Giving Friday Nights to Jesus is, quite simple, the most
effective evangelism strategy I know.
The concept is simple. Gather some friends over on a Friday
night to do something fun. It could be dinner and a movie. It could be an
evening of card-playing. It could be going to a sporting event. The idea is to
do whatever it is you enjoy doing, but do one thing differently: invite an
outsider. Invite a recent visitor to your church. Invite an absentee from your
class. Invite a prospect for your class. Invite people from your cul-de-sac.
Invite people from work. Don't invite just your friends. Invite some outsiders.
This is exactly what Jesus told us to do:
Then he told the man who had invited him, "When you invite
people for lunch or dinner, don't invite only your friends. Luke 14:12a [GW]
Jesus said this because He knew that if we will love people in
common, ordinary, pedestrian ways like having them into our homes and inviting
them to join us for dinner, they will feel loved. When they feel our love, their
heart warms up to a message about a God who loves them.
The gospel spreads best along relational lines. As we build
relational bridges to people who are far from God, the gospel has a track on
which to ride. The key is to make it a habit. Again, the Bible offers some
helpful instruction:
Get into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner. Romans
12:13 [Living]
Notice it says, "Get into the habit." The idea is to do this
all the time. Make it the normal thing to normally do on a normal Friday night.
Of course, it doesn't have to be Friday nights. "Friday
nights" is a metaphor. It could be Pizza on Sunday. It could be Chinese food on
Sunday night. Hospitality can be done in a wide variety of ways.
Finally! We have found a way to make relationship evangelism
something we can do consistently and systematically. We have found a way to make
it something you can put on your calendar and your to-do list.
Saturday Morning Training videos feature about an hour of
training interspersed with interactive questions. The questions are built into
the video itself, so there is not need for any other leader's guide. It is
designed to be used on a Saturday morning in a home with about a dozen teachers
at a time. Alternatively, it could be used in a church setting where discussion
take place around round tables.
Each video is offered in two formats: Normal and reproducible.
The reproducible format licenses you to make up to ten copies for use within one
local church. There is also a buy two, get one free discount.
