TREASURE CHEST OF LOVE

TREASURE CHEST OF LOVE

Personal Evangelism

by Ron Gilbert

John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (NLT). Romans 5:8: “But, God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (NLT).

These are scriptures that are familiar to most of us and are very special for all of us.  These words demonstrate just how much God loved us. When we realize his love we also realize his sacrifice implies how valuable we are to him. We are truly a treasure in the eyes of God.

The purpose of this presentation is to help each of us begin seeing each other through the eyes of Christ and recognize that every person we know or get to know is valuable to God.

A service should be planned with a sermon based on John 3:16 and Romans 5:8.  Another idea is to preach on the topic, “Sharing your faith with non-believing friends and family” based on Exodus 18:1-12.

At the close of the message believers will be asked to place the name of one person into the black treasure chest. This name should be a person that they care enough about that they are willing to pray for him or her everyday until that person becomes a believer.

 

The plan is simple but requires a strong level of consistency and commitment from all believers who are willing to participate.  There are certain questions that believers should answer if they are considering making this commitment:

Question 1:    Are you willing, with God’s help, to reach out to the person you will place in the black treasure chest?

Question 2:    Are you willing to pray for him or her everyday until they become a believer? No matter how long it might take?

Question 3:    Are you willing to pray for yourself everyday, that God will use you in some way to reach out to that person with the love of Christ?

Question 4:    Are you willing to pray for whomever God chooses to use to reach him or her?

Question 5:    Are you willing to put your commitment in writing by completing a commitment card that includes the person’s name and also includes your signature?

Question 6:    Are you willing to publicly come forward and place the commitment card in the black treasure chest?

If the believers answered “yes” to all of these questions, they should be encouraged to complete the card and begin (or continue) their daily prayers for the salvation of their friend or loved one.

In the Treasure Chest of Love, we have two treasure chests that serve as visual reminders of our commitment to reach the lost for Christ, as well as making a public statement regarding our willingness to pray for the salvation of others.  One is a black treasure chest, and the other is white.  These treasure chests do not need to be big or fancy; simple containers of the right color will do.

The black treasure chest signifies two things:

1. The color black signifies that the people whose names were placed inside do not know Jesus Christ, and therefore live in darkness.
2. The Treasure Chest signifies that we recognize how valuable these people really are, both to us and to God.  Remember, “…while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”

The white color of the second treasure chest signifies that a person has become a believer. They have moved from a life of darkness into a new life filled with the light of God and “…their sins shall be as white as snow,” Isaiah 1:17-19 (NLT).

It is always amazing how much excitement is generated when people are watching a sporting event and their team scores.  How much more excitement should there be when someone becomes a believer in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior!  We have a great example from the angels themselves in Luke 15:10: “I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (NIV).

To help celebrate their new life in Christ, a time of celebration should be held in the worship service each time a person who’s name is in the black chest becomes a believer. In this time of celebration, we move the name of the new believer from the black to the white treasure chest.   This serves three purposes.

1. It demonstrates to the new believers that they have a group of people who care and are happy about their decision;
2. encourages the believers that made the commitment to pray and reach out to others, showing that God still answers prayer; and
3. helps convince the entire church that the names they individually committed can still be reached.

When possible this celebration event should be planned when both the person who placed the name in the treasure chest and the new believer can be present.  It is very special when they both can come forward and physically remove the new believer’s card from the black treasure chest and place it in the white treasure chest.  Then the pastor, or other believer influential in the lives of one or both people, should pray over them.

This is an opportunity to invite others to place the name of someone they care about in the black treasure chest.  The pastor should use this opportunity to remind the people how important it is to pray everyday for the names that they have committed.

This may sound unusual, but we recommend, when you first begin the Treasure Chest of Love initiative, that you ask the believers to only put one name in the black treasure chest. WHY? Most of us pray for people we care about, but most of us do not pray EVERYDAY for that person.  This initiative focuses on the fact that the greatest resource we have for reaching someone is prayer. We need to prove to ourselves that we will pray for one before we start praying for many.  Once an individual has proven to oneself that he or she is willing to follow through on the daily prayer for one person, he or she is welcome to place other names in the treasure chest.  Remember to refer to it as a treasure chest and not just a box, to remind ourselves how valuable the non-believer is in the eyes of God.

It is recommended that at some point during every service, ideally during the pastor’s prayer time, that the pastor take the two treasure chests in his or her hands and pray for the names within.  This would be done collectively for all names in each chest, and not separately for each individual name within the chests.  Remember to include the people whose names have been transferred from the black treasure chest to the white treasure chest as they begin this new life with Christ.  This prayer time:

1. Demonstrates to the church that the pastor cares about those they care about.
2. Reminds and encourages those who have placed a name in the black treasure chest to never give up and to keep praying.
3. Encourages others to pray and participate.  If the people see the pastor is serious then they will be serious.
4. Shows that God answers prayer.

It is our prayer that this focus on reaching out to those we love and care about will produce great answers to prayer and many new believers will be brought into God’s kingdom.

I have had the opportunity to use this method of personal evangelism since 1992 when my wife and I were in the West African country of Ghana.  We began the work there with one small group of believers in the capitol city of Accra and one small rural preaching point.  These small groups took on this initiative very seriously and within two years we had five organized churches, fifteen preaching points and 1500 members.  We were able to organize the district with 750 present for that first district assembly in 1994.  We were ordered out of the country within a few months of the organization of this new district but the work did not fail! Instead it continued to grow! Now instead of one district there are three, and all are led by the people of Ghana. 

As a pastor for several years after that I was able to use this initiative and see churches that were struggling come back alive and on fire for God with a desire to reach those they loved and cared about.  One specific example was a man by the name of Dick. 

Dick brought his wife to church for 20 years but had always sat in the foyer.  He was a wonderful older gentleman that everyone loved, but most people had long ago given up on reaching him for the Lord.  We introduced this initiative and Wanda, his wife, came forward in tears and placed Dick’s name in the black treasure chest.  We had TV monitors in the foyer and Dick saw Wanda place his name in the treasure chest. 

One Sunday night about three months later, as the service was beginning, I was walking past Dick and spoke to him as usual when he grabbed my jacket sleeve.  He looked up at me with tears in his eyes and said, “Pastor will you walk with me?” 

“Of course Dick, where do you want me to walk with you to?” I asked. 

“I want you to walk with me to the altar so I can get my name out of that black treasure chest,” he said. “I have been under so much conviction ever since my name went there that it is time I accepted Christ as my personal Savior. I cannot wait any longer.”

Dick and I began walking toward the altar. On the way he stopped and grabbed Wanda’s hand and asked her to join us.  When the church realized what was happening the prayers began simultaneously across that church and the celebration began. 

I must tell you that I did not have to ask for people to celebrate.  I did have to finally ask them to settle down, but I must admit we all enjoyed the celebration for a long time. 

Dick’s name was the first to come out of the black treasure chest at that church. It was the driving force for seeing that 70-year-old church come alive and grow from 200 people to over 400 within the next two years. 

God then asked us to move to South Asia. As I was leaving, Dick, an old Navy man, gave me a special gift.  He had served on the ship named the USS Franklin during World War II.  When they decommissioned that old ship and cut it into pieces he was able to get some of the wood decking as a souvenir.  One of the great treasures in my office is the piece of that deck that was a gift from Dick for me to remember to pray for him everyday.  When I am discouraged about someone I am praying for, God always brings my eyes to that old piece of ship’s deck and reminds me to never give up.  God still answers prayer.