T. I. M. E. Planning Kit : Together in Ministry Everyday

by Millard, M. Kent

• ISBN13: 9780687653584
• ISBN10: 0687653584
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-01-01
• Publisher: Abingdon Pr

Summary

T.I.M.E. Together in Ministry Everyday. The first in the GO FISH! Series of evangelism & outreach programs. The T.I.M.E. PROGRAM KIT contains one copy each of the HANDBOOK, WORKBOOK, DVD, AND DEVOTION book. This starter kit includes the inspiration and how-to processes for introducing the T.I.M.E approach to evangelism and outreach. 'œAS JESUS WALKED BY THE SEA OF GALILEE, HE SAW TWO BROTHERS, SIMON, WHO IS CALLED PETER, AND ANDREW HIS BROTHER, CASTING A NET INTO THE SEA'”FOR THEY WERE FISHERMEN. AND HE SAID TO THEM 'œFOLLOW ME AND I WILL MAKE YOU FISH FOR PEOPLE.' IMMEDIATELY, THEY LEFT THEIR NETS AND FOLLOWED HIM.' Matthew 4:18-20 The Milton Bradley company produced a children's card game entitled GO FISH!, which is designed for children from four years old and over. The game consists of forty playing cards with different types of brightly colored fish (pink, red, orange, purple, brown, green, blue, yellow, white or gray) on each individual card. The goal is to get a set of four cards of the same color of fish and lay them down in front of you and the person who gets the most sets is the winner of the game. A player will ask another player if they have a certain color fish card in their hand and if they do, they have to surrender it to the person requesting it. If they don't have it, they will say GO FISH, and the player requesting the card will draw a card from the central drawpile. Many young children love to play this game for hours. The principle of the game is simple. If you cannot get the card you need from another player you must 'œGO FISH,' which means you must reach out and hope to draw the card you need from the central drawpile. The GO FISH! SERIES is about encouraging followers of Jesus to 'œGO FISH,' which means to reach out to the people in their communities in compassionate loving ways so that people without any current interest in following Jesus might want to come and become a part of a particular faith community. Jesus practiced the same principle when he called the brothers Peter and Andrew to become his first followers. Peter and Andrew were fishermen on the sea of Galilee, which means that they would get in their boat each day, go out to the deep part of the lake, throw out their nets, and hopefully pull in a catch of fish. Peter and Andrew did not sit in their boat near the shore and wait for the fish to come and jump into their boat. They knew that they had to go out to the deep water in order to catch the fish and bring them into their boat. They had to reach out to catch the fish; the fish wouldn't automatically come to them. They had to GO FISH! In a similar way, leaders of congregations need to go out into their neighborhoods and communities in loving and serving ways if they want to enroll more persons in becoming followers of Jesus who make a positive difference in the world. Congregational leaders need to learn how to GO FISH! in their own communities. Just as we do not expect fish to come and simply jump into a boat because it is there, we cannot expect that somehow people will simply come and jump into our congregations because we are there. The T.I.M.E Handbook, Workbook and DVD encourages congregations to focus on outreach ministries which meet the pressing needs of people in their own communities. Each part of the GO FISH! SERIES is written by a practicing pastor or lay leader in a teaching congregation that is effective in reaching out and enrolling new persons in becoming followers of Jesus Christ. Our goal is not simply to enable congregations to grow in participation and membership. Our goal is that congregations will become vital centers of loving service for the spiritual and personal needs of the people of their communities so that the world will be transformed into a compassionate, just, inclusive and Christ-like community. The ultimate goal of the GO FISH! SERIES is to be used by God for the transformation of the