3 Evangelistic Opportunities Every Sunday Morning
IHOR ZHAKUNETS
Sunday morning worship is primarily about the people of God gathering for the worship of God. But it also presents evangelistic opportunities of which we ought to be mindful. (1Cor. 14:23) The following are three evangelistic opportunities most Christians have every Sunday morning.
Invite Someone to Church
Use the Sunday morning worship gathering to expose people to the gospel. Technically this opportunity needs to be taken advantage of before Sunday morning, but it fits this list because the bulk of the engagement with the gospel will take place on Sunday morning.
It is possible for every Christian to make this a regular routine. During the week, call or text a friend and ask them to join you for breakfast and church or church and lunch afterwards. At a basic level, all you are doing is asking a friend, family member, or co-worker to spend time around an activity that is important to you.
On an evangelistic level you are inviting your friend to see God’s people worship, to hear the Bible explained, and to see you engage with Christ and his church. Not only will they observe all of this, but this shared time can also open the door to evangelistic conversations. “So, you do this every week?”, “What did the lyrics of that song mean?”, “The pastor seemed very worked up about the Bible…” So, invite someone to church this Sunday.
Talk to New People in Church
Another evangelistic opportunity that presents itself most Sunday mornings is that you can meet new people at church. This Sunday take time to look around for someone you don’t know. Maybe it’s someone you haven’t seen before or just someone you’ve never talked with.
God in his wisdom has brought that person into the doors of our local church. Let’s not squander that opportunity. To be clear, this won’t necessarily be an opening to share the gospel right then and there – though that may happen on occasion. But it will be an opportunity to represent Christ and his church, to show hospitality by our engagement, to get to know names, to find out how people are doing, to invite folks to a discussion group or answer questions about the church, and to begin building a relationship in case the person is there again next Sunday. So this Sunday talk to someone new in church.
Pray During the Sermon
Rather regularly at Mercy Hill Chapel the sermon takes an evangelistic turn. What I mean is that not only is the preacher talking about gospel content but he is addressing unbelievers directly.
Some of us may be tempted to tune out at this point, but let me encourage you not to. You can use this time to celebrate the gospel as it is rehearsed again. And, you can use this time to pray for the unbelievers in the room who may be engaged in an intense spiritual battle at that moment.
Pray. Pray for the preacher as he heralds the gospel message. Pray for the unbelievers listening. Pray for the Holy Spirit to be working the miracle of new birth in our midst. And, pray for God to give you opportunities to follow up with people after the sermon. This Sunday pray for the preacher as the gospel is proclaimed.
Most Sundays there are more opportunities than we realize. More work than workers. More ministry than ministers. “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few…” (Matthew 9:37) Let’s get to laboring.
Sunday morning worship is primarily about the people of God gathering for the worship of God. But it also presents evangelistic opportunities of which we ought to be mindful. (1Cor. 14:23) The following are three evangelistic opportunities most Christians have every Sunday morning.
Invite Someone to Church
Use the Sunday morning worship gathering to expose people to the gospel. Technically this opportunity needs to be taken advantage of before Sunday morning, but it fits this list because the bulk of the engagement with the gospel will take place on Sunday morning.
It is possible for every Christian to make this a regular routine. During the week, call or text a friend and ask them to join you for breakfast and church or church and lunch afterwards. At a basic level, all you are doing is asking a friend, family member, or co-worker to spend time around an activity that is important to you.
On an evangelistic level you are inviting your friend to see God’s people worship, to hear the Bible explained, and to see you engage with Christ and his church. Not only will they observe all of this, but this shared time can also open the door to evangelistic conversations. “So, you do this every week?”, “What did the lyrics of that song mean?”, “The pastor seemed very worked up about the Bible…” So, invite someone to church this Sunday.
Talk to New People in Church
Another evangelistic opportunity that presents itself most Sunday mornings is that you can meet new people at church. This Sunday take time to look around for someone you don’t know. Maybe it’s someone you haven’t seen before or just someone you’ve never talked with.
God in his wisdom has brought that person into the doors of our local church. Let’s not squander that opportunity. To be clear, this won’t necessarily be an opening to share the gospel right then and there – though that may happen on occasion. But it will be an opportunity to represent Christ and his church, to show hospitality by our engagement, to get to know names, to find out how people are doing, to invite folks to a discussion group or answer questions about the church, and to begin building a relationship in case the person is there again next Sunday. So this Sunday talk to someone new in church.
Pray During the Sermon
Rather regularly at Mercy Hill Chapel the sermon takes an evangelistic turn. What I mean is that not only is the preacher talking about gospel content but he is addressing unbelievers directly.
Some of us may be tempted to tune out at this point, but let me encourage you not to. You can use this time to celebrate the gospel as it is rehearsed again. And, you can use this time to pray for the unbelievers in the room who may be engaged in an intense spiritual battle at that moment.
Pray. Pray for the preacher as he heralds the gospel message. Pray for the unbelievers listening. Pray for the Holy Spirit to be working the miracle of new birth in our midst. And, pray for God to give you opportunities to follow up with people after the sermon. This Sunday pray for the preacher as the gospel is proclaimed.
Most Sundays there are more opportunities than we realize. More work than workers. More ministry than ministers. “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few…” (Matthew 9:37) Let’s get to laboring.