Download Session 3 Principles: Keys to Effective Crusade

Session 3
Principles: Keys to Effective Crusade Evangelism
The first decision that a pastor and his church will have to make is whether or not to participate
in the crusade. But just making a decision to participate does not guarantee that effective
evangelism will occur and that the church will benefit.
Effective evangelism occurs when Biblical principles are understood and applied. Let’s take a
look at some of those principles.
1. Evangelism is the work of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:8) “You shall receive power when the Holy
Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea
and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
2.
Jesus said in John 6:63, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I
have spoken to you are spirit and are life.”
John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he that abides in Me, and I in him, he bears
much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
Effective Crusades are not built on human efforts, but by depending on the Holy Spirit.
It is important that both the pastor and the church realize that only the Holy Spirit is able to
convict of sin, call to repentance and faith, and convert people to Christ.
John 16:8 “And He (Holy Spirit), when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and
righteousness, and judgment.”
If our trust is in human resources alone, we will only reap that which is human. But if our trust
is in God and His work, we will reap a rich spiritual harvest from the Holy Spirit.
Since evangelism is a work of the Holy Spirit, prayer becomes our greatest priority.
James 5:16 The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
Prayer prepares our hearts. It prepares the hearts of others and it prepares the soil for the
gospel seed. We must begin on our knees!
The secret of a successful Crusade is the power of God’s Spirit moving in response to the
prayers of God’s people.
The three most important things we can do for a Crusade is to pray, to pray, and to pray.
3. Reaping Requires Sowing.
Paul said, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.” (1 Corinthians 3:6)
Christians must sow the seed of the Word of God through our witness and water it with our
loving concern and prayers to prepare the harvest for the work of an evangelist.
In Matthew 13:1-23 Jesus teaches a parable about sowing. In this parable, the seeds of the
gospel fell on four types of soil. Some of the seeds fell beside the road, some fell upon the rocky
places, some of the seed fell among the thorns, and some seed fell on good soil. Not everyone
we share the gospel with will respond positively to it, but some will.
Our responsibility is to sow the seeds of the gospel. It is God’s responsibility to bring forth the
harvest.
There can be no reaping where there has been no sowing.
When the harvest comes, both the one who sows and the one who reaps rejoice together.
(John 4:36) It takes us working together to bring others to faith in Christ.
(Galatians 6:7) Whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.
Sowing is involved in all areas of the preparation: prayer, witnessing, publicity, arrangements,
finances, recruiting and training others.
4. Evangelism is Built on Relationships.
The earliest New Testament example of this is Andrew, who found hi s brother Simon and
brought him to Jesus (John 1:40-42). This is the basic pattern for all evangelism. One person
who has found new life, purpose, and forgiveness through an encounter with Jesus Christ is
motivated by love to bring another to experience that same relationship with the Savior.
Evangelism is one beggar telling another where he found bread.
He is no better than his fellow beggar, but he is motivated by love to bring others to the
“bread” that satisfies. This is what must happen in all of our evangelism methods.
Each Christian has a web of relationships in his life: family, friends, neighbors, fellow
employees, students, acquaintances, and others. God has placed us in those relationships to
share the gospel.
People do not care what we know, until they know that we care.
Loving and caring for others will often open the hearts of unbelievers to the gospel. And is
something that every believer can do.
5. Involvement Produces Commitment.
When people are involved in the process and participate in the decisions, they will be
committed to the end goals. One goal of the Crusade preparation is to involve as many people
as possible in at least one meaningful role. Each person that is involved has contact with, and
influence on, other people. So, the larger the inner circle of involved people, the greater the
outer circle of people who will be influenced to attend the Crusade. This will require
organization, communication, and recruiting others.
You may asks, “Why should I be involved? I’m already busy and so are my friends.”
“Is it really worth the investment of my time?”
Every one of us faces the question of priorities?
Reaching the lost is the priority of God. (Luke 15:3-7) The shepherd leaves the 99 to find the 1.
Are we giving our time and efforts to keeping people, or to reaching people?
(2 Peter 3:9) The Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to
repentance.”
(John 3:16) It would not matter if Jesus died a thousand times if no one ever heard about it.
We are the only way they hear about it.
According to The Joshua Project, a Christian research organization, they are 4.5 billion people,
by their own admission, non-Christian and therefore separated from God. Of that 4.5 billion
people at least 2.25 billion individuals that have little or no access to the gospel.
We know what God wants us to do.
6. Organize for Effectiveness.
(Exodus 18:13-26) Moses received good advice from this father-in-law, Jethro, who told him he
was wearing himself out by seeking to judge all the people, and he should divide and delegate
the responsibility.
 Moses asked individuals to be responsible for 5-10 people, giving them smaller tasks.
 Moses delegated the responsibilities. He found people that would be committed to carry out
specific tasks, which greatly increased involvement.
 Moses also gave deadlines to complete the tasks, which helped in reaching their goals.
7. Establish Faith-Sized Goals.
It is important that we set goals to big to be reached by human efforts alone, yet small enough
so that you can believe – with God’s help – they can be reached.
Goals should be set for every level of leadership. Goals should be set for the Crusade itself, such
as attendance, counselors, giving, and prayer involvement.
What would you like to see God do in your church, community, and in your own life through the
Crusade?
7. Train for Responsibilities.
Paul wrote to Timothy, instructing him, “Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the
things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to
faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. (2 Timothy 2:1-2)
Jethro told Moses to train the people so that his responsibilities would be easier.
(Exodus 18:20) “Teach them the statutes and the laws, and make known to them the way in
which they are to walk, and the work they are to do.”
Every person that is involved in the Crusade should be trained for their responsibilities.
We cannot expect them to carry out their tasks effectively without proper training.
People need to be trained to share their faith, praying with others, and inviting others to the
Crusade.
We have been given the responsibility of equipping the saints for ministry (Ephesians 4:12).
This training will last beyond the Crusade and will be used for years to come.
Effective Crusade evangelism has two sides: a human side and a spiritual side. The key, humanly
speaking is involvement. The spiritual key is prayer. Someone has said that action without
prayer is arrogance, but prayer without action is hypocrisy. Both prayer and action are
important.
It is not faith plus works, but faith that works.
We need to pray as though everything depended upon God, and work as thought everything
depended upon us.
Review:
 Evangelism is a work of the Holy Spirit.
 Reaping requires sowing.
 Evangelism is built on relationships.
 Involvement produces commitment.
 Organize for effectiveness.
 Faith-sized goals lead to growth.
 Train for responsibilities.