Churches of God Eastern Regional Conference Commission on Evangelism BLOG

Bible Translation for Outreach & Evangelism

Pastor Dan Masshardt — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:06:11 GMT

Most of us probably have a preferred translation for personal study and reading. But I'm wondering if you would give that same translation to a new or not yet believer or might you go with more of a paraphrase such as the New Living Translation or the Message in such an instance.

What do you think? Has anybody had experience with this question?

Do any pastors here use a different translation for preaching then they use for personal study?

Making Gospel Connections

Pastor Dan Masshardt — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 17:47:14 GMT

One important thing that we all need to think about is how we can make connections from other conversations to the gospel. A blogger named Joe Thornoffers a good perspective...

How can I take a natural conversation about common things and connect it to the gospel without it coming off like an abrupt topic change?”

Any time we take the initiative to share the gospel with someone there is always a leap that has to be made to the gospel. Sometimes the leap is short and easy. Suppose you’re discussing the difference between Catholics and Protestants — getting to the gospel is easy. Sometimes the leap is long - very long, like when you try to move from your favorite Starbucks drink (Grande Americano) to the cross of Christ. The longer the jump, the more unnatural the transition, and the more awkward the conversation. So the key is having natural conversations that transition more smoothly to the gospel (smaller leaps).

To state it simply, the better you understand the gospel the easier the transitions become. If you are trying to share the gospel you will still sometimes make huge leaps that do not work. Sometimes the conversation will only connect to the Christian faith in part, without getting directly to the gospel. Sometimes it will all come together the way you imagine. The more you know the gospel (its essence and effects) and the more you practice this discipline the easier making comfortable transitions to the gospel will become.

Check out the whole article and this 8 examples HERE.

Best Book on Evangelism

Pastor Dan Masshardt — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 17:07:47 GMT

If you could only recommend one book on evangelism (other than the Bible) what book would it be?

A Good Question

Pastor Dan Masshardt — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:55:20 GMT

A Good Question by Steve Dunn

At the 2008 Ritz Lectures, Scott McKnight said that churches need to create “safe place” for people to ask their questions about God, the Bible, and Christianity. Such an opportunity is a key tool of pre-evangelism. In late June, we created such a place as a part of our ministry at the Church of God of Landisville. We left the church (churches are not always considered safe places to pre-Christians) and went a block away to Café on Main, a local coffee house. On the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays from 7:00-9:00 pm, I sit in the café and lead an open discussion on any question people have about God, the Bible, Christianity, or spiritual matters. This is not a class. People are not asked to join anything, decide anything, sign up for anything. Some of my people have brought friends who had questions. Our first attendance was 6, the most recent eleven—with 15 different people participating over the summer. The very first question: “If God knows everything and will do only what His will desires, why pray?” Other questions, “Why do some people in churches believe the whole Bible and others only part?” “Is there an unforgiveable sin?”

“If a person is raised in a church that doesn’t teach the truth, can they go to heaven?” “Was Mr. Obama responsible the racists remarks of his pastor?” Last Sunday we had our first visitor at the church as a result of this group. For more information, go to our church website at www.coglandisville.org. A new link is being added on July 31st that outlines what we do.

Just a Quick Note

Pastor Dan Masshardt — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:26:00 GMT

If you want to be a part of follow-up conversations on these posts, you will need to click on the link to the actual blog to read the comments. If a post interested you, check back at the blog to see if anyone has commented about it.

Also, if you do post a comment, you can recieve any future comments on that particular post by clicking the box 'subscribe to this entry' when you are leaving your comment. Then you will get comments to your email.

I hope all that makes sense.

Sinners Prayer(s)

Pastor Dan Masshardt — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 13:19:15 GMT

Is it your church's practice to 'lead someone to Christ' one-on-one? Assuming that it is for many, do you lead that person in a prayer (sometimes called the 'sinner's prayer)

What is the content of that prayer? Would you ask them to repeat it aloud or silently?

I'm also wondering whether this practice is a cultural thing. Is it biblically mandated or just an effective option.

I'd really love to hear some of your thoughts. I know that 67 people are getting this email, so speak up!

From Four Laws to Four Circles?

Pastor Dan Masshardt — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:49:11 GMT

A new evangelistic tool?

From Christianity Today:

"James Choung, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, set out to help college students explain the gospel to their friends, he turned to the most beloved tool in an engineer's arsenal: the napkin diagram. Choung, who now serves as the divisional director for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in San Diego, has spent his life in ministry on and around college campuses, where Christians today are met with a paradoxical and perplexing combination of suspicion and openness."

Choung has developed a new gospel presentation using 4 circles that can be drawn and explained on a napkin.

We were designed for good

We are damaged by evil

We are restored for better

We are sent together to heal

Read the CT interview with Choung HERE and please respond in the comments if you'd like.

You can see a video demonstration HERE.

Personal Evangelism for Pastors

Pastor Dan Masshardt — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:41:33 GMT

It seems that many pastors get so busy that while they encourage others to be involved in personal evangelism, they find themselves only rarely in conversation with people who are not Christians.

Those of us who are pastors probably need to make it a point to get out of the office more often and in a place where we can interact with people.

Some have suggested to do some of your study and sermon prep in a local coffeeshop. I use my workouts at the gym several times a week to make and maintain relationships with people who seem far from God.

So here is the question / challenge: what do you do to get out from behind your desk and in a place where you're able to interact with people?

Go Back to School!

Pastor Dan Masshardt — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 20:01:27 GMT

...The School of Evangelism that is!

Seriously, this is your chance to move beyond reading books on your own and lean and interact with others who share your passion for evangelism. Here's the details:

Preaching Evangelistically

Pastor Dan Masshardt — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:10:49 GMT

Preaching Evangelistically
Why preaching is evangelism.
by Myron Augsburger

From the book Growing Your Church Through Evangelism and Outreach

I remain committed to evangelistic preaching, not just because of the Great Commission, but also because of its great satisfaction.
—Myron Augsburger

Since day one, the church has used one method to reach out to people more frequently and more successfully than any other.

It's the way the gospel was brought to Europe by Paul, and the way it spread throughout the West by the Dominican and Franciscan orders, among others. It was central in the life, worship, and outreach of the Reformation. It was the means by which lives were ignited and entire towns transformed in the great awakenings in this country. Today, it remains the one task, more than any other, that most congregations expect of their pastors, because it is the main vehicle for communicating to them and the larger community God's grace and peace.

I'm talking, of course, about preaching.

A church can and should reach out to the community in a variety of ways, many of which are discussed in this book. But we would be remiss if we overlooked preaching, particularly evangelistic preaching. All preaching seeks to communicate God's grace and peace, but evangelistic preaching is unique. In that sense, it deserves particular attention.

_____________

You can link HEREto the rest of the article from Outreach Magazine where the author addresses many of the objections that are put forth against preaching as a primary evangelistic method.

What do you think?

John MacArthur's 'Point of View' on Evangelism

Pastor Dan Masshardt — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 12:41:59 GMT

I'd welcome comments, feedback, etc. from the following article:

By John MacArthur Jr.

I believe that the Church has never made a greater effort at evangelism, but our current weakness is the absence of a strong theological undercurrent. Often style becomes the substance, and thats unfortunate because the Churchs biggest problem is a lack of discernment. The Church sort of has spiritual age --it has a deficient immune system, so it can die of a thousand diseases because its not discerning enough to protect itself.

ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THEOLOGY

In the medical field, the bar of medical qualification is set extremely high in order to protect patients from malpractice. That doesnt happen in todays Church because anybody can go down the street and start one. An NBC interviewer said to me once, As an outsider looking at Christianity, Id like to know who polices your movement.

Well, nobody, I said.

In a denomination theres a certain amount of policing going on, and there are certain standards in place. But in the continuing explosion of independence that defines evangelicalism we have lots of ill-prepared or ill-qualified people with an awful lot of passion and zeal, but who maybe arent as careful as they need to be in protecting the content of the message. What matters is that we get the Truth--the way God revealed the Truth--out to people. Im not nearly as concerned with methods as I am with the protection of the essential message. I think theres plenty of room for communicating it in a myriad of ways, but we better make sure that its intact when it come out of the other end of the creative pipeline.

A SANCTIFIED CONGREGATION

Unconverted people flow into our church like crazy! And church attenders whove experienced a life change are the ones bringing the unbelievers.

The credibility of what a newcomer hears is either confirmed or denied by somebody they know whose life has been transformed. Thats why changed lives are the key to evangelism. Its one thing to be converted, but its something else to be mature and to live a godly life. The depth, breadth, length and height of a persons spiritual devotion to Christ is whats so compelling about the Christians faith--not a clever message or a cleave method. Thats why, in the end, its the sanctified congregation that has the greatest impact.

CREATING AN EVNIRONMENT OF EVANGELISM WHAT WORKS

In building an atmosphere of evangelism, you first have to create a church environment that is so powerful and life-changing from top to bottom that you dont have to tell your people to bring their friends. Theyre going to bring them and theyre going to come because the congregation is so thrilled and excited about their church. I have people outside out church tell me all the time, I dont feel like bringing anybody I know to my church because the music is pretty bad and the preaching is not that great. Thats a sad thing.

Second, its important to reiterate to a congregation that theyre only here for one reason, and that s to bring people to Christ. Everything else that a salvation produces--for example, fellowship, worship and obedience--would be better in heaven. But theres only one thing you cant do in heaven, and thats evangelize the lost! Thats the only reason for Christ to leave us here once were saved. Therefore, the end product of everything the Church does--the end product of everything we do as Christians--should be to reach people with the Gospel. Our goal is to focus on teaching and maturing our people in Christ so that they are a force of evangelism. That way its not necessarily bring them to church, and I, as the pastor, will evangelize them. Instead, its about maturing the congregation and allowing them to do the work.

Third, we have a baptism during every Sunday night service, and that works dynamically for us. When people step into the water, we ask them to tell everyone how they came to Christ and how their life has changed. This is compelling stuff because people are reminded every Sunday that while there might be resistance to evangelism, there are some prepared hearts out there. Theyre a reminder that we just need to be faithful, and God will take us across the path of somebody who needs to hear His message. Thats a strong stimulant to evangelism.

MARKETING FOR MARKETINGS SAKE

My fear is that theres so much superficial success in church marketing. As the Church, weve learned the cultural hot buttons. If we put Starbucks in the lobby, set boxes of Krispy Kremes outside the front door, and host fifteen different 12-step groups, we know that we can attract people from the community. In other words, we know how to get a crowd, which is a head-trip.

Although these things arent bad in and of themselves, my concern is that were going to become enamored with that ability to draw a crowd and start pouring more and more energy into that. And that means that doctrine and the faithful proclamation of Scripture will get pushed further down the priority line.

DEVELOPING LIFELONG EVANGELISTS

Make your ministry the shaping of lives over the long haul. Take the long-range view that if your people really come to know the Lord, as Hes revealed in Scripture, youre going to make a lifelong evangelist. You wont have to prop people up with half-time pep talks about outreach. You wont have to depend upon the methodology. We wont have to whip up our people who are mature in the Lord to do evangelism. It will be just natural overflow.

-Outreach magazine, "Point of View," January/February 2003

Email Evangelism?

Pastor Dan Masshardt — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 09:20:04 GMT

I have a friend from High School. I became a Christian and he didn't. Our lives have gone in much different directions and now he is wondering what's going on.

I had an idea that's just begun but is showing promise already. We're taking turns - through email - asking each other questions about life, perspectives, faith, etc. We're both really enjoying it. I'm learning about him and he's learning about me - and God.

Are there people you could have this type of conversation with?

"Treasures"

Pastor Dan Masshardt — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:26:17 GMT

The following is from an on-line devotional that I publish for my church and its friends. From time-to-time I use something to raise the evangelistic temperature. This is an example.

“Treasures”
Reading: Colossians 2.1-3
BY Steve Dunn

Landisville and Salunga are twin towns that sit side by side along the Harrisburg Pike northwest of Lancaster. The pike forms Main Street for both communities. Every Memorial Day they become home to a huge, almost wall to wall yard sale, that extends along this thoroughfare and then branches out into the side streets feeding off of Main. It creates quite a carnival of bargain hunting, and a creeping traffic jam for about 8-9 hours. (Think Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge but with less expensive junk, and perhaps more useful stuff.)

I had one of those garage sales. I made $65 in my “this is not going back into my garage sale.”
Not bad for 10 cent to two buck sales. Enough for 2-3 trucks from the collectors/vendors at the parks and some extra cash into the bank. In fact, I only had less than a table’s worth to put back into the garage. Two tables became very valuable to people when I simply marked “free” on their contents a little before noon.

It is said that one man’s junk is another person’s treasure. That it is if you can get the junk out of the basement or out of the garage into the street. But once that stuff comes into the light of the day, all kinds of people would like to possess it.

Of far greater worth than used lamps, tee shirts, kitchen pots, and golf bags is the mystery of God. It contains the treasures of wisdom and knowledge that once you begin to understand them, will change your life forever. Paul says here that we need to labor to get that treasure into the spiritual light of day, no matter how great the struggle. People are waiting to grab hold of it. So start cleaning that treasure out of the private places of your home and get it into the street.

This e-mail devotional THRIVING IN CHRIST is published on behalf of the Church of God of Landisville PA and its friends. © 2008 by Stephen Dunn. All rights reserved. Subscription matters can be sent to Patty at coglandisville@coglandisville.org. Directly communicate with Steve at sdunnpastor@coglandisville.org

God is Moving in Saxton and Broad Top Cities

Pastor Dan Masshardt — Thu, 22 May 2008 14:57:54 GMT

A Harvest report from Pastor Steve Oberman .... Yesterday, I was with a friend (Sam) and his family whose uncle was passing away... Sam is a friend and brother from the Broad Top City COG...... Sam had three prayer requests To see his uncle receive Jesus.... To be with him when he went home to be with the Lord and to see his sister come to know Christ.

A month ago Sam's uncle prayed to receive Christ..... Request #1 answered.... Yesterday Sam was with his uncle a saw him peacefully go home to be with Jesus.... Request #2 answered... Sam has been planting seeds and loving his sister.... gave her a bible continualy encouraged her.... and he LOVED.... LOVED.... LOVED her by being the best brother he could be for Jesus...... Yesterday I prayed with the family and simply let Jesus show me the best way to love them..... and Sam and I left the house..... We were standing in the front yard and his sister came out..... She looked at Sam and kind of shyly said, "Sam did you talk to him about what I want to do?" Sam looked at me and I looked at his sister and said DO you want to get saved? She said "Yes I do" I tolf her "you can get saved right now would you like that" and she said yes.

With Sam and the presence of the Holy Spirit.... Sam's sister prayed and asked Jesus to be her Lord........ Sam's prayer request #3 answered......

As a pastor there is no greater joy then to watch a friend and a brother see the harvest of prayer and love.... In the midst of pain and grief God brought genuine joy.... From Heaven's relm a Saint was welcomed home and the angels were celebrating a daughter who was lost coming home as well.... To Sam I say well done.....

From a pastor's "heart".... Father.... You are awesome.... Thank you for letting me see this and experience this great adventure......

You know with the Indiana Jones movie coming out.... Indiana was always searching for a great lost treasure..... part of his misfortune was having some "bad" guy take it from him..... WE too are searching for lost treasure... the great beauty is this.....what is found can never be taken.....

The adventures of God's Evangelists rides on.... not into a sunset.... but onward to glorious eternity..... Come on church it's time to saddle up....and ride.......

Pastor Steve

Gospel Preaching?

Pastor Dan Masshardt — Wed, 14 May 2008 11:59:14 GMT

This is a peice of an article from Leadership Journal:

Every sermon should have the gospel at its core and an invitational edge. This is not to say that every sermon should aim at not-yet-believers. Most sermons will be heard by people who already have some knowledge of Jesus. But every sermon needs a spirit that invites people to follow Jesus.

How could George Buttrick have known one Advent Sunday morning at Madison Avenue Presbyterian in New York that a struggling young novelist would be present, or that a single question ("Are you going home for Christmas?") would be the spiritual pivot point for Frederick Buechner?

More recently, Efrem Smith, who pastors Sanctuary Covenant, a three-year-old church aiming to be a multi-ethnic, holistic, and Christ-centered community serving urban North Minneapolis, captured the core and the edge of gospel preaching.

One Sunday he preached that the gospel speaks to our lives now as well as our eternal lives:

"How many kids have to die, while we go home still talking about churchy stuff? How many homicides have to happen before we stop playing church and become the kingdom of God in the streets? Kids are dying, and we are in church."


	Practically no one comes to church expecting to hear something they did not already know.

As he invites people to be prayed for, many come forward, for healing, for a reconciled relationship with God, for passion and purpose in their life.

The gospel is the core, with an invitational edge.

So we preach the gospel never knowing what listeners have been drawn by the Holy Spirit. We also preach knowing that those who are already Christ-followers need to be constantly re-evangelized, reminded that our faith journeys continue as they began, by grace. And that the way we preach in the pulpit may be a model for disciples to know how to talk about their faith in the marketplace.

You can read the whole article HERE.

Still Another Worldview Shift

Pastor Dan Masshardt — Tue, 13 May 2008 21:56:36 GMT

STILL ANOTHER WORLDVIEW SHIFT
Submitted by Steve Dunn

As Christian evangelists we are already wrestling with the shift to postmodernism that views truth as rooted in experience and is suspicious of absolutes. The upside of this is that postmoderns do believe they are spiritual beings and that there are spiritual answers to life’s questions, not merely empirical ones limited by the limits of the scientific method. Atheists, genuine atheists, are rare these days. However, David Brooks, op-ed columnist for The New York Times writes that a new type of atheism seems to be emerging—one that puts little stock in divine law or revelation. He calls it “neural Buddhism.” If you’d like to read more about this development go to the link
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/13/opinion/13brooks.html

Welcome

Pastor Dan Masshardt — Mon, 12 May 2008 10:57:11 GMT

Welcome to the ERC Evangelism Blog. Many of you signed up at our Conference Sessions and are new here.

Thank you so much for your participation at Conference - signing up for this blog and visiting our booth.

This blog is to have two primary purposes.

1. To share information about evangelism training events, resources etc.

2. To share ideas, successes and have discussions about evangelism.

PLEASE be a part of this by interacting with one another in the comments section of each post by sharing your thoughts and reactions to what has been posted.

ALSO, send me your own stuff - book reviews, outreaches that your church has done, questions, resources, anything! Email them to me at dmasshardt@gmail.com and I will get them posted at regular intervals.

Thank you so much for being a part of this. It is our prayer that God will use this as a springboard to get us excited about sharing the gospel and seeing lives transformed as people encounter Jesus Christ!

Still Our Biggest Problem?

Pastor Dan Masshardt — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 12:04:42 GMT

“When they see Christians saying they are born again and they don’t see an incredibly changed life they assume you are a hypocrite."

The quote above is from an interview of pastor and author Tim Keller when asked about skeptics problems with Christianity.

I don't care how intelligent or persuasive we are, this problem is not just going to disappear.

Evangelism for Visitors?

Pastor Dan Masshardt — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 12:05:08 GMT

We probably already know this, but...

Lifeway Research just released several findings. One of them is that people who 'show up' to churches for the first time are usually not 'unchurched' but people looking for a new church.

"Unchurched adults interested in finding a congregation aren’t nearly as likely to visit one in person as a church member who is shopping for a new congregation. That means effective evangelism must begin outside the sanctuary in relationships between Christians and unbelievers, according to research from several recent studies from LifeWay Research..."

This means that we and our members need to be INVITING people to church personally, not waiting for them to show up!

Check out the rest of the findings HERE.

Tax Day Outreach Idea

Pastor Dan Masshardt — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 10:00:52 GMT

Is your church near a post office?

How about this idea to get out into the community?

From the website www.churchrelavence.com

On the night of April 15th, as Americans scrambled to mail their 2007 income tax forms, members of Pathway Church (Palo Alto, CA) eased the suffering by giving away 1,000 free postage stamps.

As a “Planned Act of Kindness,” they created 500 mini-books of stamps (outreach cards with 2 stamps each). Standing on the streets near a post office, they held signs stating “Free Stamps! Tax-Day Relief!” as they gave away the mini-books. Scott Aughtmon describes people’s reactions as,

They were so surprised and thankful, you would’ve thought we paid their rent/mortgage for a month! Even people driving by who didn’t need or want a card rolled down their windows and told me, “That’s so cool what you’re doing.

Check out the whole post HERE.