Friday, September 24, 2010

Evangelism Focus 09/24/10

For the evangelism focus this evening, I'd like to share with you a segment I transcribed from Revive our Hearts ministry with Nancy Leigh DeMoss (http://www.reviveourhearts.com/). The subject of this particular segment was evangelism. She shared a story of a woman who first heard the the gospel through interaction with the Revive Our Hearts ministry and then trusted Christ as her Savior. I chose to transcribe this story and share it here because I was captivated by the language this woman used to share salvation. It showed a knowledge of God and desire to know Him more as well as extreme gratitude for His mercy and grace. I think it is worthy of sharing and much can be learned from it. It's a bit on the lengthy side but well worth the read. The story has a few twists, so I encourage you to stick with it through the end.

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I want to share with you a story of a woman that we have met through this ministry. She is an American who is living in another country. A little over a year ago, she connected with the true woman blog and began communicating with one of our bloggers.

One year ago this month
She wrote and said, “I thought you would want to know that today I confessed my sins to God and that I am trusting Him as my savior. I am so grateful for what he has done for me. It is as if a tremendous load has been lifted. For the first time, it seems as if there might be hope. I realize I have only barely nibbled at the edges, but it has created in my heart a desire to know Him so much more. He is really more than amazing isn’t He? I don’t even know how to sufficiently express my gratitude to you for gently and patiently peeling back the layers for me and introducing me to my Savior. Thank you, really.

Signed,
So Thankful to be called His Friend

P.S. And that with tears running down my face.

That was the first day this woman came to know the Lord. Over the past year, she has sent a series of e-mails as she has been dialoging with a woman on our team who blogs. She has shown this amazing spiritual hunger and growth but also an earnestness in sharing her new faith with others.

Less than two months after trusting Christ
She wrote: “I have had opportunities in the past weeks to explain salvation to several international women within our community. These women were very interested to hear. Clearly, I am not the only person on the planet who has been eager, desperate for someone to explain God and His ways. Do you know of a resource, book, website that I could study to learn how to explain salvation more effectively? Each one is at a different starting place and I really can only share what I know He has done for me, and that very clumsily.

Two weeks later
She wrote: “I thought you would be interested to know that my Russian friend is now trusting Christ as her savior. While I wasn’t able to answer many of her questions, I was able to pass on my copy of Josh McDowell’s “More than a Carpenter”. We spoke this morning, and she is so excited about her new relationship with God. His provision of forgiveness is more than amazing. Thank you so much for explaining salvation to me. Know that your efforts are having a ripple effect here.”

Still thankful to be called His friend,

Three weeks later
She wrote: “I thought you would be interested to know that this morning one of my daughters confessed her sins and is trusting Christ as her Savior.”

A few weeks later:
She wrote: "I thought you would be interested to know that my other child accepted Christ last night. We had been having discussions about it not being enough just to know who the true God is and how Christ is the only way to God. Last night, she was finally ready to yield her own heart. I am so amazed and thankful for His goodness toward my children."

Several weeks later
She wrote, “I have a friend that I help each week with her young son so she can get away for a bit. For several months, we have been having an ongoing conversation about her need for salvation. I thought you would be interested to know that she began trusting Christ today. Again, I want to thank you for making the effort to point me to Christ. It is such a wonder and privilege to know the source of hope and to be able to share Him with those around me. Isn’t His mercy more than amazing? "

Nancy Leigh DeMoss goes on to say: Last week I wrote this woman to wish her a happy 1st spiritual birthday and also took the opportunity to ask her why sharing Christ seemed to be so natural for her when it seems to be most difficult for most believers. I want to share, with her permission, what she wrote in response.

She said, “You asked why sharing my faith was so natural. I’m not sure I would use that word. I am not an outgoing person. It feels very much like work to me to have a one on one conversation with someone. I think from the beginning it has been more of an overflow of a very grateful heart. When God permitted me to begin to see Him as He truly is, then I also began to see myself as I truly am. When I caught a glimpse of the magnitude of what He has done for me, a God hater, when I began to grasp an appreciation for the tender mercies of God in being not only willing to redeem mankind but also taking upon Himself the role of vicarious sacrifice in order to accomplish this redemption, how can I be less than grateful? I am not sure gratitude can be contained and mine wasn’t.
Secondly, God has placed in my heart a compassion for those around me. While traveling in a foreign country for my job, I was raped by a group of men, and in the process my unborn son was killed. Bitterness, anger (more like rage), and hatred oozed from my pores. No amount of alcohol could relieve the pain. Forgiveness was and is a huge issue with me, and God is graciously changing me and softening my heart. When I interact with the women in my life, I am astounded that so many of them have experienced a similar violation as I have or the death of a child. I can relate to the desperation, the intensity of the inescapable pain, and the consuming anger. While this is still a tangled issue in my life, and I have yet to work out exactly how God’s sovereignty, love, etc. play into this, I know in my heart that the answers are found in Christ and revealed in His word. I want these women to know Him as I am beginning to know Him and to experience true hope.
Thirdly, the glory of God. This has become my primary motivator. I am so thankful that God has caused me to cross paths with [Revive our Hearts]. Numbers 14:21 remains in my mind, ‘that the whole earth be filled with His glory’, I want that. The more I learn and experience His character, the more I want Him to be glorified in the whole earth. He is worthy!

Nancy Leigh Demoss closed with these words:
I want to remind you of the passage in Mark chapter 5 where Jesus told the former demon-possessed man, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how He has had mercy on you.” That is evangelism. That is sharing the gospel. Verse 21 says, “He went away and began proclaiming in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.”

1 comment:

  1. THIS is beautiful. Just beautiful. God be praised and glorified, always! Thank you, Katrina.

    P&K

    ReplyDelete

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