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The E word. ‘ Today's changed world calls for local congregations to take new initiatives. For example, in the secularizing global north, new forms of contextual mission, such as new monasticism, emerging church and fresh expressions have redefined and revitalised church.’
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‘ Today's changed world calls for local congregations to take new initiatives. For example, in the secularizing global north, new forms of contextual mission, such as new monasticism, emerging church and fresh expressions have redefined and revitalised church.’ A new WCC Affirmation on Mission and Evangelism, 2012
Christine had been raised Anglican.. Religious people of any serious kind made her nervous: They were like men in rain coats who might or might not be flashers. You would be going along with them in a normal way, and then there would could be a swift movement and you would look down to find the coat wide open & nothing on under it. Scarlet Ibisby Margaret Atwood.
‘The Church exists for nothing else but to draw people into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, fresh expressions, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became Man for no other purpose.’ C. S. Lewis
What does the Bible say ? • euangelisasthai 52 times • euangelion 72 times • euangelistes 3 times
What is the relationship of mission & evangelism • Mission/evangelism is all about soul winning for eternity • As above but other good activities might be optional • Its all about soul winning but service is useful as part of this. • Personal transformation first and then transform society • The total ministry to the world outside the Church • It does not always include a call to repentance but is about • changing structures
What is evangelism ? 1.Evangelism is at the core, heart or centre of mission. ‘it consists in the proclamation of salvation in Christ to nonbelievers, in announcing forgiveness of sins, in calling people to repentance and faith in Christ, in inviting them to become living members of Christ’s earthly community and to begin a life in the power of the Spirit.’
What is evangelism ? 2.Evangelism seeks to bring people into the visible community of believers.
What is evangelism ? 3. Evangelism involves witnessing to what God has done, is doing and will do. Word and deed but ………….. ‘ The verbal witness indeed remains indispensable, not least because our deeds and our conduct are ambiguous ,they need elucidation.’
What is evangelism ? 4. .Evangelism is invitation We are drawn by love not by guilt
What is evangelism ? 5. Evangelism is only possible when the church is a radiant manifestation of the Christian faith. ‘ So what the churches often do get involved in is not evangelism, but propaganda, that is, they reproduce carbon copies of themselves and impact their own ghetto mentality to the people they reach.
What is evangelism ? 6. Evangelism is about risk taking . We do not control how it comes alive We get changed in this process
What is evangelism ? 7. Evangelism is not a self centred consumer product. Not only called to receive life but to give it
What is evangelism ? 8. Evangelism is calling people to be disciples of Jesus . It is enlisting people for God’s mission
What is evangelism ? “evangelism is that dimension and activity of the church’s mission which seeks to offer every person, everywhere, a valid opportunity to be directly challenged by the gospel of explicit faith in Jesus Christ, with a view to embracing him as Saviour, becoming a loving member of his community and being enlisted in his service of reconciliation, peace and justice on earth.”
What is evangelism ? “Evangelism focuses on explicit and intentional articulation of the gospel, including the invitation to personal conversion to a new life in Christ and to discipleship…….. Not only individuals but also the whole church together is called to evangelise. If we claim to love God and to love our fellow human being but fail to share the good news with them urgently & consistently , we deceive ourselves as to the integrity of either our love for either God or people. WCC Affirmation on Mission & Evangelism
1. What was the one thing that most struck you from the article by Bosch. 2.What was the one thing that most challenged you from the article by Bosch
‘ As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully. 2 Timothy 4 v5.
‘How does the church become the evangelising centre it was meant to be? Before we think of programmes or techniques, we need to be renewed in our vision of who Christ is and what God’s purposes are for the world.’ Rebecca Manley Pippert.
“These people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also.” Acts 17 ;7
‘We live in a culture so saturated with self, in which humans have placed themselves in the centre for so long, that our natural tendency ,even as Christians ,is to focus on the human aspects of evangelism and not the divine. Yet it is God who takes the initiative to pursue seekers, it is his Spirit who converts, it is his gospel that saves. Evangelism is God’s business from start to finish.’
