Suggestions From Tom Clegg’s Lost in America for Effective Church Outreach
1. Pray regularly in community and by name for lost or unchurched people you personally know. Prayer requires discipline but the body of Christ helps us pray with greater consistently. Solomon wrote, “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” (Eccl. 4:12) Ask the Lord to give you several prayer partners, add praying for the lost a part of your meal time routine, start a prayer journal and sign up for prayer requests on internet prayer services.
2. Start or join a new small group. Growing churches tend to do best when they are managed through groups that care about one another. Relationships do not occur naturally in a church. The best way to build friendships in a church is usually through small groups. People will come to Christ through small group Bible studies or in groups where they feel loved into the kingdom of God. Some churches will offer Alpha courses to give their congregations a structure where the gospel can be shared with seekers.
3. Champion a face-lift at church that will give people an excuse to invite a friend. The face-lift may include a new program, a coat of paint, or a new event that appeals to the needs of people in the community. Whatever it takes to get people more excited about bringing their friends to church can be a morale booster for many who have lost their excitement about outreach. Consider what barriers need to be removed to help newcomers have a greater feeling of being welcomed and accepted into the family of God.
4. Develop a more guest friendly way of helping newcomers fit in. Give people the benefit of having a sponsor or a mentor or a buddy to form new friendships in the church. Care teams often look out for newcomers so they are nurtured into the fellowship. Most people who do not find friends in a church usually lose interest or look for another place to worship.
Maxie Dunnam, the President of Asbury Theological Seminary asks the following questions of each church:
A. Do you really want to know these people who are all around us?
B. Do you want them in your church?
C. Are you willing for your church to become their church?
D. Are you willing to go where they are and engage them on their turf?
E. Are you willing to spend time with them – identify with them and show genuine compassion?
5. Join the most outreach effective ministry at your church that matches your spiritual gifts. Move with your church instead of fighting against the maintenance trends of many churches. Find out what the churches are doing where people are coming to saving faith in Christ and learn from them. Of the five aspects of Acts 2:41-47 that are mentioned in Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Church (Disciple-making, Worship, Evangelism, Edification and Service ministries) which of these can you best use your spiritual gift to help the kingdom of God expand best in quantity and quality.
6. Find or help create other relational and culturally relevant contexts to bring guests to. The key to evangelism is not learning how to win arguments with people, but learning how to love them. Build on people’s hobbies and interests. These may include motorcycles, fishing, sports or children’s sporting events.
7. Start a new worship service. Churches that begin new worship services generally experience renewed vision and greater excitement about inviting guests, especially when it is geared to a younger more contemporary crowd. Charles Arn gives several benefits in his book, “How to Start a New Service”
A. Reach the unchurched more effectively B). Minister to more people C). Become more contextual D). Help the parent church shift its life cycle to a healthier point E). Allow for change while retaining the familiar F). Help the parent congregation survive. G). Reach new kind of people
8. Help sponsor, or actually participate in a new church. Begin by starting groups that will love the unlovable, bring justice to unjust situations and generally meet felt, real, perceived and spiritual needs of people. Follow the guidelines and examples seen in the book of Acts. Tradition has it that Matthew went to Ethiopia, Andrew traveled to Scythia and Bartholomew journeyed to India and Arabia. The most effective way of reaching new people is to start a new fellowship that is designed to meet their needs. Peter Wagner says, “The single most effective evangelistic methodology under heaven is planting new churches. We want to remove as many obstacles as possible for helping people hear and respond positively to the word of God.
9. Revise your churches budget to identify and increase spending in the specific area related to evangelism. For example you can say, “For the next budget year, this church will direct at least 5% of its general fund income to the evangelizing of this community, including training church people and hosting events designed to build bridges of outreach. Money tends to follow vision. Find the areas where God seems to be blessing the most and urge decision makers to commit funds to expand these programs. The average church spends about 3% of its budget and resources on local outreach and at best 3% overseas. Try to whittle down the remaining 94% of what a church is spending on itself and put it more toward kingdom expanding priority purposes
10. Phase out programs or committees that make people too busy. Unless a program is building relationships its working against what the church is designed to be. Mark 2:22 say, “No one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No he pours new wine into new wineskins.” If a program doesn’t bear fruit get rid of it.
11. Here are some suggestions for increasing the evangelism in your small groups:
A. Make reaching out to the lost your highest priority
B. Find a spark plug person who is excited about bringing unbeliever-filled households to the Lord and to cell life, as Andrew did with Peter (John 1:41,42)
C. Pray fervently for lost people, fasting on occasion as well.
D. Develop personal relationships and show Christ’s love
E. Sow God’s word in casual and intentional conversations
F. Plan ahead. Think about what to do when a person comes to the Lord
G. Persist in reaching the lost. Don’t give up on anyone
12. Remember to use the following examples of prayer evangelism:
A. Use the following as a lead-in teaching and/or a format as your group prays for lost persons. Consider praying for: family & friends, local persons of influence, national impact people, Sauls to become Pauls...
God Wants All Persons Saved -1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9
His Name Is Savior -Psalm 85:4; Matthew 1:21
All Persons Are Lost & Need Saving -Isaiah 64: 6; Romans 3:23; 6:23
God Is Able To Save -Isaiah 59:1; 2 Corinthians 9:8
Salvation Is His To Give -Psalm 3:8; Revelation 7:10
Salvation Is Good News To All People -Luke 2:10,11; Titus 2:11
He Is The Savior Of All -1 Timothy 4:10; Acts 4:12
Jesus Came To Seek & Save The Lost -Luke 19:10
Jesus Chose To Die To Save The Lost -1 Timothy 2:5
God Desires To Show Mercy -Genesis 18:22-32; 1 Peter 2:10
Adapted from Dutch Sheets, How To Pray For Lost Loved Ones, Regal Press
13. Use innovative means to reach children. A NEIGHBORHOOD BEING TRANSFORMED BY PRAYER
“Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works in man’s behalf!
Come and listen, all you who fear God; Let me tell you what he has done for me.”
Psalm 66:5,16
When our family relocated to Maple Grove, Minnesota in the year 2000, we were given the opportunity to build a home in a new neighborhood. As our home went up along with many others, so did my prayers asking the Lord to prepare this neighborhood to receive the Gospel.
In January of 2001, the Lord answered another prayer that women in my neighborhood would respond to my invitation to study the Word of God in a Friendship Bible Coffee (FBC) group. We completed two studies that year: Who is Jesus and Prayer, Communication with God. As we dismissed for the summer, I asked the women to pray this simple prayer for our neighborhood throughout the summer months.
“Father, we invite the King of Glory to come into our neighborhood. Come forth and bring transformation into each home. Come and release your blessings to the families here and reveal yourself as Savior, Messiah.”
Our FBC had become known in the neighborhood as a group of women who cared for one another and for the neighborhood, so after the September 11th tragedy, I was asked to speak a word of comfort to a hurting neighborhood. Approximately 75-100 people gathered together at the gazebo in our park the following Sunday to pray together, sing patriotic songs and hear that “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” Psalm 46:l,11
Truly the King of Glory was present there among us.
One of the ladies, Jennie Eurman, in our FBC had received Christ as she came to know the truth of the Scriptures through our study on prayer. She became dependent on prayer not only for the neighborhood, but also for her Jewish husband. By the spring of 2002, her husband, Dan, had acknowledged Christ as his Messiah (just as we had prayed in our simple but powerful prayer).
Shortly after, the Lord impressed Jennie to share the Gospel with the children in our neighborhood. She brought this desire to our FBC, and many of us were excited to join her in this Kingdom work. Jennie and Laura Kenney took on the leadership role and began to enlist a team to host a Vacation Backyard Bible Adventure. Another FBC friend, Sherri Cook, established a weekly prayer group in her home to uphold this mission of love to the children and their families. In addition, the VBS attendance list was divided among the leaders so that we might pray specifically for each child throughout the week. It was a labor of prayer.
Following months of preparation, our “DO WHAT’S RIGHT” (Child Evangelism VBS curriculum) was launched. After a glorious week of blessings, the end result was the reception of Jesus Christ into every child’s heart that attended. Approximately 25 children came each day representing homes we had prayed for, bringing the blessing of salvation (just as we had prayed for in our simple, but powerful prayer).
14. Use special sporting events as a catalyst for outreach. More than 40 people accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior during a Super Bowl block party Jan. 25 at First Baptist Church in Imperial Beach, Calif. The block party was one of three sponsored by the San Diego Baptist Association and hosted by three area churches.
The churches served free burgers, hot dogs and nachos and offered extreme games for the kids and musical performances -- all designed to let community residents know their local Baptist church cares about them. But what happened at Imperial Beach is nothing short of a miracle, said Doug Johnson, pastor of the 75-member church. The small Baptist congregation hosted a block party that attracted nearly 700 people at Veteran’s Park. More than 40 residents gave their lives to the Lord inside the park. "I am so proud of our people," Johnson said. "They are willing to take on any challenge. I believe what happened inside this park today has raised our people’s faith to a new level."
http://link.crosswalk.com/UM/T.asp?A1.15.10010.5.277678
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15. Invite your neighbors to church. PEOPLE NEED TO BE REACHING THE LOST FOR JESUS
by Joni B. Hannigan
Statistics show 93 percent of people polled would go to church if asked, but
only 16 percent report being invited.
- The statistics are in your favor. It’s only a matter of going.
16. Use internet resources. The Evangelism Toolbox is the ultimate database for Christian resources to share
your faith in Christ, offered by many of the top evangelical organizations worldwide.
Do you need an evangelistic tract or even video to share Christ with a friend,
available in dozens of languages? Do you need training in how to actually do
evangelism? Do you need apologetics materials to defend the faith? Are you searching
for a Bible study for couples? Are you looking for maps to plan strategies to
reach your country for Christ? Look no more--you can find them all right here at evangelismtoolbox.com
17. Help people see that their reticence or inactivity may be as a result of failing to believe that the return of Christ and the tribulation are imminent events. Jesus said, “When people are following the signs of Matthew 24 that is when the end will come and it is very near. Help populate heaven by loving one another into the kingdom of God through word and deed. I John 3:18, “Now little children let us not love in word, but also in deed and in truth.”
