REVITILIZATION OF THE EVANGELISTIC SPIRIT

 1. Did the church always have an Apollos present brilliantly expounding the Scriptures each first day of the week?

2. If this doesn't work, survey the community or neighborhood and find out what they desire when they attend a worship service.

3. The results of the survey are in: The congregational singing is lousy and the church assembly is full of dead men's bones. Be more appealing to the emotions of the spirit. Make the Lord's Supper available on saturday or anyday. Your church is discrimating against females. Introduce women speakers and ministers. Bring in a youthful standing chorus called "praise team" and a few instruments to give the singing a modern upbeat sound. This is the twenty-first century, and not the first century.Get with today's culture............then we'll come and bring our young people.

4. There is one major problem with these surveys and the results. God didn't say to grow the church in that way!   EVANGELIZE! MAKE DISCIPLES WITH THE WORD OF GOD!

5. The real problem with our members and ministers is that we are too worldly, and we are lazy and afraid to do the right thing!

6. We won't pass out tracts and fliers about our Gospel meetings anymore. We won't talk to our neighbors about having Bible studies in their homes. We force our ministers to be secretaries in an office, and we won't encourage them to leave their offices to make disciples and give themselves away to others.

6. Christians know a whole lot more about their tv programs, DVD movies, and sports than they do about the Gospel.

7. Christians are more excited and enthusiastic about their materialistic society than they are about being Christians and sharing the Good News.

8. But occasionally we look around our shrinking congregations and notice more gray and bald heads and fewer younger families. Did I hear someone say we need to numerically grow?

9. Send them an invitation in the mail or invite them to a special spiritual entertainment hour with the congegation......or

10. Become a fisher of men and a soul winner for Jesus. Threatening isn't it?

11. You could break the ice with people. Be an ice-breaker!

12. You could be a planter of the Word of God! Planting means getting dirty on the ground. You may have to.

13. You could be a waterer if you don't mind being near the water.

14. Be a something and a someone! We have too many in the church doing nothing to make disciples. But they know their pew places! And you better not sit there!

15. Consider the following Scriptures for a starter: I Corinthians 3:6-9; Mark 16:15-16; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 8:1-5; Acts 16:13-33