Month: December 2017

Christmas Ministry Ideas/Witnessing Stories

Scrolls Multiplying like Bread and Fishes

1 Comment

Last week a group of young people from our church loaded up into our van to pass out “Christmas scrolls” downtown before a parade.

Here was our team who braved the cold, 23 degree F weather! 😮 The only problem was that we had more helpers than anticipated, and we didn’t have as many scrolls as we would have liked. It’s a disappointing situation to have the manpower but not enough resources to give away.

Thankfully, Edie and Brad Dukek had rolled and brought several large bags of scrolls downtown and had them waiting for us (about double the amount you see in this picture). What a wonderful sight that was. God had fixed our problem.

We had a good hour passing out several hundred of them before the parade. My dad liked to tell people with enthusiasm, “This is the Christmas story FROM THE BIBLE!” and he said people responded with warmth to that–like they were getting “the real thing.” And they were!

I was also grateful for a few discussions I was able to have because of a Christmas questionnaire I used. I thought I’d share my questions in case any of you would find it useful in starting discussions this season. I’d start by saying, “Hello, I’m doing a little Christmas questionnaire — would you be able to answer a couple questions?” Then I went through the first four questions fairly quickly and spent the most time on the 5th question.

1) What was Jesus’ primary purpose for coming to earth as a Man? (John 12:27-28, Hebrews 2:14)
2) Do you know what the name “Immanuel” means?
3) Can you name some of the prophecies that were fulfilled at Jesus’ birth? (Genesis 49:10, Isaiah 7:14, Micah 5:2)
4) What was the good news of great joy that the angel spoke about? (“For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” Luke 2:10-11)
5) Jesus is called a “Savior.” What does He save people FROM and how does He do it?
6) The Bible tells us quite a bit about Jesus’ first coming. Do you know what it says about His second coming?

One man named Carlos told me he thought you get to Heaven by faith plus works. I was just about to explain the key concept found in Ephesians 2:8-9 when a drunk guy came up and was a big interruption to our discussion. Thankfully I was able to get back to Ephesians 2:8-9 and Carlos told me he was touched by the encounter. These interruptions at key moments are common and they are a reminder that we are in a spiritual battle and need to persevere in sharing the truth.

We returned invigorated, ready for a warm dinner, and grateful for those who helped us get God’s Word into many hands, and thankful to the Lord who allows us to be involved in His work.

Christmas Ministry Ideas/Family News/Witnessing Conferences/Witnessing Stories

Dad Witnessing At Christmas Tree Farm

5 Comments

After my dad and I picked out and cut down our Christmas tree this afternoon, we began talking about how we should witness to the guy who was working there. We thought that a good strategy for getting into a conversation would be to ask what he thought the second coming of Jesus would be like.

After my dad tied the tree to the top of our vehicle, he remembered he never paid for the tree. 🙂

When he went to pay, he asked his question about the second coming and they ended up talking for 10 – 15 minutes. I joined part way through.

“How’d that conversation go?” I asked dad as we were pulling away.
“Great,” Dad said.
As he began to explain the story to me, I pulled out my camera and started recording, hoping it might spark some new idea for others who might get into discussion this Christmas.

Dad Shares About Witnessing to Christmas Tree Farm Workers from Tomorrow's Forefathers, Inc. on Vimeo.

Bright Lights Local Group/Christmas Ministry Ideas/Miscellaneous

Nine Tips for Christmas Caroling Evangelism

2 Comments

A few nights ago we went out Christmas caroling. The girls in our Bright Lights group LOVE doing this. And the elderly neighbors around our church LOVE it when they come.

Here are a few practical tips if you’d like to arrange an outreach like this in your neighborhood or church neighborhood! You don’t have to do it with a Bright Lights group — you could do it with a church group or group of friends. (Our church is planning to do it on a coming Wednesday night.)

1) Don’t take too large of a group – it takes too long to move from house to house. We split into smaller groups of about 12 each. This way we can also reach more houses.

2) Knock, ring the doorbell and then start singing! If they don’t come to the door after one verse, we usually go on to the next house.

3) Have the carolers bring cookies pre-made on little plates (with about 5 cookies per plate) so that you can leave a little treat at each home. Also give them a Christmas gospel tract or Christmas scoll. Give each girl involvement by letting different girls give the plate of cookies to the home resident each time.

4) After you finish the first song, greet the person who came to the door with a warm “Merry Christmas” and explain who you are and what you are doing. (I usually say, “We are from a girl’s Bible study group that meets at the little church around the corner!”) Then we often ask, “Do you have a favorite Christmas carol you’d like us to sing?” However, this is a little risky. It has led to some embarrassing attempts at singing “Silver Bells” and “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer.”

5) If they don’t come to the door, instruct the carolers not to announce loudly, “I see a man in there — he’s watching the TV!” because walls are not very sound-proof and we don’t want to be a bad testimony or seem rude.

6) If there is snow on the ground, try not to turn their glistening white front yard into a yard covered with muddy boot prints (i.e. take the sidewalk or street).

7) Instruct your carolers in advance to smile!!

Christmas caroling door to door is kind of a thing of the past. Some elderly people remember doing it when they were young and are shocked and ecstatic when carolers arrive at the door!

8) Sing only the first verse of common Christmas carols. The carols my team sang the most were, “Silent Night,” “Away in a Manger,” “O Come All Ye Faithful,” “Angels We Have Heard on High,” “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” and “Joy to the World.”

9) Have one person in your group be the scribe. Take notes of which houses you went to, and which houses were especially grateful. You’ll want to make sure you hit those houses again next year. We have some elderly people around our church who wait for us to come each year, and have been extremely touched.

When you regather inside your warm church (or home) discuss what the Lord did and pray for the people that you reached. Celebrate with hot cocoa and Christmas cookies!

We need more “carolers for the harvest” :). Please leave a comment if you have done this and have additional tips.