Home Bible Studies Effectively Reach the Lost
Randy Tahyi
Working the harvest field is not as complicated as you may think. We understand the farmer needs to prepare the field before he can plant seed or reap the physical harvest. But yet we push ourselves beyond these concepts to reap a spiritual harvest. We need to stop cheating ourselves of the greater harvest. Yes, if we try at all we will have some type of harvest. But why not reach for the greater harvest?
What am I talking about? I am talking about meeting people and rushing them beyond the concepts of harvest, which is plowing, planting, watering and harvesting the fruit of our labor. People that do not understand the concept of harvesting are most likely very frustrated Christians. Frustrated because they push beyond the steps it takes to be fruitful and spend a lot of time complaining because people just do not want to become born again.
It takes time to be fruitful physically or spiritually. That is where the problem begins! Just as we want to microwave our food, we also want to microwave church growth. This is not going to happen. Even if it does happen, you will have seed that has no depth.
I believe that all pastors want revival and growth. But pastors must invest time into the Kingdom of God and into people specifically. Commitment must be made to disciple and train people. Every part of church growth is dependant upon understanding the concept of sowing and reaping. If we as leaders refuse to invest time then those that take our places will invest even less time.
What do you desire to see in your local church? If it is about your “four and no more,” then you have missed the entire lesson that Jesus Christ has passed down to His church. If you are going to be a fruitful Christian, the first thing you must learn is to put others first. When you call yourself a Christian you had better look long and hard to your example, Jesus Christ! Do you place others first or do you just stay in the safe small clique you feel comfortable in? These are the questions you must answer before you can move forward into revival.
If you will commit to placing others first you will see a great revival in your life, as well as in the church. This does not come by accident; you must plan this into your personality. If you have trouble being with others, then you need to get your personality born again! By putting the attention on others you can begin your plowing, planting, watering and reaping of the harvest that you desire to have.
This is the direction you must take if you desire to have more outreach then in-reach. Home Bible studies is one of the best examples of putting others first. It takes your time and energy to work this ministry. I have always been of the opinion that pastors should have a standing rule that ministers that serve in their local churches teach Home Bible studies or they never preach from the pulpit. If they do not care enough to reach for the lost, they should never be used to minister in the pulpit. God has mandated that preachers should show more compassion than any other ministry. If the local minister does not have enough compassion to take the Word of God into the homes of the lost, they should not be in a pulpit telling other people to go win souls for the Kingdom of God. Teaching Home Bible studies is a very exciting ministry. You have the opportunity to watch people be transformed from their sin nature into God’s holy nature. You get to watch the excitement on their face as the revelation of God’s Holy Word begins to open up to them and lead them into a personal relationship with God.
Since moving to Indiana, my wife and I began to set in order some things we needed to have so we could develop a Home Bible study here. We have been working with the Latino people in this area and have had a Bible study going for about a year now. We have invited many people to this Bible study, but recently a new group started coming. They were attending a Jehovah’s Witness church. But after building the relationship and teaching them about God from Genesis to the first portion of the New Testament, we have baptized Sister Marta, and God baptized her with the Holy Ghost. We trust it will not be long until her friends follow. They are great people with a true hunger for the Word of God.
As you have heard me say in many articles and in personal conversations, the ministry of teaching Home Bible studies is absolutely the way to spread the gospel Jesus Christ around this world. Become a Home Bible study teacher today! Change your world, one person at a time.
The article “Home Bible Studies Effectively Reach the Lost” written by Randy Tahyi was excerpted from Apostolic Witnesses: Church Growth, March, 2010.
