Connecting
Connecting with outsiders who have never come to our churches has always been the right thing to do, but for many years churches have focused most of their evangelism efforts on visiting those who have visited their church. This is a good but limited strategy because church visitors are only a very, very small percentage of the overall people in our community. Our focus needs to be on training our members to reach the many who have not visited or might not ever visit our churches.
According to Colossians 4:5, connecting involves “making the most of the time.” This phrase literally means to “seize opportunities or seize the opportune time.” God opens doors of opportunity for us to step into the lives of outsiders to love them and influence them. It usually happens gradually over a period of time and it is the believers job to act on or seize these opportunities.
“Bless Every Home” is a free online neighborhood prayer ministry that enables a believer to pray daily for the 50 neighbors that live closest to his house. He will be given the first and last names and the addressees of these 50 neighbors. He can choose to increase or decrease the number of his neighbors that he prays for. Each day the believer will receive an email with the names and addresses of five of his neighbors for him to pray for that day. There is even a biblical, sample prayer to use if one so chooses. The ultimate goal of this ministry is for every residence in our nation to be prayed for by name by a godly believer. The threefold purpose of this ministry is …
Prayer: The Lord will change us when we pray for our neighbors.
Care: The Lord will show us how to care about and be friendly to our neighbors.
Share: The Lord will provide opportunities for us to have spiritual and gospel conversations with our neighbors.
In The Art of Neighboring the authors ask the question, “What if God wants His followers to take the Great Commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself” to really mean to love your “neighbor.” Then they use the remainder of the book to describe how believers can practically and intentionally care about, get to know, and genuinely love their neighbors in a manner that fulfills Christ’s Great Commandment. This book is a great read for the many believers who realize that they have overlooked their neighbors through the years and they want to change and learn to love their neighbors.
Practicing the 9 Arts of Spiritual Conversations (workbook) explains nine actions that a believer can take to better relate to and talk to outsiders. Some of these actions are:
Noticing | Praying | Listening | Asking Questions
Loving | Welcoming | Sharing the gospel | and more
The book and workbook are most impactful when studied in a small group setting.
The Complete Book of Questions contains 1,001 questions that you can use to launch great conversations in almost any context. They can be used in one-on-one interactions or in small group gatherings. They have been divided into ten categories and range from “Light & Easy” to “Extreme Spiritual Matters.”
It is a great resource for anyone who desires to develop and deepen relationships with people so that meaningful spiritual and gospel conversations might take place.
Encounter Life has developed a free, effective relational strategy to evangelize neighborhoods. It involves Tools, Training, and Tracking.
Tools include “Engagers” which are non- threatening, culturally relevant printed resources designed to help believers engage in conversation about the Lord with others. Associated with every engager is a unique website and powerful video testimonial making these materials a relevant method that a church group or individual can use anytime and anywhere.
Training equips church members with the skills and confidence to mobilize for evangelism in any neighborhood, including church neighborhoods.
Tracking evangelistic progress is achieved with the Encounter Outreach App that combines innovative mapping technology with a real-time picture of engaged and unengaged areas in any neighborhood. To download the Encounter Outreach app, use your cell phone to text souls to the number 97123.
This resource is designed to lead a home group to deepen their friendships by telling their stories regarding four or more relational topics (one per gathering). The topics are given below along with an explanation. Each couple receives the assigned topic prior to the next home gathering.
– Beginning
What do your opening pages hold? Where did it start? What characters played a part in setting the stage for your life?
– Obstacles
What difficulties have you faced in your life?
– Hope
Who or what gives you hope? Where did your story take a turn for the better?
– Future
Where will your story take you in the days to come? What would you like to see in your concluding chapter?