Outreach for Their Sake, Not Ours

 An effective Bible study ministry focuses on teaching people the message of God’s compassion revealed most clearly through the life and sacrifice of his Son Jesus Christ. Those people, however, will never hear what we have to say if we do not engage them through our daily walk.

Outreach to have effective results must begin with establishing sincere relationships. We reach people for Bible study not to give us big numbers but for the sake of the people we are trying to reach. Numerical growth may be a positive by-product of our efforts, but our goal is to introduce people to Jesus Christ. From that meeting they have the opportunity to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior and know the blessings of a bountiful spiritual life now and eternal life in glory with him.

Outreach always includes an invitation. That may be the simplest form such as come to our group and see what we are doing. Greater impact and more lasting results occur when we take the time to introduce Jesus to someone by letting them see Jesus in our own lives first.

This takes time. This takes inconvenience. This takes sharing. This takes risk. Developing a relationship with someone to try to meet their social needs, perhaps material needs, and then their spiritual needs takes an intentional investment on our part. They must be able to see our strengths, our goals, our weaknesses, and our failures. They must be allowed to see we are just as human as they are and face the same daily challenges.

When we reach out to others with integrity, they will see we are approaching them with a sense of understanding of who they are and their true value. When we identify with the daily struggles and challenges of someone else, they will see our honesty, our scars, and our daily struggles. In this context our message will come across as one we need just as much as they do.

The small group Bible study offers an individual the opportunity to be with others who are on the same journey to the same destination. Each person recognizes their personal need for Jesus as Savior and his strength to make it through each day in a way that honors God. We are all sinners. No one is better than anyone else.

As the Apostle Paul said,

Rom 3:23 everyone has sinned and is far away from God's saving presence.

Within the supporting circle of the small group, an individual can be honest about their struggles and their needs. The group members can provide that support by sharing their experiences, their struggles, and how faith in Christ has helped them meet the challenges of life in a sinful world.

Relationships are developed as we get to know the people we are trying to reach. We know the basics such as name, address, contact information, general age grouping, and spiritual condition. We share our life experiences, circles of involvement, and family connections as we encourage them to share similar information with us. Relationships are strengthened as we acknowledge their life activities and as possible share in them.

Relationships are not strengthened through the rare contact. They are maintained through being involved in each other’s life on a regular basis through phone calls, emails, time spent together, and recognition of special events in each other’s life. Birthday cards, special occasion notes, and simple “thinking of you” letters keep the relationship growing.

When this relationship is tied back into the activities of the small group Bible study, then the group becomes more than a circle of acquaintances. It is more than just a group learning Bible facts. They become family, a source of support and joy. Outreach has moved from identifying a person who needs Christ to an inclusion of the person in the family of God.

Rom 15:7 Accept one another, then, for the glory of God, as Christ has accepted you.

Teaching People to Live the Word

 It has been said more than once poor teaching can empty a classroom faster than good outreach can fill it. Having been an educator most of my adult life, experience has taught me the truth of the statement. What people find when they walk into a room will determine if they want to come back.

Sunday School, small group Bible studies, have the critical responsibility of introducing Jesus Christ to people who do not know him through a study of the record of his revelation in the Bible. The underlying thought is small groups can learn in ways large groups and individuals alone cannot learn. Multiple individuals bring varied experiences into the conversation allowing the biblical principles to speak to everyone. Yet the group is not too large to make the study impersonal.

With the Bible as the primary textbook, the object is to convey the lessons of the text into the lives of the participants. Far more than seeking to convey knowledge, the goal is to allow the Holy Spirit to transform lives. Whether the student is a seeker wanting to know about who this Jesus is or the individual has been a follower of Christ for 60 years, transformation remains a goal for everyone.

Rom 12:2 Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God---what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect.

No matter how old a Christian or how new, the process of growing more Christlike and closer to the will of God never ends. In the small group context, every individual has the opportunity to grow in their spiritual development at their own pace and in a manner that will make that growth effective in their daily life.

Teaching so everyone has a chance to learn involves knowing how people learn. We do not all learn most effectively in the same way. Recognizing our various senses gives us a picture of how to plan our various methods of teaching. Seeing, hearing, and touching are the three most common channels for learning.

Some individuals learn best through visual activities. This would involve reading, pictures, and charts. Those who learn most effectively through hearing respond best to lectures, discussions, music, and recordings. Touch brings in activities that involve hands-on learning, manipulating, writing, and constructing in two and three dimensions.

The classroom with its variety of activities can create that invaluable “teaching moment”. At this point the situation allows the teacher to emphasize an insight that is relevant to the student’s current situation. The application is immediately apparent. The student experiences that special moment that transforms their perspective on the subject and perhaps life itself.

The small group of students may all be eager to learn, but the teacher may not have the ideal teaching setting. The creative teacher will look at the setting, understand the learning methods of the students, and then seek to find the best tools available to create an effective learning context. This could be technical and electronic tools, posters and signs, writing on a chalkboard, or writing in the dust on the ground. Singing and verbal repetition have proven to be some of the most effective memorization tools in the history of mankind.

The primary point to remember is that in the small group context, the teacher is teaching students, not the Bible. The Bible is the content being taught to the students. We should never feel we have to force the Bible to say what we want it to say.

The opposite is true. We start with the Bible and the belief that within its words we have the pathway to a living relationship with God through Jesus Christ. The Bible records for us and reveals to us the history of God’s efforts to bring sinful man back into a relationship with him that will last for eternity.

Pro 22:6 Teach children how they should live, and they will remember it all their life.

Building an Effective Bible Study Ministry

 Studying the Bible is not an option for a Christian. For someone who wants to know what Christians are supposed to believe and practice, studying the Bible likewise is not an option. Anyone who wants to know what Christianity is all about must start with the Bible.

Many believers have come to a point of faith in God through Jesus Christ by reading portions of the Bible on their own. The Bible has the power to reveal a person’s soul and its needs. When that person is sincerely seeking Truth, the printed word will lead that person to the Living Word who is Truth incarnate.

Others have found their minds opened to the leadership of the Holy Spirit by joining with a believer to understand what the Bible was saying. The study became a common pilgrimage where each grew from the questions raised and the answers discovered through their search in the Scriptures.

In the context of corporate worship, believers and non believers share the same social experience but come from a different perspective. The testimony of believers voiced in song, prayer, and scriptural exposition touches each mind uniquely under the influence of the Holy Spirit. In the context of the Family of God gathered for worship, the Holy Spirit uses not only the written word but also the faith expression of multiple believers to reveal Truth in the Bible.

The Sunday School is the Church organized in small group fashion to focus upon the written word of God. These small groups may be only two or three, or the numbers may reach into the hundreds when insufficient leadership is available. For adults the ideal is between twelve and twenty participants. This allows for the development of supportive relationships and openness in sharing personal spiritual growth experiences.

Though the Sunday School class has one primary text for study, the Bible, it also has other functions which are critical for a climate in which the Holy Spirit is free to work in the heart of participants. Teaching the participants the content and thrust of Scripture and leading them to see the priority of the relationship God wants to have with every individual is the most obvious function. Five other functions include 1) reaching others who are not part of the Body of Christ, 2) strengthening the spiritual walk of believers through discipleship training, 3) encouraging prayer as a mark of the relationship with God, 4) nurturing others in the Body of Christ through acts of ministry, and 5) using evangelism and ministry to touch the lives of those who do not know Christ as Lord and Savior.

When we think Sunday School, we think Bible teaching. Studying God’s word and applying its lessons to life is essential for growing as a Christian and being the salt and light Christ has called us to be. To understand what the Bible says we must read it, interpret it correctly both in its historical context and in its modern application, and apply its principles to our lives and relationships.

Good outreach depends upon a personal relationship with Christ, humility, and a love for all people. It takes initiative and boldness. It takes the conviction only through Christ can we have eternal life.

In small group Bible study we learn what it means to be disciples of Christ. We learn the cost of discipleship, the patterns of discipleship, and the rewards of discipleship.

In small group Bible study we learn about and practice prayer, the channel of communication that keeps us close to God

We practice through relationships developed in small group Bible study ministry to each other. We develop that interdependence that is critical to the Body of Christ.

Finally we work together to go forth in mission efforts to reach those who are outside the Body of Christ to offer hope for eternal life. Every believer is a missionary. Working through and supported by a small Bible study group makes this most effective.

2Ti 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

How Will You Use the Summer of 2016?

August is nearly half over. School starts in less than two weeks for the traditional folks. Summer pastimes are just about that – past! The summer of 2015 is ready for the history books, but what does that mean for the summer of 2016? Is it too early to think about those special months almost a year from now?

It is not too early if what you wanted to do this summer wasn’t possible because you didn’t plan ahead. When you think you have only nine months to get ready for the summer months of 2016, you realize some of the things you want to do then need to be in the early planning stages now. This is especially true if it will involve other people, money, and reservations.

As a believer in Jesus Christ how can you use the time in which you will have the greatest opportunity to do more than get up, go to work, come home, rest, go to bed, get up, go to work, etc? Summer for most adults will not be all vacation, but it is a period when most leisure time is used. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day here in the United States, most families take vacations, enjoy extended weekends, and recognize special occasions by taking time off from work.

A few guidelines from the Holy Bible might both inspire and guide in thinking about ways you can get the most out of those summer days coming in only a few months that will glorify God.

Psa 24:1 The world and all that is in it belong to the LORD; the earth and all who live on it are his.

When we recognize the world belongs to God and we are only stewards of it, then our concern for it should be reflected in our care for it. Summer months are a great time to plan a community clean up. This could involve roadsides, community parks, vacant lots, and a neighbor who needs help.

Psa 102:18 Write down for the coming generation what the LORD has done, so that people not yet born will praise him.

School may be out for most students, but summer school can be a fun occasion for children. Maybe you can be involved in a Vacation Bible School, help a younger child catch up in a difficult school subject, or spend time reading Bible stories to a child who needs to know someone cares.

Mat 25:34-40 Then the King will say to the people on his right, 'Come, you that are blessed by my Father! Come and possess the kingdom which has been prepared for you ever since the creation of the world. I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me a drink; I was a stranger and you received me in your homes, naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me, in prison and you visited me.' The righteous will then answer him, 'When, Lord, did we ever see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? When did we ever see you a stranger and welcome you in our homes, or naked and clothe you? When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?' The King will reply, 'I tell you, whenever you did this for one of the least important of these followers of mine, you did it for me!'

Planning events that will provide random acts of kindness for others will make an impact upon the participants, the recipients, and the community. No pay is involved. Nothing is required but the willingness to give and receive as we seek to meet these basic human needs.

Jas 1:27 What God the Father considers to be pure and genuine religion is this: to take care of orphans and widows in their suffering and to keep oneself from being corrupted by the world.

Help those who cannot help themselves. God did it for us. We should do it for others. In this way we show the world we are the children of our heavenly Father.