Worship
Community
Mission

Personal Outreach

 

Thoughts from Jay Halley

Share Christ Anytime

What does your personal outreach look like?

I like the balance Paul demonstrated in Thessalonica.  “We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.” (1 Thess 2:8,9)

Ideas for representing Christ with balance:

  1. It’s good to spend time with those who do not believe the same as you, who do not behave as you wish. This is what Jesus and Paul did.  (Matt 9:9-13; 1 Thess 1:5)  Challenge yourself to see each unbelieving person from God’s perspective. Have compassion. Love them. Be committed to them.
  2. Be gracious in your speech. (Col 4:5,6) This means not sounding self-righteous or judgmental.  It means having an accepting and appreciative tone (which is not the same as approval). (see Acts 17:16-34)  Show the same grace you’ve received.
  3. Show interest in life experiences and beliefs and values. We do this best by asking questions. Many people are terrible question askers, but the Christian should excel at this. A well-placed question can send a rather mundane conversation in a new and exciting direction, filled with profound and spiritual discussion. (John 4)  “Interest begets interest.”
  4. Look for opportunities in the natural course of conversation to relate a thought or topic to an experience you have had in   following Christ (something you learned from the Bible, a time God helped you through a tough situation, etc)
  5. If it fits the occasion, tell a slice of your own faith story, how you became a Christ-follower.  I say slice because rarely does one conversation allow for the whole story. So, convey what is most appropriate for that setting. (Acts 17:16ff)
  6. Seeing the good news of Jesus in print is powerful. Many people respect the Bible but have never looked at it. Invite someone to look at the Bible with you. (You may be greatly surprised at the response!)   If you want to use selected verses from the Bible, look at the bottom of this page for ideas.
  7. Remember that you are just an instrument that God uses. We are ordinary people that God delights in using in extraordinary ways. Enjoy being used by God. Take pressure off yourself and trust God to draw your unbelieving friend to Himself.
Many good books can help you know how to talk about your faith clearly and graciously. Scroll down to see a partial list of such books below.

Nine Reasons/Answers For Not Sharing Our Faith

Work your way through this document. Find the reason(s) that keeps you from talking openly about your faith in Christ.  Maybe it will be the reason you have always felt but never quite articulated. But, continue on and read the proposed answer (solution if you wlll) for the reason you feel.  Yes, other obstacles to sharing our faith exist (email me and let me know what you think!), but for now, begin with these nine.

Jay Halley, Pastor of Mission

Glad to See Your Taillights

Don't mean to sound inhospitable. But, glad to see you leave! I don't mean that in the way you might feel when someone has overstayed his or her welcome. But, more in the sense of ... now, let's get on to the next really important thing.

"Thank you for bringing the church into this room" is what I like to say at the start of a Sunday church worship service. All week long the church has been scattered throughout the communities, now gathered for worship. That's a good thing. What is also a good thing is when everyone leaves. Yes, glad to see them go!

Bill Hull, author/speaker, when addressing a couple hundred church leaders at The Chapel several years ago, asked this question:  "When is the local church most effective?" Of course, pastors had to be thinking "during my sermon time" or "during the worship hour." But, Hull's rhetorical question provided an answer something like this ...

"The church is most effective when the lights are off, the pews are empty and the cars are gone."  Sunday faith integrated with all we do Monday through Saturday is the strength and strategy of the church and the gospel.  

Jay Halley, Pastor of Mission

A Lesson Learned … Again

I’ve reached out to a group of men for some years now. Some have been very responsive to spiritual discussions and the Bible. Some just the opposite. My default mindset is to think that unresponsiveness means disinterest, or worse, hopeless. One guy’s signals were all about disinterest.

Several years went by. Big things began to happen in this man’s life, milestones if you will. And, then without my perceiving it, he began to think about God, the Bible, prayer and related things. I did not know it was happening until he called me and asked if we could talk. We met for coffee a couple weeks ago.

He shared with me the recent course of his life and his ideas about God, church, etc. He had read a book on knowing Christ that I had given him. I had no idea he had read it! He had begun praying.

Here’s what’s cool. He knew to come to me with questions and to share his heart.

Lessons learned … again:

  1. My job is to plant and water, plant and water, plant and water.
  2. I need to hang in there and develop a relationship of trust.
  3. As Peter says, I need to be ready to explain the hope that’s within me.

What are your experiences this way? How can we encourage each other?

Jay Halley, Pastor of Mission

Feel free to Jay with your thoughts or questions

 

Books to Develop a Mindset of Personal Outreach

  • Can We Be Good without God by Chamberlain
  • Choosing Your Faith by Mittelberg
  • Conversational Evangelism by Geisler and Geisler
  • Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God by J.I.Packer
  • Evangelism Made Slightly Less Difficult by Pollard
  • Finding Common Ground by Downs
  • Out of the Saltshaker and into the World by Pipper
  • Questioning Evangelism by Newman
  • The Case for Christ by Strobel
  • The Case for Faith by Strobel
  • The Celtic Way of Evangelism by Hunter
  • The Insider by Petersen and Shamy
  • The Unexpected Adventure by Strobel and Mittelberg
  • Why Believe by Evans

 

Good books to hand someone seeking

  • An Anchor for the Soul by Pritchard
  • How Good is Good Enough by Stanley
  • The Purpose Driven Life by Warren

 

Websites

 

Video

 

Bible References

Jesus’ example

  • John 4
  • Matthew 9:9-13

Paul’s strategy

  • 1 Thessalonians 1-3
  • 1 Corinthians 7:17-24

Ways to pray

  • Ephesians 6:19-20
  • Colossians 4:2-4

When sharing faith

  • Colossians 4:5,6
  • 1 Thessalonians 2:8-12

Good passages to share

  • God has a plan (God): Genesis 1,2; John 10:10; Revelation 21,22
  • Mankind has a problem (Us): Genesis 3: Romans 1-3:20; 3:23
  • God has a remedy (Christ): John 3:16; Romans 3:21-25; Romans 5:8; 6:23
  • Mankind has a response (You): Romans 10:9-13; Galatians 3:22-25; Philippians 3:1-11