What about Evangelism?

On Wednesday, at suppertime, a "sister" in Christ emailed me a comment about the draft of this coming Sunday's Vision Raising response form. (You can get a download a copy (2 pages, pdf), by clicking here.) She wondered where "Evangelism" was. After all, it wasn't listed with the other ways we work in the world. We listed the following, but not "Evangelism."

+ Befriending +

+ Corn Carnival +

+ Global Mission +
+ Outreach +

+ Social Ministry+

+ Wider Church+

I responded to that note by giving an example of Evangelism in action, about how one woman has invited people from her business to Alpha. I've been giving it more thought since then, and I realize that all of the things in the list above are actually ways of Evangelizing, that is, helping people to know Jesus and thereby be saved.

Under the category of "outreach," for example, we INVITE people to church events. When we do that, we are doing what Jesus tells us to do in the gospel for this coming Sunday: Go therefore into the streets and invite everyone you find... Matthew 22:9

Last Sunday we looked at what God calls us to do "AT CHURCH," that is, on the piece of ground donated to us by our spiritual ancestors here in Cokato.On our piece of ground we learn and grow through

+ Alpha & Sunday School +

+ Fellowship +

+ Men's & Women's Programs +

+ Worship & Music+

+ Youth Ministry+

This weekend, on Sunday, we will hear God's call to go out from here through (and I repeat!)

+ Befriending +

+ Corn Carnival +

+ Global Mission +
+ Outreach +

+ Social Ministry+

+ Wider Church+

I believe each and every one of those is evangelism. Yes, we also talk with our friends and neighbors about Jesus out there, in our neighborhoods. But that, I think, is just part of being an every day Christ follower. Unless we keep silent, each and every one of our activities will help people get to know Jesus Christ.

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There's an interesting discussion/article on "Evangelism" on Wikipedia.