EVANGELISM - HOW
Local Church Based Outreach
Local Church Based Outreach
As we continue to look at the need to spread the
good news of salvation I have been asked to give some examples of how this can
be achieved. Please bear in mind that this list is not exhaustive. You may have
many ways of reaching out with the gospel that have not crossed my mind but the
Lord has opened up for you. Some of the examples I give may not be possible in
conjunction with an established local assembly. For instance the example below
of outreach at football matches could simply work with you going to the area
where a match is taking place and giving out leaflets or preaching to the
crowds. In the example I give in this article the outreach is linked to an
assembly, as the assembly premises are located close to a Football Stadium.
The second point I would like to make is this. The
instruction given to Christians about spreading the message is threefold:
We do not have biblical guidelines about where we
can preach, to whom we can preach or the situations in which we can preach. To
listen to some preachers you would think we had detailed rules about when and
where we can preach the gospel. All we have is specific and clear instructions
that state we must go, we must go to all peoples in all places and we must
preach scripture. The maxim “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the
word of God” must underpin all of our outreach and preaching (Romans.10.17)
My final point in my introduction is this. Always
seek the Lord’s guidance and direction before starting any work. This is not an
excuse to be lazy or visionless but a reminder that “except the lord build the
house, they labour in vain that build it” (Psalm.127.1). A careful reading and
study of the book of Acts and Romans 15 will give some examples of visionary
planning to spread the gospel aligned to a sensitive awareness that the Lord
will open or close doors as He sees fit.
Parent
and Toddler Work
My experience has been that you can use this
opportunity to get to know people in your community. A short message can be
given explaining the gospel or a brief bible story for children. You build bridges
and an awareness of what the word of God says as well as laying simple
foundations from the word of God for another generation. To be truthful I did
not see the full benefit initially but have learned that this simple (but hard)
work creates many opportunities that can be developed over years to bring
adults and children to other gospel outreach meetings.
Bible
Exhibition
Opening
your hall up and erecting a bible exhibition for a week can be a very
worthwhile exercise. The other alternative is to approach local schools to
enquire if they would be happy to host the bible exhibition in their school
hall. This exercise provides the opportunity for children and adults to be
presented with the word of God in a setting that they do not feel is threatening.
We all know that the power of scripture is immense and so exposing people to
the word of God can only be beneficial in the long run.
A
number of bible exhibitions are available for use around the United Kingdom.
They are all slightly different, some have been around a long time (The
Ayrshire Bible Exhibition) and some are very new (The Bromborough Bible
Exhibition). It is worth doing some research to see what is available and
thinking about how you could use an exhibition effectively to support your gospel
work.
Gospel
Meetings
For
most of us this is a very standard, practical and most effortless way of
reaching out with the gospel. We need to be conscious of the guidance of the
Lord and of practical issues when arranging meetings. Times, format, singing or
not singing, location etc are not biblical issues but issues that need to be
addressed from time to time. Our key instruction from scripture is “to preach”,
where, when and to whom will be variable dependent on our situation and
circumstances. If I am being honest my major concern is often the lack of
effort we all put in to getting people to hear the message. That might however
not be the result of nervousness about the message but about these other
issues. To give the Lord’s people the confidence to bring people along to
gospel meetings we need to be sure of the following:
1. The preacher can preach
2. There will be a warm and friendly reception for those who come - the
message of the gospel will offend but the way it is preached and the attitude
of the preacher and the Christians should not nor should the atmosphere in a
venue seem cold and hostile – sadly this is often the case.
3. That a timeless message is not presented in such a way that people
think it is an old and irrelevant message – sometimes our halls, our dress and
our very style of language would make you think that this message is a relic of
a past era rather than the life changing, relevant message of good news.
Community
Gospel Tea
In addition to our regular gospel meetings we have
been running a community gospel tea for a number of years now. This starts with
some singing, a short story for children and a gospel message. Keeping the
message clear, simple and in language that people understand is very important.
After the message has been delivered we serve a light tea. This gives people
time to chat and give us the opportunity to talk with those unsaved that come
along. We have seen over twenty unsaved come in from the local community, a
number have come back to other meetings.
Community
Visits - more
commonly known as Door-to-Door Work
I personally find this a very hard work to do. It is
quite scary to start in a fresh area effectively cold calling and trying to
explain who you are, what you are doing and why you would be so bold as to know
the door of a person you have never met before. There are a number of
evangelists in the UK who do this very effectively.
Where you have existing contacts in a
community you would be wise to start visiting them. Showing an interest in
people and being willing to help them with their problems is a very
important way of building bridges and gaining people’s respect. We need to be
honest why would you listen to someone you do not trust or who has never shown
an interest in you.
Where I am working in a new area I start of with a
very low-key approach. I am not at the door to preach but to introduce myself
and to invite them to a meeting or some form of gospel outreach. It has been
helpful at times to offer a free copy of the bible or to invite requests for
prayer. This shows people that you are interested in people and not just trying
to sell them religion. We know that ‘selling religion’ is not what we are about
but they don’t and we need to win their confidence.
Leaflet
Distribution
There are many opportunities that come up from time
to time to give out large quantities of literature at events. I know that a
number of believers have focused on this very effectively. Our first attempt to
do this was during Liverpool’s year as European City of Culture. Every house
with an “L” postcode received a leaflet that had been specially written for
“Liverpool 08” as it was called.
Since then we have been trying to capture and use as
many other opportunities as possible For instance this year, as many assemblies
have done, we have written tracts for the Chilean Miners tragedy, the Titanic
Event and the Olympic Torch event.
In addition to this we have been focusing on
covering certain areas of the city of Liverpool with literature. Some
assemblies that I work with have purchased a half page of print in a local
newspaper and on a bi monthly basis are writing articles and inviting people to
meetings and outreach in their hall. In one case this means they get literature
into 19,000 homes at the cost of £150 per issue. Very cost effective, the
results as always have to be left to the Lord. Incidentally this particular
assembly had ten people come to their hall as a result of the first
article/advert. It’s worth the effort!
Book
and leaflet stalls
If you are going to get involved in this form of
outreach I feel that you have to be prepared to be in it for the long run. A
table or a stand in a shopping mall or precinct is a good way to get to know
people and to build up a profile in an area. Some believers in assemblies in
Belfast set up a table in an indoor shopping area, served Christmas pie and
gave our calendars. What a good idea – getting the word of God in the hands of
people.
Some people have set up a market stall and man it
every week. They make lots of contacts and people take literature and often
engage in conversation.
Just remember to get the right permission and to get
the right people to run the stall, not Mr. Grumpy, as you are trying to win
souls not chase them away. Good, well produced literature, books and gospel
messages on CD. Make sure everything has website addresses and contact numbers
on them – this applies to all literature work.
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