EVANGELISM SUNDAY

MUSIC & WORSHIP RESOURCES

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Phillip Bingham, Guest Lectionary Liturgist
Music Education Consultant, Jazz House Kids, and Minister of Music Emeritus, Concord Baptist Church of Christ, Brooklyn, NY

Worship Planning Notes

Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.—St. Francis of Assisi

It has been said, "Being an outgoing person isn't crucial to telling God's story (evangelizing); obedience and love are. Evangelism is just one homeless person telling another beggar where to find housing and bread." Evangelism is also bringing former Christians back to church and has the potential to draw the unchurched.

There are people in our neighborhood, city, and state who will never have an opportunity or desire to read the four synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The challenge in the 21st century isn't a community who won't read the four Gospels but the Church who is awkward and is not eager and excited to share Gods' narrative.

Without a doubt sharing God's narrative is both a wonderful opportunity and a challenge for the Church. I submit, the challenge for the Church is to retell God's narrative in the fifth Gospel. What's the "Fifth Gospel"? The Irish evangelist Gypsy Smith once said, "There are five Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and the Christian, and some people will never read the first four."

The challenge for the church is developing Kingdom-of-God models in the community, allowing the community to see God's narrative in us as we live into the "Fifth Gospel." While people won't read the four synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), they should see demonstrations of their contents if they never read them. Holy service–evangelism is to retell God';s narrative— allowing the community to see God's narrative—in us as we live into the "Fifth Gospel."

The "Fifth Gospel" creates holy service in the community as church members with pure hearts reach out in the spirit of the four Gospels. AW Tozer states, "There is little danger that we shall become merely worshipers and neglect the practical implications of the gospel. No one can long worship God in spirit and in truth before the obligation to holy service becomes too strong to resist."

The "Fifth Gospel" continues the biblical narrative by making it alive and active in our surrounding community as we become living testimonies actively demonstrating holy service–evangelism. Elton Trueblood writes that Holy service-evangelism "… is not a professional job for a few trained men, but is instead the unrelenting responsibility of every person who belongs to the company of Jesus."

How does the church encourage people to agree with what God holds to be true? By Classical biblical teaching that brings the Church back to using the basics! Romans 10:9-12 states:

The Bible clearly says that we need to publicly confess and profess Jesus Christ Lord and Savior. The confession acknowledges our "helpless estate" and that God alone is the Lord and Savior. He is mighty to save souls, families, and communities. Our heartfelt and genuine confession demonstrates submission to the Lord to reign over us. Matthew 6:33 reminds us to "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."

The church can become proactive in producing "Fifth Gospel" evangelists by developing a connection and relationship with the target community. Eloquent gospel presentations have little effect on communities far from God.

All music and arts ministry leaders and participants (choirs, praise teams, dancers, musicians, and directors) are called to be a Fifth Gospel evangelist. Before Evangelism Sunday (which is actually a misnomer as a phrase, as every day can be an opportunity to evangelize), ministry leaders should prepare worship and arts ministry participants through teaching and having members attend Bible studies and other moments of evangelism education.

Here are some things to keep in mind during evangelism education:

• "Fifth Gospel" evangelism begins with closeness, conversation, exchange, and relationship-building with the community.



• "Fifth Gospel" evangelism starts when the congregation becomes visible in the community enabling the community to "see, touch, and feel" Jesus in us.



• "Fifth Gospel" evangelism empowers the congregation to retell God's narrative by their actions and lifestyles, allowing the community to see the God in you. . . . Imagine the impact of each church member touching one person in the community.

As a leader or member of a Worship and Arts Ministry, ask yourself, Are you living a life that illustrates the "Fifth Gospel" to your family, friends, colleagues, and neighbors? How are you engaged in holy service–evangelism in your church and community?

Church musicians: Consider forming a small evangelistic hymn writing group. Paraphrase Romans 10:9-12 or literally quote the Scripture. This exercise will remind you that you're all writing for a community. And it will probably surprise you, because everyone will produce something different.

Scriptural quotes and thoughts for planning Fifth Gospel worship

• "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." Luke 19:10, NKJV


• "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." Acts 1:8, NKJV


• "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20, NKJV


• "For He says: 'In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.' Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." 2 Corinthians 6:2, NKJV


• "The attitude of the average Christian today is relax and be raptured. But He is coming . . . and when God gets angry you've no idea what it is. Like a thousand volcanoes exploding. He has appointed a day in which He is going to judge the world and the poor blind world doesn't know much about it and the poor blind church doesn't think much about it now." —Leonard Ravenhill


• "Oh my friends, we are loaded with countless church activities, while the real work of the church, that of evangelizing and winning the lost, is almost entirely neglected." —Oswald J. Smith

1. Evangelistic Responsive Readings, Litany, or Invocation

• John 20:21; Matthew 28:19, 10:8b; Joshua 1:9


• Matthew 9:35-38; John 4:35-36a; Matthew 28:19-20


• Matthew 28:18; Mark 16:15; Acts 17:24a, 26a, 27a; Romans 10:13-15; Psalms 96:1b, 2b-3; John 3:16

2. Songs for Gathering
(a) I Am Your Song. By Jonathan Nelson

(b) Zion Is Calling. By Stephen A. Hurd

(c) To My Father's House. Traditional

3. Evangelistic Gospel Music
(a) The Harvest Is Plentiful. By Isaac Douglas

(b) I Need You to Survive. By Hezekiah Walker and D. Frazier

(c) Said I Wasn't Gonna Tell Nobody. By Alex Bradford

(d) We Are Sharing. By James Cleveland

(e) I'm Not the Same. By Walter Hawkins

(f) Bow Down. By David Baroni and Tony Sutherland

4. Evangelistic Congregational Music (Can be used for Prayer, Sermonic Selection, or the Invitation)
(a)We Fall Down. By Chris Tomlin

(b) Hungry. By Kathryn Scott

(c) The Heart of Worship. By Matt Redman

(d) People Need the Lord. By Phil McHugh, G. Alan Nelson, and Greg Nelson

5. Liturgical Dance Music
(a) Lord of the Harvest. By Noel Hall, Fred Hammond, and Kim Rutherford

(b) Fresh Wind. By Jonathan Dunn

6. Evangelistic Hymns (Can be used for Prayer, Sermonic Selection, or the Invitation)
(a) Bring Them In. By William A. Ogden

(b) Bringing in the Sheaves. By Knowles Shaw and George Minor

(c) Rescue the Perishing. By Fanny J. Crosby and William H. Doane

(d) Throw Out the Life Line. By Edward S. Ufford

7. Evangelistic Spirituals
(a) Precious Lord. By Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey

(b) Ride on, King Jesus. Negro Spiritual

(c) I want Jesus to Walk with Me. Traditional

8. Evangelistic Period of Prayer
See sections #4 and #6

9. Evangelistic Anthems
(a) Let the Lower Lights Be Burning. By Phillip Bliss. Arr. by Howard Helvey

(b) Ho, Everyone That Thirsteth. Traditional. By Lucy Rider Meyer

10. Sermonic Selection
See sections #4 and #6

• Use Colossians 4:2-28
• evangelistic work (4:2-6),
• internal relations (4:7-17),
• concluding benedictory doxology (4:18).


• Use The Nicene Creed (excerpts)

12. The "Fifth Gospel" Evangelist Strategy

• Pray before, during, and after every evangelistic event;


• Develop a passion for reaching others:
• Study –(train) develop a God passion for people;
• Discover what make people come alive—their passion;
• Discover how you can best impact others;
• Find new places for your mission field;


• Cultivate friendships and relationships in the targeted community;


• Look for opportunities to spiritually impact and serve your relatives; invite them to church;


• Make space for the community to join a church project in the community

13. Evangelism Resources and Strategies
(a) How to develop a strategy. Online location: http://evangelism.intervarsity.org/how/strategy

(b) A radical rethinking of your evangelistic strategy. Online location: http://fulleryouthinstitute.org/articles/a-radical-rethinking-of-our-evangelistic-strategy

(c) Evangelism follow-up. Online location for developing evangelistic programs: http://www.smallchurchleaders.org/the-small-church-shepherd/developing-evangelistic.html

(d) Christian books (8,795) on evangelism. Online location: http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/easy_find/1333201686?Ntt=evangelism&N=0&Ntk=keywords&action=Search&Ne=0&event=ESRCG&nav_search=1&cms=1&search=

(e) Intergenerational Worship. The Church of All Ages: Generations Worshiping Together (Alban Institute, 2008).

(f) Disciplined creativity in the arts. Worship Words: Discipling Language for Faithful Ministry (Baker Academic, 2009).

(g) Collaboration with all other congregational ministries. Shaped by God: Twelve Essentials for Nurturing Faith in Children, Youth, and Adults (Faith Alive Christian Resources, 2010).

(h) 114 evangelistic hymns. Online location: http://cyberhymnal.org/top/evangelism.htm

(i) Calvin Symposium on Worship. Online location: http://worship.calvin.edu/symposium/presenters.html

(j) The Worship Sourcebook: An Ecumenical Guide to Planning Worship by Joan Huyser-Honig. Online location: http://worship.calvin.edu/resources/resource-library/the-worship-sourcebook-an-ecumenical-guide-to-planning-worship/

(k) Jeremy Begbie: Theology through the Arts. Online location: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlR3bOsoAdA

(l) Institute of Evangelism; Jeremy Begbie, theologian, concert pianist, writer, lecturer; The Sound of Freedom: The Music of Liberation. Online location: http://www.wycliffecollege.ca/event_details.php?eid=390&timestamp=1363752000

(m) Leonard Ravenhill on evangelism and revival. Online location:
http://www.voiceofrevolution.com/2009/08/30/leonard-ravenhill-on-evangelism-and-revival/

(n) Selling with the Heart, Leader's Guide by Sr. Johnnie William Skinner. Online location: http://books.google.com/books/about/Seeing_with_the_Heart.html?id=lF5W6CBaMXIC

14. Evangelism Sheet Music Resources
(a) NTIME MUSIC COMPANY
4913 Albemarle Road #103
Charlotte, NC 28205
Phone: 704-531-8961
Online location: www.ntimemusic.com

(b) GIA Publications, Inc.
7404 South Mason Avenue
Chicago, IL 60638
Phone: 1-800-GIA-1358
Online location: www.giamusic.com

(c) J. W. Pepper & Sons Incorporated
2480 Industrial Boulevard
Paoli, P A 19301
Phone: 1-800-345-6296
Online location: www.jwpepper.com

(d) Dr. Margaret Douroux and Pleasant Publications
Rev. Earl Pleasant Publishing
P.O. 3247
Thousand Oaks, CA 91359
Phone: 818-991-3728 or 310-674-1903
Online location: http://www.pleasant-publications.com/pages/home.php

Closing Evangelism Remarks for Worship Leaders

1 Peter 3:15 gives us the defining statement: "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer (apologia) to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." Notice that before the answer is given, the one giving the answer is called to a certain prerequisite. The lordship of Christ over the life of the apologist is foundational to all answers given. Peter, of all the disciples, knew well how to ask questions and also how fickle the human heart is. He knew the seductive power of the spectacular in momentary enthrallment. He knew what it was to betray someone and to fail. He knew what it was to try to explain the Gospel, as he did at Pentecost.

Peter's strong reminder of the heart of the apologist is the basis of all apologetic attempts. With character in mind, there follow two immediate imperatives: the quality of life lived and the clarity of answers given. The way the Christian's life is lived will determine the impact upon believers and skeptics alike. This is a defining line because the claim by the believer is unique. The claim is that of a "new birth." After all, no Buddhist or Hindu or Muslim claims his or her life of devotion to be supernatural, yet they often live a more consistent life. And how often does the so-called Christian, even while teaching some of the loftiest truths one could ever teach, live a life bereft of that beauty and character. In apologetics the question is often asked, "If there is only one way, how is it that there are few in all of creation who qualify?" That question is actually more potent than the questioner realizes. It should further be raised, "Out of the few who actually qualify, why are even fewer living it out?"—Ravi Zacharias

In God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics, C.S. Lewis states, ";The greatest barrier I have met is the almost total absence from the minds of my audience of any sense of sin. . . . The early Christian preachers could assume in their hearers, whether Jews, Metuentes, or Pagans, a sense of guilt. (That this was common among Pagans is shown by the fact that both Epicureanism and the mystery religions both claimed, though in different ways, to assuage it.) Thus the Christian message was in those days unmistakably the Evangelium, the Good News. It promised healing to those who knew they were sick. We have to convince our hearers of the unwelcome diagnosis before we can expect them to welcome the news of the remedy."

Cites and Additional Information for Music and Materials Listed