Great Commission – Part 2

Matthew 28:18, Romans 10:14

Introduction: Final Instructions – The Great Commission – Part 2

Week 1

The Decline in America of both professing to be Christians, the Un-churched, and the De-churched.

Reasons for Leaving

Move To NEW COMMUNITY	25%
I HAD OTHER pRIORITIES FOR MY TIME AND MONEY	15%
I DIDN’T FIT IN WITH CONGREgATION	14%
I DISAGREE WITH THE POLITICS OF THE CONGREGATION	13%
I BEGAN TO DOUBT GODS EXISTENcE	10%
Attending was inconviniet	10%
Divorce, remarriage or another family change	9%
I didn’t experience much love within	8%

Reasons for Returning

New Friends	33%
Moved and want to make new friends	27%
Lonely and want to make new friends	27%
Child wants to go	22%
Friend invites me	21%
A good community	20%
Spouse wants to go	18%
Feel the distance from God	18%
Begin to miss church	17%
Supernatural Phenomena	16%
Don’t have better options on Sunday morning	16%

How Big of an Influence Were Your Parents in De-churching?

None	32%
Some	34%
Quite a Bit	21%
A Great Deal	13%

According to the 2020 Faith Communities Today (FACT) study on all kinds of faith communities, ‘the vast majority of the country’s are small.

• 70% of these faith communities have 100 or fewer weekly attendees.
• Only 10% of them have more than 250 or more people.

• The Average Sunday morning attendance of AoG churches is 80.

‘Traditional Methods’ of Evangelism:

Question: So how is evangelism ‘done?’

6 Styles of Evangelism

The six styles are:

• Direct – Acts 2

• Intellectual – Acts 17
  
  
• Testimonial – Story-telling – John 9

• Relational – Luke 5:27-29
  
  
• Invitational – Bill Hybels, the author of Becoming a Contagious Christian says, “There are many people who would take great strides in their spiritual journey if someone would go to the effort of strategically inviting them to a seeker-oriented church service or outreach event.” It is all about extending the invitation.

• Service – If you are a person who naturally notices the needs of others, this might be the perfect way to share your faith. A person who prefers this approach enjoys sharing the love of Christ through deed over word.

Every single person has God-given gifts and abilities that fall into one or more of these six approaches. A church community will have all of the styles present. The members, using their gifts and working together, can become very effective at sharing the message of Christ in their community.

Friendship Evangelism

1. Authentic
2. Non-Superior
3. Non-Judgmental

Question: What can/should the ‘church’ do to be more attractive/appealing?

The Difference Between Attractional and Attractive Ministry

Next Week – https://ftc.co/resource-library/blog-entries/the-difference-between-attractional-and-attractive-ministry/

‘Whenever churches start asking those questions and focusing on whether or not we are “attracting,” we’ve moved off center’.

• When we do this we become like the Pharisees, who were more concerned about how they were viewed than who they actually were.
• Maybe even more pathetically, we are like the teenage boy constantly checking out his budding muscles in the mirror in hopes that maybe this will help him finally get the girl to pay attention to him.

‘This isn’t to say that churches should be intentionally unattractive’!

• In fact, if churches focus on doing gospel things they will actually be naturally attractive—at least to some.

The Bible gives evidence of this. Jesus attracted crowds. The disciples, too, attracted a ton of folks who were filled with questions and wondering what in the world was going on with them.

‘There was something about the way they were living that attracted folks and caused them to wonder why in the world these Christians had such hope. They were attractive’.

Though it’s a subtle difference, there is a great chasm between being an attractive church and an attractional church.

• One intentionally tries to draw a crowd, while the other goes about doing their ministry and the crowds show up, maybe. Jesus didn’t have healing services in hopes that people would show up. He healed people because that is who He is and people showed up as a result.
• The attractional model, though, draws a crowd and hopes to slip the gospel in the backdoor. One has confidence in who they are and they other is like a junior high boy who doesn’t have enough confidence in his person to drop the frills and just be himself.

Attractional = Bells, lights, whistles, mood, etc.
Attractive = genuine, meeting needs, preaching the whole gospel.

Frankly, churches don’t have the time or the resources to be distracted by all the “what will draw them” questions. That’s a moving target. What draws one unbeliever will repel another. And as soon as you think you’ve got it figured out, another flashy light comes along and distracts them. Attractional doesn’t work because it’s simply a veneer for insecurity. Believe the gospel or pack it up, is what I say.

‘Put your hand to the plow and start doing gospel things—preaching the gospel, healing brokenness, redeeming marriages, and the like—and you’ll be attractive’.

Between 2005-2019; Two major denominations in America have seen a 11%and 19%. The AoG grew over 16%.

Week 3 – Baptism of Holy Spirit