Bible Lesson for Bible Teachers, Lesson #10 Rethinking Evangelism / Evangelism As a Team
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Bible Lesson for Bible Teachers, Lesson #10 Rethinking Evangelism / Evangelism as a Team Matthew 28.19, 20 Good Questions Have Groups Talking www.joshhunt.com
If you like this format of lessons, I have a couple of thousand at www.mybiblestudylessons.com
OPEN What is your name and when was the last time you shared your faith?
DIG 1. Matthew 28.19, 20. Who can quote this classic passage?
Christians have the awesome privilege of knowing God’s heart through the Bible. We are able to see God’s power, his hatred towards sin, and his grace throughout the Scriptures. God’s Word is a life-changing book with a life-transforming message.
One way to spur on God’s transforming work through his Word is by memorizing the Scriptures. (A mere head-knowledge of Scripture will not lead to our transformation, but rather taking Scripture to heart through faith and obedience.) Here are ten biblical reasons for memorizing Scripture.
1. Jesus memorized Scripture.
Jesus quoted the Old Testament frequently in his life and ministry. He quoted from 24 different books roughly 180 times! It is clear that he thought of the Scriptures as the ultimate authority in life and a way to understand the heart and desires of God. Why would we not follow Jesus by knowing and trusting Scripture the way he did?
2. We are called to do memorize Scripture.
Colossians 3:16 tells us to “let the word of Christ dwell in us richly.” Deuteronomy 6:4-9 tells us to bind God’s law on our foreheads, teach it to our children, talk about it wherever we go, and make it an integral part of our lives. We must know Scripture first before we can teach it or apply it as God desires.
3. Memorizing Scripture renews our mind and transforms our life.
Are you one of those people who has to write everything down so that you don’t forget? God knows that we cannot remember or keep his commands without being reminded of them frequently. This is one reason he told us to renew our minds in the Scriptures daily. He already wrote down for us what we need to know! http://unlockingthebible.org/reasons-memorize-scripture-bible/ 2. When you think of evangelism, what do you think of?
The good news as Jesus preached it is not about the minimal entrance requirements for getting into heaven when you die. It is about the glorious redemption of human life—your life. — John Ortberg, The Life You’ve Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009).
3. When you think of evangelism, what emotion do you feel?
Jesus and His apostles have called every one of us who knows Jesus Christ to the task of reaching out to those around us. However, if we are honest we will have to admit that the great majority of us find this calling very difficult, if not almost impossible. Faced with the challenge to make the Gospel known to people in our families, workplaces, and neighborhoods, many of us feel helpless, discouraged, and defeated. You might not feel this dejected about evangelism, but very few believers find sharing the Gospel easy or comfortable. — Jerram Barrs, The Heart of Evangelism (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001).
4. Imagine we were to do evangelism as a team. Imagine we were to grow and divide and grow and divide and grow and divide. How many people would we reach in ten years if each of our groups were to double every 18 months?
Jesus told his small group to make disciples of the entire planet, starting with their small group. We ought to adopt the same vision for our small group. The vision of every small group ought to be to reach the entire planet, starting with their small group.
That may sound impossible to you. And that’s OK. God’s specialty is the impossible. I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about it this way, but Christian living is largely about embracing the impossible.
So, how can we reach the whole planet, starting with our small group? A group of 10 that doubles every 18 months would reach the entire planet in less than 44 years. — Josh Hunt, Make Your Group Grow, 2010.
5. Imagine your life depended on your group doubling in the next two years. What steps would you take to double?
Start by doing what is possible. And then watch God take your faithfulness and work the impossible.
Groups that have lots of parties are twice as likely to be doubling as those that don’t. Groups that have a large team helping with the parties are twice as likely to be growing. That’s encouraging enough right there. And totally doable.
But remember: Groups that have lots of parties and have a large team are nearly five times as likely to be growing. What could that look like for your groups?
We want to embrace the vision of growing and multiplying. We want to have three fellowships in the next three months. We need inreach leaders, outreach leaders, party coordinators, and so forth. Who can affirm the gifting of those who can do these tasks? Who wants to try something new?
We learn by doing. We discover gifting by experimenting. Try something—you might like it! — Josh Hunt, Make Your Group Grow, 2010. 6. The writer of these lessons—Josh Hunt—teaches that you can double a group through the power of hospitality. Does anyone know what he means by that? Who can summarize that message?
I believe one of the best ways to study the Bible (and to teach the Bible) is by bombarding the text with a number of questions. So, let’s try this text on for size: “Get into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner” (Romans 12:13, TLB).
What’s the nature of the language of this verse? Let’s make this multiple choice. Is this…
___ a prophecy
___ a proverb
___ a parable
___ a command
You know the answer: It’s a command. As surely as God commanded us to pray or give or serve, God has commanded us to get into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner.
In the Greek this entire passage is actually only two words: pursue hospitality. Pursue means to chase or hunt. It’s an active word. It’s often used in the sense of pursue or persecute. It’s an aggressive word. There’s nothing passive about the way were to go about being hospitable. Hospitality comes from two words—phileo, “to love” and xenia, “strangers.” Thus, hospitality is to love strangers. If it’s just your friends, it’s not fully biblical hospitality. So be sure invite people you don’t know, too.
The tense used in this passage is gradual, linear tense. That’s why the Living Bible says, “get into the habit.” It’s not a one-time event—it’s a way of life. Christian living is, in part, about getting into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner. The NLT puts it, “Always be eager to practice hospitality.” Practice. Like a doctor practices medicine. He keeps practicing for his whole career.
Success in almost any arena of life is a result of habits. If we are constantly having to remind ourselves and force ourselves to do something, we’re probably not doing it regularly. We need to get to the point where it’s a reflex action. We need to make it the normal thing to do on a Friday night or Sunday lunch or whenever it is we’d like to regularly practice hospitality. — Josh Hunt, Make Your Group Grow, 2010.
7. 1 Peter 4.9. What do we learn about hospitality from this verse?
Our sovereign, holy Lord, Boss and God commanded us to offer hospitality. And to not grumble about it.
Someone asked me once, “What if I don’t like inviting guests home for dinner?” My response: “Repent, sinner! God said to do it!” Not in that exact language, of course. But I do make the point that this is something we’re commanded to do. Christian living is done together, in each other’s lives and in each other’s homes.
What if I were to describe a best friend to you, tell you all about him and then say, “But, funny thing, he’s never been to my home”? It’s impossible for me to imagine a best friend who had not been to my home dozens of times. There’s something about sharing each other’s space that draws us closer together. — Josh Hunt, Make Your Group Grow, 2010.
8. What rewards come to those who offer hospitality?
The Bible has much to say about hospitality. The Christian faith is a faith of hospitality. There is something about breaking bread in the home of a brother that builds fellowship. Consider these key verses on hospitality:
• Seek to show hospitality. Romans 12:13
• Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 1 Peter 4:9
• Dear friend, when you extend hospitality to Christian brothers and sisters, even when they are strangers, you make the faith visible. 3 John 5 (The Message)
Do you enjoy having guests into your home? It is almost a forgotten art. But, it will not be forgotten by God. Every act of hospitality will be rewarded in Heaven.
One more thing. When you have people over, invite people who are not a part of your group. Don’t just invite your family and your people. Jesus told us who to invite for maximum reward:
He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” Luke 14:12–14 — Brandon Park, After Life (Pulpit Press, 2014).
9. Why do you suppose he says to offer hospitality “without grumbling”?
I can think of two reasons.
1) We’re to offer hospitality without grumbling because all good ideas can degenerate into work. When we have people over, my wife is pretty dialed up about having the house clean. And, when I say she likes having the house clean, I mean she likes having the whole house clean. She likes having the living room clean, the kitchen clean, the bedroom clean, the bedroom bathroom clean, the bedroom bathroom shower clean....
I’ve tried explaining to her, “Sweetie, I don’t think they’re going to take a shower.”
“I know, I know,” she says, “It just makes my soul feel at peace when the house is clean.”
I’ve never quite understood this. But I understand this: When Momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy. So when we have people over, I always make a point to help clean up. I’ll clean the shower or mow the lawn or buy the Diet Coke or make the coffee cake.
One week after service, I invited four new couples to join our group on a Friday evening. I called them on Monday, and called back on Thursday to confirm. Friday afternoon I was doing what I always do— vacuuming the floor, taking out the trash, running to the store, cleaning up the shower (yes, I know). Seven o’clock rolled around. Our friends showed up, but none of the four couples I had invited came. Around 7:30 I got on the phone and called one of them.
“Ron, this is Josh from the church. We talked last night. . .”
“Oh yeah, Josh, sorry we didn’t make it. I had a hectic day at the office. I was all stressed out and just felt like chillin’ at the house tonight. Sorry.”
“Ron. You need to come look at my bathroom. I have been shining this thing up just for you.” That was what I was tempted to say. But I needed to remember what the Bible says, “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.” We need to remember that hospitality is hospitality, not just a task we have to complete.
2) We are to offer hospitality without grumbling because… well, some people are kind of hard to love. I had been talking all evening at a conference in Oklahoma about using hospitality to grow groups. Afterward, a man came up to me and reflected, “Some people here in Oklahoma are kind of hard to love.” Indeed. In fact, it’s not just true in Oklahoma; it’s true of people everywhere.
Sometimes we’ll say we want to win our world for God. But what we often mean is: We want to win nice people, funny people, interesting people. But that’s not the world God sends us into. God has called us to reach all kinds of people and sometimes they are hard to love.
Rick Warren talks about this. God wants to make us into loving people. To make us into loving people, he puts into every church and every group someone who’s an “Extra Grace Required” kind of person— someone who’s a little odd. Someone who’s not that interesting, not that funny, not that fun to be with. Every group has one. Every church has a few, if not a lot. If you’re thinking, “That’s not true of our group; everyone in our group is easy to love,” I have some bad news—that person might be you!
My favorite speaker is John Ortberg, and my favorite story that he shares on the road relates to this point. John tells about a time when he was traveling by plane with his family from coast to coast. It’s a five-hour trip, and they were crowded in the seats they were in. I’m picturing some lap children squirming and jabbering.
John noticed that there was quite a bit of room at the very back of the plane. So, they gathered their belongings and went to the back of the plane where they could spread out. An hour later, there was stuff strewn everywhere. The kids were crawling over the seats and under the seats. There were toys and blankets and rattles and snacks and and pacifiers and stuff everywhere. You know you’re in trouble when the flight attendant comes by and says, “Can these kids play outside?”
After while another guy came by. He surveyed the damage and says to John, “Hey. Are these your kids?” Startled, John replies, “Yeah.”
The man gets real serious and says, “I would do anything if I just had two kids.”
John didn’t know what to say. “I guess you and your wife are not able to have kids?” “No, no. We have five kids. I would do anything if we just had two kids. Any two. Two would be plenty. I know this looks like a mess to you, but to me, it is a walk in the park.”
Sometimes we feel that way about our kids. Sometimes we feel that way about the people in our group. Sometimes we’ll have someone over for a party and we’ll feel that way about them. Some people are hard to love. But it’s our job to love them anyway. — Josh Hunt, Make Your Group Grow, 2010.
10. Look up the word “hospitality” on your phone. What other verses can you find? Why do you think hospitality is so important?
Don’t get the idea that this is all fun and games. It is not. It is hard work having fun. When you give Friday nights to Jesus, someone has to make the coffee cake. Someone has to buy the Diet Coke. Someone has to vacuum the floor and clean the kitchen. Someone has to call the guests and friends. As I said earlier, every good idea degenerates into work. Planning is the easy part. Getting ready for the fun is work.
Let me say a word to the husbands and wives reading: don’t make your spouse do all the work. It is too much work getting ready for the party for one person to do it all.
I used to wonder why all this has to be done. I wondered why the master bath shower had to be cleaned when we are having company. I have asked my wife, “Why do we need to clean the bathroom shower? They are not going to be in the shower. They are going to be in the living room eating coffee cake, or at the dining room table playing cards. They are not going to see the shower.” I have never gotten a satisfactory answer to this question. I just clean the shower and smile and say, “The shower is clean, honey.”
I Peter 4:9 commands, “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.” “Without grumbling” means that sometimes people will come to your house and their rowdy kids will tear up your play room and not offer to clean it up. Offer hospitality without grumbling. Sometimes you will invite people over and they will promise to come and then not show up. Offer hospitality without grumbling. Sometimes they will be social bores, obnoxious, or rude. Offer hospitality without grumbling.
One time we had four couples lined up to come over and play cards. None of them showed up. I got mad. I was disobedient to the command to refrain from grumbling. I got on the phone and called one of them. “Where are you? Why aren’t you here?” I really let him have it. He joined the church anyway and has since become a deacon and a Sunday school teacher. That is testimony to the grace of God.
People are not interested in a friendly church; they are looking for friends.
The Bible commands, “Get in the habit of inviting guests home for dinner.” (Romans 12:13b, LB) If we will simply do what this command says, we will see tremendous fruit. That is what is all comes down to, doesn’t it? Just being obedient to what God called us to do. It is amazing how much of church growth comes down to doing what God told us to do. You can double your class in two years or less if someone in your group will give Friday nights to Jesus. — Josh Hunt, You Can Double Your Class in Two Years or Less, 1995. 11. Luke 14.12. When we offer hospitality, who are we to invite?
Once we get into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner, who should we invite? When we offer hospitality to one another without grumbling, who are we to offer it to?
Jesus answered this question for us, too: “Then he told the man who had invited him, ‘When you invite people for lunch or dinner, don't invite only your friends’” (Luke 14:12a, God’s Word Translation).
Jesus’ answer is usually rendered even more forcefully in other translations:
• “Then he turned to his host. ‘When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,’ he said, ‘don’t invite your friends.’” (NLT)
• “Then Jesus said to his host, ‘When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends.’” (NIV)
• “He said also to the man who had invited him, ‘When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends.’” (ESV)
So what Jesus was saying was, “When you have a dinner, don’t invite your friends at all.” I have a son who’d say, “That doesn’t sound very ‘Jesus-ical’ to me.” Indeed, it doesn’t sound like Jesus would say that we’re not ever allowed to have dinner with our friends. What’s going on here?
I think the framers of the God’s Word Translation captured the spirit of what Jesus was communicating. It’s a hyperbole—an exaggeration to make a point. Jesus isn’t saying it’s sinful to ever invite your friends over for dinner. He’s saying that on a regular basis—as a habit—we’re to include outsiders. The normal thing for a Christian is to invite people we don’t really know.
Have you ever invited friends over for dinner, or gone to dinner with some friends without inviting any outsiders? All of us have. And I think that’s OK, sometimes. It’s just that we shouldn’t live that way all the time. On a regular basis, we should include people who aren’t in our normal circle of friends to join us for dinner. — Josh Hunt, Make Your Group Grow, 2010.
12. Hospitality is mentioned quite a number of times in Scripture. Why do you think it is so important?
Andy Stanley, pastor of Northpoint Church in North Atlanta and son of Charles Stanley, talks about how they put this dynamic to work at Northpoint.
Do you know what we have discovered? Do you know what every church that understands this principle has discovered? There is more to fishing than me out there trying to get up the nerve to talk to my friends about J…J… J… Jesus. Do you know what it is? The church! The church is the most powerful, persuasive environment on the planet. And our responsibility is to involve people as much as we can with a community of believers because that is where the resistance begins to break down. I love the fact that many of our community groups… are involving unchurched people who don’t even go to this church…. And so, we are getting questions, “Is it OK to have people who are not Christians in our small group?” And we are going, “Absolutely. And watch them change before your very eyes. And sure, they are going to come in with both feet on the brakes, and all kinds of preconceived ideas about theology and what you are up to but just love them and involve them and watch the resistance fade. The church was designed to be a partner in the fishing process.
We are profoundly influenced by the behavior of the people in our group. If unchurched, not-yet Christian people get in our groups, everything changes for them. And, as we engage in the process of growing others, we grow, too. — Josh Hunt, Make Your Group Grow, 2010.
13. Let’s make a long list of hospitality events—parties—that we could invite outsider to attend.
Often, I will conclude this section of the seminar with an application question: what are twenty ways you could do this? What are twenty kinds of banquets, dinners or parties you could have and invite outsiders to attend? The list might look something like this:
New year’s eve party Memorial Day Party Baseball game
Super bowl party Shopping trip Dinner and a movie
Valentine’s Day party Guys night out Card night
Labor Day party Ladies night out Game night
July 4 party Back yard barbeque Fishing trip
Fall Family Festival Bowling party Camping trip
Here is the key point: I have not asked them to actually do any of these parties. I have only asked them to make a list. I have only asked them how they could apply the principle of offering hospitality. — Josh Hunt, Good Questions Have Groups Talking, 2010.
14. Which comes first—believing of belonging?
Which comes first: believing or belonging? It makes perfect sense for some church folks to require people to share their beliefs before those people are accepted into the group. Unfortunately, some will never hear the message outside of the group setting. If the church requires people to believe before they make them feel like they belong, they may never have a chance to hear the message. In The Celtic Way of Evangelism, George Hunter writes, “Indeed, many new believers report that the experience of the fellowship enabled them to believe and to commit. For many people, the faith is about three-fourths caught and one-fourth taught.” Later in the same book, he states the principle quite succinctly: “For most people, ‘belonging comes before believing.’ ” — Jim L. Wilson, “Belonging Comes before Believing,” in 300 Illustrations for Preachers, ed. Elliot Ritzema (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2015).
15. Why does evangelism to strangers rarely work?
Occasionally, someone would try to witness to me. I’d be sitting at the mall when two people would approach—and I would cringe. As an introvert, I didn’t relish the idea of an impending conversation with complete strangers. Plus, I could tell by the way they approached what their agenda was. I usually told them I was a Christian and then watched their looks of relief that they hadn’t encountered a hostile subject. I tried to end the conversation as quickly as possible but was often embarrassed by their public display of excitement. Once, after discovering I was a “brother,” two young men grabbed my hands and prayed loudly, thanking God for our time together. I kept my eyes closed, but I could feel the stares of the crowd passing by.
The two young men praised God for the fellowship. I prayed that I would never cause someone that kind of embarrassment. I silently wondered if God was embarrassed too.
It’s hard to argue with success. Those evangelistic efforts I took part in did result in a few decisions for Christ. The percentage seemed pretty low, but it was worth the effort. After all, our pastor said, “If one person comes to Christ, the effort was worthwhile.”
But it reminded me of a research project carried out by a college classmate. He decided to walk down Central Avenue in Phoenix at lunchtime and ask women to kiss him. He wanted to find out how many he would have to ask before someone took him up on it. After being repeatedly cursed and ignored, and slapped a couple of times, the ninety-eighth woman gave him a kiss.
I’m not sure what thesis he was trying to prove, but if he were to follow the Christian logic about evangelism, he would have said, “It was worth the effort, because I actually got one person to kiss me.” I wondered about the other ninety-seven women, who might be more hardened than ever, more suspicious, and more wary of men approaching them on the street.
Yes, the popular methods of witnessing produced some results, but I knew how I felt when people used those methods with me. I wondered how many other people put up thicker emotional walls against Christians because of the evangelistic encounters they’d endured.
I felt guilty for even thinking that way, but I knew something wasn’t right. I had been told what God expected my whole life, but it seemed so foreign to my personality. I believed God had created me with a unique design, but it seemed so incompatible with what he expected of me.
If God wanted me to witness in a certain way, why wouldn’t he have given me what I needed to do it?
My conclusion: I was disobedient and just needed to try harder. Or rely on his strength more. Or pray more. Or some- thing. Whatever it was, I wasn’t doing it and really didn’t know how. — Mike Bechtle, Evangelism for the Rest of Us: Sharing Christ within Your Personality Style (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2006).
16. Why does belonging usually proceed believing?
My cautious conclusions about how most people become Christians were reinforced by a more empirical study sponsored by the United Bible Societies in Great Britain, led and written by John Finney. A research team received 360 completed questionnaires from converts, and they interviewed 151 converts. These 511 converts represented the range of denominations in England, from Anglican and Roman Catholic, to "Free Churches" and the "New Churches." In Finding Faith Today: How Does It Happen? Finney reports that most people experience the faith through relationships, that they encounter the gospel through a community of faith, and that becoming a Christian involves a process that takes time. In his later book Recovering the Past, Finney summarizes their chief finding in four words. For most people, "belonging comes before believing." — George G Hunter III, The Celtic Way of Evangelism, Tenth Anniversary Edition: How Christianity Can Reach the West . . .again (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2011).
17. What about you personally—did you believe first, or belong to a Christian group first?
For example, eighteenth-century Methodism grew remarkably among England's "working poor" people who crowded into the cities during the Industrial Revolution. From the beginning of their time in the cities, they did not fit into the literate and refined culture of the Church of England, whose parish churches and cathedrals largely ignored their presence. John Wesley, however, went to great lengths, through observation, interviews, and correspondence, to understand England's unchurched populations. Methodism, like Celtic Christianity before it, took root and became contagious almost everywhere in the open air. Wesley's movement practiced the principles of hospitality and belonging-before-believing; the movement welcomed seekers into the fellowship of Methodist class meetings, and even into membership in Methodist societies, before they believed or had experienced anything. Most of them "caught" the faith from the fellowship. Methodism was a lay movement that saw itself as an alternative community, that practiced the ministry of conversation, and that contextualized the message and addressed middle as well as ultimate issues. Methodist leaders were aware of the influence of ethos and pathos, and of the importance of identifying with the target population in communicating the message and in calling the people to a new identity. — George G Hunter III, The Celtic Way of Evangelism, Tenth Anniversary Edition: How Christianity Can Reach the West . . .again (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2011).
18. Rick Warren says, “People are not looking for a friendly church; they are looking for friends.” What is the difference? What do you think he means by that?
Next, you need to realize that prospective members have their own set of questions. These questions will also influence how you design your assimilation plan. Before people commit to joining your church, they want to know the answers to five unspoken questions.
Do I fit here? This is the question of acceptance. It is best answered by establishing affinity groups within your church so that people with similar ages, interests, problems, or backgrounds can find and relate to each other. Everyone needs a niche, and small groups play a crucial role in meeting this need. You must show people that you have a place for them.
Does anybody want to know me? This is the question of friendship. You can answer this question by creating opportunities for people to develop relationships within your congregation. There are unlimited ways you can do this, but it does take planning. Remember, people are not looking for a friendly church as much as they are looking for friends. People deserve individual attention.
Am I needed? This is the question of value. People want to make contributions with their lives. They want to feel that they matter. When you can show people they can make a difference with their gifts and talents by joining your church, they will want to be involved. Position your church as a creative place that needs the expression of all sorts of talents and abilities, not just singers, ushers, and Sunday school teachers. — Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church: Growth without Compromising Your Message and Mission (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007). 19. What do you think people find when they visit our church—a friendly church, or friends?
The leaders at the Scottsdale church had created an environment conducive to the development of relationships. Over the years many of the members of that church became highly intentional about developing relationships with men and women who visited the church and, especially, the unchurched who had never visited the church before.
Tammy was an unchurched person who happened to come to the church in a time of great need. The responsiveness of those in the church was remarkable. “I’ve never encountered this type of love and concern,” Tammy told us. “I was blown away. I know that all churches aren’t like this. If they were, the world would be a greater place already.”
Unlike most churches that think they’re friendly because they greet guests at church with a smile and a handshake, the Scottsdale church has become naturally relational. They don’t have a program to be nice or to invite people to church. Instead, they are taking the love of Christ to hundreds throughout their community. They are turning the world upside down one relationship at a time. They know that people are not just looking for a “friendly church,” they’re hungry for friends. — Ed Stetzer and Thom Rainer, Transformational Church (Nashville: B&H, 2010).
20. Imagine each one of our groups invited a visitor in the worship service every week to go to lunch. How do you think this church would be different a year from now?
Evangelism is a group sport. It is something the body does together and is best done in groups. Here is how God taught me this.
Our group needed a bridge to carry the Gospel to our friends. People in our group knew outsiders and we had recent visitors as prospects, but they were not responding to our invitations to attend class. We needed a way to reach them.
We reduced it to a formula: INVITE EVERY MEMBER AND EVERY PROSPECT TO EVERY FELLOWSHIP EVERY MONTH.
Then our group started doing something. We stumbled onto it accidentally. I had not read it in any book; it just seemed the thing to do. We started asking people to invite their friends to our fellowships. We asked them to bring them to play volleyball and go to the beach with us. (In New Mexico, we have a beach, but no ocean. It is called White Sands.) They would record their names and invite them to the next event. (We took a fairly systematic approach to this.) We invited every visitor that was a prospect for our class. Some that were not really prospects for our class, but we invited them anyway. They were officially prospects of the class down the hall. In our church, we encouraged free and open competition between classes. And, of course, we invited our own friends. You know what? They came! We found the bridge and discovered an important principle. If you make people a part of the life of the group, you will not be able to keep them away from the Bible Study. I rarely invited people to come to Bible Study. But once they became part of the group and saw it as “us” instead of “them,” their attendance was not a problem.
Why? Because we were meeting a basic human need. We were showing people real love and concern. That is not to say that all of them came every time. Quite the contrary. Lots of them did not come, but enough did come to make it worth our while. Every salesman knows you won’t close on every call. They key is to make lots of calls. In addition, we offended very few people. People can be offended by telemarketing or by uninvited visits at their door. But, no one is offended by an invitation to a party. People love to be invited. — Josh Hunt, You Can Double Your Class in Two Years or Less, 1995.
21. What is your take-away from today’s lesson? What do you want to do about what we discussed today?
22. How can we support one another in prayer this week?