GOSPEL4ALL
Cru plays a vital role in making the gospel inescapable on campuses across the nation as we build movements of Win-Build-Send in the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Gospel for Every Student & Faculty (Gospel4ALL) is our priority (or strategic path step) for evangelism on the USCM Strategic Plan. Gospel4ALL efforts help us excel still more as we pursue the vision of giving every student and faculty member an opportunity to say “yes” to Jesus.
The “Gospel4ALL Evangelism Strategies and Resources” is a toolbox of proven strategic options for missional teams to consider as they develop their local evangelism plans.
LEADING EVANGELISTIC MOVEMENTS
As we launch and build movements embedded with our Win-Build-Send DNA, our vision is to see truly “evangelistic movements,” not just “movements that do evangelism.” But what is an evangelistic movement? How would you know if you had one? And, more to the point, how are we doing in building one currently? “Evangelistic Movements - An Outcome Based Assessment” enables leaders and teams to assess the current reality of evangelism momentum in their movement, setting the stage for more effective strategic planning. Available at CruPressGreen.com. (Search for “Evangelistic Movements - An Outcome Based Assessment.”)
BUILDING BIBLICAL CONVICTIONS
The Evangelism Model provides the framework that enables leaders to think well about evangelism—to understand its foundations and dynamics, to plan strategically, to evaluate effectiveness, to troubleshoot issues, and to innovate new solutions. We have three primary tools to explore, communicate, and reinforce the Evangelism Model.
EVANGELISM DESIGN: A COMPREHENSIVE FRAMEWORK
The Evangelism Model has been informing our thinking about evangelism for the past 15 years. Various tools and studies have helped reinforce
this biblically based framework. Yet we’ve lacked a consistently used, comprehensive, written statement of the Evangelism Model to use in leadership development and training. That is until now.
“Evangelism Design: A Comprehensive Framework” is a seventeen page publication, unpacking the Evangelism Model principles:
The Master: Evangelism is first & foremost a work of God.
The Masses: The audience is the defining context.
The Messengers: Believers are the primary initiators.
The Message: The Gospel is always about Jesus—who he is, what he has done and why.
The Methods: Communication will vary according to the context.
GETTING BIBLICAL ABOUT EVANGELISM
Built around The Evangelism Model, this study guides the user through 14 key Bible passages, leading to the discovery of evangelism principles about: The Master; The Masses; The Messengers; The Message; and The Methods. The first three passages (John 1:35- 51, Acts 8:26-40, Acts 17:16-34) provide an excellent introduction for framing biblical evangelism and can be used as the basis of a study or talk, comparing and contrasting each of the 5-M’s of the model.
Getting Biblical About Evangelism is ideal for emerging leaders, new staff members, STINTers and interns.
JACKED (A DEVOTIONAL)
Jacked is a student-oriented devotional with key passages on evangelism and filled with inspirational stories, gathered and retold by Shelby Abbott. This tool is built around the categories of the Evangelism Model and provides additional resources for small group discussions. Jacked is available at CruPress .
EQUIPPING FOR CONVERSATIONAL EVANGELISM
COJOURNERS
Our bread and butter evangelism occurs in a gospel conversation between an equipped believer and a willing student or faculty member. CoJourners is our equipping paradigm to teach believers how to conversationally enter the spiritual journey of others and lead them to Christ. CoJourners teaches evangelism through four primary roles:
Explorer: Discovering insights into others’ spiritual lives.
Guide: Showing others how to come to Christ.
Builder: Helping others move beyond their issues or obstacles.
Mentor: Encouraging others to continue on in their spiritual journey.
For additional resources that will help equip your students in conversational evangelism, go to the CoJourners section of CruPressGreen .
COJOURNERS: TRANSFERABLE CONCEPT
This 16-page article is the best introduction and explanation of the CoJourner approach to evangelism. It is simple-to-follow and easy-to-apply. Great for personal study or for use in conjunction with CoJourner trainings, whether in small group or large group settings. Packs of professionally printed copies of CoJourners: Transferable Concept are available through CruPress .
PASSAGES: A DEVOTIONAL JOURNEY
This 28-day devotional will help CoJourners become a way of life. Each devotional thought reinforces the CoJourner paradigm through prayer and the Word of God. Use it yourself, with your small group, as an assignment with training classes or as part of a month-long outreach emphasis. Available at CruPress.com .
C456: TAKING CONVERSATIONS TO A NEW LEVEL
This video series, based on Colossians 4:5-6, is designed to guide you through conversational transitions: from general to spiritual to gospel. Using the CoJourners evangelism paradigm, c456 is a six- part training series that can be viewed individually, in a small group study, or a large group weekly meeting. C456 can be found at CruPress Green .
COJOURNER PODCASTS
Listen to 90-second CoJourner spots by Keith Davy on MyBridge Radio Network. Download & stream for personal use or to stimulate discussion in your small group.
COJOURNER EQUIPMENT PACK
The CoJourner Equipment Pack provides small group discussion content for equipping in Bible studies, discipleship groups, and discipleship appointments. The Pack includes twenty 8-12 minute equipping discussion cards. The discussion cards are not a replacement for the Bible study content, but rather provide an equipping element to help cultivate the outreach focus in small groups. The Equipment Pack is organized around the CoJourner roles, but the cards can be used in any order. The Equipment Pack can be downloaded at CruPress Green.
COJOURNER TRAINING SESSIONS
The CoJourner curriculum is what you need to teach your local movement or evangelism class how to be CoJourners. Use the Overview as a one-session training, or as the introductory session for a five-session series. The five-part training series can be taught in an all-day session, or over the course of five weeks in a church or classroom.
OVERFLOWTODAY
Also on CruPress Green, Overflow Today is a treasure chest of 3-minute video interviews and 5-minute podcasts delivering evangelism tips from the experts and insights from top books on evangelism. OverflowToday provides excellent resources for individual viewing, small group discussion, and large group trainings and can be accessed through CruPress Green or the OverflowToday website.
FOSTERING GOSPEL CONVERSATIONS
QUEST
QuEST (an acronym for Questions Exploring Students Thinking) is an interview tool for initiating spiritual conversations. QuEST enables students to engage in spiritual conversations and assists in gathering useful information about student outreach and student thought. There are three versions of the QuEST interview, each exploring a spiritual conversation but from slightly different angles. Interview results may be submitted online.
PERSPECTIVE
A card-based interview, Perspective is a conversational evangelism tool exploring worldview issues. Developed by Barry Warren, this 58-card set provides opportunity to explore a person’s views of God, human nature, Jesus, the meaning of life, and the source of spiritual truth. For more, check out the Perspective Cards section of CruPressGreen .
SOULARIUM™
We live in a visual culture. Because images connect deeply with our emotions and experiences, they also enable us to engage people in spiritual conversation on a deeper level. Soularium ™ provides fifty 4x6 original photographic images and five simple exploring questions that allow the user to engage in one-on-one spiritual conversations with non- believers. The questions explore the desire of students for their spiritual journey and create many bridges to dialogue about Jesus. Permission to use enlarged images on Soularium ™ displays for high traffic areas can be obtained. Responses can be entered online (mysoularium.com), which allows you (and the people you talk to) to discover the trends among students on your campus. To purchase go to CruPress. For additional information go to the Soularium ™ section of CruPressGreen.
SHORT FILMS
A short film is a visual story—told in a matter of minutes. This medium is growing in popularity among students and young professionals who hunger to experience a visually stimulating story. On the Global Short Film website you will find a wide selection of short films that will entertain, motivate, inspire, and challenge you. Additional video training and conversational guides are available at Globalshortfilmnetwork.com.
SOMETIME
How can we help our students have more opportunities to share Christ with their friends? Ask a SomeTime question! SomeTim e is a relational guide that takes advantage of Cru’s great listening tools (like the four above) to mobilize a small group in connecting spiritually with friends. And it cultivates for a lifestyle of relational witness with friends, family and acquaintances—an essential skill for a 100% Sent lifetime laborer! To find out more go to the SomeTime section of CruPressGreen.
COMMUNICATING CONVERSATIONALLY
KNOWING GOD PERSONALLY
CruPress is developing three new redesigned versions of the KGP booklet and two one-page versions. These booklets will be field-tested this fall. For more information, contact Rick.James@cru.org
BACK STORY: LIFE@LARGE REVISITED
A major revision to Life@Large has been accomplished. The storyline of the gospel in seven themes:
• Intimacy
• Betrayal
• Anticipation • • Pursuit
• Sacrifice
• Invitation
• Reunion
The redesigned booklet provides a gospel narrative, apologetic touch points and rich imagery. Available at the CruPress Store or in an iPad-ready version here .
ONE-VERSE EVANGELISM
Many people feel that to be effective in evangelism they must memorize a complex illustration and a multitude of verses. But the Gospel is most powerful when shared with love, clarity, and simplicity. One-Verse Evangelism is a simple, interactive way to share Christ’s love conversationally and visually. It is based on asking questions and sharing. It’s easy to learn because it uses just one verse. On CruPress Green, simply search for “One Verse Evangelism.”
LIFE STORIES: PERSONAL TESTIMONIES
We continue to have “classic” approaches to equipping believers to share their own journey to Christ. There is a need for upgrading our approach and resources in order to more relevantly equip students for the broad range of opportunities they encounter.
CONDUCTING LARGE GROUP GOSPEL EVENTS
SPEAKER’S FORUM
US Campus Ministry “Speaker Events” help accelerate the mission of reaching every student with the gospel. As a proven “harvest” strategy leading to evangelistic decisions, the Speaker Forum provides matching grants for approved national speakers, while funds last. These grants cover up to 50% of actual expenses, but not exceeding the individual grants allotted to each speaker. Find out more here .
E2 FORUMS: EXECUTIVE AND ENTREPRENEURIAL LEADERSHIP
The purpose of the Executive and Entrepreneurial Leadership Forum is to assist the local level in reaching campus leaders by bringing highly successful business professionals together to share the Gospel with top university Student Leaders. The local professionals share stories of Christ’s work in their lives, their families and their business successes and failures. A manual and other forum resources (i.e. everything you need to know) are available (thanks to the Upper Midwest Region & Erika Ruch) at: E2 Forums.
TEAM MEETINGS
For Greeks, check out Greekmovement.com .
SHARING THE GOSPEL ONLINE
EVERYSTUDENT.COM
Everystudent.com gives the opportunity to make the gospel “findable” to many who are searching for God. It is an easy way for your students to help friends find out about God and your movement can help an entire campus consider the claims of Christ. Everything you need to know to make the most of this powerful multi-dimensional outreach tool is found in The Everystudent.com Guidebook at: Everystudentinfo.com
MEETTHEPROF.COM
A faculty-oriented outreach is taking shape. Local professors can create their own profile, tell their story and direct students to their page as a means of witness. For more information contact: Paul.Hartgrove@facultycommons.org
GIVING GOSPEL-BEARING GIFTS
FSKS
Combining the universal love of free stuff with our desire to tell others about Jesus, more than one million Freshman Survival Kits (FSKs) have been distributed on campuses since 1996. FSKs are the #1 tool for launching new ministries. But the kits also give staff members or student leaders a friendly and low-pressure opportunity to talk to students about God. When combined with spiritually themed questionnaires, FSKs help establish the foundation for future conversations. Find out more about FSKs .
TESTING GOSPEL-CENTERED GROUPS
ALPHA COURSE
Developing and deploying effective small groups for seekers is a challenge. But why reinvent the wheel, especially when there is a wheel already cruising across the USA & globe? Last summer, Cru announced plans to increase collaboration with Alpha USA. The US Campus Ministry is now testing the Alpha Course to build models and learn how it can strategically contribute to our outreach and movement launching.
IAMSECOND
Iamsecond.com is a powerful and fruitful web-based ministry. Its strategic value is multiplied when it is tied to small groups of seekers. The US Campus Ministry is testing Iamsecond to build local models and learn how Iamsecond groups can strategically contribute to our outreach and movement launching.
DEMONSTRATING THE GOSPEL IN ACTION
As we win, build, and send students, we are discovering ways to connect the compassionate works and words of Christ. Doing win, build, send in the context of love can help us be more effective at engaging all kinds of students and mobilizing them to start movements everywhere so that every person on earth knows someone who truly follows Christ. New resources are being developed and new partnerships cultivated.
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