Your 8 to 15

There are many in the church that do not like the word evangelism.

When I hear the word — Develop

However, when I go the pages of scripture some may be gifted evangelists, for the rest of us there is no escape from the Great Commission

Matthew 28:18–20 NKJV

18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

This is the word of God…

Consider our mission statement — “To share the love of Jesus with our world, and to make disciples who make disciples.”

What do we consider our world?

Its over whelming to think of the whole world…

World Changers

At some level I think we all want to be world changers

Acts 17:6 NIV

6 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting: “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here,

“trouble” — to disturb the balance and stability of…

Paul and Silas are known as men who upset the delicate balance of their world.

Would you agree the world is a big place?

Marketing Expert Seth Godin stated, “If you try to reach everyone you will reach no one.” — Develop

If you feel your job is to witness to everybody, then you probably aren’t witnessing to anybody.

In fact to change our world the way Paul and Silas did might seem an impossible task.

What if I told you our world is smaller than we think?

Your Community

There is a word in the New Testament that can help us to narrow our focus

In Mark 5:1-13 we have the healing of the demon possessed man, you know the one, Legion — Develop in my way

When it was all over the demon possessed man, now healed wanted to follow Jesus

Notice what Jesus says in Mark 5:19

Mark 5:19 NIV

19 Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”

Jesus says “Go home to your own people”

The word for home is the Greek word oikos

An oikos to the Greek is the extended household of a person, including their friends, relatives, neighbors, their people.

Think about that for just moment — that is their world

Each of us has an oikos or community people that God has strategically placed in our lives.

The average community of people around us is 8 to 15.

These people might be Christian, might be one time church attenders, they might be atheists, or agnostics — develop

In his book 8 to 15 Tom Mercer writes, “God wants to demonstrate His love through us. We all have an oikos. Your oikos does not contain the same eight to fifteen people who make up mine. But it is that world, your world, that God wants to transform.”

We need to look into our lives and notice the people God has placed in world.

We can be world changers!

President Ronald Reagan, “All great change in America begins at the dinner table.” — Develop that thought

Over time people will come and go in our 8 to 15.

If you watch the migration patterns in your 8 to 15 you will find that it is less about your personal magnetism and more about divinely orchestrated circumstances!

The Biblical Principle

When we think about this principle of 8 to 15, it’s about the conversations we have with people we are close to.

Remember community is where life change happens!

By a show of hands how many of us are Christians because of someone in our life at that time? — look around

Tom Mercer, “You and I have the same job today. And we will have the same one again tomorrow. The oikos principle creates a church full of partners all pulling their own weight, all pulling their oars in the same direction.”

Sharing the love of Christ was never intended to be a complicated task.

This is not intended to be a program, it is an approach to sharing Christ so we can all fulfill our responsibility in the great commission.

Our mission “To share the love of Jesus with our world…”

Our job is to execute it!

Conclusion

God wants all of us involved.

This is something we all can do.

I want each of us to have this card — develop and go over it

Now we can also invite them, don’t get discouraged when they decline, out of 100 invites they may so no 100 time but what if at 101 they say yes. — Show them the invitation cards.

You are praying8 to 15 everyday before you talk to them — Develop

So, what are you going to do?