June 5th, 2025
by Dr. Spencer Plumlee
by Dr. Spencer Plumlee
This week we are encouraging our church family to invite one person to worship this Sunday, June 8, for our “Sunday Funday.” Our heart’s desire this year is to encourage a greater emphasis on evangelism and outreach through what we’ve called “Advance.” These “Sunday Fundays” are a critical part of the strategy this year because we believe invitation is one of the most powerful ways you can engage your spheres of influence with the gospel.
Who are you going to invite this Sunday? I’ve got a few guys at the gym I continuously am talking with and inviting, but I plan to make a more deliberate “ask” this week, encouraging them to join us this Sunday.
Please be aware that we’ve synced up this invitation Sunday to follow VBS and it’s our intention to invite the hundreds of families who attend this week to come back and join us not only for worship but for a party afterwards on the back lawn.
Today, I’d like to talk about how to not only invite people regularly but also to make sharing your faith a normal part of your life. I’m calling this “Evangelism’s Secret Weapon,” because I’ve found there is one critical element, often overlooked, that when in place encourages evangelism. The most powerful way I continually find myself sharing my faith is Assurance of my Salvation. Assurance? How does that impact sharing your faith? Before I answer that, let me remind you about the important steps in sharing your faith and talk about the role of invitation.
Conversation Progression
Sharing your faith becomes natural and easy when you can move seamlessly from casual conversation, to spiritual conversation, and then gospel conversation. Let me quickly review each of these important steps.
Casual Conversation. This is friendly, normal, everyday talk. The weather, Cowboys, Rangers, Stars, your kids or the stock market are all examples of casual conversation. The key to this kind of engagement is being friendly! With a smile on your face, being approachable and kind is the critical starting point for sharing your faith.
Spiritual Conversation. This is moving from the normal, everyday talk to conversation about God in a general way. Religious background, family’s religion, church background or spiritual beliefs are all prompts that lead to spiritual conversation. “Did you grow up going to church anywhere?” or “Did your family have any affiliation with a church?” I have a friend who’s a bit more direct, but he says this: “I’m a follower of Jesus, do you have a religion?”
Gospel Conversation. This is moving from talk about spiritual matters to a clear, verbal explanation of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus followed by an opportunity to respond in repentance and faith. Can you jump right from getting to know someone in casual conversation to gospel conversation? Sure! But I’ve personally found spiritual conversation helpful because it gives me needed information about HOW I can share the gospel most effectively with someone. For example, if in spiritual conversation someone tells me they were raised a Muslim, that has a huge bearing on what I will address as I share the gospel.
Value of Invitation
Invitation is a helpful part of the process between Spiritual Conversations and Gospel Conversations. This threefold progression is almost never linear. I don’t leave spiritual conversation with someone when I move to gospel conversation. They become intertwined, often going back and forth as the person raises questions or objections.
Inviting someone to church is a great way to not only keep the conversation going, but expose them to the gospel in a different way. On the one hand, if someone comes to church through your invitation, they will hear the gospel from someone other than you! Whoever is preaching the Bible that day in our service will ALWAYS share the gospel and invite people to respond.
Invitation also exposes them to the feel, or if I were being Gen Z, the vibe of the gospel. Seeing the church love each other, watching them worship, hearing the conversations, and experiencing the overall vibrancy of a family of believers all can have a powerful effect on a person considering the gospel. No, this “feel” cannot save them, but it’s a powerful tool in their life.
So, how do you make sharing the gospel and invitation a normal part of your life?
Secret Weapon: Assurance of Your Salvation
A few weeks ago, I was at the gym and one of the guys I regularly share with asked, “Spencer, what do you know?” And without even thinking about it, I said, “Jesus is Lord!” He was a little taken back by this, but I quickly followed up with, “I’m just seeing Him moving so powerfully in my life, my family and my church, that it’s the best thing I know.”
Now, I don’t normally do that. Normally, I ease into conversations with people, as I outlined above. Why did I do this at that moment? Well in part, it’s important to know that I’ve had lots of conversations with this friend. But at a deeper level the answer is my experience of Jesus. Because my experience of Christ is growing more and more real, more and more sweet, I want everyone else to experience Jesus in their life the way I experience Him in my life.
I’m convinced that your assurance that you are saved, loved, and claimed by Jesus is the key to consistently sharing your faith. There are two dimensions to assurance I’d like to mention.
Intellectual Assurance. There’s a type of assurance and peace you have through clearly trusting in the promises of God in his word. Consider these truths:
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. John 10:28-29
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39
I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6
He saved us—not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy... so that, having been justified by His grace, we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:5-7
Trusting the promises contained in each of these verses is a critical part of your assurance. You and I desperately need the clarity in our minds that our assurance of salvation is not based on our performance or perfection but on Christ’s performance and perfection. Remember, it’s not the strength of your faith that saves you. It’s the object of your faith that saves you: King Jesus.
Experiential Assurance. Our intellectual assurance sets up a kind of experiential assurance through which we actually FEEL the peace of Christ. Now I know some of us are wary of feelings, and rightly so. They cannot be our North Star spiritually. The Bible is our authority.
But what does the Bible teach about our lives in Christ? We trust the promises in the word that teach us that the Holy Spirit actually LIVES within us. This indwelling means that an experience of His presence is something we should expect. Consider these verses:
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens—Jesus the Son of God—let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need. Hebrews 4:14–16
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28–30
These verses speak to a kind of inner peace that we experience. I’m talking about a kind of love and acceptance you feel at the deepest places of your life. I’m talking about a joy and warmth that you actually can feel in your life.
I believe this kind of peace happens at the intersection of desperation for Jesus and assurance from Jesus. Crying out to him in confession of your sin and need and sitting with that until you feel his forgiveness and love is the key to this kind of assurance. I find this happens best with an open Bible in the quiet of my house early in the morning. This kind of assurance I feel in my time with the Lord every morning carries me through the day as a critical syncing up of my life to the life of Jesus.
What does this have to do with evangelism? Experiencing this kind of assurance fuels sharing your faith because you want others to experience what you experience. I’m not merely seeking to persuade people that Jesus is true, I’m also trying to persuade people that Jesus is good.
When I’m tempted to shrink back from making the bridge to spiritual conversation, my experience of Jesus spurs me on, “Spencer, don’t chicken out. Don’t you want them to know Jesus the way you do?” When I’m tempted to just let someone’s objection stand and not press in deeper, this experience of Jesus nudges me forward, “Spencer, remember that you’d be objecting in the same way if You didn’t know Jesus.”
I pray that as you invite people to church this weekend, the fuel for your engagement would not be guilt or fear or just duty or even just the rightness of Jesus, but your experience of the joy of the Lord in Christ Jesus.
Who are you going to invite this Sunday? I’ve got a few guys at the gym I continuously am talking with and inviting, but I plan to make a more deliberate “ask” this week, encouraging them to join us this Sunday.
Please be aware that we’ve synced up this invitation Sunday to follow VBS and it’s our intention to invite the hundreds of families who attend this week to come back and join us not only for worship but for a party afterwards on the back lawn.
Today, I’d like to talk about how to not only invite people regularly but also to make sharing your faith a normal part of your life. I’m calling this “Evangelism’s Secret Weapon,” because I’ve found there is one critical element, often overlooked, that when in place encourages evangelism. The most powerful way I continually find myself sharing my faith is Assurance of my Salvation. Assurance? How does that impact sharing your faith? Before I answer that, let me remind you about the important steps in sharing your faith and talk about the role of invitation.
Conversation Progression
Sharing your faith becomes natural and easy when you can move seamlessly from casual conversation, to spiritual conversation, and then gospel conversation. Let me quickly review each of these important steps.
Casual Conversation. This is friendly, normal, everyday talk. The weather, Cowboys, Rangers, Stars, your kids or the stock market are all examples of casual conversation. The key to this kind of engagement is being friendly! With a smile on your face, being approachable and kind is the critical starting point for sharing your faith.
Spiritual Conversation. This is moving from the normal, everyday talk to conversation about God in a general way. Religious background, family’s religion, church background or spiritual beliefs are all prompts that lead to spiritual conversation. “Did you grow up going to church anywhere?” or “Did your family have any affiliation with a church?” I have a friend who’s a bit more direct, but he says this: “I’m a follower of Jesus, do you have a religion?”
Gospel Conversation. This is moving from talk about spiritual matters to a clear, verbal explanation of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus followed by an opportunity to respond in repentance and faith. Can you jump right from getting to know someone in casual conversation to gospel conversation? Sure! But I’ve personally found spiritual conversation helpful because it gives me needed information about HOW I can share the gospel most effectively with someone. For example, if in spiritual conversation someone tells me they were raised a Muslim, that has a huge bearing on what I will address as I share the gospel.
Value of Invitation
Invitation is a helpful part of the process between Spiritual Conversations and Gospel Conversations. This threefold progression is almost never linear. I don’t leave spiritual conversation with someone when I move to gospel conversation. They become intertwined, often going back and forth as the person raises questions or objections.
Inviting someone to church is a great way to not only keep the conversation going, but expose them to the gospel in a different way. On the one hand, if someone comes to church through your invitation, they will hear the gospel from someone other than you! Whoever is preaching the Bible that day in our service will ALWAYS share the gospel and invite people to respond.
Invitation also exposes them to the feel, or if I were being Gen Z, the vibe of the gospel. Seeing the church love each other, watching them worship, hearing the conversations, and experiencing the overall vibrancy of a family of believers all can have a powerful effect on a person considering the gospel. No, this “feel” cannot save them, but it’s a powerful tool in their life.
So, how do you make sharing the gospel and invitation a normal part of your life?
Secret Weapon: Assurance of Your Salvation
A few weeks ago, I was at the gym and one of the guys I regularly share with asked, “Spencer, what do you know?” And without even thinking about it, I said, “Jesus is Lord!” He was a little taken back by this, but I quickly followed up with, “I’m just seeing Him moving so powerfully in my life, my family and my church, that it’s the best thing I know.”
Now, I don’t normally do that. Normally, I ease into conversations with people, as I outlined above. Why did I do this at that moment? Well in part, it’s important to know that I’ve had lots of conversations with this friend. But at a deeper level the answer is my experience of Jesus. Because my experience of Christ is growing more and more real, more and more sweet, I want everyone else to experience Jesus in their life the way I experience Him in my life.
I’m convinced that your assurance that you are saved, loved, and claimed by Jesus is the key to consistently sharing your faith. There are two dimensions to assurance I’d like to mention.
Intellectual Assurance. There’s a type of assurance and peace you have through clearly trusting in the promises of God in his word. Consider these truths:
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. John 10:28-29
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39
I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6
He saved us—not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy... so that, having been justified by His grace, we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:5-7
Trusting the promises contained in each of these verses is a critical part of your assurance. You and I desperately need the clarity in our minds that our assurance of salvation is not based on our performance or perfection but on Christ’s performance and perfection. Remember, it’s not the strength of your faith that saves you. It’s the object of your faith that saves you: King Jesus.
Experiential Assurance. Our intellectual assurance sets up a kind of experiential assurance through which we actually FEEL the peace of Christ. Now I know some of us are wary of feelings, and rightly so. They cannot be our North Star spiritually. The Bible is our authority.
But what does the Bible teach about our lives in Christ? We trust the promises in the word that teach us that the Holy Spirit actually LIVES within us. This indwelling means that an experience of His presence is something we should expect. Consider these verses:
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens—Jesus the Son of God—let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need. Hebrews 4:14–16
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28–30
These verses speak to a kind of inner peace that we experience. I’m talking about a kind of love and acceptance you feel at the deepest places of your life. I’m talking about a joy and warmth that you actually can feel in your life.
I believe this kind of peace happens at the intersection of desperation for Jesus and assurance from Jesus. Crying out to him in confession of your sin and need and sitting with that until you feel his forgiveness and love is the key to this kind of assurance. I find this happens best with an open Bible in the quiet of my house early in the morning. This kind of assurance I feel in my time with the Lord every morning carries me through the day as a critical syncing up of my life to the life of Jesus.
What does this have to do with evangelism? Experiencing this kind of assurance fuels sharing your faith because you want others to experience what you experience. I’m not merely seeking to persuade people that Jesus is true, I’m also trying to persuade people that Jesus is good.
When I’m tempted to shrink back from making the bridge to spiritual conversation, my experience of Jesus spurs me on, “Spencer, don’t chicken out. Don’t you want them to know Jesus the way you do?” When I’m tempted to just let someone’s objection stand and not press in deeper, this experience of Jesus nudges me forward, “Spencer, remember that you’d be objecting in the same way if You didn’t know Jesus.”
I pray that as you invite people to church this weekend, the fuel for your engagement would not be guilt or fear or just duty or even just the rightness of Jesus, but your experience of the joy of the Lord in Christ Jesus.
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