Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The text for today’s meditation is Matthew 28:19

What does Evangelism mean to you? Does it mean knocking on doors of people you don’t know? Does it mean standing at a door not knowing if you will be told "get off my property" or "who are you?" Or does it mean frustration and anxiety because you don’t know what to say? What about evangelism is it you don’t like? I think it is obvious from my answers; we don’t like frustration, anxiety, and fear.

What is evangelism? What is the definition of evangelism? Dictionary.com defines it as "The preaching or promulgation of the gospel." The gospel. We are to promulgate the Gospel. Are you sure that is a good thing, it sure sounds like a bad thing to me? Let’s put it another way; "The spreading or broadcasting of the gospel." OK, now that we know what we are to do but what is it exactly we are to spread, what exactly is the gospel? Again I turned to dictionary.com for their definition.

gos·pelnoun 1. the teachings of Jesus and the apostles; the Christian revelation. 2.the story of Christ's life and teachings, especially as contained in the first four books of the , namely Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. 3.usually initial capital letter any of these four books.4. something regarded as true and implicitly believed: to take his report for gospel. 5.a doctrine regarded as of prime importance: political gospel.

Yes, they are correct in their list of definitions but they haven’t totally grasped what it is we are to spread, sure the second definition "the story of Christ's life and teachings, especially as contained in the first four books of the new testament, namely Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John" is a good thing to spread. Another translation for the Greek word εὐαγγέλιονis "Good News." What is it about Christ’s life that is Good News? The Good News is summed up quite nicely in what is called the Gospel in a nutshell; John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life." We are to spread the Good News that we have been given a gift, the gift of eternal life given to us by Christ through His death and resurrection. Now that is Good News to get excited about. That is something to tell everyone. If Harbin Chevrolet gave you a free car for their grand opening and told you they would give one to everyone you told. How excited would you be to spread that good news? Just think a Chevy doesn’t last near as long as Christ’s gift of eternity. So, now we know what we are to do (spread the good news) and what it is we are to spread (the gift of eternal life through Christ.) But how do we know that is really what we are to do? We know because God told us himself through the words of Christ in Matthew 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," He says "Go therefore", that is a command. This is not the first time God has sent someone though. The first to be sent by God was Abram. Genesis 12:1&2, "Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you."" God commands Abram, so what did Abram do? Verse 4 says, "⁴ So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him."

Who is doing the sending? God, God sends us too! You may be thinking, Pastor are you sure God is talking to me? Let me show you where he tells you specifically. John 20 verse 21 "Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you."" He wasn’t just talking to the Apostles; He was talking to you and me as well.

So, how does this apply to us, the people of Trinity Lutheran, the church.

We have challenges, we need to grow or we face extremely hard choices. Everyone can see the elephant in the room. I have to ask you some really hard questions that I want you to think about this week. Is the priority of the body of believers known as Trinity Lutheran Church to keep the doors open for the sake of having a place to worship or to further the kingdom? That is a tough one to answer honestly. Is it your personal priority to keep this building open and a pastor in the pulpit so that you can have a place to worship and eventually have your funeral or is it a base of operations to go out and serve the community? I guess what I am asking is; is the priority of this body of believers on yourself or on building the kingdom by spreading the Good News?

Keeping the doors open isn’t enough. Having a church for you isn’t enough. If the priority is on us and not the kingdom the church will not grow and neither will Trinity! Notice how I said that? The kingdom will not grow if we are here for us. Isn’t that what it means to be a Christian, Go, make disciples? If the kingdom grows God will see to it we grow.

How do we do this thing called evangelism and how can it be less intimidating? First and foremost we pray! We pray for the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts. We pray for God’s will in our life and our church. We pray we have the courage to see, hear, and do His will in our life and our church. The goal is to live out our faith. The goal is to live as Christ did, caring for people as they came along. The goal is to build relationships like Christ did with all kinds of people. You are the face of Christianity. For good or bad; like it or not; you are Christianity to the people that see you and know you. What does your Christianity look like? Is your Christianity growing the kingdom or hurting it? People don’t want to be "evangelized." They don’t always want to hear about the good news. Yet one thing is certain, people will always be drawn to the good news when they see it in action. Everywhere you go you are evangelizing with your actions. I have an assignment for this week. I want you to start the evangelism process with some baby steps that are non-threatening. I want you to practice being sent. Practice being sent by crossing three barriers of normal life;

• Cross your fence
• Cross your street
• Cross a social, political, or ethnic barrier

I’m not asking you to talk about your faith or your church but if it comes up don’t be afraid to go with it. I want you to cross your fence in your neighborhood, you know the one you’ve never crossed to the neighbor you’ve never met. Do something to bless them. Maybe take a cake, or cookies, or help with something around the house or just converse with someone on your street. I want you to cross your street. Do something to connect with someone who is close to your home, but with whom you haven’t built a relationship yet. Lastly I want you to cross a social, political, or ethnic barrier. Take someone with you from church or your family. Consider these ideas: eat at an authentically ethnic restaurant in a part of town that is unfamiliar to you, attend an event that represents a different part of culture; visit a church or other religious location with different beliefs than your own. If you can’t do all three, pick at least one. For those that were in the evangelism seminar I challenge you to do this again. Come back next week and share what happened with each other. If you make an effort, you will be surprised at the results. Let me redefine your earlier thoughts on evangelism. Evangelism is all about building relationships and the Holy Spirit takes it from there. The three things I ask you to do are evangelism. They aren’t so frustrating. They shouldn’t cause anxiety; after all we are just talking to our neighbors and building relationships. God is sending you; He will be with you the whole way. Evangelism redefined – building relationships through the work of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.