Jack Hyles, “The Invitation Time,” chapter 27 in The Hyles Church Manual (Murfreesboro, TN: Sword of the Lord, 1968), 279–82 (numbering added; this chapter reprints most of ch. 7 in Hyles’s Let’s Build an Evangelistic Church):
After observing for nearly twenty-two
years the preaching of hundreds of preachers across America, I have come
to the conclusion that many of us need intensive help in the conducting
of a public invitation. Many wonderful gospel messages can be rendered
ineffective by a weak invitation.
On the other hand, many average preachers
can be rewarded greatly with the use of an effective, pungent, public
invitation. Though in many places a public invitation is seldom used and
even considered out of date, it is still true that the greatest
soul-winning churches utilize an effective, spiritual, Spirit-filled,
powerful invitation as their greatest means of evangelism. May we look
at a few practical pointers concerning the invitation.
1. Starting the Invitation
Do not reveal the closing of the sermon. When the sermon
reaches a high point or a climax, then would be a good time to close
abruptly. Even if the sermon is not completed, sometimes God may lead
one to close prematurely in order to start the invitation from a high
spiritual plane. This also prevents the unsaved from “digging in,” so to
speak, before the invitation is given. Keep Reading...
No comments:
Post a Comment