Spirit Filled Evangelism.........
"They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith." Acts 6:5-7
It was just under two thousand years ago when the example a man named Stephen showed us the key to effective evangelism throughout the first century and provided a blueprint for us to follow today. It was Stephen who was chosen (because he was known to be full of the Holy Spirit) to oversee the daily distribution of food so that no one was overlooked in the community of disciples. Though he was chosen to distribute food, God would use him to do so much more. Because of his connection with the Holy Spirit he was able to not only perform many miracles and among the people but he was able to have a direct impact in the rapid conversion of a number of disciples as the scriptures say that the number of disciples increased rapidly after he was chosen to serve.
Unfortunately today we often miss the example shown over and over again in the bible of how to effectively evangelized our campuses. Year after year we have evangelism campaigns and back to school parties etc and while all of these activities are noble and worthwhile to do we often miss out on the power source that makes them work. As a result we often see a lot of people come out but few get baptized. It's not what we do that makes the impact, it's who we are when we're doing it. It wasn't Stephen's service that won a large number of disciples and caused havoc throughout Jerusalem, it was the fact that he was instep with the Holy Spirit. Since he was instep with the Holy Spirit he had an amazing impact in everything he did. He was so instep with the Spirit that when the heat was turned up on him, Acts 6:15 says that his face was like the face of an angel.
"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." 2 Timothy 1:7
The key to successful evangelism is feeding the Holy Spirit which lives in each and every person who has been baptized into Christ. When you feed the Spirit you do everything with a greater power since of confidence. Not only are you more confident, you are more equipped when Satan comes against you and the world tries to beat you down. You are able to stand firm and demolish strongholds and arguments that fight against God and unlike the religious world you are able to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5
When you are instep with the Spirit people will come and ask you to study the bible with them! This was the case of Casper Williams who was baptized last Tuesday in the San Marcos river. After watching the TSU ministry hold their bible-talk from a distance, Casper approached the TSU group three weeks ago and asked if he could join in the study. After bible-talk Casper attended church service that Sunday and began studying the bible. That wasn't the only Spirit led miracle that God would perform through this situation. Casper's friend Charles allowed Casper to borrow his cell phone to call me for a ride and later dialed the number himself to start studying the bible because he was going through some things in his life. Charles has been studying the bible and coming to Church for a week now and was able to share at Casper's baptism.
As disciples we must devote ourselves to feeding the Spirit that lives within us if we are going to have any hope of evangelizing our campuses as well as the rest of the world. Changing the world starts from within and we must make sure that we are fanninig the Spirit within us into flame on a daily basis. We must walk closely with God on an hourly basis not on a daily basis. If we do this we will surely see this world effectively evangelized in our generation.
