How Do We Spread the Gospel? • 11.19.23

Frasier Dew - November 19, 2023

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How Do We Spread the Gospel?

1 Corinthians 1:17–2:5; Romans 10:13–17

Do not be ashamed of the foolishness of the cross
Trust God – He is the one who saves, not you
Share the gospel verbally, simply, and repeatedly

Good morning, church family! What a sweet privilege to worship the Lord this morning through song! I’m excited to have the opportunity to continue to worship through the proclamation and study of God’s Word!

Before we begin today, I want to go ahead and dismiss the 4th & 5th Graders who will be joining Harvest Kids this service. Your teacher is ready for you at the back of the worship center.

Also, if you are new here this morning, Welcome! My name is Frasier Dew, and I have the stewardship of sharing God’s Word with you today. You are joining us on week 3 of a 4-week series called “Stewardship of the Gospel.” Today, our particular emphasis is “How do we spread the Gospel?”. If you haven’t listened to the past two sermons from Pastor Nick, I want to encourage you to go back and listen to those on our website so that you do not miss the teaching on the questions: What is the Gospel, and Who needs the Gospel? Those are foundational teachings that should be considered as we look at today’s question, which is again, “How do we spread the Gospel?”

Also, I would like to ask the ushers to come forward with Bibles. If you don’t have a Bible or digital Bible with you today, please put your hand in the air, and we will get one to you. As you open your Bibles, please turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. (page 1131 in the black Bibles that are being handed out)

I want to point out that Paul wrote this letter to the Corinthian church, whom he knew well and whom he reached effectively with the Gospel, which you can read more about in Acts 18. If we want to learn just how exactly do we spread the Gospel, then the spirit-inspired explanation of Paul’s methodology is the perfect place to look.

With that said, let’s turn our attention to 1 Cor 1:17-2:5

1 Corinthians 1:17–2:5 ESV

For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Amen! Now, as we learn from the Word of God today, we will be looking for Two Heart Attitudes and Three Practical Applications for Evangelism.

Begin Point 1

As we look at our passage, I want to first evaluate verses 18-25, which primarily discuss this main point found in 1 Corinthians 1:18: “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” To start, I would like to focus on the first half of that sentence: “the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing,” As we think back to the two main groups that Paul was addressing (Jews and Greeks) we can start to piece together why the message of a crucified Messiah was complete nonsense to them.

The Jews thought that the Messiah would come to them as a conquering king! Suppose you were a Jew living in your homeland, ruled by a cruel foreign government that has thoroughly demonstrated its military superiority. In that case, you can guarantee you would be awaiting a majestic, powerful, authoritative, and militant king to show up and kick those guys out of your life! There’s no way some guy hanging on a cross could possibly be the Messiah! We don’t need someone weak and unassuming! We need a commander! You can either tell me that Jesus is the Messiah, or you can tell me that he was crucified, but you can’t tell me both THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

Beyond misinterpreting the prophecies of the Messiah, we read in verse 22 that “the Jews demand signs.” See, based on the Old Testament, the Jews had grown accustomed to miracles confirming the mission of God’s prophets. This was not a wrong expectation of the Christ, but sin had taken root in their hearts, and they were blind to seeing just who Jesus was among them. And let’s not act like the Jews didn’t know about all of the signs and miracles that Jesus did. In the book of John, we find passages such as:

John 2:23 ESV

Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.

John 3:2 ESV

This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”

John 6:14 ESV

When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”

John 11:47 ESV

So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs.

John 12:37 ESV

Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him,

The Jews saw plenty of miraculous signs from Jesus, but their spiritual blindness and overall hatred towards Him hardened their heart from believing. They had more empirical evidence than you or I will ever have to know who He was, but they chose not to honor Him as god. This sounds a lot like what we read last week in Romans 1:18-22 doesn’t it?

Romans 1:18–22 ESV

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

So, what can we observe here between Romans and 1 Corinthians? We can recognize that in Paul’s day, both Jews and Gentiles were tempted to demand additional signs proving the existence of God. Even today, people will demand signs from us or from God when we share the gospel with them. “If I could see some modern evidence, like maybe Jesus’ medical chart or a YouTube video of the resurrection, THEN I would believe.” I know that these sign or proof demands sound ridiculous, but they are actual demands that I have heard people say! Most of us would probably not demand something like that, and those are rare instances, of course, but how about some more common ones? “Well, if God would speak to me verbally or in a dream, THEN I would believe.” “If God would take away my chronic pain, THEN I might believe that He exists.” “If God would just fix my marriage, THEN I promise I’d believe in Him!” “If God would just…”

People in our day would claim to believe in some god or higher being, but they “just don’t know” which one to believe in. We might call them agnostic, or theists, or if they live this way but yet identify as Christians (like so many Americans), then they are really false believers with a fake title. I know this is a hard thing to hear, but I want you all to consider the importance of this false mindset. And I’m so passionate about challenging this worldview because it’s exactly who I used to be. I used to think, “If God is real, then He needs to show me by getting me out of homelessness!” And when God denied my demand for a sign, I decided, “If my life can go like this, even though I’m such a “good person,” then God either isn’t real, or he doesn’t have the power to do anything about it.” And the sad truth is that at the same time, if someone asked me what religion I believe in, I would have said, “Oh, I’m definitely a Christian.” We love to demand signs, don’t we?

Notice the issue with our demand for signs, though. The issue here is that the signs or evidence that people demand are the signs they have predetermined are acceptable within their worldview. “How can I be blamed for not believing in God? If He exists, it’s his fault for not giving me acceptable evidence!”

You see, brothers and sisters, if someone worships something other than God, such as the god of science, the god of self, the god of mysticism, or any other false idol, they will try to make that the testing criteria by which they determine the validity of what you are saying.

Well, how about the Greeks? Most of them didn’t even know about the concept of a Messiah. Instead, they grew up with two major influences: the first primary Greek influence was that of Greek/Roman mythology. From this worldview, if someone is supposed to be a son of God (Which the Greeks actually could have believed with their worldview, just as they thought of Hercules or Caesar), So if this man is supposed to be God’s son, he should be MIGHTY! If he were going to die, it had better be in a heroic fashion as he bravely goes into battle against some wild opponent. But a shameful criminal’s death on a cross? That’s not the type of death that confirms someone was the son of God. What foolishness!

The second major influence upon the worldview of a Greek was their tradition of Greek Philosophers: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, Zeno, etc. This is the worldview that Paul speaks directly against in our main passage. 1 Corinthians 1:22: “Greeks seek wisdom” and they expected all information to conform to their expectations.

Paul encountered the people of Corinth during the Hellenistic Age, which most strongly embraced Epicureanism, Platonism, and Stoicism. Without spending all of our time this morning defining what each of these schools of thought believed, I do want to touch on the worldview of the Epicureans due to a certain similarity to much of American atheistic culture.

The founder of this philosophical school, Epicurus, was completely anti-religious. For Epicureans, the idea of religion consisted mainly of the belief that the gods reward and punish, especially punish, mankind. Fear of punishment in a future life makes the present life unbearable. Due to this fear of divine punishment, they rejected the idea of an afterlife altogether and believed in completely individualistic free will – with peace of mind as the goal of life. Of course, this would alleviate the fears of divine punishment! Their logic makes sense, right?? If there is no personal immortality, there is nothing to be worried about based on how you live your life in relation to God. This worldview is perhaps best illustrated by the Epicurean poet Philodemus, who wrote: “There is nothing to fear in God. There is nothing to be alarmed of in death. Good is easily obtained. Evil is easily endured.”

Doesn’t this strike a chord of familiarity with the current mainstream American worldview? ‘Religion is just a silly mythology developed to scare us into living by good morals. Everyone knows that God isn’t real! We don’t go to some afterlife when we die; we are just living organisms that will decompose. All we need to do is live a happy life, and then someday we’ll be dead. It’s just the natural order of “mother nature.”’

Let’s pause for a moment and consider just how stupid Paul was willing to sound to these guys by preaching the true Gospel.

Imagine with me if you would what they might say to Paul, ‘We don’t even believe in an afterlife, but you want us to believe that this man, Jesus, not only died, but that he came back from the afterlife, and all of this to apparently reconcile me to this God so that I can spend my supposed eternity in God’s blessing rather than in God’s punishment?’ If the Epicureans truly believed their own worldview, then Paul would have sounded like the craziest person they’ve ever met! And that’s exactly what they thought; look at how they spoke of Paul in Acts 17:18

Acts 17:18 ESV

Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.

This reaction isn’t limited to people in the 1st century. I recently got to share the full gospel with an atheist friend who shared this same sentiment, finding all aspects of the gospel to be foolishness. Here are a few of his reactions to hearing the Law and Gospel:

“I just don’t understand giving your life up to an idea [meaning God]”

“I cannot wrap my brain around this concept and come out on the side of God being ‘good.’” (Talking about God having the authority to send someone to Hell)

“How is that just?!” (Talking about God forgiving even the worst of sinners)

“I can’t even pretend the system he has presented is worth being faithful to, let alone if it’s true or not. A God who can create this universe surely should have made his case more believable.”

My friend is not alone in these struggles. If you’re here and you resonate with his thoughts, I’m glad that you are here. I want to offer you a guarantee. God has TRUE answers right here in His word. He intentionally thwarts the paths that we think are wise, to point you to Christ crucified.

Now, for those of you who already believe, I want to bring this to a summary for you. Just as Paul seemed to the philosophers, if someone has a false worldview, we will sound crazy to them! And we need to be okay with someone thinking we are crazy. No, don’t go out of your way to look like a madman (which I know comes easier for some of you than others), but Do Not Be Ashamed of The Foolishness of The Cross! Jesus did come, He did live a sinless life, He did die an atoning death on the cross for the sins of His people, He did raise back to life, He did ascend into Heaven, He does currently sit at the Father’s right-hand interceding, and He will return again to judge the people of this world for eternal death or eternal life – This is the foolishness of God which is the power of salvation to all who will believe!

This is our first prerequisite heart attitude that we need for spreading the Gospel

Do Not Be Ashamed of The Foolishness of The Cross

——

Turn your attention back to 1 Corinthians 1:26, Paul writes:

1 Corinthians 1:26–31 ESV

Without doing any actual show of hands, let’s consider these verses in light of our own local church in our modern time. Do we have many people here with a doctorates degree? Surely only someone smart enough to have a doctorates degree is wise enough to know about the things of God, right? Hmm… Okay, so if you all aren’t doctors, then maybe you are really powerful! Do we have a lot of folks here with world-changing authority? Or even better yet, do we have many people here who are royalty? Surely, only someone with that kind of power is worthy enough to know about God’s plan for salvation, right? Some of you might say, “Well, come on, Frasier, that’s not practical. You know we don’t live in a monarchy. We live in a capitalist society. Everyone knows that money brings real power.” Alright, in that case, do we have a lot of millionaires and billionaires in attendance today? Surely God is only pleased with rich people, right?

The Jews unfortunately believed this in Paul’s day. The Babylonian Talmud had a saying which reads: “The Shekinah, or presence of God, does not dwell on any but upon a wise man, a mighty man, and a rich man.”

God says otherwise. He chose the outcast. He calls the lowly and despised in the world. As tempting as it might be to think of ourselves as having earned God’s presence, we need to have a humbler view of self and a bigger view of God. We must recognize we are the weak and lowly, and it is God who saves people. Clothe yourself in humility and Trust God – He is the one who saves, not you.

This is our second heart attitude that we need for spreading the Gospel

Trust God – He is the one who saves, not you

——

Look again with me at verses 27-29.

1 Corinthians 1:27–29 ESV

But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

“God chose,” “God chose,” “God chose.”

It depends on Him; His grace poured out through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross! We see in these verses that His purpose was to redeem the unworthy and to put to shame the people who considered themselves worthy. Jesus told us this himself in Luke 5:31-32

Luke 5:31–32 ESV

And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

So, if you believe that you will get into heaven just by being a good enough person, then I want to warn you: You are currently in the category of the self-righteous, not the one who realizes their need for a savior. Jesus calls you to repent and believe in Him. Don’t go on trusting in your own assumed worthiness.

[Return to Slide for Point #2]

And how about for those of us here who are already saved? Well, these verses in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 are a healthy reminder for us, too. “Consider your calling” Paul is instructing us to remember what it took for us to be saved so that we will approach evangelism with the correct mindset. You did not save yourself, so why would you behave as though you are responsible for saving anyone else?

Again, we may not say these things out loud, but it’s exactly how we often live. How many times have we neglected to go and tell someone the gospel because we tell ourselves, “Well, I don’t know the right words to say,” or “I would get nervous and clam up,” or “What if I mess up and push them further away from Christ?”? Beloved, do we know who Christ is? Do we not know that He will build His church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it?

And I get it, I really do. Please don’t leave here today thinking, ‘Frasier really thinks he has it all together.’ I promise you I struggle in this area just as much, if not more, than you. When you have that family member that you want so badly to be reconciled with, and you know that they need Christ, but you don’t want to further damage the relationship, so you debate on whether or not to tell them about Jesus, I’ve been there. And you imagine every possible worst outcome, and you remember that the last time you told them about Jesus, they didn’t talk to you for months! So you become timid, because: what if in rejecting Him, they reject me too? I’ve been there. Why do I struggle so much to love people enough to tell them the truth? And not just the truth, but the only truth that will actually save them from their sin and the Hell that follows. Oh, how easy it is to forget that it doesn’t depend on my strength but Christ’s.

But God gives more grace and comfort for us. Look with me at the reassurance found in 1 Corinthians 1:30–31: “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

“because of him!” It is God alone who is sovereign over salvation, not me. God alone foreknows, elects, predestines, calls, regenerates, converts, justifies, and adopts a person into His family. It’s not my gift to give. It’s not my plan, so it can’t be messed up by my shortcomings.

Instead, we trust in Jesus. If you are a Christian, then He is your wisdom, He is your righteousness, He is your sanctification, and He is your redemption. If He intends to save the person that you are speaking to, do you really think that He would let a little mistake by you ruin His plan?

Sometimes, people land on the other side of behaving as though people’s salvation depends on them. “Look at how many people I have saved!” or (since hardly anyone really says that), more realistically, “I will make sure that my friend is saved; I’m going to have them read the sinner’s prayer,” or “If I baptize my son, at least then I’ll know that he is saved,” or “I’ll urge my sister to go forward at the altar call so she can be saved” My dear brothers and sisters, why do we act like we can do this quick little action one time in a person’s life and assume that they earnestly have faith in God? Is God easily deceived? Does He not look beyond outward appearances and judge the heart? We ought to spend less time thinking of the easiest, lowest commitment that we can offer someone, and rather spend more time teaching people about Jesus and what He has done for those who will repent and believe.

Even worse, some place their hope in their favorite pastor rather than where it should be in Christ. Certainly, I, too, love listening to sermons from pastor Nick, John MacArthur, Alistair Begg, or some old-school Billy Graham. But I’m not up here today to worship any of them, am I? Look at how Paul began this letter, 1 Corinthians 1:13: “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” or later in chapter 3, 1 Corinthians 3:6-9

1 Corinthians 3:6–9 ESV

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

So again, whether we are tempted to exalt ourselves as already being righteous, tempted to exalt ourselves as being able to ruin God’s plans, tempted to exalt ourselves in thinking that we do the saving, or tempted to exalt another person for our salvation, whatever the wrong mindset, we need to remember verse 31: “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Now that we have explored two necessary heart attitudes:

Do Not Be Ashamed of The Foolishness of The Cross
Trust God – He is the one who saves, not you

Let’s explore three practical applications for evangelism.

——

It may be tempting to say, “Alright, well, if it doesn’t depend on me, then I don’t need to tell anybody about Jesus. Since it’s up to God, then I’m off the hook!” In fact, there is even a popular quote amongst many Christians that says, “Preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words.” I’m sure that you have heard this, right? The mindset is often one that says, ‘If I just out-love the world around me, people will know that it is from Christ. I won’t even have to have those awkward conversations about our religious differences. They’ll just come to know the truth.’

Well, let’s explore God’s Word some more and see if this approach holds up against the mirror of the Bible.

Romans 10:13–17 ESV

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

My dear brothers and sisters, if you are one who tends to believe that you don’t need to preach Jesus with your words because you only preach Him with your actions, I want you to answer this question: “How are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?”

Even if you lived an exemplary good, Christian life, and were the most lovely co-worker or neighbor in history, not actually preaching the gospel verbally will often mean that you will be the nicest person that someone meets on their way to Hell. Oof, how nice are you really being? The reality that we discover in the Bible is that if you are a Christian, you must tell them with your words. If you value their soul and truly love anyone, tell them about Jesus! Yes, of course, your actions should match what you preach, but it takes the verbal proclamation of the good news of Christ to actually spread the gospel.

Or, as Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians 9:16–17

1 Corinthians 9:16–17 ESV

¹⁶ For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! ¹⁷ For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship.

We have been entrusted with the stewardship of the Gospel! Sharing the Gospel verbally is not an optional activity but a primary necessity for us to obey the great commission.

——

Since it is necessary for us to speak, how should we do so? Again, let’s turn to see what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians:

1 Corinthians 1:17 ESV

For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Or again:

1 Corinthians 2:1–5 ESV

Don’t get caught up in the latest morality debate. Don’t try to find some fancy way to make the Gospel more palatable. Don’t approach the conversation like you are writing a dissertation defending systematic theology. Share the gospel simply: Tell them about the God who created them. Tell them about His expectation of sinlessness. Then tell them the bad news, that they really have sinned and therefore fall short of God’s standard. Tell them that because of God’s holiness and justice, our sin must be punished with death, but don’t leave them there with the bad news, beloved! Remember that gospel means “good news,” and this is it: God chose to send His Son, Jesus, into the world! While he was here, he lived a sinless life, perfectly fulfilling the law of God. Despite His sinlessness, Jesus willingly went to the cross and died a substitutionary atoning death! He took on the punishment for the sins of many and gifted back to them His righteousness! After His death, He was buried, and three days later, He rose back to life as a final confirming sign that everything He said was true! This last sign of Jesus’ resurrection was God the Father’s confirmation that Jesus’ promises can be trusted. And this is what Jesus promised:

John 5:24 ESV

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

Or again:

John 6:40 ESV

For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Finally, after explaining to them the good news and free offer of the gospel and eternal life, call them to repent and believe! Or, in other words, call them to turn away from their sins and have saving faith in Jesus alone! Notice that my wording is intentionally the same as Jesus’:

Mark 1:14–15: “Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Jesus did not tell people to pray Him into their heart, He did not tell them that they get to cast the deciding vote for their salvation, He did not tell them to make Him Lord of their life. He is already Lord over everyone, and He makes it really simple what our response is supposed to be: “repent and believe in the gospel.”

——

Now, reality sets in, and we know that faith and repentance isn’t the first reaction that people often have to hearing the gospel, right? I know in my own walk, I had to learn things the hard way before I was ready to truly hear the Gospel. So, I want to provide one final piece of practical application: Share the Gospel Repeatedly.

I know that was Paul’s mindset! Just in the context of the Corinthian church, we hear many examples of Paul’s relentless pursuit of people. We read in Acts chapter 18 that when he first came to Corinth:

Acts 18:4 ESV

And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.

Look at the way that Paul came back to the Synagogue week after week, seeking the repentance of his hearers! What earnestness it takes to return to such an “awkward” conversation, but he knew that the power and salvation of the gospel was worth pursuing people over a lengthy period of time.

Again, we learn from later in Acts 18:11 that Paul stayed in Corinth for at least a year and a half teaching people the word of God. This hardly sounds like license for us to share the gospel once and then cross someone off of our mental list. We are called to love people! Love them enough to get to know them, love them enough to share life together, invite them over for dinner this holiday season, or invite them to come to church with you. Love them enough to meet their needs, help that elderly neighbor with their leaves, help that worn-out mom with her car repair, help that otherwise closed-off neighbor with his house project. Whatever it takes, meet their practical needs to find an opportunity to love them enough to introduce them to their greatest need: a savior! And if they reject Him at first, in good timing and wisdom, with all humility and gentleness, reintroduce them to Christ. I know I’m certainly thankful that a Christian was willing to try more than once with me when I was saved!

CONCLUSION:

As we wrap up here this morning, I want to speak specifically again to my friends here who do not believe in Christ. I want to lovingly challenge you: You do not get to tell God what He must do to convince you. He has sent His Son, Jesus of Nazareth, into the world. Jesus didn’t need to, but he chose to perform many signs and wonders while yet alive, and he was confirmed through the greatest set of miracles: namely His atoning death and His resurrection. And even now He has allowed us all to witness the miracle of sinners receiving salvation. Surely, it is only the power of the cross that could take a prideful, wretched, self-worshipping man like myself and make me righteous. Only the cross could do this for me, only the cross could do this for all of these other Christians here today, and only the cross can do this for you. I urge you: repent and believe the Gospel!

For those of you who have already believed in Christ, I want to encourage you to remember our Two Heart Attitudes before you seek to practice today’s Three Practical Applications for Evangelism

Do Not Be Ashamed of The Foolishness of The Cross
Trust God – He is the one who saves, not you

With these two realities firmly fixed in our hearts and minds, we will have a beautifully glorious view of God, which will allow us to effectively spread the gospel. Then, put it into practice:

Share the Gospel Verbally, Simply, and Repeatedly

In God’s power, tell them about Christ crucified, pray, and tell them about Him again, and again, and again as many times as you have the opportunity. It’s all about Him.

Before I close us in prayer this morning, I wanted to share a hymn by Isaac Watts that spoke so beautifully to the themes found here in the beginning of 1 Corinthians.

1 Christ and his cross is all our theme;
The mysteries that we speak
Are scandal in the Jew’s esteem,
And folly to the Greek.

2 But souls enlightened from above
With joy receive the word;
They see what wisdom, power, and love
Shine in their dying Lord.

3 The vital savour of his name
Restores their fainting breath;
Believing, they rejoice in him,
The Antidote of death.

4 [Till God diffuse his graces down,
Like showers of heavenly rain,
In vain Apollos sows the ground,
And Paul may plant in vain.]

Let’s Pray