When it comes to equipping your church to be actively engaged in evangelism many start with a class or a seminar because that is the way we were taught. It is not that I am against classroom education or equipping seminars, I just believe that these trainings should come after one's heart has been captured through positive experiences. Providing your people with positive, low risk experiences that build on each other is one of the best ways to design your equipping strategy.
What entry level evangelistic opportunities will you provide your church? Here are a couple of ideas to start with:
1. Prayer Walking: In equipping people for evangelism I would start by offering specific opportunities for individuals to talk to God first about their community rather than teaching them to talk to their community about God. Prayer is a mystery but prayer walking is even more mysterious. I don't completely understand why prayer walking works but I know it works. I have seen its impact on communities and impact on participants. Here is a free prayer walking workbook. (Download Here.pdf)
2. Community Service: There is an ever widening chasm between the church and our culture. Churches that have an outreach orientation seek ways to build bridges over the chasm through simply serving their communities. Robert Lewis in his book The Church of Irresistible Influence writes, "The church is to be in the bridge-building business, according to the design of Jesus Christ. Over this bridge the church must travel and prove its reality to a disbelieving world." He continues, "Our world must experience the same incarnational influence as the first century experienced when Grace and Truth himself suddenly bridged that Great Chasm and became flesh.” (pg. 30) Mobilizing your people to love their community through acts of service is another way to engage their hearts for outreach in a positive way. Download a free Summary: The Church of Irresistible Influence.pdf
3. Servant Evangelism: Steve Sjogren's motto is, "Small Things Done with Great Love Are Changing the World." Servant Evangelism goes beyond community service in that it uses an act of random kindness to earn the right to give a person a connection card. The connection card is key to the process in that it gives a positive message coupled with specific information about the church that is blessing them that day. Servant Evangelism seeks to win the heart before it confronts the mind. A small act of kindness nudges a person closer to God, often in a profound way, as it bypasses ones mental defenses. The average Christ-follower is willing to hand a stranger a can of cold Coke on a hot day (low risk). The high grace is seen in the typical reaction. "Oh, thank you!" "This is so nice!" "I can't believe this is for free!" And, "Why are you doing this?" Kindness builds the bridge for the person to receive a touch of love from God. It's simple, practical, effective, inexpensive and fun! (HT:Servant Evangelism) Giving your people fun, positive and meaningful opportunities to share God's love with their community will lift them to a whole new level of evangelistic commitment.
4. Investing and inviting: Statistics show that one out of four adults in the United States will go to church if someone invites them. (Marketing the Church, George Barna, pg 111) Equip your people on how to relationally invest in the lives of their neighbors, friends and co-workers, along with helping them recognize the opportunities to invite them to what Rich Richardson calls ‘soul-awaking events’. Soul-awaking events are opportunities to "…awaken people to the existence of their soul. These events get people in touch with their spiritual needs and longings. These events do not call people to conversion. A quick call to conversion is not good stewardship to people who are still a long way from God. It turns them off. It pushes them away….I am convinced that high quality soul-awaking events are the greatest missing link in evangelism today. I am also convinced that high-quality soul-awaking events will be the most controversial part of what vibrant evangelistic ministries do." (Evangelism Out of the Box, pg 76) Figuring out what your people will invite their friends to is a trail and error proposition. This is a place where you are to take risks and push it to the edge. What does a risky 'soul-awaking event' look like in your small groups, affinity events and worship gatherings?
Questions to ponder:
When is the last time you took your church out on a prayer walk?
When was the last time your church demonstrated the unconditional love of Christ to your community?
What would stop your church from implementing a servant evangelism strategy?
What would be the "soul-awaking events" in the life of your church?
About this time every year, most Church Planters are already thinking about and planning that great sermon for the greatest day of the year: EASTER! But planning a great Easter Celebration is more than having a great sermon. Here are the top questions I'm responding to about Easter.
1. What should I speak about on Easter?
The sermon must center around the difference Jesus makes. What does his resurrection matter and what does it mean for every person? I think simple and clear is far better than complicated and cute. Your guests and those who invited them are expecting you to talk about Jesus. Deliver!
2. Should I add services for Easter?
YES! Absolutely yes! You can be sure your attendance will multiply on this day. Statistically, the research is overwhelming that more people will say, "Yes" to an invitation to attend church at Easter than any other time of the year. It all depends on how easy you make it for the congregation to invite.
Adding another service to create options and makes it easier for your people to invite their family and friends. People love options! Options will allow your church to grow.
Adding another service gives people who are serving at the chance to serve on and experience one. Your volunteers will love you for it.
Adding another service helps your church "see the future." You might try adding a service at Easter and then add it permanently in the Fall. Use the reason of a high attendance day to lead change.
Most do not come every week. Some research indicates that for every person who attends your church today, there at 2.1 people who identify as an attender of you church, but they just don't come every week. That means, at any given time, more than half the people who identify with your church are not present. Your MOST faithful core members will probably miss 6 to 8 Sunday's a year for illness, work travel, vacations, kids activities, etc. How many Sunday's will your regular member miss? 12? How about the crowd of attenders? Probably every other Sunday. Add occasional attenders who come only once a month at most and you realize your influence is much greater than what you see each week.
This is why you should not fear adding a service or services on Easter. Design opportunities to make room for your current attendance multiplied by 2.1. Remember that service attendance will not be distributed equally. Plan for 80% capacity at the highest attended time of 11:00am. Factor that a second service will have at most 50-60% of the prime service attendance.
Plus you are going to motivate your attenders to invite friends and family, and advertise for guest. Easter could be a big day. So you need to plan big.
There will always be the objection from someone that it's not going to be the same if we can't all be together. My answer is to ask the person who doesn't want to add services to stand at the door and when we reach capacity, tell guests, "You can't come in. We're too full." We can't do that. We are here for those who are not here yet. Let's make room by freeing up seats at the optimum time.
3. Is it a good idea to start a new series the week after Easter?
No. A big attendance day like Easter will cycle all your guests and attenders onto a single day. The following Sunday will typically be a low attendance day because most do not come to church every week. Instead, start the new series the 2nd week after Easter. Make it a "come and see" series that will interest guests to come back. On Easter Sunday heavily promote. "In two weeks, we start a Brand New Series on Love, Sex and Dating." If you preach through books of the Bible, give the series a title that answers the question, "Why should I come and hear this?"
4. What are leadership essentials for Easter?
Love. Love. Love. Love people well! It's not what you say, it's what do. Love is in the details. Think through every environment from the eyes of a guest. How will you love them well from the street to the seat and back to the street again? The sermon begins in the parking lot. Details matter.
Exude love and peace. What will it take to be rested and at peace on Easter. How will you show with your whole body, your tone, the expression of your eyes, that you are experiencing the grace and love of Jesus? Too many pastors get stressed out about the big day and communicate anxiety to everyone. The messenger must match the message. Details matter, but a calm, non-anxious you matters more.
Don't just sing AT them. Include them. Choose at least one song that everyone will know and can participate on, like Amazing Grace.
Do an Easter Survey. This is the one chance that you have everyone one Sunday. Ask them to write down on your Connection Card, "I'd like to hear a message on what the Bible says about ___?" This will give you great material to preach on all year.
Cast vision. Tell them about the next series that starts in TWO weeks. Why does it matter? For example, "So many families are falling apart. In two weeks I start a new series called God's Dream for the Modern Family. In this series we'll talk about starting over, navigating a spiritual mismatch, and how to discipline without anger." Show a promo video if you can.
Honor time commitments. Start and end on time, when you say you're going to start and end. This forms a huge credibility impression for good or for bad. Love is in the details.
How will you capture decisions? You do this FOR them, not because you need numbers. Help people take the next step wherever they are on their Spiritual Journey. I use the Spiritual Journey Guide developed by my coach, Gary Rohrmayer. Put one of these guides in everyone's hand and walk them through it. It's 100 guides for $10...one of the best investments for Easter. Show people the clear next step you want them to take. For example, if you're ready to believe in Christ today, (next step). When you make it clear you'll be amazed at the response.
5. How much advertising is best?
First of all, it's not "advertising." It's evangelism. You are inviting people to hear the gospel. Therefore, use every means at your disposal to tell people the difference Jesus can make in their life.
Strategies:
Personal Invite Cards. This should be a business card size or double business card size folded in half. For example, #Jesus...He's Not What You Expect. Find out more on EASTER at (churchname) Add times, locations, map, website.
Social Media. Have an Easter Invitation page on your website. Do an in-church text invite. During church pause and Ask people to text or Facebook all their friends in church. "Will you join me for Easter? (link)" Mass send.
Updated Your Website! (Amazing people forget to do this. Fix broken links and remove old items).
Yard Signs (check local ordinances)
Community billboards and circulars
Direct mail.*
*If you plan to use a direct mail postcard, don't waste the money on one postcard. It's not enough. You need to do at least five in a row for five weeks: Three to get awareness, and five to create action. This can seem expensive but it's pennies per person in your community to reach people. It works! That's why you still get so much junk mail at home. Success is in the mass numbers and repetitions.
Bonus: And one question I'm not being asked...What is the role of prayer in preparing for Easter?
I wish more Pastors were thinking about this. Jesus said, "Apart from Me you can do nothing." You cannot expect God to bless what you've not prayed for.
I truly believe God will not allow me to make it happen in my own strength? 1) I would think I accomplished it. 2) I'd probably end up thinking I deserved it cause you I'm smart or special. Jesus wants to say, "Stop. Watch me work…I have a miracle for you. Trust me."
I am passionate about church planting for a number of reasons:
Church Planting is the main vehicle for expressing God’s mission.
Church Planting is a key strategy in fulfilling Jesus’ great commission.
Church Planting is the most effective means for making disciples.
Church Planting is necessary for the transforming of cultures and societies.
Church Planting is the most cost efficient means of evangelism.
Church Planting is critical to establishing ongoing mission posts throughout the world.
Church Planting is a natural by-product of a healthy church.
Church Planting is needed for the survival of the church in America.
Every one of these reasons motivates me in some way or another, but the number one reason church planting inflames my heart is because God has captured my heart. God revealed his truth about his Son deep within my soul over 34 years ago and continues to reveal himself to me every day. I am passionate about church planting because I am passionate about God. Because I am zealous about God, all I want to do is to be a part of what he is doing in this world. If God is on a mission I want to be on a mission. If God chose another vehicle for fulfilling his purpose throughout the world, I would be just as passionate about that vehicle.
One of the foundational motivations for church planting is the glory of God. One author describes the glory of God as the afterglow of God’s holiness. Because man cannot stand in the presence of a holy God, God gives a glimpse of himself through his glory and through his supreme plan chose to use the church as his chief instrument whereby his glory is manifested throughout the world today. Three times in Ephesians 1:3-14 we see the phrase “the praise of his glory”
“…to the praise of his glorious grace…” vs. 6
“…might be for the praise of his glory…” vs. 12
“…to the praise of his glory.” vs. 14
Through the church, whether in a primitive village in Papua New Guinea or the rural hamlets in Eastern Europe or the mega churches in the sprawling suburbs of major cities in America, they all have one thing is common…they are bringing praise to the glory of our God.
We also see in Ephesians 3:10 that this is not just limited to God’s mission here on earth, but that through the church God chooses to reveal his glorious wisdom throughout the entire spiritual realm.
“His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rules and authorities in the heavenly realms.” (Eph. 3:10 NIV)
Therefore, the planting of new healthy churches is a means of seeing God’s glory spread throughout the earth. John Piper in his book “Let the Nations be Glad!” reflects on the significance of God’s glory in relationship to all missionary endeavors.
“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exist because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.” (pg 17)
“Worship, therefore, is the fuel and the goal of missions. It’s the goal of missions because in missions we simply aim to bring the nations into the white-hot enjoyment of God’s glory. The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God. ‘The LORD reigns, let the earth, rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!’ (Ps. 97:1). ‘Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy!’” (Ps. 67:3–4). (pg 17)
Every new church planted is a new lighthouse of God’s glory where the afterglow of God’s holiness is reflected, manifested and ultimately enjoyed!
Let our passion for church planting be driven by a passion for God! May our zeal for church planting be consumed by a zeal for the glory of God!
The glory of God is not only the motivation but the goal of God’s sovereign work among men. There is no more majestic theme, no more noble pursuit than the glory of God.
Moses’ highest ambition and most noble request was to see the glory of God (Exodus 33:17–18:8).
The first coming of Christ was a display of the glory of God (John 1:14; see also Matthew 16:27–17:8).
The Apostle Paul was encouraged and sustained by his awareness of God’s glory (see 2 Corinthians 3:7-18; 4:3-6, 16-18).
The apostle Peter found the revelation of the “Majestic Glory” of our Lord a witness to the truthfulness of the prophetic word revealed through the apostles (2 Peter 1:16-19).
Our Lord’s second coming will be a revelation of His glory, and the cause for the saints’ rejoicing (1 Peter 4:12-13).
Every supreme goal of our every action is the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). (HT)
I am sold out to church planting for the #1 reason, because we are sold out to God and his glory!
"To him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever" (Ephesians 3:20-21).
Newly updated with a fresh cover, pictures and insights. This is the Square Edition of the best selling Spiritual Journey Guide which separates it from any other evangelism tool on the market.
This is not a traditional gospel tract; it is a spiritual conversational tool used to help bring more focus to your spiritual conversations. The Spiritual Journey Guide is built on a dialog model of sharing the wonders of Jesus' teaching on who He is and our relationship with Him). This is an excellent spiritual assessment tool to help seekers and believers alike determine where they are spiritually and to show them how to take the next steps on their spiritual journey.
IT IS BACK! Per many requests we have brought back the original (pocket sized) tri-fold edition of the best-selling Spiritual Journey Guide. Newly updated with a fresh cover, pictures and insights.
This is not a traditional gospel tract; it is a spiritual conversational tool used to help bring more focus to your spiritual conversations. The Spiritual Journey Guide is built on a dialog model of sharing the wonders of Jesus' teaching on who He is and our relationship with Him). This is an excellent spiritual assessment tool to help seekers and believers alike determine where they are spiritually and to show them how to take the next steps on their spiritual journey.
Do you believe that God wants to reach your community through your church?
My hope is that every church would want the experience a season of dramatic growth like the church in Acts 2 experienced, but the reality is that most are unwilling to pay the price for that type of growth and impact. A major growth campaign in your church will cost you something. It will cost you your comfort, it will cost you time, it will cost you money, it will cost you your sleep and it will even cost you some relationships because everyone is not going to embrace this journey with you.
For those willing to pay the price of praying, planning and investingprecious resources into focused evangelism, here are a few transferable principles that we have glean from the explosive growth of the church in Acts 1-2:
As we read through the book of Acts we need to always remember it is a book of history. It gives us a glimpse of how God worked through ordinary men and women to fulfill His purposes and carry out His ongoing mission of redemption. We should look at the book of Acts as a place to glean principles and insights for church growth and church health. It is not a book to look for blueprints or models but rather a book to discover transferable principles which will be shaped by your cultural context.
1. Our motives must be great commission driven. Acts 1:4-8
If our only motive is to get butts in the seats at whatever cost we are heading for a world of hurt and disappointment. If all we are doing is to try to increase our revenue stream and meet our church's financial needs, we are just going to be frustrated. If all our efforts are trying to get the "already convinced" into our church, the wheels will fall over very quickly. We must be great commission focused. Our hearts must be broken and burdened for those who are far from God. The only way some churches are going to grow in the consumeristic Christian culture that is being developed is through effective evangelism. My experience is that unchurched people don't need all the bells and whistles of the mega church...Christians do! Those far from God want relationships and meaningful connections.
2. Spiritual dependence is vital. Acts 1:12-14
The disciples gathered constantly for prayer. They reflected on their deep dependence on God, clinging to God not knowing what was next, simply waiting in humble dependence was the posture of the disciples. How will your congregation reflect their prayerful dependence on God? I remember hand labeling 12,000 mailers with our team and praying for each person that God would open their hearts and touch them. Prayer walking your community before and during your growth thrust has a powerful effect. Having your people generate a list of people they would like to see come to Christ during this outreach and then having a special prayer meeting where each name is lifted up before the throne of God is very effective. Here is a post on how to pray for the unchurched in your sphere of influence.
3. Select and build into leaders in preparation for outreach. Acts 1:15-26
Preparing for a growth thrust is a great way to expand and develop your leadership team and volunteer based. Giving people short term specific assignments is a great way to training and identify leaders. In some cases you can double your leadership team and volunteer base with inviting people to fill needs for the short term commitment. The key aspect is to that the more people you have involved in the planning and preparation the more committed they will be in inviting and reaching out their friends and family. We need to see these growth thrust a leadership development opportunities.
4. Pick a good day and time of year for launching the growth thrust. Act 2:1
In Acts 2 we see that God launched the Church on the day of Pentecost. This was no accident! There are theological, historical and sociological implications to this date. Pentecost, which means “50” was the final celebration of the Feast of First Fruits which happened 50 days earlier. At this Feast, God’s people were to give a free-will offering (Deuteronomy 16:9-10) celebrating God’s provision. Theological and historical significance was that the Feast of First Fruits started on the Resurrection Sunday and ended on the Day of Pentecost. So we see that the church was born out of the first fruits of Christ’s sacrifice. The sociological significance was that Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks was one of three annual pilgrim feasts (Deuteronomy 16:16) where God’s people from all over the world came to celebrate. This is why we see such an array of people and languages in Acts 2:5-11. Pentecost was no accident. It was strategic and that is one reason why three thousand were added to the Church that day.
So when is the best time to do growth thrust? Our experience in the midwest has been:
Fall: Late September-early October
Lenten Season: February-March
Easter: Late March-early April
The best time for launching a growth thrust is the fall because you have nine months before you face the summer slump. The second best time for launching a church is February, this is a season when unchurched people come back to church. The third is on Easter Sunday.
5. Launch out in the Spirit's power. Acts 2:1-4
Remember only God can draw people into a relationship with him. It can be tempting to trust your planning but you must teach your people to act in faith and depend fully on the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the life giving power. Prayer and fasting will be critical for you and your church to express its dependence on God. “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.” Psalm 20:7
6. Create interest throughout your webs of relationships and throughout the community. Acts 2:5-13
Three thousand people were added to the church in a single day but the big question is how many people were impacted by the miracle of the disciples speaking in different languages? God in a miraculous way created a buzz throughout the community through this miracle both relationally and attractionally. There was so much buzz that it caused a reaction in people. The crowd asked three questions and made one accusation.
"Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?"
"Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?"
"What does this mean?"
Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had to much wine"
Here is a big principle that most churches don't understand. If you are going to have a major growth thrust you must, in a big way, gain the attention of your community in such a way that it causes people to react. They will react out of curiousness, out of sincerity or even out of anger or jest.
When was the last time your church caused a community reaction that led to redemptive activity? Many churches are great at creating buzz in the Christian community but what about the community of the unchurched or dechurched? Its like the church that only promotes their events through Christian media. Who are they trying to reach? Learning how to grab the attention of your community at large is central to launching a major growth thrust.
Here are a couple of posts on sowing seeds of awareness through relationships and throughout the community.
7. Have bold relevant preaching of God's word. Acts 2:14-36
I remember a well-known pastor say that 85% of the people stay in a church because they made some type of connection with the person bringing the message that day. We can have all the latest technology, the greatest music, the warmest people, the best children’s ministry but if people don’t connect with the message and the messenger they will move on. Many a pastor has spent hours on preparing the service and outreach strategy but only minutes on preparing their message. This is to their detriment and is dishonoring to God.
Two things we learn for Peter's sermon 1) He responded to the questions and reaction of the crowd. The bulk of the sermons preached in the book of Acts are responses to people's questions. HT If we are going to do a effective job of touching the hearts of people outside the church we must address the questions they are asking. We must understand their "heart language." We must understand what moves them. Do you know the primary heart language of your community? 2) He boldly proclaimed the word of God in providing an answer to their questions. Paul writes to Timothy, “Preach the word.” (II Timothy 4:2 NIV) The foundation of any church is to be based on strong biblical preaching, not motivational speaking; an undying commitment of bringing the unshakable Word of God to a world that is falling apart at its core must be the underlying conviction for every pastor.
8. Ask for a commitment to Christ. Acts 2:37-41
The key to getting commitment is clarity! Peter's conclusion to his message was crystal clear,"Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." (vs 36) His call to action was specific and realistic, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (vs 38) His appeal was filled with passion and urgency, "With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, 'Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.'" (vs 40)
Remember that this major growth thrust, at its core, is evangelistic in nature. Our preaching must be evangelistically focused. David Murray describes evangelistic preaching as plain, simple and clear. He writes, "Evangelistic preaching will be plain. If we love sinners and we are anxious for them to be saved, we will be clear and plain in our structure, content, and choice of words. If we can use a smaller word, we use it. If we can shorten our sentences, we do so. If we can find an illustration, we tell it. Everything is aimed at simplicity and clarity, so that, as it was said of Martin Luther, it may be said of us, 'It’s impossible to misunderstand him.'" HT
At some point during this major growth thrust we must passionately lift up the person and work of Jesus Christ. We must challenge our audience with the implications of His claims as Lord and Savior. We must make it clear on how one becomes a true follower of Jesus. Check out the David Murray post on the four kinds of evangelistic sermons.
9. Call them into the community of faith. Acts 2:42-47
When Peter called the crowd in the temple area to “Repent and be baptized…” he was not just calling them from something (sin, corrupt generation) but also to something (to Jesus, a new community of faith and to a new mission).
Peter’s words give us a beautiful picture of the “church.” The Greek word for church is ekklesia which in its base form means “to call out.” Isn’t this what Peter was doing? Calling them out to repent, changing their minds on who Jesus was and what He had done for them. He called them out to be baptized, to be dipped under water before the crowd, as a symbol of personal identification with Jesus and His followers. He called them out to be marked by forgiveness and to receive the promised Holy Spirit. He called them out from a corrupt generation that offered nothing but hopelessness. In response to his calling out they gathered together in complete devotion, filled with awe and wonder, sold out to the God that saved them and to each other. They had a clear sense of mission which was seen in their ability to add people to their numbers daily.
As pastors and church planters we have this same wonderful privilege as Peter. As we launch a major growth thrust in our communities we have an opportunity to call people out to something greater than themselves. The Church. The Body of Christ. The Bride of Christ. God’s agent of change and hope for our world today.
How do you do that practically? What are the pathways of discipleship and involvement in your church? Would a new Christian know what the next step for them was in the life of the church? Would a returning believer know where to go to re-energize their relationship with Christ? Would a growing believer new in town know how to get connected with the leadership and onto a path of service?
Clear pathways of discipleship are critical for having a successful growth thrust. George Barna in his book, “Growing True Disciples” writes, “Offering programs is not the issue. We discovered that surprisingly few churches have a well-conceived model of discipleship that they implement. The result is that churches feel they have fulfilled their obligation if they provide a broad menu of courses, events, and other experiences, but such a well-intentioned but disjointed approach leaves people confused and imbalanced."
Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger in their book, “Simple Church” articulate that in order for a church to have good pathways of discipleship and involvement there needs to be four elements: movement, alignment, focus and clarity. As you consider what you are calling people to, the following questions will guide you in simplifying the process.
Movement: How would you describe the “ministry or discipleship flow” that exists in your church right now?
Alignment: What type of alignment exists between your ministries to achieve your vision?
Focus: How do these ministry opportunities help achieve our missional outcome?
Clarity: Do those who attend our public worship service understand our process and the next steps they need to take?
10. Mobilize missionaries to serve the world not just members to serve in the church. Acts 2:47
The new term of assimilation is mobilization. In the book of Acts we see that Peter not only called the crowd into the life of the church but also called them to be engaged in the mission of Jesus. This is how ”…the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
I wrote a post on the differences of church-centric and mission-centric philosophies of ministries. For years the church has practiced a church-centric philosophy of ministry where the goal was to create healthy members for the betterment of the church. But in recent years there has been a paradigm shift where churches are embracing the need to be mission-centric, in that the goal for the church is to create missionaries for the betterment of society and cultural transformation. In the early 90's I fully embraced the purpose driven model, of which I am still an advocate, because it is built on a solid missional principle known asmodular training. But I offer a small modification to Rick Warren's concentric circles model:
Community: Those living around your church who never, or occasionally, attend.
Crowd: Those who attend your church regularly but are not members.
Congregation: Those who are committed to both Christ and membership in your church family.
Committed: Those members who are serious about growing to spiritual maturity.
Core: Those members who actively serve in ministry and mission in your church.
Commissioned: Those members who are sent out of the church as local missionaries, church planters, pastors as change agents in our cultural.
I fully believe that Rick Warren would embrace this modification because he wrote in the Purpose Driven Church, "A church's health is measured by its sending capacity not its seating capacity. Churches are in the sending business. One of the questions we must ask in evaluating a church's health is, ‘How many people are being mobilized for the Great Commission?’"
Reggie McNeal reinforces this paradigm shift in his book, The Present Future when he writes, “The first Reformation was about freeing the church. The new Reformation is about freeing God’s people from the church (the institution). The original Reformation decentralized the church. The new Reformation decentralizes ministry.” The only way we can decentralize ministry is by seeing each member as a missionary to be sent by the church into their personal mission field.
Summary
Ten Principles for Launching a Major Growth Thrust
Our motives must be great commission driven. Acts 1:4-8
Spiritual dependence is vital. Acts 1:12-14
Select and build into leaders in preparation for outreach. Acts 1:15-26
Pick a good day and time of year for launching the growth thrust. Act 2:1
Launch out in the Spirit's power. Acts 2:1-4
Create interest throughout your webs of relationships and throughout the community. Acts 2:5-13
Have bold relevant preaching of God's word. Acts 2:14-36
Ask for a commitment to Christ. Acts 2:37-41
Call them into the community of faith. Acts 2:42-47
Mobilize missionaries to serve the world not just members to serve in the church. Acts 2:47
The big principle I take away from Acts 1-2 is this, “Missionally focused leadership will not only lead the church towards missional evangelism but will also engage the church in missional edification; both are key to seeing the church continually engage in God’s redemptive purposes.”
Easter is over! What now? Do you have a plan for inspiring your Easter crowd to come back again and again?
The following questions are designed to assist you and your team in evaluating your retention plan.
1. How will you train your people to be inviters, bringers and also includers?
Many churches are good at training their people to invite friends and family to church events but how do you train them to include people relationally into the activities of the church? Send a letter to your people prior to Easter for the purpose of encouraging them to pray for and invite friends, family and neighbors. Provide them with a list of ways they can encourage their friends to take that next step.
2. How will you prepare your people to be a welcoming and connecting church?
Many pastors use Palm Sunday as an opportunity to prepare the church for inviting guests and teaching them ways to connect guests relationally within their network of friends. The rule is that a guest will need to connect with six people by name within the first four weeks to feel connected. Training your people to introduce guests to people is critical. Another connecting rule is that a person needs to know three people in a group before they will join a small group. So again, training your people to politely introduce guests to members and other guests is critical.
3. How will you make your visitors feel like guests?
Train your greeters to greet!!! Provide a warm welcome and gentle guidance from the street to the seat.
Train your ushers to ush! Ushers who don't ush are ushers who don't help people find a seat and just stand there with bulletins in their hands.
Train your members to leave the best seats available for guests. What are the best seats? Idle seats and seats in the back.
Provide more greeters around the children's area to help parents get their children registered.
4. How will you identify your first time guests?
David Garrison calls this Response Filtering. Response Filtering is employing methods for registering responses to mass evangelism efforts for the purpose of follow up, discipleship and church planting.
There are three traditional ways to identifying guests:
Through them filling out a Communication Card.
Through their Giving.
Through the Registration of their Children for children's ministry.
5. How will you ask them to respond to what they experienced in the worship service?
Many pastors struggle with "drawing the net" or call for a commitment or recommitment to Jesus. In recent years pastors have been using the Spiritual Journey Guide to assist them in the process. The following posts are very helpful.
Helping a person realize where they are on their spiritual journey in relationship to Jesus and assisting them in taking the next step is an opportunity that should not be missed on Easter Sunday.
6. What will you do to follow up your guests within 36 hours of their visit?
How will you WOW them? When you wow your first time guests you communicate that you are serious about the mission Jesus has called you to and that people are important to you. The difference between growing churches and declining churches is in how they treat the first time guest.
Think about how you will respond to the following people individually and personally:
Those who fill out the Communication Card - How will you WOW them?
Those who fill out a prayer request - How will you tell them they have been prayed for?
Those who want more information on a certain ministry - How will they be contacted?
Those who gave their first gift to the church - How will you thank them and encourage to become regular givers?
Those who register their children for children's ministry - How will you recognize the children? What could you send them to WOW them and their parents?
Thom Rainer writes, “If a person visits your church for the first time, the probability of their returning a second time is considerably higher if you make contact with them within thirty-six hours of their visit.” Herb Miller takes it to another level, “When laypersons make fifteen-minute visits to the homes of first-time worship visitors within thirty-six hours, 85 percent of them return the following week."
What are you willing to do to see people come back again and again?
7. What are the next steps that you will offer people to take?
Announcing a new messages series.
Announcing a family friendly event that is fun, creative and connecting.
Offering serving opportunity within a church wide community service project.
Remember the difference between leaders and followers is that leaders know the next steps.
8. What will you do in the next 30 days?
Allen Ratta writes, "The research shows the more a visitor visits a church the greater the odds are that they will eventually become a part of that church. Yet, churches consistently behave in ways that ignore this critical fact. For example, churches often place all of their efforts in the first time visitor. Reality is that churches will receive a far greater return on investments that they make in 2nd and 3rd and subsequent visitors. What is lacking in many visitor assimilation efforts is the ability to direct and mobilize key resources to repeat visitors. Sustained follow up is essential to effective visitor assimilation."
2nd visit ideas
Personal invitation to a family friendly event.
Handwritten invitation to Newcomers luncheon.
Phone call by volunteer asking "how can we pray for you and your family?"
Help them connect with a small group leader in their area.
3rd visit ideas
Invitation to spiritual formation retreat or seminar.
Invitation to attend a membership seminar or class.
A church must keep about 16 percent of its first time guests to experience a minimal growth rate of 5 percent a year.
Rapidly growing churches keep between 25 and 30 percent of their first time guests. Declining churches keep only about 5 to 8 percent of their first time guests.
It has been said, "We measure what matters to us." Do you know how you are doing in retaining your visitors? The churches that track attendance, visitors and visitor retention are statistically the churches that are growing.
Conclusion:
I believe the future of our churches is in the harvest. The potential of future servants, future leaders, future inviters, future contributors, future staff, future elders and even future pastors are waiting in the guests we welcome today. If churches believe this then they will treat every guest like a superstar with VIP treatment.
This is a repost of a great article written by friend Chris Walker of EvangelismCoach.org
On the Christian Calendar, Easter is rapidly approaching.
More has been written about easter, and the cultural connection with bunnies and chocolate that I can to link here.However, Easter can also be a conversational occasion with people.
Easter provides for natural conversational opportunities
Yesterday, a co-worker was asked to do a significant project update on Easter Sunday.He politely said, “It’s Easter, no.”His co-worker cheerfully states “I’m so irreligious that I didn’t even know Easter was coming.”A light hearted conversation followed about Easter.Consider having conversations with people when the opportunity presents itself.
Questions for Easter Conversations
Here are some questions you might use (from Dare2Share):
What does your family do on Easter Sunday?
Why does your family do whatever it is they do on Easter?
Do you ever go to church on Easter? Why or why not?
Would you like to join me this Sunday at church?
Do you believe in God? What do you think He’s like?
Are your beliefs about God the same as your parents’ beliefs?
Do you think Jesus rose from the dead like the Bible says?
Our conversations with people should be natural ebb and flow of a conversation. I offer these questions simply to help your conversations along.
Let me ask you this? What other questions have you found helpful for a friendly conversation? HT
This series of posts is dedicated to giving you ideas that will help you, your team and your church in developing a plan for increasing your spiritual conversations this year.
Two weeks after I received Christ I was invited by my new Christians friends to attend a Saturday seminar on evangelism. To be honest, at that time, I didn't even know what evangelism was or even meant. I was just excited to be with my new friends. By the end of the day I discovered that evangelism was just sharing what Jesus has done for me with the people who come into my life.
At the end of that training the leaders gave us an opportunity to practice what we had just learned. My friends asked me if I wanted to go with them to a local college campus and live out the principles we all discovered that day. I did not knowing what I was getting myself into...that next Saturday I was engaging spiritual conversations with college students! The leader and myself would walk up to a group of college students, he would initiate the conversation and at some point he would say, "Gary, tell them what Jesus has done for you."
Three weeks after trusting Jesus as Lord and Savior I was completely immersed in evangelism. It was life changing. Every time I shared my faith that day the gospel was deepened into my life and I gained confidence in what I was communicating. This is why my life verse is, "I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ." (Philemon 1:6)
Jesus Created Missional Immersion Experiences
Jesus used immersion experiences to train his disciples; first, the Apostles (Luke 9:1-6,10-11) and then the Seventy (Luke 10:1-24).
Jesus did a quick orientation
Jesus sent them out on a specific mission
The disciples reported back what happened
Jesus debriefed and celebrated them
Five Key Ingredients for Creating Missional Immersion Experiences
Leadership: Leaders who live, breathe and exemplify the behaviors they want to be lived out in their people.
Orientation: A short motivational instruction that reviews the why's and how's of the outreach activity you are doing. This is a time to go over the do's and don'ts as you send the team out.
Multi-Sensory: This experience must touch a person's heart (move people deeply), their soul (force a deeper sense of faith), their mind (stretch then intellectually) and their strength (involves physical activity).
Reproducible: This must be a behavior that a person could do without the leader or the team. It must involve something that they can take with them for the rest of their lives.
Celebration: A time for the group to report, debrief, and celebrate with the leader.
Take Aways
Study the Gospels and look for other immersion experiences that Jesus used in training the disciples.
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Who:
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What:
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