Weekly Ministry Tip #6, Fall 2014
Go Deep, Reach High
What’s On The Inside?
As we read Matthew 15:8-20, Jesus confronts the Pharisees and Scribes for their dishonesty and hypocrisy. They accused Jesus of not following certain traditions but He caught them in their inconsistencies by not truly following the Law of God the way it was intended. The problem was on the inside. Jesus said in verse 8 “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me…” And He continues by saying in verse 11, “it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”
Jesus wants our hearts and our devotion first. Our words come from what is inside of us. He wants us to be Spirit-filled (controlled and empowered by Him) so that our work in ministry will have greater impact. He wants us to be fully reliant on Jesus and to leave the results to Him. Let’s do ministry, not in our own power and efforts, but with His help and the influence of the Holy Spirit. He wants us to work from the inside out. Be renewed in your heart each day for God.
A Great Evangelistic Tool To Always Keep In Mind
The EveryStudent.com web site is one of our important tools to help people understand many issues that might be keeping them from placing their trust in Christ. Here is what one of our web sites says about EveryStudent.com:
“God is using www.EveryStudent.com in incredible ways in our Campus ministry throughout the world. It is now in over 30 languages. And about 350 people each day indicate a decision to receive Christ, while on the site!
EveryStudent.com uses a variety of topics of interest to college students. Every article or video speaks to students about who God is and what it might be like to know God. If students have a question, they are able to email the site and a trained Christian will email them a personal reply.
New believers are also able to be followed up through a site built just for them, www.StartingwithGod.com.
Some of the ways we make EveryStudent.com known to students is through Google and Facebook advertising. Currently we are reaching approximately 500,000 people each month, but desire to reach so many more. We have seen a direct correlation 1% – 2% of all people who come to the site indicate a decision to receive Christ. The more we can bring to the site, the more who would likely make a life-changing decision. And for many, it might be their first opportunity to hear the gospel in such an in-depth way.”
As you engage people in spiritual conversations everywhere, always be thinking how you might transition in a way that would allow you to share Christ with them. For many who have unanswered questions, you might say:
“I’m not sure of the answer to that, but I know there are some excellent articles and materials that may help you find some answers. Go to www.everystudent.com. Once you’ve gone there and looked for some of your answers, I’d love to get back together with you to see what you think. Would that be okay?”
If you want to be really inspired on how to use the web site, the leader of the site has written an e-book called “The Ripple Effect”, that is easy to understand and will give you many more practical ideas. This is a great read that is only 40 pages long. Check it out here.
Talk to you next week,
Ben with Cru