The gospel spreads, first and foremost, through relational lines. While I am not opposed to "broadcasting" and mass media/mail efforts--we use several of these in our outreach efforts--the most effective and most inexpensive form of outreach is relational--the spreading of the gospel through relationships.
One common church planting method that many church planters are using is the "person of peace." This biblical concept, based upon Luke 10:1-7, is that a missionary finds a person of peace--someone who is open and receptive to the gospel--and the missionary stays in that house, using it as a base of missionary operations.
By doing this, the missionary can then use the person of peace to reach out to his or her family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors. This works best, obviously, in cultures that are tight knit. Generally, this is in third-world countries, not the US.
Still, I believe that this is an under utilized outreach method in the US. Recently, I have been asking some of our visitors at High Pointe who have a fairly nominal church background to serve as a "person of peace." That is, I'm asking them to serve as a host for an evangelistic Bible study, opening their home and inviting their circle of family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers--most of whom probably will be unchurched.
In our Intro to High Pointe class on Sunday, I laid this concept out and asked those in the class to consider this. I already received three positive responses to this! If they follow through with these invites, there will probably be anywhere from 20-30 unchurched people studying the Story of Redemption.
I am excited about the potential here to reach many people for Christ!
Have you used the "Person of Peace" methodology? What experience have you had in evangelistic small groups?
