CHRIST Talks TM

Eight-minute speeches by believers from all walks of life
that magnify the supreme Christ in ways we may not yet see him

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“Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives.” (Colossians 3:16, NLT)

Similar to the worldwide phenomenon known as TED Talks™, the goal of CHRIST Talks™ is to teach and inspire people. But the singular goal of CHRIST Talks is to inspire the Church to see Christ magnified through the eyes of each other, based on selected passages from the Bible. (For more information on TED Talks, please go to their website.)

A CHRIST Talks event draws from the whole Body of Christ, welcoming believers from different denominations, generations, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, occupations, and educational disciplines, who desire to explore a greater vision and understanding of who our Lord Jesus Christ is right now.

As people from different segments of the Church articulate to others how they see Jesus today, the magnitude of who he really is will be more fully revealed to the Church as a whole. As followers of Jesus, we need to talk more about him and all that he is with each other!

We believe that spectacular things happen with an expanded view of who Christ is right now—individuals awaken to a fuller picture of Christ, groups decide to go deeper in Christ together, whole churches come under the full lordship of Christ, and entire communities are impacted by hungry believers.

THE BENEFITS OF CHRIST TALKS

A CHRIST Talks gathering creates a context in which members of the Church can share with each other and then join together to exalt and serve Christ in new ways. By participating in CHRIST Talks, individuals will:

  1. Gain a larger vision and greater passion for the person of Christ by hearing how others see how glorious Jesus is
  2. Bond with people from their area by interacting around Christ and rediscovering unity in Christ
  3. Learn how to see Jesus in the Bible in whole new ways as Scripture is explored
  4. Unite in prayer for Christ Awakenings in individual lives, their churches, their communities, and the nation
  1. Push back the powers of darkness by unfolding the Son of God’s manifold supremacy (Ephesians 3:8-11)
  2. Grow in their personal relationship with Jesus by hearing new dimensions of Christ
  3. Worship Christ together as one Church
  4. Discover solutions in Christ for the social, moral, and spiritual ills that are plaguing our churches, communities, and nation
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WHO’S BEHIND CHRIST TALKS?

These one-day gatherings are promoted by www.ChristNow.com, a one-of-a-kind website that offers free interactive ministries and multimedia resources designed to empower the whole Church to help the whole Church to focus on the whole Christ for the sake of the whole gospel.

THE FORMAT OF A CHRIST TALKS EVENT

A CHRIST Talks event can easily be reproduced in churches and communities anywhere. On this page, we are offering guidelines to help you facilitate a CHRIST Talks event where you live. It will give believers the platform and opportunity for inspiring each other by sharing their stories of how they are growing in their walk with our Lord Jesus Christ, seeing new aspects of his glory and supremacy in their lives through the joys and difficulties, and encouraging one another to seek more of who Jesus is today in our churches, communities, nation, and world.

The following suggested schedule is based on having eight CHRIST Talks at an event. However, that number can vary, and the program can be adjusted accordingly. The speakers should represent the breadth and diversity of the local Body of Christ—denominationally, ethnically, generationally, culturally, and in terms of life experiences. Each spokesperson should deliver an eight-minute talk on how they see and speak about the glory and wonder of who God’s Son is right now—from Scripture as well as out of their unique encounters with him.

 

Suggested Schedule for a CHRIST Talks Event

9:00 am - 1:00 pm

  • 09:00 - 09:20
    Registration and Worship
  • 09:30 - 09:45
    CHRIST Talk #1
    CHRIST Talk, 8 min. / Audience Q&A, 5 min. Prayer in small groups, 1 min. /Transition, 1 min.
  • 09:45 - 10:00
    CHRIST Talk #2
    CHRIST Talk, 8 min. / Audience Q&A, 5 min. Prayer in small groups, 1 min. / Transition, 1 min.
  • 10:00 - 10:15
    CHRIST Talk #3
    CHRIST Talk, 8 min. / Audience Q&A, 5 min. Prayer in small groups, 1 min. / Transition, 1 min.
  • 10:15 - 10:30
    CHRIST Talk #4
    CHRIST Talk, 8 min. / Audience Q&A, 5 min. Prayer in small groups, 1 min. / Transition, 1 min.
  • 10:30 - 10:45
    CHRIST Talk #5
    CHRIST Talk, 8 min. / Audience Q&A, 5 min. Prayer in small groups, 1 min. / Transition, 1 min.
  • 10:45 - 11:15
    Break
    Light refreshments for 25 min./Worship for 5 min.
  • 09:20 - 09:30
    Welcome! Introduction to the Event
  • 11:15 - 11:30
    CHRIST Talk #6
    CHRIST Talk, 8 min. / Audience Q&A, 5 min. Prayer in small groups, 1 min. / Transition, 1 min.
  • 11:30 - 11:45
    CHRIST Talk #7
    CHRIST Talk, 8 min. / Audience Q&A, 5 min. Prayer in small groups, 1 min. / Transition, 1 min.
  • 11:45 - 12:00
    CHRIST Talk #8
    CHRIST Talk, 8 min. / Audience Q&A, 5 min. Prayer in small groups, 1 min. / Transition, 1 min.
  • 12:00 - 12:15
    Debriefing in Small Groups
    What fresh insights into the greatness of Christ did you gain from any of the eight talks?
  • 12:15 - 12:40
    Debriefing as a Whole Group
    Sharing reports back from the small groups and further Q&A for panel members
  • 12:40 - 01:00
    Commitment and Worship
    Where do we go from here? 10 min. Large group prayer, 5 min. / Final song, 5 min.

FIRST SESSION

  1. Each talk session consists of a brief introduction of the speaker by the host, the eight-minute talk, five minutes of Q&A with the audience, one minute of prayer from the audience, and one minute to transition to the next speaker.
  2. After the worship, welcome, and introduction to the event, the host will briefly introduce and call the first speaker to begin their talk. One after another, following the guidelines in the suggested schedule, the first five participants will speak.
  3. Then there will be a 25-break for light refreshments. A five-minute worship song will bring people back together to begin the next session of speakers.
  4. The host welcomes the participants back and invites the exploration to continue.

SECOND SESSION

  1. The last three speakers will give their talks in the same manner as the first five.
  2. The time of debriefing in small groups is for people to share any thoughts and fresh insights they received from the talks, which begins the process of building together a greater sense of the magnitude of the vision of God’s Son that these talks have created for us. Encourage people to also share what real-life differences this larger vision of Jesus should make for a Christ Awakening among God’s people—including its impact on discipleship, churches, reconciliation, reaching cities with the gospel, etc. (About 15 minutes)
  3. Then all participants come together as one group. One or two people from each small group share reports from their small groups with everyone. There can be more Q&A with the speakers. (About 25 minutes)
  4. The afternoon session concludes with the host gathering the pertinent highlights of what has been shared and suggesting next steps for participants. Then pray together for an American CHRIST Awakening. Open it to the floor for 10 minutes. Conclude with a “ceremony” of commitment to begin bringing the wonders of Christ into our conversations with other believers on a more regular basis. Close with a final worship song or hymn. (About 20 minutes)
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GUIDELINES FOR A CHRIST TALK

Each CHRIST Talk should have three components:

  • Personal context – The speaker shares something personal of their life journey to give context to the insights about the aspect of the greatness of Christ they will be describing. This should be about 10% of the talk.

  • Idea – The speaker shares the idea about Christ they want to explain. This should be about 80% of the talk—focused on God’s Son, not on the speaker.

  • Scripture – The speaker ties their main insight on the greatness of Christ to a specific passage of Scripture. This should be about 10% of the talk.

CHRIST Talks event speakers must follow these guidelines:

  1. Your talk is not to be used to promote yourself, a “brand,” products, or your agenda.
  2. This is a time to promote Christ – to lift him up, to enlarge everyone’s vision of who he is as you paint your portrait of him, drawing on the unique history, emphases, and experiences in your life that give you your special perspective on the glory of God’s Son.
  3. The emphasis of your talk is not so much on Christ in the past or Christ in the future but rather on Christ in the present – in terms of who he is in his person, supremacy, purposes, passions, activities, and ministries—right now.
  4. Open with a strong story or illustration that catches the audience’s attention, gets them into your life experience, and sets the stage for the specific vision of Christ you want us to discover.
  5. Your talk is a presentation of your ideas; it’s not a sermon. Please do not preach. Of course, be energetic about your insights but also personal, even conversational, in style.
  6. Keep your talk to eight minutes. Going longer will take time from others. Therefore, we suggest you write out what you want to share and then practice your talk before the event arrives to be sure you have your timing tight. A timer will be placed in front of you to give you three alerts: at two minutes remaining, at 30 seconds, and to stop.

FOURTEEN EXAMPLES OF CHRIST TALKS

Mike Alles
Chizuruoke Anderson
Laura Booz
Andrew Chamberlin
Jo Ann Foley-DeFiore
Kendra Gettig
Chris Grella
Chris Heinz
Lynn Hensel
Demaine Kitchen
Steve Lutz
Blonda Poindexter
Rusty Wills
Yuhui Zhou
PLEASE NOTE: CHRIST Talks and TED Talks are not associated.

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