Who's Your One?, Florida Baptist Convention, Evangelism. Gospel Witness

Evangelism

Training Videos will be released over the next few months to equip you and your church with a variety of evangelism strategies.

THE BEST NEWS

This training course will equip you to share the saving truth of the gospel with your friends, family members, neighbors and coworkers. We recognize that the thought of having gospel conversations with others intimidates many people, so if you’re feeling apprehensive, don’t worry. This three-week module and accompanying The Best News card will simplify the process and give you the confidence you need. Five components were carefully designed with you in mind, and each one is critical for your success:

Weekly Gatherings: Evangelism is a communal activity; it requires more than one person. Each week, you will gather alongside others to learn about how to start and sustain gospel conversations. The curriculum builds from week to week, so make sure you do not miss a gathering.

Newscast Exercises: At the end of each gathering, there will be a “Newscast” exercise where you will put what you’ve learned into practice. This might feel uncomfortable at first, but participation is critical. These exercises will help you to try out the principles you’ve learned and increase your confidence. If you’re feeling unclear about how to complete these exercises, reach out to your leader for clarification.

Study Guide: The booklet you can download (below) will help you retain and organize all of the ideas you’re discovering in the course. When you view the video lesson each week, you can follow along and take notes in the corresponding fill-in-the-blank section. Keep it in a safe place, so you don’t lose it.

The Best News, Evangelism Training

The Best News Cards: Many evangelism training courses provide participants with a mountain of helpful principles but leave them stranded when it comes to implementation. To avoid this, we’ve developed a simple tool to guide you as you start gospel conversations. Make sure to get a packet of The Best News cards from your group leader after the second session.

Intentional Prayer: Because the Holy Spirit is responsible for conversation and salvation, any practice of evangelism should include prayer for friends and family who are far from God. That’s why we’ve built in time during each gathering to pray for those with whom you would like to start a gospel conversation. Remember that this is not a time for personal prayer requests, which are also important. It is a time focused on those in our lives who need to believe the best news of the Christian gospel.

VIDEO TRAINING SESSIONS
The three video training sessions below go with your Study Guide. Watch the video for each session, and have your Study Guide handy so you can fill in the blanks and complete each exercise.

THE BEST NEWS CARD

You can click below to download a version of The Best News card that you can print and share.

Best News Card

THREE CIRCLES

EVANGECUBE

To order resources, visit davidburtonministries.com

GOSPEL APPOINTMENTS

How do I set up a Gospel Appointment?

Gospel appointments help us connect more new people to our ministry. In four years, we have never had anyone offended by this method! We have heard many people thank us for taking time to meet with them. I believe that if you attempt to set up a gospel appointments with all the new people who come to your ministry you will lead a lot more people to Jesus and see a higher percentage of visitors getting connected.
If you are at a spiritually neutral setting such as on campus or at a party…

1. START A CONVERSATION AND GUIDE THE CONVERSATION TO DETERMINE WHERE THEY ARE SPIRITUALLY.
Use FIRE

  • Find Common Ground
  • Interests
  • Relationships
  • Experience with Spiritual Things

2. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ANY OPPORTUNITY TO IDENTIFY WITH CHRIST.

This can be something like, “Yeah, I am involved in this campus ministry called ____,” or “On Sundays, I’ve been going to church at ______,” or “ We just got back from a fun trip that helped my relationship with God.” Just find a way to indicate that you are active spiritually.

3. ASK THEM A QUICK SPIRITUAL QUESTION.
Ask, “Did you grow up going to church or anything like that?” The idea is to listen for their spiritual background.

4. TRY AND SET UP A MEETING.
No matter what they answer you can follow it up with something like “That’s interesting. Hey, I have been learning some pretty helpful things about having a relationship with God. Maybe we could get together sometime for lunch or coffee and talk more about this?” Wait for their response. If they say yes, then do your best to schedule a time as soon as possible.

5. GO BACK TO A CASUAL CONVERSATION AND JUST HANGOUT WITH THEM.
Maybe something like “so what are your plans for this weekend?”

If you are at your ministry’s large group meeting, small group or a social event….

6. START A CONVERSATION ABOUT ANY TOPIC. NO NEED TO TRANSITION. SIMPLY TRY AND SET UP A MEETING.

Say, “It would be great to get lunch or coffee sometime and we could get to know each other and I can tell you more about what our group is about?”

 

Consider trying to set up gospel appointments with EVERYONE who comes to your large group meeting, small groups, and socials. The fact that they are present shows they are already interested in, or at least open to, spiritual things. The phrase “I can tell you more about what our group is about” is great because our groups are all about the gospel!

Training students and staff to set up meetings with all visitors (whether you know if they are a believer or not) will make your ministry much more “sticky.” It will help you connect to more new people.

“In four years, we have never had anyone offended by this method! We have heard many people thank us for taking time to meet with them.” – Paul Worcester

An attempt to set up a gospel appointment with all the new people who come to your ministry will result in more opportunities to share the gospel. And sharing the gospel more leads to more people following Christ.