SOME FRIENDLY TIPS IN EVANGELIZING THE LOST

1. SOME FRIENDLY TIPS IN EVANGELIZING THE LOST Based on John 4:7ff

2. John 4:7-9 • “A woman of Samaria came to get water, and Jesus said to her, Give me some water. 8 For his disciples had gone to the town to get food. 9 The woman of Samaria said to him, Why do you, a Jew, make a request for water to me, a woman of Samaria? She said this because Jews have nothing to do with the people of Samaria” (BBE).

3. WHAT LESSONS CAN WE GLEAN FROM THESE VERSES? • There are seven.

4. Tip No. 1 • LET US BE REMINDED OF THE VALUE AND IMPORTANCE OF EVEN JUST ONE SOUL. • In this instance the Lord met one soul in the person of a Samaritan woman, just one soul among many souls in the land of Samaria, which at that time had a population by the thousands. He spent his precious time talking to that woman.

5. We go by the highways and byways of the community and encounter many people. On days when people are busy, sometimes we encounter just one person. • Let us not be dismayed if God sent only one soul to our way to be influenced by us. Many churches have been established by the conversion of just one person.

6. The church of Christ in Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, began with the conversion of Simprosio Villanueva, a landowner who bought a Tagalog Bible. He was taught by an unnamed disciple of Leslie Wolfe. • Antonio, a son of Simprosio, became interested in the Bible and was taught and was baptized. Soon their neighbors were also baptized. They became the first church of Christ in Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, in 1930.

7. Antonio Villanueva baptized people who later became preachers and multiplied the churches of Christ in Mindanao. We will mention about these people later in our sermon. • So that’s tip number 1: • AS WE GO PROSPECTING, BE REMINDED THAT EVEN JUST ONE SOUL IS AS VALUABLE AS MANY.

8. Tip No. 2 • WHILE WE CHURCHES OF CHRIST PUT MORE EMPHASIS ON MALE LEADERSHIP, LET US BE REMINDED THAT WOMEN ACTUALLY HELP GET THE CHURCH GOING. • The church of Philippi began with the conversion of one religious woman named Lydia, a native of Thyatira.

9. Acts 16:14-15 • Lydia was a trader in purple cloth, and a God-fearing woman. She listened to Paul. The Lord opened her heart to give attention to the things which Paul was saying (Acts 16:14). • Lydia also invited Paul to teach her household. As a result members of her household were baptized (verse 15).

10. Again, about the Villanuevas. The Villanuevas migrated to Cotabato in 1937. • In Pinaring, Antonio Villanueva taught and baptized a lady named Maximina de la Torre. • Maximina then invited Antonio to preach in their house in Pinaring, Cotabato. Antonio came to teach Remigio de la Torre, husband of Maximina.

11. Antonio taught and baptized Cornelio Alegre, a cousin of Remigio de la Torre. • Antonio also taught and baptized Laureano Belo, another cousin of Remigio de la Torre. • Laureano Belo taught and baptized his sisters, brothers, parents and cousins.

12. The Church of Christ in Pinaring, Cotabato, grew after the conversion of one woman, who gave all to the faith. • So that’s tip number 2: • LET US REMEMBER THAT WOMEN PROSPECTS, IF CONVERTED, WILL ACTUALLY HELP GET THE CHURCH TO MOVE AND DO MUCH FOR THE GLORY OF GOD.

13. Tip No. 3 • AN OPPORTUNITY TO CONVERSE WITH ONE PERSON IS ALSO AN OPPORTUNITY TO TOUCH HIS HEART WITH THE GOSPEL. • Imagine here the Lord talking to a woman, asking her for a glass of water to satisfy his thirst. The conversation about water turns to the conversation about the water of life.

14. John 4:9 • “The woman of Samaria said to him, Why do you, a Jew, make a request for water to me, a woman of Samaria? She said this because Jews have nothing to do with the people of Samaria” (Basic Bible in English).

15. John 4:10 • “In answer Jesus said, If you know what God gives freely, if you know who it is that is asking you for water, you would ask him also and he would give you living water.”

16. John 4:11-12 • “The woman said to him, Sir, you have no pitcher and the well is deep; from where will you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob who gave us the well and took this water himself, with his children and his cattle?” (Basic Bible in English).

17. John 4:13-14 • “Jesus said to her, Everyone who takes this water will be thirsty again: 14 But whoever takes the water I give him will not need to drink again; for the water I give him will become in him a fountain of eternal life” (Basic Bible in English).

18. John 14:15 • “The woman said to him, Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be in need of drink again and will not have to come all this way for it” (Basic Bible in English).

19. YOU MAY TURN THESE CONVERSATIONS INTO SPIRITUAL TALKS • Coke ►Water of life • Vegetables ►Garden of life • Sufferings ►Better life in the hereafter • Precious gems ►The pearl of great price • Lost notebook ►Book of life • Traffic noise ►Song of Moses and the Lamb • Nice house ►Better home in heaven

20. So that’s tip number 3: • USE ANY OPPORTUNITY IN CONVERSING WITH A PERSON AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO TOUCH HIS HEART WITH THE GOSPEL.

21. Tip No. 4 • OVERCOME YOUR TRIBALISTIC BIASES AND HANGOVERS. • “The woman of Samaria said to him, Why do you, a Jew, make a request for water to me, a woman of Samaria? She said this because Jews have nothing to do with the people of Samaria” (John 4:9, Basic Bible in English).

22. Jesus meets this woman at 12:00 high noon (John 4:6). She is alone. She comes at noon time probably to avoid the company of the Jews. • That well was built by the man whom both Samaritans and Jews claimed to be their ancestor, Jacob (John 4:12). • Yet these people, who claimed to have descended from just one man, could not see eye to eye with each other!

23. Her questions to Jesus reveal much more than meets the eye: • “Why do you talk to me, a Samaritan?” she asks. • The Jews belittle the Samaritans, calling them unclean. Samaritans are the product of the union between the circumcised and the uncircumcised.

24. More than that, she asks: “Why do you talk to me, a woman?” • Even among the Arabians, Jews, Iraqis, Saudis, Iranians and other Middle Eastern people, close encounters with women on the street have been frowned upon. • This all has changed. In the church of Jesus, all of us, including men and women, are one.

25. Galatians 3:26-28 • “Because you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all those of you who were given baptism into Christ did put on Christ. 28 There is no Jew or Greek, servant or free, male or female: because you are all one in Jesus Christ” (Basic Bible in English).

26. No culture or tribe is better or superior. Therefore do not belittle other cultures. • So that’s tip number 4: • SHOULD YOU EMPLOY YOURSELF AS A MOVER OF MEN FOR GOD, DO SOME CULTURAL OVERHAULING. THROW AWAY YOUR TRIBALISTIC BIASES AND HANGOVERS.

27. Tip No. 5 • WHEN IT COMES TO DOMESTIC RELATIONSHIPS, EXERCISE SENSITIVITY AND DIPLOMACY. • In the conversation with the woman of Samaria, Jesus deals with holy things. • To better appreciate what is holy, even our moral lives must be attuned to it.

28. John 4:16-17a • “Jesus said to her, Go, get your husband and bring him here. 17 In answer, the woman said, Sir, I have no husband…” • (Basic Bible in English)

29. John 4:17b-18 • “Jesus said to her, You have said rightly, I have no husband: 18 Because you have had five husbands, and the man you are living with now is not your husband: what you said is true.” • (Basic Bible in English)

30. The statements from the Lord is an example of how to break the truth to a soul without being rough, without being vulgar. • Many hearts can be offended because of careless words that come from our mouths.

31. Jesus is an example in diplomacy and sensitivity to personal feelings. • Being omniscient, Jesus already knew the woman is living in sin. • He did not condemn her. • He was very diplomatic with the issue. • He knew that one careless word would be hurting.

32. Let me tell you of a woman named Mery. In Babag, Cebu City, she was often the subject of gossips, because of her past immoral life. I never in any way paid much attention to it. • Instead of dwelling on her personal problem, I dwelt on heaven and Jesus’ offer of salvation. As a result, Mery invited thirty of her neighbors to listen to me.

33. The subject of common law marriage, or cohabiting with a woman or a man, is a very sensitive issue. Instead of touching it directly, wait for the woman herself to ask you questions about it. • Dwell more on the cure of the problem, which is the cleansing one’s soul by the blood of Jesus.

34. So that’s tip number 5: • EXERCISE SENSITIVITY AND DIPLOMACY WHEN IT COMES TO DOMESTIC RELATIONSHIPS. • If we succeed in our endeavors in teaching them properly, people with wrong relationships and wrong behaviors will strive to correct themselves, with God’s help.

35. Tip No. 6 • DWELL ON WHAT IS POSITIVE AND TRUTHFUL. • As a result of that revelation from Jesus, the Samaritan woman’s conviction about him changed. She said, “Sir, I see, I perceive, I think, I presume that you are a prophet” (John 4:19). • She learned to be trusting after listening to the Son of God.

36. Notice her next statement: “Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, on Mt. Gerizim, but you Jews are telling us that the right place to worship is in Jerusalem” (John 4:20). • How does Jesus answer that? He counters by saying the time comes when worship will be different. No one will worship God either in Gerizim or in Jerusalem (John 4:21).

37. 21 Jesus said to her, “You give worship as if to God, but you have no knowledge of what you are worshipping; we Jews have knowledge of what we are worshipping: because salvation first comes from the Jews.” • When teaching about the church bring the prospect’s minds to Matthew 16:18, Acts 2:42; Acts 8 and other related verses. Teach, but don’t push the truth. Let the other party have more time to think. It is his right to reject or accept it.

38. Instead of attacking, ask the question, “What kind of worship, or what manner of worship does God the Father desire?” • This puts the other party on the defensive. If he cannot answer, don’t push the issue. Your purpose is to win his soul, not to win points.

39. Attacking religions, sects and denominations is a no-no, if our aim is to attract these people to our movement. • You attack religions only when your purpose is not to convert those people.

40. If you ever converted those people by the negative approach in soul-winning, they who got converted by it also become potential problems in the church, as I have found out.

41. People whom we teach also copy our methods, our styles, our language, our approach, almost everything that we are and have been. • Instead of teaching them to copy us, teach them to copy Jesus.

42. So that’s tip number 6: • INSTEAD OF DWELLING ON THE NEGATIVE, DWELL ON WHAT IS POSITIVE AND TRUTHFUL.

43. Tip No. 7 • TREAT EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO TEACH AS THE PROSPECT’S LAST OPPORTUNITY TO HEAR THE GOSPEL. • Every man and woman each deserves a chance to hear about Jesus in this life. Even one chance. • One man I know who believed in this principle and practiced it to the letter was the late Laureano Belo.

44. After being baptized by Villanueva, Laureano Belo shared the truth of salvation with those who were close to him. He wanted his relatives to go to heaven also. He taught his brother Onofre Belo, his four sisters and his parents, his cousins, his nephews and nieces. • He shared the gospel with his cousin Remigio de la Torre, the husband of Maximina, in whose home Antonio Villanueva regularly preached each Sunday morning.

45. Beginning in 1941, he with four other brethren established the churches in Malingon, Central Mangilala, Mlang, Lambayong, Catico, Kalanawe, Salunayan, Katidtuan, Kabacan, Tacurong, Kidapawan, Koronadal, Banga, Datu Piang, Magpet, Columbio, Tubod, Kolambugan, Mainit, Surigao City, Pagadian City, Siay, and other places.

46. What was his method? He would talk to his coworkers as they worked in the field. His hand did labors while his mouth did the preaching! • He never wasted time in proclaiming the Word, whether in season or out. He would preach to the rich and to the poor alike, to the professionals and to the non-professionals, to the politicians and ordinary men and women.

47. He would preach to his audience while hiking on the road, while planting rice in the paddies, while harvesting rice. • He would teach the Good News with his barber while having a haircut. • He would preach to the waitresses and to fellow customers while eating in a restaurant. • He would preach while riding on a bus, or in a boat.

48. He was the sower who sowed two kinds of seed: the seed of the kingdom and the seed that would fill his house with rice at harvest time. When the farm had already been planted, he made his wife Cecilia manage the irrigating and the weeding of the field. And he would be away for weeks and most of the time months preaching the gospel. He would arrive during the harvest season. Sometimes he would come home after his wife had given birth! 

49. To brother Laureano Belo, the number who listened did not matter, whether it was a big group, a family of three or four, or just one. • Salvation is such a valuable commodity that everyone must needs have it. We in whom this gospel has been entrusted are duty-bound to preach it to all men.

50. So there you have it: The seven tips on proclaiming the gospel according the Lord’s example in John 4.