MEANING OF

EVANGELISM/WITNESSING
 D. T. Niles describes “Evangelism like “One
beggar telling another beggar where to get food
for bread.

 The Anglicans-”To evangelize is so to present

Christ Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit, that
men shall come to put their trust in God through
Him, to accept Him as their Savior, and serve
Him as their Lord in the fellowship of His
Church.”
 Lewis Drummond-Evangelism “a concentrated
effort in the power of the Holy Spirit to
confront unbelievers with the truth about
Jesus Christ and the claims of our Lord with a
view to leading unbelievers into repentance
toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ
and thus, into the fellowship of His church
so they may grow in the Spirit.”
Meaning of evangelism:
 Evangelism is the presentation
of biblical doctrines in the
power of the Holy Spirit in
such a way that people will be
persuaded to accept Jesus as
Savior and to serve Him in the
fellowship of the Church.
. It is a mandate for each and
every believer including new
converts and an essential
element for living the Christian.
life.
a. The word “evangelism”does not occur in the New testatment

 The word “evangelist” occurs

three times:
 Acts 21: 8 “Philip the

evangelists”
 2 Tim 4 :5 “Do the work of an

evangelist.”
Greek terms:
 1.) Martureo- sharing one’s experience with
others. Christians are to witness. Jesus said,
“You shall be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8)

 2.) Laleo- Telling others. The verb used to

describe NT evangelism is laleo, which means
to talk or use the voice. The expression “as
they spake to the people” (4:1) simply means
they communicated a message.
 3. Evanggelizo- Telling others about Jesus.
The NT Christians evangelized, or told others
the good news about Jesus. “Therefore they
that were scattered abroad went everywhere
preaching (evangelizing) the world” (8:4).

 4. Didasko- Teaching others the gospel

systematically. The Greek word didasko
suggest a systematic explanation of the
gospel so people can understand and believe.
 5.) Dialegomai- answering reasonable
objections. When Paul and others in the NT
engaged in evangelism, they often had to
answer reasonable objections which were
raised concerning the gospel message.

 6.) Kataggeloo-Driving home the gospel. It

implies reaching people at their point of
need.
 7.) Peitho- Persuading those who are
hesitant. To ‘persuade’ means to bring
another to a point of decision. Evangelism is
understood to be God’s mandate, yet it is
clear that every member of the church has to
participate in this gospel work.
 8.) kerusso-Announcing the gospel so people
can respond. The early church proclaimed the
gospel so that people could understand t
(8:5)

 9.) Mathatuo- Convincing others to follow

Jesus. It means to make disciples (Matt. 28: 9)
it means bringing people to a conversion
experienced which will make them faithful
followers of Christ.
 
All Christians are witnesses
 Witnessing is the natural result of conversion. One
reason for lack of real witnessing among some of us is
that we know little of Jesus and His power in our lives. We
cannot witness if we have nothing about which to witness.
“ that which we have seen and heard we declare to you,
that you also may have fellowship with us” (I John 1:) .
Here may be found the tools and goals of witnessing. The
apostles had seen and heard events that were undeniable.
Christian are powerful witnesses when they have the joy
and the assurance of their own salvation. Their goal is to
lead others to the same experience. It is of significance
that the Greek word for “witness” is a martus, which is
the root of the English term martyr, Stephen is known as
the first martyr (Acts. 22:20)
  
Evidences of Jesus Personal
Witnessing Endeavor:
1.) He met people where they were.
 “Jesus saw in every soul one to whom must be
given the call to His kingdom. He reached the
hearts of the people by going among them as
one who desired their good. He sought them
in the Public streets, in private houses, on the
boats, in the synagogue, by shores of the
lake, and at the marriage feast. He met them
at their daily vocations and manifested
interest in their secular affairs.
 Theemphasis is not so much on
what they communicated, but
rather that they were sharing the
gospel as they spoke to the
people.
2.) Wherever He was, He spoke to men
of things pertaining to the higher life.

 “ We should do as Christ did. Wherever He was… He

spoke to me of the things pertaining to the higher life.
when he opened His lips to speak , their attention was
Savior of life unto life. So it should be with us. Wherever
we are, we should watch for opportunities of speaking
to others of the Saviour. If we follow Christ example in
doing good, hearts will be open to us as they did to
Him. Not abruptly, but with tact born of divine love, we
can tell them one ‘altogether lovely’. This is the very
highest work I which we can employ the talent of
speech. It was given to us that we might present Christ
as the sin-pardoning Saviour.” –Christ object lesson, pp.
331, 338
3.) The work of Christ was mostly on
a one- to-one basis
 “The work of Christ was largely made
up of personal interviews. He had a
faithful regard for the one-soul
audience. Fro that one soul the
intelligence received was carried to
thousands.” –Testimonies vol. 6.
p.115
 “One of the most effective was in
which light can be communicated is by
private personal effort. In home circle,
at your neighbor’s fireside, at the
bedside of the sick, in a quiet way you
may read the Scriptures and speak a
word for Jesus and the truth. Thus you
may sow precious seed that will spring
up and bring forth fruit.”
 -Testimonies,vol. 6 pp. 428, 429
 “TheLord desires that His word
of Grace shall be brought home to
every soul. To a great degree this
must be accomplished by
personal labor. This was Christ’s
method.” –Christ’s object lessons,
p. 229.
 “By personal labor reach those around you.
Become acquainted with them. Preaching
will not do the work that need to be done.
Angels of God attend you to the dwellings
of those you visit. This work cannot be done
by proxy. Money lent or given will not
accomplish it . Sermons will not do it. By
visiting the people, talking, praying,
sympathizing with them you will win hearts.
This is the highest missionary work that you
can do. To do it, you will need resolute,
persevering faith, unwearyingly patience,
and a deep love for souls. “ –Testimonies
vol. 9, p. 41
Assignment:
1.Write/list at least three person that you
want to evangelize or to witness
personally.
2.Write a prayer that you wish to supplicate
with the Lord regularly during your
personal devotional and prayer session for
the sake of these people.
3.Write 7 ways/steps that you can take and
do to witness to them personally.
4.Be ready to share what you have
experience in doing this during the final
exam.