Unbinding Your Heart
December 2011 and January 2012 I will have the privilege and honor of teaching the Friendship Class during the Sunday School hour.
I've searched high and low for something exciting and faith-building to share with the group and I've arrived upon a GEM where we can gather together and discuss the E-word! EVANGELISM!
Evangelism is a word that has been co-opted in years past to where the true meaning is lost among misunderstandings and often mishandling. Evangelism is simply sharing the good news of our faith. It does not mean knocking on doors, handing out tracts or harassing individuals to ascribe to any particular doctrine or creed. Why is your life better for being a Christian? How does your relationship with Jesus Christ help you through life's difficult journeys? Your answers to these questions and others as well as your abilities to articulate these answers placed within the context of every day life is what evangelism truly is. We'll be studying this subject through the work of Disciples' minister and author, Martha Grace Reece in her book:
Unbinding the Gospel: Real Life Evangelism
This book is part of the Unbinding the Gospel Series Reece wrote using a grant from the Lilly Endowment Project for Mainline Church Evangelism. This project focused on highly effective examples of evangelism in mainline churches across the theological spectrum, including over 1200 interviews within seven mainline denominations including America's fastest growing congregations.