In a few days 32 of us from Karns will be traveling to Honduras for a medical/evangelistic mission campaign. This is nothing new for Karns or most churches for that matter. Mission trips are a part of most churches’ summer activities. However, have you considered why many people are willing to travel overseas and share the Gospel of Christ? Below are a few reasons why I want to go and be a part of this mission experience.

Evangelism Is A Command. Before Jesus left earth and ascended back to heaven after His resurrection from the dead, He told His disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature (Matt. 28:19-20; Mk. 16:15). Jesus was not presenting an option to His disciples; He was presenting a command. This command was to go and share with others all Jesus had done through His death and resurrection. Jesus literally wanted His disciples to be witnesses (Acts 1:8) of the things they both had seen and heard. Friends, evangelism is a command we are expected to keep.

Evangelism Helps Save Others’ Souls. Perhaps the reason that Jesus stressed evangelism to His disciples was because He knew there was no other way to come to the Father except through Him (Jn. 14:6). Unless one repents of his sins, confesses Christ as the Son of God and is baptized into Christ, he will be eternally lost (Mk. 16:16). When we go about teaching others the Gospel plan of salvation, we help those individuals gain knowledge about a relationship with Jesus Christ. That knowledge can then lead a person to obedient faith. It is only through faith and obedience that one can come to have a relationship with Jesus. James said, “My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” (Jam. 5:19-20). When we take time to evangelize, we can help others find a saving relationship with Jesus.

Evangelism Increases The Church. What most people fail to understand is that the church is not some fancy building people go to on Sundays, but rather the church is the people. When we go about teaching others the Gospel and they obey it, the church grows. Think about the early Christians in the book of Acts. They were very evangelistic. The Bible says that 3,000 people obeyed after the first sermon was preached (Acts 2:41). By our standards today, this would be a mega church; however, this was not good enough for the early Christians. Those 3,000 went out and proclaimed Christ to their friends and neighbors and the church continued to grow. After a great persecution was brought on the church in Jerusalem, the Christians were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria (Acts 8:1). These Christians didn’t allow this persecution to be an excuse for quitting. Instead, they witnessed and testified concerning the Christ just as Jesus had told them (Acts 1:8). The church will grow when evangelism becomes a part of our daily lives as Christians.

Evangelism Brings About Joy. I do not know of any greater joy than seeing people obey the Gospel after having been taught the truth. The joy and excitement they show is priceless. I can’t count the number of young people I have witnessed put Christ on in baptism and come up out of the water with a sense joy and excitement. I recall one young person in particular who was so excited, he began to splash the water around him and yell, “Yes, Yes, Yes!” When that takes place, there is no greater joy! Of all the things that you and I could do, evangelism is one that can bring a great sense of joy to our lives.

I am excited about the work we will be doing in Honduras next week. However, we don’t have to go to Honduras to evangelize. We can simply walk across the street to our neighbors and talk with them about the Gospel. Have you taken time to share with others the story of Jesus and His love lately?

Now that’s Something to Think About!