Outreach at cp11
Telling people about Jesus
Sharing the gospel is fundamental in all that we do at cp11, seeking to reflect God’s heart to know all people. We believe that all people need to know Jesus.
Our goal is to share the gospel with:
Friends and family
By encouraging our members to invite people to cp11
The local Croydon Park community
By developing relationships through activities with our neighbours
The world at large
By prayer, world awareness, and partnering with our missionaries
Outreach through our Sunday services
Guest services
Guest services are simply our regular Sunday service, but oriented to guests who have never been to a church before. The order of service and its elements are all as per usual. However, every element of the service is explained, so that our guests understand what it is that Christians do, and why we do it!
Leading up to our guest services, we have an informal social gathering at the church hall. This is a non-threatening way to introduce our church’s environment and people, often dispelling traditional preconceptions about what churches are like. We call these gatherings Munch Bunch Hunch – usually involving food (Munch), meeting people (Bunch) and an activity such as a trivia night (Hunch).
Easter Sunday service
Many people in Australian society will only step into a church twice a year – for Easter Sunday and Christmas Day. It is on these days that we make a special effort to invite people from the local community to cp11 to hear the true meaning of Easter and Christmas. In weeks leading up to Easter, we invite our neighbours with a friendly doorknock or by dropping flyers in their letterboxes.
On Easter Saturdays, we hold an informal social event for our members to invite friends to get to know who we are as Christians, perhaps demythologising stereotypes. We have held Barefoot Bowls (lawn bowls) and movie evenings.
On Easter Sundays, we present the gospel of Jesus’ death and resurrection for man. This is done through a talk based on the Bible, and supported by creative elements such as music, drama, and video.
Here are examples of recent Easter Sunday outreach themes:
Christmas Day service
Christmas is a wonderful season where we have the opportunity to share goodwill and the joy of its true meaning – the birth of Jesus, who came to bring us into relationship with God. We invite our friends, family, and neighbours to cp11 to share a Christian Christmas with us!
To build good relationships with our neighbourhood, we doorknock in a spirit of goodwill, simply wishing them a happy Christmas, giving a small Christmas gift, and inviting them to join us for our Christmas festivities.
We hold a Christmas Carols Evening a week or so before Christmas Day for the community. This is a great time of fun, with a free barbeque for the local residents, activities for the children, and fun for the family singing carols.
The Christmas Day service is a celebration of Jesus’ birth and the reason for his coming. It is oriented to share our Christian faith to our visitors.
Our regular services
While we encourage our congregation to bring visitors to the above services, we certainly do not confine our outreach merely to the these events. Non-Christians need to see what Christians usually do on a regular Sunday.
Thus we seek to make sure that our core values as a Christian church are expressed through every Sunday service. Our services are geared for our regular attendees, but always with an eye to non-Christians as well. The gospel is preached every week.
Follow-up
During our evangelistic services, we offer opportunities for people to investigate Christianity further, through discussion groups and basic Bible studies. We use simple and clear resources such as Simply Christianity, Investigating Christianity, and Christianity Explained.
There is also ample opportunity to chat with anyone from our church after our Sunday services, or during one of the small groups ministries.