Evangelism Sunday School Class

Tonight at church, my pastor, Pastor Mark Shorey from
Tri-Lakes Center in Branson, Missouri asked if I would begin teaching an Evangelism Sunday School class when our "Way of the Master" Foundation Course ends in 5 weeks. This is outstanding news!!

When we were discussing the Way of the Master foundation course previously, I let Pastor know that I would be willing to teach an Evangelism Sunday School class or whatever else I can do to get this biblical way of evangelizing out to Christians. Tonight he made it public and told the congregation. It is very good news.

God bless.

My website:
www.repent-and-turn.com

Are you a good person? Take the test at www.needgod.com

Evangelism Training at Church - Week 3

It was a great night at church teaching "The Mirror of the Ten Commandments"(click to watch it online) as week 3 in the Way of the Master Foundation Series.

Tonight we had 118 people who were all willing to watch the video, discuss the questions, and soak in what the Ten Commandments are really for - to use when witnessing to show a person that they have broken God's Law and that they have offended Him - to bring them to a place of repentance towards God.

If you want to see proof of this, see the following bible verses:

Galatians 3:24 - "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith."

Psalms 19:7 - "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul..."

Romans 3:19 - "Now we know that what things soever the law says, it says to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God."

Romans 3:20 - "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin."

I John 3:4 - "Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgeression of the law."

Romans 7:7 - "What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law."

I Timothy 1:8-9 - "But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners..."

Okay, back to the class...I discussed some of our personal experiences we've encountered while we have been out witnessing. This really helps in the class, it shows people that they can get out and do this. It is not just for select Christians...it is for ALL Christians. We are really pressing the issue about people not only listening to this from the sanctuary...but to step out of their comfort zone and DO IT. I believe when it is time for us to go out, we will have willing people. The church bought Living Waters gospel tracts and we were selling them for the time we go out as a group.

After service, quite a few people came up and said how good the message was. There was some teenage girls there from "Teen Challenge" that were saying they would be missing next week, which will be "WDJD" (which actually shows you step-by-step how to start a conversation with someone you want to witness to), and they really wanted to see it so that they could learn how to witness this way. They wrote down the number to the Teen Challenge office. I am to call the person in charge and discuss possibly going there and showing the videos and teaching it to them. This would be a great opportunity.

People told me that they just sat there, listening to this way of using the Law. They haven't thought of it before, but it is very Biblical and makes since. I had the same thought when I first watched it.

It was a great night. The church is very receptive to the Way of the Master. Like I said before, the plan is that in a week or two, we will be heading out with a group from church into Branson, with the pastor at the head of the line.

My website:
www.repent-and-turn.com

Are you a good person? Take the test! www.needgod.com

Evangelism Training at Church - Week 2

Tonight was week number two of WOTM at Tri-Lakes Center church in Branson, Missouri. We showed "God Has a Wonderful Plan For Your Life" video. It was awesome!! Last week we had about as many as we normally ever have - 105 people- on Wednesday night, due to the teachers being spread around and other ministries going on. Tonight we had 139 people!!!! It looks like people are going out and getting their friends and bringing them to church. That just shows that there is a hunger for learning how to witness to others.

People loved the video. The video discusses how modern evangelism, which is basically "friendship evangelism" and telling others of all the benefits that they can get if they come to Christ. This is all we hear in the church as a whole now days. It is not Biblical. The issue isn't one of life enhancement, but of righteousness. It doesn't matter how happy a sinner is, or how much pleasure he is having in sin, he will perish on the day of wrath. We need righteousness to be in a "right standing" with God on Judgement Day. They seemed to whole-heartedly agree.

There was discussion going on in the question and answer time. The pastor, Mark Shorey, was agreeing with it. He has a heart for the lost already, but he has never heard this training and he is excited.

I read some of the stats about the follow-up numbers being terrible for different outreaches. The fall away rate for people making a "decision for Christ" is close to 90% to 95%. The way we have heard about witnessing isn't working too well, it's broke, basically. Christians are passionate about learning how to Biblically, effectively, share their faith. I am very excited.

After service a man came up to me who was looking extremely focused and serious. He walked up and gave me a hug. He said, "I have grown up in church all my life. I have been in kids ministry, youth and adult classes in church. I have NEVER heard any teaching, either formally or informally, about how to reach the lost like this. We never tell someone, you are a sinner and you need the righteousness of God'. We always talk about the benefits and how God will walk with them and be with them....always sugar-coating the real issue- which is they are a sinner and on their way to hell. This is a very good teaching and we need it". Praise God!!!!

After service, pastor said to Leann and I, "Okay, how long until we get to the actual training about how to put this into practice? Because as soon as that episode is finished, we are having a sign-up sheet for people to meet that Satuday at the church and we are going down to Historic Downtown Branson and we are going to witness to everyone down there!!" WOW. It's like I'm holding him back! Anyway, that is what happened tonight.

Please keep the church in your prayers. Pray for the Holy Spririt to continue to build a fire in their hearts, and give them an extreme passion for sharing their faith with other.

Praise God!

Brad

www.repent-and-turn.com

Evangelism Training at Church - Week 1

Tonight was the first night of the Way of the Master Evangelism Training at our church, Tri-Lakes Center in Branson, Missouri. Our pastor, Pastor Mark Shorey, really has a heart for soul winning. He is excited about this training and is ready to take it to the streets of Branson!

Wednesday night church begins at 6:00pm. We arrived early and set up a table with the Way of the Master and Living Waters books, dvd's, gospel tracts, etc. We were also selling the Study Guide so as to follow along with the lessons. We sold all but 3 of our study guides (the church ordered 80, which we were asking only one per couple to be sure we had enough). It looks as if we'll be ordering more of them. Tonight we had approx. 105 people attending the class. The church is located in Branson, so there are many visitors. The visitors are taking the Study Guides back to where they live and are interested in getting it started in their church, or at least attend the foundation training course.

They wired me up with a wireless microphone and we were set. We sang songs, pastor made announcements and asked people to buy their study guides if they haven't gotten one yet. At roughly 6:30pm, it was time to begin. I introduced my wife(Leann) and myself, gave a short bio on Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron and their websites, as well as mentioning The Great News Newtwork (GNN). Then read a "Letter from an Atheist" that has recently posted on his xanga site. There are a few of us GNN Seed Sowers that have been posting to his topic of Christianity. It was very moving. He mentioned how Christians should be very concerned about the fate of the unsaved, if we truly are Christians and believe what the Bible says. We then began the video for Week 1 - The Firefighter. We have Wednesday night service out in the concession stand area, because we eat right before the service (not too bad!). Here are a couple of pictures taken during praise and worship right before the class began. (Click on pics to enlarge)

After watching the video, we discussed the questions in the study guide. This allowed us to talk a little about what we just learned during the video. Like any first time class, the answers started in a little slow, but it picked up during the question and answer session. The class ended at approx 7:30pm.

This lesson discusses the Christian's obligation to witness to anyone that is unsaved. It also shows how it is the responsiblility of the church to seek and to save the lost, not just be a gathering place for other activities. It was very moving.

I am normally a shy person when I don't know someone, but I thank God for giving me peace and courage for this class. We will be having 7 more classes during this course.

After class, we were passing out the "Letter From an Unsaved Friend" and the million dollar gospel tract. Many people talked to us, saying that this is going to be a very good class. Some wanted the xanga website address to the atheist that wrote the letter I read. Others wanted us to have available for them to purchase the gospel tracts that we had on the table. We will be ordering some of these to sell during the foundation course.

During the class, I mentioned that my e-mail address and phone number was stamped into the study guide book, and that people can contact me if they are interested in going out into Branson to street witness. Pastor got up at the end of the class and said that after some of the training, we will not be waiting for people to call us. We will instead be setting a time to meet and we will be going out to witness in Branson, so come on. Praise God.

There is a young man at church that goes on missions trips. He is headed for the Netherlands for a 10 day missions trip. He really liked the class tonight and wanted to know if he could borrow the dvd's and watch them before he leaves...next week. We loaned him one set of the foundation course. Praise God again!!

Please keep us in your prayers.

www.repent-and-turn.com

Talking With Our Church About Evangelism

This morning we set up a table at church with many of the items from the "Way of the Master" ministry. My wife and I will begin teaching a "Foundation Course " class on Wednesday nights, beginning August 10, 2005 for 8 weeks. Our church is Tri Lakes Center in Branson, Missouri. We were selling the Study Guides that follow along with the classes. We had many of the gospel tracts from www.livingwaters.com and www.wayofthemaster.com. Here are some of the pictures of our table setup:

We had quite a few people come by the table and talk with us. We had an assortment of gospel tracts for people to look at. We were also giving away the "million dollar bill" gospel tracts to people. Those always go over well, folks love them.

We had quite a few (I'd say about 8 folks) that came by the table that were from out of state. They were in Branson on vacation or visiting relatives. Some of them even bought the Study Guides and were going to look up information about Way of the Master. They wanted to go through the classes and get it going in their church where they live. Praise God!! I knew that with us witnessing in Branson that they would get interested in evangelism and take it back home, but this church has many visitors from all over the country as well. They are doing the same thing!

We had a missionary couple that the church supports each month visiting from Thailand. When they got up to speak, they told the congregation that they really need to attend the Wednesday nights evangelism classes that will be taught. They may not be evangelists to another country, but they are to be evangelists out in Branson and where ever they go.

We had people saying they are looking forward to the class starting next Wednesday.

God bless you.