Persons of Peace, Social Networking, and Church Planting

[James Nored]

 

Here is an article on reaching people for Christ through social networking with those who are typically called "sons of peace," or with new Christians. The article is called, "Every person you meet is a window for God's blessing, a church pla... The article refers to church planter Curtis Seargant, saying,

"Relationship chains based on geography, socio-economic levels, ethnicity and more can provide a multitude of opportunities where a person can share the Gospel with fewer barriers.

 

It just takes more work in the West, he adds. Since churches in North America, Europe and, to an extent, Latin America, can’t expect the Gospel to move smoothly through relationship chains, they must focus their efforts on helping the Gospel take small jumps between various chains. The church can do this by helping new converts purposely look for people they know -- even if the relationship isn’t strong -- who could take the Gospel into a new segment of the community.

 

These relationships might not be as deep as those common in other parts of the world, but they’re still relationships,' Sergeant said."

 

The article goes on to recommend having new Christians write down 4-5 people that are non-Christians that they know. Then, they should start praying for them and start a new small group with them. This is the approach, and a key part of CPM, that I am now seeking to use.

 

What do you think of the "person of peace" concept and social networking to share the gospel?

[Bill Bowman]

I agree that this is an excellent way to reach people. Many years ago I was involved with a church planting in Long Island, New York. One of our members received a letter in which the return address stated it was from Exodus Bay Shore. The postman was curious and asked that person who was Exodus Bay Shore? He gave me
the Postman's name and I contacted him. He was a member of the John Birch type group. I was invited to come and present the reason I was there. Out of the 12 people there 10 were baptized into Christ.
Bill Bowman

[Chris Walker]

I think the concept works well. . . it's one that is at work in my life as well as a church planter.

Gary Rhormayer gives us a few principles for looking for the person of peace, I wrote about it here.

http://www.evangelismcoach.org/2010/the-person-of-peace/


To help people develop that prayer list, looking for the person of peace, I wrote this article.

* Make a prayer list of friends for your journal.
* Ten Prayer Points For your Friends if you don’t know what to pray for.

Chris

[James Nored]

Bill, what an inspiring example. 10 of 12 were baptized--wow. I would like to hear the full story of your church planting experience sometime. Thank you for sharing.

Bill Bowman said:

I agree that this is an excellent way to reach people. Many years ago I was involved with a church planting in Long Island, New York. One of our members received a letter in which the return address stated it was from Exodus Bay Shore. The postman was curious and asked that person who was Exodus Bay Shore? He gave me
the Postman's name and I contacted him. He was a member of the John Birch type group. I was invited to come and present the reason I was there. Out of the 12 people there 10 were baptized into Christ.
Bill Bowman

[James Nored]

Chris, thank you for these links. To all - check out Chris' link on his person of peace article. There he gives a good personal example of a person of peace, as well as a book on spiritual conversations that I plan on ordering.

Chris Walker said:

I think the concept works well. . . it's one that is at work in my life as well as a church planter.

Gary Rhormayer gives us a few principles for looking for the person of peace, I wrote about it here.

http://www.evangelismcoach.org/2010/the-person-of-peace/


To help people develop that prayer list, looking for the person of peace, I wrote this article.

* Make a prayer list of friends for your journal.
* Ten Prayer Points For your Friends if you don’t know what to pray for.

Chris