The Apostle Paul spoke to the believers in Ephesus, saying, “Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip and release the saints to do His work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the complete standard of Christ” (Ephesians 4: 11-13 NLT).
With this goal in mind, Pastor Royston Smith, Personal Ministry Director of the Conference, ran an evangelism and discipleship training seminar for Frimley, Slough Central and Grace Linc churches with the theme ‘Equipping and Releasing for Mission’. Pastor Smith believes that every member is gifted to share their story with others. The training comprised four sessions, with the first two being held virtually on Zoom (Wednesday and Friday), and the latter two sessions were held in person on the Sabbath. The topics covered in the seminars were:
· Soul Winning: A Wise Choice
· The Holy Spirit, Intercessory Prayer and Witnessing
· Building Bridges for Christ
· Sharing the Word
The first two sessions of the training, conducted in a classroom setting, were designed to equip participants with practical strategies for effective soul-winning, sharing the Word, and building bridges for Christ. The focus was on the power of the Holy Spirit in these endeavours. The training emphasised conversational evangelism, highlighting the importance of having the Word of God in our hearts and lips. The third and fourth sessions, held as interactive workshops, provided a platform for participants to contribute to the discussions and reinforce their learning through question-and-answer sessions.
The feedback from the training sessions was overwhelmingly positive, with attendees describing the experience as highly motivating, participative, and interactive. They also noted the palpable presence of the Holy Spirit during the sessions. The training provided numerous points for reflection and action, reinforcing the key takeaways that discipleship and evangelism are two essential tools for every believer, and one cannot be done without the other.
Jesus gave the Great Commission to all believers, instructing us to Go, make disciples, baptise in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost and teach those with whom we come into contact to observe His Word. Participation in the work of evangelism is not optional for any member. The mission has inspired us. The Lord will be with His people always. So, Go. At the end of the Seminars, one regular visitor decided to commit herself to the watery grave of baptism, which will be conducted on the 8th of June in the Slough Central SDA Church.
