It’s a fundamental truth that every person who walks through your church’s door on any given day was raised in a home by a family. The shape of their family and type of home will, no doubt, be unique to the individual. But, this fundamental truth still applies. The reason I share this is because, according to Rob Reinow in his book Visionary Parenting, what we experience in our homes — while not impossible to overcome — has far greater influence on our lives than what we experience elsewhere. What this means for your church is that the most effective way to reach your community and fulfill the Great Commission is by equipping parents to fulfill the Great Commission at home.

It’s a fundamental truth that every person who walks through your church’s door on any given day was raised in a home by a family. The shape of their family and type of home will, no doubt, be unique to the individual. But, this fundamental truth still applies. The reason I share this is because, according to Rob Reinow in his book Visionary Parenting, what we experience in our homes — while not impossible to overcome — has far greater influence on our lives than what we experience elsewhere. What this means for your church is that the most effective way to reach your community and fulfill the Great Commission is by equipping parents to fulfill the Great Commission at home.

Imagine the impact your church and community would have if only five of your families began doing family devotions with their children on a consistent basis. Then imagine an even greater impact if those five families became more missionally-minded and began focusing on intentionally reaching their neighborhoods or community with the gospel. Rather than simply a theory, reaching neighborhoods and communities through families can be a reality for your church.

The Faith at Home Network has developed the Acts 2:39 Missional Families Study to help equip families to become more missionally-minded in their homes and communities. The motivation to create this resource stems from the Apostle Peter’s words in Acts 2:39: “This promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” We believe that the best way to reach our communities and the nations is by equipping parents and legal guardians to reach their homes first. If families are fulfilling the Great Commission at home, then they will be intentionally trying to reach their communities for Christ, which includes schools, workplaces, and more.

In his book The American Church in Crisis, David Olson says that on any given Sunday, less than 20% of people in your community will attend a church service. If your current ministry model uses Sundays to influence families in your community, then you are missing an opportunity to influence the 80% who won’t attend. However, if you begin equipping families who already attend your church to fulfill the Great Commission at home, then your chances of reaching and influencing your community increase exponentially. The Acts 2:39 Missional Families Study is a resource that can take your families and your church from simply engaging to impacting lostness in the community.