As Christians, we are to be prayerfully burdened for souls and be fruitfully engaged in effective evangelism (Romans 1:16). Peter challenges us in 1 Peter 3:15 “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.”

 

Our strategy or plan in biblical missions and evangelism was given by the Lord before His ascension in Matt 28:1-20. It has three elements:

1. Evangelical - To be willing to Go and make disciples purposefully (Mark 5:19).
2. Ecclesiastical - Help them in follow up and to be properly baptized, (after the catechism class) belonging to a local church and worshiping God in fellowship with likeminded brethren (Hebrews 10:24,25 & Acts 20:7)
3. Educational - teach them the Word of God that they may grow thereby.
   (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:44-48). It is the plan and purpose and presence of the king of kings who will be with us as we serve Him (2 Timothy 2:15).

 

GST in Action

As we pray and go forth to witness for Christ and meet others with the gospel, consider these 3 practical steps of GST in personal evangelism:

 

1. Greet & Give

Begin with a courteous greeting and give a tract if possible. Establish a relationship and be ready to connect with the person in a meaningful manner before you can have a conversation together as the Lord leads. Be prepared to listen to them if they have any queries or doubts and answer them with godly wisdom.

 

2. Smile & Share

As the Lord leads, begin to share the simple gospel message and a relevant verse or anecdote and let the person ask questions if any and answer soundly and graciously.
Do not be afraid to bring in the need for Christ our Lord and Saviour and the cross as the conversation develops and the reason why and how.

 

3. Talk & Take

As you talk about Christ as it is a relevant topic to consider, take down details of the person, i.e. mobile number or email if possible and follow up as God opens doors to you. You may want to follow up on the person and invite him or her to your church service or a Bible study or a special gospel meeting. Oftentimes a second visit in deeper conversation may be helpful to reach out effectively and invite the person to church or a gospel meeting. That is what we can do in practical evangelism and the giving out of Bibles too as the Lord wills.

 

Responsible Ambassadors for Christ

As believers and members of his church we are all called to be ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20). Jesus gave to all of us the sacred duty of the Great Commission to go and share the Gospel and make disciples of all ethnic groups (Mark 16:15; Matthew 28:18-20; Luke 24:47; John 20:21). Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit to indwell and empower us to share Christ in the Gospel (Acts 1:8; Zech 4:6; Acts 18:5,1Cor 6:19,20).

 

We are to have a holy burden or sacred concern for souls as a church. Our Lord in Mark 5:19 told a man healed of his demon possession, “Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.”

 

The Gospel of Christ is the only way of everlasting hope for the salvation of sinners and as a reformed and evangelical church, we support the work of evangelism and discipleship. (Acts 4:12, cf. Romans 9:3; Matthew 9:36). We have our adversaries too, as the evil one will use the various cults and the occult (including the new age movement) and other false religions with defective and wrong ideas of God to confuse and affect adversely the hearts and minds of people with error and falsehood (2 Corinthians 4:4).

 

We are all answerable to God one day for our stewardship of the gospel one day
(2 Corinthians 5:10).

 

Conclusion

Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:16 says: “For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!” We need to pray for effective outreach for souls in these last perilous days. Let the sovereign God determine the final outcome and not us (Daniel 4:35). We need to be always ready to sow the gospel seed and to water it as the Lord wills (Matthew 13).

 

Be alert also to God given occasions for us to share Christ or give a tract or to invite someone to church. As an individual Christian and as a church, pray for a spiritual church vision or burden for the awakening of souls, and be willing always to share Christ with meekness and fear to the awakening of hearts while there is yet breath in our nostrils.

 

GST is not a bad thing after all if we do it according to the will of God. Something to ponder and act upon as the Lord leads you and your church in effectual gospel outreaches and missions.

 

By Rev Jack Sin

 

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