Step #1 — The Knowing God Mission
I love glazed donuts. There is an excellent bakery near my home that I visit (sometimes too often). A very friendly Asian couple owns the store and over several months, I developed a friendly relationship with them on a first name basis. I invited them to our church several times, but they never chose to come. I also gave them several evangelistic booklets and books but they didn’t seem interested.
One day, as I was talking to the husband, he mentioned that several weeks ago some people had come to their door and offered to teach them the Bible in their neighborhood…and they were now actively involved in a home Bible study with Jehovah Witnesses.
I was absolutely stunned…and then I thought to myself…“Is it any wonder that the Jehovah Witnesses and Later Day Saints are two of the fastest growing religious groups in the United States? How long are we going to sit in the ‘barn’ waiting for a harvest instead of getting out in the fields where the harvest is? How long are we going to sit idly by and watch the wolves knock on people’s doors – instead of getting out in the field and start knocking on doors ourselves?” That’s a good question isn’t it? We do know one thing for certain…the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Later Day Saints have proven without a doubt that home Bible studies are effective. There can be no doubt about that!
Matthew 9:36-38 says, “When He (Jesus) saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.’”
An important question to ask ourselves is, “Do we truly have compassion, as Jesus did, for the people in our neighborhoods who have never heard the gospel and are on their way to an eternity separated from God?”
After much research, I was surprised to find that an evangelistic home Bible study was almost non-existent among the hundreds of small group studies for Christians. Ever since that moment, the Lord has continually been impressing me of the need for an effective evangelistic home Bible study to reap a harvest for Christ.
Our churches need an effective evangelistic strategy. In past decades, the strategy for most evangelical churches was to host a yearly “revival.” That was about the extent of their evangelistic thrust. Today, “revivals” are not as effective as in years past. Many times a church will invite an excellent evangelist to preach the gospel and try to lead people to the Lord – but he ends up preaching to a church building full of Christians – with very few lost people in attendance.
Let’s follow Jesus’ command. “Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations…” (Matthew 9:37&38, 28:19) Rest assured our prayers are with you as you reach out to the thousands of lost people in homes throughout your community.
Grace & Peace,
Randy Craig