Home Bible Study (HBS) works. Without a doubt, it has and continues to be the most successful evangelism tool within Apostolic churches. But it doesn’t work if you don’t teach. So the key to a successful local church HBS ministry is to keep your trained HBS teachers teaching. How do you keep them busy? Consider the following:
HBS Teachers Must Ask. Continually encourage your trained HBS teachers to get studies from their family, friends, co-workers and acquaintances. Regularly challenge them! Teach them how to ask for a study. Remind them that most studies are obtained only after asking a person 3-4 times. Prayer and persistence pays off.
Visitor Follow-up. VFU is a ‘must’ for any church desiring to grow. 100% of your new converts will come from your visitors. Few visitors receive the Spirit the first time they come. So we must get them back. VFU is the best way to do this. If they visited us, we must be willing to visit them. Each time we visit (4 times a year is best) we give them a small gift, invite them back, and ask for a HBS (Have you thought any more about that HBS I told you about?). It really does work!
Open Your Home to a HBS. Push for everyone to be involved (a simple team contest works great here). You open your home, invite your family, friends, neighbors, provide the food, and the church provides the HBS teacher.
Five Souls. Pass out a sheet of paper that boldly states at the top, “Five Souls That I Am Believing To Get A HBS With.” Provide five blanks for five names. Ask all to pray and allow the Spirit to impress them with the names of five people the Lord knows are ready for salvation. The entire church then commits to pray and fast for their five names for a full week. After a week of prayer, call all to the front, anoint them, pray over them and commission them to ask all five for a HBS. Have lots of teachers ready to teach!
Quest Survey. This door-to-door survey has seen excellent results through the years. Send a trained team out on Saturday morning with clip-boards. Go door-to-door giving the survey including 10 easy questions and a HBS request at the conclusion. Knock on 100 doors, come back with 3-4 or more HBS’s.
If you would like to have more information on the above, plus how to make HBS ministry a success in your church, call 1-800-800-0247. $5.00 (includes postage).
