“We have this saying in modern church “accept Christ into your heart”… and I think its weird personally … to me that gives way too much power to the person, and too little to God, even though it is just verbal preference…

I like to say “Christ accepts you because of your faith and trust in Him…”,

That kind of makes clearer the point that Jesus is the leader, and we are the followers…Jesus invites and we likewise respond in faith…”

I like that. It has always seemed too weird to accept Jesus into our heart. Maybe the place to accept Him into should be our wallet. LOL

Really though, it seems to diminish the place of grace and mercy if it is all up to us. By us accepting Christ our salvation is then because we did something. By Christ accepting us because of our faith in Him (also given to us) it is all from God.

What an amazing gift.

…In the New Testament model of Church, the Church is the place where believers come together to worship. You never hear about altar calls during Christian worship in the New Testament, simply because the NT Church is a place for believers. Paul o…..

Multi-faceted question with a simple answer for me…

A gospel presentation, and a clear and simple invitation to get alone with God and obey his gospel though it may cost you even your life…

Hand raising, and altar calls are good for us (the church, or pastors and evangelists) to see what impact the Spirit is making in other people’s lives, but to me the “formula” can become the goal or focus of the message…rather than the real focus, which is faith in Christ, and the filling of the fruit bearing Spirit of Christ…

My church is on the streets, and wherever I may be led in life, and the people I invite to follow Christ I ask them to first count the cost, understand the decision, and then yield in obedience to complete trust in their lives for the direction and leadership to Christ…

I believe that some people raise hands to please pastors or church members, (though some sincerely repent and trust and follow Christ to please God)… but for me, I don’t lead in a salvation prayer, or an altar call…but rather invite those who I believe have responded to the gospel to begin to trust Christ in obedience from this day forward…(not for salvation but as a result and fruit of their faith in His Gospel)…

When I see someone respond immediately in obedience, I can be sure that it is faith… and not just a routine hand raising to please a pastor, or respond to pressure, or to get attention, or any other false motive, etc….(just being real here)…

I believe if the Spirit is working, the heart will follow, and the mouth will testify of what God is doing in the heart…be it through prayer, testimony,tears or jubilation….

My hope is not to put any stumbling block before a person, and that their sole goal in obeying the gospel is from a heart of faith, yielding to Christ…

We have this saying in modern church “accept Christ into your heart”… and I think its weird personally … to me that gives way too much power to the person, and too little to God, even though it is just verbal preference…

I like to say “Christ accepts you because of your faith and trust in Him…”,

That kind of makes clearer the point that Jesus is the leader, and we are the followers…Jesus invites and we likewise respond in faith…

I know, I am weird and radical… but I almost try to talk a person out of just saying a prayer… because I don’t want them to be deceived by a legalistic or religious landmark but rather by the gift of the Holy Spirit coming to give them peace between them and God through their faith in Christ…

I know too many people who struggle with assurance because they “prayed the prayer”, or “stepped forward”, but do not have the Spirit’s assurance, and worry that they might have become religious rather than in faith trusted in Christ for salvation thus receiving the assurance, and seal of the Holy Spirit…

To me, it is God’s job to give assurance, not mine… and I agree, I don’t see a “sinner’s prayer”, or an “altar call” in the scriptures…

I am not saying those things aren’t important, or genuine, but just that I have come to the a place of faith where I trust that God will give them assurance of salvation and the hope and peace that comes with the indwelling Holy Spirit, and don’t see any need for those, or the possibility that those thing might provide false assurance…

Sorry so long, but this question hit my “evangelist” button….

Christ’s blessings…

I was in Kenya preaching at a church in the poorest areas of Kenya…and I was giving a message on how God will provide…and how He is called the Great Provider. Well during my sermon Satan had been holding me back on presenting the gospel. He just kept feeding me lies…”these people don’t need it, Jared”…”All of them are saved…”…”You’d offend them if you presented the gospel”…and I didn’t. I listened to Satan’s deceit.
What REALLY tears me up though is that the whole time I was preaching there was this one guy God put on my heart…he looked like he was extremely depressed (moreso than the rest of the people)…and that Satan was just bothering him and tearing him up…..I KNOW that if I would have presented the gospel he would have raised his hand. I felt it. But i listened to Satan’s lie.

THIS is what pushes me to present the gospel. Scripture does, but this is a HUGE BURDEN God has put on my heart - to present the gospel every time. Why? Because that’s what it’s all about. Loving others and sharing Christ with them.

I’d love to hear how you all invite people to Christ.

At Life, we ask people to raise their hand and make eye contact. Then we give them a free new believers pack with tons of stuff to help them get started. This also helps us get information from people so we can follow up and help them start their walk with Christ.

I am not hung up on any model or style of “altar calls.” I believe what happens the other “six” days of the week to be as much or more important in the evangelism process.

First, what is a church? It is the people. Church is not a place to worship… though I don’t really see the harm in saying, “I am going to church today.”

Second, saying a prayer or doing the alter call thing is a tradition, though I believe that God can use these.

I am part of a movement that focuses on baptism as part of the salvation process. But I have also come to realize that God cares more about our motives than He does our methods. Whether it be an alter call, prayer, baptism, or some other form of tradition I would have to believe that God sees that as a starting point in our commitment to Him.

Boldness….

Titus 2

What does it look like to invite people to follow Christ in your church? For many it’s an altar call etc. But I don’t remember Jesus asking people to come to an altar or say a prayer. (Not to dismiss a time honored tradition.)

Let’s keep the main thing the main thing - but describe what that looks like.