In our last lesson We addressed obstacles to winning souls within – Evangelism 2016 In our last lesson We addressed obstacles to winning souls within – Misconceptions – failure to trust God or the gospel, none interested, etc. Faulty attitudes – lack of boldness, zeal, discouragement Faulty motives – prejudice, ignoring the lost, laziness, misunderstanding the church, etc.

Obstacles to winning souls Without (1) Evangelism 2016 Obstacles to winning souls Without (1)

Worldliness Always been a problem 1 John 5:19, Rom. 1:21, 8:5-8, 1 John 2:15-17, James 4:4 What about OUR worldliness? Cf. Matthew 13:22

Worldliness An obstacle to reaching the lost because to follow Christ you HAVE to give up the world! 1 John 2:15-17, Matthew 19:21-22, John 3:19-21

Worldliness We need to be different! Romans 12:1-2, Col. 3:1-2 2 Cor. 6:14-17, 1 Cor. 5:9-13 John 17:13-16 – in the world but not of the world Matthew 5:13 – are we salt?

Busyness Even with technology to make life easier, we have less time than ever before It can affect Christians as well. While we need to be busy (not lazy), cf. Jesus - Acts 10:38 It is possible to be so busy with “stuff” that the important is crowded out!

Busyness We are to redeem our time – Eph. 5:15-16 1 Thess. 4:11 – lead a “quiet life” Matthew 6:6 – private prayer A challenge to find time to study with others – theirs and ours!

Busyness What can we do? Show priorities Matthew 22:37 Are brethren important to us? Show them sacrifices – make it appealing (i.e. don’t complain)

Busyness What can we do? Work on being flexible - 2 Corinthians 13:5 a balanced life Don’t overcommit – Luke 10:38-42. Sometimes we need to say, ‘no’ and accept when others say ‘no’!

Impersonal Communication is amazing today. We can talk with anyone in many ways. But, how many true friends do we have? Is our “social media” keeping us from direct, personal contact with friends, neighbors and family?

Impersonal Why do we assemble? Hebrews 10:24-25, 1 Corinthians 14 One of the best things we can do to reach others is act like the family of God! John 13:34-35

Impersonal The most effective way to win souls is through personal contact EVERY act of conversion in scripture involved personal contact! 2 Timothy 2:2, Acts 8:4

Impersonal To overcome the personal barrier – we need to care and interact with others Maybe even those others try to avoid - James 2:1-4, Jesus - Luke 15:1-2, Matthew 9:10-11, John 4:6-10 1 Corinthians 9:19-22 – Paul became all things to all men

When we try and reach the lost… We will face obstacles and objections There is a proper way to deal with them

The improper way is to do nothing! Let us pray to God to help us do what we can to reach as many as we can!