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Following is an excerpt of "The Church's Main Business (1 of 4)" by Jerry Vines added on 02/19/2003.
This content is part of a series.
The Church's Main Business (1 of 4)
Evangelism 101
Jerry Vines
Matthew 28:16-20
1/5/03

What is the church's main business? What is the church
here for? What are we doing in downtown Jacksonville?
Why have we, for all of these years, been a church
located in downtown?

This Scripture is after the resurrection of Jesus. He
is getting ready to go back to heaven. (Matthew 28:16-
20)

Any organization, institution, or business justifies
its existence only in so far as it carries out the
purpose for which it was founded. This is certainly
true in every area of life. A grocery store justifies
its existence if it continues to make groceries
available to people. If you walked into a grocery
store and said, "I would like to buy a dozen bananas,"
and they said, "We are sorry, we don't sell food in
here but we have some motor oil if you would like to
have that." It wouldn't be long until they would be
out of existence.

Or if you went to a university and walked into the
registrar's office and they said, "What can we do for
you?" You say, "I would like to sign up for some
courses to educate myself in several areas." The
should say to you," We don't have any courses
available for you but if you would like a dozen
bananas we have plenty of those." It wouldn't be long
until that institution would be out of existence.

So any organization, institution, or business
justifies its existence only as long as it
accomplishes the purpose for which it is intended.
That is true also of the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ. What is the main purpose of a church? What is
a church here for?

I want you to follow with me certain statements that I
believe give us the irresistible logic of the main
business of the church. If there is a heaven, AND
THERE IS, and if there is a hell, AND THERE IS, and if
Jesus died on the cross to make it possible for people
to go to heaven and not go to hell, then the most
important business of the church is to let people know
that they do not have to go to hell. They can go to
heaven because Jesus died on that cross for their sins
and made it possible for them to go to heaven.

That is the irresistible logic of what I call
evangelism. It is the irresistible logic of the main
business of the church.

The main business of the church is evangelism. What is
the word, evangelism? Probably most of you know what
it is, but let me explain it briefly. The word,
evangelism, is taken from a verb which we use,
evangelize. That means to tell a story, to tell the
good news. The noun is the word, evangel, which means
gospel in many passages in the Bible. So evangelism is
the work of telling the good news that Jesus died on
the cross, that He was buried, that He rose again, and
those who will turn from their sins by repentance and
by faith will turn to the Lord Jesus Christ receiving
Him as their personal Savior will not go to hell, but
they c ...

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