Blog Post #22 - Praise Report, Halloween Tracts, Free Book Download - October 23, 2022

Hello, Evangelizers!

I have LOTs to report on this week! The first two paragraphs are directed to my Church Family. The rest is for everyone, near and far!

First, we were so blessed to have so many people from our church family come to the evangelism training this past month. It was an eight hour investment of time, and my husband, our pastors, and I were SO encouraged by the heart of these (you) folks. Many others wanted to come but were not able to this time. Next time!

We also had six people come along with us and our friends at Making The Gospel Known Ministries to preach the Good News at the Baltimore Inner Harbor this past Friday. What a joy it was!!!!! Please consider coming out with us to shadow! You won’t even have to say a word until you decide you are comfortable! Some are comfortable sooner than others, and we will not push you until you are ready. We will be going out again THIS Friday, October 28th. Please let us know as soon as possible (so we can arrange trainers!) if you’d like to join us and if you’d like to drive or ride in a carpool if we can get it organized! 443-787-6828. The harbor evenings will soon be put on hold for the cold fall and winter months, but we will let you know of other opportunities to go preach the Word TOGETHER. (Please prioritize serving at the Fall Festival this Saturday though if you can only do one or the other!) Please also consider volunteering to help Jeff and I with evangelism at the Fall Festival as well.

Now for Everyone, please consider purchasing (ASAP bc of shipping time!) gospel tracts for kids IF you hand out candy on October 31st , which Ray Comfort has aptly named, National Evangelism Day. LOL!!! Be generous with the candy to go along with the message of salvation! Watch this funny clip below to see how easy (and fun!) it is!

My top tract choices for this occasion are the Albert Brainstein tracts for children, the curved illusion tract for teens, and the Big Money for adults accompanying their kiddos. Order them HERE.

I’ve mentioned before that you can get a fantastic evangelism book for free, but now, you can get immediately it as a free download. I HIGHLY recommend this book. Download it HERE.

Watch the ad for it here:

For those of you who’d like to take some time to focus on some new content this week, please watch the 30 minute episode of the Way of The Master episode: “God Has A Wonderful Plan for Your Life.” You’ll see firsthand why this saying may not be received in the way you intend it!

Finally, I encourage you to keep pressing into this amazing journey of evangelism! It’s WORK, for sure. But it is so WORTH it. HE is so worth it!!! Not only will your hearers be blessed, but you will be too!

grace and peace,

mary

 

 

Blog Post #21- Awe-Inspiring Gospel Clips and Evangelism Training This Saturday, 10/8/22! - October 6, 2022

Hi!

Did you love the evangelism training last weekend provided by Chris and Linda Peeler ? We had a wonderful time and got so much positive feedback from the workshop. Please register and come out Saturday for part 2 of our FREE training even if you missed part 1! (REGISTER HERE) Not only will you learn a lot, you’ll also receive some extremely helpful well-written materials, some of which I’ve highlighted before on this blog. (Sat, Oct 8th, 9-1, Freedom Church Baltimore)

I wanted to share a clip from the workshop of an extremely helpful visual illustration of what our Precious Savior did for us on the cross. What a GLORIOUS GOSPEL we have!!!! AMAZING GOD and SAVIOR!!!

And here is a poetic version of the gospel, beautifully performed by Linda Peeler and her daughter Charity, written by Milton Vincent, and shared in his wonderful and practical book A Gospel Primer. (Purchase HERE.)

Grace and Peace!

mary

Blog Post #20- Evangelism Training Tomorrow and Next Week! - September 30, 2022

Hello!

How are you doing reaching out to the lost? If you live in the Baltimore area, there’s good news. Tomorrow begins our two-part Equipped and Unashamed Evangelism Training given by Pastor and Mrs. Chris Peeler of Making The Gospel Known Ministries. It’s from 9-1 and it’s free to you! Please click HERE to register. You’ll be glad you came!

grace and peace,

Mary

Blog Post #19 - Awesome Analogies Part 3 - September 16, 2022

Hi, Evangelism Buddies,

Glad you’re back for more tips and encouragement in your faith walk!

Please come to our Evangelism Training at Freedom Church Baltimore on October 1st and 8th (two sessions). The sessions will be provided for you free of charge! It is an amazing workshop and you will learn SO SO SO much! Childcare will be provided as well if you sign up very soon!

Here are three more Awesome Analogies to aid in your conversations with lost people. And these are also edifying to people who are already following Christ as well!

This video gives three illustrations:

1- Trusting in your own good works: two men went to the Temple to pray

2- It's impossible to be good enough to get to Heaven: the pier across the Atlantic

3- It's impossible to be good enough to get to Heaven: the microchip

Enjoy! If you click on the title of the blog post you will be directed to a page where you can leave a comment!

grace and peace,

mary

Blog Post #18 - Awesome Analogies Part 2 - September 9, 2022

Well, Hi, Everyone!

It’s good to be back! I hope you all have enjoyed a fruitful and peaceful summer. I sure did.

 

How’s it going? Have you had a chance to talk to people about Jesus lately? If so, WONDERFUL! That’s a big part of your job description as a Christ-Follower!!! If not, may I ask why? Are you just in a slump? (I’ve been in one the last few weeks, sadly! Please pray for me?) Are you afraid? Try to let fear FOR people overcome your fear OF them! They face a dreadful eternity unless they are IN CHRIST! Are you just not sure how to start? (And continue? And finish?) Let’s prayerfully press on together, shall we?

 

PLEASE sign up for our 2 day evangelism training class given by Pastor Chris Peeler at Freedom Church Baltimore on October 1st and 8th. From 9-1. It will be SO WORTH YOUR TIME and effort! More details next week!

 

For today, I’d like to continue sharing some Awesome Analogies that we started looking at back in June. I’m gonna copy what Pastor Chris wrote in his training manual and I’ll also share it by YouTube if you’d prefer to watch and listen.

 

“SIN REALLY DOES HAVE TO BE PUNISHED: What if I slapped my sister?

All of us have a problem understanding how bad our sin really is. This is what helps me. Imagine that I slapped my sister. Maybe I'll get grounded for a week. But if I slap my teacher I may get expelled from school. If I slap the mayor of the town I may get thrown in jail for a week. Do you see where this is going? It's the same wrongdoing, but the punishment changes according to who I'm slapping. The higher someone is in authority, the greater the punishment. So, what happens if I slap the President of the United States? Maybe I'll get thrown in jail for a lifetime! Maybe I'll get shot! Are you following me? It's important that we understand that our sin is ultimately against God.

 

Think about it! When we sin we're rebelling against God. We're rebelling against the God who made the world, everything in it, and us! He's all good and all loving and all righteous and all powerful and all knowing. He never sins. He made the rules. He demands they be followed. Sinning against the God of the universe is much worse than slapping my sister. That's why sin must be punished. That's why there is a Hell.

 

SIN REALLY DOES HAVE TO BE PUNISHED: ANOTHER COURTROOM STORY

Remember the courtroom analogy? Let's say you're standing there, having committed a violent crime. You say to the judge, “I am so sorry, Judge! I'll never do it again!” What kind of judge would let you go free? Yes, that's right. A crooked one. Maybe one you paid under the table, right? A just judge would have to sentence you properly. It's the same with God. Yes, He's good and kind and loving, but he's also just, and perfect and completely holy. It would contradict His nature to simply forgive us and let us get off scot-free. By His very nature he must punish sin.”

 

A point that Ray Comfort likes to make in his YouTube witnessing videos, is that if someone says they won’t face God’s judgment because they’ve done a lot of good things, remind them that that would never work in a court of Law. “Yes, Judge. You’re right, I did murder that little old lady, BUT I’ve also done a lot of good things. The judge would say, “Well you should do good things, but we’re here because of your crimes.”

 

I hope this is helpful. Press on friends. God is with you.

Grace and Peace,

mary

 

 

 

 

Pray For REACH?

Dear friends,

Thank you so very much for partnering with us in prayer for REACH. REACH is a five day missions camp that teaches people to evangelize and then takes them out to share the gospel with people. They go to the marketplace as well as assisted living homes to tell of the mighty works that God has done in salvation through Jesus Christ. This year’s event will run from Wed, July 13th through Sunday, July 17th.

Here are two lists to pray through.

List #1:

● Glorifying to God - Pray that the name of the Lord would be magnified through our thoughts, words, and actions.

● Logistics - pray that the overall schedule, logistics with ministry sites, transportation, and all other details involved will run smoothly

● Unity - pray that all those in leadership will be of the same mind and unified with clear goals and passion. Also pray for team unity: that all missionaries, small group leaders, etc...will work together and be of the same mind

● Protection/Safety - pray for protection over the Peeler home and the other places where people are staying - many people will be staying at their home through the duration of the trip. Though there are great precautions being taken for the safety of all, pray that the neighbors would have no complaints. Also, pray for protection over the team during ministry days as we will be out on the streets.

● Spiritual protection - the Gospel is going forth! What more would the devil want to do than sow discord among the brethren, bring sickness onto the team, cause sleeplessness and discouragement to arise, and bring distractions and spread lies around the group? Please cry out to God for protection from the onslaught of the enemy as we know he wishes to destroy every part of this trip in any way he can!

● Leadership - pray for wisdom, discernment, strength, and ability to cast vision to the missionaries as well as provide rich spiritual teaching and guidance to all

● Ministry sites - open hearts and conviction of the Holy Spirit on all the lost souls we will encounter including those at the assisted living homes, Lexington Market, Baltimore Inner Harbor, Annapolis City Docks, Glen Burnie light rail, etc...

● Salvation! Pray that the Gospel will go forth in great power as the team will be sharing their faith with hundreds and that many lost will come to Jesus

● Missionaries - cry out to God to stamp eternity on all the eyes of those participating in REACH. Pray for God to meet every person in a powerful and personal way that encourages, convicts, and inspires. Pray that these young people will be so heavily impacted with the reality of the Gospel in their own lives so that they will be eager to go home and change their worlds for Jesus!

● The overall goal - Missionaries would take the gospel to their communities long after REACH.

List #2:

PLEASE pray for ...

·          prayer coverage during each day from many co-laborers!!

·          Open hearts and minds in those the team proclaims the gospel to

·          Boldness and fearlessness to preach the gospel

·          Tenderhearted love and yearning for the lost to be saved

·          Safety for all the young missionaries and all the REACH teams

·          Safe travel and no car breakdowns

·          No rain during ministry times

·          Young people growing in the Lord Jesus during REACH--that God would regenerate those who might think they are saved, but are not; that He would do a lasting work of grace in the hearts of all participants; that REACH would launch all missionaries into a lifestyle of evangelism

·          Many people coming to hear the open-air preaching at Lexington Market, Inner Harbor, and Annapolis City Docks

·          Gospel seeds planted deeply into the hearts of tons of people, with many being saved

·          Physical, emotional, mental strength for Chris and Linda (the leaders!) and the other leaders

·          Unity among all the leaders and missionaries

·          A strong presence of the Holy Spirit during throughout REACH (Tuesday evening through Sunday afternoon).

·          ANYTHING else the Holy Spirit places on your heart to pray!

With Love and Gratitude,

Mary (for the Peelers)

grace and peace!

Blog Post #17- Sabbatical / "Is It Unloving To Speak of Hell?" - July 1, 2022

Hello, Fellow Fishermen!

Our church leadership team takes a monthlong sabbatical from our ministry work every July. It is a time where our whole church slows down and takes some much needed rest from the work we do to serve our beloved local church. I will be taking the month to step away from writing the blog as well. I will, of course, still be on mission to scatter and water (and wouldn’t it be amazing to even harvest!?!?) gospel seeds throughout the month as the Lord allows!

Please take some time to go back over any posts you missed if you so desire! Peruse the resource page! Come out and witness with me! Hand out some tracts and or start some fishing conversations! Memorize scripture and see where the Lord leads! We’ll get back to the blog at the beginning of August!

Here’s a helpful article called, “Is It Unloving To Speak of Hell?" by Randy Alcorn. Enjoy!

Grace and Peace,

mary

Blog Post #16- Awesome Analogies Part 1- June 24, 2022

How are you, Dear One?

I hope things are well with you. I am thankful you are here to read this blog. You bless me with your desire to see men, women, and children saved by the grace and mercy of God. Thank you! Who knows? Maybe one day you’ll even witness to someone I know and love and longingly pray for? And maybe I’ll have the privilege of doing the same for you?

Today let’s look at some really great analogies that you can use to help people understand spiritual concepts. I have taken these from Pastor Chris and Linda Peeler’s training manual. There are plenty more to come, so try to practice these each day this week so you’ll have a good handle on them and can use them in a conversation!

Awesome Analogies – by Pastor Chris Peeler

The gospel: A Courtroom Analogy

Have you ever been in a courtroom? It's a pretty solemn place isn't it? Let's say you're there, standing before the judge because you've committed a horrible crime. The judge says to you, “Steve, you owe this court $100,000.” You look in your pockets and all you're able to come up with is $3.62. The judge says to the guard, “Take him away!” As they're slapping the cuffs on you, someone rushes into the courtroom, whips out his checkbook, and writes the judge a check for the exact amount demanded: $100,000.

The judge knows him, knows he's good for his money, and says to the guards, “Let him go!” How would you feel toward the guy who wrote the check? That's right. Really thankful, right? That's exactly what Jesus did for you! But instead of writing a check with pen and paper, He paid your fine with his very blood on that cross.

 

Repentance: 180 Degree Turn

Repentance means taking a 180 degree turn. You turn completely away from your sin, and start going in the other direction. It’s important to remember though, that the emphasis must be on what you’re turning to. You’re turning away from your sin and you’re turning to God.

 

Repentance: A Car Trip

Let’s say you and I were up in New York, and we decided it was important to go to a conference in Florida. We get into my car, and I’m driving. We drive for hours, and the scenery starts to change, but instead of seeing palm trees and sunshine we start to see more and more pine trees and snow. Hours later we realize we’re not in Florida, we’re in Maine! You’re upset. I’m upset. What must I do to make it right?

There are three things. First, I must realize that what I had done was wrong and I must ask for your forgiveness, Then I must stop stop going north, and I must turn around. Lastly, I must head south, and not stop until we get where we are going. Repentance is just like those three things. First you must realize that you have been sinning against a holy God, and you must ask Him for forgiveness. Then you must stop sinning. (No one is ever able to completely stop sinning, but we can begin to learn to hate our sin, hate how it separates us from God, and make every effort possible to stop sinning.) You must [with God’s help] turn your life around. Lastly, you must pursue a relationship with God and trust in Him alone to save you from your sins.

I hope you have a great week! Remember to pray for RALF! Practice your 90 second gospel message. Meditate on the scripture verses we’ve gathered. And, most importantly, spend time adoring and seeking our awesome GOD and Savior!

grace and peace,

mary

Blog Post #15- Four Deadly Questions / Save The Date / Book Club Coming Soon- June 17, 2022

Hi, Friends!

One of my favorite evangelists is named Mark Cahill. Mark is a man on fire for the Lord and consequently he’s also on fire for the lost! Our dear friend, Ray Comfort describes Mark as the only man on earth who makes him feel lukewarm. Hahaha. Mark sure is intense. This beloved brother has his eyes and heart set on eternity. I’ve spoken to him before - he is an inspiration. One of my favorite books about evangelism is one he wrote called, One Thing You Can’t Do In Heaven. (Spoiler alert: the one thing he’s writing about is that we’ll never have the opportunity in Heaven to preach Christ to a lost person, because there won’t be any there. He’s trying to impress upon us the urgency to preach Christ here and now while we still can!)

In it, he describes four questions you can use in a gospel conversation to really help an unbeliever stop and think differently than they have previously about eternal things. When we call these questions deadly, we certainly don’t want to kill the person or kill good rapport you hopefully have already earned with your listener. We want to kill arguments, not relationships! Remember to always and only preach the gospel with gentleness and respect. (1Pe 3:15)

Here are the 4 Deadly Questions:

What do you mean by that? Examples: “Oh, you’re a Christian. Tell me, what do you mean by that?” Maybe they just mean they’re not Jewish or Muslim. Or maybe they mean they’re actually born again. “Tell me, what do you mean you’re into New Age?

How do you know that to be true? It is not at all uncommon when you ask someone this that they may come to realize that they actually don’t know it’s true, and in fact, by asking this question you help them process through the fact that they actually don’t know it’s true at all. Example: “How do you know that the original writings of the Bible have been changed over the centuries?” Or if someone says they think they’ll go to heaven when they die, you can ask them how they know that to be true. Then prayerfully you can help them actually know how to get to Heaven!

Where do you get your information? Similar to the previous question, this one actually asks for the source of their knowledge. People often realize when asked this question that they really don’t know where they got this information. This can also cause them to doubt the truth of their statement, at which time you can serve them by giving them factual information and the sources you used to make your claims.

What if you’re wrong? This can be very helpful to ask of a person who believes that there is no afterlife, or that God is so loving that He’ll just overlook their sin even if they refuse to repent and trust in Christ. Again, gentleness, kindness, and respect are key. And the person may very well ask you the same question. What if you’re wrong? Make sure you’re ready to answer that as well!

If you’d like to watch Mark’s talk with the same title as the book you can watch it here.

Jeff and I are hoping to launch a monthly evangelism book club near the end of the summer and Mark’s book will be our first selection! We have a number of copies available. More information will be coming soon! Here’s Mark’s website if you’d like to subscribe to his newsletter. Will you please pray for him and his ministry while you’re at it?

Finally, if you live in the Baltimore area, please SAVE THE DATE to come to evangelism training at Freedom Church Baltimore on Saturdays, October 1st and 8th with Pastor and Mrs. Chris Peeler! Trust me, if you want to ignite your heart and increase your knowledge of evangelism you won’t want to miss this!!!

Grace and Peace,

mary

Blog Post #14- Please Pray For RALF? - June 10, 2022

Greetings!

Do you ever just sit and ponder the power we as Believers have access to? We have our Heavenly Father available to us 24/7!!! Isn’t that such an amazing gift? The All-Knowing, Most Compassionate, All-Powerful Creator of the universe and everything it contains loves us, and wants to hear from us and answer our prayers!!! It’s almost unfathomable…

Do you realize that there are certain things we come across in scripture that Jesus told His people to pray for? Do you ever stop and pray when He gives these instructions? It’s a habit I’m trying to develop.

In one particular instance, Jesus tells His followers, “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.” (Mt 9:37-38)

As a follower of Christ we can obey Him and help the Great Commission to be fulfilled by faithfully praying. Our mentor, Pastor Chris, likes to have our ministry members pray for RALF. Who’s RALF, you ask? Well…

R is for Revival in the church- Pray that the Church rallies and experiences a renewal of obedience to the Great Commission and each member’s role as an Ambassador for Christ (2Cor 5:17-21). Pray for a resurgence of the gospel going forth in people’s everyday lives; that each child of God would be active in sharing our faith…

A is for Awakening in the culture- Pray that people all over the world will become aware of the reality of God, Jesus Christ, heaven and hell, right and wrong, as if they were waking from sleep… Pray that for our families, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and all whom we meet…

L is for Laborers in the harvest- Pray that God Himself will send out Christians to work to reach people with the gospel as in the verse above… Pray that you yourself will be a faithful gospel laborer and that He’ll help you overcome  fear, laziness, distractions, and apathy!

F is for Fruitful EvangelismPray that God would make our gospel “seeds” grow and bring forth eternal life for many! Pray that He would use us in saving some!

Let’s pray for RALF together today!

Grace and Peace,

mary

Blog Table of Contents

Blog Post #1- Evangelism Toolkit Introduction

https://www.freedomchurchbaltimore.org/evangelism-toolkit/2022/2/28/blog-post-1-evangelism-minute-introduction-march-4-2022

 

Blog Post #2- Our Story / Hell’s Best Kept Secret

https://www.freedomchurchbaltimore.org/evangelism-toolkit/2022/3/11/blog-post-2-hells-best-kept-secret-march-18-2022

 

 

Blog Post #3- True and False Conversion

https://www.freedomchurchbaltimore.org/evangelism-toolkit/2022/3/11/6bjvr4t6psws55stdsiv83in4h75d2

 

 

Blog Post #4- 90 Second Gospel

https://www.freedomchurchbaltimore.org/evangelism-toolkit/2022/3/11/blog-post-3-true-and-false-conversion-march-25-2022

 

Blog Post #5- Why Use Gospel Tracts?

https://www.freedomchurchbaltimore.org/evangelism-toolkit/2022/3/12/blog-post-5

 

 

Blog Post #6- Choosing Good Tracts

https://www.freedomchurchbaltimore.org/evangelism-toolkit/2022/3/12/blog-post-6-choosing-good-tracts-april-15-2022

 

Blog Post #7- More on Tracts!

https://www.freedomchurchbaltimore.org/evangelism-toolkit/2022/3/29/blog-post-7-more-on-tracts

 

 

Blog Post #8- How’s It Going? / Some Witnessing Clips

https://www.freedomchurchbaltimore.org/evangelism-toolkit/2022/3/29/blog-post-8-hows-it-going

 

Scripture Helpers #1- Scriptures To Memorize For Preaching The Gospel

https://www.freedomchurchbaltimore.org/evangelism-toolkit/2022/5/2/scripture-helpers-1-scriptures-to-memorize-for-preaching-the-gospel-1

 

Scripture Helpers #2- Some Scriptures About Proclaiming The Gospel -  Intended To    Instruct And Inspire

https://www.freedomchurchbaltimore.org/evangelism-toolkit/2022/5/2/scripture-helpers-2-some-scripturesabout-proclaiming-the-gospel-intended-to-instruct-and-inspire

 

Blog Post #9- Stepping Stones for A Gospel Conversation

https://www.freedomchurchbaltimore.org/evangelism-toolkit/2022/3/29/blog-post-9-may-6-2022

 

Blog Post #10- Wanna Come? / An Early Witnessing Conversation

https://www.freedomchurchbaltimore.org/evangelism-toolkit/2022/3/29/blog-post-10-may-13-2022

 

Blog Post #11- Scriptures for Preaching and An Invitation

https://www.freedomchurchbaltimore.org/evangelism-toolkit/2022/5/19/blog-post-11-scriptures-for-preaching-and-a-short-story-about-pressing-on

 

Evangelism Helpers #1- Powerful Evangelism Quotes
https://www.freedomchurchbaltimore.org/evangelism-toolkit/2022/5/27/evangelism-helpers-powerful-evangelism-quotes

 

Blog Post #12- Powerful Evangelism Quotes

https://www.freedomchurchbaltimore.org/evangelism-toolkit/2022/3/29/blog-post-11-may-20-2022

 

Blog Post #13- Scriptures for Witnessing Encounters

https://www.freedomchurchbaltimore.org/evangelism-toolkit/2022/3/29/blog-post-12-may-27-2022

 

Scripture Helpers #3- Some Gospel Verses Part 1

https://www.freedomchurchbaltimore.org/evangelism-toolkit/2022/6/5/scripture-helpers-3-some-gospel-verses

 

Scripture Helpers #4- Some Gospel Verses Part 2

https://www.freedomchurchbaltimore.org/evangelism-toolkit/2022/6/5/scripture-helpers-4-some-gospel-verses-part-2

 

Blog Post #14- Please Pray for RALF?

https://www.freedomchurchbaltimore.org/evangelism-toolkit/2022/6/5/blog-post-14-june-10-2022


Blog Post #15- Four Deadly Questions / Save The Date / Book Club Coming Soon

https://www.freedomchurchbaltimore.org/evangelism-toolkit/2022/6/5/blog-post-15-june-17-2022

SCRIPTURE HELPERS #4- SOME GOSPEL VERSES PART 2

Scripture Helpers #4

SOME GOSPEL VERSES – PART 2 (Romans 4 Through 1John)

 

Rom. 4:20-25   Yet [Abraham]  did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

Rom. 5:1   Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

 

Rom. 5:8   But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

 

Rom. 5:9-10   Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him!  For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life!

 

Rom. 10:9-10 ...If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

 

Rom. 10:13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

 

1Cor. 1:18   For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

 

1Cor. 1:21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.

nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

 

1Cor. 15:1-2   Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.  By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

 

1Cor. 15:3-8   For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all He appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

 

2Cor. 5:17-21  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!  All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:  that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.  We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.  God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. 

 

2Cor. 7:8-10   Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it — I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while —  yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us.  Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

 

Gal. 1:3-5   Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,  who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,  to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

 

Eph. 2:1-10   As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.  All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.  But because of His great love for us, God, Who is rich in mercy,  made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved.  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,  in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God —  not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

 

Eph. 4:32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

 

Col. 1:13-14 For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in Whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

 

Col. 1:19-20 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Him,  and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross.

 

Col. 1:21-23   Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.  But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation —  if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

 

2Th. 2:13   But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.

 

1Tim. 1:15   Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners — of whom I am the worst.

 

1Tim. 2:1-6   I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone —  for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.  This is good, and pleases God our Savior,   Who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.  For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,  Who gave Himself as a ransom for all men — the testimony given in its proper time. 

 

Titus 3:3-7   At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.  But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared,  He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,  Whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior,  so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 

 

Heb. 9:26-28 But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.

 

James 4:12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy.

 

1Pet. 1:3-9  Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade — kept in heaven for you,  who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.  In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that your faith — of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire — may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.  Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

 

1Pet. 1:18-21  For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers,  but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.  He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.  Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

 

1Pet. 2:9   But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.

 

1Peter 2:24-25  He himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed.  For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

 

1Pet. 3:18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.

 

1John 1:8-10   If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word has no place in our lives.

 

1John 3:16   This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

 

1John 5:11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.  He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

 

1John 5:13   I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

 

SCRIPTURE HELPERS #3- SOME GOSPEL VERSES

Scripture Helpers #3

SOME GOSPEL VERSES – PART 1 (Isaiah Through Romans 4)

 

Is. 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool...”

 

Is. 43:25  I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for My own sake, and remembers your sins no more.”

 

Is. 44:22  I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.

 

Is. 45:22  Turn to Me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.

 

Is. 51:22 This is what your Sovereign LORD says, your God, who defends his people: “See, I have taken out of your hand the cup that made you stagger; from that cup, the goblet of My wrath, you will never drink again.”

 

Is. 55:6-7  Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.  Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.

 

Is. 53   Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?  He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him.  He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.  Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted.  But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.  We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. ....   Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer, and though the LORD makes His life a guilt offering, He will see His offspring and prolong His days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in His hand.  After the suffering of his soul, He will see the light [of life] and be satisfied; by His knowledge My righteous servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities.  Therefore I will give Him a portion among the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong, because He poured out His life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. 

 

Hos. 13:14  I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction?...

Joel 2:32  And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the survivors whom the LORD calls.

 

Matt. 1:21 “She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”

 

Mark 10:23-27  Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

       The disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!  It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

       The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”

       Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

 

Mark 10:45  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.

 

Mark 16:16  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

 

Luke 7:50   Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

 

Luke 19:10  For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.

 

Luke 2:10-11  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.”

 

Luke 23:40-43 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?  We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”  Then he said, “JESUS, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

       JESUS answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with Me in paradise.”

 

John 1:12-13 Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God —  children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

 

John 3:16-17   For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.

 

John 6:35-40   Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never go hungry, and he who believes in Me will never be thirsty.  But as I told you, you have seen Me and still you do not believe.  All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never drive away.  For I have come down from heaven not to do My will but to do the will of Him who sent Me.  And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that He has given me, but raise them up at the last day.  For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

 

John 10:9  I am the gate; whoever enters through Me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture.

 

John 14:6   Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

 

Acts 2:21  And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

 

Acts 3:19  Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,

 

Acts 4:12  Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. 

 

Acts 13:38  Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through JESUS the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.  Through Him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.

 

Acts 16:30-31  He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”    They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved — you and your household.”

 

Acts 17:30  In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.

 

Acts 20:21  I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.

 

Rom 2:4  Or do you show contempt for the riches of His kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?

 

Rom 2: 5-11  But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when His righteous judgment will be revealed. God "will give to each person according to what he has done." To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, He will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism.

 

Rom 3:21-26  But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in His blood. He did this to demonstrate His justice, because in His forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— He did it to demonstrate His justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

 

Rom. 4:4-8  Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: 
 "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 
 Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."

 

Blog Post #13- Scriptures For Witnessing Encounters -June 3, 2022

Hi, There! How are you? Have you had a good week? Are you seeing your heart grow more and more compassionate towards people as you’ve been applying yourself to the task of evangelism? I love this quote from J.I. Packer, “The Christian’s motto should not be ‘Let go and let God, but ‘Trust God and get going.’” Well, OK then! Let’s GO!

This week for our challenge let’s start to memorize these Scriptures that will be useful for your witnessing conversations. I’ll print them for you HERE and I will read them for you in the video below.

You can play this video each day if you’d like to use the recording to help you get familiar with these verses and or you can print and read the verses daily to yourself. Print a few copies and hang them places where you’ll readily see them. Above your kitchen sink? Read while washing your dishes! On the dashboard of your car? Read while you’re parked and waiting for something or someone! On your bathroom mirror? Read while you brush your teeth! Up on the wall by your bedside? Read as you awaken in the morning or before you drift off to sleep at night!

Thanks again for taking the time to read what God has so graciously put on my heart to share. I am truly honored to have you on this journey with me. I am praying for you this week! As always, leave me a comment. Even just to say hello! And like and share with a friend or ten! :)

Grace and peace,

Mary

Blog Post #12- Powerful Evangelism Quotes- May 27, 2022

Hello, Friends! I definitely consider you a friend if you are following along with this blog, because obviously we have something very special in common - the desire to seek and save the lost as Jesus did! Now obviously, we can’t save anyone, right? That’s God’s job. But we can try to do the job that He commanded us which is to preach the gospel to every creature.

Hebrews 10:24 says, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds…” Today I want to share a few quotes from some very fruitful Christian men and women that spur me on to keep going! And I want to highlight a book that inspires me in the pursuit of evangelism as well.

First, some helpful quotes:

As I mentioned above, another way to keep motivated for the task at hand is to read from this book: Spurgeon Gold. It is a compilation of evangelistic stories and quotes by the famous “Prince of Preachers,” Charles Spurgeon. Keep it by your bedside and read a short portion at a time, begging God to give you a proper concern for the lost! And Freedom Church Baltimore members, I have ordered two (LARGE PRINT! Yay!) copies for our new Evangelism Lending Library. Please find me at church to check it out!

This week’s challenge: please read through the quotes list found HERE. Ask the Holy Spirit to correct any misunderstandings you have about evangelism. Ask Him to fuel your heart with His passion to save souls.

Grace and Peace!

PS- Don’t forget to schedule a time to go witnessing with MGKM. Click HERE and read the challenge at the end of Blog Post # 11 for more details!

Evangelism Helpers #1: POWERFUL EVANGELISM QUOTES

Evangelism Helpers

POWERFUL EVANGELISM QUOTES – compiled and collected in Equipped &Unashamed: An Evangelism Training Course by Pastor Chris and Linda Peeler

 

In times of extraordinary crisis ordinary measures will not suffice. The world lives in such a time of crisis. Christians alone are in a position to rescue the perishing. We dare not settle down to try to live as if things were “normal.” A.W. Tozer

 

Those who relied upon the Lord spoke with great boldness, with great courage. We’re always going to be timid and shy and fearful when we try and give the gospel in our own effort and energy. But when we’re plugged into the Holy Spirit and His passion for souls begins coursing through our spiritual veins, wild horses will not be able to stop you from sharing. So the key is to get closer to Jesus, fall in love with Him, become intimate with Him. And when you do so, you’ll have His heart for the lost, not your heart. Your heart can tend to get shy and fearful and cold and timid, but never the heart of God. Joni Erickson

 

The first joint priority of the churches of any city should be that of making it hard for people to go to Hell from that city. David Shibley

 

If their houses were on fire, you would run and help them; and will you not help them when their souls are almost at the fire of Hell? Richard Baxter

 

. . .it is a wonderful thing to be able to tell others of the love of Christ, knowing that there is nothing that they need more urgently to know, and no knowledge in the world that can do them so much good. We should not, therefore, be reluctant and backward to evangelize on the personal and individual level. We should be glad and happy to do it. J.I. Packer

 

Christ’s call is to save the lost, not the stiff-necked; He came not to call scoffers but sinners to repentance; not to build and furnish comfortable chapels, churches, and cathedrals at home in which to rock Christian professors to sleep by means of clever essays, stereotyped prayers, and artistic musical performances, but to capture men from the devil’s clutches and the very jaws of Hell. This can be accomplished only by a red-hot, unconventional, unfettered devotion, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to the Lord Jesus Christ. C. T. Studd

 

It is true that many are praying for world-wide revival. But it would be more timely, and more scriptural, for prayer to be made to the Lord of the harvest, that He would raise up and thrust forth laborers who would fearlessly and faithfully preach those truths which are calculated to bring about a revival. A.W. Pink

 

C.H. Spurgeon quotes:

Save some, O Christians! By all means, save some. From yonder flames and outer darkness, and the weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth, seek to save some! Let this, as in the case of the apostle, be your great, ruling object in life, that by all means you might save some.

 

I would sooner bring one sinner to Jesus than unravel all the mysteries of the Word, for Salvation is the thing we are to live for.

 

They will never accept grace till they tremble before a just and holy Law. Therefore the Law serves a most necessary purpose, and it must not be removed from its place. God be thanked when the Law so works as to take off the sinner from all confidence in himself! To make the leper confess that he is incurable is going a great way toward compelling him to go to that divine Savior, who alone is able to heal him.

 

Soul winning . . . should be the main pursuit of every true believer. We should each say with Peter, “I go a fishing,” and with Paul our aim should be, “That I might by all means save some.” The preacher’s work is to throw sinners down in utter helplessness, so that they may be compelled to look up to Him who alone can help them. Let eloquence be flung to the dogs rather than souls be lost. What we want is to win souls. They are not won by flowery speeches.

 

If you really desire that men should be saved, pray for them. It is an empty wish, a mere formality, if you do not turn it into prayer. Every loving desire for any man or woman should, by the believer, be taken before God in prayer. We cannot expect that God will save men unless His people pray for it. There must be travail before the birth, and there must be travail in prayer with God before we can expect that many will be born again into the church of God. Oh, for more prayer! Let us cry to God in secret, and in the family, and in all our assemblies, that God would save the sons of men. Go on! Go on, you preachers of the Word! Spread abroad the knowledge of this great fact, that “He that believes on the Son has everlasting life.”

 

If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.

 

More Quotes: The Use Of The Law

In its true and proper work and purpose it humbles a man and prepares him, if he uses the Law correctly, to yearn and seek for grace. Martin Luther

 

God's grace cannot be faithfully preached to unbelievers until the Law is preached and man's corrupt nature is exposed. It is impossible for a person to fully realize his need for God's grace until he sees how terribly he has failed the standards of God's Law.  John MacArthur

 

We cannot come to Christ to be justified until we have first been to Moses, to be condemned. But once we have gone to Moses, and have acknowledged our sin, guilt and condemnation, we must not stay there. We must let Moses send us to Christ.  John Stott

 

The Law doesn't help us; it just leaves us helpless. It doesn't justify us; it just leaves us guilty before the judgment bar of a Holy God. Ray Comfort

 

There is no true evangelism without the doctrine of sin, and without an understanding of what sin is. I do not want to be unfair, but I say that a gospel which merely says, 'Come to Jesus,' and offers Him as a Friend, and offers a marvelous new life, without convicting of sin, is not New Testament evangelism. The essence of evangelism is to start by preaching the Law; and it is because the Law has not been preached that we have had so much superficial evangelism. True evangelism...must always start by preaching the Law.  Martin Lloyd Jones

 

We have gospel-hardened a generation of sinners by telling them how to be saved before they have any understanding why they need to be saved.

 Paris Reidhead

It is a great mistake to give a man who has not been convicted of sin certain passages that were never meant for him. The Law is what he needs. Do not offer the consolation of the gospel until he sees and knows he is guilty before God. We must give enough of the Law to take away all self-righteousness. I pity the man who preaches only one side of the truth - always the gospel, and never the Law. D.L.Moody

 

As that which is straight discovers that which is crooked, as the looking-glass shows us our natural face with all its spots and deformities, so there is no way of coming to that knowledge of sin which is necessary to repentance, and consequently to peace and pardon, but by comparing our hearts and lives with the Law.  Matthew Henry

 

The absence of God's holy Law from modern preaching is perhaps as responsible as any other factor for the evangelistic impotence of our churches and missions. Only by the light of the Law can the vermin of sin in the heart be exposed. Satan has effectively used a very clever device to silence the Law, which is needed as an instrument to bring perishing men to Christ. It is imperative that preachers of today learn how to declare the spiritual Law of God; for, until we learn how to wound consciences, we shall have no wounds to bind with gospel bandages. Walter Chantry, Today's Gospel: Authentic or Synthetic

 

First, then, before you can speak peace to your hearts, you must be made to see, made to feel, made to weep over, made to bewail, your actual transgressions against the Law of God. George Whitefield

 

Just as the world was not ready for the New Testament before it received the Old, just as the Jews were not prepared for the ministry of Christ until John the Baptist had gone before Him with his claimant call to repentance, so the unsaved are in no condition today for the gospel till the Law be applied to their hearts, for 'by the Law is the knowledge of sin.' It is a waste of time to sow seed on ground which has never been ploughed or spaded! To present the vicarious sacrifice of Christ to those whose dominant passion is to take fill of sin, is to give that which is holy to the dogs.  A.W. Pink

 

If men do not understand the Law they will not feel that they are sinners. And if they are not consciously sinners, they will never value the sin offering… Spurgeon

Blog Post #11 - Scriptures For Preaching And An Invitation… - May 20, 2022

Hello, Friends,

I am hoping you are having a good week and that you are pressing into your call to evangelize!

This week’s post will be short and sweet. Please use the extra time to pore over the scriptures I’ll link to.

I wanted to direct you to Freedom Church Baltimore’s growing Evangelism Resource Page, where I’ve added a few new scripture resources. The first is a new format for the scriptures I posted in week 1 of this blog. They are verses that both instruct and inspire about proclaiming the gospel. You can now find those scriptures HERE. The second resource is a list of verses that you may frequently choose to refer to when you’re actually sharing the gospel with someone. Click HERE to see those.

This week’s challenge is two-fold; meditate on these scripture verses, God’s very words, AND pick a Friday evening to come share the gospel with our team. We’d love to literally walk alongside you as you reach out with the most incredible news about the most amazing Being in the Universe, God Almighty! When you come, you can just shadow Jeff, or me, or someone else on our Making The Gospel Known Ministry team led by Pastor Chris Peeler and his wife, Linda. You will not be expected to say anything, just listen and pray. But of course you are welcome to speak with people if you are ready!

Call or text me at 443-648-3130, or leave a comment to set up a time to come along!

As always,

Grace and Peace!

Mary

PS- I added a video to last week’s post if you’d like to go back and hear about one of my early witnessing experiences !!! See it here

Blog Post #10- Wanna Come?/ An Early Witnessing Conversation - May 13, 2022

Greetings! Welcome back! What a joy to have you return from week to week, committing to learn how to evangelize lost souls. Did you know that Proverbs 11:30 says, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who wins souls is wise.” Oh, Father, help us please to be soul winners!

How did you like last week’s Way of The Master video? Was it helpful? I remember when I first started receiving evangelism training how defeated and overwhelmed I felt. I thought there was NO WAY I could ever use those stepping stones to navigate a conversation with someone about Jesus. Oh, how wrong I was!!! With time and PRACTICE I learned it. The first time I ever had a conversation on my own after the training happened like this…

I’d like to personally invite you to join our evangelism team, Making The Gospel Known Ministries, led by Pastor and Mrs. Chris Peeler, on an upcoming Friday evening or Saturday afternoon outreach in downtown Baltimore. Details are as follows. You will be paired with a trainer so you can watch as the trainer talks with people about Christ. You do not have to say anything at all unless and until you want to! People typically come and shadow several times before they are gently encouraged to speak along with their trainer. Pastor Peeler also typically has an opportunity to preach the gospel open air style and it is such a sweet time to see people’s eyes opened to the merciful love of God towards wayward sinners such as we are!

So that is this week’s challenge. Pick a time to join us and put it on your calendar! You won’t regret it!

Blog Post #9- Stepping Stones For A Gospel Conversation - May 6, 2022

Hello, Fellow Ambassador! Did you know that that’s one of your job descriptions as a Believer? 2Corinthians 5 :17-20 says this: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” I’m so thankful that you are engaging in the mission entrusted to you by our Blessed Savior.

I’m going to begin sharing one method of having a gospel conversation with someone. Some may object to the thought of following a script as first. Let me explain why I believe this is an extremely useful framework to memorize.

First of all we certainly recognize that presenting the gospel to someone should not be solely a presentation, but also a conversation. We respect our hearer’s point of view! However, if we go into the conversation with no clear direction, who knows where we’ll end up? I once went witnessing with a dear friend who did not want to give the stepping stones a try. Instead she just wanted to go talk with people. At the end of the night, after several conversations with non-believers that never landed on our goal, sharing the life-saving gospel with another priceless and eternal human being, she said she wished we’d done it following the framework I had suggested. It was a good learning experience, but definitely not the best witnessing experience!

Almost everything in life requires learning. Want to ride a bike? Read a book? Do some algebra? (haha, ok, maybe not). You need to learn. When you invest time in learning how to steer a conversation towards the gospel, you will very often actually arrive there! Obviously, we can’t control the other person, but we can influence them and pray that our hearer will actually get to hear the Good News.

Once you learn these steps, you can make the conversation your own, with your own personality and style. The Holy Spirit will guide and direct you in what to say if you ask. My conversations with others do not follow a rigid script, BUT learning the framework has been invaluable!

The last thing I want to stress about this method or framework is that instead of merely using apologetics, logical arguments that set out to prove the Christian faith, you actually move from the realm of the person’s intellect to the person’s conscience. Their God-given conscience will actually bear witness that what you are telling them is true! Apologetics are certainly valuable. It can be so helpful to know facts about Bible prophecy, the historical accuracy of the Bible, archaeological evidence, etc. along with what other religions believe. And Lord willing we will eventually cover many of these topics together! But for now, let’s focus our attention here.

As this week’s challenge, please watch this thirty minute episode of Way of The Master to learn this tool together. If you don’t have time to watch it now, will you add it to your calendar or to-do list for the week? I know you’ll be blessed!

Let’s recap: the acronym to remember is WDJD. Instead of the famous acronym, WWJD - “What Would Jesus Do?”- we use “What Did Jesus Do?”:

W—- Would you consider yourself to be a good person?

D—-Do you think you’ve kept the Ten Commandments?

J—-Judgement? Would you be innocent or guilty? Would you go to Heaven or Hell?

D—-Does this concern you?

Until next week, Grace and peace!

Mary