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Elements of Church Growth in the Local Church – Part Two

Part One

The church is designed to be a world-wide force for evangelism and impact in society. How can this be done? We cannot have realistic church growth without preaching the message of the Early Church (Acts 2:38). Preaching from our pulpit is Word-centered, anointed, and also relevant and practical to the people.

Consider five elements of church growth based on Acts 2:41-47. In order for the church to grow, each of these principles must be operating in the church and they must be in balance. There is not one that is considered to be more important than another and each are necessary.

4. Ministry

This is expressing our love for others and meeting their needs. If we are not meeting people’s needs then we are not ministering. The church ministers to different types of people (ladies, men, children, youth, prisons, hospitals) with different types of needs. These needs fall into the four categories that make up a man: spiritual, physical, social, and emotional. Our ministry is often enriched through prayer. It has been said, “A prayerful church is a powerful church.” We anticipate God moving in every service; at home and collectively when we all come together. We create the environment through our prayer (bringing down the power of God) and praise (bringing down the presence of God). In Acts they ministered from “house to house.” We need to effectively endeavor to build faith at home. Our combined faith is explosive when we all meet together at church.

5. Evangelism

If we do not try to witness and evangelize, people will not come into the church. We cannot expect people to walk in off the streets but we must go to where the people are. When we make an effort to evangelize we are showing the world we are a reaching body. We are reaching for those outside of our church who are in need with a desire to provide hope and help.

If we are able to have all five elements operating in our church, and give them proper attention, the direct result will be: “And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved” (Acts 2:47).

So, if you are looking for me, I’m not lost, but can be found at church.

Putting it into practice:

  1. Be faithful to church.
  2. Make sure your children are in Sunday school.
  3. Invite someone to church. Do it again. And again!
  4. Have church at home.
  5. Pray for the church. Come early for services and prepare for God to move.
  6. Continually thank God for the church.
  7. Always talk positively about the church. It’s what we want people to be part of.
  8. Faithfully support the church.
  9. Implement and encapsulate the five principles highlighted in this blog.
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Elements of Church Growth in the Local Church – Part One

The church is designed to be a world-wide force for evangelism and impact in society. How can this be done? We cannot have realistic church growth without preaching the message of the Early Church (Acts 2:38). Preaching from our pulpit is Word-centered, anointed, and also relevant and practical to the people.

Consider five elements of church growth based on Acts 2:41-47. In order for the church to grow, each of these principles must be operating in the church and they must be in balance. There is not one that is considered to be more important than another and each are necessary.

1. Fellowship

The first church members were in unity; shared in fellowship and in breaking of bread. This is why it is important for each member to attend church regularly. The church where fellowship is strong is a caring church. Believers demonstrate a genuine concern for each other. “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much more, as ye see the day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).

Not only did the Early Church fellowship with each other but they also had fellowship with their God through prayer. The first church was brought into existence as a result of a prayer meeting and continued to grow as a result of prayer.

Miracles began taking place in Acts 3 when they were on their way to prayer. The prerequisite to a miracle is someone in need. Needs are met at church. God can also move in the churches established and exemplified in our homes.

2. Discipleship

We are called to make disciples; to reproduce ourselves. “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2).

In the Great Commission Jesus Christ placed “discipleship” at the top of the list of things needed to be done. As a church we must never forget about discipling and enabling our members. It is important to attend and participate in the elective series offered for adults and Sunday school offered for all ages. It provides spiritual nutrition for us to grow.

Are we making a difference in our community, culture and country? How can we make a greater impact in a shorter period of time? This can be done through discipleship (training and teaching). The Early Church “ceased not to preach and teach” (Acts 5:42), and therefore “filled Jerusalem with their doctrine” (Acts 5:28).

Hosea said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). If we do not teach people what is expected of them from the Bible we are rendering them “Bible Illiterates.” Therefore, we have a strong emphasis on both preaching and teaching in our churches.

3. Worship

Worship and praise are vital to church growth. In sports we realize there is something greater about a game that is played in front of thousands of people compared to a game played in front of a few hundred people. As we gather together at church, there is an atmosphere of celebration. When we begin to celebrate our God and what He has done for us we are expressing our love for God. We enter the church to worship and leave to reach others for Christ. “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (Deuteronomy 6:5). “O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together” (Psalm 34:3).

To Be Continued…

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3 Categories of Experiences – Part Three

Three Categories of Experiences

  • Store-away
  • Give-away
  • Throw-away

Thrown-away (Experiences that should not be given away. They are garbage. Worst experiences)

* “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).

* “Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive” (Colossians 3:13, ESV).

* “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

* “Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:18-19).

* “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:31-32).

* “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us” (Hebrews 12:1, NLT).

* There are certain things that should be thrown away. Our past can be a stepping stone or a stumbling block. The choice is yours!

* Sometimes, we have difficulty getting past our past.

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3 Categories of Experiences – Part Two

Three Categories of Experiences

  •  Store-away
  • Give-away
  • Throw-away

Give-away (Experiences shared with others, i.e. testimony).

* “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Philippians 4:8).

* “And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey” (Acts 22:6).

* Henry Poitras in his Fishers of Men Series writes, “A witness tells what they have seen and heard (Acts 4:20, 22:15). Your story of personal experience is captivating, inoffensive, indisputable, and most of all ‘salt’ that will settle in and create thirst. Remember we are witnesses not judges.”

* When anything good comes our way, we usually tell it. The early Christians were told not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. They responded, “For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:20) The NIV translation reads, “For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20).

* “Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!” (Psalms 107:8).

* Leonard Ravenhill said, “A man with experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument.” It is difficult to talk someone out of what he has experienced (John 9:24-25).

* “Witnessing” is an effective means of evangelism, because you are explaining what God has done in your life. No one can argue with a transformed life or other miracles experienced. “And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it . . . What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it” (Acts 4:14, 16).

* In a more specific sense “witnessing” is telling others what salvation/eternal life means to you. It includes three parts.

* BEFORE: What you were like before receiving eternal life.

* HOW: How you received salvation/eternal life. This would explain how you came to obey Acts 2:38.

* NOW: What salvation/eternal life means to you. Here you would also declare the peace you experience now and your hope for the future.

* In your testimony you should always emphasize the positive by telling the great things that the Lord has done. Be careful not to give credit to the devil in the first part of your testimony. Begin by telling what your life was like before you met Jesus Christ. It is not necessary to go into a lot of detail. Keep your entire testimony to 3-5 minutes. Be brief and to the point.

* Phil Callaway in Who Put My Life on Fast Forward confesses that one of the greatest stresses in his life is “witnessing.” He writes, “When I told others about my faith, I was as clumsy as a carpenter with ten thumbs…A few years ago I made a surprising discovery: When I simply tell others what I have seen or what God has done, they listen…I used to count conversions; now I count conversations. I don’t have all the right answers, but I know and care about the questions.”

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3 Categories of Experiences – Part One

Three Categories of Experiences

  1. Store-away
  2. Give-away
  3. Throw-away


Store-away (Experiences kept for future use)

  • “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (Psalms 119:11, ESV).
  • “It was there at Gilgal that Joshua piled up the twelve stones taken from the Jordan River. Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “In the future your children will ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’ Then you can tell them, ‘This is where the Israelites crossed the Jordan on dry ground'” (Joshua 4:20-22, NLT).
  • There is a story told of a old farmer who came under conviction one day and went out into the corn field and dropped to his knees and gave his life to the Lord. A few days later the devil began to harass him suggesting that nothing had really happened and that he was just deceiving himself. A few weeks passed and the old farmer got fed up with the harassment. He went to his barn and got a wooden stake and a hammer and said, “Devil, follow me.” The old farmer proceeded out into the corn field to the place where he had originally prayed and given his life to Jesus as his Lord. He took the hammer and drove the stake into the ground and said, “Devil, right here is where I surrendered my life to God, so be gone!” Writing and sharing your testimony is like driving the stake into the ground and saying to the devil, “Devil, right here is where God worked in my life, so be gone!”
  • “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15).
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