Conference Has Started…1st Up Ed Stetzer

NOTE:  I somehow deleted this earlier today so I am reposting it.

The CGGC conference just officially got started. Justin Meier on-stage now getting ready to introduce Ed Stetzer. Here’s some notes from his talk:

• 2 Timothy 4:1-5
• All, not just pastors must do the work of an evangelist.
• 1. We must DO the work of an evangelist.
  • We can use tools for evangelism but it’s still people who are called to do the work.
  • Pastors…you can not lead what you do not live.
  • Distractions…
    • 49% of evangelicals when surveyed by Lifeway do not believe that Jesus is the only way a person can get to heaven.
    • Too many people think as long as they live a good life in front of others that’s enough. Keep doing, but you need to be, do and TELL the Good News.
    • Too many think that just inviting people to church is all the evangelism we are called to do. God has called us to a ministry of reconciliation not simply recruitment.
• 2. We must do the WORK of an evangelist.
  • It’s hard and nobody likes evangelism, but it’s what we are called to do.
  • Some of Ed’s research in this Youtube video from when he was on CNN.
  • People don’t like evangelism because it takes work…fellowship doesn’t take work it just takes chicken.
• 3. We must do the work of AN EVANGELIST.
  • Nowhere in the bible is there a gift of evangelism. We are ALL called to it.
  • Stop trying to convince yourself that only a few people in your church have a gift of evangelism.
  • “Every Christian is either a missionary or an impostor”. –Spurgeon.
  • We’ve sped up our music, spiced up our messages, spruced up our churches, but we are still called to send out laborers into the harvest field. The wheat doesn’t harvest itself.

  2 Corinthians 5:14-21

• If we all understood and lived out these verses, our world would be much different.
• Ed just told a story of the time he fell into a septic tank. Using it to illustrate verse 21…Jesus became sin for us. When you really understand that, verses 14-15 come alive. Doing the work of an evangelist does not seem like a chore but a privilege.

ARE YOU DOING THE WORK OF AN EVANGELIST? Are you leading the charge in your community? Are you living on mission?