In taking this evangelistic journey, we will take a close look at the Three Spheres of Outreach which include: 1) The leader and the people they connect with during the week, 2) The church and those within their sphere of influence, 3) The unconnected, those who know nothing about the church and are disconnected with your people.

In each of these spheres we develop Three Strategies of Outreach, 1) The leader sets the standard through modeling, 2) The leader equips the church to reach into their relational spheres, 3) The church learns how to sow evangelistic seeds into the masses of unconnected people in their community.

One of the foundational principles of scripture is the principle of sowing and reaping.  We see this first in the life of Isaac (Genesis 26:12). He sowed, planted and reaped a hundredfold of crop because of God’s blessing.  Farmers understand this principle in a very practical way, the more seed you plant, the more you will reap at harvest time.  The Apostle Paul in addressing the need for generosity in the life of the Corinthian church wrote, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.” (II Corinthians 9:6) So my question to you, as it pertains to evangelism, is: How many evangelistic touches are you sowing into the masses of people who are unconnected with your church? The evangelistic fruitfulness of your church is directly related to the amount of evangelistic seeds you are sowing into your community.

Here are four ways to evangelistically touch the unconnected in your community:

1. Community Service:  Simply serving your community and displaying the love of Christ without overtly making an invitation to attend your church.
2. Servant Evangelism:  Earning the right to make an invitation to your church through random acts of kindness.
3. Sharing Your Facilities With Your Community:  How many people go in and out of your facility in a given week?  Treating your facility like a community center is one way to sow evangelistic seeds to the unconnected in your community.
4. Marketing Your Church’s Message Through the Various Media Opportunities in Your Community:  Every church has a marketing strategy, the only difference is that some are better than others.

Yet, the quantity of seed is only part of the equation, there also needs to be a concern about the quality of the seed. Read Hosea 10:12-13. If you sow righteousness you will reap love, if you sow wickedness you will reap evil.  With very stern words the Apostle Paul writes, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from the nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” (Galatians 6:7)  

In relation to evangelism, here is the question to be answered: How would you rate the quality of the evangelistic seeds you are casting in your community?  

1. Community Service:  Is the quality and consistency of your community service something that reflects the beauty of Christ?
2. Servant Evangelism:  Is the quality of your random acts of kindness received as a nuisance or a pleasant surprise?
3. Sharing Your Facilities:  Do your facilities reflect a sense of care or are they run down?
4. Marketing:  What type of first impression does your signage, website and promotional materials evoke?

Over the summer, we will take a close look at how to increase the quantity and quality of the evangelistic seeds you are sowing into your community.

Solomon wrote these words, “Sow your seed in the morning and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.” (Ecclesiastes 11:6)

The next step is to help leaders understand the spheres of outreach that exists within their community. Today we are going to move from understanding to implementation. If we, as leaders, are going to create a system that will stimulate evangelistic activity throughout the local church, then we will have to develop strategies for each sphere within our community. To help us think through the issues, I forced myself to ask ten questions under each area. Feel free to add to the conversation by sending in your own questions or another spin on the questions I came up with.

Strategy #1: MODELING – Creating an example to follow.

• As a leader, how would your followers say you are modeling personal evangelism throughout your community?
• As a leader, how are you keeping your heart passionately engaged in the harvest?
• As a leader, how are you upgrading your evangelistic skills?
• As a leader, is evangelistic activity built into your weekly schedule?
• As a leader, how are you serving and connecting with community leaders?
• As a leader, how available are you to people in need?
• As a leader, what fun activities with unchurched people are you participating in?
• As a leader, how do you identify “men and women of peace” in your community?
• As a leader, how do you engage people in spiritual conversation and keep them engaged?
• As a leader, have you ever considered hiring an evangelism coach?

Strategy #2: EQUIPPING – Creating missionaries to be sent out.

• How are you stimulating outreach prayers for friends, family and neighbors of your people?
• How are you heating up evangelistic passion within your people?
• Is evangelism training a part of your spiritual formation plan?
• How do you identify and celebrate those with the gift of evangelism in your church?
• Do you have an evangelism tool that is taught throughout the church?
• What opportunities do you have for people to engage in entry level evangelism?
• How are you teaching and mobilizing your people to love their neighborhoods and cities for Jesus?
• What pre-evangelism events or opportunities are being created through your small groups?
• What pre-evangelism events or opportunities are being created through your public worship services?
• When was the last training event you offered to help people share their faith?

Strategy #3: SOWING – Creating connection opportunities for the unconnected.

• How many people live in your “Jerusalem” that have no knowledge of your ministry?
• How are you creating awareness of your church throughout the community?
• What are the internet tools you can use to sow seeds throughout your community?
• What are the promotional tools you can use to sow seeds throughout your community?
• What are the media outlets you can use to sow seeds throughout your community?
• What partnerships can you form that will enhance the church’s image throughout your community?
• What community events or service projects can you join to live out the gospel?
• How many pre-evangelism contacts are you planning to make this year throughout your community?
• What percentage of your budget is dedicated to sowing your message throughout your community?
• If people know about your ministry, what is the first thing that comes into their mind when it is mentioned?

Well, how did I do? What did I miss? How would you tweak the above questions?

“I pray that you will be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.” Philemon 6

If a leader is going to raise the evangelistic temperature of their church they will first need to understand the three spheres of outreach:

• Level 1: These are people who know the pastor and the name of the new church.  This is accomplished through networking and the personal ministry of the pastor and their family.  The key concept here is MODELING.
• Level 2: These are people who are in contact with someone on the launch team.  This group is reached through relational evangelism and personal invitations from the church.  The key concept here is EQUIPPING.
• Level 3: These individuals have no contact with the pastor or people within the church.  This group is reached through a variety of awareness activities.  The key concept here is SOWING.

Understanding these spheres is just the beginning.  If leaders are going to stir up the evangelistic spirit of their church they need to develop comprehensive evangelistic systems addressing each of these spheres.  A system is a reproducible process that actualizes the operational values and convictions you hold dear in your church.  For example: As a leader what is the most common method you use to engage individuals in a spiritual conversation?  Once you have identified it, ask yourself the following questions: 

1.   Could this method be used by others or only you?

2.   How long would it take for a person to learn this method?

3.   Could a new believer easily use this method?

4.   Could this method be taught by others?

If you can answer these questions then you are on your way to developing an evangelistic system in your community of faith.  If you can’t, then the evangelistic temperature of your church is going to be pretty low. I am convinced that the pastors, leaders and churches in America need their evangelistic fires seriously stoked.  Over the summer, I am committing this blog to the task of encouraging and resourcing leaders to raise the evangelistic temperature throughout their church.

Who will join me is this task?