Proclaim!

As we conclude on series on Proclaim, let us continue to put in practice what we've learned. We are all called to evangelize.

Alpha is coming up soon. Wouldn't it be amazing to see the chapel filled to overflowing with folks interested in hearing the good news? Please starting inviting people!

Please read the following from Todd Twining.

How Should We Sustain Proclaim?
The PROCLAIM course is serving to challenge us as we dialogue about evangelism. It is a discipline we as a local church desire to grow in. So I want to pose this question to us:
How should we sustain the "PROCLAIM" mandate in our every day lives? It would be a true joy for us to be able to drop everything and just focus on sharing desperately with everyone we meet in light of the Lord's return. But in His sovereignty, God has given us families. God has given us jobs. God has given us schools. God has built into the fabric of our every day lives opportunities to grow and proclaim what we treasure in the Gospel.

I would recommend that you take 5 minutes one evening and just jot down the regular and mundane tasks you set out to accomplish each week. For some of you, that means including laundry and cleaning up messes. For some perhaps a commute to and from your workplace each day. For others it means a schedule that changes each day and others a set school schedule for the semester.

Once you list out those every day things, I would suggest asking God for insight. Make some room for Him to bring you His wisdom.Maybe your week could include things like this:
Serious prayer time during your commute for the network of people He has placed in your life. Monday - pray for salvation of family members. Tuesday - pray for salvation of co-workers. Wednesday - pray for those others around you have mentioned that they have asked for by name. Thursday - pray for the lost you bump into. Ask God for the words to say. Friday - pray for your own soul to be affected with the Gospel in deeper and more meaningful ways with each passing day.
While performing those tasks that we typically can see as the "non-spiritual" aspects of life (laundry, housekeeping, recreation) ask God for ways you can Proclaim His Gospel. Sing! Sing the Gospel! Let your spouse or family members hear you. Sing to your own soul. It really is only us that make that distinction of "spiritual" and "non-spiritual" things - we live one life before God and every thing we do should be infused with the Gospel.
Look for opportunities to step outside your comfort zone every day. Just one conversation with someone you see every day but just sort of move through the day without an effort towards them. Example: going through the line at Publix and seeing the same person working there each week - learn their name. Next time you see them - call them by name (having prayed for them by name) - let them know you are glad to see them. Next time you see them - let them know you are a Christian and you pray. Ask them if there is anything you could remember in pray on their behalf. Listen to them each time you see them. That way you are incrementally building a relationship rather than just moving through a line to satisfy your need for groceries.
Be intentional. Your car most likely needs fuel regularly. Go to the same gas station. Pay inside instead of at the pump and strike up a conversation with the employees there.
Chances are there are a number of regular things that take place within a month for you (haircut, shopping, PTA meeting). Consider those an opportunity to interact with the lost.
Don't let sports events be all about the game. Reach out to the lost. Interact with them. Get to know them. Invite them to sit with you. Take an interest in their world.
When you are with fellow believers - encourage them with testimonies of what God is doing. Remember the small things. Be grateful for them. Ask how one another is doing in putting to death fear of man. If we don't talk about it and hold one another accountable, we could easily grow stagnant and stale.
Ask the Holy Spirit to change your heart toward evangelism. Ask Him to orchestrate divine appointments for you.
Speak up! We need to hear the testimonies of what God is doing in your life through the Proclaim course. Please send me e-mails with testimonies, suggestions, etc. Let's make the effort to keep this before us as a church family.
Finally, invite the lost to come on the ALPHA course with you. It starts right after Easter. We need volunteers to help serve in the program but also we need folks who will commit to bringing the lost with them for 10 Thursdays in a row. That may be the most rewarding investment in your life as you see the entrance of the Gospel into someone else's darkness.
Remember that evangelism is a discipline. Evangelism can be messy sometimes. We can grow lazy. Let us not grow weary in sharing that which we treasure the most. Let us make every day count for Christ.

- Todd Twining