Ministers Blogs
“The Church Can Still Grow”
DANA’S DIRECTION
One cannot read the book of Acts without being impressed with the rapid growth of the church after her establishment. We see the church growing spiritually and numerically. Both are important! God wants His church to grow. The purpose of this article is to not to promote a particular method, but to suggest a couple of areas on which we must focus if we want to see the church grow. Let me suggest first that we must develop a mind to grow. I am afraid that Satan has convinced us that people aren’t interested and there is little or nothing that we can do to change that. If the church is going to grow we must truly believe that it can. We must believe that God is still able to do amazing things through His church. Do we still believe Rom. 1:16? Do we still believe Matt. 11:28-30? Do we believe that Jesus is the answer to the problems of life? Do we really believe that people are lost without the gospel? We need to develop the passion that Christ, the Apostles and the early church had for the lost. Secondly, we must have the proper message: It was a message that included the whole counsel of God. (Acts 20:27) The message of the early church was Christ centered, convicted men of sin, called them to repentance and then provided the solution for sin. Furthermore, it challenged false religions. It challenged people to make sacrifices for the cause of Christ. It was an uncompromising message. It did not reach out and embrace every religious vies and lifestyle. There was an exclusiveness about the message that made it appear “narrow minded” to many who heard it (Acts 4:12). It was a message of good news centering on Christ and especially the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. People need the good news. They need to know that Jesus loves us, left the glories of heaven, died a horrible death on the cross and conquered death that we might have the good life now and eternal life in the end. Finally; It was a proclaimed message. Early Christians went everywhere preaching the word (Acts 8:4) They had the “good news” and they wanted the world to hear it! They felt compelled to proclaim it (Acts 4:19-20; 8:4). We live in difficult times and reaching people with the gospel is not easy, but if we will develop the mind to grow taking the message of Christ to all who will listen, the church can still grow! May God help to not allow Satan to discourage us and convince us not to grow, but to practice these biblical principles and allow God to work through us and His Word.
-Steve Snyder (edited for space)
