A revamped presentation of LifeWorks, a ministry of Ambassadors for Christ International (AFCI) - Australia, has been launched in Sydney in the presence of over 120 guests from a wide range of multi-cultural denominations and media.
The promotional material states that “While many evangelism tools are proving very effective for people with some church background, we have designed LifeWorks to meet this specific need for an effective evangelism tool for the totally non-churched person.”
The LifeWorks program has been used for several years, but this latest package includes a DVD - containing each of the ten weeks talks, The CD provides participating churches with a Logistical Guide for the course organiser; speaker’s notes; PowerPoint presentations; Group Leaders Toolkit, with ideas and discussion topics; Weekly Handouts for all course participants and “other useful resources”.
While Alpha is aimed primarily at Christian Life Teaching and the series, Introducing God, presenting the Gospel, LifeWorks claims to be targeting the “pre-evangelism” market, those Australians with a non-churched background.
Led by the Chairman of the Board of AFCI, Leigh Brown, the “Official Launch Again” program included musical entertainment by Matt Lucas and a variety of speakers who explained the concept and personal experiences gained from the use of a pilot version.
John North, the Ministry Team Leader of AFCI, spoke on LifeWorks meeting the need of people in today’s un-churched generation.
“In the past society has come through the Age of Authority; the Age of Reason and now we are in the Age of Experience,” he says.
“In churches we used to sing hymns full of doctrine. Now we sing choruses full of experiences.
“Now, for the first time in Australian society, we have a growing generation of adults who have never been to church. How is that person to come to Christ?”
The aim of the “Pre-evangelism” thrust of LifeWorks is to bring such a person to a foundational knowledge of Christ by responding to that need.
John compared the various training courses, Alpha, Introducing God and LifeWorks, indicating their emphases and target audiences. Each with their place in the ministry of the Church.
During a LifeWorks course, set questions are presented and answered, such as “What is God like?”; “Who Am I?”; “What is Wrong With the World?”; “Is the Bible Reliable?”; “Who is Jesus?”; “Did Jesus Really Rise from the Dead?”; “Why Did Jesus Die?”; “How Can I Have a Good Relationship with God?” and “Turning Towards Christ”.
Testimonials were presented by Eric Argerakis of Maroubra Baptist Church; Trevor Young of the West Pennant Hills Community Church and Bruce Morrison, Rector and Senior Canon of St John’s Anglican Cathedral, Parramatta.
Mr Morrison was assisted in his presentation by Andrew Alexander, “a living testimony”, who attended a LifeWorks program and found Christ.
He is nowplanning to attend a preliminary course at Moore Theological College. Andrew’s closing statement was: “My life is starting to work.”
Leigh Brown summed up the presentation by explaining the interest from around the world in such a programme and the fact that here is something reaching out to “the most fertile ground” in society - the un-churched generation.
“Nobody does a course just because it is another course,” Leigh said. “They do it because they want to.”
The LifeWorks resource material will be available for a recommended retail price of $299 and it is anticipated that training days in the use of the material, will be held in February, 2006.
In closing, Leigh emphasised the aim: “Walking with people towards Christ”. “We’re here to assist you and the local church.”
For further information, contact LifeWorks, PO Box 46, Blakehurst NSW 2221;
phone: (02) 9546-6511; Fax: (02) 9546-6422; Email;” lifeworks@afci.com.au ;
Web: [url=http://www.lifeworks-australia.com]http://www.lifeworks-australia.com[/url]
