As Christians we often think of missionaries as those overseas somewhere sharing the gospel. While that is true, one does not necessarily have to go overseas to share the good news. In fact, it can be done right where we are. Has it ever occurred to you that where you live is exactly where God wants to use you to share the good news of Jesus Christ? In Mark 16:15 Jesus said, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature”. Jesus Christ has commanded every Christian to go and preach the gospel to every creature. This is not an option, but a command. Jesus Christ wants all His church to share His good news (I Corinthians 15:3-4) to a lost and dying world. Since Christ has commanded His church to share the good news, He has made us all missionaries. Every one of us is on a mission to share the good news.

We often dread thinking about evangelism, but the reality is God intended it to be a joyful experience. God wants us to share the good news with joy and out of grace. In Matthew 28:1-8 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the sepulcher to see Jesus’ body, but a great earthquake took place and they saw an angel. The angel let them know that Jesus Christ is no longer in the tomb because He is risen. The angel told them to go quickly to tell His disciples the good news that He has risen. It says that they went on their way with fear and joy. These two women were fearful of what they had just witnessed with the earthquake, the angel by the tomb, and Christ rising from the dead, but they were full of joy knowing that He did indeed rise from the dead. They went on their way to give the good news to the disciples with joy. The same joy these two women experienced by sharing the good news to the disciples is a good picture for us of how the evangelism experience is supposed to be. Sharing the gospel is supposed to be a joyful experience! Unfortunately, this is not the case for many Christians. It seems like many Christians share the gospel out of fear and guilt. You may have been in a church or are in a church where the pastor will beat the flock with a Bible for not sharing the gospel. This is not the way to encourage a church to evangelize, it does more damage than anything. It feeds guilt and can lead to fear. Although fear may be there when we do evangelize, joy should be our motivation and full experience. Of course, our evangelism should be done out of love for God and man.

I want to encourage you saints to fulfill your missionary call to go and preach the gospel to every creature. Evangelism begins with us. I recommend that before you start your evangelism you should pray to God. Prayer is the engine of evangelism, just like the engine is what makes a car run. Remember to always place the focus of evangelism on the gospel and never on the method. The method is irrelevant. Too often Christians place a hyper focus on a method and how great their method has gotten them the most results. But no such thing is taught anywhere in Scripture. In The Bible the focus is always on the gospel message and never on the method. The gospel is what saves, not the method (Romans 1:16). Whatever method you choose to communicate the gospel, make sure that you preach the gospel clear and simple. Our evangelism is not based on how many people were won to Christ, but our obedience to the great commission (Mark 16:15). It may be that you hardly will ever see the fruit of your evangelism work, but it does not mean it is in vain. All our work in sharing the gospel is always good even when we don’t see fruit from it. God is more concerned with our obedience not on numbers. There are some Christians today and even churches that place a hyper focus on numbers as if it were a numbers game. Some are even prideful and belittle other believers because they have not “won” many souls to Christ. Such believers and churches completely miss the point of evangelism. If you are a born again Christian and have never shared the gospel with anyone, I want to encourage you to do so. In our website you can download free gospel tracts in pdf format that you can print at home and share. Sharing the good news through the printed page is the easiest method for any believer to do. Fulfill your call as a missionary, Jesus has given us the marching orders, “go and preach the gospel to every creature.”

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the death, burial, and resurrection and can be found in the 4 gospels and in I Corinthians 15:3-4. The Bible declares it to be the only saving message of the only Savior of mankind (Romans 1:16, Acts 4:12). This good news was first preached in the garden of Eden after the fall, although they did not have all the details like we have today, yet God first preached to Adam and Eve that a Savior would one day come (Genesis 3:15). As God’s progressive revelation is unfolded in the various dispensations, more is revealed about Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament Israel was waiting for the promised Messiah they had read about in their scriptures (Isaiah 53). In The Bible there is a bloodline running in every book from Genesis to Revelation that points to Jesus Christ and His gospel of salvation. Men in Old Testament times were saved by looking forward to the cross and we are saved by looking backwards to the cross (Acts 10:43). The redemption of man is the story of The Bible. I like what William Evans said in his book The Great Doctrines of The Bible, he says this “The atonement is the scarlet cord running through every page in the entire Bible. Cut the Bible anywhere, and it bleeds; it is red with redemption truth” (pg. 70). This one gospel under all dispensations is the only hope of mankind for salvation. Yet, the gospel has been corrupted by men in various churches. Even sincere Christians are either taking away from the gospel or adding on to it. It is extremely important to get the gospel correct.

Paul the apostle warned that those who preach another gospel are accursed (Galatians 1:6-8). I have seen a handful of tracts that I have found or were given over the years with a false gospel printed on them. These types of tracts will say something like “repent of sins”, “give your life to Christ”, “surrender to the lordship of Christ”, “forsake all sins”, etc. You start to wonder how can Christians be so confused about the doctrine of salvation. False gospels are very prevalent and the sad thing is not many churches are preaching the Biblical gospel. You may have been in a church service where the pastor gave a gospel presentation and said something like “if you want to be saved just give your life to Christ or repent of your sins and place your faith in Jesus”. This is a mixture of law and grace and Paul strongly condemned it in his epistle to the Galatians. In Romans 11:6 he said that salvation is either all grace or all works, the two never mix. Law and grace must never be mixed in, they are opposites. The law shows people their sin and their need for a Savior and points them to Jesus. The confusion with many sincere Christians is that they mix justification with sanctification. The issue in salvation is Jesus, not sins. The sin problem was already dealt with on the cross (John 19:30). A person is not saved by reforming their life, turning a new leaf over, repenting of millions of sins, or surrendering their life to Jesus. God’s one and only condition for receiving the gift of everlasting life is faith, plus nothing! Over and over The Bible places an emphasis on faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. Everlasting life is described in The Bible as a free gift (Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8-9). If The Bible says it is free, it means it is free without any strings attached. Pastor Chuck Smith said this in his book Why Grace Changes Everything, “The Bible teaches that I receive grace on the basis of my belief and trust in God. Hebrews 11:6 declares that “without faith it is impossible to please God”. We are forgiven by a holy God simply by believing in Jesus Christ and in His death on our behalf. When we place our trust in Him, our slate is wiped clean” (pg. 22). This is the simple plan of salvation God offers to lost sinners. Let us make sure we preach the gospel to the lost simply and clearly, without adding to it or taking away from it.

-Read and study The Bible (King James Version)
It is important not only to read The Bible, but also study it (II Timothy 2:15). In your devotionals I recommend you read a book of The Bible systematically (chapter by chapter, verse by verse). It’s best to read one chapter a day and get a verse or two out of the chapter to meditate on or something The Lord spoke to you. When you study The Bible it is important to rightly divide as scripture commands us to. To rightly divide means to understand things in their context, harmonizing The Bible, not using obscure passages to contradict clear ones, and also understanding the dispensational distinctions (Not all The Bible was written to us, but all The Bible is for us). All our devotionals and Bible study should draw us closer to Jesus.

-Pray to God daily
Praying to God daily is an Important discipline in the Christian life. Prayer is an area we all need to grow in. The more we pray the more we will be able to resist temptations, we will be able to do God’s will, be loving to our neighbors, etc. In Mark 1:35 we see Jesus rising up a great while before day in a solitary place to pray. This should be our example in our prayer life. Prayer can be done anywhere, anytime, and anyday, but we should make it a habit to choose a quiet solitary place to pray. The quiet place can be in a park, your car, your room, or anywhere you choose, the point is to be in a solitary place to have prayer time. Paul the apostle tells us to pray without ceasing (I Thessalonians 5:17).

-Fellowship and Join a Local Evangelical Bible Believing Church
As Christians, it is important to fellowship with one another. The Christian life is not meant to be lived alone. In the past, I have met believers who said they don’t congregate with a local church because they have “Jesus in their lives”. Such believers violate Hebrews 10:25 which Paul tells us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves. Nowhere in The Bible does it ever suggest that Christians should live a “lone wolf” life away from the community of Christians. Christianity is a community. It is important to join a bible believing evangelical church to be in fellowship with other believers (Acts 2:42). The local church is where we fellowship with one another, use our spiritual gifts, hear the The Word of God preached and applied in our daily lives, pray for one another, and partake of communion together. We recommend that you look for non-denominational churches that teach verse by verse. The verse-by-verse method of preaching is where you will grow the most because the pastor will not be able to skip anything. Unfortunately, many churches are becoming apostate and liberal, abandoning fundamental doctrines of the faith. It is important that the church you choose believes and holds to the basic fundamental doctrines of the faith. We recommend you start with the non-denominational Calvary Chapel churches. Click on the link to see if there is a Calvary Chapel in your area Church Locator – Calvary Chapel Association (calvarycca.org)

-Share The Good News of Jesus Christ
Now that you have been born again, it is important to share the good news with others (Mark 16:15). There are many people in this world that are lost because they have not believed in Jesus Christ. Paul said if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost (II Corinthians 4:3-4). Sharing the good news is a responsibility of every Christian, not just those in church leadership. The Great Commission is not an option, it is a command. You can start sharing the good news with the people you already know, our gospel tracts are great for that.

-Be a Godly Witness Before The World
It is important as Christians to live godly in our daily lives. We sometimes think that people aren’t watching, but the reality is that we as Christians are on a magnifying glass because when people know that we are Christians, they will watch us. It is important to be Christ like everywhere we are. James chapter 2 talks about being a godly witness before the world. He says that the only way to show our faith is by our works, that is how we are justified before men. If we say we are Christians, yet don’t live it, it is a bad witness before others, especially those that know us. In Romans chapter 12 verses 1 and 2 Paul exhorts us to be living sacrifices unto God. Being living sacrifices is more than sitting behind a Sunday sermon, it is living the Christian life daily. It is reading and studying our Bibles, praying, fellowshipping with other Christians, sharing the gospel, and drawing closer to Jesus.