How to Cultivate Evangelism in the Church | David Platt

Summary

In this insightful discussion, a pastor shares practical steps for cultivating a culture of outreach and evangelism within a church. He emphasizes the importance of prayer, modeling evangelism, and personal involvement in sharing the gospel. Celebrating stories of gospel sharing and utilizing evangelistic programs are highlighted as effective methods. The pastor reflects on the growth of a global outreach mindset in his congregation, noting the positive impact on local ministry and the desire to equip members for worldwide discipleship.

Takeaways

• 🙏 The importance of prayer in cultivating a culture of evangelism, as it is essential for awakening the hearts of God's people to obedience and passion.
• 🌟 Emphasizing the role of church leaders in modeling a culture of evangelism, as the church will reflect the character and influence of its leaders.
• 🎨 The significance of Sunday preaching in building up the church and equipping the saints, while also being a platform for sharing the gospel with non-believers.
• 📖 The pastor's role in modeling evangelism through sermons, making the church a safe place for non-believers to hear the gospel.
• 🎉 Celebrating stories of people sharing the gospel and leading others to Jesus, which helps to cultivate a culture of evangelism within the church.
• 🤝 The value of programs that train and equip people for evangelism, while cautioning against reliance on programs as a substitute for personal evangelism efforts.
• 🌐 The connection between global missions and local mission efforts, where involvement in global missions can fuel and enhance local ministry.
• 🌳 The growth of the church in McLean over six years, building on a legacy of zeal and passion for reaching Metro Washington DC with the gospel.
• 🌍 The unique position of the church in DC to reach a diverse international community and to send members out to other nations for gospel work.
• 🔗 The encouragement of making connections between global and local missions, such as Ethiopian outreach efforts influencing local ministry to Ethiopian immigrants.
• 🏆 The vision of cultivating a church that can function effectively in any part of the world, relying on the Word of God and the Spirit of God for discipleship and evangelism.

Q & A

What is the primary role of involvement in global missions according to the pastor's experience?

The primary role of involvement in global missions, as per the pastor's experience, is that it fuels local mission efforts, creating a culture of outreach and evangelism.

What is the suggested first step for pastors, especially young pastors, in cultivating a culture of outreach and evangelism?

The suggested first step is to organize short-term trips for the church, which can be a great initial step for pastors to take in their ministry.

Why is prayer considered important in cultivating a culture of evangelism within the church?

Prayer is important because it is believed to awaken the hearts of God's people to obedience and passion, and it helps to fight spiritual battles against the adversary who doesn't want to see such a culture developed.

How can pastors ensure that their own lives and the lives of church leaders reflect a culture of evangelism?

Pastors can ensure this by being personally involved in evangelism, influencing others, and making sure that the leaders they have are also cultivating a culture of evangelism.

What is the pastor's view on the role of Sunday preaching in cultivating a culture of evangelism?

The pastor believes that Sunday preaching should be used to build up the church and equip the saints, while also modeling evangelism by sharing the gospel with those who are not followers of Jesus.

How can pastors make their sermons a safe place for non-believers to hear the gospel?

Pastors can make sermons safe by handling sensitive topics with care, making eye contact with visitors, and providing reassurance and guidance on how to think through the message.

What is the significance of celebrating stories of people sharing the gospel in the church?

Celebrating these stories is significant because it encourages a culture of evangelism, inspiring others to share their testimonies and experiences of leading people to Jesus.

How can evangelistic programs be helpful in a church's outreach efforts without becoming a crutch?

Evangelistic programs can be helpful by training and equipping people to share the gospel, but it's important that they don't replace the need to share the gospel in everyday life and work.

What has been the fruit of building a culture of outreach over the past six years at McLean Presbyterian Church?

The fruit has been an increase in zeal and passion for reaching people globally and locally, with members being equipped for cross-cultural disciple-making and involvement in global missions fueling local mission efforts.

What is the ultimate goal for the church members in terms of evangelism and discipleship according to the pastor?

The ultimate goal is for church members to be able to make disciples, gather as a church, and be the church anywhere in the world without dependence on programs or personalities, relying solely on the Word of God and the Spirit of God.

Outlines

00:00

🌏 Cultivating a Global Outreach Culture

The speaker, a pastor, discusses the importance of global mission involvement in fueling local mission efforts. He emphasizes the significance of short-term trips for pastors as a first step in ministry and suggests practical steps for young pastors to cultivate a culture of outreach and evangelism. The pastor stresses the importance of prayer and spiritual warfare, as well as personal evangelism modeling and preaching that is both safe and challenging for non-believers. Celebrating stories of gospel sharing and utilizing evangelistic programs for training are also highlighted as key practices in fostering an evangelistic culture within the church.

05:01

🌱 Growth in Global and Local Missions

Building on the existing zeal for local mission in Metro Washington DC, the church has expanded its focus to include global outreach, particularly with the diverse representation of over 100 countries within the congregation. The speaker shares the encouraging story of members moving to different nations, thereby extending the church's missionary reach. He also discusses the integration of global and local missions, where involvement in international mission efforts has a reciprocal effect on local ministry, leading to more fruitful local outreach. The goal is to create a church culture where members are equipped to make disciples and be the church anywhere in the world, independent of programs or personalities, relying solely on the Word of God and the Spirit of God.

Keywords

💡Global Mission

Global Mission refers to the broader efforts of spreading the Christian faith across the world, often involving outreach to different cultures and nations. In the video's context, it is seen as a catalyst for local mission, inspiring and equipping individuals to share the gospel beyond their immediate community. An example from the script is the mention of involvement in global mission fueling local mission, indicating a reciprocal relationship between the two.

💡Local Mission

Local Mission is the practice of evangelism and outreach within one's own community or region. It is integral to the video's theme, as it emphasizes the importance of sharing the gospel in one's immediate surroundings. The script discusses how pastors can cultivate a culture of local mission, including through prayer and personal evangelism.

💡Evangelism

Evangelism is the act of spreading the Christian gospel, with the intent of converting others to the faith. The video underscores the importance of evangelism in both local and global contexts, highlighting the need for pastors to model and encourage this practice. The script mentions the pastor's role in sharing the gospel with non-followers of Jesus as a form of evangelism.

💡Short-term Trips

Short-term trips are temporary missionary journeys, often undertaken by individuals or groups to engage in evangelism or service in a different location. The script suggests these as a practical first step for pastors and churches to take in cultivating a culture of outreach and evangelism.

💡Prayer

Prayer is a significant aspect of Christian practice, involving communication with God. In the video, prayer is highlighted as a foundational step in cultivating a culture of evangelism, with the understanding that spiritual awakening and obedience come through prayerful petition. The script emphasizes the need for pastors and leaders to pray for the spiritual growth of their congregations.

💡Spiritual Battle

Spiritual Battle refers to the struggle against spiritual forces that oppose the spread of the gospel and the spiritual growth of believers. The video script mentions the need to fight this battle through prayer, acknowledging the presence of an adversary that does not want to see hearts awakened to God's call.

💡Cultivating Culture

Cultivating Culture in the video refers to the intentional development of an environment within the church that supports and encourages evangelism and outreach. The script discusses various ways pastors can cultivate such a culture, including through personal example, preaching, and celebrating stories of gospel sharing.

💡Preaching

Preaching is the act of delivering a sermon or religious talk, often with the aim of instructing, inspiring, or converting listeners. The video emphasizes the role of preaching in building up the church and equipping believers, while also modeling evangelism by sharing the gospel with those who are not yet followers of Jesus.

💡Testimonies

Testimonies are personal accounts of spiritual experiences or transformations that often serve to inspire and motivate others. In the context of the video, celebrating testimonies of people sharing the gospel and leading others to Jesus is seen as a way to cultivate a culture of evangelism within the church.

💡Evangelistic Programs

Evangelistic Programs are organized efforts or events aimed at teaching and equipping individuals to share the gospel. The script mentions these programs as potentially helpful tools for training, but also cautions against relying on them as a substitute for personal evangelism in everyday life.

💡Cross-cultural Disciple Making

Cross-cultural Disciple Making involves the process of training and equipping believers to share the gospel and make disciples among people from different cultural backgrounds. The video script discusses the importance of this practice, especially in a diverse setting like Washington DC, where the church is composed of members from over 100 countries.

💡Church as Family

The concept of Church as Family in the video refers to the idea of the church community functioning like an extended family, caring for one another and growing together in faith. This familial approach is seen as a way to deepen relationships and foster a shared commitment to the mission of evangelism and outreach.

Highlights

Involvement in global mission can fuel local mission when done right.

Short-term trips are a recommended first step for pastors of any church size.

Praying for the awakening of God's people's hearts is crucial for evangelism.

Leaders must cultivate a culture of evangelism in their personal lives.

Sunday preaching should primarily focus on building up the church and equipping the saints.

Pastors should model evangelism by sharing the gospel with non-followers of Jesus.

Sermons should be a safe place to bring non-believers, even when discussing difficult topics.

Celebrating stories of people sharing the gospel is important for cultivating an evangelistic culture.

Evangelistic programs can be helpful for training and equipping, but should not replace personal evangelism.

Building long-term relationships is key to effective evangelism.

The church in McLean has a legacy of zeal and passion for reaching Metro Washington DC with the gospel.

Global mission involvement has helped to expand the local church's outreach efforts.

The church in DC is uniquely positioned with over 100 countries represented, aiding in global outreach.

Cross-cultural disciple making is being trained and equipped through a pipeline in the church.

Global mission involvement has been seen to fuel local ministry, creating fruitful outcomes.

The church aims to cultivate a culture where members can make disciples and be the church anywhere in the world.

The goal is to grow in a way that does not depend on programs or personalities, but on the Word of God and the Spirit of God.

Transcripts

in my experience as a pastor I have

always seen when it's done right

involvement in global Mission fueling

local mission

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you talked about short-term trips like

every Pastor small Church big church

that would be a great step First Step

what are some other practical steps a

pastor can do maybe a young Pastor

taking his first step into Ministry to

cultivate a culture of Outreach and

evangelism well I would say in the

church and that local setting there are

some practical things one I don't want

to jump over this or underestimate this

but pray for that and you only the

spirit can awaken the hearts of

God's people

to obedience to passions I mean these

are all spiritual things and there's an

adversary who doesn't want to see that

so fight that battle spiritually in

prayer and pray for that with your

leaders and cultivate that among other

leaders around you so again

church is not going to be what its

leaders aren't and so make sure your own

life and the leaders that you have

influenced with and who are influencing

others cultivate culture of evangelism

on a personal level and then so big

picture

I would certainly encourage uh

I I believe the Sunday preaching for the

most part Easter Sunday Christmas would

be there'd be other times which would be

exceptions I think normally the way I

understand preaching is for the building

up of the church the equipping of the

Saints on a week by week basis at the

same time I think key to cultivating a

culture of evangelism in the church I

Pastor is modeling

Evangel evangelism sharing proclaiming

the gospel with those who are not

followers of Jesus so doing that in the

sermon so that this is a safe place to

bring people and I say safe like I

preached on Mark 9 42-50 Another Day on

on hell

I have a heavy message

um on so many different levels

and you might say well that didn't feel

like a safe place to bring somebody but

I hope I hope that our church family if

they brought somebody who doesn't know

Jesus would be really glad they brought

him that day because one they need to

hear they need to hear about L and two I

hope the way I handled it I hope the way

I made eye contact with them and said

hey I know if you're not a follower of

Jesus this can feel hard or this can

feel this or that here's how I want to

encourage you to think through that I

hope I was I was helpful to their

friends or family members who were who

are coming but also helpful to them to

Think Through how to share the gospel

with friends or family members I was

just talking with a woman yesterday who

uh was saying oh that pretty I'm so

thankful for that sermon and I've got a

friend she was telling me about the

circumstances there's not a follower of

Jesus and it just helped me to know how

to share the gospel with her and talk

with her about hell so anyway

cultivating that in your preaching and

then I would say uh other practical

things celebrating stories of people

sharing the gospel of people spreading I

love I love I love when we've got

different people sharing testimonies of

how they've LED friends to Jesus and

just celebrating those things in a way

that I hope cultivates culture of

evangelism and I do think programs can

be helpful like Evangelistic programs

can be helpful in training and equipping

people at the same time I don't want to

create a crutch in the sense that people

like

they come to this program and now

they've checked off the Box in a way

that they're not sharing the gospel with

their co-worker so they're going to a

program but they're not sharing the

gospel where they work 40 hours or 50 or

60 hours a week whatever it might be so

I think programs can be helpful like I

was just talking with a guy in our lobby

this last Sunday he's been involved in a

program that's training him to share the

gospel he had met somebody who's Muslim

who was coming to church for the first

time ever like it was great that was

through a program at the same time I I

want to help that brother make the

connection with okay and you don't just

have to go to the mall and share the

gospel you can go to you know

yeah your neighbor and do the same yeah

build long-term relationships

um I want to ask you you've been at

McLean now for about six years and

you've been seeking to build a culture

of Outreach I'm sure that was built on

building on what was already here

um what fruit have you seen over the

last six years right here in this local

body well I I would say and I appreciate

you mentioning like building on because

I think that's one of the uh legacies of

God's grace particularly in this body I

mean there's been Zeal and passion for

reaching Metro Washington DC with the

gospel and I'm so thankful for that and

the fruit of that

um so I think well one thing we've

really tried to build on and say okay

that Zeal and passion let's let's do the

both end and let's make sure we're not

just doing that in Metro Washington DC

but we're also doing that for the sake

of three billion people who've never

heard the gospel and so it's been

awesome to see the shirts rise up and

we're in a unique place in DC where we

have so many nations represented here

and we've got 100 plus countries in the

church which is

awesome but then also people going from

here all around the world through

whether it's government jobs military

just all kinds of different Avenues

where people are leaving here to go to

the nation so I think about having a

conversation in the lobby one day with a

guy who's like well I did it I took the

transfer to and he mentioned a country

in the Middle East and he's like so what

do I do now and so we've got a pipeline

that's helping people train and be

equipped to do cross-cultural disciple

making and and that's awesome just

seeing the ways God is opening up

avenues for that so I would say that's

that's been especially encouraging but

then also to see what I love is when

those connect together like when what

we're doing in Ethiopia when it comes to

proclaiming the gospel and helping the

orphan crisis how that transfers over to

reaching Ethiopians here and and then

involving Ethiopians in that Ministry so

just to make those connections and and

not just in a

like Ethiopia different country but I

would say

in my experience as a pastor I have

always seen when it's done right

involvement in global Mission fueling

local Mission like people going

together to be a part of the spread of

the Gospel in this part of the world

then they are saying we can also do this

right where we live and I've seen just

fruitful local Ministry happening in the

city as a result of people doing mission

in other places again it just fuels both

and and so I hope that's cultivated more

and more and more that there's and and

even more so the more we've developed

out just our church groups

caring for each other like family

growing together in Christ and making

disciples on mission of the world that

they really see themselves this is what

we do together this is what it means to

be the church we share the gospel

together we leave people Jesus well we

talk about all the time is uh we our

prayer is that God would be able to pick

up any of our members put them anywhere

in the world

and they would know how to

make disciples gather together as the

church and be the church without

dependence on

programs or personalities or just with

just the word of God and the spirit of

God that's what we're trying to

cultivate and we got a long way to go to

see that all across the church but I I

love the fruit of that that's happening

in a variety of ways

hey Pastor thanks for watching this

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