Evangelism is spreading the gospel of Christ. Evangelism guides those who are already religious into a deeper knowledge and understanding of the fundamental principles of Christianity as laid down for the church in the Word of God. Evangelism also seeks after those who are outside the pale of the church—for the sinner who has never known Christ or yielded his heart to the wooings of the Spirit of God. It seeks for and restores the backslider, reuniting him with the household of God and the covenants of promise. It secures him again into the fold of the church, from which he wandered. Finally, it gathers in the lambs of the flock, the youth who have grown up among US.
Every preacher is essentially an evangelist, but he should not permit his calling to confine him to large public efforts alone. The calling of the minister must comprehend soulsaving, by every means known to the ministry, and through any avenue the Spirit of God may open to him. Our feeble efforts, no matter how frail, if consecrated and yielded to the commission of Christ, will be increased to an intensity of power that will fitly represent an angel flying in the midst of heaven uttering the everlasting gospel with a loud voice.
Conducting evangelistic meetings in Seventh-day Adventist churches touches every phase of soul winning. Such evangelism is usually carried on within the church proper, the members uniting their efforts with those of the minister and the Bible instructor. This method helps to create lay evangelists, who in turn exercise the burden for soulsaving, in ever-widening circles.
Carefully planned and properly presented, much of the expense for such an effort will be shouldered by the church. This is not to be done abruptly, but should be taken into consideration every year when the church budget is presented. Along with the expense for light, heat, gas, and janitor services, a budget should be set up for radio, literature, and advertising. Nor should this fund always be in an exhausted state. Rather, it grows as new converts are made and as the value of the plan is kept before our people. Some of the best church offerings I have ever taken for evangelism were right at the time of baptism. New souls are invaluable to a church. They inspire a church, and the church always stands ready to pay a high price for more and more converts. Doubtless we will always welcome financial assistance from the conferences, but careful planning will make our church evangelism almost self-sustaining.
Ministers who are not otherwise engaged should have their churches lighted up at least two or three nights a week, presenting the great truths of this message. The only occupation that should interrupt the meetings would be an effort held elsewhere. Preaching the message in our churches should be continual. Possibly a few weeks' rest during the hot portion of the summer might be found necessary, but church evangelism ought to go on at least ten months a year, and our prayer meetings should be geared to meet the needs of the public during the other two months. Our commission is to preach the third angel's message, and we should be everlastingly at it. However, while we preach it, let us so impregnate it with the Person and Spirit of Christ that hearts will be melted down and souls converted.
If the radio is used, let it be a means of directing people in the community to the church evangelistic services. Messages over the air should inspire confidence, make friends, and allay prejudice. If conditions warrant, a neon sign should be hung conspicuously over the church entrance, with a caption that agrees with the title of the broadcast. In Chattanooga our broadcast will be publicized as the "Way of Life Bible Tabernacle of the Air," and our sign will read, "The Way of Life Bible Tabernacle."
Church evangelism offers a wonderful opportunity to lay burdens for soul winning on the local membership. This is accomplished by Urging the members into missionary activity and by persuading them to sign the covenant blank supplied by the conferences. By proper emphasis many can be impressed to sign for those certain activities that will harmonize with the program. When the groups are classified, they should be trained for service by the pastor and the Bible instructor. There are today many potential soul winners sitting idly in our pews, sometimes creating' problems for us, who, if they were trained and put to work, would be invaluable in the proclamation of the message.
Church evangelism includes the physical appearance of the church building. Nothing should be left undone to make the building as inviting as possible to strangers. No matter how humble the place, the church should be clean, well painted and in good repair. There must be no litter, no torn and dilapidated song books, no dust or other objectionable features about the place, if a proper impression is to be made and if it is desired that strangers come again. Cultured people will respect a small church and be content to worship in a humble atmosphere, but they will never become reconciled to an ill-kept place of worship or a place where the yard and surroundings are uninviting.
The Wednesday evening prayer meeting and the Sabbath school may be tied effectually into church evangelism. Some of our finest baptisms have resulted from strangers attending the prayer meetings. I have made excellent contacts while attending the young people's meetings, and have baptized several as a result. May I urge that the Missionary Volunteer meetings be continued during a series of church evangelistic meetings. If there is no better time, Sabbath afternoon will draw a group, and the meetings can be made to serve in attaining the objective we seek.
There are times when the interested person finds it more convenient to attend some type of afternoon meeting than to come to church in the forenoon. One of the greatest advantages in church evangelism is realized when new people get into the habit of attending services in the church. The minister should always urge those with whom he is studying, or any who are interested, to attend Sabbath school and join his class. The stranger who responds to such an invitation, and finds the Sabbath school and church hour interesting and inspiring, unconsciously evolves and ripens into a real Seventh-day Adventist with scarcely any urge. Members gained by this method make substantial Adventists.
The homes represented in our churches make a fruitful field for church evangelism. This is especially true when at least one Adventist member of the family has lived a consistent Christian life. Personal contacts should be made where possible, and warm invitations extended. There is no greater thrill that comes to a preacher than when he buries the companion of a believer in the water, thus uniting lives to Christ for eternity. No parent ever experiences a greater rapture than when the clergyman leads the son or daughter of the home unto the Lamb of God, and buries his child into Christ.
Some have departed from the faith, but they still live within the precincts of the church.
Many of these will respond to a proper approach. They will voice their complaints, but a wise, tactful pastor-evangelist is able to alleviate much of the distress. Urge them to join you in a study of the Sabbath school lesson on the next Sabbath, and tell them how much you would enjoy their presence at your Sunday night meetings. Often such an approach will succeed in reclaiming the backslider when an appeal for an immediate decision will fail. Be patient, brethren, and repeat the invitation over and over again.
Church evangelism will halt many who are slipping away. Properly conducted, it will grip the heart anew, and re-anchor the individual to his Saviour and to the message. Our churches, thus minded, will become centers of spiritual activity—welcoming, inviting, urging, compelling, men and women from every walk of life to unite themselves with Heaven's last message. Following such a program, the church will become a powerhouse for God, diffusing light with such irresistible, hidden force that no sinner can withstand its appeal. Such evangelism will enliven the church itself, a new warmth will be discovered, and those without will be drawn into the fold, and find spiritual refuge.
"We are waiting and watching for the grand and awful scene which will close up this earth's history. But we are not simply to be waiting; we are to be vigilantly working with reference to this solemn event. The living church of God will be waiting, watching, and working."—Testimonies to Ministers, p. 163.
There is no force in the universe able to withstand the church triumphant while it is bent on its divinely appointed mission. This is the church of which we are a part, a church whose truths are as clear as the sun, its spiritual warfare like an advancing, unconquerable army with banners.
