Kindle Notes & Highlights
E-3 evangelism crosses the linguistic barrier.
The stained-glass barrier refers to the imagined barrier between the church and those on the outside.
No one is immune to the barriers built by fear.
Christians often create a barrier between themselves and the unsaved by their judgmental attitude.
Non-Christians begin to sense their disapproval. Often they will even apologize for their conduct, but such apologies are only words. In reality, many resent having been censored.
They lack any true restraining qualities, but they remain barriers, because they are perceived to bc barriers.
Remember, people are all different, and the barriers standing in the way of each are different. The key is to identify the specific barrier, and tear it down.
You may not have erected the barrier, but you must remove it. Do not let your fears keep you from being a witness.
For the believer, the key to victory over fear is faith in God and His promises.
Once Christians have overcome their own fears, they are free to begin tearing away the fears of the unsaved. This is done by establishing redemptive friendships.
We must not be judgmental. Christ alone is the righteous judge, and Paul indicated that He will judge His own servants (I Cor. 4).
Many churches have back door problems. A large percentage of those who come down the isle to profess Christ or join the church, slip out the back door and never return.
Research shows that a new convert must become a part of a primary group within the church within two weeks of joining the church, or he will become a dropout statistic.
A person must not only join the church, at the same time he should become involved in a Bible class.
Jesus commanded "Go ye therefore and make disciples" (Mt. 20:19). Since a disciple is a follower of Christ, then the new convert must become part of a primary group where he will continue his Christian life.
The most obvious expression of contextual discipleship is expressed in the larger local church and the small primary group.
Every new believer needs someone to watch over his soul.
For normal growth and development, the new Christian must become settled in, or bonded to, a primary group (a Sunday School class) and the local church.
Some Sunday School classes are causing sterility in our churches because members only have fellowship among Christians who have been in the church for a long time. Bible studies can become cliques and freeze out new people.
New classes easily attract new members.
Just as some bodies reject organ transplants because the tissue doesn't match, some new Christians don't seem to fit into church groups because of value differences.
The church must be a heterogeneous group of Christians, yet contain many homogeneous Bible study groups that can meet the unique needs of those within.
The various groups and organizations of the church cannot serve as glue to bond members to the church if the newcomers are unaware that they exist.
The second key is to develop openness and receptivity to new members.
The final key to the effective use of existing classes is placement. Newcomers should not be required to search out a place to belong.
The larger the church becomes, the more important cells or Sunday School classes become.
There are two basic reasons for the creation of new classes. One, all newcomers may not be able to find a place of involvement in an existing class.
The second reason for creating new classes is that existing classes are usually saturated.
Multiplication of cells is accomplished by recruiting individuals to form a nucleus of a new class. This method is far more safe because it does not apply undue outside pressure.
Bonding is essential to the task of closing the back door of the church.
First, he offers them any spiritual help they may need in their life - including counseling, hospital visits, or specialized ministry.
Secondly, he tells them that he would like to bring a Friendship Packet to their home.
Third, Janney tells the visitor that his secretary will phone to make an appointment for him to visit in the home at their convenience. Fourth, Janney determines if they are good prospects that demand a priority evangelistic visit during the week.
Friendship Evangelism includes drawing people to the local church as a vital part of the process of evangelism.
The word F.R.A.N. stands for Friends, Relatives, Associates and Neighbors.
1. The Law of Three Hearings. Research shows that the average visitor to church does not come forward during the invitation to accept Christ the first time he visits a church.
2. The Law of the Seven Touches. Research shows that a person usually makes a meaningful decision for Christ after the church has contacted him seven times.
1. F.R.A.N.gelism Follow-up helps in the stair stepping process.
2. F.R.A.Ngelism Follow-up prepares for the event of new birth.
3. FR.A.N.gelism Follow-up is essential to proper Christian growth and development.
Since the local church is the God-ordained center for growth, active involvement in the local church is essential to proper and normal development.
1. F.R.A.N.gelism Follow-up is personal.
2. F.R.A.N.gelism Follow-up is persistent.
3. F.R.A.N.gelism Follow-up is powerful.
1. When to begin? The process of drawing people to the church should begin with the first contact.
The crops must be harvested when they are ripe, and people must be won to Christ and to the church while they are winnable.
2. Who starts the process? If a visitor who has no contact with members of the church attends a regular worship service, then the first contact should be made by the pastor.
First Touch - On Sunday afternoon, the pastor should phone all those who visited in the morning service. His purpose is not to invite them to visit again. In fact, he should not make an invitation to return, he should assume they will return. He should assume that God is working in the visitors' hearts.
Second Touch - Sunday, evening, the church secretary should send a personal letter from the pastor to each visitor.
Third Touch - Monday or Tuesday the secretary should phone to make an appointment for the pastor to visit in the home.
