Outreach’s website reports in “Coming Home – Outreach & Evangelism (link broken)” some statistics about why people leave churches and what churches can do to reach back out. Why people drop out of church The Number One reason people drop out of church is a change in life situation (almost 60%). I think of the …
We have moved our family and now live in a city of 1.8 million people. We reside in an 14 story condo building, living in one of 26 condos. We don’t have a car, so we rely on taxis, buses, and our feet to get around. When Nehemiah left Susa for another city in another …
I’ve been accosted by “drive by” evangelism. Situations where an evangelist interrupts my day, shoves something into my hand, and tries to convert me to their God.
These are six ways that I’ve seen used to help the church engage the local neighborhood. Throw an annual block party. Hold a medical fair in your fellowship hall. Classes on community felt needs – parenting or economics, home ownership. Hold a job and community service fair. Hold a free dental clinic using student from …
Do your church visitors know where your front door is? We visited a church and used the front door and found it locked. Embarrassing. How did this happen? In one of our church visits, we approached the front church doors that faced the parking lot. The covered front porch provided a dry space for dropping off passengers. …
In our presbytery, one of the fastest growing demographics is the Hispanic population. Here are just a few phrases that anyone can use to help a Spanish speaking guest feel welcome. (See No One Said Hello for a Spanish speaking visitor who didn’t feel welcome). 1. “Dios le bendiga” with a handshake is a common …
I’ve had the joy of connecting with a Spanish speaking small church. It is a small church, bouncing from 15-40 in attendance. Our first visit was sometime 2006, maybe October. I’m clearly an American, so I stuck out.
Question: Why Do Atheists Object to Evangelism & Proselytization? This is an interesting article on an atheist oriented site that expresses how some evangelistic “sharing” comes across to the person we are talking to. The basic contention is that we Christians treat the other person as a “project” or “object.” We form “strategic relationships” with …
In a post over at Jesus Creed » Letters to Emerging Christians, Scott McKnight does a good analysis of the “Romans Road” as a script for evangelism. He says two things that are worthy of pondering: The third thing now: the Romans Road works for some. It is just as important to say it doesn’t …
Most churches have an unofficial dress code that visitors do not know. When a visitor appears to break the dress code, how does your church react? Does your reaction help the church’s mission of evangelism, or does it create an environment that is hostile to evangelism? The ‘secret’ dress code One of our first-time visitors …
The art of welcoming the first time guests who visit your church is to practice the art of church hospitality. Church Hospitality is not evangelism as we define and use evangelism here. Rather, church hospitality helps to shape the environment for hearing the joyful sharing of the good news of the sovereign love of God. …
Over dinner this weekend, I heard this story first hand. I had only been a Christian for six months. Six years ago, we moved from Texas to Richmond and began to look for a Spanish language church. I didn’t find any for a few weeks, so my wife and I decided to attend an English …
Over the weekend, we held a yard sale — selling off some our posessions (which is why it was a quiet posting week for me). We even let people know our house is for sale, though not at a yard sale price. We had a lot of people coming to our house, looking over stuff …
If proclamation and invitation is central to evangelism, what form does the proclamation take? In our series of conversion stories, we’ve seen Individual conversations that contextualize the gospel to the person being evangelized. Public addresses about Jesus. The actual content or sermon is not really given, but the focus is on the conversion. For today’s …
Check out this video entitled "Jesus vs Christians," a collection of man-on-street interviews. Personal evangelism doesn't have to be this difficult. The gospel should be offensive, not you.
In Acts 13:6ff, we encounter the story of Sergius Paulus, a proconsul for Rome, in Paphos on the island of Cyprus. The passage: Acts 13:6ff Barnabas and Saul were on what has been called their first missionary journey, and the gospel is now going beyond the limits of Palestine and into the Greek and Roman …
We attended a small Spanish language community church.
God draws people to himself through worship, even in one who doesn't understand the words.
A young man described for us his journey from empty brokenness to faith in Christ. His spiritual thirst prompted him to take a key step.
It’s much easier to cooperate with God’s activity, rather than wasting hours of argument prying open a locked heart.
Over years of sharing my faith in Christ, I’ve always been puzzled by those who don’t stay in the faith. Maybe you’ve seen someone pray and offer their life to Lord. Maybe you’ve watched them raise the hand at the preacher’s invitation.
Sometimes conversions are just unbelievable.
They “fall from heaven” so to speak.
There is no evangelist, no gospel presentation, no explanation of the law, it just happens – God does all the work.
What is Spiritual Thirst?
Spiritual thirst is a longing deep in the soul. It is the underlying motive that people have to start and continue their search for God.
Like the apostle Paul in Athens, we got to spend the day wandering around the remains of the Machu Picchu.
Easter provides evangelism conversation opportunities in the course of normal everyday life.
You might find yourself at any given moment in a potential divine appointment, or prompted to start a conversation with someone whom God underlines for you.
