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Preaching & Evangelism

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  • Why do you want to bring others into the Church?
Introduction

εὐαγγελίζω - euangelizō - Evangelism - Preaching the Gospel

εὐαγγέλιον - Good News - (eu = good, angelion = message (like angelos = messenger)) 

Gospel - Godspel - God (Good) Spel (News, Narrative, Speech - reciting/speaking something)

Evangelism refers to the preaching or spreading of the Gospel - good news.

  • Every time that I give a sermon, I am preaching the Gospel == I am Evangelizing.
  • Every time I give a Sunday School lesson, I am preaching the Gospel == I am Evangelizing.
What is the Gospel?
  • "Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." (Mark 1:14)
  • Whenever Christ met someone, He was turned that meeting into an encounter with God's Kingdom. He would enter into a conversation or respond to a question or an obvious need, and begin opening that person to the presence of God. He never talked down to or judged the person He encountered, and He never pushed them to do anything. 
    • Samaritan Woman - He led gently, point by point, to a recognition of who He was
    • Wealthy Young Man (Matthew 19:16-30) - could not accept the call to follow Jesus, the Lord was saddened by his reaction but did not condemn him
    • Nicodemus - His conversation with Nicodemus was presenting the Gospel of the Kingdom to Him
    • NOTE: Might need an appendix on the Syro-Phoenician Woman
  • How can we, who are fallen and living in sin, enter this holy and eternal Kingdom?
    • This is the question of human condition. Every religion, every faith, every worldview, has and tries to answer these questions
      • What is the problem? (undesired effect) - symptoms
      • What is the cause of the problem? (undesired cause) - diagnosis
      • What is the solution? (desired effect) - prognosis
      • What is the way to the solution? (desired cause) - treatment plan
    • Plato
      • Problem: Vice, we are not good
      • Cause: Ignorance
      • Solution: Virtue, be good
      • Way to Virtue: Knowledge (opposite of cause)
    • Buddha
      • Problem: Suffering
      • Cause: Greed and Selfish Desire
      • Solution: Extinction of the Selfish desire (Nirvana)
      • Way of extinction: "Noble eightfold path" of purification
    • Marxism
      • Problem: Alienation
      • Cause: Capitalism
      • Solution: Classless Society
      • Way to Solution: Socialism
    • Freud
      • Problem: Neurosis & Psychosis
      • Cause: Conflict between identification and superego
      • Solution: Balanced Personality
      • Way to Solution: Psychoanalysis
  • Christian Answer (Good News) 
    • Problem: Death
    • Cause: Sin
    • Solution: Life
    • Way to Solution: Christ
  • Christ 
    • "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." (John 10:10)
    • "as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 5:21)
    • The preaching and evangelism of the Apostles in the 1st Century was three focuses: Christ Died, Christ is Risen, Christ will Come Again.
    • Christ died
      • "For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:6-8)
      • We were separated from God, but Christ died that we may be reconciled with Him
    • Christ is Risen
      • If Jesus had come, shared life with us, and then died... it would have been a story of great tragedy, but we would not be restored to God
      • Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and gave eternal life to those who were in the grave
    • Christ will come again for us and for our salvation
      • This focus was so strong that some first-century believers expected it to happen any day now. Some of them stopped working and were living off of others (Thessalonica) and St Paul had to remind them that the Second Coming would occur in God's good time
        • 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15
      • Christ will do two things:
        • Judge the living and the dead, determining who will go to Paradise (sheep) and who will go to Hades (goats)
          • Matthew 25:31-33
        • Bring about the final reconciliation between God and His Creation
          • Revelation 21:1-4
  • The Gospel Message is very simple. It's not complicated apologetics. It's not theological minutiae.
    • Sometimes our evangelism is talking about other things...
      • Why Orthodoxy is the True Church
      • Icons
      • Councils
      • Styles of Worship
      • Ecumenical Councils
    • We conflate Evangelism and Catechism, preaching up front what should not be taught until someone has decided to join and are being shepherded into the Church.
    • Evangelism is about taking those first steps toward a relationship with God - proclaiming that God is with us. If we are not preaching Christ, but instead trying to persuade people, we will fail.
  • Preach Christ
    • Luke 4:17-21 - Christ goes to the Synagogue where He reads from Isaiah. He closes the book, gives it to the attendant, sits down. And He says "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
    • Apostles did the same thing... go to the Synagogue, read the Scripture of the Jews, and answer them: "This prophecy is fulfilled in Jesus Christ."
    • St Paul did the same things... passing through the pagan city of Athens... "Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you." (Acts 17)
    • St Mark did the same thing... 
    • St John did the same thing... Greek Philosophy taught the concept of Logos - the universal mind, the divine reason, the source of all truth; Stoicism saw Logos as the active and rational principle that organizes, permeates and governs the entire cosmos. So what did St John say? "In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God. He was in the beginning with God." (John 1:1-2). You are looking for the Logos? I'm here to tell you that the Logos is Jesus Christ.
    • Evangelism in the Early Church - Michael Green
      • "The content of their proclamation was none other than the person of Jesus Christ. They made use of all the cultural and intellectual pathways which would facilitate the reception of this message. Intensely sensitive to the felt needs of the listeners, the thought world in which they moved, the very language which would strike the clearest note in their minds, their aim nevertheless remained both simple and direct; to introduce others to Jesus Christ. It is the same if we are listening to the apostle Paul on Areopagus or the monk Macarius in the Egyptian deserts." (pp. 383-384)
  • What should be done with this message?
    • "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses (μάρτυρες) to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
Why Preach the Gospel?

(See “The Harvest is Plentiful”)

  1. Evangelism is a Commandment
  2. Evangelism is Love
  3. Evangelism is the Mission of the Church
  4. Evangelism is the Outcome of the New Life
  5. Evangelism is the Greatest Mission

(See “The Harvest is Plentiful”)

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20)

"But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

St John Chrysostom - "There is nothing colder than a Christian who does not try to save others."

Are we Slacking?

So why doesn't Orthodoxy recruit? Why doesn't she advertise? Why doesn't she evangelize the way others do? Why doesn't she simplify? Why doesn't she scale? 

A world saturated with marketing, messaging and "growth strategies" Orthodoxy is obscure...

  • Quiet Churches
  • Long services
  • No Slogans
  • Not compromising in its teachings
  • Entrance requires time, patience and submission to a way of life 

The Church is NOT an organization or an institution... it is not a place that is trying to have many numbers and big quantity, but it is a place focused on quantity. It is the Body of Christ - not metaphorically, but literally. And it accepts members who want to join it, and then heals them. The Church is a hospital for sinners - when the sinners approach the Church, they get the treatment they need through the Sacraments.

Imagine if a hospital was recruiting patients! 

The Evangelist
  1. Who is the Evangelist
  2. Spiritual Growth
  3. Can anyone do it?
    1. Be careful of certain activities like tabling when I'm not ready
How to Preach the Gospel

The Church has a responsibility towards every single person in the world - not only toward the believers. Three groups of people in the world. Active Believers, Lost Sheep (who are believers but are lost) and the Non-believers.

"But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;  and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8)

The Church service can be classified into three ministries - Jerusalem, Samaria, End of the Earth:

  1. Ministry of Spiritual Care (Active Members)
    • Preventative: How to prevent them from being lost
    • Nurturing: How to nurture them to grow into spiritual maturity

  2. Ministry of the Lost Sheep
    • Outreach: Searching for the Lost Sheep
    • Healing: The Lost Sheep who returns will be full of wounds - how to accept him and prepare a godly and therapeutic atmosphere to promote his healing

  3. Ministry of Evangelism (Non-Believers)
    • Preaching the Gospel
    • Grafting (Catechism)

Activity... match the Church Service

  • Confession - 1a
  • Liturgy - 1a
  • Bible Study - 1b
  • Sunday School Class - 1b
  • Visitation - 1a
  • Aghapy Meal - 1a
  • Liturgy Sermon - 1b
  • Youth Meeting - 1b
  • Phone Calls - 1a
  • OCCM GBMs - 1a, 1b, 2a, 3a
  • OCCM Tabling - 3a
  • OCCM OCAD - 3a
  • Catechumen classes - 3b
  • Sports Ministries (CFCBL) - 1a, 2a
  • Global Coptic Day - 3a

What about Apologetics?

  • Apologetics is more of a discipline than a formal "service." It is relevant in ALL categories of church service. 
    • 1a because it's tackling difficult topics that may arise in the future.
    • 1b and 3b because it prepares faithful to be able to "give a defense"
    • 2a & 2b because many of Lost Sheep drift because of doubt, intellectual confusion, etc.
    • 3a because when preaching the gospel, some may desire to debate or to raise points of confusion
  • There is a BIG difference between Apologetics and Preaching & Evangelism
    • Although Apologetics involves "Speaking the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15), it is focused more on an intellectual or logical discussion, debate. That's why it's only ONE component of any service - because the pastoral is MORE important
    • Apologetics can help someone overcome any intellectual barriers to the faith, but it CANNOT (on its own) bring someone to the faith.
Orthodox Recruiting

So why doesn't Orthodoxy recruit? Are we slacking in evangelism?

Some ideas in this video but didn't watch whole thing yet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFVQIN1uQ-s 

Orthodox doesn't do "mega churches" or quantity... looking for quality over quantity. cf. John 6.

The Evangelist
  1. Who is the Evangelist
  2. Spiritual Growth
  3. Can anyone do it?
    1. Be careful of certain activities like tabling when I'm not ready
How to Evangelize
  1. Be Holy
    • Holy == Separate == Different 
    • Speech, Behavior, etc.
  2. Be Fascinated
  3. "Come and See" - needs someone to "Go Out"and (Acts of Mercy)Tell"
    • E.g.
      • Nursing Homes
      • Prisons
      • Orphanages
      • Women's Shelters
      • Homeless Shelters
    • Find those who are "in need" and show them Christ, who will satisfy their needs
  4.  Words
    • See the examples in “The Harvest is Plentiful”
Evangelizing to Non-Believers

From George B. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkAmEY2cfD0 around 40min

How do we know what we know? Epistemology...

  1. Senses (Material)
  2. Mind (Concepts)
  3. Heart (People)

How do we know God?

  1. Senses? No
  2. Mind (Reason)
  3. Heart (Faith)

Evangelizing to Non-Believers, which eye do we use? Only the 2nd.

"Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there." (Acts 17)

He cannot be seen by the 1st, and the Atheist does not know Him with the 3rd. But we must know Him by the 3rd in order to effectively talk about Him with the 2nd.

People must see Christ in your life before they hear about Him from your mouth.

Sharing our faith is like music. The words of the Gospel are like the lyrics, but your lifestyle is like the melody of the song. The melody enhances the words just as our lives enhance the message of the gospel.

Process of Catechism
  1. Inquirer
    • Bring him/her to the Divine Liturgy.
      • Not the Youth Meeting. Not Sunday School. Not Servants Meeting. Not Bible Study. Liturgy. "Come and see." 
    • Prepare them in advance (communion, men and women seating, hair covering, appropriate attire, etc.)
    • Be there and ready to accept them
    • Let them meet Abouna!

  2. Catechumenate
    • After many times of attending liturgies, asking questions, forming a relationship with the priest, they may be ready to become a catechumen
    • Catechism has three components:
      • Doctrinal Formation (catechism classes)
      • Liturgical Formation (liturgical praxis)
      • Spiritual Formation (spiritual canon)
    • Later in the Catechumenate
      • Community Integration
      • Service Integration
    • Catechism Timing
    • No less than one year
      • Discipleship
      • Liturgical Experience
      • Adequate time to learn
      • Time to get to know them
      • Time to overcome sin and grow
      • Giving the best chance to succeed as a Christian
      • Doesn't end in baptism

  3. Christian Initiation
    • Sacrament of Confession
    • Sacrament of Baptism
    • Sacrament of Chrismation (Myron)
    • Sacrament of Matrimony*
    • Sacrament of the Eucharist

  4. Catechism after Initiation

Resources

  • St Habib Girgis
    • Preaching: Its History and Importance in the Christian Church Generally, and in the Coptic Orthodox Church Specifically
  • Fr Tadros Yacoub Malaty
    • Evangelism and the School of Alexandria
    • Preaching in the Post-Apostolic Era
    • Evangelism: 1 Corinthians
    • Evangelism: 2 Corinthians
  • Michael Keiser
    • Spread the Word
  • Fr Daoud Lamei
    • The Harvest is Plentiful
  • HG Bishop Antonios Marcos
    • Theology of Mission
  • When you fast
    • Page 29
  • Alexander Schmemann
    • Church, World, Mission
  • Eugene Gotwalt, PhD
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