Anchored in Truth™ Striving Not to Build 'Great' Churches, but 'True' Churches

3/28/2008

Posted By Pastor Jeff Noblit

Today we are going to revisit the ever-important topic of Small Groups.  As I mentioned before, Small Groups is one key organization that is vital to the church in a number of ways.  One of those ways is the evangelization of the lost.  Through Small Groups, every member of the church becomes a minister, and part of that ministry is sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the lost world.

We love the doctrine of the sovereignty of God; it is a precious treasure to us.  However, we abhor any notion that this doctrine should cause us to be less passionate or less urgent to share the Gospel with ALL men.  God has commanded us to implore all men to be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:20).  Any teaching that would suggest otherwise is absolutely wrong! The sovereignty of God should create a passion within us to reach all peoples with the gospel.

One way that every single member of the church can be a part of a team to share the Gospel with the lost is through the ministry of Small Groups.  This ministry is evident in the New Testament.  Acts 5:42 says, “And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.”  The Small Groups in Acts (“house to house”) were on a mission to preach and teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  This should be our pattern today!

Every member of the church is not given the same gifts, but through Small Groups each gift, clothed in humility, can be used to reach the lost (Romans 12:6-10).  At First Baptist Church we have many testimonies where church members have used their gifts to reach out to the lost.  Not everyone is called to preach, but everyone is called to reach out.  God has not summonsed many of us to be judges but has called all of us to be witnesses.    Through Small Groups, church members are prepared and enabled to reach out.  For instance, there was a man in our church who did not have the gifts of teaching or leadership and was quiet timid, but he loved to fish.  In order to reach out to someone his Small Group had been praying for, he decided to take the man fishing.  Through his humble service and love extended, the man eventually came to church.  Others in the Small Group continued to reach out to him in similar ways.  Regularly he was exposed to the Gospel and healthy doses of Christian love.  He soon repented and placed his faith in Jesus.  This is just one of hundreds of examples of how church members through the ministry of Small Groups can use their gifts and resources to reach the lost.

Each Small Group should have as a priority ministry the development of a list of lost prospects and intercede regularly for their salvation.  Our Small Groups regularly spend time praying for lost family members, lost Small Group members, or even lost prospects who have visited the Small Group class.  Whatever the case may be, every member becomes a part of the team to reach the lost.

This is one more reason why Small Groups are so vital to the ministry of the church. Through the ministry of Small Groups we can remove a spectator mentality and replace it with a service mentality.  Small Groups enables and mobilizes each person to become a minister; even a minister in the all-important ministry of reaching the lost through the power of the Gospel.