Sermon Illustrations on Family Evangelism

Pious Mothers And Ministers

Many ministers trace their salvation and call to the prayers of pious mothers.

Several young men who were associated in preparing for the Christian ministry, felt interested in ascertaining what proportion of their number had pious mothers. They were greatly surprised and delighted in finding that, out of one hundred and twenty students, more than a hundred had been blessed by a mother's prayers, and directed by a mother's counsels to the Savior. Though some of these had broken away from all the restraints of none, and, like the prodigal, had wandered in sin and sorrow, yet they could not forget the impressions of childhood, and each was eventually brought to Jesus, and proved a mother's joy and blessing.

The Sailor And His Daughter

A sailor’s daughter attending Sunday school influenced his eventual interest in religion.

In conversation with a respectable middle-aged seaman, at one of the prayer-meetings of the Liverpool Seamen's Friend Society, a friend asked, what first induced him to attend to religion. After a pause of some moments, he related the following narrative:—

I have been a sailor from a very early age, and never thought about religion, or the concerns of my soul, until my return from my last voyage. My home, where I have resided eighteen years, is at a village near Workington, in a small cottage, the next to a neat chapel; but the people who go to this chapel being called by the neighbors, methodists, I never would venture inside the door, nor suffer my family to do so, if I could prevent it. I usually sail out of Liverpool. During the winter the vessel is laid up. At those times I return home for a few weeks to my family. Having a small family, and the times pressing rather hard upon us, during my absence last summer, my wife, endeavoring to save a little, sent my eldest girl, about six years of age, to the Sunday school established at the chapel. My stay, when at home, being generally of short duration, my wife might suppose it would be no difficult matter to keep me in ignorance of the circumstance.

I came from my last voyage before Christmas, and went home. Being late when I arrived, I had not the opportunity of seeing my eldest girl until the following day. At dinner time, when we had sat down, I began to eat what was before me, without ever thinking of my heavenly Father, who provided my daily bread; but, glancing my eye towards this girl, of whom I was dotingly fond, I observed her to look at me with astonishment. After a moment's pause, she asked me, in a solemn and serious manner, "Father, do you never ask a blessing before eating?" Her mother observed me to look hard at her, and hold my knife and fork motionless (it was not anger—it was a rush of conviction which struck me like lightning); apprehending some reproof from me, and wishing to pass it by in a trifling way, she said, "Do you say grace, Nanny." My eyes were still riveted upon the child, for I felt conscious. I had never instructed her to pray, nor even set an example, by praying with my family. The child, seeing me waiting for her to begin, put her hands together, and lifting her eyes up to heaven, breathed the sweetest prayer I ever heard. This was too much for me; the knife and fork dropped from my hands, and I gave vent to my feelings in tears. [Here a pause ensued, and he appeared much affected; on recovering himself, he continued.] I inquired who had thus instructed the child. The mother informed me the good people at the chapel next door; and the child never would go to bed, nor rise in the morning, without kneeling down to pray for herself, and her dear father and mother.

Ah! thought I, and I never prayed for myself or my children. I entered the chapel in the evening, for the first time, and continued to attend the means of grace there. The Lord having wakened me to a sense of my danger through the instrumentality of a dear child, I am now seeking him with all my heart, and truly can I say, I am happy in the thought, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save poor sinners, of whom I am chief.

The Story of A People Movement To Christ

Mark 10:30

This is a story written by Dr. Donald McGavran in 1937 and published in a very scarce book, "The Founders of the Indian Church." The story presented here is true and as applicable to our mission strategies today as it was in 1937.

The Story of Ditt

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There once was a man named Ditt who lived in the land of the Punjab in India. The Hindus called him an Untouchable. He was short, dark, and lame. He was a laborer in the village and also bought and sold hides. He was in good standing in the Chuhras caste there.

One day Ditt heard about Jesus Christ, the sinless Incarnation of God, had gone about doing good, had given men wonderful teaching, and had died on the Cross that men might obtain salvation. Ditt said, "I want that kind of Lord, One who loves sinners and saves them from sin and ignorance and teaches them the truth about God. I want a religion in which there is no caste, where we Chuhras will learn that we are men every bit as good as Brahmans and Thakurs." Ditt set to work at once, before seeing any padre or preacher, to learn about the Christian religion. He visited a nearby Christian, and from him learned the Ten Commandments, the Apostles Creed and the Lord's Prayer. He committed them to memory. Then he walked 25 miles to the Mission House in Sialkot and said to the padre there, "I wish to be baptized."

The padre said to him, "Stay here in Sialkot for a few months. Attend Church. Learn further. Then I will baptize you." But Ditt said, "Sir, I already know all that you require for baptism. I cannot stay, I have my work to do. My family is expecting me to return. Please baptize me now."

The padre examined him again, and finding that Ditt really did know the Commandments and the Creed and the Prayer, baptized him. He then said to him, "You are a new Christian. If you go back to your village, people will laugh at you, and persecute you, and put you out of caste. You had better stay here with us. We shall give you a job and you can earn your living here. Bring your wife here and she too will become a Christian."

But Ditt said immediately, "No, Padre Sahib, I must go back to my village. I have not abandoned my people. I still love them. I am mot a coward to run away and become a Christian. I did not become a Christian for a job. I have my work. I shall go back and bring all my people to Christ, that they too may be saved."

So the padre had a prayer with him, and asked God to bless Ditt and strengthen him and make him a good Christian, and help him to bring all his people into salvation.

Ditt had five brothers living in Shahbdike with him. They and their families numbered sixty persons. All these people were angry with Ditt when he returned as a Christian. They shouted at him, saying, "You are ruined. You have disgraced us. You are a fool. You cannot eat or drink with us. You cannot sit in our panchayat. You cannot smoke with us." They abused him and ridiculed him. His wife refused to cook for him or to eat with him. The village landlord refused to give him any work. The money lender said, "Since you are a Christian I will not loan you any more money.

But Ditt remained firm in his faith. To his brothers he replied, "I am not ruined. Instead, I have found a Savior who will benefit me and you as well, when you too obey Him. To his wife he was kindly, and did not abuse her for refusing to cook his food. This surprised his wife very much. To the landlord he was respectful, more respectful than before, and said, "Sir, I will do your work faithfully and well. What difference does it make to you that I have begun to worship Jesus Christ?" After about a month the landlord gave Ditt a bit of work to do. Ditt did it so well that after that the landlord gave him work regularly. At the end of the year when the money lender refused to give the Christian money, the land lord gave him a loan. Thus Ditt remained with his people and refused to consider himself an enemy or an outcast. He said, "What I have will benefit all my people."

A few days after his baptism, when his wife was scolding him for becoming a Christian, he said, "Listen to these words of God. Are they not wonderful? Why don't you learn them too?" His wife answered, "I? I cannot learn. I am a woman." Ditt replied, "Christ gives women power to learn. Repeat these words over together with me and you will learn them." They repeated the words of the Lord's Prayer over forty times and Ditt's wife to her surprise found that she too could say the Lord's Prayer. Then she listened with great attention to the stories of the great and wonderful works of the Lord Jesus, and of His death on the Cross for sinners. She decided to give her heart to Jesus Christ. Ditt's daughter too decided to become a Christian and the man and wife living in the next house learned the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments and the Creed with the wife and daughter. They too were soon ready to become Christians. Three months from the date of Ditt's baptism these four people walked 25 miles to Sialkot and were baptized and then walked back to their village.

Now the whole village was aroused. Five people had become Christians. People asked Ditt, "What did you get for becoming a Christian? Money, legal help, a loan?" Ditt answered them clearly, saying, "Whoever changes his religion for money is a rascal. I work as I did before. I live in my old home. I have received nothing from the Christians but the true religion, a religion in which there is no idol worship, no worship of the Brahmans, and no castes. I now have a Bible which tells us that there are no high caste and no low caste, but all are equal in the sight of God, and all are brothers here on earth. This is the true religion. I have found the true religion, therefore I have become a Christian." This testimony greatly impressed his relatives. Four men started to come and learn Christian truth from Ditt and his family. Six months from the date of Ditt's baptism he took four men to Sialkot for baptism. There were now nine Christians in Shahabdike Village. The padre visited the village now. While the padre was there Ditt was able to convince many others of the truth of Christian religion. All these Christians continued to live in their village and to do the work they formerly were doing.

Part of Ditt's work was buying and selling hides. He had to travel around to many villages. Wherever he went he said to the Chuhras, "My friends, we Chuhras must find a way out of our sin and ignorance. Our present religion tells us that we are untouchables. It keeps us ignorant. We have no Savior. The Lord Jesus Christ came to save just such people as we are, save them from sin and from ignorance, and to make it possible for them to live a good life and go to heaven. All Chuhras ought to accept the Lord Jesus Christ."

Chuhras would object, saying, "If we become Christians, we shall lose our relatives." Ditt would say to them, "Not at all. Look at me. I became a Christian, and while it is true that for a few weeks people were angry with me, first my wife and then my neighbors and relatives have become Christian. Within a few years all of my relatives will be Christian. Because this is the true religion, everyone will become Christian. You become a Christian and others will follow." Hearing this many Chuhras in many villages started to become Christians. Eleven years after the conversion of Ditt, 500 Chuhras were received in the church. By 1900 over half of the Chuhras in Sialkot District had become Christian and by 1915 all except a few hundred of the Chuhras had become Christians.

Thus Ditt's example caused 100,000 people to become Christians. He led them out of darkness into light, out of slavery into freedom.

Hearing of the people who were becoming Christian in Sialkot District, other Chuhras in the Punjab became Christians, so that in the 1930's in the Punjab there were 450,000 Christians and the number is growing rapidly year by year. Recently, all the Chuhras of the Sialkot District have started to raise money to build a great church to the memory of Ditt, the man who was used by God to bring Salvation to all the Chuhras. His memory is held sacred.

How To Share Your Faith With Your Family

Luke 18:1

Keys to introducing your family to Christ.

The work of God in our lives happens over time, not in an instant, as we persevere and grow, our families will see it.

1. Zealous Mistakes

2. God's faithfulness

3. Ask questions first. Prov 18:13

4. Live out your faith

a. Forgive as Christ forgave you. Matt 6:9-15

b. Serve your family. 1 Pet 2:12

c. Open your heart.

d. Invite them into your life.

5. Learn their language of Love.

6. Major on the majors

a. Self-righteous attitudes

b. Confusing biblical values with extrabiblical ones. 2 Tim 2:24-25

7. Don't try to reform them. 1 Cor 5:9-10,12, 2:2, 2:14

8. Running the marathon. Luke 18:1-4

Evangelistic Bible Studies

John 20:31

Certified financial planner and former Southern Seminary trustee John Michael talked about starting Bible studies with non-believers in his workplace, saying that God's Word can convict people of their need for a Savior. He gave seven suggestions for starting an evangelistic Bible study in one's home:

-- Start with two Christian families, a host family and a leader family.

-- Be sure that one of the families consists of laypeople with secular

connections.

-- Do not fill up the study group with active church members.

-- Invite various friends and families to attend, hoping for at least

two or three unchurched families to participate.

-- Encourage whole families to attend, including children 10 years

old and older.

-- Encourage a "lone" believer in a family to bring unsaved family

members.

-- Split the group in two if it gets too large.

Michael also suggested going through the Gospel of John verse by verse to help start a Bible study. Through the gospel, it is easy to emphasize Christ as the way of salvation and becoming a disciple of Christ through a "changed life," he said.

"The purpose is to intentionally show people what it means to be saved and what it means to become a follower of Christ," Michael said.

Michael himself was saved through an evangelistic Bible study to which some of his friends had invited him.

Dad's Anger At God

My dad was an agnostic for most of his adult life. When I decided to become a preacher, he hit the roof. He thought I was wasting my life and talents, and he would have preferred that I had chosen to become an engineer like him, or a teacher, or an historian.

His battle with God was surprising to me. As a teenager, he had excelled in Bible School and even had “First in the Class” certificates. His knowledge of the Bible was amazing, and throughout my years in seminary, he would deliberately argue with me about the existence of God. In fact, whenever I visited him at home, it would take us only about ten minutes to get into a theological tussle. Any peace that was in the house before I appeared was broken, and I usually left bitter and resentful.

I guess my dad felt let down by God. He had to care for my mom for many years without a break. As her insanity and ill health grew progressively worse, I could see the pain in his eyes and the stress across his face. I finally came to the resolution that when dad berated my beliefs, he was expressing his inward anguish and voicing his struggle with a loving God, who allowed innocent people to suffer.

In the last year of his life, my dad was diagnosed with a stomach cancer, which had progressed too far for treatment. The years had mellowed him, and our relationship was a lot better, even though we were separated by the Atlantic. When the hospice chaplain came to visit him and asked to pray, dad said, “Don't bother, minister. My son John's prayers are all that I need.”

A couple of days before he died, we shared a phone call. He didn't want me to come over to Scotland until after he was dead. We talked about many things, and I told him how proud I was of everything that he did for our family. At the end of the conversation, Dad usually said, “Take care of yourself, son.” This time, he spoke three precious words, “God bless you.”

Those were his final words to me. He had made his peace with God at the very last, and in that acceptance, he was given life from the dead. We never know when the seeds of faith will bear fruit, but we share what we know of God with those we love and cherish, in the hope that one day acceptance of God will come.

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John Stuart; traqair@aol.com, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; source: Illustrator, http://www.answers2prayer.org

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Schools In Wales

A sick boy’s Sunday school attendance leads to his parents’ conversion after his death.

A poor family, in Wales, had acquired, by great industry, he sum of thirty pounds. This, for greater security, as they thought, they placed in the hands of a person reported to be very rich; but he shortly afterwards failed, and they lost their little all. They were nearly broken-hearted; and, from their abject condition, did not like to be seen in a place of worship. After some time, however, their little boy found his way to a Sunday school, was very attentive, and went regularly for a long time. At length he was taken very ill, and re-

J quested the teachers to come and pray with him. He gradually got worse, and it became evident to himself and others, that he was soon to leave this world. This little boy then told his parents he felt quite happy in the love of God; and said, that if he had not attended a Sunday school, he should have known nothing of the Lord Jesus Christ. He entreated, as his dying request, that his mother would attend and take his place in the Sunday school; for, in Wales, there are nearly as many adults, or grown people, in the schools, as children. The poor weeping mother consented, and, after her little boy's death, attended where he used to sit; the result of which was, that both she and her husband became truly converted to God.