Our efforts as a church to create an “Easter Advent” paid off. Since Easter is the most important holiday for Christians, we devoted four weeks of preparation in order to give Easter its due, but also to focus on outreach. After all, the reason Jesus came and saved us was so that we would tell others.

Our Holy Week services turned out to be inspiring and well-attended. People were touched by the Good Friday service as the story of Christ’s suffering was portrayed through various media. We then rejoiced on Easter morning as we saw that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the key event in God’s story of salvation.

So, where do we go from here? Just because Easter is our most important holiday doesn’t mean we wait until next Easter to celebrate the resurrection. We celebrate the victory of the resurrection all year as we celebrate our new life in Christ and seek to share it with a lost world. “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” This is our year-round mission: To reach our community with the Gospel. 

What then, is the evangelism program at Valley Bible Church? The evangelism program at Valley Bible Church is you! Jesus’ evangelism program was people, plain and simple—His people.

Robert Coleman wrote a book on Jesus’ method of evangelism called The Master Plan of Evangelism. It has become a modern classic. The heart of the book describes how Jesus chose, gathered, and taught His disciples. How He spent time with them, showed them what to do, encouraged them and sent them out.

Coleman asks two probing questions in the preface about the evangelistic activity of the church: “Are our efforts to keep things going fulfilling the great commission of Christ? Do we see an ever-expanding company of dedicated people reaching the world with the Gospel as a result of our ministry?”

Do we? Are our efforts in evangelism producing followers of Jesus who are reaching our community and reaching the world? In light of highlighting evangelism during our “Easter Advent” we have to think beyond a weekend of services.

What was Jesus’ strategy for reaching a lost world with the Gospel? His strategy was discipleship. The Great Commission is to “go and make disciples.” Evangelism is step one. But there is so much more. If we make disciples as Jesus did, they will in turn make other disciples. That’s why the evangelism strategy of Valley Bible Church is you.

We cannot be stuck at step one. As Coleman puts it, “There must be a day-to-day growth of individuals with a view toward reproducing themselves.” Jesus did not hold evangelistic meetings. He did not hand out tracts. He simply brought people to faith, discipled them in a group, and then told them to go and do the same.

In the Epilogue to The Master Plan of Evangelism, Coleman says that there are various methods for making disciples. But whatever our plan, he lists these important principles derived from Jesus’ disciple-making activities.

• People are the priority

• Begin with a few disciples

• Spend time together

• Give it time

• Meet as a group

• Expect something from them

• Keep them growing

• Help them carry their burdens

• Let them carry on

• This is a spiritual endeavor

• There will be a cost

I think we have a handle on many of these principles. But, where we lack in the big picture of disciple-making is reproducing next-generation disciples through evangelism. As we move forward after Easter, it is essential that we keep outreach as a primary focus of all we do. After all, the reason Jesus came and saved us was so that we would tell others. What ideas do you have for outreach at Valley Bible Church?