HOW TO EVANGELIZE WITHOUT AN ALTER CALL...........AUTHOR BY AARON MENIKOFF.........

How should a pastor who rejects the altar call think about evangelism in a public worship service? Put another way, what does it look like for a corporate worship service to be marked by evangelistic zeal? 1. BE EARNEST. Be earnest. Though there is nothing more important for a preacher than fidelity to gospel truth, earnestness must be a close second. God uses men whose hearts are gripped ...by the tragedy of sin and the reality of salvation. Until the doctrine of God’s amazing grace has settled in a preacher’s bones, it will never flash from his lips. 2. BE CLEAR ABOUT THE GOSPEL. Be clear about the gospel. Every passage of Scripture is a gospel text. In all of Esther, the name of God is never mentioned, and yet his handiwork is on every page. A pastor who wants to see sinners saved will faithfully teach the Bible, showing his congregation how the person and work of Christ is the point of every text. 3. CALL PEOPLE TO REPENT AND BELIEVE. Call people to repent and believe. There is a place in every sermon for a pastor to invite sinners to find hope in Christ. So often, I hear sermons that end with a call to stewardship, a call to risk, a call to faithfulness—but not once a call to Christ. The preacher should carefully and passionately urge his listeners to repent and believe the good news, to submit their lives to Christ the King. 4. CREATE SPACE FOR FOLLOW-UP CONVERSATIONS. Create space for follow-up conversations. When I preach the gospel during my sermons, I want unbelievers to know that I’m eager to talk more about the faith I’ve just shared. Therefore, I make myself available after the service to talk about the gospel and its implications. 5. OFFER EVANGELISTIC STUDIES. Offer evangelistic studies. I commonly let seekers know that they are invited to join a short, straightforward study that explains the basics of the Christian faith. The study I use is Christianity Explained, a six-week study through the Gospel of Mark published by the Good Book Company. I’ve found it to be an invaluable introduction to the gospel. In fact, training in how to lead this study has become a staple class at my church. 6. MAKE A BIG DEAL OUT OF BAPTISMS. Make a big deal out of baptisms. Of course, baptisms already are a big deal. We should recognize that each baptism is an opportunity to show the congregation that God is at work building his church. 7. PRAY. Finally, pray. In the pastoral prayer and even the closing prayer, I regularly pray that seekers would repent and believe the gospel. I pray they would submit their lives to Christ, overcoming whatever obstacles they perceive to be standing in their way. I pray that God would make himself known by drawing sinners to himself this very day