ACTS Outreach Program Overview

Acronyms:
     All Christians Training School
     All Christians Teaching Scriptures
     All Christians Transferring the Spirit

Vision: "GO...Make Disciples Of All Nations"

Theme:
a. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise. Pr.11.30.
b. Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Pr.4.5-7.
c. The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself. Pr.11.25. (Outreach churches stay alive and fresh spiritually.)

Overall Goal:
    To have the whole church operating as one unit, as the finest, most Biblically sound, most loving and compassionate, most effective outreach program in the world. It is to be done in the spirit of excellence by the power of the Holy Spirit, birthed out of a deep prayer burden for the lost. Seeing the principles of the “witnessing program” in the Bible, it is a people filled with the Holy Spirit, wisdom, and love, sensitive to the guidance of the Spirit. As a result, there are healings, deliverances, signs and wonders, and bold announcing of the good news to all, both great and small, with individuals, households, cities, regions, and countries being touched and changed by these people. It happens as we each do our part.
    Set up Life Groups on a Church wide, geographical basis, but with no restriction placed on the activities of any Life Team Members. New people can be referred to the closest Life Group, regardless of which Life Group the team member was from who ministered to that person. However, geographical location should not take precedence over formed relationships. The most important thing is to build solid relationships in the groups.
    Reduce the practicalities down to simple outlines and teachings that can be handed out to each person of the church to impart the vision, to build an expectation, and to build up the faith of the people in the power of the Word and in the ever-present power of the Spirit, to enable each person to be a personal witness of the resurrected Christ. In this way, build an anointed people who are trained to rely upon the Holy Spirit, to hear His voice, and to be guided by Him, in the ability to witness to and train others in like manner by just following the system contained in the Bible-based outlines.
    Impart the vision of the local Church as being a single unit of God’s outreach program in which everybody has a place to be involved in consistent, organized outreach ministry. Emphasis is that all are to go out in one capacity or another, on a consistent basis. This can range from taking good, spiritual magazines to the hospitals and other such places, to going door to door to witness and into the prisons and other places. This is to be done with close accountability to the pastoral staff for continued success.

The Basic Structure:
    There are to be Life Teams, with each Team growing to six or seven people with one of these serving as Team Leader. The seventh person can serve as a "floater" who can fill in when a team member is not available to go out. These are to be of the same spirit and mind with one another, to stay in touch with one another, and to be accountable to one another. There is a Life Group (Living In Fellowship Effectively) Leader for every three Life Team Leaders. The Life Group Leader makes sure all necessary information is gotten to all the Team Leaders, who in turn make sure each individual in the Team gets the information. It is set up so all can go out to minister two-by-two. This same format is carried out throughout the whole church to enable every person to be in a Life Group and Team with a leader who is responsible to get training and follow up information to each person and to assist in any way. Life Group Leaders are trained by the Senior Pastor and other Pastors whose vision and heart is in the Life/Team outreach program.
    Every phase of this program is duplicable, with these lesson sheets, so any person in a group can simply go over the guidelines, and by everybody following the guidelines get the job done. Anyone can duplicate this. It does not depend upon the ability or charisma of any one leader. It is just each one following the “system”. It is to be kept very simple. We must be led by the Spirit, this is number one, and as every person follows the basics, as outlined in these guidelines, they will be led by the Spirit, and will be together.
    Guidelines cover spiritual guidance and teaching, do’s and don’ts of witnessing, practical information to carry out the mission such as use of city and regional maps, cooperation with city officials, clearance procedures, knowledge of city ordinances and constitutional rights, etc. This is all to be done with direct accountability to the church pastoral leadership.

Have a 24 hour help line set up with designated “on call” ministries.

Two parts to the program:
 a. Outreach—Reaching the lost, the sick, and the defeated believers. Remember, there is a much needed witness to Christians, too.
 b. Duplication—Training others how to reach the lost and sick and defeated, and training them to duplicate for exponential growth, using in home meetings working in conjuction with the regular corporate church meetings, with a very strong emphasis on consistent follow up.

Principles (ABC’s) Of Operation:
The Man—Christ in you. Realize that God goes with you where you go, and never leaves you, working in all authority. Every person must have this understanding.
The Mission—Our written mission statement is the Great Commission. Right now there are people hurting and hungering, both spiritually and physically, waiting for our visit. Children are living in fear, being abused, living in constant conflict, marriages are disintegrating, affluent people are empty, bums are hopeless, religious people are dry and thirsty inside. The fields are ripe, ready for harvest. The commission is to “Go ye.” It should take a special calling and leading to not go (Acts 16.6-10). The mission is to set every person free in every way.
The Method—Led by the Holy Ghost, walking in faith and love, we go with the fruit and gifts of the Spirit operating, walking in wisdom, boldly preaching and teaching the Word as the doors open, with God confirming the Word with signs and wonders following.
The Message—The Good News is Jesus, presenting Jesus Christ and Him crucified, resurrected, and reigning today, to freely give hearers forgiveness, the gift of His Spirit, His righteousness, His healing and deliverance to every person in every way, by faith in His Word, the free gift of God's righteousness by grace through faith alone (Acts 15.8-11). Works are a result of and expression of faith.

Acquired skills:
The primary skill is nurturing a consistent intimate prayer/worship/Word  relationship with God so that you are led by the Holy Spirit.
Sub-skills are:
a. Effective and consistent personal Word-centered evangelism
b. Effective, consistent follow up, establishing converts in faith and love and of solid character, training them to duplicate into the lives of others.
c. Ability to faithfully fulfill the responsibilities of being a Group or Team leader, and to recognize those abilities in others to recommend them to the pastoral staff as a leader, using scriptural, duplicable guidelines.
d. Ability to employ all kinds of evangelism such as: servant/relational evangelism, door-to-door, rest home, hospital, special event, prison, mime, clown, puppet ministry, inner city, crusades, use of tracts, etc.
e. Ability to organize and implement an outreach with responsible group leaders with the same coordination as an effective military operation, but in the spirit of love with the leadership of and in the liberty of the Holy Spirit.
f. Ability to faithfully fulfill responsibilities for an assigned geographical area or institutional area such as prisons, rest homes, hospitals, etc.
g. Have a life of character and integrity with the ability to flow in the gifts of the Spirit with all love and wisdom on the street.  One should dress clean,  and proper for the occasion, reflecting the excellence of the King.

A Special Note Here:
    Fear, in all forms and with all excuses, is the barrier for most people. We are all to exercise ourselves in overcoming all forms of fear. Realize that you as you exercise the grace of God in witnessing and reaching out to people, you grow in strength in this grace, just like any other grace in the kingdom such as preaching, teaching, operations of gifts, etc. The more you exercise it, the stronger you become. Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Overcomers dominate fear. This makes for a strong church that has the ability to duplicate strength into other churches.

Go With Confidence On The Basis Of The Word:
Have it settled in your heart that it is God’s will to bless ALL PEOPLE.

Know That It Is God’s Will To Save All: (Review these scriptures)
Jn.3.14-17; Ac. 2.38, 39;  Ac. 10.38, 42, 43;   Ac. 17.30, 31; Ac. 22.15; Ac. 26.20-23; Ac. 27.24;  1Ti. 2.1-6;  2Pe. 3.9

Know That It Is God’s Will To Heal All: (Review these scriptures)
Ps. 84.11;  103.2;  145.8,9;  Isa.53;  Ac.10.38;  Mt.6.10;  4.23;  8.16;  9.35;  10.1;  12.15;  14.14, 34;  15.30;  19.2;  21.14;  Mk.6.54;  9.23;  11.23,24

You Are Already Commissioned And Empowered With Full Provisions:
    We are commissioned to preach the gospel to “every creature.” God’s power to save and heal is inherent in His Word. The gospel message is the power of God unto salvation to every one who believes. The work of the Holy Spirit is to convince the world of sin, righteousness, and judgement.  God has judged sin and sickness to be evil, and He has given His Son to put it away. So, we can be confident that it is God’s will for us to go, and He is always with us.
    The Word is in you. The Holy Spirit is in you and always with you. He is always doing His job. So, when you do your job to go, and open your mouth, you can be confident that God is working to save and heal all. It is God’s will to save and heal all. Your job, under His guidance, is to carry the message to “all”. God is always there with you to save and heal all. Rely on Him for that. Trust the power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God to do their job. You do your job by carrying and announcing the message in love with the fruit and the gifts of the Spirit in your life to back it up.
    Recognize that most often, due to the way we have been taught in the past, we are expecting a special move of God to facilitate a witnessing situation, conviction of a sinner, and a true conversion. However, the faith teaching gives us understanding that God has moved, He is with us to convince sinners of His goodness and convict them of their sin, and that the gospel is the power of God to salvation to every one who believes. We know that when we preach (announce) the gospel, God is moving. If we are witnessing Jesus Christ to them, God is moving. We believe, therefore we speak.
    Faith takes the lid off of healing and witnessing. Faith will intercede and stay in constant prayer in the Spirit. Intercession and prayer is essential. In this faith, we are free to go in the power of the Spirit every day and preach the gospel to “every creature”, for their healing, conversion, and wholeness in every way. God has moved. Now, it’s our move. God is waiting on us to bring salvation to the world (Acts 13.47).
    As we go, it is important to remember this:  Take your authority for the home front when you go out. Don’t passively allow the enemy to cause all kinds of problems in the home, such as strife, sickness, the dog getting out, mechanical problems, etc., that will distract you from the mission. (ABCD)
 a. Acknowledge (Claim) the Word for your situation.
 b. Bind the devil.
 c. Commission your angels to influence for good.
 d. Daily and constantly, give God praise for the victory.

Remember to not neglect family time together. WIN:
W-Be speaking out the Word over you and your family.
 I- Be praying, singing, and worshipping In the Spirit at all times.
N-Nurture the expression of love, respect, and consideration for one another.

Finally, keep your vision as big as the world. Get ready, be ready, to go to the nations. To quote T.L. Osborn, “No one deserves to hear the Gospel repeatedly until everyone has heard it once.” God will use consecrated vessels to touch people from the neighborhoods to the nations. As we each exercise ourselves and grow in the grace of being a constant daily witness of Jesus, we will grow as a corporate body in our ability to reach out to more. God is able to use us more as we grow stronger in Him.

Suggested Reading:
--The New Testament. Pray in tongues, and pray Eph. 1.15-23 for yourself.
--The Book of Acts.  It is helpful to read this repeatedly—see the message they preached of the crucified, resurrected, now reigning Lord Jesus Christ.
     To catch the reality of the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ, it is good to read all four accounts of the resurrection in the gospels, with the commission given to the disciples to go to all nations and preach the gospel. I suggest that you read these chapters repeatedly over a period of time, along with the book of Acts: Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 28; and John 20 and 21. We have a vivid lesson in John 21 about abundance of provision available to us if we will do it God’s way, and it shows that the expression of our love to the Lord is one and the same as following up on, feeding, and discipling the sheep.
--How To Be Led By The Spirit. Kenneth E. Hagin
--Soulwinning. T.L. Osborn
--Street University. Arthur Blessit
--Take Him To The Streets. J.Gainsbrugh
--Conspiracy Of Kindness. S. Sjogren
--Successful Home Cell Groups. Dr. Paul Yonggi Cho
--Foxe’s Book Of Martyrs.

No Greater Love (NGL) Ministries has a very similar structure of outreach and ministry as I have outlined in this program. NGL goes to events such as Mardi Gras, Indy 500, Kentucky Derby, etc., to minister to the people at those events. Their web page is www.nogreaterlove.org.

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