So far so good this week, so let’s continue our experiment and see if we can connect Coffee and Outreach.

Basic Outreach

Outreach, in its most basic form, is simply sharing the love we have experienced through Jesus Christ with others through our words and deeds.  We are grace, therefore we are gracious.  We have been forgiven, therefore we forgive.  We are to God, so we are peacemakers.  Our Father gives us good gifts and we share them.  We have been given the message of the Gospel, the only way by which we are saved from the consequences of our sin, and so we share that story with others.

Touching People’s Hearts With Coffee

I believe it is possible to use all of God’s good gifts (James 1:17) to share His love with others — and that includes Coffee.  Here’s a great video from The Skit Guys connecting coffee and love:

Now was it the coffee that touched this father’s heart?  No, it was the love of his children.  In the same way, we can use something as simple as a cup of coffee to show people that we love them, will listen to them, acknowledge their hurts, and want to be used by God to bring them peace (even if only for the time it takes to drink a coffee).

Some Ideas

1. Take a depressed friend out for coffee.  Part of the struggle of depression is that it drives people into isolation.  Depressed people begin to believe that no one cares about them, and then reinforce this belief by avoiding contact with people.  They wait for someone to call, and when no one does, their perception is confirmed.  Be active and call them, take them outside their environment, encourage them to sit on the patio in the sun (or even the rain!) and let them know in no uncertain terms that you love them, God loves them, and both of you will continue to care for them.

2. Use your Coffee With Your Father time (see Coffee & Worship) to specifically focus on praying for people’s salvation.

3. Here’s a way to use your next coffee time to present the gospel!  Here’s a great video from Billy Kangas connecting Coffee to the Gospel of Jesus: