Outreach That You Will Actually Do: Sharing Jesus Using Gospel Appointments (Part II)

By Paul WorcesterBig Ideas & 'Best Of'

Here is part 2 to yesterday’s popular post on “Gospel Appointment” from Paul Worcester.

To view Part I click here.

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How Do I Set up a Gospel Appointment?

If you are at a spiritually neutral setting such as a party or on campus.

  1. Start a conversation with a non-Christian or someone you are not 100% sure where they are at spiritually and talk about any topic you want. Use F.I.R.E. Find Common Ground, Interests, Relationships, Experience with spiritual things.
  2. Take advantage of any opportunity to identify with Christ. This can be something like “Yeah I am involved in this campus group called Challenge.” Or “ We just got back from a fun trip that helped my relationship with God.” Don’t worry about the exact word just say something! Something is better than nothing!
  3. Ask them a quick spiritual question like “Do you have any interest in spiritual things?” or “did you grow up going to Church or anything like that?” or something that gets them talking about themselves.
  4. Try and set up a meeting. No matter what they answer you can follow it up with something like “That’s interesting. Hey I have been learning some pretty helpful things about having a relationship with God. Maybe we could get together sometime for lunch or coffee and talk more about this?” After you say this be quiet and wait for them to respond. If they say yes, try and just set it up right then and figure out a time to meet right away. If they can’t think of a time off the top of their head just say “Ok I will call or text you sometime later and we can set it up.”
  5. Go back to a casual conversation and just hangout with them. Maybe something like “so what are your plans for this weekend?”

If you are at your ministries large group meeting, small groups or social events.

  1. Start a conversation about any topic.
  2. No need to transition. Simply try and set up a meeting. Say “Hey it would be great to get lunch or coffee sometime and we could get to know each other and I can tell you more about what our group is about?”

We try and set up a gospel appointment with everyone who comes to our large group meeting, small groups and socials. The fact that they are there shows they are already interested in spiritual things. That phrase “I can tell you more about what our group is about” is great because our groups is all about the gospel! Training our students and staff to set up meetings with all visitors (whether we know if they are a believer or not) has made us a much more “sticky” ministry. It is helping us connect more new people to us. We have never had someone offended by this but we have heard many people thank us for taking time to meet with them. I believe that if you attempt to set up a gospel appointments with all the new people who come to your ministry you will lead a lot more people to Jesus and see a higher percentage of visitors getting connected.

I Have an Appointment! Now What?

  1. Pray like crazy! Fast or set aside some time to pray for your friend. Recruit people from your group to pray for you before and during your meeting. I have a text message prayer team of 50+ people that I ask to pray for me before a meeting. Pray! Pray! Pray!
  2. Make sure to confirm the meeting time and location that day through a phone call or text message. I like texts better because they are more casual.
  3. Bring your Gospel lesson or whatever you need to share the good news with them. Bring a pen, paper, Bible or booklet. It might be good to also bring an extra Bible you can give them just in case they don’t have one.
  4. Start by talking casually and building a relationship with the person but jump in pretty quick talking about deeper things such as family and upbringing. Then walk through the three story outline below.
    1. Their Story: Ask them to share their story about their experience with spiritual things as soon as possible. Just say something like “So what’s your background when it comes to spiritual things?” Most people have something to share.
    2. Your Story: Share your testimony briefly. Try and do a one-minute version.
    3. God’s Story: Introduce the Bible lesson or illustration. We say “Something that the ministry I am a part of does is these Bible lessons that teach the basics about having a relationship with God. Do you mind if I show you one?” or “I have this illustration that explains the big story of God… etc.”
  5. Pull out the Gospel lesson and just read it with them. Make sure to sit close enough that both of you can comfortably see it. You don’t need to add a lot to it. Simply take them through the lesson.
  6. Make the Invitation clear. When you get to the prayer at the bottom of the sheet hand them the paper and say “Why don’t you read this prayer? Don’t pray it yet. Just read it and see if it shows the desire of your heart.” Wait and give them time to read it and think about it. Then ask “Would you like to commit your life to Christ right now?”
  7. If they say no respectfully ask what is keeping them from making this commitment? Don’t be pushy or try and force a decision! Simply cultivate a relationship. Then ask if they would like to do an investigative study through the Gospel of John.
  8. If they say yes to Christ show your excitement and lead them to pray to God out loud by reading off the prayer. Tell them to feel free to make it their own because it is not magic words but the attitude of their heart. I usually open in prayer thanking God for our time and then ask them to pray to God out loud.
  9. Celebrate and set up a follow up meeting! Tell them that this is the most important decision of their lives! Then say “This was fun! There are some other things like this that we could look at if you want to start meeting. Does this same time next week work for you?” Make sure you have a time to meet again before you leave! Thank and Praise God for what he is doing!

Don’t let the simplicity of this method dissuade you from giving it an honest try! Gospel appointments are not one-time events but tools that helps initiate a long term relationship with the person. If you boldly and relationally share Jesus I believe you will lead many students to Christ and see them plugged into your ministry.

Please share your thoughts or questions below. What struggles with relational or initiative evangelism have you had in the past? What benefit could this method have on your ministry if you intentionally trained students and staff to use it?

More tools to help equip you for Gospel appointments

  1. PDF called “How to Share Jesus using Gospel Appointments” That can be used to train students and staff — Click here.
  2. The “Gospel Lesson” that we use for sharing click here.
  3. A message that gives motivation for doing gospel appointments by Brian Zunigha click here.
  4. A message on how to do a gospel appointment by my twin David Worcester click here.

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Paul Worcester is the Director of Campus Challenge at Chico State University in California

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13 thoughts on “Outreach That You Will Actually Do: Sharing Jesus Using Gospel Appointments (Part II)”

  1. Hey Paul…when you share the Gospel Lesson with the person, do you just read it to them?  How does that work?

    1. Thanks Jeff! Yes we simply read the “Gospel Lesson” above with the person and answer any questions they may have about it. We do this because it is an easy way to train a student to share Jesus. We tell people if they can relate to people and they can read then they can share the gospel.  It comes very low pressure because the student is simply saying “Hey I wanted to show you this Bible study and see what you thoughts are about it?.”  Obviously it helps to know the lesson well and paraphrase certain parts rather than mechanically reading it. I usually go fast on certain sections depending on the understanding the person has that I am talking with. There are a few illustrations that I can explain if you email me at Paul@ChallengeCSUC.com  All that to say, Yes we simply read the lesson and let God’s word do the work. Thanks!

  2. Man-crazy encouraging and a reminder that we are called to evangelize and how we can be intimidated by that concept, but we do not need to be.

    I thought it was a little funny that in the process you say, “show your excitement” and “say “this was fun!” ” but I get the big idea.  I don’t think your intent was to give a script of what is needed, and make it a mechanical process, but show the possibility of what this conversation could and should look like.  I also love that you continually point out that our side of the table is to give people a chance and ask for a decision, but not to change their heart.  
    If they say no- respectfully say, “how ’bout them dodgers?”  

    The G.A’s seems to encourage taking advantage of every meeting and look at every person in that light.  The challenge that comes up; and its that way in tracts and surveys and its that way in relational evang. is trying not to make people projects but simply talking to people who need Jesus and need friendship.

    I don’t think its your intent to communicate that, nor do I read it anywhere in your play by play but it could be an implication if not communicated.  My fear is that students would start looking at people around campus as appointments that need to be set up—cause thats just how our mind operates—we see puzzles that need to be put together and we see problems that need to be fixed and we see rules that needed to be accomplished— rather than friendships that could be continued regardless if they accept Christ there or not.  It could lead to people getting the impression that Christians want to “save” everybody and if people reject it Christians want nothing to do with you.  The people were simply appointments or projects.

    If we really took your last encouragement to heart… “Gospel appointments are not one-time events but tools that helps initiate a long term relationship with the person” it turns the G.A into an incredible tool to help people break through that awkwardness in starting a conversation.  

    Not everyone likes to chat it up with the random person at a party or group, but what great chance to truly see God work through each of as a conduit of His grace.

    1. Awesome thoughts David! Thank you!  Yes its all about loving people and relating to them in a sincere and respectful way. Treating them like people and not like projects.  It is not a script thing but just an outline people can use. For example when I proposed to my wife I had a plan of what I was going to say. That didn’t make it less special but more so because I loved her enough to be intentional.  

      That being said there is so much flexibility in how someone actually does gospel appointments. Different people may use different statements or even different ways of presenting the gospel message. You personal gifts and the way you relate also play a factor.  I think the principle of intentional but low pressure sharing of the good news is attractive to non Christians and takes the pressure off us to worry about the results.  Gospel appointments create space where we can meet people where they are at, share Jesus and continue to build a relationship. 

  3. Paul, I really like a lot about your gospel appointments approach. It is intentional, prayerful, and taps into the spiritual hunger that is in so many. By setting up an appointment, you allow time for the Holy Spirit to work on their hearts and get into a setting that is more natural than trying to share too much “on the fly” in a single conversation. Thank you so much for sharing this! Few people know how to do this.

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  5. Paul I really like this. Basically, this is what I’ve been thinking in my mind about evangelism but having no good way to qualify or describe it. Seen some good fruit at Purdue from people doing similar things. Cold  and relationship evangelism both are good options too, but this really fits into the college American culture I believe because most kids are willing and like discussing spiritual topics and many are very confused on what to believe in my experience. (I just graduated from PU). Thanks for this write up! God’s grace be with you

    1. Thanks Andrew! I appreciate the encouragement. Let me know if there is anyway I can serve you guys in training etc. I have done some Skype stuff with staff to train them how to do this. Paul@ChallengeCSUC.com 

  6. Paul,

    I’m a student… and I wasn’t really sold on this when I first read it. I’ll be honest. The whole idea of ‘reading’ a “Gospel Lesson” from a paper seemed a bit impersonal to me. But…. I forgot for a moment what one of THE main purposes of a campus ministry is. It’s not JUST about leading people to Christ- it’s about taking the body of Christ on campus and equipping/empowering them to be the church. It’s about training a new generation of evangelists and leaders. I forget that not all college students would be willing or comfortable with going into a gospel appointment with no plan, or planning on improvising the Gospel. I appreciate this article SO much and I’ll be bringing it back to our first L-Team meeting of the semester. Thank you SO much not only for the advice, but for the check of goals.

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  8. I have a question? Do you always make a direct gospel presentation at every appointment, or do you sometimes use the initial meeting simply to explain about the church/ministry? It seems like those who were not really thinking of spiritual things prior to setting the appointment would be better served with a testimony and an invitation to church and a second appointment with the gospel lesson at a later time.

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