's not just a responsibility, it's a privilege.

Yeah.

We actually get to partake in this kingdom advancement.

Yeah.

With Christ.

Of course.

It's like people think whenever they're part of their national team for football or national team for rugby, there's a national team for rugby.

I know that much.

Okay.

They think that that is an amazing privilege.

Okay.

Well, we're on the team of Jesus.

We are a part of advancing the kingdom.

We've got the greatest mission, the greatest purpose, the greatest meaning.

And we know we're going to win as well.

We've got everything.

Why are we not rejoicing over this constantly 24 seven?

Why are we not just like, that is like, I will not post anything but Jesus Christ.

You know what I mean?

Part of it, yeah, I know I'm a part of the Northern Ireland team.

It's like, yes, humility there, but you can say with confidence to anyone anytime.

I'm a part of the team of Christ.

I'm a part of God's church.

And this is something that I'm so proud of.

And it's a privilege.

And it's something you should always come back and give God the glory and praise.

I will sing your praises all day long, though I cannot sum them up.

This is another thing that we can give God all the glory for.

And John 4, always a good passage for me, is that there's those who sow and those who reap.

That is, you could sow the seed, you may not get to see that grow and transpire to see the fruit that's yielded from it.

You don't need to, because someone else could reap that.

And that's what Jesus was saying, is that the harvest is ready.

There's so many people, the labors are few.

We're the labors, the harvest is out there in the world.

This go evangelize, this go proclaim.

Some people sow, some people reap.

We'll probably all sow at some point in our life, and we'll probably all reap at some point in our life.

But we can all rejoice that we are doing it together.

Yeah, and obedience can't always be determined by the outcome.

It's up to us to obey God and proclaim his gospel, and we necessarily won't see the outcome of that, like you said.

So, that's the end.

We talked about the gospel.

We talked about understanding the mission.

We talked about understanding the equipment, understanding the battlefield.

Prayer, bridge, proclaim, depth, reflect, prayer.

Ten points to help with evangelism, and you can go back and listen to those or take whatever.

Hopefully that helps, and that's the end.

Anything else to say, Peter?

You want to conclude us?

And we'll see you next time.

Bye.