THE WHOLE CHURCH EVANGELIZING

"For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!” Romans 10:13-15

When we were baptized with the Holy Ghost, God gave us supernatural power so we could be witnesses for Him. He promised us that He would be with us always. Evangelism is the responsibility of all Christians toward all that don’t know the Lord and are on their way to an eternity without Christ.

Evangelism is a spiritual matter. Without a dedicated life or an intercessory prayer, any technique will be fruitless. However, with the power of God and a plan, you can do a good work for Christ.

EVANGELIZIN OUR HOME

In most cultures the social system of most importance is based on the family relationship. In general all  people are born into a family atmosphere, it is the family who helps the person to begin their life and helps him find his place in society. This relationship is extended for life, as the main source of emotional, economic, social and spiritual support.

Anthropological studies conclude that there are three social units that all societies form:

A. KINSHIP

We are raised in a family atmosphere and in general there are ties that join us and keep us united dependent of one another.

B. COMMUNITY

It would be very difficult to live outside of a community atmosphere. We are dependent on the community to obtain the basic needs of life. And yet within the community we have the tendency of living in barrios or sectors where there are people of the same race or culture, etc.

C. COMMON INTEREST

Societies, groups, clubs, etc.  that have common interest.

These three characteristics that are common in everyday life, were present in the socio-family life of the New Testament era. The early Apostolic Church used these three social systems as the principal basis to present the Gospel. This system of Evangelism that the Early apostolic Church used is called oikos evangelism.

OIKOS EVANGELISM

The Greek word oikos under the rules of ancient Greek means the whole estate (property, goods, and people) while the word oida refers to the empty building. In a wider sense oikos referred to all the estate, including people and property forming a family, that is to say a family unit. In the New Testament this include members of the family, dependents, slaves, personnel, associates, friends and clients (John. 14:2, Luke 8:39, Acts 11:4, 16:15, 16:27-34).   

WHY USE OIKOS EVANGELISM

A. IT IS THE NATURAL WAY FOR THE CHURCH TO GROW

The new Christian, who has discovered the genuine joy of experiencing God’s grace, is naturally eager to tell others. He wants those closest to him to share in this new freedom and joy. The oikos of friends, relatives, and associates is the most natural place for a new Christian to share this new found joy with people, people who mean the most to him (Luke 8:39).

B. IT IS A FRUITFUL WAY WIN AND RETAIN NEW WAY

1. Members of the oikos are more receptive, because they are listening to the testimony of someone who they know personally and not a stranger’s religious presentation.

2. The oikos relationship permits enough time in order to impart the message, since they might live together, they visit each other or work together.

3. The oikos relationship provides and sustains a spiritual help to the new believer.

4. It brings satisfaction to the members upon seeing their own family, friends and companions converted to the Lord, it causes joy, and this brings enthusiasm and satisfaction. He sees that his work is not in vain.

WHY DID THEY COME TO CHURCH?

In a survey that was taken 14,00 people were asked the following question: “What or who was responsible for you coming to Christ and to the church where you attend? The following was the results:

A. Special  Needs - 2 %

B. Walk  In - 3 %

C. Pastor - 6 %         

D. Visitation - 1 %

E. Sunday School - 5 %      

F. Crusade - ½ %

G. Church Program - 3 %  

H. Friend or Relative - 79 %

EVANGELISM IN SIDE THE CHURCH

It is very important to note that all the work of evangelism that the church does outside the church, inviting people, visiting homes, passing out tracks, Home Bible Studies, etc. will be in vain if the church members are not involved in evangelism inside the church in the services.

Can you imagine, that after giving Bible studies for several weeks, after so much work and prayer, you finally get that family to accept the Lord and decides to go to Church. The one who evangelized them waits with happiness the day when the fruit of his labor decide to come to church, but when they arrive at church the person who invited them is not there to greet them, since nobody else knows them nobody they do not talk to them or welcome them. The visitor feels out of place. After a short while the one who invited them arrives. This and many other similar things happen in churches that don’t understand the importance of evangelism within the church.

Evangelism inside the church is just as important as evangelism outside the church. If this is not understood, all our efforts, no matter how much they are, will be useless. The following are some basic requirements for evangelism in a church service:

A. Be kind and friendly to the visitors.

B. Greet the visitors and offer them your help in any way.

C. Share your Bible and Song Book with them during the service.

D. Ask them if they have filled out a visitors card.

E. Pray for them (in silence) during the service so that God will touch them.

F. During the altar call invite them to pray and accompany them to pray with them.

G. After the service in is necessary to befriend them and talk with them.

This is vital and of much importance to the visitors. If you practice this you will be helping in the salvation of the souls. Otherwise, if you do not do this, you can become a stumbling block for the visitors. God wants you to always be a blessing for those that visit our services

If we all share our personal testimonies; and work with the program of evangelism that the church has and practice evangelism in church, the growth and maturity of that Christian will be made obvious and he will be an instrument for big things inside the church family.