CATHOLIC CHARISMATIC RENEWAL St.

peter’s parish
bambui
POST EFFUSION PROGRAM: MAY - JUNE 2023
Talk: FIRE IN MY BONES (Jer 20:9 NKJV)
DATE: MONDAY 29 MAY 2023
An Introductory Talk on the Teaching / Evangelical Ministry/Service
1. WHAT IS THE EVANGELICAL/ TEACHING SERVICE?
To know what this Service is all about, some key points are worth highlighting:
- An evangelist is anyone who proclaims the Word of God (Acts 4:20).
- Evangelism is the act of proclaiming Christ which involves the conversion of hearts
and souls together with discipleship.
- Evangelization is the process of bringing the Goodnews of God to people. The key
word here is: PROCESS. It is not done once and for all; it is a daily process of
conversion and discipleship.
- Moreover, evangelization is the process of announcing the Gospel of Christ while
Evangelism is the specific acts/methods associated or related to evangelization.
Evangelism is the specific acts while evangelization is the whole process involving
those acts of evangelism.
- We have heard of evangelism and evangelization, but where do these words come
from? They come from the Greek root euaggelion meaning goodnews. In the
ancient Greco-Roman world, the proclamation of the king’s arrival to a province or
city was done by heralds who narrated the mighty deeds of the King. This was
known as the euaggelion. Hence, when Christians proclaim the Gospel, they are
narrating the words and deeds of Christ, the King of kings, who has come to be with
us.
- We should bear in mind that the goal or purpose of evangelism is the Proclamation
of the Goodnews of Christ.
- In recent developments in the CCR, we find people confuse between the use of
Evangelical or Teaching to refer to the ministry in the CCR responsible for
proclaiming Christ. Accepting the recent change from ministry to service, though
 ministry from its Latin root minister means servant, there still remain a confusion
on which term to be used. A Teacher is responsible in equipping the believers to
grow in the faith whereas the Evangelist is focused primarily on discipling new
converts and preaching to pagans. The Teacher continues the work of the
Evangelist when he is done converting the person.
- A difference is to be made also between Preacher and Teacher. A Preacher exhorts
the Christians to live out the Christian ideals whereas the Teacher equips the
Christians on what they need to live as Christians. The Preacher builds on what is
there and known but the Teacher gives what is not there to help fill the lack in our
lives. Ephesians 4:11-12 reminds us that there are Teachers and Evangelists.
- Lastly, everyone is called to be an evangelist but there are those who by a special
grace of God are called to be evangelist as a charism. Romans 10:14-15 clearly states
this out. God does the calling.
2. HOW DOES THE EVANGELICAL/TEACHING SERVICE FUNCTIONS?

In order to proclaim the Goodnews of Christ, the Teaching Service makes use of the
following means:

- Preaching in Group Meetings

- Coordinating Talks and Exhortations
- Discipleship: Building up the lives of members of the CCR. Here, both old and new
members profit from these teachings.
- Coordinate Bible Studies at the level of Group and at private level to the individuals.
3. EXPECTATIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE TEACHING SERVICE: QUALIFICATIONS
OF THE EVANGELIST
- Grounded in Scriptures (Col 3:16-17). No one can talk about God when he himself
is ignorant about the God he is talking about. The Evangelist must study and apply
the Word of God in his/her life. Also, he/she must know the Word even by heart so
much that he can quote freely and confidently.
- Every evangelist must be a lover of God and a lover of souls. In loving God, the
evangelist strives daily to reach out to those who do not know Him, so that they
come to share in His riches. Still and very vital, there is no evangelism without love
 for perishing souls. Every Evangelist must always have as a burden the salvation of
lost souls. This should be the mark of a good evangelist: Love for lost SOULS.
- For the Word we preach to be effective, we need to pray. In prayer, we get the
Word to preach and in preaching, we pray into destinies and lives the Word of God,
a Word that transforms every situation. Prayer is indispensable since it is God who
convicts the hearts of men and not the work of eloquence or rhetoric.
- Transparent Life: A double life on the part of the evangelist is a hindrance to the
message he is preaching. Pope Paul VI in Evangelii Nuntiandi (nn.40-41) says the
world is tired of teachers and desires witnesses, and if there is any teacher, he/she
must also be a witness. Our lives are the best proof of the authenticity of the
message we are preaching. Duplicity is demonic and unchristian; it is not being
smart.
- Must be circumcised from sin: A deep need in the life of the evangelist is the need
to be pure and holy. In being holy, we become free for the Holy Spirit to use. Sin
waters down the power of the Gospel.
- Spiritually fit: The evangelist must be fit spiritually. He must exercise and develop
his gifts since any gift unused may likely fade away or stop functioning as it
supposed to. 2 Timothy 1:6, Paul exhorts Timothy and us to fan into flames the gift
of God deposited in us.
- Physically fit: The physical body must be cared for. He who preaches is not a robot
or made up of soul only. We need to eat well, healthily and orderly. Fasting should
be properly regulated according to our systems. Take the needed rest; even if you
die today, God will raise someone to continue the work. Do not overwork yourself to
death.
- Educationally fit: Apart from Bible studies, it is good the evangelist be versed with
his world and how it operates. This is vital because the message we preach must be
relevant to our times and its own needs. Reading magazines, newspapers, following
news, etc., help us know what our society is up to. Still, in reading spiritual books,
we learn and deepen our spiritual life. Reading also help us build good character.
Moreover, we must be knowledgeable of Church doctrines and recent publications
so that we think with the Church. A good library should be erected in one’s study
 room. In the future, it will prove valuable. St. John H. Newman use to say that he
reads the Newspaper to know what the world is thinking and he reads the
Bible to know what God is thinking about the world.
4. PERILS OF THE TEACHER/EVANGELIST

Several factors may quench the fire of an evangelist if care is not taken. We are going to list
out some few points worth considering in a deeper level.

- Undue familiarity with Divine Things (Lev. 10:1-3): A crime and a sin is when an
evangelist becomes too familiar with divine things that he tends to lose sight of their
importance. We then start joking with godly things. It may be the end of that
evangelist.
- Inconsistent Living: The worst nightmare is to see an inconsistent believer, more
still, an evangelist. How can we preach to others the dangers of sin and the riches of
heaven, and we still lead sinful lives? We do not only kill ourselves, but we become
opportunity of scandal to young believers who look up to us. We must progress from
being signboard who points the way but cannot go, to sign which points and leads
people to their destination. Let us talk and do! (Matthew 23:3).
- Neglect of One’s Spiritual Life: Never be carried away by overzeal and lose sight of
your own need of salvation. We must preach first to ourselves and be converted too.
- Callousness to other’s needs: As an evangelist the moment we lose track of what
others are feeling and going through, the message we preach to them will also lose
meaning in their lives. We can only preach to people because we know and live with
them. Also, lack of compassion for people or coldness to them, makes our Gospel
sterile and weak.
- Professionalism: When preaching becomes more a profession to be executed and
done according to fixed rules, then we are doom to fail in ministry. It is a ministry
and not a job. Our driving force in preaching should not be duty but passion for God
and His people. Formalism is not necessary.
- Compromise: This a cancer in many evangelists’ hearts. It could come in varied
forms but it has one aim: WATER DOWN THE GOSPEL, MAKING IT LOSING ITS
POWER.
  We could compromise in our own lives treating sin trivially while being very
strict with others.
 We could compromise in relation to others, where we pamper them with
sweet messages and avoid addressing their evil ways. We must make a
difference between friendliness and familiarity.
 We could compromise in relation to the ministry of the Word, where we
dilute our messages and fit them to suit our listeners. It is not what God wants
them to hear but what will please them that matters. For how long shall twist the
Gospel?
 We could compromise because of popularity or fame. When a minister starts
becoming a local hero due to his eloquent and soul-convicting message, there is
looming the danger of him falling into cheap popularity. This can become ugly
when he wants to maintain this fame at all cost. Jesus escaped this snare when
the Jews wanted to make a bread-king. (John 6:14-15). Many great Evangelists
have fallen due to this and will still fall.

Like I said at the beginning, these are just some few points for us to ponder on. There are
more not listed here which we know. May this serve as a guide to be cautious in our
dealings with God.

I recommend these books for our reading:

 Gbile Akanni: What God looks for in His Vessels

 Gbile Akanni: The Progressive fall of an Anointed to Perdition
 Gbile Akanni: The Price, the Plight and the Perils of the Anointed
 Mark Solomon Uchenna: Why the Mighty Fall in Battle
5. WHY TEACH OR PREACH?

Several reasons account for why we must never stop preaching.

- To spread the Gospel. (Mark 16:15, Matthew 28:18-20)

- A witness to God’s Power
- To generate faith in the hearts of others. Cf. Romans 10:13-15.
- To edify, strengthen and exhort, etc.
6. TRAGEDY OF THE FALL OF THE EVANGELIST

As already mentioned above, several things may bring down the evangelist. Here, we list
out five of such things.

- Fear of man: we preach what others want to hear for fear of being persecuted.
(1Kings 18:1-16; Obadiah the prophet and Elijah encounter).
- Slothfulness or Laziness: A lazy minister will end up polluting his message to get
his daily bread.
- Selfishness: Pride to be the only “Evangelist” may make us see other’s rising as a
threat to our glory rather an honour on our part that the Gospel is expanding.
- Plea of “no talent.” When God calls us, He equips us. Often times, like Moses in
Exodus 4, we turn to complain to God about our incompetence just to avoid doing
His work.
- Unjudged or Unrepented Sin: Many at times, we evangelists stress the need of
holiness in the believers’ lives whereas secretly, a particular sin is slowly eating us
away. We must be severe with our own lives and root out every presence of sin in
us.
- Worldliness: While no one expect the evangelist to be shabby or poorly dressed, we
should not confuse good dressing with worldliness. If we reach the point where a
Christian and a worldly person cannot be differentiated, then we are in big trouble.

These are just few points briefly looked into. There are more we will look into in the
course of the “Ministry Teaching.”

7. DIFFERENT FORMATS OF TALKS

Here, we are going to just list them out. We will find time in the course of Ministry
Teaching to fully develop them.

- Ministration during Group fellowship which could be in the form of a Word

Preached or taught; exhortation or encouragement.
 - Exhortation either towards prayer on a particular topic or on living out a particular
virtue.

It should be borne in mind that each Program or Activity in the CCR influences the type
of talk and the manner of delivering it. So, the above is not the complete list but the
basics.

8. DISCERNING THE WORD OF GOD FOR A FELLOWSHIP MEETING

Often, we preach or teach old and uninspiring messages because we do not sit down to ask
God for the Word to preach. In every Fellowship or Group Meeting, God has something for
His children. If it is your day to preach as a Minister, take time to discern what God has for
His people. You could share with the Group’s Executive, so that they assist you in the
discernment process.

Also, let us be keen in observing what goes on in the Group since through such situations,
God may lay in us a Word to address them.

9. BUILDING PULPIT ANOINTING: PRAYERFUL AND POWERFUL PULPIT

There is no message from God void of power. God backs His Word with power, a power
witnessed by the presence of signs and wonders, miracles and transformation of destinies.
(Cf. Hebrews 2:4-5). For the Preacher to be effective, he needs to tap into the power of God
through prayers. The secret of the ministry of the famous Charles H. Spurgeon was his
boiling room – a place where his team and him gathered for prayers everyday ahead of
every Meeting. “He who would speak much to man for God, must speak much to God
for man.”

A sign of a powerless evangelism or evangelist is prayerlessness. Lack of prayer saps out all
the convicting power of the Gospel. As much as we teach people about God – theology, we
must tell that God about the people to whom He is preached to – knee-ology. Remember,
“the Worse thing on earth is to see a dead preacher preaching to dead sinners the
Living Word of the Living God.” (Murray McCheyne)

To conclude this brief presentation on what the Evangelical/Teaching Service is all about, I
leave you with this quote:
“What you are, speaks so loud the world can’t hear what you say! They’re looking at
your walk, not listening to your talk; they are judging by your actions every day.
Don’t believe you’ll deceive by claiming what you’ve never known, for they know you
to be by what they can see – they’ll judge by your life alone!” (Alfred P. GIBBS, The
Preacher and His Preaching, 48-49.).