Evangelism Q&A: Part I

On Friday, November 8^th Crosspoint Church hosted an evangelism training to equip believers to proclaim the gospel and make disciples. A portion of this training was devoted to responding to questions from the audience, but unfortunately we did not have enough time to answer all of those questions.  We decided to commit a few blog posts to respond to those questions. 

“How do I start or initiate 'The Story' in conversation?”

There is no one right way to generate conversations on spiritual matters.  A question I often use is, “in your opinion do you think man is basically good or basically bad?”  This question allows me to understand a person’s view of man, which can lead me to their view of God.  Ninety-five percent of the time they will say man is good, which means man must have been created good (Gen. 1:31).  You can follow this question with “if man is basically good, then why do so many people do bad things,” which leads to discussing the Fall.

With these questions you can lead the conversation to God’s initial design in Genesis 1 and 2, but then man rebelled against God in Genesis 3.  Once you mention Creation and Fall the conversation will naturally lead to our need for Rescue, which allows you to proclaim Jesus Christ and his Redemption for us if we repent and believe in him.  I would recommend Randy Newman’s book “Questioning Evangelism” if you want to learn other ways and questions to transition conversations to the gospel. 

“As a bio major, I'm daily faced with challenges of the Gospel, specifically creation. How do I approach questions from non-believers on this subject?”

I can fully relate to this question, because I was a biology major when I was a non-believer, and I would often question Christians specifically on this topic.  The first thing we need to remember is that Christ did not command us to proclaim reasons for creationism or evidence against Darwinian evolution, but he commanded us to proclaim his saving grace (Matt. 28:18-20; 2 Tim. 4:1-2).  Because of this it is beneficial to start with a person's sinful position before God instead of evolution or creationism.  Non-believers will not turn to Christ unless they believe they are in desperate need of a savior. 

In my own life I was hardened to the gospel because I didn't believe I needed a savior and therefore I rebelled against God and the Bible.  I was blinded to the truth until God used a few faithful Christians to talk with me about my sin and the hope of Jesus Christ.  It was through those conversations and relationships that I heard the gospel and was transformed by it.  Once I believed in Christ and submitted to his authority I studied the scriptures with other Christians, and my attitudes and beliefs changed from a secular mindset to a biblical mindset.

So my advice would be to love your friends who are biology and science majors.  Invite them to be a part of your life so that they see how your life involves Christ, and tell them how the risen Son of God has transformed your life (2 Cor. 5:17).  And finally pray for them.  Pray that God will work through you as you witness to them.

*A resource that would be beneficial for answering question about Darwinian evolution would be Lee Strobel’s “The Case for a Creator.”

“How do we connect the gospel message to people who either don't want to hear it or think it's foolishness?”

I believe these are the most common responses when I evangelize on the Clemson campus.  People normally don't want to talk about God, or they think Christians are foolish for believing the Bible.  My suggestion is that we need to counter theses attitudes with love.  We should talk with people and find out why they feel hostile to God or the church.  When we speak with them it should not be with an agenda to convert them but to love on them.  I am not saying that we should not desire their conversion, but that our desire for their conversion will naturally lead us to love them.  This does not mean accepting their rebellion against God, but tolerating their lack of faith.

This means that we should seek to know them and to know what they do believe.  I normally ask questions about what they believe of God, death, Jesus, truth, etc., and why they believe what they believe.  Most of the time you will find that they don't know exactly what they believe, and that they have very little Bible knowledge.  I then use that information as an opening to ask them if they would be willing to investigate the Bible and to see if the Bible gives answers to their questions. 

If they are willing to explore the Bible, then God has given you a great opportunity to proclaim the gospel with his own words.  Don’t worry if you don’t have all the answers to their questions, because the Bible does.  Use those moments to create other times to meet up so that you both have time to investigate the Bible further for those answers.

Invite them to coffee, lunch, breakfast, so that they feel welcomed and comfortable, and pick up the tab!  Show them that you care for them. Give them your time and your love, just as Christ did for us (Matt. 20:28).  Also, tell them your own testimony of how you came to believe and trust in Christ, and ask them if they can relate to your testimony in any way.  And finally pray.

“How do you share the gospel with someone who goes to church and claims to be a Christian but doesn’t seem to really know the gospel and doesn't live it out?”

This is a great question because we can easily think everyone who attends a church service is a Christian.  A great place to start is asking them to share their testimony with you.  Ask them how long they have been a Christian, and how they came to the faith.  Be careful not to do this accusingly, but joyfully because it is joyful to give testimony of God’s work in our life (1 Cor. 1:4-9).  After you hear their testimony, you will hopefully be able to better discern if they are a believer or a non-believer, though we need to be careful not to judge a person to quickly as a non-believer, because they might merely be weak in the faith (1 Cor. 3:1-3).

If you are still concerned if they are a non-believer, or if they are weak in the faith, invite them to study the Bible with you and let the Word do the work (Heb. 4:12).  Ask them if they would start meeting with you once every week or every other week to pray together and read through the Bible.  If they say yes then you are pursuing discipleship.  If they say no then continue to love on them and pray for them.  Invite them into your home and show them how you are pursuing God.  I would also recommend speaking with your pastor especially if they are a member of your church.  

*A few resources to use for daily Bible reading are David Helm’s “One-to-One Bible Reading,” Ken Ham & Bodie Hodge’s “Begin: A Journey through Scriptures for Seekers and New Believers,” and Kent Hughes’ “Disciplines of a Godly Man.”

I hope these responses have been beneficial for you.  I know that each of these questions could merit their own blog post.  I would encourage you to continue to resource yourself with good books that are gospel centered so that you are “prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Pt 3:15). 

I will post the remaining questions from the training in Part II of this blog post, but until then feel free to send me comments or questions that you might have regarding evangelism.  Also, if you happened to have missed the training you can access the media and materials at Crosspoint Church's website by clicking HERE. I hope you have a blessed day

Soli Deo Gloria,

Sean Alford

salford@generation-link.org

College Welcome Back Events!!!

Last week the Clemson Community welcomed over 4,000 new students and many others who were returning for another school year! With all of these students coming into town, Generations LINK's College team was especially busy!

We planned a week of "Welcome Back Events" for new and returning students! The week included an ice cream social, trivia and coffee night, lots of ultimate frisbee, and more! We also made a point to have a presence at the events that Clemson puts on for the students, such as the Welcome Back festival and the organizations fair! The picture below is the publicity we used to get the word out to students about our events! As you can see, we are not done yet!

After all of our labor in planning and preparing, the first week went great! Praise the Lord! We met and were able to make connections with over 400 college students! On Sunday we also had Starting Point after every service where we fed all of the college students some fried chicken as they learned about Connecting Point Groups! We had around 300 college students come to starting point interested in learning about joining a CP group!

We are so grateful for the Lords faithfulness as he is enabling us to reach the Clemson community with the gospel message. Pray that we continue to labor for the Lord and find hope and strength in him alone. Pray also for all of the college students that are now back on campus. Pray that those who are lost will be sought out and made into worshippers of our great God!

In Christ,
Jennifer Gardner
Generation LINK Staff- College Ministry

Starting Point and College Lake Day

It is always a great time to see the college students rolling back into Clemson for the fall.  They are full of energy and excitement.  Each year we have the privilege to see college students desire to grow and mature in their walk with the Lord, and we get to them commit to the body of the church.

We recently had our Starting Point meeting.  This is a chance for college students to learn about our Connecting Point Groups (CP groups).  Our CP groups provide our church body an opportunity to live life together seeking intimacy with God, fellowship among believers, and influence with those who are in the community.  We have more servants equipped to lead CP groups this year than ever before!  It is great to see God provide!  We have groups for freshmen men and women, sophomore men and women, upperclassmen co-eds and men's and women's, international men's and women's.  We have also have small groups for the Bridge Program at Clemson and Southern Wesleyan University.

College Lake Day

Our Starting Point meeting consisted of 200 attendees.  All of our CP leaders attended, providing college students with a chance to meet the leaders, learn what CP groups are all about, and let us know if they desired to connect with a certain group.  Praise God that He uses the Holy Spirit in Crosspoint Church to continue to make disciples and use us to mature his children into the likeness of Jesus!

We also had a college lake day.  This was a great time of fellowship and assimilation of new college students into the life of Crosspoint.  The Welborns' Adult CP Group graced us by cooking some excellent hot dogs and burgers and providing us with sides and snacks.  We ate, played volleyball, threw frisbee, played corn hole, partook in the legendary battle melon game, and enjoyed each others' company.

What a blessing it is to see college students who could be different in every way find unity in Christ and be a part of the body of Crosspoint Church.

Posted by Heath Fulmer

First Week Events

This is an exciting time of the year for the Crosspoint Fellowship as ministries are kicking off for the fall and small groups are starting to meet. The arrival of freshmen and college students is another highlight as we seek to reach Clemson University and the community with the gospel. We host several events the first week of school in hopes of meeting many new freshmen and reconnecting with students.

On Monday, Clemson holds an Organization Fair and a Welcome Back Festival downtown for students. Several members of our college leadership team set up a tent along with other organizations to pass out freeze-pops and invite students to Crosspoint.  Following these events, we gathered in the Union Loggia on campus for an ice cream social.

Tuesday night was a Summer Missions Night where members of our college ministry gathered to share stories of the Lord's faithfulness as they served in missions this summer. Several students shared about their experiences with our Summer LINK programs in Myrtle Beach, Clemson, and India, and others shared about trips to Kenya, Uganda or working with local missions. It was so encouraging to hear how the Lord worked in the lives of our college students and to hear our college pastor, Jeremy Chasteen, cast vision for being intentional as we live misionally here at Clemson. On Wednesday Night we met at the intramural fields for some competitive and not-so-competitive games of Ultimate Frisbee. We also had groups play football, soccer, and volleyball.

Friday night we met at Crosspoiont for coffee and trivia. Students formed teams and competed for prizes and enjoyed coffee, dessert, and fellowship. All the events of the week culminated in Sunday's Starting Point event after the service. Approximately 270 students joined us for lunch and to find out more about the small group Bible studies that meet throughout the week.

Although it was quite a busy time, this was a great week to be intentional with meeting students. We hope that students who attended these events had a great time, but we have an even greater hope that relationships were built with these students. Our desire is that they might see Crosspoint Church as a home-away-from-home and a church to get plugged into during their time at Clemson. Crosspoint desires to be a church that proclaims the gospel to the campus and community and disciples students as they grow in their walks with the Lord. It's going to be an exciting year as the Lord works in the lives of college students!

Post by Kimberly Sherman. Photos courtesy of J. B. Winchester.

College Leadership Retreat

When the month of August rolls around each year, the college ministry at Crosspoint takes on a drastic change. Not only does the population of returning students skyrocket, but there are also about 4,000 new freshmen arriving to start their first semester of college. Since we want to be faithful to minister to these students, we must take time to plan as well as to get to know these students when they get here.

One way we prepare ourselves is by taking a college retreat for all of the college staff at Crosspoint as well as the college students who are on our leadership team. This retreat serves two main purposes: refreshment before the craziness of a new year starts and logistical preparation for the semester ahead.

The team spent two nights with a family from our church who was gracious enough to open their home and whose small group helped prepare and serve our meals. We spent the first night catching up and sharing about our summers and telling each other things God had been teaching us while we were apart. We continued meeting the next morning and discussed many of the activities Crosspoint is hosting for students as they come back, such as an Ice Cream Social, Ultimate Frisbee, a Trivia Night, and Starting Point where they can learn more about our small group opportunities.



The retreat wasn’t all work and no play, though! Thankfully the family we stayed with lives on Lake Keowee, and we had an afternoon for lake time. Between swimming, skiing, and boating, students and staff were able to enjoy a great end-of-summer lake day. We gathered together again that night to have one last meeting before trying to get some sleep to get up early to help freshmen move in the next morning.

Although there has been and will be a lot going on during this time of year, the challenge in all of it is to keep the Gospel central to our purpose. It is so easy to get sidetracked or to lose perspective, but the desire of our hearts is that these events would not be an end in and of themselves. Instead we desire to see more disciples of Christ made in the Clemson area and the nations, and we hope that God will use our labor for His glory.

-Written by Savannah Stone & Pictures taken by Jesse Winchester

20/20 Conference

One of the biggest events in college ministry during February was the 20/20 Collegiate Conference at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. This conference was designed to equip students to engage the culture around them and on their campus with Christianity and the Gospel. It is common today for many people to have objections against the belief in a God, the idea of one absolute truth, the claim that Jesus is the only way for salvation, and more. This conference sought to provide students with a logical approach to confronting these issues with the goal of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ as the only hope of salvation.

The Group that went to 20/20 in Southeastern's Binkley Chapel

We were able to stay with a host church in the Raleigh area who has graciously provided lodging for us the past two years and continues to be exceedingly hospitable to our group. This year we took about 67 students and staff to the conference, which is the largest group that we have taken so far! One student has already shared with me after the conference how she was challenged to be more intentional to share Christ with those around her. Hopefully, this type of encouragement was true for many of the students who went, and we hope their lives continue to reflect the Gospel to the world.

Student Appreciation Day

At the end of the semester, Crosspoint has Student Appreciation Day where we honor those graduating and commission those serving in missions over the break during the morning service. Also, in the evening we host a party for students right before their exam week. In doing this we hope to provide a way for students to have a break from studying and enjoy a free meal while sending them home with a packet of goodies to have throughout their exam week. Although we overestimated in our predicted numbers, we probably had close to 100 students come and many more people who helped make the event happen!

Graduates Being Prayed For

In the morning, we recognized eight graduates who are transitioning into a new phase of their lives. We presented them with a copy of John Piper's book Don't Waste Your Life. At the end of the service, we commissioned four missions teams and one individual going to countries such as India, China, and Thailand. As a church, it is our desire to continually be a part of fulfilling the Great Commission. We certainly delight in seeing those who are willing to sacrifice of themselves by going to foreign lands with the Gospel, but we also hope that as a church we are helping to develop mature, worshiping missionaries in each of our members including college students. Whether these graduates and short-term missionaries give their lives for the Gospel in another country or remain in the U.S. for most of their lives, we hope their lives will be characterized as one that gives all for the sake of the Gospel.

Missionaries Being Commissioned

20/20 Conference

This past weekend 54 students and 5 Generation Link Staff headed up to Wake Forest, NC to attend the SEBTS 20/20 Conference. 20/20 is put on by Southeastern Seminary every year to provide an environment where college students are engaged with the gospel. This year’s conference title was A City Within A City: Church, Culture, and Counter-culture. The conference description was: "God’s church always finds herself in the midst of a broader human culture. We as believers have the great privilege and responsibility of finding ways to display the truth, goodness, and beauty of God and his gospel. Come and join us as we explore how to witness for God in the midst of a skeptical, morally confused culture." We heard from Matt Chandler, David Platt, J.D. Greear, Clayton King, and SEBTS President Danny Akin. It was a great conference and was very challenging!




In the midst of attending the conference Bay Leaf Baptist Church provided a place for all 59 of us to stay. Their gracious hospitality provided a great time of fellowship to play basketball in their gym, play games, and discuss what the Lord had taught us over the course of the conference. Many of our students were encouraged and challenged by the teaching. I pray that as the students continue to mature in their walks with the Lord they can look back to times, like this weekend, and be reminded that as Christians we never move past the centrality of the gospel to our lives.

Prayer, Praise, and Pizza

Psalm 47:6 states “Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises!” One of the privileges of serving as a Generation LINK staff is seeing students take ownership of the college ministry here in Clemson, SC. Our college leadership team meets twice a month to share life and plan times for the college students to gather together for the sake of proclaiming the gospel. Sometimes this is through fun fellowship, such as a swing and shag night; other times we gather to serve such as pancake supper in a dorm. This past Friday, many of our students gathered together to praise the Lord through prayer, song, and fellowship at a college event called “Praise and Pizza”. For this event we combined the aspects of fellowship and praise for a night that left many students encouraged and spurred on in their walks with the Lord.


(Students making their way through the pizza line)

Earlier this month, the Generation LINK staff completed a week-long intensive J-term class at Southeastern Seminary in Wake Forrest, NC. The subject of the class was “The Ministry of Worship” which personally challenged me with my limited view of the act of worship. One of the books we read, “Engaging with God” by David Peterson, challenges the reader with the following statement: “Worship is ‘an engagement with God on the terms that He proposes and in the way that He alone makes possible.’” What a privilege we have in worshiping such an awesome GOD! As I reflected on this statement Friday night my prayer was that the students would grow in their view of worshiping God as they live with and serve their roommates, as they faithfully attend class and excel in the classroom, and as they gather together for events such as “Praise and Pizza.”

Student Appreciation Day

The end of a semester is a time of relief, celebration, and at times, sadness. Serving at Crosspoint Church is a privilege, especially serving alongside our college students who are eager to serve in whatever capacity they are asked with a joyful heart. Because Crosspoint is blessed to have such wonderful students as a part of the congregation, we wanted to encourage them in the midst of their exam week. Two Sundays ago, December 6th, several Connecting Point Groups (CP Groups) came together to provide a dinner and exam care package for the students. I was reminded of how heavily Crosspoint relies on these college students help as it took several CP Groups came together to put this event on.

(Two of our college girls - Sammi and Lauren)

With students closing out their semester and with the preparation of final exams Student Appreciation Day was a great time of fellowship and encouragement, especially for those who will be graduating in December. Earlier that morning Crosspoint recognized 6 graduating seniors and 9 students who will be spending their Christmas breaks serving in overseas missions. As each senior was recognized that Sunday morning, I was reminded of a short poem that John Piper quotes in his book Don’t Waste Your Life, a gift we gave to each graduating senior. The poem states - “Only one life, / ‘Twill soon be past;/only what’s done/ for Christ will last”.


(Students waiting in line to get food)

As I reflected on this seemingly simple poem I was led to rejoice in the work that God has done in each of these senior’s lives. Each of these seniors will leave Clemson having done work that will leave an eternal impact. I pray that as they continue in their walks with the Lord that they will have an eternal perspective that seeks to glorify and honor Christ in all that they do.


(Students eating a delicious meal in the sanctuary)

Merry Christmas! To all of our college students - THANK YOU for all of your service to Crosspoint Church. We love you and we are so very grateful for you!



(Some of our college girls with one of our kind CP Group ladies who helped to make a delicious meal)

Swing in the Spring

This past Friday night our college students planned and organized a swing dance social to welcome students back for the spring semester. They did an incredible job, and the night was such a success! There were around 200 students that showed up and most of them were new to Crosspoint! It was a great opportunity to expose them to our church building, tell them about our small groups and upcoming events, and show them the love of Christ. Here are a few pictures from the night:

Nathan, our expert swing instructor, teaching everyone how to dance.

Students Molly and Grayson showing off their moves.

Everyone dancing.

Line dancin' - look how many people and this is only 1/3 of the room!

Student Appreciation Day

Last Sunday, Crosspoint celebrated with all of our wonderful college students. We recognized those who were graduating and doing missions over Christmas break. To show our appreciation, we handed out exam packets (goody bags filled with treats, coupons, and scantrons!) and had a big party for them. Several of the families here at Crosspoint chipped in to serve up hamburgers, sides, and lots of dessert! Over 200 people showed up and everyone had a great time.

We got several encouraging emails from students after the party. Here is one that particularly touched us.

Hey Pastor Ken!

I just wanted to write you guys (the staff) an email to tell you how thankful I am for Crosspoint. My roommate and I just got back from the Christmas party (we had to leave a little early to get some more study time in) and on the way home all we talked about was how great our church was.

We both joined Crosspoint at the end of last year and were excited to get to work with Matt and the youth. Both of us come from churches with no real college ministries but strong youth ministries, and we were (and still are) excited about pouring our lives into youth. We didn't realize how great being a part of a college ministry would be.

I left tonight feeling incredibly loved and a part of the body of Christ. Not only did I leave with a full tummy, free scantrons, and an exam packet - I left incredibly impressed by the grace and generosity of the adults and staff at Crosspoint. There's something about walking into a fellowship hall and seeing adults take time out of their busy schedules to cook us dinner and bring food - to see them give generously of their time and effort - and it's inspiring. There's also something to be said for providing free blue books, scantrons, and exam packets for us. It would be so easy, especially in the economy of today, to just not care about something seemingly insignificant like a scantron. I had no idea how much a free scantron can impact someone.

I just wanted to let you guys know that since I've joined Crosspoint I have learned so much about the body of Christ and about community. Each Sunday and Wednesday night I leave church or the youth loving it more. I don't leave loving it more because you guys feed us, or because you give us free stuff - I leave loving it more because Crosspoint is a place I can plug in, receive wisdom AND pour my life out.

Thank you for being generous and gracious to us; for giving us a place to call home when we're away from ours.