Evangelism: Being attentive to what God is doing

The National Director of the Bush Church Aid Society (BCA), Rev’d Dr Mark Short, preached the sermon at the commissioning of James Daymond in his Evangelistic Ministry in Narromine on Saturday March 18.

WELCOME: Bishop Ian Palmer welcomes Brittany and James Daymond into their new role as evangelists in  the Central West, based in the Narromine-Trangie area. The Rev'd Peter Adkins from BCA's NSW/ACT Office, is in the background.

The new ministry will be supported by BCA.

James and his wife Brittany have moved to the Central West from Sydney, in response to what they believe to be a clear call from God.

In his sermon, Mark Short posed the question: “What is an evangelist?”

He said he wanted to step back from the common stereotypes that people might have, to show that “an evangelist is as simple and as wonderful as someone sharing stories about Jesus”.

“It could be in the hairdresser’s chair, it could be in the pub, or it could be beside a dusty road,” he said.

He took his listeners to Acts 8, in which he said Philip was the first person to be described as an evangelist: “Philip, in God’s plan, ... is going to be the human instrument as God’s mission keeps on going, as God’s mission reaches out even further to embrace more and more people.”

Describing Philip’s encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch who was reading Scripture as he travelled, and needed “someone willing to journey with (him) and explain what all this means”, Mark Short then told how Philip had explained the meaning of the passage the eunuch had been reading, and had then gone on to evangelise him.

“Evangelism means being attentive to what God is doing,” he explained. “God was at work long before Philip got to that desert road … God is always at work in our world, sometimes in ways and lives where we least expect it – are we willing to be attentive to that? Do we take time to allow God to surprise us? And do we notice when He does?”

Prior to moving to the Central West, James Daymond was the Evangelism Minister at St Clement's Anglican Church, Mosman in Sydney, and Brittany was the Contemporary Music Director and Children's Ministry Assistant.

PREACHER: Dr Mark Short, National Director of the Bush Church Aid Society.

“About five years ago, I visited a friend of mine in Central West New South Wales,” James explained. “During this time God enabled me to see the great potential for sharing the gospel in this region. I thought that I could contribute to this ministry. I began to seriously think about it, pray and speak to people about the idea.”

James and Brittany took some road trips to explore the region and to meet ministers.

“We were keen to hear what people were already doing in evangelism and what they thought the best way forward would be. We wanted to see whether God would open a door for us to do evangelism in the Central West.”

For the next two years James will be engaged in personal evangelism by praying and seeking to reach out to as many farmers and townsfolk as possible.

“I will go up driveways, knock on doors, visit sales, shows, sporting events and other community occasions. I will find ways to connect with people, hear where they are at, share the gospel, seek to lead them to Christ, and introduce them to the local church,” he said. “During this time I hope that others will be trained up to do evangelism as we seek to reach out together.”

James and Brittany have asked for prayer for “open doors and open hearts - open doors into people's lives and open hearts so that God's work of bringing new life can take place”.

“It is our great desire that the people of the Central West would join in singing our great redeemer's praises,” James added.