Go to Top

June update

How are we with numbers?

Once there was a man who had 100 followers on Twitter.  But one day 1 of them stopped following him.
What should he do?

Once there was a man who had 100 followers on Twitter.  But one day 99 of them stopped following him.
What should he do?

The picture that Jesus gives in Luke chapter 15 is that God goes after the 1.  He loves and cares for the 1 that much.  What would He do for the 99 then?

This is not about advice for social media account management. Another recent survey has less and less people saying they are Christian and more and more saying they are not religious at all (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2016/05/28/british-christianity-isnt-dying-its-sleeping-evangelism-can-awak/).

So are we reflecting as Christians God’s concerns for the 1 out of 100 who is lost in our priorities, sermon applications, time management, people management, budgets, church social life, leadership agendas, new initiatives, reviews of current programs and prayers?

What about reflecting God’s concern for the 99 out of 100 who are lost – because the numbers are more like that in this country at the moment.

Resources reviews

Where is God at work? (William Morris)
There is a growing awareness of the importance of the work place for Christians it seems which is great.  The different things about this book from what I have seen is that it goes through various situations which can arise (for example having a difficult boss – not that that I ever have had of course if any are reading this….) and talks through various approaches to them in a sound, realistic way with real life examples and experiences.  Also there is an excellent section about the parable of the talents with an emphasis that all the slaves were valued and we all should work with God to do the best we can for Him where we are.

First – century Game Changers (Crowne and Singlehurst)
Six Bible studies for small groups with reflections on the Talking Jesus research (http://www.talkingjesus.org/) and help on some practical responses to it using the church in Acts as a basis.  A good summary of the research with some good prompts for reflections, real life examples and a push for action – action is what is needed!

Meet up with friends for coffee?
Want to say something about your faith but don’t know what to say?  Have a look at http://www.coffeechats.org/ for ideas and films that you can watch with your friends over coffee on a Smart phone or tablet.

Last month…

9th and 24th May – meetings to plan for Start enquirers course with St Luke’s.  Some people who don’t go to church have shown interest in coming along so please pray that they do and start to think about life and God. I am working with people from the church on it to try to train them up to lead on future courses.

15th May Churches Together in Chelmsford AGM – had a ‘stand’ (table…) about Evangelism consultancy.  Had one good conversation with a pastor about possibly working together.  He asked a common question – what is the key tool to evangelism?  The answer?  There isn’t one – it’s more about having an alive relationship with Jesus that naturally overflows into the lives of others (John 15 v 4).

22nd and 29th May Preached at Kelvedon URC and CGC Basildon respectively about engaging with the culture, following the example of Paul in Acts chapter 17 in Athens.  Or are we exclusive or inclusive?

This month…

1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th June – Leading Start course with St Luke’s (see above).

21st June Meeting with Schools and Youth Ministries Management Board to look at next 3 year strategic plan.

25th June Leading Chelmsford Diocese Chelmsford area Certificate of evangelism training – we currently have 3 people from local churches signed up for 4 sessions of theory and practice.

2nd July Attending national evangelism conference
(https://www.premierchristianradio.com/Features/Unbelievable-The-Conference-2016-Discover-Your-Inner-Evangelist)

3rd July Preaching at Broomfield Road Evangelical church’s playgroup service.

If you would like regular evangelism ideas for you and your church, please sign up to receive the monthly update.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.