This is the last post of a 3 part series Characteristics of Successful Groups. This week I’ll be discussing hosting the Holy Spirit’s presence and doing regular outreach. As I mentioned in the first two posts the 5 things that pretty much all of our successful groups do well are:
One of the things that makes BASIC ministries unique to most college ministries is that we place an emphasis on hosting the Holy Spirit’s presence in our meetings. BASIC was born out of a desire to see students baptized in the Holy Spirit and participate in expressive worship. While we should never see ourselves as being in competition with other Christian ministries on the campus, this is something that sets us apart. BASIC groups that have encouraged the presence of the Holy Spirit at their meetings have been successful because more than anything else the presence of God is what draws people to Him. The best way to host the Holy Spirit’s presence is by praying for the ministry regularly and making sure that there is a freedom in your meeting to go where the Holy Spirit leads. We must encourage our students to seek a deeper relationship with the Lord, but also maintain order. Remember what Paul said in 1 Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 14:26, 39-40 (NIV) “What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up….Therefore, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.”
The last of the five characteristics is regular outreach. BASIC’s heart has always been to see students come into a relationship with God during their time in college. Our ministries should not be a place where there are only Christians attending. Though it is important for Christians to have a place to fellowship and connect together on a weekly basis while at college and BASIC does fill that need, we should always be looking for ways to share our faith with others. As I like to say, Jesus charged us with the Great Commission, not the Great Proposition.
One of the best signs of a healthy and successful group is that they are doing regular outreach and seeing students come to know Jesus as their Savior. There are many ways to do outreach on your campus. Most groups hold various events throughout the year, some evangelize weekly on campus by starting up conversations with students, some do servant evangelism (finding ways to meet practical needs like taking student’s trash to the recycling room or cleaning bathrooms in dorms that have suites), and many do a combination of all of these. A few students in the Oswego BASIC group have put together an outreach team and are doing some form of outreach on the campus nearly every day! As you look for opportunities to do regular outreach you will see students come to know Christ, which will increase the Kingdom and fire up the students in your BASIC group. The college campus is such an important mission field and we must see it first as a mission field and second as a place to get an education.
Do you need more outreach ideas? We will be providing many resources for outreach at the upcoming Propel: Leadership Summit May 13-14. This will be an awesome time of networking, training, and planning for your group. We’ll be giving out tons of free resources and the first 10 groups that register at least 4 people will receive the first 3 DVD’s of Francis Chan’s new series BASIC free! You can register here.