When this sound occurred, the multitude came together. But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them. So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and there were added that day about three thousand souls (Acts 2:6,14,41).

The Upper Room belongs in the Christian Hall of Fame along with the manger from the stable in Bethlehem. Jesus was born in the manger; that is a fact. The Upper Room is considered the place where the Church was born. I have nothing but reverence for the Upper Room, but I do not believe it is the Church's birthplace. Great harm has come out of this misconception. When the Holy Spirit fell on the disciples in the Upper Room, the first thing He did was to get them out rather than keep them in. This is a crucial point.

Babies are conceived in their mother's womb, but they are not born until they have come out of the womb. Likewise, the Church was conceived (and fully developed the way a baby is) in the Upper Room, but it was not born until the disciples went out into the marketplace where the Word of God was preached and 3,000 men believed in Christ. This point is key, because as long as we believe that the Church was born inside four walls, we will always need four walls to have a church. Worse yet, this will cause us to confuse the church building with the eklesia—the gathering of believers. They are two completely different things. This paradigm shift is crucial for city reaching.

A congregation of 1,000 members is, during most of the week, already strategically placed in workplaces, neighborhoods, and campuses all over the city. Because of this strategic deployment, they are in position to become pastors to scores of people within their spheres of influence. If each member takes responsibility for 100 unsaved acquaintances and friends, the combined sphere of influence of that congregation will encompass 100,000 people!

However, when the Church and the church building are closely associated in our minds to the point of being perceived almost as interchangeable, an evangelistic disaster occurs. Believers are expected to invite sinners to a church building to hear a preacher, in hopes that these lost souls will receive the Lord. Unfortunately, very few do, and those that do require significant attention and maintenance to keep them coming to the building!

Jesus presented the kingdom of God not as something that people need to be brought into but as something that comes near to them: "Say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you’” (Luke I0:9, emphasis added). Consequently, the Church needs to go to the people.

Soon after the Church was born, the first Christians filled the city of Jerusalem with the teaching of the gospel message (see Acts 5:28). How did they do it? In the Temple and house to house—in public as much as in private places—they held church daily, not weekly!

"And day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God, and having favor with all the people" (Acts 2:46,47, emphasis added).

Please notice the dynamic nature of the Church, how by doing church house-to-house they gained favor with all the people. This was dynamic, God-driven evangelism: "And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved:” (v. 47).

Church is too good to be kept under wraps. It belongs all over town.

Richard Gazowsky, the pastor of Voice of Pentecost, in San Francisco, California, realized some time ago that his parishioners were somehow confused on this issue. Worse yet, he believed, the pride they felt in coming to church—that is, to the church building—in such a godless city made them too “religious." Gazowsky decided to do something drastic about the situation. In fact, what he did is so extreme that I am not sure you should try to replicate it. I am simply reporting it because it eloquently illustrates the point under discussion.

Richard put his parishioners on a 40-day "church-building fast"—he instructed them not to come to the church building for 40 days. If they did, they would find the doors locked.

During this unusual fast—the ecclesiastical equivalent of a labor lockout—members were asked not to spend time with other Christians or listen to Christian radio or TV or read Christian magazines; instead they were instructed to invest time in befriending neighbors and going to sporting and social events with them. In addition, every week when the members stopped by the church office to bring their tithes and offerings, Richard gave them a map showing a section of the city where they were to place doorknob hangers displaying this message: “God loves you and so do we. If you need prayer, please contact our church at this phone number. If you come by, we will gladly give you a Bible."

The goal was to make contact with every home in San Francisco—a major undertaking for a relatively small/congregation. Nevertheless, minutes away from midnight on the 40th day, in the midst of a fierce storm, the last home in the city was contacted, bringing the total to about 261,900. The results were extraordinary: 8,600 people called for prayer, 10,000 Bibles were given away, 4,100 inquired about salvation and 150 were baptized immediately. And this happened in San Francisco, of all places! Richard proved that when we move the picnic outdoors, everybody wants to join in!

Eduardo Lorenzo, a Baptist pastor in the city of Adrogue, Argentina, did something similar. On December 23, 1998, he deployed 550 believers representing 12 congregations in one of the major train stations in Buenos Aires, the equivalent of Victoria Station in London. At exactly 6 P.M., the beginning of rush hour, they all began to sing "Hallelujah," first softly and then in a crescendo, until the entire lobby was filled with their voices and the tangible presence of God!

Since this was rush hour, thousands of commuters heard and saw the singing. Many of them stood watching, a few weeping, Christians blessed the commuters as they boarded the trains, and small bands of believers boarded the same trains. They scattered to the various cars and made it known that they were there to minister to the passengers. In the end, almost 7,000 people were witnessed to personally; 6,736 accepted prayer for felt needs; and 1,704 received the Lord publicly. Everybody seemed to enjoy this outdoor picnic.

Prayer Evangelism written by Ed Silvoso Copyright 2000 Gospel Light/Regal Books, Ventura, CA  93003 Used by permission.  Content distributed by WorkLife. org > used for non-profit teaching purposes only.