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Paul Dennis of FCA Outdoors tells us how to get into the schools legitimately, fill a real need, build relationships and bring more students to Christ. Enjoy!  

Learn more about the Harvest Georgia event where Greg Laurie will be preaching the gospel September 23, 24 and 25 with Phil Wickham, Chris Tomlin, Lacrae, THIRD DAY and more at http://georgia.harvest.org. 

The altar flooded after this message from James Merritt. With a hot heart over the lost and for the gospel, Dr. Merritt challenged attendees of the REACH 2016 Evangelism Conference to get their community on their hearts. Extremely RELEVANT to our day was this incredible message. Listen, enjoy and don't forget to share.

Pastor and creator of "Back To Church Sunday," Pastor Hal Seed of the New Song Community Church in Oceanside, California, shares how they have created the "elevated excuse to invite" for Sundays throughout the year for the purpose of attracting the lost to church so that they can reach them with the Gospel. This is an "insiders recording" with Hal Seed that we were able to get access to in order to help and encourage you to create more attractional Sundays to reach the lost. NOTES: Hal Seed:  Sunday Attraction – Creating An Elevated Excuse for Inviting to Church 6:41 Attractional Evangelism still works 6:50 Everyday is a good day to bring someone to Jesus, but some days are better than others.   7:00 Sundays are the best day to lead someone to Jesus 7:13 All Sundays are good Sundays to bring someone to Jesus, but some Sundays are better than others.  For example, Easter and Mother’s day. People will attend on these Sunday’s even if they don’t come any Sunday of the year 8:44 3 Elevated Excuses to invite people to church: 9:20 Attractional Campaigns During attractional campaigns, everyone does the same thing at the same time in a church. There is a broad purpose that appeals to everyone. Has a book involved that everyone is reading. Has sermons for 5 or 6 weeks on that particular campaign, etc. Ramping up for the campaign is huge. Getting people involved and plugged in is key The more a church does an attractional campaign, the more it will grow 12:04 Wow Weekend Have someone come in or an event that people only have one opportunity to be a part of Ex: had Bethany Hamilton come and speak 13:46 Comeback Event Created a national back to church Sunday and churches saw a 35% increase in attendance that Sunday 14:56 Marketing for these events: Business cards, prayer, door hangers I Love Sundays Campaign 15:36 The Right Kind of Sunday Consumes Your Life 16:26 16:55 Why Elevated Excuses work: First, Events are appealing Secondly, It’s a moment of time- it only happens now! Thirdly, everyone gets involved 19:12 Every year Hal does 2-3 attractional campaigns, 2 wow events, and 1 comeback event 22:51 Power of inviting is the best thing 28:01 Helpful resources for evangelism: The God Questions Campaign. It’s a six-week Church-wide Campaign that answers the major questions people have about God, Christianity and the Bible. This Campaign has been used in over 2,000 churches to attract and lead people to Christ. The God Questions Gift Edition. This short gift edition of The God Questions is being used by churches as a gift to first time guests. We’ve found that giving a gift increases visitor return rates significantly. The Gift Edition answers the key questions and presents a gospel invitation. At $1.99 each, this little book more than pays for itself with higher rates of retention. Monthly PastorMentor videos. We’re creating a series of practical training videos that teach pastors and their teams a thorough system for each of the eight systems of their church. The two most pertinent sessions for you would probably be “Your Assimilation System” and “Your Outreach System.” Healthy Church Systems EBooks. I wanted to help pastors with quick, practical resources for growing their churches, so I’ve created a series of short (20 pages) eBooks that cover each church system thoroughly. I recommend that pastors who want to reach out start with Keeping Visitors Coming Back and then go to Attracting More Newcomers. So many church mentors are charging so much for their resources that they’ve created a price barrier, so we’re selling these at $4.99 each – basically enough to cover the cost of editing them and posting them on our website.

In this episode, Tom Clegg discusses the psychological shift in the current un-churched environment and helps us to understand what they're thinking when we invite them to church. Tom also covers many forgotten pieces in our attempts to optimize the Sunday Morning experience for guests. Want a deep-dive, comprehensive evangelism strategy? Visit 6Estrategy.com.

0:00 - Intro of Joel Southerland and his role at NAMB 5:42 - Explaining Survey 15:15 - Survey Results 30:08 - Leadership 33:56 - Strategy 45:32 - Sunday mornings 53:00 - Happenings at NAMB

In this episode, Rand Mullinax and Scott Smith discuss the FINAL evangelism strategy for local churches.  Why is it final? Because this one is evergreen.  Find out what that means and why it's important to your church. Resources: 6Estrategy.com EvangelismGA.com

In this episode we speak with Tom Crites, Research Specialist at the Georgia Baptist Convention. He's the GBC's best kept secret.  Tom can send out to any Georgia Baptist Church extensive data relating to the demographic and psychographic makeup of their community in a 1 mile radius, 5 mile radius and beyond. Tom's office can also supply current name and address mailing lists at no charge.  Not only that, but your church "trends" profile is a must-see for anyone in leadership.  These are expensive resources made available to Georgia Baptist due to their giving through the Cooperative Program.  Find out how these resources can be used and order your reports here: http://gabaptist.org/research-services/

Braxton Hunter, evangelist and VP of Trinity College of the Bible and Seminary, details how to preach evangelistic sermons that declare the Gospel plainly. He also gives great advice about conducting a public invitation in a way that is clear and effective.   At the end of the podcast, Braxton Hunter gives a special 35% discounted offer to access online courses through Trinity Seminary online. Courses include Strategies for Personal Evangelism, Evangelistic Preaching, Global Missions, and Church Growth Courses to name a few.

We cover online resources that are favorites of Georgia Baptist pastors and others across the SBC that we make available to you.  Here's a list:  GBC Evangelism Ministries Blog - our blog, resources, staff info, podcast link, seminars, and more. GBC Top Baptizing Churches with pastor interviews on "what's working now" in evangelism. Church of all sizes. Great resource. Sermonators.com - Scott and Joel's site on preaching and productivity for busy pastors. It's a podcast and blog that's fun, entertaining and useful. 2013 Evangelism Conference site - still full of great downloads, interviews, full conference notes doc to download as well. Great resource still!

In this episode, you will get an overview of REACH 2014. Reach UP - Revival emphasis, FBC Albany GA, March 17-18, 2014 Reach IN - Leadership emphasis, retreat at the Jekyll Island Club Hotel. Space is limited! Feb 6-8,  Reach OUT - Strategy emphasis, Maysville Baptist Maysville GA, Feb 24-25, 2014 Reach BEYOND - Vision emphasis, FBC Bremen GA, Feb 10-11, 2014

[Part 3 of 3] What do guest see at your church that you don't?  When you work, lead, worship and live in your own church's ministry, it's nearly impossible to be objective. That's why Faith Perceptions exists. In this episode, Joel Southerland, Scott Smith and Randy Mullinax interview Melanie Smollen of Faith Perceptions. Melanie gives an outstanding point-by-point checklist that covers nearly every facet of your church's ministry to your community. You will gain massive objectivity about your own church -- church services, church personnel, church facilities and so much more -- in this episode and the other two parts we are posting here. Faith Perceptions began in 2008 taking the "mystery shopping program" for businesses to the church environment using unchurched mystery guests (sometimes called mystery worshippers), multiple visits and a consistent scorecard.  Faith Perceptions is now the fastest growing firm of its type in the United States with over 2,000 worship services evaluated across four denominations in eight states and approximately 6,000 mystery guests that are active in their database. EXCLUSIVE LISTENER OFFER: Faith Perceptions is offering a 5% discount on any Mystery Guest Package to podcast listeners. Simply identify promo code FaithGBC when placing the order.  Good through June 30, 2013, this discount does not apply to mystery guest fees. The Mystery Guest Program is appropriate for any church leader who wants to grow their church by gaining a better understanding of what their first impressions are to a first time visitor, and how they can create a more welcoming environment at their church.

[Part 2 of 3] What do guest see at your church that you don't?  When you work, lead, worship and live in your own church's ministry, it's nearly impossible to be objective. That's why Faith Perceptions exists. In this episode, Joel Southerland, Scott Smith and Randy Mullinax interview Melanie Smollen of Faith Perceptions. Melanie gives an outstanding point-by-point checklist that covers nearly every facet of your church's ministry to your community. You will gain massive objectivity about your own church -- church services, church personnel, church facilities and so much more -- in this episode and the other two parts we are posting here. Faith Perceptions began in 2008 taking the "mystery shopping program" for businesses to the church environment using unchurched mystery guests (sometimes called mystery worshippers), multiple visits and a consistent scorecard.  Faith Perceptions is now the fastest growing firm of its type in the United States with over 2,000 worship services evaluated across four denominations in eight states and approximately 6,000 mystery guests that are active in their database. EXCLUSIVE LISTENER OFFER: Faith Perceptions is offering a 5% discount on any Mystery Guest Package to podcast listeners. Simply identify promo code FaithGBC when placing the order.  Good through June 30, 2013, this discount does not apply to mystery guest fees. The Mystery Guest Program is appropriate for any church leader who wants to grow their church by gaining a better understanding of what their first impressions are to a first time visitor, and how they can create a more welcoming environment at their church.

[Part 1 of 3] What do guest see at your church that you don't?  When you work, lead, worship and live in your own church's ministry, it's nearly impossible to be objective. That's why Faith Perceptions exists. In this episode, Joel Southerland, Scott Smith and Randy Mullinax interview Melanie Smollen of Faith Perceptions. Melanie gives an outstanding point-by-point checklist that covers nearly every facet of your church's ministry to your community. You will gain massive objectivity about your own church -- church services, church personnel, church facilities and so much more -- in this episode and the other two parts we are posting here. Faith Perceptions began in 2008 taking the "mystery shopping program" for businesses to the church environment using unchurched mystery guests (sometimes called mystery worshippers), multiple visits and a consistent scorecard.  Faith Perceptions is now the fastest growing firm of its type in the United States with over 2,000 worship services evaluated across four denominations in eight states and approximately 6,000 mystery guests that are active in their database. EXCLUSIVE LISTENER OFFER: Faith Perceptions is offering a 5% discount on any Mystery Guest Package to podcast listeners. Simply identify promo code FaithGBC when placing the order.  Good through June 30, 2013, this discount does not apply to mystery guest fees. The Mystery Guest Program is appropriate for any church leader who wants to grow their church by gaining a better understanding of what their first impressions are to a first time visitor, and how they can create a more welcoming environment at their church.

In this Episode, Scott Smith interviews Dr. Ike Reighard about evangelism and Church Revitalization.

In this episode, Scott Smith interviews Dr. Ken Hemphill about evangelism and the importance of welcoming guests.