going to get into the DNA of the church unless you do it.’ So I really began to be convicted in that.” Meanwhile, the pastor continued his patterns for evangelism and ministry at Euless. In addition to giving clear presentations of the gospel and extending invitations to salvation in each worship service, Meador was and is personally committed to meeting visitors at the church’s guest reception each week following the service. At the reception, known as Guest Central, he tells the two or eight or 20 people who gather that he wants to share with them the one conversation he would have with each of them if he could only have one. In just a few minutes, Meador conveys in a concise and conversational way that faith in Christ—not works or church attendance or good behavior—is the only reason God will ever let anyone into heaven. Hundreds who have listened to Meador’s brief presentation over the years have trusted Christ for salvation. Somewhere along the way, a church member suggested to Meador that he put the presentation on paper so others could emulate the message and share with people who don’t come to Guest Central. So, he did just that and began training church members to share, resulting in a ministry that now bears the name Can We Talk?, which Meador leads each week. The pastor and his church had found God’s answer to the need for a pastor-led evangelism ministry, and
First Euless Pastor John Meador rejoices with Holly Coleman after baptizing her during the SBTC Annual Meeting, Nov. 11. Coleman, a young woman who had prayed to receive Christ after hearing a Can We Talk? presentation a month ago, attended a Can We Talk? meeting at First Euless, assuming it to be a class on baptism. “About an hour into that class, she realized we weren’t talking about baptism, we were equipping her to share the gospel,” Meador said. “She decided to stay, and she joined an evangelism team and has already been out sharing the gospel.” (PHOTO BY ALYSSA MARTIN)
Meador had the message he needed to share and did share at the 2014 annual meeting. “We saw God raise up a community of people in the church that believed the gospel was going to change the world and that he was going to do it from right here,” Meador said. Nearly 600 church members—from teenagers to senior citizens—have been trained to share the gospel with confidence and are now qualified as Can We Talk? trainers. Each semester, Meador casts the vision, equips the people and then leads them in going out in groups of three to share the gospel in the community. Meanwhile, prayer partners gather to pray the entire time the groups are sharing, directed by live requests sent via Twitter feed to a television screen at the church. When tweets come in showing real-time answers to those prayers, the prayer team celebrates. “When [the Tweet] came through and said [Sofia] had accepted Christ, it was like someone scored a touchdown at a football game,” said John Briere, a NOVEMBER 19, 2014 TEXANONLINE.NET 5