This came from the guy who leads the men’s group at River Glen, Rich Gorecki. It seems he was really paying attention at the DE Seminar (and taking good notes!):

Hey Fellas,
Notice, Pray, and then Listen!

That was the basic message of last weekend’s Doable Evangelism workshop led by Randy Siever. He taught us that these Ordinary Attempts (OAs as he calls them) are a really big deal to God. When we “Notice” (wonder, ponder, or take note of someone else); “Pray” (behind their back… do unauthorized prayers); and then “Listen” (evangelize with your ears and less with your mouth), we please God. When we ask “So, really… how are you?” is like giving a cup of cold water to the thirsty (see Matthew 10:42). This style of evangelism will change how you view others and how you go about your day. All you have to do is listen… just REALLY listen with a caring ear. It’s part of learning to live (and listen) like Jesus, who we know was the master of these practices.

I will admit, I have become a big fan of Randy’s after participating in his workshop because these OAs make sharing your faith as easy as just being yourself. In fact, I received a bit more than I anticipated after responding with a “Really… just OK???” after recently hearing two different friends’ answers to my initial question of “How are you doing?”. I guess it was God’s way of cementing in me the message I was about to hear at the workshop!

This week’s devotional below is about the art of noticing. As you will read, noticing requires us to look beyond ourselves and paying attention to others. When we start really noticing other people, we will realize that God is calling us to engage and genuinely care for them in order to begin to then meaningful conversations about our own faith story and the joy of knowing Jesus Christ… and that really is Good News to share and the reasons we attend a church!

For Him,
Rich

Devotion: Doable Evangelism–Noticing

The first step in doable evangelism is to notice other people. This is also probably one of the hardest steps because to notice other people we have to stop looking at ourselves. We live in the most targeted and marketed time in all of history, and so we have been trained to believe that if we do not look out for ourselves and our families no one else will. Commercials deceive us into think that every gadget and gizmo created was made with me (or my kids) in mind.

That is why the first step in doable evangelism is to notice someone else. It is to notice that there are other people in this world.

Mark 8:23-25 is one of my favorite stories in the Bible—for two reasons. First, Jesus spit on guy! But secondly and more importantly, this story demonstrates the process of noticing other people.

He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?” He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like tree walking around.” Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.

Jesus encounters a blind man, and helps him see. But it takes time for the man’s eyesight to develop. The man was so used to not being able to see other people that at first he thought they were trees, but as his encounter with Christ continued so did his ability to see more clearly.

As we begin to look outside ourselves and our home, and start noticing other people we will realize that God calls us to engage other people, and genuinely care for them.

As you go about your time this week try to really “notice” people. Look the neighbor, the receptionist, the store clerk, or even the homeless person in the eye. Try to wonder how someone else is doing. Who did you notice this week?

Devotional borrowed from a blogpost by:
The Reverend Wesley B. Barry
Associate Minister for Evangelism and Young Adults
First Presbyterian Church of Charlotte
Email: wbarry@firstpres-charlotte.org