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.