What Qualities, Priorities And Values Of Jesus And God Do These Parables Underscore?

The Art of Personal Evangelism: Sharing Jesus in a changing culture By Will McRaney, Jr. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Academic, 2003, 268 pp., $19.99 paper.

Galindo analyzes that the fundamental “mission” of a congregation is the same as any other congregation that exists in any part of the world. He argues that though every congregation has a mission and a vision, at the same time, it shares a basic common mission. (43) This reminds me of my home church The First Church of Evanston and my Field Site, The Evanston Vineyard Church. Both churches have a common mission of welcoming people to the church, irrespective of their ethnic, cultural, racial, and economic and, gender backgrounds. The mission is to help people be received in the house of God with due and deserved Christian love so that they feel loved and welcomed. Both these churches encourage church attendees to attend the service and receive the Eucharist.

I had the privilege of interviewing Brian Bagwell for this project. He is, in my opinion, one of most humble, wisest man we have at Church of the Highlands. Once you get through a joke or two, the fruits of the spirit radiate from his personality. A man that I have the privilege to call my mentor and teacher. He is currently serving on staff at the Church of the Highlands as a Dream Team Coordinator. His shares the vision of the church which is passed down from our senior pastor, Chris Hodges. Evangelism is the definition of the church so to speak, Church of the Highlands stands behind the final authority of God’s word which is the bible. It is often said among the staff “we do not argue the essentials, but we can disagree the non essentials.” The church believes and acts in spreading the good news of Jesus Christ, and helping people move through four steps our God has outlined in the Great Commission. Our Church exists to see people saved, delivered, redeemed, and fulfilled. This is accomplished with four systems that allow the people to move through the four steps. The first is weekend services to allow them to know God (saved), small groups to find freedom (delivered), growth track to discover purpose (redeemed), and dream team to be fulfilled and make a difference (fulfilled). This vision is how the church evangelizes (Bagwell). This vision is clear to all members of the church who call Church of the Highlands home, and even clear to people

In his book Share Jesus Without Fear, William Fay lays out an easy and attainable way for one to reach people for Christ. A former mobster, and prostitution house owner, Fay says that if “God can take somebody like me and change him, he can take anybody in your life and change him as well.”1 In an easy to understand, comprehensive way, Fay shows how to overcome your fears and witness to those who are lost. By breaking down the six most common excuses one uses not

Evangelism is described as a three-way cord; building relationships, sharing the gospel, and introducing people to community. The authors encourage the Gospel and the Word to stay central, as well as community involvement and helping the needy in the name of Christ. There is a great emphasis on home groups (the authors are themselves home-group leaders), and how this practice makes church planting easier. The togetherness of this practice aids in ones spiritual growth because one cannot become holy on his

Divine Street United Methodist Church has been a major facet of my life. This is the establishment that gave my parents the resources to raise me to find solace in a religious community, and witnessed my growth from a caring and involved perspective. The congregation has supported me through the many challenges and successes of my young life.

“Restoring At-Risk Communities,” written by John M. Perkins is a collaborative work of urban professionals in ministry, providing a blueprint for working in urban communities. It provides the personal expertise of so many to help fellow missionaries and those in ministry to develop a Christian community. In today’s culture, many of our cities are falling apart due to poverty, lack of education, lack of religion, and large amounts of people leaving for the suburbs. People who are being called to minister in the downtowns, or those who are already suffering in the trenches are struggling with how to reach the community for Christ. Perkins shares his personal experience of being on the frontlines of ministry, and the appropriate strategy to reaching those communities. He writes, “The desperate problems in America’s inner cities will not be resolved without strong commitment and risky action on the part of ordinary Christians with heroic faith” (Perkins, 1995).

Randy Newman’s book, Questioning Evangelism, is a book about on how evangelizing is to ask questions, and therefore, letting people communicate with questions about their own truths about God. Newman writes this book hoping that anyone who reads it will gain a better understanding of what evangelism is. Newman’s book is divided into three parts: why questioning evangelism is needed, considering what questions non-believers are asking, and observing why asking questions and knowing answers doesn’t mean a Christian’s own problem like cold-heartedness or anger. Throughout the book Newman brings readers right back to bible scriptures. Even though he appeals to accounts of people like Paul in Acts preaching on Mars Hill, he also shows how the wisdom literature is applied to our evangelistic attempts.

Evangelism is not one of my strong points, but, as a Christian, it is useful to strengthen myself in this area. J. I. Packer, an evangelist and theologian of the 20th Century, in his book “Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God,” addresses one of the most problematic questions that relates to evangelism: should we leave out parts to make the gospel more welcoming?

As I examined our Christian scriptures, I related mostly too Luke 15 “A Collection of “Lost” Parables”. In these scriptures, Jesus utilized three parables to teach about redemption, forgiveness and our tendency to abuse the good situations in our lives. Parables were often used as an alternative source of teaching important life situations. Though these parables were challenging to understand, they should be analyzed, and applied to our everyday lives.

The idea of spiritual formation has somehow gotten lost in the shuffle of “going to church” versus retaining the understanding that we in fact are the church and we carry within us the knowledge and the skill to be transformational. The role of evangelism in Christian education is to aid in church growth and expansion, as well as advancement toward the salvation of souls.

This course has had a great impact on my walk with Christ as well as my witness for Christ. I pastor a church and teach two classes and for me I thought that I was doing plenty. However this course has helped rekindle my passion for sharing Jesus Christ with people through personal evangelism. This paper will demonstrate what I have learned throughout this course.

Since beginning this course, I have turned my daily neighborhood walks into opportunities to spread the message of Christ. I have been more intentional about meeting my neighbors and learning about their life situations. Most are Christians, which is nice, and we exchange prayer requests. As I walk and pass their house, I lift them in prayer, which is a blessing to me, as I have developed many new relationships just by being intentional about speaking to people.

The Gospels of the New Testament contain 39 different parables told by Jesus (Phillips 2004, 18-19) and no doubt he spoke many more during his ministry. Jesus’ choice to use parables to teach his people is one that has intrigued many people throughout history. The aim of this essay is to get to discover why he chose to use those parables, and also what we can learn from this teaching method when evangelising today.

Evangelism is a wide field of ministry that is captivating many, many ministers have been called into the field. It is one of the many fields we as believers are called into. We all have been given assignment before the beginning of time God knew what he would have us to do. Evangelist’s work in many different environments in their local community, nation, and abroad. We are being the hands and feet of Jesus. we should treat it as each and every person’s salvation is important to you.