[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Farticles\u002Fthe-blessing-and-the-burden-of-bearing-good-news":3,"\u002Farticles\u002Fthe-blessing-and-the-burden-of-bearing-good-news-surround":77},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"bibleBooks":8,"body":12,"columnName":60,"date":61,"description":18,"extension":62,"image":63,"meta":64,"minRead":65,"navigation":66,"path":67,"postType":68,"publication":69,"publicationUrl":63,"seo":70,"stem":71,"topics":72,"__hash__":76},"blog\u002Farticles\u002Fthe-blessing-and-the-burden-of-bearing-good-news.md","The Blessing—and the Burden—of Bearing Good News",{"name":7},"Dave Faust",[9,10,11],"Acts","Romans","Luke",{"type":13,"value":14,"toc":56},"minimark",[15,19,22,25,28,31,34,37,40,43,46,53],[16,17,18],"p",{},"On the night in 1975 when Candy accepted my marriage proposal, I excitedly returned to my college dormitory and shared the news with my roommate and other friends who laughed, cheered, and congratulated me.",[16,20,21],{},"Years later, when Candy and I went to the hospital for the birth of our first child, I made sure I had some coins in my pocket so I could use the pay phone. I had a list of family and friends to call, and I eagerly dialed each number. I could hardly wait to tell everyone about our newborn baby.",[16,23,24],{},"It’s fun to pass along good news.",[16,26,27],{},"Spontaneous Evangelism",[16,29,30],{},"In the New Testament church, believers eagerly told others about Christ whenever and wherever they could. Evangelism wasn’t a program to carry out; it was a Person to introduce. Christians didn’t have to be cajoled and coerced into sharing their faith. They were motivated by grace, not guilt. They gossiped the gospel and preached the word wherever they went (Acts 8:4).",[16,32,33],{},"In healthy churches today, evangelism is spontaneous and natural. The best advertisement is a satisfied customer, and a genuine Christian whose life has been changed forever by the grace of God serves as a walking advertisement for the truth of Christ.",[16,35,36],{},"Strategic Evangelism",[16,38,39],{},"But since Jesus commanded us to make disciples of all nations, there must be more to our evangelistic efforts than just “what comes naturally.” In the book of Acts, the church was intentional and strategic about taking the Word to the world.",[16,41,42],{},"Jesus directed his disciples to testify about him in ever-widening circles from Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). Peter and John defended their faith before the Jewish Supreme Court. Paul’s missionary journeys followed the urban contours of the Roman empire. He preached in centers of influence like Antioch, Athens, Corinth, Ephesus, and Rome. He planted a church in Philippi, “a Roman colony and the leading city of that district” (Acts 16:12). Empowered by the Holy Spirit, he testified before governors and kings, determined to preach the gospel “where Christ was not known” (Romans 15:20).",[16,44,45],{},"If we're going to penetrate our twenty-first century culture with the gospel, we need to be both spontaneous and strategic. Jesus had a strategic plan in mind when he \"resolutely set out for Jerusalem\" and \"sent messengers on ahead . . . to get things ready for him\" (Luke 9:51, 52). Along the way, though, he spontaneously interacted with people who approached him on the road—teaching, healing, and answering questions as fresh opportunities arose.",[16,47,48,49],{},"All of us can share our faith spontaneously through our natural relationships with friends, neighbors, and coworkers. However, both on an individual and congregational basis, we also need to make evangelism the top priority in our strategic planning. Unless we're intentional about it, evangelism tends to fade into the background. We need to persist in asking, ",[50,51,52],"em",{},"How can we reach more of our neighbors for Christ? How can we plant more churches? How can we recruit, equip, and send more missionaries? How can we devote more of our financial resources directly toward what the Lord considers Priority Number One—bringing lost people back to God?",[16,54,55],{},"It's a privilege to share the living water of Christ with thirsty souls. But we also bear the burden of responsibility to pray, plan, and preach so the water will flow wherever it's needed.",{"title":57,"searchDepth":58,"depth":58,"links":59},"",2,[],"First Look","2004-07-25","md",null,{},3,true,"\u002Farticles\u002Fthe-blessing-and-the-burden-of-bearing-good-news","column","The Lookout",{"title":5,"description":18},"articles\u002Fthe-blessing-and-the-burden-of-bearing-good-news",[73,74,75],"Biblical Theology","Church Leadership","Spiritual Formation","pjy2ynGngid3myujbLqoHBuLkhRFgFf3LfV9kckBB4s",[78,83],{"title":79,"path":80,"stem":81,"description":82,"children":-1},"The Big Brown Chair","\u002Farticles\u002Fthe-big-brown-chair","articles\u002Fthe-big-brown-chair","Growing up on a farm in southern Ohio, I spent lots of time with my dad. I'm quite sure he never read a book about \"spending quality time\" with his sons. We just did things together. We bailed hay, repaired fences, and chased down livestock that had wandered onto our neighbor's property in the middle of the night. Lots of times, I simply assisted while Dad did the hard work—welding a wagon hitch, fixing the water pump on our well, de-horning cattle, replacing a tractor tire.",{"title":84,"path":85,"stem":86,"description":87,"children":-1},"The Church: a Trouble-Free Zone?","\u002Farticles\u002Fthe-church-a-trouble-free-zone","articles\u002Fthe-church-a-trouble-free-zone","Does your church have problems? The first-century church had problems, but it grew anyway. In fact, the early church got in trouble precisely because it was growing."]