IDC Ministry Toolbox

We have committed as a church, Imago Dei, to see every member making disciples of Jesus among all nations (Matt. 28:18-20; 2 Tim. 2:2; Ps. 67:1-2; Rev. 7:9-10). Every disciple of Christ is called to engage the lives of people who are far from God, to evangelize them with the gospel of Jesus Christ, and to disciple new believers as they learn to follow Jesus and live in his community, the church. Our hope is that the tools, resources, and ideas provided in these toolboxes will serve to assist our members as they engage, evangelize, and disciple people in the RDU community and beyond. For any member or growth group interested in training and equipping in any of the tools in these toolboxes, contact [email protected].

Engage

  • Make a list of people in your five spheres of influence who are far from God.
    • Where you work (Vocational)
    • Your family (Familial)
    • Where you live (Geographical)
    • Where you shop (Commercial)
    • Where you play (Recreational/Relational)
  • Use a strategic mapping tool such as Peoplegroups.info, a strategic resource to help churches identify and engage the unreached peoples in their communities. It is a collaborative map that highlights points of interest (religious centers, ethnic restaurants, etc.) and areas of population density that can be filtered by people group. Helpful for growth groups to find diverse people groups in the RDU area.

  • Be a regular.
    • Visit the same coffee shop, gas station, grocery store, barber, restaurants, etc. around the same times and get to know the staff and other regulars.
  • Go for a walk!
    • Walk in your neighborhood regularly and around the same time. Take your dog or your family. Be attentive to those who are outside as well and strike up conversation with them.
  • Join in on a community event/sports league/hobby group.
    • Do what you love to do and do it with non-Christians. Host a game night in your neighborhood, play basketball at a public court, or join a book club.
  • Eat with co-workers.
    • Instead of eating alone during lunch, get to know your co-workers by eating lunch together. Invite them to get dinner with you after work. Bring coffee and/or donuts for breakfast one morning.

  • Prayer-Walk your community.
    • Take others with you to pray for your community. Pray for people and places as you see them. Meditate on and pray the words of Scripture. All the while, be attentive to the people passing by, share with them that you are praying for the community, and ask if there is anything they need prayer for. These are great opportunities to share the Gospel with the community even as we pray for it.
  • Regularly ask neighbors, co-workers, family members, waitresses, etc. for things you can pray for them.
    • Write their requests in your prayer journal. Be diligent to pray for these matters and then make it a point to follow up with them every so often. Use these opportunities to speak of the Lord’s goodness, power, grace, and mercy through the Gospel.
  • Use an app to organize your prayer lists.
    • BlessEveryHome – A tool to aid in strategically praying for your neighborhood and immediate community. Offers daily reminder emails and a neat color-coded tracking feature to record which neighbor you have prayed for, cared for, and shared with.
    • PrayerMate – A tool that helps organize your prayer list in a digital “index cards system” by separating your prayer list into categories (i.e. family, spouse, neighbors, co-workers, elders, growth group members, missionaries, etc.) from which a daily prayer list is automatically and conveniently generated.

  • Volunteer with one of the ministries IDC partners with.
    • ESL — Get involved with the ESL classes we host weekly in the IDC building.
    • Hope Reins — Serve as a mentor to kids experiencing life crisis at the Hope Reins ranch.
    • Human Coalition — Provide ongoing care calls, baby showers, mentoring, etc. for vulnerable, pregnant women who have considered an abortion through the ministry of Human Coalition.
    • North Raleigh Ministries — Be a childcare volunteer for the families who are enrolled in the NRM financial and cooking classes hosted in the IDC building.
    • Refugee Hope Partners — Provide homework help, mentoring, or dinner for the events and Bible studies organized by RHP for the refugee housing community in Cedar Point Apartments.
    • For a full list of our partner ministries and of the opportunities to serve alongside them, email [email protected].
  • Help your neighbors.
    • Help them move-in/-out. Help them fix their car or offer to look after their kids. Let neighbors know if you have a certain knack or skill and offer to help them anytime.
  • Serve your co-workers.
    • Cover someone’s shift. Offer to carpool with co-workers who live nearby. Bring in coffee and bagels once a month.

  • Designate an open dinner night each week to which anyone in the neighborhood is invited.
  • Offer swimming lessons to those in your neighborhood.
  • Organize an office party for your co-workers.
  • Have a cookout on the lawn/in the grill area of your apartment complex and offer burgers/hotdogs to passersby.

126 Simple Ways To Be Missional  — This helpful resource suggests a plethora of ideas—126 to be exact!—for how a church can be missional in the neighborhood, in the workplace, in the community, and in the city!
Across the Street and Around the World: Ideas to Spark Missional Focus by Diana Davis and Autumn Wall — A practical book full of suggestions on how individuals, small groups, and whole churches can engage not only the community around them but also the community abroad! Ideas are organized by the amount of time needed: one hour, one day, one week, long term, etc.

Evangelize

  • Prayer-Walk your community.
    • Take others with you to pray for your community. Pray for people and places as you see them. Meditate on and pray the words of Scripture. All the while, be attentive to the people passing by, share with them that you are praying for the community, and ask if there is anything they need prayer for. These are great opportunities to share the Gospel with the community even as we pray for it.
  • Regularly ask neighbors, co-workers, family members, waitresses, etc. for things you can pray for them.
    • Write their requests in your prayer journal. Be diligent to pray for these matters and then make it a point to follow up with them every so often. Use these opportunities to speak of the Lord’s goodness, power, grace, and mercy through the Gospel.
  • Use an app to organize your prayer lists.
    • BlessEveryHome – A tool to aid in strategically praying for your neighborhood and immediate community. Offers daily reminder emails and a neat color-coded tracking feature to record which neighbor you have prayed for, cared for, and shared with.
    • PrayerMate – A tool that helps organize your prayer list in a digital “index cards system” by separating your prayer list into categories (i.e. family, spouse, elders, growth group members, missionaries, etc.) from which a daily prayer list is automatically and conveniently generated.
***Mission 5-5-5 Sermon Series: Pray for them.

  • Invite them to your home.
    • Invite them to dinner, a game/movie night, a weekly kids’ playtime, or a crafts night in your home.
  • Invite them to join you in a hobby or come with you to an event.
    • Invite them to join the city basketball league with you, to come with you to a local concert, or to go shop together at the NC State Farmers’ Market.
  • Invite them to visit your church.
    • Invite them to visit during a Sunday morning corporate worship gathering or to a get-together with your growth group.
***Mission 5-5-5 Sermon Series: Invite them.

  • Give them a book that clearly explains the Christian faith.
  • Give them a copy of the Gospel of John.
  • Give them a copy of the Bible.
    • Bibles available at IDC book cart for $2.00!
    • Point them to a Bible app such as Bible.is (iPhone), a Bible app produced by Faith Comes By Hearing. It contains translations of almost every language that has already been translated into portions of Scripture. For Android, click here.
  • Send them short films that tell the gospel story such as Jesus Film or The Story .
    • Jesus Film (iPhone) – This app has the classic Jesus Film, a two hour movie of the life of Christ as told in the Gospel of Luke. Has translations of the film in over 1,700 languages. For Android, click here.
    • The Story (iPhone) – A short five-minute film that shares the gospel in most of the major languages of the world. For Android, click here.
***Mission 5-5-5 Sermon Series: Give Gospel-Centered Literature to Them.

  • Volunteer with one of the ministries IDC partners with.
    • ESL — Get involved with the ESL classes we host weekly in the IDC building.
    • Hope Reins — Serve as a mentor to kids experiencing life crisis at the Hope Reins ranch.
    • Human Coalition — Provide ongoing care calls, baby showers, mentoring, etc. for vulnerable, pregnant women who have considered an abortion through the ministry of Human Coalition.
    • North Raleigh Ministries — Be a childcare volunteer for the families who are enrolled in the NRM financial and cooking classes hosted in the IDC building.
    • Refugee Hope Partners — Provide homework help, mentoring, or dinner for the events and Bible studies organized by RHP for the refugee housing community in Cedar Point Apartments.
    • For a full list of our partner ministries and of the opportunities to serve alongside them, email [email protected].
  • Help your neighbors.
    • Help them move-in/-out. Help them fix their car or offer to look after their kids. Let neighbors know if you have a certain knack or skill and offer to help them anytime.
  • Serve your co-workers.
    • Cover someone’s shift. Offer to carpool with co-workers who live nearby. Bring in coffee and bagels once a month.
***Mission 5-5-5 Sermon Series: Serve Them.

  • Share your testimony with them.
    • Develop and share your “15-Second Testimony.” Share this quick version of your testimony with the waitress at your favorite restaurant, with your co-workers at lunch, or with your neighbor at the playground. [See an example of this tool from First Baptist Charlotte]
  • “Weave the Gospel” into your everyday conversations.
    • Threads – This 29-page booklet produced by the Church at Brook Hills is designed to aid small groups in “weaving” the gospel into every day life and ministry. It includes practical tips, reflection, and discussion sections and is accompanied by a 10-part sermon series delivered by Jim Shaddix and David Platt in 2013. [Follow along with the corresponding Sermon Series]
  • Use a simple visual aid to help share the Gospel.
    • The Three Circles (iPhone) – A quick and reproducible evangelism tool produced by the SBC’s North American Mission Board. Though the Three Circles was originally designed to be drawn out on a napkin or a spare piece of paper on hand while the believer presents the Gospel, this app can be used as well. The app can also be used to assist believers in training others to share the Gospel using the Three Circles tool. For Android, click here.
    • The Story (iPhone) – A short five-minute film that shares the gospel in most of the major languages of the world. For Android, click here.
    • Jesus Film (iPhone) – This app has the classic Jesus Film, a two hour movie of the life of Christ as told in the Gospel of Luke. Has translations of the film in over 1,700 languages. For Android, click here.
***Mission 5-5-5 Sermon Series: Share the Gospel with Them.

– The Gospel and Personal Evangelism by Mark Dever. A biblical and practical 100-page book on the Why? What? Who? and How? of personal evangelism.
– Everyday Church: Gospel Communities on Mission by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis. This is a practical book that is focused on mobilizing small groups (“gospel communities”) to reach people in the context of everyday life together. (See also Total Church by Chester and Timmis)
– Evangelism: How the Whole Church Speaks of Jesus by J. Mack Stiles. A book on developing and living out a culture of evangelism within the church body.
– Gospel Fluency: Speaking the Truths of Jesus into the Everyday Stuff of Life by Jeff Vanderstelt. A book on incorporating the gospel message in our everyday conversations.

Disciple

  • Pick a book of the Bible to go through together.
  • Pray through I.O.U.S. before each time you read together.
    • “Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!” (Ps. 119:36 ESV)
    • “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” (Ps. 119:18 ESV)
    • “Unite my heart to fear your name.” (Ps. 86:11b ESV)
    • “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” (Ps. 90:14 ESV)
  • Use the COMA method (Context, Observation, Meaning, Application) to ask good interpretive questions about the biblical text.
  • Read through and apply One to One Bible Reading by David Helm.

  • Memorize verses from the biblical text you are studying each week.
  • Utilize a systematic scripture memory aid:

  • Deepen Discipleship — an intensive and interactive New Testament reading plan produced by the SBC’s International Mission Board meant to be carried out and discussed in community.
  • Knowing the Bible — a series of Bible study guides produced by Crossway.
  • Discipleship Essentials: A Guide to Building Your Life in Christ by Greg Ogden — Designed for one-on-one discipleship or in groups of three, this book includes Q&A’s, guides for Scripture memory and for Bible study, and addresses the essentials of the disciple’s faith in Christ.
  • Multiply: Disciples Making Disciples by Francis Chan — This book is designed as a teaching aid in discipleship relationships. It is accompanied by a series of videos in which Chan and David Platt discuss the chapter that’s being considered.
  • Commands of Christ (CoC) — CoC is a simple early discipleship tool that lays out a basic set of commands that Jesus gives to his disciples alongside of a story from the Gospels or the book of Acts where that command was obeyed by his disciples. It also offers a helpful guide to the leader in how one can structure the meeting time.
  • Discovery Bible Studies (DBS) — a two page resource developed by Crossway that suggests a three-section structure for each discipleship meeting around the acrostic “ABC”: Ask, Bible, and Commit.

  • Pray Together:
    • Pray through Scripture
      • Check out the method presented in Praying the Bible by Donald S. Whitney for praying the words of the Bible, verse-by-verse.
    • Structure your prayer time around the acronym “ACTS”
      • Adoration: Praise God for who He is and what He’s done!
      • Confession: Confess your sins together.
      • Thanksgiving: Thank God for what He’s done and for how He is working in your lives and in the lives of others.
      • Supplication: Pray for yourself, each other, and for others.
        • Pray for each other’s faithfulness, fruitfulness, and joy in the Lord.
        • Pray for each other’s cares and burdens.
        • Pray for each other’s families.
        • Pray for the members in your Growth Group.
        • Pray for the other members of IDC.
        • Pray for the elders of IDC.
        • Pray for missionaries, ministries, and church plants.
        • Pray for unbelieving friends, family members, and neighbors.
        • Pray for the nations.
  • Hold each other accountable to:
    • Communion with the Lord through regular prayer and reading of the Scriptures
    • Faithful obedience to the Lord
    • Consistent repentance from sin
    • Living above reproach
    • Fulfilling one’s responsibilities
    • Faithfully sharing the gospel with unbelieving neighbors, friends, and family members
    • Sample Accountability Questions:
      • Ed Stetzer compiled several example lists of accountability questions that can be found here.
  • Develop a Personal Disciple-making Plan:
    • Here is a practical, devotional, fillable sheet designed by the Church at Brook Hills to assist disciples in developing a thoughtful strategy to carry out one’s personal, spiritual disciplines in community and to reproduce disciples.

  • Volunteer together with one of the ministries IDC partners with. (embed link to ministry partners list)
    • ESL — Get involved with the ESL classes we host weekly in the IDC building.
    • Hope Reins — Serve as a mentor to kids experiencing life crisis at the Hope Reins ranch.
    • Human Coalition — Provide ongoing care calls, baby showers, mentoring, etc. for vulnerable, pregnant women who have considered an abortion through the ministry of Human Coalition.
    • North Raleigh Ministries — Be a childcare volunteer for the families who are enrolled in the NRM financial and cooking classes hosted in the IDC building.
    • Refugee Hope Partners — Provide homework help, mentoring, or dinner for the events and Bible studies organized by RHP for the refugee housing community in Cedar Point Apartments.
    • For a full list of our partner ministries and of the opportunities to serve alongside them, email [email protected].
  • Engage an area or neighborhood of RDU alongside one of IDC’s Local Outreach Teams
    • These teams develop regular rhythms of Gospel engagement with people in designated communities in North Raleigh and in the Downtown area. Join alongside them in Gospel work together. Contact [email protected] for more information.

  • Model for other disciples what it looks like to faithfully follow Christ by inviting them into the regular rhythms of your life (e.g., your home, workplace, community, recreation, church, etc.).

  • The Wheel is a quick, reproducible tool offered by Navigators that can be used to highlight four essential disciplines of the Christian life: Scripture Reading, Prayer, Evangelism, and Membership in a Local Church. Other basic discipleship tools can be found at www.navigators.org.
Chad MartinIDC Ministry Toolbox