An ideal small group is a micro-church—a church in miniature. As such, it fulfills the five purposes of the church:
- Worship
- Evangelism
- Discipleship
- Service
- Fellowship
I asked recently on the Small Group Network Facebook page what as the weakest link for most small groups. The overwhelming answer was evangelism.
So, I did a little research and found three small group models of evangelism you might consider for your small groups. The following are excerpts written by experts representing each of the three models. If one of these models resonates with you, I’d invite you to research them further.
Servant Evangelism
Definition: Servant evangelism is sharing the love and message of Jesus Christ through simple acts of service and kindness. Servant evangelism is a biblical, fun, simple, and intentional way to make sharing Jesus a lifestyle!
Description: An individual or group begins doing intentional acts of kindness in their community with the aim of evangelism. Projects could include serving people by giving out free bottles of water on a hot day, passing out free granola bars to people on their way to work, or delivering gifts to local firemen or policemen. In addition to being served, each person is also given a card inviting them to church. On each card is information about the church, including service times,
phone number, location, and any other information the church wishes to share.
Servant evangelism is a wonderful expression of the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. It is great for people who are first learning how to share their faith as well as for the most seasoned Christian![1]
Hospitality / Matthew Party
This is a very important part of this study—having a Matthew party. As a group, begin planning a party, like the one Matthew held, to which you invite neighbors and friends who may not yet know Christ. Your goal will be to make him known to them by letting them into your life. This means meeting people, getting to know them, allowing them to get to know you, and being ready to share your stories with them. Set a date, place, and theme for your party during this meeting, and ask someone
to volunteer to bring invitations to your group meeting next week or have everyone supply their own if this works out better for your group. Party theme ideas include sports (football, Super Bowl), fiesta, luau, western, music, holiday, getting-to-know-you, game night, block party, barbecue, mystery party, decade party (‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s), food party (banana split, cookie exchange, pizza, picnic) or season party (winter, spring, summer, fall). Be creative and have fun with this.[2]
Oikos Evangelism
When I served as a pastor, a group from our church took a trip to Seoul, Korea, to visit the largest church in the world, Yoido Full Gospel Church. They had literally thousands of small groups in their church. One of the principles that we learned during our time there was the “oikos principle.” For more, see https://www.smallgroupnetwork.com/blog/2021/01/14/3-proven-models-for-small-group-outreach/
