Preparing to Proclaim: An Introduction to Evangelism
The Power of God’s Word
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How many words does it take?
“And God said, ‘Let there be light,” and there was light.”
Genesis 1:3
If you ask your pastor the same question, he will probably refer to the Hebrew text and answer, “Two words.”
So, what happened when God said, “Let there be light?”
God created light from darkness. He created something out of nothing. Like using a verbal light switch, God spoke four words and there was light.
“So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.”
John 11:41-44
What happened when God said, “Lazarus, come out!”?
God created life from death. He created something out of nothing.
“These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: ‘Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.”
Matthew 10:5-7
As we studied in lesson one, Jesus spent most of Matthew 10 preparing his disciples how to respond when they face adversity, not on training them what to say. In fact, Jesus boiled it down to seven words. “The kingdom of heaven has come near.”
Only seven words! But there is immense, miracle-making power in those seven words.
Perhaps going to your next-door neighbor and proclaiming, “The kingdom of heaven is near!” is something that I would not advocate. The message would not resonate well with today’s audience as it did two thousand years ago.
But what could you say to your next-door neighbor?
The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized.
Acts 16:29-33
How many words did Paul and Silas use to answer the jailer’s question? Was it enough words for the jailer to receive faith?
Perhaps the jailer had heard about Paul and Silas already. Perhaps he listened for hours to them talk in prison and sing hymns. The violent earthquake set the stage for the jailer to ask a question.
When we verbally proclaim the gospel to others, we don’t know what they have already heard from others. We don’t know how God has been working in their hearts. They need to hear some Good News.
How many words does it take to proclaim the gospel?
A minimum of 500 words?
A minimum of 50 words?
A minimum of 7 words?
One word?
The proclamation of the gospel could be narrowed down to one word.
Believe!
It is a word of invitation. It is an invitation to trust God’s promises. It is a word of power because Jesus is the Word.
God creates life from death. He creates something out of nothing. When a person is dead in sin, it doesn’t matter how many words someone may speak to that person, or how convincing the argument may be, or how persuasive this someone may sound. The unbeliever is dead!
Only God can create life.
Only God can create faith in the hearts of men and women.
Sometimes, that can only take one word.
Christian believers trust in the power of God’s Word because Jesus is the Word. Whenever you verbally proclaim the gospel to a lost soul, you are introducing the presence of Jesus. He is in the Words you proclaim. He is the one who created the Words to say. He works on the hearts and minds to “accomplish what he desires and achieve the purpose he has for that soul.”(Isaiah 55)
We can trust that God’s Word works because Jesus is in the Word.
After we introduce Jesus to that lost soul by planting a seed of the gospel in their hearts, I would like to think that Jesus would say to us who proclaimed the message. “Thank you. I’ll take it from here.”
Evangelists trust the power of his Word.
Take Action: If you were only given seven words to proclaim the gospel to your neighbor, what would they be? Share your answer in the comments below, or record it on page 8 of your study guide. Remember, you can only use seven words.
Full, free forgiveness in Christ is yours!
Amen!
Or, if they weren’t quite ready for that yet, I might just be “the little pebble in their shoe” and say, “God’s love is close today, not far.”
That’s a good reply.
While some of our church members have been going through this study on their own, our church has also been going through it for our small group study. We’ve all enjoyed it! Thanks!
In covering the sections on the gospel in seven words and the 30 second witness, our group came up with a number of good shorter and longer gospel statements. But one general question we had was about how the shorter or longer gospel statement is presented. From your experience, would you say there is a difference or not in presenting the gospel in the form of a question, versus a statement. For example, is “Did you know Jesus loves you and died for you?”, the same or different from “Jesus loves you and died for you!” Have you, or those you’ve trained, experienced a difference in how people respond to either type of gospel statement?
In discussion of the statements, we discussed that we could respond to a “No, I didn’t know that” with a “Well, now you do.! Or, if the response was “Yes, I know that”, the follow up could be “I’m so glad you do!”
Any thoughts about it?
Pastor William. Thank you for your insightful question. The intent of this exercise is to help us remember that the power to convert rests in God’s Words — and not our words. A secondary intent in this exercise is to help Christians realize that whenever the Lord provides an opportunity to be his witness, that we are given a short window of time to proclaim a message. And in that short proclamation, we are successful because God’s Word is powerful. With that backdrop, I will answer your question. I will rarely proclaim the gospel in the form of a question if all I am given is seven words or less than thirty seconds. I am making an announcement or a declaration of what Christ has already done for us. Most of the time, people will smile politely or look uncomfortable. However, if people respond with interest or not eager for me to leave, then… it would be very appropriate to ask a question. I hope this helps. What do you think?
Believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior!
Thank you, Tim.