Marks of Effective Evangelism – Compassion
Date: July 5, 2014
(Find Mark 1 and Mark 2 –
Here and
Here)
All effective evangelists have a heart for the lost. They have a passion to see souls saved. The only way to grow in your compassion for the lost is to spend time in prayer and the Word. If you spent time in prayer and the Word, your desires will be conformed to God’s desires. We want God’s heart for the lost. We want to pursue gladness and joy in heaven by helping the lost come to Christ. Matthew 9:35-38,
And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Jesus had compassion for the lost sheep. They are helpless and hopeless and He had compassion for them. Our compassion grows for the lost when we read God’s Word and pray, then as our compassion grows we pray more earnestly to the Lord to save the lost by sending more laborers into the field.
Why do we want our church to grow? It is a question leaders have to wrestle with again and again. Do we want the church to grow for our own fame or to be successful? Or do we want the church to grow so more of the lost will be saved? The more the church grows the more laborers should be sent out into the harvest to reach the lost. One of the greatest barometers of a healthy church is their sending capacity. We should be more concerned with who are we sending to the harvest than who we are getting to sit in the pews.
We will never be motivated to leave the pews unless we have compassion. People who do not know Jesus are helpless and hopeless and under God’s judgment. We have to grow in our compassion for the lost.
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