TV Commercial
Evangelism Through Television Commercials
Sure, we’ve all seen television commercials promoting a certain denomination, or the local church organization. But, have you ever seen a television commercial that strictly promotes the Good News message of the Bible and nothing else?
Santa Cruz Christian Ministries, Inc. has broadcast such a commercial, on all the major cable television channels in Santa Cruz County, during prime time hours. It aired over 300 times a month on channels like; CNN, CNBC, ESPN, MTV, The Discovery Channel, The History Channel, Fox News, etc. After approximately one and and half years the commercial was taken off the aire due to lack of funding. However, it can still be viewed on YouTube.com.
Our vision: To reach those who have never heard that salvation (i.e., eternal life in heaven), can only come by trusting and believing in Christ Jesus. Imagine someone who hasn’t thought about what happens to them after they die, in years. They come home from a hard day at work, turn on their television set as they begin to eat dinner, and right in the middle of “Larry King Live” (or some other popular television program), our commercial comes on. Maybe, just maybe they’ll actually start to think about the “big picture” (i.e., “what does happen to me after I die”?).
Realizing that most nonbelievers are very skeptical of the church (e.g., “they just want my money”, or “they just want to control my life”), we’ve designed our commercials in a very unique way. We don’t ask the viewer for anything. Nor do we promote a particular church or denomination. In fact, the commercail has no identifying information on it at all, not ever our phone number. Why? Because we don’t want the viewer to think we’re after their money. All we do is let them know that salvation comes only through Christ Jesus. This is a commercial for Christ Jesus, and Christ Jesus alone.
As for the actual television commercial, the main focus is this: Jesus is God, heaven is a free gift, you can’t earn your way into heaven through good works, you must admit you’re a sinner and trust in Christ Jesus alone for the forgiveness of your sins. How to best present all this in 30 second television commercials is not so easy. The following is a copy of the script we used for our first commercial.
Location: Halfway out on the Santa Cruz pier, with the Beach Boardwalk in the background.
Spokeperson: Chris Taylor.
“Did you know that the Bible says eternal life in heaven is offered to you as a free gift from God? All you have to do is accept it. How? By accepting Jesus Christ as your complete and total Savior. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” The Bible makes it clear that forgiveness for our sins is not based on our good deeds. It’s based on our faith in Jesus Christ.”
You can view a copy of the commercial by clicking the icon labeled “View Jesus Commercial” located on the right hand side of this page, towards the bottom.
This is front line evangelism done unlike anything anyone else has ever done before to the best of our knowledge. These are thoughtful television commercials that promote Jesus Christ as Savior, in as pure a form as possible.
