Vision statement
I will build my church and the gates of hell cannot prevail nor resist that Church.
- That church is built on the foundations of apostles and prophets with Christ himself being the chief corner stone
- That church is built from the living stones, those who believe and have come to him. We are the church super structure. [1 Peter 2:1-10]
- That church grows and stays compact through what every member supplies through their effectual workings. [Ephesians 4:16-18]
- The only thing that can destroy and obstruct the growth of the church is the fifth column; the thing that fight the church come from within, from inside the church; but whosoever destroys the body shall be destroyed by God.
Strategy
Matthew 28:18-20
Jesus is committed to build his church by the church
Go into the world and make disciples. Go means to move, travel, step out and reach out. Go somewhere and preach the gospel somewhere. It is the power of God to save those who believe, whether they are Greeks or Hebrews. [Romans 1:16]
Gather and teach those who believe to do all that I have taught and commanded you to do. Teach them to preach the kingdom, heal the sick, cast out devils, follow people up, cleanse the lepers, and raise the dead.
It is important to understand that when Paul and Banabbas answered the call in Acts 13 to obey the call to go, remember they travelled far and wide. They didn’t stay in one place, they traveled from Antioch to derby and lystra; they went to Rome and to Corinth; they traveled through Ephesus and to Collose! We can’t do less; this is one time to go and to travel and to move and to reach more places with the power of God to save; that is the preaching of the gospel of Christ!
Whichever city, they entered, they preached, gathered those who believed taught them, appointed Leaders over them and came back from time to time to confirm their souls.
In the evolution and metamorphosis of the church, there are certain stages in the cycle
- We must travel and preach the gospel to cities, communities, and nations. The church can not stay at one place. We must go or die. The church must send or die. The measure of a healthy church is not how many people attend; it is measured by how many people are reached daily, weekly, monthly, yearly. The church that grows and stays alive must be reaching out constantly and shamelessly. It is important to understand that not everybody will believe your gospel but as many as believe must be gathered, taught, and deployed to reach others.
- The church must gather, teach, and deploy those who believed to do what they were commanded to do.
- The church must structure and build systems that work and help her to continue growing.
- They consolidated the churches, began to expand, spread and penetrated every region
Steps to Reach-out
The simple secret to reach out includes
- Purpose: we must decide to reach one more for Jesus; we must decide to go to the highways and hedges, and to the ends of the world.
- Pray: [1Timothy 2:1-8] the first step in any missionary effort is prayer and Intercession. It is impossible to divide the spoil of a strong man that is armed, except you first overpower and disarm him.
- Plan: failing to plan is planning to fail. Any man who intends to build a tower must sit down and count the cost. You can’t count the cost or budget if you don’t have a plan. In a fast paced world, the only way, planning is the most fundamental spirit wisdom to execution. You need to plan the program, resources, events etc.
- Prepare: you need to prepare yourself, prepare for the outreach, prepare resources and equipment. Fisher folks wash and prepare their nets after every expedition before venturing into another. You need to.tarin and prepare people. You need to organise a team to reach out!
- Publise: In Luke 10, the Lord sent his disciples two by two into cities he shall herself go later. He sent an advance team into towns, cities and communities to reach out and create awareness of his coming.
- Go: Go into the world and preach the gospel. Our kind of travelling is not for sight seeing nor for vacation. The purpose of going is clearly stated; to preach the gospel and to teach those who believe to do what we have been commanded to do.
Forms, dimensions, or methods of evangelism
The nature of modern society and cities require that the church use a multi-method approach in reaching the world. For instance, in the digital age, one of the most effective methods of evangelism is social media evangelism. The generation we are trying to reach are not on the streets, they are on their phones; hence the need for effective social media effort.
Let us discuss forms of evangelism, starting with
- Social media evangelism: like I said early the generation we are trying to reach are on their phones most of the time. Our cities have become large and vast and cosmopolitan, hence the need to develop a strong social media presence. We must post daily and intentionally; from photos, to text, videos, shorts, skits, podcasts, reels, stories, streaks, snaps etc.
- Lifestyle evangelism: the best approach to witness to and win your familiar people like family, spouses, friends, colleagues and acquaintances is your lifestyle. You must let your light shine before them; and be ready to give an answer when they ask what persuades you. They will have a hard time believing the gospel you preach when it contradicts your life choices.
- One-on-one or personal evangelism: the spirit lifted Philip to preach to just one person, the Ethiopian. We see in the example of how Our Lord Jesus witnessed to people personally: he shared the message of the kingdom to the woman of Samaria; he ministered to the man of Gadara; he literally witnessed to and called each of the apostles.
- Literature crusade: another effective way to reach out to the world and to strengthen the church is literature. There is a certain lasting impact, books and pages makes on readers. The conversion of the Ethiopian started with reading Isaiah 53; the revival in Daniel at old age started with understanding by the books.
- Billboard and signboard evangelism: in Habbakuk 2:1-5, the Lord instructed the prophet to write the vision upon tables in plain readable language, that those passer-by may read and run with it. Israel were instructed to write the law on their door post, window sills, and on stickers.
- Sticker, T-shirt, paraphernalia evangelism: we can communicate the gospel by branded buses, T-shirts, cups, mugs, mats, beddings, cloth, books and note pads, pens,
- Radio and Television evangelism: radio works a lot. Many people listen to radio while commuting and that is where they might encounter the gospel.
- Social services and social work evangelism: building Christian schools, hospitals, shelter for the vulnerable, charity drives etc.
- Medium to mass crusades and campaigns:
- Camps and conferences
- School and hospital evangelism
Organizing campaigns and crusades
You will need
- Start with prayer
- Plan the campaign: choose the type, time, date, duration, plan teams, plan logistics, plan the journey, plan the events; plan the programs.
- Choose a city and a venue: choose a venue by a well travelled road. Accessibility is key to success.
- Get the necessary permits and sign written contracts. You need the permit to enter the city or country; then also the permit or contract to use facilities and places. I will recommend that you get written documents. Never enter a city by the back door.
- Prepare a platform from which you will minister. For in-person meetings the platform is equally as important as the power. A neatly well crafted stage is part of the message itself. You need a platform for which you will minister and speak to the audience. The platform can be online, television, radio, and or a stage for in-person services.
- Arrange for power (physical and spiritual): we need power to power the gadgets and equipment. We need the power to preach, teach, heal the sick, cast out devils, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, and liberate nations.
- Recruit, train and organise people: there are gate keepers in every city who must open the gates of the communities and cities for us to the gospel. When you enter any city, visit and pay a courtesy call on the gate keepers. We also need labourers to work with in the vineyard; singers to sing, ushers to usher, people to pray, camera men, technical team, sound engineers, security etc
- Plan and publicise the campaign widely. Using multi approaches to publish the campaign.
- Run with a program: we need a plan and a program to run the outreach, a program to run the daily events.
- Start on time, keep things up beat, and straight to the point. The meetings should always start with intense short prayer, upbeat praises, brief straightforward preaching, altar call amidst singing, filling out decision forms, ministering to the sick, casting out devils, raising the deaf, taking testimonies, ministering prayer, anointing the people, closing with announcement and singing
- Follow up those who believed to establish them.
Things you need
- Source of electricity
- Lighting system
- P.A system [console, cross over, equalizers, line array active speakers, cables, microphones, audio links, monitors etc]
- Keyboard, drums, bass guitar, lead guitar, trumpets etc
- Metal Stage and chairs
- Cameras and projectors if available