Sermon Synopsis
This sermon calls believers to rediscover personal evangelism by returning to Jesus’ command to love God and love our neighbours. Using the biblical example of the Good Samaritan and Jesus’ own ministry, it introduces the simple and practical BLESS framework as a pathway to building meaningful relationships with non-believers. The message challenges Christians to be intentional, relational, and authentic in their witness. Its aim is to revitalize personal evangelism through everyday acts of prayer, listening, hospitality, service, and storytelling.
Please note: This transcript is provided as close to verbatim record of the sermon.
Good morning. It is truly my joy to share this message with you today on personal evangelism. I suspect that we seldom hear a message on personal evangelism in our Sunday morning ministry.
We once had a newcomer who joined Sonum Church in Cambodia. She was thrilled by her newfound faith, and very soon she began inviting her non-believing friends to come along—just like the Samaritan woman. She was excited, and she eagerly told others about Jesus. But after a few years, that excitement fizzled out, like it does for many of us.
After we have been Christians for several years, most of our friends are Christians. We have fewer non-believing friends, and we become less effective in reaching unbelievers. This is reflected in our gospel meetings, which are often attended by many believers and fewer non-believers.
If we want to be more effective in personal evangelism, we must foster good relationships with non-believers. And the bridge to personal evangelism is this: blessing our neighbour. This is the topic I want to share with you this morning.
One of the Pharisees once approached the Lord Jesus Christ with a trick question, hoping to test Him and discredit Him for supposedly going against the law.
They asked Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
Jesus replied,
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.”
Then He went on to say, “On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
In the Gospel of Matthew, three commandments are given to all believers. Two are known as the Great Commandments—to love God and to love our neighbour. The third is known as the Great Commission—to go and make disciples of all nations.
Notice that the focus is not on making converts, but on making disciples. A disciple is one who obeys the commandments of the Lord, and a disciple will make other disciples. Jesus stressed that all the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments: loving God and loving our neighbour.
This teaching appears again in Luke chapter 10. A different lawyer asked Jesus, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus did not answer in the way we might normally expect. He did not say, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved,” although that would have been a correct answer. Instead, Jesus asked him, “What is written in the law? What is your understanding?”
The lawyer replied by quoting Deuteronomy 6:5—love God—and Leviticus 19—love your neighbour. Old Testament believers knew these commandments well. God’s expectation has never changed. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He expects every Christian to love God and to love their neighbour.
This is the evidence of salvation. It shows that we have eternal life, that we have experienced redemption, forgiveness, and all the blessings we have been thinking about this morning.
But the lawyer was not satisfied. Trying to justify himself, he asked, “Who is my neighbour?” This gave Jesus the opportunity to share the story of the Good Samaritan.
We are familiar with this story. A Jew was attacked by robbers and left dying by the roadside. Several Jews passed by. They had good reasons not to help—perhaps they feared for their own safety—but they did nothing.
Then a Samaritan came along. He had very good reasons not to help, because Samaritans were considered enemies. Yet he stopped, helped the injured man, paid for everything, and even left his credit behind in case there were additional expenses. The injured man did not even know who helped him.
This story shows us what Jesus meant when He said, “Love your neighbour.”
Last year at our retreat in Sonum Church, we spent three days discussing how we can love our neighbours. We asked our Cambodian brothers and sisters, “Who are the Samaritans in our community?” Many mentioned the Vietnamese or the Thai—people they found difficult to love for political, social, or economic reasons.
But Scripture reminds us: how can we say we love God, whom we cannot see, if we cannot love our brothers whom we can see? If we say we love God but do not love people, we are liars. Loving God and loving our neighbour must come together.
Every religion has some form of a golden rule. In Buddhism, Confucianism, Judaism, and others, the rule is often negative: do not do harm, do not cause trouble. “Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you.”
Christianity reverses this. It is not “do not,” but “do.”
“Love your neighbour as yourself.”
“Do to others what you want them to do to you.”
The two Jews who passed by the injured man followed the “do not” rule. They did not cause harm, but they did nothing. The Samaritan put himself in the shoes of the injured man and acted.
The challenge for us is this: how do we get out of our comfort zones to love our neighbours practically and positively?
Last April, some of us attended a GLOW conference in Kuala Lumpur. We learned about personal evangelism through a simple framework called BLESS, taught by Andrew Cow, and based on the book Five Everyday Ways to Love Your Neighbour and Change the World by Dave and Don Ferguson.
The five steps are simple but powerful:
Many churches that had plateaued began to grow again when they practiced these steps. Some saw hundreds of baptisms in a single year—not because of big programs, but because everyone was blessing their neighbours.
Let me walk through these five steps, using the example of our Lord Jesus.
Jesus was intentional in His encounter with the Samaritan woman. The Bible says He had to pass through Samaria. He waited deliberately at the well. I believe He prayed over this encounter and acted with purpose.
Everything begins with prayer.
The authors suggest writing down eight names—people God has placed in your life. They might be family members, colleagues, neighbours, security guards, helpers, or delivery workers. Pray for them daily. Place their names in your Bible or somewhere you see often.
As you pray, God will create opportunities. When you begin praying intentionally, wonderful things begin to happen.
Jesus listened attentively to people—the blind man, the centurion, the Samaritan woman. He asked questions and allowed them to speak.
Listening builds trust. Ask about their history, their interests, their habits, and eventually their hurts. Do not rush to speak. Listen without judging.
When people feel heard, they feel loved.
This is my favourite step. Much of Jesus’ ministry happened around a table. In the Gospel of Luke alone, there are many stories of Jesus eating with people. He was even called a friend of sinners and tax collectors.
In Cambodia, I cook dinner every Sunday at our mission house. We invite students, parents, and people we are praying for. Every week, new guests come. It has been incredibly meaningful and effective in building relationships.
We eat 21 to 28 meals a week. Can we choose just one to share with someone?
Be intentional. Plan it. Put it on your calendar. Invite people repeatedly. Do not give up.
As relationships grow, opportunities to serve will appear. Jesus served with humility—even washing His disciples’ feet.
One day, we heard about a student who had been bitten by a dog and was afraid to tell his parents. We took him to the hospital and paid for everything. A few days later, when I went to buy wood for repairs, the shop owner refused payment. “You helped my son,” he said.
Simple acts of kindness open doors for deeper conversations.
Everyone loves a good story, and Jesus was the master storyteller. When the time is right, share your personal story—how God has worked in your life.
Do not be preachy. Be authentic. Share simply, like the blind man in John 9: “I was blind, and now I see.”
Your story is powerful because it is real.
If we are not intentional, nothing will happen. Times have not changed. What has changed is our engagement.
This BLESS approach is simple, biblical, and doable. We are practicing it in Cambodia, and God is using it.
Let us bless our neighbours and be engaged in personal evangelism.
Heavenly Father,
We thank You for our Lord Jesus, who showed us by His life how to love with compassion, patience, and grace. Help us to love You, to love our neighbours, and to engage in the Great Commission. May this message fall on good soil, take root, and bear much fruit.
We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.