Winning Ways: Godly Influence

You know that Christ’s call to be his witness applies to you, but you don’t know how to get started.

There’s an app for that!

The Hillcrest “INVITE Evangelism Strategy” introduces you to six clear applications designed to invest your life with others and introduce them to the gospel:

IDENTIFY your THEMs

NURTURE an authentic relationship with THEM

VERIFY their spiritual condition

INVOLVE THEM with your church family

TELL THEM your Faith Story, and

ENCOURAGE THEM to cross the line of faith

This Sunday, January 23, our congregation will begin a 6-week focus on this strategy.

“Been there, done that,” some of you are saying. But hold on. There are two reasons to spend 6 weeks on this effort.

First, any subject that’s worth knowing is worth repeating. Imagine only hearing about missions one time in your Christian life. Or forgiveness. Or Christ’s Second Coming. We have to cover these subjects repeatedly to keep us focused on the right things. It’s the same with evangelism. Sure, you’ve heard us talk about evangelism before—maybe you’ve even heard us talk about the INVITE acrostic at Hillcrest before. But we have to repeatedly return to subjects like this because it is so important for our Christian discipleship.

There’s a second reason to engage in this effort starting January 23: you may have heard us talk about the INVITE Strategy before, but not like this!

Each week during the sermon I will show you what God’s Word says about each of these steps. Then your class or group will discuss the message (some classes will take a few minutes to reinforce the truths of the sermon, while others will use a discussion guide for the entire hour). Then you’ll have daily readings to amplify the focus each week. This alignment of materials is designed to give you the training and motivation you need to share your faith with your world.

We’re calling the campaign iINVITE. That’s a hat tip to the iPhone and its famous apps, of course. But there’s a more important reason for the name. You and I need to remind each other to take personal responsibility for Christ’s Great Commission. It’s not a Sunday night “training course” to complete but a lifestyle to own. I must invite others to Jesus.

Pray that it will have a powerful impact in the lives of our members—and in the lives we’re all meant to impact with the gospel!

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Each Wednesday I post my article from "Winning Ways," an e-newsletter that goes out to over 950 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "Winning Ways," sign up here.