1.  Do you have to be Baptist to use this Material?
    
    No. You do not need to be Baptist to use this material and experience a great day of outreach. You will find references to Baptist statistics because the SBC is the leader in research. When numbers are given about outreach and inviting friends they apply to all church groups.

2.  Do we have to do My Friendship Connection the 1st Sunday in November?

    No. If  this strategy works and it does, there is not just one day when it will work and certainly there is no “evangelism policeman” that will get you should you choose another time. However, the 1st Sunday in November is the BEST day and you will experience the highest return on effort. Here are four reasons to consider.

    It is time change Sunday and everyone gets one hour of extra sleep. Because of this, most likely you will not hear invited guests saying, “We wanted to come, but we slept in and didn’t get ready in time.”

    This time of year has more “BIG” days that naturally lead to inviting your guests back and will become part of your follow-up strategy as detailed in the material. Thanksgiving, Christmas programs, Christmas Eve, New Years, Super Bowl, Valentines and Easter.

    If you plan your big day closer to school starting then the preparation steps will be taking place in the summer when your people are away on vacation.

    Research plainly demonstrates that 8 out of 10 churches are “stuck”. We are collectively reaching less now than we did in 1959. We can began to change this by doing it together.  Nehemiah rebuilt the walls by giving responsibility of sections of the wall to groups of people and asked that they work together. We are asking you to reach friends for Jesus Christ, together with other churches.  We will create synergy as we work together all on one day. There is also less chance of church members inviting members from other churches if we do this together.

3.   Do I have to preach the sermons?

No. You do not have to preach these sermons if you choose not too. The sermon notes have been contributed by key leaders and have been placed in the material to help you. These sermons were selected because they build in intensity and help lead your people to a conclusion. You may however, prepare your own sermons about reaching friends for Jesus.

4.  Does it have to extend over six weeks?

No. You may shorten it slightly without compromising the strategy by cutting the first and last sermon. We have found that it takes approximately four weeks to get the average church all facing in the same direction, thinking the same thoughts and moving together with a single focus of reaching lost friends for Christ. We have also found that simply printing in the bulletin or announcing one time, “next week is a special friend day, everyone bring a friend,” WILL NOT WORK!
My Friendship Connection has been strategically designed to mobilize your church for a great day of outreach and we encourage you to follow the plan.

5.  Will this demonstrate to the church we are only interested in evangelism one day in the year?

    No. Our testing proved the opposite. We found this strategy will mobilize your church as a group to be intentional and reach lost people. Excitement resulted and there was kingdom results. Most pastors, from the test group, reported their congregations saying, “We can do this all the time.”

6.    Should we have our “regularly scheduled” revival?

No. You don’t need too. We are not against revival but this could take the place of your revival. You will discover, the My Friendship Connection process will cost less, attract more lost people and produce greater results than a typical revival. However, if you go ahead with the revival, inform the evangelist and have him preach messages about inviting and reaching lost people.

7.   What other materials do we need to purchase?

    The binder is complete with detailed instructions for planning, implementation and follow-up.
It includes lessons that can be copied and distributed to the teachers, sermon notes for the pastor as well as a DVD of the contributing pastor preaching his message.  The devotional study guide booklets should be purchased for the people. This book (one for adults and one for youth included in the packet) includes the devotions, pupil lesson and a page for sermon notes. Addition posters, yes cards, and follow-up postcards may be purchased. (see support materials or www.myfriendshipconnection.com.

8.   Will this work at my church?

    Yes! This material is biblically based and proven to work in any church, any where. On Sunday,
November 4th, 2007, My Friendship Connection was tested by 42 churches all on the same day. We tested all types and all sizes! City churches. Country churches. Young churches, old churches, small churches averaging 20, large churches with over 12,000, and everything in between. There were even churches with new pastors and other churches that had long time pastors. And yes, there were the contemporary in style all the way to the most traditional. I am happy to report, “None of that mattered!”  What mattered was they invited their friends. Their friends came. They preached Jesus and lives were changed!!

    We found our test in 42 churches demonstrated people do want to be involved in evangelism and they will when you do it together! It removed fear because no one acted alone! Churches got excited about reaching friends together. Churches also got excited about participating in something bigger than themselves and creating synergy with other churches, even in their same neighborhood, for the advancement of the kingdom of God.

9.   How much advertising budget should we allow?

    This strategy does not require or even ask you to advertise with TV, radio, newspaper, billboards or even door hangers. This is not about inviting through impersonal methods that yield a rate of return between 1 and 2%. My Friendship Connection is a strategy that utilizes your people to actually invite some one they already know that needs Jesus. This has always yielded the highest rate on return.

10.  Should we do this every year?

    Yes. This is very intentional and will provide Kingdom results through this very simple strategy. Plan one very intentional, extended outreach strategy each year (preferably in the fall). We will be compiling new sermons lessons and devotions to use in the future.

11.  Is this about numbers?

    Absolutely! It is all about how be begin to change years of decline (since 1959) into an increase. It is about how many members we can mobilize to bring a friend that needs Jesus. It is certainly about how many will trust Christ and be changed.