Evangelism with Amy DiMarcangelo
In this conversation, Hunter is chatting with Amy DiMarcangelo about evangelism. They talk about what the gospel actually is, why it is good news, and what it is that compels us to share this good news with an unbelieving world. Amy offers encouragement to those who might feel hesitant or unequipped to evangelize, and she reminds us how beautiful it is to play a part in bringing brothers and sisters into the family of God. We pray this episode encourages you to share the good news with those around you!
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
What is evangelism? What is the good news we are seeking to share?
What's the difference between outreach and evangelism? Why are both of them important?
How do the Great Commission and the Greatest Commandment work together?
Why should sharing the gospel through evangelism be a priority for those who profess to follow Jesus? What's our motivation?
How can believers effectively care for their neighbors in a world that is so marred by sin and suffering? How does that provide opportunities to share the gospel?
How can we practically extend the hospitality of God by creating a welcoming space to welcome others as Christ has welcomed us?
What role does good question asking have in helping create a safe space for people to share their story? How can this offer opportunities to share God's story of redemption?
What role does prayer have in evangelism?
Who has had the greatest impact on the way you share the gospel?
NOTES & QUOTES
“Evangelism was something that never came easy to me, but has always been important to me. I've had to fight to believe that God works through ordinary people, that the power of the gospel is in the gospel itself, the gospel message, Christ working through the gospel. The power of the gospel is not in my eloquence, not my ability to answer perfectly, not my ability to answer every question.”
“I don't have to have all the answers, but I can keep pointing to the God who does and the God who is good and the God who saves.”
“If Jesus was rejected, so will we be. The gospel is folly to those who are perishing. So to other people, we will be foolish. And yet it is the power of God unto salvation to those whom Christ has called.”
“Our calling is to—in word and deed—testify to who God is, to what he has done, to how he calls us to live. Everything we do is ultimately to point back to him.”
“We are called to, in Matthew 5:16, let your light shine before others that they may see your good works. And then—it doesn’t stop there—give glory to your Father who is in heaven. So when my life is marked by good works, it is to point to my good Father who is in heaven. When I preach the gospel, it is to show the good news of Christ come to save sinners. And so in word and deed in the way we live our lives, the church is called to be a light, to bear testimony, to show the ethics of God's kingdom, to show his redemptive work.”
“Jesus has conquered, Jesus is victorious, but we are still in this in-between waiting for his return.”
“How do we as the church show what the kingdom is like in the way that we live, in the way that we point others to Christ?”
“Our life—the way we obey, the way we love others, the way we point others to God—is ultimately about pointing others to know and glorify God.”
The Gospel Message:
“God created this beautiful world. God created man to enjoy relationship with God and with each other. And then because of the fall, sin has affected every aspect of creation. All of creation has fallen and sin has severed our relationship with God. All people are separated from God because of their sin and are unable to save themselves. We are both unwilling to save ourselves and unable to save ourselves. The good news is that God sent his Son to come and live the perfect life that we could not live and die the death in our place as our substitutionary atonement so that we would not only receive forgiveness of sin (which in itself would be such good news), but also so that we may receive forgiveness of sins and restoration to right relationship with our Creator. And so we are through Christ adopted into God's family. We become sons and daughters of God. And we gain this hope, this eternal hope that while we live in this broken and suffering world that we get to look forward to a day when Christ will return, when he will bring the new heavens and the new earth, where there will be no more sin, and there will be no more suffering. That is the good news of the gospel, that we are forgiven and saved into a family, that it's not even just this individual relationship. It is individual, but it's also corporate. We have been saved as part of God's people, and we are saved in that together, and together we look forward to the restoration of all creation. That is also what the gospel has accomplished: Everything that sin made wrong, everything that the fall has affected, will be made right under the reign of Christ.”
“A helpful touch point for the non-religious would be, ‘Look at our world. What hope is there in this suffering fallen world? What hope is there? Let me tell you about that hope.’”
Insight #1—Lauren Bowerman:
We don’t want to assume that everyone who is listening has heard and believed and received this good news. Amy did such a good job telling us the story of the gospel, that our sin has separated us from our good God and Creator, that Jesus—who was both human and divine—lived obediently, died sacrificially, and rose eternally to secure our right standing before God, and that we can live eternally with him in a redeemed and restored creation if we trust Christ and become part of the family of God.
This is the good news. But what does it mean to actually believe it? Even more specifically, what does it mean to be saved by it? We see in Scripture that even the demons believe that God exists and even tremble in fear of him (James 2:19), so we know that it’s not enough just to intellectually acknowledge that this gospel story is true. How are we SAVED by this news?
Romans 10:9-10 says that “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” John 1:12 tells us that “to all who did receive him [Jesus], who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” And Ephesians 2:8-9 reminds us that this salvation is a gift, that it is is “by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Scripture is clear that we must not only mentally acknowledge who God is, we must confess and believe with our hearts that he is Lord. This Spirit-empowered belief is what saves, and it is a gift of grace that is available to all—praise the Lord! The gift of salvation is freely extended to all, we must only hear, confess, submit, and believe.
“Our good works and our care and our love, they cannot actually communicate what the gospel is. No matter how well I love someone, no matter how well I meet their needs, they will not know the gospel without me speaking it to them.”
“The reason I'm even doing these things is because I want to point you to the love of Jesus and what he has done for you.”
“As we grow in receiving the generous, sacrificial, loving, faithful, kind love of God, that will then transform how we love him in return, because we only love because he first loved us, and then that will transform how we love our neighbor.”
“In all the ways that we receive the love of God, we want to extend that love in the way that we care for our neighbor.”
“As we love God more, and as we love people more, we will want people to know this God who we worship. And so that will be the fire that motivates the Great Commission. We want people to be reconciled to God. We want people to be saved from the penalty of their sins. And we'll want people to be restored to right relationship and for them to enjoy the riches of being loved by God.”
“Prayer needs to be the fuel of mission and the fuel of evangelism because we cannot bring dead sinners to life. No matter how hard we try, we do not have the power to do that. And so we need to be praying for the gospel to go forward. We need to be praying for our unbelieving friends and family. We need to be praying that the Spirit would make them see, that he would give them understanding.”
“We are called to preach Christ and him crucified, to tell others the good news. And so while their salvation doesn't depend on us, it is a step of obedience we are called to make, and prayer reminds us of that.”
“Prayer makes us more attuned to the Spirit and how he is working.”
Insight #2—Lauren Bowerman:
Jesus’ parting words to his disciples were a commission for them to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” This call to disciple, baptize, and teach applies to every believer, and it cannot happen without the very first step of the process: evangelism!
As Paul reminds us in Romans, in order to bring brothers and sisters into the kingdom of God, we must first preach the good news to them, because “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”” (Rom. 10:14-15).
My friends, we have been sent by God to share the good news, and as we seek to live out this Great Commission, we must intentionally pursue opportunities for evangelism. This will likely mean placing ourselves in situations and opportunities where we can meet nonbelievers. Maybe you don’t currently have anyone in your life who you feel that you could share the gospel with? Pray for that! Pray for a person, for an interaction, for a place to go where you might meet someone (just a little note, I’ve found our local libraries and parks to be such a great place to meet people!). If these opportunities are not obvious or easily accessible to you, PRAY for opportunities and then obey the Lord as he leads you!
As you’re listening, are there people or opportunities for evangelism that the Lord has brought to mind? Who might you pray for? What opportunities that are in front of you might you need eyes to see? Let’s be diligent to pray for opportunities to share the good news, and then let’s be faithful to obey.
“When we don't show that we care about physical suffering, it really compromises our witness and makes people skeptical.”
“Christ has proven himself faithful. He is going to accomplish his mission with or without me. But I want the joy of getting to participate in it. I want the joy of being able to see him at work.”
“As we receive love from Christ, we want other people to know that joy.”
“The more you know God, the more you can testify of his worth to others.”
RESOURCES
Go and Do Likewise by Amy DiMarcangelo
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
How does viewing evangelism as our part in God's grand story of redemption compel you to live out that calling more fully?
How would you articulate the gospel to someone who had never heard it before? Speak it out loud or write it down.
What comes more naturally to you—obeying the Great Commandment or the Great Commission? Why do you think that is?
Is there someone in your life who you might consider sharing the gospel with? Pray for an opportunity or make a plan to speak to them this week. If there is not someone like this in your life, take a few minutes to pray that God might bring you that person even this week.
What might you do or implement based on what you learned in this episode?
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