Angelic Evangelism

Learning to share the gospel from the Angels who visited the Shepherds

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Happy Christmas Holy Goers!

Thank you for reading along this year. It has been great to hear how this little newsletter has been encouraging and challenging you to Make Disciples. I always love the feedback so please keep it coming!

We’re coming to the end of our Power Evangelism Series. So far we have touched on: Healing, Prophetic Evangelism, Deliverance, Dreams and today we keep with the Christmas theme and look at learning Evangelism from Angels!

Equip

Learning from the Angels

I believe we can learn evangelism from Angels. In fact, I believe that the angels who appeared to the Shepherds in Luke 2 can teach us a lot about how to approach people with the good news of Jesus!

Let’s see what they did:

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.

Do Not Be Afraid

The first thing this angel did was tell the Shepherds not to be afraid. Luke tells us that the Shepherds were terrified by this angel coming to them.

I wonder if the people we meet each day are terrified… If so, what are they terrified of?

Perhaps they’re terrified of being judged, of being rejected, of being overlooked, of being ridiculed. I’ve met plenty of people who are terrified of death, sickness, financial lack. The list goes on and on.

The last thing anyone needs is a “Gospel Message” that invokes fear.

Instead we should join in the Angel and declare “Do not be afraid!” For fear is the enemy of faith. Fear always leads to bondage. The Gospel of Jesus does not incite fear, but brings peace and freedom.

Good News That Causes Great Joy

I believe the Shepherds were overjoyed for a couple of reasons…

They were chosen, handpicked to be told this news, and they were told the much awaited Messiah was born! Salvation was on the way! This was great news for them!

I believe one of the main reasons why Christians fail to share the gospel is that their message is not very good news! It doesn’t feel worth sharing because it doesn’t connect with where people are at.

But you cannot separate Love from the Good News. The two go hand in hand. As Heidi Baker would always ask us, “What does love look like?” This Christmas I wonder what love looks like or what the good news looks like to:

the single mum at trying to make ends meet,
the person who is living in a nation with no family near by,
the person grieving the loss of family members or friends,
the person living with fear, anxiety or depression,

C.S Lewis said, “Joy is the serious business of heaven!” I pray we can all take the task of spreading joy very seriously this Christmas!

For All People

The Messiah was coming to save not just the Jews, but the whole world! This Great News is for ALL PEOPLE!

There is a school of thought that Jesus only died for those who believe in Him, that the cross doesn’t make a difference for those who don’t know Him. However the Scriptures clearly tell us that Jesus died for all people,

• He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:2

• “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” - John 1:29

• For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 1 Corinthians 15:22

• God is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe. 1 Timothy 4:10

The Good news is no one gets missed out! It doesn’t matter where you are from, what you have done, or how you identify.

Everyone we come across is loved by God, known by God, every single one of them is invited and included in what Jesus has done! That is Great News! No one gets left out!

Christmas

This Christmas let us learn from the Angel who proclaimed the good news to a bunch of Shepherds.

May we join with Heaven and declare:

Do not be afraid!
We bring Good News that causes Great Joy!
For All People!

Activate

This weeks Challenge is to find a way to spread joy this Christmas week. Here’s some ideas of how you can do it:

• Volunteer at a community meal

• Donate some presents

• Call some people and tell them you love them

• Give a Christmas Card and gift to a Neighbour

• Buy groceries for someone at the supermarket

• Invite someone to Christmas Lunch

Simply ask God who He wants you to spread joy to, then go and do it!

May you have a Happy Christmas celebrating the birth of our Saviour!

Let’s Go!