Co-Mission is committed to planting and strengthening churches throughout London to reach the lost for the glory of God. We want to reach people who wouldn’t normally come to church to hear about Jesus. Here are two examples of Co-Mission churches using the opportunity of Christmas to present guests with their need for a Saviour.
Christ Church Balham held its annual ‘carols in a pub’ service with a unique twist – mashing up traditional carols with pop music! This has become CCB’s biggest outreach event of the year. The theatre at the Bedford Pub in Balham was packed with friends and family of churchgoers, as well as those in the pub curious at the merriment. All enjoyed belting out carols with the ten-piece band, to a mix of merry renditions of Take On Me by Aha (or Angels from the Realms of Glory), Giant by Rag’n’Bone Man (or See Amid the Winter’s Snow) and All the Small Things by Blink 182 (or O Come All Ye Faithful).
Recalibrating expectations
Andy Palmer gave a message on recalibrating expectations of Christmas. Most people, he said, either set their expectations of Christmas ludicrously high or pessimistically low. ‘Our Bible readings tonight clearly encourage us to set very high expectations for Christmas. Because in Christ we are told to expect a Saviour. In Christ we meet God Himself. If you make your Christmas, or your life, about anything else, no matter how good those things might be, your expectations will always fall short. You’ll be left disappointed, because we’ve been made for so much more.’
The evening closed with an invitation for visitors to join a CCB regular for lunch, go through a gospel outline and hear more about faith in Jesus Christ.
On a smaller scale, a women’s daytime Bible Study group from Dundonald Church ran an evangelistic craft evening at the local Costa Coffee, making Christmas cards and gift tags.
When a group member had an unusual problem – her friends kept asking her questions about Jesus! – the group decided to hold an evening with these friends, and other guests, to answer their questions together. They settled on a coffee shop as a neutral venue, with a craft (to keep hands busy) and a short talk from the group leader, before time for discussion. Some group members were great at craft, some at inviting, some at explaining the uniqueness of Jesus or answering difficult questions. Some felt unable to do much, but still prayed. Evangelism as a team effort!
The café was cosy, the company lovely, the talk wonderful, the craft enjoyed and Jesus declared. The guests were invited to come to Christmas services, and to meet one-on-one to read the Bible or ask more questions.
It is our prayer that those who attended these events, and others like them within Co-Mission and other reformed evangelical churches throughout the UK over Christmas, will use the early part of 2020 to investigate the claims of Jesus, and put their trust in Him as Lord and Saviour.
