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Green love for your community

August 13, 2011 by hayleyneal 0 Comments


Community, Creatives Stories, Creativity, Environment, Evangelism, Ideas

3 tips for a missional Christmas

August 4, 2011 by hayleyneal 0 Comments

  1. Throw a block / street Christmas Party.
    Get your apartment block together for a party or if you live in an area that has laneways why not a street party? Get some inspiration from one of my dear friends The City Mouse: Good Neighbour plans laneway parties for Surry Hills
    Why not do something similar this Christmas? Have on hand flyers to church and invite your guests along. Or perhaps arrange to sing one of your favourite Christmas Carols and share in 1 minute or less why it is your favourite: “its tells me Jesus is… “etc.
  2. Send Christmas Cards
    You dont have to buy Cheesy Christian Cards rather buy ordinary Christmas cards and put the gospel in them yourself. As you send cards, pray for the people as you sign off on them and pray also for the people you receive cards from. Or hand deliver a Christmas Card and a gift to your apartment block. Spread the Christmas cheer.
  3. Invite People to Church or to your Carols Event
    Most people are up for a good sing-a-long at Christmas or are happy to wave around a candle at a carols by candlelight service… so invite them along. One of the biggest obstacles to our friends/neighbours/collegues/baristas not coming to church are Christmas time, is that we fail to invite them along.

 

 

Christmas, Evangelism, Ideas, Reaching those you know, Tips

Evangelism Idea: Life Dinners

August 2, 2011 by hayleyneal 2 Comments

What are life dinners?

The Hunter Bible Church crew answer:

Simple really.  We are praying that groups of people will gather friends and family together for a meal or social event that is explicitly geared towards introducing people to Jesus.  We will provide a speaker to do a short 5 minute talk and who can answer questions and you do the rest.

  • Could your church be doing something similar?
  • What is your church doing to equip and encourage its members to reach those they know with the gospel?

via @SamHilton

Apologetics, Evangelism, Ideas, Reaching those you know, Tips

5 tips for inviting friends to church!

July 1, 2011 by hayleyneal 0 Comments

Many of us cringe at the prospect of inviting friends or neighbors to church. Which is so sad, because your weekend services are great opportunities for those you know to sit under the sound of the gospel and be changed by it.

These top 5 tips  may help ease some of the cringe and fear!

1. DEPEND ON GOD Appeal to God’s promise to soften hearts of those you know (Ezekiel 11:19), to the gospel and to your invitation to Church. Pray also for the strengthening of your friendship and for God to open the door for the gospel and in inviting your friends along. (Colossians 3:4)

2. BE A GOOD FRIEND Invite them into your life long before inviting them to church and love your friends for loves sake. Please don’t feel like you are being a martyr by being friends with an unbelieving friend. Unbelieving friends have lots to offer you and God calls us to love our neighbours as yourselves. He will soften hearts and change lives.

3. CROSS POLLINATE I recommend this idea a lot as a top tip in personal evangelism, mainly because I think it affirms us that w don’t have to do it alone. God has richly blessed us with a believing family to partner with us. Slowly introduce those you know to others at church. Have after work drinks with friends from all your social circles. If friends connect well, seek out ways to get together in the future. The more believers your unbelieving friends feel comfortable around, the less threatening it will be when they rock up to church, for there will be a few familiar faces.

4. TALK ABOUT CHURCH Do your friends and neighbours know you even go to church? The more you share about church, the more you demystify it. Help them see church is about people and God, not about religion and rituals. Talk about the benefits of belonging. Share about the exciting ministries and lives you are involved in. When the opportunity arises, tell them how the church has been a benefiting you in your life.

5. SIMPLY INVITE  ‘Hey, what are you doing Sunday night, want to come along to church with me?’ If they say no, don’t become discouraged and don’t give up. Continue to be their friend, and wait for other opportunities to arise. When the timing seems right, ask them again.

Church, Evangelism, Ideas, Living for Jesus, Mission

There is such thing as a free lunch… #2 WHO

June 29, 2011 by hayleyneal 0 Comments

Who is involved in this ministry? Who makes Community Lunches Happen:

  • Connect Groups| We urge every Connect Group to take part in one missional activity together in a year. Connect Groups play a key and essential role in contributing to provide a warm and welcoming environment by loving our local community with friendship over a meal.We understand that each individual within Connect Groups have gifts suited to some tasks and not others. Some will better serve with gifts of preparing/cooking the food, others will wait on tables, while some will better serve sitting on tables engaging in conversations. It is our prayer that: “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”  - 1 Peter 4:10

  • Belinda | Welcoming
    Name Tags, Welcome Drinks, Response slips
  • Lisa | Kitchen Logistics
    Food preparation & Supervise Volunteers
  • Megan | MC  & Vibe
    Grace, Welcome, Notices, Segments, Flow
  • Nina  | Connect Group Liaison
    Prior Training/On-day Briefing of CGp’s
  • Hua-Chen | Multicultural Links
    Coordinate Chinese translation of bible passages & ideas for ESL
  • Brendan | Prayer & Relationship Builder
    Sitting on tables and think through things like praying with guests
  • Scott | Community Connect  Group Leader
    Follow Up; give talks
  • Hayley | Offsite Lunches & Community Connect Group Leader
    Coordinate Offsite Lunches (alternate month); Follow Up
  • Other members from Church: all members from our church are invited to particpate, by coming along to enjoy sharing a meal with locals and engage in gospel conversations.
  • The Locals: And last but not least – our guests!!! Without the lovely locals in Kirribilli and surrounding suburbs Community Lunches would not happen. We love the many regular faces that join in the fun and contribute to the warm and loving environment at these lunches.
Related Posts:
1. There is such thing as a free lunch… #1 what
Church, Community, Compassion, Evangelism, Ideas, Living for Jesus, Loving Like Jesus, Mission

Art and Community

June 27, 2011 by hayleyneal 0 Comments

My friend Jenny has again written an article on art.

She wrote:

Art is extremely personal. I like to think of art as a visual diary. Whether the artist intends it or not, when you see their art in the best possible way, you get to see another dimension of them that you may have not known before. I was surprised to catch myself learning new things about each of the artist involved in this project. In a way, I was experiencing the benefits of doing Art in Community…Through the gift of art, we related to one another in a different way.

This is one of the reasons we (Church by the Bridge) hosts I Heart Kirribilli Art Exhibition and Prize. We want to know our neighbours in Kirribilli. We want to know what our neighbours think about the suburb they live in. More importantly we want to SEE what the visual diary of Kirribilli. What the community loves, experiences and knows about Kirribilli.

This year we are inviting Artists to create “AN INTRODUCTION” to Kirribilli. If you had to explain or introduce to a stranger on the street, the suburb of Kirribilli (her people, character, profile, charm), what would you say?

We are pleased to introduce two new categories this year: Graphic Design & Poetry/Prose. (unfortunately this will mean sketch/drawing and fashion will not be prize categories in 2011)

Check the website for more info (Dates, Terms & Conditions plus the online Entry Form etc)

For more about Art in Community from Jenny – click here.

Arts, Church, Community, Creativity, Evangelism, Ideas, Jesus, Mission, People, Reaching those you know

Dear Church…

June 23, 2011 by hayleyneal 0 Comments

Dear Church by the Bridge,

Jesus’ interactions with the crowds in Matthew 9:35-38 motivates us to open our eyes to see the crowds around us and also to open our hearts to see them with the heart of God:

“When he saw the crowds, he [Jesus] had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

Jesus is filled with a tender concern for the crowds. Jesus saw that they are stressed, vulnerable, pressured, deceived, leaderless, disorientated and powerless!

Often we associate this description of desperation with the materially poor and vulnerable in society. Rarely do we associate such desperation with in our professional, geographical, social or familial networks. We are so readily tempted to think that our friends are all right, comfortable, and in need of nothing, for they are decent people, with nice homes, beautiful clothes and good careers! But Jesus sees them differently. He sees their spiritual brokenness. Do you? Are you filled with compassion for them because they too are harassed and helpless?

All people, whether rich or poor, need to be looked upon with the compassion of Jesus, this includes those you know and even yourself! Tim Keller, the pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, in New York once said:

“The more you see yourself as spiritually poor and the recipient of God’s wonderful grace the more your heart is going to go out to the poor. When you look at the materially poor you know that in a sense you are looking in a mirror.”

The compassion of Jesus is a great leveller. Without it we lose the sweet humility of sharing the treasure we have so freely received. With it we can loudly sing & declare:

“everyone needs compassion, the kindness of a Saviour”.

For Christ’s Fame,
Hayley Neal
(Community Pastor)

 

Church, Evangelism, Jesus, Living for Jesus, Loving Like Jesus, Mission, People

Are you an economist?

June 20, 2011 by hayleyneal 0 Comments

How do you look out on the crowds of people who need the gospel of Jesus?

Do you see them through the eyes of a:

Fashionista– “They make me look bad. If I was to include them in my life, it will reflect badly on me… they don’t suit my image.”

Economist –” Nope can’t do that! They will take too much time, too much money, too much effort, for very little return, they are not a worthwhile investment.”

the Moral Police (Pharisaical) – “Can’t believe they drink so much, I don’t even understand why they think that is enjoyable…”

When he [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Compassion, Evangelism, Jesus, People

Dear Church,

June 19, 2011 by hayleyneal 0 Comments

Dear Church by the Bridge,

Jesus’ interaction with the crowds in Matthew 9:35-38 supplies us with great motivation for evangelism and helps shapes the way we do outreach here at Church by the Bridge :

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Like Jesus, we should see the ‘crowds’ and have compassion on them, whether they from in Kirribilli or our personal lives.  It is in the contexts of our many outreach initiatives – such as Playtime, Kirribilli Kids, Community Lunches, I Heart Kirribilli, Simply Christianity and other courses, Fitness mornings, Carols Under the Bridge, and even our weekend services – that we can better see, know, love and share the gospel with our neighbours and friends. All of these activities are intentionally created to help us build genuine relationships with the ‘crowds’ and the success of them relies on each of us playing a role.

Instead of just bringing in the ‘professional-up-front-evangelists’, the Billy Graham‘s or our own church pastors, the majority of evangelism will actually be done by all of us, as we together live out 1 Thessalonians 2:8 :

We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.

I am convinced, that as we faithfully share the gospel and our lives with those we know and are yet know, we will be a church marked by rejoicing. For what praise ought we to give God when we continue to witness His work in bringing the crowds to receive the gospel and to join in with us living for Jesus and loving like Jesus?

For Jesus’ Fame,
Hayley Neal
(Community Pastor)

* this was written for the weekly newsletter that we print to hand out as an insert in all the bibles. this is 1 out of 2 in a series.

Community, Conversion, Culture, Evangelism, Ideas, Jesus, Living for Jesus, Loving Like Jesus, Mission, People, Reaching those you know

What is deceiving you?

June 15, 2011 by hayleyneal 0 Comments

When you look out among the crowds in your work place, university, social networks or home, do you see them as people deceived by their romances, families, work, possessions or reputation? How many of your friends think that these sorts of things can save them, justify them, and/or give them meaning?

People are held captive to these things that they love – because what you love ends up owning you. We are sadly mistaken to think that wealth, health, success, wisdom, marital status and/or beauty can bring us lasting fulfillment. There is though a love, which when it ends up owning you, bestows liberating freedom, true meaning, and genuine salvation.

When he [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd….  deceived, slaves to sin, spiritually sick and injured, and in desperate need of binding up, comfort, care, salvation.

Compassion, Evangelism, Jesus, Loving Like Jesus
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