How does God reach the people of the world?

A better question might be to ask, "How does God use us to reach the people of the world?" My first impression is that God reaches people through the preaching of His word. Romans 10: 14-15, How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!"

We have seen this over and over in our study of Acts. Every time that Peter, John, Stephen, or any of the disciples preach the gospel, the church grows. We see the church go from 12 in chapter 1, to 3000 in chapter 2 (after Peter preaches), to 5000 in chapter 4 (after Peter preaches), and 5:14 says "multitudes were added." After being commanded not to preach the gospel at the end of chapter 5, we see that they v42. "did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ." Then……..what does the beginning of chapter 6 start out with???? verse 1 says "Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying" Why were they multiplying? They were multiplying, because the disciples were preaching "Jesus as the Christ." After the death of Stephen when the church started to get persecuted heavily, what do we see the church doing as they are scattered? Acts 8:4 says, "Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word."

I can hear you now, "Alright Brian. We understand that they preached. Let's get to it. What is your point?" My point is this. "How many times do you ever hear Christians preach the gospel? I know that I am around a lot of them. Almost all of my friends and the people I hang out with are Christians. How many times do I do it? The fact is that all of us try to use the "lifestyle evangelism approach," or the "waiting for the Holy Spirit" to open the door excuse. This is something that has been laid on my heart for a long time now. (30 minutes is a long time to me. Anyone who knows me can tell you this.) I need to be purposeful in my preaching of the gospel. I need to set aside time, I need to get in my car, I need to get some tracts, I need to get a PA system, I need to do something so that I can get in front of lost people and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ with my mouth.
People don't care how I live. They can just look at my life 5 years ago, if they knew me, and use that as an excuse to blow my "lifestyle evangelism" off. To live a good and moral life has become something that the world comes to expect from Christians. To see a Christian living a pure and righteous life does set them apart from the world and bring Glory to God, but the preaching of the gospel so that lost souls can be saved is the one act of obedience that I believe God loves the most. You are never more of a representative for Christ than when you are sharing the message of our Lord and Savior Jesus with a lost and dying world.

I have said this before, and I believe it with all of my heart. God gives each person a ministry in which they can share the gospel with lost people. Whether it is at the mall, on the streets open air preaching, teaching Awanas, raising your lost children, inviting your lost neighbors to dinner and sharing the gospel with them, taking the Christmas story out to neighborhoods with the church on the 20^th of this month, singing Christmas carols to the elderly and then sharing the gospel with them. I could go on and on and on.
What is your ministry? I would love to get a list of ministry ideas. These would be ministries in which the gospel is clearly presented to lost people. Maybe this would help people get some ideas in case they don't have a ministry yet.

Brian Davis
The wretch who was made free by the blood of Jesus