For years, I have gone through the Story of Redemption with me (or another teacher), the person being studied with, and their Christian family member or friend. There has usually a Christian family or friend. When there has not been one, I have invited another Christian to join us in the study.
This has kept the study small, intimate, and with a powerful relational pull that has worked very well. I would say about 90-95% of those who have completed the Story of Redemption in this way have come to faith and have been baptized. This has made me reluctant to change this successful approach.
Recently, however, I decided to try the Story of Redemption in a small group format. There were several reasons for this. First of all, we had been visiting different small groups since we came to High Pointe to get to know people; however, we had not had our own small group. And frankly, we were missing the relationships! Second, there were some young couples who were both seeking and long-time Christians that were not in a group that we thought would bond well together. Third, there are more Bible study opportunities than I can get to (a great problem to have) doing them all individually. Fourth, I have been wanting to try some group evangelistic studies for some time, having seen the success of evangelistic small group processes like Alpha.
So we began this group study of the Story of Redemption a few months ago. We invited:
- A family (Corey and Haley and family) who came to us from Financial Peace University (none of which had been baptized). Corey and Haley both work as X-Ray techs.
- A family (Curt and Nicole and family) who went through Dynamic Marriage (wife grew up in church, went to ACU, has been baptized; husband has not been baptized). Curt works as a loan officer, and Nicole teaches computer classes in the public schools.
- A family (David and Amy and family) from our neighborhood who has also been visiting our church. Amy grew up in our fellowship and has been baptized. David has not. They have a child who was born last year with Cystic Fibrosis, which really has shaken their faith. We had a neighborhood "High Pointe in the Park" party, and this was the first church thing that David had come to. They have since both visited High Pointe.
- A family (Bart and Jenny) that are both Christian, but who were not in a small group. Bart came to faith later in life. Bart works as a lobbyist in the high tech industry and works in a political think tank. Jenny works as an accountant. Jenny grew up in our fellowship, while Bart came to faith later in life (age 30, I believe).
So, five families in all, including ourselves, and all are our age or younger. So what has the result been? Read my posts below to find out!
What evangelistic small groups have you been a part of, read about, or seen used? 
