Sharing what you know ... as you go ...

Ed Stetzer a well known missiologist made some statements in a post today that make a lot of sense.
Read and listen to what he has to say.

Evangelism, the proclamation of God’s good news through our daily living and the organized witness of the Church, needs to be birthed out of visible and verbal expressions of love. Show and tell. Show the love of Christ through a simple act of kindness, a community development project, or a call for justice. And tell the reason underneath your actions and behind your faith. Make love your aim as you go, with every person you meet in every place you go.

WHAT IF …

• Leaders became more intentional in their own daily prayer-care-share lifestyle, and they referred to it in their writings or sermons as examples of evangelism occurring through a simple act of becoming evidence of the love of Jesus?
• Pastors stopped preaching on evangelism as an act of obedience and instead began to describe evangelism as a daily expression of the believer’s identify in Christ as we respond to the Spirit in opportunities to love people for Christ and explain why we follow this One who is the good news?
• Church services incorporated a time of praying for the lost, those with less (poor), and those who lead (local and national governments)?
• Church services included stories from members who had responded with care for a co-worker, acted compassionately to someone in distress, or solved a problem for a neighbor?
• Church services celebrated transformed-by-Christ lives with baptism, “My Story” segments, an up-front introduction & welcome to the church, or …?

These seemingly simple ideas could motivate and inspire this generation to ignite the next revival of the message of Jesus Christ.

Start the fire, lead the way and be a part of the greatest movement the world has ever seen!

Ed's writings can be found at EDSTETZER.COM

The Story Bible Reading Campaign

Davis Park Church of Christ is Launching  a Groundbreaking Bible Reading Campaign

 “The Bible is central to our faith,” said Buddy Gray of The Davis Park Church of Christ,“ but many people are intimidated by its scope and size. The Story gives us a way to journey from Genesis to Revelation together in 31 weeks so everyone understands God’s story and how their story intersects with it.”

Modesto, CA – The Bible is the best-selling book in history, but how many people in Modesto are actually reading it?  A Gallup survey reports the average American household has four Bibles. However, research by Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life (2008) found that only 16 percent of Americans read the Bible every day.

The Davis Park Church of Christ is hoping to reverse this trend, starting with its own congregation.  Buddy Gray believes that The Story, a Zondervan best-seller, is the right tool to increase Biblical literacy, helping readers understand God’s story from Genesis to Revelation and how their own stories intersect with God’s.  Consisting of 31 chapters of carefully-selected scriptures sequenced in chronological order, The Story presents the word of God in an engaging format, reading like a novel.

“I want the people in my congregation, as well as the city of Modesto, to realize the incredible love God has for them and how their story is found in His story,” said Gray.

The Story Church Campaign is a unique program providing up to 31 weeks of curriculum for children, teen and adult Sunday school and up to 31 weeks of corresponding sermons.  When accompanied by reading through the five age-related books (The Story, The Story: Teen Edition, The Story for Kids, The Story for Children, and The Story for Little Ones), the entire church can be literally on the same page for 31 weeks. Davis Park plans to begin the experience on September 9, 2012.

Davis Park invites you to begin forty days of prayer with them, starting July 31, 2012.  We will be praying for God to work through His insightful world to change the people of Davis Park and the people of Modesto, CA.  We will be e-mailing a daily devotion for the next forty days to all who are interested in praying for God to go work on all of us.  Send requests to davisparkcoc@sbcglobal.net.

For more information on The Story, visit www.thestory.com.