Super Bowl party funded by BRN evangelism grant leads to three saved at Restored Church

Since we had a few dozen guests staying in our church building, due to a local apartment building fire, we looked to intentionally show those who had experienced extreme suffering and/or poverty love and generosity. We aimed to do this by using an event that people already look forward to – the Super Bowl.

We planned to have food, door prizes, a lot of conversations and, at halftime, a sharing of testimonies and the gospel.

Most of it happened as planned. We were able to bring in amazing BBQ and wings, fill coolers with all kinds of non-alcoholic beverages and offer side dishes and dessert, thanks to members of our church. We had an abundance of food that supplied leftovers for our shelter guests.

We also invited our church family to the party, so that they could build relationships with our guests as well as invite any unsaved friends or family members.

As an incentive, to ensure everyone would stay for halftime, we gave out raffle tickets, did door prizes and told them they had to be present to win. We gave out nine gifts, all including gift cards to Amazon and Walmart.

At halftime, we had five individuals get up and share their stories of how God changed their lives. The last person sharing then turned and shared the gospel, along with an invitation to continue the conversation.

 Sharing Their Stories

At halftime, we had five people get up in front of the group and share their testimonies. They each shared a 2-3 minute story of how Jesus changed their lives. We taught them to condense the story and articulate the big picture of what their life was like before Jesus and what it is like now. Those who shared include:

• Dave – Shared about how he was an alcoholic for 30 years and God chased him down. He has found with Jesus what he was searching for and now he has purpose.
• Billy – Shared about how he was in a relationship thinking it would help him, but it left him in pain and questioning who he was. He found in Jesus and the church more than he ever thought possible.
• Christina – Shared about how she never felt like she fit in. As a missionary kid, she was not fitting in where they served in Africa and did not fit in here in the States. Struggling to find acceptance she found it with Jesus.
• Dave – Seeking an amazing life with that special someone, filled with dreams and hopes, all came crashing down when she left him. He turned to all the wrong places and at the end the only thing left was Jesus, but there he found Jesus and He did what only He can do.
• Jake – shared about growing up in an abusive home and finding himself running from all of it, just looking for pleasure to a point where he was at his lowest and God met him there. After Jake shared his story, he transitioned into sharing God’s story by using the Three Circles Method. He did a fantastic job and closed with an invitation to further conversation.

Decisions for Christ

While there were a ton of good conversations at the Super Bowl party, no one made Jesus the King of their life. However, in the following days we saw God do amazing things!

• Xavier – on Monday, Xavier, who was present at the game, had time to sit down and talk as he was wrestling through everything. We walked through the gospel, and he prayed to make Jesus the King of his life.
• Eric – On Tuesday, Eric, who was present at the game, had court, which did not go well. He was able to talk through some things and be pointed to Jesus. He made Jesus the King of his life.
• Robert – On Wednesday, Robert, who was present at the game, was really hurting as everything he has been going through was hitting home. He broke and after walking through the gospel again, made Jesus the King of his life.

There are a number of people who are very close to following Christ, and are still having discussions about faith because of how this event invited them into gospel-centered conversations. Please pray for Lynne, Donald, Tajina, Carl, Connie and Landon specifically.