One at a Time, House to House

POCKET DEVOTIONS: Time With God's Word

Acts 20:20
You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house.

Thoughts for Today:

Too often we see the mega-evangelical crowds of five thousand, ten thousand, even one hundred thousand, and we think that in order to do effective ministry we need to generate the glamour, glitz and media hype to attract thousands. In our passage today, Paul provides the example that evangelism has both a public and private ("house to house") component. Jesus showed us through His example that He not only taught the mega-crowds (Matthew 14 Jesus fed and taught five thousand, and in Matthew 15 the crowd numbered four thousand), but also was not too big to get intimate -- one on one. Jesus talked personally to Nicodemus (John 3), the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4), a demon-possessed man in the cemetery, and a woman subject to a bleeding disorder (Luke 8).

One of the things I appreciate so much about Jesus is His willingness to have a close, personal, and nurturing relationship with me individually. If we are not careful, in the course of large 'church programs,' we can forget one of the more important aspects of Christian witness and ministry that is the need for our personal involvement -- one at a time "and from house to house."

Questions to Ponder:

Who do you teach one on one? When was the last time you took an interest in someone individually? Too often we expect the professionals (pastors and staff) to do all the heavy lifting when it comes to interpersonal relationships. It is no wonder that churches everywhere suffer from a lack of personal touch. Where should this come from, who should it come from? The answer: you and me. Who could you take a personal interest in today?