The evangelical strategy of Jesus was by declaration of the gospel supported by the demonstration of the in breaking of the Kingdom of God. Jesus commissions his disciples to teach and heal, etc. The same principle is for the 72 and then for all of us as his disciples (Matt 28:19) to do what Jesus did.

Question: how has the powerful display of the presence of God influenced our building of the Kingdom? Has our gospel retreated to the safety of the intellectual platform of disciplined bible knowledge?

My experience as a pastor of a church in the west (Australia) is that I don’t really need to teach people more about the ‘word’, but more importantly to do the ‘word’. 

James says faith without action is dead.  So the missional hearted say ‘yes’ and ‘amen’. But as we go are we taking both the word and the works of Jesus.  Paul understood the implications of this very well, 1 Cor 2:4-5, he brought simple words and the demonstration of the power of the Spirit, so people would discover God and his power to save, not just wise humans with more ideas.

As we gather to discuss and share the evangelical mandate to reach our worlds are we relying on the powerful presence of the Spirit  in our strategies?

Thoughts and stories?