Category Archives: Evangelism & Mission

Acts 1:1-11 – This mission cannot fail – sermon notes

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Lots of people are ‘on a mission’.  So are God’s people – all the time.

Success seems a remote hope, considering the state of the church then and now.

But “I have no other plan.”  We know that it cannot fail, because of:-

1. The Father’s rule

Kingdom of God central in Jesus’ teaching, v3.  Inclusio with 28:31.

A good question, v6.  ‘Are we nearly there yet?’

But Jesus corrects them with respect to (a) timescale, v7; (b) extent, v8 (‘table of contents’). …

‘The five marks of mission’

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The five marks of mission have been developed by the Anglican Consultative Council, and were adopted by the General Synod of the Church of England in 1996.  Some additional wording was added to the 4th item in 2012.

  1. To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom (TELL)
  2. To teach, baptise and nurture new believers (TEACH)
  3. To respond to human need by loving service (TEND)
  4. To seek to transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind and to pursue peace and reconciliation (TRANSFORM)
  5. To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth (TREASURE)

Each of these finds ample support in Scripture. …

1 Pet 3:1-2 – Witnessing without words?

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1 Peter 3:1-2 In the same way, wives, be subject to your own husbands. Then, even if some are disobedient to the word, they will be won over without a word by the way you live, 3:2 when they see your pure and reverent conduct.

It is fashionable these days for people to ‘big up’ this text in order to excuse themselves and others from the responsibility to witness verbally to the Lord Jesus Christ.

For example, we are advised that we can ‘witness without appearing to witness’ by:

  1. Keeping our word
  2. Avoiding hypocrisy
  3. Treating everyone equally well
  4. Remembering that we are sinners

These are, no doubt, commendable virtues. …

Two encounters with Jesus

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Ian Paul compares and contrasts two encounters with Jesus: that of Nicodemus (John 3) and of the Samaritan Woman (John 4):

John 3 John 4
Who is involved? A respectable named Jewish man An outcast unnamed Samaritan woman
Who initiates the encounter? The person themselves Jesus
When does the meeting occur? In the evening In the broad daylight
What is the literal significance of this? In a hot climate, it would be natural to meet to discuss things in the evening—and Nicodemus might have been wanting to keep the meeting secret or at least discreet.
…

Jn 21:1-25 – “Do you love me?” – sermon notes

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John 21:1-25

(Notes of a sermon preached a number of years ago, revised and re-preached recently.)

The dentist had just finished fitting the bishop out with a complete set of new teeth.  As soon as the dentist had finished, the bishop went over to a mirror.  And as he looked at himself and inspected his mouthful of fine teeth, he said, “Jesus Christ.”  And again: “Jesus Christ.”  The dentist was surprised to hear such profane language coming from a man of the cloth. …

Acts 11:19-30; 13:1-3 – Five marks of a missional church (sermon notes)

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Text: Acts 11:19-30; 13:1-3

1. Suffering, 11:19

The gospel reached Antioch as a result of the persecution that arose in connection with the stoning of Stephen.

We might suppose that premature death of Stephen was a waste.  So also with other notable Christians who died at an early age: David Brainerd, Robert Murray McCheyne, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Nabeel Qureshi.

Remember: for the Christian, no suffering is ever pointless or wasted.

2. Telling, v19-21

Well-known words attributed to St.…

The Holy Spirit creates evangelistic opportunities

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Tim Chester writes:

‘I remember hearing the story of a Christian couple in Iran. They were making a long journey, so they committed to share the gospel with someone each day. Towards the end of one day they went to buy petrol, and at the petrol station there was a man with a full beard and a gun, a sign that he was a radical Muslim. The wife said, ‘I think you should tell that man the gospel.’
…

Why we do good works

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If ‘doing good’ does not equate to ‘preaching the gospel without words’ (for the gospel cannot be preached without words!), why is it imperative that God’s people should be ‘eager to do good’ (Tit 2:14)?  Why must we ‘not grow weary in doing good’ (Gal 6:9)?

1. Because we love God, and want to be obedient to his command to do good

‘By this we know that we love the children of God: whenever we love God and obey his commandments.…

The Great Commission(s)

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Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert note that although there is consistency between the Evangelists when they record the ‘Great Commission(s)’ of Jesus, they also emphasise different things:

Matthew emphasizes discipleship, Luke-Acts stresses being witnesses, and John highlights the theological nature of our sending…And yet the Great Commission accounts show more similarity than dissimilarity. Together they paint a complementary and fairly comprehensive picture of the mission of the first disciples. We can summarize this mission by answering seven questions:

  1. Who?

…

Luke 4:18 – “Good news to the poor”

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Luke 4:16 Now Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 4:17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.…