doubleA group of ten that doubles every two years or less can reach 1000 people for God in ten years. Here is a five step process you can use to double your class every two years or less:

Teach a half-way decent lesson each and every week; nothing less will do.

You don’t have to be Chuck Swindoll or Beth Moore to double a class. It does have to be half-way decent. In a scary percentage of cases, the teaching is not even half-way decent. One of the best ways to ensure half-way decent teaching is to use Good Questions Have Groups Talking. If you can read 20 questions, you can lead a group. Good Questions include brilliant insights from people like Max Lucado, Beth Moore, John Macarthur, Tony Evans and many more. They correspond with Lifeway’s outlines as well as the International Standard Series. A dirty little secret of group life is that many times the groups don’t grow because the teaching is not that interesting.

Invite every member and every prospect to every fellowship every month.

The gospel spreads best along the corridor of existing relational connections. The more we can strengthen the relationships with outsider, the more likely we are to spread the gospel. The Bible says, “Get into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner.” Romans 12.13 (LB) At the end of the day this plan is not a church growth plan as much as it is living the Christian life the way the Bible says to live it. The Bible teaches Christianity is lived in community. It is up close and personal. It is in each other’s homes and in each other’s business.

Give Friday nights to Jesus.

Friday nights is a metaphor. It doesn’t actually have to be Friday nights. It is an informal time of Diet Coke, table games and coffee cake. If you can get them to the party you would not be able to keep them from class. The Bible says to, “offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.” (1 Peter 4.9) “Without grumbling” because all good ideas degenerate into work and because some people are hard to love. Love them anyway. Love them in common, ordinary, pedestrian ways like having them into your home, breaking bread, eating together, sharing together—doing life together.

Encourage the group toward ministry.

The Bible says, “We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth.” 3 John 1:8 (NIV) Work together. The point is not to do the work of ten men; it is to get 10 men in the work. It is to involve everyone in inviting every member and every prospect to every fellowship every month. We need party planners to plan the party. We need inreach leaders to invite every member. We need outreach leaders to invite every prospect. We want to do evangelism as a team.

Reproduce your group.

The point is not to go from 10 to 20; it is to go from one group to two, to four and so one. The future of the church is the multiplication of groups. We grow a group by doubling the number of groups, not by growing the size of each group. We want each group leader to be able to speak 2 Timothy 2.2 into the life of someone his or her group: “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.”

I’d love to teach your teachers to double. Click here to schedule a conference. Click here to attend a conference.