Your Church on Mission Evangelism Podcast

In this special episode, co-hosts Joel Southerland and Scott Smith discuss how, when the church acts on the consumer mentality of the Church, it accomplishes less. You will hear illustrations about the importance of choosing the best options for your church and on how to limit those options to focus more on evangelism. What do you need to take away from the church to make it more evangelistic? To learn more, visit the Evangelism blog at www.namb.net/yourchurchonmission. You can also email us at [email protected].     Additional resources: Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action Transcript Announcer: Presented by the Evangelism Department of the North American Mission Board, this is Your Church on Mission Evangelism Podcast, the podcast to help pastors be on mission in their local communities. Here's your host, Joel Southerland. Joel S.: Welcome to Your Church on Mission. I'm your host, Joel Southerland, and this is the Evangelism Podcast of the North American Mission Board. Hey, recently I read an article by Simon Sinek who wrote the book, Start with Why. He wrote this article several years ago, but I thought it was really important to maybe mention it today as we talk about evangelism. Joel S.: In the article, he talks about a shoe salesman in the 1950s named Ben Prober who went on to own a very, very successful chain of women's shoe stores. The prices at his store weren't the cheapest. The selections weren't that different than any other store in town. The stores themselves were pretty basic. They were nice, but nothing that our design and experience obsessed era would consider any kind of competitive advantage, so with no apparent superior offering or value added, Prober Shoes managed to outsell their competition year after year after year. Joel S.: When Ben was asked, "What's your secret to success?", here's what he always said, "Two, not three. Two, not three." Ben understood something about human beings that modern businesses and even churches have forgotten, and here's what it is, "More choice is bad." Let me tell you how he fleshed it out. Joel S.: When a lady came into one of his shops, the odds were good that she would want to try on more than one pair of shoes. If she already had two styles to choose from and she asked for a third option, here's what Ben would say. I love this. He would say, "Of course, madame, I'd be happy to fit you the style of your choice. Now, which one would you like for me to take away?" What Ben learned is that, when his customer had two options, they could easily make a choice about which style they preferred. However, when they had three or more to choose from, they had more trouble making a decision and, more often than not, left the store without any shoes. Joel S.: Here's the truth. Even in business, even if customers think they want more choice, the facts are overwhelmingly against them. Not only are we more likely to make a purchase with fewer options, but the confidence we have in our choices and satisfaction we get from these choices is considerably higher than if we're forced to choose from a larger selection. In other words, the only result of competing with more is you do less, you sell less. I want to compare that and bring that into church world in this podcast because what happens is, in churches, we wind up offering so much to meet the consumer mentality of our members, we actually wind up accomplishing less. Joel S.: I'm joined by my co-host today, Scott Smith, who's an evangelism consultant with the Georgia Baptist Mission Board. Scott, most churches need to simplify a little bit, don't they?Scott Smith: Yeah, they really do. It's kind of like government regulations. We add them, and we typically don't take the old ones away, so it becomes burdensome after a while. It becomes too heavy-laden with too many options. It's a frog in a kettle thing, right? It doesn't happen overnight. It's slow so we don't notice that we've just got too much on the agenda or just simply [inaudible 00:03:51] we're trying to funnel our visitors and our members into. Joel S.: I think that ... I love the frog in the kettle analogy for this because I think that's what happens. Over time, in the life of a minister of a church, we added a lot of good ministries, and we added ministries when they were hot, when it fit the culture of the time, when it fits the context of the time, and then what we never did was take away any of the other options. Not only do we have the best current cutting-edge ministry going on at our church, we also have the ministry that worked 20 years ago going on at our church. Scott Smith: I think one of the core problems, though, is that we don't have a system whereby we evaluate, not only the new ideas, but whether or not the old ideas are still working so, without any kind of a litmus test or a filter or checklist or evaluation assessment system in place, things tend to stay on the registry of options. Joel S.: Yea

What comes first, church health or evangelism? Join co-hosts Joel Southerland and Scott Smith as they discuss with special guest, Gary Comer, the answer to this important question. Discover which comes first and why in this episode of Your Church On Mission podcast. Learn more at namb.net/evangelism or email us at [email protected].  Additional resources below: ReMission: Rethinking How Church Leaders Create Movement By Gary S. Comer Soul Whisperer: Why the Church Must Change the Way It Views Evangelism By Gary S. Comer Soul Whisperer Ministries https://soulwhispererministry.com/ Twitter @gcomerministry Gary Comer

In this special episode, Joel Southerland and co-host Scott Smith discuss the secret to achieving your evangelism goals. Learn specific tools gathered from a recent study on evangelism strategy and the church, and how it applies to evangelism training.  Want to learn more? Visit namb.net/evangelism. Have questions? Email us at [email protected].

In the second episode of this two-part series, host Joel Southerland continues the discussion of first impressions and churches with Rebecca Carlisle of To Be Received Ministries, aimed at redefining hospitality in the Church. Hear Rebecca’s insightful list of resources that will help churches with first impression ministries (from the welcome center to the kids ministry to refreshments and snacks before worship and sermon service). For more information, visit namb.net/evangelism. To connect with To Be Received Ministries, visit www.tobereceived.com. See Rebecca Carlisle’s recommended resources below: “Secrets of the Secret Shopper” By: Greg Atkinson “First Impressions” By Mark Waltz “The Vision Room” blog By Bob Adams with Elevation Church “Connective Tissue: 2-Ply for your noggin” By Danny Franks with Summit Church

In the first episode of this two-part series, co-hosts Joel Southerland and Scott Smith discuss with Rebecca Carlisle of To Be Received Ministries the importance of first impressions in ministry and the role it plays in helping people come to faith in Christ. Discover key factors newcomers weigh when deciding whether they will return to your church or not and how parking lot greeters are an important first contact for guests. Check out part 2 on the Your Church On Mission blog at namb.net/yourchurchonmission. See Rebecca Carlisle’s recommended resources below: “Secrets of the Secret Shopper” By: Greg Atkinson “First Impressions” By Mark Waltz “The Vision Room” blog By Bob Adams with Elevation Church “Connective Tissue: 2-Ply for your noggin” By Danny Franks with Summit Church

Co-hosts Joel Southerland and Scott Smith speak with Alvin Reid, author of “Sharing Jesus Without Freaking Out,” about the importance of pastors mastering the art of personal evangelism. Discover why pastors should be able to share Jesus and encourage their congregations to replicate their skills.  Learn more at https://www.namb.net/send-network. 

For this special episode, host Joel Southerland is joined by John Meador, pastor of First Baptist Church in Euless, Texas and founder of One Conversation—a ministry for evangelism. Discover why the North American Mission Board (NAMB) and One Conversation have partnered together to engage churches in evangelism with a course called Live This and how this can benefit your congregation today. For more resources, visit namb.net/evangelism.

Host Joel Southerland discusses the importance of pastors’ encouraging, training and coaching church members to share their faith. Listen to clips from pastor Jimmy Scroggins of Family Church in West Palm Beach, Florida, and discover how you can begin a gospel conversation in your every day encounters.  For more information on gospel conversations, visit https://www.namb.net/video/3-circles-life-conversation-guide. 

Co-hosts Joel Southerland and Scott Smith share wisdom about how churches measure success on member contentment and finances being met instead of on evangelism and outreach initiatives. Listen to a clip from leading evangelistic pastor Ken Whitten, Idlewood Baptist Church, Lutz, Fl., and dissect his words along with YCOM podcast hosts. For more resources, visit namb.net/evangelism.

An interview with Brad Ball How does worship create an evangelistic culture within a church? Listen to co-hosts Joel Southerland and Scott Smith as they interview special guest, Dr. Brad Ball, pastor of Bethsaida Baptist Church in Dublin, Ga., on challenges he faces in relation to evangelism at Bethsaida plus how inviting people to worship is important in boosting evangelistic culture.  Check out our blog at www.namb.net/yourchurchonmission, or email us at [email protected] with any questions.  

Discover the power of personal testimony. Co-hosts Joel Southerland and Scott Smith interview pastor Greg Jackson of First Southern Baptist Church in Camden, Ohio, where he divulges the challenges and triumphs of fostering evanglism in a medium-sized church. Gain takeaways and some helpful tips to creating a faith-sharing culture through telling your story. For more resources, visit namb.net/evangelism.

Listen in on an evangelism coaching session with Pastor Robby Brown. During the call we discuss evangelism roadblocks that every pastor faces. Find out what you can do to press on and reach and baptize more people.

What does it mean for your church members to seek opportunities to live on mission? What is the easy button? In this episode, Joel Southerland and Scott Smith dicsuss how evangelical churches are helping their members find opportunities to live on mission every day and define the easy button for missional living. Pastors will learn how to help their members answer questions about their callings as well as identify places they go to every day as missional opportunities. For more, check out our blog at www.namb.net/yourchurchonmission, or email us at [email protected].

Did you know there are two types of evangelism training? Start building evangelism into the DNA of your church today with this podcast where Joel Southerland and Scott Smith discuss the ways successful evangelistic churches train members to share their faith and live life on mission.  Resources or links mentioned in this podcast: Three Circles Life Conversation GuideOrganic Evangelism for Ordinary People by Kevin G. HarneySharing Jesus without Freaking Out: Evangelism the Way You Were Born to Do It by Alvin ReidThree Circles Pastors Training Kit    For more information, check out our blog at www.namb.net/yourchurchonmission or email us at [email protected].    

How does compassion ministry align with Jesus’ ministry? In this special episode, host Joel Southerland and guest speaker Scott Smith discuss how evangelistic churches are showing and sharing the love of Christ. Discover top results from evangelistic churches involved in compassion ministry, hear biblical contextual support and more! Visit namb.net/yourchurchonmission for blog posts, podcasts and more. Visit namb.net/SendRelief to learn more about compassion ministries.

How would you describe an engaging church? Host Joel Southerland and special guest Scott Smith talk through having a relevant and intentional church from the pastor to the congregation and church staff. Discover how to orchestrate a vibe of excitement about evangelism and gospel-sharing in your church through language and worship experience. Visit namb.net/yourchurchonmission for more!

What is an expectant church? In this special episode, you’ll learn how to be one. You will also hear why it’s important to welcome guests, how impactful a “Next Steps” station is and what Ken Whitten’s 7 practical check points for guest relations are. Set your church apart in every guests minds with a wonderful first encounter and thus open doors for gospel sharing. Resources mentioned in this episode: namb.net/yourchurchonmission Email us at [email protected].

In this podcast Joel Southerland and Scott Smith discuss how and why your church should leverage the most important Sunday of the year to have the greatest impact. Notes:1:40 – The biggest Sunday for a church is Easter Sunday.2:40 – Hal Seed talks about the importance of special Sundays at church like Easter.5:10 – Easter is a Sunday a great opportunity for ministry promotion and for introducing new guests to your church.5:27 – There are two schools of thought about Easter Sunday.8:02 – Sharing the gospel is a win.10:02 – Discover the concept of Saturation.14:00 – The hosts name some offline promotional ideas for a church.19:55 – Learn how offline and online promotion can work together in a church.22:27 – The hosts names some online promotional ideas.25:46 – Learn why it’s best to advertise Easter Sunday service on Facebook three weeks ahead of time.27:43 – Discover the best idea you’ve ever heard Resources or links mentioned in this podcast: * www.canva.com   Check out our blog at www.namb.net/yourchurchonmission Email us at [email protected]      

In this podcast you will discover: The tremendous impact of the Come and See method of evangelism The both/and of building and reproducing disciples while using the most effective forms of evangelism Tim Dowdy’s philosophy of a wide front door for the purpose of evangelism 3 components of a top evangelistic church Resources mentioned in this podcast: namb.net/yourchurchonmission Email us at [email protected].

 In this podcast you will discover: The most effective type of strategy. Vance Pitman’s four-fold strategy to build relationships and make disciples. The relationship between clarity, direction, and motivation. Resources mentioned in this podcast: Courage to Execute by James Murphy. hopechurchonline.com namb.net/yourchurchonmission Email us at [email protected].