Preaching and Evangelism

One snowy Sunday, a 15-year-old boy ducked into a church to get warm. While there, he heard a sermon from Isaiah 45:22, “Look unto me and be ye saved,” and he trusted Christ that day. The boy was Charles Spurgeon; over his lifetime, he would preach to more than 10 million people and baptize more than 14,000 converts.

The preaching of the Word in the church is one of God’s most important tools to bring people to salvation. In today’s passage, Paul begins with his desire that both the Jews and the Gentiles would call on the name of the Lord. The glorious truth of the gospel is that Christ is the hope of Jew and Gentile, of male and female, of slave and free (see Gal. 3:28). Jesus is the Savior for everyone, and everyone who calls out to Christ in faith will certainly be saved (v. 13).

But, Paul asks, how will the world’s people know to place their trust in Christ? The answer is that they need someone to preach the gospel to them (vv. 14–15), because “faith comes from hearing the message” (v. 17). This call to repentance and faith must resound from our pulpits. Though we ourselves might not be the most trained or eloquent gospel communicators, we can bring others to hear the saving message from those whom God has appointed.

Jesus told His followers: “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (Luke 10:2). Joining the work of evangelism means we must highly value the preaching of the Word ourselves, invite others to come hear it, and pray to the Lord to prepare more preachers of the gospel.

Pray with Us

For the next three days, focus your prayers on the faculty of Moody Bible Institute in Spokane. Today we pray for Beverly Tronsen, Chris Rappazini, Craig Ferderer, Daniel Ward, and David Beine, thanking God for their ministry to the students.

BY Megan Hill

Megan Hill serves on the editorial board for Christianity Today and is a regular contributor to CT Women and The Gospel Coalition website. She is the author of Praying Together: The Priority and Privilege of Prayer: In Our Homes, Communities, and Churches, and a graduate of Grove City College. She lives in West Springfield, Mass., with her husband and four children.