I was reading a great article in Outreach magazine. It was talking about how people use the words outreach and evangelism interchangeably. On this podcast I’ve been asking for your ideas on what you do to evangelize. Looking back, what I’ve been doing is asking for your outreach ideas.

Outreach is the Wii bowling league. Evangelism is not the prayer you do before you get started. It’s not the “movie night” you host at your church, or the regular Bible study on Wednesday night. Those actions are outreach. They are vehicles for you to bring people into your church (or other location) so they can meet you, and get to know you. You can start to build relationships through outreach. But outreach is not enough. You can feel good about paying for the person’s meal behind you in the drive through, but it’s not evangelism. It is a way to find something in common with people, and gently lead them to Christ.

Some define evangelism as “Joyfully sharing the good news of the sovereign love of God, and calling people to repentance, to personal faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, to active membership in the church, and to obedient service in the world.”

Outreach is a vital part of evangelism. We need to develop friends who are unchurched. We need to let them see that Christians are not as whacky as we are depicted on television. Outreach is a great tool for this, and it lays the groundwork for evangelism.

Without outreach, evangelism is like going up to a stranger and asking for their hand in marriage (before asking them on a date). It catches people off guard. It’s abrupt and assertive. On the other hand if you found someone you really like, you get along great, and you date for five years all of your friends will start to bug you and ask, “When are you going to get married (commitment)?. We worry about “forcing our beliefs” on someone, and end up doing outreach, outreach, outreach. It’s time to pop the question, “So what is your relationship with Jesus like?,” or “How do you feel about God?”

It’s tough pointing out to people that they are sinners and in need forgiveness. It might make them feel bad, and Satan will convince us to sit back and lay low. There is a difference between outreach and evangelism, and in the same way it makes no since to plant a garden and not harvest it, it makes no sense to perform outreach without evangelism.

Outreach Vs Evangelism is a post from: Grow Your Church Show

Can you imagine if we all write down what we’ve tried to get in touch with people outside of your church? Write odwn both the ones that worked and didn’t work, can you imagine how the people that come after us would benefit from such a list? People would read an idea and take them and tweak them into better ideas, more effective ideas, and avoid the ones that didn’t work so well. Can you imagine?

I’m already committing my 2010 to making this site better, and making sure its updated on a regular basis. I hope you will work with me to spread the word of Jesus. You can call in your comments at 888-563-3228, email me dave “at” growyourchurch show “dot” com (spelled out to avoid spam), or just leave a comment on the blog.

A Huge List of Evangelism Ideas is a post from: Grow Your Church Show

Answer this question:

What is your favorite Dessert?

(answer out loud or in your head, but answer the question).

Why?

If I was to answer this question I would say “Mitchell’s home made strawberry ice cream in Lakewood Ohio. There are actual chunks of strawberry in it, is so sweet and yummy. It doesn’t taste artificial at all, and ….(you get the picture)

Yet when we go to talk about God with people we meet, we get scared.  We don’t get worried about people asking for the recipe of our favorite dessert, but we get worried that we have to have the bible memorized before we can speak about our faith.

God Gets Bigger

As you get older, things from the past get smaller (like your high school or elementary school). However, as we get older and bigger God gets bigger as we have a better understanding of our faith. His mercy is so huge we can’t comprehend. Yet it is this awesome gift that we can’t find words to tell our friends.

What if you have more passion for ice cream than Christ? Then read the word, pray, and attend church on a regular basis. You will begin to see the world through his eyes, and your walk will become closer with God. Like your best friend, the more time you spend with them the better you understand each other, and develop a closer bond.

You didn’t have your favorite dessert memorized, and you don’t have to have the bible memorized to tell your friends about Christ.

Whats Your Favorite Dessert? is a post from: Grow Your Church Show

Now that you have a website, and you know people will be going their first, why not direct people their first by using business cards that in a non aggressive fashion point people to your website, which points people to your church, which points them to Christ?

Business cards are fairly inexpensive, and if you buy enough for your congregation to hand out they are very inexpensive (pennies a piece). Right now PSPrint has their business cards 50% off. (offer expires soon).

To find out more about promoting with business cards, check out the book from Reno Lovinson “Turn your business card into business.”

What is God’s Take on Money?

With the economy in such bad shape, people are watching every penny. If you are looking for a way to reach out to your community this may be a topic that really gets their attention. I did a small amount of research and found two companies that help promote financial freedom using principles in the bible.

Dave Ramsey

Dave Ramsey has been helping people with their finances since 1988. He has been a millionaire twice. I just got done listening to the “Total Money Makeover” by Dave Ramsey, and this is a step by step approach to helping you get out of debt, and start saving money. Dave backs up his strategies with scripture references. One of his earlier books “Financial Peace Revisited” covers the attitude change that needs to take place to truly follow Gods principles. You can bring Dave’s “Financial Peace University” right to your church.  The leadership kit is around $300.  Each family member that attends need to buy the class membership for around $93 You can find out more at www.daveramsey.com

Crown Industries

Crown has been helping people with their finances for over 30 years. In fact in the book “Financial Peace” Dave Ramsey quotes Larry Burkett who was one of the founders of Crown Industries.  Crown Suggests that you start with their “Road to financial freedom.”  If you want to host this seminar at your church the kit is around $25. This kit will walk you through implementing the seminar at your church. You can order the materials for your church (a 4 week class) for $2.50 ea. Obviously ordering one copy and copying it would be stealing, and at $2.50 for each person, I found this to be absolutely reasonable.

The good news about crow is they have TONS of information. The bad news is they have tons of information (and it may be hard to find what you want). A call to their office had me listening to someone tell me to go back to their website.
UPDATE: I contacted my local representative and he was very, VERY helpful, and it turns out there are local meeting for leaders and for people looking to launch any of the many ministries crown offers.

You can find out more at www.crown.org

Chicken or the Egg?

I’m not sure who came up with the plan first, but if you compare Dave Ramsey’s “Total Money Make Over” to Crown’s “Money Map” you will see they are almost identical (steps one, save $1000, step two pay off your debt).  If you want to investigate this yourself the Money Map is free (where Dave’s version has a monthly fee).  In general, I feel crown is more of a ministry that talks about money management. Dave Ramsey is focused on money management who happens to be a Christian. Both have great information.

T-shirt of the Week

One of the things I really liked about my honeymoon in Tennessee is I didn’t feel like a fish out of water. People were openly Christian, and I could see where sharing your faith would be easier in a more Christian environment.  So many times we feel like we are the only Christians on the planet. This is why I urge people to share their faith. Wear it on your body,  wear it on your car.  If we all don’t feel so out numbered we may have the confidence to be more open about our faith. This may be something as simple as handing someone a business card that points them at our church. The bottom line is we need to constantly point people to Christ in any way we can.  I saw a very cool static sticker that turns your break lights into a Jesus sign.

Music

Today’s music comes from Michael Jason Frost who is a great singer from Tennessee the song ‘God’s gonna give you a testimony” from the album “Sing Like it’s the last time”

You can find him at www.michaeljasonfrost.com

Promoting God with Business Cards is a post from: Grow Your Church Show

What the Heck is Twitter?

People answer this by saying “a micro blogging platform.” If we were to say this in English, you can use it as your own press release system, and you can only release very short items (144 characters).  The people who will receive your releases (called “tweets”) have to choose to “follow” you.  With this in mind it is a way for people of the congregation to update each other on what is going on in their life and stay in touch with each other. Here are some examples:

“Worship service starts in an hour”

“Megan had her child, it’s a boy, Ethan Bradley, mother and baby are fine.”

“This weeks sermon is “the most important thing for kids” ”

You can sign up for twitter at www.twitter.com

FaceBook

Facebook is a free website that allows you to make friends and when people update their status, their friends can see what is going on. You can share pictures, and much more. You can sign up at facebook at www.facebook.com

Time Shifting is the Key

One of the keys to both Face Book and Twitter is the ability to “time shift” your content. Think of this like an answering machine. When you leave a message for someone the person checks the message whenever they can get to it.  So I can leave a “tweet” on twitter, or post an update on Face Book and people can catch those items whenever they want to.

The best thing about twitter and face book is they are both free.

Reaching a Younger Audience

If you are trying to reach that younger audience, using twitter and facebook may make your church look “cool” and may entice people to stop in and see what’s going on.

Facebook, Twitter, and Your Church is a post from: Grow Your Church Show

Today we get some email from a listener with some tips on a Wii Bowling League for your church.  These include:

1. Don’t bother personalizing the Wii characters.

2. You need at least two systems to have a league.

3. It takes around 4 hours with two lanes

4. Room for flexibility depending on how many games you bowl.

5. If needed you can charge to participate.

Personalize Your Thank You Notes

Technology is a great thing, and yes we can print directly on envelopes to send the through mail. This is fine in soe cases, but if you are sending a thank you note to a visitor you should hand write the enveloope (and if you have the handwriting the note as well). By taking the time (and effort) to hand write a note it shows its personalized, it’s not a form letter, and you took the time and effort to say thank you. We want to create a personalized experience for our guests so they can start a personalized experience with Christ.

T-shirt Of the Week is “Jesus – It’s just that Easy” from Kerusso. Show your faith to everyone around you.

Personalized Thank You Notes is a post from: Grow Your Church Show

You might be thinking, “My church doesn’t even have a website.” Well you can fix this by using WordPress and hosting it at Cooler Websites for a few bucks a month. You can also learn about wordpress by using a site known as Marketing Musician. While this site doesn’t focus on building a church website, you can learn the basics for $10 a month (and you can probably learn all you need in one month and cancel your subscription).

Other sites mentioned

School of Podcasting – www.schoolofpodcasting.com

MUSIC

Jon Bauer from www.jon-bauer.com

This show originates from www.growyourchurchshow.com

Top Mistakes Churches Make On Their Website is a post from: Grow Your Church Show

There is a great story “Starter Ideas for any church of any size” that really shows me ways we can serve our community and raise awareness. Items such as:

Hand out popcorn bags at the local video store that have your church’s information on it.

Have the youth replace the batteries in the smoke detectors in the neighborhood (batteries supplied by the congregation).

Go fishing (great idea for the older to mentor the younger)

Take food the the local firehouse, police stations and trash collectors around thanksgiving.

I had an idea of having a Wii Bowling League (another great activity that can unite older and younger people).

Offer marriage seminars (I recommend Love and Respect ).

These are fun low pressure ways to meet people in your neighborhood, as well as get to know your members better.  You can subscribe at www.outreachmagazine.com

Music

Steven S Billings “T.G.I.F. Thank God I’m Free

For more information go to http://www.myspace.com/stevensbillings

Ideas For Any Church Any Size is a post from: Grow Your Church Show

98 Percent of those people wearing a christian t-shirt wanted their shirt to be noticed by unbelievers.

56.8 percent of the people wearing a shirt actually had an unbeliever ask about their shirt.

7.4 percent of the unbelievers made a decision to accept Jesus Christ as their savior immediately from the faith-apparel discussion with a Christian T-shirt wearer

Starting your own T-shirt ministry is easy, and a fun way to break the ice with people. Plus I know as I wear mine,  I act different as I’m now representing Christ. You don’t want to give giving someone the bird and swearing out the window in a “Faith Book” t-shirt.

Impressions magazine said the average T-shirt may be read as many as 3,000 times before it’s thrown away.  You can find Kerusso t-shirts in our Amazon Store.

Starting Stats From “How To Share Your Faith” book.

I found a GREAT book called “How To Share Your Faith.” Its a quick read, and just so down to earth I loved it. It was filled with great examples. great references, and it really has me thinking, and preparing myself to start sharing my faith.

It did have one very shocking statistic. What percentage of CHRISTIANS have lead another person to Christ. Want to take a guess?

95% – nope

75% – still to high

50% – I’m sorry you’ve over-bid

35% – Sadly you’re still to high.

15% – Close, but not there.

5% of Christians have lead another person to Christ.

So if you think “Well isn’t that what the preacher is for?” the answer is WRONG!. That’s what YOU are for. Christ called us all to go out and preach the gospel. Now before we get too depressed at the statistic. Let’s look at it another way.

Look at all the room for improvement! You can do it.

Music

Jerimae Yoder – Evidence (more music from Jerimae)

Start a T-Shirt Ministry is a post from: Grow Your Church Show

Then be ready to provide a brief description of your church and then see if they ask for more information.

This was inspired by the Newsweek Article Stating the end of Christian America read full story. I think if we could all identify ourselves, we wouldn’t feel so alone. The media definitely wants us to feel like “outsiders” and to feel like we are an “idea” that has simply come and passed.

Bible Study Podcast

My friend Chris Christensen does the The Bible Study Podcast. The bible study podcast is just that. It is a podcast about what the bible says. It is not a political platform so if you are expecting a political theme, this is not the podcast for you. Yes, it is a Christian podcast. For more information go to http://thebiblestudypodcast.com

Music From Karmyn Tyler “Amazing Grace”

Karmyn Tyler is not only beautiful on the outside, but a tremendous person on the inside. I had the pleasure when my Fiance and I were in California a few years ago to attend the Tonight Show with Karmyn and some good friends.  Her voice is just amazing.

For more information about Karmyn, go to www.karmyntyler.com

photo by Michael D'Ambrosia

I Went To Church Today is a post from: Grow Your Church Show