ITCZ 101 - An Attention Grabber

Have you ever wanted to share the Gospel or scriptural wisdom but couldn't come up with an ice breaker to segue into your topic? A great way to do this is to open with an attention grabbing statement or question.

They were amazed at His teaching, for His message was with authority.

So what kind of attention grabber is good to open with? It would depend on your topic. A good idea is to open with your conclusion. It can also be a statement or in the form of a question.
  • Have you ever wondered why there is no evidence for evolution and yet it is the only origin philosophy taught in public schools?
  • I think it's scary they teach evolution in public school even though there is no evidence to support it. 

Your Attention Please

For those of you who hold an evolutionary philosophy, I know that I now have your attention. For those who are unsure if there was a creation or an evolution or some combination of the two that explains our origins, I probably have your attention as well. I bet even a creationist would be wondering what I was going to say next.

The goal of the attention grabber is not to incense others. It's not to instigate or agitate. It's to get the attention of your target audience, raise their curiosity and guide them to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

If you already have a hostile audience there's no reason to rile them any further. In this case your target is probably not willing to listen anyway. Move on to someone who has the potential to be curious and/or open minded. 

Paul Did It

Paul used attention grabbers and here's how one played out:
So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: "Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: 'To an Unknown God.' This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I'm telling you about. - Acts 17:22-23 NLT

Paul continued with a declaration of who God is and the way of salvation. What a great read! He didn't get everyone but he got the attention of a few... and that's a very good thing! :-D
When they heard Paul speak about the resurrection of the dead, some laughed in contempt, but others said, "We want to hear more about this later." That ended Paul's discussion with them, but some joined him and became believers. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the council, a woman named Damaris, and others with them. - Acts 17:32-34 NLT

Jesus Did It

"Why do your disciples disobey our age-old tradition? For they ignore our tradition of ceremonial hand washing before they eat." Jesus replied, "And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God?" - Matthew 15:2-3 NLT
Here we see Jesus getting the attention of the Pharisees. He used an attention grabber to shift their perspective. The Pharisees were offended over trespasses of their traditions. Jesus got their attention by showing them that they were the ones coming off the rails. They trespassed God's direct commandments not just a tradition of man.

The parables were attention grabbers. The questions Jesus asked were attention grabbers. The idea is to shake the foundation of a hard heart and a closed mind. Does it work every time? Nope! But it gives folks a chance to think and find salvation.

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Take Action!

What areas of the scriptures fascinate you and that you like to talk about? 
Those are the stories and discussion you were made to use. Develop an attention grabber for those stories.
Do you love talking about the peace of Christ? Use what you know about it to deliver the Gospel.
Are you pumped up over helping the poor? Talk about it with passion and think about how it leads to the Gospel. 
Be creative in brainstorming a few attention grabbing statements. Use them to break the ice and kick off a fun discussion and walk them right into the Gospel.
Here are a couple things to nail down to really have a quality interaction. 

Please, add your thoughts in the comment section.

~~~~~~~

Concept >>> “Open With An Attention Grabber”
Next >>> "Actively Stay On Topic"


In The Cool Zone concept. Think like Jesus thinks. Deliver the Gospel.

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