ONE on one--by Linden Malki

It is amazing how many people Jesus dealt with one on one; all different people in different situations. We see this in all the Gospels; in John in the first few chapters we see Him spending an evening with Nicodemus, a good Jew who knew his scriptures well and was trying to figure out how Jesus fit into God's plan for his people. We see him back in the story at the end of Jesus' life, assisting Joseph of Arimathea with His burial.
Next chapter we find him spending several days in Samaria, of all places that Jews didn't normally go. We see Him talking to a woman (not normal behavior for a good Jewish man) who appears to be

an outcast in her village but familiar with her own religious heritage as well as His. This led to her bringing the whole town out to meet Jesus, and He spent several days there with them, to the amazement of His disciples. There was a payoff here as well--after the death and Resurrection of Jesus, when the Jerusalem Jews were persecuting His followers,  one of the places they fled to was Samaria. They were welcomed in Samaria, and had a good response to their preaching, probably a result of the time Jesus had spent there.
Back home at Capernaum, even with a literal houseful of people, Jesus again dealt with an individual--the man on the mat that was lowered through the roof. The only record we have of what Jesus taught at that time is his conversation with the man on the mat and the resulting conversations with the Jewish authorities. We see this over and over--a wide variety of people, from a wide variety of backgrounds, some Jews and an amazing number who were not. Jesus visited a variety of neighboring areas, and interacted with all sorts of people, rich, poor, crazy, desperate parents and friends, even a criminal on the cross next to Him.
We see this pattern again--not only are the disciples talking and healing,  but when the young Jerusalem church appoints deacons to serve the growing fellowship and we see these men--and women--themselves reaching out;  Stephen arrested and stoned, but also Philip meeting and baptising an Ethopian visitor; Priscilla and Aquila mentoring Apollos and others; and Paul, in Romans 16 mentioning a variety of people serving in the local church.
What can we learn from this? There is a place for people to serve both in the church fellowship, and as individuals. We can mentor each other in community groups; we can serve those who participate in the church activities, and we can watch for opportunities to reach out to individuals. This can be telling our stories to those who need to hear it, but also being open to listen to people. We're going to get a variety of responses; some of them aren't going to listen, some are going to argue with us, and some are going to respond, but not always when we'd like. We are responsible for what we say; it is God who is responsible for the response.