Once a congregation begins this process, it takes time to build and transition toward prospecting (compassion cards, benevolence, food, visits). In addition, most of the names listed are not ready for prospecting. Remember, you do not transition a name to the congregational list until there is an open window in their life to reach them. What action can be taken with these names during the waiting period? Why not have a moment of prayer every Sunday? Here is a suggested timeline on how this tool works.
- First, pass out the bookmarks to all members and ask them to wait to fill it out until after your sermon.
- Second, preach an evangelistic/contact-centered sermon. We provide one from John 4, but any evangelistic sermon will work.
- Third, ask the congregation to write down ten names of people they personally know who are lost.
- Fourth, suggest that they keep the bookmark in their Bibles so it will always be with them during classes and worship.
- Fifth, the next week ask everyone to pull out his or her bookmark to take 60 seconds to pray for each name on the list. Tell them, “Make sure you say their names!” This also serves as a mental exercise to create accountability.
- Sixth, do this every week so it becomes part of your evangelistic culture.
- Reaching the Lost-Congregational Reports—these will go out every Wednesday morning.
- Reaching the Lost-Strategies for Success—these will go out each Friday morning.
We plan to split these reports the week of March 6. Please help us reach as many Christians as possible by posting, forwarding, or passing along names and email addresses for enrollment. We are thankful to God for the opportunity to work in His Kingdom and glorify His Son.
Southwest School church of Christ, Arise, Austin, Texas: The theme for Arise was “Evangelize!” HTHSOE set up tables and made three presentations during the lectureship. We heard of dozens of baptisms from those who are using Back to the Bible and Does It Matter. A lot of mileage has been made down the road to revive a spirit of evangelism in congregations. We highly recommend attending this annual event.
North Jefferson church of Christ, Mt. Pleasant, Texas: Garth Johnson (elder) reports, “We had our meeting with the elders and continue to discuss evangelism as the first topic for each meeting. Plans are going forward to have an informative session for all our leaders and their wives in April. We have now planned to provide the ‘visitation coordinator’ with Kris’s stellar lead/follow-up spreadsheet to begin executing more efficiently that ministry. Kris and Jeff continue to teach lessons on sound doctrinal issues equipping the members.”
Northern Oaks church of Christ, San Antonio, Texas: Mel Hutzler (preacher) reports, “We have some wonderful news! Larry Perez, with whom I have been studying, was baptized into Christ tonight at his home. Thank you so much for the compassion cards you wrote to him last month. I attached some pictures below. He gave me a thank-you card and also a request for materials so he can study with his wife. Her parents came to witness the baptism, and I hope to have a Bible study with them in the future. The kids were excited to see their dad’s baptism. Please pray for Larry as he begins his walk with the Lord. He and his family live on the far westside. I appreciate my wife for coming with me and taking the pictures.
“Please remember to let me know the names of the people with whom you are studying so we can be praying for them. The next person on my evangelism bookmark list is Richard Batts, a former marine and student at UTSA, who has completed one study so far. Please be praying for him and those on your bookmark list.”
Mabelvale church of Christ, Arkansas: Daniel Webster (associate preacher) reports, “We passed out contact cards yesterday. Prayers have been going up to the throne constantly. Dennis has preached great sermons on evangelism the past two weeks. Plans are in the works for cards and new movers. Things are looking up here. All prayers are greatly appreciated.”
Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Matt Amos (preacher) reports, “Things are going well and according to plan. We have had six baptisms this past weekend from the youth group. We have had at least four ongoing studies since the weekend you were here. We introduced the bookmarks with the ten names yesterday and gave everyone this week to complete those. I preached John 4, the first 6 of 17 points in 45 minutes. What would be the average number of points covered in a sermon, not only in John 4, but other sermons, and the Back to the Bible booklets? It appears it is going to last a while! Maybe I need to read as well as preach! Give me some context here as to what I should expect. All materials are well received, well implemented, and well used!
“We are calling our evangelism journey now The Great Reset, which is a follow-up of The Great Reformation and The Great Restoration! We are resetting the minds of people to first-century thinking toward winning souls! We have done well in restoring the plan of salvation and the pattern for worship, but we are woefully lacking in soul winning. So why cannot we at Woodstock begin the Great Reset of our brotherhood priorities and the commission God has given us all? It is interesting that in the New Testament, the priority is not confined to public worship. Even though necessary, the emphasis in Christianity takes place outside of worship. I do not know of an example in the NT where anyone was ‘invited to church’ to be evangelized. Worship is primarily for the Christian.
“Even the phrase “going to church” is not accurate. The church is the church 24/7. How do Christians ‘go to it’? (Thanks Constantine!) They are it! Maybe we can go to worship, which has a beginning and ending time, but ‘church’ does not stop. This idea, I believe, has led the church to believe that worship is the centerpiece of Christianity or the Christian life, but clearly in Scripture it is not. Though necessary, assembling and worshipping are more supplemental than foundational to daily Christian (church) living, and saving souls by teaching the gospel is the most foundational goal of all! The Great Commission is not ‘go to worship!’ “If this is true, then many of us need a Great Reset! Thanks for jumpstarting this movement that hopefully will catch fire through the church, especially in the USA! God help us to ‘Revive (Reset) us again with fire from above!’”
Coldwater church of Christ, Kentucky: Luke Puckett (preacher) reports, “This past week saw many weather challenges for us. We started the week with heavy rain and flash flooding; then it changed over to freezing rain and sleet. That led to some ice accumulation. Although this hindered some of our visiting plans, we were able to send out compassion cards. We followed up with our contacts list and our prospects. We also made several phones calls and were able to talk with some of those who are on our contact and prospect list. We are still encouraging members to check their lists of ten names and see if any can lead to possible prospects. We did have two visitors yesterday. They are receiving visitor cards in the mail all this week. We plan to follow up with a couple of our prospects with visits this week and to continue two Bible studies that we have started.”
Eisenhower church of Christ, Odessa, Texas: Allen Weakland reports, “This past Sunday presented several opportunities to impact the lives of two families within our community. First, Justin/Kayla Goodson visited worship services again. We are trying to encourage them to have lunch or dinner with us. Please pray for this young couple. Second, Philip Garza was brought to our attention due to a tumor on his bladder. We are planning another card signing this Wednesday evening in the hope that our compassion cards will further touch both of these families.”
Monroe church of Christ, Georgia: Charles Harris (preacher) reports, “We have a few Bible studies taking place at Monroe. My daughter Tori is studying with a friend who hopefully will be baptized soon. I thank God daily that I have a wife and a daughter who love the Lord. I preached BTTB #2 this morning and received a lot of positive comments. The congregation has been divided into two groups. This was done for the purpose of helping our evangelistic efforts. Lots of excitement about the work within the congregation.”
University church of Christ, Montgomery, Alabama: Faires Austin reports,
- “We are excited to report a baptism this week. Kascy has been studying with our youth minister, Tucker. Kascy has been coming with Jamie and Laura Ann, two of our teenage girls, for a number of weeks and has been participating in many of the activities in our Youth Program. Kascy’s parents have not been attending University. This gives us an opportunity to introduce Kascy’s parents to the true Christ. We look forward to getting to know Kascy better as well as her parents.
- “In our Firm Foundations class (Basic Bible for New Converts), we just finished studying How We Got the Bible, and we are beginning a study of How to Study the Bible.
- “The Card Ministry and New Movers Ministry are producing some wonderful results.
- “This next Sunday night we are hosting our annual Chili Cook-Off. We are inviting visitors and other contacts on our prospect list.
- “Our Eastdale Estates Ministry is going strong. In fact, we have speakers booked through the first of June. We have some new study material that we will pass out next Sunday.”
Chase Park church of Christ, Huntsville, Alabama: Pat Cowden (preacher) reports, “I would like to share the story of Pablo Luck and his family. Pablo visited Chase Park almost three years ago. He was searching for the truth; we studied with him, and he was baptized after finishing our studies. Two months later, his wife Taciane and daughters moved to Huntsville from Brazil. We studied with her, and she was baptized into Christ as well. They have been faithful Christians ever since, and now the evangelized are evangelizing. The picture I included shows the Luck family and Taciane’s parents, Carlos and Sylvia. Taciane and Pablo are laying the groundwork for a study with Sylvia first and then hopefully with Carlos as well. They want their family to learn and obey the truth and share the spiritual family at Chase Park and throughout the world.
“We have a member, Micah Matheny, who grew up in Brazil and is instrumental in studying with folks whose first language is Portuguese. Micah is working on translating Back to the Bible in Portuguese, which will be a fantastic tool to use in Huntsville with its large Brazilian population. Please pray for us as we try to share the gospel with Carlos, Sylvia, and eventually more Brazilians in Huntsville.”
Corinth church of Christ, Tennessee: James Parker (elder) reports, “Steve and I had our first study with a couple this last Thursday. We have our second study set up for this Thursday. I will continue my study with a young married couple! We had a baptism this past week with a lady who lives in Lafayette! We continue to have visitors at Corinth almost every Lord’s Day. Our attendance continues to grow!”
Siwell Road church of Christ, Jackson, Mississippi: Derek Broome (preacher) reports, “This past week we were blessed with a lot of opportunities. Our congregational contact list really grew, and we are hoping for even more opportunities as we reach out to these new individuals. Several of these were visitors on Sunday. It was great to see a congregational effort to make all of our visitors feel welcome. We also continued on by writing cards, new movers baskets, and some ongoing Bible studies.”
Warner Robins church of Christ, Georgia: Daniel Stearsmen (preacher) reports, “God is at work. The youth were uplifted at YES this past weekend in Valdosta. The Smiths started a new study this past week. What is exciting is that intentions with one to two souls turned into the potential to reach six.
“Nadia wrote, ‘The study went EXTREMELY well!!! They said things like, I like the straightforward manner of looking in the Bible and answering the questions. No one has ever taught me how to look up the books in the Bible [to be able to read what the scriptures say]. I like this study.’ They were all genuinely excited to be studying and are looking forward to our next study and so are we! Please pray! We have the potential to reach six souls from this study!’
“Further, the Growing in Christ class is getting rave reviews from attendants, both newcomers and the more mature. It is such a great opportunity for them to connect with our elders and for them to mentor biblically. Please pray for the souls we continue to encourage, plant, and water.”
Covington church of Christ, Tennessee: Wayne Dalrymple (elder) reports, “The past couple of weeks have been good at Covington. We put together 50 new movers baskets to deliver in the community. We will be delivering them this week. Also, we had Cathy Chambers visit our services for the second time in three weeks. We will be following up with a visit this week. This Friday through Sunday, we will be having a gospel meeting with Bobby Rawson from Alamo, Tennessee, speaking. Please pray for all our efforts as we try to reach more people in our community.”
Riverbend church of Christ, Georgia: Austin Fowler (member) reports, “Our youth went to CYC this weekend. Nick McClure, one of our teens, made the decision to obey the gospel at CYC. We are very excited he became a Christian. On Saturday, I had a Bible study with Charlie Smith. He visited with us and was interested in studying the Bible. The study went well. He has a good knowledge of the scriptures. We have scheduled study two for Wednesday night during Bible study. We told him we would pick up dinner. My study with George was postponed because he was not feeling well and had a lot of pain from his back surgery.
“Sadly, the two brothers I studied with a few weeks ago decided they did not want to proceed with the studies. They told Hayden that no matter what we showed them, they were not willing to change. I am prayerful that maybe they can continue later, and their hearts will change.
“I have also tried to get our work more organized. I have used the whiteboard in my office to keep track of our contacts, Bible studies, and those who sit in our pews who have not obeyed the gospel. Jason Duggin and I are working on a plan to reach each of them. I am also in the process of giving our evangelism table a face lift. I have gotten the posters framed to hang up and ordered a tablecloth with our logo on it. I will send you a picture of all of that once it is put together.”
Jacksonville church of Christ, Alabama: Keith Ritchey (preacher) reports, “The first bookmark was turned in with three contacts with addresses and phone numbers! We also have three more contacts from my visitations today. That makes six total plus a young couple that has been visiting with us. We may get them.”
Peninsula church of Christ, Hampton, Virginia: Ben Phillips (preacher) reports, “We have had members inviting people from the community, and we are now studying with them. We have several new contacts from door knocking, and we are following up with them right now. The card ministry is going strong. In the last couple of weeks, the congregation has had to face the death of one of our elders. He was a constant supporter of the evangelism efforts and will be missed. But his legacy of a faithful example and love for souls is another encourager moving us forward in the work.”
Gilt Edge church of Christ, Tennessee: Daniel Dalton (preacher) reports, “Jerry knight was baptized today. He has a lot of family here. His uncle passed away a few years back and was a very quiet man. He said his uncle was always talking to him about getting his life right while they were out fishing.
It is a cool thing to me. I never imagined his uncle talking to anyone in an evangelist role, but years after his death this man was converted from casual conversations on a boat. We all have a work to do regarding evangelism.
Our cards are going great. Gail is organizing them, and she has really taken to it. She labeled all the holders with reorder numbers so that she can reorder as needed. She hands out cards on Sunday evening for our specific targets so that they don’t all get the same card. Anyone is allowed to grab cards for anyone else they would like to send them to outside of our 3-4 specific targets. We have found that supplying stamps makes more cards go out. We put stamps on all of the envelopes before handing them out and some ladies that would only send one or two are now sending many.
We have had so many opportunities in the last month. I did not think there were this many opportunities. Either we hadn’t seen them in the past as we should have, or we didn’t cultivate them as we should, or God was waiting until we were willing to work to send them our way. Either way souls are being saved!
We also did a “birthday party” for Jerry tonight. We had cupcakes and sang “happy Birthday” for Jerry. He was born again today, so today is his birthday. This allowed everyone to stick around and get to know him a little better.
Our new convert class starts next week. One of our elders (Dewayne) is teaching it.
Thank you again for giving us the instruction and motivation to grow. There is an energy in the church that I have never seen before! We are praying for your work at WVBS and look forward to seeing the outcome.
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