take the

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Greg Wallace

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© 2009 by Greg Wallace

Printed in the United States of America.

Cover & layout design by Brett Darnell, Kingwood, Texas

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be repro-duced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any way or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, record-ing, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States copyright laws.

Unless otherwise noted, the Bible verses are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by per-mission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

take thefourchallenge

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Greg Wallace

take the

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fourchallenge

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“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep with-out a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Matthew 9:36-38

Most of us are aware that the majority of older teens and adults that come to faith in Christ have been greatly influenced to do so by a close friend or family member.

Research indicates that mass mailings and television ads often turn people away from church and the Christian faith instead of encouraging them.1

We know this intuitively. It takes people to reach people but how do we do that? Is there a proven method, a process that can be a guide for all of us as we seek to influence those around us for Christ?

For nine years we have been using a process that we named 4 X four to do just that.

Several years ago, Vaughn and Jan Swope moved next door to Jesse and Mary Sanders. Jesse and Mary, who now live in Mississippi, were great members of Woodridge Baptist Church in Kingwood, Texas. Jesse was a deacon and Mary was the attendance and membership administrator. They identified Vaughn and Jan as one of their 4 X four families.

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They began to build a relationship with Vaughn and Jan and started to pray for them everyday and to invite them over for dinner. Then came Sunday School class parties and then special events at Woodridge. Next were invitations to Sunday School and church. Let’s hear what happened in their own words.

Jan:

“When we arrived in Texas we had not been to church for decades. We were not anti-religion. We simply did not believe and were not interested.

We met Jesse and Mary as neighbors and quickly became good friends. The fact that they were “church-goers” and we were not was not a factor in our feelings for each other.

Religion was a topic of conversation in most of our encounters as was politics, world news, food, the stock market or how our younger neighbors were not as good at parenting as we had been. In other words, they did not force it down our throats or ignore it. They invited us to go with them to some of their Sunday School get-togethers, and I was even invited to sing in several choir events at the church due to my love for music. Jokingly (although now I know that she was not kidding), Mary expressed concern that I drive when we went out together, so that if the rapture happened I would not be alone in the backseat of a speeding car. Of course, I had no idea what the rapture was, so that provided a good topic of conversation and debate.”

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Apparently Jan was looking for a larger role for religion in her life, but I was not. So when I had an epiphany in the backyard about my relationship with God, Jan was ready to start going to church. And Mary, Jesse, and Woodridge were there to provide a place for us to go and support for us in our learning and growing.

So Jesse and Mary, through the principles of the 4 X four pro-gram:

1. Put the idea of religion in our minds and answered our questions in a straight forward, non-threatening manner.

2. Introduced us to other believers who, along with Jesse and Mary, provided examples of how to live your beliefs.

3. Gave us a place to go if and when we were ready.I think that it is important to note that you cannot “make ithappen” for someone. All that you can do is plant the seeds, provide an example, and be there for them when they need you.

Will the people in your church begin to influence their personal community if you give them a clear and easy way to do that? All of them won’t, all of Woodridge doesn’t, but many will.

That’s the essence of 4 X four. Let’s stop only encouraging and trying to motivate the great people in all of our churches and instead equip them with a process that works, 4 X four.

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Let me talk a little about the implementation before we go into the process.

For weeks before the launch of 4 X four we put up hugestyrofoam 4’s in places where people couldn’t miss them, but would not tell anyone what they were for. You need to build the anticipation for what is coming. Then came the Launch!

The launch was done on a Sunday morning. Every person in each worship service was given a 4 X four card. Afterpreaching about our need to reach our community and clearly explaining the four steps in the process, I asked our people to commit at the invitation/dedication time to be a part of 4 X four.

As we continued with this process we saw the need to keep it in front of our people. Every 4th Sunday of the month we emphasize 4 X four in some way. The cards are always out on every flat surface we have throughout our entire church plant. We occasionally show videos during our worship service of people who have been reached.

This is a big deal. Work to build the excitement in your church about really being “the church” and reaching your community.

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This is a sample 4 X four card:

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IDENTIFY“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I havenot come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Luke 5:31b-32

The first step is in many ways the most difficult.

Arthur Flake first enunciated this concept in 1916 as the first step in his plan for Sunday School/church growth. “Know your possibilities”. We must identify those we want to reach with the Gospel. Identify four people or families who areunchurched. These families should be within thegeographical influence of your church so that they can bediscipled after their commitment to faith in Christ.

Where do you find them? I have been asked that question hundreds of times. The answers are unlimited. Look next door, in the next cubicle or office, in line in front or behind you at the grocery store. It’s the person checking you out orserving your coffee. It’s the Dad or Mom sitting next to you at your children’s soccer, basketball, baseball or football games. It’s that proud parent at the dance recital or the spelling bee that you are sitting next to. I could go on, but you get the picture.

I am a Starbuck’s junkie. Sometimes I walk in and just hang around until I meet someone to talk to. If they don’t recognize me, sooner or later they ask me what I do. Once I tell them I am a pastor, that immediately opens the door for my next question. “Where do you go to church?” I take it from there. We may have coffee several more times, exchange informa-tion, and all of the time I am praying for them. I noticed several months ago that one particular lady at one of the Starbucks that I drive through really wasn’t herself.

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IDENTIFY

I asked her what was wrong and she informed me her Dad had passed away and she had just returned from the funeral service out of state. I told her I was a pastor and asked her if she was comfortable giving me her full name and address so I could send her a series of books that deal with grief. She agreed. Now I have an opportunity two or three days a week to ask her how she is doing and to comment on the book that she is reading. The conversations are turning more and more toward God. It will take a while but before the year is over and she has read all four books I will have the opportunity to share.

Identifying people who are unchurched is hard work but it is the place we must start.

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INTERCEDE

INTERCEDE“For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

1 Peter 3:12

OK. You have identified your four people or families. What now? Pray for them. Intercede for them with your Heavenly Father at least four times a week. Many times my prayer for my 4 X four is simply calling their names and asking God to give me the opportunity to go to the next step in our relation-ship.

Have you ever had anyone refuse to allow you to pray for them?

I recently added another name to my 4 X four card. A manfollowed me out of Starbucks. He asked, “Aren’t you thepastor of Woodridge?” When I confirmed that I was he told me the story of his marriage breaking up, the divorce final that very day. I stopped there and simply asked, “Can I pray for you and your wife right now?” The divorce still happened but I am praying for him four times a week and attempting to take our relationship to the next level.

God answers the prayers of the faithful and He will answer yours. Intercede for your 4 X fours four times a week and see what God will do!

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INVEST

INVESTJesus replied: “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Matthew 22:37-40

Now comes the fun part. Invest your life in your 4 X fours.

Four times a year, at least, invest your time and money in their lives. Have them over for dinner. Take them to a ball game. Help them with a project around the house. Have lunch with them. Keep their kids so they can have a date night.

In most cases, they have to trust you before they will trust your God, AND, you must be real! They must sense you care about them and are not just after another convert so you will look good in the eyes of your pastor.

If you will invest your life in the lives of your 4 X fours when that 3 a.m. phone call needs to be made, it will be you they are calling because they trust you and know you really care for them. Invest your life in their lives. It takes time, effort, and yes, money, but it is the greatest thing you can spend those resources on.

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INVITEAfter John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee,proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” As Jesus walked beside the Sea ofGalilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him.

Mark 1:14-18

Now it is time to invite them to the four special events your church is going to have designed just for them. Invite them to Sunday School, to worship and to experience forgiveness through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Which comes first? That depends on your 4 X four. For many like Vaughn and Jan, it was special events. For Vaughn, it was special musical presentations. For others, it is the close small group of believers in Sunday School.

Many ask me what those events are at our church.

One is Roundup weekend, which is always the weekend just after Labor Day. We throw the best BBQ cook-off in town. Children and teens have lots of fun stuff to do along with Game Day for the adults as well as your favorite team playing on various screens throughout the church facility. Everycooking team must have one unchurched person on it to be able to compete. Our goal is to make it easy for our members to invite their 4 X fours. And guess what? Some of them are so new that they haven’t gotten much past the identify/inter-cede phase but that’s OK.

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INVITE

A new event for us is the Easter Egg scramble. This last year we took up three practice fields at one of the local high schools and filled them with plastic eggs. Over 500unchurched parents and children attended. Most of them were invited by our faithful members.

Baptism Sunday is special at Woodridge. Every candidate is given ten invitations to mail to family and friends with the en-couragement to mail at least four of them to their 4 X fours.

Research shows that 87% of unchurched people said they would come to see a friend or the child of a friend being bap-tized.2

Our faithful are just waiting for a reason to invite their un-churched friends to an event.

There is nothing like having a person come up to me at an event or a Sunday service and say, “I’ve got one of my 4 X fours with me today. Come meet them, Pastor.” When individuals come forward at the invitation or when we are baptizing and I ask the friends and family to stand, there is almost always a person who stands and the words are whis-pered as a thanksgiving prayer, “That’s one of my 4 X fours.”

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IDENTIFY | INTERCEDE | INVEST | INVITE

Let it be said of us, as Paul said about those Christiansin Colossae...

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints— the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth.

Colossians 1:3-6

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HOW TO IMPLEMENT

1. Get the commitment of the church staff and key volunteer leaders especially the leadership of your Bible Study organiza-tion.

2. Build anticipation for the launch. Use your imagination to create a sense that something big is coming soon!

3. Print your 4 X four cards, refrigerator magnets, key chains, etc. so that every person leaves the “Launch” Service with something that will remind them of their commitmentto 4 X four.

4. “Launch” it!• The Pastor must preach it.• The Bible study teachers must promote it.• Launch Day should be considered the biggest Sunday of the year. Put as much effort into it as you would on Easter Sunday or Christmas day!

Endnotes:1. Kinnaman, David. Unchristian. Baker Books, 2007. Pg. 71. 2. Lifeway Research (David Roach)

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