JEWISH EVANGELISM:

The high calling of Temple New Jerusalem is to bring the gospel to the Jewish community of Tampa Bay.

Jewish people in America today don’t live in segregated neighborhoods as we once did in New York or in Europe before that.  Jews in America today are scattered across many different parts of town, in no distinct neighborhoods.   The few neighborhoods that are largely Jewish are private and deed-restricted, where the gospel cannot be legally preached in a direct way.   Jews in our community are best reached through what is called "relationship evangelism" or "prayer evangelism".  

We all have Jewish friends, neighbors, family members, and business associates. 

Here is a 3 step method I have created based on the model of relationship and prayer evangelism.  This is how I came to believe in the Lord in 1992.   Fellowship, Prayer, and Scripture are the three essentials:

1)  FELLOWSHIP:  Establish a relationship with a Jewish person.   Nobody gets saved without some fellowship with a believer.  When you become friends with a Jewish person, be respectful, not pushy.   Let God do the work.   Don’t feel like you have to constantly quote the bible or keep the conversation about religious issues.  You won’t have much of relationship like that.   Go to the movies.  Have lunch.  Take in a football game.  Sit in the park with your kids while they play together.  Sit next to each other at the PTA meeting.  Laugh.   Have fun.  Be normal.  Don’t sin, but don’t be a religious fanatic either.  God put us in the world for a reason.   Yeshua said it best:  “I have not come to judge the world but to SAVE the world”.  So don’t be judgmental.  Be loving.   Maybe you can sit through a PG-13 movie.   Maybe you don’t have to make a sour face when your friend uses a curse word.   Remember when you were a sinner?  Try.   It will help you see through your friend’s eyes.  God doesn’t care about religion and neither does your Jewish friend.   Don’t endorse sin, but be understanding.  All you have to do is show love.  Be a real friend.  Not some phony, with a religious agenda.  Love is something that comes from the heart and cannot be faked.  A friendship, once established, is not easy to break.   Soon you will be considered Kosher by your friend, even though you’re a Jesus-freak.       

2)  PRAYER:  Pray for your friend’s needs.   Notice I say, “needs”.   Don’t just pray for God to save this person.  Peter gave his life to follow Yeshua when he pulled in a big catch of fish on a day when he couldn't catch anything, and was worried sick about his fishing business.  The taxman was banging on his front door every day.   Yeshua answered a desperate need, and that’s why Peter gave his life to the Lord.  Find our what are your friend’s needs, and pray for them.  Pray in private at first.  But look for the opportunity eventually to pray openly for your friend’s needs.  You see, everybody has problems and everybody shares them with a friend.  Your friend is sick, or troubled about a sick loved one.  Your friend is going thru marital trouble, or recently divorced.  Your friend has drug or drinking problem.   Problem with kids.  Financial trouble, and might lose a business or a home.  The list goes on.   Pray for your friend’s needs to be answered.   Let God work His miracles.  From time to time tell your friend “I’m praying for you”.    As needs are answered, say, “I’ve been praying for that, praise God!”   Wait for that moment to say,  “Can I pray for you right now?”.   Your friend won't mind.  Maybe it's time to lay a hand on your friend's shoulder and pray that way.  Maybe not.   You'll know.   Just pray, and watch how needs are answered in an even bigger way.  This will convince your friend.  When God answers prayer, people get saved. 

3)  SCRIPTURE:   Finally, invite your friend to read the bible.  Jews are among the most educated and intelligent people in the world.  But when it comes to the bible, it’s the one book most of us haven’t read.    Any part of the bible is fine.  Let the Lord lead.  But know this - when a Jew reads the New Testament, it’s basically all over at this point.  The truth is going to jump right out from page one of Matthew.  You might accomplish this also by inviting your friend to a service at the messianic synagogue.  Once your friend hears the word preached by the Rabbi, your friend will start reading the bible to see what it actually says about Yeshua, then they will see the truth and the truth will set them free.  If your friend agrees to read the bible privately, get ready to answer any questions.   However, don't worry too much about that.  As your friend reads scripture, God will do most of the answering and your friend will soon be ready to accept Yeshua and be saved.

Once a person gets saved, discipleship also requires three essentials in order to stay healthy and grow up in the Lord.   Fellowship (Join a congregation).   Prayer (worship and pray daily).  Scripture (study the bible under godly direction).  It makes sense that this model for salvation and for discipleship are the same. 

 

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