With billions of people still unreached with the Gospel message, it is critical to bring messages of forgiveness, love, and hope found only through Jesus Christ to a hurting world. How do we connect and share the hope of the Gospel with so many who have never heard the Name of Jesus? LHM has established a bold vision for sharing the Gospel worldwide:
In support of this vision and Christ's call to reach the world with His message of hope, LHM has launched CONNECT. Under three key priorities, God is working through this bold initiative to connect people with the Gospel globally, through digital engagement, and right where they are. In addition to reaching people in these three areas through our expansive Gospel proclamation efforts, LHM equips and emboldens laypeople to share their faith with others and increase this Gospel impact. LHM supports the outreach efforts of the laity by focusing on three vital areas:
"God has called each and every one of us to share the Gospel message in our lives, work, and families," says LHM CEO Kurt Buchholz. "What a special calling for all of us to CONNECT and welcome others into the Lord's family as we grow together as the body of Christ."
While God has called all laypeople to be powerful witnesses for Christ, did you know that more than half of Christians have not shared their faith with even one person in the last year? Raising the topic of faith with friends and family can seem like a daunting task. There is the worry that you may not have enough biblical knowledge or have the right words to explain what you want to say. And even if you do, there is always the risk that they may not respond well. You may feel like the task is best left to pastors and church workers who do it naturally. It takes courage and conviction to share your faith in Jesus Christ openly, but it is possible. LHM provides a variety of easy-to-access resources to equip Christians with what you need to start those sometimes-tricky conversations.
"We are simply messengers of God's love and mercy, and taking the step to share our faith reminds us that His unconditional love is a beautiful gift to be shared with others," says LHM President of United States Ministries Jeff Craig-Meyer. "Our timely resources allow you to meet people where they are and gain a hearing for the Gospel in a contextual way."
Here are just some of the resources available from LHM to help you share your faith more comfortably with others. You can find additional faith-sharing and spiritual growth resources at lhm.org/resources.
Spiritual Conversations in the Digital Age Resources
Discover the delight of spiritual conversations with tools, based on research gathered in partnership with Barna Group, for your individual and congregational outreach. A full kit of materials is available, or they are offered individually. Visit lhm.org/conversations to find these items, as well as print and digital materials to dig deeper into the research findings on this topic.
Books and Booklets
How to Talk About Your Faith: An Introduction to the Spiritual Conversation Curve
Equip yourself with knowledge and confidence to have faith-sharing dialogues with others. This easy-to-read booklet is ideal for helping you have more fruitful conversations about Jesus.
The Reluctant Witness: Discovering the Delight of Spiritual Conversations
Author Don Everts grew up assuming that spiritual conversations are always painful and awkward. But his surprising -- and sometimes embarrassing -- stories affirm what Scripture and the latest research reveal: spiritual conversations can be a delight. This book offers insights and best practices for how to become an eager conversationalist.
My Digital Voice: An Introduction to the Digital Conversation Pledge
Communicating in this digital age can be fun and exciting. Digital conversations provide us with powerful opportunities to connect with and bless other people. But research reveals that these digital interactions bring us unique temptations as well-temptations to communicate differently than we normally would face to face. This booklet shares what research reveals about our digital conversations and what God's Word reveals about how we can faithfully and powerfully engage in them.
'Sharing Jesus' Booklets (available as a bundle or separately)
This booklet series tackles honestly and head-on the questions that people have been asking for more than 2,000 years. Who Is Jesus?, Why Did Jesus Die?, and What Is Faith in Jesus?, will help you answer these questions. Do You Know Who Jesus Is?, a booklet geared towards pre-school to third-grade children, is written in rhymes to teach children the answer to the question, "Who is Jesus?"
Video Resources
The Eager Conversationalist/Spiritual Conversation Curve Workshops
The first workshop, Eager Conversationalists, examines the common characteristics of those who talk about their faith on a regular basis and how you can become more eager in your conversations. The second, The Spiritual Conversation Curve, offers help in getting past conversational hurdles. This can be done by focusing on someone's "spiritual posture" to avoid a conversation that is forced or ill-timed.
Online Courses
Then & Now: The Nature of Spiritual Conversations Today: Explore how spiritual conversations have changed in America in the past few decades. This course will equip you to examine the nature of your own spiritual conversations and encourage you to talk more about your faith.
Eager to Share: The DNA of Eager Conversationalists: Learn about the common characteristics of people who eagerly, and regularly, share their faith with others. You will be equipped to develop these same key characteristics in your own life.
Prepared to Respond: The Spiritual Conversation Curve: Find out how to discern a friend's spiritual posture so that you can graciously adapt your conversations in a helpful way.
Three 20-Minute Courses on the Spiritual Conversation Curve
Chat and Relate: Examine the important and loving act of building trust and deepening connections with a friend or neighbor who is unreceptive to the Gospel. This course will equip you to do this through chatting and relating conversations.
Share and Connect: Determine how we can affirm, to our friends and neighbors, Jesus' relevance through sharing and connecting conversations. The course's goal is to help learners share Jesus with their receptive friends and connect Him to their everyday lives.
Explore and Clarify: Explore the powerful act of encouraging, searching with, and preparing a seeking friend for faith. This course will equip you to do this through exploring and clarifying conversations.
Shareable Resources
Spiritual Conversation Curve Cards
Use this card to help you consider how you can engage in faithful prayer and fruitful conversation with the people in your life who do not share your faith.
In addition to the Spiritual Conversations suite of materials, LHM has developed a multitude of resources in partnership with Barna Group to help Christians strengthen their households, serve their community, and develop their God-given talents. Visit lhm.org/barna to learn more.
Thred Digital Platform
As individuals become more present online, Christians are finding new ways to share the Gospel. LHM is once again a pioneering force for good in this space as we proclaim the Name of Jesus to people around the world.
LHM's digital outreach platform, Thred at thred.org, introduced a fresh look and refined vision last year. While its focus on encouraging an open and honest conversation about life, faith, and Jesus has not changed, one of its main objectives is to help you discover how to integrate your faith into your online presence. Thred offers content through its website and social media platforms to take you deeper into the art of spiritual conversations, giving you practical tips and tools to share your story of hope and better connect with others. Visitors to the website can share ideas and learn from others who are creating authentic, relevant, and meaningful digital experiences. They can also sign up to have content delivered straight to their inbox.
Blogs
Visit thred.org/blog to find relevant articles for engaging in spiritual conversations. Some article topics include:
Online Courses
Your Digital Voice
Learn seven core principles to have more meaningful online conversations. Those completing the course's nine lessons can sign up for the Digital Conversation Pledge, a statement of intent to use social media in ways that lift others up, seeking genuine connections and being mindful of others' spiritual postures to cultivate vigorous spiritual conversations online.
Guiding Godly Digital Conversations
Discover how to connect with others in meaningful digital conversations, regardless of where they are in their spiritual walk. Gain insights into discerning where people are in their spiritual thinking and how to engage them more effectively.
Identity in Christ
Your spiritual identity impacts the way you interact and engage with others in face-to-face communication and on social media. Find out what it means to understand, embrace, and embody your identity in Christ in this digital world.