Sermon Notes - Building a Foundation, Evangelism - Acts 1:8 - Rising Sun Baptist Church - May 31, 2026

 1.       As we start with our final building block of our foundation of doing life together.

a.       I pray that you have taken time to reflect on what has been shared in this series.

2.       Hopefully the Holy Spirit will show us who we as Rising Sun Baptist Church need to be for the foreseeable future.

a.       Helping us to be a safe place for those who are hurting.

b.       A place for those who are broken and lost.

c.       Helping us know who we are to reach.

3.       As we grow as Christ followers.

a.       We are to go about doing our Lord’s business.

b.       As we become disciples, we are to make disciples.

c.       Part of that is reaching the lost.

4.       Our final piece of our foundation is Evangelism.

5.       Acts 1:8

a.       If you have been around church at all, you are likely familiar with this verse.

b.       I suspect most of us have heard it a few times, at a minimum.

c.       It is a command from Jesus.

d.       That we are to be witnesses.

e.       To those closest to us.

f.         Those in our communities.

g.        Starts local and expands to the end of the earth.

h.       It boils down to you and I, to every follower of Christ, being a witness.

6.       Evangelism does not start with us charging out to our friends, family, and the people at the store and try to convince them that they need Jesus.

a.       It doesn’t start with memorizing a 10-step program.

b.       It is not a program at all.

7.       Our foundational building block of Evangelism starts with prayer.

a.       We cannot be a faithful witness if we are not praying.

b.       In the first message of this series.

c.       I said something along the lines that we need to pray dependently to our God for Him to change the hearts of the lost on our prayer lists. 

d.       We cannot save someone.

e.       We cannot change their hearts.

f.         Only our God can.

g.        We need to pray that He changes the hearts of the lost in our lives.

h.       Praying for the Holy Spirit to work in them.

i.          Pray passionately and dependently to our God for Him to wake them up before it is too late.

8.       You might notice the empty chair in front of the cross.

a.       I brought it up here for a reason.

b.       I want you to think about someone in your life, who does not know Jesus.

c.       Picture them.

d.       Then picture them sitting right here in our sanctuary with us, as a brother or sister in Christ.

e.       Pray for them by name.

f.         Pray for them when you see an empty chair.

g.        Ask God to work in His power to open their eyes.

h.       For the truth of Jesus to be heard.

i.          For eternities to be changed.

9.       The empty chair is a reminder that we have lost people we are to be praying for.

10.  Matthew 9:35-38

a.       Jesus was traveling around, meeting people where they were.

b.       He saw that they were distressed and dejected.

c.       Some versions may say harassed and helpless.

11.  Here’s the kicker… these people had spiritual leaders.

a.       The priests were there to guide them.

b.       But they weren’t doing their job.

c.       The people were like sheep without a shepherd.

d.       To put it another way, they needed a Savior.

e.       They needed Jesus.

12.  If Jesus were to walk among us today, I think He would respond in a similar manner.

a.       He would have compassion on the people.

b.       There are many in the schools who have not heard about Him.

c.       People in our workplaces that don’t follow Jesus.

d.       Pick a spot you frequent, other than church, and chances are the majority of the people there are in need of hearing the Gospel of Jesus.

13.  Jesus said the harvest was abundant then and it is no doubt abundant today.

a.       We need harvest workers.

b.       We need people who will stand up and share the message of Jesus with others.

c.       As we see prophesies about Jesus’ return falling in place around us.

d.       The message is urgent.

e.       People need to hear it.

f.         And they are not lining up church doors.

14.  As The Church we need to be praying for Harvest Workers who will share with the lost.

a.       And we need to step out in faith and be the Harvest Workers.

15.  Acts 1:8

a.       If we read this verse, we see that they were to receive the Holy Spirit and then be witnesses.

b.       Receiving the Holy Spirit was the only criteria.

c.       Being a witness is not a job that has only been given to those who have the title of Evangelist.

d.       It is not something that is the job of the Pastor.

e.       If the Holy Spirit is in you, you are to be a witness.

f.         That means all Christ followers have been told to be a witness.

16.  As we gather here at RSBC, there are things we can do to help.

a.       Which is why it is part of our building of our foundation.

b.       One of the things we should be doing here at RSBC is to help people learn to be witnesses.

17.  Now here is the tricky part.

a.       It is not a program.

b.       I don’t believe you can program your way to evangelism.

c.       I personally have struggled with programs.

d.       It can be hard to remember the 10 steps of evangelism.

e.       We can easily be so caught up in the program that we are afraid to talk about our Jesus.

f.         Afraid that we might forget something.

18.  God can use a program.

a.       But when we think about those on our prayer lists.

b.       The lost we have been praying for by name for years.

c.       I suspect a program has not or will not work with them.

19.  I am a firm believer that the best way to share Jesus with someone is to build a relationship with them.

a.       God brings people into our lives.

b.       And He never makes a mistake.

c.       As we do life with people and they realize we care, the chances of them listening to us increases.

d.       We might cover some tools now and again to help, but I would rather focus on teaching the Bible.

e.       Then trust the Holy Spirit will work in each of us.

20.  As we see in Luke.

21.  Luke 12:11-12

a.       God will give us words to share when we need them.

b.       He will equip us.

22.  One thing I do think is important is that we hear the Gospel repeated.

a.       You may have noticed that every Sunday when we are here, that the Gospel message is shared.

b.       Many years ago, I was asked why I did that, even if I knew everyone in the sanctuary.

c.       The answer is simple.

d.       I believe it helps each of us to be familiar with the Gospel.

e.       For us to remember who Jesus is.

f.         What He did.

g.        And what it means.

23.  It helps each of us be ready to share it with others.

24.  I am not a fan of programs, but I am a big believer in the Word of our God.

a.       I believe that if we focus on learning His Word.

b.       Putting our faith in our God.

c.       Letting the Holy Spirit speak to us and lead us.

d.       We will grow.

e.       We will be the witnesses we have been commanded to be.

25.  Biblically based teaching, is a critical element of our foundation.

a.       Discipleship starts as we grow in our knowledge of the Word of God, but also in how we live life together.

b.       The Fellowship that we have as a church family.

c.       Will be seen by others outside of the church.

d.       Especially if they see we enjoy being with our church family.

e.       Which gives us a great opportunity for us to share why we enjoy it.

f.         Then we get the chance to talk about who it is that brings us together.

g.        We get an opportunity to talk about our Jesus.

26.  That is evangelism.

a.       A conversation that starts by you being a friend to someone who doesn’t know Jesus.

b.       A friend you tell about how you enjoy spending time with your church family.

c.       Sooner or later that relationship will pave the way for you to be a witness.

d.       To share the Gospel.

e.       Evangelism does not need to be scary.

f.         It can come from walking through life with others.

27.  One thing we need to remember, is that we are not in control of how things turn out.

a.       We cannot change hearts.

b.       We will likely be shot down more than we are “successful.”

c.       Only the Holy Spirit can change their heart.

28.  We are told to be witnesses.

a.       Every time we plant a seed by talking about what Jesus is doing in our life, it is a win.

b.       When we talk about something we enjoyed at church, it is a win.

c.       When we invite someone to church or Bible study…

d.       We are being witnesses.

e.       We are planting seeds.

f.         We are watering.

29.  We are winning because we are faithfully doing what our Lord told us to do.

a.       The results are not up to us.

b.       If it were, I would not have a single unsaved name on my prayer list.

c.       The results are between God and those we are praying for and sharing with.

30.  Our focus when we are in these 4 walls is to grow as Christ followers.

a.       To learn as much as we can about the Bible.

b.       To help each other learn to listen to the Spirit’s guiding.

c.       To support other ministries that reach the lost outside of our community.

d.       North American Mission Board, International Mission Board, HMBA, Disaster Relief, The Bridge, the missionaries we directly support, and more.

31.  I want to encourage you to pray about how you can share about what God is doing in your life with others.

a.       Simply talk to them about why RSBC is your church home.

b.       Talk about how excited you are about the July 5^th event.

c.       If the door is open, tell them what Jesus has done for you.

d.       Focus on sharing, not convincing.

e.       Let God do the rest.

32.  Our challenges for the week:

a.       Who is sitting in your empty chair? Pray for God to open their eyes!

b.       What excites you about being part of this church family that you can share with others?

c.       How can you get plugged in here to grow closer to God and learn more about His Word?

33.  If you don’t know Jesus today and are tired of carrying the pain and sin you have been dragging around.

a.       Jesus is knocking at the door and waiting for you to let Him in.

b.       He is ready to wipe away your sin.

c.       Break the chains that are holding you back.

d.       He came to earth because He loves you.

e.       He died on the cross to forgive you for all that you have done.

f.         He defeated death to give you an amazing eternity.

g.        And He is now sitting at the right hand of the Father.

h.       Jesus is offering you the greatest gift ever.

i.          The first step is to repent of your sins and give your life to Him.

j.          If that is you this morning, I would love to pray with you.  

k.       The altar is open.