....Evangelism pt. 2

During class we watched a video on How evangelism can really be split up into three different categories
1.Event
2. Group
3.Personal

If you think about it I think that this day era has gotten event evangelism down pretty well. Look at Billy Graham and what he did and all the organizations and other events that have come from it. His events brought millions of people together in which many accepted Christ. The apostles did the same thing. They went to the temples and synagogues to preach about Christ and many were saved. This type of evangelism is great but we need to remember that it is not the only one and it is just as important to remember the other two.

Group evangelism is harder to define but it covers what event and personnel evangelism aren't. It's the in between size and we see it happening in Acts as well. Group evangelism happened a lot of the time when the apostles healed someone especially in there home. That makes sense because a whole crowd could not fit into a home or fit a round a circle to see the person. But what about me? I guess you are probably asking the same question I am. Maybe it doesn't have to about that we can't heal. It also should be noted that we see Peter and various other apostles simply going to homes to preach the word. Maybe its more the fact that we as Christians can go with Boldness to these places and share the gospel. Think about it, if you are invited to someones home then obviously you know the person and some trust and friendship has developed. Are you willing to step into an uncomfortable position with these people? Peter was I am asking myself that same question!

There is also personal evangelism. This one I think scares us Christians the most. To actually talk to someone that you know (or possibly don't know) about your faith. To bring it up in conversation is not easy. What interested me was the fact that the first two times that you see personal evangelism its both kinda forced upon them. I am thinking of Peter and Philip. Both we called in rather unique ways directly from God. Peter and Philip had a couple of similarities that should be taken notice of. I think these things will help us with personal evangelism. The first is that they were both willing to go and talk about the gospel where ever they went. As I talked about in pt. 1 they had the boldness to talk to other people about the gospel and were not ashamed of it. As Christians I think we need to be more aware of these types of things and that we need to be not afraid to talk about it. (BTW I am just as scared as you are so I am "preaching" to myself") Another thing that has really caught my attention was the fact that they both ask direct questions. I can not remember the last time I asked someone about the gospel. I know that is hard to do and both Peter and Philip had some context but I think that is not to hard to come by. Anything really can remind us as Christians about God and if we are talking to them long enough or simply know them well enough should be able able to bring it up. In all reality what can we lose? Them not talking to us again? possibly in all reality not likely. Having an awkward conversation. More likely but again not the end of the world. I think those are worth someone hearing something that can change there lives. We just now have to be willing to do it!