So I’ve returned from my antipodean adventure and, despite industrial action by BA and a volcano exploding, I managed to get there and back. I’m now in full swing getting ready for the World Cup.

Already the England flags are being seen all over the place and the excitement is mounting for the competition. As church it’s important that we make the most of the opportunities there are in society to engage with outreach. Sometimes I think we make mission and sharing our faith very difficult. I consider it pure joy to share my faith by getting people together to watch football. I’m just doing my best in serving the Lord!

So, I’m putting on some events to celebrate the World Cup. I’m hosting a 6-a-Side Football Competition and I have 16 teams who have entered. These are made up of people from church inviting their friends and colleagues to join a team and have a game. The idea is to use this event as a really easy way to make connections with people who aren’t part of church.

We want the event to be fun and friendly and to show the church being open to people who aren’t part of it. In past competitions we’ve had comments about how friendly and enjoyable the games were. Not what you always get when you play competitive football!

it’s important that we make the most of the opportunities there are in society to engage with outreach

We decided to put the football competition on before the World Cup began so we could use it as a stepping stone event to then invite people to the World Cup screenings. We wanted the vibe of the football competition to be attractive and it would be easier to invite people along the next week to come and watch the England games. We’ve produced flyers to use as invites, having them available at the football competition to give out to all the players.

For screening the England games I’m putting a large team together of people who can help run the event. We’re going to have food and drinks for every screening and live pundits giving their views and opinion on the teams and the game. We will host the screenings with a compere and have a welcome team to say hello to people as they arrive. We also wanted to do more than just show the game, so we’re looking to raise money for a charity in South Africa by having competitions at each screening to help raise money.

It’s all about making the most of every opportunity that is available to us. The church is brilliant and often at it’s best when it’s celebrating and having fun. That’s what the kingdom is like, a party! Being real and natural and having a great time is an infectious way of sharing God’s love with our friends.

We don’t want to hide our light but we want it to shine and be visible. May this be the year when England go all the way to win the World Cup, but may we also see people being won for Jesus. We’ve already seen people come to faith through football, God can use anything!

You can read more about how to make the most out of the World Cup and use the summer term effectively for outreach by downloading our special Summer Guide here.