OVERCOMING THE INTERNAL OBSTACLES........To Evangelism

OVERCOMING THE INTERNAL OBSTACLES TO EVANGELISM

Introduction

Evangelism is everything we do to get the gospel of Jesus Christ to the unsaved, including good works.  Evangelism is at the forefront of the battle we fight with the devil because, each time the gospel is presented correctly, wonders happen.  There will instant miracle of soul winning, healing and deliverance.

In Luke 5:17, the bible described what happened one day when the Lord was preaching and the power of the Lord was present to heal the sick. That is what happens every time the gospel is well presented, the kingdom of darkness loses souls to the kingdom of God, and the devil is not happy.

The word of God in your mouth is very powerful.  It is the revelation of Jesus Christ and any man who lives by the Word and preaches the message accurately will experience a mighty harvest of souls.  It is for this purpose that the vessel (The man or woman) that will present the word of God should be pure and holy, a living example of what he or she is preaching.  

The internal problems I am discussing today include:
1. How the Vessel (The Evangelist) should prepare
2. Life of faith and Love
3. Prayer and fasting
4. Confidence building - Ministering to his Team

Evangelists are people who practise what they preach and witnessing to people will not be difficult if the Holy Ghost is leading us.  Also, if we are faithful in our personal relationship with people, we will be attracting people to the church continually.

The Evangelist should be mindful of his conduct in the neighbourhood where they live.  People should attest to our faith in Christ by the way we relate to them.  That is why many successful Evangelists are regarded as Pastors in their neighbourhood, the people thinking they are the Pastors in charge of their churches.

What to Expect in the Field

You are going to meet backslidden Christians, atheists, and people who do not believe that God exists.  There are Occultists and witches, who again would pretend to be Christians and churchgoers.  At other times, you will meet Herbalists and Satanists who do not want to set their eyes on anyone carrying the Bible.  You should be prepared and be led by the Holy Ghost.

Many years ago, we went from for a House to House evangelism withing the neighbourhood of the Church.  We entered one street and began to knock on the doors and houses of people.  It went well till we got to a particular house, where we met a man, who came to get the door, thinking it was probably his family members or friends.  

When he opened the door and saw people carrying the bible greeting him, he screamed out loud that he does not want to see us and slammed the door against us. His behaviour shocked a lot of people who were going out to witness for the first time, but it was not a surprise to experienced evangelists in the midst.  

So there are people out there who dread anyone carrying the Bible.  They don't want to have any business with them because of the strange god they worship has forbidden them from touching the bible.

Problems to Solve

You will meet people of a different race, age, culture, education, and social background.  You will meet businessmen and women struggling with their business, students having challenges in their academic works.  You will also meet workers who are struggling to keep their job and don't know what to do.  

You will meet barren women who want to hear your word and know whether your God can help them get over the problem of delay in conception.  You will meet people struggling in their marriage and emotionally detached from their spouse and who are looking for help from God.

From this brief, you can see that there is a lot of work to be done at home, within the church or on ourselves before we set out to evangelize and win souls.  In a well-planned evangelism outreach, there are people that will only share tracts and invite people to church, while the experience and matured members will preach the word.

Apart from making sure we are worthy vessels, there the prayer and waiting on the Lord that should be undertaken by key members of the team and then the right tracts that minister the word being preached should be printed and made ready.

A spirit-filled Evangelist and his team will always get their preparations right before going out into the field. From confidence building for team members to pray for their outing, he will ensure the gospel is delivered in the most simple and unambiguous manner so that whether they speak to a person or gave him the tracts, there will be an impact on the person's life.

A. How does an Evangelist Prepare?

They live a humble and trustworthy life.  Brethren, people are watching us everywhere we go.  Many people know us, but, we do not know them.  They are watching to see if our actions and behaviour accord with the gospel and faith we profess.  If it does not align, they will not believe our story, neither will they trust us.  

1. Building Trust where we live

One of the ways that people know who we are is through our behaviour, the word we speak and the actions we take in the neighbourhood.  Trust is not easy to build in a community because many of the people do not know you closely, though they see us regularly.  They even see and know our family members, wife and children more than they know us.  So an evangelist should live a holy and spirit-filled file that is acceptable to God and man.  They should be patient with people, support and care for the less priviledged around them.

You should let your word be your bond, meaning when you speak only what you know, what is true and what you are ready to defend it.  Whenever you make a promise, you have thought it over for days and without fail, you should fulfil such a promise.  Your life should be transparent for your children to copy and apply.  You should carry your children along in the things you do in the house of God and at home.

2. Train your Children in the Lord

This another important life of every minister of God, whether you are an Evangelist, Pastor or prophet.  You should give attention to the spiritual and healthy development of your children, the friends they keep and their behaviour.  Your children are an integral part of your ministry as an Evangelist or  Pastor, so you will not do anything without taking them along with you.  

Once in a while, I set out days for teaching my children the word of God, apart from morning devotions which their mother conduct with them.  They should understand prayer and know how to lead in a prayer meeting.  They should know the purpose of evangelism and happily join evangelism outreaches.  They should not entertain any fears whatsoever.

The children should copy our good behaviours, especially they should learn endurance, perseverance, patience and hard work from us.  They should learn discipline from us, and whether we like it or not, our children mirror us and people know that parents reproduce themselves in their children.  

I travelled to my village last year and needed some boys to fix a few things in the house for me.  They called one boy in the village and showed him what to do.  In the evening when I went to see what he was doing. I asked him a few questions and discover he was too bold for his age, and he had an aggressive attitude that did not look normal, so I asked whose son he was.  He was the son of the Herbalist we have in my village, and I was not surprised.

3. Ministering to your community

You should be ready to serve your community in every little and big way possible.  That's how many of them will know you, by service and good deeds of care you extend to those that need it,  and of course by the preaching to them and inviting them to church.  

Don't let them know you only by the tracts you share and preaching you do in the community.  Be at the forefront of community service and things that bring progress and joy to them. Whatever you begin to do for the community, please make sure it is consistently done and improved upon every year.

B. Life of faith and Love

A life of faith and love is one that will announce you anywhere you enter as an elect of the Lord.  Faith here means a life that believes and trusts in God.  A fearless life of power, zeal for the Word and things of God, including soul winning and doctrines.  

Love here means a life that demonstrates a genuine love for the people.  You will have to care about people's problems, finances, husbands and wives as well as their children and their well being.  There are people who do not need your intervention and help, but there are others who are in need.  Some large families do, and all we do must be done cheerfully and without expecting anything in return.

C. Praying and Fasting

There should be praying and fasting before every outreach.  From experience, it is best done by the leaders of the group in the church.  It may be compulsory for Group leaders, but not so for other members.  The materials are prayed upon by the leaders and declared soul-winning materials by the Holy Ghost.

6. Confidence building - Ministering to yourselves

The Evangelism team should have ways of ministering to themselves as a way of training young members of the group and destroy every fear they may harbour in their heart.  Such gatherings are used to share life experiences and for teaching on how to handle questions from the people, how to minister to people of different age categories.  

In every group or age bracket, everyone has the need for God, and each person also has an area of personal struggle they want God to resolve for them.  So, it is important that we know the right words of encouragement to speak, words of faith with biblical examples to share at such times can be discussed.  Such gatherings are used for confidence-building among members.

CONCLUSION

We are living in the end times promised in the bible.  There is a joyful life God has planned for everyone that believes His Son and walks according to His word.  If you have not received Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, do so now.

Say this simple prayer:

Heavenly Father, I come to You in the name of Jesus Christ.
I believe that Jesus died for my sins and rose again for my justification. I repent of my sins and ask for forgiveness. I ask Jesus to come into my heart and reign as my Lord and Saviour.  I receive Him by faith, I am born again!

FIRE...