1

Simple Outreach
Why Reach Out to
Your Friends
Your friends are important to you.
You like being with them, and they
like being with you. If at all possible,
you dont want to be separated from
them. Im sure they also feel the
same way about you. Except
maybe when it comes to your
faith. Thats when it seems
like theres this gap between
you. Is there a way for you to
bridge this gap? Yes. Reach
out to them.

that and use it as your platform to

influence them.

2. They will be blessed

The Gospel is good news for everyone,
even your friends. By believing and
following Jesus, they can experience a
life that is so much better than the
best life they can ever imagine. The

3. You will be blessed

Your friends are not the only ones who
will be blessed. You will be blessed, too.
This will happen because seeing your
friends blessed will bring great joy to
your heart. Your friendships will deepen,
and your love for each other will be like
family. This is what the apostle John
meant when he said,
1

Let me give you four simple

reasons why you need to
reach to them.

1. They are your

friends
Yes, that is the first and most important reason. No one else is best
suited to reach to them but you. Not
even your pastor! Why? Because they
know you. They trust you. You can
influence them (and vice-versa).
Getting a stranger to talk with them
about something personal (which is
what faith is all about) can be very
difficult. The trust is not there. So,
yes, you should reach out to them
because they already know you. Why
waste the investment of time, talents, and treasure? You already prepared the soil by becoming a true
friend to them. Take advantage of

about.

apostle Paul said, What no eye has

seen, what no ear has heard, and
what no human mind has conceived
the things God has prepared for
those who love him 10 these are the
things God has revealed to us by his
Spirit. (1 Cor 2:9-10)
In other words, it would be such a
great blessing for you to share the
Gospel with your friends. Through Jesus Christ, their sins can be forgiven
(Eph 1:3-10), they can be set free from
the bondage of sin (Rom 8:1-4), their
lives can be fruitful (John 15:1-8), and
they will know God personally now
and forever (John 17:3), which is the
essence of what true fulfillment is all

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard,

which we have seen with our
eyes, which we have looked at
and our hands have touched
this we proclaim concerning the
Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you
the eternal life, which was with
the Father and has appeared to
us. 3 We proclaim to you what
we have seen and heard, so that
you also may have fellowship with us.
And our fellowship is with the Father and
with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write
this to make our joy complete. (1 John
1:1-4)

4. God will be pleased

Of course, lets not forget. Reaching out
to your friends will ultimately please
God. The apostle Paul tells us why,
3

This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be
saved and to come to a knowledge of the
truth. (1 Timothy 2:3-4)
So what are you waiting for?

What if they are not open?

hat is an excellent question.

Obviously reaching out to your
friends does not mean that
you will automatically succeed.
You need to be sensitive to the CUES that
would indicate the right timing. Here are
the CUES that you must look for before
you reach out to any of them.

1. Crying for help

If they are going through a difficult time,
chances are they will be open to spiritual
things. Take advantage of those moments when they are in need of help.

2. Undergoing changes
Changes can bring stress into anybodys
life. When that happens, they lose control. Thats when they are open to consider other options.

3. Escaping problems
Some people, when faced with problems, will try to escape. Thats when
you see them doing things they ought
not to do. This is your chance to help
them.

4. Seeking answers
Even before you speak to a friend, God
may be preparing him or her already. A
good sign is when they are asking a lot
of good questions like, Why am I here?
What is the purpose of life? Theyre
asking these questions because the
Spirit of God is already at work in their
hearts. Take advantage of this.
Identify those in your circle of friends
who exhibit these CUES. Then put them
in your H.I.T. (Hearts in Transition) List.

How do I start?
How to begin reaching out to your friends

he first thing to do is to pray.

Of course, that seems pretty
obvious. But many forget this
very important truth: Without
prayer you cannot bear fruit. So the key
is to saturate the entire process with
prayer, not just at the beginning. Initially,
pray for God to open the door for you to
reach out to your friends.

accept your invitation.

O - Pray that God will give you the op-

portunity to reach out to your friends.

P - Pray that God will enable you to present your invitation to them clearly.

E - Pray that God will encourage them to

N - Pray that God will neutralize the

enemys attempts to stop you from
reaching out to your friends.
Pray specifically for each person in your
H.I.T. List (see above). Pray fervently
and passionately for the salvation of
your friends.
If you remain in me and my words
remain in you, ask whatever you wish,
and it will be done for you. 8 This is to
my Fathers glory, that you bear much
fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. (John 15:7-8)

What if they oppose me?

Unfortunately, such things can happen.
But do not be afraid. Listen to what Jesus
says to you,
11

Blessed are you when people insult

you, persecute you and falsely say all
kinds of evil against you because of
me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great
is your reward in heaven, for in the same
way they persecuted the prophets who
were before you. (Matt 5:11-12)
Most likely, as you reach out to your
friends, you will encounter the following
four kinds of people. Learn to be wise in
the way you respond to each of them.

1. Skeptics
These are people who doubt whether
God exists or not. Probably, they have
encountered some major problems in
their lives in the past, and they are bitter
towards God. Or they are not interested
some other reason. Dont worry. Always
remember this principle: hurt people
hurt people. Just be a true friend to
them and continue waiting for the CUES.

2. Spectators
These people seem to be interested. But
often they are just playing with you. They
just want the accompany or the activity.
But in truth, their hearts are set on their
ways. They are not interested to change
at all. The key is to challenge these people to search their hearts and make commitments. Dont get carried away with
their apparent enthusiasm.

3. Settled
These people are unwilling to learn. They
are content in themselves because they
think they already know what needs to
be known about God. Unfortunately, its
very hard to convince these people that
they still need to learn. So just be patient
with them and wait for the CUES.

What do I say?
How to invite your friends to join you on a journey

nowing what to say can spell

the difference between success and failure in reaching
out to your friends. How you
come across can either encourage them
to respond positively or back away because they feel something wrong about
your approach.
The first thing that you must remember
is that you are simply inviting them to
join you on a journey of knowing more
about Jesus and what He taught in order
to try it out in your lives, so that each of
you can know personally whether they
are true or not.
This invitation is for everyone. Its not an invitation to become a Christian or to change religion.
Its an invitation to explore, to find out the
truth. The only way to
find out is to try it out.
Trying something out involves risks, but they are risks worth
taking, in order to discover the truth.
This is what Jesus promised to those
who will try to listen and obey His teachings.
31

To the Jews who had believed him,

Jesus said, If you hold to my teaching,
you are really my disciples. 32 Then you
will know the truth, and the truth will set
you free. (John 8:31-32)
A disciple is someone who is willing to
learn from someone. You must emphasize to your friends that you are a disciple or follower of Jesus Christ, because
you believe He has information on how
to make life worth living. You must be

humble enough to admit that you do

not know everything yet about Jesus or
the things that He taught. But you are
willing to learn, and to try them out in
your life personally. You just want your
friends to join you in that journey, if
they are willing.

you have to be perfect. People who

claim to be perfect have no credibility.
Only those who are humble and broken
can have credibility. So tell your friends
exactly where you are in the journey so
that they will see you as someone who is
credible.

Like I said, not everyone may want to

join you. That is part of the risk that you
are taking when youre inviting your
friends to join you on a journey. The
key is to live your life in such a way that
they might be motivated to ask why
you do what you do. The apostle Peter
instructed believers to live like this.

But you need to be passionate about

your own journey. You cannot convince
people to join you in something that you
yourself are not passionate about. People are looking for something or someone worth pursuing. If you are not passionate about it, they will see you as a
phony salesman.
Now, remember, you
are simply inviting them
to join you on a journey
of knowing more about
Jesus and what He
taught in order to try it
out in your lives, so that
each of you can know
personally whether they

15

But in your hearts revere Christ as

Lord. Always be prepared to give an
answer to everyone who asks you to
give the reason for the hope that you
have. But do this with gentleness and
respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in
Christ may be ashamed of their slander.
(1 Peter 3:15-16)
In other words, you begin with yourself.
You need to follow Jesus first in order
to invite others to follow Jesus also.
Thats the key. You need to have credibility before you can influence others.
By credibility I do not mean to say that

are true or not.

No one is being forced to convert. Each
one can decide on his or her own whether they would want to formalize their
allegiance to Christ or not. The goal is
not conversion but personal knowledge
of the truth. Only the truth can set people free. Knowing the truth personally is
also the only way to have faith.
Invite your friends to this journey of
knowing the truth. Tell them that together you will try to know who Jesus is and
what He said. Then you will try out what
He said, in order to know the truth. It will
be a journey of exploration. Even those
who doubt can join.

STARTING A

esus commanded His followers to

make disciples of all nations. It
was a command that He expected
them to obey immediately. But
now and until He returns He expects us to obey this command as well.
Here is His command,
All authority in heaven and on earth has
been given to me. 19 Therefore go and
make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit,20 and
teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you. And surely I am with
you always, to the very end of the
age. (Matt 28:18-20)
This is also called the Great Commission.
If you read the Book of Acts, you will notice that the apostles obeyed this command in a particular way.
First, they proclaimed the good news
about Jesus Christ.
36

Therefore let all Israel be assured of

this: God has made this Jesus, whom you
crucified, both Lord and Messiah. (Acts
2:36)
Those who choose to believe were baptized and they become members of the
fellowship of Christ followers.
37

When the people heard this, they were

cut to the heart and said to Peter and

the other apostles, Brothers, what shall
we do?
38

Peter replied, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of
Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your
sins. And you will receive the gift of the
Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and
your children and for all who are far
offfor all whom the Lord our God will
call.
40

With many other words he warned

them; and he pleaded with them, Save
yourselves from this corrupt generation. 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three
thousand were added to their number that day. (Acts 2:37-41)
This fellowship of Christ followers were
later called the church. They were characterized by three essential activities:

Discipleship -

42

They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to

fellowship, to the breaking of bread and
to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with
awe at the many wonders and signs
performed by the apostles. (Acts 2:4243)

Nurturing Relationships - 44 All the

believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property
and possessions to give to anyone who
had need. 46 Every day they continued to
meet together in the temple

courts. They broke bread in their homes

and ate together with glad and sincere
hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the
favor of all the people. (Acts 2:44-47a)

Apostolic Mission - And the Lord added to their number daily those who were
being saved. (Acts 2:47b)
This became the essence of the church,
its DNA. In other words, the church in its
essence was actually very simple. Since
then, whenever and wherever the
church is started, these three essential
activities are always present. The church
may become complicated later on, as it
grows, but in its essence these three
remain: Discipleship, Nurturing Relationships and Apostolic Mission. We call
this model a Simple Church.
If you want to reach your friends for
Christ, start a Simple Church.
The first step is to invite them to know
about Christ and His teachings, and to try
to practice those teachings in practical
ways. This is called Discipleship. Its
learning from Jesus how to live like Him
in the kingdom of God.
Next, you need to learn from Jesus how
to love each other. This is called Nurturing Relationships.
Last but not the least, you need to learn
from Jesus how to lead or influence others, so that they too will do what you do,
i.e. follow and learn from Jesus. This is
called Apostolic Mission.
Are you ready to try it?

Why should I start a

Simple Church?

gain, thats a very good

question. Is this the only
way? Of course not. Certainly there are many different
ways to reach people as there are many
different kinds of people. But there are
at least three important reasons why we
believe you should use this approach.

1. Its Biblical
This model of outreach is exemplified all
throughout the Book of Acts.
21

They preached the gospel in that city

and won a large number of disciples.
Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, 22 strengthening the
disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. We must go
through many hardships to enter the
kingdom of God, they said. 23 Paul and
Barnabas appointed elders for them in
each church and, with prayer and
fasting, committed them to the Lord, in
whom they had put their trust. (Acts
14:21-23)

2. Its Practical
Starting a Simple Church is not hard. All
you need is just prayer, the word of God,
the Holy Spirit, and you. You dont need
money. You dont need a building. You
just need faith that God will use you.

3. Its Effective
A Simple Church is effective because all
three essential functions of the church
can easily be done without complications. You can easily learn from Jesus
together because you can meet anytime.
You can easily grow in your relationships
because you are already friends. You can
easily reach out to your other friends
because you are doing it as a team.

Learning to Learn Together

How to practice discipleship in a Simple Church

earning to learn from Jesus is

the key to an effective and
successful Simple Church. A
Simple Church is simply a
group of friends (or a group who are
becoming friends) who are learning
from Jesus together as friends. Learning
how to do this effectively is detrimental
to your success.
Learning is a cycle. Being attentive to
each stage of this cycle, and being proactive rather than passive or reactive to
this cycle, is the key to learning effectively as followers of Christ.

Getting Information
The first stage is getting information.
Since you are on a journey of knowing
more about Jesus and His teachings,
you need to get the right kind of information. Not all information is equally
valid. Some information is bogus or
untrue. You need information from
primary sources, not hearsay. In the
case of Jesus, you need to listen to His
apostles, or those who knew Him first
hand. You need to know, first of all,
what He actually said or taught, which
they recorded. Then you need to know
how His apostles or first followers understood and applied what He taught.
The main source of this information is
the Bible. Of course, its alright to listen
to preachers and teachers, for as long
as we can verify if what theyre saying
is from the Bible. Now this does not
mean that whenever we hear someone
quote from the Bible we will immediately believe him or her. But this is the
starting point of learning, i.e. getting
good information about Jesus and His
actual teachings from the Bible.

Reflection
The next stage in learning is examining
what we hear. This has to do with reflecting on the truth claims and reality of
what we hear. Its alright to bombard
what we hear with thoughtful questions.
That shows that we are actually thinking
and reflecting, not just believing. Its easy
to believe something that we have not
really taken the time to reflect on, but
that often results in shallow faith.

Validation
Whenever we ask questions, we should
do our best to find out the right answers.
The answers must first of all come from
the Bible itself. But sometimes it will
come from our or others reasoning or
experiences. At times, other thoughtful
followers of Christ may have already
thought about these questions already.
However we find the answers, we must
be willing to validate them through the
help of others. The best way is to discuss
our ideas in our Simple Church, so that
we can hear what others in our group
might say. If unsure, we can also further
check it out with the teachers in our
church. This is called humble learning.

Experimentation
Last but not the least, we must be willing
to experiment with what were learning.
We must be willing to try it out, to take
the risk of failure or disappointment. Unless we do so, all we have are just intellectual beliefs. God wants us to test and
approve His good, pleasing and perfect
will (Romans 12:2). He wants us to experience the reality and truthfulness of His
word, so that we can really say, Amen!.

EAT, SHARE, PRAY

What to do when you meet as a Simple Church

Simple Church is really this

simple. When you come together, just eat together,
share with each other, and
then pray for each other. You dont need
a PhD to facilitate a Simple Church. But
within this simplicity lies the power of
the Simple Church. Do not underestimate what God can do in the simplicity
of a Simple Church gathering.

Share with one another

Eat Together

The first thing that we can talk about

are the positive things that the Lord is
doing in our lives. We must share our
joys and victories so that our Simple
Church can rejoice with us. Being thankful, as opposed to always grumbling or
complaining, is a spiritual discipline that
we can practice in the Simple Church.
We should try this often. Its contagious!

The early church always gathered together to eat together. This was their
common experience.
46

Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke
bread in their homes and ate together
with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising
God and enjoying the favor of all the
people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
(Acts 2:46-47)
When they came together to eat, they
called it The Lords Supper. They considered it a sacred meal. Not to treat it as
sacred or holy may result in dire consequences, according to the apostle Paul.
33

So then, my brothers and sisters, when

you gather to eat, you should all eat together. 34 Anyone who is hungry should
eat something at home, so that when
you meet together it may not result in
judgment. (1 Cor 11:33-34)
So the first thing you must do when you
come together as a Simple Church is to
eat together. It builds your relationship
with one another and also with the Lord.
Acknowledge the meal as sacred, and
then eat with thanksgiving and joy.

While eating, you should share with one

another. This makes the meal truly enjoyable in the presence of the Lord. Its
like having a family meal, and it truly is,
because we are eating together as
Gods people. There are three things
that we can easily share while eating
together.

The second thing that we can share are

the negative things that are going on in
our lives. This can easily turn the conversation into something sober or sad.
Its important at this point to handle
this situation properly.
First of all, do not try to solve the problem immediately. Listen with empathy.
Listen well. Do not scold or reprimand.
Ask probing questions instead. Find out
how your brother or sister feels. Do not
just focus on the facts; dig deeply on
the feelings that lie behind or beneath
the facts.
Second, ask if theres anyone in the
group who might have a word of encouragement or exhortation for this
brother or sister. Make sure that it is
not preachy. Learn to facilitate the sharing so that the group can learn how to
encourage one another.

At this point, it might be appropriate to

go directly to prayer (see below). It
would be unwise to talk about another
burden unless it is related or its critically
important to talk about. If not, one heavy
problem may be enough for one
meeting. Move on to pray for one another once the sharing is done.
However, if no one is sharing a burden or
concern, it would be good to share about
what each person is learning from the
Lord. Its good to follow a certain pattern
whenever youre sharing about what
youre learning from the Lord.
Theme: This is the general subject
matter. For example, prayer.
Topic: This is the specific subject matter.
For example, how to persevere in prayer.
Truth: This is the idea that you believe
the Lord is teaching you. For example,
the way to persevere in prayer is by focusing on the character of God rather
than on what you see.
Thrust: This is the application of the
truth that you believe the Lord wants you
to do. Its important to hold each other
accountable regarding this application.

Pray for one another

Praying for one another is what makes
the Simple Church gathering truly special. Based on the sharing, pray for one
another. Carry each others burdens
through prayer. Pray for the solutions
regarding the problems shared. Pray for
the application of the word of God that
was learned. Pray for the whole group.
Pray for those that you want to invite to
the Simple Church. Pray for other concerns outside the Simple Church. Pray.

What to do
between your
meetings?

he Simple Church should gather at least twice a month at the

minimum. If it can gather on a
weekly basis, so much the
better. But the Simple Church is not just
a once a week or twice a month meeting.
A successful Simple Church should have
life-giving activities in between its regular
meetings. There are at least three kinds
of life-giving activities that can help a
Simple Church grow and stay strong.

Show Care
As a Simple Church, it is important to
show through practical ways and means
that you care for each other. This can be
done through simple means like praying
for each other or visiting each other in
times of need. It would be good to celebrate important events together like
birthdays, anniversaries, graduations,
awards, etc.

Communicate
Through technology it would be very
easy for a Simple Church to communicate
with each other regularly. Through texting, emails, Facebook, Twitter, and other
tools, the members of a Simple Church
can stay in touch with each other. But
meeting face-to-face for coffee or for
other social activities can also be enriching for the group.

Conduct ministries
One of the best ways for a Simple Church
to grow and become strong is by conducting ministries together. Look for a
need and meet that need as a group.
Serve the Lord by doing good together.
Be rich in good works as a Simple Church.

Share Your Faith Journey

Talk about how you are following Christ

s your
Simple
Church
meets
regularly to eat,
share and pray, and
as you build your
relationships in between
your
meetings, you will have plenty of opportunities to share your faith journey.
Heres how to do it.

Share how you started

Tell your friends how you started following Jesus. What were the factors
that contributed to that decision. Be as
specific as possible. Talk about what
was going on in your life prior to that
decision. Then talk about the decision
itself. This will be very helpful for your
friends to visualize the process, just in
case they might consider doing the
same thing.

Share how youre following

Jesus now
This is very important. Share how
youre following Jesus right now. What
activities are you doing to help you
learn from Jesus. This may include your
daily reading of the Bible, or of attending Sunday worship, or of reading
books, or listening to podcasts, etc. Be
specific, and tell your friends how these
means or tools are helping you. If they
need more information, give it to them.
Guide them, if necessary, so that they
can try these tools themselves.

Share what youre learning

from Jesus
now
Be sure that you are
learning something
about Jesus or about
His teachings each
week or before each
meeting. Dont come
to a Simple Church gathering without a
word or message that youve learned
from Jesus, either directly through some
kind of teaching or indirectly through
some kind of experience. You may be the
only one who can do this, especially if all
your friends are just starting in their journey. Remember, you need to prepare
your sharing. Think about the theme,
topic, truth, and thrust of your learning.
Then form an outline, at least mentally,
so that you can share it effectively. Start
with an intro, then share the learning,
then conclude it. This should not be long.
Aim for a five minute sharing, if at all
possible.

Share how youre serving

Jesus now
The reason why Jesus wants to teach us
about the Kingdom of God is because He
wants to use us for His kingdom purposes. Sharing how youre serving Jesus now
will help your friends to see this truth
vividly. Be honest, of course, and dont
preach. Talk about the challenges, not
just the joys of serving. Let them see that
you are trusting Jesus. Ministry is not for
the faint-hearted; it is for the faithfulhearted. Challenge them to imitate you.
Let them discover ministry opportunities
also, as soon as they are ready.