BOOK SUMMARIES - canaan-church.orgcanaan-church.org/SEARCY/BookIgnite.pdf · Published by Leaders Book Summaries. 872 New Britton Rd, ... eight three-hour Systems Seminars by Nelson

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August 2012

THE NUTSHELL

Published by Leaders Book Summaries. 872 New Britton Rd, Carol Stream, IL 60188 No part of this document may be reproduced without prior written consent. © 2012 Leaders Book Summaries. All rights reserved

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About the AuthorNelson Searcy served as the Director of The Purpose Driven Community at Saddleback Church before starting The Journey Church in New York City in 2002. He and his 1,200+ member church appear routinely on lists such as “The 50 Most Influential Churches” and “The 25 Most Innovative Leaders.”

IgniteHow to Spark Immediate Growth in Your Church

What if we could ignite an evangelistic revolution where evangelism happens every Sunday and churches double every year? That’s what this book is all about. I want to give you a clear system for cooperating with God to see consistent evangelistic fruit in your church; a practical, nuts-and-bolts process for developing an effective evangelism system.

One cornerstone of this system is the “big day.” Here is my definition of a big day: A big day is an all-out push toward a single Sunday for the purpose of breaking the next growth barrier and setting an attendance record in order to reach as many people as possible for Jesus.

Here are four reasons to consider doing a big day: To reach new people, to make the devil mad, to grow the Christians in your church, and to build momentum in your church.

Once you decide to do a big day, the next step is to pick the most strategic date for that big day. Which day you pick is extremely important. Here are three of the best big day opportunities...

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1. Easter Sunday: the Built-In Big Day. Easter is a big day “gimme.” A lot of people will go to church on Easter who wouldn’t go any other time.

2. Fall: the Back-to-School Big Day. Fall is one of the best times of the year for a big day, and the best time in the fall is one month after school begins.

3. February: the Unexpected Big Day. February works because people stay local, are often inside, and are facing a host of emotional challenges that stay repressed other months.

Once you’ve set the date for your big day, start covering the day, and the entire process leading up to the day, in prayer. Aim to get as many people praying for your big day as you possibly can.

Think of your current level of evangelism as a reading on a thermometer. What is the evangelistic temperature in your church? Hot, cold, or somewhere in the middle? When it comes to evangelism, the pastor’s primary role is to keep the evangelistic temperature red-hot inside the church. The pastor has three avenues he can use to keep the temperature hot: the stage, the staff, and the structure.

I’ve noticed that what gets presented from the stage is more likely to get accomplished in the pews. Your strategic use of sermons, announcements, and vision casting from the stage can raise the evangelistic temperature quicker than anything else. Regularly challenging your people to reach out and invite friends is one of the ways you can use to raise the temperature. Here are five others:

1. Tell your own evangelism stories. The best way you can create a heart for evangelism is by sharing your personal evangelism stories.

2. Testimonies. Stories from your people about what God is doing.

3. Teach an evangelism series. Every three years I teach an entire sermon series on evangelism, in an effort to keep our evangelistic temperature high.

4. Give immediate opportunities for action. If you have just preached a message on evangelism, make sure you give your people an immediate opportunity to live out what they’ve just learned.

5. Utilize a preaching calendar. You can plan in advance to maximize the natural evangelistic times of the year. Plan an attraction or felt-need series around the big days − topics that non-Christians would be interested in hearing about.

The second way a pastor can keep things toasty is to challenge his staff to hold the torch close to the thermostat. If you, as the pastor, are going to lead on this issue, you have to expect a high level of evangelistic involvement from your staff, and you have to hold them accountable to those expectations.

The third and final way a pastor can raise the evangelistic temperature in his church is through the church’s structure. Besides scheduling big days, you can schedule outreaches and get small groups involved in evangelism.

By far the most effective type of evangelism is personal or friendship evangelism. At the churches I have pastored or coached, I’ve found that 60-80% of first-time guests in a growing church come because a friend invited them. 60-80%! That leads me back to my original question: “Why don’t we double every week?” The answer is, as church leaders, we aren’t mobilizing our people for evangelism; we aren’t equipping them for that mission.

It takes work to get your people ready for the work of evangelism. You just have to put what I call the Personal Evangelism Formula to work for you. Here’s the breakdown of the formula: High Levels of Personal Evangelism = Tools + Training + Timeliness.



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• Tools: People are more likely to do what you ask of them if you give them tools that will make things easier.

• Training: They will respond even more favorably if you provide some training so they feel confident in what they are doing.

• Timeliness: Give them a reason to do it now; provide a sense of urgency.

Personal evangelism is the most effective way to bring new people to your church, by far − but it’s not enough. No matter how well you train and equip your people, you will never be able to reach everyone in your community through person-to-person evangelism. The numbers just don’t work. You need to supplement your efforts with mass promotion. Mass promotion gives the possibility of reaching people who aren’t currently connected in any way to your people; they may not have ever heard of your church. Think of it as an investment, not an expense.

The combination of personal evangelism and promotion will lead many to come to Christ. When they do you need to both celebrate, and follow up with them, to give them a great foundation.

God has big dreams for your church. And he has called you to do the work. Make the changes that need to be made in your church. Mobilize your people for evangelism. Keep the evangelistic temperature boiling hot. And then give God the praise as he sends you the harvest.



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Focus areas include:• Personal and professional growth • Church health and growth • Advanced planning • Healthy church systems • Becoming a better spouse and parent • Fulfilling your calling as a minister • Stress management and emotional strength • And so much more!

The Renegade Pastors Network is a monthly subscription MEMBERSHIP program that includes:

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But the network is far more than just the resources you receive. The focus this network provides for your ministry and the ideas and insights in your life are simply priceless.

Read More or Join Today at: www.RenegadePastors.com


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Nelson Searcy is the Founding and Lead Pastor of The Journey Church in New

York City. Started in 2002, this groundbreaking church sees the majority of its

growth coming from new believers and currently has locations in Manhattan,

Queens, San Francisco and Boca Raton, FL. Nelson is the author of over sixty

church-growth resources, including the books Launch: Starting a New Church

From Scratch (also Fundar en español), Fusion: Integrating Newcomers into the Life of Your Church,

Activate: A Completely New Approach to Small Groups, Ignite: How to Spark Immediate Growth

in Your Church, Maximize: How to Develop Extravagant Givers in Your Church, The Generosity

Ladder: Your Next Step to Financial Peace, Engage: A Guide to Creating Life-Transforming Worship

Services and Revolve: A New Way to See Worship. Nelson is an experienced church planter,

coach and church-growth strategist. He is also the founder of www.ChurchLeaderInsights.com, the

Church Leadership Training ministry of Nelson Searcy and The Journey Church.

The Assimilation Seminar The Ignite Seminar The New Believer Seminar

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This three-hour seminar on Assimilation discusses practical steps that will help you create an inviting environment for your first-time guests, one that they will want to come back to time and time again.

Maximize the potential of your church to reach and disciple more people more effectively with these eight three-hour Systems Seminars by Nelson Searcy. Over $799.00 value for only $549.95!

Do you know how to develop extravagant givers in your church? This workshop encompasses, expands on and surpasses the truths you learned in The Stewardship Seminar. Take your stewardship system to the next level!

Do you desire to lead a great staff, to reach your church’s full kingdom potential and bring glory to God? This workshop is the result of years of reading, consultation and real-world experience (including 18 months of intense study and research).

This sermon series is a great tool to challenge your people toward a “Big Day,” equip them to share their own personal faith with others and prepare them spiritually to be used by God.

Do you have an effective process that helps people move forward from their decision to becoming a fully-devoted follower of Christ? In this resource, Nelson Searcy has developed a valuable system that will equip you to follow up with every new believer God brings to His church.

The Staffing WorkshopThe Stewardship IntensiveThe Systems Seminar Package

Meet Nelson Searcy

Best-Selling Resources by Nelson Searcy

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BOOK SUMMARIES - canaan-church.orgcanaan-church.org/SEARCY/BookIgnite.pdf · Published by Leaders Book Summaries. 872 New Britton Rd, ... eight three-hour Systems Seminars by Nelson