Hello, BRN Family! It’s good to be with you today!
During our Accelerate Conference a few weeks ago, we introduced “SHOW,” Phase 2 of the #LovePASJ initiative to love our neighbors in Pennsylvania and South Jersey. Specifically, we asked “Who is on your watch?”
In 2018, statistics from the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Department of Health indicated that on average nearly 465 people a day die in our two-state area. If you consider that 85% of these people do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ, that means, on average, every 4 minutes and 20 seconds someone dies without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
People are perishing without Jesus; the very mission Jesus wants us to change. With this type of urgency, again we wanted to ask the question, “Who’s on your watch?” Who is around you that has no hope outside of a relationship with Jesus Christ?
To that end, the #LovePASJ’s Phase 2 SHOW kit seeks to help churches evangelize the neighborhoods where they did exegesis and prayerwalking. As a natural next step to learning about their communities, Phase 2 of “KNOW, SHOW, GROW” offers resources to equip participants to start meeting revealed needs through compassion ministries and evangelism. This year’s kit also highlights evangelism resources available for individuals and groups.
Let me explain what is in the kit:
In the kit, you will find a Descriptor, which shares about this initiative and explains what is in the kit.
You’ll find three guides on Compassion Ministry. One speaks about “Triage or Trauma,” finding ways to do compassion ministry when something happens in the community that creates trauma.
There’s also another guide on “Education,” compassion ministry to provide in the school, to help a school, to show how needs can be met there and how you can be compassionate to those in the school system.
Another guide is on “Food Insecurity/Poverty.” This is to help you find ways to aid for food, maybe through a food bank or providing a food bank or some type of food source from within your own church.
In the kit, you’ll see many things on evangelism. One of the things I like are these little tracts. You can share the Gospel with your neighbors and friends by getting these tracts.
There is a Prayer List in here that you can use–your daily prayer list to pray for your loved ones, to pray for community leaders, to pray for friends and neighbors, colleagues, coworkers…
There’s a tool in here that helps you if you are an introvert–to know how to have energy and motivation to share the Gospel even if you are an introvert.
There is an app in here that has all kind of tools that we got through our partnership with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. That’s available for you to go on and pick up so many different things! It also has ways to share the Gospel in 60 different languages! That’s pretty cool!
There’s a Small Group Bible Study that was done by Brian Musser, our collegiate minister at Drexel University. Phenomenal Bible study that you could do at your church to get people more interested and motivated to share and show the love of Jesus Christ!
There’s ways in here to know how to love your neighbors by creating packages for a new neighbor, a new baby, someone who has lost a loved one, someone who is ill, someone who has just learned they are going to have a baby, and one that is an all-purpose Movie Night box. I like this. This is pretty cool.
There’s another one in here that can leave on the door of a new neighbor that shares places you like to eat at, things you like to see and do, some tips about living in that community, and leaving your name and phone number to say, “If you’ve got any questions, call me!” Put it right on their door.
“21 Days of Prayer”: This is a cool tool that you can use in a church to get your people together to pray about how God can give you more heart and energy to share and show the love or Jesus Christ.
And just a couple of other little things in here: an EvangeCube, this is something you can purchase to give your folks to go out and share the Gospel. It’s not too big, you can actually carry it with you or put it in your car. It will probably fit in your glove box.
And the last thing I like is this watch, which says, “Who’s on Your Watch?” to remind you to think about, during the course of the day, who to pray for and who to share the Gospel with.
This kit is available to you. Simply request one at www.lovepasj.com.
John 9:4 says, “We must do the works of Him who sent Me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work!”
Friends, let’s urgently reach our communities for Jesus Christ! I am praying for you. If you need anything, please contact us at our Help Desk at helpdesk@brnunited.org or call or text (717) 652-5856.
Thanks for listening in today. May God bless you!
