Throughout February our focus is on Evangelism.

Evangelism: The Good News - Caesar or Christ?

In Ancient Rome, monuments were carved to celebrate the Good News of the birth of the son of a god. This 'god-man' would triumph over his foes and enforce a lasting peace at the point of a sword. This so-called deity was Caesar Augustus. The Good News of his Gospel, (or Evangel in Greek, which was the popular language of his Empire) was not very good news for his enemies. 

The New Testament entrusts us with a very different Good News, or Evangel. In his letter to the Christians in Rome, the Apostle Paul teaches: "For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life." Romans 5: 10 NIV.

Evangelism: Our Cultural Pillar.

Over the past month, at the beginning of 2025, we have been recommitting ourselves to a life of prayer. We have seen new prayer groups start, including our new Central Prayer, which takes place on Tuesday evening. We also had the chance to hear from our Lay Chair, Jenny Morgan, as part of our latest Central Sit Down conversation on prayer. If you haven't seen it yet, click here. 

As January moves to February, so our attention moves to the second of our Cultural Pillars: Evangelism. Evangelism is a church word that means 'promoting the Good News', and in particular the Good News of Jesus. As we build our Ministry Area, and see our congregations grow, we will discover that it is through making us an evangelistic people that God will do this work. But first, we must know what is evangelism, and how are we to do it? 

Evangelism: The Nuts and Bolts.

Evangelism is telling people about the Good News of Jesus; but what is that news? Looking at our verse from Romans, we see three main 'parts' to the Gospel: 

• The Problem "we were God's enemies"; 

• the Provision "we were reconciled through the death of his son";

• the Promise "we [shall] be saved through his life".

This is a pattern that is repeated again and again, both in the Bible, and in the liturgy of the Church. Over the coming weeks we will lean more deeply into the resources that will help us not only understand, but live-out, and proclaim this very best of all Good News stories. 

A Prayer Concerning the Gospel;

Almighty Father, 
I thank you for the Good News of Jesus Christ.
This evangel that I discover through your word,
entrusted to your Church. 

Fill me with the grace of your Holy Spirit;
that I may discern the depth of my sin, 
know the saving power of Christ's death, 
and rejoice in the power of his resurrection. 

Through the same, Jesus Christ my Lord,
who reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, 
One God, forever and ever. 
Amen