A hunter is taught, as he raises his rifle and looks through the sights, “Aim small and miss small.” One does not become a good shooter by accident. It comes from a deliberate strategy that involves study, field research, practice, and the actual hunt itself. Brother Bates used to say, “If everything you are doing is evangelism, then it is likely that nothing you are doing is evangelism.” Evangelism is a targeted work that requires a tactical aim of your time and resources to hit the target.
Congregations and Christians who are successful in soul winning intentionally focus on the mission. It is easy to become distracted by dozens of church programs that are disconnected with reaching the lost. This lack of aim has caused us to miss the target for so long that we are now suffering a gut-wrenching decline in numbers. How do we return to church growth? Each congregation needs a strategy for growth. This is the purpose of the House to House/Heart to Heart School of Evangelism. When we arrive at a local congregation, we not only train the church but also provide an A-Z strategy to the local eldership to be successful in the Mission (Matthew 28:18-20).
In March, we spent eleven days in Texas and trained three congregations. The attendance, energy, and commitment to evangelism among these brethren is the best we have seen in the past five years. Within days, they began sending reports. These, along with other recent reports, are below. Please pray for these works.
East Ridge church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee: Charles Cochran reports, “We are progressing in a good way. I will be sharing the third lesson on Salvation this Lord’s Day. It has gone well. One of our men has been studying with someone in Marietta, Georgia. The man was restored, and he wanted copies of Back to the Bible to study with his wife! We are hopeful for good results from the study. Also, another of our members shared the lessons with a lady he met at a place he was visiting. We are trying to keep a positive thrust in our Evangelism. I have had some good studies this past few weeks! God bless your work.”
Burleson church of Christ, Alabama: Todd Clippard said, “Dana Mays is doing Back to the Bible lesson 3 today with Anna Henderson. Anna found the Burleson church through our House to House/Heart to Heart mailing and called me to request a ride to services on February 20. February 21 was her first visit. February 23 was her first Bible study. A friend joined us in the study and accompanied us to the building. A new prospect!”
BCS church of Christ, Texas: Jason Rollo wrote, “Rob, we are getting results from our Compassion cards, and we haven’t even officially started yet. The elders and deacons met for about five hours Saturday, putting things in place, but the members are jumping on things quickly. Here is a response: ‘We received 4-5 cards last night from your church family that are praying for my dad. So thoughtful and appreciated! I shared some of the encouraging messages I have received with my parents.’”
North Jefferson church of Christ, Mt. Pleasant, Texas: Kris Groda reported, “The care groups are in the process of being formed. Names and addresses are being collected now. Visitor bags were assembled for today. I’ll be door knocking the next two weeks in preparation for our Gospel meeting. Several have picked up items from the literature table. There are three Bible studies being conducted at this time. Several names with addresses have been submitted for our card program. Four teams have been created for the card program that we hope to initiate this week. I preached the “John 4 Politically Incorrect Jesus” sermon today and received a wonderful congregational response. Incidentally, there were about 125 or 130 in the morning assembly today! The elders are supposed to get with me this week to set dates for teaching the Back to the Bible lessons. On an even a brighter note, our members Martha Deming and Vicki Miller used Back to the Bible with Judy Talley, and she was baptized Monday morning. We are so excited.”
East Hill church of Christ, Pulaski, Tennessee: We are currently going through the books on Sunday night and people are responding tremendously. We have a great prospect from Sunday and hope to build a relationship. It’s all going well. We are talking about the card ministry!
Graeber Road church of Christ, Rosenberg, Texas: Andy Baker wrote, “The Graeber Road church of Christ in Rosenberg, Texas, was very encouraged by the workshop Rob and Nicole conducted last weekend. We had several visitors yesterday from people who invited others, took them to lunch (always eat), and are cultivating the soil. Two of our young men are preparing to use Back to the Bible to study with a long-term visitor of the youth group because they are confident to do it. We are setting up our evangelism table today and plan to begin working through Back to the Bible as a congregation to show members how easy the study is. Pray for us as we move forward.”
If you want to learn more about how to turn your congregation into a soul saving body, let us know. We have several options as our school continues to grow.
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