In 2006, my husband and I attended the Hillsong worship conference in Australia. What is funny is that Bill Hybels was one of the speakers. We went all the way across the globe to hear someone who lives in a nearby state.
Bill started his message and gave a list of what is normal now in churches: 1. Good music 2. Coherent teaching 3. Small groups 4. Children’s ministry 5. Drama, video 6. Caring for the poor 7. Multicultural 8. Concern over preventative diseases 9. Clear mission statements, goals. He said his biggest concern was that evangelism was missing in churches.
Then he shared these verses from Colossians 4:2 “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful” and Titus 3:5 “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done but because of his mercy.” Bill said that the best form of evangelism is listening to the Holy Spirit. He explained that the Holy Spirit nudges him to talk with someone that he probably wouldn’t have thought of otherwise. It can be as simple as talking with someone across the room. (I found a version of it on youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ExmF2TWpVk)
Then he shared the scripture from Philippians 2:6-7 “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” Jesus risked it all and came down in human form for you and I. Shouldn’t we be willing to take some risks? Bill mentioned an example of a neighbor who typically took out his trash at the same time. He felt like the Holy Spirit was nudging him to go to talk to the guy. He obeyed and just started a conversation. He didn’t invite him to church that day. He just became friends. Over time he invited him to an Easter service and the neighbor did not come. He did invite him again and the neighbor finally came years later.
Bill ended the message with this “Be attentive and cooperative with the promptings of the Holy Spirit. You never never know when God has someone prepared for you to talk to.”
In summary from Bill Hybels if we want to add back the missing piece in churches of evangelism we must:
1. Listen and be obedient to the promptings of the Holy Spirit
2. Walk out of our comfort zone
101 Days to a Revolution 