evangelism Archives - Plain Bible Teaching

Andy Sochor September 2, 2026

The Professions of the Apostles

“Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him” (Matthew 10:1-4).

After spending an extensive amount of time with them over a period of three years, Jesus sent His apostles into all the world to preach the gospel. These men were chosen from various backgrounds. We do not know what all of them did before Jesus called them, but we do know this for a few.

For those whose backgrounds are known, there are some lessons we can learn. We can also see that Jesus offered them (and us) something far better than any earthly employment.Continue Reading

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: apostles, evangelism, freedom, heaven, kingdom, sin

Andy Sochor March 18, 2026

Stepping Stones or Stumbling Stones

J. M. Kidwill (1836-1892) spent twenty-five years preaching the gospel in Middle Tennessee. During his travels through the area, he came to Dixon Springs in Smith County. When he arrived, there was no church there, but he “saw a door opened to the truth at Dixon Springs, and he went in” (Twenty-Five Years of Trust, p. 76). Through Kidwill’s efforts, a congregation was established there, and the church maintained a close relationship with the preacher.

In a letter to one of the sisters in Dixon Springs (Sister Rose), Kidwill spoke of the opportunity for the members of that congregation to spread the gospel in that area, while also warning about what could hinder their efforts.

“I hope that you will have at no distant day a goodly number of devoted Christians at Dixon Springs, who will not only contend for the Bible in opposition to all humanisms, but who will practice what they preach. I want Bro. Rose’s ear while I say that much, very much, depends on the few members that we have in your vicinity. The Savior compares the influence of example in his disciples to leaven in meal until all is leavened. May we realize that we are either stepping stones for our neighbors to a higher life or stumbling stones over which they may fall into ruin.” (Twenty-Five Years of Trust, p. 79)

Filed Under: Restoration History Tagged With: evangelism, example, J. M. Kidwill, personal evangelism

Andy Sochor May 29, 2025

Reaching Conspiracy Theorists (05/29/25)

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Plain Bible Teaching Podcast

This week, we’re talking about those who might be labeled as “conspiracy theorists” and whether they can be reached with the gospel. It has been reported that Joe Rogan, a popular podcast host known for embracing or entertaining conspiracy theories, has recently been attending church services. Could someone like that really be converted? We’re going to talk about that today.

I have been very encouraged to see @joerogan’s progression in his thinking about these things. My appearance on JRE back in January was a long time ago but he’s connecting some important and powerful dots in his thinking that I’m very happy to see continue to be articulated and… pic.twitter.com/WEJTw3lEyD

— WesleyHuff (@WesleyLHuff) May 15, 2025

Find the script for this episode on Substack.

Related material:

The Christian and Conspiracy Theories
3 Questions About New Churchgoer Joe Rogan by Jack Wilkie

Thanks for listening!

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Tagged With: evangelism, gospel

Andy Sochor March 19, 2025

The Great Commission in the Book of Acts

After Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead, He gave His apostles the “Great Commission.” Notice the details of this commission that are recorded in the synoptic gospels:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).

“And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned’” (Mark 16:15-16).

“And He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things’” (Luke 24:46-48).

In Luke’s account, we also see Jesus’ instruction to “stay in the city [Jerusalem, as] until you are clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). The gospel of Luke closes with the apostles witnessing the ascension of Christ and then returning to Jerusalem as Jesus instructed them to do (Luke 24:50-53).

In the book of Acts, Luke picked up where he left off and provided additional information about what happened during the “forty days” (Acts 1:3) between Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. The final recorded statement Jesus made to His apostles was this:

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

This verse is essentially a restatement of the Great Commission. It can also be thought of as the theme of the book of Acts, as it tells of the gospel being preached in Jerusalem (Acts 2-7), Judea (Acts 8:1; 11:1), Samaria (Acts 8), and to all the nations (Acts 10; 13-28).

As the book of Acts contains a record of the apostles carrying out the Great Commission, it also shows us two important points about this commission: (1) how to obey the gospel that the apostles were commissioned to preach and (2) how effective the work of preaching can be. Let us consider each of these.Continue Reading

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: conversion, evangelism, preaching

Andy Sochor January 8, 2025

Producing and Developing Disciples

Paul told Timothy of his responsibility to take “the things which [he] heard from [Paul]” and “entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2). The apostle then mentioned three “occupations” that illustrated Timothy’s work – soldiers, athletes, and farmers.

“Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops” (2 Timothy 2:3-6).

Two of those (soldiers and farmers) were directly related to his work in making disciples. In a similar passage, Paul mentioned another “occupation” connected to this – shepherds.

“Who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat the fruit of it? Or who tends a flock and does not use the milk of the flock?” (1 Corinthians 9:7).

The work of making disciples is ongoing from generation to generation (2 Timothy 2:2), which means we must do it today. But how? By doing the work of the farmer, the shepherd, and the soldier. We will explore this idea in this article.Continue Reading

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: disciple, evangelism, personal evangelism

Andy Sochor February 22, 2024

The Problem with “Instant Evangelism” (02.22.24)

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Plain Bible Teaching Podcast

This week we’re talking about the problem of “instant evangelism.” Of course, it is possible for someone to be converted quickly. However, we need to be careful that we do not have an expectation to see a proper response to the gospel before a person has a fundamental understanding of God and His word that can provide the foundation for a life of faith. For various reasons, seeing results from our efforts to evangelize is often slower today than in previous generations. What does that mean for us? We’re going to discuss that today.Continue Reading

Tagged With: evangelism, personal evangelism