Archive for Evangelism
Values that MATTER!!
Posted by: | CommentsBefore we launched the Dialogue Church I thought I knew what our values would be. But you can’t really just predict your values or say what you want your values to be. Values are something that get revealed over time as you are tested. Real values are what are leftover after you have been abandoned, beaten, abused, ridiculed, mistreated and YOU ARE STILL STANDING FOR THESE THINGS! Values are what you are willing to fight for and die for, not just think are cute and cool ideas.
Here is one value that I know we won’t turn our backs on: HONOR.
We want to honor up, when we honor up we honor all the way up to the Lord Jesus Christ. We want to honor God, God’s Word, God’s man (the Pastor), leaders, guests, and with our finances! Honor is something you give. Sniff out dishonor in this church: gossip, criticism in the wrong direction, division, rebellion, sin, selfishness, apathy toward the vision, lack of energy around the mission. Don’t let anyone talk trash about your pastor, his family, or his staff team. Don’t let anyone think its ok to give God less than their best!
Here is another value: EXCELLENCE
Excellence matters. Because what we do matters. What we do represents the Lord Jesus Christ and for all of eternity what we do for Christ will last. Let’s make it count. Excellence honors God and attracts the unchurched! Excellence in the little things will lead to excellence in the bigger things. If you are faithful with a little, you will be given more to manage and use for God’s purposes! Everything matters, do it will excellence. All that you do, do to the glory of God, do to the best of your ability and keep improving! Excellence is doing the best you can with what you have. Be excellent! And require excellence from those on your team; it is the best way to honor them!
Here is another: EVANGELISM
I don’t really care that this word seems to be old hat or old school. The definition is “leading unchurched people to become hardcore followers of Jesus Christ.” We won’t ever get away from reaching out to the unchurched. We will never get so mature that we don’t need to focus on the one lost sheep (Luke 15). We will never stop trying new approaches or different ways of communicating the gospel to those who are far from God. Oh yeah, and we won’t ever stop ticking off the people who just want church to be “ALL ABOUT ME.” We will do whatever it takes to reach as many people as we can with the good news of Jesus Christ!
How about this one: THE GOSPEL
The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. I realize this is a belief, but its also a value. We won’t ever get so deep that we don’t talk about the gospel every single weekend. We won’t ever get so big that we don’t bring it back to the gospel every single weekend. We won’t ever get so New in our methodology that we don’t celebrate the old old story. We won’t ever get to polished that we don’t talk about the old rugged cross every single weekend. It’s all about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Period!
One more: PREACHING
Since the time Jesus came walking on the earth, to now, the church has evolved but one thing that has remained is the simplicity of preaching. Speaking the word of God into people’s lives. There is nothing more catalytic to making life changing decisions than clear biblical preaching. Preaching is biblical teaching + spiritual leadership. You need both to be an effective preacher. Preaching is about proclaiming God’s Word, not my personal opinions. “Thy word not my word, changes lives.” We are called to declare the gospel not decorate it. I don’t know exactly why this is, but God has chosen to use the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. God has chosen to use the simplicity of preaching to make known His Word and to change lives! Elevate the man of God in order to elevate the Word of God!
How to Invite Your Friends to Church, Pt.2
Posted by: | CommentsSo, once we are convinced that inviting people to Jesus through the local church is what Jesus has called us to, HERE ARE A FEW WAYS TO PREPARE FOR THE INVITE:
- Pray: if we don’t pray for people to meet Jesus, then our hearts won’t ever be broken enough to actually share Christ with them and invite them to experience Christ in and through His Church. Also, if we don’t pray for boldness and courage during these times we won’t act, and that could mean someone’s eternity just went up in flames.
- Study: look to the Scriptures for your example.
- Peter provides one way of “invitation” – Peter was very in your face, sort of confrontational. Peter was great at working with “churched” people or the religious Jews (which is why he stayed in Jerusalem).
- Paul was much more strategic and intellectual – He was also skilled with the unchurched (the Gentiles). Paul knew how to become all things to all men so that some would be saved. Paul was the ultimate servant and a great multiplier of leaders.
- Stephen was the “truth teller”. Stephen got to preach one sermon then he was killed, not sure I want that evangelistic style! But Stephen also knew how to speak the truth, even when it hurt (what a great lesson we can learn from this amazing man of God).
- Philip was the “conversationist”; he was able to “slide into any conversation” and turn it towards Jesus. In this case, he meets an Ethiopian Eunuch who is reading an OT prophet and he finds a way to lead him to faith in Jesus Christ.
- James, the half brother of Jesus, was definitely a man of “faith and prayer” (He wrote a lot about in his book, James). James talks about confessing your faults to one another and praying for one another. James knew the importance of being authentic and real about your struggles if you are ever going to win this world to Jesus.
- John was the “lover”. In the gospel he wrote, he quotes Jesus saying, “By this will all men know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.” Wow!
- So, you see there are different ways to invite people onto this journey with God…BUT THEY ALL COME BACK TO JESUS – YOU AND I CAN’T GET TO GOD EXCEPT THROUGH JESUS. Make sure your invite is ALL ABOUT LEADING PEOPLE TO JESUS. Maybe you use your intellect, maybe you find ways to serve their needs, maybe you have long caffeinated talks at Starbucks, maybe you work on projects together, maybe you have to confront and have some tough love talks – but ultimately your invite has to be all about leading people to Jesus – because only Jesus can change them, only Jesus can heal them, only Jesus can revolutionize their life and this world!
- Speak: I am all for “acts of kindness” but at some point we must attach them to a larger strategy (or intentional plan) of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with people and by that I mean SPEAKING THE GOSPEL INTO THIS UNCHURCHED CULTURE. “Random acts of kindness” (which I am for as well) without the expressed purpose of inviting people to hear the gospel, interface with the gospel, meet people of the gospel, or get a gift that ultimately leads them to the gospel is simply “too random” and not really that kind at all. At the end of the day, people who die without Jesus Christ really do go to hell. And our mission as the local church is to make it hard to go to hell from Manchester (in fact, its to make it hard to go to hell from all of New England because our heart is to reach new england with the gospel of Jesus Christ).
- Do: As the church we MUST feed the poor, we MUST clothe the naked, we MUST care for the fatherless and widows, BUT if we don’t ever open our mouths and SPEAK THE WORDS OF JESUS CHRIST into people’s lives then we are really doing them a disservice, because people with a fully belly still go to hell without Jesus, friends with a full wardrobe still go to hell without Jesus, families with a home still go to hell without Jesus. So, let’s not be incomplete in our spiritual mission of sharing Christ – WE MUST DO ACTS OF KINDNESS WITH THE EXPRESSED PURPOSE OF SHARING THE LIFE-ALTERING REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST!
Tomorrow, I will share 10 PRACTICAL WAYS TO INVITE YOUR FRIENDS TO CHURCH…
