Proclaim Hope!

You might be asking: “Practically speaking, in what ways would David’s ministry manifest itself in my situation?” Let us describe our major outreaches and then suggest three specific approaches we have found to be successful over the years. This will help you better determine how God might work in your situation.

Here's how David Bryant usually ministers directly on-site with churches and leaders:

• CHRIST- AWAKENING RALLIES. These multi-church gatherings, in a city or community, often involve Christ-focused worship; testimonies from local leaders as to the impact of a Christ-awakening; a message from David on the supremacy of God’s Son; and audience response through a brief but exciting “Concert of Prayer” that prays for a Christ-awakening. The major themes of these rallies emphasize the need for and the transforming power of a God-given Christ-awakening both inside and outside the Church.

• CHRIST ROUNDTABLES. In these half-day leadership consultations, often held in more intimate settings (such as large living rooms!) David helps Christian leaders (both clergy and lay) to grapple more informally with three main concerns: the supremacy of God’s Son, the “crisis of supremacy” inside the Church; and the possibilities for launching and sustaining a Christ-awakening movement where they live — what we call a “Campaign of Hope”.

• CHRIST SUMMITS. Requiring a full day, these events bring together both church and ministry leaders as well as dedicated Christian laypeople to explore in-depth the major themes touched on in a less-formal manner in a Christ Roundtable. CHRIST SUMMITS incorporate extensive teaching, small group applications and practical equipping — all geared toward foster church-wide and community-wide Christ-awakening movements (“Campaigns of Hope”) where they serve.

• CHRIST COLLEGES. Lasting at least two days, these retreats allow David to help leaders discover how the supremacy of Christ is revealed through all of Scripture. He helps them discover creative ways to bring this larger vision before God’s people in all teaching and preaching of God’s Word. CHRIST COLLEGES provide a more substantial step toward PROCLAIM HOPE!’s long-range goal of not only “proclaiming the full extent of Christ’ supremacy” but also “equipping others to do the same”.

• CHRIST HUDDLES. One of our primary strategies for maintaining the momentum from any of our other ministries - Rallies, Roundtables, Summits, Colleges - is to help Christians form on-going small groups which we call “CHRIST HUDDLES”. These regular gatherings are for the purpose of: sharing with each other our growing vision of Christ’s greatness and glory; holding one another accountable to continue fostering a Christ-awakening among the people where we serve; and praying for one another’s ministries as we seek to become “Messengers of Hope”. David’s latest book, CHRIST IS ALL!, provides one key curriculum to help a CHRIST HUDDLE get started on the right foot.

• HOPE FOR AMERICA. David’s daily national radio broadcast is currently heard on nearly 300 stations from coast to coast. It proclaims across the land the great hope we have in Christ’s supremacy, concluding each day by leading listeners in prayer for a national Christ-awakening.
HOPE FOR AMERICA radio broadcast provides a daily “feeding” especially geared toward those who have attended one of our other events. (At the main menu click on “Hope for America” to listen to recent broadcasts.)

NOW FOR A FEW POSSIBILITIES . . .

1) At the community-wide level, in a multi-church sponsored gathering, David’s schedule might look like this:

• A prayer breakfast for the whole community (held at a major hotel or restaurant) where local leaders share their vision for God’s Son, people pray and David brings a message on Christ’s supremacy.
• The rest of the day is spent with local pastors and other key leaders in what we call a CHRIST SUMMIT, where there’s give-and-take on a variety of issues related to the themes raised in David’s foundational book, CHRIST IS ALL! A Christ Summit may run from 10AM-4PM.
• A major all-city evening gathering broken up into four parts: worship, testimony, message, Concert of Prayer. We often call this a CHRIST AWAKENING RALLY (usually lasting two hours total).
• A morning gathering the next day (maybe for 90 minutes) with pastors only, to debrief the previous day’s events and experiences, and to determine where to go from here.

2) Here’s another possibility for a regional or national conference setting (such as an annual denominational convention):

In such settings, David’s concern is to have adequate time to cast vision and guide audience applications. Often he asks for two to three major plenary sessions (covering issues related to a vision for Christ’s supremacy; analysis of the “crisis of supremacy”; and a call for a Christ-awakening movement) as well as an additional session for guided, corporate prayer which David leads (a Concert of Prayer) to seal audience responses to his messages. Typical message length would be 45 minutes each; typical prayer concert would be 45 minutes. In addition, David likes to schedule private gatherings with designated leaders to explore together three primary topics:

• How do we accelerate a more comprehensive proclamation of Christ and His supremacy throughout our churches and communities?
  
• How do we increase and intensify Christians’ hope and passion toward Jesus as Lord, with all that flows out of such a response?
• What impact should a Christ-awakening movement have on every facet of the worship, discipleship and mission outreach of God’s people? How do we start bringing about this transformation?

3) Finally, within a single local church context the ministry might take this shape:

• On Saturday evening, David meets for 90 minutes with the full complement of the congregation’s spiritual leaders-elders, deacons, boards, key committees, teachers, pastoral staff. During this time of interaction, David pursues key topics such as supremacy, awakening, the crisis, proclamation and mobilization.
• Sunday morning he is given 50 minutes of the worship service to bring a 30-35 minute message on the supremacy of Christ and then to guide the congregation in praying that message back to the Father in creative ways.
• Sunday evening, the host church brings together many other local churches, under the facilitation of a local pastors’ organizing committee, to hold a CHRIST AWAKENING RALLY (possibly in a neutral location) that lasts for two hours, consisting of worship (15 min.), testimonies (10 min.) David’s preaching on Christ’s supremacy (50 min.) and 45 minutes of concerted prayer (including additional worship) in response to David’s message.

Would any of these approaches work for you? If not, PROCLAIM HOPE! is certainly open to your suggested adaptations or alternative approaches. We are here to serve you.