Small Groups

Train for Outreach Using Your Small Groups

One of the best ways to equip the people in your church is through small groups. Here’s a short list of small group materials that can do a great job in getting your people trained. If you’d like to suggest other good materials for training, please let us know so we can pass it on to others.

Evangelism for the Tongue-Tied

by Chap Bettis

YOUR CAN TELL OTHER ABOUT JESUS

Meet David, a deacon if First Community Church. David became a Christian in college when he met two Christians taking a spiritual survey on the campus green. He grew quickly, absorbing everything he was taught and excitedly tell his classmates about Jesus Christ. He took part in form outreach events and saw other put their faith in Christ. But now, twenty years later, things have changed. David’s faith has slowed down even while his life has sped up. Work, family, and church responsibilities consume all his time and energy. David rarely shares with anyone in the large company where he works. He can’t remember the last time he shared his faith. Even though he is surrounded by non-Christians at work, David can’t seem to recapture the boldness he had in college. And when Pastor Bob speaks of telling others about Jesus, David feels guilty but helpless. The only way he knows to rationalize this guilt is by telling himself that he’s just not an evangelist. That explanation makes him feel a little better.

Meet Nichole, a college sophmore. Nichole became a Christian in David’s church when she was a child. In her teen years, she sttended a church-wide evangelism-training program. As ssuggested by the program, she prayed for one other teen to come to faith through her that year. She never saew that prayer answered and, as a result, grew discouraged about sharing her faith. Between this discouragement and her itellectual questioning, her faith faltered. Now in college, she has befun meeting with other earnest Christians. He questions have been answered, and she has grown excited again about sharing her faith. But Nichole finds it difficult to relate to non-Christians. The evangelism techiniques she is being taught feel forced. Any attempt to write her testimony seems like a complete flop because she received Christ when she was five. No other college student can relate to her background. Furstrated, she finds herself wondering if she will ever learn to share her faith with others.

Meet Pastor Bob, the shepherd of David’s and Nichole’s church. When Bob became a Christian in his twenties, Jesus completely changed his life. At first, he told everyone he met about Jesus. A few in his family also professed Christ, although most mocked his faith. But bob was serious about this new life. He sold his house and becan attending seminary. Now a church leader, he finds few chances to witness except in his official role as a pastore. Between preparing sermons, counseling, and leading meetings, he rarely takes time to interact with non-Christians. Looking over his congregation, he realizes how few of his people share their faith during the week. These are good people who love Jesus Christ and sincerely desire to tell other about him. But they don’t know how. Many times he’s preached sermos on being a bold witness, but he’s seen few results. He know his congregation needs more. Bu what? Besides, Pastor Bob has a hard time asking his people to do something he’s not doing.

Three people. Different lives, but one problem. When it comes to sharing their faith, they all feel tongue-tied.

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Proclaim

by Stefan Bomberger

Here’s the summary about Proclaim from their own website:

Want to share your faith but don’t know how? The Proclaim course is a DVD-based evangelism class designed to help everyday Christians like you grow in sharing the good news of Jeus Christ. Through seven sessions you’ll discover how to communicate the gospel clearly and how to trust God more fully in evangelism. Prepare to be practically equipped and biblically motivated as you join God in this unstoppable spead of the gospel!

PROCLAIM SESSIONS

1. The unstoppable Gospel.

2. Gifted for Evangelism

3. Becoming a Friend of Sinners

4. Breaking the Sound Barrier

5. Proclaim the Bad News

6. Proclaim the Good News

7. Putting the Go In Gospel

HOW TO RUN PROCLAIM

Many evangelism courses have been designed to run as a special seminar (e.g weekend workshop). While Proclaim can certaintly be offered this way, we have designed the materials to be run through your church’s small group structure. Every small group get’s their own “Proclaim Training Kit.” Discussion questions and homework assignments are included at the end of every session. Consider taking all of your church’s small groups through the course simultaneously in one church-wide “Proclaim Campaign”.

If your church doesn’t offer small groups, the class can also be run within Sunday School classes or Youth Groups. The benefit we’ve found of doing proclaim within these pre-existing structures is three-fold.

1. Keep the Church Calender less busy.

2. Brings evangelism into the normal relationships, fellowship, and accountability already formed in the church. This reinforces the value that evangelism is a spiritual discipline and normal for every person in the church.

3. Allows everyone to get the class. Usually seminars or elective classes are attended by those interested in the seminar’s topic. Therefore if you offer Proclaim as an elective the people most likely take it are already passionate about evangelism and already doing evangelism. The people least likely to take it are the ones you want to influence the most.

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Getting Biblical About Evangelism

by Keith Davy and Daniela Byers

This work book is produced by Campus Crusade for Christ and is designed for their staff and students, but we think it’s just applicable for the rest of us. Here’s how they describe the course.

BUILDING A BIBLICAL PHILOSOPHY

We want students to do evangelism, but not just because we asked them to, or because others in the ministry are doing it. We want them to develop their own convictions about evangelism and we want those convictions to come from Scripture. Ultimately we want them to be passionate about evangelism long after their days on campus are over.

Getting Biblical teaches “Why” we do evangelism. Getting Biblical About Evangelism (GBAE) was intended for the development of student and staff involved with sharing their faith on Campus.  GBAE is designed as a self-study tool, whose insights can be discussed for discussions in personal discipleship or small groups.

Built around the Campus Ministry’s Evangelism Model, this study guides the reader through fourteen key passages from the bible, leading to the discovery of evangelism principals about:

The Master (God’s Role); The Masses (The Audience); The Messengers; The Message (The Gospel); and The Methods.

After exploring all fourteen passages, a concluding section allows the reader to synthesize insights and summarize  lessons into a personal biblical philosophy of evangelism.

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Just Walk Across The Room

by Bill Hybels

Here’s what Willow Creek says about Just Walk Across The Room:

Just a few steps and a friendly hello may be all it takes to change someones life- and their eternity! And the good news is, it has more to do with taking a genuine interest in another person and listenting to their story than it does with learning evangelism tactics and techniques.

Thousands of Church’s are already implementing the simple, personal approach by Bill Hybels’ award-winning book, Just Walk Across The Room. Now is your Church’s opportunity. Learn how to equip your members to walk in a totally new way of evangelism. The concepts aren’t hard, just effective.

Take the first step today– and watch your church shape tomorrows more than you ever dreamed possible.