Gary Rohrmayer's Blog, page 6
June 17, 2018
February 10, 2018
Resources for Leading a Church wide Spiritual Fast.
Your Journey Resources encourages churches to call a corporate fast within the first 3 months of the year (January, February, March). This resource page is update annually to give our pastors the tools and ideas to effectively call our churches to deeper relationship with God. Feel free to share your creative ideas with our team.
Articles
Why Should I Call My Church to a Corporate Fast? – Gary Rohrmayer
Prayer and Fasting in the Pastors Life – Ronnie Floyd
Revival & Fasting – John Piper
Why should I Consider a Social Media Fast? – Kevin DeYoung
Quick Study on Fasting – Gary Rohrmayer
Eight Basic Guidelines for Fasting – Gary Rohrmayer
Your Personal Guide to Fasting and Prayer – CRU
Being in Tune with the Supernatural though Fasting – Ronnie Floyd
Strengthening our Prayers through Fasting – Gary Rohrmayer
Bill Bright’s Fasting Testimony – Gary Rohrmayer
David Brainerd’s Fasting Testimony – Gary Rohrmayer
21 Classic Fasting Quotes – Gary Rohrmayer
Sermons
Breakthrough
Fasting for a Spiritual Breakthrough – Gary Rohrmayer
Power of Fasting Together – Mark Albrecht
Readying Ourselves for a Breakthrough – Mark Albrecht
First: Priority Determines Capacity
Start Now! - Darryn Scheske
21 Days Of Prayer & Fasting - Darryn Scheske
The Power Of Priority - Darryn Scheske
What Really Matters? - Darryn Scheske
Nothing To Lose - Jeffrey A. Johnson, Sr.
John Piper's Sermons on Fasting A Hunger For God
Prayer, Fasting, and the Course of History - Acts 13:1-4
When the Bridegroom Is Taken Away, They Will Fast—With New Wineskins - Matthew 9:14-17
Man Shall Not Live on Bread Alone - Matthew 3:16-4:4
Fasting for the Safety of the Little Ones - Ezra 8:21-23
Fasting for the King's Coming - Luke 2:36-38
Fasting for the Father's Reward - Matthew 6:16-18
A Fast for Waters That Do Not Fail, Part 1 - Isaiah 58:1-12
A Fast for Waters That Do Not Fail, Part 2 - Isaiah 58:1-12 (HT)
Tony Evans' Sermons on Fasting
Fasting Key to Spiritual Victory – Part 1
The Importance of Fasting
Fasting For Deliveranc
Fasting For Burden
Fasting For Protection
Fasting For Needs
Fasting For Mates
Fasting For Marriage
Fasting Key to Spiritual Victory – Part 2
Fasting For Healing
Fasting For Guidance
Fasting For Revival
Fasting For Ministry
Fasting For Intimacy
Fasting For Justice
Fasting For Power
Seminars/Campaigns
Hunger for God Seminar – John Piper
The Daniel Plan - Rick Warren
Interviews
What is the Purpose of Fasting? – John Piper
How Can I Conquer Gluttony? – John Piper
Reading Plans/Devotional Guides
21 Days of Prayer & Fasting - Print - volume discounts available
21 Days of Prayer & Fasting – Gary Rohrmayer Kindle
21 Dangerous Prayers – Gary Rohrmayer Print - volume discounts available
21 Dangerous Prayers – Gary Rohrmayer Kindle
Books
Fasting for Spiritual Breakthrough – Elmer Towns
Fasting for a Financial Breakthrough – Elmer Towns
Hunger for God – John Piper
Hunger for God – John Piper (Free pdf)
God’s Chosen Fast – Arthur Wallis
The Power of Prayer and Fasting – Ronnie Floyd
The Daniel Plan – Rick WarrenFasting: Ancient Practices – Scot McNight
August 9, 2017
21 Dangerous Prayers - New Book Release
Dangerous Prayers! Can prayer be dangerous? Is prayer supposed to be dangerous? Any encounter with a Holy God can be dangerous—not in a life-threatening way, but in a way that can be life altering and soul shaping.
All too often we pray safe prayers: God bless me. God help me. God protect me. God heal me. God provide for me.
Dangerous prayers are risky and life stretching. Dangerous prayers come out of a spirit of brokenness. Dangerous prayers are filled with boldness and daring faith.
In this 21-Day Devotional Guide we are going to explore the dangerous prayers that have been prayed by God’s people for thousands of years. We trust God will meet you in a dangerous and life-transforming manner. We pray that you will not be the same and that your family, neighborhood, work place, and church will be impacted because you personally have met with God.
Order Here
Bulk Discounts Available
July 4, 2017
How to Lead a Church Planting Movement Workshop
August 29-30, 2017 Chicago, IL
Who Should Attend?
This two-day workshop is critical for any denominational, associational or network leader to understand how new churches impact the legacy of your organization. Whether you are a national, regional or local church planting leader you will gain a wealth of knowledge and practical insights from Gary Rohrmayer and Steve Pike.
What will you learn?
Planting a new church is one thing but providing leadership for a church planting movement is a whole other ball game. Join Gary Rohrmayer and Steve Pike as they walk you and your team through the why’s and how to’s of movement leadership.
How do you ignite a new movement of churches in an older organization?
How do you create a spiritual atmosphere for multiplication?
How do you develop a pipeline of new church planters?
How do you assess church planting couples?
How do you ignite a self-funding church planting movement?
How do you train and coach your church planters?
How do you resource churches to plant churches?
Gary Rohrmayer
Gary has served on every level of church planting from a church-planting intern, pioneer church planter to a national director of church planting. After pioneering a church plant with his wife Mary, he assisted in planting 17 churches in 10 years in southeastern Wisconsin.
In 1998 Gary was asked to bring a new sense of energy and vision to a regional network within Converge that was in decline for 10 years. In the last 15 years Converge MidAmerica has grown from 86 churches to over 220. This new movement of churches has revolutionized this 165-year-old organization on all levels.
In 2006 Gary was ask to provide national leadership to Converge Church Planting where he laid the ground work for a united church planting surge throughout its 11 regional entities which led to the largest number of church plants in its 160 year history. Ed Stetzer described Converge during this time as, “One of the leading church planting organizations in America.”
Gary and Mary have three grown children and live in the greater Chicago area.
Steve Pike
Steve Pike is the President and Founder of Urban Islands Project, a national collaborative organization dedicated to increasing the presence of the Church, the urban core of America’s 40 largest urban centers.
Prior to initiating Urban Islands Project, Steve served as the Founding Director of the Church Multiplication Network. CMN serves church multipliers to effectively equip, strategically fund and innovatively network new faith communities in America. Since its formation in 2008, CMN has assisted with the starting of over 2000 new congregations in every region of the US.
Steve is the co-author with Dr. Tom Nebel of “Leading Church Multiplication.”
Steve’s passion for church multiplication began in 1989 when Steve and his wife, Cherri, pioneered a new church that became the catalyst of a church planting movement in the state of Utah that continues to this day. The Pikes make their home in Denver, Colorado. They are blessed to be the parents of Lindsy and Jeremy and the grandparents of Myles, Koen and Wesley.
Schedule:
Day 1:
Check-in from 8:30 – 9:00 AM
9:00-10:15– Lessons in Igniting a New Movement of Churches
10:15-10:30 – Break
10:30-12:00– Overview of the 8 Church Planting Systems
12:00-1:00 – Lunch provided
1:00 – 2:30 – Spiritual Dynamics, Recruiting and Assessing Planters
2:30-2:45 – Break
2:45-4:30 – Funding a Church Planting Movement
Day 2:
9:00-10:15– Coaching & Training
10:15-10:30 – Break
10:30-12:00– Resourcing and Celebrating
12:00-1:00 – Lunch provided
1:00 –3:00 – 4 Skills of a Movement Leader
Cost: $250.00 (includes lunch, resources and extras)
Limited to 20 leaders (Do to the quick fill up we are extending the limit to 50 currently we are at 30 get you spot quickly)
Sponsor: Church Multiplication Partners. We exist to serve those leaders who are serving church planters. www.multiplychurches.org
Location: Chicago, IL
Converge MidAmerica Ministry Center
924 Busse Hwy
Park Ridge, IL 60086
Hotel Information:
For participants who need hotel accommodations we recommend the following two hotels in close proximity.
Hilton Garden Inn Chicago O’Hare Airport – (847)296-8900 ($129)
August 4, 2017 reservation deadline for the block of rooms Breakfast not included. Available for $14.95. Shuttle service available from O’Hare Airport
Hyatt Regency O’Hare – (847) 696-1234 ($159.00)
August 7, 2017 reservation deadline for the block of rooms
Breakfast not included. When calling in to make a reservation for August 29th be sure to ask for the Converge MidAmerica group rate.
Rates are based on single/double occupancy.
Best Western DesPlaines Inn – (847)297-2100 ($110)
August 10th reservation deadline for the block of rooms
Breakfast not included. Shuttle service available from O’Hare Airport
Contact: wanda@convergemidamerica.org
July 1, 2017
9 Steps to Creating Momentum for a Fall Kickoff in Your Church
Legendary football coach Paul 'Bear' Bryant said, "Have a plan. Follow the plan, and you'll be surprised how successful you can be. Most people don't have a plan. That's why it's is easy to beat most folks." In a recent survey it was revealed that 79% of churches have no, to little, plans for fall outreach. This may be the reason why 80-85% of the churches in America are either plateaued or declining. Designing, executing and implementing outreach plans and strategies is one of the skills pastors need to creating positive momentum in their churches.
Here are a nine insights that you can apply in planning your fall kickoff this year:
1. Develop a team.
Too many pastors try to carry the load all by themselves, which is an unbiblical notion. Christianity is a team sport. Team building is one of the skills successful pastors need in their tool belts. Learning to pick the right players on your team is crucial. Guiding and leading the team is imperative. Trusting the team to execute the plan is empowering. Celebrating and encouraging the team is vital. I encourage pastors to use short-term task forces with a specific task along with a starting and ending point. If you built a task force for each of your major outreach initiatives for fall, winter and spring your team building skills would improve each time. Team building is a skill which is honed through the "learning by doing" process.
Getting key influencers involved in the process is vital to building positive momentum.
2. Develop a time line.
To develop a good time line start with the last date of the project and work backwards. If you are doing a fall growth push here are a couple ideas. End your fall outreach campaign on the first weekend in November with a family friendly comeback event and start July first with the selection of the team. This is what I call the "three month rule" which is to begin the detailed planning process at least three months before launch of the outreach campaign. Here is an overview of what the would happen in those three months:
July
Team selected
Theme developed
Promotional strategy selected
Graphic images & promotional tools designed
August
A clear call to prayer made to the entire congregation
Prayer emphasis kick off
Marketing and promotional plan set
Marketing and promotional tools sent to printer
Small group leaders trained and prepared
September
Teaching series on outreach and prayer launched
Prayer walking implemented
Affinity groups launched - youth, singles, men's & women's ministries
Executing marketing plan
Equipping congregation with promotional tools
October
Newcomers luncheon set
Bible 101 or seeker study offered
Small groups launched around theme
Sunday worship theme launched
Second Touch teams equipped and empowered
November
Celebrate and evaluate progress
Family friendly comeback event
Membership class offered
3. Brainstorm ideas for a delivering strong biblical content that address the heart language issues of your mission field.
Many pastors struggle with the creative aspects of leadership. I recommend that pastors research and purchase many of the good outreach or spiritual growth campaigns available. Many of these come with time lines, job descriptions, graphics, sermon ideas and small group materials. The key is planning ahead. After the church has done a few of this campaigns, then they can take a shot at developing their own.
4. Raise the spiritual temperature of the church.
It is a must to incorporate a church wide prayer project for before and during the campaign. One example: Call the church to "pray for five neighbors, for five minutes a day, for five weeks" before the outreach campaign. Another idea would be to mobilize the church to prayer walk your whole community before the campaign. You could also call the church to a season of prayer and fasting.
5. Brainstorm ideas for creating buzz throughout the church and throughout the community.
Work with your team in thinking of ways to get the word out. I like to use sowing language when it comes to getting the word throughout a community. Here is a post on the Sowing and Reaping Principle.
6. Drive the theme throughout the church.
Creating a sense of synergy throughout the church is important. Getting every section of the church moving in the same direction is a momentum building experience that creates positive energy and good morale. So take your theme and drive it throughout the church from seniors to youth, from singles to toddlers!
7. Develop comeback events.
Creating opportunities for new guests to connect relationally, as well as spiritually, is crucial to having a successful outreach campaign. Planning some type of family friendly event is a great way to get people involved in serving for the first time and connecting relationally with others in the church. Offering entry level bible studies like Bible 101 or Christianity 101 with in weeks of your outreach campaign is important in providing those next steps for those that are spiritually interested. Finally, you want to offer people an opportunity to connect with the church and its leadership by offering some type of newcomers luncheon or party at the pastors event where they hear the story and vision of the church as well as connect relationally with key leaders.
8. Recruit volunteers to fill needed ministry roles.
Doing campaigns is a great opportunity to recruit new volunteers for set up, event planning, children's ministry, ushers, greeters, follow up, administration, new hosts for small groups, etc.
9. Drive your missional values deeper into the culture of your church.
Remember, anytime you do a campaign it is an opportunity to drive your missional vision and values deeper into the lives of your people. The values of evangelism, community, spiritual dependence and community transformation come alive during the campaign and provide opportunities for personal growth and corporate maturity.
May 12, 2017
Guiding Your Children on Their Spiritual Journey
As a church planter and pastor we baptized adults on a consistent basis. Every time a mom or dad followed Jesus' example through waters of baptism I would receive a call a week later saying that their grade school age child would like to get baptized. I would get in my car, drive out to their home, meet with the child and determine that they were not ready because they did not have an adequate grasp of the gospel.
So I went to work on writing a tool that parents could use to engage their children in the truths of the gospel and it's implications on their lives. They would be introduced to baptism, communion, prayer, bible reading, scripture memory, temptation and sharing their faith.
Once a child finishes the eight spiritual projects with their parents they would have written their own story of faith and be ready to participate in baptism and communion. I am so glad that there is a greater emphasis on training parents in how to disciple their children in todays children's ministry philosophy.
Life's Biggest Adventure is a tool for parents to use with their grade school aged children as they guide them through the following questions:
What is the gospel?
How do I know I am a Christian?
What is baptism?
Why do we take communion?
How do I pray? How do I start reading the Bible?
How do I deal with temptation?
How do I tell my friends about Jesus?
Many churches use these as a follow up tool for Vacation Bible Schools.
"I'm so thankful for Life's Biggest Adventure! It's one thing for me as a pastor to tell parents they need to disciple their children, but it is quite another to be able to offer them an easy-to-use tool that helps them to impart their faith to their kids. And I'm even more grateful for what this book has meant for me as a father. Fathers are called to spiritually lead their children, and this book helped me to be a better dad as my son and I worked through the book together. He took new steps of growth, and it culminated with his decision to be baptized as a follower of Christ. I will treasure the memory of those sessions with my son for the rest of my life!"
Mark Albrecht, NorthBridge Church, Antioch, IL
May 4, 2017
6 Negative Effects of Overstaffing Your Church
"Like an archer who wounds at random is one who hires a fool or any passer-by." (Proverbs 26:10)
Careless hiring can have damaging effects on a community of faith. Overstaffing can have the same effect. Overstaffing often hurts the church, the mission and relationships.
Here are a few ways overstaffing can negatively impact the church and along with some antidotes to prevent it.
1) It affects volunteerism in the church.
Show me a church that is overstaffed and I will show you a church whose lay leadership is frustrated and disengaged. They are frustrated because they are not equipped or empowered to lead teams or ministries in the church. They are disengaged because they don't see the need because in their mind someone is now being paid to do this job.
Antidote: Hire proven leaders who equip and empower lay leaders and volunteers not hired guns to do the ministry.
2) It affects outreach and new visitor ratio.
Show me a church that is overstaffed and I will show you a church that is ineffective in outreach and its attendance has plateaued. I have made the argument that adding staff does not grow your church but simply maintains your church at its current level. What grows churches is a constant investment in focused outreach (learn more). If the church is not seeing 5% new visitor flow (5 new visitors for 100 people in attendance) the church will plateau and start to decline.
Antidote: Hold firm to a 5-10% budget for focused and targeted outreach.
3) It affects the financial health of the church.
Show me a church that is over staffed and I will show you a financially crippled church. Many churches take deep financial risks on unproven talent and find themselves depleting their reserves and creating a financial crisis with little results. This happens because they have bought into the idea we need to staff for growth. In this economy this idea is faulty.
Antidote: Start with part-timers and interns. Look at their work ethic and how they influence those around them.
4) It affects functionality of the staff team.
Show me a church that is overstaffed and I will show you a dysfunctional staff team. A church might have 150 people in attendance and be wealthy enough to afford 4 full-time staff. Honestly there is not enough work for them to do and when there is not enough work the staff starts tripping over each other and they even start kicking each other.
Antidote: Hold firm to a 1:150 ratio full-time staff to congregants.
5) It affects senior leaders negatively.
Show me an overstaffed church and I will show you a frustrated senior leader. The reality is that most pastors are shepherd/leaders and not managers. To manage and develop staff is a skill that needs to be sharpened with focused energy. It takes lots of time and huge reserves of emotional energy that can negatively impact a pastor's preaching and performance. Instead of making the pastor's job easier it makes the pastor's job difficult, frustrating and draining.
Antidote: Take time to learn this skill from business leaders.
6) It affects morale of the church.
Show me a church that is overstaffed and I will show you a church who has low morale. Laying-off staff in a church environment is very painful no matter how big or how small the church is because they are seen as part of the family. There is a spiritual, familial, and emotional connection with staff members and their families. When they are laid off the negative impact spreads like a virus. One author described. "…cutting staff is like operating on yourself with no anesthetic." HT
Antidote: Build your team slowly. Live within your means. Don't risk people’s lives.
Additional Resources:
Is Your Church Overstaffed?
Overstaffed leads to overwork
Measuring Church Health: Are we understaffed or overstaffed
Church Health By The Numbers
How to Increase Church Staff Without Spending a Dime
14 Leadership Skills Webinars
March 1, 2017
The Ministry of Prayer
When I entered ministry I was given a book on prayer by E.M Bounds. His writing on prayer laid a foundation for me which impacts all everything that I do.
Here is a excerpt his book The Possibilities of Prayer
THE ministry of prayer has been the peculiar distinction of all of God's saints. This has been the secret of their power. The energy and the soul of their work has been the closet. The need of help outside of man being so great, man's natural inability to always judge kindly, justly, and truly, and to act the Golden Rule, so prayer is enjoined by Christ to enable man to act in all these things according to the divine will. By prayer, the ability is secured to feel the law of love, to speak according to the law of love, and to do everything in harmony with the law of love.
God can help us. God is a father. We need God's good things to help us to "do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly before God." We need divine aid to act brotherly, wisely, and nobly, and to judge truly, and charitably. God's help to do all these things in God's way is secured by prayer. "Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you."
In the marvelous output of Christian graces and duties, the result of giving ourselves wholly to God, recorded in the twelfth chapter of Romans, we have the words, "Continuing instant in prayer," preceded by "rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation," followed by, "Distributing to the necessity of the saints, given to hospitality." Paul thus writes as if these rich and rare graces and unselfish duties, so sweet, bright, generous, and unselfish, had for their center and source the ability to pray.
This is the same word which is used of the prayer of the disciples which ushered in Pentecost with all of its rich and glorious blessings of the Holy Spirit. In Colossians, Paul presses the word into the service of prayer again, "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving." The word in its background and root means strong, the ability to stay, and persevere steadfast, to hold fast and firm, to give constant attention to.
In Acts, chapter six, it is translated, "Give ourselves continually to prayer." There is in it constancy, courage, unfainting perseverance. It means giving such marked attention to, and such deep concern to a thing, as will make it conspicuous and controlling.
This is an advance in demand on "continue." Prayer is to be incessant, without intermission, earnestly, no check in desire, in spirit or in act, the spirit and the life always in the attitude of prayer. The knees may not always be bent, the lips may not always be vocal with words of prayer, but the spirit is always in the act of prayer.
There ought to be no adjustment of life or spirit for closet hours. The closet spirit should sweetly rule and adjust all times and occasions. Our activities and work should be performed in the same spirit which makes our devotion and closet time sacred. "Without intermission, incessantly, earnestly," describes an opulence, and energy, and unabated and ceaseless strength and fullness of effort; like the full and exhaustless and spontaneous flow of an artesian stream. Touch the man of God who thus understands prayer, at any point, at any time, and a full current of prayer is seen flowing from him.
But all these untold benefits, of which the Holy Spirit is made to us the conveyor, go back in their disposition and results to prayer. Not on a little process and a mere performance of prayer is the coming of the Holy Spirit and of his great grace conditioned, but on prayer set on fire, by an unquenchable desire, with such a sense of need as cannot be denied, with a fixed determination which will not let go, and which will never faint till it wins the greatest good and gets the best and last blessing God has in store for us.
The first Christ, Jesus, our great high priest, forever blessed and adored be his name, was a gracious comforter, a faithful guide, a gifted teacher, a fearless advocate, a devoted friend, and an all-powerful intercessor. The other, "another comforter," the Holy Spirit, comes into all these blessed relations of fellowship, authority and aid, with all the tenderness, sweetness, fulness and efficiency of the first Christ.
Was the first Christ, the Christ of prayer? Did he offer prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears unto God? Did he seek the silence, the solitude and the darkness that he might pray unheard and unwitnessed save by heaven, in his wrestling agony, for man with God? Does he ever live, enthroned above at the Father's right hand, there to pray for us?
Then how truly does the other Christ, the other comforter, the Holy Spirit, represent Jesus Christ as the Christ of prayer! This other Christ, the comforter, plants himself not in the waste of the mountain nor far into the night, but in the chill and the night of the human heart, to rouse it to the struggle, and to teach it the need and form of prayer. How the divine comforter, the spirit of truth, puts into the human heart the burden of earth's almighty need, and makes the human lips give voice to its mute and unutterable groanings!
What a mighty Christ of prayer is the Holy Spirit! How he quenches every flame in the heart but the flame of heavenly desire! How he quiets, like a weaned child, all the self-will, until in will, in brain, and in heart, and by mouth, we pray only as he prays. "Making intercession for the saints, according to the will of God." (HT)
February 25, 2017
Creating Positive Immersion Experiences for Church Outreach
Two weeks after I received Christ I was invited by my new Christians friends to attend a Saturday seminar on evangelism. To be honest, at that time, I didn't even know what evangelism was or even meant. I was just excited to be with my new friends. By the end of the day I discovered that evangelism was just sharing what Jesus has done for me with the people who come into my life.
At the end of that training the leaders gave us an opportunity to practice what we had just learned. My friends asked me if I wanted to go with them to a local college campus and live out the principles we all discovered that day. I did not knowing what I was getting myself into...that next Saturday I was engaging spiritual conversations with college students! The leader and myself would walk up to a group of college students, he would initiate the conversation and at some point he would say, "Gary, tell them what Jesus has done for you."
Three weeks after trusting Jesus as Lord and Savior I was completely immersed in evangelism. It was life changing. Every time I shared my faith that day the gospel was deepened into my life and I gained confidence in what I was communicating. This is why my life verse is, "I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ." (Philemon 1:6)
When we deny our church members opportunities to get outside the church walls and touch the world with the love of the gospel we deny them faith stretching moments, the ability to see God at work and the blessing of understanding the richness of the gospel in deep ways. (Philemon 1:6)
Jesus Created Missional Immersion Experiences
Jesus used immersion experiences to train his disciples; first, the Apostles (Luke 9:1-6,10-11) and then the Seventy (Luke 10:1-24).
Jesus did a quick orientation
Jesus sent them out on a specific mission
The disciples reported back what happened
Jesus debriefed and celebrated them
Five Key Ingredients for Creating Missional Immersion Experiences
Leadership: Leaders who live, breathe and exemplify the behaviors they want to be lived out in their people.
Orientation: A short motivational instruction that reviews the why's and how's of the outreach activity you are doing. This is a time to go over the do's and don'ts as you send the team out.
Multi-Sensory: This experience must touch a person's heart (move people deeply), their soul (force a deeper sense of faith), their mind (stretch then intellectually) and their strength (involves physical activity).
Reproducible: This must be a behavior that a person could do without the leader or the team. It must involve something that they can take with them for the rest of their lives.
Celebration: A time for the group to report, debrief, and celebrate with the leader.
Take Aways
Study the Gospels and look for other immersion experiences that Jesus used in training the disciples.
View the Webinar on Equipping Your People in Evangelism.
First take you leaders and staff through and evangelistic immersion experience
Prayer walking
Servant Evangelism
Door to Door Visitation Check out Ed Stetzer's research
Plan a sermon series on evangelism with a church wide evangelistic immersion experience at the end of it.
Check out Additional Resources & Ideas on Evangelism
5 Steps to Increase the Spiritual Conversations in Your Church
Own it As the Leader
Expand the Effectiveness of Your Staff
Continually Call Your Leaders Into the Mission
Provide Training Opportunities for Your Congregation
Create Immersion Experiences for Your Congregation
February 22, 2017
Training the Whole Church in the Art of Spiritual Conversations
“Evangelism was the prerogative and duty of every church member ... The ordinary people of the first century church saw it as their job: Christianity was supremely a lay movement, spread by informal missionaries." - Michael Green
We will not advance the gospel through the church without the serious training for every member in how to share the gospel winsomely and accurately. The Apostle Peter makes in very clear that every follower of Jesus must be prepared to articulate the hope they have experienced in Christ.
"But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." I Peter 3:15
Here is a challenge for every church to embrace: Seek to train 1/3 of your church in evangelism this year.
In Win Arn's 'Church Growth Ratio Book', he states, "One of every three adults should receive evangelism training at least once a year."
Why?
One of the gifts needed to build up the church is the gift of the evangelist (Ephesians 4:11-12). In many churches the emphasis is on nurturing existing Christians and strengthening the faith of current members is a preoccupation. While this is important it is incomplete if your spiritual formation plan has no evangelism component. If this training lacks little focus on reproduction it will lead to an inward mentality that will puff up the church instead of building up the church. Churches that continually make it a goal to train a significant portion of the congregation in evangelism tend to be more outreach focused. If you have a church of 150 that means 50 people need to be trained in outreach. If you have a church of 1000 that means 333 people need to be trained. As your church grows bigger I believe that achieving this ratio gets harder and needs for more focused attention by leaders.
How?
1. Develop a training rhythm that touches people weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually.
Weekly: by creating an investing, inviting and including culture.
Monthly: by providing entry level immersion experiences (see the next post).
Quarterly: by offering full day equipping opportunities.
Annually: by offering Sunday morning/small group spiritual emphasis campaigns.
2. Start training trainers.
I have discovered that the faster I can get the training out of the professionals hands the quicker the lay leaders own the process.
Which lay leaders can reinforce your investing, inviting and including culture?
Which lay leaders can lead and promote your entry level experiences?
Which lay leaders can be mentored in training others in sharing their faith?
How many leaders can you engage in an annual spiritual emphasis campaign?
3. Focus on one tool that will mark your church.
When you think of Campus Crusade (CRU) what evangelism tool comes to mind? Four Spiritual Laws! When you think of Navigators? The Bridge! The Billy Graham Association? Steps to Peace with God! What do people think of when it comes to your church? Anything? Find a tool and work the tool. If you can't find anything that fits your culture then create one. That's what we did 25 years ago with the Spiritual Journey Guide...it shaped our church and is now shaping thousands of other churches.
Action Steps
Keep track...how many people are you training a year?
Identify the evangelism in your congregation.
Find trainers...who can help you?
Find a tool...what works for you and your church culture?
Additional Evangelism Resources
5 Steps to Increase the Spiritual Conversations in Your Church
Own it As the Leader
Expand the Effectiveness of Your Staff
Continually Call Your Leaders Into the Mission
Provide Training Opportunities for Your Congregation
Create Immersion Experiences for Your Congregation
