May 13, 2011
Recently, I re-read an old Keller article about Networking and Evangelism and read it with our iHeart Mission team as a stimulant and training paper for our first planning meeting for 2011.
Take Home Points:
- Who do you have in the incubator?
We should expect one another to have 2-4 people in the “incubator”: a force field in which ‘those that we know’ are being prayed for, given literature, drawn into our christian social networks, invited to courses, brought to church or other events at church.
- Who do you preach to?
Preach and present in every service and ministry so that both Christians and non-Christians are always intentionally challenged and addressed. Preach as if skeptics, agnostics, etc. are there, and if you do, they will soon be there. They will be brought if you congregation know they are welcomed.
- How are you creating places for smiling faces? Keller argues the more varied ways a person hears the ospel and the more often a person hears the gospel before making a commitment. The better. Is the majority of your evangelism orientated to the ”crisis” orientated evangelism or are you pursuing ‘process’ orientated evangelism, acknowledging people need to come in stages.
Lots of the ministries at Church by the Bridge (whether specifically outreach orientated or not) – are developed out of these three points. We create & initiative ministries and activities that make space to build relationships with people. We hope that in doing so we will see locals (strangers) & our friends (those in our incubators) introduced to Christians, Christian Community & eventually Jesus. We pray, welcome and expect all sorts of people are in attendance at every church service, ministry and event.
I wanted to have a tool to help me do the 
