Before I talk about evangelism, which is the last in the series of 11 messages on the gifts of the Holy Spirit,

there are several things I want to say about evangelism.

First, I want to tell you that the word evangelism really never occurs in the Bible, not in the New Testament.

The second thing about the word evangelism, it conjures all kinds of images that not necessarily

you want to be associated with. Do you know what I mean? I mean, you think of a tent with somebody

who's short on brains, big lungs, hollering, and then winding with a song just as I am 27 times.

I mean, there are all sorts of images.

Or have a two-week emphasis on evangelism with a flashy evangelist and an ex-intertainer

or ex-convict giving a testimony.

I mean, there are all kinds of images of what we think evangelism is. For a church to say,

we're going to have two weeks emphasis on evangelism. It will be like Sears Roebuck saying,

we're going to take two weeks to emphasize merchandising. Evangelism is exactly the lifeblood of the church.

It should be in every area of life.

Any activity in the church that does not have that in it is dead activities. It is self-serving

activities. But evangelism should permeate every aspect of church life. And that is why the devil does not like evangelism and he

kills it in most churches. God forbid, as long as I have breath, he's not going to do that here.

Others think that evangelism is like doing nice things to non-believers and just hope that they'll get the message.

Now, whatever your image of what evangelism is, and the word means, I hope by the time I finish

with God's grace and the power of the Holy Spirit that you'll change your view completely

of this vitally, vitally important backbone of the church. I am convinced in my own

heart that the gift of evangelism is the most important, the most significant of all the gifts of

the Holy Spirit. And I'll tell you why. Because it is the one gift that Satan

...