To our newest friend, welcome to Team Jesus!
As you may already realize, we are a just a big group of Jesus lovers. Jesus has transformed all of our lives in different ways, and because of that, we are VERY passionate about serving Him.
***On that note, watch the above video to hear my RADICAL testimony of being saved out of an unbelieving family…and how God called me into this amazing ministry***
As born-again believers, we believe that one of the essential ways to serve Jesus is to tell others about what He has done. This is because the Bible makes it very clear that unless we tell people the good news, they cannot believe in Him and be saved:
“How then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” Romans 10:14-15
This is why Jesus gave us the great commission:
“Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:19-20
In fact, Jesus’ last words to His disciples was a prophetic charge to do this along with a promise that He would give them the power they needed.
Jesus said- “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. After He said this, He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight.” Acts 1:8
So why do we care so much about this aspect of our faith? Simple- because Jesus cares about it. ALOT.
People sometimes forget that at the end of the day, evangelism is simply helping Jesus get what He died for. The Bible says that-
“for the joy set before him He endured the cross, scorning its shame” Hebrews 12:2
Jesus had joy in His heart when He went to the cross because He knew that His sacrifice would make a way for us to be able to spend eternity with Him. He loves and likes us so much that He was willing to suffer and die just to make that possible. Is that radical love or what!?
So here we are, saved by the grace of God, washed by His blood, filled with His powerful Holy Spirit, and on our way to heaven forever. All because He was willing to suffer and die for it. I don’t know about you, but when I meditate on that I become VERY grateful. So grateful in fact, that I want to DO something to help pay Him back for this gift He has given me. Of course, a huge part of that is done through worship and obedience (which is the foundational way we say thank you), but another VERY important way is to TELL PEOPLE ABOUT HIM.
Think about this- if we don’t tell people, they won’t know. If they don’t know, they won’t believe. If they don’t believe, then they won’t be saved. If they aren’t saved, then Jesus won’t get the full measure of what He died for. He died for EVERY soul, not just ours.
“God is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:8
Sadly though, in the American church, our focus has too often been to just simply serve fellow believers and build them up. And, although we may hear sermons on evangelism, we rarely ever do it. Ask yourself this- are you part of a church that has a consistent and passionate focus on soul winning and discipling new believers? If not, you should probably pray about finding a different church…or speaking to your leadership team about this issue.
In the meantime, every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we have opportunities for you to help Jesus get what He died for.
Our Friday location is Bayfront Park at Marina Jack, by the “Unconditional Surrender” statue. We began there in March of 2020 during the COVID lockdowns, and we haven’t missed a week since.
Our Saturday location is Rossi Waterfront Park at The Bradenton Riverwalk. We began there in August of 2021, and we haven’t missed a week since.
Our Sunday location is at the number one beach in the entire USA- Siesta Beach. We began there in March of 2018 and only missed the 5 weeks that all beaches in Florida were closed during the lockdown.
Each location is very different and each one is uniquely fruitful. On average, we get to plant seeds in at least 75-150 people each Friday at Bayfront Park, 200-400 people each Saturday at Rossi Park, and 400-700 people each Sunday at Siesta Beach. I don’t know of any other evangelism team that gets that kind of opportunity every week. And, despite never having a permit for our meetings, we’ve also had the support and protection of the police and the county workers at each location, which has truly been an act of God.
In fact, here’s a pic of some police officers at Riverwalk who not only love what we are doing, but have given us their full blessing.
And we have really needed this protection too, because as you may have seen, we use a very bold strategy for evangelism. We call it the “Tabernacle of David model”.
The Bible says
“‘After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tabernacle. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it…. so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord” Acts 15:16-17
This prophetic promise applies to multiple things, and we believe that it is a blueprint for highly effective evangelism. That is why it is saying that by doing this, “the rest of mankind will seek the Lord.”
So, what was David’s Tabernacle? Let’s dive into that.
After David conquered the Jubusites, he took over the city of Jerusalem. In that city, also known as the city of David, he erected a tent that housed the presence of God.
“Now David built houses for himself in the city of David; and he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.” 1 Chronicles 15:1
“And they brought in the ark of God and placed it inside the tent which David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God.” 1 Chronicles 16:1
Inside the tent, he had worship and praise going on continually for the entirety of his 33-year reign over Jerusalem.
“Then David spoke to the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their relatives the singers, with instruments of music, harps, lyres, loud-sounding cymbals, to raise sounds of joy.” 1 Chronicles 15:16
“He appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord, even to celebrate and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel: Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom and Jeiel, with musical instruments, harps, lyres; also Asaph played loud-sounding cymbals, and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests blew trumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God. Then on that day David first assigned Asaph and his relatives to give thanks to the Lord. 1 Chronicles 16: 4-7
David also gave away free gifts.
“He distributed to everyone of Israel, both man and woman, to everyone a loaf of bread and a portion of meat and a raisin cake.” 1 Chronicles 16:4
David also told the people two separate times to publicly declare God’s goodness to EVERYONE.
“Oh give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples.” 1 Chronicles 16:8
“Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.” 1 Chronicles 16:24
David also told the ministers to preach the gospel open air. You might say, “wait, didn’t this all happen before Jesus came to earth?” Yes, but check out this verse-
“Sing to the Lord, all the earth; Proclaim good tidings of His Salvation from day to day.” 1 Chronicles 16:23
The word “salvation” in Hebrew is the word “Yeshua”, which is Jesus’ actual name. So, it is essentially saying “proclaim the good news of Jesus from day to day.”
So here we have an amazing, Biblical model for evangelism, that God says will cause ALL mankind to seek Him.
- Go into the middle of a city, in public, around a whole bunch of people.
- Do praise and worship music
- Give away free gifts
- Publicly declare the goodness of God through sharing testimonies
- Publicly declare the Gospel of Yeshua
- And most importantly, have people come and minister that have inside of them the presence of God by the Holy Spirit (i.e., living “arks”)
And there you have it, a recipe for transforming hearts, as well as a city. And how cool that God birthed this movement in a city whose logo is…David! Definitely a sign!
Now, after reading that you might think “that’s very different than the kind of evangelism I was taught to do.” I know it is. And that’s ok. We believe that any form of sincere, truth/love laced evangelism is good and valid and we are in no way holding this model out to be the end all be all. But, I will say that most people find it to be way more fun and way more fruitful than what they are used to.
So, when you come, you can begin by just worshipping and praising (which is definitely a witness in itself), or you can hang out at the free gift table with other members of the team and offer gifts and prayers to people walking by. If you sing or play an instrument well, we will likely have you join the worship team. And, if you are confident to share a testimony or a short message publicly on the microphone, we will likely have you do that as well. In this ministry, EVERYONE gets involved. That’s why we call ourselves TEAM Jesus.
Just please don’t ever let the devil think that you being there doesn’t matter. You have something unique and special that God wants to pour out upon others, and He will use you as often as you make yourself available.
So, we hope to see you again soon! Keep my number handy in case you ever need to get in touch with me- 941-735-6223
Blessings and love!
Chris Vercelli
P.S. If you need something to stir you up for evangelism, listen to this song a few times. It makes me want to tell the world about Jesus every time I hear it!
P.P.S.- Click here to read about a handful of other prophetic words, confirmations and experiences that I’ve had over the past 17 years that has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that God has called me (and us) into this type of ministry- Awaken 941 Prophetic History – Awaken941