The Bible and Evangelism

How God Uses the Bible to Draw People to Himself

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Happy New Year!

Thank you for joining me on another year of “The Holy Go.” I send these newsletters out every Monday, and my aim is to give you some inspiration and simple tools to use to make disciples and love the hell out of the world around you!

During the week I heard some feedback that someone took up lasts weeks challenge to create a “Gospel Habit” and ended up having a great gospel conversation with a politician. It’s amazing what happens when we commit ourselves to obeying Jesus and joining Him at work!

Today we are looking at The Bible and how God can use it to bring people to Him. Enjoy!

Equip

Curiosity on the rise

I was talking to some friends who organised the Community Carols event here in Mildura, and they told me some exciting news.

During the course of the carols event, the Gideons team handed out over 500 Bibles! These were taken by people who came to them and asked for a Bible.

Stories like this remind me that God is drawing all people to Himself. The harvest truly is ripe!

Do you have our books?

I remember a preacher sharing a story from some ministry work in the middle east.

There was a muslim village who had something strange happen. One night half the village woke up having had a dream about Jesus. The next night the other half of the village had the same dream!

Not knowing what to do next they prayed. Someone answered, “We need the book!” And so they started praying for what they would soon know as The Bible.

At the same time, there was a Christian who was smuggling Bibles into this nation. He filled his car and started driving. He was nervous, if he was caught he would face some serious consequences.

All of a sudden his car began to sputter… Then it stopped. His heart began racing. Would he get caught with these Bibles?

Suddenly a man approached him, tapped on the window and asked, “Do you have our books?”

It was the man from the village! Somehow God arranged that on this particular week, the whole village had a dream about Jesus, they worked out they needed a Bible, and God sent them a believer with a car load of Bibles!

Isn’t it amazing how God is drawing people to Himself, and invites us to partner with Him?

Three Lessons

These great stories remind me of three things.

1. God is at work

Jesus said, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”¹

Jesus has been high and lifted up on the cross. And He is again and again when we testify about who He is. When people read the stories about Jesus, the prophetic words written hundreds of years before He came, the historical context in to which He came, the teachings and miracles of Jesus, and the story of the early Church, we are lifting up Jesus again. And when that happens, people are drawn to Jesus.

2. People are curious

Jesus said, “The harvest is ripe!”²

People are curious about faith! People are curious about who Jesus is and what He taught. God created all people, so it is no wonder that we all yearn to know our creator - even if we’re not yet sure there even is one.

3. We’re invite to join in

Jesus commands all His followers to “teach them to keep what I have taught you.”³

We are invited to join God who is already at work. When God finds faithful men and women to cooperate with Him, amazing things follow like the stories above.

Activate

I love how Euegene Peterson writes, “The Bible is not a tool to wield, but a place of meeting. If we use the Bible without being led to Christ, we’re using it wrongly.”

This weeks challenge is to invite someone to read The Bible with you. A simple prompt may go something like this,

“Hey, I’m looking for someone to read a Bible story with. I was wondering if you’d be up for catching up for a coffee and going through a Jesus story with me?”

You can read more tips on how to do this here.

Remember, God is at work, people are curious, and we’re invited to join in!

Let’s Go!

1. John 12:32

2. Luke 10:2

3. Matthew 28:20