In light of the street witnessing we are doing in SE Roanoke, I want to begin a short 3 part series on what the Gospel looks like and how do we, as Christians, Evangelize and Desciple. These are excerpts from a Sunday morning teaching that I recently did at Calvary Chapel of Okotoks in Alberta Canada.

1st God’s calling and What is the Gospel:

– God’s Calling – 
Luke 4:18 Jesus speaks to Nazarenes, quotes from Isaiah 61:1

The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

This is a Prophecy in Isaiah of Jesus coming and what He would accomplish. Paul quotes from the same verse in Acts 13:47 applying it as a command for himself, and ultimately, to us: Read it again in context of it applying to you.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon (you), because He has anointed (you) to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent (you) to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

Other verses on our calling:

   Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in   
   the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

   Mark 16:15 Go into all the world and preach to every creature.

   Luke 24:46-47 Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer on the third day,
   rise from the dead and that repentance and forgiveness of sin should be
   proclaimed in His name to all nations (Ethnicities)…

   John 20:21 As the Father has sent me, even so, I am sending you.

These are verses to the church. To us! To you!

Calling is on us.

We are to share the Gospel.

We are to make disciples. 

We are to preach

We are to proclaim His name.

Christ is sending us. 

I challenge you that this calling is on you. 

Proverbs 24:11 Deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.

“Make the worship of God by all peoples the number one priority of your life!” (from ‘Tears of the Saints’ by asialink.org and historymakers.org. You can see this video @ http://vimeo.com/2843450

It is our calling! We are the only ones who have life. We are the only ones who have the message to save them.

Be Purposeful:

Buy a dog so you can walk your dog with others who are walking their dogs.
Buy pickleball paddles and get involved with a pickleball club.
Get involved in a sewing club or a book club.
Whatever you can do to be purposeful in reaching the lost.
Ask your waitress, who is having a bad day, how you can pray for her?
The guy on the street corner begging for money. “I don’t have any money to give to you, but I will give you what I do have. How can I pray for you?”

Be purposeful. Again:

“Make the worship of God by All peoples the number one priority in your life.”

– What is the Gospel –
“The Good News”
First of all, what the Gospel is not:
“Come to Jesus and He will make your life better”
“Come to Jesus and you will find purpose for your life.”
“Come to Jesus and you will overcome your personal struggles.

That is not the Gospel. That is not the good news that we are to preach. 

The good News in a nut shell:

1 God is our creator and sovereign ruler.

2 We have sinned and rebelled against our Creator and Sovereign Ruler. We stand guilty and separated from a Holy, Righteous and Just God and there is nothing that we can do to restore that relationship. Nothing. We are hopelessly lost. We can not atone for our own sins.

3 Jesus as God, came to be a man, so that He could die for those sins. We couldn’t atone for them. But because He is fully God He could and did.

4 He has risen from the dead proving that He could and He has the power to raise us from the dead.

5 He calls every man to repent and believe on Him and what He has done.

6 Then, we will be restored back to a relationship with the Holy God.

Luke 24:46.Thus it is written and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all Nations…

Repentance and remission of sins is what we are missing in modern evangelism.

But Luke 24:46 calls us to preach repentance and remission of sins. I think we get the remission of sins part.
Jesus died to pay for our sins. 

But repentance?

Notice that every one of these verses show a form of repentance or a work of God in the heart.

Acts 2:21 And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

That person themself, is calling upon God. It is there motivation to do so.

Acts 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and  the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

They were cut to the heart. They cried out “What do we do?” Did Peter say “Repeat this prayer after me.”? No, he said “Repent and be baptized for remission of sins.”

Acts 2:41-42 Then those who gladly received the word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in prayers. 

Acts 2:47b …And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

God added, nobody coerced. Nobody coached.

Acts 3:19 Repent therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out, so the time of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.

Acts 20:21 … testifying to Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance towards God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

Acts 5:31-32 Him (Jesus) God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and
savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are His
witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has
given to those who obey Him.

Notice here that repentance is a gift. It is not a work. Repentance is a gift?

Not one time, in any of these scriptures was anybody led in a prayer and by saying that prayer they would be saved. It is not that that can’t happen. It can. 

But we are not called to lead somebody in a prayer to receive Christ. It is something personal that they must do.

They are to bow down to a Holy God, cry out for mercy, turn from their life of sin to God, and be forgiven because their sins were paid for on the cross.

The Eunuch that Philip spoke to in the wilderness, he said “See here is water, what hinders me from being baptized?” His heart had been changed. He wanted it!

The Philippian Jailer cried out “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Again, a heart change. He wanted it!

So, what is repentance? Your heart has changed. Remember what Acts 5:31 just said. It was a gift. That change of heart transforms you from going one way in life, living how you wish, to turn to a completely different direction and go after Jesus.

Just because I say a prayer that I believe, does not mean I am saved. Has my heart been changed so that I turn from my old life to Jesus? That is real belief! 

It is a complete directional change. A change of heart, where you now want to go after the things of God. 

Ok, so now that we know what the Gospel is and what it means to be saved, and we know that Jesus wants and commands us to share it with others, how do we do it.

Next Post: Evangelism