Would you like people to ask you about your faith in Christ?

In an ideal world it would be great if people were to ask you about Jesus, your faith or the church wouldn’t it? Do you think there is a way to open the door for that to happen? I believe that if you put the following suggestions into practice you will soon find that work colleagues, friends and neighbours will start bringing up the subject.

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

1 Peter 2: 9

Have you ever noticed that when people meet a policeman, even in social situations that they soon start to tell the officer about some issue of the law that they may have fractured in a minor way. It is as if they can’t help themselves, it seems almost cathartic for them!

The same thing happens when people meet doctors. In no time at all they are telling the poor doctor about their ailments and complaints. My Pastor of many years used to call it the “organ recital”. In other words a person would explain in detail the problems that they were experiencing with their internal organs!

Recently some very good Christian friends and I were discussing my last blog on the subject of nailing your colours to the mast. In other words, letting people know that you have a faith in Christ.   

One of them reminded me of something that always happens when you let people know about your faith. In my own case it has happened with work colleagues in every place I was employed, neighbours and family……they will ask questions.

Key Point: Tell people that you have put your faith in Christ - and people will ask you questions about Him!

I am a part-time tutor and last week I arrived at our offices early, well before anyone else. The head of the college always turns up for work first and was surprised to find me already working in the office. “Wow, you must have got here early this morning” she said. I took the opportunity straight away and explained that I had been at a leader’s early morning prayer meeting and decided to miss the rush hour traffic by coming directly from the church. She sat down in her chair and within a couple of minutes she asked me about church.

I hadn’t planned to catch her out nor set an evangelistic snare. I simply said that I had been to church and had demonstrated the fact that I was committed by explaining in a subtle way that I had been praying while many people were still in bed.

You see, things like this often don’t make any sense to people who don’t have a faith. Neither do things like baptisms, sharing faith on the streets or being a regular church attender. These things can often challenge people to the core. In fact, I have watched people try to figure it out as their facial expression is one of “Why are they doing that?”

The cross of Calvary, where Jesus paid the ultimate price to save us from a lost eternity, is something that many people just cannot understand. Scripture says: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God”.

1 Corinthians 1:18

When the mind tries to work out something that doesn’t make sense, it is a natural thing to want more information. So very often that is what people will do. They will simply ask.

Getting back to the importance of telling people about your faith in some way, there are times to be silent and times to speak. We need to live out our faith in our actions and attitudes, but we must also use our mouths.

“But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?” Romans 10: 14
  

A few months ago I was on the last of three connecting fights home from a preaching and speaking tour in Russia. I boarded my flight in Kiev and found a seat next to the window. The plane quickly filled up with people and eventually a very smart mature lady in business dress came along and asked if the seats were available. I welcomed her and invited her to sit.

After we took off she asked me if I had been working in the Ukraine. I explained that I was on my third flight home that day from Russia and politely asked what she had been doing in the country. She said that she was an international author and had been speaking at a number of events promoting her latest work.

After she had finished I told her that I was a preacher of the Gospel as well as an author of a couple of books. I quickly explained that I had spoken and preached in a number of cities and seen God do amazing things while I was there. As always after making a statement like that, I shut up and said nothing. Within a few seconds she asked me for more information.

The rest of the flight involved me sharing my testimony, explaining the Gospel and praying for her. I didn’t lead her to Christ, but I know she was challenged by what I had to say. I gave her a copy of my book which she said she would read.

When we take a step of faith and nail our colours to the mast amazing things happens. Where are your colours?

Christian, are your colours nailed to the mast?

There is an old saying which means ‘to defiantly display one's opinions and beliefs, or to show one's intention to hold on to those beliefs until the end’. You may have already guessed. It is “Nailing your colours to the mast”.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” Romans 1: 16

In 17th century nautical battles colours or flags were lowered as a sign of submission. It was also the custom in naval warfare to direct one's cannon fire at the mast of the opponent's ship, thus disabling it. If all of a ship's masts were broken, then the captain usually had no alternative but to surrender. If the captain decided to fight on, this was marked by hoisting the colours on the remnants of the ship's rigging, by 'nailing his colours to the mast'.

Whilst considering the well known verse in Romans which speaks about not being ashamed of the gospel, I remembered two people I knew who had worked at a company for quite a time, holding positions of influence, but none of their colleagues were aware that they were Christians. One of these people was a leader in a church and told me that he had never spoken to anyone about the church or Jesus.

Were those people ashamed of Christ? Well, my answer would be that they were not. They loved the Lord and it was evident in many ways. However, if they were not ashamed of Christ, what was stopping them speak of Him? In both cases it was clear to me that fear prevented them from witnessing. They were afraid of rejection and persecution by their work colleagues. Such things do happen, but most cases I am aware of have been very mild compared to what goes on in some countries, where people are tortured or murdered for their faith in Jesus Christ.

If people make their anti Christian feelings known because we share the Gospel, we need to remember what Jesus said in Luke 6: 22: “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!”

That means that we are blessed by God in those situations. What a truly wonderful promise! This clearly states that as believers in the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, we should always nail our colours to the mast. It is a must when you consider what Jesus did for us at Calvary. One day we will each have to give an account of what we did as Christians on the earth, just as in the parable of the talents, the Lord is going to want to know what we did with what He gave us. There is going to be a reckoning and we will have to give an account.

 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” 2 Corinthians 5: 10

Key Point: We have responsibility to witness about Jesus. We can’t hide our lamp under a bushel. We have got to start talking about Him. We have a responsibility to witness about Jesus.

We can’t hide our lamp under a bushel. We must witness, we must share Jesus because we don’t much time. He is coming back soon. The Message says plainly in 1 John 2: 28: “Live deeply in Christ. Then we’ll be ready for him when he appears, ready to receive him with open arms, with no cause for red-faced guilt or lame excuses when he arrives.”

I asked this church leader why he hadn’t let people know that he had put his faith in Jesus. He explained that he wanted his life to show that he was a Christian. I replied that witnessing through your lifestyle is a good thing to do. I then asked about all the people who had come and gone from the company. Had an opportunity been missed? Would those people have another chance to hear the Gospel? I say this to many people when I train them to witness and share the Gospel. Living a good life is a great example, but if you really want your colleagues, friends, neighbours or anyone else you come into contact with to know about Jesus, it will involve speaking about Him. There is really no way around it.

Are you playing it safe with your faith because you fear rejection of even a little persecution? I make a point of letting people know I am a Christian very early on. I make it clear so that they know there is no doubt. I could give numerous examples, but here are just two occasions that come to mind.

The first was when we moved into our current property. I was moving some furniture into my house with my Pastor and an elder from our church. My new neighbour was in her garden so I introduced myself and chatted about where I was moving from and so on. After a few minutes I had the opportunity to introduce my helpers. I said, “This is Colin, the Pastor of my Church and Joel who is one of our elders”. There was no awkwardness or anything like that. In fact over the next couple of years I had many opportunities to witness for Christ. They have moved to another house in the village, we are still friends… and oh, I still witness to them.

The second was at a meeting with a managing Director of Multi-national Corporation. This very successful man had just been made my immediate boss. He had a reputation for being tough on his people. I took the bull by the horns and at the right moment explained that I was a Christian who had a very strong faith in Christ. As I told him his expression was one of “Oh no not one of those!”. He said “ I don’t believe in God or anything like that, I think it’s all rubbish” I answered, “with respect, I don’t care what you think, I know what I believe”. The conversation ended there, but once again over time I had opportunities to share Jesus with him and the CEO. God is good!

Jesus was nailed to a cross for our sin. The question is where are your colours? Are they nailed to the mast?

Prepared or unprepared?

I have been doing some evangelism training in the last couple of weeks with a great group of people from my local church. We have had a fantastic time together and some very interesting discussions on the subject of witnessing. How confident are you about sharing your testimony or the Gospel with someone who does not know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour?

“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” Romans 10: 14-15

The responsibility is ours. We cannot rely on other people to do the work. We have been given a job to do that is vitally important and as Christians who love Jesus we are to obey His commands, one of which is to tell people about Him!

Key Point: Remember spending time learning and practising makes a difference.

With that in mind let’s consider once again a question I asked in an earlier blog: does being trained to witness and evangelise make a difference? In sales training I was taught this mantra Prior Preparation and Planning Prevents a Poor Performance. That statement proved to be so true! In my classes I often recount the story of the headmaster’s speech on my first day at secondary school. He gave his regular welcome and then, taking a large pitcher he poured water into an empty glass and explained to the eleven year olds in front of him that ‘you will only get out what you put in’.

The same applies to witnessing. What would happen if you studied and practiced sharing the Gospel or your testimony? Would you have more confidence to share your faith? Experience shows that it certainly does!

Being fully equipped means that a person is thoroughly prepared to do a task effectively. In preaching classes as a young Christian I was given instructions to spend twelve hours to prepare a thirty minute message. This involved time in prayer to seek God for a message, reading and understanding passages of scripture and researching what others have said from books such as commentaries. Finally by preparing the message, privately preaching to oneself followed by yet more prayer.

I have learned that twelve hours of preparation is better than one hour, three hours or even six hours. It definitely makes a difference. I have been in churches where someone has got up to preach and they have explained that God gave them the message the night before. Sometimes God has really given the speaker something from His heart and it is evident to all who listen. On the other hand, I have also heard preachers who have said the same and I have noticed their notes are scribbled on the back of an envelope. Very often the message has been one that is hard to listen to.

The memorable illustration of the pitcher and glass made a lasting impression because of its simple truth -  you only get out of something what you put in. Here are three key points that can be applied to witnessing:

Confidence: The Investment of time in study, practise and evangelism training will increase confidence in your ability to witness effectively. That time spent learning could mean you leading someone to faith. What a privilege!

Your Testimony: The story of your own salvation is a very powerful tool when you witness for Christ, because it is true and it happened to you. People love true stories. Explaining your own story with passion, excitement and conviction opens the hearts of the hearers to the Gospel. God has given each one of us a testimony to share. We must use it! Jesus made a wonderful promise to us:

“Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.” Matthew10:32

I encourage students to divide their testimony into five simple and parts:

·        Have a good title for your testimony - it creates interest for the listener.

·        What happened before you came to Christ

·        How you found and accepted Christ

·        What has happened since that time

·        What scriptures sum up your testimony

Use simple bullet points to give a balanced account to share with others, which can be adapted in length depending on the situation. Plus it keeps you focussed and on what you are saying.

Sharing The Gospel: Knowing how to explain the Gospel in a simple and relevant way will dramatically increase your confidence levels. There are many simple methods you can use that are designed to keep you on track, explaining the important facts effectively.

“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” 1 Peter 3: 15

If you look through my previous blogs you will find two examples that cover this. They are called:

·        Leading someone to Christ through F.A.I.T.H

·        Help....I want to explain the Gospel

Time spent developing evangelism skills is very worthwhile  and sharing what Jesus has done in YOUR life becomes an exciting and rewarding experience!

Inviting people to a baptism with a different approach

 

Church events like baptisms present great opportunities to invite friends, family members, school or college friends, or even colleagues from work to come along to. Once these people come to church, they will also have to opportunity to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Many people have come to faith through events like these over the years and they are an effective personal evangelism tool.

Before we get into that, it would be a good idea to consider what a person who has little experience of church might think about what goes on at a baptism.

They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household. Acts 16: 31-34

What is going on?

I suppose that a person who comes along to a meeting like this, who only has a small amount of church experience, must wonder why the person who invited them along is going to allow themselves to be submerged in a pool of water in front of a sea of faces. 

It doesn’t make sense. Have they become a Bible basher?

Before I came to Christ I had a very low opinion of Christians indeed and thought that they were weak-minded weirdos. If I was invited to a baptism by a close friend, I would have gone along to support them, but at the same time wondering what had happened to them to even think of asking me to a church service that was not either a wedding or a funeral!

It simply wouldn’t have made sense to me because I didn’t believe in the God of the Bible. I had heard of christenings and my mother had told me about mine which I couldn’t even remember of course, because I was just a babe in arms.

Key Point: A testimony of a new believer at a baptism will often speak to the heart of a person who has coming along to observe the event. It is a powerful witness!

At most baptisms the new believer shares a short testimony of their life, how they found Christ and what He means to them. This will often speak to the heart of a person who has come along to observe the event. It is a powerful witness!

I have witnessed people who are normally quiet and would never dream of talking to a group - let alone a church full of people - share in a couple of minutes what Jesus did for them. This can be incredibly powerful and speaks volumes. I often cry at these points in services when I see what the Lord has done.

After this someone can present a short gospel message. As an evangelist I always give an invitation to unbelievers to receive Jesus and have seen many come to Christ as a result. I believe it’s an opportunity not to be missed as they may never come into a church again. I have also been at baptisms where church is packed with many unbelievers present. Sometimes the gospel either wasn’t preached, or after it was, no invitation was given.

Getting people to come along

Very often, when a new believer invites people to a baptism, some close friends and families come along which is wonderful. The great news is that often people come to Christ, their lives are changed and they go onto live a life for God. The question is then, how then can we increase the number of people attending?

A very different approach

A pastor of a rapidly growing church in America came to my house for an evening recently. He answered my many questions about what he did at his church, which had grown from around forty people to over 1600 in a four year period. During the evening we discussed the ways his church reached into the local community.

After a while we got onto the subject of water baptisms and he explained how they get very high numbers of unbelievers to attend. I will break down what they do into sections.

Write a list: Ask the new believer to write a list of people that they would like to invite. A leader goes though it with them.

Who is likely to come along?: The leader asks the who they believe will actually be coming along.

Now for really the different approach

The leader contacts the remaining people on the list by telephone: After discussing the list with the new believer, the leader asks for some information regarding others on the list. Armed with phone numbers they start calling these people.

After introducing themselves and a short preamble on the phone the leader says something like, “No doubt you are aware that your friend John is being baptised at our church next Sunday evening”. Reply, “Yes I do”.  Leader, “Well that’s great, I was talking to John yesterday and I asked him who he would really like to come along. When I did that he mentioned your name”. Reply, “Oh that’s nice”. Leader, “Well, I know that John would really appreciate it if you were to come along to this special event. Would you like to join us for the evening?”

This method has made a huge difference to the numbers attending, as well as the amount of people accepting Jesus as Lord. I like it. What do you think?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are you for or against tent mission evangelism?

I believe the question above is an important one to ask. If you are for them, does that mean ‘yes, when someone else does them’, or by you getting involved in doing them?

I have been involved in a number of tent missions over the years. Some have been wonderful, where I have seen many decisions for Christ and others where it has been hard work to even get people to come along to the tent, let alone to sit in it while someone preaches! Without a doubt they are great to be part of and working with people on endeavours like this build character besides learning a lot about the people you work with.

He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” Mark 16:15

“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

The scriptures above both say something that is very important. The emphasis is on the fact that a person either goes or is sent. This type of evangelism means stepping out of our comfort zones and having to rely on the Holy Spirit for guidance and direction. After all that is what He wants us to do isn’t it? We never go on our own and neither will we be sent alone. The Holy Spirit will always go with us.

Key Point: We must go to where the people are and share the Gospel in word, action and deeds.

I am only going into a little detail here because there is a lot of work involved. There are many other practical jobs that need to be done on any mission of this type. Without a doubt it needs to be led by someone with good organisational and management skills. Recently I have worked with someone who is outstanding at this. It makes everything run smoothly and I believe these people are as important as the evangelist who preaches the Gospel, because without them it won’t function properly.

The other important aspect of a tent type mission is teamwork. Firstly in order to be effective you will need sufficient team members to accomplish the practical work. The planning and administration can be time consuming. Depending on where you are holding the event you may need to apply to a local authority for permission, set up health and safety policies, inform the local police authorities and all that is besides things like catering if you are providing food for events.

All of this needs to be done before organising the putting up and taking down of the tent.  Decisions must be made on a specific group of people who would perform ministries that would normally take place in a church. These range from those who welcome people as they arrive, to prayer teams, worship groups, and people who preach the messages.

The other important element is a team of people who are willing to “Go” out and meet people. This can take many forms, of course. The main aim is to go and talk to people about Jesus. Here are some examples that I have been involved with and used over the years:

·        Leaflet dropping

·        Street preaching

·        Street entertainment

·        School visits

·        Door to door visitation

·        Events such as barbeques and other related activities

·        Completing questionnaires on the streets and house to house

·        Prayer for the sick

·        Sporting activities

·        Men’s events

·        Women’s events

Other considerations are:

Commitment: This is important because it often means a person taking time off work to be available. This means sacrifice of time as well as money, for the good of reaching those who are away from Christ. “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Galations 6:9

Prayer: For me this is one of the most vital elements. More often that not there is a huge spiritual battle over the area. Opposition needs to be broken down through the prayers of the saints. Without it the job is made more difficult. “Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.” Matthew 18: 19

Unity: This may seem obvious, but the whole team needs to be pulling in the same direction and in agreement with the main objectives. When that happens, the Lord always blesses it.

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion,  for there the Lord commanded the blessing—life forevermore.” Psalms 133: 1-3

Holding a tent mission means going to an area, setting up and followed by going to where the people are with the message of the Gospel.

I have seen many people come to Christ through them, plus many miracles of God's grace. Probably the biggest impact of them has been on my own life.

I highly recommend it.

 

 

 

 

What do you do when someone says “You won’t get me inside a church!”?

One of my favourite speakers is the evangelist J.John. He says, “In general, people go to church three times throughout their lifetime. Once to be christened, secondly to be married and finally the third time is for their funeral. The point being that on two of the occasions that they do go, they have to be carried in!”

“And the lord said unto the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.'  Luke 14:23

The scripture above is very clear and there is no doubt that it is also a command. Jesus is once again using the word ‘Go’ as He did in Matthew 16: 15 “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation.”

So what should we do when we follow the command of Jesus but get the reply “You won’t get me inside a church!”? I believe that the answer is to be more creative and more intentional in our approach towards those that don’t know Jesus as Lord. That means being deliberate about a number of things in order to be successful in this very important area.

Most churches offer meetings that are less formal, particularly for specific groups, such as The Business Men’s Fellowship, Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International, and the Women’s and Men’s Aglow organisations. These are really great for taking a two step approach towards giving a person a chance to hear the Gospel. By two steps I mean inviting a person to a less churchy type of function before them visiting church.

I have been involved in this type of evangelism for many years now and know from experience that inviting someone to a breakfast, dinner or lunch is much easier that asking them to come to a church meeting. I have seen many lives changed through them.

In this kind of meeting, the Gospel is usually shared through the life experience of someone’s testimony. It is not like being preached at, plus they will have had an opportunity to chat to other Christians. I often speak at such functions as well as organising them.

Key Point: Being intentional prayed up. planned and rehearsed will increase your effectiveness at inviting people to church

From experience, I believe that there are three important areas to focus on so that when we invite a person to an event, similar to the ones I have mentioned, that the person invited says ‘Yes’. These areas are:

·        Decide who you are going to invite

·        Pray before you invite them

·        Rehearse how you are going to invite them

Being definite: Experience has shown that being intentional and focused on a number of specific people proves to be more fruitful than randomly inviting many to come along. I spent many years in sales and recruitment where we had saying – “If you throw enough mud at the wall some will eventually stick.” It’s true, but we have to remember how many people get put off by this type of approach. In evangelism training, I teach the vital importance of always keeping the door open for another opportunity. It is also absolutely essential to pray and rehearse your approach.

I have worked with people who witness effortlessly on the streets. It is their gifting to be able to stop someone and within a minute or two they are explaining the Gospel followed by a prayer of repentance. It truly is a gift, because it is evident in the results that follow the way they share with others.

With this in mind, make a list of people that you want to invite to an event. Think and pray about it before you actually speak to them.

Praying: One of my mentors in evangelism is one of the most gifted people in this area, a lady called Marilyn Harry. She always states emphatically that prayer and evangelism go hand in hand. She is absolutely right.

A Fervent prayer about the people on your list will make a difference. Ask God to prepare their hearts to break down barriers as well as creating opportunities to give you uninterrupted time to speak to them - this will yield results.  “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” James 5: 16. I believe that scripture and as Paul said in Timothy 2: 4. “God desires that all men should be saved.”Do we need any more encouragement? When you invite a person along to an event, or share Jesus, you are doing what God desires. What a thrill!

Rehearsing: This point is often overlooked. Some people ask nervously, others ask in a way that is jumbled up and hard to understand, some come across as boring, some talk too much and talk the person out of coming along!

This is why it is necessary to practice what you are going to say and importantly how you are going to say it. This comes down to being intentional once again. Practicing with the intention of improving is the mother of learning.

I often practice rehearsing my messages. My pastor of many years would say that it takes at least twelve hours to prepare a message; this includes (d ,) praying and waiting on God, writing out the notes, practicing it and continuing to pray. Very often I preach the message to the wall in my office as if I am preaching to a thousand people. It makes a difference!

If possible, pray just before you invite and during the time you are speaking. I will often walk up to a person praying quietly under my breath. “Lord, help me here, open the door.” I will also be thinking a prayer like this while I am talking. If you don’t do so already, have a go.

Here are some things you could do:

·        Write down a few notes so that you know what you are going to say

·        Practice it on your own

·        Ask a friend to listen to what you are going to say

·        You could even record yourself. You may be surprised at how you sound.

·        Go and do it knowing you are intentionally prayed up and rehearsed!

 

Is planning personal evangelism effective

On a recent missions visit to Russia I had the great pleasure to visit and preach at the evening and morning meetings at the thriving and rapidly expanding New Life Church in Kirov, Russia. During that Sunday God moved powerfully over the congregation where many souls were saved. Glory to God! The memories of my visit, the love and welcome of the people there will stay with me forever.

I spent two days with Pastor Alexander and his wife discussing in depth about his church, evangelism and related subjects. At one point in our talks I asked him, “Why do you believe that your church has grown so quickly?”

I must admit I expected an answer that would bowl me over. However the answer was very simple and to the point. “Oh, we encourage our members to invite their families, friends and work colleagues to church”. I thought to myself, “We do that at out church”. The truth is that many churches do the same as well.

I wanted to discover if there was anything different about the way that they went about doing this so I asked him exactly what the church did. What he told me may come across as radical to some, or could even make you feel under pressure if your church adopted the same programme.

What was undeniable when I was there was seeing the love and passion in the people as a whole to win souls for Christ. The church had what I believed was an evangelistic lifestyle. This stemmed right from the top to the bottom and Pastor Alexander exemplified this.

The question I want to ask you is, “Shouldn’t all of our churches be like that?”

“Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him” John 4: 28-30

Key Point: All churches should have an evangelistic lifestyle so that the lost can find Christ. Otherwise how will they find out about Him?

The scripture above really is a true representation of what we should do as believers in Christ. Thinking about it, the lady didn’t need to be told by Jesus to go and bring people to Him. Rather she was so impacted by what He said that she immediately went off to encourage others to meet him.

So then what is the method that this growing church uses? Is it just simply asking and inviting people along to meetings? Yes it is, but the difference is that go about it in a planned and strategic way.

From what I gathered there are four important key elements to their activities. Are the methods really different from your own church’s evangelistic activities?

Encouragement and training: The first area that the leaders in the church concentrate on is to encourage and train people in simple and effective ways to invite people to church meetings. Pastor Alexander made the point that they don’t train people to preach at people because it can put up barriers and make it difficult to go back to the person in the future.

Added to that, my own thoughts about are that the person who invites people will clearly be showing that their life has changed and from that comes an enthusiasm for people to hear the good news.

List writing: The second element involves writing a list of people including, family, friends work colleagues and acquaintances. On completion of this the list is broken down to months with contacts placed in each month.

Some of these months may involve using the church calendar for periods like Easter and Christmas. In addition there are Mothers’ Day and Fathers’ Day meetings, outreaches, special events, guest speakers, men’s events, ladies’ events, youth, and children’s meetings.  

Praying: This is very important and links in with the prepared list. The people in the church then pray regarding the people being invited each month. This provides a prayerful focus for the people written on the list. Church leaders and house group members join in with the prayers for the lost. In addition to this the church holds all night prayer meetings five nights a week from 11pm to 6am from Mondays to Fridays every week.

Having thought about this, it in all likelihood this section explains the rapid growth of the church.

Strategic and planned invitations: Finally the fourth part of the plan, involves inviting the people whose names were initially listed, placed into months and prayed for. Prayer makes a way for this as the church members use a proven method of asking people to come along to meetings.

Having looked at this, the three elements of encouragement,  training and making a specific plan of invitation backed up by regular prayer, makes the difference. It was really very refreshing to be in a church where there was an overall passion for the lost. Newly saved will quickly recognise that it is a natural thing to invite people to meetings. They will do the same. My old boss used to say, "Moray, like breeds like, so set an example for people to follow. Don't just tell people what to do. Show them and encourage them to do the same". Pastor Alexander has done exactly that. There a plenty of examples and roll models in scripture that can inspire us to step out in faith. Jesus being the best of all.

I personally learned a lot from being there and will never be the same.

Is planning important?

 

On a recent missions visit to Russia I had the great pleasure to visit and preach at the evening and morning meetings at the thriving and rapidly expanding New Life Church in Kirov, Russia. During that Sunday God moved powerfully over the congregation where many souls were saved. Glory to God!

I spent two days with Pastor Alexander and his wife discussing in depth about his church, evangelism and related subjects. At one point in our talks I asked him, “Why do you believe that your church has grown so quickly?”

I must admit I expected an answer that would bowl me over. However the answer was very simple and to the point. “Oh, we encourage our members to invite their families, friends and work colleagues to church”. I thought to myself, “We do that at out church”. The truth is that many churches do the same as well.

I wanted to discover if there was anything different about the way that they went about doing this so I asked him exactly what the church did. What he told me may come across as radical, or could even make you feel under pressure if your church adopted the same programme.

What was undeniable when I was there was seeing the love and passion in the people as a whole to win souls for Christ. The church had what I believed was an evangelistic lifestyle. This stemmed right from the top to the bottom and Pastor Alexander exemplified this.

The question I want to ask you is, “Shouldn’t all of our churches be like that?”

“Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him” John 4: 28-30

Key Point: All churches should have an evangelistic lifestyle so that the lost can find Christ. Otherwise how will they find out about Him?

The scripture above really is a true representation of what we should do as believers in Christ. Thinking about it, the lady didn’t need to be told by Jesus to go and bring people to Him. Rather she was so impacted by what He said that she immediately went off to encourage others to meet him.

So then what is the method that this growing church uses? Is it just simply asking and inviting people along to meetings? Yes it is, but the difference is that go about it in a planned and strategic way.

From what I gathered there are four important key elements to their activities. Are the methods really different from your own church’s evangelistic activities?

Encouragement and training: The first area that the leaders in the church concentrate on is to encourage and train people in simple and effective ways to invite people to church meetings. Pastor Alexander made the point that they don’t train people to preach at people because it can put up barriers and make it difficult to go back to the person in the future.

Added to that, the person who invites people will clearly be showing that their life has changed and from that comes an enthusiasm for people to hear the good news.

List writing: The second element involves writing a list of people including, family, friends work colleagues and acquaintances. On completion of this the list is broken down to months with contacts placed in each month.

Some of these months may involve using the church calendar for periods like Easter and Christmas. In addition there are Mothers’ Day and Fathers’ Day meetings, outreaches, special events, guest speakers, men’s events, ladies’ events, youth, and children’s meetings. 

Praying: This is very important and links in with the prepared list. The people in the church then pray regarding the people being invited each month. This provides a prayerful focus for the people written on the list. Church leaders and house group members join in with the prayers for the lost. In addition to this the church holds all night prayer meetings five nights a week from 11pm to 6am from Mondays to Fridays every week.

Having thought about this, it in all likelihood this section explains the rapid growth of the church.

Strategic and planned invitations: Finally the fourth part of the plan, involves inviting the people whose names were initially listed, placed into months and prayed for. Prayer makes a way for this as the church members use a proven method of asking people to come along to meetings.

Having looked at this, the three elements of encouragement,  training and making a specific plan of invitation backed up by regular prayer, makes the difference. It was refreshing to be in a church where there was an overall passion for the lost.

I personally learned a lot from being there.