Epaggelia

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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you…

(Matthew 28:19-20)

What is our strength in the ability and confidence to deliver the good news message of Jesus?

Define Faithfulness, (Gk) Pistos, “trustworthy, believing, sure or true” – Strongs Dictionary

There are many different ways to “GO”, but however we try to deliver the good news, in some way, we are becoming a good news bringer, which is the root definition of an Evangelist, (Gk) Euaggelistes, “preacher” – Strongs Dictionary. Or “messenger of good news, a title given to messengers who were not apostles in the New Testament” – Thayers Dictionary. The Greek verb is “Euaggelizo, “to preach or bring or announce good news” – Thayers Dictionary.

The method of learning how to catch people spiritually is to imitate Jesus as best you can. Jesus said, “Follow Me”.  What would Jesus say, if he met a visitor in the assembly? Some of us do not feel confident enough about our faith, to put ourselves in the Master’s shoes, in order to try to emulate Him.  So we need to get to know our “net”, (The Gospel), in order to use it well. 

The Gospel of God, 1st Peter 4:17.  Is about how good God is and how much we need Him.

The Gospel of the grace of God, Acts 20:24. Is about how God treats us like as if we had no sin!

The Gospel of your salvation, Ephesians 1:13.  Is about the many ways and means of His deliverance of our soul into eternal life, see Philippians 2:12.

The Gospel of peace, Ephesians 6:15.  Is about how God makes friends with all of us, even though we were at one time, his enemies against Him. Ephesians 2:14.

The Gospel for the circumcised and the gospel for the uncircumcised, Galatians 2:7.  Is about how God never plays favorites and shows no partiality to race, nationality or culture. See Colossians 3:9-11

The Glorious Gospel of the Blessed God, 1st TImothy 1:11 & 2nd Corinthians 4:4-6

How do we talk about the Good News from God?  Do we pray about sharing these truths?

“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”  ~ John 11:25-26

In this world, no one likes to pay a ransom to free victims, because we are afraid the kidnappers will get what they want, while killing the victim. But God paid the ransom price because the resurrection guarantees the kidnapper (Satan) will not get the victim or the price! Satan does kidnap people and victims do not want the ransom paid when they fall victim to their kidnapper Satan. In this world Patty Hearst, Natascha Kampusch & the original four Kreditbanken Hostages in Stockholm (1973) fell victim to what is described by doctors as “the Stockholm Syndrome”. Spiritually, there are many different reasons humans fall prey to the lies in our sinful world which trap us to sympathize with Satan and/or sinners that actually become our demise. This takes place today physically in the form of human smuggling. There are hundreds of victims that the police never find, which die and are forever lost. God will not force the ransom money to be paid if the lost kidnapped person does not want it. If we fall in love with Satan’s ways, loving this world instead of God, we assign ourselves to the kidnappers’ evil trap & destiny of destruction. We must convince people that we need to accept the ransom price as paid and apply it to our soul, obeying from the heart this good news of the crucified Christ resurrected. This releases us from the slave-ship of Satan.

THE RESURRECTION IS REAL: Christ’s proof that the redemptive price paid is powerful, Romans 6:16-22

1. The Change in 12 disciples becoming apostles & the change in Saul to Paul, 1st Corinthians 15:1-17 & 2nd Corinthians 11:22-28
2. The Empty Tomb, guarded by Temple Soldiers that had Roman authority from Pilate, Matthew 27:58-66, and also publically known by Joseph of Arimethea on the Sanhedrin.
3. Fulfilled claims of Jesus & prophecies in the Old Testament, John 2:13-22
4. Hundreds of Eye-witness accounts of His resurrection, 1st Corinthians 15:3-9. Paul the apostle had many critics accusing him of being a liar and false-apostle. All his critics needed was for just one single eye-witness to deny the resurrection, and then Paul could be proved a liar, but it never happened because it’s true!

 This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come ~ Mt. 24:14

Evangelism is defined by dictionaries as “the activity of persuading people to become Christians, often by traveling around and telling people about your beliefs”. But this is not evangelism as defined by Jesus in the above verse in Matthew 24:14. It is not about our beliefs as a Christian, it is about the Kingdom of Christ.

The apostle Paul defined it as “do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry”, it involves labor as a service that involves your own personal efforts, talents and/or skills. See 2nd Timothy 4:3-5. In other words, the good news of the Kingdom can be shared by our own personal actions in public, just as effectively as it can by words. 

The message of the Kingdom can be stolen by “the evil one” and never take root in a person’s heart, if our heart is too hard, Matthew 13:19. This message has 3 virtues in this single verse.

1- K_____________ .       2 – G_______________ .    3 – S___________________ .

In John 18:36-38. Jesus forcefully let Pilate know that His Kingdom was not worldly to fight a physical fight, but his Kingdom’s purpose and message was in this world with a spiritual truth that some people will listen to. His voice is part of His Kingdom, so when we speak about the good news of his Kingdom, it should only be about whatever Jesus says, because only Jesus has authority to define the Kingdom’s message. To Pilate, Jesus was clearly claiming to be King, and for that, Pilate let the Jews sentence him to death. Do you as a Christian, understand the spiritual nature of the Kingdom, please read Luke 17:20-21.

 “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, 

‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the ___________

 of _______.” 

When the apostle Peter describes us in 1st Peter 2:9-10, he defines the purpose of our existence as PROCLAIMERS. What exactly are we supposed to be proclaiming?

 “the excellencies of _______ who called you out of darkness into his marvelous ______ 

Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received

 mercy, but now you have received __________.