Our soul winning passage from the Word of God today is Colossians 3:20 which reads: "Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord."

Our soul winning quote today is from Henry Drummond. He said: "The family circle is the supreme conductor of Christianity."

Our soul winning devotional is part 97 of our series titled "What Evangelism Is" from Dave Earley and David Wheeler.

Evangelism Is...A Family Affair (Part 2)

Authors Jerry Pipes and Victor Lee insist that we should begin our family mission statement by studying the mission of Jesus, which stems from His purpose. The authors identify dozens of biblical passages in which Jesus states His purpose. In Luke 19:10 Jesus said, "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." This tells us in a nutshell the two parts of Jesus’ mission. His first purpose was to seek. After willingly coming down from heaven, Jesus continually sought lost humankind even in the most unlikely and inhospitable places. Jesus’ second purpose was to save, to offer Himself as a sacrifice for our sins.

John 18:37 reinforces Jesus’ mission, saying, "To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth."

Clearly this is a statement of His mission. We get more insight into Jesus’ purpose in Matthew 20:28, where Jesus says He "came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." If we are to model Christ, we need to take on this mind-set of serving others with humility, gentleness, and patience, starting at home. And although we cannot give our lives like Jesus as a ransom, we can, through our actions and words, point others to the One who did.

Many other passages reveal the purposes of Jesus: to be a leader and a teacher; to fulfill the Law; to call sinners; to separate holiness from sinfulness; to provide rest for those who follow Him; to preach the good news, proclaim freedom for prisoners, give sight to the blind, release the oppressed, and proclaim the time of the Lord’s favor; to represent man before God the Father; and to do the will of the Father.

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