Posts Tagged ‘Gospel Tracts’
Pass Out Gospel Tracts
I have met Christians who tell me that they have been saved for years but have never shared their faith. I once read a report that said that less than 2% of people ever share their faith. That is a sad percentage if true.
The duty of the disciple of Jesus is to preach the gospel to all. All four Gospels reveal this truth:
Matthew 28:19-20
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Mark 16:15-16
15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
Luke 24:47-49
47 And that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
John 20:21
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”
These Scriptures are clear that we all are called to evangelize. As we worship God, we begin to have His heart for the lost (2 Peter 3:9). We begin to know that God does not delight in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 18:32). In fact, the LORD even says in Ezekiel 18:32 that He would have the sinner turn and live. This comes through the preaching of the gospel (Romans 10:17). As Christ’s ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20), we are called to preach the message of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-19).
Now many of us are fearful of man. I have been there. I will be there. Sometimes I get nervous when witnessing. I am no Ray Comfort. I am no great preacher who was a great soul winner. I simply do have a heart for the lost. I want to see them saved. It breaks my heart to know that hell awaits the sinner. I believe that Jesus gave His life for the souls of men and He came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). I believe John 3:16 is true and that God wants to save the sinner (1 Timothy 2:3-4). I admit that I have even passed up clear opportunities to preach the gospel to the lost (God forgive me).
Yet gospel tracts are good for us all. You may never been an open air preacher. You may never be a soul winner who steps up on the soap box to share the gospel. But you can pass out gospel tracts. Gospel tracts are fast, effective ways to spread the gospel. God can (and does) use gospel tracts. Gospel tracts plant seeds for the gospel to come forth. Gospel tracts can be an effective way to spread the message of Christ quickly and to many people in crowds. Gospel tracts can be placed in many places from restaurants, gas stations, Wal-Mart, groceries stores, banks, etc. You can leave gospel tracts all over the place. I do believe that the best place to leave a gospel tract is in the hands of a person. While God certainly may use a gospel tract found at a site, when you place them in a person’s hand, you can know that the person will at least read the tracts.
What should you look for in a good gospel tract?
1. One that is attractive to the eye. You want people to want to read the tract.
2. Durable. One that will not tear easily or is hard to read after being in a pocket for a while.
3. Small. I prefer tracts that are about the size of a business card. This allows the tracts to placed in a person’s hand and they in turn put it in their pocket and often are read later.
4. Inexpensive. Don’t be fooled into purchasing expensive gospel tracts. Most gospel tracts are well under $10.
5. Purchase gospel tracts that deal with the person’s sin through the law of God (Romans 7:7; Galatians 3:23-26) and exalt Jesus as the Savior from our sins (Matthew 1:21). I avoid tracts that have the sinner’s prayer as the response. I look for gospel tracts that preach salvation through Christ alone and call the sinner to repent (Acts 2:38).
6. Avoid tracts that focus on non-essentials. I avoid tracts that deal with doctrinal issues or the KJV only issue. Some KJV only tracts will say things at the end about find a good church that uses the KJV. This is not helpful in evangelism at all. None are saved by a Bible translation but through Christ alone (Galatians 2:15-16).
Gospel tracts are great for new and old Christians. They help us break out of our comfort zones to preach the gospel to the lost. Below are several good tract providers.
The Value of Gospel Tracts
You are called to evangelism. Never forget these words. The idea that only evangelists should do evangelism is not found in the New Testament. I don’t doubt that God has called people to be evangelists (Ephesians 4:11). Acts 21:8 calls Philip “the evangelist.” The term “evangelical” comes from the same Greek word. The word evangelism means “to preach (or bring) the good news.” This what evangelicals were to be known for, for bringing the good news of Christ Jesus to the world.
In this sense of the word, every disciple of Jesus is called to preach the good news to all (Mark 16:15). The Spirit of God equips us to be witnesses for Christ to all nations (Acts 1:8). Paul said that we are Christ’s ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20). We are all called, every single member of the Church, to share the good news of Christ.
So how do we do this? What is an effective way to communicate the gospel to the lost? I would admit that not everyone is called to be an open air preacher. Not all of us have speaking gifts to be able to communicate to a crowd. I myself don’t have a loud voice to preach with in the open air. I still would open air preach but I fear that I would sound like I am yelling rather than lifting up my voice to speak loud to the crowds. I don’t want to sound angry or trying to just yell at folks. Further, in open air preaching you don’t have long to communicate to your crowds. Most will hear you for about 2 minutes before moving on. You must be quick to preach the gospel to those passing by. This requires you to be a good communicator of the gospel. Some are and some are not.
Gospel tracts provide all of us with the opportunity to preach the gospel to the lost. A tract given to a person will sometimes go along ways in planting a seed for the gospel. Always bear in mind that God is sovereign in salvation and He will use our weak tools to draw sinners to Himself. Gospel tracts may or may not lead someone to repentance but they plant a seed for the gospel (1 Corinthians 3:6-8). Gospel tracts can even open the door for more in-depth conversations with the person about the gospel.
I recommend that good gospel tracts be: eye-catching, use the Law to convict of sin (Romans 7:7), and point sinners to Christ alone for salvation (Acts 13:38-39). I avoid tracts that have “the sinner’s prayer” in them. I even purchased some Gospel of John’s in the ESV but they contained the sinner’s prayer in the back so I had my little boy tear all of them out. The best gospel tracts come from Living Waters Ministries or One Million Tracts. I also encourage you to join the Bezeugen Gospel Tract Club. Each month you’ll receive 30 tracts to pass out. These tracts are solid tracts with the gospel message. I make it my goal to pass out all 30 tracts well before the next ones arrive the next month.
I have met a few people who despise gospel tracts. I once had breakfast with such a man and I asked him why he despised gospel tracts. He talked about them being offensive, a waste of paper, a waste of time, and about how they were not as effective as “friendship evangelism.” I asked him how many people had he seen repent from this method (not to compare methods with methods) in his life. He became quiet. I told him something along the lines of, “It is not about the method I am focused on. It is the gospel. I fear that you are not sharing your faith at all and you are seeking to tear up passing out tracts because you don’t share your own faith and this bothers you to know that others do share their faith.” He said, “Well, I admit that I think faith should be between you and God and you shouldn’t push it on others.” I told him, “What do you think of Charles Spurgeon’s words that you are either a missionary or a mission field?” He again grew quiet. Each Christian is called to preach the good news. Jesus didn’t give us a suggestion in Matthew 28:19 but a command. I believe tracts allow the gospel to go forth. Only God knows the number of souls that will be saved from them. Why worry about that anyway since Christ alone is the Savior?
I urge you to order good gospel tracts and begin to share your faith with the lost. I pray that Jesus is exalted as you go.
Five Reasons to Use Gospel Tracts
Here are five reasons to use gospel tracts in evangelism.
1. Gospel Tracts Can Be Handed Out In Mass
While one-on-one evangelism is very effective in that you get to talk to one person and answer their questions while showing them the law of God and revealing their sins (Romans 7:7; 1 Timothy 1:8-11), gospel tracts allow you to spread the gospel in mass in just a few minutes. You can literally stand in one place in a crowd and pass out gospel tracts to hundreds of people in just a few minutes. This way, the gospel (if the tracts are gospel centered) goes forth in large numbers despite not being able to talk to all.
2. Gospel Tracts Are Effective For People Who Are Fearful
All of us have fear when sharing our faith. I even heard Ray Comfort say that he fears people as well but he fears God more (Luke 12:4-5). It is a fearful idea to open air preach to many of us (including myself). I watch videos of Tony Miano and many others who preach in the open air and I want their Spirit-filled boldness (Acts 4:29-31). God has promised us to give us the power of His Spirit (Acts 1:8). I long for boldness. Gospel tracts, however, are very good for those who fear. They provide a way for you to spread the gospel while praying for the Lord to give you boldness. He will and soon you’ll be preaching with boldness to the lost.
3. Gospel Tracts Can Be Placed Anywhere
We can place gospel tracts wherever we go. Again, referring to Ray Comfort, he always carries gospel tracts with him and he has even challenged people that he would give them money if they ever found him without gospel tracts on him. I seek to do the same. I carry my Bible everywhere I go and I carry gospel tracts at all times. I leave them in restaurants (after a good tip and a kind note to the server about how precious their soul is to God), stores, bathrooms, in my work truck, etc. There is not a place we can’t leave gospel tracts! I sometimes joke that it is gospel “evandelism.”
4. Gospel Tracts Are Hard Hitting
You may not have the chance to tell the person working at Wal-Mart about the wrath of God against sin or the law of God but you can give them a tract and this can change their life. Tracts can hit a person very hard with the truth of God. Only God knows a person’s heart.
5. Gospel Tracts Can Save Sinners
1 Corinthians 3:5-9 describes our heart when it comes to gospel tracts. It reads:
5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.
Notice it is God who gives the growth. The farmer sleeps soundly knowing God is in control of the harvest (Mark 4:26-29). No doubt God wants us to preach the gospel to the lost (Mark 16:15; Romans 10:14-17) but He is the One who saves sinners (John 1:12-13). Our job is to witness for Him (Acts 1:8) and be His ambassador (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). God alone saves the lost sinner by His power and for His glory. We need to always keep that in mind. Who knows whom the Lord may save for His glory through our passing out gospel tracts. Our job is not to worry about that but focus on honoring the Lord through preaching His Word to the lost.
For good gospel tracts, visit this site.
The Pocket Testament League
I appreciate The Pocket Testament League. Here you can find Gospels of John to hand out when you preach or when you evangelize. If you can not afford to purchase the Gospels, you can request them for free and they will ship them to you as soon as possible. God has blessed me with a good job so I purchased 30 Gospels of John that I plan on handing out through evangelism. My prayer is also for God to open doors for a prison ministry and a ministry to the homeless in our city. I so want to spread the gospel of Christ in my city.
My only negative comment about the Gospels is that they contain the unbiblical “sinner’s prayer” at the end of the Gospel of John. I would rather the reader be able to just read the Book of John and allow the Holy Spirit to do the rest (John 3:1-7). He can save sinners apart from the sinner’s prayer. He has done so for 1900 years before the sinner’s prayer became part of evangelicalism. My plan is just to include a solid gospel tract that calls people to repent and avoids the sinner’s prayer.
One Million Tracts
I wanted to commend the ministry, One Million Tracts, for their excellent tracts that I ordered and received this week. These tracts are compact tracts and can fit easily into your wallet or purse. Mine came in packs of 100 and about 10 each of the two kinds that I ordered are in my wallet as I write this. The tracts are short, to the point (using the Law; 1 Timothy 1:8-11) and leave the results up to God (no sinner’s prayer!). I appreciate these tracts.
So if you are looking for a way to spread the gospel even when you can’t talk long, get some tracts. They often can help busy people, shy people, and new disciples easily take the gospel into their areas where they live. I often pray over the tracts I have and ask God to use them for His glory. I know that God alone saves sinners through the gospel of Jesus Christ (Romans 1:16-17; 1 Corinthians 1:21) and my passion is to take that gospel into the nations.
Burdened By Souls
The New Testament is clear that salvation is of the Lord. 1 Corinthians 1:18 says, “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” We know that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16-17) and that God saves those who believe in His Son (John 3:14-18; 1 Corinthians 1:21). We know that it is through Jesus Christ that we are in God the Father and that Jesus is our wisdom from God, our righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30). We know that we didn’t save ourselves but that God saved us in Jesus Christ our Lord (Ephesians 1:3-14; 2:1-9; Titus 3:5-7).
However, do you feel the burden of souls who need Jesus? I do. I feel it all the time. I have friendships with all types of people from true disciples of Jesus to lost sinners. And yet I feel the burden when I am talking with people who don’t know the Lord the cry of my heart for them to know Him in truth. I want to see people getting saved. I want to see people being truly convicted by the Holy Spirit and repenting of their sins. I want them to turn from their false religions and turn from their sins and be set free by the grace of God (John 8:31-38). I am tired of watching people live only for their flesh and the devil. I want to see the power of God at work in their lives and for them to know the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I feel that burden all the time. When I pray. When I worship God with other saints. When I am at work talking to other guys about work or sports, I feel the burden in my soul for their conversion. When my wife and I visit with people who are not saved and we have dinner with them, I feel the longing for their salvation. When I talk to people at the restaurants or at Wal-Mart, I feel the ache within me for their salvation. When I attend sports events, I long to see all the people there hearing the gospel and repenting of their sins. I long to see Acts 2 where 3,000 souls were added by the Spirit of God (Acts 2:41).
Is this burden healthy? I believe it is. Jesus said in John 4:34 that His food was to do the will of the Father and then Jesus goes on to add in verse 35 that we are to look up and see that the harvest fields are ripe. In John 4:36-37 Jesus tells us that the responsibility for other’s salvation belongs not to us but simply to work the fields. Paul adds in 1 Corinthians 3:6-7 that God is the one who gives the growth. One plants the seed of the gospel. Another may water the seed of the gospel but in the end, only God brings forth the fruit of the gospel (Matthew 13:23). Jesus said that His will was simply to do the will of the Father and He said in John 20:21 that just as the Father had sent Him so He is sending us. We are on the same mission as Jesus: to ransom souls (Mark 10:45). Jesus’ great commission in Matthew 28:19-20 is a command. Jesus commands us to go. All four Gospels and Acts records that Jesus commands us to go (Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:47; John 20:21; Acts 1:8). Paul said that disciples of Jesus are His ambassadors to the nations (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). Should we then not feel the burden of souls? Should not the fact that there are millions who have yet to hear the true gospel of Jesus Christ not effect us? It does me! It makes me cry out to God in prayer (Matthew 9:37-38; Luke 10:2).
I want to glorify God with all that is in me. I don’t want to waste my life for things that don’t matter. I want to see my family loving God and I want to see my co-workers saved. I want to see my city saved. I want to see my church on fire for Jesus and longing to see people saved. I want to see teenagers and old people turning from their sins. I want to see the nations trembling before God as they hear His gospel (Psalm 2:8). I want to see the power of the Holy Spirit working in my life to see the gospel go forth through preaching or witnessing or passing out tracts or prayer. I want to see Jesus exalted and I pray that you do too.
