Small Groups Reaching Out to the Community

DOVE Family Core Teaching video coming soon

Acts 4:13-14, Acts 2:46-47, Acts 20:20, Romans 16:3-5, Romans 16:10-11

Small groups and meetings in homes were an integral part of the early church. Discipling relationships are built in the small group.

To Philemon our beloved fellow worker 2 and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house. Philemon 2

What is God’s heart as we meet from house to house?

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8, 

When our small group becomes ingrown, all we see are the imperfections of each other. We need to look to Jesus and discern how we can reach out to those around us.

Oikos principle

Oikos is a Greek word meaning “household” or “house of people.” Most Bible versions translate the word oikos in Acts 10:24 as “relatives and close friends.” The King James Version translates the word as “kinsmen and near friends.” Therefore, your oikos is a group of people to whom you relate on a regular basis. These are your sphere of influence—people you are influencing one way or another. It could be:

  • family and relatives
  • those with common interests (passions and hobbies)
  • those who live in the same geographical location as you
  • those who have a common vocation
  • others with whom you have regular contact.

Research indicates that 75–90% of people who accepted Christ as adults did so because of the influence of someone in their oikos. Oikos is the most effective form of evangelism, because it is based on existing trust and the power of personal influence in relationships.

Biblical examples of oikos evangelism

  1. Luke 5:27-32 – Levi invited other tax collectors to his home (oikos of vocation) to meet Jesus.
  2. Luke 19:1-9 – Zaccheus hosted Jesus in his home (oikos of household). Jesus said, “Salvation has come to this house.”
  3. John 1:40-42 – Andrew told his brother Peter about Jesus (oikos of immediate family).
  4. John 1:44-45 – Philip told Nathanael about Jesus (oikos of a friend from the same town).
  5. Acts 10 – Cornelius invited all those he was in relationship with to his home (oikos of friends and neighbors).

Keys to small-group multiplication

The primary focus of every small group should be evangelism. The oikos method is the biblical model for evangelism.

Note that new Christians need daily contact and encouragement for (at least) the first month.

Evangelism is in the DNA of every believer. It is not an option. Neither is it a method; people are not projects. Evangelism takes place through relationships. Build relationships and just be yourself.

Jesus spent time with people. He built relationships. This is seen in Luke 5, 8, 19, John 1, and many other scriptures. Jesus ventured beyond normal limitations with the woman at the well (John 4).

What keeps me from reaching people?

  • Can I allow a spirit of love and acceptance to replace a spirit of condemnation?
  • Let the Holy Spirit convict of sin; do not try to tell others about their sins.
  • Who is looking for the Messiah as the Samaritan woman was? (John 4)
  • Learn to pray in a way that is not condemning.

Learn to share personal testimonies

Start by sharing what your life was like

  • before you met Christ
  • your experience of salvation; coming to Christ
  • what changed in your life after coming to Christ

Practical ideas for small-group evangelism

Small groups should be evangelistic. Small-group members should have a strategy for reaching people who live in their neighborhoods and communities. In this way, they expand their scope and vision, and the lost are brought into God’s Kingdom.

Don’t become discouraged if you don’t see immediate fruit from your outreach. There seems to be a spiritual principle here—as we reach out, growth comes. The very act of reaching out puts something in motion in our spiritual lives and in our small group. But the growth doesn’t always come specifically from the outreach.

For example, a small group might canvas a neighborhood door to door, but instead of somebody coming to the group from one of the houses that was visited, a group member’s relative might get saved and start to attend the small-group meetings.

Creative ideas for evangelism

  • Picnic outreach or block party
  • Serve people practically in the community
  • Prayer walks and prayer drives through your town
  • Adopt a neighborhood family in need
  • Conducting interviews or questionnaires in the community
  • Host a booth at a community night out or festival
  • Special evangelistic meeting or worship night in the park

Small-Group Multiplication

Understand that multiplication is part of God’s nature

God blessed His creation and said, “Be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28). The Lord told Noah to multiply in Genesis 8:15-17 and again in Genesis 9:7. God places a seed inside everything for the purpose of reproduction. The fruit is in the seed.

Everything that is healthy and filled with life will multiply. Animals multiply, plants multiply, all of God’s creation multiplies. One kernel of corn will produce 1,440,000 kernels of corn by the second generation.

For life to be maintained, there must be multiplication. The principle of multiplication was an important part of the early church. See Acts 6:1-7, 9:31, and 12:24-25. The result of this growth is found in Acts 13:1-3 when Barnabas and Saul were multiplied out.

Addition vs. multiplication. Ten plus eight equals 18. Ten times eight equals 80! That’s a big difference!

Practical steps for healthy small-group multiplication

  1. Speak the vision for small-group multiplication. The leaders must keep speaking about it. Vision must be spoken often for people to really “hear” it. A small-group leader should be clear from the very first small-group meeting that the small group’s purpose is to grow and multiply. It is God’s will for the small group to multiply. The small group leader’s faith and expectation will set the pace for the members. Talk about it as a positive experience. The small group was started for a purpose. Multiplication will fulfill that purpose.
  2. Use the analogy of a family. Healthy families have the expectation that their children will eventually grow up, marry, and start their own families. The same truth applies to healthy small groups.
  3. Be open to creative models of small-group multiplication. A new small-group leader might remain in his existing small group to receive ministry while starting another small group. For example, Bill and his family keep attending their existing small group, even when Bill starts another small group to reach co-workers at his job.
  4. Have as many assistant small-group leaders as possible. When people become assistant small-group leaders, they receive spiritual responsibility for those in the small group along with the leader. This is a part of their training.
  5. Pour your time into faithful people/future leaders (2 Timothy 2:2). Although everyone is important, Paul tells Timothy to focus most of his time and energy on those who are faithful. See future leaders through eyes of faith (Hebrews 11:6). Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Believe God can prepare them to lead a small group. Jesus gave His best time to the twelve.
  6. Have the assistant leaders receive regular training in small-group leadership. Don’t expect them to just know what to do. Have them read books on small-group ministry and take them to a small-group conference or seminar. Mentor them and give them as much responsibility as they feel called to take.
  7. When the timing is right, through prayer and fasting, ask one (or more) of your assistant leaders if they feel called to start a new small group. Maybe the small-group leaders will start the new small group and the assistant will assume leadership of the existing small group.
  8. Share the vision for multiplication with the small group and the date the new one will begin. Ask everyone to pray regarding which small group they are called to serve with. People will need time to pray and hear from God. Have a commissioning on a night the group regularly meets, and pray for one another as the new group is birthed. Sometimes an elder or section leader can be there to help. It makes it more of an important event: “We reached our goal.”
  9. Celebrate the small-group multiplication at the church’s regular service time. This gives other small groups faith that their small group can multiply also. Small-group multiplication can be accelerated as church leaders publicly proclaim vision for small-group multiplication from Scripture. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). Examples of small groups that have multiplied in the church should be noted and celebrated by church leaders.

Five key ingredients of small groups that multiply

In Joel Cominsky’s book Cell Group Explosion, he researched small groups around the world in different cultures, countries, etc. He identified the following five key ingredients of small groups that multiply.

  1. Small-group leaders prayed daily for the group’s members.
  2. There was weekly interaction among members.
  3. There were clear goals set for multiplication.
  4. There was prompt visitor follow-up.
  5. Small-group leaders made it a priority to prepare for the meetings.

What if groups do not multiply?

Sometimes we just don’t know what to do. The small group may seem dead and there are no assistant leaders. As small-group leaders and pastoral overseers rise up in faith and pray, the breakthrough usually will come. This has happened over and over again. Pray! In all honesty, not every small group has successfully multiplied. There have been groups that have been beyond help. Sometimes there is death after multiplication. Death should not be threatening if the organism has run its life course. Even in the natural world, it is easier to birth something new than to raise the dead.

The small group that has grown too large

The largest small group in the history of DOVE was 85 people! A large “small group” can generate large offerings, excellent work projects, and lots of participants in activities; however, the negatives far outweigh the positives. In a large small group, not everyone is able to relate to everyone. It is difficult to serve the children. An extra-large home and parking area are necessary. People will lack faith to grow any larger and will not bring their friends. Potential leaders are intimidated by the size of the group, and it’s overwhelming to those who are in leadership.

What to do with a large small group? An approach could be to begin smaller prayer groups within the small group. Leaders could then mentor prayer group leaders into possible small-group leaders or assistants. This was proven successful in the 85-person “small” group.

This same small group eventually became a church! The leaders of the group wisely started five prayer groups within the small group. Eventually, these prayer groups met in separate homes and became four small groups within the larger church. Today, this small-group multiplication has birthed a new healthy small group–based church.

Multiplying leaders

The one essential element of starting new small groups is leadership. Literally, multiplying groups is multiplying leaders. There is no other way. Leadership training must be a priority. Invite potential small-group leaders to special times of training so they can “catch” this vision for their lives.

Encouraging future leaders

Many potential leaders do not think they have what it takes to be future small-group leaders or assistant leaders. They need to be encouraged. At one point in our church, we invited more than two dozen potential small-group leaders to a restaurant for a meal, and then we told them about the potential we see in their lives as future leaders and assistant leaders of small groups. We prayed for each of them individually. One year later, nearly all of them were serving in leadership in small groups. Future leaders must be encouraged to take a step of faith. Acts. 6:1,7, Acts 9:31, Acts 12:24

Learn more about small groups

The book’s view of small groups and house churches, based firmly on the scriptures, from their purpose of reaching people for Christ to making disciples to their impact on today’s world, will inspire believers, Christian leaders, and churches, traditional or contemporary, in years to come…transforming them from individual congregations, large and small, into church planting movements.