Category Archives: Evangelism & Mission

Apostolic terms for the Christian message

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In his book Tell the World (Evangelical Press, 1981), Eric Wright summarises the terminology used for the Christian message in the book of Acts.  To my mind, this terminology contrasts markedly with that of our own day, where (I suggest) the Christian message is most popularly referred to as ‘sharing the love of God’.

TermFrequency
Jesus, or Jesus the Christ, or the whole message of his life, or the name of Jesus Christ, etc.16
The Word of God, or the Word of the Lord13
The gospel, the good news9
The way, way of the Lord, way of salvation9
The hope of Israel, the things announced beforehand, the good news of the promise, etc.
…

How the apostles communicated the gospel

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In his book Tell the World (Evangelical Press, 1981), Eric Wright sets out the main terminology used in the Book of Acts for apostolic communication (which was, as recorded in that book, mainly evangelistic communication). The following table reproduces the substance of Wright’s work. The summary definitions are based on Vine’s Expository Dictionary.

English (NASV)GreekFrequency (approx.)MeaningAs in...
To witnessVarious forms of martureo6To aver what one has seen or heard or knowsActs 1:18; 3:15
To testifyAlso various forms of martureo7As above, often with the suggestion of solemn protestationActs 2:40; 8:25
To declareapophthengomai
anangello
apangello		5To speak forth
To announce
To declare		Acts 2:14; 26:25
Acts 20:20,27
Acts 26:20
To speaklaleo17To speakActs 4:1; 6:10; 14:1,3
To teachdidasko9To give instructionActs 2:42; 5:28, 42; 28:31
To proclaimkatangello

kerusso
euangelizo		11To declare, announce
To herald
To preach good tidings		Acts 4:2; 13:5; 16:17; 26:23
Acts 8:5; 9:20
Acts 8:12
To preacheuangelizo

kerusso		17To preach good tidings

To announce as a herald		Acts 5:42; 8:12, 25, 35, 40; 10:36
Acts 10:42; 20:25; 28:31
To provesumbibazo1To join together; to proveActs 9:22
To reasondialegomai7To ponder, dispute, reasonActs 17:2, 17; 18:4,19; 19:8f; 24:25
To explaindianoigo
ektithemi		5To open up
To expound		Acts 17:3
Acts 11:4; 18:26; 28:23
To persuadepeitho6To persuade, win overActs 17:4; 19:8; 26:28; 28:23f.
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Jesus: a ‘new and improved’ Moses?

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Should we regard the Old Testament and the New Testament as continuous, or discontinuous, with one another?  The standard evangelical approach is to regard the relationship between the two as that between bud and flower, source and stream, promise and fulfilment.

But many are troubled by the moral teaching and actions recorded in the Old Testament, and ask how this can be reconciled with the teaching and actions of Jesus.

Taking the difficult matter of the destruction of the Canaanites as his starting point, Peter Enns looks at Matthew’s Gospel, asking, ‘What would Jesus do?’…

Acts 1:8 – You will be my witnesses – sermon notes

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Acts 1:8 – “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses.”

What are all reasons you can think of why a person might not do an errand like that?

Can’t hear it
Don’t understand it
Think that it’s someone else’s job
Got something better to do
Think it’s too difficult
Don’t have the means
Don’t know how to do it
Don’t want to

In our Bible passage, Jesus’ followers had been given a task to do. …

How can I turn conversations to Christ?

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Many of us are good at chatting, but have little idea of how we can move the conversation on to the point where we can share our faith with the other person.

Rebecca Manley Pippert suggests that good questioning skills are key to this.  She outlines four stages in moving a conversation on to deeper and perhaps spiritual – issues.

General interest questions

What do you do?  Do you have a family?  Where are you from?…

Cultural commentary: what, why and how?

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It is all to easy for Christians either to ignore contemporary culture, or to demonise it as ‘bad’ without even trying to understand it.

Trevin Wax says that ‘examining a cultural artifact is not a statement on the spiritual state of an artist; neither is it a blanket endorsement or condemnation of a product.’  Rather, ‘cultural commentaries are an exercise in cultural literacy, what Kevin Vanhoozer describes as “discerning the meaning of cultural texts and trends in light of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”’…

Evangelism: alive or dead?

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Earlier in 2015, Trevin Wax posted a series of six questions about evangelism.  These were themselves adapted from teaching by Mike Lee.

1. The Compassion Question: Do we care that people are dying without faith in Jesus Christ?

2. The Culture Question: Do we understand why people reject the gospel?

3. The Content Question: Do we know what the good news is that we’re sharing?

4. The Confidence Question: Do we believe that God really saves sinners?…

What the ‘spiritual but not religious’ want to know

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In Belief Without Borders (2015), Linda A. Mercandante says that the ‘spiritual but not religious’ frequently ask the following questions:-

1. Is there anything larger than myself, any sacred or transcendent dimension, any Higher Power?

2. What does it mean to be human?

3. Is spiritual growth primarily a solitary process or is it done with others?

4. What will happen to me, if anything, after death?

Although based on research conducted in the US, the UK is probably similar enough for it to be relevant here.…

Top ten Christmas conversation starters

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To the seasonally tongue-tied among us, Donald Whitney suggests that the following could get a meaningful conversation going in almost any Christmas situation.  It will be noticed that the later questions in the list would help in moving the conversation to a deeper level:-

  1. What’s the best thing that’s happened to you since last Christmas?
  2. What was your best Christmas ever? Why?
  3. What’s the most meaningful Christmas gift you’ve ever received?
  4. What was the most appreciated Christmas gift you’ve ever given?
…

How we witness

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  1. By our love for each other, Jn 13:34.
  2. By our behaviour in the home, 1 Pet 3:1f.
  3. By our conversation, Col 4:6.
  4. By giving an account of our hope, 1 Pet 3:15.
  5. By friendship, Jn 1:42; 12:22.

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