Discipleship Outcome #3: Evangelism

Mission and Vision

From Vintage Faith Church’s Vision Statement:

Being committed to proclaiming the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light - in and throughout our daily lives. 1 Peter 2:9, Mark 5:20, 1 Peter 3:15, 2 Corinthians 3:18, 1 Corinthians 6:11, Matthew 28:16-20

A disciple of Christ embraces the fullness of the gospel and is transformed by God’s grace in such a way that he or she desires to share the truth of the gospel with others. A disciple of Jesus shows and shares throughout their lives and personal relationships how God’s grace has impacted them. Perhaps there is no better story that illustrates this than the story of the man who was tortured by a legion of unclean spirits. After Jesus had cast the demons into a herd of pigs, the man was sitting there clothed and in his “right mind.” He was once in darkness, tortured, in bondage, and because of his tortured soul, he had tortured those around him. Now, sitting there, delivered out of the domain of darkness into the marvelous light of Christ, this man wanted nothing more than to be with Jesus. Listen to how Mark describes the scene:

As he (Jesus) was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. – Mark 5:18

Out of an intense love and gratitude for his salvation this man only wanted to be with Jesus. Who can argue with that? Isn’t that a very strong spiritual impulse? In some sense we should all desire to be with Christ. It is a sign of spiritual health for us to want to be with Christ. However, Jesus did not have that for this man. And likewise, if your heart is beating right now, and you are breathing, he does not have that for you either. Listen to what happens next:

And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled. Mark:19-20

Go, tell “your friends” how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you. This is the charge and the call to every believer. Tell others about the Lord and what the Lord has done in your life. Tell others about the grace and mercy of the Lord Jesus. Be prepared to give an answer for the hope that is within you. Tell, tell, tell! If Jesus is precious to you, if He is your greatest treasure, then you will desire to tell others about Him. For sure, this is not easy, and we will stammer and stumble as we do it. But, it is the call of every believer. We are to tell of the grace of the Lord in our lives.

In order to do this we must understand the gospel. Are you able to articulate the gospel? In so many words. Maybe a short version? Maybe a longer version? Are you able to navigate conversations with your children or your friends? In one sense this is so simple. In another sense, it is something we grow into throughout our entire walk with God. As we learn more and more about the gospel story from Genesis through Revelation we become equipped to enter into conversations, and to share God’s grace from different angles. We are able to not only share Scripture, but we are able to connect Scripture to our own lives, and even speak Scripture into our friends lives.

We can learn to speak about creation, the fall, redemption and the great consummation to come. We can speak to the value of human life. To the reason for evil. Who can speak to the fickleness of the human heart better than a Christian? Its really pretty amazing, because the gospel is so deep that it touches on every longing of the human heart. However, don’t let me discourage you! Its also so simple that you can tell of the reason for the hope you have within you right now! Just like the man in this story.

“Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”

It’s really that simple. You have friends. You have family. Tell them about Jesus. Tell them how much He has done for you, tell them of the mercy He has had on you. Start with your children. Oh, this is not something we “have” to do! Its something we “get” to do. The Apostle Peter using Exodus language says it like this:

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 Peter 2:9-1

Brothers and sisters in Christ. You were chosen by God to be in Christ. This is purely by God’s grace, not by the will of man, and not by anything you have done, so that nobody can boast. You are God’s possession. For what purpose? You and I are called to be royal priests. What is a royal priest? First, you are in God’s family, therefore you are royalty. You are a son or daughter of the King. You will inherit. All that the Father has is yours. Second, you have the Holy Spirit living within you. The Father has called you out of darkness, just like the demon possessed man in the gospel of Mark, into his marvelous light, to proclaim His excellencies. You and I have the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit living inside of us. Paul says, we are temples of the living God. You and I represent the one true God to everyone we come in contact with. We, like the priests in the Old Testament, relate to God and represent God to the people around us through the Word empowered by His Spirit.

You are a living temple, and you are a priest to the nations. This is what it means to be in the royal priesthood. It means we are to be evangelists. Proclaimers. Tellers. It means that we share our grace filled changed lives and the merciful God who changed us to a lost and dark world in desperate need of hope.

I promise you if you begin to see all of your life in this context that everything you do will be infused with purpose and meaning. You were made by Him and for Him. And what is God doing right now? He is reconciling a lost world to Himself. This is the work that God has for us now. Preach the Word. Make disciples. Teach those disciples. This is not just pastoral work. This is for all of us! Like the great C.S Lewis said.

“remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.”

In Christ together and On Mission together

Pastor Anthony Valentine

Steve BrownJune 26, 2025