Table of Contents

Equipping Evangelists

He Gave Some to be Evangelists...

By Earl J. Banning

Dear Evangelist:

The congregation recognizes and honors you as a God-called, God-sent minister teamed with the pastor (Ephesians 4:11) to bring spiritual maturity to church members and to build up the body of Christ into spiritual unity.

We do not expect you to bring revival. The congregation and pastor will prepare prayerfully and scripturally for the upcoming meeting. We will be postured to hear what God has to say through you upon your arrival and will personally submit to God’s Word through obedience.

Come to us spiritually ready, full of faith and expectancy of the Word, and filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 6:5). We anticipate you to arrive emotionally, socially, and spiritually ready to minister to people of all races, for our congregation consists of every culture and ethnic origin.

You are our God-sent evangelist to preach God’s Word. Faith in the Word of God brings true conversions and human changes. Preach God’s Word, for we are hungry and ready to walk with you in the great adventure of the Word of faith. We would see Jesus!

We feel it is important for you to maintain active membership in a local assembly and sustain a loving, proper relationship with your family. We want you as a role model for our church families as we try to develop proper households. Therefore, our evangelist should be the head of a godly household (Acts 21:8,9).

The congregation desperately requires your gift to challenge their lives and to lead them closer to God. As a confirming note of gospel repetition, they need to hear another person say the same things the pastor has said repeatedly. This is an exciting affirmation of divine truth required to bring life to God’s Word. We want to hear what God has spoken to your heart for our body of believers. Please understand we are struggling with issues of life and faith, health problems, spiritual discipline, family disorders, personal economic disasters, and questions only God can answer. We need you to be God’s instrument to help us along the way—to answer questions people are asking. Prayerfully allow the Holy Spirit to lead you in preparation and delivery of your sermons. Please refrain from delivering sermons that contain social, academic, and cultural hype. We desperately need to hear from God.

We wish you could sense the spiritual hunger and human anticipation we share in planning for this meeting. We are praying for our unconverted family members and friends and expecting their submission to Christ during this meeting. Please call or write in the planning stage of our meeting. This will help you in your preparation and give you a better understanding of what we are believing God to accomplish through you.

We invite you to join us as we pray for souls before each service. Here you will sense the passion we have for God to bring salvation to our families and friends.

Do not be concerned about your finance during your visit. We are preparing to bless you with generous offerings.

Please observe the “ministry-related products only” policy when offering your materials for sale. We do not want our foyer to look like a department store.

We recognize the pastor as the spiritual leader of the church; please honor him/her in all matters related to time schedules, conclusions, announcements, offerings, and other issues.

Team-partner with the pastor, and the congregation will follow you as the guest and ministerial gift partner in Christ. A kind and honest word of commendation regarding the pastor, associate staff, choir, etc., will be appreciated as you greet the congregation at the point of introduction.

We love you and expect to hear from God through your sermons, songs, prayers, and overall ministry. Relax and be yourself. We will follow a spiritual servant leader who is mature and personally in love with Jesus and finds great joy in presenting Christ in all His glory and grace. We would see Jesus.

We are praying and want you to join us in prayer, which is a divine exercise in acquiring God’s wisdom. We may not have discovered what we desperately need most from God, but you will sense this as you envelope yourself in intercessory prayer. When you minister we will know that we are hearing from God.

We desperately need time at the corporate altar—time to pray, sing, and weep together as we pursue God’s personal directives in response to His Word.

Do not feel you have to do all the ministry of laying on hands. We have a God-anointed pastor, associate pastors, godly deacons, and prayer elders who are spiritually trained and proficient in intercessory prayer. Perhaps you can cover more spiritual ground by calling upon others to assist you in altar ministry.

Be assured of our prayers after our revival services. Your sermons and personal ministry will linger until Jesus returns. We trust you will want to return and that we will want you to return for ministry in God’s timing.

Would you maintain some level of continued communication with the pastor? Then we could knowledgeably pray for you and your needs, and you could continue to monitor our well-being as you partner with us in prayer.

These are a few of the things pastors wish every evangelist knew about their congregations before revival meetings in the local churches.

Yours for souls,

Every Pastor

Earl J. Banning is pastor of Braeswood Assembly of God, Houston, Texas

| Read Part 2 |